Congestion charging has drawn considerable attention of transport analysts and policymakers as a mean of relieving urban traffic congestion. Proper prediction of the impacts of charging is necessary for policy makers to take right decisions. A European project named SILVERPOLIS have been introduced in this connection to describe state-of-practice in modelling effects of congestion charging and to identify features of transport models that are crucial for reliable forecasting of effects of congestion charging. This master thesis is a part of the SILVERPOLIS project, where Stockholm congestion charging scheme has been analysed using two different types of dynamic simulators: METROPOLIS and SILVESTER. The simulations are based on traffic data collected before and after the Stockholm congestion charging trial performed in spring 2006. The result of simulation suggests that METROPOLIS, which has been used for predicting effects of congestion charging in Ile-de-France, manages well to forecast the consequences of congestion charging for Stockholm. Comparison with SILVESTER model disclosed that, although calibration results of the two models differs in some respect, both models give similar results regarding impacts of congestion charging. The different modelling features and assumptions have been described for the two models. Despite the fact that the two models vary a lot in their assumptions and modelling style, both of them has proved to be good at describing the effect of congestion charging.

In order for a human-powered helicopter (HPH) to fly, lifting the weight of its human pilot-engine and the weight of its own structure, the rotary wings need to be extremely large and exceptionally lightweight. Through centuries of dreaming and decades of modern attempts, no design so far has been able to obtain the combination of an adequately large rotor size, sufficiently lightweight structure, and an inherently stable aircraft. This thesis describes a concept of a wire-braced semi-rigid elevated rotor system for a proposed HPH. Then, using scale models and quantitative analysis, tests a series of supporting hypotheses in order to prove that such a large rotor system could be sufficiently lightweight, maintain its geometry to overcome coning and twisting, avoid interplanar interference, produce sufficient lift, yield inherent aircraft stabilty, and demonstrate that the drag penalty induced by external bracing wires would be more than offset by the benefits of wire bracing.

The concept of the natural year (Swahili `mwaka´) is found throughout the Bantu family of languages (Guthrie 1970: iv, 143) Today there are three possible years for the Swahili. First there is the Swahili year, the first day of which was once celebrated by all the Swahili people, while the year itself was of especial importance to farmers, to sailors and fishermen as well as to travellers and scholars. Secondly there is the Islamic-Swahili year, the first day of which is, in practice, celebrated on the first day of the first month after Ramadhani - 1 mfungo mosi (and not on 1 Muharram). Finally there is, since the arrival of European- hristians in the the second half of the nineteenth century, the Gregorian year, which is known to Swahilis who have attended primary school and 1 January has been a government holiday ever since.

The represeantation of refugees in the mainstream media in Germany is a vital part in the understanding of the cultural impact of the refugee crisis. What is written in the German mainstream media is of special interest in times where the press is denounced as "lying press" or "press of lies." This analysis takes a look at the refugee discourse before, during and after the events of New Year's Eve in Cologne and draws conclusions on the impact the attacks on women had on the media discourse.

The concept of the natural year (Swahili `mwaka´) is found throughout the Bantu family of languages (Guthrie 1970: iv, 143) Today there are three possible years for the Swahili. First there is the Swahili year, the first day of which was once celebrated by all the Swahili people, while the year itself was of especial importance to farmers, to sailors and fishermen as well as to travellers and scholars. Secondly there is the Islamic-Swahili year, the first day of which is, in practice, celebrated on the first day of the first month after Ramadhani - 1 mfungo mosi (and not on 1 Muharram). Finally there is, since the arrival of European- hristians in the the second half of the nineteenth century, the Gregorian year, which is known to Swahilis who have attended primary school and 1 January has been a government holiday ever since.

In this thesis, I hope to demonstrate that what I call the magic contest tradition, that is the episodes of competitive wonder-working that appear in a wide variety of apocryphal and non-canonical Christian texts, made an important contribution to the development of Christian thought during the second to the fifth centuries CE. This contribution was to articulate ‘the way’ to be a Christian in a world which was not isolated from the secular, and not insulated from the reality of the Roman empire. First, I demonstrate that a tradition of texts which feature magic contests exists within the broader scope of non-canonical Christian literature (looking at this literature across communities, regions and time periods). Second, I identify what the major features of the traditions are, e.g. what form the narratives take, what the form for a magic contest is, and what the principles used to build the magic contests are, and how these principles feature in the texts. The principles I identify are power, authority, ritual, and conversion, as well as their use as historical exempla. Third, I discuss what the texts did in the context of the time period, and for the communities that produced and read them: in other words, how did the this tradition work? I show that they served multiple purposes: as tests of faith, religious truth and ways to proclaim such; as constructors and markers of group identity (and the perilous task of identifying the insiders and those who should be outsiders); as calls to unity within the overarching diversity of the times and places, and a unified front for the ‘battle’ against evil. I suggest that the texts present a model for how one could decide what the ‘true faith’ was and how one could practice it in the turbulent environment that early Christians faced both before and after Constantine.