Revert "reverts changes to backend files so those can be committed on a separate pull request"

This reverts commit 98b4ce39c0f37d3e02d5c0081fa0b066639a9100.
Merge branch 'feature/new_interface_integration_part5' into feature/new_interface_integration_part6
Merge branch 'feature/new_interface_integration_part5' into feature/new_interface_integration_part6
Merge branch 'feature/new_interface_integration_part5' into feature/new_interface_integration_part6
Merge branch 'feature/new_interface_integration_part5' into feature/new_interface_integration_part6
Merge branch 'develop' into feature/new_interface_integration_part6
some fixes and optimizations
Merge pull request #83 from penzance/feature/new_interface_integration_part6

Feature/new interface integration part6