The object of this thesis is to analyze the evolution of railway interoperability and safety in Europe in the period 1991-2011. This pretends to assess what has been the legislative process at EU level in the last 20 years. This analysis looks for to determine whether it has been established the strong enough bases to achieve fully interoperable Trans-European Railway Network in a reasonable time, with uniform security features. The second aspect is to determine those points that should be corrected and improved, or simply addressed, to accelerate the integration process. A common feature of the rail networks in the European countries is their strong national focus in regard to Railway traffic rules and technical standards. This leads to specific products often developed and implemented by the national industry. This has raised a strong dependence of the rail networks on the local suppliers. Furthermore in most cases this carry out an incompatibility of these networks with the networks of neighbouring countries. To illustrate this situation it is only necessary to remember the different gauges in national networks (1,668 mm in the Iberian Peninsula, 1,520 in Russia, Finland, Baltic republics, 1,435 mm in the other European countries) to which must be added the numerous narrow gauges regional and urban networks. Another good example is the different supply voltages: 1,500 V dc, 3,000 V dc, 25 kV 50 Hz, 15 kV 16 2/3 Hz, which should add the 625 V dc, 750 V dc, 1,200 V cc, used in trams and regional rail systems. In the field of railway signalling, more than six different and incompatible systems exit. As we show in this document there are hundreds of other parameters that are different from one network to another: the height of the overhead line, the height of the platforms, the gauges an so on and so forth. The lack of interoperability, affects decisively to the creation of a European single market in rail transport for both: goods and passengers, which prevents private (or public) rail undertakings to give trans-national services and create a single market. The thesis focuses on the study of the directives relate to the interoperability and railway safety, and the technical specifications for interoperability (TSI). It leaves for future analysis the detailed studies European standards being developed for the technical harmonization of each subsystem parts. According to the author when the concept of interoperability was lunched in 1996, probably it was thought that the technical harmonization would be much easier. However, when it was analyzed in depth it was found a large number of discrepancies between the technical characteristics of each network raised. These parameters such as width and height of the pantographs, the stresses of the overhead contact wires, the length of the neutral zones, the height of platforms, the different kinematic and dynamic gauges and a long list of different parameters, made it impossible, in practice, the movement of trains across borders in a generalized manner in a short term. Finally it was recognized the fact that, for achieving real harmonized lines, it would be necessary to invest a huge amount of money not justify by the cost-benefit analyzes. The Thesis concludes that is necessary to put in force more strong Technical Specifications of Interoperability that leave less degree of freedom to the Member states: determining a single objective parameter value, trying to reduce the permanent specific cases and solving and reducing the list of open points. / El propósito de esta tesis es analizar el desarrollo de la interoperabilidad y seguridad ferroviaria en Europa en el periodo comprendido entre 1991-2011. La intención es evaluar cuál ha sido el proceso legislativo a nivel de la UE durante los últimos 20 años. Este análisis tratará de determinar si ha sido establecido desde una base suficientemente sólida para obtener una Red Ferroviaria Trans-Europea dentro de un periodo razonable, con uniformidad de instalaciones de seguridad. El segundo aspecto sería determinar aquellos puntos que deben ser corregidos o mejorados, o sencillamente re-examinados para acelerar el proceso de integración. Un aspecto común a las redes ferroviarias de los países europeos es su fuerte énfasis nacional en lo que respecta a normas de circulación ferroviaria y reglamentación técnica. Esta realidad conduce a la creación e implementación de productos específicos por parte de la industrial nacional. Esto ha llevado a una fuerte dependencia de las redes ferroviarias de suministradores locales. Asimismo, en la mayoría de los casos, esto lleva a la incompatibilidad de estas redes con las redes de países vecinos. Para ilustrar esta situación, solamente es necesario recordar los distintos anchos de vía en redes nacionales (1.668 mm en la península ibérica, 1.520 en Rusia, Finlandia y las repúblicas del Báltico, 1.435 mm en otros países europeos) al que habría que añadir las numerosas redes de vías de ancho estrecho regionales y urbanas. Otro buen ejemplo serían los distintos suministros de tensión: 1.500 V dc, 3.000 V dc, 25 kV 50 Hz, 15 kV 2/3 Hz, al que habría que añadir las de 625 V dc, 750 V dc, 1.200 V cc, utilizados en tranvías y redes de trenes regionales. En el ámbito de la señalización ferroviaria, existen más de seis sistemas distintos e incompatibles. Tal y como demostramos en este documento, hay cientos de parámetros distintos que difieren de una red a otra: la altura de la línea suspendida, la altura de andenes, los anchos, etc, etc. La falta de interoperabilidad afecta decisivamente a la creación de un mercado común europeo de transporte ferroviario para tanto mercancías como pasajeros, lo cual impide que empresas privadas (o públicas) ferroviarias puedan ofrecer servicios transnacionales y crear un solo mercado. Esta tesis se enfoca en el estudio de la reglamentación relacionada con la interoperabilidad y seguridad ferroviaria, y las especificaciones técnicas para la interoperabilidad (TSI). Deja para análisis futuros el estudio detallado de los estándares europeos bajo desarrollo para la armonización técnica de cada parte de subsistema. Según el autor, cuando el concepto de la interoperabilidad fue lanzada en 1996, probablemente se pensara que la armonización técnica sería mucho más sencilla. Sin embargo, al analizarlo en detalle se descubrió que aparecían un amplio número de discrepancias entras las características de cada red. Estos parámetros, como el ancho y alto de los pantógrafos, las tensiones de los hilos de contacto suspendidos, la longitud de zonas neutras, el alto de andenes, las diferentes propiedades cinemáticas y el ancho dinámico y una amplia lista de distintos parámetros hacían imposible en la práctica la circulación de trenes más allá de sus fronteras de forma generalizada a corto plazo. Por fin se reconoció el hecho de que para conseguir líneas verdaderamente armonizadas sería necesario invertir una enorme cantidad de dinero que no era justificable en los análisis de coste-beneficio. La tesis concluye que es necesario poner en vigencia especificaciones técnicas de interoperabilidad más fuertes que dejen menos libertad a los países miembros: determinar un solo valor de parámetro objetivo, y tratar de reducir los casos específicos permanentes y resolver y reducir el número de puntos abiertos.

Although previous scholars have addressed the legislative parameters of the Equal Rights Amendment debate in non-ratifying states, analysis of amendment supporters’ rhetoric has been limited. Examining the public and private writings of activists, This thesis presents the argument that pro-ERA coalitions in Georgia addressed the concerns of their opponents and developed rhetoric that deemphasized connections to the radical women’s liberation movement and argued that the ERA would enact legal, rather than social, change. While the educational materials produced by pro-ERA coalitions presented a logical analysis of the amendment’s legal ramifications, the personal discourse of Georgia activists presented an emotional defense of the amendment that has often been overlooked in previous studies.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilken historiekultur konstrueras i en svensk och i en bosnisk gymnasielärobok då fokus ligger på det tidigmoderna Sverige och det tidigmoderna Bosnien. Frågeställningar är följande: Hur beskrivs det tidigmoderna Sverige och det tidigmoderna Bosnien i de analyserade gymnasieläroböckerna det vill säga vilka politiska och kulturella händelser skildras? Förekommer några likheter och/eller skillnader i framställningen av det tidigmoderna Sverige och det tidigmoderna Bosnien? Finns det några jämförbara förhållanden eller idéer? Handlar det alltså om kontrasterande eller generaliserande komparation? Vilken bild av historiekultur konstrueras i respektive gymnasielärobok? Metoden som används är kvalitativ textanalys av läromedel och komparativ metod. Resultatet visar att politisk historia dominerar i beskrivningen av det tidigmoderna Sverige medan kulturell historia upptar mindre plats. I beskrivningen av det tidigmoderna Bosnien uppmärksammas politisk och kulturell historia lika mycket. Komparationen mellan framställningen av det tidigmoderna Sverige och det tidigmoderna Bosnien är i lika hög grad kontrasterande som generaliserande eftersom den karakteriseras av både likheter och skillnader i historieskrivningen. Likheter handlar om allmänna historiska drag som politik, kultur, händelser och personer medan skillnader innebär själva händelser och personer som är specifika för Sveriges respektive Bosniens historiska utveckling. Bilden av den svenska och den bosniakiska historiekultur är jämförbara och består av de händelser och personer som var betydande för ländernas territoriella expansion, politiska och kulturella utveckling. / The purpose of this study is to examine witch historiculture is constructed in a Swedish and in a Bosnian school textbook where the focus is on early modern Sweden and early modern Bosnia. Questions are: How describes early modern Sweden and early modern Bosnia in the analyzed secondary school textbooks that is to say, which political and cultural events depicted?  There are some similarities and/or differences in the production of early modern Sweden and early modern Bosnia? There are no comparable conditions or ideas? It is therefore about contrasting or excessively broad comparison? What image of historical-cultural constructs in each secondary school textbook? The method used is the qualitative text analysis of the textbooks and the comparative method. The result shows that political history dominate in the description of early modern Sweden while cultural history occupies less space. In the description of early modern Bosnia calls attention to the political and cultural history as much. The comparison between the production of early modern Sweden and early modern Bosnia is just as much contrast as excessively broad because it is characterized by both similarities and differences in the writing of history. Similarities are general historical features policy, culture, events and persons while differences involve the events and people that are specific to Sweden's respective Bosnia's historical development. The image of the Swedish and the Bosnian history culture are comparable and consists of the events and persons who were significant for countries ' territorial expansion, political and cultural development.

<p>A fire in Salem, Mass., in 1914 and an explosion in Halifax, N.S., in 1917 provide an opportunity to explore working-class institutions and organizations in the United States-Canada borderlands. In a historical moment in which the state greatly expanded its responsibility to give protection and rescue to its citizens, after these two disasters ordinary survivors preferred to depend on their friends, neighbors, and family members. This dissertation examines which institutions--including formal organizations like unions and fraternal societies as well as informal groups like families and neighborhoods--were most relevant and useful to working-class survivors. Families, neighbors, friends, and coworkers had patterns and traditions of self-help, informal order, and solidarity that they developed before crisis hit their cities. Those traditions were put to unusual purposes and extreme stress when the disasters happened. They were also challenged by new agents of the state, who were given extraordinary powers in the wake of the disasters. This dissertation describes how the working-class people who most directly experienced the disasters understood them and their cities starkly differently than the professionalized relief authorities.</p><p>Using a wide array of sources--including government documents, published accounts, archived ephemeral, oral histories, photographs, newspapers in two languages, and the case files of the Halifax Relief Commission--the dissertation describes how elites imposed a progressive state on what they imagined to be a fractured and chaotic social landscape. It argues that "the people" for whom reformers claimed to speak had their own durable, alternative modes of support and rescue that they quickly and effectively mobilized in times of crisis, but which remained illegible to elites. By demonstrating the personal, ideological, political, and practical ties between New England and Nova Scotia and Quebec, it also emphasizes the importance of studying American and Canadian history together, not only comparatively but as a transnational, North American whole.</p> / Dissertation

Linearized stability analysis methodologies, system identification algorithms and optimal control approaches that are applicable to large scale, flexible multibody dynamic systems are presented in this thesis. For stability analysis, two classes of closely related algorithms based on a partial Floquet approach and on an autoregressive approach, respectively, are presented in a common framework that underlines their similarity and their relationship to other methods. The robustness of the proposed approach is improved by using optimized signals that are derived from the proper orthogonal modes of the system. Finally, a signal synthesis procedure based on the identified frequencies and damping rates is shown to be an important tool for assessing the accuracy of the identified parameters; furthermore, it provides a means of resolving the frequency indeterminacy associated with the eigenvalues of the transition matrix for periodic systems. For system identification, a robust algorithm is developed to construct subspace plant models. This algorithm uniquely combines the methods of minimum realization and subspace identification. It bypasses the computation of Markov parameters because the free impulse response of the system can be directly computed in the present computational environment. Minimum realization concepts were applied to identify the stability and output matrices. On the other hand, subspace identification algorithms construct a state space plant model of linear system by using computationally expensive oblique matrix projection operations. The proposed algorithm avoids this burden by computing the Kalman filter gain matrix and model dependency on external inputs in a small sized subspace. Balanced model truncation and similarity transformation form the theoretical foundation of proposed algorithm. Finally, a forward innovation model is constructed and estimates the input-output behavior of the system within a specified level of accuracy. The proposed system identification algorithms are computationally inexpensive and consist of purely post processing steps that can be used with any multi-physics computational tool or with experimental data. Optimal control methodologies that are applicable to comprehensive large-scale flexible multibody systems are presented. A classical linear quadratic Gaussian controller is designed, including subspace plant identification, the evaluation of linear quadratic regulator feedback gain and Kalman filter gain matrices and online control implementation.

As the international relations changed tremendously after the Cold War Era, the foreign policies of Mainland China also made a great deal change. And due to the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mainland China came to new perspectives on international systems; that is, the ¡§multi-polar international system¡¨ had replaced the ¡§bipolar system.¡¨ And under the hegemony of the United States, the international system should transform into ¡§one superpower with multi-polar system.¡¨ But whatever the international system could be, Mainland China has begun to consider itself as a pole in the international system after the Cold War. The concept of being a pole became more evident when Ze-Min Jiang unveiled the idea of ¡§major power foreign policy¡¨ in 1997. This is became the concept of ¡§major power¡¨ was somewhat similar with the ¡§pole¡¨ as Xiao-Ping Deng proposed before. Under the premise of being an international major power, ¡§power¡¨ had been set up as the diplomatic goal that Mainland China kept pursuing. In other words, Mainland China wanted to be an internationally powerful and influential ¡§major power.¡¨ And the importance of the Third World countries served the place where China expected them to be strategic partners. However, as the confrontation of the United States and the Soviet Union gradually vanished, the political ideology that maintained the relationship between Mainland China and the Third World also weakened. Having kept the mission of making good relations with the Third World countries, the Chinese found it was necessary to have common interest for both, and therefore, even economic strategy as well as economic measures could play alternative role for Chinese foreign policy.

Abstract The competitiveness of enterprises improves and lies in exploring, analyzing and solving the problem constantly, to keep and build an environment suitable for long term management. This research aims to discuss the profit factors which deeply influence the enterprise, let the case company understand the possible income statement faced in the future after analyzing, and reduce the risk of management by preparations in advance. To the case company, there are two main factors which influence profitability - oil price and the exchange rate of new Taiwan dollar to U.S. dollar. This research makes an analysis, do a prediction and judge to the future price trend. The crude oil has already stepped into high price era, and it is predicted to last for a while. Regardless the main reason that the oil-producing country has tasted the wealth that the high oil price has brought, the demand for crude oil is increasing constantly in China, and the high oil price doesn¡¦t bring great damage to the economy growth and inflation of the global, all sorts of signs show that high oil price will not be discontinued, and the exchange rate of new Taiwan dollar to U.S. dollar depends on the currency policy of U.S. dollar and the development of Taiwan¡¦s economy. And because the ability of consume is still strong constantly in the U.S., the Taiwan¡¦s policy to China has been indistinct as well, all enterprises are full of uncertainty to the future. Those factors influence the economy in Taiwan, thus the long-term pressure of exchange rate appreciation slackens relatively .It is unavoidable to fluctuate in a short time, when the hot money is passed in and out the stock market recently , the fluctuation becomes increasing and violent. But on long terms, in order to maintain the competition advantage for Taiwan exports, the possibility of wide range fluctuation on exchange rate is small. Finally, in order to seek the stable development for case company in the future , they issues new stock to raise the capital in secondary market and invest to the relative enterprises to obtain raw materials , so it is another main purpose of this research to evaluate rational value of new shares for reference.

This thesis aims at discussing the nature of relations between Russia and China and the Northeast Asian security during the post-Soviet era. The research question is whether Russia and Northeast Asian countries still pursue ideological policies after post-Cold War era. In this respect, the thesis argues that these countries act pragmatically instead of ideologically in the post-Cold War era. This has resulted in a rapprochement between communist China and post-Soviet Russia in the post-Soviet era. Moreover, ideological differences among any regional states do not constitute the basis of regional conflicts. It is rather North Korea&rsquo / s nuclear program that has become the main regional security threat. The thesis is composed of six chapters. After the introductionary chapter, the second chapter examines Russian-Chinese bilateral relations. The following three chapters discuss Russian-Chinese relations concerning the roles of Japan, South Korea and North Korea respectively in the Northeast Asian security. The last chapter is the conclusion.

The period from 1930 to 1946 constitutes one of the most important episodes of the history of Turkish Republic. It is the period in which the new regime was consolidated through a series of radical secularizing reforms, which aimed at weakening the role of religion in politics and society and confining it to the private sphere. In this period, the Kemalist regime tried to replace an identity based on religion by one based on the Turkish nation. It has generally been argued that the transition to multi-party regime and the subsequent coming to power of the Democratic Party in 1950 constitutes a serious break with the previous period by opening a greater space for religion in society. This thesis will try to study the construction of Turkish national identity through a comparison of the high school textbooks of the 1930 &ndash / 1950 period and 1950 &ndash / 1960 era.

Urban archaeological sites are important traces of history in the cities and should be conserved for the next generations with their values. For their survival in the urban context it is essential to integrate them to the current urban context they exist in. In this study, four urban archaeological sites in Ulus, Ankara are analyzed for understanding their states of integration by constructing an analysis method. In this process the conceptual frame and methodology offered by the APPEAR Project were regarded as basic tools. Within this scope, firstly a general overview is put forward about the APPEAR Method, Ankara and Roman Remains in Ulus with also discussing the current legal framework in Turkey. Afterwards the analysis is done on the archaeological sites / Roman Baths Open Air Museum, Cardo Maximus, Augustus and Roma Temple and Roman Theatre. Finally the fundamental principles and options are put forward for these Roman remains&rsquo / integration in the current urban context. The analysis conducted on the four urban archaeological sites reveal that the Roman remains in Ulus are not integrated with their current urban context This situation is threatening their survival while causing problems both for the v remains themselves and the city. The study while defining basic principles for the sites&rsquo / integration it also puts forward three fundamental concepts that should guide the enhancement projects. These are: Accessibility, Visibility and Intelligibility which are regarded as the tools for strengthening the contextual unity of the sites and their integration in the urban context.