The main target of the DIVAS project is the design and development of a low-cost opto-electronic interrogator for distributed vibration detection on standard communication optical fibers, based on Phase-OTDR technology (Phase-sensitive Optical Time Domain Reflectometry). This system is compatible with communication optical fiber devices, and it takes the advances of this innovating field. It will be developed through custom design of a set of electronic and optoelectronic components. Its distributed feature allows the collection of vibrational information along the entire optical fiber length, which is equivalent to thousands and thousands of inline sensors. This feature combined with extreme sensitivity, makes this interrogator an efficient low-price option in vibration detections. For reasons of cost effectiveness, communication optical fiber lines are, normally, adjacent to strategic buildings such us railway, gas, and petrol lines; using one of the available redundant optical fibers, it is possible to retrieve vibrational information for seismic security or for civil structural health monitoring. Using also specifically installed optical fibers, this interrogator may have a wide range of applications from environmental protection purposes (such as terrestrial fauna and marine life protection), to control of intrusions in a wide area (e.g. military context) or, finally, for security purposes such as monitoring nuclear power plants (in order to know if structural damages are approaching before a leakage occurs). The project aims for the development of a compact portable prototype, ready for field tests, which will be tried on at least in one civil engineering application (structural health monitoring), in collaboration with the academic partner. With the help of the industrial partner, the prototype will be adapted for the production line to reach the market with a competitive cost that will ensure its widespread dissemination in all possible fields.

Concepts of medicine, health, and healing are now at the core of the global agenda due to the recent pandemic. In this context, a better understanding of the intangible cultural heritage of ancient and indigenous medical cultures is crucial. It is often assumed that contemporary European culture derives from the Ancient Greco-Roman one, but if we turn to core values such as health and healing we find out that in Greco-Roman antiquity they are much more comparable to many contemporary non-Occidental cultures than to the Western bio-medical paradigm . Dreams and visions were strongly connected to these concepts as they were used in the ritual of incubation, which brought devotees into visionary contact with the invisible to obtain healing or prophecies. Incubation was the distinctive feature of the cult of Asklepios, the Greek god of medicine. THEAM explores the relationship among dramatic performance, healing, and epiphany by contextualising such practices within the cultures of ancient Mediterranean. How did ritually-induced epiphanies spread in the Mediterranean as a tool for healing? What agency did thousands of unknown worshippers have in the dissemination of these ritual gestures? How are these ritual practices embedded in the design of sanctuaries and theatres? What was the role of islands in this historical phenomenon? How do this ancient practices relate to nowadays concepts of healing and health? The case studies are the island sanctuaries of Asklepios in Sicily, the Cyclades, and Crete. Ultimately, THEAM represents a valuable contribution to our understanding of ancient religious practices, their evolution, and their socio-economic implications. It offers a platform for innovative medical approaches that harness the power of performance as a therapeutic tool, such as psychodrama and psychotheatre, further enriching our comprehension of the intersections between ancient religion, medicine, and society.

The project will make an impact in important societal needs in the fields of energy harvesting and sensing for environmental, safety, and medical applications, which are relevant to the entire global population. The development of any of these high-tech areas is associated with the use of new materials. The scope of this proposal is to advance 2D materials by adding to them novel functionalities for improved energy-harvesting and sensing applications. Such 2D materials as graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides were selected for functionalization. The creation of nanopores or the attachment of chemically active compounds will significantly expand the capabilities of such materials, for example, it will enable the development of universal chemical sensors for the detection of volatile organic compounds. The project proposes to solve an important problem of functionalization, localized on nanoscale, which will allow minimizing the proposed devices. The disruptive technique to be used in this proposal for nanometer-precision patterning of 2D materials is based on one of the latest nanophotonics advancements, the photonic nanojets. It is possible to functionalize 2D materials by laser with spatial resolutions significantly lower than the diffraction limit, as light in a photonic nanojet can be concentrated into a volume that is one order of magnitude smaller. The project provides for a fairly simple and scalable technology. The low technological hazard of the method and invariance for materials are the basis for economic feasibility. New materials and devices arising from this project will be exploited by the industry, strengthening the EU economy and technological excellence in the fields of energy, electronic technology, health industry, security, environmental and industrial monitoring