Electronic structure of C60 / graphite

We report temperature-dependent photoelectron spectra for a monolayer of C_60 adsorbed on HOPG, as well as C 1s x-ray absorption. This extends a previous report which showed the close similarity between the spectrum of the HOMO for the two-dimensional overlayer and that of C_60 in the gas phase. The present work shows that intermolecular and molecule-substrate vibrations contribute strongly to the spectral lineshape at room temperature. Thus, vibrational effects are shown to be crucial for the proper understanding of photoelectron spectra, and thus the charge transport properties, for C_60 in contact with graphite and graphite-like materials.Comment: Proc. of the XV. Int. Winterschool on Electronic Properties of Novel Materials, Kirchberg/Tirol, Austria, 200

Outsourcing and firm performance—a comparative study of Swiss and Greek firms

This article aims at analyzing (i) the factors determining the firms' propensity to outsource various processes (production of intermediate products, production of final products, R&D activities, ICT activities), and (ii) the impact of outsourcing on firms' innovation performance, as well as labor productivity. The integral investigation of the determining factors, as well as the impact of outsourcing on innovation and productivity based on the same data in a comparative setting (Switzerland versus Greece) are important new elements and contributions of this study to the existing empirical literature. It has been concluded that in both countries more innovative firms (R&D) were stronger inclined to outsourcing activities than less innovative ones, whereas on the contrary, the educational level of employees and the labor cost showed no effect on outsourcing in both countries. Also, the intensity of ICT use and organizational aspects, especially those related to the formal structure of workplace organization, were relevant for the Swiss firms but not for the Greek firms. With respect to the impact of outsourcing on performance, it has been concluded that it tends to enhance innovation, particularly process innovation, but only weakly productivity (at least directly

A hybrid EAV-relational model for consistent and scalable capture of clinical research data

Many clinical research databases are built for specific purposes and their design is often guided by the requirements of their particular setting. Not only does this lead to issues of interoperability and reusability between research groups in the wider community but, within the project itself, changes and additions to the system could be implemented using an ad hoc approach, which may make the system difficult to maintain and even more difficult to share. In this paper, we outline a hybrid Entity-Attribute-Value and relational model approach for modelling data, in light of frequently changing requirements, which enables the back-end database schema to remain static, improving the extensibility and scalability of an application. The model also facilitates data reuse. The methods used build on the modular architecture previously introduced in the CURe project

Did the Reduction of ICT Investment due to the 2008 Economic Crisis Affect the Innovation Performance of Firms? - An Exploratory Analysis Based on Firm Data for the European Glass, Ceramics and Cement Industry

In this paper we investigate, first, the characteristics of the firms that reduced their ICT investment due to the 2008 crisis, focusing on the firms’ ICT characteristics in terms of the ICT, budget, skills and applications used. The analysis of the ICT characteristics that may influence the likelihood of having reduced ICT investment as a consequence of the crisis is primarily explorative, thus driven by available data and economic intuition. The second research question we examine empirically refers to the possibility that an economic crisis could affect innovation performance through the ICT investment channel. In connection with this, it is also interesting to analyze the ICT characteristics that are associated with ICT-enabled innovation performance; this is the third research question of this paper. Our study is based on firm data from the glass/ceramics/cement industry in six European countries, which have been collected through the ‘e-Business Survey’ of the European Union. We find that ICT-related crisis vulnerability correlates positively with decreasing ICT budgets (pro-cyclical investment behaviour), the existence of skill deficits in ICT, the awareness of and interest in new ICT applications that presumably request much additional ICT investment, the exposure to strong price competition and the strong presence in international markets, in which activities have significantly decreased due to the crisis. Further, statistically significant negative relationship between ICT-enabled product innovation and crisis vulnerability (pro-cyclical behaviour) is found only for new products or services that contain ICT components, and are therefore directly affected by crisis-related decreasing product demand

Evaluation of patient perception towards dynamic health data sharing using blockchain based digital consent with the Dovetail digital consent application : a cross sectional exploratory study

Background New patient-centric integrated care models are enabled by the capability to exchange the patient’s data amongst stakeholders, who each specialise in different aspects of the patient’s care. This requires a robust, trusted and flexible mechanism for patients to offer consent to share their data. Furthermore, new IT technologies make it easier to give patients more control over their data, including the right to revoke consent. These characteristics challenge the traditional paper-based, single-organisation-led consent process. The Dovetail digital consent application uses a mobile application and blockchain based infrastructure to offer this capability, as part of a pilot allowing patients to have their data shared amongst digital tools, empowering patients to manage their condition within an integrated care setting. Objective To evaluate patient perceptions towards existing consent processes, and the Dovetail blockchain based digital consent application as a means to manage data sharing in the context of diabetes care. Method Patients with diabetes at a General Practitioner practice were recruited. Data were collected using focus groups and questionnaires. Thematic analysis of the focus group transcripts and descriptive statistics of the questionnaires was performed. Results There was a lack of understanding of existing consent processes in place, and many patients did not have any recollection of having previously given consent. The digital consent application received favourable feedback, with patients recognising the value of the capability offered by the application. Patients overwhelmingly favoured the digital consent application over existing practice. Conclusions Digital consent was received favourably, with patients recognising that it addresses the main limitations of the current process. Feedback on potential improvements was received. Future work includes confirmation of results in a broader demographic sample and across multiple conditions

Timing and correction of stepping movements with a virtual reality avatar

Research into the ability to coordinate one’s movements with external cues has focussed on the use of simple rhythmic, auditory and visual stimuli, or interpersonal coordination with another person. Coordinating movements with a virtual avatar has not been explored, in the context of responses to temporal cues. To determine whether cueing of movements using a virtual avatar is effective, people’s ability to accurately coordinate with the stimuli needs to be investigated. Here we focus on temporal cues, as we know from timing studies that visual cues can be difficult to follow in the timing context. Real stepping movements were mapped onto an avatar using motion capture data. Healthy participants were then motion captured whilst stepping in time with the avatar’s movements, as viewed through a virtual reality headset. The timing of one of the avatar step cycles was accelerated or decelerated by 15% to create a temporal perturbation, for which participants would need to correct to, in order to remain in time. Step onset times of participants relative to the corresponding step-onsets of the avatar were used to measure the timing errors (asynchronies) between them. Participants completed either a visual-only condition, or auditory-visual with footstep sounds included, at two stepping tempo conditions (Fast: 400ms interval, Slow: 800ms interval). Participants’ asynchronies exhibited slow drift in the Visual-Only condition, but became stable in the Auditory-Visual condition. Moreover, we observed a clear corrective response to the phase perturbation in both the fast and slow tempo auditory-visual conditions. We conclude that an avatar’s movements can be used to influence a person’s own motion, but should include relevant auditory cues congruent with the movement to ensure a suitable level of entrainment is achieved. This approach has applications in physiotherapy, where virtual avatars present an opportunity to provide the guidance to assist patients in adhering to prescribed exercises

GEOTHERMAL EXPLORATION IN THE ALEXANDRIA AREA, THESSALONIKI BASIN (MACEDONIA, NORTHERN GREECE)

Η περιοχή της Αλεξάνδρειας βρίσκεται στη Λεκάνη Θεσσαλονίκης, η οποία έχει πληρωθεί με ιζήματα πάχους άνω των 4 km. To 1980, κατασκευάσθηκε βόρεια της πόλης της Αλεξάνδρειας η γεώτρηση έρευνας υδρογονανθράκων AL-1, βάθους 1705 m, στην οποία καταγράφηκαν οι θερμοκρασίες των 39 και 65oC σε βάθη 700 και 1705 m αντίστοιχα. Μεταξύ 1996 και 2000, ανορύχθηκαν δύο γεωθερμικές ερευνητικές γεωτρήσεις, βάθους 532 και 620 m, οι οποίες διέτρησαν Τεταρτογενή και Πλειοκαινικά ιζήματα και στις οποίες μετρήθηκαν θερμοκρασίες 30.1 και 33.4oC σε βάθη 500 και 611 m αντίστοιχα. Η προκαταρκτική γεωθερμική έρευνα οδήγησε την κατασκευή της πρώτης παραγωγικής γεώτρησης (ΓΝ-1Π). Ανορύχθηκε μέχρι βάθος 805 m διατρύοντας αργίλους, άμμους, τόφφους, μάργες, αργιλο-μάργες, μαργαϊκούς ασβεστόλιθους, χάλικες, ψαμμίτες και κροκαλοπαγή. Η γεώτρηση σωληνώθηκε μέχρι τα 805 m και φίλτρα τοποθετήθηκαν σε διάφορα βάθη κάτω από τα 607 m. Τιμές θερμοκρασίας και ηλεκτρικής αγωγιμότητας 35.1-37.2oC και 5100-8200 μS/cmαντίστοιχα καταγράφηκαν σε βάθη 607-800 m. Η γεώτρηση παρουσιάζει αρτεσιανή ροή με 30-40 m3/h νερών των 34.1oC και παρέχει με άντληση 130 m3/h νερών θερμοκρασίας 35.5oC. Το παραγόμενο γεωθερμικό νερό με ΣΔΑ 2.18 g/l είναι του τύπου Na-Cl και διαφοροποιείται από τα ρηχά νερά. Η θερμική ισχύς της γεώτρησης ΓΝ-1Π υπολογίζεται σε 1.65 MWt.The area of Alexandria is located in the Thessaloniki basin that has been filled with more than 4 km of sediments. In 1980, oil exploration borehole AL-1, 1,705 m deep, was drilled north of the town of Alexandria and the temperatures of 39 and 65oC were recorded at depths of 700 and 1,705 m respectively. During 1996-2000, two geothermal exploration boreholes were drilled at depths of 532 and 620 m penetrating Quaternary and Pliocene sediments and the temperatures of 30.1 and 33.4oC were measured at 500 and 611 m respectively. The preliminary geothermal investigation resulted in the construction of the first production well (GN-1P). It was drilled to a depth of 805 m penetrating clays, sands, tuffs, marls, clayey marls, marly limestones, gravels, sandstones and conglomerates. The borehole was cased down to 805 m and screens were placed at various depths below 607 m. Temperature and electrical conductivity values of 35.1-37.2oC and 5,100-8,200 μS/cm respectively were recorded at depths of 607-800 m. This well discharges 30-40 m3/h waters at 34.1oC with artesian flow and provides 130 m3/h waters at 35.5oC with pumping. The produced geothermal water with TDS of 2.18 g/l belongs to the Na-Cl type differentiated from the shallow waters. The thermal capacity of well GN-1P is calculated to be 1.65 MWt

PRELIMINARY GEOTHERMAL INVESTIGATION IN THE BASIN OF KATERINI (NORTHERN GREECE)

Η παρούσα εργασία περιγράφει τα αποτελέσματα της προκαταρκτικής γεωθερμικής έρευνας που διενεργήθηκε από το ΙΓΜΕ στην λεκάνη της Κατερίνης (Β. Ελλάδα). Οι ερευνητικές εργασίες κατά κύριο λόγο περιελάμβαναν θερμομετρήσεις στην κεφαλή 73 υπαρχουσών υδρογεωτρήσεων, μέτρηση της θερμοκρασίας σε συνάρτηση με το βάθος στο εσωτερικό πέντε (5) γεωτρήσεων και χημικές αναλύσεις 18 δειγμάτων από επιλεγμένες θέσεις. Με βάση τα στοιχεία που προέκυψαν από την κατανομή των θερμοκρασιών, διακρίνονται τρεις επιμέρους περιοχές γεωθερμικού ενδιαφέροντος. Ως σημαντικότερη κρίνεται αυτή του Κάτω Αγίου Ιωάννη (νότια τμήμα της λεκάνης), όπου μετρήθηκαν θερμοκρασίες της τάξης των 27oC σε βάθος 340m. Εν τούτοις, για τη λεπτομερή διερεύνηση των γεωθερμικών συνθηκών στη λεκάνη Κατερίνης, απαιτείται περαιτέρω συστηματική έρευνα και κατασκευή τουλάχιστον μίας ερευνητικής γεωθερμικής γεώτρησης μεγάλου βάθους.This paper describes the results of the preliminary surface geothermal exploration conducted by IGME in the basin of Katerini (Northern Greece). It mainly regards temperature measurements at the wellhead of 73 wells and in the interior of five boreholes, as well as sampling and chemical analyses from 18 selected sites. Based on the collected data, three sub-regions of geothermal interest can be distinguished, the most important of which is the area of Kato Agios Ioannis (to the south of the basin), with temperatures around 27oC at the depth of 340m. Nonetheless, the detailed geothermal investigation of this basin requires further systematic research as well as the drilling of at least one deep geothermal exploration borehole