This thesis examines the effect of vehicle dynamics on lateral deterioration of the track alignment. As rail traffic runs along a route, the forces imposed upon the track cause the ballast to settle, and hence the track geometry deteriorates. At a specified value of deterioration the track geometry needs to be restored by tamping or other methods. As the deterioration is mainly in the vertical direction, this aspect has been more widely studied and models have been developed to predict vertical track geometry deterioration. On the other hand, lateral track deterioration is not as well understood, and this thesis aims to fill the gap in this knowledge. However, the understanding of the lateral deterioration mechanisms becomes more important as speed and capacity increase. This thesis describes statistical studies of track lateral deterioration, as well as the development and validation of a vehicle-track lateral dynamic interaction model. This work is undertaken to contribute to the fundamental understanding of the mechanisms of track lateral deterioration, therefore making the effective control and reduction of the lateral deterioration achievable. The statistical analysis provides a better understanding of three aspects of track lateral irregularities, namely: the relationship between vertical and lateral irregularities, the relationship between track curvature and track lateral irregularity and the change in track lateral deterioration over time. The vertical and lateral track irregularity magnitudes are clearly correlated. The track quality in the vertical direction is generally worse than in the lateral direction, however the number of track sections with lateral quality significantly worse than the vertical is non-negligible. The lateral irregularities tend to be larger on curves. It is notable that less than ten percent of the track studied has a constant lateral deterioration due to frequent maintenance activities and bidirectional lateral dynamic forces. Unlike vertical settlement, lateral deterioration develops exponentially in both magnitude and wavelength, and the major influences are found from the irregularities with wavelength longer than 10 m. The change in track lateral irregularity with different curve radii and the lateral deterioration rate are described in separate exponential power functions due to the limitation of the available track data. The parameters for these empirical equations do not remain constant due to the change in track conditions. Current track lateral models mainly focus on lateral failures such as buckling and lateral sliding. The development of lateral track irregularities tends to be studied using representative values of net lateral forces and net L/V (Lateral/Vertical) load ratios. Unlike other track lateral deterioration models, the model developed in this thesis focuses on the development of lateral irregularities based on the dynamic interactions between the vehicles and the track system. This model makes it possible to carry out more integrations and analysis of the track lateral deterioration in a realistic dynamic simulation, using vehicle models, contact conditions, track initial irregularities, and traffic mix more close to the reality. The vehicle-track lateral dynamic interaction model was validated against track geometry data measured on the West Coast Mainline (WCML) in England. It has been found that the model gives a reasonably accurate prediction of the development of lateral track irregularities. However, it also tends to predict a short wavelength deterioration that is not seen in the actual track deterioration. Improvements to the model are suggested by either adding more factors or simplifying the model depending on specific target application. Enhancing the model by including more details, such as longitudinal forces, temperature effect, more layered track systems, uneven track bed conditions and more representative wheel-rail contact conditions etc., may help understand the reason of the additional short wavelength. A sensitivity analysis was performed in order to identify the critical factors that influence lateral track deterioration. The track damage caused by specific vehicles can be controlled by understanding different vehicle dynamics behaviour on a particular track section or route. Vehicles with simple suspension design and heavy axle loads tend to cause more lateral track damage. Within a certain speed range, there will be a critical speed that generates the largest lateral deterioration. Vehicles with different dynamic behaviours can generate a potential offset of the lateral deterioration, so it is possible to design the traffic mix to cancel out the peak deterioration. However, it may not be very practical to redesign the traffic mix due to different traffic requirements. Subsequently, actions can be taken to effectively reduce track lateral deterioration, such as optimise the suspension design, vehicle weight, the selection of an optimal operation speed, and enhance the traffic mix design. As the most important interface between vehicle and track, the wheel-rail contact condition has an extremely large influence on lateral deterioration. Wheel and rail profiles with different wear conditions can cause altered vehicle-track lateral dynamic interaction. It is found that increasingly worn wheel/rail profiles within an acceptable tolerance can effectively reduce the lateral deterioration. Lateral deterioration can also be reduced by increasing all the track stiffness values, damping values and the mass of rails and sleepers, or alternatively, by decreasing the sleeper spacing. The sleeper-ballast interface is found to play the most important role in lateral deterioration. The interfaces between the sleeper and ballast shoulder, crib and base determines the non-linear characteristic such as hysteresis and sliding features. Improving the strength of the sleeper-ballast interface can improve the elastic limits and hysteresis characteristics, hence reducing the lateral deterioration. The findings of the investigation indicate that the model provides in-depth knowledge of the mechanisms influencing lateral deterioration and provides effective solutions with consideration of vehicles, wheel-rail contact and the track system. Further work would include track data with sufficient information in order to develop a more comprehensive empirical model that describes the lateral deterioration, inclusion of more potentially influential factors such as: temperature, ground condition, traffic etc. The model can be improved by taking into account additional factors such as the influence of longitudinal forces from the wheels to the rails, different weather and temperatures, subgrade and ground conditions, etc. The reason for the high frequency noise in the deterioration prediction is not understood yet and it should be discussed in terms of more accurate vehicle simulation results and more comprehensive rail and wheel worn profiles measured on the target track and vehicles. Furthermore, the sleeper-ballast lateral characteristics are not well understood and the previous research in this area is quite limited. To improve on the present work it would be useful to carry out laboratory tests in order to capture more accurately track lateral stiffness and damping values as well as the comprehensive non-linear characteristic of track lateral residual resistance behaviour.

It is important to study accidents and their underlying causes, in order to generate recommendations for improving system safety. A range of methods have been developed in various industries, to understand how accidents have occurred, as well as identify potential human errors in systems. Theories of accident causation, and the development of safety models and methods have evolved over the last few decades. However, the majority of accident analysis methods fail to account for the increasing complexity of socio-technical systems (Hollnagel, 2004 and Lindberg et al. 2010). Much of the previous research has taken a safety I perspective, which considers successful performance as reducing the number of adverse outcomes to as low as possible (Hollnagel, 2014). According to Hollnagel (2014) however, it is important to understand how operators actually carry out work (‘work-as-done’), rather than as it should be carried out (‘work-as-imagined’), to understand how normal variabilities and flexibilities in performance contribute towards both successful and unsuccessful performance. Understanding how work is normally carried out is essential for understanding how it can go wrong. This includes understanding how success is obtained, for example how people adjust their performance in the face of changing conditions and demands, and limited resources (such as time and information). Although variability and flexibility in performance are prerequisites for success and productivity, these can also explain why things can go wrong (Hollnagel, 2014). Understanding normal work (or ‘work-as-done’) is the basis of the safety II perspective, which views safety as increasing the number of things that go right. So far however, there seems to be little application of this safety II perspective in the rail industry. Research in this thesis addresses this gap, by examining whether understanding normal performance in rail engineering contexts contributes towards identifying how incidents occur, and measures for improving safety, compared to the use of existing methods. A range of different methods were used to address the aims of this thesis. Rail incident reports were analysed to understand sources of human errors in rail contexts. Observations were also conducted of operators carrying out work, to understand the opportunities for human errors associated with rail engineering processes. To understand cognitive demands and strategies associated with normal work, a cognitive task analysis was carried out. FRAM (Functional Resonance Analysis Method) (Hollnagel, 2012) wasalso used to determine how incidents may develop, and whether everyday performance can contribute towards successful and unsuccessful performance. Participants in semi-structured interviews and workshops were asked to identify strengths and limitations of various human reliability assessment methods, and offer opinions on their practical applicability. Benefits of understanding normal work included a greater understanding of how human errors can occur (by identifying cognitive demands that contribute towards the occurrence of different error types), and how cognitive strategies can reduce human errors and contribute towards acceptable performance. It was demonstrated how variabilities and flexibilities in performance can contribute towards successful and productive performance, as well as explain why things can go wrong (supporting Hollnagel, 2014). This is especially important to consider, since human errors were not easily identified from rail incident reports and observations of operators carrying out work. System safety can therefore be improved by increasing things that can go right, rather than just decreasing the things that can go wrong (Hollnagel, 2014). Participants in a workshop, however, identified that FRAM may be time consuming to apply, especially for more complex systems. Further research is recommended for the development of a toolkit, from which both practitioners and researchers can choose from a range of different methods. To further understand factors affecting acceptable performance, it is recommended that further data are collected to determine whether varying levels of cognitive demands affect performance, and whether these influence the implementation of cognitive strategies.

Theoretical models, such as TWINS, and microphone array measurements have been widely used to gain better understanding of rolling noise. However, the array measurements are often inconsistent with the TWINS predictions and give less prominence to the rail than the theoretical models. The objectives of this thesis are to make validation work of the TWINS model for Japanese railway lines, and to explore the reason why the microphone array gives a correct estimate of sound power radiated by the rail. A comparison in terms of noise and rail vibration has been carried out for six wheel/rail conditions of Japanese railways. The TWINS predictions show good agreement with the measurements. After confirming the applicability of the TWINS model, the effects of wheel load on noise and rail vibration are investigated, and the predictions show similar trends to the measurements. The acoustic properties of a rail as measured with a microphone array have been investigated through simulations and field tests. In the simulation the rail is modelled as an array of multiple sources. Results are given for two situations: (a) the multiple sources are incoherent, which is assumed in determining sound power from a microphone array, (b) the sources are coherent, which is more representative of the rail radiation. It is found that the microphone array cannot detect a large part of the noise generated by the rail in the frequency range where free wave propagation occurs. Sound measurements were carried out to validate the radiation model of the rail by using a shaker excitation of a track. It is found that the noise is radiated from the rail at an angle to the normal when free wave propagation occurs in the rail, and that the predictions based on coherent sources show good agreement with the measurements. Sound measurements for a moving train were also performed with a microphone array. It is shown that the microphone array misses a large part of noise generated by the rail, when directed normal to the rail. This leads to an underestimation of the rail component of the noise in the array measurements.

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This thesis gives formal definitions of discourse-givenness, coreference and reference, and reports on experiments with computational models of discourse-givenness of noun phrases for English and German. Definitions are based on Bach's (1987) work on reference, Kibble and van Deemter's (2000) work on coreference, and Kamp and Reyle's Discourse Representation Theory (1993). For the experiments, the following corpora with coreference annotation were used: MUC-7, OntoNotes and ARRAU for Englisch, and TueBa-D/Z for German. As for classification algorithms, they cover J48 decision trees, the rule based learner Ripper, and linear support vector machines. New features are suggested, representing the noun phrase's specificity as well as its context, which lead to a significant improvement of classification quality. / Die vorliegende Arbeit gibt formale Definitionen der Konzepte Diskursgegebenheit, Koreferenz und Referenz. Zudem wird über Experimente berichtet, Nominalphrasen im Deutschen und Englischen hinsichtlich ihrer Diskursgegebenheit zu klassifizieren. Die Definitionen basieren auf Arbeiten von Bach (1987) zu Referenz, Kibble und van Deemter (2000) zu Koreferenz und der Diskursrepräsentationstheorie (Kamp und Reyle, 1993). In den Experimenten wurden die koreferenzannotierten Korpora MUC-7, OntoNotes und ARRAU (Englisch) und TüBa-D/Z (Deutsch) verwendet. Sie umfassen die Klassifikationsalgorithmen J48 (Entscheidungsbäume), Ripper (regelbasiertes Lernen) und lineare Support Vector Machines. Mehrere neue Klassifikationsmerkmale werden vorgeschlagen, die die Spezifizität der Nominalphrase messen, sowie ihren Kontext abbilden. Mit Hilfe dieser Merkmale kann eine signifikante Verbesserung der Klassifikation erreicht werden.

La sénescence constitue la dernière étape du cycle de vie de certains organes des plantes. Elle permet leur dégradation tout en réallouant les constituants des tissus sénescents vers d’autres organes. Dans le contexte de la nodulation symbiotique fixatrice d’azote entre certaines plantes légumineuses et des bactéries rhizobia, un processus de sénescence a été décrit. Cependant, les connaissances sur les mécanismes de régulation de la sénescence des nodosités symbiotiques sont limitées. Au sein du laboratoire, le facteur de transcription MtNAC969 a été identifié comme un régulateur de la sénescence des nodosités. L'objectif de cette thèse est d'identifier et de caractériser de nouveaux régulateurs de la sénescence de l'organe symbiotique. Nous avons développé : (i) une approche visant à identifier des facteurs de transcription corégulés avec MtNAC969 ou avec une cystéine protéase MtCP6 utilisée comme marqueur de la sénescence des nodosités ; et (ii), une approche avec "à priori" se focalisant sur la fonction des différentes voies de signalisation des cytokinines. Cette thèse a permis d'identifier deux facteurs de transcription, MtbHLH107 et MtNAC009 et de décrypter le rôle des cytokinines dans la sénescence des nodosités. Cette thèse a permis d'identifier d'une part, deux nouveaux gènes potentiellement régulateurs de la sénescence nodositaire, MtbHLH107 et MtNAC009; et d’autre partde décrypter le rôle des cytokinines dans la sénescence de cet organe symbiotique. / Senescence is the last step of plant organ lifespan and allows their degradation in order to remobilize components from senescent tissues toward others organs. In the nitrogen fixing symbiosis nodulation occurring between legume plants and rhizobia bacteria, a senescence process has been described. However, limited knowledge about regulatory systems controlling senescence in the symbiotic nodule is available. In the laboratory, the MtNAC969 transcription factor was identified as a regulator of nodule senescence. The aim of this PhD project is to identify and characterize new regulatory factors involved in nodule senescence. We developed two independent approaches : (i) the identification of genes coregulated with MtNAC969 or a cystein protease MtCP6 used as nodule senescence marker ; and (ii), targeted approach focused on the role of cytokinin signaling pathways in nodule senescence. This project allowed us to identify two regulator transcription factors, MtbHLH107 and MtNAC009 ; and to decipher the cytokinin role in the senescence of the symbiotic organ. This PhD thesis allowed us to identify two new potential regulators of nodule senescence, MtbHLH107 and MtNAC009; and to decipher the role of cytokinins in the senescence of this symbiotic organ.

The exchange of information is crucial to the operation of railways; starting with the distribution of timetables, information must constantly be exchanged in any railway network. The slow evolution of the information environment within the rail industry has resulted in the existence of a diverse range of systems, only able to exchange information essential to railway operations. Were the cost of data integration reduced, then further cost reductions and improvements to customer service would follow as barriers to the adoption of other technologies are removed. The need for data integration has already been studied extensively and has been included in the UK industry's rail technical strategy however, despite it's identification as a key technique for improving integration, uptake of ontology remains limited. This thesis considers techniques to reduce barriers to the take up of ontology in the UK rail industry, and presents a case study in which these techniques are applied. Amongst the key barriers to uptake identified are a lack of software engineers with ontology experience, and the diverse information environment within the rail domain. Techniques to overcomes these barriers using software based tools are considered, and example tools produced which aid the overcoming of these barriers. The case study presented is of a degraded mode signalling system, drawing data from a range of diverse sources, integrated using an ontology. Tools created to improve data integration are employed in this commercial project, successfully combing signalling data with (simulated) train positioning data.

The word 'strategy' has represented many concepts since it originated in a military domain. Fundamentally, it is concerned with determining how best to direct systems in a changing world. However, in today's increasingly complex and vertically separated sectors, conventional top-down approaches to strategy design are becoming less applicable. The proverb 'I am because you are' encapsulates the idea that the world is not formed of independent, separate entities, but that all beings and actions are connected. This thesis puts forward a case for applying that way of thinking in a systems approach to strategy design. The proposed approach comprises three processes which are aligned with systems engineering principles, to plan, capture and communicate strategy. It is argued that strategy documents produced by following the approach would be clearer and more rigorous. To the field of strategy, this research offers a language framework for discussing strategy concepts, a new approach for designing strategy, and pragmatic guidance for strategy design exercises. In the field of systems thinking, it contributes to the challenge of translating systems engineering principles for non-traditional domains.

Air pollution from DEEEs is becoming an increased international concern, and whilst attention has been primarily focused on the automotive industry, concerns have also been raised about emissions from diesel rail vehicles. The research is designed to assess the hypothesis that diesel rolling stock severely impacts air quality at Birmingham New Street station due to the station’s enclosed nature. To assess this hypothesis, an extensive series of long term measurements were made at Birmingham New Street station. The monitoring campaign consisted of diffusion tube measurements, to measure NO2 at locations in and around the station, followed by measurements of NOx, PM, CO2 and BC at stationary and mobile sites at the platform level. The results illustrated that diesel trains serving the station elevated pollutant concentrations, particularly oxides of nitrogen. During the sampling campaign the average NO2 concentration in the centre of platform 10/11 was 407 μg/m3, approximately 10 times greater than the EU ambient air quality limit. NO exceed its WEL 35% of the time during the monitoring campaign for the same site. Furthermore, this research concludes that CO2 is not suitable as a surrogate for assessing DEEEs exposure. NO2 concentrations exceeded their relevant exposure limits, whilst CO2 did not exceed the ventilation system’s 50% speed threshold, as a result it is unlikely that harmful pollutants were being successfully exhausted from the station. The environmental analysis identified a potential trapped vortex in the West end of the station, which could have an impact on the ventilation system in place at Birmingham New Street station. It is clear that this research has been pivotal in driving a focus towards air quality with the railway industry and has prompted further research at other enclosed railway stations.

The issue of managing a large and complex railway system with continuous traffic flows and mixed train services in a safe and punctual manner is very important, especially after disruptive events. In the first part of this thesis an analysis method is introduced which allows the visualisation and measurement of the propagation of delays in the railway network. The BRaVE simulator and the University of Birmingham Single Train Simulator (STS) are also introduced and a train running estimation using STS is described. A practical single junction rescheduling problem is then defined and it investigates how different levels of delays and numbers of constraints may affect the performance of algorithms for network-wide rescheduling in terms of quality of solution and computation time. In order to deal with operational dynamics, a methodology using performance-based supervisory control is proposed to provide rescheduling decisions over a wider area through the application of different rescheduling strategies in appropriate sequences. Finally, an architecture for a real-time train rescheduling framework, based on the distributed artificial intelligence system, is designed in order to handle railway traffic in a large-scale network intelligently. A case study based on part of the East Coast Main Line is followed up to demonstrate the effectiveness of adopting supervisory control to provide the rescheduling options in the dynamic situation.