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The research on agglomeration and pollution has not reached a consistent conclusion in recent years, and the relevant research mainly focuses on the manufacturing industry. This paper takes producer services agglomeration as the research object, integrates environmental regulation into the research framework, and use the inter-provincial panel data from 2003 to 2017 to explore the impact of producer services agglomeration on industrial pollution. Using system GMM and difference GMM method to build model to carry on the empirical analysis, the results indicate that the agglomeration of producer services through economies of scale and technology spill-over effect to reduce industrial pollution, environmental regulation has promoted the effect to the former, the interaction between producer services cluster and environmental regulation can promote industrial pollution emissions.

Digital finance (DF) is a technology-driven financial innovation. Its rise has had an impact on financial business, making finance begin to break through the limitations of time and space. As the core content of the modern economy, the development of the financial industry provides important support for the healthy development of the real economy, the improvement of resource allocation efficiency, and the emergence and growth of emerging business formats. It plays an incomparable role in the development of our country’s national economy. As a product of financial development to a certain extent, financial agglomeration is an important symbol of high-quality financial development. As a hot topic in finance, DF and financial agglomeration have research enthusiasm and research significance. This article aims to study the agglomeration and development of the Internet digital financial industry under the background of big data. Based on the analysis of the characteristics of digital financial agglomeration and the effects of financial agglomeration, with the help of location entropy method, it analyzes the case of 5 regions in a certain region, sorts out the mechanism of digital finance in the region to promote the development of financial agglomeration, and provides a reference for the development of other regions. The case analysis results show that the development of DF in the region has a positive correlation with the degree of financial agglomeration, and the development of DF has promoted the deepening of financial agglomeration.

GLOBE is a French acronym for “Granules pour la LOgistique des Bitumes d’Enrobage” literally meaning «Bituminous granulates for the logistic of coating binders». This project supported by ADEME (French Environment & Energy Management Agency) focuses on the development of an innovative technical solution to ensure a logistic of bituminous binders from refineries to asphalt mix plants which is cold, waste free and thus cleaner and safer. The main challenge is to modify a material such as bitumen, usually handled hot in liquid form, in order to be able to produce a granular form of it, which stays stable over time. In order to do that, it is required to overcome in-depth its typical binder characteristics, especially its creep behavior and its exceptional adhesiveness properties. This implies to modify the rheology of the binder and to take into consideration the granulation technology. The final product should avoid agglomeration phenomena, while taking into account the mechanical and thermal stresses associated with the handling, storage and transport of the pellets.

Carbon nanotube reinforced aluminum matrix composites are considered a promising solution for applications that require high specific mechanical properties. Even though there are numerous methods for their manufacturing, these are frequently based on powder metallurgy approaches, limiting the fabrication of components with significant volumes and complex shapes. Casting, as a manufacturing technique, is regarded as the most appropriate route to obtain complex-shaped components with a relative high microstructural quality. These techniques to obtain Al-CNT cast components is still challenging due to the agglomeration, lack of dispersion, reduced bonding and density of the CNTs in Al. To address these issues, CNTs are usually pre-processed by ball-milling with Al powder to promote bonding and disperse the reinforcement, however, these techniques are not really beneficial to casting approaches due to the increase of Al2O3 content that do not disperse within the Al alloy melts. This study proposes the use of Al spheres (~1 mm) in these ball milling techniques to prevent significant plastic deformation, the formation of Al flakes and the increase in Al2O3 content. It is shown that CNTs may be dispersed and bonded to the Al sphere surfaces. Results suggest that this is a promising novel technique to allow a successful implementation of casting-based routes to fabricate high-volume and complex-shaped Al-CNT components.

Transport, including agglomeration transport, is one of the most important factors determining economic development. Developed and effective broadly understood transport infrastructure, i.e., both road and transport means contributes to strengthening social, economic, and spatial cohesion and contributes to the increase of competitiveness within the global economy. However, the development of the infrastructure referred to also has negative effects, such as high emissions of noise, dust, carbon dioxide, and other gases harmful to health and the environment. Achieving a balance between the ability of transport to serve economic development and respect for the natural environment and preservation of quality of life in the future, therefore, requires changes in the approach to public transport. This can be done, among others by increasing the number and share of passengers using public transport as well as by investing in low- and zero-emission vehicles: hybrid, gas and electric. Due to the fact that buses are currently the most popular and the most commonly used means of public transport, the present state of electromobility in Polish cities is shown, with an indication of electric buses and the most important factors stimulating its development.

Nowadays, electric vehicles interest is continuously growing due to the increasing of the oil price and environment pollution. Using electric vehicles in the agglomeration of the city seems a solution in order to decrease the pollution from combustion engines. The charging infrastructure for electric vehicles is expanding throughout the world and the production of charging stations is expected to grow rapidly over the next few years. The paper aims to analyze three different materials (steel, aluminum, and a composite material) that can be used in the manufacture of an electric car charger shell in terms of the stresses and deformations occurring under wind action (in extreme conditions). For the analyses, ANSYS software was used and the results showed the deformations and equivalent stresses for all the proposed materials.

Magnetic adsorbents are increasingly gaining attention as a focus of research for contaminant removal from water and wastewater due to their low cost, easy synthesis and separation from aqueous medium. However, the commercial applications of zero-valent iron (ZVI) and iron oxides are limited due to particle agglomeration and low oxidation stability. The agglomeration behavior of ZVI and particle oxidative stability can be enhanced by modification of magnetic adsorbents using an appropriate stabilization procedure such as surface coating or functionalization. This chapter systematically describes the recent advances in modification methods of magnetic adsorbents for contaminant removal from water and wastewater. Various modification methods including carbon stabilization, polymer coating, inorganic oxide impregnation, functionalization, and miscellaneous stabilization procedures are summarized. These stabilization procedures can enhance the adsorption capacities of magnetic adsorbents by expanding the surface area and pore volume of the adsorbents and generating new active sites and/or functional groups on the adsorbent surface. The key process parameters and relevant published data along with the results of these studies have been discussed.

Rail transport is becoming an increasingly common mode of transport supporting agglomeration/metropolitan traffic. It is affected by a variety of factors, such as substantial degree of punctuality and safety, possibility of transporting a significant number of passengers at the same time, limited negative impact on the natural environment and the quality of being independent from road congestion. The emerging metropolitan rail networks can effectively counteract the uncontrolled development of individual transport, thus promoting the use of public transport in handling passenger traffic in urban and metropolitan areas.

Beneficiation of high-ash coals has been a topic of great concern around the world. There has been considerable research aimed at development of highly effective yet economically viable ways to perform coal beneficiation. At present, coal cleaning is primarily accomplished through physical separation of mineral matter from coal particles. However, the known processes like jig, density separation and froth flotation typically demineralizes coarse coal particles. The only two techniques which can handle coal fines are froth floatation and oil agglomeration; nevertheless froth flotation fails for ultra-fine coals (

The regional development planning framework in Croatia has emerged over the last decade. European Union (EU) requirements and the intention to bridge the theoretical and empirical gap related to the implementation of EU territorial agenda in the Croatian context are the primary drivers of these shifts. This chapter focuses on development issues of the Urban Agglomeration Zagreb (UAZ). The agglomeration is commonly considered as an area that spreads over the administrative boundaries of the city, where functional relations are strong and migratory patterns rich. Here, the authors examine scenarios of the UAZ’s future development based on contextual and key change factors whose interplay may significantly change the UAZ’s developmental image.

This chapter explores the role of the Big Four accountancy and the World Bank in honing “infrastructure” into a tool for furthering capital accumulation. Public–Private Partnerships (much promoted by the Big Four) are critical to this agenda, since they ensure guaranteed high rates of profit. Firms such as KPMG have also been active in facilitating mega infrastructure corridor plans and advising companies on the opportunities they offer for increasing profits. The corridors envisage the wholesale re-engineering of economic geographies to enable capital to benefit from the free flow of goods and the agglomeration of cheap labor along corridor routes. Labor relations are being fundamentally transformed as supply chains are increasingly subjected to the disciplining “logic of logistics.”

Nano-scaled matrix additives have found extensive use in industrial and engineering applications owing to their superior mechanical properties compared to their parent polymers. Despite the large number of numerical studies conducted on the mechanical properties of nanocomposites, the exact mechanisms of increased mechanical properties are still enigmatic. In this chapter, a hierarchical multi-scale approach for the prediction of the elastic properties of a boehmite/epoxy nanocomposite is developed. Starting on the atomistic level, the elastic properties of the constituents of the nanocomposite, namely the bulk polymer, the nanoparticle, and the interphase, are characterized. Coarse-grained simulations are then introduced, which enable modeling across a wide range of time and length scales compared with all-atom molecular dynamics simulations. Finally, the homogenized results from the nano-scale are eventually sequentially transferred to the micro-scale. The influence of the interphase, the agglomeration and the agglomerate size distribution on the elastic properties of the nanocomposite is also investigated in this chapter. A possible extension would be the prediction of elastic properties using CG simulations of nanocomposite unit cells to calibrate the continuum models.

The construction of “smart city” is a new urbanization development mode that promotes intensive, intelligent, green and low carbon, aiming at enhancing the innovation capability of the city and further promoting the high integration of industrialization, urbanization and informatization. Based on the panel data of 279 prefecture-level cities in China from 2005 to 2015, this paper uses PSM-DID method to comprehensively investigate the impact characteristics and mechanism of “smart city” construction on urban innovation capability. The main conclusions are as follows: First of all, the construction of “smart city” can significantly promote the city’s innovation capability. Secondly, mechanism analysis shows that the construction of “smart city” can effectively promote economic agglomeration and promote the level of urban informatization construction, thus enhancing the innovation capability of the city. Finally, the analysis of urban heterogeneity shows that in cities with high level of human capital, high intensity of scientific and technological financial expenditure and high level of financial development, smart city construction has a more significant effect on improving urban innovation capability.

Currently, there is a shift in the focus of socio-economic development from the macro level to the sectoral and regional levels. The need to study the trends and conditions of regional development, including the study of the features of the agglomeration effect, is of particular importance. Systematization of scientific ideas about the methodological aspects of the functioning and development of territorial entities is necessary, first of all, to justify decisions on the spatial distribution of productive forces in the context of the state, industry, region. The analysis of approaches to the definition of the content and essence of the concepts “territory”, “space” and “region” showed that these categories are closely interrelated with each other, but do not reflect all the modern requirements and features of regional development. Therefore, the authors justify the need to use the concept of “regional spatial system”, which allows for a deeper study of the synergistic features of the agglomeration effect within a specific territory. The study of the agglomeration effect in the Federal districts of the Russian Federation revealed a steady trend of growth in the urban population due to a reduction in the rural population. At the same time, there is a positive dynamics of the increase in large cities against the background of a decrease in medium and small cities. This circumstance can be considered as an actual manifestation of the agglomeration effect, which has both positive (from the point of view of the growth of productive forces) and negative sides (from the point of view of economic security). It is concluded that in order to solve the strategic tasks of effective and safe development of modern regional spatial systems, it is necessary not only quantitative growth (through further agglomeration), but also qualitative integration of all organizational, technical and socio-economic components of the system.

This chapter analyses the role of traditional factors associated with Marshallian and Jacobsian economies (i.e. external agglomeration) and the role of factors associated to the intra-firm co-location of activities (i.e. internal agglomeration) in influencing location decisions of multinational enterprises (MNEs) within a foreign country. Our empirical analysis considers the location decision of 447 new greenfield investments in manufacturing activities by 384 foreign MNEs in Italy, throughout the period 1998–2012, at a sub-national NUTS-3 level. Findings from a conditional logit model confirm that (1) both external and internal agglomeration economies have a strong effect on MNEs’ location decisions and (2) once allowing for intra-firm co-location, the influence of external forces decreases. Additionally, results obtained through spatial econometrics techniques show a strong spatial decay effect both for the effects associated with intra-firm co-location in contiguous provinces and for the traditional Marshallian forces. Conversely, the benefits of diversity (Jacobsian economies) cross province geographical boundaries.\ud \ud

Agglomeration economies are benefits that firms obtain when they locate close to one another or are constrained spatially. Tourism is heavily reliant on agglomeration economies rather than mere resource endowments. Policy formation requires an understanding of how tourism agglomeration impacts entrepreneurship within regions. In this chapter, we focus on how agglomeration economies impact enterprise birth and death rates within the tourism sector in Ireland using a comprehensive dataset on tourism firm births and deaths. Agglomeration economies have been studied in the area of regional economic growth and prosperity, but less is known about the extent to which spatial agglomeration economies affect regional firm births and deaths in the tourism sector. Our results provide evidence of positive spatial dependence in regional tourism enterprise births and deaths. Co-location of a diverse set of complementary enterprises fosters greater tourism enterprise births. Greater local specialisation rather than diversity lowers regional tourism enterprise deaths.

Fluidized bed spray agglomeration is a complex particle formation process widely used in the agricultural, food, and pharmaceutical industry. It can described mathematically by population balance equations. This chapter deals with controlling the nonlinear partial integro-differential equation. Therefore, discrepancy based control, which guarantees exponential stability with respect to some generalized distance measure, is introduced. Conditions for convergence in a norm are discussed. Furthermore, robustness with respect to model uncertainties is shown.

Everyday different powder products produced by a wide variety of industries such as food, cosmetics, detergents, agricultural, pharmaceuticals, mineral, nutraceuticals, and chemical industry. However, in the vast majority of cases, powder manufactures struggle to improve the properties of the powdered products by different modification methods. Size enlargement techniques such as agglomeration are the efficient methods for lowering dusting or product losses in the process line and during handling and storage, reducing lump and cake formation, improving flow properties, decreasing processing costs, increasing production efficiency, decreasing wetting, disperse and dissolve times in an aqueous liquid, improve handling and storage properties by densifying the products, decreasing dispersion of powder in the environment and lowering inhalation, correctly designing processes and types of equipment, and controlling powder properties such as porosity and solubility. Chemical, physical and functional properties of powdered products can be modified by different agglomeration and non–agglomeration processes. In this chapter, some of these methods have been outlined and their effects of instant properties of powdered food have been discussed.

This chapter discusses the recent advances in food powder adhesion (particle-surface interactions) and cohesion (particle-particle interactions) which affect their functional properties and bulk behaviour of powder materials in industrial applications. Some of food processes depend on particle adhesion (i.e. coating on snack food surfaces with seasonings). Cohesion is desired in agglomeration and granulation of food powders. However unwanted adhesion and cohesion may cause problems in some food processes. The inter-molecular interactions between particle-particle and particle-surface and particle properties affecting particle adhesion are highlighted. The adhesion and cohesion mechanisms of food powder particles and methods used to measure those properties are considered in this chapter. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021.

The article is devoted to predictive and analytical studies of possible directions of sustainable socio-economic development of the Samara-Tolyatti agglomeration on the horizon of 2019–2035. The research was carried out in order to design the future of the Samara-Tolyatti agglomeration, balanced in terms of goals and resources, based on a comprehensive analysis of statistical data from previous years and an expert vision of development alternatives, taking into account the unstable external environment. A digital agglomeration model has been created that allows calculating the values of national project targets and performance indicators for senior officials.

Cities are our greatest invention, an arrangement of homes and businesses that drastically increases the speed of interaction. This interaction then leads to numerous benefits, which is the primary subject of this chapter. We discuss first agglomeration economics—the benefits to firms and people productivity of being in clusters (agglomerations). Our discussion follows the traditional classification of benefits into sharing, matching, and learning. Then, we discuss research that shows that proximity also increases the possibilities for consumption, with a brief case study of restaurant variety in rural and urban areas. Finally, the chapter ends by arguing that the demographic forecasts are clear, urbanization is coming, and humanity therefore must turn its focus to the crucial question of what kind of urban world we want to live in.

Due to the reduction of traditional oil reserves and price volatility, there is a risk in the supply of raw materials for petrochemical and refining enterprises. In order to make the most optimal management decision that contributes to the continuation of the life cycle of these enterprises, cognitive technologies contributing to the development of communications between participants are needed. The authors propose scenario models for enterprises of the agro-industrial and fuel and energy complexes, focusing on the enterprises operating in petrochemical and oil refining industries in particular. The authors argue that focusing on interactions between organizational structures within the cluster and the creation of a cooperative platform in it are of the highest importance. The purpose of such a platform is to solve specific tasks of the cluster strategy that contribute to the production of an innovative range of commodity products (biofuels in particular). The cognitive approach helps to reduce the cognitive dissonance between enterprises, especially during a crisis, and to stabilize prices on diesel fuel, which, in turn, slows inflation. The introduction of innovations reduces the cognitive distance between intellectual workers and production. It also contributes to the development of agglomeration of territories, the continuation of the life cycle of petrochemical and oil refining enterprises, and the increase of economic growth in the region and the quality of life of people.

Grinding processes in cement production technology are quite energy-intensive. The mechanism of action of surfactants on the course of the clinker grinding process has not been fully studied. According to the theory of P.A. Rebinder, surfactants change the mechanical properties of solids in the process of dispersion of materials. At the same time, the destruction of clinker grains must comply with the basic laws of physical and chemical mechanics of destruction of polymineral rocks. The results of the study of the grinding capacity of clinker grains show that their mechanical properties are determined by the size, shape, composition, spatial orientation and physical properties of the main phases. The paper presents the results of a study of the influence of the microstructure of Portland cement clinker on the efficiency of grinding in the presence of triethanolamine. It is shown that the grinding kinetics depends primarily on the characteristics of the clinker microstructure. The presence of surfactants accelerates grinding at the last stage by reducing the agglomeration forces.

The research aims to explore the drivers and barriers that influence the inter-firm competitive collaboration within clusters. In this view, a case study on the emerging apparel cluster in the Republic of Moldova was accomplished. It focused particularly on identifying the types of existing collaboration linkages between firms and evaluating the context-specific factors that inhibit or encourage these linkages. The results suggest that despite the relatively dense agglomeration of firms within the emerging cluster, this does not translate into extensive collaboration networks. Entrepreneurs manifest hesitation toward collaboration and the lack of relational capital, as a common feature of most post-socialist economies, remains a big issue in making the cluster work. This represents a missed opportunity for cluster performance, specifically as the social capital crucially matters for knowledge and innovation to be transferred more readily.

Grain refiners of the Al–Ti–B system, including TiB2 particles, are added to molten aluminum to produce the fine grains. The effect of grain refinement significantly fluctuates among grain refiner manufacturers and the lots despite the same composition. Furthermore, although various features for the grain refiners exist, it is unclear which feature is the most effective for grain refining. The mechanism of grain refinement has been proposed that the TiB2 particles act as heterogeneous nuclei. The free growth model has become the standard model for the action of grain refining. This model assumes that the TiB2 particle size distribution influences the inoculation efficiency. However, there are few examples that verified the inoculation efficiency using a grain refiner with different TiB2 particle size distributions. In this study, the grain refinement effectiveness of several grain refiners using different manufacturers and different compositions was investigated. The TiB2 particle size distribution in the grain refiner was measured by image analysis and applied to the grain size prediction model which was developed based on the free growth model. The experimental and calculated results were compared and discussed in order to clarify whether the new model can predict the grain size inoculated with each refiner.

The “odyssey” of defining, characterizing and using the concept of strategic cluster, as a dynamic, ordered–semi-ordered–disordered agglomeration of concepts, as a central nowadays market and social concept of networking, is enriched here with the postmodern management of the business/organizations’ tunneling of the life cycle approach toward nanotech-clustering acceleration. Actually, the present approach unfolds a synergistic development, as based on the “present-future” research and innovation directions in science (the “3D-3R renewable strategic management”), i.e. technological (“the life cycles of nano-clustering”), the social (“the zeroth principle of evolution”), and environmental (“tunneling by the econ-wavefunction”); it thus generates an original econ-wave cost-effective function model of progress in business/organization management through nanotechnological clustering as the most effective way to cross/tunnel the field of turbulence inherent to the dynamic opening of the business/organization in economic environment, with a high degree of generality. References to Romania’s case, as an emergent economy in the global European clustering market, are also given in the context.

Chile is characterized as a country with an extreme concentration of economic activity around Santiago, the administrative capital. Despite this, and in contrast to what is found in most of the industrialized countries, income levels per inhabitant in the capital have been below the country average and far from the levels in the wealthiest regions. In this context it is relevant to understand the evolution and the dynamics that lie behind both results, in a country where agglomeration economies seem to have had a marginal impact and where natural resource endowments have been crucial to explain the spatial location of economic activity (the nitrate mining cycle was extremely concentrated in space whereas the copper mining has been much more disperse). Other factors to bear in mind are the impact of regional development policies around the 1960s, or the role played by infrastructures such as the railway through the Valle Central in boosting Santiago as a trade centre.

When Chinese firms make OFDI decisions, their investment motives and layouts are often influenced by peers or trends, resulting in investment agglomeration and a “herd effect”, which can alter the knowledge of a host country’s risk, influence the risk attitudes of the Chinese firms, and affect their foreign investment decisions. To quantify the Chinese Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI) herd effect, four dynamic indexes were developed at both industry and country levels based on a combined dataset from 2004 to 2015 for 1207 Chinese OFDI events. Data mining was then used to determine the links between Chinese OFDI volume and the herd effect and to examine the heterogeneous characteristics of the host countries, industries and firms. Using a random forest method, 50 decision attributes that affected the firms’ investment volume were identified, which were then incorporated in an optimized BP neural network to generate a Chinese OFDI decision-making model. It was found that: (1) there was an obvious herd effect in Chinese OFDI associated with host country and industry selection; (2) when a firm invested, it tended to choose a host country that has a smaller political risk and higher degree of labor freedom and globalization; (3) large firms with low efficiency tended to make larger OFDI decisions.

Based on the bay area economic theory, this paper takes the mechanism of regional agglomeration and metropolitan circle effect as the framework; utilizes humanity-oriented entrepreneurial and innovative spirit as an example to examine the construction and regional agglomeration of GHM-Greater Bay Area (GHM-GBA) being the influence of the development factor upon the regional economic development of heterogeneous service trade export firms. By means of the humanity-oriented entrepreneurial and innovative spirit effect, we construct a specialized level empirical model of the fuzzy association location Corpus-Metaphor-WordNet schema with Markov & Bayesian thought; data mining-radar monitoring software is applied for analysis. The empirical test suggests the main research results of the heterogeneous service trade export enterprises using humanity-oriented entrepreneurial and innovative spirit to improve competitiveness by virtue of three main implementation paths: GHM-GBA drive, regional agglomeration drive and industry clusters drive, based on which a conclusion is drawn with relevant suggestions.

This chapter aims at contributing to the international literature on the long-term evolution of regional inequality by analysing the case of Mexico from 1895 to 2010. Economic differences among Mexican regions are substantial and have been increasing for a long time. The study of the Mexican case confirms that regional inequality in low- and middle-income economies may have different trends and determinants from those of the industrialized economies. In the case of Mexico, regional inequality has followed a W-form in the long term, which largely reflects the alternation of different development models in the country since the late nineteenth century. Thus, between 1910 and 1940, or in the most recent period of economic openness (from the 1980s to the present), regional inequality has tended to increase. Divergence among Mexican regions was especially intense during the last period of the First Globalization (the 1920s). It was also in this period when the regional structure that has characterized the Mexican economy during the twentieth century was established, with a strong concentration of activity in Mexico City and a clear division between the rich North and the poor South. By contrast, the period from 1940 to 1980 was characterized by regional convergence, although it was accompanied by a strong persistence in the geographical concentration of industry. The main determinants of regional inequality changes have been different in each period. During the early twentieth century, a spatially uneven process of structural change explains the increase in regional inequality. By contrast, regional convergence during the state-led Industrialization period was led by an intense process of factor mobility (and, particularly, labour flows) across the Mexican states and the concentration of economic activity around the main market (Mexico City), pushed by agglomeration economies in industry. Finally, since the mid-1980s divergence has been mainly driven by labour productivity differentials within each sector.

The dustiness of a disperse solid can be understood as a property, which when handled in a gaseous environment, behaves similar to an aerosol, releasing the respective particle fraction of given quantity and size distribution. In general, this release of dust is undesirable because it might result in material loss and often is associated with an exposure of personnel involved or represents a risk of environmental pollution. The dustiness is therefore a product property, which might change along the process path, for example through comminution, agglomeration, classification or mixing of solids involved. Property functions which describe time variable dustiness integrated in dynamic processes as a function of the distribution of particle size, particle shape, and particle interaction during a certain handling, were determined as part of this project. For this purpose, experiments with laboratory equipment such as “free fall in still air”, “moving in a rotating drum”, “dispersion, pressure surges method”, or “airflow dispersion” were performed at very well defined boundary conditions and physically based models were established. The prediction functions were successfully implemented in the flow sheet simulation DYSSOL. These models will be further used through the introduction of the so called “Fractionated grade of release”. Together with the description of time-dependent changes of the related strain-functions (apparatus properties) and rigidity-functions (material properties) this approach will help to better predict transient processes of dustiness in future.

Uni- and bi-variate crystallization processes are considered that are modeled with population balance systems (PBSs). Experimental results for uni-variate processes in a helically coiled flow tube crystallizer are presented. A survey on numerical methods for the simulation of uni-variate PBSs is provided with the emphasis on a coupled stochastic-deterministic method. In this method, the equations of the PBS from computational fluid dynamics are solved deterministically and the population balance equation is solved with a stochastic algorithm. With this method, simulations of a crystallization process in a fluidized bed crystallizer are performed that identify appropriate values for two parameters of the model such that considerably improved results are obtained than reported so far in the literature. For bi-variate processes, the identification of agglomeration kernels from experimental data is briefly discussed. Even for multi-variate processes, an efficient algorithm for evaluating the agglomeration term is presented that is based on the fast Fourier transform (FFT). The complexity of this algorithm is discussed as well as the number of moments that can be conserved.

Cities in the modern world are competing for resources – material, financial, scientific and, of course, human. They need investors, specialists, labour force for low qualification jobs with low wages and also tourists to adore their beauties and to bring money into the budgets. The important role in the attraction process is played by the city marketing and branding which are also some kind of resources giving new development possibilities and chances in the hard competition. It is a very new trend for modern cities to become “smart” and it is a question if “smartness” makes the city brand more attractive for various user groups or these groups are indifferent to the image of a “smart city” making the decision about the investing into the city, coming to live in this city or choosing the city as a place of interest. The situation gets even more complicated in the regions of mega-cities because of their size and complicated structure. They are not ordinary cities in a “normal” sense of the word but huge agglomerations. To make the agglomeration “smart” and to reflect this characteristic in a brand is a difficult task. The problem is not less important for St. Petersburg than for other European cities and agglomerations.

This chapter analyzes the impact of urban population change on the spatial correlation of housing prices in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration (YRDUA) in China. With data for the period of 2004–2015, the research shows that the urban spatial geographical location has a significant impact on urban housing prices in YRDUA. As population tends to flow into a developed city, the increase in population size promotes the spatial agglomeration of housing prices; and there is a threshold effect in the impact of urban economic density on housing prices. Therefore, through the transportation facilities and sound population policies, population in central cities should be dispersed to neighboring cities, the housing demand of the central cities will be reduced, and the overall development of the urban agglomeration will be promoted.

We present some work in progress on the development of a probabilistic chemical compiler, being able to make a plan of how to create a three-dimensional agglomeration of artificial hierarchical cellular constructs. These programmable discrete units offer a wide variety of technical innovations, like a portable biochemical laboratory being able to e.g. produce macromolecular medicine on demand, and of scientific investigations, like contributions to questions regarding the origin of life. This paper focuses on one specific issue of developing such a compiler, namely the problem of simulating the experimentally observed spatial transition from an originally one-dimensional lineup of droplets into a three-dimensional, almost spherical arrangement, in which the droplets form a network via bilayers connecting them and in which they are contained within some outer hull. The network created by the bilayers allows the droplets to “communicate” (like agents in a multi agent system) with each other and to exchange chemicals contained within them, thus enabling a complex successive biochemical reaction scheme.

Globally, nanotechnology has been materialized as a novel field of modern science in recent years owing to its exceptional properties with widespread applications. This field acts as an innovative platform for the tailoring of materials like metals at the atomic level so as to achieve exceptionally small size as well as large surface to volume ratio with unique properties, comparatively distinct from their bulk form that can be appropriately manipulated for the desired uses. For instance, nanomaterials (NMs) of gold, silver, platinum, as well as palladium are extensively exploited in fast-moving consumer goods like shampoos, detergents, etc. The fabrication of metal NMs can be carried out using physical, chemical, and green chemistry approaches. Metal NMs fabricated through physical and chemical approaches are not only costly and hazardous for the biotic and abiotic components of the ecosystem but also depict limitations related to stability, particle agglomeration, particle size heterogeneity, etc., over green chemistry approaches. The inexpensive cultivation, safety, short fabrication period, as well as ability to scale up enable plants as an eye-catching platform toward the fabrication of metallic NMs over other biological systems such as fungi, bacteria, etc. In addition, diverse biomolecules in plants serve as reducing, stabilizing, and capping agents and therefore enhance the rate of reduction as well as stabilization of fabricated NMs. Nevertheless, because of rich biodiversity of plant systems, their potential utilization for the fabrication of metal NMs is yet to be completely discovered. Overall, the present chapter provides an overview on the recent trends and advances toward plants’ mediated formation of noble metallic NMs, i.e., silver, gold, platinum, and palladium, with their possible mechanism of fabrication including potential applications.

The study of spatial-temporal behavior has attracted much attention in recent years. This paper summarizes the progress and the main perspectives of urban spatial-temporal behavior research in China. Some case studies are introduced from the following three aspects: spatial-temporal agglomeration and heterogeneity, spatial-temporal correlation and attenuation, and spatial-temporal process and dynamic.

Compression tests and models are commonly used to understand the densification characteristics of metal, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and food. Compression models help reveal the behavior of biomass grinds or particles during pelleting and can help to optimize the pressures required to manufacture a quality pellet. Pellets are formed by using either pressure agglomeration or compaction processes in which the particles are bound together with or without binders. The compression models expressing the relationship between pressure and time during the compaction of different raw materials are available in the literature. This chapter will focus on the various compression models and their suitability for different biomass feedstocks. This chapter also focus on how response surface methodology and advanced computational methods can be used for densification process modeling and optimization.

Supported metal nanoparticles (NPs) are a class of heterogeneous catalysts widely used to promote hydrogenations, chemical reductions, oxidations, and coupling reactions. The metal–support interaction is crucial to determine not only the catalytic activity of these materials, but also their stability. Since high catalytic activity requires small size metal NPs, the most common deactivation mechanism occurs by agglomeration of these NPs and increase of their particle size. One general strategy to minimize particle growth in encapsulation inside porous hosts and MOFs (MOFs) have been used for this purpose. This chapter describes the use of MOFs as hosts to encapsulate metal NPs, covering the main properties of MOFs, encapsulation procedures and the most important reactions. Special attention has been paid to describe the use of metal NPs supported on MOFs to promote coupling reactions, since particularly for these type of reactions, MOFs have shown a clear superiority respect to alternative supports. The final sections show some directions on the current development of the field.

This chapter reviews the literature on spatial Cournot competition with endogenous firms’ locations in the past 30 years, which started from Hamilton et al. (Spatial Discrimination: Bertrand vs. Cournot in a Model of Location Choice. Regional Science and Urban Economics, 19, 87–102, 1989) and Anderson and Neven (Cournot Competition Yields Spatial Agglomeration. International Economic Review, 32, 793–808, 1991). Linear markets and circular markets are two main streams in the spatial Cournot models. Overall speaking, spatial Cournot models can capture the real-world regularity (agglomeration at the market center) observed by Harold Hotelling and escape from the undercutting trap in Hotelling (Stability in Competition. Economic Journal, 39, 41–57, 1929). Moreover, diverse location patterns are shown in circular markets.

The best available technologies (BAT) concept was first time used in 1992 by OSPAR Convention for the protection of the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic for all types of industrial installations.

The paper presents results of preliminary tests of selected biomass types on the basis of which it is possible to assess their agglomeration properties. The research material was the biomass commonly used as a raw material for the production of compacted solid biofuels. Used raw materials was widely considered as: easy to a pressure agglomeration (softwood—pine), difficult, straw kind raw material (miscanthus), and relatively little studied, in the context of the pressure agglomeration, raw material (cup plant). Has been developed and presented a course of action which allows in a parametric manner to classify a different kind of biomass in terms of its agglomeration potential. The presented method allows to assign the tested type of biomass to the proposed groups. This should give information which of the tested types of biomass has best features of the material promoting compaction and which of them has the characteristics of the material which made it hard to agglomerate. The developed method allows to assess the pro-agglomeration potential of a given type of biomass, omitting in this assessment the impact of moisture content and the degree of fragmentation of the raw material. It allows to parametrically indicate whether a given biomass can be used in the compacted solid biofuels production process as a binder, basic material or difficult material requiring the addition of a binder.

This chapter introduces the volume contributing to a stream of literature inspired by Chinitz’s (Am Econ Rev 5(2):279–289, 1961) challenge to economic orthodoxy of the time that presumed, “the supply schedule of entrepreneurship is identical at all locations”. The chapter explains various measurements of entrepreneurship, distinguishing traits of the entrepreneur and factors that spur or stifle innovation in urban settings. The agglomeration of talent, capital and firms is a catalyst for growth and gives rise to civilizations, revolutions and scientific developments. Considering the importance of cities to host these agglomerations, the chapter identifies key gaps for further research in the area of urban studies and entrepreneurship.

Analysis of the smoothness flows of public transport vehicles on selected tram and bus lines has been presented. The need of priority services for public transport systems in agglomeration ITS system has been justified. The concept of the logical architecture of ITS for urban agglomeration area has been presented too.

Controlled emplacement of polyelectrolyte-modified NZVI at a high particle concentration (1–10 g/L) is needed for effective in situ subsurface remediation. For this reason, a modeling tool capable of predicting polyelectrolyte-modified NZVI transport is imperative. However, the deep bed filtration theory is invalid for this purpose because several phenomena governing the transport of polyelectrolyte-modified NZVI in saturated porous media, including detachment, particle agglomeration, straining, and porous media ripening, violate the fundamental assumption of such a classical theory. Thus, this chapter critically reviews the literature of each phenomenon with various kinds of nanoparticles with a special focus on polyelectrolyte-modified NZVI. Then, each phenomenon is elaborated using three kinds of mathematical models, including mechanistic (such as extended DLVO theory), mechanistic-based empirical (correlations to predict NZVI agglomeration and deposition), and continuum-based (Eulerian continuum-based models). These proposed modeling tools can be applied at various scales from column experiments (1-D) to field-scaled operations (3-D) for designing NZVI injection and emplacement in the subsurface.

Mobility management in agglomerations requires an integrated approach. For this purpose, Metropolitan Association was established in the Upper Silesia Agglomeration, which is polycentric in nature, with over 2 million inhabitants living in several dozen cities here. Metropolitan Association began to operate on 1 January 2018, after several months of organizational work. It has its own separate (although small) budget. The first task is to carry out the tariff and ticket integration of public transport in the Agglomeration area. However, several redistributive actions have also been taken: implementation of free travel on public transport for individuals under the age of 16 and financial support for municipality investment within the framework of the so-called Solidarity Fund in the amount of almost one-third of the Metropolitan Association budget. The efficiency and effectiveness of the presented organizational solution can only be assessed after a longer period; however, the activity of Metropolitan Association should already be analysed, because it is regarded as an organizational solution for the future, serving as model for other agglomerations.

Hubei Province is rich in tourism resources and plays an indispensable role in the development of tourism in the whole region of the Middle Triangle. Cultural tourism industry is a potential industry in modern service industry. Cluster effect plays a very important and positive role in promoting regional economic development and enhancing regional well-being. The market demand of cultural tourism in Hubei Province is vigorous and the development environment is good, but it is faced with such problems as the scattered elements of cultural tourism and the lack of prominent brand image. Based on the tourism resources and cultural tourism industry in Hubei Province, this paper studies the development of cultural tourism industry cluster in Hubei Province based on global tourism, and puts forward a global construction model of cultural tourism industry chain in Hubei Province. It promotes the development of cultural tourism industry cluster through the upgrading of the industry structure, actively promotes the adjustment and transformation of the industrial structure of cultural tourism, and serves the regional economic construction and development.

With the general tendency of increasing current and decreasing ACD in the aluminium electrolysis cells, the challenge of assuring of good control of alumina feeding is more and more important. Unfortunately, a significant part of the cold injected alumina forms floating rafts instead of dissolving fast. The temporary solidified bath around the rafts delays the alumina dissolution and promotes agglomeration, increasing the possibility of sludge formation. As both the solidifying bath around and in between the particles and the sintering of alumina increase mechanical strength, the kinetics of those phenomena can be followed by measuring the mechanical resistance of rafts removed from an electrolytic cell after different time periods. The goal of this paper was to examine the correlation between raft exposition time to the hot bath and the resulting mechanical resistance. For this reason, alumina rafts were produced under well controlled conditions in laboratory in order to carry out mechanical flexion tests on them. Results showed a gradually increasing mechanical resistance with exposition time.

The spatial structure of the agglomeration regions (caustics) formed by inertia droplets and particles in dispersed flows is studied. The Fully Lagrangian Approach (FLA) is extended to a second order FLA that accounts for the Hessian of the deformed dispersed phase continuum. The calculation of the Hessian matrix along the droplet trajectory is also presented. The second order FLA adresses the singularities of the standard FLA and demonstrates the integrability of the point-wise number density of the standard FLA on caustic formations. Furthermore, with the approach presented here the FLA number density can be related to a defined finite length scale needed for the introduction of the FLA to turbulent flows in the LES context.