Networks of Circular Economy Villages: Political Economic Principles and Spatial Potentials

Faced with the challenges to restructure societies for long term sustainability, greater attention should be given to the design of human settlements and their relationship to each other. This thesis explores the pattern of human settlements and the possibility of finding a solution in the form of networks of Circular Economy Villages (CEVs). Each CEV would integrate energy, water, food and building infrastructure, aligning these with local ecological cycles. This would maximise local production and improve energy efficiency, while reducing both financial and ecological costs. The research question is: How would human habitats be structured in a political economic paradigm wherein populations were mobilised to regenerate natural systems and, through this, to rehabilitate and regenerate the human condition? Asking the question in reverse: How might a disruptive model for building human habitats enable the development of such a regenerative political economic paradigm? Critiques are most effective when accompanied by a viable alternative vision and an implementation strategy. The vision is therefore described at the outset, contrasting it with present political economic arrangements. The latter centralises production in densely populated cities, surrounded by less-densely populated towns and villages. The vision proposes a more even distribution of populations—a network of communities, each responsible for, and dependent on, the land upon which they are located. This thesis adopts a dialectical method, comparing centralised with distributed systems, extractive with regenerative processes, and linear with circular economies. Circular patterns underpin and connect all the chapters, exploring relational, temporal, spatial and holistic perspectives of circularity. By contrasting present circumstances with a possible future, various implementation strategies are developed—including town planning policies, a financial plan, and design principles for building networks of CEVs

Solvent Molding of Organic Morphologies Made of Supramolecular Chiral Polymers

12sihe self-assembly and self-organization behavior of uracil-conjugated enantiopure (R)- or (S)-1,1'-binaphthyl-2,2'-diol (BINOL) and a hydrophobic oligo(p-phenylene ethynylene) (OPE) chromophore exposing 2,6-di(acetylamino)pyridine termini are reported. Systematic spectroscopic (UVvis, CD, fluorescence, NMR, and SAXS) and microscopic studies (TEM and AFM) showed that BINOL and OPE compounds undergo triple H-bonding recognition, generating different organic nanostructures in solution. Depending on the solvophobic properties of the liquid media (toluene, CHCl3, CHCl3/CHX, and CHX/THF), spherical, rod-like, fibrous, and helical morphologies were obtained, with the latter being the only nanostructures expressing chirality at the microscopic level. SAXS analysis combined with molecular modeling simulations showed that the helical superstructures are composed of dimeric double-cable tape-like structures that, in turn, are supercoiled at the microscale. This behavior is interpreted as a consequence of an interplay among the degree of association of the H-bonded recognition, the vapor pressure of the solvent, and the solvophobic/solvophilic character of the supramolecular adducts in the different solutions under static and dynamic conditions, namely solvent evaporation conditions at room temperature.partially_openopenĐorđević, Luka; Marangoni, Tomas; Miletić, Tanja; Rubio-Magnieto, Jenifer; Mohanraj, John; Amenitsch, Heinz; Pasini, Dario; Liaros, Nikos; Couris, Stelios; Armaroli, Nicola; Surin, Mathieu; Bonifazi, DavideĐorđević, Luka; Marangoni, Tomas; Miletic, Tanja; Rubio Magnieto, Jenifer; Mohanraj, John; Amenitsch, Heinz; Pasini, Dario; Liaros, Nikos; Couris, Stelios; Armaroli, Nicola; Surin, Mathieu; Bonifazi, David

A multimodal dataset for authoring and editing multimedia content:the MAMEM project

We present a dataset that combines multimodal biosignals and eye tracking information gathered under a human-computer interaction framework. The dataset was developed in the vein of the MAMEM project that aims to endow people with motor disabilities with the ability to edit and author multimedia content through mental commands and gaze activity. The dataset includes EEG, eye-tracking, and physiological (GSR and Heart rate) signals collected from 34 individuals (18 able-bodied and 16 motor-impaired). Data were collected during the interaction with specifically designed interface for web browsing and multimedia content manipulation and during imaginary movement tasks. The presented dataset will contribute towards the development and evaluation of modern human-computer interaction systems that would foster the integration of people with severe motor impairments back into society.</p

A twisted bay-substituted quaterrylene phosphorescing in the NIR spectral region

The preparation of the first soluble quaterrylene derivative featuring peripheral tert-butyl substituents and sterically hindering, core-anchored triflate groups has been achieved. This involves a facile synthetic route based on an oxidative coupling of perylene precursors in the presence of H2O2 as oxidant. The steric hindrance between the TfO substituents at the central bay position of the quaterrylene board triggers a strong deformation of the central perylene planarity, which forces the quaterrylene platform to adopt a twisted geometry as shown by X-ray analysis. Exceptionally, photophysical investigations show that the core-twisted quaterrylene phosphoresces in the NIR spectral region at 1716 nm. Moreover, third-order nonlinear optical measurements on solutions and thin film containing the relevant molecule showed very large second hyperpolarizability values, as predicted by theoretical calculations at the CAM-B3LYP/6-31G** level of theory, making this material very appealing for photonic applications

Ultrafast dynamic response in nanostructured hybrid materials and devices

With the development of the first lasers and the oncoming progress of the technology, the detailed and systematic investigation of light-matter interactions was made possible. In particular, with the holding of the first experiments with laser radiations, it was found that when the material is excited with high intensity radiation, a series of phenomena which depend on the intensity of the radiation may occur, such as the generation of new frequencies etc. In this direction, there was a rapid development of a new branch of Optics dedicated to the study of such phenomena, the so-called Nonlinear Optics. In general, all these phenomena described by nonlinear optics, take place at relatively high intensities, typical of laser sources. And is important to emphasize that, although in most cases whether a phenomenon depends on the intensity of the radiation induced is the criterion for whether the phenomenon is part of the nonlinear optical response or not, however there are nonlinear phenomena which depend on the energy density of the radiation. All these effects are mainly associated with the duration of the laser pulse, and usually accompanied by absorption of radiation.In parallel, the development of pulsed lasers allowed to develop spectroscopic techniques, which could be said to function as cameras, capturing snapshots extremely short in duration, with a resolution equal to the duration of the laser pulses, giving important information, which in turn lead to a deeper understanding of the response of matter during the first moments of excitation by a beam of photons, revealing the mechanisms through which the recovery occurs.So far, materials with significant nonlinear response already have applications in the fields of photonics and optoelectronics. For example, materials exhibiting large nonlinear optical response can be used as optical limiters to protect sensitive detectors and high-cost devices from high-intensity laser beams, and also can be used as optical switches and optical diodes, the advantage in this case being that there is no need for converting the optical signal in electronic and vice versa, a process which is undesirable because of the delay induced in an information transmission.Also, materials exhibiting ultrafast electron response, have attracted the interest of the scientific community for use on a variety of key technological applications, with interest now being focused on semiconductor nanoparticles, since in that case the size of the material is limited within the range of a few nanometers, exhibiting unique properties, which are completely different from those exhibited by the same material at its macroscopic dimensions (bulk material).In the present dissertation, the third-order nonlinear optical response of graphene derivatives such as the graphene oxide and fluorinated graphene was studied in detail. These materials were selected since the last two decades, allotrope forms of carbon, such as fullerenes (0-D) and carbon nanotubes (1-D) have been found to exhibit significant non-linear absorption and optical limiting, and therefore it would be of particular interest a study of the third-order nonlinear optical response of two-dimensional (2-D) materials based on carbon.Furthermore, the third-order nonlinear optical properties of some novel synthesized π-conjugated azobenzene derivatives were investigated. The azobenzene, which exhibit stereo-isomerization, has been extensively studied in the last decade, and has been found to exhibit particularly high nonlinear optical response. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of conjugation length and charge transfer on the nonlinear optical response of symmetric azobenzene derivatives, as well as to unravel the contribution of each isomer (cis/trans) in the observed nonlinearity.Also, an important part of this work devoted to the systematic study of nonlinear optical properties and ultrafast dynamic response of a series of novel synthesized γ-Fe2O3 iron oxide nanoparticles. In the literature, there are some reports for the linear and nonlinear optical properties of γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles, but systematic study of the effect of the size on the third-order nonlinear optical response has not been reported hitherto. Furthermore, the interest was also focused on the study of the size effect in ultrafast dynamic response, because it can provide useful information for the carrier recombination, and how this is being affected upon limiting the size of the semiconducting nanoparticles’ dimensions. This knowledge will also provide valuable information regarding the understanding of the underlying mechanisms leading to the nonlinear optical response.Finally, the ultrafast dynamic response of three different types of carbon dots was studied. These nano-materials are the subject of extensive research since the first moment of their recent discovery, mainly due to the strong fluorescence that display, while importantly, very recent studies showed that they also exhibit interesting nonlinear optical properties. In this light, the systematic study of the dynamic response of carbon dots is of particular interest, because it can provide information on relaxation mechanisms, information that is important for various applications (photovoltaics, photonic and optoelectronic devices, etc.).Με την ανάπτυξη των λέιζερ και την εξέλιξη της τεχνολογίας, κατέστη δυνατή η λεπτομερής διερεύνηση των αλληλεπιδράσεων φωτός-ύλης. Με την διεξαγωγή των πρώτων πειραμάτων με ακτινοβολίες λέιζερ, διαπιστώθηκε ότι όταν η ύλη διεγείρεται με ακτινοβολίες υψηλών εντάσεων, λαμβάνουν χώρα φαινόμενα τα οποία εξαρτώνται από την ένταση της ακτινοβολίας, όπως για παράδειγμα η γένεση νέων συχνοτήτων. Έτσι, πολύ γρήγορα αναπτύχθηκε ένας νέος κλάδος για τη μελέτη των φαινομένων αυτών, ο κλάδος της μη γραμμικής οπτικής. Τα φαινόμενα που μελετά η μη γραμμική οπτική, είναι φαινόμενα τα οποία εκδηλώνονται σε μεγάλες εντάσεις, εντάσεις στις οποίες το εφαρμοζόμενο ηλεκτρικό πεδίο γίνεται συγκρίσιμο με αυτό που συγκρατεί τα ηλεκτρόνια στο άτομο. Και σημαντικό είναι να τονισθεί ότι, αν και στις περισσότερες φορές το αν εξαρτάται ένα φαινόμενο από την ένταση της διεγείρουσας ακτινοβολίας αποτελεί το κριτήριο για το αν το φαινόμενο αποτελεί κομμάτι της μη γραμμικής οπτικής απόκρισης, εντούτοις υπάρχουν και μη γραμμικά φαινόμενα τα οποία εξαρτώνται από την πυκνότητα ενέργειας της ακτινοβολίας. Τα φαινόμενα αυτά συνδέονται κυρίως με τη διάρκεια των παλμών, και συνήθως συνοδεύονται από απορρόφηση ακτινοβολίας. Παράλληλα, η ανάπτυξη παλμικών λέιζερ έδωσε τη δυνατότητα στο να αναπτυχθούν φασματοσκοπικές τεχνικές, οι οποίες θα μπορούσε να πει κανείς ότι λειτουργούν σαν φωτογραφική μηχανή, συλλαμβάνοντας στιγμιότυπα εξαιρετικά μικρά σε χρονική διάρκεια, με διακριτική ικανότητα ίση με τη διάρκεια των παλμών λέιζερ, δίνοντας σημαντικές πληροφορίες οι οποίες οδηγούν στη βαθύτερη κατανόηση της απόκρισης της ύλης κατά τις πρώτες στιγμές της διέγερσης από μια δέσμη φωτονίων, καθώς και των μηχανισμών μέσω των οποίων λαμβάνει χώρα η αποκατάσταση.Υλικά με σημαντική μη γραμμική απόκριση βρίσκουν ήδη εφαρμογές στους τομείς της φωτονικής και την οπτό-ηλεκτρονικής. Μπορούν να χρησιμοποιηθούν ως οπτικοί περιοριστές για την προστασία ευαίσθητων ανιχνευτών και διατάξεων υψηλού κόστους από δέσμες λέιζερ υψηλής έντασης, ενώ επίσης μπορούν να χρησιμοποιηθούν ως οπτικοί διακόπτες και οπτικές δίοδοι, με το πλεονέκτημα στην περίπτωση αυτή να είναι ότι δε θα χρειάζεται μετατροπή του οπτικού σήματος σε ηλεκτρονικό, διαδικασία η οποία είναι ανεπιθύμητη λόγω της καθυστέρησης που επάγει στην διάδοση μια πληροφορίας.Επίσης, υλικά που εμφανίζουν υπερβραχεία ηλεκτρονιακή απόκριση, έχουν ελκύσει το ενδιαφέρον της επιστημονικής κοινότητας για τη χρησιμοποίησή τους σε μια πληθώρα καίριων τεχνολογικών εφαρμογών, με το ενδιαφέρον πλέον να εστιάζεται σε νανοσωματίδια ημιαγωγών, αφού στην περίπτωση που οι διαστάσεις της ύλης περιορίζονται στην κλίμακα των μερικών νανομέτρων, τα υλικά εμφανίζουν μοναδικές ιδιότητες, που είναι εντελώς διαφορετικές από τις αντίστοιχες που επιδεικνύουν σε μακροσκοπικές διαστάσεις (bulk material).Στην εργασία αυτή, μελετήθηκε εκτενώς η μη γραμμική οπτική απόκριση τρίτης τάξης παραγώγων του γραφενίου, όπως του οξειδίου του γραφενίου και του φθοριωμένου γραφενίου. Τα υλικά αυτά επιλέχθηκαν διότι τις τελευταίες δύοδεκαετίες, αλλότροπες μορφές άνθρακα, όπως τα φουλλερένια (0-D) και οινανοσωλήνες άνθρακα (1-D) βρέθηκε να εμφανίζουν σημαντική μη γραμμικήαπορρόφηση, και οπτικό περιορισμό, και θα είχε ιδιαίτερο ενδιαφέρον μια μελέτηδιδιάστατων (2-D) υλικών με βάση τον άνθρακα.Μελετήθηκαν επίσης οι μη γραμμικές οπτικές ιδιότητες τρίτης τάξης μερικώνπρόσφατα συντεθειμένων π-συζυγιακών αζοβενζολικών παραγώγων. Τααζοβενζόλια, τα οποία εμφανίζουν στέρεο-ισομερισμό, έχουν μελετηθεί εκτενώς τηντελευταία δεκαετία, και έχει βρεθεί να εμφανίζουν ιδιαίτερα υψηλή μη γραμμικήοπτική απόκριση. Σκοπός της μελέτης ήταν να μελετηθεί η επίδραση του μήκουςσυζυγίας και της μεταφοράς φορτίου στη μη γραμμική οπτική απόκριση τωνσυμμετρικών αζοβενζολικών παραγώγων, καθώς επίσης και επίσης να διερευνηθεί ησυνεισφορά του κάθε ισομερούς (cis/trans) στη μη γραμμικότητα.Ένα σημαντικό μέρος της εργασίας αφιερώθηκε στη συστηματική μελέτη τωνμη γραμμικών οπτικών ιδιοτήτων και της υπερταχείας δυναμικής απόκρισηςνανοσωματιδίων μαγκεμίτη (γ-Fe2O3). Στη βιβλιογραφία υπάρχουν αναφορές για τιςγραμμικές και μη γραμμικές οπτικές ιδιότητες νανοσωματιδίων γ-Fe2O3, όμωςσυστηματική μελέτη της επίδρασης του μεγέθους στη μη γραμμική οπτική απόκρισητρίτης τάξης δεν έχει αναφερθεί έως τώρα. Παράλληλα, ενδιαφέρον παρουσιάζει καιη μελέτη της επίδραση του μεγέθους στην υπερταχεία δυναμική φωτό-απόκριση,διότι μπορεί να δώσει χρήσιμές πληροφορίες για την επανασύνδεση των φορέων καιπως αυτή επηρεάζεται όταν περιορίζεται το μέγεθος των ημιαγώγιμωννανοσωματιδίων. Η γνώση αυτή μπορεί επίσης να δώσει πολύτιμές πληροφορίες γιατην κατανόηση των μηχανισμών που οδηγούν στη μη γραμμική οπτική απόκριση.Τέλος, μελετήθηκε η υπερταχεία δυναμική απόκριση τριών διαφορετικώνψηφίδων άνθρακα (carbon dots). Τα εν λόγω νάνο-υλικά αποτελούν αντικείμενοεκτεταμένης έρευνας από την πρώτη στιγμή της (πρόσφατης) ανακάλυψής τους,κυρίως λόγω του έντονου φθορισμού που εμφανίζουν, ενώ πολύ πρόσφατες μελέτεςέδειξαν ότι εμφανίζουν και ενδιαφέρουσες μη γραμμικές οπτικές ιδιότητες. Υπό αυτότο πρίσμα, η συστηματική μελέτη της δυναμικής απόκρισής τους παρουσιάζειενδιαφέρον, διότι θα δώσει πληροφορίες για τους μηχανισμούς αποκατάστασης τουφορτίου, πληροφορίες σημαντικές για διάφορες εφαρμογές (φωτοβολταϊκή δράση, μηγραμμική οπτική απόκριση κ.α.)

Value creation through network infrastructure automation: The Software-Defined Networking Technology and its business model from the IT service provider’s perspective

Our research is exploring how the computer network technology of Software-Defined Networking (SDN) can benefit an IT service provider. SDN is a novel technology that is capable of managing a whole network based on a single centralized entity. As a result an SDN enabled network becomes more flexible, automatable and programmable to satisfy users’ needs. SDN with its automation features can enhance cloud services, and mainly the well-known Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), as it can significantly reduce the services’ delivery time and the costs for their provisioning. More specifically, this thesis emphasizes on how the IT service provider’s datacenter services can be improved both for its own benefit and of course for the benefit of its customers as well. Our approach for the exploration and exploitation of the novel technology, is the design of a business model enabled by SDN technology. Primary stakeholder and user of the business model is the IT service provider. Additionally, we have to specify that this research is based on a single case study that is executed in collaboration with the Dutch branch of Capgemini. For the completion of our research we are making extensive literature review and interviews with experts of the field. In the next lines of this summary we are going to briefly mention the contents of each chapter as well as our findings, conclusions and recommendations for each one of them. The maser thesis consists of six chapters, which are interconnected as a logical continuation of each other. More specifically: Chapter 1 – Introduction. This is the chapter that is making a general reference to the contents of the master thesis, the issue stakeholder, the research objectives, and research questions. Issue stakeholder is the IT service provider, and our three research objectives are: “the identification of the current state and future trends of the SDN technology both in the market and the academia”, “the identification of the business model framework that supports the case of the SDN technology adoption from an IT service provider” and “the design of a business model for delivery of SDN enabled services”. These three research objectives are translated to three relevant research questions. All three research questions are giving answer to the main research question. Chapter 2 – State of the art of SDN - Current status and future trends. The second chapter is giving answer to the first research question: “What is the state of the art of SDN?”. It is related with the state of the art of SDN and its future trends. A brief summarized answer would be that SDN is currently still in its early adoption phase and OpenFlow is the dominant enabling protocol. Moreover, there are many different SDN controllers in the market and much more are the nonproprietary projects that big established infrastructure vendors support. Use cases of SDN are focusing on: network management and availability, security assurance and innovative wireless implementations. The diffusion of SDN technology for the entire market is yet to come. The future of the SDN technology is forecasted to be full of new developments that will be open source oriented. The SDN market is constantly growing and the academia is eager to keep exploring and exploiting the domain. The outcomes of chapter two are taken in consideration for the design of the business model in chapter five. Chapter 3 – Business Model Literature Review. In the third chapter of the master thesis is given answer to the second research question: “Which business model framework best supports the design of an SDN business model?”. For this answer an extensive comparison of three different business model frameworks is made. The STOF, VISOR and Canvas frameworks are compared and as the best fitting framework to the case of SDN is chosen to be the STOF framework. Chapter 4 – Research design methodology. In the fourth chapter the research design of the thesis is made explicit. Through the chapter is analyzed the research design methodology, the data collection methodology and the way that the chosen business model framework is used. We are making use of the design science research of (Vaishnavi & Kuechler, 2007) and the design cycle for the design oriented researches of (Verschuren & Hartog, 2005). Plus we are extracting all the necessary data for our research through interviews with experts. Chapter 5 – Business model design. The fifth chapter is the initiation of the second part of the thesis where the business model is designed and the third and last research question is answered: “Based on the selected business model framework, how does a viable business model that integrates SDN technology in an IT service provider’s datacenter infrastructure, looks like?”. Chapter 6 – Discussion and Conclusions. Conclusions, limitations as well as future research, in addition with some recommendations and reflection of the whole thesis, are included in this chapter. Much more the main research question is answered as well.Management of TechnologyInformation and Communication TechnologyTechnology, Policy and Managemen