SIRIS-Lab/unlabelled-sti-corpus huggingface dataset:
A synthetic biology approach to engineering exhaustion-free t cell therapies. uncovering and counteracting biomechanical triggers of t cell dysfunction in the tumour microenvironment.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the European Union, having killed 1.4 million people in 2018 alone. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy is a ground-breaking cancer treatment that has demonstrated striking results in fighting blood cancers. However, T cell exhaustion, a process that results in the progressive development of lymphocyte dysfunction due to prolonged antigen stimulation in cancer, chronic inflammation or infection, has been a major obstacle in translating CAR T cell therapy to solid tumours. The solid tumour microenvironment is biomechanically distinct from physiological conditions, being characterized by higher interstitial pressures, higher stiffness and a distinctive vascular architecture. While biochemical triggers for T cell exhaustion have been well characterized, biomechanical influences are understudied. This project seeks to (i) use a microfluidic model to add the biomechanical dimension to our current understanding of the development of T cell exhaustion and (ii) use synthetic biological approaches to engineer “biomechanosensor-actuator devices”. These will be intracellular systems based on synthetic biological circuits that will integrate biochemical and biomechanical cues of T cell exhaustion and trigger genetic pathways to counteract the development of dysfunctional phenotypes. Integrating the biomechanical and biochemical dimensions will yield a more sophisticated cell therapy platform to neutralize T cell exhaustion. Ultimately this would provide a safer, more effective and universal treatment for cancer by preventing T cell exhaustion and immune escape.
Performance Appraisal Method Used in Top 10 IT Companies-360 Degree Feedback & Balanced Score Card: A Review

India is the world's largest sourcing destination for the IT industry, accounting for approximately 52% of US $ 124-130 billion market. India employs about 10 million Indians and continues to contribute significantly to the economic transformation of the country. Hence IT sector is considered to be one of the highest contributing sectors towards GDP. Being such an opportunity driven sector, attrition rate in this sector is also quiet high. In addition to that the attrition rate with respect to dissatisfaction in the performance appraisal methods used is 18.7%. Thus performance appraisal methods used in the organization plays a vital role in determining the employee's performance, as well as the satisfaction level of the employee towards the performance appraisal method used. It is considered to be one of the important factors motivating the employees to perform on par or above the standard set. This paper is a study of performance appraisal methods used by the top 10 IT companies (based on revenue-2014) which includes - TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Mphasis, Oracle Financial Services, Mindtree, Polaris Technology and Rolta India sequentially. Coincidentally these companies use either 360 degree feedback or Balanced Score Card. Thus this paper is a review of 360 degree feedback and balanced score card, analyzing its advantages, disadvantages and reasons for using the method.
A STRUCTURAL ELEMENT

The invention resides in a structural element comprising a plurality of fibre composite sandwich panels, each sandwich panel having a pair of fibre composite skins with structural core material located there between; the plurality of fibre composite sandwich panels being adhered together; two planar, fibre composite joiners; each of the joiners having a width that is longer than the width of the fibre composite sandwich panels; the fibre composite joiners being adhered to different composite fibre skins of different composite sandwich panels; and at least one end member located adjacent at least one end of the plurality of fibre composite sandwich panels; the at least one end member being adhered to the fibre composite sandwich panels and the two planar fibre composite joiners.
ADDITIVES FOR LIQUID CRYSTAL MIXTURES

The invention relates to polyfluorinated additives for use as components in liquid crystal mixtures, liquid crystal mixtures containing these compounds, and liquid crystal displays on the basis of such mixtures.
Revolutionizing stationary energy storage cost: pilot plant and go to market plan for zn-ion rechargeable batteries

The global market for Stationary Energy Storage is estimated to reach a value of €26 billion by 2022, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 46.5 percent, fueled mostly by the rapid growth of Renewable Energy Sources (RES), which are dependent on energy storage technologies to be competitive despite their intrinsic intermittence. However, significant challenges remain when it comes to reaching the low-cost levels at which storage technologies combined with RES become competitive with the traditional electrical grid, while also remaining environmentally friendly. Enerpoly’s Zinc-Ion battery cell technology represents a breakthrough in Stationary Storage, by offering a simple, environmentally friendly, efficient, durable and low-cost alternative to Lead-Acid and Lithium-Ion batteries- today’s most widely used storage technologies.
Besides storing renewable energy, Enerpoly’s technology can be used in many uninterrupted power supply (UPS) applications at grid, industrial, commercial and even residential levels. Some examples are peak shaving, datacentres, powering telco equipment and commercial and residential storage of renewable energy. ENERZ, Enerpoly’s main product, will allow battery manufacturers to reduce their current costs by more than 50% for the same kWh storage capacity when compared to Lead- Acid and Lithium-Ion batteries, with a longer cycle life and improved safety.
Thanks to this project, our revolutionary technology will enter the market in 2022 in collaboration with leading European battery manufacturers.
Cooperative Routing in Multi-Hop Networks over Nakagami-m Channels

Abstract. In this paper, the amount of energy saving is studied in cooperative multi-hop wireless sensor networks with the constraint of a given outage probability. In these networks, each node transmits its signal to the next m_coop nodes on the route ending with the sink node. Nakagami channels are considered. Numerical results show that the purposed cooperative routing can provide considerable energy saving compared to that of non-cooperative multi-hop transmission. Results show that the proposed network achieves up to 74% energy saving in Nakagami-2 channels when the optimum number of m_coop is four with the maximum outage probability of 10-4.
Dynamics of turbulent western-boundary currents at low latitude in a shallow-water model

Abstract. The dynamics of low latitude turbulent western-boundary currents (WBCs) crossing the Equator are considered using numerical results from integrations of a reduced-gravity shallow-water model. For viscosity values of 1000 m2 s−1 and greater, the boundary layer dynamics compares well to the analytical Munk-layer solution. When the viscosity is reduced, the boundary layer becomes turbulent and coherent structures in the form of anticyclonic eddies, bursts (violent detachments of the viscous sub-layer, VSL) and dipoles appear. Three distinct boundary layers emerge, the VSL, the advective boundary layer and the extended boundary layer. The first is characterized by a dominant vorticity balance between the viscous transport and the advective transport of vorticity; the second by a balance between the advection of planetary vorticity and the advective transport of relative vorticity. The extended boundary layer is the area to which turbulent motion from the boundary extends. The scaling of the three boundary layer thicknesses with viscosity is evaluated. Characteristic scales of the dynamics and dissipation are determined. A pragmatic approach to determine the eddy viscosity diagnostically for coarse-resolution numerical models is proposed.
Biodiesel and biogas production from Isochrysis galbana using dry and wet lipid extraction: A biorefinery approach

Abstract Wet lipid extraction combined with residual biomass anaerobic digestion are alternatives to reduce the overall energy consumption of biodiesel production from microalgae. Solvents with different polarities have been studied to assess dry and wet lipid extraction process from Isochrysis galbana microalga. Ethyl acetate (EA) and a chloroform:methanol (CM) mixture yielded the best lipid extraction results in the dry and wet route with suitable lipid compositions. Fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) conversion of dry and wet extracted lipids with these solvents was performed by using both homogeneous (H2SO4) and heterogeneous (resin CT 269) catalysts. FAME production from wet extracted lipids with the EA solvent using the CT-269 resin constitutes an advantageous process because it avoids the water elimination step, and the CT-269 is a heterogeneous commercial catalyst, readily to separate after reaction. Lipid-spent microalga was anaerobically digested, obtaining that waste biomass from the wet extraction with EA had the highest methane yield (310 mL CH4/g volatile solids (VS). Energy balance analysis for FAMEs production with EA solvent (wet route) and heterogeneous catalyst yielded an energy recovery of about 80% in terms of biodiesel and biogas. Therefore, this process constitutes a promising route under an energy-driven microalga biorefinery.
Blueprints for the Future of Welfare Provision? Shared Features of Service Innovations across Europe

This article discusses localised forms of social innovation in social services in relation to social policy and welfare issues. It draws upon research findings from the EU project ‘Welfare Innovations at the local Level in favour of Cohesion’ (WILCO), which takes in social innovations in twenty European cities. First, we argue why there is currently a significant gap between the debate on social innovation and the debate on social welfare reforms. Second, we present attempts that have been made to identify and interpret recurring approaches and instruments in the social innovations studied in relation to various dimensions of the debate on social welfare and services, such as the search for new ways of addressing users and citizens; the emphasis on new risks and related approaches to the issues of rights and responsibilities; and finally the concern with issues of governance. We argue that the features of the local innovations we identified may be significant for welfare systems at large, going beyond the introduction of special new items in special fields. However, the degree to which this will come about in reality will depend on building more bridges of shared understanding between concerns with social innovation on the one hand and welfare reforms on the other hand.
Biotecnologia e Inovações Radicais: o Brasil entre 2009 e 2017

this article aims to associate the biotechnology activity through Research and Development with radical innovations in Brazil.The data is from the Survey of Innovation (PINTEC), carried out by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), between the years 2009 and 2017.The results show that Brazilian companies innovate little with a degree of world novelty, however, there seems to be a correlation between sectors/activities that have more companies which innovates (R&D) -in products and processes -and carry out biotechnological activities and sectors/activities that have more companies which innovate with a degree of world novelty.This correlation is shown through a simple linear regression model, using the percentage of companies in each sector/activity, but the data also shown that this association had weakened over the decade.Topics related to innovation, the innovative process and biotechnology will also be discussed.
COMPLEXO JOSÉ PEDRO VARELA

O objetivo deste artigo é analisar o projeto e observar a vida em comunidade nos espaços da Zona 1 do Complexo Habitacional José Pedro Varela (Montevidéu/Uruguai). A abordagem metodológica deste estudo possui dois enfoques: a análise do projeto e a observação da realidade, aproximando esses resultados com a crítica arquitetônica e urbanística em relação aos preceitos mais universalistas e ideológicos do Movimento Moderno, crítica protagonizada por um grupo chamado Team 10. Observou-se que, além do sistema cooperativo possibilitar uma primeira aproximação a esse contexto teórico, também a arquitetura e o urbanismo do conjunto possuem uma intenção de gerar uma qualidade de vida melhor aos seus moradores e uma vida urbana e coletiva mais efetiva. Um conjunto habitacional, embora inserido no contexto e na interface de uma grande cidade, configura de certa maneira uma vida baseada em relações quase tradicionais, mais próprias de povoados ou urbanizações menores – comunidades.
Programmed cell death protein 1 expression is an independent prognostic factor in gastric cancer after curative resection

Programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) and its ligand PD-L1 downregulate T cell activation and are related to immune tolerance. The aim of this study was to clarify the significance of PD-1 and PD-L1 expression and to analyze the relationships among PD-1, PD-L1, and Foxp3 expression in gastric cancer.A total of 105 patients who underwent curative gastrectomy for stage II/III gastric cancer were included in this study. PD-1, PD-L1, and Foxp3 expression were examined by immunohistochemistry and related to prognostic factors by univariate and multivariate analyses.PD-1 expression was correlated with both PD-L1 and Foxp3 expression. Disease-free survival (DFS) was significantly poorer in PD-1-positive patients than in PD-1-negative patients (3-year DFS, 36.1 % vs. 64.7 %, respectively; p < 0.05). Overall survival also tended to be poorer in PD-L1-positive patients than in PD-L1-negative patients. Univariate analysis identified sex, T factor, lymphatic invasion, and PD-1 positivity as significant predictors of poor DFS. Multivariate analysis confirmed male sex, lymphatic invasion, and positive PD-1 expression as independent prognostic indicators.PD-1 expression is associated with a poor prognosis and is correlated with PD-L1 and Foxp3 expression in patients with gastric cancer.
Forensic hydrogeology

Contaminant events disrupt stability and resilience of increasingly vulnerable soil and groundwater. Identifying where, when and how much contaminant spill is released into aquifers is critical for strengthening the competitiveness of EU in risk-reduction management, and Forensic Hydrogeology, a growing discipline that applies scientific knowledge in legal resolutions. Existing model solutions estimate the origin and affected area, but numerical challenges impose too restrictive assumptions to properly account for multiple sources or suitable aquifer characterization. The scientific goal of FORENSHYD is to develop a novel, flexible and reliable ensemble Kalman filter data assimilation method (EnKF) for the optimal identification of contaminant sources and occurrence of reactive pollutants in near-actual conditions. Latest assessed developments of Dr. Gómez-Hernández set EnKF as an excellent optimization tool for the simultaneous identification of the spatial variability of conductivities, the location, and the release function of polluting sources. A step toward coupling the algorithm with machine learning techniques may overcome ill-posed solutions, stemmed from nonlinearities between parameters and variables in the state equation, to solve kinetic-controlled reactive transport problems and to optimize data collection in groundwater observation network systems, a topic of renewal interest in administration and industrial sector. We test spurious effects of aquifer heterogeneity, reactive parameters, and initial/boundary conditions in synthetic scenarios, sandbox experiments and two demonstration sites. Transfer of this novel technology in well-reported, practical and universal open source packages will reinforce the leadership and employability in the global market of intersectorial and interdisciplinary European stakeholders. The societal value of FORENSHYD is to improve mitigation strategies, and clarify environmental liability, in liaises with Horizon 2020.
METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING TICKETS FROM GAMING DEVICES AND/OR LOTTERY TERMINALS WHICH ARE NOT DEPENDENT ON A PLAYERS SUCCESS OF THE UNDERLYING GAME

Gaming devices dispense tickets which are unrelated to a player's success on a particular game played on a gaming device or to the player's credits on a credit meter or other "cash out" indicator. The gaming devices provide gaming awards and also provide tickets. Other methods provide tickets during the play of wagering games. Still other embodiments comprise lottery terminals which dispense tickets other than those purchased by a lottery patron or won on a purchased lottery ticket.
Utility function for predicting IPTV Quality of Experience based on delay in Overlay Networks

Service Overlay Networks (SONs) provide new complex services in the Internet without requiring major changes to underlying physical networks. A SON is an overlay network made up of virtual nodes and links on top of the existing infrastructure. Whenever a client requests a specific service, such as streaming a video on his mobile device, the SON creates a path on the fly to deliver the video stream from the server to the client. This path is called a Service Specific Overlay Network (SSON) and consists of nodes that meet the Quality of Service (QoS), Quality of Experience (QoE), and technical requirements of the user. Unfortunately, the highly dynamic nature of overlay networks makes it challenging to keep video quality at the required levels. Errors and delays due mainly to congestion cause packets to be dropped or queued for a long period of time in intermediate nodes. Video quality is greatly affected by such impairments. In this paper, we propose a utility function to predict QoE of video delivered over SSONs. The proposed function is based on application-level statistical information, namely frame delay. It allows user QoE to be monitored in real-time without incurring additional overhead on the network. When degradation in the utility is detected, appropriate adaptation schemes can be used to restore the QoE to acceptable levels. We show the effectiveness and flexibility of the proposed scheme via mathematical proofs and simulation results.
Capacity building for integrated low-carbon mobility planning in functional urban areas

LOW-CARB aims to overcome a pervasive challenge in Central Europe (CE) to enhance capacities for integrated low-carbon mobility planning for functional urban areas (FUAs). To achieve this, LOW-CARB will tackle the “hot issues” of sustainable urban mobility planning (SUMP) for FUAs: integrated coordination, institutional cooperation and action plan implementation incl. joint financing and public investments in low-carbon mobility systems in times of austerity. LOW-CARB puts low-carbon public transport (PT) organisation at its centre to reduce GHG emissions, with new combined mobility offers like bike sharing and PT or multimodal information services. PT in FUAs has a high impact potential for reaching the EU’s White Paper goals to cut transport emissions by 60% by 2050 and to halve the use of ‘conventionally fuelled’ cars in urban transport by 2030. LOW-CARB’s strategies, action plans, tools and pilot actions will reduce CO2 emissions by almost 60,000 tons by 2020. These solutions have a high replication potential in CE’s FUAs to improve air quality and quality of life. This will include transferable strategies, tools, trainings, lessons learnt & public events to raise awareness, increase knowledge and foster experience transfer on integrated low-carbon mobility planning in FUAs across CE. Strategies and pilot actions will reflect main challenges and new trends such as open data based mobility planning, integrated mobility platforms or implementation of low-carbon technologies in pilot actions, including a call-a-"clean"-bus service or solar-powered e-bike charging stations to link PT and shared mobility. All project results will be published on a web-based CE SUMP Competence Centre and in public deliverables (e.g. handbooks and factsheets) which enable mobility planning stakeholders to develop low-carbon mobility plans with tailored innovative and combined PT measures to reduce CO2 emissions in FUAs. LOW-CARB represents 11 partners from 7 FUAs in 6 CE countries.
Surface weathering of gneiss, northwestern higher Himalaya, India

Abstract The use of the Schmidt hammer to interpret the relative surface weathering of rocks at different elevation in the Satluj and Alaknanda valleys is outlined. The study carried out in the Higher Himalayan terrain on crystalline gneisses under similar climatic conditions suggests that the rocks at higher elevations are more weathered compared with those at lower elevations. There is also a great variability of Schmidt hammer rebound values (R-values) at higher elevation, which further indicates great roughness of the rock surface owing to differential weathering of the grains. It has also been noted that the R-values for the crystalline gneisses of the Alaknanda valley are lower than those for the crystalline gneisses of the Satluj valley. This is mainly attributed to the varying proportion of mineral constituents of these two crystalline gneisses.
<i>Ultrabithorax</i> is essential for bacteriocyte development

Symbiosis often entails the emergence of novel adaptive traits in organisms. Microbial symbionts are indispensable for diverse insects via provisioning of essential nutrients, wherein novel host cells and organs for harboring the microbes, called bacteriocytes and bacteriomes, have evolved repeatedly. Molecular and developmental mechanisms underpinning the emergence of novel symbiotic cells and organs comprise an unsolved question in evolutionary developmental biology. Here, we report that a conserved homeotic gene, Ultrabithorax, plays a pivotal role in the bacteriocyte differentiation in a hemipteran insect Nysius plebeius. During embryonic development, six pairs of aggregated presumptive bacteriocytes appear on both sides of six abdominal segments, incorporate the symbiotic bacteria at the stage of germband retraction, and fuse into a pair of lateral bacteriomes at the stage of germband flip, where bacteriocyte-associated Ultrabithorax expression coincides with the symbiont infection process. Suppression of Ultrabithorax expression by maternal RNA interference results in disappearance of the bacteriocytes and the symbiont localization therein, suggesting that Ultrabithorax is involved in differentiation of the host cells for symbiosis. Suppression of other homeotic genes abdominal-A and Antennapedia disturbs integrity and positioning of the bacteriomes, affecting the configuration of the host organs for symbiosis. Our findings unveil the molecular and developmental mechanisms underlying the bacteriocyte differentiation, which may have evolved either via cooption of the transcription factors for inducing the novel symbiotic cells, or via revival of the developmental pathway for the bacteriocytes that had existed in the ancestral hemipterans.