A project led by Aston University, UK, to train new scientists to detect and study inflammation in common conditions such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes has achieved early recognition.
‘MASSTRPLAN’ is a €3.5m initiative to train 14 early stage researchers in six countries in advanced and novel research techniques to fill a current skills gap in this area.
At the annual conference of the Society for Free Radical Research and the Oxygen Club of California’s world congress, jointly held in Berlin, Germany, Catarina Afonso, an early career researcher based at Aston University, achieved a Young Investigator Award for her poster presentation.
Project co-ordinator Professor Corinne Spickett said: “We are all delighted with Catarina’s success, which both recognises her abilities and the importance of the MASSTRPLAN project which is training our future research leaders in biomedicine.
“The award includes €800 in funding and an invitation to speak at the society’s annual conference in Lisbon, Portugal, in June 2018.”
The MASSTRPLAN project has received funding under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) pillar of the Horizon 2020 programme.
Spickett said: “Diabetes and obesity are the cause of major health problems in modern society, with more than a quarter of the UK population now being classed as obese. These conditions are part of something called metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions that includes high blood pressure, insulin resistance and high blood LDL cholesterol levels, all of which increase the risk of heart attack, stroke and kidney diseases.
“These diseases are linked to increased inflammation, which occurs when the immune system becomes activated and produces lots of damaging compounds.
“In situations where there is excess fats or lipids such as cholesterol and triglycerides circulating in the blood, the lipid molecules can be attacked and oxidised. These oxidised lipids become sticky, like old cooking oil, and react with the proteins and cells in the body, changing their function.”
The early stage researchers are studying the proteins most susceptible to attack by sticky lipids, how this changes the function of these proteins, and why this makes cells behave in a way that causes disease.
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Projeler
The International Energy Research Centre (IERC) has been selected to co-ordinate a €2m energy research contract into the development of new business models in energy efficiency and demand response programmes.
Hosted at the Tyndall National Institute, Ireland, the project, known as ‘NOVICE’, will develop and demonstrate a business model that aims to unlock energy efficiency investments and achieve significant energy savings throughout building renovation.
NOVICE introduces new actors (energy aggregators) in building energy upgrade projects, and fosters their collaboration with energy supply companies (ESCOs), financing institutions, facilities management companies and engineering consultants to facilitate the launch of a grid and energy efficiency services model.
Professor Tony Day, executive director of IERC, said: “This energy efficiency research award recognises the importance of industry driven, collaborative energy research and its contribution to our future sustainable energy systems. It acknowledges the IERC’s international pedigree in sustainable energy systems research, and its innovation will enable both Irish ESCOs and aggregators to seamlessly collaborate in exploiting economies of scale, while providing a platform for both to share risk in the implementation of building energy renovations.”
NOVICE will utilise energy performance contracting as it delivers a dual energy services scheme in building renovation.
Dr Matthew Kennedy from the IERC described how NOVICE, throughout its three year duration, aims to make more than €20.8m of investments available in building renovation based on the dual energy services model.
To achieve that target NOVICE brings together an experienced consortium that consists of stakeholders from the entire value chain (research institutions, technology vendors, engineering consultants and facilitators, aggregators, ESCOs, financing institutions, facilities management companies) of building renovation.
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Innovate UK has awarded the University of Huddersfield £850,000 (~€937,000) to test a new artificial intelligence (AI) system in Manchester designed to combat congestion and pollution.
Able to carry out data analysis and to devise complex strategies in a fraction of the time required by human operators, the traffic management system – named ‘SimplifAI’ – will optimise timings at traffic signals in order to achieve the best possible flow, especially after unusual or unforeseen events have created congestion.
Motorists queuing at the Old Trafford car parks on match days could be among the beneficiaries.
There will then be scope for SimplifAI to be marketed globally, as a smart city solution to improving reliability of transport networks.
A consortium has been formed to carry out the deployment of SimplifAI and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is providing the testing ground. The commercial lead is the research and development consultancy KAM Futures.
Professor Lee McCluskey explained that the University of Huddersfield, KAM Futures and the other partners had earlier earned an Innovate UK feasibility study grant in order to show how AI could be used to control and manage traffic, in order to lessen congestion and improve air quality, especially in emergency or unusual conditions.
“Under normal conditions, existing traffic management and traffic signals are not too bad,” said McCluskey.
“Artificial Intelligence is providing a tool for transport operators so they can deal with extremely complicated situations more quickly. In just a few seconds it can produce strategies composed of hundreds of different timings at traffic signals.”
The technical development of the system has been carried out by McCluskey and lecturer Dr Mauro Vallati at the University of Huddersfield’s School of Computing and Engineering.
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Consultancy firm NEL is to lead a research programme that will enhance flow measurement standardisation across Europe between multiphase flow metrology testing facilities.
The new three-year project is part of the European Metrology Programme for Innovation and Research (EMPIR).
Termed ‘MultiFlowMet II’, the project involves 17 global partners, including meter vendors, research specialists and multiphase test laboratories.
Project partners include OneSubsea Processing AS, DNV GL, Cesky Metrologicky Institut, PTB, VTT, CMR, Cranfield University, Industrial Tomography Systems, Petroleum Software Ltd, Roxar Flow Measurement, Tea Sistemi, Coventry University, University of Leeds, Haimo International, Rosen, Schlumberger Oilfield and VNIIR, covering Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Singapore, UAE, and the UK.
Multiphase flow measurement is an enabling capability in subsea oil and gas production. However, field measurements continue to exhibit high measurement uncertainty, which is costing the oil and gas industry billions of euros each year in financial exposure and production inefficiencies.
MultiFlowMet II will develop a reference measurement capability that is consistent and comparable across the different multiphase flow measurement test laboratories, to improve industry confidence in these essential measurements.
Dr David Crawford, project co-ordinator, said: “The lack of standardised facilities and procedures for testing multiphase flow meters has led to test result variances between laboratories. This project aims to harmonise multiphase flow measurements to better support efficient subsea exploration of new oil and gas reserves, by boosting confidence in both the measurement system and the meters that labs are testing.
“The project is vital to the future development of oil and gas production as it will drive improvements and enhance confidence in multiphase flow measurement.”
To achieve harmonisation, the research team will roll out an extended intercomparison testing programme, which will involve the design and provision of a mobile instrumentation suite that can be moved to multiple laboratories in order to enable comparison measurements to be taken.
EMPIR has been developed as an integrated part of Horizon 2020.
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Cell therapy company Pluristem Therapeutics has received funding to launch a phase three trial for the treatment of Critical limb ischaemia (CLI).
CLI is an advanced stage of peripheral artery disease. Fatty deposits block arteries in the legs, severely reducing blood flow and causing pain, non-healing ulcers and gangrene.
Patients with CLI are at a high risk of amputation and death, and those unsuitable for revascularisation are left with no adequate treatment options.
Pluristem, based in Haifa, Israel, is a developer of placenta-based cell therapy products and is involved in a pivotal trial of its product PLX-PAD cells, which is used to treat CLI.
The trial is currently enrolling participants in the US, the UK and Germany. Austria’s Agency for Health and Food Safety recently cleared the company’s CLI study so other Europeans may participate in the 250 patient trial.
The company is hoping to have 40 active sites by the end of 2017.
Pluristem’s PLX-PAD cell therapy is one of a few therapies in the world to have been selected to take part in the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Adaptive Pathways pilot project. The project’s goal is to streamline development for promising innovative medicines to allow for early access to patients with serious conditions who lack adequate treatment.
Zami Aberman, chairman and co-CEO of Pluristem, said: “CLI is a severely debilitating and life-threatening disease that affects tens of millions of patients around the world. Approval for this trial and its innovative time-to-event endpoint by regulatory bodies worldwide reinforces our belief that our PLX-PAD cell therapy has great potential to successfully treat these patients and enable them to lead long and healthy lives.”
The trial has received an $8m (~€6.8m) grant under the Horizon 2020 programme to cover a significant portion of the costs of the multinational trial.
Following the completion of the study, data from all 250 participants will be submitted to the EMA to apply for full marketing approval in Europe.
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Art digitisation company Madpixel has been awarded over €1m under the Horizon 2020 programme to support the deployment of its Second Canvas platform.
Second Canvas will enable museums to digitalise and publish content based on high resolution art captures, enriched with storytelling exploring and interpreting the works.
Second Canvas aims to help users understand art context and symbolism, demonstrate techniques and provide context to achieve full visualisation of each piece.
The new solution introduces new features across media publishing options: web, native apps (iOS, Android, tvOS), digital publications – such as iBooks – interactive kiosks and digital exhibitions.
The project also drives collaborations across museums, institutions to curate platforms, digital exhibitions, content generation, educational uses and activities that foster art culture across the EU.
Starting in September, European museums interested in participating in MadPixel’s pilots can benefit from Second Canvas’ deployment.
The initial phase will invite up to 100 institutions to participate.
The solution will be available to all museums in the coming year.
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Brunel University London, UK, is set to lead a new £700,000 (~€775,600) project to cut energy waste in Europe’s ceramics, steel and aluminium industries.
Energy-hungry industries such as metal, steel and ceramics production spend around 40% of running costs on energy and fuels and emit serious quantities of CO2.
Supported by the Horizon 2020 programme, Project ETEKINA, (Heat Pipe Technology for Thermal Energy Recovery in Industrial Applications) will launch in October.
Brunel will design three heat pipe-based heat exchangers, to be made by UK firm ECONOTHERM and tested in Spain, Slovenia and Italy.
Led by Hussam Jouhara at the Institute of Energy Futures, the Brunel team is the project’s technical co-ordinator. They need to overcome challenges such as space, transport and integrating heat from separate processes and corrosive waste heat sources.
The heat recovery systems they’ll develop will need to be safe, self-cleaning and have online monitoring and use the same mechanical design.
Jouhara said: “ETEKINA could be easily used in 296 industries where it has potential applications in plastic and chemical production. The potential for heat pipes is exponentially growing with a substantial annual energy saving.”
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Two experiments to test graphene’s viability for space applications are to take place this autumn.
The first experiment will observe if graphene-based coatings can improve efficiency in loop heat pipes, found in satellite cooling systems. The second will test how graphene could be used as a material for space sails. Both experiments are being carried out by the Graphene Flagship.
Professor Jari Kinaret, director of the Graphene Flagship, said: “These two projects exemplify the two-fold character of the graphene flagship: the loop heat pipe project is targeting a specific application, while the light sail project is firmly linked to basic research and builds upon the unique combination of properties that only graphene can offer.”
A large component of the loop heat pipe in satellites is the wick, typically constructed from porous metal. The experiment will see a number of wicks coated with different types of graphene-related materials to improve the heat pipes’ efficiency. The coated wicks will then be tested in a low-gravity parabolic flight.
Lucia Lombardi, a PhD researcher, said: “The idea is to use graphene to improve the thermal conductivity and the capillary pressure by growing a sponge in the pores of the wicks.”
The tests for space sails will be carried out by a group of students, who will use microgravity conditions in the ZARM Drop Tower based in Germany, to carry out their research.
By shining laser light on suspended graphene-membranes, the researchers aim to measure how much thrust can be generated.
Dr Andrea Ferrari, STO of the Graphene Flagship, said: “Space is the new frontier for the Graphene Flagship. These initial experiments will test the viability of graphene-enabled devices for space applications.”
Both experiments will launch between 6-16 November.
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The ‘ONE-FLOW’ project has received €4m in funding under the Horizon 2020 programme to develop environmentally friendly chemical reactions.
Professor Dr Harald Gröger from the Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec) and Chair of Organic Chemistry I of Bielefeld University, Germany, is the head of the ONE-FLOW sub-project.
Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands, is co-ordinating the ONE-FLOW project with eight partners. Gröger’s research team is working closely with Professor Dr Volker Hessel’s team from Eindhoven. Hessel is the project co-ordinator and an expert on micro-reaction technology and flow chemistry.
Gröger said: “Because of the many stages in production, the current batch reactor-type vessel technology is particularly time-consuming. A further disadvantage is that work-up and isolation of intermediates lead to many waste products. Hence, the technology does not use raw materials efficiently.
“After every stage in production, the intermediate is typically purified. This might require significant amounts of solvent that then become waste products.
“The flow method offers a way to reduce resource requirements and save waste, thus making production not only economically more attractive but also more sustainable.”
Gröger and his colleagues take their inspiration for the flow technology from Nature. In biological cells, chemical processes proceed concurrently and constantly as so-called ‘domino reactions’.
“We are developing methods that will ensure that each reaction is shielded,” said Gröger.
Gröger’s research team is specialised in the combination of bio- and chemo-catalysts. In Nature, biocatalysts are found in the form of enzymes. Chemocatalysts, in contrast, are developed artificially.
“By combining chemo- and biocatalysts in a flow reactor, we want to efficiently produce pharmaceutically relevant products at room temperature and thereby produce them in a more sustainable and specific mode,” added Gröger.
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The Hungarian government has put forth a resolution to nationalise and protect the land surrounding the recently discovered tomb of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent.
The resolution also promises 144m HUF (~€48m), of which around two thirds will go toward continued field and laboratory research, with the remaining part to be spent on feasibility studies and planning.
These new developments in funding are expected to enhance the economy of a small Hungarian town and provide opportunities to unearth new discoveries from the ruins of a 16th Century Ottoman settlement.
The whereabouts of the tomb of Süleyman, who died before battle in the southern Hungarian town of Szigetvár, has been debated for centuries, shrouded in mystery and local legends.
Following the Sultan’s death on 7 September 1566, the Grand Vizier arranged for his body to be transported to the Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. However, because of the hot weather and long journey, the Sultan’s heart and organs were removed in Hungary, and were allegedly buried in a legendary golden casket beneath the tent where he died.
Starting in 2013, a new initiative to locate the final resting place of Sultan Süleyman’s organs was funded by both the Turkish and Hungarian states, including the Turkish International Co-operation and Development Agency (TIKA), which sponsors social and cultural projects abroad.
In December 2014, results of a survey by Dr Norbert Pap, professor of political and historical geography at the University of Pécs, revealed that a ruin near the town of Szigetvár was home to a building from the era of the sultan.
With increased funding, and the nationalisation of approximately four hectares of land surrounding Sultan Süleyman’s tomb, the research plan has come under revision, Pap said.
“Compared to the previous idea, the new plan aims to provide more extended, detailed and efficient research.”
“The staff will be bigger and the examinations will be more extended and deeper in quality. We could apply high-tech remote sensing equipment,” Pap added.
As the project enters a more mature period, the team has been invited by prestigious European universities to co-operate and present their research, including within the framework of the Horizon 2020 programme.
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