SIRIS-Lab/unlabelled-sti-corpus huggingface dataset:
Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever: a growing threat to Europe

Tick-borne infectious diseases are increasing, driven by geographic expansion of ticks. Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is a tick-borne virus of the family Nairoviridae that poses serious threat to public health. CCHFV can cause severe forms of hemorrhagic fever with high case fatality rates (CFR) (10-40%) and can be transmitted from human to human. Until a few years ago, no cases of CCHF had been reported in western Europe. However, high seropositivity rates in wildlife and detection of multiple strains of CCHFV in ticks in Spain suggest that CCHFV enzootic cycle has been established in some areas of southwestern Europe. As far as CCHFV-associated morbidity and mortality are concerned, there are no approved therapeutic options or US/EU licensed vaccines for treatment. Here we discuss some eco-epidemiological aspects as well as public health and socio-economic impacts associated with CCHFV circulation and outbreaks. We also emphasize that it has become essential to identify key inter-species transmission processes of this group of pathogens, to understand basic molecular mechanisms of their replication, and to define their pathogenic potentials.Partout dans le monde, les maladies infectieuses transmises par les tiques sont en augmentation, en raison de l’expansion géographique de ces dernières. Le virus de la fièvre hémorragique de Crimée-Congo (CCHFV) est un virus de la famille des Nairoviridae transmis par les tiques et constitue une menace importante pour la santé publique. Il est responsable de graves fièvres hémorragiques associées à des taux de létalité élevés (10–40%), une transmission d’homme à homme possible et une absence d’options thérapeutiques approuvées ou de vaccins homologués en Espagne et dans l’Union européenne. Jusqu’à il y a quelques années, aucun cas de CCHFV n’avait été signalé en Europe occidentale. Cependant, les taux élevés de séroprévalence chez les animaux sauvages et la détection de multiples souches du CCHFV chez des tiques en Espagne suggèrent que le cycle enzootique du CCHFV s’est déjà établi dans certaines régions du sud-ouest de l’Europe. Outre la morbidité et la mortalité associées à la FHCC, il n’existe pas d’options thérapeutiques approuvées ni de vaccins homologués aux États-Unis et dans l’UE pour son traitement. Nous discutons ici des aspects éco-épidémiologiques ainsi que des impacts socio-économiques et de santé publique associés à la circulation et aux foyers du FHCC. Nous soulignons également qu’il est maintenant devenu essentiel d’identifier les principaux processus de transmission inter-espèces de ce groupe d’agents pathogènes, de comprendre les mécanismes moléculaires de leur réplication et de définir leur potentiel pathogène.
Novel dialkyl vinyl ether phosphonate monomers: Their synthesis and alternated radical copolymerizations with electron-accepting monomers

Three new vinyl ether monomers containing phosphonate moieties were synthesized from transetherification reaction. We showed that the yield was dependent on the spacer length between the vinyl oxy group and the phosphonate moieties: when the spacer is a single methylene side reaction may occur, leading to the formation of acetal compounds. Free-radical copolymerizations of phosphonate-containing vinyl ether monomers with maleic anhydride were carried out, leading to alternated copolymers of rather low molecular weights (from 1000 to 7000 g/mol). Both gel permeation chromatography and 31P NMR analyses enhanced possible intramolecular transfer reactions occurring from the phosphonate moieties. Kinetic investigation showed that the electron-withdrawing character of the phosphonate moieties tends to decrease the rate of copolymerization. Nevertheless, almost complete monomers conversion was reached after 30 min of reaction with dimethyl vinyloxyethylphosphonate (VEC2PMe). Then, radical copolymerization of VEC2PMe with a series of electron-accepting monomers, that is, dibutyl maleate, dibutylitaconate, itaconic anhydride, butyl maleimide, and methyl maleimide, led to a series of alternated copolymers. From kinetic investigation, we showed that the higher the electron-accepting effect, the faster the vinyl ether consumption and the higher the molecular weights. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012
An equilibrium theory signature in the island biogeography of human parasites and pathogens

Aim Our understanding of the ecology and biogeography of microbes, including those that cause human disease, lags behind that for larger species. Despite recent focus on the geographical distribution of viruses and bacteria, the overall environmental distribution of human pathogens and parasites on Earth remains incompletely understood. As islands have long inspired basic ecological insights, we aimed to assess whether the microorganisms that cause human disease in modern times follow patterns common to insular plants and animals.

Location Global and regional.

Methods Relying on the publically accessible GIDEON database, we use the spatial distribution of nearly 300 human parasites and pathogens across 66 island countries and territories to assess the current predictive value of the 'equilibrium theory' of island biogeography. The relationships between species richness and (1) island surface area and (2) distance to the nearest mainland were investigated with linear regression, and ANCOVAs were used to test for differences in these relationships with respect to pathogen ecology and taxonomy.

Results Pathogen species richness increases with island surface area and decreases with distance to the nearest mainland. The effect of area is more than 10 times lower than that usually reported for macroorganisms, but is greater than the effect of distance. The strongest relationships are for pathogens that are vector-borne, zoonotic (with humans as dead-end hosts) or protozoan.

Main conclusion Our results support the basic predictions of the theory: disease diversity is a positive function of island area and a negative function of island isolation. However, differences in the effects of area, distance and pathogen ecology suggest that globalization, probably through human travel and the animal trade, has softened these relationships. Parasites that primarily target non-human species, whose distributions are more constrained by island life than are those restricted to human hosts, drive the island biogeography of human disease.
Managing triplets for fluorescence in organics: towards a predictive model (milord)

The research in the field of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) has greatly advanced over the last decades, driven by the potential of OLED technology for various display applications. Yet, today, most of the commercial OLED devices contain expensive rare metals like Iridium and Platinum. An alternative promising strategy is based on the use of all-organic emitters, featuring the recently reported thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) mechanism. Relying on a reverse intersystem crossing (RISC) process, TADF-based OLEDs may utilize all electrically generated singlet and triplet excitons, going well beyond the 25% spin statistical bottleneck of organic electroluminescence. Nowadays, however, only a few TADF-based OLEDs have demonstrated efficiencies comparable to the best metal-organic materials. Research efforts so far have been mostly based on a trial-and-error approach in absence of a solid fundamental understanding of the underlying processes. The project MILORD aims at providing a comprehensive picture of the TADF mechanism through the use of an original multiscale modelling approach, going all the way from the molecular to the device scale. We will explore the energetics and nature of the involved excited states, describe the kinetics of competing processes, and model the diffusion and interactions of singlets and triplets in a realistic medium. The results of MILORD will provide detailed mechanistic insights into the TADF process, which will ultimately allow us to identify structure-property relationships and propose new strategies to minimize losses. By integrating the research into a large collaborative network around the Host and the Fellow, we hope that our theoretical work will guide synthetic efforts towards the discovery of a new generation of more efficient materials and device architectures.
Trezze, Tegnue and marine environments of the upper Adriatic: management proposals

The northern Adriatic marine and coastal habitats support an enormous animal and plant biodiversity represented by the biogenic-geogenic outcrops of Friuli Venezia Giulia and Veneto, dead corallites of Cladocora caespitosa on the Slovenian side and numerous costal ZSC-ZPS. The results of the Trecorala project (Interreg Ita-Slo 2007-13) allowed evaluation of the ecological status of the geo-biogenic formations. They had been recognized as Sites of Community Interest due to the presence of priority habitats such as Coralligenous and rodolite and maerl funds. In Slovenia, the formations in Cladocora caespitosa are located in the marine protected areas of the Natural Monument Punta Grossa and of the Natural Park of Strunjan. TRETAMARA aims to capitalize on previous knowledge, to enhance the best management practices, leading to the drafting of a document supporting the drafting of missing management plans of the coastal and marine SIC areas, and their harmonization at the High Adriatic level, also proposing national and transnational guidelines for integrated management marine-coastal habitats with high ecological value also through targeted actions with a high content innovative.
Vision-Based inspection systems for automated testing of aircraft interiors

The VISTA project aims to post-assembly testing of aircraft interior installations in both cabin and cargo units in order to ensure quality and reliability of located components. This goal will be pursued by the development and implementation of a multi-sensor platform and sensor processing algorithms, integrating on-board a mobile system and an interface for data transmission, able to provide efficient automated testing and quality reports. In detail, multiple optical devices, including 3D LIDAR, omnidirectional laser profilometers, RGB-D, and (stereo) vision sensors, integrated with on-board image processing hardware, will be tested for the 3D modelling of the aircraft interior. In addition, the sensor suite will include line scan cameras for colour inspection of surface quality. All sensors will be integrated on an automated guided vehicle (AGV) that will collect and store sensor measurements, while traversing both cabin and cargo areas. The collection of full 3D models, i.e. 3D models augmented with metadata, such as colour, material and texture, will feed high-level algorithms that will automatically determine tolerances of the components with respect to positioning, gap and flush, and assess surface quality in terms of texture, colour, and defects. An interface for data transmission will be developed and tested for visualization and documentation, which will be made available to the human operators via suitable interfaces based on Augmented Reality (AR).
DEVICE FOR ADJUSTMENT IN A VEHICLE AND RELATED METHOD

The invention concerns an adjusting device (10) and a method for adjusting a component (11, 40) in particular in a vehicle. Said device comprises at least one mobile component (11, 40), which moves relative to a retaining element (13) through a driving element (24), which comprises an electroactive polymer (EAP) (25).
Theoretical solutions for a circular opening in an elastic–brittle–plastic rock mass incorporating the out-of-plane stress and seepage force

Seepage force is simplified as seepage volumetric force in the stress field along the radial direction. Out-of-plane stress and seepage force are incorporated, and the theoretical solutions for stress, displacement, and plastic radius of a circular opening for the elastic-brittle-plastic and elastic-plastic rock mass are proposed based on the Mohr–Coulomb (MC) and generalized Hoek-Brown (HB) failure criteria. The presented solution and Wang’s solution (2012) are compared, and the corrected version of the proposed method is validated. Numerical examples of the proposed method based on the MC and generalized HB failure criteria reveal that the distributions of stress and displacement in the surrounding rock of the tunnel are significantly influenced by seepage force and out-ofplane stress. Displacement and plastic radius when seepage force and out-of-plane stress are considered are larger than those when the seepage force is not considered; the regulations of stress, however, run opposite. The results of displacement and plastic radius based on the generalized HB failure criterion are larger than those based on the MC failure criterion.
Using the MDCT thick slab MinIP method for the follow-up of pulmonary emphysema

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of thick slab minimum intensity projection (MinIP) as a follow-up method in patients with pulmonary emphysema. This method was used to determine the presence or absence of changes over time in the lung field based on multi-detector-row CT (MDCT) data.Among patients diagnosed with pulmonary emphysema who underwent 16-MDCT (slice thickness, 1 mm) twice at an interval of 6 months or more, 12 patients without changes in the lung field and 14 with clear changes in the lung field were selected as subjects. An image interpretation experiment was performed by five image interpreters. Pulmonary emphysema was followed up using two types of thick slab MinIP (thick slab MinIP 1 and 2) and multi-planar reformation (MPR), and the results of image interpretation were evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. In addition, the time required for image interpretation was compared among the three follow-up methods.The area under the ROC curve (Az) was 0.794 for thick slab MinIP 1, 0.778 for the thick slab MinIP 2, and 0.759 for MPR, showing no significant differences among the three methods. Individual differences in each item were significantly more marked for MPR than for thick slab MinIP. The time required for image interpretation was around 18 seconds for thick slab MinIP 1, 11 seconds for thick slab MinIP 2, and approximately 127 seconds for MPR, showing significant differences among the three methods.There were no significant differences in the results of image interpretation regarding the presence or absence of changes in the lung fields between thick slab MinIP and MPR. However, thick slab MinIP showed a shorter image interpretation time and smaller individual differences in the results among image interpreters than MPR, suggesting the usefulness of this method for determining the presence or absence of changes with time in the lung fields of patients with pulmonary emphysema.
Catalyzed and Electrocatalyzed Oxidation of <scp>l</scp>-Tyrosine and <scp>l</scp>-Phenylalanine to Dopachrome by Nanozymes

Catalyzed oxygen insertion into C-H bonds represents a continuous challenge in chemistry. Particularly, driving this process at ambient temperature and aqueous media represents a "holy grail" in catalysis. We report on the catalyzed cascade transformations of l-tyrosine or l-phenylalanine to dopachrome in the presence of l-ascorbic acid/H2O2 as oxidizing mixture and CuFe-Prussian Blue-like nanoparticles, Fe3O4 nanoparticles or Au nanoparticles as catalysts. The process involves the primary transformation of l-tyrosine to l-DOPA that is further oxidized to dopachrome. The transformation of l-phenylalanine to dopachrome in the presence of CuFe-Prussian Blue-like nanoparticles and l-ascorbic acid/H2O2 involves in the first step the formation of l-tyrosine and, subsequently, the operation of the catalytic oxidation cascade of l-tyrosine to l-DOPA and dopachrome. Electron spin resonance experiments demonstrate that ascorbate radicals and hydroxyl radicals play cooperative functions in driving the different oxygen-insertion processes. In addition, the aerobic elecrocatalyzed oxidation of l-tyrosine to dopachrome in the presence of naphthoquinone-modified Fe3O4 nanoparticles and l-ascorbic acid is demonstrated. In this system, magnetic-field attraction of the naphthoquinone-modified Fe3O4 nanoparticles onto the electrode allows the quinone-mediated electrocatalyzed reduction of O2 to H2O2 (bias potential -0.5 V vs SCE). The electrogenerated H2O2 is then utilized to promote the transformation of l-tyrosine to dopachrome in the presence of l-ascorbic acid and Fe3O4 catalyst.
Mediterranean Dialogue for Waste Management Governance

Recent research highlights the worrying environmental effects of current production and consumption patterns in the Mediterranean Sea Basin, further accelerated by climate change impacts exerted by land-use (urbanization, agricultural intensification), pollution and declining biodiversity. In such context, Med4Waste project aims to facilitate new governance models for integrated and efficient urban waste management policies across the Mediterranean strategy. The project lays on a strong and experienced partnership composed by 7 organisations from 6 Mediterranean countries and reinforced by 3 pools of associated partners and supporters from the whole basin. Moreover, it encompasses up to 8 activities oriented at building skills, planning and decision-making capabilities for Mediterranean institutions from public and private sector, and based on the most successful practices previously implemented in the region. Consequently, decision policy-makers will find a platform to promote better governance in the sustainable use of resources and management of waste, moving towards more sustainable patterns of consumption and production at Mediterranean level, whilst developing joint and common policy responses.
Ecological and evolutionary constraints on the temperature dependence of the carbon cycle

The cycling of carbon between the biosphere and the atmosphere is mediated by its transformation and flux through ecosystems. Atmospheric CO2 is fixed by photosynthesis, exchanged between organisms via their interactions, and re-emitted to the atmosphere through the by-products of their metabolism (CO2). These metabolic processes are inherently temperature dependent, and consequently there is potential for elevated rates of respiration (CO2 production) in a warmer world to further accelerate global warming. However, large uncertainties about the magnitude of any response exist, owing to limited understanding of the mechanisms underpinning the temperature dependence of ecosystem metabolism. I approach this problem from a new perspective, by proposing that interactions between evolutionary processes, which influence the frequency and variance of metabolic traits within populations, and ecological interactions between populations, which shape the structure and dynamics of communities, constrain the overall temperature dependence of metabolic fluxes at the ecosystem-level. I will ask: How do differences in thermal responses and the nature of ecological interactions between species influence the temperature response of an ecosystem? What is the rate and magnitude of thermal adaptation? Does coevolution in a community affect thermal adaptation? How do differences in thermal responses and turnover in species composition affect the temperature dependence of ecosystems? I will answer these questions with an array of experiments that recombine microbes isolated from a long-term freshwater warming experiment (+4°C for 10 years) in communities in the laboratory. This project will break new ground in understanding how patterns and processes at the ecosystem-level emerge from the dynamics of populations and communities over ecological and evolutionary timescales. At the same time, it will contribute substantially to understanding carbon cycle responses to global warming.
Cross-border strategies for the exploitation of Liquid Natural Gas

This project’s common challenge concerns the definition of an integrated LNG distribution system in the 5 partner areas, in whose ports the availability of LNG resources and storage sites is currently inadequate to supply watercraft and means of transport. The general objective is to deal with these shortcomings by developing plans and strategies to support the implementation of Directive 2012/33/EU and to assist areas where there are few or no methanisation networks. This will transform the opportunity offered by LNG into added value and reduce polluting emissions from industry and transport sector within these areas. SIGNAL develops the following: 1 maritime network optimisation model to supply LNG in the 5 areas involved; 1 storage site location model in the ports of destination; 1 internal distribution model for the weaker areas involved. The partnership will develop its activities in a synergistic and participatory way and exploit individual potentials for the benefit of a more complex and efficient integrated system involving the entire area of cooperation. The innovative element of the project lies in the methodological approach for defining plans and strategies, as well as in the role assigned to the ports as hubs to promote LNG use. The ports are places of maritime and land vehicles and of LNG storage and use as well as access doors for LNG distribution in the area. In the cross-border cooperation area, planning a port and coastal system of storage and regasification plants will support the strategic development of the LNG distribution system; a fundamental factor for cost-effective and efficient delivery of LNG to end users.
Pharmaceutical pollution of the world’s rivers

Environmental exposure to active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) can have negative effects on the health of ecosystems and humans. While numerous studies have monitored APIs in rivers, these employ different analytical methods, measure different APIs, and have ignored many of the countries of the world. This makes it difficult to quantify the scale of the problem from a global perspective. Furthermore, comparison of the existing data, generated for different studies/regions/continents, is challenging due to the vast differences between the analytical methodologies employed. Here, we present a global-scale study of API pollution in 258 of the world's rivers, representing the environmental influence of 471.4 million people across 137 geographic regions. Samples were obtained from 1,052 locations in 104 countries (representing all continents and 36 countries not previously studied for API contamination) and analyzed for 61 APIs. Highest cumulative API concentrations were observed in sub-Saharan Africa, south Asia, and South America. The most contaminated sites were in low- to middle-income countries and were associated with areas with poor wastewater and waste management infrastructure and pharmaceutical manufacturing. The most frequently detected APIs were carbamazepine, metformin, and caffeine (a compound also arising from lifestyle use), which were detected at over half of the sites monitored. Concentrations of at least one API at 25.7% of the sampling sites were greater than concentrations considered safe for aquatic organisms, or which are of concern in terms of selection for antimicrobial resistance. Therefore, pharmaceutical pollution poses a global threat to environmental and human health, as well as to delivery of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.