The development of the Austrian Courier, Express and Parcel (CEP) market, as well as the Austrian parceled goods market has been affected by the various economical, technical and legal developments during the last 25 years. Globalization and consolidation process within the European CEP and parceled goods market have affected the Austrian market. In the past, the major part of the European CEP and parceled goods market was covered by small and medium sized companies. Nowadays, both markets are dominated by major enterprises. For example, in the last 5 to 10 years, five global players (La Poste/DPD, The Post Office/GLS, Deutsche Post/ DHL, TNT Post Group, UPS) have emerged on the European CEP market. These five own an overall market share of approximately 54 percent. Transportation cooperatives and alliances will become more important in the future, especially for small and medium - sized companies. The Austrian CEP market, which has developed since the late eighties, presents itself as a dynamic market. In the nineties, double digit rates of economic growth characterized this market. In the last few years the growth has slowed down. During 2004 the growth rate amounted to a total of 3.2 percent in contrast to the previous year. Although there aren't any accurate numbers for the Austrian parceled goods market, the amount of parceled seems to be growing. In summary, there exists on both markets a highly destructive competition combined with a massive price decline. Value - added - service and the further development of the various information technology methods (e.g. RFID) will be crucial for companies of the CEP and the parceled goods market's future success. (author's abstract) / Series: Schriftenreihe des Instituts für Transportwirtschaft und Logistik - Logistik

Universiẗat, Diss., 2003--Stuttgart.

Universiẗat, Diss., 2005--Karlsruhe.

Universiẗat, Diss., 2005--Karlsruhe.

Ownership is considered a precondition for sustainable results of development projects, this primarily refers to ownership after the project is concluded. Yet the impact of the relationship between sustainability and ownership at the project stages is not yet clear. This study therefore analyses the ownership-results’ sustainability nexus at the project level, with particular attention to the implication of multi-stakeholder ownership, and how sustainability of results relates to stakeholder ownership of impacts throughout the project life cycle. This study uses the qualitative research design with an empirical point of departure combined with the abduction approach. The research analyses a multi-stakeholder project, the Kosovo Environmental Programme (KEP), using data from online semi-structured interviews with key individuals from four different stakeholder categories involved in the project: Donors, implementing agencies, partners, and right holders. The analytical framework used for the study was the Local Engagement Assessment Framework (LEAF), where the ownership of KEP stakeholders was assessed in three different categories: priorities, implementation/resources, and sustainability. By assessing KEP, the study makes several key findings that can be applicable to a wide range of cases. Firstly, that ownership develops over time and that it is a process that goes on throughout the project cycle. If there is active and effective cultivation of ownership along the process, sustainability will be strengthened in a systemic and comprehensive way. Promoting ownership and sustainability throughout the project cycle is therefore necessary for sustainability and this should start at the initial phase, not during the process nor near the end. Secondly, ownership does not belong to one actor anymore; rather, it sits with different groups of actors, and these can include both relevant international and local actors. Thus, a multi-stakeholder approach is considered especially relevant in broad based projects and where the right conditions exists, such as mutual understanding and trust between stakeholders, awareness, communication, partnership etc. Thirdly, while there have been attempts to fill the ownership gap between donor and recipient governments, the gap between recipient governments and other state and non-state-actors is evident and remains an issue. Therefore, further research is needed into extending ownership beyond central governmental institutions.

Background: Drugs targeting angiogenic pathway remain the mainstay of treatment for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKI) as Sunitinib, Pazopanib as single agents and humanised monoclonal antibody bevacizumab (Bev) in combination with Interferon- α2a (IFN) have established as the first-line therapy for mRCC. Despite improvements in treatment, there are multiple questions which remain unanswered. In the combination of Bev and IFN, the respective role of each drug and whether any additional anti-angiogenic activity is gained by adding IFN to Bev remains unknown. As the clinical benefit obtained with these cytostatic agents does not always correlate with the conventional response assessment techniques as RECIST, it is necessary to reconsider the methods by which we assess benefit from these therapies. In this thesis, I report three studies aiming to answer these questions. Methods: With the clinical trial reported here, I explore whether Bev induced changes in vascular parameters measured by Dynamic Contrast Enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) is significantly enhanced by the addition of IFN. In a phase II, randomised, open labelled, multicentre trial, treatment naïve mRCC patients were randomised to receive Bev on its own or in combination with a low dose (3MU) or standard dose (9MU) IFN. DCE-MRI was used to assess the changes in vascularity with the primary endpoint being, changes in transfer coefficient (Ktrans) after six weeks of treatment. I also report two retrospective imaging-based studies, using contrast-enhanced CT scans, performed to improve the methodology of response assessment for these antiangiogenic therapeutics. Here I explore the use of a) combining changes in size and arterial phase contrast enhancement measured using CT scan and b) changes in CT texture as methods of therapeutic response assessment in mRCC patients treated with TKI. Results: With the phase 2 clinical trial, we faced significant difficulty in recruitment as a result of restrictions in access to treatment in NHS, other competing studies and restrictions proposed by the DCE-MRI inclusion criteria. With slow recruitment, an unplanned analysis was performed after 21 patients were recruited. Analysis of primary endpoint showed no trend in the difference between arms with no correlation found between change in Ktrans and addition of IFN to bevacizumab. Effect size analysis performed due to the small numbers recruited failed to show any significance in the observed difference in Ktrans. Change in Ktrans and Kep may identify a group of patients likely to have PFS > 6 months, but this observation needs to evaluation in a larger sample size. Measuring size and change in arterial phase enhancement retrospectively using CT, a new criterion "modified" Choi, which prerequisite a combination of a decrease in arterial phase density by 15% and a decrease in size by 10% for response was proposed. Response assessment was measured with RECIST, Choi and modified Choi individually in 20 evaluable patients retrospectively and clinical benefit compared with Kaplan-Meier statistics and Log-Rank test. Response assessment as defined by the modified Choi criteria successfully identified patients who received clinical benefit from the treatment. Time to progression (TTP) was 448 days for the partial response and 89 days for stable disease as per the new criteria which were statistically significant with a p-value of 0.002. The second retrospective analysis explored the textural changes in enhanced CT scan. Performed in collaboration with researchers from Brighton University who developed the software algorithm used to assess changes in entropy and uniformity, 87 metastases from 39 patients with mRCC were analysed at baseline and after two cycles of TKI treatment. Textural parameters and response assessment criteria were correlated with TTP. After two cycles of TKI, the decrease in tumour entropy was 3%-45%, and increase in uniformity was 5%-21%. At a threshold change of -2% with uniformity, on a coarse scale of 2.5, the textural change was able to separate responders from non-responders. With Kaplan-Meier analysis comparing all four criteria, the percentage change in uniformity was statistically more significant than for RECIST, Choi, and Modified Choi criteria. Cox regression analysis showed that texture uniformity was an independent predictor of time to progression. Discussion: With the studies reported here, I was able to demonstrate the importance of improving the methodology in assessment of therapeutic response to targeted anti-angiogenic therapy in metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Even though the clinical trial, terminated early due to slow recruitment, did not reach its primary endpoint, changes in other vascular parameters as Kep combined with changes Ktrans showed tendency towards identifying a group of patients who derived clinical benefit of >6months with these therapies. This is particularly exciting as given the vascular stabilisation effect proposed for bevacizumab, the effusion parameter Kep may be a better tool in assessing response rather than Ktrans and warrants further assessment in a larger cohort. Modified choi criterion and textural analysis are two important methodological improvements in response assessment of cytostatic anti-angiogenic therapy. In the analyses reported here, both techniques have shown superiority over RECIST in response assessment and differentiating mRCC patients who is likely to gain clinical benefit by TKI therapy. Validation of these criteria on a larger patient cohort is important. As these criterions are assessed on standard enhanced CT scans, incorporating these criteria, especially modified choi criterion, as part of standard CT assessment could be performed and will provide a real world validation. Retrospective assessment using larger cohort of patients from previous phase 3 trials or inclusion of these parameters prospectively in phase 3 trials would also help us in evaluating these modalities further.

Elektrifizierte Lastenfahrräder werden als ein Lösungsansatz für die wachsenden Herausforderungen des städtischen Wirtschaftsverkehrs gesehen. Fokus dieser Arbeit ist eine Abschätzung des Einsatzpotenzials dieses Fahrzeugkonzepts unter Betrachtung von konzeptionellen, verkehrlichen und wirtschaftlichen Aspekten. Als kumulative Dissertation enthält sie fünf Fachartikel, gruppiert zu drei Forschungsbeiträgen. Im ersten Forschungsbeitrag wird erörtert, wie erfolgversprechend das E-Lastenrad, eine Neuauflage des alten Konzepts Lastenfahrrad, in einem Markt mit ersten Anwendern (Kurierdienstleistung) ist. Die Auftragsstruktur im Stadtkuriergeschäft bietet ein substanzielles Marktpotenzial für E-Lastenräder, allerdings erschwert die Positionierung zwischen zwei etablierten Modi (Pkw und Fahrrad) den Markteintritt. Der zweite Teil der Analyse weitet den Blick auf alle Branchen und bietet eine strukturierte Beschreibung der verschiedenartigen Einflussfaktoren (Treiber und Hemmnisse), die auf die Lastenradnutzung im städtischen Wirtschaftsverkehr wirken. Als relevante Entscheidungskriterien konnten identifiziert werden: fahrzeugseitige Aspekte, Strukturen und Prozesse des adoptierenden Unternehmens, Einstellungen der Entscheider*innen, weiche Faktoren sowie regulative und räumliche Rahmenbedingungen. Der dritte Beitrag thematisiert die operative Eignung des E-Lastenrads, indem seine Fahrtzeiten einem Pkw gegenübergestellt werden. Bei Strecken bis zu 3 km sind beide Modi nahezu gleich schnell. Die Hälfte aller Fahrten bis 20 km Distanz würde bei einem Wechsel vom Pkw zum Lastenrad höchstens 2–10 min länger dauern (ohne Berücksichtigung der Parksuchzeit). Bereits kleine Änderungen an den Verkehrsbedingungen könnten noch bestehende Vorteile des Pkw spürbar verringern. Insgesamt erweitert die Arbeit maßgeblich das Wissen zu einem „neuen alten“ Fahrzeugkonzept, dem ein Potenzial zur Auflösung von bislang auf das Automobil hin ausgerichteten Systemen beigemessen wird. / Shifting trips to electric cargo bikes is one possible solution to deal with the growing challenges of urban commercial transport. This thesis combines conceptual, transport-related, and economic aspects as a foundation to assess the feasibility of this vehicle concept for freight and service trips. It contains five scientific papers, which provide three research contributions. The first contribution identifies the potentials of electric cargo bikes among first users (i.e., courier logistics services). Electric cargo bikes are an updated and re-envisioned version of freight bicycles. The features of point-to-point courier logistics assignments offer a substantial market opportunity for electric cargo bikes. However, being positioned between two established modes (i.e., car and bicycle) handicaps the market entry of cargo bikes. For the second contribution, the scope was widened to include all business sectors. A structured description is presented of the various determinants (i.e., drivers and barriers) affecting commercial cargo bike use. Among these were vehicle-specific factors, structures and practices of the company, attitudes of decision-makers, soft factors, regulatory frameworks, and spatial conditions. The third contribution explores the travel time differences between electric cargo bikes and cars for commercial trips. For trip distances of up to 3 kilometers, the travel times of both modes largely overlap. Half of all trips up to 20 kilometers would take only a maximum of 2 to 10 minutes longer by electric cargo bike (excluding the additional time for finding a parking spot). Small modifications in traffic could have considerable effects in reducing the current travel time advantages of cars. Consequently, this dissertation contributes towards the state-of-research by expanding the scientific knowledge of a type of vehicle that has the potential to disrupt car-dependent transportation systems.