Essays in Applied Economics

This thesis studies the relationship between higher education and work in Italy from two complementary perspectives. It examines students who engage in paid employment while still enrolled in university and compulsory curricular internships, understood as work-based or practical training activities introduced into degree programmes to facilitate the transition to employment. These two experiences differ in origin and purpose. Paid work during enrolment arises from students’ own participation ...

Design and Silicon Validation of a 433.92 MHz ISM Band TR-PPM Transmitter ASIC with Digital Baseband in 65-nm CMOS

Ultra-low power wireless communication is a key requirement for Internet of Things, structural health monitoring, and battery powered sensing systems, where long operating lifetime must be achieved under strict energy and regulatory constraints. In such applications, the radio transmitter often dominates the energy budget, especially when short data packets are transmitted at low duty cycle. This thesis addresses this challenge through the design, implementation, and validation of a 433.92 MH...

An Industrial Tool--Driven Framework for Automated Architecture, Schematic, and Layout Design of Analog Integrated Circuits

This dissertation presents an industrial tool-driven methodology for multi-level automation of analog integrated circuit (IC) design, spanning architecture exploration, schematic synthesis, optimization, and layout generation. While digital design flows are highly automated, analog IC design remains largely manual due to complex trade-offs, sensitivity to device matching, and strong dependence on layout quality. At the architecture level, the proposed approach enables automated optimization ...

Design of an ECL-Based Digital-to-Time Converter for Fractional-N Sub-Sampling PLLs in BiCMOS Technology

Applications such as measurement instruments, scientific instrumentation, radiation-hardened systems, and space electronics demand ultra-low close-in phase noise—often down to 100-Hz offset. In an ultra-low phase noise frequency synthesizer, the reference source remains the dominant close-in noise contributor. Sub-sampling phase-locked loops (SSPLLs) inherently offer low in-band phase noise, making them well suited for such applications. However, fractional-N operation—essential for fine freq...

Systemic Sustainability and Agility as New Organizational Paradigms for Managing Complexity in Supply Chains

Questa tesi di dottorato indaga la sostenibilità sistemica e l’agilità organizzativa come paradigma congiunto per la gestione della complessità nelle catene di fornitura manifatturiere nella transizione da Industry 4.0 a Industry 5.0 e verso Industry 6.0. L’intensificarsi delle pressioni climatiche, ambientali, sociali e lungo le supply chain mette in evidenza i limiti di modelli di Industry 4.0 digitalmente avanzati ma concentrati in modo ristretto sulla performance finanziaria di breve peri...

Synthesis of cRGD-based derivatives for tumor site-specific drug delivery

Questa tesi di dottorato si concentra sulla progettazione, sintesi e valutazione di nanosistemi basati su peptidi ciclici a base RGD (cRGD) per il drug delivery integrino mediato di molecole citotossiche ad azione antitumorale. Un risultato centrale di questo lavoro è rappresentato dallo sviluppo e dall’ottimizzazione della sintesi del 3aRGD, un peptidomimetico ciclico conformazionalmente bloccato con elevata affinità per i recettori integrinici. Particolare attenzione è stata dedicata alla p...

Guidelines for the reuse, recovery and sustainable transformation of farm and urban agriculture. Strategy development for Pavia.

The cultivation of plants and the breeding of animals enabled a rapid increase in the global population, which currently reaches eight billion. Today, large metropolises stand, consuming 75% of the Earth's resources. While, on the one hand, the population density of cities is growing faster than their physical area, which helps prevent soil consumption, on the other hand, the high demand for food threatens its availability in the coming years and the fertility of the soil (World Cities Report...

Esplorando la Nonlinearità Quantistica in Fotonica Integrata: dalla Progettazione di Dispositivi alla Fisica Fondamentale

Questa tesi studia i processi di ottica quantistica non lineare in piattaforme fotoniche integrate, con particolare attenzione alla generazione di coppie di fotoni in strutture risonanti. Partendo dal quadro teorico dei processi non lineari del secondo e del terzo ordine, il lavoro analizza i principali vincoli fisici che ne determinano l’efficienza nei dispositivi integrati, includendo phase matching, dispersione, confinamento e perdite. Sulla base di queste considerazioni, la tesi esplora s...

Toward telecom-compatible fiber-based quantum communication: frequency-bin quantum key distribution and a novel optical quantum memory