Synthesis report:Deliverable 4.1.1 of IMPACT-SC5 project

The IMPACT-SC5 project evaluated the progress made and achievements of the RIA and IA projects funded under the Societal Challenge 5 Work Programme 2014-2015 of Horizon 2020. The project analysed the impact of the eighty-seven SC5 projects resulting from the 2014 and 2015 calls, referring to:- Ex-post evaluation of the progress made and achievements.- Exploring the impact pathways to trace the different paths on how the project results and outputs have generated wider impacts.- Cross analysing the outputs, outcomes and impacts achieved with wider societal context.- Project, portfolio, and programme levels.- Based on quantitative and qualitative analysis of data and information collected from secondary (desk research) and primary (survey, interviews, stakeholder workshop) sources, such as policies or external contextual factors, pursuing a better understanding of why and how certain impacts have or have not been achieved

Spatial Frequency Domain Imaging of Short-Wave Infrared Fluorescence for Biomedical Applications

Fluorescence imaging has become a standard in many clinical applications, such as tumor and vasculature imaging. One application that is becoming more prominent in cancer treatment is fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS). Currently, FGS allows surgeons the ability to visually navigate tumors and tissue structures intraoperatively. As a result, they can remove tumor more efficiently while maintaining critical structures within the patient, creating better outcomes and lower recovery times. However, background fluorescence and inability to localize depth create challenges when determining resection boundaries. Different techniques, such as spatially modulating the illumination and imaging at longer light wavelengths, have been developed to accurately localize position and to maximize contrast of key structures at greater penetration depths in surgeries. However, combining these two techniques offers an opportunity to capitalize on their respective advantages in fluorescence imaging. In this work, we develop instrumentation combining two cutting-edge imaging methodologies; spatial frequency domain imaging (SFDI) and short-wave infrared (SWIR) fluorescence, and evaluate the capacity of this combination to improve image quality. Using conventional flat light imaging and SFDI, images of a fluorescent tube submerged in a liquid phantom were taken in the standard “first window” of the near-infrared (NIR-I) and the SWIR. By comparing resolution and maximum signal of the resulting images, we determined whether SFDI in the SWIR can improve fluorescence imaging for surgery such as to increase sharpness and determine depth of fluorescent structures. We found that SFDI in the SWIR localizes depth and increases contrast by removing background fluorescence. When compared to NIR-I, SWIR SFDI is not as depth sensitive but can capture deeper structures. These results show that implementing SFDI can significantly improve current biomedical applications of SWIR imaging. Next steps for SWIR SFDI include analyzing the effects from altering the optical properties of the phantom, investigating the interaction between multiple fluorescent objects, and conducting in vivo efficacy studies

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Economic viability of extracting high value metals from end of life vehicles

Electronics containing growing quantities of high value and critical metals are increasingly used in automobiles. The conventional treatment practice for end-of-life vehicles (ELV) is shredding after de-pollution and partial separation of spare parts. Despite opportunities for resource recovery, the selective separation of components containing relevant amounts of critical metals for the purpose of material recycling is not commonly implemented. This article is aimed to contribute to recycling strategies for future critical metal quantities and the role of extended material recovery from ELVs. The study examines the economic feasibility of dismantling electronic components from ELVs for high value metal recycling. The results illustrate the effects of factors as dismantling time, labour costs and logistics on the economic potential of resource recovery from ELVs. Manual dismantling is profitable for only a few components at the higher labour costs in western/northern parts of Europe and applicable material prices, including the inverter for hybrid vehicles, oxygen sensor, side assistant sensor, distance and near distance sensors. Depending on the vehicle model, labour costs and current material prices, manual dismantling can also be cost-efficient for also some other such as the heating blower, generator, starter, engine and transmission control, start/stop motor, drive control, infotainment and chassis control

The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for the CMB

We investigate the statistics of the cosmic microwave background using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. We show that, when we correctly de-correlate the data, the partition function of the Kolmogorov stochasticity parameter is compatible with the Kolmogorov distribution and, contrary to previous claims, the CMB data are compatible with Gaussian fluctuations with the correlation function given by standard Lambda-CDM. We then use the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test to derive upper bounds on residual point source power in the CMB, and indicate the promise of this statistics for further datasets, especially Planck, to search for deviations from Gaussianity and for detecting point sources and Galactic foregrounds.Comment: Improved significance of the results (which remain unchanged) by using patches instead of ring segments in the analysis. Added sky maps of the Kolmogorov-parameter for original and de-correlated CMB ma

Energiatehokas lietteenkäsittely

SYKEn ja VTTn yhteisessä tutkimusprojektissa ”TERMOS – Energiatehokas lietteenkäsittely” selvitettiin jätevesilietteiden energiatehokkaita käsittelytapoja. Nykyään Suomessa puhdistamolietteen vallitsevana käsittelymenetelmänä on isoilla jätevedenpuhdistamoilla mesofiilinen mädätys (35 °C), mutta termofiilinen prosessi (55 °C) on suuremman tehokkuutensa ansiosta noussut mielenkiintoiseksi vaihtoehdoksi. Yksi tutkimuksen päätavoite oli tutkia mesofiilisen prosessin muuttamista termofiiliseksi sekä mesofiilisen ja termofiilisen prosessin kuormitettavuuseroja. Tämä tehtiin kokeellisesti pilot-mittakaavan mädätysreaktoreilla HSY:n Suomenojan jätevedenpuhdistamolla sijaitsevalla SYKE:n tutkimusasemalla Espoossa. Tulosten mukaan prosessin saattaminen termofiiliselle lämpötila-alueelle onnistuu nopeasti ja ilman häiriöitä. Termofiilinen prosessi havaittiin hajottavan orgaanista ainetta mesofiilista tehokkaammin ja tuottavan enemmän kaasua sekä myös hygienisoivan lietettä, toisaalta termofiilisesti mädätetyllä lietteellä on huonompi kuivattavuus ja huonolaatuisemmat rejektivedet. Kokeilujen aikana havaittiin myös fermentaatioon perustuva autoflotaatioilmiö, jonka esikäsittelyvaikutusta lietteeseen tutkittiin. Tulosten mukaan esifermentaatio parantaa oleellisesti kaasun yksikkötuottoa molemmissa mädätysprosesseissa, mutta vie termofiilisen prosessin edun. Tutkimuksen toisena päätavoitteena oli vertailla erilaisia käsittelyvaihtoehtoja energiatalouden, kasvihuonekaasupäästöjen ja kustannusten näkökulmasta. Tämä tehtiin case-pohjaisena järjestelmäanalyysina. Lietteen polttoa vertailtiin mädätysprosesseihin eri loppukäsittelyvaihtoehdoilla. Tarkasteltiin myös esisaostuksen ja rinnakkaissaostuksen vaikutuksia käsittelyketjuihin. Biokaasun tuotannon tehostaminen siirtymällä mesofiilimädätyksestä termofiiliprosessiin voisi olla jätevedenpuhdistamolle taloudellisesti kannattavaa erityisesti, mikäli laitos saa tuotetulle sähkölle syöttötariffin mukaiset lisätulot. Energiatalouden kannalta kompostointi olisi edullisin mädätteen käsittelytapa. Energiataseisiin perustuen lietteen poltto olisi päästöjen kannalta edullinen lietteen käsittelytapa sillä edellytyksellä, että tuotettu lämpöenergia voidaan hyödyntää esimerkiksi kaukolämmityksessä. Lietteenkäsittelyketjujen kasvihuonetaseet ja kustannustalous eivät kaikissa tapauksissa kulkeneet käsi kädessä. Yleisesti voidaan todeta, että kaikki tarkastelussa saadut tulokset ovat tapauskohtaisia ja riippuvaisia paikallisista olosuhteista

Temperature controlled high-throughput magnetic tweezers show striking difference in activation energies of replicating viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerases

RNA virus survival depends on efficient viral genome replication, which is performed by the viral RNA dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). The recent development of high throughput magnetic tweezers has enabled the simultaneous observation of dozens of viral RdRp elongation traces on kilobases long templates, and this has shown that RdRp nucleotide addition kinetics is stochastically interrupted by rare pauses of 1-1000 s duration, of which the short-lived ones (1-10 s) are the temporal signature of a low fidelity catalytic pathway. We present a simple and precise temperature controlled system for magnetic tweezers to characterize the replication kinetics temperature dependence between 25 degrees C and 45 degrees C of RdRps from three RNA viruses, i.e. the double-stranded RNA bacteriophage Phi 6, and the positive-sense single-stranded RNA poliovirus (PV) and human rhinovirus C (HRV-C). We found that Phi 6 RdRp is largely temperature insensitive, while PV and HRV-C RdRps replication kinetics are activated by temperature. Furthermore, the activation energies we measured for PV RdRp catalytic state corroborate previous estimations from ensemble pre-steady state kinetic studies, further confirming the catalytic origin of the short pauses and their link to temperature independent RdRp fidelity. This work will enable future temperature controlled study of biomolecular complex at the single molecule level.Peer reviewe

EUNADICS-AV early warning system dedicated to supporting aviation in the case of a crisis from natural airborne hazards and radionuclide clouds

The purpose of the EUNADICS-AV (European Natural Airborne Disaster Information and Coordination System for Aviation) prototype early warning system (EWS) is to develop the combined use of harmonised data products from satellite, ground-based and in situ instruments to produce alerts of airborne hazards (volcanic, dust, smoke and radionuclide clouds), satisfying the requirement of aviation air traffic management (ATM) stakeholders (https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/723986, last access: 5 November 2021). The alert products developed by the EUNADICS-AV EWS, i.e. near-real-time (NRT) observations, email notifications and netCDF (Network Common Data Form) alert data products (called NCAP files), have shown significant interest in using selective detection of natural airborne hazards from polar-orbiting satellites. The combination of several sensors inside a single global system demonstrates the advantage of using a triggered approach to obtain selective detection from observations, which cannot initially discriminate the different aerosol types. Satellite products from hyperspectral ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) and infrared (IR) sensors (e.g. TROPOMI – TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument – and IASI – Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer) and a broadband geostationary imager (Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager; SEVIRI) and retrievals from ground-based networks (e.g. EARLINET – European Aerosol Research Lidar Network, E-PROFILE and the regional network from volcano observatories) are combined by our system to create tailored alert products (e.g. selective ash detection, SO2 column and plume height, dust cloud, and smoke from wildfires). A total of 23 different alert products are implemented, using 1 geostationary and 13 polar-orbiting satellite platforms, 3 external existing service, and 2 EU and 2 regional ground-based networks. This allows for the identification and the tracking of extreme events. The EUNADICS-AV EWS has also shown the need to implement a future relay of radiological data (gamma dose rate and radionuclides concentrations in ground-level air) in the case of a nuclear accident. This highlights the interest of operating early warnings with the use of a homogenised dataset. For the four types of airborne hazard, the EUNADICS-AV EWS has demonstrated its capability to provide NRT alert data products to trigger data assimilation and dispersion modelling providing forecasts and inverse modelling for source term estimate. Not all of our alert data products (NCAP files) are publicly disseminated. Access to our alert products is currently restricted to key users (i.e. Volcanic Ash Advisory Centres, national meteorological services, the World Meteorological Organization, governments, volcano observatories and research collaborators), as these are considered pre-decisional products. On the other hand, thanks to the EUNADICS-AV–SACS (Support to Aviation Control Service) web interface (https://sacs.aeronomie.be, last access: 5 November 2021), the main part of the satellite observations used by the EUNADICS-AV EWS is shown in NRT, with public email notification of volcanic emission and delivery of tailored images and NCAP files. All of the ATM stakeholders (e.g. pilots, airlines and passengers) can access these alert products through this free channel.Peer ReviewedArticle escrit per 46 autors/es: Hugues Brenot Nicolas Theys Lieven Clarisse Jeroen van Gent Daniel Hurtmans Sophie Vandenbussche Nikolaos Papagiannopoulos Lucia Mona Timo Virtanen Andreas Uppstu Mikhail Sofiev Luca Bugliaro Margarita Vázquez-Navarro Pascal Hedelt Michelle Maree Parks Sara Barsotti Mauro Coltelli William Moreland Simona Scollo Giuseppe Salerno Delia Arnold-Arias Marcus Hirtl Tuomas Peltonen Juhani Lahtinen Klaus Sievers Florian Lipok Rolf Rüfenacht Alexander Haefele Maxime Hervo Saskia Wagenaar Wim Som de Cerff Jos de Laat Arnoud Apituley Piet Stammes Quentin Laffineur Andy Delcloo Robertson Lennart Carl-Herbert Rokitansky Arturo Vargas Markus Kerschbaum Christian Resch Raimund Zopp Matthieu Plu 1 Vincent-Henri Peuch Michel van Roozendael Gerhard WotawaPostprint (author's final draft