<p>In this work the influence of Under Sleeper Pads on the dynamic forces on a railway track is investigated. A special interest is devoted to the effect of using Under Sleeper Pads in a railway track with changing vertical stiffness. The contact force between wheel and rail and the ballast contact forces are examined. For the investigation a finite element model with the length of thirty sleepers is created and calculations are performed with the software LS-DYNA. Three different cases of varying vertical track stiffness are studied: the transition from an embankment to a bridge, a randomly varying track stiffness along the railway track and hanging sleepers.</p>

SAMMANFATTNING Patienter som drabbas av höftfrakturer är en vårdkrävande och utsatt patientgrupp inom sjukvården. Riktlinjer för handläggning av misstänkta höftfrakturer har utformats för ett snabbare omhändertagande, så kallat snabbspår. Dessa används för att optimera och förkorta handläggningstiden, förbättra behandlingen samt minska risken för komplikationer. I Västernorrlands län tillämpas detta snabbspår, vilket medför att delar av den behandling som tidigare utfördes på akutmottagningen, nu utförs av ambulanssjuksköterskor redan i den prehospitala vården. Dessa medicinska och omvårdnadsmässiga åtgärder utförs i varierande och ibland svåra vårdmiljöer. Därför finns ett behov av att studera ambulanssjuksköterskornas upplevelser och erfarenheter av att vårda patienter med misstänkt höftfraktur. Syftet med studien var att beskriva ambulanssjuksköterskors upplevelser och erfarenheter vid omhändertagande av patienter med misstänkt höftfraktur. Kvalitativ ansats användes och designen var semistrukturerade intervjuer som analyserades med kvalitativ manifest innehållsanalys. Studiepopulationen bestod av åtta ambulanssjuksköterskor stationerade i Ångermanland. I resultatet framkom att ambulanssjuksköterskorna innehar både positiva och negativa erfarenheter av att arbeta med misstänkta höftfrakturer. Äldre människor utgjorde den största patientgruppen och dessa patienter led ofta av demenssjukdomar samt andra sjukdomar och tillstånd som försvårade kommunikation och interaktion, vilket skapade svårigheter i handläggningen av dessa patienter. Vårdmiljön försvårade arbetet ytterligare för ambulanssjuksköterskorna och innebar ofta svåra förflyttningar och lyft. Positivt för både patienten och ambulanssjuksköterskorna var att det strukturerade omhändertagandet gav en snabbare vårdkedja och likvärdig vård för patienterna samt mer tid för omvårdnad. Andra aspekter som framkom var att ambulanssjuksköterskorna hade en del förutfattade meningar gällande patientgruppen och svårigheter att få patienten tillräckligt smärtlindrad. Själva omhändertagandet uppgavs vara alltför strukturerad, handläggningen tog lång tid och att det var svårt att få patienten tillräckligt smärtlindrad utan biverkningar. Slutsatsen var att ambulanssjuksköterskorna hade både positiva och negativa erfarenheter kring det strukturerade omhändertagandet, samt en del förutfattade meningar. Samtliga informanter ansåg att de hade mer tid för omvårdnaden och att de på så vis fick lära känna patienten bättre, därför kunde de enklare utvärdera behandlingsresultatet. De positiva erfarenheterna var att omhändertagandet gav en snabbare handläggning med bättre struktur och därigenom en likvärdig vård i hela länet gällande denna patientgrupp. Det accepterades att uppdragen tog längre tid och därför fick personalen även mer tid tillsammans med patienterna. Ambulanssjuksköterskorna kunde se ett konkret resultat av omhändertagandet. De negativa erfarenheterna innefattade att patientgruppen var svårbedömd på grund av eventuella tidigare sjukdomar och läkemedelsbehandlingar. Att anhöriga och vårdpersonal ibland trängde sig in i vårdrummet, med syfte att vara behjälplig, men flyttade istället fokus från patienten. / ABSTRACT Patients with hip fractures are a care-intensive and vulnerable patient population in health care. Guidelines for dealing with suspected hip fractures have been designed for a faster disposal, so-called fast track. These are used to optimize and shorten the processing time, improve treatment and reduce the risk of complications. Västernorrland county has applied a fast track, which means that parts of the processing previously performed in the emergency department, now is performed by ambulance nurses already in the prehospital care. These medical and nursing activities performed in varying and sometimes difficult healthcare environments. Therefore there was a need to study the ambulance nurses' experiences of caring for patients with suspected hip fracture. AIM: The aim of the study was to describe Ambulance nurses experiences of treatment of patients with suspected hip fracture. Qualitative approach was used and the design was semi-structured interviews were analyzed using qualitative manifest content analysis. The study population consisted of eight ambulance nurses stationed in Ångermanland, Sweden. The result showed that ambulance nurses possess both positive and negative experiences of working with suspected hip fracture. Older people represented the largest group of patients and these patients often suffered from dementia and other diseases and conditions that impeded communication and interaction, which created difficulties in dealing with these patients. The healthcare environment complicated the work further for the ambulance nurses and often includes difficult movements and lifting. Positive for both the patient and ambulance nurses was that it structured the care provided faster care chain and equivalent care for patients as well as more time for care. Other aspects that emerged were that the ambulance nurses have some preconceptions regarding the patient group and the difficulties in getting the patient adequate pain relief. The fast track was described to be too structured, the processing takes a long time and that it was difficult to get the patient enough pain relief without side effects. The conclusion was that it emerged that the ambulance nurses had both positive and negative experiences of the structured care, and had some preconceptions. All the respondents felt that they had more time for care, and that they got to know the patient better, because they could more easily evaluate the treatment outcome. The positive experience was that the fast track provided faster processing with better structure and thereby an equal treatment throughout the county regarding this population. It was accepted that missions took longer therefore the staff spent more time with the patients. The ambulance nurses could see concrete result of the fast track. The negative experiences included that the patient group was difficult to assess because of past illnesses and drug treatments. Relatives and caregivers are sometimes forced into the nursing room, with the aim to be helpful, but instead moved focus from the patient.

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) has been orbiting the Earth and determining its gravity field since 2002. Throughout the course of the mission, the orbital elements occasionally change such that the satellites enter a repeat ground track configuration. Repeat ground tracks result in reduced spatial resolution of the satellites, which poses problems in the context of gravity recovery. The monthly gravity solutions during these periods are examined and shown to have lower quality than usual. The characteristics of these repeat period solutions are identified and compared to a period of uniform coverage to illustrate the ways in which the solutions are degraded. An investigation into the underlying physical and computational sources of these errors is also presented. / text

<p>This work is concerned with the dynamics and stability of nonlinear systems that roll in a single track, including holonomic and nonholonomic systems. First the classic case of Euler's disk is introduced as an example of a nonholnomic system in three dimensions, and the methodology for deriving equations of motion that is used throughout this work is demonstrated, including use of Lagrange's equations, accommodating constraints with both Lagrange multipliers and with Gauss's Principle. </p><p>Next, a disk in two dimensions with an eccentric center of mass is explored. The disk is assumed to roll on a cubic curve, creating the possibility of well-escape behavior, which is examined analytically and numerically, showing regions of multi-periodicity and chaos. This theoretical system is compared to an experiment designed</p><p>to demonstrate the same behavior.</p><p>The remainder of the present document is concerned with the stability of a bicycle, both on flat ground, and on a type of trainer known as "rollers." The equations of motion are derived using Lagrange's equations with nonholonomic constraints, then the equations are linearized about a constant forward velocity, and a straight path, yielding a two degree of freedom system for the roll and steer angles. Stability is then determined for a variety of different parameters, exploring the roll of bicycle geometry and rider position, along with the effect of adding a steering torque, taking the form of different control laws.</p><p>Finally, the system is adapted to that of a bicycle on rollers, and the related equations of motion are derived and linearized. Notable differences with the classic bicycle case are detailed, a new eigenvalue behavior is presented, and configurations for optimal drum spacing are recommended.</p> / Dissertation

The Taimyr Peninsula is a key element in the circum-Arctic region and represents thenorthern margin of the Siberian Craton. The Taimyr Peninsula is a late Paleozoic fold andthrust belt and preserves late Paleozoic through Mesozoic siliciclastic sedimentarysuccessions and providing an ideal location to investigate the Paleozoic to Mesozoictectonic evolution associated with the Uralian orogeny, the Siberian Trap magmatism andopening of Amerasia Basin within a circum-Arctic framework. Multiple methods areadopted, including petrography, heavy mineral analysis and detrital zircon U-Pbgeochronology for provenance investigation, apatite fission track dating for revealingthermal history and balanced cross section for understanding the deformation style ofTaimyr.The results of this thesis indicate that the Late Carboniferous to Permian sediments ofsouthern Taimyr were deposited in a pro-foreland basin of the Uralian orogen during theUralian orogeny. In the Triassic, the siliciclastic deposits still show a strong Uraliansignature but the initiation of Siberian Trap-related input begins to be significant. Erosionof the Uralian orogen has reached a deep metamorphic level. By Late Jurassic andCretaceous time, the deposition setting of southern Taimyr is an intracratonic basin.Erosion and input from Uralian sources waned while greater input from SiberianTrap-related rocks of the Taimyr region dominated. The Taimyr Peninsula underwent atleast three cooling and uplifting episodes: 280 Ma, 250 Ma and 220 Ma, corresponding tothe Uralian orogeny, the Siberian Traps and the late Triassic transpression. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Manuscript. Paper 2: In press. Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

Unstable legged robots fall over without active stabilization, typically by repositioning the feet to maintain/regain stability of balance. This dissertation concerns the development of a Single-Track Three Legged Mobile Robot (ST3LMR) and control system. A proof-of-concept was demonstrated through digital simulation and experimentation with physical prototypes. The ST3LMR comprises a body and three articulated legs arranged in a narrow profile, one behind the other, to walk and maneuver along narrow trails and paths. The ST3LMR walks by placing successive footfalls in a generally single-track or in-line fashion. It achieves the form and function of a motorcycle but with the added benefit of legs and robotic control. That is, the feet are stationary with respect to footholds during the support period, thus eliminating the drawback of wheels, which require continuous support (especially when used in rugged terrain). By always having at least two feet on the ground, the ST3LMR is inherently stable in the pitch axis (in the forward/backward direction of motion), which allows for decoupling stability of balance control to only the roll axis (in the left/right direction).Suggested by recent developments in high-performance computing, walking robot locomotion and stabilization is considered from a new perspective, that of the Monte Carlo (MC) method. A high-speed MC simulation is used in a model-predictive control system to determine footholds that provide stability of balance. Stability of balance, maneuverability, and control is demonstrated through experimental results from physical prototypes and a simple digital simulation of an impulse response, avoidance maneuver, and leaning-into-the-turn maneuver.

Cognitive Radar (CR) is a paradigm shift from a traditional radar system in that previous knowledge and current measurements obtained from the radar channel are used to form a probabilistic understanding of its environment. Moreover, CR incorporates this probabilistic knowledge into its task priorities to form illumination and probing strategies thereby rendering it a closed-loop system. Depending on the hardware's capabilities and limitations, there are various degrees of freedom that a CR may utilize. Here we will concentrate on two: temporal, where it is manifested in adaptive waveform design; and spatial, where adaptive beamsteering is used for search-and-track functions. This work is divided into three parts. First, comprehensive theory of SNR and mutual information (MI) matched waveform design in signal-dependent interference is presented. Second, these waveforms are used in a closed-loop radar platform performing target discrimination and target class identification, where the extended targets are either deterministic or stochastic. The CR's probabilistic understanding is updated via the Bayesian framework. Lastly, we propose a multiplatform CR network for integrated search-and-track application. The two radar platforms cooperate in developing a four-dimensional probabilistic understanding of the channel. The two radars also cooperate in forming dynamic spatial illumination strategy, where beamsteering is matched to the channel uncertainty to perform the search function. Once a target is detected and a track is initiated, track information is integrated into the beamsteering strategy as part of CR's task prioritization.

In der prospektiven Untersuchung bekommen 50 Patienten ein intraoperativ inseriertes ON-Q® PainBuster® Kathetersystem. Patienten der Verumgruppe erhalten über 72 Stunden postoperativ Ropivacain 0,375 % über das lokale Wundkathetersystem mit einer Flussrate von 5 ml/h, Patienten der Placebogruppe zum Vergleich Natriumchloridlösung 0,9 %. Als Basisanalgesie werden alle Patienten mittels eines oralen Nicht-opioid Analgetikum und intravenösem Piritramid therapiert. Im postoperativen Verlauf von 5 Tagen werden die visuell analoge Schmerzskala bei unterschiedlichen Aktivitäten und der Bedarf von intravenös applizierten Piritramid über die PCA-Pumpe als Ergebnisse evaluiert. Diese Ergebnisse werden mit den aktuellen Analagesieverfahren im Rahmen der Thorax- und Kardiochirurgie verglichen und diskutiert. Mögliche Alternativen werden abschließend aufgezeigt.

The purpose of work is to determine the character and frequency of traumas encountered in different events of track-and-field athletics, and the influence of physical therapy on decrease of traumas. In order to achieve the goal, we have implemented the tasks, i.e. we determined the character of traumas usually encountered in track-and-field athletics, as well as the traumas suffered by men and women. We determined the frequency of sport traumas, according to the sport experience. We determined the character and localization of traumas, according to the events of track-and-field athletics, as well as the most common treatment methods in case of sport traumas. We learnt whether the physical therapy has the influence on the rise of repeated traumas. While writing the work, we referred to the hypothesis that the character and frequency of traumas depends on the specificity of events of track-and-field athletics, and studied whether the number of traumas decreases if the physical therapy is applied. The work used the following research methods: analysis of scientific literature, oral questionnaires-interview, analysis of the content of documents (data of medical cards). After the research had been made and the results compared to the other authors, we reached the conclusion that the character and localization of the traumas depends on the event of track-and-field event. The lesion encountered the most often is the strain, and the rarest one is abrasion and fatigue fractures... [to full text]

Spread of popularity of short track speed skating in the world and in Lithuania, rapid rise of mastery and increasing concurrence and competition among sportsmen encourage a study of scientifically based technologies of preparation for the short track speed skating. The paper overviews the characteristics of the development of structure in short track speed skating long-term trainings together with methods of training, physical and functional development. The aim of the paper: to find out the peculiarities of short track speed skating sportive training i.e. preparation in Lithuania. People under investigation were the members of the national short track speed skating team of Lithuania – S.K., P.G. and A.S. Sportive achievements and the analysis of training strain of the skaters were observed. Laboratory research has been done in the laboratory at the main meso-cycle of special preparation in Vilnius Pedagogical University. It was the first time that the skater S.K. has taken part in the research that has been done in Lithuania. Examination of sportsmen’s physical development and sportive readiness was accomplished in general and the special meso-cycles of preparation. The results of the research correspond to the norms that are set to the sportsmen. A programme for a year’s period of sportive preparation to Lithuanian short track speed skating team was structured. The programme consists of the following issues: selection of sportsmen and groups of age, physical strains and... [to full text]