The human skin is the largest and most complex body organ but accessible and attractive for biomarker sampling and transdermal drug delivery. The two procedures are significantly impacted by several biophysical properties of the skin, especially the pH and stratum corneum (SC)hydration. The varying levels of pH on the skin surface usually impact the permeability barrier function of the SC, contributing to the onset of dermatological disorders such as incontinence-associated dermatitis (IAD). Consequently, this scholarly work provides a comprehensive in vitro investigation of the effect of pH on the skin including the effect of artificial urine. The pig skin membranes were used to conduct electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS)experiments using a four-electrode Franz cell set-up. Artificial urine and buffered solution with varying pH gradients were utilized to induce reversible changes in effective membrane capacitance (Ceff) and membrane resistance (Rmem). The in vitro investigation revealed that exposure to urine changed the electrical impedance properties of the skin. Specifically, we found that the application of artificial urine to the skin reduced skin resistance. At the same time, we also find systematic changes in skin capacitance. Skin capacitance increased with increased pH. Hence the two skin impedance parameters showed a clear effect of artificial urine on the skin. These changes, i.e., the decrease of Rmem and increase of Ceff of skin membranes when they are exposed to artificial urine, can be interpreted as skin barrier deterioration The information provided herein is relevant in describing the detrimental effect of urine on the skin, which probably makes skin barrier more permeable.

Aujourd’hui, les équipements intégrant du logiciel et connectés à Internet sont de plus en plus nombreux et variés. Avec l’arrivée de l’“Internet des objets” et la tendance au “tout connecté”, de nombreux équipements de notre quotidien bénéficient maintenant d’une connexion à Internet : les Smart-TVs, les lecteurs DVD, les systèmes d’alarmes, les systèmes domotiques, jusqu’aux équipements facilitant l’hospitalisation à domicile de patients par exemple. Ces évolutions technologiques s’accompagnent malheureusement de problèmes de sécurité. L’utilisation massive du réseau Internet a facilité la propagation de logiciels malveillants, qui peuvent aujourd’hui cibler tout type d’équipement informatique et notamment les équipements connectés. Alors qu’il existe déjà des normes permettant d’évaluer la sécurité d’équipements informatiques industriels, leur application aux équipements grand public est encore limitée. La présence et la criticité des vulnérabilités qui peuvent affecter ces équipements sont encore mal connues car elles n’ont pas fait l’objet d’études approfondies. C’est précisément l’objectif de cette thèse, qui propose une méthode permettant de mener une analyse de vulnérabilités des équipements grand public connectés à Internet. Cette méthode est constituée de deux grandes phases : une phase d’analyse des risques suivie d’unephase d’expérimentations. L’analyse de sécurité d’un équipement, quelle qu’elle soit, nécessite une bonne connaissance de l’environnement de celui-ci. Afin de guider l’évaluateur dans cette tâche, nous proposons, dans une première phase, de nous fonder sur des méthodes d’analyse des risques existantes. Ces méthodes sont aujourd’hui bien éprouvées et permettent à l’évaluateur d’obtenir une vue globale des risques encourus par l’utilisation de l’équipement étudié. Ensuite, lors de la seconde phase de l’étude, l’évaluateur se concentre sur les risques les plus importants afin de montrer la faisabilité technique des scénarios menant aux risques considérés, à l’aide d’expérimentations. Étant donné le grand nombre et la diversité des connexions présentes sur les équipements connectés, il est important de mettre l’accent sur les scénarios d’attaque qui peuvent s’avérer riches, même si ces scénarios ont pour origine une vulnérabilité locale simple. Pour cette seconde phase, une méthode d’expérimentation est donc proposée pour étudier ces scénarios d’attaque, qui, de plus, ciblent des équipementsdont les spécifications ne sont pas forcément disponibles. Afin d’illustrer la méthode globale, cette thèse se fonde sur deux cas d’étude : les box ADSL et les téléviseurs connectés. Ces études ont été menées sur un panel d’équipements provenant des principaux fournisseurs d’accès à Internet et des principaux fabricants de téléviseurs, ce qui nous a permis de comparer les différents équipements présents sur le marché. Les vulnérabilités mises en évidence concernent en particulier les liens de communication (boucle locale pour les Box ADSL, interface DVB-T pour les Smarts TVs) reliant les équipements à leurs fournisseurs de service (FAI pour les Box ADSL, TV et VoD pour les Smart TVs). Ces liens de communication sont habituellement considérés de confiance et ne sont à notre connaissance pas ou peu étudiés jusqu’à présent. Cette thèse contribue ainsi à l’analyse de sécurité sur ces liens particuliers des équipements connectés et met en lumière des chemins d’attaque originaux.Enfin, cette thèse se termine par la présentation des différents mécanismes de protection existants afin d’empêcher l’introduction ou l’exploitation des failles de sécurité identifiées. / Today, equipment embedding software and an Internet connection are more and more numerous and various. With the emergence of “the internet of things” and the trend to interconnect everything, many equipment used in our every day life are now connected to the internet: Smart-Tvs, DVD players, alarm and home automation systems, and even health assistance home devices, for example. Unfortunately, these technological evolutions also introduce new security threats. The massive use of internet facilitates the propagation of malware, capable of targeting any computer device, and more specifically any internet connected device. Although several methods allowing security analysis of industrial systems exist, their application to home devices is still limited. The existence and the criticality of potential vulnerabilities in these devices are not well-known, because they have not been thoroughly studied. This is precisely the objective of this thesis, which presents a method allowing to carry out a vulnerability analysis of internet connected home devices. This method is composed of two main phases: a risk analysis phasefollowed by an experimental phase. The security analysis of any type of equipement, requires a good knowledge ofits environment. In order to guide the evaluator in this task, we propose, as a first step, to rely on existing risk analysis methods. These methods are now mature, and allow the evaluator to obtain a global view of the risks incurred by the usage of anequipment. Then, during the second step of our method, the evaluator concentrates on the most important risks in order to demonstrate the technical feasibility of the scenarios leading to the considered risks, by carrying out several experiments.Considering the large amount and the diversity of I/Os on connected devices, it is important to focus on specifically rich attack scenarios, possibly depending on a simple local vulnerability. For this second step, an experimental method is proposedin order to study these attack scenarios, which, moreover, target equipement whose specifications are not necessarily available.In order to illustrate the entire method, this thesis presents two case studies: Integrated Access Devices and Smart-Tvs. These studies are carried out on a panel of devices from major internet service providers and TV manufacturers, allowing us to compare several devices available on the market. The vulnerabilities pointed out, mainly concern the communication means (local loop for the IAD, DVB-T interface for the smart-TVs) connecting these devices to their service providers (ISP for the IAD, TV and VoD for the smart-TVs). These communication links are usually considered safe, and have been, to our knowledge, seldom explored. Thisthesis thereby contributes to the security analysis of these particular communication means for connected devices and points out some original attack paths. Finally, this thesis ends by presenting different existing security mechanisms that can be used to avoid exploitation of the identified weaknesses

Pferde mit respiratorischer Symptomatik, insbesondere Pferde mit milderen Symptomen wie beispielsweise gelegentlichem Husten, geringgradigem Nasenausfluss und Leistungsinsuffizienz wurden häufig ohne ausreichende Diagnostik mit einem Antibiotikum vorbehandelt. Insgesamt wurden an IAD erkrankte Pferde häufiger mit einem Antibiotikum vorbehandelt als Pferde, bei denen RAO diagnostiziert wurde. Die Ergebnisse der mikrobiologischen Untersuchungen zeigen jedoch, dass eine bakterielle Beteiligung bei der Pathogenese des equinen Asthmas mit hoher Wahrscheinlichkeit eine untergeordnete Rolle spielt und somit eine antibiotische Behandlung in diesen Fällen nicht indiziert ist. Die Ergebnisse der klinischen, endoskopischen und zytologischen Untersuchung dieser Studie untermauern die Ergebnisse vorangegangener Studien.:Inhaltsverzeichnis 1. Einleitung 1 2. Literaturübersicht 2 2.1. Equines Asthma 2 2.1.1. Begriffsentwicklung 2 2.1.2. Recurrent Airway Obstruction 3 2.1.3. Inflammatory Airway Disease 5 2.1.4. Summer pasture associated pulmonary disease (SPAOPD) 7 2.2. Diagnostik Equines Asthma 7 2.2.1. Anamnese 7 2.2.2. Klinische Untersuchung 7 2.2.3. Blutbild und Blutchemie 8 2.2.4. Arterielle Blutgasanalyse 8 2.2.5. Endoskopie und Probengewinnung 9 2.2.6. Auswertung der BAL 10 2.2.6.1. Leukozyten 10 2.2.6.1.1. Neutrophile Granulozyten 10 2.2.6.1.2. Eosinophile Granulozyten 10 2.2.6.1.3. Mastzellen 11 2.2.6.1.4. Lymphozyten 11 2.2.6.2. Makrophagen 11 2.2.6.3. Epithelzellen 12 2.2.6.4. Curschmann-Spiralen 12 2.2.6.5. Bakterien 13 2.2.6.6. Pilze 13 2.2.7. Mikrobiologische Untersuchungen 13 2.3. Therapie des Equinen Asthmas 17 2.3.1. Optimierung der Haltungsbedingungen 17 2.3.2. Medikamente 19 2.3.2.1. Bronchospasmolyse 19 2.3.2.2. Sekretolyse 19 2.3.2.3. Glukokortikoide 20 3. Material und Methoden 21 3.1. Patienten 21 3.2. Anamnese 21 3.3. Klinische Untersuchung 21 3.4. Labordiagnostische Untersuchungen des venösen Blutes 23 3.5. Arterielle Blutgasanalyse 24 3.6. Endoskopie (inklusive Entnahme BAL, TBS, Spülprobe der oberen Atemwege) 24 3.7. Zytologische Untersuchung der bronchoalveolären Lavageflüssigkeit 27 3.8. Mikrobiologische Untersuchungen 27 3.9. Gruppeneinteilung 28 3.10. Statistische Untersuchungen 30 4. Ergebnisse 31 4.1. Studienpopulation 31 4.2. Klinische Untersuchung 36 4.3. Labordiagnostik Blut 39 4.4. Endoskopie 40 4.5. Zytologie BAL 42 4.6. Mikrobiologie 44 4.6.1. BAL 44 4.6.2. TBS 44 4.6.3. Spülprobe der oberen Atemwege 48 4.6.4. Zusammenhang zwischen der Vorbehandlung mit einem Antibiotikum und dem Nachweis von Bakterien 49 5. Diskussion 52 5.1. Limitationen der Studie 52 5.2. Studienpopulation 53 5.3. Klinische Untersuchung 55 5.4. Labordiagnostik Blut 56 5.5. Endoskopie 57 5.6. Zytologie der BAL 57 5.7. Mikrobiologische Untersuchung 58 5.7.1. BAL 59 5.7.2. Tracheobronchialsekret 60 5.7.3. Spülprobe der oberen Atemwege 62 5.7.4. Zusammenhang zwischen der Vorbehandlung mit einem Antibiotikum und dem Nachweis von Bakterien 62 5.8. Schlussfolgerung 63 6. Zusammenfassung 64 7. Summary 66 8. Literaturverzeichnis 68 9. Tabellenverzeichnis 77 10. Abbildungsverzeichnis 78 Danksagung 79

Nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) have come to play a major role in contemporary governance systems, and particularly in the fields of water and the environment. Adopting a new institutional theoretical perspective, this thesis examines how rules and norms affect the advocacy strategies of coalitions of NGOs in Vietnam and Cambodia, utilising a comparative case study analysis of the Xayaburi hydropower dam planned on the Mekong River in Laos. The comparison was conducted between the Rivers Coalition in Cambodia and the Vietnam Rivers Network during the planning period for the dams in 2011-2013.The main findings of the study is that rules, norms, actors, biophysical and material conditions interact with each other in creating influence over advocacy strategies. Different patterns of interactions were identified; these are 1) complementary interactions between formal rules, informal rules and norms 2) competing interactions between formal rules, informal rules and norms. Actors play important roles in both of these forms of interactions. Through identification of the barriers and opportunities NGO actors face within the Mekong region, the thesis concludes with two recommendations: 1) modifications to the formal rules which could facilitate further integration of NGOs and civil society actors into decision-making processes of transboundary water governance and 2) use of analytical framework by NGO and civil society actors in identifying windows of opportunities for advocacy strategies.

The current limits of supersonic parachute technology may constrain the ability to safely land future robotic assets on the surface of Mars. This constraint has led to a renewed interest in supersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator (IAD) technology, which offers performance advantages over the DGB parachute. Two supersonic IAD designs of interest include the isotensoid and tension cone, named for their respective formative structural theories. Although these concepts have been the subject of various tests and analyses in the 1960s, 1970s, and 2000s, significant work remains to advance supersonic IADs to a technology readiness level that will enable their use on future flight missions. In particular, a review of the literature revealed a deficiency in adequate aerodynamic and aeroelastic data for these two IAD configurations at transonic and subsonic speeds. The first portion of this research amended this deficiency by testing flexible IAD articles at relevant transonic and subsonic conditions. The data obtained from these tests showed that the tension cone has superior drag performance with respect to the isotensoid, but that the isotensoid may demonstrate more favorable aeroelastic qualities than the tension cone. Additionally, despite the best efforts in test article design, there remains ambiguity regarding the accuracy of the observed subscale behavior for flight scale IADs. Due to the expense and complexity of large-scale testing, computational fluid-structure interaction (FSI) analyses will play an increasingly significant role in qualifying flight scale IADs for mission readiness. The second portion of this research involved the verification and validation of finite element analysis (FEA) and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) codes for use within an FSI framework. These verification and validation exercises lend credence to subsequent coupled FSI analyses involving more complex geometries and models. The third portion of this research used this FSI framework to predict the static aeroelastic response of a tension cone IAD in supersonic flow. Computational models were constructed to mimic the wind tunnel test articles and flow conditions. Converged FSI responses computed for the tension cone agreed reasonably well with wind tunnel data when orthotropic material models were used and indicated that current material models may require unrealistic input parameters in order to recover realistic deformations. These FSI analyses are among the first results published that present an extensive comparison between FSI computational models and wind tunnel data for a supersonic IAD.

In order to improve the efficiency of various optical surfaces, optical coatings are used. Optical coating is a process of depositing a thin layer of a material on an optical component such as mirror or lens to change reflectance or transmittance. There are two main types of coatings namely / reflective and antireflective (AR) Coatings. Reflective and antireflective coatings have long been developed for a variety of applications in all aspects of use / for optical and electro-optical systems in telecommunications, medicine, military products and space applications. In this thesis, the main properties of reflective and antireflective coatings, the thin film deposition techniques, suitable coating materials for space applications, space environment effects on coating materials and coating design examples which are developed using MATLAB for space applications will be discussed.

The scaling down of Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) transistors to sub-100nm requires replacement of conventional Silicon dioxide layer with high dielectric constant (K) material for gate dielectric. Among the various high-K dielectrics that have been studied, HfO2 is found to be a promising candidate because of its high dielectric constant (~25), large band gap (5.68 eV), thermodynamic stability and good interface with Si. The HfO2 films have already been deposited using different growth techniques such as Atomic layer Deposition (ALD), Metalorgonic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) and Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD). Ion Assisted Deposition (IAD) is a novel technique that has been successfully employed to produce optical coatings of required quality. This growth technique presents many advantages over the other techniques such as formation from solid oxide sources, low growth temperatures (25-3000C) and film densification by ion bombardment. Hence this technique has been used to prepare HfO2 films in the present investigations. This thesis presents the structural, optical and electrical properties of HfO2 thin films prepared by Ion assisted deposition (IAD). The suitability of Ion assisted deposition process and the importance of investigations on the influence of process parameters on the film characteristics have been brought out in the process parameters-structure-composition and properties correlation presented in this thesis. The aim of this work is to process and characterize HfO2 films and investigate the influence of process parameters on the structure, composition and properties of the films to identify their suitability for CMOS gate applications. HfO2 films were deposited on p-type Si (100) wafers by Ion assisted deposition in an electron beam evaporation (Leybold,L-560) system. Pre-bombardment of the substrates with Argon ions has been done to remove any native oxide layer formation on Silicon by using a hallow cathode ion source (DENTON VACUUM CC103). During the film deposition a collimated oxygen ion beam, generated from the ion source is directed towards the substrate. The oxygen ion current is controlled by adjusting the voltage applied to the ion source and the oxygen flow through the ion source. The oxygen ions bombard the film as it grows and in that process improves its packing density as well as its stoichiometry. Keeping the deposition rate and thickness constant, HfO2 films have been deposited by varying Ion Current, Ion energy and substrate temperature. MOS capacitors were fabricated with Aluminum as gate electrode deposited by thermal evaporation. Ellipsometry techniques have been used to measure the optical thickness of the films. The interfacial layer (IL) formed at the HfO2/ Si interface was investigated by using Fourier transform Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The structural characterization was carried out by X-ray diffraction technique. The high frequency capacitance-voltage and DC leakage current characteristics were measured to analyze the electrical characteristics of MOS capacitors. The effect of post deposition annealing (PDA) of the films at 600°C and 700ºC in Forming Gas (15%H2+85%N2) ambient and Post metallization annealing (PMA) at 400ºC in the same ambient was also investigated to observe the changes in electrical characteristics. The initial step of this work was to compare the characteristics of the films deposited by reactive evaporation and Ion assisted deposition which confirmed the superiority of the quality of IAD coatings and justified the need to proceed further with a more detailed study on the influence of various parameters on the properties of IAD coatings. HfO2 films deposited on substrates maintained at 1000C exhibited better structural, Optical and Electrical properties. The leakage current in these films were lower which has been attributed to silicate free interface as confirmed by XRD studies. Investigations on films deposited with oxygen ion beams of different currents in the range 20 to 40mA indicated that the films deposited at 20mA ion current showed better electrical properties. Better stoichiometry of these films as indicated by FT IR studies was one of the reasons for their improved performance. Annealing of these films at 6000C and 7000C in FGA medium resulted in creation of silicates and silicides at the interface thereby increasing the leakage currents and degraded the film properties. The films deposited with oxygen ion beams generated with a driving voltage 265V showed better structural and optical properties with silicate free interface compared with low and high driving voltages. Among all the films, the maximum dielectric constant of about 21.9 with a minimum EOT of 5.5 nm corresponding to a film deposited at ion current 20mA with PMA 400°C in FG ambient for 20minites is achieved. The lowest value of interface charge density achieved is 2.7 x1012 per cm-2 eV-1 corresponding to the sample deposited at substrate temperature 100°C with deposition rate of 0.5Å/sec followed by post metallization annealing at 400°C in forming gas for 20minutes. The range of Dit values that were obtained are varying from 2.7x 1012 – 16.7x1012 cm-2eV-1.It was also found that, the samples deposited at higher ion currents show lower Dit values than the samples deposited at lower ion currents. From the I−V analysis, the leakage current density is found to be comparatively less in IAD than in reactive evaporation. Leakage current increases with increase in substrate temperature and the same trend is observed with annealed films also. The lowest leakage current density of 1.05x10–8 A/cm2 at a gate bias of 1V was observed in the films deposited at substrate temperature 1000C. The present thesis focused on the suitability of the Ion Assisted deposition process for the preparation of HfO2 films for high-K gate dielectric application and the importance of investigations on the influence of process parameters on the film characteristics.

Urban areas play important role in relation to potential risks and impacts of climate change. Adaptation experience is accumulating in the public and private sector across the world. This diploma thesis evaluates current creation of adaptation strategies in cities of the Czech Republic with the use of institutional analysis by the IAD framework. The aim of the thesis is to identify the most common constraints on the adaptation strategies making process and to suggest possible solutions. Data collection method is based on in-depth interviews with stakeholders in the cities of Pilsen, Prague and Brno. Identified constraints include lack of policy support, different level of experiences with creation of conceptual documents and problem with funds for adaptation action. As a solution deepen partnership between self-government and non-profit institutions and deepen cooperation between politics and civil servants with focus on information exchange is needed. In addition conceptual characterization of problems in cities together with their identification, which can helps to obtain funding for implementation of adaptation actions (e.g. through the LIFE programme) is recommended.

Der intersektorale Wasserkonflikt zwischen urbaner und agrarischer Wassernutzung in Hyderabad und die Konkurrenz zwischen den Bedürfnissen der Stadt und den Ansprüchen der Landwirtschaft werden verschärft durch willkürliche Verteilungspraktiken, die den offiziellen Zuteilungsrichtlinien oft widersprechen. Übersetzt in die Sprache von Ostrom, gilt die vorliegende Untersuchung der Kernfrage, warum bestimmte praktizierte Regeln (rules-in-use) fortbestehen, obwohl formale Regeln (rules-in-form) im Bereich der Nutzungsrechte an Wasser vorhanden sind. Die Arbeit versucht dementsprechend zu erklären, wie bestehende Institutionen und Governancestrukturen die Interaktionen beteiligter Akteure und deren Verhalten beeinflussen und wie daraus eine durch Willkür gekennzeichnete Umverteilung erwächst. Knights Verteilungstheorie institutionellen Wandels und sein Ansatz über Machtressourcen vermögen zu erklären, wie menschliche Interaktionen in Zusammenhang mit solchen Konflikten über begrenzte Ressourcen zustande kommen. Die Ergebnisse der Arbeit zeigen ebenfalls, welche Wirkungen die Charakteristika verschiedener Gruppen von Wassernutzern und deren spezifische Abhängigkeit von Wasserressourcen auf ihre Fähigkeit zur politischen Einflussnahme ausüben. Solche Ausprägungen von Ressourcenabhängigkeiten bedingen Machtasymmetrien und erhöhen das Ausmaß willkürlicher Umverteilungen von Wasser. Die Untersuchung identifiziert eine Literaturlücke im Bereich der Politik der Wassergovernance, indem sie den Wählereinfluss als Machtressource im Land-Stadt-Konflikt um Wasserressourcen empirisch belegt. Die Arbeit zielt insgesamt darauf, das Erklärungspotential von Eigentumsrechtstheorien zu nutzen und anhand von Wasserkonflikten in Hyderabad ein Beispiel zur Anwendbarkeit aktueller Theorien institutionellen Wandels zu geben. / Hyderabad’s inter-sectoral water conflict and competition between the city’s urban needs and the agricultural sector have been fueled by persistent arbitrary water reallocations against the prescribed allocation guidelines. To translate the key question into Ostrom’s language; this study seeks to unravel the persistence of rules-in-use, despite the rules-in-form already in place within the realms of property rights. Ostrom’s Institutional Analysis and Development framework identifies exogenous variables and its influences on the role of institutions which shapes human interaction and decision making processes. It attempts to explain how the existing water-allocation mechanism has propagated the way rules and actors currently interact to influence such arbitrary water re-allocation. Knight’s distributional theory of institutional change and his concept of power resources provide good explanations of human interaction in the context of such conflicts over limited resources. The study results also reveal how the characteristics of water-user groups and its dependence on water resource have the ability to exert political influence over water allocation. Such attributes of resource dependence characterizes power asymmetry, thereby increasing the scale of arbitrary water reallocations. Henceforth, this study addresses the gap in ‘politics of water governance’ in existing literature by empirically deriving ‘political electorate’ as a power resource in rural-urban water contestation. Overall, this study seeks to employ the theoretical explanations of property rights and attempts to provide a case on the applicability of contemporary theories of institutional change by taking the case study of Hyderabad’s water contestation.

This dissertation is a response to the negative trends in urban mobility, which led many authors to conclude on the need for a new approach to personal transport in the cities. The work has creative character, but in the conceptual level, it is taking into account the specific needs of sustainable urban mobility and build on the existing innovative transport solutions. The result of dissertation is a vehicle vision, understood as an element of urban mobility that respects the character of the zones of free movement of persons, but it is also suitable for transport over longer distances.