創新是廠商生存於快速全球化及競爭激烈的環境中的關鍵。而廠商創新績效的影響因素可以分為外部因素與內部因素進行探討。就外部因素而言，本研究同時從經濟地理學門的區域聚集效果與社會學門的研發網絡關係探討外部環境對廠商創新績效的影響。並探討地區產業聚集現象是否會增加區域內廠商形成研發網絡的可能性。而除了廠商外部環境會影響廠商創新績效外，管理學門提出廠商的內部吸收能力也同樣重要。吸收能力定義為廠商對外部知識的認識、吸收和應用的能力。吸收能力除了會對創新績效產生直接影響之外，也會對由網絡中所獲得的外部知識的認知、吸收和利用產生調節效果。 本研究以台灣的ICT產業為研究對象，而空間單位劃分則依據工業區分布情形與天然及人為界線分佈，將台灣劃分為39個空間分析單元，以供實證分析所需。研究結果發現，廠商所處地區之聚集效果確實會對廠商研發網絡的形成產生影響，進而影響廠商所能吸收的外部知識流的多寡，最終造成不同區域的廠商創新績效的不同。廠商的研發網絡會隨群聚內的社會經濟狀況、產業組成和多樣性等不同而有所不同。此外，本研究同時從廠商外部環境的聚集效果、研發網絡關係以及廠商內部的吸收能力探討對廠商創新績效的影響，以期更全面地了解創新績效的影響因素。本研究的實證結果證實了聚集效果、研發網絡與廠商內部吸收能力確實對廠商創新績效產生影響，而內部吸收能力確實會對經由研發網絡所獲取的外部知識和創新績效產生調節效果。 / Innovation is the key of the firm to survive in a rapidly globalizing and competitive environment. The factors affecting firms’ innovation performance can be divided into external and internal factor. For the external factors, this studies use the view of regional agglomeration effects and R&D networks to study the impact of external environment on innovation performance. In the same time, we also discuss whether the regional agglomeration effects affect the firms’ R&D networks. Aside from the external environment, the internal absorption capacity is also important for innovation performance. Absorption capacity is defined as the capacity of firm to recognize, absorb and apply external knowledge. Absorption capacity has not only direct impact on innovation, but also adjusted effects between the knowledge acquired from R&D networks and innovation performance. The object of this study is the ICT industry in Taiwan, and Taiwan was divided into 39 spatial units for empirical analysis. The empirical results indicate that the regional agglomeration effects of firms indeed influence the firms’ R&D network ,and then affect the amount of the external knowledge that the firm can absorb, ultimately result in different innovation performance. Firms’ R&D networks will vary depends on the cluster’s socio-economic conditions, industry composition and diversity. Besides, this study also discusses the impact factor of firms’ innovation performance from the external agglomeration effects, R&D networks, and internal absorption capacity to have a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between those factors and the innovation performance. The empirical results indicate that agglomeration effects, R&D networks, absorption capacity do affect the firms’ innovation performance, and the internal absorption capacity do have adjusted effects between the knowledge acquired from R&D networks and innovation performance.

<p>The aim of this thesis was to identify some functionality related characteristics of pharmaceutically relevant solid materials and to study the effect of their variation on processing behaviour and product performance. For this purpose, particles with different characteristics were prepared under a variety of conditions by crystal agglomeration, wet granulation and spray drying. The effect of particle size distribution on the evolution of the tablet microstructure during and after compression was investigated. The compression behaviour of particles with different nominal strength and degrees of agglomeration was studied and the influence of the surfactant concentration of amorphous particles on the compression behaviour was examined. The response of the powders to compression was described with the help of various techniques characterising the microstructure and tensile strength of the tablets produced. </p><p>Furthermore, a method suitable for observing drug release from single matrix granules was developed and used to study the effect of granule porosity and compaction pressure on the drug release process. </p><p>The particle size distribution did not influence the evolution of the tablet porosity or the tensile strength during compression, but it could have an effect on the evolution of the tablet microstructure during short-term storage, depending on the instability mechanism. The compression behaviour of particles prepared by crystal agglomeration and wet granulation was dependent on their degree of agglomeration and their failure strength. For particles with similar solid state properties and compression behaviour, the surface energy appears to have an effect on the bonding strength of adsorption bonds acting at interparticulate junctions. Using the method developed to observe the drug release from single matrix granules, reproducible data was obtained enabling the drug release process to be characterised. Depending on the type of matrix and the compaction pressure, the drug release rate could be enhanced or retarded. </p>

The aim of this thesis was to identify some functionality related characteristics of pharmaceutically relevant solid materials and to study the effect of their variation on processing behaviour and product performance. For this purpose, particles with different characteristics were prepared under a variety of conditions by crystal agglomeration, wet granulation and spray drying. The effect of particle size distribution on the evolution of the tablet microstructure during and after compression was investigated. The compression behaviour of particles with different nominal strength and degrees of agglomeration was studied and the influence of the surfactant concentration of amorphous particles on the compression behaviour was examined. The response of the powders to compression was described with the help of various techniques characterising the microstructure and tensile strength of the tablets produced. Furthermore, a method suitable for observing drug release from single matrix granules was developed and used to study the effect of granule porosity and compaction pressure on the drug release process. The particle size distribution did not influence the evolution of the tablet porosity or the tensile strength during compression, but it could have an effect on the evolution of the tablet microstructure during short-term storage, depending on the instability mechanism. The compression behaviour of particles prepared by crystal agglomeration and wet granulation was dependent on their degree of agglomeration and their failure strength. For particles with similar solid state properties and compression behaviour, the surface energy appears to have an effect on the bonding strength of adsorption bonds acting at interparticulate junctions. Using the method developed to observe the drug release from single matrix granules, reproducible data was obtained enabling the drug release process to be characterised. Depending on the type of matrix and the compaction pressure, the drug release rate could be enhanced or retarded.

The purpose of this thesis is to shed new light on the theorizations discussing the economic benefits of geographical clustering in a space economy increasingly characterized by globalization processes. This is made possible through the employment of a plant-perspective and a focus on how the relative fixity and mobility of labour influence plant performance throughout the entire Swedish economy.  By means of the longitudinal micro database ASTRID, connecting attributes of individuals to features of plants and localities for the whole Swedish economy, the empirical findings indicate that both localization and urbanization economies produce significant labour market externalities and that such inter-plant linkages positively affect plant performance as compared to the partial effects of relative regional specialization and diversification. Moreover, it is also demonstrated that it is necessary both to distinguish how well the external skills retrieved via labour mobility match the existing knowledge base of plants and to determine the geographical dimension of such flows to verify the relative effect of labour market-induced externalities. Finally, it is demonstrated that whereas general urbanization is beneficial within close distance to the plant, the composition of economic activities is more influential at greater distances. In such cases the geographical dimension influences whether plants benefit from being located in similar or different local settings.  In conclusion, it is argued that the circulation of labour skills, created and reproduced through the place-specific industrial setup, is crucial for understanding the mechanisms creating geographical variations in plant performance as compared to other regional conditions often proxied as relative specialization or diversification. This is because the relative fixity of labour tends to create place- and sector-specific skills which by means of their mobility in space are likely to facilitate the recombination of local skills, make the acquirement of non-local skills possible and secure sufficient affinity between economic actors by strengthening other dimensions of proximity – all aspects regarded as crucial to facilitate interactive learning processes and contribute to sustained regional growth.

The present thesis was to study non-metallic inclusions during vacuum degassing in ladle treatment. Emphasize was mostly given to liquid CaO-Al2O3 inclusions. A series of industrial experiments were carried out at Uddeholm Tooling AB, Hagfors, Sweden. To gain an insight into the industrial findings, laboratory investigations were also performed. Large number of steel samples were collected and examined. Liquid calcium aluminate inclusions with low SiO2 and high SiO2 were often found with spinel inclusions before vacuum degassing. Laboratory experiments showed that spinel would react with the dissolved Ca in the liquid steel forming calcium aluminate inclusions. This laboratory results agreed with the industrial observation that spinel phase was quite often found in the center of the calcium aluminate phase. After vacuum degassing, most of the inclusions were calcium aluminate liquid inclusions. When dissolved Al level was low, 2 types of liquid calcium aluminate inclusions with considerably different SiO2 contents were found to coexist even at the end of the process. In view of the lack of the thermodynamic data for SiO2 activities in the low silica region, thermodynamic measurements were conducted in the CaO-Al2O3-SiO2-MgO system. The experimental results could reasonably explain the coexistence of the two types of the liquid oxide inclusions. While the total number of inclusions decreased during vacuum degassing, the number of bigger inclusions (&gt;11.3 μm) increased generally in used ladles. This finding was in accordance with the previous studies, wherein, ladle glaze was found to be responsible for the supply of bigger inclusions. The behaviors of several types of inclusions in liquid steel were examined using a laser scanning confocal microscope (LSCM). While alumina inclusions tended to impact on each other, agglomerate and grow very quickly, none of the other types of inclusions, such as spinel and calcium aluminate was observed to agglomerate. The results of LSCM study agreed well with the industrial observation. Examination on a huge number of inclusions did not show any indication of impact and physical growth of the inclusions, except the alumina inclusions. The removal of inclusions around open-eye in a gas-stirred ladle was experimentally studied by a cold model with oil and water. Most of the simulated inclusions were brought up to the oil phase by gas-water plume. Inclusion removal into oil layer took place when the inclusions passed through the sphere-bed of the oil layer around the open-eye. A calculation showed that the contribution of metal-gas plume in inclusion removal was much larger than that of buoyancy mechanism. The results of the industrial experiments revealed that the inclusions distribution strongly depended on stirring condition. When a ladle was stirred by both gas and induction, inclusion removal near slag layer was significant. / QC 20100803

The aim of this thesis work is to increase the knowledge of inclusion behavior at the steel-slag interface by mathematical modeling and in-situ Confocal Scanning Laser Microscope experiments. Mathematical models based on the equation of motion predicting liquid and solid inclusion behavior was first investigated. Four main forces, the buoyancy force, the added mass force, the rebound force and the drag force, act on the inclusion as it crosses the interface. There are three types of behavior an inclusion at the steel-slag interface can adopt. These are a) pass, which means that the inclusion is separated to the slag, b) remain, where the inclusion stays at the interface without being fully transferred to the slag or c) oscillate, and the inclusion rises and descends at the interface until the motion is dampened out by the interfacial forces. The studies showed the importance of accurate experimental physical property data. Application of the models to industrial conditions illustrated that useful plots could be made showing the industry how to optimize their interfacial properties in the ladle and tundish to obtain maximum inclusion separation. In-situ Confocal Scanning Laser Microscope (CSLM) experiments were carried out in order to study agglomeration of liquid and semi liquid inclusions at the steel-gas and steel-slag interfaces and in the slag. Liquid-liquid inclusion agglomeration at steel-gas and steel-slag interfaces was seen to not occur without using force. However, when already transferred to the slag the inclusions agglomerated freely due to a higher free energy force. Comparison of experimental and theoretical agglomeration force showed good agreement between experiments and theory. The main conclusion of this work is that inclusion separation is a complex field of study and there exist no model that takes everything into account. Here the tendency for inclusion transfer and how to manipulate the physical properties for inclusion separation together with agglomeration experiments have been studied. For the future maybe coupling of models for computational fluid dynamics, agglomeration, inclusion separation, dissolution and slag entrainment in addition with experimental physical property data can provide a better overview and understanding. / QC 20100823

Bentonite is the most preferred silicate-based binder in iron ore pelletizing. However, it is considered as an impurity due to its high SiO2 and Al2O3 content. The iron-making economy is adversely affected by the addition of bentonite or other silicate-based binders. In recent years, impurity-free alternative binders have been tested in order to replace bentonite or to lower the bentonite dosage. Organic binders yield good quality green and dry pellets. However, they fail to impart enough mechanical strength to the preheated and fired pellets as a result of insufficient slag bonding. Thus, they have not found widespread application in the industry. The addition of boron compounds into pellet mix is proposed as a potential solution to overcome the insufficient compressive strengths of preheated and fired pellets produced with organic binders. During the experiments, some organic binders and boron compounds were tested as alternative binders to bentonite either alone or in combination, for both magnetite and hematite pellets. The performances of the tested binders on pellet qualities: balling, wet pellet moisture content, drop number, pellet compressive strengths (wet - dry - preheated - fired), dustiness, porosity, mineralogy, morphology, chemical contents, reducibility and swelling index have been compared with the performances of reference bentonite binder. The results of the tests showed that, the quality of pellets are insufficient when organic binders or calcined colemanite used as binder alone. The former failed to provide sufficient preheated and fired pellet strengths, the latter failed in terms of wet and dry pellet quality. However, good quality wet, dry, preheated and fired pellets could be produced with combination of these two binders. Calcined colemanite addition into pellets made with organic binders was tested in different dosages (0.25-1.00%). Results showed that with increasing dosage of calcined colemanite both strengths of preheated and fired pellets increased linearly. It was found that as low as 0.50% calcined colemanite addition equally-performed on magnetite fired magnetite pellets at 1300oC when compared with the performance of the reference bentonite binder. However, its performance was better on hematite pellets in order to improve the pellet compressive strengths. In addition, stronger pellets could be produced at lower firing temperatures like 1100oC with the addition of calcined colemanite. The reason of the improved preheated and fired compressive strengths of pellets bonded with calcined colemanite was due to the physical melting of calcined colemanite at the contact point of iron oxide grains during thermal treatment. It was found that bentonite bonded pellets fired at 1300oC were more reducible than those of produced with calcined colemanite addition. Swelling indices of these pellets were determined in the industrially acceptable limits. The chemical and mineralogical analyses results showed that the combined binders did not contaminate the pellet composition since the organic binders burnt-out without residue and colemanite does not contain much impurity.

This research investigates the role of clustering, learning and innovation in retaining competitiveness in an existing tourism area in a peripheral region of Europe. To do this it draws on the tourism resort area known as the Costa del Sol in southern Spain. Structurally, it focuses on hotel and catering businesses, which are considered to be at the heart of the tourism industry. Tourism is shown not only to be fundamental to the development ofthis coastal agglomeration, but also critical to the development of the province of Malaga (of which the Costa del Sol is a part) and the wider region of Andalucia. Hence the need to examine the evolution oftourism, the sources of competitive advantage and how such advantage can be retained in a globalised marketplace. The key proposition is that retaining competitive advantage can best be achieved through learning and innovation and that agglomerations provide a milieu in which learning and innovation are stimulated. Agglomeration theory and the role of learning and innovation are tested through an examination of the spatial and temporal evolution of hotel and catering businesses and through questionnaire surveys covering these businesses. In particular, the surveys are directed at addressing the issues of learning and innovation and assessing the extent to which the Costa del Sol operates as a 'learning region'. Questionnaire work met with severe problems of non-response despite being undertaken in conjunction with local business organisations. Nevertheless, sufficient responses were obtained to provide some tentative answers to the questions being posed and to provide the foundation for further research. The principal conclusions were that the Costa del Sol has acted as a growth pole and seedbed for business development, and that learning and innovation are promoted as much by competition as by co-operation. Finally, some public policy implications are drawn from these conclusions.

Spherical agglomerates of benzoic acid crystals have been successfully prepared by drowning-out crystallization in three solvent partial miscible mixtures. Benzoic acid is dissolved in ethanol, bridging liquid is added and this mixture is fed to the agitated crystallizer containing water as the anti-solvent. Small crystals are produced by crystallization of the substance, and the crystals are agglomerated through the action of the bridging liquid. Different solvents: chloroform, toluene, heptane, pentane, cyclohexane, ethyl acetate and diethyl ether are chosen as bridging liquids, all being low soluble in water and showing good wettability for benzoic acid crystals. The influence of process conditions such as concentration of solute, agitation rate, feeding rate, amount of bridging liquid and temperature on the properties of benzoic acid spherical agglomerates, are investigated. Different sets of experiments were accomplished to track how the properties of the particles gradually change during the normal spherical crystallization experiment. Other sets of experiments were performed to examine the influence of agitation and process time for agglomeration. The product properties such as particle size distribution, morphology and mechanical strength have been evaluated. The mechanical strength of single agglomerates has been determined by compression in a materials testing machine, using a 10 N load cell. Compression characteristics for single agglomerates are compared with the data on bed compression. The present study shows that the bridging liquid has significant influence on the product properties, using diethyl ether and ethyl acetate no agglomerates are formed. Using any of the other five solvents (chloroform, toluene, heptane, pentane, and cyclohexane) spherical agglomerates are formed, as long as a sufficient amount of the bridging liquid is used. Using cyclohexane as bridging liquid at 5°C and toluene at 20°C the particles are larger compared to particles formed at other conditions. The highest particle fracture stress is obtained by using toluene as the bridging liquid at 5 and 20°C. Particle morphology depends on the bridging liquid used and the particles are completely spherical when toluene and pentane are used as bridging liquids. Different process parameters are found to have a significant influence on the physico-mechanical properties of the product. The range of operation for spherical agglomeration is relatively narrow and only at certain conditions spherical agglomerates are produced. With increasing amount of bridging liquid the particle size and strength increase and the morphology improves. Particle size decreases and the fracture force increases with increasing feeding rate, but the morphology remains unchanged. For all the solvents, the particle size and the fracture stress increase with decreasing temperature. For four of the solvents the morphology improves with decreasing temperature. For cyclohexane the result is the opposite, in that the particles are spherical at 20°C and irregular at 5°C. Spherical agglomerates of benzoic acid, both as single particles as well as in the form of a bed, have a high compressibility and low elastic recovery, properties that are favorable for direct tabletting. As the feed solution is supplied to the crystallizer the amount of benzoic acid that can crystallize actually does crystallize fairly rapidly. Hydrodynamics are responsible for bringing particles together for the agglomeration. Experiments reveal that during the gradual addition of the feed to the agitated aqueous solution, both particle size and particle number increases. It is clear from the experiments that not only further addition of feed solution leads to larger product particles but also continued agitation. Along the course of the process the properties of the particles change gradually but substantially. By continued agitation, the particle porosity decreases, density, strength gradually increases and also the spherical shape develops gradually. / QC 20110419

This thesis consists of an introductory part and four papers. Paper [I] estimates jointly the choice of whether to enroll in education and the choice of location among young people. Being a particularly mobile group, the location choices of young individuals shape much of the regional distribution of human capital, growth, and local public sector budgets. Applying Swedish register data on nest leavers, we seek to determine factors deciding the education and location choice of young people. The results indicate a systematic selection higher education based on school grades and preferences for locations with higher per capita tax bases and with lower shares of elderly people. The importance of family networks for the choice of location is confirmed.              Paper [II] examines how individual ability, reflected by the grade point average (GPA) from comprehensive school affects the probability of migration among university graduates. The econometric analysis applies detailed micro-data of two entire cohorts of young individuals retrieved from the Swedish population registers. The results indicate that individual abilities are strongly influential both concerning completion of a university degree and for the migration decision. In addition, we find a positive relationship between the GPA and migrating from regions with lower per capita tax bases and/or a relatively small share of highly educated individuals. Analogously, individuals with a high GPA tend to stay in more densely populated regions, suggesting a clustering of human capital vis-à-vis school grades.  Paper [III] estimates the relationship between migration across labour market regions and the subsequent changes in earnings by using the GPA from the final year of comprehensive school as a proxy for ability. This measure aims to capture heterogeneity in the returns to migration for individuals conditional on education attainment. Using Swedish register data on young adults, a difference-in-difference propensity score matching estimator is applied to estimate income differences measured up to seven years after migration. The results show variation between different ability groups regarding the returns to regional migration. There are indications of larger gains for individuals holding top grades, while the bottom half seems to benefit less, or face slightly negative effects. Paper [IV] examines whether power couple formation and the location choice of such couples are driven by factors already inherent in young people during their formative school years. The paper also extends the analysis by modeling location choice among different sizes of labor market areas, given different power statuses of the couples. Based on analysis of Swedish register data, we produce evidence that power spouses evolve from the population of high achieving school age individuals; the latter is identified by high academic performance during their years of compulsory school. Regarding location choice, the results indicate that power couples display a relatively high tendency to migrate from their regions of origin to large cities.