Die orthotope Lebertransplantation (OLT) ist ein etabliertes Standardtherapieverfahren von Endzuständen verschiedenster Lebererkrankungen. Bei Patienten mit Lebererkrankungen kommt es zu einer deutlichen Reduktion der hepatischen Metabolisierung und Elimination von verschiedensten Medikamenten. Fentanyl ist das Opioid der Wahl im Rahmen der Anästhesie bei Patienten mit Lebererkrankungen. Die Pharmakokinetik von Fentanyl ist besonders in der anhepatischen Phase durch einen Ausfall der hepatischen Elimination gekennzeichnet, sodass es zu hohen Plasmakonzentrationen von Fentanyl kommen kann. Besonders bei der Fentanylinfusion bis zur Reperfusion kann dies zu einer verzögerten Extubation führen, welche im Rahmen des Fast-Track-Verfahrens vermieden werden sollte. Hauptanliegen unserer Studie ist der Vergleich zweier Infusionsregimes für das Opioid Fentanyl, nämlich der Beendigung der Fentanylapplikation mit Beginn der anhepatischen Phase (Studiengruppe) und zum Zeitpunkt der Reperfusion (Kontrollgruppe). Dazu wurden von 22 Patienten (Studiengruppe: n=10; Kontrollgruppe: n=12) intraoperativ zu neun definierten Messzeitpunkten (MZP) die Verläufe der arteriellen Fentanylplasmakonzentration, sowie von Parametern des Säure-Basen-Haushaltes und der hämodynamische Messwerte erfasst. Die Bestimmung der Fentanylkonzentration erfolgte mit Hilfe der Flüssigchromatographie mit Massenspektrometrie (SSQ 7000, Finnigan), der Säure-Basen-Haushalt mittels Blutgasanalyse (ABL 700, Radiometer Medical A/S, Kopenhagen). Hinsichtlich der Daten für MELD-Score, Diagnose und Gesamtoperationsdauer unterschieden sich die beiden Gruppen nicht signifikant voneinander. Im Verlauf der anhepatischen Phase lag die Fentanylkonzentration im Plasma in der Kontrollgruppe signifikant höher als in der Studiengruppe. Die gefundenen höheren Fentanylspiegel in der Kontrollgruppe sind Ausdruck einer nicht vorhandenen hepatischen Fentanylclearance in der anhepatischen Phase. Basierend auf unseren Daten wollen wir zu einer Überprüfung des Infusionskonzeptes von Fentanyl bei OLT anregen. Während einer OLT sollte im Hinblick auf das Fast-Track-Konzept über eine Beendigung der Fentanylzufuhr zum Beginn der anhepatischen Phase nachgedacht werden.:1. Bibliographische Beschreibung 2. Theoretische Einführung in die Thematik 2.1. Anatomie und Physiologie der Leber 2.2 . Pathologie chirurgischer Lebererkrankungen 2.2.1. Indikationen zur Lebertransplantation 2.2.2. MELD-Score 2.2.3. Operative Methoden einer Lebertransplantation 2.2.4. Komplikationen 2.3. Anästhesie während einer Lebertransplantation 2.4. Pharmakologie der Opiate/Fentanyl 2.4.1. Opioide allgemein 2.4.2. Opioide bei Leberinsuffizienz 2.4.3. Fentanyl 2.5. LC/MS- Flüssigchromatographie/Massenspektroskopie 2.6. Fragestellung 3. Material und Methoden 3.1. Patientengut 3.2. Anästhesieverfahren 3.3. Monitoring 3.4. Probengewinnung 3.5. Bestimmung metabolischer Parameter 3.6. Statistische Methoden 4. Ergebnisse 4.1. Bestimmung der intraoperatioven Fentanylplasmakonzentration 4.2. Hämodynamische Parameter 4.2.1. Herzfrequenz 4.2.2. Systolischer Blutdruck 4.2.3. Zentraler Venendruck 4.3. Blutgasanalyse 4.3.1. pH-Wert 4.3.2. Base Excess 4.3.3. Glukose  4.3.4. Laktat 4.4. Weitere klinisch-chemische Parameter 4.4.1. Albumin 4.4.2. Bilirubin 4.4.3. Transaminasen 5. Diskussion 5.1. Patientengut 5.2. Methodenkritik 5.3. Intraoperative Bestimmung der Fentanylplasmakonzentration 5.4. Hämodynamik 5.5. Blutgasanalyse 5.5.1. pH-Wert 5.5.2. Base Excess 5.5.3. Glukose 5.5.4. Laktat 5.6. Weitere klinisch-chemische Parameter 5.6.1. Albumin 5.6.2. Bilirubin 5.6.3. Transaminasen 5.7. Fast-Track-Konzept 5.8. Konsequenzen für die klinische Praxis 6. Anhang 7. Zusammenfassung 8. Literaturverzeichnis 8.1. Abkürzungsverzeichnis 8.2. Tabellenverzeichnis 8.3. Abbildungsverzeichnis 8.4. Literaturverzeichnis 9. Erklärung über die eigenständige Abfassung der Arbeit 10. Lebenslauf 11. Danksagung

Russia and the US have both articulated their willingness to develop a regime for counter cyberterrorism. Yet, to date, they have been unsuccessful in following through with this goal. Their failure to form such a regime can best be explained through the lens of social constructivism, and most specifically, through the concept of strategic culture, given that such an approach allows for the examination of ideological, historical, and cultural issues that have shaped the strategy choices of both countries. Russia and the US have successfully formed regimes with other countries in which issues of counter cyberterrorism come to play. Russia has entered into agreements with BRICS and with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The US has involved itself in cybersecurity regimes both with its NATO allies and with its Latin American and Caribbean allies. Russia and the US have furthermore entered into a number of agreements with each other, including the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, the Intermediate- Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, and New-START. A strategic culture perspective, which focuses primarily on historical factors, such as a history of invasion or lack thereof, and the relations of both countries with their respective neighbors, reveals how the discourse of human rights and the freedoms of...

This research develops a new concept for people-to-people contacts, formulates a theoretical model to assess the impact of people-to-people contacts on peacebuilding, and draws theoretical modifications and explanations in the model on the basis of its empirical application on India-Pakistan conflict and Northern Ireland conflict. The new concept of interactive people-to-people contacts (IPPC) is developed and it is differentiated from the similar concepts in peace theory. Then ontological and epistemological foundations of IPPC are determined and the roots of IPPC in peace and conflict theories are traced. To empirically assess the role played by IPPC in building peace, the web approach model is developed from Lederach’s “pyramid” of peacebuilding as formulated in Building Peace (1997) and later improved in The Moral Imagination (2005). The web approach model is applied on Northern Ireland conflict to empirically test the web approach model and make improvements in the model learning from the practice of IPPC in Northern Ireland conflcit. Then web approach model is applied on two selected case studies of PIPFPD and Aman ki Asha to empirically asses the role played by IPPC in building peace between India and Pakistan. The web approach model is used to determine the stage/frame of the web process where IPPC based peacebuilding have reached so far in India-Pakistan conflict. Moreover, theoretical modifications in web approach model are drawn learning from the selected case studies and an attempt is made to find out a way forward for IPPC based peacebuilding in India-Pakistan conflict. / Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in UK

In this thesis the linearity of the ATLAS track-counting luminosity measurement is studied using two different sets Monte Carlo simulated crossings of proton-proton bunches. A primary high-momentum, or hard, interaction must be chosen for the Monte Carlo simulation. The first of the two sets is simulated using Z→µµ as primary hard scatter in the bunch crossings while the second set is simulated with a single neutrino particle gun as the primary hard scatter. The luminosity can be determined by track counting from the relationship between the number of reconstructed charged particle tracks and the number of proton-proton interactions per bunch crossing in the ATLAS detector. The relationship between the two is theoretically linear but is affected by non-linear effects from the presence of fake tracks and the reduced tracking efficiency at large µ.  The linearity is studied and compared for eight different sets of track selection criteria called working points. Four of the working points were used during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider and four are introduced for Run 3.  It is found that the use of the physical hard scatter, Z→µµ, in the Monte Carlo generation results in the appearance of tracks at all interaction rates, to a degree that does not agree with experiment. The use of the single neutrino particle gun for the simulation of hard scatter interactions is found to be more suitable for the track counting studies. Two of the working points introduced for Run 3, called TightModHighPtStrictLumi and TightModFullEtaHighPtStrictLumi, are found to outperform the rest of the working points. / I denna uppsats studeras linjäriteten av en luminositet-mätningsmetod kallad track-counting som används vid ATLAS-detektorn. Linjäriteten studeras för två olika uppsättningar av simulerade proton-protonkollisioner. Kollisionerna produceras med hjälp av Monte Carlo-simuleringar. Den första uppsättningen simuleras användandes Z→µµ som mest högenergetisk interaktion i alla event medan den andra uppsättningen istället simuleras användandes en högenergetisk neutrinopartikel i alla event. Med hjälp av track-counting bestäms luminositeten genom förhållandet mellan antalet rekonstruerade laddade partikelspår och antalet proton-protoninteraktioner per "bunch crossing" i ATLAS-detektorn. I teorin är relationen mellan de två linjär, men track-counting metoden påverkas av icke-linjära effekter såsom falskt rekonstruerade partikelspår och minskad effektivitet vid stora µ-värden. Linjäriteten studeras och jämförs för åtta olika uppsättningar av kriterier som appliceras på partikelspåren. Linjäriteten jämförs for åtta olika uppsättningar av spårkriterier som kallas "Working points". Fyra Working points har tidigare använts under den andra körningen av "the Large Hadron Collider" medan fyra Working points är introducerade inför den tredje körningen.   Användningen av uppsättningen kollisioner som simuleras med Z→µµ som mest högenergetisk interaktion resulterar i spår vid alla µ-värden till en grad som inte överensstämmer med förväntningar. Användningen av neutrinopartikeln som mest högenergetsik interaktion vid simulering av event visar sig vara mer lämplig för studier som berör track-counting. Två av de Working points som introducerades inför den tredje körningen av "The Large Hadron Collider" visar sig prestera bättre än de andra. Dessa Working points har namnen TightModHighPtStrictLumi och TightModFullEtaHighPtStrictLumi.

The implementation of grass tracks is uncommon in Stockholm compared to Central Europe where it is more popularized. As more tram projects are planned in the future such as the Spårväg Syd project, the aim of this study is to explore the role of grass tracks in the public transport sector by theoretically conceptualising grass tracks as a green infrastructure strategy. The research questions were to study how residents perceive the grass track between Sicka Udde and Sickla Station, and how the grass track could contribute to noise concerns, traffic safety, and financial resource in the Spårväg Syd project. Qualitative methods were used in which online surveys were sent out to residents in Hammarby Sjöstad and interviews with the municipality and county workers from Lund, Norrköping and Stockholm were conducted. The result showed that the resident was more positive about the grass track compared to the municipality and county workers which highlighted the additional cost and work effort to provide the public with a well-maintained and visually attractive grass track. The conclusion of this study has covered previous and new discoveries which open discussions for further reflection on what project planners shall consider before deciding to implement grass tracks in future tram projects.

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Railway transportation is showing a substantial increase. Investments in new infrastructure, new fast and comfortable vehicles, and high frequency of service are important factors behind the increase. Infrastructure configuration and timetable construction play important roles in the competitiveness of railway transportation. This is especially true on single-track lines where the travel times and other timetable related parameters are severely restricted by crossings (train meetings). The crossings also make the lines’ operation more sensitive to disturbances. Since the major part of the Swedish railway network is single-track it is of great interest to examine the relationships between operation properties, such as travel times and reliability, and infrastructure configuration on single-track lines. The crossings are the core feature of single-track operation and this thesis focuses on the crossing time, i.e. the time loss that occurs in crossing situations. A simplified analytical model, SAMFOST, has been developed to calculate the crossing time as a function of infrastructure configuration, vehicle properties, timetable and delays for two crossing trains. The effect of possible surrounding trains is not taken into account and all kinds of congestion effects are thus excluded from evaluation. SAMFOST has been successfully validated against the simulation tool RailSys, which shows that this type of simplified model is accurate in non-congested situations. A great advantage of disregarding congested situations is that analysis is independent of timetable assumptions. The model also explicitly shows the effect of punctuality, which is of particular importance on single-track lines where the interdependencies between trains are strengthened by the crossings. For the same reason, the timetable is severely constrained. Nonetheless, there is often a need for changes of the timetable (crossing pattern). The thesis proposes three simple measures of timetable flexibility, all based on assigned crossing time requirements. Together, these measures can be used to evaluate how infrastructure configuration, vehicle properties, punctuality etc affect possibilities to alter the timetable. As an example of its application, SAMFOST has been used to evaluate the effect of shorter inter-station distance, partial double-track and combined crossing and passenger stop. These measures affect the operational properties quite differently. More crossing stations result in a minor decrease in travel time (lower mean crossing time) but significantly higher reliability (lower crossing time variance). These effects are independent of punctuality, which is a valuable property. A partial double-track results in shorter travel times and in some cases also higher reliability. Both effects are strongly dependent on punctuality and high punctuality is needed to achieve high effects. A combined crossing and passenger stop results in a situation similar to that of a partial double-track. In this case it is important to point out that the assignment of time supplements in the timetable should be directly correlated to punctuality in order to achieve good operation. / <p>QC 20170222</p>

Accelerated Bridge Construction, also known as ABC, is a methodology that seeks to improve project development of bridges by reducing the overall project schedule and the impact on the traveling public by implementing innovative technologies and strategies in any phase of project development. However, ABC may incur additional direct costs for the project and some risks are associated because of the accelerated constraints implied in this methodology. On the positive side, the opportunity costs and reductions of traffic disruptions costs may overcome the additional costs associated with ABC. Decision-making methodologies for assessment of ABC as an alternative to traditional construction are of great interest for project developers. The topics of research about ABC are diverse but focus mainly on the means and methods, technical aspects, applications, innovations, and decision-making of ABC. Decision-making is of great concern for project developers, especially government organizations, to sustain project goals of serviceability and to validate the additional expenditures in a project. In addition, project developers improve their decisions and project outcomes by reviewing success and failure cases for completed projects in the past. This study seeks to improve the decision-making processes in ABC by finding a more direct correlation of projects to compare by means of a categorization of these ABC projects. Smaller groups in this categorization will help narrow the scope of the characteristics of the projects to consider and to find more relevant lessons learned from the smaller groups of the categorization. To develop the categorization in this study, the data source used is the completed ABC projects database from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The statistical categorization methodology for this study is the Agglomerate Hierarchy Clustering which developed a determined number of cluster based on the closeness among data parameters with "n" number of dimensions of analysis. The number of dimensions for the analysis in this study was established as 13 parameters collected from the database and these were considered critical decision-making parameters and consequential parameters to reflect project decisions and consequences of those decisions. The results of this study rendered 3 categories, and into these categories, 5 sub-categories were distributed according to the same analysis developed. The sub-categories show similarities between the projects according to the parameters established, so the sub-categories help narrow the scope of projects for project developers. As a complement to the categorization, a project matching tool for external projects was also developed to help decision-makers to test their projects according to the analysis in this study and also help developers narrow their review of cases in search for lessons learned. Uses of this study include the prediction of information of parameters according to the variables and ranges in this categorization, and the narrowing of study cases to review. Stakeholders interested can be government organizations seeking to establish the viability of an ABC project, or to improve their project outcomes at any stage of development. Other stakeholders can be designers and contractors that also need to improve their projects at any stage of development. / Master of Science / Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) reduces construction time and diminishes traffic disruption by applying strategies and innovations to the way bridges are designed and constructed. However, it implies additional initial costs that need to be justified. Project developers need to evaluate their projects to make decisions to assure the best execution and outcomes. The review of lessons learned from previous bridge projects has been one of the sources that developers have found to find strategies and tips to implement best practices or to avoid mistakes during planning and construction of new bridge projects. This study relies on the lessons learned compiled on the completed ABC project database from the federal transportation authority, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), in order to help developers, narrow the scope of projects to be reviewed and find more relevant cases to compare their projects. This scope includes the development of a categorization or a structured hierarchy of completed ABC projects with the FHWA database by applying a statistical analysis and a validation procedure. The results of this study rendered a categorization with 3 categories and 5 subcategories, each with its definition of parameters, which highlight the similarities among projects in the same groups and the differences among different categories. In addition, a framework was developed to match external projects with the categorization in this study to help project developers narrow the projects to review, or even predict missing information according to the parameters in this study. These results may help decision-makers better inform their decisions and support the research in the field of study.

The rate at which a railway track deteriorates depends on the response of the track under different static and repeated dynamic forces. These wheel/rail forces lead to imperfections in the rail surface and deviation in track geometry alignment. The wheel/rail forces are dependent upon the quality of maintenance of the characteristics of both train and track. If train components such as wheelsets and suspensions are maintained to a high standard, less dynamic forces are generated at the wheel/rail interface and less damage is caused over time. Therefore, the amount and cost of maintenance of track are reduced. However, there is little known about how the characteristics of train components affect time-dependent track degradation. Track degradation through deviation of track from its ideal position has the most effect on maintenance costs. Therefore, the present research aims to investigate this track degradation and improve understanding of the effects of train characteristics (such as train mass and speed, suspension stiffness and damping) on railway tracks. The research is conducted by looking into the relationship between wheel/rail forces and track degradation on one hand and between wheel/rail forces and train characteristics on the other hand, with the objective of assisting in managing vehicle/track interaction in order to minimise track degradation. This aim is achieved by investigating the above two relationships to attain the desired relationship between track degradation and train characteristics. The research focuses on wheel/rail vertical forces (both amplitudes and frequencies), vertical track alignment (longitudinal vertical profile), and rail head defects. The study started by collecting wheel/rail vertical forces data in addition to data on vertical track degradation under sustained traffic loads on a heavy haul railway section of track in Central Queensland. Also, five years of degradation and maintenance history data were collected on three other test sections of railway track under variety of traffic conditions and loads in Central Queensland. There were four main analyses of this data employed to probe the study. The first analysis was performed by examining the track degradation history data. The standard deviation method was used in this first analysis to acquire the rate of deterioration in terms of its relationship to track profile (roughness). The second analysis was accomplished by correlating the vertical wheel/rail forces to both vertical track profile and rail roughness using signal processing principles and a function know as coherence. The third analysis was carried out by using the computer simulation software NUCARS to obtain the link between wheel/rail forces and the deterioration of the vertical track profile. The fourth analysis was achieved by combining the results obtained from the above three analyses to acquire the rate of track deterioration in terms of its relationship to varying train characteristics. The first analysis mentioned above quantified the relationship between the level of roughness of the track and rate at which that roughness deteriorated. An important outcome of this relationship is that there is a threshold of roughness below which track deterioration is minimal. The track maintenance planners can now use that threshold for cost effective targeting of tamping activities. The correlation study between track roughness and wheel/rail forces using the coherence function found, surprisingly, that the overall deterioration of the track roughness, in the absence of frequencies of forces above 30 Hz, is due to the so-called quasi-static lower frequency oscillations of dynamic forces. This conclusion together with the relationship between vehicle characteristics and track forces, established in the analyses above, has significant implications for the design of wagon bogies and for charges track owners might levy on trains using their tracks. This research is part of a larger Rail CRC project 11/4 called 'Enhancing the Optimisation of Maintenance/Renewal' being carried out in the School of Urban Development in Queensland University of Technology.

The diploma thesis deals with the curve radius influence on lateral stability of continuous welded rail. It is presented the overview of present state of knowledge in the field of stability of continuous welded rail. In practical part is created the model of a track section. The influence of some parameters on loss of stability of CWR was studied. The results it are compare with the analytic analysis.