Cooperation In Science And Technology Action Research Articles

Comparability of Raman Spectroscopic Configurations: A Large Scale Cross-Laboratory Study.

The variable configuration of Raman spectroscopic platforms is one of the major obstacles in establishing Raman spectroscopy as a valuable physicochemical method within real-world scenarios such as clinical diagnostics. For such real world applications like diagnostic classification, the models should ideally be usable to predict data from different setups. Whether it is done by training a rugged model with data from many setups or by a primary-replica strategy where models are developed on a 'primary' setup and the test data are generated on 'replicate' setups, this is only possible if the Raman spectra from different setups are consistent, reproducible, and comparable. However, Raman spectra can be highly sensitive to the measurement conditions, and they change from setup to setup even if the same samples are measured. Although increasingly recognized as an issue, the dependence of the Raman spectra on the instrumental configuration is far from being fully understood and great effort is needed to address the resulting spectral variations and to correct for them. To make the severity of the situation clear, we present a round robin experiment investigating the comparability of 35 Raman spectroscopic devices with different configurations in 15 institutes within seven European countries from the COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) action Raman4clinics. The experiment was developed in a fashion that allows various instrumental configurations ranging from highly confocal setups to fibre-optic based systems with different excitation wavelengths. We illustrate the spectral variations caused by the instrumental configurations from the perspectives of peak shifts, intensity variations, peak widths, and noise levels. We conclude this contribution with recommendations that may help to improve the inter-laboratory studies.

COST Action 620 Approach: Application to a Karst Aquifer, SE Mexico

AbstractThe EU Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action 620 Group approach is applied to evaluate the risk of groundwater contamination of a karstic aquifer located southeast of Mexico, to get information of potentially threatened areas. Subsurface contaminant loads, the aquifer vulnerability, as well as, the interaction between them are considered to define the aquifer risk to contamination. The hazard and risk indexes are calculated from an inventory of contaminant sources, creating their maps using geographic information system. Under the COST 620 approach, any method can be used to analyze aquifer vulnerability to contamination and new ones can be developed. This allows to model the karst groundwater vulnerability to contamination in the study area, applying a modified version of the DRASTIC method, where considerations are given to hydraulic conductivity and land use, as parameters in the model. The results indicate a more conservative differentiation when compared to similar studies carried out in the study area with the moderate vulnerability class occupying the greatest extent. Areas of high hazard and risk are in the main urban areas.

History and Progress of Fractional-Order Element Passive Emulators: A Review

This article is based upon work from COST Action CA15225, a network supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). Research described in this paper was financed by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports under grant LTC18022 of Inter-Cost program.

COST Lecture 2019 AE GM Barcelona: International Network to Encourage the Use of Monitoring and Forecasting Dust Products (InDust)

Amongst the most significant extreme meteorological phenomena are the Sand and Dust Storms (SDS). Owing to significant amounts of airborne mineral dust particles generated during these events, SDS have impacts on climate, the environment, human health, and many socio-economic sectors (e.g. aviation, solar energy management). Many studies and reports have underlined that the society has to understand, manage and mitigate the risks and effects of SDS on life, health, property, the environment and the economy in a more unified way. The EU-funded European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action ‘InDust: International network to encourage the use of monitoring and forecasting Dust products’ has an overall objective to establish a network involving research institutions, service providers and potential end users on airborne dust information. We are a multidisciplinary group of international experts on aerosol measurements, aerosol modelling, stakeholders and social scientists working together, exchanging ideas to better coordinate and harmonize the process of transferring dust observation and prediction data to users, as well as to assist the diverse socio-economic sectors affected by the presence of high concentrations of airborne mineral dust. This article highlights the importance of being actively engaged in research networking activities, supported by EU and COST actions since common efforts help not only each scientist by shaping their expertise and strengthening their position, but also all communities.

Peptide hormone analysis in diagnosis and treatment of Differences of Sex Development: joint position paper of EU COST Action 'DSDnet' and European Reference Network on Rare Endocrine Conditions.

Differences of Sex Development (DSD) comprise a variety of congenital conditions characterized by atypical chromosomal, gonadal, or anatomical sex. Diagnosis and monitoring of treatment of patients suspected of DSD conditions include clinical examination, measurement of peptide and steroid hormones, and genetic analysis. This position paper on peptide hormone analyses in the diagnosis and control of patients with DSD was jointly prepared by specialists in the field of DSD and/or peptide hormone analysis from the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action DSDnet (BM1303) and the European Reference Network on rare Endocrine Conditions (Endo-ERN). The goal of this position paper on peptide hormone analysis was to establish laboratory guidelines that may contribute to improve optimal diagnosis and treatment control of DSD. The essential peptide hormones used in the management of patients with DSD conditions are follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinising hormone, anti-Müllerian hormone, and Inhibin B. In this context, the following position statements have been proposed: serum and plasma are the preferred matrices; the peptide hormones can all be measured by immunoassay, while use of LC-MS/MS technology has yet to be implemented in a diagnostic setting; sex- and age-related reference values are mandatory in the evaluation of these hormones; and except for Inhibin B, external quality assurance programs are widely available.

A Year in the Life of the EU-CardioRNA COST Action: CA17129 Catalysing Transcriptomics Research in Cardiovascular Disease.

The EU-CardioRNA Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action is a European-wide consortium established in 2018 with 31 European country members and four associate member countries to build bridges between translational researchers from academia and industry who conduct research on non-coding RNAs, cardiovascular diseases and similar research areas. EU-CardioRNA comprises four core working groups (WG1–4). In the first year since its launch, EU-CardioRNA met biannually to exchange and discuss recent findings in related fields of scientific research, with scientific sessions broadly divided up according to WG. These meetings are also an opportunity to establish interdisciplinary discussion groups, brainstorm ideas and make plans to apply for joint research grants and conduct other scientific activities, including knowledge transfer. Following its launch in Brussels in 2018, three WG meetings have taken place. The first of these in Lisbon, Portugal, the second in Istanbul, Turkey, and the most recent in Maastricht, The Netherlands. Each meeting includes a scientific session from each WG. This meeting report briefly describes the highlights and key take-home messages from each WG session in this first successful year of the EU-CardioRNA COST Action.

Antimicrobial coating innovations to prevent infectious disease: a consensus view from the AMiCl COST Action

The European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) is the longest-running European framework supporting trans-national co-operation among researchers, engineers, scholars and industry across Europe. These networks, called ‘COST Actions’, promote international coordination of nationally funded research (https://www.cost.eu). This COST Action ‘AMiCI – Anti-Microbial Coating Innovations to prevent infectious diseases’ (http://www.amici-consortium.eu) aimed to evaluate the impact of antimicrobial coatings (AMCs), specifically for surfaces in healthcare, but excluding AMCs used in medical implants.

Addressing the Unmet Needs of Measuring Vascular Ageing in Clinical Practice—European COoperation in Science and Technology Action VascAgeNet

Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, regardless of gender, ethnicity or income. Evidence that vascular age, as opposed to chronological age, is better related to the prognosis of CVD is convincing. Despite recent technological advances for the measurement of vascular ageing, unmet needs remain which currently limit the assessment of vascular ageing in routine clinical practice. These unmet needs include: (1) lack of easy-to-use, affordable techniques/devices, (2) insufficient validation in clinical settings, (3) fragmentation of expertise in few research laboratories globally, and (4) lack of investigator/research driven intervention studies and head-to-head comparisons between different measurement techniques. This paper summarises how a recently awarded European COoperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action on Vascular Ageing (VascAgeNet) will address these unmet needs. The broad aim of the COST Action VascAgeNet is to establish a network which will work to refine, harmonize and promote the use of vascular ageing biomarkers, in order to improve clinical practice and to reduce the burden of CVD globally.

Towards the profiling of the atmospheric boundary layer at European scale\u2014introducing the COST Action PROBE

The atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) is the layer closest to the Earth’s surface within which most human activities take place. The vertical profile of atmospheric thermodynamic parameters in the ABL impact weather, air quality and climate. However, surface sensor networks and satellite observations do not provide sufficient information on the high temporal variability and strong vertical gradients that occur in the ABL. Thus, the ABL represents an important but rather under-sampled part of the atmosphere. This observational gap currently hampers progress in numerical weather prediction, air quality forecasting and climate assessment. Due to recent technological and methodological advances, ground-based remote sensing instruments are now able to provide high-quality profiles of ABL parameters such as temperature, humidity, wind, aerosol and cloud properties. However, even though state-of-the-art ABL profilers are deployed at numerous sites in Europe, efficient science and technology networking and coordination is still required to exploit this rich dataset effectively. The current lack of data and procedure harmonization often diminishes the potential societal benefits of the existing ABL profiling data. This paper introduces PROBE, a new initiative funded by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST), that aims to broaden the bridge between a wide range of user needs and the science and technology expertise residing in industry and academia, while strengthening and harmonizing methods and procedures to yield higher quality ABL observational data. Here, the challenges, objectives and implementation plan for PROBE are described, highlighting some preliminary results that will be further developed into operational applications during the 4-year duration (2019–2023) of this collaborative project.

European Research in Focus: Mechanochemistry for Sustainable Industry (COST Action MechSustInd)

In this Guest Editorial the recently funded COST Action: CA18112 – Mechanochemistry for Sustainable Industry (MechSustInd) is introduced to the scientific community. The use of mechanical energy to facilitate chemical transformations (mechanochemistry) has been rapidly gaining momentum across diverse areas of science. Experimentally, the strategies to mechanically promote physico-chemical changes in matter are varied and include the use of mechanical milling, extrusion techniques, pulsed ultrasonication, and single-molecule force-spectroscopy approaches, among others. Altogether, the implementation of these experimental techniques has resulted in the discovery of new chemical reactions and in the development of more sustainable alternatives to classical synthetic protocols. Collectively, the renaissance and thriving growth of mechanochemistry with its potential to enhance chemical synthesis have been recently acknowledged by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC).1 Simultaneously, in 2019, one of the most prestigious and influential funding organizations for research and innovation networks in Europe, the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST),2 funded the COST Action: CA18112 – Mechanochemistry for Sustainable Industry (MechSustInd).3 This will provide a unique opportunity for scientific and technological growth in the area of mechanochemistry across Europe. As such, we are pleased to celebrate as well as to introduce the MechSustInd COST Action in this Editorial. The first steps towards a successful COST Action have already begun. To date, MechSustInd encompasses partners from 33 COST Member Countries, including 18 Inclusiveness Target Countries and partners, nine companies, one European intergovernmental scientific research organization (European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, ESRF), as well as partners from Canada, China, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, and USA. In total, represented by 72 Academic Institutions across Europe and around the world (Figure 1). During its lifespan, the COST Action CA18112 MechSustInd will enhance the cooperation of scientists already working in the field, but more importantly it will promote the translation of mechanochemistry into alternative niche sectors. For instance, efforts will be devoted to disseminate and train fundamental aspects of mechanochemistry and mechanochemical techniques within higher education and vocational training settings. Additionally, all members of this COST Action CA18112 will aim to develop mechanochemical synthetic routes of value-added products from laboratory-scale set-ups to large-scale production. This quest will be closely accompanied by physico-chemical and computational studies to better understand the mechanistic aspects prevailing in such mechanochemical transformations. Important to the success of implementing mechanochemical protocols in industry is the development of new mechanochemical techniques to complement existing strategies for the activation of reactants by mechanical treatment. More ambitious targets for MechSustInd also lie ahead, namely, the establishment of fruitful multi-disciplinary collaborative networks involving researchers from a myriad of academic institutions and industries. These networks will share the common objective of harmonizing both fundamental and applied research for industrial needs and fostering technological transfer from research laboratories to industrial value chains. Furthermore, to increase the potential impact of this COST Action, we will engage with key stakeholders to gain awareness of the current developments in policy making, business strategies, and societal needs. Moreover, we wish to use this Editorial to encourage proactive participation of all scientists, educators (schools and universities), engineers, industrial partners, policy- and decision-makers, and funding bodies alike to successfully achieve the objectives of COST Action CA18112 MechSustInd. Undoubtedly, vital for the achievement of this COST Action's objectives will be the use of more focused networking programs such as Short-Term Scientific Missions aimed at fostering collaboration via excellent research infrastructures and sharing techniques amongst the members of MechSustInd. Equally important will be the organization of Training Schools to standardize, propagate, and encourage the adoption of good experimental practices across the current and future mechanochemistry scientific community. Hence, established scientists will work together with Early Career Investigators to promote the scientific excellence within the field whilst maintaining gender balance within the network. Overall, we hope that in the upcoming years, the COST Action MechSustInd will become an inflexion point in the expansion, diversification, and establishment of mechanochemistry in a wide range of fields such as organic chemistry, organometallic synthesis, solid-state chemistry, spectroscopy, molecular modeling, process engineering, and crystal engineering, to name a few. Let the coming chemistry years be mechanical! This article is based upon work from COST Action CA18112, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology).

Unpublished Mediterranean records of marine alien and cryptogenic species

Unpublished Mediterranean records of marine alien and cryptogenic species

Ethics, Responsibility, and Sustainability in MBAs. Understanding the Motivations for the Incorporation of ERS in Less Traditional Markets

This study of Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs in regions with different history, background, legacies, and trajectories than those in the Global North aims at having an alternative view of how Ethics, Responsibility, and Sustainability (ERS) are incorporated in management education. To this end, the research uses case studies, analyzes in-depth interviews, and adopts an inductive stakeholder theory approach to identify and understand the motivations for the incorporation of the broad area of ERS in management education in relation to the schools’ main stakeholders, mainly students and their employers. The analysis of the data shows that individual motivations (individual level) and an articulated and embedded mission that incorporates different stakeholders (organizational/curriculum level) are strong predictors. Local regulations and legislation, along with the requirements from international accreditation agencies (institutions/environment level) are also predictors, although not that strong to go beyond the incorporation of a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)-related course in the curriculum of programs. Nevertheless, these CSR-related courses (organizational/curriculum level) are powerful mediators that create, as a minimum, awareness of ERS in MBA graduates who as a consequence modify their employment objectives. The data also show that the process leading to international accreditations (institutions/environment level), the expectation by employers that MBA graduates should have an ERS mindset/skills toolkit (institutions/environment level), and a hands-on, practice-based teaching methodology (organizational/curriculum level) can act as moderators. These findings show that business schools can become ERS predictors themselves, and to achieve this they need to have a better understanding of the different roles played by the different variables. This publication is based upon work from COST Action CA18215 – China in Europe Research Network, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology), www.cost.eu.

Priorities in research on foodborne parasites indicated by short-term scientific missions as part of COST Action a European Network for Foodborne Parasites (Euro-FBP)

The European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) is a funding organization for the creation of research networks. These networks support collaboration and networking among scientists across Europe and thereby give impetus to research advancements and innovation. One of the most important mechanisms of COST actions are the short-term scientific missions (STSM), which are a funding mechanism that enables scientists, particularly those earlier in their careers, to visit an institution or laboratory in another COST Member state in order to learn techniques that will enhance their skills and improve the scientific knowledge of their institution.The European Network for Foodborne Parasites (Euro-FBP; FA1408) was a COST Action that ended in early 2019, which brought together different experts with knowledge and interest on a broad spectrum of different foodborne parasites of relevance in Europe. In the course of the Euro-FBP COST Action, 32 such STSM occurred. This article provides a short overview of the short-term scientific missions that were approved during this action, as well as the relation of these actions to several relevant socio-economic parameters. The subjects of these STSM, the majority of which were concerned with detection techniques, probably reflect the priorities for research skills on foodborne parasites in Europe.

Comparison of Methods to Measure Methane for Use in Genetic Evaluation of Dairy Cattle.

Simple SummaryMethane is a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 28 times that of CO2. Enteric methane accounts for 17% of global methane emissions and 3.3% of total global greenhouse gas emissions from human activities. There is, therefore, significant research interest in finding ways to reduce enteric methane emissions by ruminants. Partners in Expert Working Group 2 (WG2) of the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action METHAGENE have used several methods for measuring methane output by individual dairy cattle under various environmental conditions. Methods included respiration chambers, the sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) tracer technique, breath sampling during milking or feeding, the GreenFeed system, and the laser methane detector. Respiration chambers are considered the ‘gold standard’, but are unsuitable for large-scale measurements of methane emissions, which are needed for genetic evaluations. In this study, the suitability of methods for large-scale studies was reviewed and compared. All methods showed high correlations with respiration chambers, but comparisons among alternative methods generally had lower correlations. Results confirm, however, that there is sufficient correlation between methods for measurements from all methods to be combined, with appropriate weightings, for use in international genetic studies. This will pave the way for breeding cattle with lower methane emissions.Partners in Expert Working Group WG2 of the COST Action METHAGENE have used several methods for measuring methane output by individual dairy cattle under various environmental conditions. Methods included respiration chambers, the sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) tracer technique, breath sampling during milking or feeding, the GreenFeed system, and the laser methane detector. The aim of the current study was to review and compare the suitability of methods for large-scale measurements of methane output by individual animals, which may be combined with other databases for genetic evaluations. Accuracy, precision and correlation between methods were assessed. Accuracy and precision are important, but data from different sources can be weighted or adjusted when combined if they are suitably correlated with the ‘true’ value. All methods showed high correlations with respiration chambers. Comparisons among alternative methods generally had lower correlations than comparisons with respiration chambers, despite higher numbers of animals and in most cases simultaneous repeated measures per cow per method. Lower correlations could be due to increased variability and imprecision of alternative methods, or maybe different aspects of methane emission are captured using different methods. Results confirm that there is sufficient correlation between methods for measurements from all methods to be combined for international genetic studies and provide a much-needed framework for comparing genetic correlations between methods should these become available.

TU1208 GPR Roadshow: Educational and promotional activities carried out by Members of COST Action TU1208 to increase public awareness on the potential and capabilities of the GPR technique

Our participation in the COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) programme gave us significant insights into the importance of explaining scientific findings to non-scientific audiences. In the framework of COST Action TU1208 “Civil engineering applications of Ground Penetrating Radar” we organised a series of dissemination activities to increase public awareness about ground penetrating radar (GPR) capabilities and applications, as well as to establish a dialogue with stakeholders and end-users of our research. Most of our educational and promotional activities were carried out in less-research intensive countries of the European continent, and we denominated the overall science communication initiative “TU1208 GPR Roadshow”. The purpose of this paper is to present descriptions, principles, and results of our Roadshow. Part of the Roadshow consisted of a series of non-scientific workshops andpracticaldemonstrations held in Portugal, Italy, Greece, Croatia, Serbia, and the Czech Republic from March 2016 to May 2017. The primary objective of those events was to reach out to GPR stakeholders and potential new end users, at local, regional and national levels; a secondary goal was the education of interested students and citizens. Attendance was always free of charge; talks and explanations were mostly given in native language, with few exceptions. Overall, the Roadshow workshops and demonstrationshad 483 participants. In parallel, an amazing series of activities with children and citizens were carried out in Estonia: several lectures were delivered in elementary and secondary schools, practical workshops were held during the Researchers’ Nights, communication activities were organized in large events where enterprises were brought together with researchers, some lectures were given in summer schools, and short lectures were transmitted on public TV. All these initiatives have strongly increased public awareness of the potentialities of the GPR technique.

Gendered impacts of extended working life on the health and economic wellbeing of older workers

Each paper in this special issue is based on work from COST Action IS1409 Gender and Health Impacts of Policies Extending Working Life in Western Countries, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology).

Burnout syndrome in Europe: towards a harmonized approach in occupational health practice and research.

Health practitioners and decision makers in the medical and insurance systems need knowledge on the work-relatedness of burnout. To gather the most reliable information regarding burnout diagnosis and recognition in Europe, we used an 8-item standard questionnaire sent by e-mail to occupational health specialists identified via the Network on the Coordination and Harmonization of European Occupational Cohorts (OMEGA-NET) within the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action. Participation rate was 100%, and the questionnaire was completed for 37 countries. In 14 (38%) countries burnout syndrome can be acknowledged as an occupational disease. However, only one country included burnout on the list of occupational diseases. The results showed a high variability in burnout diagnosis, in assessment of its work-relatedness, and in conditions allowing compensation of patients. These results reflect a lack of graded evidence on burnout and its determinants. The ongoing research on burnout conducted in the frame of the OMEGA-NET COST Action should be helpful through facilitating standardization of both existing and new data on burnout, a priority outcome requiring harmonization.

Creating people-friendly cities in a data rich world: towards smarter and more liveable places

There is a growing movement to make cities “smarter.” Typically the goal is to enhance a city’s efficiency and sustainability and thus lower carbon footprints. While these efforts are well-intended and of great importance, we must also make sure that our future cities are places that people also desire to live in across their lifespan. Against this backdrop, a European Union-funded COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) Action was undertaken from 2013-2017 entitled People-Friendly Cities in a Data Rich World. The Action culminated in a two-day Participatory Urbanism 2017 conference that brought together researchers, scientists, city planners, architects, public officials, urban activists, businesses, and NGOs from 30 countries. A crucial goal of this conference was to solicit both guiding principles and research questions that should be pursued in the quest to make cities more liveable for people and smarter for the planet. Here we present the main findings. Ultimately, it is hoped that these findings will help guide the creation of people-friendly cities in a data-rich world.

Anthropomorphic Breast and Head Phantoms for Microwave Imaging.

This paper deals with breast and head phantoms fabricated from 3D-printed structures and liquid mixtures whose complex permittivities are close to that of the biological tissues within a large frequency band. The goal is to enable an easy and safe manufacturing of stable-in-time detailed anthropomorphic phantoms dedicated to the test of microwave imaging systems to assess the performances of the latter in realistic configurations before a possible clinical application to breast cancer imaging or brain stroke monitoring. The structure of the breast phantom has already been used by several laboratories to test their measurement systems in the framework of the COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) Action TD1301-MiMed. As for the tissue mimicking liquid mixtures, they are based upon Triton X-100 and salted water. It has been proven that such mixtures can dielectrically mimic the various breast tissues. It is shown herein that they can also accurately mimic most of the head tissues and that, given a binary fluid mixture model, the respective concentrations of the various constituents needed to mimic a particular tissue can be predetermined by means of a standard minimization method.

Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging to assess diffuse renal pathology: a systematic review and statement paper.

Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) is a non-invasive method sensitive to local water motion in the tissue. As a tool to probe the microstructure, including the presence and potentially the degree of renal fibrosis, DWI has the potential to become an effective imaging biomarker. The aim of this review is to discuss the current status of renal DWI in diffuse renal diseases. DWI biomarkers can be classified in the following three main categories: (i) the apparent diffusion coefficient—an overall measure of water diffusion and microcirculation in the tissue; (ii) true diffusion, pseudodiffusion and flowing fraction—providing separate information on diffusion and perfusion or tubular flow; and (iii) fractional anisotropy—measuring the microstructural orientation. An overview of human studies applying renal DWI in diffuse pathologies is given, demonstrating not only the feasibility and intra-study reproducibility of DWI but also highlighting the need for standardization of methods, additional validation and qualification. The current and future role of renal DWI in clinical practice is reviewed, emphasizing its potential as a surrogate and monitoring biomarker for interstitial fibrosis in chronic kidney disease, as well as a surrogate biomarker for the inflammation in acute kidney diseases that may impact patient selection for renal biopsy in acute graft rejection. As part of the international COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) action PARENCHIMA (Magnetic Resonance Imaging Biomarkers for Chronic Kidney Disease), aimed at eliminating the barriers to the clinical use of functional renal magnetic resonance imaging, this article provides practical recommendations for future design of clinical studies and the use of renal DWI in clinical practice.