This research explores an alternative path for economic development via local connections to regional economies. It presents new analysis of the potential and circumstances under which county level industry clusters can be strengthened by connecting to regional clusters – networks of businesses, labor pools, etc., whose linkages cross local and even state jurisdictional boundaries. Specifically, this analysis examines how different types of industry clusters and types of urban and rural communities within regions respond to intra-regional connectivity. Independent-samples t-tests are conducted to assess whether significant differences in the annualized county-cluster employment growth rate (2010-2016) exist between connected and not-connected county-clusters overall, in different types of communities (metropolitan, micropolitan, rural adjacent and rural remote) and across types of industry clusters. The results suggest that intra-regional economic connectivity has a strong, positive association with county-cluster employment growth. These results are particularly pronounced for more rural communities but are present across county types, including metropolitan. The magnitude of the economic impact derived from connectivity with the regional economy varies by industry cluster. The results suggest an alternative approach to cluster-based economic development strategies that more strategically accounts for and bolsters connectivity. Policy recommendations for how to apply an intra-regional connectivity framework to narrow the urban-rural divide, as well as several regional profiles, are offered. / Doctor of Philosophy / This research explores an alternative path for economic development via local connections to regional economies. It presents new analysis of the potential and circumstances under which county level employment can be strengthened by connecting to regional industry clusters – networks of businesses, labor pools, etc., whose linkages cross local and even state jurisdictional boundaries. Specifically, this analysis examines how different types of industry clusters and types of urban and rural communities respond to economic connectivity within their regions. Statistical tests are conducted to compare differences in county employment growth (2010-2016) between counties that are economically connected and those that are not. The results suggest that connectivity to regional industry clusters has a strong, positive relationship with local employment growth. These results are particularly pronounced for more rural communities but are present across county types, including metropolitan. The magnitude of the economic impact derived from connectivity with the regional economy varies by the type of industry cluster present. The results suggest an alternative approach to cluster-based economic development strategies that more strategically accounts for and bolsters connectivity. Policy recommendations for how to apply an intra-regional connectivity framework to narrow the urban-rural divide, as well as several regional profiles, are offered.

No / Purpose This paper explores the relationships between the strategic development of subsidiaries and the likelihood of subsidiaries exporting on an intra-regional basis to European markets. Research Approach The paper defines the strategic development of subsidiaries as increases in, autonomy, embeddedness in host locations, the use of networks and host country sourcing. The location of subsidiaries in industrial clusters is also considered. Use is made of multinomial probit analysis of a survey of 391 UK based subsidiaries to identify the relationships between the strategic development of subsidiaries and supplying European markets. Findings The study finds some evidence that there are links between increasing networks and supplying European markets, but there is no evidence that developing host country sourcing is associated with European supply. Location in an industrial cluster is consistently associated with supplying European markets and autonomy also appears to be closely associated with supplying European markets. Research Limitations Extension of the research is required to other regional trade blocs such as Mercosur and NAFTA. The role of networks and the links to location in industrial clusters requires further exploration and future research needs to include the services and knowledge-intensive sectors. Value The paper extends our understanding of subsidiary development in the context of intra-regional trading and thereby expands the literature on the regional strategy of multinationals. It highlights the importance of different types of autonomy for encouraging intra-regional trade by foreign-owned subsidiaries, and the central role of location in industrial clusters.

No / This paper assesses the relationships between public policy and the development of industrial clusters. A conceptual model of the relationship between public policies and the development of industrial clusters is developed and tested using data from 43 European industrial clusters. The results indicate that most government policies have no significant impact on the growth of industrial clusters or for the development of co-operation within industrial clusters. There is limited evidence that packages of government policies that are specifically geared towards improving the local asset base are effective in overcoming obstacles to growth of industrial clusters. However, when age is used as a control variable the weak relationship between policy packages and growth of industrial clusters disappear. The results indicate that individual and packages of public policies are not strongly connected to either high levels of co-operation, or high growth in industrial clusters. Moreover, no clear evidence was found that high levels of co-operation were associated with growth in industrial districts. In the light of the failure to find clear-cut associations between public policies and the development of industrial clusters the paper outlines a research agenda to help to increase our understanding of these issues.

Ram pressure stripping is a well-known galactic quenching mechanism capable of removing star-forming gas from a galaxy as it falls into a group or cluster. However, prior to stripping, ram pressure can induce brief periods of enhanced star formation by compressing the gas on the leading side of an infalling galaxy. Studies of this phenomenon have focused primarily on a unique population of galaxies for which a stripped tail of gas opposing the direction of motion is visible, known as jellyfish galaxies. The role of this effect in galaxy evolution overall is currently unknown. This thesis investigates the importance of ram pressure-induced star formation across all infalling galaxies to generalize our understanding of the effect. We use several metrics to measure the star formation asymmetries of a large sample of group and cluster galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey using $u$-band imaging from the Canada-France Imaging Survey as a tracer for star formation rate. We find that the distributions of star formation asymmetries of satellite galaxies are indistinguishable from those of a control sample of isolated field galaxies. Subdividing the sample by host halo mass and time since infall, we still find no environmental dependence of ram pressure as an enhancer of star formation. We conclude that any statistical star formation enhancement is small for infalling galaxies, suggesting that this effect is either uncommon or short-lived. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

We have acquired Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and Very Large Telescope near-infrared spectra and images of supernova (SN) Refsdal after its discovery as an Einstein cross in fall 2014. The HST light curve of SN Refsdal has a shape consistent with the distinctive, slowly rising light curves of SN. 1987A-like SNe, and we find strong evidence for a broad H alpha P-Cygni profile and Na I D absorption in the HST grism spectrum at the redshift (z = 1.49) of the spiral host galaxy. SNe. IIn, largely powered by circumstellar interaction, could provide a good match to the light curve of SN Refsdal, but the spectrum of a SN IIn would not show broad and strong H alpha and Na I D absorption. From the grism spectrum, we measure an H alpha expansion velocity consistent with those of SN. 1987A-like SNe at a similar phase. The luminosity, evolution, and Gaussian profile of the H alpha emission of the WFC3 and X-shooter spectra, separated by similar to 2.5 months in the rest frame, provide additional evidence that supports the SN. 1987A-like classification. In comparison with other examples of SN. 1987A-like SNe, photometry of SN Refsdal favors bluer B - V and V - R colors and one of the largest luminosities for the assumed range of potential magnifications. The evolution of the light curve at late times will provide additional evidence about the potential existence of any substantial circumstellar material. Using MOSFIRE and X-shooter spectra, we estimate a subsolar host-galaxy metallicity (8.3 +/- 0.1 dex and <8.4 dex, respectively) near the explosion site.

One-color resonance two-photo ionization (R2PI) spectra of mixed clusters of styrene molecule (S) with polar molecules [water (W), methanol (M), ethanol (E), and trifuoroethanol (T)] were measured through the S1←S0 transition of the styrene molecule. The spectra reveal a rapid increase in complexity with the number of polar molecules in the cluster, associated with van der Waal modes and isomeric forms. The spectral shifts of the cluster origins from the S1-S0 transition of the bare styrene molecule reflect the nature of the intermolecular interactions within the binary clusters. The obtained R2PI spectra xv were compared with the spectra of the analogous benzene containing clusters. The styrene-water and the styrene-methanol complexes exhibited very different spectral shifts and structures as compared to the benzene-water and benzene-methanol complexes, respectively. The favorable interactions of polar molecules with the olefin group of styrene may explain the strong inhibition effects of exerted by small concentrations of water and alcohols on the cationic polymerization of styrene. Size-specified intracluster proton transfer reactions were observed for mixed clusters of styrene dimer with water, methanol and ethanol molecules. It was proposed that the polar molecules tend to aggregate around the olefin center, which promotes the transfer of the charge from the propagating chain to the hydrogen-bonded polar molecules subcluster. The minimum number of polar molecules required for a proton transfer to take place exothermically depends on the proton affinity of the polar molecules subcluster. The estimated upper limit value for the proton affinity of styrene dimer radical was evaluated based on the energetic of the proton transfer reaction to be ≤ 220.4 kcal/mol. No intracluster reaction was observed for styrene-trifluoroethanol (STn) system. In order to provide a comparison between the styrene and benzene systems, the benzene-ethanol (BEn) and benzene-trifluoroethanol (BTn) clusters were studied by using the R2PI technique via the 6¹0 transition of the benzene molecule. Both dissociative electron transfer and dissociative proton transfer reactions were observed within the BEn clusters, where n = 2 and 3, respectively. Proton transfer reactions were observed following dissociative electron transfer reactions within the (BTn) clusters, where n = 4, to generate the protonated clusters (H+Tn).

[pt] Evidências indicam que ações de empresas de um mesmo setor da economia apresentam retornos semelhantes ao longo do tempo, uma vez que estariam expostas a variáveis econômico-financeiras e técnico-operacionais semelhantes. Gestores de recursos, de maneira geral, utilizam esta evidência em suas avaliações diárias na busca pelos melhores investimentos. Entretanto, na grande maioria dos casos, não há um embasamento teórico e matemático que comprove essa relação entre as ações. O objetivo dessa dissertação é verificar se, para um grupo de ações classificadas como mais relevantes dentre as presentes na Bolsa de Valores brasileira, os preços diários de fechamento que se comportam analogamente correspondem a empresas de um mesmo setor econômico. Para testar tal hipótese, serão avaliados diferentes métodos de clusterização aplicados a matriz de dissimilaridade entre os dados estudados, que por sua vez será determinada a partir de diferentes técnicas não-paramétricas de cálculo de dependência entre dados. Os métodos testados serão comparados e o melhor escolhido através da aplicação de índices de validação de clusterizações. / [en] Evidence indicates that shares of companies belonging to the same economic sector have similar returns over time, since they would be exposed to similar economic-financial and technical-operational variables. Portfolio managers, in general, use this evidence in their daily valuations in order to find the best investment alternatives. However, in most cases, there isn`t a theoretical and mathematical background proving this relationship between stocks exists. The objective of this dissertation is to determine whether, for a group of stocks classified as among the most important of the Brazilian stock market, the daily closing prices that behave similarly correspond to companies in the same economic sector. To test this hypothesis, various clustering methods were evaluated and applied to the dissimilarity matrix calculated for the analyzed data, which is determined using different non-parametric techniques for calculating the dependency between data. The models were compared and the best selected by applying clustering validation index.

[pt] Esta dissertação tem como objetivo contribuir ao ensino da logística, através da construção de ferramentas computacionais didáticas e gratuitas, adicionadas a um software do tipo SIG – Sistema de Informação Geográfica, com distribuição livre, permitindo a execução prática de diversos procedimentos importantes para a solução de problemas logísticos por parte de estudantes, técnicos e demais interessados na área de logística de forma gratuita. O conhecimento necessário para a construção de soluções de problemas de gestão logística ou da gestão de uma cadeia de suprimentos são interdisciplinares, envolvendo diferentes áreas como; geografia, informática, matemática, administração, entre outras. Assim, o processo de construção do conhecimento pelos aprendizes em logística torna-se um grande desafio, pois exige diferentes habilidades do aluno que primeiramente, precisa entender os assuntos de cada área de forma separada para poder integrá-los e iniciar a construção do conhecimento. Além do fator da interdisciplinaridade que complica o processo de aprendizado, os recentes avanços na área de computação e de algoritmos para solução de problemas em logística, tem causado um distanciamento dos profissionais entre as soluções disponíveis e a sua implementação prática. Nesse sentido, esta dissertação irá apresentar a implementação de soluções para problemas logísticos através da construção de ferramentas computacionais com fins didáticos desenvolvidas através da linguagem de programação Java que serão adicionadas como plugin ao software OpenJUMP. / [en] The objective of this dissertation is to contribute to the teaching of logistics, through the construction of educational and free computational tools, added to a software like GIS - Geographic Information System, with free distribution, allowing the practical implementation of several important procedures for solving logistical problems by students, technicians and others interested in the logistics area for free. The knowledge required for the construction of solutions of problems of logistics management or the management of a supply chain , are interdisciplinary , involving different areas such as ; geography, computer science, mathematics, business administration, among others. Thus, the process of knowledge building by learners in logistics becomes a challenge because it requires different skills that the student first needs to understand the subjects of each area separately to be able to integrate them and begin construction of knowledge. Besides the factor of interdisciplinarity which becomes the learning process more complicate, recent advances in computing and algorithms to solve problems in logistics has caused a distancing of professionals from the available solutions and their practical implementation. In this sense, this dissertation will present the implementation of solutions to logistics problems through the construction of computational tools for didactic purposes developed through the Java programming language that will be added as plugin software to OpenJUMP.

Les concepts de districts industriels et de clusters sont nés du constat que, dans des régions peu métropolisées, des entreprises opérant dans un même secteur d’activité pouvaient développer des dynamiques de collaboration particulières, dues notamment à leur proximité spatiale.Théorisés pour l’industrie, ces concepts ont été transférés au tourisme, puis repris par les décideurs institutionnels comme modèles de développement touristique local. Les études en tourisme sur le sujet sont assez récentes et nous avons souhaité contribuer à la réflexion. Nous avons tout d’abord réalisé une revue de littérature, pour identifier de quelle manière ces modèles ont été adaptés aux spécificités du tourisme. Étant donné que les touristes sont absents de la plupart des analyses, qui se concentrent sur les acteurs de l’offre, nous avons renversé la clé de lecture,en centrant notre travail sur les touristes, leurs pratiques et leurs relations aux lieux. L’objectif de cette recherche est de comprendre comment, en habitant temporairement les lieux, les touristes deviennent des acteurs, à part entière, du système productif local et comment leurs pratiques influencent la gouvernance et la configuration spatiale du territoire. Un travail de terrain a donc été mené en Italie, à Rimini et sur la Riviera romagnole. Le choix d’une analyse diachronique, nous a amenée à exploiter des archives,travail que nous avons complété par des entretiens réalisés auprès de touristes et de professionnels. Il s’agit en définitive d’une analyse sur le temps long, de comment en habitant des lieux, les touristes participent à la création localisée de dynamiques économiques,sociales et spatiales. / The concepts of industrial districts and clusters stem from the insight that companies operating in the same line of business in non-metropolised regions may develop special collaboration dynamics, due in particular to spatial proximity.Theorised within the field of industry, these concepts have been transferred on tourism and are now being used by institutional decision-makers as development models for local tourism. The studies of their application to tourism are recent and we wanted to provide further insight. We first went through literature to identify how the models have been adapted to match tourism,specifically. We noted that the tourists were absent from most analyses, which concentrated on the suppliers. Wetherefore deliberately took another standpoint and targeted the tourists, their habits and their relation to the location. Our purpose was to understand how tourists,who live but temporarily on the site, become integral lplayers in the local productive system and how their behaviour influences the governance and spatial configuration of the territory. We did extensive fieldwork in Italy, in Rimini and on the Romagna Riviera. We opted for a diachronic analysis and completed our archive findings with interviews, questioning both tourists and professionals. Thus, this study builds on long-time analysis of how, through their stay, tourists contribute to local economic, social and spatial dynamics.

A literatura especializada em aglomerados de pequenas e médias empresas (PMEs) aponta que a realização de ações conjuntas entre empresas pode gerar vantagens competitivas, auxiliar na obtenção de especialistas em competências específicas, além de outros benefícios. Nesse sentido, estudos nessa área têm identificado aspectos importantes envolvendo temas como tipologia, governança, estágios evolutivos, eficiência coletiva, economias externas, cooperação, competição. Esses estudos, no entanto, não realizam uma análise comparativa a respeito da interferência de determinados fatores em um desempenho de sucesso de empresas de aglomerados de PMEs de base tecnológica. Com o objetivo de identificar os principais que podem interferir significativamente no desempenho desse tipo de aglomerado foi realizado um estudo de casos múltiplos envolvendo empresas de três aglomerados de PMEs de base tecnológica brasileiros do interior do Estado de São Paulo, situados em importantes pólos tecnológicos localizados nas cidades de Campinas, São Carlos e São José dos Campos. Inicialmente foi realizado um levantamento bibliográfico sobre os fatores que influenciam um desempenho de PMEs em aglomerados de empresas de um modo geral. Com base nesses dados foi elaborado um roteiro de pesquisa para ser aplicado nas entrevistas realizadas nas empresas. Os dados coletados em campo foram analisados com o auxílio do software Qualitative Solutions and Research que possibilita a inserção e análise de dados qualitativos. Com base nos resultados obtidos, identificou-se um grupo de 5 fatores principais que interferem no desempenho das empresas dos aglomerados estudados. Foi analisada também a incidência de cada um desses fatores em cada um desses aglomerados, destacando-se: o perfil, a gestão e o ambiente das empresas dos aglomerados. / The literature specialized in clusters of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) shows that, when companies take joint actions, they may gain competitive advantages, besides other benefits. Studies in clusters have identified important aspects involving themes such as typology, governance, evolutionary stages, collective efficiency, external economies, cooperation, and competition. These studies, however, do not carry out a comparative analysis regarding the interference of certain factors in the success of technology-based clusters, considered to be a particular type of companies\' agglomeration. With the objective of identifying the main success factors that can interfere significantly in the development of this kind of cluster, a study of multiple cases was carried out, involving three clusters in the interior of the State of São Paulo, situated in important technology parks located in the cities of Campinas, São Carlos and São José dos Campos. Initially, a bibliographical review on the important success factors of clusters in general was carried out. Based on this data, a research framework was established in order to be applied in the interviews conducted in the companies. The data collected were analyzed with the aid of the software Qualitative Solutions and Research, which enables the insertion and analysis of qualitative data. Based on the results obtained, a group of 5 success factors was identified; the incidence of each of these factors was also analyzed in each of the clusters studied, showing that the factors company profile and management were the most important.