133 research outputs found

    Midterm evaluation Research 2016-2018:

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    The research of TU Delft’s Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment (Faculteit Bouwkunde) covers the full spectrum of design, engineering, planning, and management of the built environment. Its research portfolio comprises the research that is conducted by four departments: Architecture Architectural Engineering + Technology (AE+T) Management in the Built Environment (MBE) Urbanism The faculty’s research focusses specifically at improving the design and performance of buildings, districts, cities and regions in order to better meet the requirements and expectations of their users and communities. From that perspective, much of the research that is conducted can be understood as applied science, appealing to the curiosity and the needs of other researchers, practitioners and the broader public alike. The research is a blend of humanities, social and engineering sciences. The humanities are strongest represented in the Architecture department, social sciences in the MBE and Urbanism departments, while the engineering sciences find their strongest representation in AE+T

    Internet of Things (IoT): Societal Challenges & Scientific Research Fields for IoT

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    International audienceJust as the Internet radically reshaped society, the Internet of Things (IoT) willhave an impact on all areas of human life: from our homes, vehicles, workplacesand factories, to our cities and towns, agriculture and healthcare systems. It willalso affect all levels of society (individuals, companies and state-level), from urbanto rural and the natural world beyond. This makes it essential to have a properunderstanding of IoT and the challenges which relate to it. The primary aims ofthis document are to (i) determine the scope of IoT, its origins, current developments and perspectives, and (ii) identify the main societal, technical and scientific challenges linked to IoT.It seems inevitable that IoT will become increasingly omnipresent. Indeed, itis set to penetrate every aspect of all of our lives, connecting everything (billionsof new heterogeneous machines communicating with each other) and measuringeverything: from the collective action we take at a global level, right down to oursmallest individual physiological signals, in real-time. This is a double-edged sword,in that it simultaneously gives people cause for hope (automation, ­optimisation,innovative new functionalities etc.) and cause for fear (surveillance, dependency,cyberattacks, etc.). Given the ever-evolving nature of the IoT, new challenges linked to privacy, transparency, security appear, while new civil and industrialresponsibilities are starting to emerge.IoT is centred around an increasingly complex set of interlinked concepts andembedded technologies. At an industrial level, this growing complexity is makingthe idea of having full control over all components of IoT increasingly difficult, oreven infeasible. However, as a society, we must get to grips with the technologicalfoundations of IoT. One challenge for education will therefore be to graduallyincrease awareness of IoT, both in order to protect individuals’ sovereignty andfree will, and to initiate the training of our future scientists and technicians. Apublic research institute such as Inria can contribute towards understandingand explaining the technological foundations of IoT, in addition to preservingsovereignty in Europe.IoT will inevitably increase dependency on certain types of embeddedt ­ echno­logy. It is hence necessary to identify the new risks that entail, and todevise new strategies in order to take full advantage of IoT, while minimising theserisks. Similarly to the situation in other domains where one must continually seekto preserve ethics without hindering innovation, creating a legal framework forIoT is both necessary and challenging. It nevertheless seems clear already thatthe best way of facing up to industrial giants or superpowers is to take action atthe EU level, as shown by recent examples such as GDPR. Furthermore, given thegrowing influence of technological standards on society, playing an active rolein the process of standardising IoT technology is essential. Open standards andopen source – conceived as a common public good – will be pivotal for IoT, justas they have been for the Internet. Last but not least, massive use of IoT can helpbetter capture and understand the environmental challenges we are ­currentlyfacing – it is also expected IoT will help to mitigate these challenges. The goals inthis context are not only to reduce the quantities of natural resources consumedby IoT (for production, deployment, maintenance and recycling). We must alsoaim to more accurately evaluate the overall net benefit of IoT on the environment,at a global level. This requires determining and subtracting IoT’s environmentalcosts from its (measured) benefits, which is currently a challenge. The growingimpact of IoT underscores the importance of remaining at the cutting edge whenit comes to scientific research and technological development. This documenttherefore aims to (i) highlight the wide range of research fields which are fundamental to IoT, and(ii) take stock of current and future research problems in each of these fields. A number of links are made throughout the document to contributionsmade by Inria. These contributions are, by their nature, diverse (basic and appliedresearch, open source software, startup incubation) and concern the majority ofresearch fields on which IoT is based

    Architecture and the Built Environment:

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    This publication provides an overview of TU Delft’s most significant research achievements in the field of architecture and the built environment during the years 2010–2012. It is the first presentation of the joint research portfolio of the Faculty of Architecture and OTB Research Institute since their integration into the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment. As such the portfolio holds a strong promise for the future. In a time when the economy seems to be finally picking up and in which such societal issues as energy, climate and ageing are more prominent than ever before, there are plenty of fields for us to explore in the next three years

    Dependable Embedded Systems

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    This Open Access book introduces readers to many new techniques for enhancing and optimizing reliability in embedded systems, which have emerged particularly within the last five years. This book introduces the most prominent reliability concerns from today’s points of view and roughly recapitulates the progress in the community so far. Unlike other books that focus on a single abstraction level such circuit level or system level alone, the focus of this book is to deal with the different reliability challenges across different levels starting from the physical level all the way to the system level (cross-layer approaches). The book aims at demonstrating how new hardware/software co-design solution can be proposed to ef-fectively mitigate reliability degradation such as transistor aging, processor variation, temperature effects, soft errors, etc. Provides readers with latest insights into novel, cross-layer methods and models with respect to dependability of embedded systems; Describes cross-layer approaches that can leverage reliability through techniques that are pro-actively designed with respect to techniques at other layers; Explains run-time adaptation and concepts/means of self-organization, in order to achieve error resiliency in complex, future many core systems

    Oxytocin Mitigates the Negative Consequences of Chronic Social Isolation in Prairie Voles (Microtus ochrogaster)

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    Chronic stressors, such as chronic isolation in social mammals, can elevate glucocorticoids (CORT), which may affect cellular aging mechanisms such as increasing levels of oxidative stress and shortening telomere lengths. Prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) are a useful model species to study chronic isolation due to their social and pair-bonding behaviors. Recent work in prairie voles suggests that oxytocin and social support may mitigate some of the negative consequences of social isolation, possibly by reducing CORT levels. We investigated the influences of isolation, oxytocin or social support on stress physiology, behavior, and cellular aging. Voles were divided into six groups: isolated (I), paired (P), isolated (IV) and paired (PV) with daily vehicle injections, and isolated (IO) and paired (PO) with daily oxytocin injections. Blood samples were collected at the start of the study, then again after 3 and 6 weeks. Acute stress tests were conducted using the resident-intruder test (RIT) at 6 weeks to determine if treatment had any effect on stress responsiveness. Anhedonia, a behavioral index of depression, was measured using sucrose solution preference tests to determine depression-like symptoms throughout the study. We found that six weeks of chronic isolation lead to increased CORT levels, oxidative damage, telomere degradation and anhedonia. However, daily oxytocin injections in isolated individuals prevented these negative consequences as compared to those who were isolated with and without daily vehicle injections. During the RIT, I prairie voles had elevated CORT levels at baseline and stress-induced time points, which continued to increase during the recovery time point. IO prairie voles had a similar stress response in terms of CORT secretion to the P, PO and tremetn groups. Oxidative damage markers (ROMs) were elevated in the I and IV groups during the stress-induced time point of the RIT, but returned to baseline levels by the recovery time point. However, baseline levels of ROMs were still significantly higher in the I and IV treatment groups than all other treatments. IO prairie voles had no change in ROMs during the RIT, similar to the paired groups. Antioxidant capacity stayed the same for all groups until the recovery sample during the RIT when all treatment groups significantly declined in TAC. This demonstrates that isolation caused elevated biological aging, stress and depression-like behavior. This is the first study to link social isolation with oxidative stress and telomere shortening

    River and Ridge: Eco-Revelatory Design at Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge

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    Eco-revelatory design (ERD) emerged in 1998 as a reaction to polarity within the field of landscape architecture. Two predominant schools of thought, one insistently cultural and the other assertively ecological, reigned over the conceptual and theoretical dialog in landscape design and planning. The authors of ERD proposed a design theory in which landscape architecture is “intended to reveal and interpret ecological phenomena, processes and relationships” (Brown, Harkness, Johnston, 1998). Proponents of ERD recognized that landscape architecture alters and directs both cultural and ecological systems. Furthermore, they acknowledged landscape architects’ capacity to direct human experience and reveal, through design, aspects of ecology and culture. This integrated approach provides opportunity for people to place themselves in and as part of an interconnected socio-ecologic world, reinforcing the relationships between humans and the bio-geosphere. In this thesis I explore phenomenological design as a method to reveal ecological systems and comment on the cultural systems impacting them. The intention is to reveal, through design, the cultural relevance of ecological imperatives at multiple spatial and temporal scales. In design, phenomenology is a method used to understand place as a gestalt of concrete, qualitative phenomena. Phenomenological design methods will be used to explore a series of eco-revelatory design interventions along a transect loop path. The interventions seek to translate seven process indices of the sedimentary rock cycle: weathering, erosion, transport, deposition, lithification, collision, and uplift. Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge (SIWR) is the site and lens with which I will explore these concepts over a period of three seasons. SIWR is an ecologically managed peninsula along the floodplain of the French Broad River in east Knox County, TN. The site provides an uncommon opportunity to explore a landscape that appears natural, but is managed for surrounding human development and habitat

    BIO-IONIC LIQUID FUNCTIONALIZED HYDROGELS TOWARDS SMART TISSUE REGENERATION

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    A blend of scaffolds, biologically active molecules, and cells are required to assemble functional constructs to repair and regenerate damaged tissue or organ via tissue engineering. The scaffold supports cell growth and proliferation and acts as a medium for diverse cellular activities. Even though hydrogel\u27s high-water content and flexible nature make it a pronounced applicant as a scaffold, they exhibit significant technical limitations such as the absence of cell-binding motifs, lack of oxygen, conductivity, adhesive properties, growth of cells in a 3-dimensional (3D) microenvironment. In this thesis, a novel material platform is evaluated and studied to address the concerns mentioned earlier. The biopolymer is made by conjugating a bio ionic liquid (BIL) onto a biocompatible polymer backbone. The introduction of choline functionality significantly enhances the polymer\u27s physical, mechanical, rheological, adhesive, and electrochemical properties. Initially, the adhesive properties and functionality of the synthesized biopolymers were analyzed. In addition, evaluating the biopolymer\u27s ability to be used in in-situ 3D printing in-vivo electrical stimulation studies was performed. Furthermore, to demonstrate the biopolymer\u27s performance as a conductive gel electrolyte, electrochemical functioning was considered. In conclusion, as an application, self-oxygenating tissue scaffolds were developed based on biocompatible electrochemical cell technology, combining the properties exhibited by the new class of biomaterials, an oxygen-generating setup that alleviates anoxia in a 3D microenvironment was confirmed, thus serving as an interface between bioelectronics and biomaterials
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