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Η παρούσα διπλωματική εργασία είχε σαν στόχο τον σχεδιασμό και την υλοποίηση τεσσάρων μετατροπέων από αναλογικό σε ψηφιακό σήμα και οι οποίοι είναι οι εξής: • Ο Dual-Slope Analog to Digital Converter. • O Tracking Analog to Digital Converter. • O Successive Approximation Analog to Digital Converter. • O Algorithmic Analog to Digital Converter. Η παραπάνω υλοποίηση αποτελεί μέρος ενός μεγαλύτερου σχεδίου, που διεξάγεται στο Εργαστήριο Ηλεκτρονικών Εφαρμογών του τμήματος Ηλεκτρολόγων Μηχανικών και Τεχνολογίας Υπολογιστών του Πανεπιστημίου Πατρών. Στόχος της ιδέας αυτής είναι η δημιουργία ενός «εξ Αποστάσεως Ελεγχόμενου Εργαστηρίου Ηλεκτρονικών» (Remoted Monitored & Controled Laboratory), το οποίο αφενός δεν θα υστερεί σε τίποτα από τα συνηθισμένα εργαστήρια, αφετέρου θα είναι εύκολα προσπελάσιμο από οποιονδήποτε το θελήσει, αφού θα μπορεί να δουλέψει ακόμα και «κατ’οίκον» μέσω του Διαδικτύου. / In this work four Analog to Digital converters has been designed and implemented on a single PCB: Dual-Slope Analog to Digital Converter. Tracking Analog to Digital Converter. Successive Approximation Analog to Digital Converter. Algorithmic Analog to Digital Converter. The aforementioned system of four converters enchances the capabilities of an internal project that is carried out in the Laboratory of Electronic Applications of the ECE department of University Patras. Objective of this project named “Remoted Monitored & Controled Laboratory” (RMCLab), is to provide to the departmet’s students access via the internet to an electronic laboratory that employs real infrastructure, real hardware and real circuits.

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This essay is founded on two seemingly irreconciliable propositions. On one hand, the Enlightment; the triumph of Reason and man’s increasingly wide access to the spirit of free-thinkin. And on the other hand, a recurring scene in the literature from the time – a true commonplace occurrence –, where a philosopher converts himself to religion before he dies. This paradox obviously appears to be a sign of failure of the Enlightement’s project. However, the investigation of religious deathbed conversion in Eighteen century French literature, which opposes a heterodox character (a heretic, sometimes atheist) to an orthodox character (often a religious figure), reveals a more complex relation between Christian Apologetic and the Philosopher’s literary production, and it demonstrates the singular function of literature in the exploration of new spiritual paradigms at the threshold of Modernity. / Cette étude est fondée sur deux propositions a priori inconciliables : d’un côté le siècle des Lumières; le triomphe de la raison et l’affranchissement de l’homme qui accède en masse à l’avènement de la libre-pensée. Et de l’autre, une scène récurrente dans la littérature de l’époque – un véritable lieu commun –, où un philosophe se convertit à la religion juste avant de mourir. Ce paradoxe s’impose d’emblée comme la marque d’un échec du projet des Lumières. Toutefois, l’analyse de la conversion religieuse sur le lit de mort dans la littérature française du dix-huitième siècle, qui oppose un personnage hétérodoxe (mauvais chrétien, parfois athée) à un personnage orthodoxe (souvent une figure religieuse), révèle un rapport plus complexe entre l’apologétique chrétienne et la littérature attribuables aux philosophes, et démontre la fonction singulière du médium littéraire dans l’exploration de nouveaux paradigmes spirituels au seuil de la modernité.

The purpose of this study is to understand and analyze why individuals develop and manage to leave drug abuse. The material consists of interviews with eight individuals who have gone through a life of addiction and managed to change their lifestyle. We contacted the participants through the organization called KRIS (Criminals Redress with Society). The results indicate that the participants have had a troublesome upbringing and been labeled by society as outsiders which have led them into addiction. The results also show that they have all gone through a social conversion from the life as an addict to become sober. The results of our study are analyzed with Jonsson and Bergström’s theory on social in heritage and Becker and Andersson’s view of outsiders and qualifications for drug abuse. The results are also analyzed with Ebaughs theory on role-exit. What we would like to contribute is an understanding of how an individual enters addiction and how they manage to leave drug abuse.

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Despite the long-term economic and environmental benefits of cellulosic biofuel production, low rates of cellulose utilization and products syntheses are major techno-economical barriers to the commercialization. Optimized medium composition and low-cost nutrient source could greatly enhance the feasibility of large-scale biofuels synthesis by direct cellulose fermentation using a consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) approach. This study developed an improved growth medium for Clostridium thermocellum, an excellent cadidate for CBP that utilizes cellulose to produce ethanol, hydrogen, and other value-added biochemicals. An experimental design to determine the importance of nutrient components and concentrations on H2 and ethanol production from cellulose by C. thermocellum initially considered seven growth nutrients. Three most significant components - α-cellulose, yeast extract, and magnesium chloride were investigated in detail for their influence on rates and yields of H2 and ethanol production during cellulose fermentation by C. thermocellum. To explore individual and interactive effects of these nutrients on ethanol and hydrogen (H2) production, a central composite face-centered design and the response surface methodology was applied to predict optimum nutrient compositions for H2 and ethanol production. Experimental verification of predicted optima produced about 3-fold and 4-fold more H2 and ethanol respectively compared with the reference medium. These small-scale results were successfully verified in large-volume (7L), atmospheric cultures. Irrespective of culture conditions, relative improvement in rates and productivities of H2 and ethanol in optimized medium compared with reference medium were consistent with small-volume cultures. Various ethanol distillery co-products were tested for their potentials to replace expensive medium ingredients. Medium prepared with these co-products show excellent ability to suppport cell-growth and production of ethanol and H2 at concentrations equivalent to those generated from the reagent grade medium. Utilization of these low-cost nutrient sources to replace expensive reagent ingredients may potentially contribute to the viability of both grain-based ethanol and cellulosic biofuels. With medium optimization, scale-up and use of low-cost nutrient sources, this study represents one of the very few systematic research approaches to improve direct bioconversion of cellulosic biomass into biofuels.

Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) is a very important tree species and is known not only for its sap in the production of maple syrup, but also for its superior hardwood quality and popular ornamental properties. In the effort to improve the diversity of the hardwood tree species in Manitoba, an effective propagation method for sugar maple is needed. The study tested several propagation techniques namely in vitro shoot organogenesis, induced embryo conversion and rooting of greenwood cuttings. Shoot multiplication was achieved using bud and embryo explants, however the rate of shoot production was very low implying that the culture conditions required some optimizations. Dormant isolated embryos were induced to germinate and convert into whole plants in vitro, eliminating the need for long stratification period. The study found the highest embryo conversion frequencies by the addition of cytokinin 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) at 0.5-1.5 mg/L or thidiazuron (TDZ) at 0.01 mg/L into the culture medium. Greenwood cuttings of several hardy cultivars, including ‘Jefcan’, ‘Bailsta’ and ‘Green Mountain’ were compared for rooting capacity. In 2008, cutting type, rooting hormone and collection time were found to significantly influence rooting. In the following year, the study was expanded to compare different rooting conditions, using peat-perlite mix in fog system, sand beds under intermittent misting, and commercial peat plugs under automated misting system. Rooting was improved by selecting for medial-type cuttings and by promoting cutting survival through the the use of peat-based rooting medium and the maintenance of cool temperatures during the rooting period. The application of auxin did not increase rooting frequency of ‘Jefcan’ cuttings, but considerably improved the quality of roots produced, which may affect cutting survival upon transplantation.