SIRIS-Lab/unlabelled-sti-corpus huggingface dataset:
Ai-Powered image forgery detection

The digitization of business is changing all aspects of the economy. Expense reports, insurance claims, signed legal documents, contracts, diplomas, medical prescriptions & even press photographs up until quite recently used to live mostly in paper form. This is no longer the case—many documents are created digitally & those that still start as paper are immediately scanned & further processed in electronic form.
While forgery of documents & image manipulation have been known for decades, technology today makes it easy for anyone with basic knowledge of Photoshop to falsify digital images or scanned copies of official documents from birth certificates to  bank statements. Sophisticated AI algorithms now make such image manipulation happen almost automatically, creating so called deepfakes that are getting more & more difficult to recognize. 
This immediately affects business—1 out of every 75 insurance claims involved some form of digital image fraud. 1 out of every 75 property damage insurance claims has been digitally altered. 20% of all automotive insurance claims paid (~$140 million) were fraudulent
To help businesses tackle image falsification (or image forgery) & ensure trust in digital processes, we have developed Quantum Integrity—a software solution that can detect, quantify & qualify manipulations made to digital images. Quantum Integrity is built around our proprietary family of algorithms combined with advanced AI. 
Existing image forensics solutions & feature-incomplete & rarely target the needs of the B2B market. We have developed a solution focused on banking, financial services & insurance as well as other businesses that heavily rely on a large volume of image-based transactions.
Long range surface plasmons on asymmetric suspended thin film structures for biosensing applications

We show that long-range surface plasmons (LRSPs) are supported in a physically asymmetric thin film structure, consisting of a low refractive index medium on a metal slab, supported by a high refractive index dielectric layer (membrane) over air, as a suspended waveguide. For design purposes, an analytic formulation is derived in 1D yielding a transcendental equation that ensures symmetry of the transverse fields of the LRSP within the metal slab by constraining its thicknesses and that of the membrane. Results from the formulation are in quantitative agreement with transfer matrix calculations for a candidate slab waveguide consisting of an H(2)O-Au-SiO(2)-air structure. Biosensor-relevant figures of merit are compared for the asymmetric and symmetric structures, and it is found that the asymmetric structure actually improves performance, despite higher losses. The finite difference method is also used to analyse metal stripes providing 2D confinement on the structure, and additional constraints for non-radiative LRSP guiding thereon are discussed. These results are promising for sensors that operate with an aqueous solution that would otherwise require a low refractive index-matched substrate for the LRSP.
Additional file 5 of Healthcare system resilience in Bangladesh and Haiti in times of global changes (climate-related events, migration and Covid-19): an interdisciplinary mixed method research protocol

Additional file 5.
Thresholds in past relative humidity and ecosystem structure in africa

Tropical forest and savanna are home to one-fifth of global human population. With ongoing global change, predicting how these biomes will respond to changing rainfall and relative humidity (RH) is of high priority. The overall aim of this project is to identify thresholds in RH that triggered in the past (last 10,000 years) the transition from forest to savanna and those that made forest resilience possible in Africa. I will use a new RH proxy, recently developed by the host laboratory, which is the triple oxygen isotope composition (17O-excess) of phytoliths. While calibrations were conducted in growth chambers, field applications are needed to precisely evaluate the accuracy of the proxy. I will examine the evolution of the 17O-excess in the water cycle and in grass and tree phytoliths, and quantify the isotopic fractionation at play, at a West African instrumented site. Then 17O-excess bias potentially brought by the contribution of phytoliths from lake shoreline vegetation to bulk sedimentary phytoliths will be quantified. Finally, I will analyse the 17O-excess of phytoliths from four West and Central African Holocene lacustrine sedimentary cores to reconstruct changes in RH. Vegetation structure and fire activity will be reconstructed from the same sediments. The effect of reconstructed RH and fire activity trends will be analyzed using time series cross-correlation and spectral analyses, and thresholds in RH identified using regime shifts analyses. These results will help to better understand the impacts of past climate change on tropical forest resilience. During this project, I will acquire new laboratory skills, develop the use of a new paleoclimate proxy, reinforce my scientific leadership and expand my career prospects in academia. I will bring my expertise in remote sensing analyses and biome management to the host laboratory. This project will also strengthen the European leadership in triple oxygen isotope analyses for paleoclimate reconstructions.
Polyphenols and gut microbiota interaction in cardiovascular health

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the main cause of mortality in Europe with an annual estimated cost of €210 billion. Different European Public Health strategies have targeted diet to prevent/treat CVDs. This multidisciplinary and multi-institutional project aims to provide new insights into the role of the gut microbiota as a key player in the beneficial effects against CVDs associated with the consumption of Polyphenols (PPs)-rich foods. PolyBiota will be developed through innovative research at one of the epicenters of PPs research (CEBAS-CSIC) and secondment at FISABIO (Valencia, Spain). Epidemiological, clinical, and preclinical studies suggest that the consumption of PPs-containing food protects against CVDs (i.e, modulating angiogenesis in atherosclerotic plaques) . However, these benefits are not always observed due to the high inter-individual variability. The gut microbiota has emerged as an essential player that regulates the bioactivity of PPs. Recent clinical trials indicate that the gut microbiota composition play a critical role in the activity of PPs improving CV biomarkers. These studies open a new door to investigate how the interaction PPs-gut microbiota can modulate mechanisms associated with the improvement of CVDs. PolyBiota will investigate: i) role of the gut microbiota as mediator of the effects of the consumption of Ellagitannins (ETs)-/urolithin (Uro)-A- and Isoflavones (IsoFlv)-/equol-enriched diets on angiogenesis/mechanisms related in untreated and antibiotic-treated animals, ii) the “prebiotic-like effect” of the ETs, Uro-A, IsoFlv and equol consumption on the gut microbiota population, iii) the effects of the gut microbiota-biosynthesized messenguers or the ETs- and IsoFlv-derived metabolites on in vitro tubulogenesis. PolyBiota shows an innovative approach combining cutting-edge techniques, “big data” management, endothelial cells, and in vivo animal models providing a holistic scene of the Diet-Gut Microbiota-Host interaction.
Dealing with over-indebtedness : approaches in selected developed countries and in Poland

The idea of the article is to present a review of solutions, preventive and/or remedial in character, applied in several developed countries that had to deal with the problem of the over-indebtedness earlier than in Poland. We assumed that the development of the financial knowledge and responsible decision-making process in respect of the debt needs to be backed by ongoing efforts at every stage of the financial life of households (what is called the life cycle approach) as well as by the appropriate forms of communication.We have done our best to make sure that the picture of actions taken to deal with the over-indebtedness was accurate. We cannot rule out that new initiatives and solutions have appeared in the wake of the crisis that are not discussed herein. The article has two main parts, beyond the introduction and conclusions. In the second part we review definitions of the notion of over-indebtedness which identify the problem. The latter one presents a review of the solutions applied in various countries to combat the over-indebtedness, as a backdrop for a Polish experiences in that respect.
FLUIDIC CARBON NANOTUBE DEVICE

Fluidic and electrofluidic devices comprising carbon nanotubes and methods of making and using the same are provided. The carbon nanotubes may be densely bundled to span an aperture in a substrate. A polymeric coating over the substrate may contain reservoir(s) etched therein, the reservoir(s) in fluid connectivity with the carbon nano tubes. X-rays may be directed through the aperture and fluid-filled carbon nanotubes with x-ray analysis providing data on fluid structure and dynamics inside the carbon nano tubes.
Complete mitochondrial genome of the Antarctic silverfish,Pleuragramma antarcticum(Perciformes, Nototheniidae)

The complete sequence of the mitochondrial genome of Pleuragramma antarcticum was obtained from the assembled genome data. The complete sequence was determined to be 18,460 bp in length, containing 13 protein coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes, 2 control regions and a repeat. The general order and contents of the genes are identical with those of other fishes. The Antarctic notothenioid-specific translocation of ND6/tRNA(Glu) exists in the mitogenome. Pleuragramma antarcticum is the only pelagic species which dominates Antarctic fish fauna by more than 90%. Thus, the whole mitogenome sequences of P. antarcticum will provide the basis to understand the deep phylogeny of the Antarctic species.
Cultural transfers in dispute : representations in Asia, Europe, and the Arab world since the Middle Ages

Our conception of cultures and cultural change has altered dramatically in recent decades; no longer do we understand cultures as isolated units, but rather as hybrid formations constantly engaged in a multidirectional process of exchange and influence with other cultures. Yet the very process by which we represent these cultural transfers is itself subject to cultural, political, and ideological conditions that affect our understanding, acknowledgment, and representation of them. Built around concrete examples of controversial representations of cultural transfer from Asia, the Arab world, and Europe, Cultural Transfers in Dispute presents a critical self-reflection on the scholarly practices that underpin our attempts to study and describe other cultures.
Multiple perspectives of the value of occupancy-based HVAC control systems

Abstract Occupancy-based strategies for reducing energy used for heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) benefit building owners and help meet state and federal energy and climate goals. However, this value has not previously been quantified beyond typical building owner energy savings. The objective of this research is to estimate the national-level potential added-value of occupancy-based HVAC controls in small office buildings relative to a constant setpoint or to programmable thermostats. Value is defined based on the building owner perspective (energy cost), as well as societal based perspectives of fossil fuels consumed and greenhouse gas, NOx and SOx emissions. A generic small office building with two different HVAC systems is simulated in EnergyPlus and applied to five climate zones representative of the United States. Specific building envelope, electricity supplies, utility costs and total area of small office buildings are adjusted for each climate zone. Results demonstrate that occupancy-based strategies for HVAC control are highly effective, yielding 22-50%and 47-87% reduction in electricity and natural gas use, respectively, compared to no thermostat control. Results vary substantially across climate zones and HVAC systems. With occupancy sensors installed in all small office buildings, the U.S. national savings would be 15 - 66 million GJ fossil fuel use, 0.9–3.7 million metric tons CO2e emissions, and 168 - 658 million dollars for utility cost.
Laminin-γ1 chain and stress inducible protein 1 synergistically mediate PrPC -dependent axonal growth via Ca2+ mobilization in dorsal root ganglia neurons

Prion protein (PrP(C)) is a cell surface glycoprotein that is abundantly expressed in nervous system. The elucidation of the PrP(C) interactome network and its significance on neural physiology is crucial to understanding neurodegenerative events associated with prion and Alzheimer's diseases. PrP(C) co-opts stress inducible protein 1/alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (STI1/α7nAChR) or laminin/Type I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR1/5) to modulate hippocampal neuronal survival and differentiation. However, potential cross-talk between these protein complexes and their role in peripheral neurons has never been addressed. To explore this issue, we investigated PrP(C)-mediated axonogenesis in peripheral neurons in response to STI1 and laminin-γ1 chain-derived peptide (Ln-γ1). STI1 and Ln-γ1 promoted robust axonogenesis in wild-type neurons, whereas no effect was observed in neurons from PrP(C) -null mice. PrP(C) binding to Ln-γ1 or STI1 led to an increase in intracellular Ca(2+) levels via distinct mechanisms: STI1 promoted extracellular Ca(2+) influx, and Ln-γ1 released calcium from intracellular stores. Both effects depend on phospholipase C activation, which is modulated by mGluR1/5 for Ln-γ1, but depends on, C-type transient receptor potential (TRPC) channels rather than α7nAChR for STI1. Treatment of neurons with suboptimal concentrations of both ligands led to synergistic actions on PrP(C)-mediated calcium response and axonogenesis. This effect was likely mediated by simultaneous binding of the two ligands to PrP(C). These results suggest a role for PrP(C) as an organizer of diverse multiprotein complexes, triggering specific signaling pathways and promoting axonogenesis in the peripheral nervous system.
Combining ability studies for seed coton yields and its component traits in upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

An investigation was carried out to assess the combining ability and nature of gene action in respect of seed cotton yield and its component traits in 54 new hybrids developed by crossing 9 lines with 6 testers of upland cotton in Line × Tester mating design in Randomized Block Design with two replications during kharif 2009 at Main Agricultural Research Station, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad. The variance among the lines (except inter boll distance), testers (except bolls per plant, sympodia, ginning outturn, boll harvest index, inter boll distance, inter branch distance, reproductive points) and line × tester interaction (except inter branch distance and plant height) were highly significant for the characters, indicating predominance of non-additive gene action in genetic control of these traits. Magnitude of SCA variance was higher than the GCA variance for majority of the traits. The ratio of GCA/SCA variance indicated preponderance of non-additive type of gene action, which is an integral component of the genetic architecture of different characters in the material used in cotton. L1, L5, and L9 among the lines and T2 and T5 among the testers, were identified as good general combiners indicating their ability in transmitting additive genes in the desirable direction to their progenies. Highly significant sca effects were observed in most of the hybrids for all the characters studied and good specific combiners for different characters involved parents with high × high, high × low, low × high and low × low general combinations.
Promoting resource efficiency through eco-localism

Although governments have agreed to limit the global temperature increase to 2 ̊C to avoid irreparable damage, if present trends are continuing that limit will be reached already by 2035 (Global Apollo Programme). It seems that technology is ready, and more and more initiatives foster governments to turn research and development as well as organisational and regulatory efforts into the right direction. However, all these efforts are in vain if a key component, the human factor is missing. The road to environmental sustainability lies in the creation of local, self-reliant, community-based economies. This is eco-localism, the economics of the local community. Its goal is to establish a healthy community economy, which requires the preservation of the ecosystem on which it depends as well as the subordination of the economy to society and the local community. Cities can address the impacts of an ecological crisis 1)by changing their physical infrastructures and service systems and 2)as the most local forms of governance, by changing the attitudes of their residents and support eco-localism.By empowering local groups as well as the city administration and by matchmaking grass-root ecological initiatives with large-scale resource efficiency interventions, Urban Green Labs sets up models on how empowered ecological groups and top-down interventions can mutually reinforce each other to make cities more resilient and healthier, while also reducing their ecological footprint.
Picturing modernist future: women illustrators and childhood conceptions in socialist yugoslavia

The SOC-ILL action introduces the first systematic comparative interdisciplinary investigation into women illustrators in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY, 1945–1991), paying attention to all former Yugoslav contexts and combining art and literary historical and theoretical approaches with cultural studies for novel critical insights into socialist aesthetic education and subjectivation of children, especially in relation to gender. Through the examination of multiple archives and interviews with older generations of professionals working within the feminized sector of publishing for minors, the action works against their disappearance before any academic documentation can take place. The action entails 3 main objectives: (i) To explore and contextually interpret distinctive childhood- and gender conceptions within Yugoslav publishing for minors; (ii) To map the practice of women illustrators for minors at the intersection between local, regional and international artistic and aesthetic education movements; (iii) To intervene into academic “archiving” by supporting a more complex understanding of socialist modernist aesthetic education and subjectivation. Thus the action contributes to redefinition of the relation between communicative and cultural memory of the European socialist past in the broader fields of Yugoslav, Slavonic, and socialist studies and the disciplines of art, literary and cultural history. These objectives can only be achieved in the proposed collaboration, with my cross-sectorally situated research – my expertise on (post)socialist women’s authorship, i.e. a pioneering thesis on gender, war, and memory and a variety of international scientific and art events – and the beneficiary’s distinctive expertise within the emerging (post)Yugoslav studies. This unique transfer will ensure a notable academic footprint, my full re-integration into science and foster impactful scientific cognizance within a broad range of stakeholders.
Hidden in plain sight: masking rna pol ii phosphorylation via proline isomerization during gene expression

Prolines are unique amongst aminoacids given that they naturally exist in two isomeric states: CIS and TRANS. The transition between these states is slow but can be catalyzed by the activity of proline isomerases such as PIN1. Recent in vitro work suggests that PIN1 can alter the phosphorylation dynamics of the C-terminal domain (CTD) of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) by inhibiting phosphatase recognition. Given Pol II is solely responsible for transcribing all protein-coding genes and that CTD phosphorylation dictates the timing of RNA co-transcriptional processes, these observations suggest a crucial role for CTD proline isomerization in gene expression. Importantly, mutations in PIN1 are associated with cancer progression but a direct role for proline isomerization has remained understudied given the technical limitations imposed by its complex enzymology, such as the inability of differentiating CIS and TRANS isomers using Mass Spectrometry. In this project, I aim to functionally dissect the role of proline isomerization during Pol II transcription using rigorous biochemical, cellular and genomic techniques. Specifically, I will exploit new technological advances in peptide synthesis to permanently “lock” prolines in CIS or TRANS and identify novel isomer-specific interacting factors. I will systematically examine the consequences of CTD proline mutations and of rapid depletion of PIN1 in human cells, focusing on CTD-dependent co-transcriptional RNA processes such as splicing and poly-A–dependent 3’ termination. At the basic research level, my results will provide unprecedented resolution to the dynamics of Pol II phosphorylation, which underlies regulation of gene expression in multicellular organisms. Translationally, given that various cancers hijack the transcriptional programmes of the cell, this mechanistic understanding of CTD proline isomerization will better equip future clinical studies interested in the yet-to-be-characterized role of PIN1 in oncogenesis.
Synthesis of novel stimuli responsive dielectric polymers and their use in powerful transducers

This ERC CoG will serve to build a strong multidisciplinary group concentrating on the synthesis of novel functional dielectric polymers that are printed into devices capable of converting one form of energy into another. Research spans all the way from materials’ synthesis and optimization, via device engineering to exploration of the manifold applications. TRANS will develop novel high dielectric permittivity elastomers and piezoelectric elastomers with an unprecedented collection of properties and use them as active components in devices for emerging technologies. The devices are not only of high technological and scientific importance, but also exhibit substantial economic and societal impact. They will reversibly change their shape in response to an electric field, generate electricity when mechanically stretched, cool while using little energy, convert thermal energy directly into electricity and, finally, store electricity in the form of batteries. The polymers developed in TRANS will combine either unprecedentedly high dielectric permittivity with a high dielectric breakdown field or piezoelectric properties with high elasticity. They have the potential to revolutionize different fields of applications such as actuators, sensors, energy harvesting, artificial muscles, soft robotics, energy storage, stretchable electronics, and solid-state refrigeration. A particularly important aspect concerns the synthesis of scalable and environmentally friendly, easy-to-apply and process printable inks, which are the active ingredients of various devices. After project termination, the applicant’s group will expand the fundamental understanding of structure-dielectric properties relationship and will be able to provide inks that are printed in prototype devices responsive to electricity, heat or mechanical stress.
Bumping process for light emitting diode

A bumping process for a light emitting diode (LED) is provided. At first, a LED chip with a plurality of electrodes is provided, then a moldboard having a plurality of through holes is disposed on the LED chip, and these electrodes are correspondingly exposed in these through holes, by the way of printing, a plurality of solders can be formed over these exposed electrodes. Finally, the process of lifting off the moldboard and reflowing the solder is provided. The way of printing solder is fast and the cost is lowered, and the composition and thickness of solder is under controlled to promote the reliability of follow-up LED chip package.