Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / Following the cold war a new kind of threat emerged; terrorism became the most important threat used by individuals, organizations and countries to reach their goals. Turkey has suffered from terrorism for years. In Turkey, the main logistic resource for the terrorist is the villages located in remote areas. A search operation is one of the techniques used to capture the terrorists. Five village search operations scenarios are developed based on a previous study done for the New Zealand Army and the author's personal experiences. For this study, the agent-based model MANA (Map Aware Non-uniform Automata) is used. To investigate the effects of 16 variables state-of-the-art Near Orthogonal Latin Hypercube Designs are used. With a personal computer and the computational capabilities of supercomputers run by Mitre for the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab (MCWL) approximately 15000 runs are completed. In comparing the five scenarios, the significant effects on the outcome of a possible skirmish in search operations are the proficiency level of the soldiers, the employment of village guards and the support of the local people to the terrorists. The results of the analysis suggest that the most important factor affecting the Blue casualties is the initial speed and synchronization of the Blue search unit entering the village and the most important factor affecting the Red casualties is the Red Stealth. / First Lieutenant, Turkish Army

The application of multiple medications has successively increased during a number of years and has thereby increased the potential risks of adverse drug reactions, interactions and non-adherence to drug therapy. This may result in unnecessary health expenditure, directly due to redundant drug sales, and indirectly due to the increased hospitalization caused by drug-related problems. The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate the occurrence and development of drug use, multiple medication, and polypharmacy in an entire national population by using individual-based data on dispensed drugs. The studies (I-V) in the thesis are based on data of dispensed prescription drugs for up to 6.2 million individuals obtained from the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register. The data in the studies cover different periods of time between July 2005-Sept 2008, and the data have been analyzed on the basis of epidemiological measures and statistical methods. The major conclusions of the studies are: the prevalence of dispensed drugs and multiple medications was extensive in all age groups and was higher for females than for males. Multiple medications should be regarded as a risk in terms of potential drug-drug interactions and adverse drug reactions in all age groups (I). Regional differences in the prevalence of polypharmacy were observed and partly explained by the regional age distribution in Sweden. The use of a novel weighted polypharmacy index indicated regional differences in drug therapy for individuals with polypharmacy (II). The number of drugs used by an individual not only increased the potential risks associated with multiple drug use, but also the potential burden of an increased therapeutic intensity, especially for elderly (III). Individuals with ten or more drugs accounted for almost fifty percent of the total acquisition costs of dispensed drugs. Therefore, interventions with a focus on the reduction of the number of prescription drugs for the small group of patients with a large number of different drugs may also result in a substantial reduction in the total drug costs (IV). In spite of national and regional efforts to reduce polypharmacy, the prevalence of polypharmacy and excessive polypharmacy and the mean number of drugs per individual continued to increase in Sweden 2005-2008 (V). The observed year-by-year increase in polypharmacy underlines the importance of monitoring the development of drug use in all ages. Individual-based registers studies of dispensed drugs provide high quality data and could serve as the basis for further research and also in terms of training health care personnel. It can also be used as a base for interventions and the evaluation of drug use. To enable better comparisons on drug use and its consequences, there is a need for standards concerning measurements, classification and criteria which encompass all types of medications. For clinicians, there is a need for information concerning the patient’s actual use of all different types of medications.

‘Sons of the soil’ conflicts seldom intensify above a low level of intrastate violence. Although frequent, they tend to remain small in scale, which has contributed to a lack of scholarly understanding about why some Sons of the soil conflict yet intensify more than others. Taking the role of the state into account, this study aims to investigate the causes for intensification in these conflicts. With a neoclassical realist approach, domestic factors behind the causal process of conflict intensification are unearthed, thereby investigating further the action-formation of the government threat perception. It leads the study to test the following hypothesis: A Sons of the soil conflict is more likely to intensify if the government misperceives the threat the conflict constitutes. Through a comparative process tracing analysis of Sons of the soil conflict intensity in Mali and Niger, 2006-2012, findings suggest that certain domestic factors at the state level cause a significant variation in the outcome. Actual low threats of Sons of the soil conflict may in fact be intensified due to state misperceptions.

The IL-6 system is key in the development of chronic low-grade inflammation. It is known to be upregulated in response to acute exercise and lowered at rest after exercise training. IL-6 has both anti- and pro-inflammatory properties and moderation of this cytokine could alleviate chronic low-grade inflammation which is associated with obesity and Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This thesis investigated the interplay between inflammation, glycaemic control and high intensity intermittent training (HIIT) - an exercise regimen that has been shown to yield many health benefits. There was a greater increase in IL-6 after an acute bout of HIIT than continuous moderate intensity exercise, where external work was matched (Chapter 4). Although sIL-6R and the IL-6/sIL-6R complex were both significantly increased after acute exercise there were no differences between HIIT and moderate intensity exercise. In response to 2 weeks HIIT there was a significant reduction in IL-6 and increase in IL-6R in adipose tissue in overweight and obese males (Chapter 5). It was also determined that IL-6R present in adipose tissue is at least partly composed of the membrane-bound IL-6R isoform (Chapter 6). Reductions in circulating sIL-6R, the IL-6/sIL-6R complex, MCP-1 and adiponectin, as well as a decrease in waist circumference and increase in peak oxygen uptake during exercise were also induced after 2 weeks HIIT (Chapter 5). Young adults with T2DM (< 40 y) displayed elevated levels of inflammatory proteins in comparison to lean controls, however there were no significant differences in comparison to obese controls (Chapter 7). In conclusion, the findings of this thesis demonstrate that acute and repeated bouts of HIIT have positive effects on the inflammatory profile in the circulation and adipose tissue, particularly in relation to the IL-6 system. It should be determined if HIIT is an achievable mode of exercise for patient populations, including T2DM patients, in order to downregulate the inflammatory profile.

This thesis deals with the mechanics of the Intra-Aortic Balloon Pump (IABP), the most widely used temporary cardiac assist device, whose beneficial action is based on the principle of counterpulsation. The investigation is carried out in vitro in increasingly more realistic setups, including a mock circulatory system with physiological distribution of peripheral resistance and compliance in which IABP counterpulsation was simulated. Pressure and flow measurements show the effect of variables such as intra-luminal pressure, angle and aortic compliance on balloon hemodynamics. These data are complemented by results on the duration of balloon inflation and deflation obtained by means of high-speed camera visualisation. Furthermore, wave intensity analysis is carried out and it is identified as a possible alternative method for the assessment of IABP performance. This work includes two prototypes of intra-aortic balloons of novel shape with the balloon chamber tapering both from and toward the balloon tip. In clinical terms, with reference to the semi-recumbent position in which patients assisted with the IABP are nursed in the intensive care unit, the results presented in this thesis indicate that operating the balloon at an angle compromises the benefit of counterpulsation when assessed in vitro.

It is possible to reach the radiation-reaction–dominated regime in today’s high-intensity laser facilities, using the collision of a wakefield-accelerated GeV electron beam with a 30 fs laser pulse of intensity 10²² Wcm^-2. This would demonstrate that the yield of high energy gamma rays is increased by the stochastic nature of photon emission: a beam of 10⁹ electrons will emit 6300 photons with energy > 700 MeV, 60 times the number predicted classically. Detecting those photons, or a prominent low energy peak in the electron beam's post-collision energy spectrum, will provide strong evidence of quantum radiation reaction; we place constraints on the accuracy of timing necessary to achieve this. This experiment would provide benchmarking for the simulations that will be used to study the plasmas produced in the next generation of laser facilities. With focused intensities > 10²³ Wcm^-2, these will be powerful enough to generate high fluxes of gamma rays and electron-positron pairs from laser–laser and laser–solid interactions. It will become possible to test the physics of exotic astrophysical phenomena, such as pair cascades in pulsar magnetospheres, and explore fundamental aspects of quantum electrodynamics (QED). To that end we will discuss: classical theories of radiation reaction; QED processes in intense fields; and a Monte Carlo algorithm by which the latter may be included in particle-in-cell codes. The feedback between QED processes and classical plasma dynamics characterises a new regime we call QED-plasma physics.

Title: EMG analysis of lower limb muscles in dependence on growing muscle fatigue Objectives: The main objective of this thesis is monitor and evaluate changes in EMG parameters of muscles of low extremities depending on the level of local muscle fatigue (during exercise on legpress. Methods: Study included 8 subjects who completed the exercise on weight lifting machine legpress, while we were measuring 6 muscles on lower extremities by using surface EMG. The measuremets was at level 75 % of maximum weight, when probands doing exercises until he had complete muscle fatigue. Data from electromyography was processed and through them we could watched the spectral distribution of the EMG signal and changes of EMG amplitude, which we relate to maximal voluntary contraction. Results: After analysis of all 48 measured muscles, increased of EMG amplitude occured in 45 of them. There was 67 % statistically significant, another 6 % was really close to significant level and remaining 23 % was insignificant. We have 144 time series in analysis of quartile milestones (Q25, Q50 and Q75). From this number decrease of frequency occured 135 times. There was 75 % statistically significant. Then we found out that biggest decreased was in median and mainly in Q75, it was in 82 %. Conclusions: Study proved that during...

Title: EMG analysis of lower limb muscles in dependence on growing muscle fatigue Objectives: The main objective of this thesis is monitor and evaluate changes in EMG parameters of muscles of low extremities depending on the level of local muscle fatigue (during exercise on legpress). Methods: Study included 8 subjects who completed the exercise on weight lifting machine legpress, while we were measuring 6 muscles on lower extremities by using surface EMG. The measuremets was at level 75 % of maximum weight, when probands doing exercises until he had complete muscle fatigue. Data from electromyography was processed and through them we could watched the spectral distribution of the EMG signal and changes of EMG amplitude. Key words: amplitude analysis, spectral analysis, surface polyelectromyography, muscle fatigue

Title: The energetic cost of middle aged women during zumba lesson measured by indirect calorimetric method Objectives: The aim of this study is to assess energy cost of the middle aged women during zumba exercise. Methods: A group of 6 women (age range 27-37 years) volunteered to participate in this study. To assess the maximal oxygen consumption, we used the running test to individual maximum. Each subject took part in six lessons of zumba in commercial fitness gym. Each subject was measured during 60 min long lesson. Results: The oxygen consumption of the whole zumba exercise was 19,5±2,2 ml.kg-1 .min-1 that is 68,4 % of the maximal oxygen consumption 40,1±7,4 ml.kg-1 .min-1 measured during running test. That exactly means a caloric expenditure 404,8 kcal (or 1692,2 kJ) during one lesson of zumba. The intensity of whole class reported by HR was covered by 67,5 % from HRmax and by Borg's rates of perceived exertion (6-20) with rates 14±2 from 18±2 immediately after the maximal running test. The highest energetic cost (336, 3 kcal, resp. 1405,9 kJ) was during the main part of the lesson. Zumba can be classified as moderately challenging type of exercise, which is good for fat burning; this statement is based on values of the heart rate measured during lessons of zumba. Key words: zumba, energetic...

Changes in the intensity of road transportation in CZ - 1995-2010 Abstract This diploma thesis focuses on the development of intensity load of road network between 1995 and 2010. Theoretical part is devoted to general definition of transport and transport systems. The next part is the theoretical concept of research that is focused on the spatial interaction and road transport in terms of spatial structure. The conclusion of theoretical part is devoted to characteristics of the road network and transport resources of Czech Republic. The empirical part of the thesis is describing the methodology of data processing at first. The following is an initially analysis of the evolution of traffic intensity on the motorway and road network in Czechia. Then they are analyzed regional differences in the intensity of road traffic and their evolution over time. Finally, here are three studies. The first is focused on the road transport at inputs to districts with the regional centres. The second is focused on the development of transport in the border region and compared with the hinterland. The latest study is focused on symptoms of suburbanization in the development of traffic intensity. Keywords: intensity of transportation, regional differentiation, Czech Republic