Crossing of stent graft limbs during endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) is often used to assist cannulation and prevent graft kinking when the aortic bifurcation is widely splayed. Little has been reported about the implications of cross-limb EVAR, especially in comparison to conventional EVAR. Using computational fluid dynamics, this work numerically examines the hemodynamic differences between these two out-of-plane stent graft configurations against a planar configuration commonly found in literature. Predicted values of displacement force, wall shear stress, and oscillatory shear index were similar between the out-of-plane configurations. The planar configuration predicted similar wall shear stress values, but significantly lower displacement forces than the out-of-plane configurations. These results suggest that the hemodynamic safety of cross-limb EVAR is comparable to conventional EVAR. However, a study of clinical outcomes may reveal reduced thrombosis incidence and long-term structural implications for the stent graft in cross-limb EVAR.

Inhalt der Diplomarbeit sind Untersuchungen zur Authentifizierung und Verschlüsselung von drahtlosen Netzwerkverbindungen.

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a chronic inflammatory disease with no available pharmacological treatment. AAA formation reduces the structural integrity of the vessel and increases the susceptibility to rupture. The inflammatory response within human aneurysmal tissue is characterized by increased expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). Similarly, in a mouse model of the disease induced by chronic Angiotensin II (AngII) infusion, we have shown that COX-2 expression in the abdominal aortic smooth muscle layer increases early in the development of the disease. Furthermore, genetic or pharmacological inactivation of COX-2 prior to disease initiation reduces AAA incidence. The current study utilized nonhyperlipidemic mice to determine the effectiveness of COX-2 inhibition initiated after AAA formation. COX-2 inhibitor treatment was initiated 5 days after beginning the AngII infusion, a time-point where significant aneurysmal pathology is observed. COX-2 inhibition with celecoxib significantly reduced the incidence as well as severity of AAAs as compared to the control group. Celecoxib treatment also protected the mice from aortic rupture and death. AAA development is characterized by degradation of the aortic smooth muscle layer with loss of the contractile phenotype. We found that the effectiveness of celecoxib was associated with significantly increased mRNA expression of alpha-actin, SM22alpha and desmin, all of which are markers of a differentiated smooth muscle cell phenotype. Celecoxib treatment also decreased mRNA expression of a marker of dedifferentiated smooth muscle (hyaluronic acid synthase 2). We also examined the role of altered expression of COX-2 in the increased susceptibility of the abdominal segment to AAA formation. We found a prolonged and greater induction of COX-2 in the abdominal aortic smooth muscle layer in contrast to a transient induction of COX-2 in the other regions of the aorta throughout disease progression. Overall, these findings suggest that COX-2 plays an important role in AAA development in mice, and COX-2 inhibition with celecoxib attenuates progression of aneurysm development by maintaining a differentiated phenotype in abdominal aortic smooth muscle cells.

Background Although abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) growth is non-linear, serial measurements of aneurysm diameter are the mainstay of aneurysm surveillance and contribute to decisions on timing of intervention. Aneurysm biology plays a key part in disease evolution but is not currently routinely assessed in clinical practice. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography (PET-CT) provide insight into disease processes on a cellular or molecular level, and represent exciting new imaging biomarkers of disease activity. Macrophage-mediated inflammation may be assessed using ultrasmall superparamagnetic particles of iron oxide (USPIO) MRI and the PET radiotracer 18FSodium Fluoride (18F-NaF) identifies microcalcification which is a response to underlying necrotic inflammation. The central aim of this thesis was to investigate these imaging modalities in patients with AAA. Methods and Results USPIO MRI: MULTI-CENTRE STUDY In a prospective multi-centre observational cohort study, 342 patients (85.4% male, mean age 73.1±7.2 years, mean AAA diameter 49.6±7.7mm) with asymptomatic AAA ≥4 cm anteroposterior diameter underwent MRI before and 24-36 hours after intravenous administration of USPIO. Colour maps (depicting the change in T2* caused by USPIO) were used to classify aneurysms on the basis of the presence of USPIO uptake in the aneurysm wall, representing mural inflammation. Intra- and inter-observer agreement were found to be very good, with proportional agreement of 0.91 (kappa 0.82) and 0.83 (kappa 0.66), respectively. At 1 year, there was 29.3% discordant classification of aneurysms on repeated USPIO MRI and at 2 years, discordance was 65%, suggesting that inflammation evolves over time. In the observational study, after a mean of 1005±280 days of follow up, there were 126 (36.8%) aneurysm repairs and 17 (5.0%) ruptures. Participants with USPIO enhancement (42.7%) had increased aneurysm expansion rates (3·1±2·5 versus 2·5±2·4 mm/year; difference 0·6 [95% confidence intervals (CI), 0·02 to 1·2] mm/year, p=0·0424) and had higher rates of aneurysm rupture or repair (69/146=47·3% versus 68/191=35·6%; difference 11·7%, 95% CI 1·1 to 22·2%, p=0·0308). USPIO MRI was therefore shown to predict AAA expansion and the composite of rupture or repair, however this was not independent of aneurysm diameter (c-statistic, 0·7924 to 0·7926; unconditional net reclassification -13·5%, 95% confidence intervals -36·4% to 9·3%). 18F-NaF PET-CT: SINGLE-CENTRE STUDY A sub-group of 76 patients also underwent 18F-NaF PET-CT, which was evaluated using the maximum tissue-to-background ratio (TBRmax) in the most diseased segment (MDS), a technique that showed very good intra- (ICC 0.70-0.89) and inter-observer (ICC 0.637-0.856) agreement. Aneurysm tracer uptake was compared firstly in a case-control study, with 20 patients matched to 20 control patients for age, sex and smoking status. 18F-NaF uptake was higher in aneurysm when compared to control aorta (log2TBRmax 1.712±0.560 vs. 1.314±0.489; difference 0.398 (95% CI 0.057, 0.739), p=0.023), or to non-aneurysmal aorta in patients with AAA (log2TBRmax 1.647±0.537 vs. 1.332±0.497; difference 0.314 (95% CI 0.0685, 0.560), p=0.004). An ex vivo study was performed on aneurysm and control tissue, which demonstrated that 18F-NaF uptake on microPET-CT was higher in the aneurysm hotspots and higher in aneurysm tissue compared to control tissue. Histological analysis suggested that 18F-NaF was highest in areas of focal calcification and necrosis. In an observational cohort study, aneurysms were stratified by tertiles of TBRmax in the MDS and followed up for 510±196 days, with 6 monthly serial ultrasound measurements of diameter. Those in the highest tertile of tracer uptake expanded more than 2.5 times more rapidly than those in the lowest tertile (3.10 [3.58] mm/year vs. 1.24 [2.41] mm/year, p=0.008) and were also more likely to experience repair or rupture (15.3% vs. 5.6%, log-rank p=0.043). In multivariable analyses, 18F-NaF uptake on PET-CT emerged as an independent predictor of AAA expansion (p=0.042) and rupture or repair (HR 2.49, 95% CI1.07, 5.78; p=0.034), even when adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, current smoking and, crucially, aneurysm diameter. Conclusion These are the largest USPIO MRI and PET-CT studies in AAA disease to date and the first to investigate 18F-NaF. Both USPIO MRI and 18F-NaF PET-CT are able to predict AAA expansion and the composite of rupture and repair, with 18F-NaF PETCT emerging as the first imaging biomarker that independently predicts expansion and AAA events, even after adjustment for aneurysm diameter. This represents an exciting new predictor of disease progression that adds incremental value to standard clinical assessments. Feasibility and randomised clinical trials are now required to assess the potential of this technique to change the management and outcome of patients with AAA.

Les électrodes transparentes sont intégrées dans de nombreux dispositifs optoélectroniques tels que (les OLED, les cellules photovoltaïques, les écrans tactiles...). De nos jours, l’électrode transparente la plus utilisée est l’oxyde d’indium dopé étain (ITO : Indium Tin Oxide) qui présente une transparence élevée et une faible résistance carrée. Malgré ces propriétés optoélectroniques exceptionnelles, l’ITO présente des inconvénients tels que la rareté de l’indium et sa fragilité qui est incompatible avec les substrats flexibles. Les nanofils d’argent (AgNWs) sont considérés comme une alternative potentielle pour remplacer l’ITO en vue de leur excellentes propriétés optoélectroniques et leur flexibilité. Néanmoins, les AgNWs souffrent de certains inconvénients (adhérence au substrat, rugosité). Dans ce travail nous proposons une structure de type Oxyde/Métal/Oxyde (OMO) en insérant une couche d’AgNWs comme couche métallique entre deux couches de nanoparticules d’oxydes (ZnO, AZO, WO3) pour fabriquer des électrodes tricouches de type ZAZ, AAA et WAW. Ces dernières ont montré transmission élevée combinée à une faible résistance carrée, ce qui leur permet d’être considérées comme des électrodes alternatives à l’ITO. De plus, les électrodes ZAZ et AAA ont été intégrées avec succès dans des cellules solaires organiques. En outre, un outil numérique potentiel utilisant la méthode FDTD (Finite Difference Time Domain) nous permis de confirmer les résultats expérimentaux pour les électrodes ZAZ. Ainsi, l’amélioration de l’absorption au sein de la couche active via l’effet plasmonique des AgNWs a été démontrée également. Finalement, nous avons pu modéliser un réseau semi-aléatoire des AgNWs inséré entre deux couches de ZnO tout en démontrant la différence en transmission entre une couche dense et une en nanoparticules de ZnO. / Transparent Electrodes (TEs) are crucial components of wide variety of optoelectronic devices as (OLEDs, photovoltaic cells, touch screen…). Nowadays, the transparent electrode widely used is Indium Tin Oxide (ITO), due to its good optoelectronic properties. However, it presents some drawbacks such as the indium scarcity and its brittleness which is not compatible with flexible substrates. Silver nanowires (AgNWs) were considered as potential alternative to replace ITO because of their good optical and electrical properties. Although promising, the AgNWs presents some drawbacks, including the poor adhesion to substrate and the surface roughness. In this work, we propose a sandwich structure Oxide/Metal/Oxide (OMO), where the metallic layer is based on AgNWs. We embedded AgNWs between two nanoparticles oxide layers of (ZnO, AZO, WO3) in order to fabricate trilayer electrodes which are ZAZ, AAA, WAW. These trilayer electrodes show a high transmittance and a low sheet resistance, which lead to consider them on of the alternative to the ITO. In addition, the ZAZ and AAA electrodes were successfully integrated in organic solar cells with good photovoltaic performance. Moreover, using the potential numerical method FDTD (Finite Difference Time Domain) we demonstrated a good agreement between the experimental and numerical results for the ZAZ electrodes. Therefore, the enhancement of absorption inside active layer due to the plasmonic effect of AgNWs was also demonstrated. Finally, we can model a randomly network of AgNWs embedded between two layers of ZnO, with investigating the difference between a dense and nanoparticles layer of ZnO.

IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is the next generation of telecommunication systems. The system is based on an IP network and uses technologies from the Internet. The IMS system is designed to evolve from a telephone system into a general information and communication system. It is meant to include television, Video on Demand (VoD), interactive services etc, etc. It is designed to simplify the implementation of newservices in telecom networks. This report investigates security aspects of VoD services when merging an IP Television (IPTV) system with IMS. The investigation covers security functions in IMS, transitionsolutions for authentication of the Set-Top-Box (STB) in IMS, and identifies problems inthe integration of IPTV and IMS. The report concludes that IMS has good solid Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) functions that will provide security and billing functionality. One problemis found in the media control between the STB and the streaming server. This interface lacked specification at the time of investigation, and some problems have been identified. These problems have to be solved before a system can be brought into service and beregarded as secure.

Diese Arbeit beschaeftigt sich mit Methoden fuer die Authentifizierung, Autorisation und das Accounting (AAA) im Zusammenhang mit dynamischen Hostkonfigurationsprotokollen auf Basis von IPv6. Die zustandlose (autom. Konfig.) und die zustandsgebundene Adresskonfiguration (DHCP) von IPv6 wird auf moegliche AAA Ansatzpunkte untersucht. Es wird eine DHCPv6 Beispielimplementation fuer Linux erstellt.

Background:             Internationalisation for businesses has been researched for decades and has been well understood. However, new types of organisations have emerged in the digital age, disrupting the organisational landscape. One of these disruptive organisations is born digitals (BD), which have become more prominent in recent years. Some of the biggest companies today are BDs, including Google and Spotify. However, how they internationalise and their processes look is not well understood. Because of this, it is of interest to understand how these organisations internationalise as they have been such a disruptive force in the international market.  Purpose:                       The purpose of the study is to investigate the internationalisation process of a BD firm, to recognise what internal and external factors influence their decision-making and whether specific strategies are being used. It aims to utilise prior internationalisation theories to provide a further understanding of these organisations and the way they work. The goal of the study is also to provide a framework that BDs can use to internationalise successfully.  Method:                         This study implemented a qualitative research design with an inductive approach and a single case study for the research design. The case company works with search engine optimisation (SEO) within the online service providers (OSP) industry. It included interviews with six employees from the company, with a total of nine interviews. The interviews were conducted in a semi-structured manner to create flexibility in the interview design.   Conclusion:                  The key points of the study results were the following: (i) several internal and external factors and how they influenced BDs' internationalisation were identified, and which factors had a more significant impact on their processes. (ii) It was identified that they do not plan for specific internationalisation strategies, however, it was seen that they do develop strategies, although done unconsciously. (iii) This resulted in the development of a new framework that aims to provide insights into the process BDs undergo when internationalising.

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