SIRIS-Lab/unlabelled-sti-corpus huggingface dataset:
Parallel network-based biocomputation: technological baseline, scale-up and innovation ecosystem

Many technologically and societally important mathematical problems are intractable for conventional, serial computers. Therefore, a significant need exists for parallel-computing approaches that are capable to solve such problems within reasonable time frames. Recently, part of our consortium demonstrated proof-of-principle of a parallel-computation system in which a given combinatorial problem is encoded into a graphical, modular network that is embedded in a nanofabricated planar device. The problem is then solved by a large number of independent biological agents, namely molecular-motor-propelled protein filaments, exploring the network in a highly parallel fashion (PNAS 113, 2591 (2016)). Notably, this approach uses orders of magnitude less energy than conventional computers, thus addressing issues related to power-consumption and heat-dissipation. Within Bio4Comp we (i) will establish the technological and scientific basis for robust upscaling of this approach, (ii) will demonstrate scalability by systematically increasing the problem size by several orders of magnitude, and (iii) will develop new algorithms with the aim to open up a wide range of applications. Additionally, we will (iv) help foster and structure an ecosystem of scientists and companies that will accelerate the path to market acceptance, including the creation of a joint roadmap. Benefits to society will include the ability to solve hitherto intractable problems, and the development of a sustainable and energy-efficient computing approach that is radically different from current information and communications technology.
Investissements dans les machines et équipements et extension et aménagement des locaux

Avec ce programme de développement, l’entreprise recherche la continuité, le renforcement et la fiabilité pour une croissance rentable et une position concurrentielle. Avec la mise en œuvre du projet, l’entreprise sera en mesure d’offrir une gamme de services compétitivement plus large aux directeurs d’entreprise et aux clients.
PERSONAL CARE COMPOSITIONS WITH IMPROVED SOLUBILITY OF A SOLID COSMETIC ACTIVE

Personal care compositions are disclosed comprising an isosorbide diester having the formula: (I) wherein R' and R" are independently selected from a straight or branched C1-30 chain, which may be saturated or unsaturated. The personal care compositions also comprise a solid cosmetic active soluble in the isosorbide diester and a dermatologically acceptable carrier. The personal care composition may be in the form of an emulsion. A personal care composition is also disclosed comprising an isosorbide diester having the formula: (II) wherein R' and R" are independently selected from a straight or branched C1-30 chain which may be saturated or unsaturated and Z1-Z6 are independently selected from hydrogen, hydroxyl, amino, amido, R', or R". Methods of making the aforementioned personal care compositions are also disclosed.
Pairing business with scientific expertise

Universities in Europe are generating an estimated €18 billion in revenues from contract research, consultancy, and use of facilities and equipment. This is expected to grow as urgent global challenges such as climate change create huge demand for new technologies, data, and materials. Also the EU and national governments are increasingly promoting academic-business collaborations to boost the knowledge economy. However, a remaining problem is that many businesses still have difficulty finding scientific experts, equipment, data, and materials across the globe. Whereas some online platforms exist to match business needs to freelance scientists, there is a lack of services to find expertise and assets for collaborations within universities and organisations, leaving a huge market largely untapped. Therefore, we are developing QuestPair, an online platform where businesses can post their scientific and technological needs, to which scientific experts can propose projects and suggest equipment, data and materials. Universities on QuestPair can directly participate in the negotiation of pricing and contracts. We believe that QuestPair could potentially facilitate around 6000 years of project work within the next 6 years, while reaching yearly revenues of ~€40 million. The QuestPair team combines research and data analysis skills with expertise in business, consultancy and software development. We are already developing a minimum viable product (MVP) and are receiving positive feedback from the scientific and business communities. This feasibility study aims to create a detailed picture of mediation/brokerage services that companies, scientific experts and universities need. We take an iterative approach, where we conduct questionnaires and market research, implement the results in the MVP, measure user response, and develop further. We explore different marketing strategies and evaluate several financial models to create a solid and detailed business plan.
Initial Response of Soil Carbon and Nitrogen to Harvest Intensity and Competing Vegetation Control in Douglas-Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) Plantations of the Pacific Northwest

We assessed the effect of harvest type (bole-only or whole-tree) and vegetation control treatments (initial or annual application of herbicide) on soil C and N at two contrasting sites in the Pacific Northwest. Pretreatment (2003) and posttreatment (2005) soil samples were collected by depth to 60 cm, and a stratified sampling approach based on four surface conditions was used for posttreatment sampling in surface soils. Surface condition had a significant effect on soil C and N concentrations, generally decreasing with decreasing amounts of logging debris and increasing soil disturbance. There was no difference between harvest treatments in the change in soil C and N content despite differences in surface condition coverage between harvest types, indicating estimates of C and N change determined from the stratification approach were imprecise. Soil C and N content tended to increase regardless of treatment, but increases were significant only in the bole-only harvest at one site and in the whole-tree harvest at the other site. Initial vegetation control caused significantly greater positive change in soil C and N than the annual vegetation control treatment, with effects limited to surface soil at one site and all sample depths at the other site. Much of these increases occurred in deeper (20 cm) parts of the soil profile, indicating that deep soil sampling is necessary for assessment of harvest-related change in soil C and N. FOR .S CI. 57(1):26-35.
Abstract 137: The Effect Of Mitophagy During Transient Ischemic Brain In Rats

Background and Purpose: Mitochondria provides energy to maintain normal cell functioning. Mitophagy is one of mitochondria functions, which can clear out injured mitochondria, ensure stability of mitochondria and promote cell survival in hostile environment. However, if mitophagy occurs during cerebral ischemia is unknown. The present study explored dynamic mitophagy, the effect of promoting mitophagy, and the molecular mechanisms of mitophagy during cerebral ischemia/reperfusion. Methods: Adult male SD rats underwent 2h middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) followed by 6 to 72h reperfusion. Dynamic changes of mitophagy were determined by LC3 immunostaining, Western blot analysis, and transmission electron microscope. To study the impact of mitophagy, we injected rapamycin, a mitophagy stimulator, into the left ventricle in rats underwent transient MCAO. To evaluate the effect of mitophagy, neuronal death and neurological deficits were determined. To explore the effect of mitophagy on mitochondria function, the number of mitochondria, the levels of MDA, ATP, and JC-1 were examined. To study the mechanism of mitophagy, mitochondrial Beclin-1 and p62 expression were also determined. Results: We demonstrated that autophagy was mainly detected in mitochondria in the peri-focal area of ischemic cortex after ischemia/reperfusion. Mitophagy was increased at 6h (p&lt;0.05), peaked at 24h (p&lt;0.05), gradually reduced at 48h (p&lt;0.05), and returned to normal at 72h of transient MCAO. Pre-treatment with rapamycin greatly enhanced mitophagy, reduced infarct volume, and improved neurological outcomes compared to the control (p&lt;0.05). We found that the number of mitochondria and mtDNA copy, mitochondria ATP synthesis level, and JC-1 were increased (p&lt;0.05), and MDA was reduced in rapamycin treated rats (p&lt;0.05). We further demonstrated that rapamycin pre-treatment enhanced mitochondrial Beclin-1and p62 in mitochondria. Conclusion: We demonstrated ischemia could induce mitophagy in brain cells. Rapamycin attenuated ischemic brain injury, which was via stimulating mitophagy that can reduce oxidative stress and improve mitochondria function. The mechanism of rapamycin promoting mitophagy was through increasing Beclin-1 and p62 expression.
Development of an integrated concept for the deployment of innovative technologies and services allowing independent living of frail elderly

The niCE-life project aims to foster social inclusion and care coordination of frail elderly with focus on persons with cognitive medium/low deficits including Alzheimer&#39;s and Parkinson&#39;s diseases and other chronic diseases through development of transnationally applicable model of health and care services for frail elderly (based on e-Care Network developed in Bologna, IT) by using progressive key enabling technologies (i.e. sensor technologies, ICT and data analysis techniques) to prevent frailty, enhance quality of care and support their independent living, social contacts and assistance continuity after hospital discharges.

The intelligent monitoring platform, new health and care solutions and organizational changes of care practice will be designed and tested in pilot actions and complemented by local action plans taking into account national health and social care systems and local conditions. Together with targeted trainings they will contribute to strengthening capacities and competencies of public authorities and health and care providers to efficiently address pressing social challenges and foster independent living of frail elderly, reduce risk factors caused by frailty and enhance social integration of frail persons. Innovative character of project is underpinned by the introduction of state-of-the-art technologies in care services in partner regions and artificial-intelligence-based monitoring platform for caregivers and patients.
Modelling and imaging development for precision agriculture

MIDA project aims at completing an innovative technology for the aerial orchard surveillance. MIDA permits to obtain a clear indication about the pathogen infection risk among fruit orchards. The forecast of infection risk is permitted by the innovative combination between weather data and drone aerial imagery. On the other hand, the historical and current weather data are modelled via an innovative neural network able to predict the leaf wetness on geographic base. The prediction is then obtained by combining the multi-spectral aerial imagery with wetness index to output a localised risk index. This index is relevant to forecast a possible microbial pathogen outbreak at single row level. The MIDA concept, EYE-SCAB, has been already successfully applied to apple orchards in Trento Region to forecast scab disease. The results show that this methodology can optimise the prevention against plant microbial disease with an 80% of confidence. A large-scale application of this technology to fruit agriculture is then expected to optimise the scab disease prevention and to reduce the massive quantity of agrochemicals currently needed. This also implies very relevant costs saving for farmers. The possibility to manage localised treatment at single row level, will indeed permit to optimise preventive treatment avoiding large epidemies with consequent harvest losses. A decreasing occurrence of fruit scab will also reduce the discard by food industry thus preventing further food waste. 
By implementing MIDA, Metacortex expects to foster a serious business growth in the new segment of precision agriculture systems thus diversifying its traditional product offer and opening towards a new and international market. MIDA project will further benefit from the peculiarities of Trento Region and from the viability of many stakeholders involved in apple production life cycle. These conditions can support further MIDA development and its validation activities.
The sources of historical signal in the genomes of birds

Genome-scale sequence data play an important role across the biological, medical, and agricultural sciences for extracting the signatures of divergence among species and populations. Multiple basic biological forces influence the evolutionary information content of genomes, leading to substantial variation across genomic loci and lineages. Models of molecular evolution for phylogenomics are routinely used for extracting information about evolutionary history, and ultimately for making inferences of the relationships and amount of evolutionary change among taxa. However, existing phylogenomic methods are not amenable for identifying the impact of specific drivers of historical information across whole genomes. The present action will develop tests in the framework of model adequacy for assessing the impact of the primary evolutionary forces on the genome. Assessment of model adequacy proceeds by comparing simulated data under a given evolutionary model with empirical data. The novel framework will be tailored at whole-genome analysis. It will allow a comprehensive examination of the sources information signal left by basic evolutionary forces, such as speciation, mutation, selection, recombination, and drift. The new methods will be disseminated through an intuitive software package that will be openly available for researchers across biological sciences. Examining the sources of evolutionary information will allow improved phylogenetic inferences and guide model improvement. An unparalleled genomic resource of the genomes of every avian family, soon to be released by the host, will be examined in detail with the methods developed. This will provide insights into genome evolution in birds and inferences of their evolutionary history with unprecedented confidence.
Resolving the perceptual prediction paradox

Our sensory receptors are bombarded with noisy, continuous streams of information. From these streams, our brains must construct percepts that are (1) veridical representations of the world, and (2) informative – i.e., highlighting what we did not already know. Cognitive science has suggested that our brain meets these challenges by using probabilistic expectations to shape our perceptual experiences. However, there are currently two broad classes of theory concerning how expectations shape perception, that are both supported by large bodies of evidence and mutually incompatible: some theories propose that we upweight what we expect to generate veridical representations, whereas others propose that we downweight what we expect to privilege the most ‘newsworthy’ information. 

ConflictedPrediction will test a new theory addressing and solving this paradox for the first time, to determine how perception can be rendered both veridical and informative. I propose that probabilistic knowledge pre-emptively biases perception towards what is likely, to generate largely veridical experiences rapidly. However, if the input is particularly surprising, catecholamine release – acting to aid learning – reactively enhances perception of these inputs by modulating sensory gain. This perceptual enhancement will generate a clearer estimate of these highly unexpected events to guide model-updating. 

To test the theory, ConflictedPrediction will use temporally- and spatially- sensitive neural measures (EEG, MEG, 7T fMRI), in combination with computationally derived parameters of perception and unexpectedness. This interdisciplinary project therefore will unify understanding of perception and learning across typically isolated scientific domains. Its findings will chart a new research frontier for understanding how the brain surmounts key computational challenges, enabling us to survive and thrive in a challenging sensory world.
Macrophages and dendritic cells in the development of liver injury leading to liver failure.

Liver failure (LF) continues to be a serious problem due to different underlying disorders. Not only hepatocytes but Kupffer cells (KCs) and dendritic cells (DCs) are of importance in this instance. We wanted to investigate the possible role of KCs and liver DCs in the development of liver injury in patients with liver failure. Liver specimens from 23 patients who died after liver failure were examined for the presence and distribution of CD68-positive KCs and CD83-positive DCs by immunohistochemistry. The distribution of the CD83-positive DC in the sinusoidal and the periportal spaces was not even. While 39.1% of patients had a high sinusoidal density of CD83-positive cells, 60.9% demonstrated a high density of CD83-positive cells in the periportal tract. The number of CD83-positive DCs in periportal tracts in patients with advanced liver fibrosis (n=5) were high, while those with mild liver fibrosis (n=18) had low numbers of mature dendritic cells (χ2=4.107; p=0.043). In addition, all patients with intensive fibrosis had low counts of CD68-positive KCs in portal tracts vs patients with mild fibrosis of which 67% had high counts (χ2=6.97; p=0.008). In seven of the patients with moderate steatosis (87.5%) low numbers of CD68-positive KCs were found in sinusoids, in contrast to those with severe steatosis, where 12 patients (80%) had high KC counts (χ2=13.4; p less than 0.001). The distribution and number of CD68-positive KC and CD83-positive DC reflect the progression of liver fibrosis leading to liver failure.
The new social work

Social work practice is an industry based mostly on therapist intuition and gut feelings. There are virtually no real-time, reliable data showing the performance of any patient outcomes or on therapists providing treatment services. In this paper a new system is recommended, performance-based practice. In the future, the New Social Work proposed will not operate as a system in which patients enter community facilities to sit in waiting rooms and interact with a randomly assigned therapist for one hour a few times weekly. Social service building will transform into technology centers where therapists use tools to measure and intervene with patients in real-time. The New Social Work will finally understand that people do not recover or learn how to recover in therapist's offices-but in their own communities-with assistance from high-performance professional therapists interacting in the moment.
Questions de Subjectivité et D’interculturalité dans L’enseignement/Apprentissage des Langues Étrangères

Notre langue maternelle nous est si consubstantielle que nous avons du mal à prendre des distances par rapport à elle et à la regarder d'un oeil empreint d'étrangeté.Cette expérience vécue comme fascinante pour certains, et inconfortable voire insupportable pour d'autres est nécessairement mise en place quand on apprend une langue étrangère.Cet apprentissage suscite d'innombrables difficultés car il mobilise diverses dimensions du sujet apprenant.Si ce projet est mené à bout, il aura de profondes incidences sur sa cognition, sa façon de penser, son expression, son comportement et sa sensibilité.En nous fondant sur les travaux de Revuz ( 2001), Charaudeau (2005) et Serrani ( 2005) qui mettent en évidence des questions de resignification de la subjectivité et d'interculturalité, permanentes dans l'expérience de bilinguisme et de biculturalité, nous illustrerons ce processus singulier à partir d'une étude contrastive de Jean-Luc Orsoni (2003), mais aussi d'extraits de vlogs de YouTube avec des témoignages de Français qui habitent ou qui ont habité au Brésil portant sur leur vécu.
Unlocking a feather bioeconomy for keratin-based agricultural products

Only in Europe 3,6 million tonnes of feathers are generated per year as waste of the poultry sector. Around 25% is used for animal feed or fertilisers while the rest is disposed in landfills or incinerated. Feathers contain nearly 90% of keratin, a valuable protein which can source for biodegradable materials, such as bioplastics for agriculture. However, to unlock the full potential of feathers as raw material for functional molecules, there are many technical, logistic and market hurdles to solve in the supply chain for the takeoff of profitable value chains and for the easy market uptake of keratin-based products. UNLOCK will design and demonstrate economically & environmentally sustainable value chains led by the primary sector, which will generate innovative bio-based functional products for agricultural applications: forest/seed trays, nonwoven geotextiles, mulch films and hydroponic foams. Keratin-based materials will outperform their fossil-based counter parts by providing additional functionalities during the product life span and environmental benefits at the end-of-life (controlled biodegradability, enrichment of organic nitrogen to soil and zero waste generation). UNLOCK will create 4 new bio-based value chains, 4 new agricultural consumer goods and at least 3 cross sector interconnections among the primary sector (poultry sector), the bioplastics industry and the agricultural sector, opening up new innovation-led market and job opportunities in the EU bioeconomy. UNLOCK conversion technologies will evolve from TRL5 to 7, demonstrating the full potential of keratin for circular bio-based plastics, through a multidisciplinary consortium of 15 partners (8 SMEs), supported by a strong stakeholder board. UNLOCK will enable the setup of 2 first-of-its-kind commercial biorefineries after the end of the project. The co-creation and replication will be reinforced through a specific regional cluster approach to multiply the impacts during and after the project.
Viscous torque on spherical micro particles in two orthogonal acoustic standing wave fields

This paper reports the experimental results of the acoustic rotation of spherical micro particles because of two orthogonal standing waves. When the standing waves are excited at equal frequency but with a phase shift between two external voltage signals there is an acoustic streaming around the particles. This streaming is due to a time averaging of the acoustic wave field and produces a nonzero viscous torque on the particles, driving them to rotate. The work investigates the micro-particle rotation due to the viscous torque and predict the particle's steady state rotational velocity. The previous theoretical discussions [Nyborg, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 85, 329-339 (1958); Lee and Wang, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 85, 1081-1088 (1989)] of the viscous torque on a non-rotating sphere are expanded to allow free rotations. The analytical calculations provide a deeper understanding of the viscous torque and explain the experimental observations of rotating particles. A macroscopic experimental device is designed to provide the necessary boundary conditions for the viscous torque to rotate spherical particles. The experiments not only show good agreement with the analysis, but also demonstrate that the viscous torque due to acoustic streaming may dominate for the case of near-spherical particle dynamics.