Smart city : How smart is it actually?

The global megatrends of population growth and fast urbanisation are negatively impacting the life in the cities. Smart city is the high-level concept by which the cities try to address the need to improve their social, economic and environmental sustainability. This thesis studies how the smart city concept is defined, what are the underlying hypotheses and assumptions on which the smart city research is based on, what are the latest results and innovations of the smart city research, how the smart city initiatives are meeting their objectives, and how the hypotheses and assumptions may vary between the smart city initiatives. The objective of this study is to critically review the smart city research paradigm to find possible pitfalls, conflicting results and topics for further study and improvement. This research is conducted as a traditional critical literature review, covering the current academic literature on the smart city topic, the websites presenting the smart city initiatives around the world, and the latest popular literature for contrasting views. A qualitative comparison of the smart city initiatives in selected cities – Helsinki, Singapore and London – complements the literature review. The research strategy in this study approximates the grounded theory, utilising inductive reasoning to generate arguments and conclusions about the form, validity and future of the smart city. This study produced the following key findings: there are many different and overlapping definitions of smart city; the smart city development is mostly seen as the responsibility of smart ICT implementations, while simultaneously demanding for a more focused human viewpoint; the smart city initiatives form complex, multidisciplinary platforms that require holistic evaluation; the current evaluation methods and rankings of the smart cities vary considerably, making the evaluation of the success of the smart cities difficult; some of the existing smart city elements and proposed solutions are ineffective or even counterproductive for the smart city objectives. The main conclusions of this study were that the complex nature of the smart city initiatives and the conflicts and interdependencies of the smart city objectives are not fully addressed in the current smart city research, and that the current smart city research is not adequately multidisciplinary in nature. For the future, this research argues for the increased utilisation of research methods used in information systems science for their ability to address socio-technical and multidisciplinary problems. Also, the need for a future research on the efficacy of the multidisciplinary research of smart cities is identified.Väestönkasvu, siitä aiheutuva muuttoliike ja nopea kaupungistuminen ovat maailmanlaajuisia megatrendejä, jotka usein vaikuttavat kielteisesti elämisen ja asumisen laatuun kaupungeissa. Älykaupunki on ylemmän tason konsepti, jonka avulla kaupungit yrittävät muokata sosiaalista, taloudellista ja ympäristönsä kehitystä kestävämmälle pohjalle. Tässä tutkielmassa tarkastellaan, miten älykaupungin konsepti on määritelty, mitkä ovat ne taustaolettamukset ja perusteet, joiden varaan älykaupunkien tieteellinen tutkimus pohjautuu, mitkä ovat älykaupunkitutkimuksen viimeisimmät tulokset ja innovaatiot, miten älykaupunkihankkeet saavuttavat tavoitteensa ja miten niiden perusteet ja taustaolettamukset vaihtelevat älykaupunkien välillä. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena on kriittisesti tarkastella älykaupunkien tutkimusparadigmaa ja löytää mahdollisia sudenkuoppia sekä ristiriitaisia tutkimusaiheita ja -tuloksia, joita voitaisiin käyttää älykaupunkien jatkotutkimukseen ja -kehittämiseen tulevaisuudessa. Tämä tutkimus on toteutettu perinteisenä kriittisenä kirjallisuustutkimuksena. Lähdeaineistona on käytetty älykaupunkien viimeisimpiä akateemisia tutkimustuloksia ja julkaisuja, älykaupunkihankkeiden omia nettisivustoja ympäri maailman sekä kontrastin vuoksi myös viimeisimpiä populaarin lähdekirjallisuuden käsittelemiä aiheita ja ilmiöitä. Kirjallisuustutkimusta on täydennetty kvalitatiivisella älykaupunkivertailulla, jossa Helsingin, Singaporen ja Lontoon älykaupunkihankkeita on vertailtu keskenään. Työn tutkimusstrategia muistuttaa ankkuroitua teoriaa, jossa induktiivisen päättelyn avulla pyritään lähdeaineistosta löytämään ja luomaan väitteitä, perusteluja ja johtopäätöksiä älykaupunkien muodosta, olemassaolon oikeellisuudesta ja tulevaisuudesta. Tutkimuksessa havaittiin seuraavat pääkohdat: älykaupunki voidaan määritellä usealla, myöskin samanaikaisesti päällekkäisellä tavalla; älykaupunkien kehittäminen nähdään yleensä tieto- ja viestintäteknologisten innovaatioiden kehittämisenä, vaikka samanaikaisesti usein vaaditaan myös inhimillisemmän näkökulman korostamista; älykaupunkihankkeet muodostavat monitahoisia, monia tieteenaloja koskettavia alustoja, jotka vaativat nykyistä kokonaisvaltaisempaa tarkastelua ja arvi-ointia; nykyiset älykaupunkien menestyksen mittarit ja arviointitavat vaihtelevat huomattavasti, jolloin älykaupunkien älykkyyden ja onnistumisen yhteismitallinen arviointi on vaikeaa; jotkut havaituista älykaupunkien ominaisuuksista ja ratkaisuista ovat tehottomia tai jopa kielteisesti älykaupunkien tavoitteisiin vaikuttavia. Tässä tutkimuksessa päädyttiin seuraaviin johtopäätöksiin: älykaupunkihankkeiden monimutkaisen ja ristiriitaisen luonteen takia nykyinen älykaupunkitutkimus- ja kehitys ei täysin pysty vastaamaan näiden ristiriitaisuuksien ja keskinäisriippuvuuksien tuomiin haasteisiin; nykyinen älykaupunkitutkimus ei myöskään ole tieteellisesti riittävän monialaista. Tämän tutkimuksen pohjalta voidaan suositella, että tulevaisuudessa älykaupunkien kehitys voisi pohjautua enemmän tietojärjestelmätieteiden tutkimusmetodologioiden hyödyntämiseen, jolloin älykaupunkien vaatimat sosiotekniset ja monitieteelliset näkökulmat saataisiin paremmin havaittua, katettua ja arvioitua tutkimustuloksissa. Tulevaisuudessa tarvitaan myös tutkimusta siitä, kuinka tehokkaasti monitieteellinen älykaupunkitutkimus onnistuu

Photoabsorption spectra of boron nitride fullerenelike structures

Optical absorption spectra have been calculated for a series of boron nitride fullerenelike cage structures BnNn of sizes n=12–36. The method used is a real-time, real-space implementation of the time-dependent density-functional theory, involving the full time propagation of the time-dependent Kohn-Sham equations. The spectra are found to be a possible tool for distinguishing between different boron nitride fullerene species and isomers. The trends and differences in the spectra are found to be related to the general geometry of the molecules. Comparison between local-density and generalized-gradient approximations for electron exchange-correlation functionals shows that both of them produce essentially the same spectral characteristics.Peer reviewe

Effect of the surrounding oxide on the photoabsorption spectra of Si nanocrystals

A systematic study of the optical absorption of small silicon nanocrystals (Si-NCs) embedded in silicon dioxide is performed using real-time time-dependent density-functional theory. The modeled Si-NCs contain up to 47 Si atoms with the surrounding oxide being described by a shell of SiO2. The oxide-embedded Si-NCs exhibit absorption spectra that differ significantly from the spectra of the hydrogen-passivated Si-NCs. In particular, the minimum absorption energy is found to decrease when the Si-NCs are exposed to dioxide coating. Unexpectedly, the absorption energy of the oxide-embedded Si-NCs remains approximately constant for core sizes down to 17 atoms, whereas the absorption energy of the hydrogen-passivated Si-NCs increases with decreasing crystal size. This trend suggests a different mechanism for producing the lowest-energy excitations in these two cases.Peer reviewe

Sprinkler irrigation on clay soils in southern Finland II. Effect on the grain yield of spring yereals

In the dry summers 1964, 1965 and 1966, irrigation experiments of spring cereals were carried out on clay soils in Southern Finland. The soils having a rather poor structure because of the long-term cultivation without leys, endured without slaking the irrigation which was applied with »slow sprinklers» in the nigh-time. Neutral irrigation water containing small amounts of soluble salts was taken from a brook and a lake. One irrigation of 30—37 mm, applied at the optimum date, increased the grain yields of spring wheat 600—1000 kg/ha or 25—50 % and those of barley and oats 1600 kg/ha or 50 %. Barley and oats were the experimental plants only in 1966, when the relative increase in yields of all the three cereals were of the same order, namely 50 %. The optimum date of irrigation did not very closely depend on the state of development of the cereals, since within 2—5 weeks from sprouting about equal increases in yield could be obtained. Barley and oats responded, however, best to the irrigation applied one week before ear emergence. The late irrigation which was applied three days after ear emergence was best utilized by oats. Thus, the right order to irrigate cereals was in 1966: wheat, barley and oats, in spite of the reverse order of the ripening of the crops. An irrigation at the stage of sprouting had no effect on yield, because the sprouting occured well also without irrigation. Irrigation produced higher increases in yield when higher amounts of fertilizer were used. Thus, the profitable influence of irrigation was at least partly based on the better recovery of fertilizer nutrients by plants. Placement of fertilizer into the depth of 8—12 cm postponed the optimum date of irrigation some days, because the crops were able to make use of placed fertilizer also without irrigation in the early part of the summer. Placement of fertilizer and irrigation together formed an advantageous combination, because the influence of the placement of fertilizer was most effective immediately after sprouting whereas the best period of irrigation began 2—3 weeks later. With these both means, in the best cases, the yields could be almost doubled

Sprinkler irrigation on clay soils in southern Finland III. Effect on the quality of grain yield

In the present paper the effect of irrigation on the ripening and on the quality of grain yield in the dry summers 1964—1966 was studied. Both the ripening and the quality of grain were found to be highly dependent on the date of irrigation. There was a distinct transitional period, before which irrigation speeded up ripening, decreased the amount of green grains and improved hectoliter weights and »falling numbers». On the contrary, if irrigation was applied after this transitional period, ripening was retarded and the quality of grains was impaired in regard to these properties. This transitional period was in the experimental years about two weeks before ear emergence or about Midsummer. The optimum period of irrigation, in regard to both yield level and to its ripening and quality, was in the middle between sprouting and ear emergence and its length was about two weeks. Wheat, barley and oats all responded to the date of irrigation in about the same way. The placement of fertilizers into the depth of 8—12 cm speeded up ripening and improved hectoliter weights. Particularly, it decreased the unfavourable effect of too late irrigation. The rate of fertilizers had no great influence on the quality of grains. Irrigation did not increase the weight of grains, but it increased the number of grains. The main effect of irrigation was likely to be caused by the tillering of crops, and these adventitious shoots had time to ripen, if irrigation was applied at a sufficiently early stage of development. The crude protein content of both wheat, barley and oats was markedly decreased by irrigation independently of the date of it. This decrease was usually the greater the higher yield was obtained. The decrease in the crude protein content indicates a shortage of nitrogen which was likely to be caused by the scanty mobilizeable resources of nitrogen in the soils long cultivated without leys. Obviously, this unfavourable decrease in the crude protein content could have been prevented with heavy dressings of fertilizer nitrogen

Sprinkler irrigation on clay soils in southern Finland I. Sprinkler irrigation, its technique and effect on soil moisture

During the last three years, 1964—66, investigations on sprinkler irrigation of spring cereals have been carried out. The experimental fields were clay soils in Southern Finland. Neutral river and lake waters containing small amounts of soluble salts were applied in the nighttime. The application rate of the rotary sprinklers used was 2.5—4 mm per hour with the radius of 12±2 m. With this technique the experimental soils having poor structure endured the irrigation without any crust formation. It was found that the sprinklers equipped with two nozzles distributed the water more uniformly than those with one nozzle. With the former sprinklers a fairly good uniformity was attained: The amount of water usually varied between 25 and 35 mm with an average of 30 mm, except in a relatively small area nearest to the sprinklers which received too much water and in the area at the greatest distance from the sprinklers with less than the average amounts of water. The soil water conditions were followed by gypsum blocks inserted at different depths. In each experimental year, within 2—3 weeks from sprouting, the available water in the top soils decreased to 50 per cent of the total capacity. This dry condition existed for two months in the years 1964 and 1966 and for one month in 1965. During these dry periods the top soils were near the wilting point for a long time, and in 1966 the available water was wholly exhausted. The influence of transpiration was effective also in deeper layers. In 1966, the soil reached the wilting point also at the depth of 40 cm and stayed at this condition for about one month. The effect of a 30—37 mm irrigation on the soil moisture conditions lasted only for 1—2 weeks. Thus, the rate of evapotranspiration was as much as 4 mm per day. The plants consumed water simultaneously from the whole root zone, yet, most effectively from the surface layers. The top soil (20 cm in thickness) which had reached the wilting point was not completely moistened by the amounts of water applied. This indicates the high capacity of clay soils to store water. It is also noteworthy that a part of irrigation water percolated to 40 cm before the soil at the depths of 10 and 20 cm had time to get to the field capacity. In experimental years, to ensure favourable moisture conditions to spring cereals several high applications of water would have been needed. This proves that also during the short growing season in Finland a serious shortage of water may occur

Risk factors for evaluating early mortality after microvascular reconstruction of head and neck cancers

Background: Free tissue transfer reconstruction carries significant complication rates in surgical head and neck oncology. A registry-based approach offers a possibility to investigate the factors affecting increased morbidity and early mortality, that is, death within 6 months of treatment. Methods: A retrospective registry review was conducted on a series of 317 consecutive microvascular free tissue transfers in head and neck cancer patients performed during 2013-2017 at the Helsinki University Hospital (Helsinki, Finland). All surviving patients had a minimum follow-up of 2 years (range 24-84 months). Results: Overall, 36 (11.4%) early deaths occurred in this series. In multivariable logistic regression analysis, patients aged 75 years and older (p = 0.019), Adult Comorbidity Evaluation-27 (ACE-27) score of 3 (p = 0.048), tumor class T3 (p = 0.005), lymph node class N2 (p = 0.014), or thrombocyte count of 360 (x 10(9) L) or more (p = 0.001) were more likely to die within 6 months of surgery. Of these 36 patients, 27 (75%) had a complication warranting hospital care and most (n = 22, 61%) had several complications. Conclusions: Early postoperative mortality most frequently affects patients aged 75 years and above, with a high ACE-27 score, advanced tumor stage, or high thrombocyte count. Therefore, preoperative assessment and patient selection should have a crucial role in this patient population.Peer reviewe