Helsinki Region Environmental Services (HSY) is going to play a central role in improving the material and energy efficiency of the Helsinki metropolitan area. Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority (HSY) is a municipal actor producing waste management, water treatment and water distribution services for over one million inhabitants in the Helsinki region, Finland. HSY also produces and provides information regarding land use, population statistics and air quality for residents and decision makers. HSY organises waste management for residential properties and the public administration, and supplies high quality drinking water for inhabitants. Air quality is currently monitored at 11 different sites while the monitoring network continues to be expanded and developed further. In addition to Helsinki, HSY has three additional member cities located nearby: Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen. Currently, there are some 700 employees at HSY with an annual turnover of around €350m and €120m annual investments make HSY a significant regional supplier. HSY was established in 2010 through a merger of the four member cities’ waterworks, waste management services and regional and environmental information services provided by the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council. The population of the Helsinki Metropolitan Capital Region is about 1.1 million.1 The total amount of four million tonnes of waste was generated in the region in 2014,2 65% of which was due to civil engineering. A significant amount of soil is also being generated at several construction projects which are currently underway. A few examples include the extension of the Helsinki subway, new residential areas, and a brand new wastewater treatment plant of HSY. The plant, when introduced in 2020, will undoubtedly display the best purification performance in the Baltic Sea region while its energy efficiency will be one of the highest in Europe. According to a recently published study by the European Commission,3 Helsinki is one of the best performers among European capitals in separate waste collection. In its strategic policy, Strategy 2020, HSY pursues an active role in the improvement of the state of environment as well as in regional material and energy efficiency. One of HSY’s objectives is to be an innovative forerunner, and an active and reliable co-operation partner in its fields. HSY recognises its responsibility as the most prominent public environmental body in Finland, and has set strategy-based environmental indicators which are regularly monitored. HSY also actively contributes to environmental objectives in various forums and collective strategies such as the implementation of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Climate Strategy 2030, and the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Climate Change Adaptation Strategy. Wastes to resources HSY is responsible for organising waste management for residential properties and the public administration. Duties of HSY as an operator include, e.g. transport and treatment services for waste generated by households, public services, private educational institutes, and healthcare organisations, whereas waste management of commercial actors is mainly organised by private companies. HSY also acts as an authority on municipal waste management. In this role, HSY formulates the waste management regulations, according to which source separation and collection of biowaste, metal, glass, paper and cardboard is implemented at residential properties. Biowaste as well as cardboard packages are source separated at properties with at least ten apartments, while bigger properties (20 or more apartments) also include metal and glass packages collection. The waste management regulations are based on the national waste law which, in turn, rests on the waste directive. In addition to the waste regulation-based source separation for properties, recycling is promoted through a network of waste sorting stations and regional collection points. Furthermore, in Finland there is a very efficient deposit refund system for bottles and aluminium cans. Annually, HSY collects about 200,000 tonnes of mixed solid waste (MSW) from households and public organisations. MSW is transported to a new waste-to-energy plant operated and owned by Vantaa Energy Ltd. The plant was introduced in September 2014. Through the plant, all MSW, from which recyclable wastes have been separated as described above, from households and the services is utilised in energy production. Only about 10% of MSW is landfilled. The landfill is located in Ämmässuo Waste Treatment Centre at the border of Espoo and Kauniainen. The main operations of the waste treatment centre include treatment of source separated biowaste, treatment of ash and slag from the waste-to-energy plant, collection and utilisation of landfill gases, treatment of contaminated soil as well as landfill treatment and final disposal. One waste sorting station is also located in the area. Ämmässuo Waste Treatment Centre is going through a transition into a resource efficient eco-industrial park. The Ekomo project was launched in 2015, and will be a centre of operations based on material recycling where companies can work in close co-operation with HSY and other businesses operating in the area. The objective is to make Ekomo into an internationally acknowledged showcase of industrial symbiosis based on the infrastructure, platforms and material flows provided by the public sector. The first co-operation projects have already been launched. In addition to MSW, HSY collects about 50,000 tonnes of source separated biowaste. Biowaste is transported to the waste treatment centre as well, for treatment in a brand new process combining traditional composting and anaerobic decaying technologies. Treatment of HSY’s biowaste is based on the partial flow digestion process. The most suitable parts of the biowaste are selected and directed to each treatment process. Thanks to the biogas production, the part-stream dry digestion technique is ecologically a more sustainable treatment than composting alone. Through the biowaste treatment, energy from biowaste is also efficiently recovered. Waste transports are selected through competitive tendering for each collection area at intervals of five years. Waste is collected in practice by contractors. The emptying of waste containers at the properties can be supervised in real time, which together with an incentive system created for the contractors has enabled very high reliability of the waste transport service. HSY has created a network of waste sorting stations, where inhabitants and small enterprises are allowed to bring waste unsuitable for conventional MSW collection at the properties. Such waste can include, e.g. furniture and big metal waste as well as garden waste, hazardous waste, and, for example, electrical and electronic equipment waste (WEEE). About half of the material received at the stations ends up in recycling. There are five waste sorting stations today and new stations will appear in the future. The newest one was opened in September 2015 in Vantaa. There are regional collection points distributed throughout the region which so far have been operated by HSY. In the future, however, HSY will work in close co-operation with Finnish Packaging Recycling RINKI Ltd, which represents the producers of glass, metal, cartons, and plastic packages as, along with the new decree on packaging and packaging waste, the responsibility concerning the collection and recycling of domestic packaging waste is transferred to the producers. The collection of plastic has been started at the collection points this year, and plastic collection will also be piloted at selected residential buildings during 2016. Renewable energy producer Considering its fields of operation, it is not surprising that HSY is a significant regional energy consumer. HSY’s energy consumption is currently approximately 200GWh, of which over half is due to electricity, consumed by water and wastewater treatment, and waste treatment processes. Vehicles, in contrast, are responsible for less than 1% of the total energy consumption. Besides consumption, HSY also produces a significant amount of renewable energy, mostly based on biogas. HSY aims to be completely energy self-sufficient by 2017. HSY also contributes to energy efficiency and has joined municipalities’ energy efficiency agreement. At the waste treatment centre, landfill gas is recovered at a gas power plant. The plant, introduced in 2010, is able to utilise all gas collected from the landfill areas which are no longer used for landfilling MSW. Currently, the amount of collected methane is about 2,000m3/h, and will decrease during the next decades as the decomposition of waste progresses. Methane formation at the more recently used landfill area is plotted in Fig. 1. The plant is one of the largest utilisation plants of landfill gas in Europe, generating 15MW of electric power. This corresponds to the electricity need of ca. 8,000 detached houses. In addition to this, the waste treatment centre produces heat mostly for its own purposes. Due to the gas power plant, the area is self-sufficient in its energy production, and a great deal of produced electric power is sold to the national grid. The landfill gas collection system and the power plant also significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The plant has a recovery system of exhaust gases, i.e. the ORC process (Organic Rankine Cycle). The process is able to utilise exhaust gases of the power plant for additional electricity production. In 2012, thanks to the high technological level of the plant, reduction of landfill emissions and beneficial economic effects, HSY conquered the Energy Globe Award national category and also ranked high in the international comparison. Significant investments HSY is also a prominent actor when it comes to investments made in the public sector with its €120m investments in 2014. HSY is to implement its investments increasingly through innovative public procurement procedures. In recent years, HSY has networked strongly both with domestic and European co-operation partners. HSY is a member in ICLEI (the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives) and Procura+, and co-operates through its pilot in Water PiPP (Water Public Innovation Procurement Policies) project. In Finland, HSY co-operates with several partners such as Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation, from which HSY gets funding for its strategic project Resource Wise Helsinki Region. One of the basic ideas of the project is to support the development of Ekomo by networking with companies and launching pilots with them. For SMEs especially, HSY is considered an important reference that could boost their entrance to domestic and international markets. As a public actor HSY can provide companies with innovation and development platforms, located in real operational environments (such as Ekomo). Companies can then pilot their technologies on the platforms and successful pilot co-operation can result in purchases later. Research, development and innovation projects HSY actively implements various R&D projects in all of its fields and is a partner in several domestic and European co-operation projects. HSY implements innovative forms of co-operation including hackathons and assignments to university student teams. There are several projects currently underway covering, e.g. biomass, ashes and slag, energy efficiency and nutrient recovery. Some of the projects, such as studies regarding the composition of MSW, are repeated at regular intervals. MSW composition studies give information about its utilisation potential, and can be used to promote waste prevention or when new treatment processes are designed. The previous MSW composition study was carried out in September 2015, the same year in which HSY created an LCA model regarding the biowaste treatment process at the waste treatment centre. Using the model, it is possible to examine the environmental effects of the process parameters. The information can be utilised in process optimisation. Fig. 1 HSY has monitored the decomposition processes in the landfill structures since 2006. In these studies, temperature, the formation of methane (Fig. 1) and its recovery rate, leachate properties such as nitrogen, chloride and sulfate contents, BOD7/COD, water balance etc. are monitored. The results give information about the activity of decomposition as well as proper functioning and safety of the landfill structure. As an example of completed co-operation projects, the Julia 2030 project, partially funded by the European Union LIFE+ programme, established a basis for Helsinki region joint climate work in 2009-2011. Another project, From Waste to Traffic Fuel (W-Fuel), examined the possibilities of promoting biogas production and use as transport fuel. The W-Fuel project was funded by the Central Baltic INTERREG IVA Programme. References Statistical Yearbook of Helsinki 2015. Helsinki Region Infoshare. Available at: www.hri.fi/en Waste Flows of Helsinki Metropolitan Area. Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority. Available at: http://www.pksjatevirrat.fi Assessment of separate collection schemes in the 28 capitals of the EU. European Commission. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/studies/index.html Dr Petri Kouvo Director, Waste Management Dr Kimmo Koivunen Development Engineer, Project Manager HSY +358 9 1561 2101 kimmo.koivunen@hsy.fi www.hsy.fi/en The post From waste to resource appeared first on Horizon 2020 Projects.

Fig. 1 The Norwegian University of Science and Technology discusses biomarker signatures that predict long-term survival for breast cancer patients. The heterogeneous nature of breast cancer is reflected in its wide prognostic variation. On the one extreme, highly malignant tumours require aggressive treatment, whereas on the other extreme, some tumours may not have the malignant potential to influence the patient’s life expectancy, even if left untreated. Between these extremes, there are moderately malignant tumours that will recur many years after treatment is completed. For most tumours, their aggressiveness cannot be reliably determined at diagnosis, and it is not yet realistic to streamline treatment that is targeted to the malignant potential of the disease. Therefore, most patients typically receive chemotherapy and adjuvant treatment in addition to surgery and radiotherapy. Whereas many patients will benefit from the treatment, its effects may be mostly harmful for others, both in the short and long term. In an attempt to improve the situation, we are currently in the process of identifying biomarker signatures in tumour tissue that can reliably predict which tumours are likely to have an excellent prognosis, and to distinguish these tumours from those that may eventually recur. The ultimate purpose is to develop personalised treatment where the tumour’s underlying biology is the critical target and simultaneously prevent unnecessary and harmful treatment of tumours with low malignant potential. Molecular subtypes of breast cancer Using stored diagnostic tumour material, we have constructed tissue microarrays (TMAs) from formalin fixed, paraffin-embedded breast cancer tissue. Using immunohistochemical and in situ hybridisation analyses, molecular markers (abbreviated as ER, PR, HER2, Ki67, CK5 and EGFR) are used to reclassify tumours into molecular subtypes (in Fig. 1). We have used these methods as surrogates for gene expression analyses and determined six breast cancer subtypes, entitled Luminal A, Luminal B (HER2 negative), Luminal B (HER2 positive), HER2 subtype, Basal-like phenotype, and Five-negative phenotype breast cancers. Fig. 2 Fig. 2 shows patient survival according to molecular subtype in 909 reclassified breast cancer patients. The Kaplan-Meier plots show that five-year survival was best for the Luminal A subtype, followed by the Luminal B (HER2 negative) subtype. After five years of follow-up the survival curves conversed, and in the long-term survival differences between subtypes were less apparent, suggesting that a certain proportion of patients within each subtype category may have an excellent prognosis. This begs the question of whether the long-term prognosis of all tumours is determined by some common underlying features, or whether uniquely different factors that are specific for each subtype determine which tumours have an excellent prognosis. Therefore, we want to characterise tumours beyond the molecular markers that define each subtype, where the aim is to identify molecular biomarkers that are predictive for the long-term survival of breast cancer. The ultimate aim is to develop molecular methods that can reliably predict which tumours are not likely to be clinically significant, and to distinguish these tumours from tumours that are likely to recur, sometimes many years after the initial treatment. Biomarkers that predict long-term prognosis To characterise tumours in more detail, we have combined the biomarkers that are used to define each subtype and other biomarkers that are associated with tumour growth, proliferation and metastasis. These biomarkers include indicators of angiogenesis, tumour infiltration, proliferation markers, hormone and growth factor receptors, and markers of apoptosis regulation and mitosis. We expect that different combinations of these biomarkers may indicate distinct differences in patient survival and provide reliable information related to the prediction of long-term survival. The testing of prediction models requires long-term follow-up of a large group of breast cancer patients, and it would be an advantage to study patients who have not received modern oncological treatment. We have therefore included a large number of patients who were diagnosed prior to the introduction of modern therapy (before 1985), by using stored diagnostic tissue from the 1970s and early 1980s. Another advantage for the analysis is that most of these patients can be followed from diagnosis until death. In total, stored tumour tissue from 2,327 patients is being used for tissue microarray (TMA) construction and determination of the six molecular subtypes of breast cancer described previously. The two specific aims of the project are to: 1. Identify biomarker signatures in breast cancer tissue that predict long-term survival in approximately 2,300 breast cancer patients who have been followed from diagnosis and, for a majority, until death. Hypothesis: One or more biomarker signatures will reliably identify patients whose tumours have limited malignant potential, as reflected in long-term survival without recurrence. 2. Identify biomarker signatures in breast cancer tissue that predict recurrence of breast cancer up to many years after completed treatment, and distinguish these tumours from those that do not recur. Hypothesis: One or more biomarker signatures will reliably identify patients with long-term survival but whose disease is likely to recur many years after completed treatment. These biomarker signatures differ from those that can identify patients whose disease does not recur. The recording of cancer is mandatory in Norway, and the reporting of breast cancer, including breast cancer mortality, is virtually complete and highly reliable. The underlying data infrastructure and data quality, including archival diagnostic breast tissue material, provide a powerful and extremely cost-effective approach in this project. The patients of this project are derived from three separate populations of women who have been followed up for breast cancer through the Norwegian Cancer Registry. The first group includes 909 patients diagnosed among 25,897 women born between 1886 and 1928, who participated in a breast screening study in the late 1950s in Norway. They lived through a time period with no exposure to exogenous hormones (no oral contraceptives and no hormone treatment around menopause), and they never participated in organised mammography screening. Those who developed breast cancer were diagnosed before modern oncological treatment was introduced, and treatment was mostly restricted to surgery (mastectomy). Some patients were diagnosed after modern treatment was introduced (after 1985), but were too old to receive the new treatment. The second group consists of 870 patients diagnosed among 22,931 women born in Trondheim, Norway, between 1920 and 1966. The third group includes 556 patients who were diagnosed during the follow-up of 34,500 women who participated in the second wave of the HUNT Study in Norway. The baseline collection of data in that study took place between 1995 and 1997. Future directions Our overriding goal is to identify one or more sets of biomarker signatures that may predict which breast cancer tumours have very limited malignant potential. Therefore, our findings may be important for the prevention of unnecessary treatment and for the development of appropriate clinical care for these patients. Thus, apart from minimal surgery (lumpectomy) and careful long-term surveillance, these patients may benefit from alternative, as yet undeveloped, interventions. We also want to identify biomarker signatures that can reliably predict which tumours are likely to recur many years after primary treatment. By anticipating recurrence of these cancers, new management strategies may be developed that have the potential to improve clinical care for patients with recurring disease. Thus, this research has the potential to influence clinical practice and to improve the differentiation of breast cancer treatment. In particular, this work may contribute to preventing unnecessary treatment and to reducing the harmful side effects of modern interventions. Lars Vatten, MD, PhD, MPH Professor in Epidemiology Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine The Norwegian University of Science and Technology +47 73598787 Lars.Vatten@ntnu.no http://www.ntnu.no/ The post Heterogeneity of breast cancer appeared first on Horizon 2020 Projects.

Photo by Arne Kaiser The Centre for Comparative Studies participates through its research in the main international theoretical, methodological and critical debates in the humanities and social sciences. The Centre for Comparative Studies’ (CEC)1 research is situated at the cusp of various disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, thus contributing to the emergence of original, cross-disciplinary fields. Departing from a specific geopolitical focus, CEC participates through its research in the main international, theoretical, methodological and critical debates in the humanities and social sciences. Founded in the late 1990s, CEC is based at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities2 at the Universidade de Lisboa3 and brings together scholars from different academic and national backgrounds. Recognised for its vibrant, supportive and well-integrated community, CEC obtained in the most recent evaluation (2014) from the Portuguese Research Agency (FCT) the maximum classification – exceptional – and was described by the panel as ‘an imaginative, clearly focused centre which achieves an excellent blend of the research, skills and methods employed in an extensive range of social science and humanities disciplines’. Research groups Contributing regularly to recognised international and national publications, many of CEC’s researchers have been awarded national and European funding, which results from highly competitive applications. CEC has a doctoral programme (PhDComp)4 offering advanced international training in comparative studies, building on an innovative articulation between research, mobility and pedagogical activities. CEC is structured into four research groups: CITCOM5 – Citizenship, critical cosmopolitanism, modernity/ies, (post)colonialism; LOCUS6 – Spaces, places, and landscapes; MORPHE7 – Memory, testimony and forgetfulness; and THELEME8 – Interart and intermedia studies. Strategy CEC’s strategic plan comes under the overarching research line ‘comparatism, reflective cosmopolitanism and critical global studies’. CEC’s approach to comparatism relies on interdisciplinary methods of inquiry to account for the complexities in the relations between the artistic, the cultural, the social and historical, and the textual and contextual. It also explores how language, culture and power are constructed, transformed or contested across space and time. By putting forward the expression ‘reflective cosmopolitanism’ CEC aims to refocus comparatism, resorting to a critical approach to notions of national and transnational movements and dynamics, considering not only the complex articulations between national and transnational challenges, but also issues related to migration and (im)mobility, multiculturalism, citizenship, human rights and hospitality. By emphasising the notion of ‘critical global studies’, CEC stresses a renewed approach to comparatism focused on the relationship between politics, economy, culture and art in the world at large. This emphasis takes into account the effort to articulate theories and methodologies covering local and global challenges, the need for a reflective approach to issues and definitions of particularity and universality and the will to investigate artistic and cultural practices at the intersection of economic and social processes, considering the impact of globalisation. Bearing in mind that tendencies favouring both inter and transdisciplinary approaches have become increasingly common all over the world, CEC continues to pay particular attention to the specific paths and trajectories that have shaped these trends in Portugal and Portuguese-speaking countries as well as in Europe. In summary, CEC’s strategy unites innovation with established skills; promotes interdisciplinarity as a central feature of a renewed comparatism; articulates bottom-up initiatives with a robust strategic vision; reinforces high standards in research with the dissemination of results at a national and international level; and fosters the association between research and postgraduate training as a necessary requisite for innovation. CEC has clearly positioned itself to address and respond to the societal challenges raised by Horizon 2020’s framework programme for the humanities and social sciences, ‘innovative, inclusive and reflective societies’. http://www.comparatistas.edu.pt/en/ http://www.letras.ulisboa.pt/pt/ http://www.ulisboa.pt/en/inicio/university/ http://phdcomp.net/ http://www.comparatistas.edu.pt/en/research-groups/citcom/ http://www.comparatistas.edu.pt/en/research-groups/locus/ http://www.comparatistas.edu.pt/en/research-groups/morphe/ http://www.comparatistas.edu.pt/en/research-groups/theleme/ Professor Manuela Ribeiro Sanches Centre for Comparative Studies +351 21 792 0085 msanches@campus.ul.pt http://www.comparatistas.edu.pt/en/ The post Comparing. Home and the world appeared first on Horizon 2020 Projects.

The European Commission, alongside the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF), has launched the SME Initiative Securitisation Instrument (SISI), which will be available to all EU-based financial institutions. The credit risk of securitised loans will be in part transferred to the SISI, which will make both regulatory and economic capital available for the originating financial institutions. SISI will combine the resources of member states, Horizon 2020 and of the EU Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and SMEs (COSME). Resources from the EIB and the EIF, as well as any potential third party investors, will also be available. An EU, EIF and EIB joint statement says: ‘The pooling of resources and the collective efforts to promote the instrument will allow more effective risk-sharing and capital relief for the ultimate benefit of SMEs and small mid-caps. Small mid-caps can also be eligible whenever Horizon 2020 resources are deployed.’ Created by amendments in the InnovFin and COSME delegation agreements that were signed at the Innovative Enterprise Conference in The Hague, the Netherlands, last week, SISI completes an existing SME initiative deployed in Spain, Malta and more recently Bulgaria. The Innovative Enterprise Conference was regarded as a strategic occasion at which the EIB and the European Commission could present a joint report on financial accessibility for key enabling technologies (KETs) companies. The report concluded that financial risk-sharing products that support lending will not be enough. It also suggests that awareness and advice are the necessary components to producing ‘investor-ready’ companies. The post EU launches SISI to boost SME funds appeared first on Horizon 2020 Projects.