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David Trobisch lends Green family's Bible Museum a scholarly edge
Home » David Trobisch lends Green family's Bible Museum a scholarly edge
In 2006, New Testament scholar David Trobisch abandoned such lofty outlets as Oxford Press and the Journal of Papyrology and Epigraphy for a more mainstream venue: Free Inquiry.
In that feisty secular humanist journal, Trobisch identified the likely editor of the New Testament as second-century Bishop Polycarp of Smyrna and suggested that Polycarp, not Luke, wrote much of the book of Acts.
Trobisch shared the magazine's cover billing with Christopher Hitchens and the atheist animal rights theorist Peter Singer.
None of this would be unusual — serious New Testament scholars constantly probe its cloudy origins, wherever that leads — if Trobisch were not now prominently employed by one of the most famously conservative Christian families in America.
The Green family of Oklahoma City — the plaintiffs in the U.S. Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby case — financed the 430,000-square-foot Museum of the Bible set to open in 2017 just off the National Mall in Washington.
It will showcase biblical artifacts from the 40,000-piece Green collection, one of the largest in private hands. As director of the collection, Trobisch does not run the museum (its director is Cary Summers), but in addition to enlarging, curating and cataloging the trove, he participates in the crucial conversation about which items will go into the museum, and how.
A former Heidelberg University professor, Trobisch also acts as roving ambassador to the worlds of high academia and top-rate museums. His presence poses a conundrum to the Greens' many critics: As believers that the Bible is God-given and inerrant, could the family — and the museum that is their brainchild — be more open to dispassionate scholarship than previously assumed?
A tall, gently spoken 56-year-old whose russet hair is now mostly gray, Trobisch splits his time between Germany, where his wife, son and two grandchildren live, and a home in Springfield, Mo. In the U.S. he considers himself part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a mainline denomination.
He is a cradle cosmopolitan who grew up speaking four languages in Cameroon, where his parents worked as Lutheran missionaries.
Trobisch eventually gravitated to New Testament criticism, the close study of ancient manuscripts for clues as to how the 27-book New Testament came together.
He met the Greens when he asked permission to look at their 850 ancient New Testament documents. Soon, he was advising the family on acquisitions ("My strategy was to buy fewer items but only the highest quality"). In February, he was hired as director.
Trobisch's responsibilities extend beyond researching and caring for the collection. He recently revamped the content in the Greens' 1,000- item Bible exhibition "Passages." He also created one-off exhibits in places such as the Vatican, Jerusalem and (very quietly) Cuba. Next up? Philadelphia (in time for Pope Francis' visit), Berlin, Beijing and Moscow.
One day in early April, Trobisch was alighting in New York after a three-week trip involving at least six countries on four continents, having discussed Green extension museums with professionals from Africa and Asia. He considered a Bible for sale in Istanbul, hired a curator in Germany and helped open the latest Passages in Santa Clarita, Calif.
The museum's burgeoning relationship with blue-chip institutions is partly attributable to Trobisch's prestige and contact list. When several manuscripts — which had been deposited by the Bible Society at Cambridge University Library — were in danger of being auctioned, the Greens bought them and left them with Cambridge. There was no quid quo pro, but Cambridge owns the Codex Bezae, which Trobisch calls "the fourth most important manuscript of the New Testament." The strengthened relationship increases the chances the Washington museum might someday show it.
The Museum of the Bible is located two blocks from the National Mall, at 300 D Street, SW. RNS map by Tiffany McCallen; Wikimedia Commons D.C. landmarks by Jarek Tuszynski, Ad Meskens, Diliff
Trobisch might have expected some philosophical friction with the Greens, who famously turn to the Bible for everything, including business decisions. But he says Hobby Lobby chain president Steve Green is open to new scholarship.
"We agreed that if I say something about the Bible he disagrees with and I can show him the quote, he will concede. If I cannot support it by a quote, I will concede."
Green's bedrock belief in God allows him some flexibility and even curiosity.
"He's a Bible freak," Trobisch said. "Like me."
Trobisch disagrees with some in "the media and my scholarly peers" that his employment by the museum represents a faceoff of "fundamentalism against sound scholarship." Instead, he said, it constitutes "two parties standing at opposite ends of the Christian spectrum talking to each other and working together. This almost never happens in the U.S."
Time will tell how that conversation will play out in the museum. Steve Green envisions the museum as "nonsectarian," saying, "The Bible can speak for itself."
Yet that phrase is tricky, since it assumes the existence of a master text and God's power to achieve a potent reading. Trobisch calls it a "theological belief: It might be true, it might not be true. But that's not what my team is concerned with."
Were the museum to be revealed to be "some kind of missionary activity," he said, "It would be an enormous disappointment. I could not identify or work for a museum that wanted to do that."
But he foresees harmony. Recently he and other scholars met the museum designers in Washington and discussed such questions as the Bible's use by the Founding Fathers, "who in public perception are treated as good Christians, but when you look closer, it doesn't hold up."
Ideally, he said, the museum would present a "story that is challenging, but that is not threatening, based on evidence we can show; and if we can't show it, we keep quiet about it."
For now he is clearly enjoying himself. "I spent 25 years in the university, where you manage poverty," he said. "You have really good ideas, and no money to support them. When I reintroduce myself to my scholarly friends, I say, 'If someone asked you to do this job, would you want to do it?'"
— by David Van Biema | RNS
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Older mobile home wiring Faulty wiring in a decades old mobile home caused a fast moving fire thursday that was so intense it melted the siding of nearby residences in the park a fire official said. Firefighters from Based on information from the citys building inspector the older mobile homes and manufactured homes that come into the city have safety issues. Specifically jones said the homes have aluminum The new rule brings greater consistency to a patchwork of regulations on old trailers. Already under arizona statute mobile homes that are moved into the and proper connections for aluminum.
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Erna Diez (8 April 1913 - 1 December 2001) was an Austrian classical archaeologist who undertook significant work on Roman art and the archaeology of the provinces of Noricum and Pannonia.

Early life and education
Diez was born in Kaschau in 1913. Diez studied classical philology, archaeology, art history and history at the University of Vienna and graduated from the University of Graz. In 1937 she earned her doctorate, with a thesis entitled "Quomodo Valerius Maximus res in factorum and dictorum memorabilium libris IX narratas exornaverit".

Career
Whilst visiting Italy in 1939 she studied art. From 1943 she worked at the Archaeological Institute of the University of Graz and supervised the collection of Roman stone monuments in Styria. From 1945 she headed the Institute of Classical Archaeology at the University of Graz and lectured there. In 1967 she became an associate professor of classical archaeology and a member of the Historical State Commission for Styria. In 1970 she received a professorship, becoming an emeritus professor in 1983.

Her major work was on provincial art in Noricum. Her presentation at the 8th International Archaeological Congress in Paris in 1963 was considered groundbreaking. A fetschrift was published for her in 1978. In 2008, a street in Graz in the district of Strassgang was named after her. The annual Erna Diez prize is awarded in her memory in art history of the archaeology of Noricum and Pannonia.

She was a corresponding member of the German Archaeological institute.

Selected publications
Flavia Solva : die Römischen Steindenkmäler auf Schlosz Seggau bei Leibnitz. Österreichisches archaeologisches Institut.
Kunstprovinzen im römischen Imperium : ausgewählte Schriften. Wien: Phoibos Verlag.

References

External links
 Full publication list

1913 births
2001 deaths
Austrian archaeologists
Classical archaeologists
Austrian women archaeologists
University of Graz alumni
Academic staff of the University of Graz
Austrian classical scholars
Place of death missing
20th-century archaeologists

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Many parents know from instinct that babies love to be held close for long periods of time, something that helps to soothe, calm and reassure fussy infants. Scientists are also discovering that carrying our babies as we go about our day actually helps their brains develop faster, prompting a revival of what's called "babywearing" -- the practice of keeping your infant close using a baby carrier.
Now, baby carriers come in a variety of types, from the simple wrap to soft-structured carriers. Each type has their advantages, but one disadvantage of all of them is that once baby falls asleep in the carrier, it can be difficult to lay them down somewhere without potentially waking them up. To address that issue, Munich, Germany based designer Daniela Gardeweg created this multifunctional baby carrier that looks a bit like a soft-structured carrier that's inspired by Native American cradleboards, and which can also convert into a convenient cradle and rocker that will help keep baby asleep.
Dubbed Suki, which is a Lakota word meaning "to be loved by somebody", this carrier is based on the versatility of traditional cradleboards of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, which are generally built with a protective structural frame that keeps baby safe, and which can be carried on the back, propped up or laid flat.
It's Suki's bamboo belt that transforms into an extendable add-on that creates the cradle structure, which can be adjusted to allow the baby to either lie down, sit or be swaddled. When not in use, the belt can be rolled up and tucked away in a compartment at the carrier's bottom. Part of the carrier can also be folded to form a protective cap, much like traditional cradleboards that often had some form of head protection.
This is a minimalist yet multifunctional design that manages to offer both a feeling of safety and modern convenience for both parent and child, leading Suki to get a well-deserved nod from the Red Dot Design Awards. We can only hope that it won't stay a prototype; read more over at Red Dot Design Awards.
This versatile accessory keeps your infant close to your body, or it can become a cradle or rocker to be placed on a flat surface.


Citation: Liu, Y., Tu, Q., Knothe, G., Lu, M. 2017. Direct transesterification of spent coffee grounds for biodiesel production. Fuel. 199:157-161.
Interpretive Summary: Replacing fuels obtained from finite petroleum by those produced from renewable resources remains a priority to ensure energy supply. Biodiesel, which is made from materials such as vegetable oils and other plant oils, is such a fuel. In order to enhance economics and augment supply of biodiesel, inexpensive sources, and favorable production methods are important factors. In this connection, this work describes biodiesel production from an inexpensive source, spent coffee grounds, by an improved method for this feedstock. Such work has the potential to make more biodiesel available for use.
Technical Abstract: Studies of spent coffee grounds (SCGs) as a potential biodiesel feedstock in recent years mostly started from solvent extraction to obtain coffee oil, and then converted it into coffee biodiesel in two steps, acid esterification followed by alkaline transesterification. This paper presents a direct transesterification (in situ) method that produces biodiesel from SCGs without the need for oil extraction and esterification steps. Prior to the direct transesterification, SCGs were impregnated with sulfuric acid as the catalyst for subsequent direct transesterification, and moisture was removed from the impregnated SCGs. The effects of H2SO4 concentration, reaction time, and reaction temperature on biodiesel yield were investigated. The coffee biodiesel yield (wt.% of dried SCGs) reached 17.08 ± 0.70 wt.% under the optimal condition of 70°C, 20wt.% sulfuric acid and 12-h reaction time, which was equivalent to an oil-to-biodiesel conversion rate of 98.61 wt.%. 28.87 ml methanol/g oil was used in the in situ method. Compositional analysis of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) indicated that C16:0 (methyl palmitate) and C18:2 (methyl inoleate) were the major components of the coffee biodiesel.


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Pan American Round Table Houston (PART Houston) was established in 1940 by Hallie Barlow Olcott. Early members included Maude Cashin, Ima Hogg, Mary Fuller and 16 others. Over these 76 years, the Houston membership has included a wide spectrum of accomplished women who are interested in furthering the knowledge of the cultures, customs, and history of the Americas. Programs include speakers from business, government, academia, science and the arts. Education continues to be a mission for the Houston Table, which sponsors and provides support through college scholarships to state and local students. Since 1995, the Houston Table has awarded over $300,000 in scholarships to over 300 scholarship recipients in the Houston area.
PART Houston is one of 20 Pan American Round Tables or chapters in Texas and also belong to the Alliance of Pan American Round Tables, which includes more than 5,890 members in 213 Tables in 16 countries throughout the Western Hemisphere and Puerto Rico. The first international convention of the Alliance was held in Mexico City in 1944, and Alliance members continue to meet biannually. The 35th Biannual Convention held in October 2016 in San Antonio celebrated the 100th Anniversary of Pan American Round Table.
PART Houston at Great Day Houston – 2016
The Pan American Round Table is recognized by the Organization of American States (OAS).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


FirmGreen, Inc. was founded in 2002. Its first project was a small pilot plant at Rutgers University using its biogas purification technology. Having successfully demonstrated proof of concept, the company obtained patents and successfully scaled the technology in a demonstration plant.
FirmGreen commercializes its biogas purification technology, building the world's largest biogas plant of its type at Novo Gramacho — one of the world's largest landfills — located near Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
The facility at Novo Gramacho is completed, commissioned and becomes operational.
FirmGreen continues to build renewable energy projects around the world: biogas-to-fuel, large scale solar, and wind energy, combined with energy storage and smart grid management to maximize efficiency and system reliability.
FirmGreen was recognized for the development of the Novo Gramacho biogas project in Brazil.
Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, FirmGreen, Inc. offers a wide range of products, services, and technologies designed to deliver real-time applications and bring renewable energy and fuels to the market. Our industry is growing rapidly: each day brings new challenges and opportunities.
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Full-length human mutant huntingtin with a stable polyglutamine repeat can elicit progressive and selective neuropathogenesis in BACHD mice.
HIV-1 clade-specific differences in the induction of neuropathogenesis.
HIV-1 gp120 compromises blood-brain barrier integrity and enhances monocyte migration across blood-brain barrier: implication for viral neuropathogenesis.
The neuropathogenesis of HIV-1 infection.


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Project acronym BIOUNCERTAINTY
Project Deep uncertainties in bioethics: genetic research, preventive medicine, reproductive decisions
Researcher (PI) Tomasz ZURADZKI
Host Institution (HI) UNIWERSYTET JAGIELLONSKI
Summary Uncertainty is everywhere, as the saying goes, but rarely considered in ethical reflections. This project aims to reinterpret ethical discussions on current advances in biomedicine: instead of understanding bioethical positions as extensions of classical normative views in ethics (consequentialism, deontologism, contractualism etc.), my project interprets them more accurately as involving various normative approaches to decision making under uncertainty. The following hard cases in bioethics provide the motivation for research: 1) Regulating scientific research under uncertainty about the ontological/moral status (e.g. parthenogenetic stem cells derived from human parthenotes) in the context of meta-reasoning under normative uncertainty. 2) The value of preventive medicine in healthcare (e.g. vaccinations) in the context of decision-making under metaphysical indeterminacy. 3) Population or reproductive decisions (e.g. preimplantation genetic diagnosis) in the context of valuing mere existence. The main drive behind this project is the rapid progress in biomedical research combined with new kinds of uncertainties. These new and "deep" uncertainties trigger specific forms of emotions and cognitions that influence normative judgments and decisions. The main research questions that will be addressed by conceptual analysis, new psychological experiments, and case studies are the following: how do the heuristics and biases (H&B) documented by behavioral scientists influence the formation of normative judgments in bioethical contexts; how to demarcate between distorted and undistorted value judgments; to what extent is it permissible for individuals or policy makers to yield to H&B. The hypothesis is that many existing bioethical rules, regulations, practices seem to have emerged from unreliable reactions, rather than by means of deliberation on the possible justifications for alternative ways to decide about them under several layers and types of uncertainty.
Uncertainty is everywhere, as the saying goes, but rarely considered in ethical reflections. This project aims to reinterpret ethical discussions on current advances in biomedicine: instead of understanding bioethical positions as extensions of classical normative views in ethics (consequentialism, deontologism, contractualism etc.), my project interprets them more accurately as involving various normative approaches to decision making under uncertainty. The following hard cases in bioethics provide the motivation for research: 1) Regulating scientific research under uncertainty about the ontological/moral status (e.g. parthenogenetic stem cells derived from human parthenotes) in the context of meta-reasoning under normative uncertainty. 2) The value of preventive medicine in healthcare (e.g. vaccinations) in the context of decision-making under metaphysical indeterminacy. 3) Population or reproductive decisions (e.g. preimplantation genetic diagnosis) in the context of valuing mere existence. The main drive behind this project is the rapid progress in biomedical research combined with new kinds of uncertainties. These new and "deep" uncertainties trigger specific forms of emotions and cognitions that influence normative judgments and decisions. The main research questions that will be addressed by conceptual analysis, new psychological experiments, and case studies are the following: how do the heuristics and biases (H&B) documented by behavioral scientists influence the formation of normative judgments in bioethical contexts; how to demarcate between distorted and undistorted value judgments; to what extent is it permissible for individuals or policy makers to yield to H&B. The hypothesis is that many existing bioethical rules, regulations, practices seem to have emerged from unreliable reactions, rather than by means of deliberation on the possible justifications for alternative ways to decide about them under several layers and types of uncertainty.
Project acronym BLAST
Project Eclipsing binary stars as cutting edge laboratories for astrophysics of stellar structure, stellar evolution and planet formation
Researcher (PI) Maciej Konacki
Host Institution (HI) CENTRUM ASTRONOMICZNE IM. MIKOLAJAKOPERNIKA POLSKIEJ AKADEMII NAUK
Summary Spectroscopic binary stars (SB2s) and in particular spectroscopic eclipsing binaries are one of the most useful objects in astrophysics. Their photometric and spectroscopic observations allow one to determine basic parameters of stars and carry out a wide range of tests of stellar structure, evolution and dynamics. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, they can also contribute to our understanding of the formation and evolution of (extrasolar) planets. We will study eclipsing binary stars by combining the classic - stellar astronomy - and the modern - extrasolar planets - subjects into a cutting edge project. We propose to search for and subsequently characterize circumbinary planets around ~350 eclipsing SB2s using our own novel cutting edge radial velocity technique for binary stars and a modern version of the photometry based eclipse timing of eclipsing binary stars employing 0.5-m robotic telescopes. We will also derive basic parameters of up to ~700 stars (~350 binaries) with an unprecedented precision. In particular for about 50% of our sample we expect to deliver masses of the components with an accuracy ~10-100 times better than the current state of the art. Our project will provide unique constraints for the theories of planet formation and evolution and an unprecedented in quality set of the basic parameters of stars to test the theories of the stellar structure and evolution.
Spectroscopic binary stars (SB2s) and in particular spectroscopic eclipsing binaries are one of the most useful objects in astrophysics. Their photometric and spectroscopic observations allow one to determine basic parameters of stars and carry out a wide range of tests of stellar structure, evolution and dynamics. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, they can also contribute to our understanding of the formation and evolution of (extrasolar) planets. We will study eclipsing binary stars by combining the classic - stellar astronomy - and the modern - extrasolar planets - subjects into a cutting edge project. We propose to search for and subsequently characterize circumbinary planets around ~350 eclipsing SB2s using our own novel cutting edge radial velocity technique for binary stars and a modern version of the photometry based eclipse timing of eclipsing binary stars employing 0.5-m robotic telescopes. We will also derive basic parameters of up to ~700 stars (~350 binaries) with an unprecedented precision. In particular for about 50% of our sample we expect to deliver masses of the components with an accuracy ~10-100 times better than the current state of the art. Our project will provide unique constraints for the theories of planet formation and evolution and an unprecedented in quality set of the basic parameters of stars to test the theories of the stellar structure and evolution.
Project acronym CNTM
Project Cryptography on Non-Trusted Machines
Researcher (PI) Stefan Dziembowski
Host Institution (HI) UNIWERSYTET WARSZAWSKI
Summary This project is about the design of cryptographic schemes that are secure even if implemented on not-secure devices. The motivation for this problem comes from an observation that most of the real-life attacks on cryptographic devices do not break their mathematical foundations, but exploit vulnerabilities of their implementations. This concerns both the cryptographic software executed on PCs (that can be attacked by viruses), and the implementations on hardware (that can be subject to the side-channel attacks). Traditionally fixing this problem was left to the practitioners, since it was a common belief that theory cannot be of any help here. However, new exciting results in cryptography suggest that this view was too pessimistic: there exist methods to design cryptographic protocols in such a way that they are secure even if the hardware on which they are executed cannot be fully trusted. The goal of this project is to investigate these methods further, unify them in a solid mathematical theory (many of them were developed independently), and propose new ideas in this area. The project will be mostly theoretical (although some practical experiments may be performed). Our main interest lies within the theory of private circuits, bounded-retrieval model, physically-observable cryptography, and human-assisted cryptography. We view these theories just as the departing points, since the area is very fresh and we expect to soon witness completely new ideas in this field.
This project is about the design of cryptographic schemes that are secure even if implemented on not-secure devices. The motivation for this problem comes from an observation that most of the real-life attacks on cryptographic devices do not break their mathematical foundations, but exploit vulnerabilities of their implementations. This concerns both the cryptographic software executed on PCs (that can be attacked by viruses), and the implementations on hardware (that can be subject to the side-channel attacks). Traditionally fixing this problem was left to the practitioners, since it was a common belief that theory cannot be of any help here. However, new exciting results in cryptography suggest that this view was too pessimistic: there exist methods to design cryptographic protocols in such a way that they are secure even if the hardware on which they are executed cannot be fully trusted. The goal of this project is to investigate these methods further, unify them in a solid mathematical theory (many of them were developed independently), and propose new ideas in this area. The project will be mostly theoretical (although some practical experiments may be performed). Our main interest lies within the theory of private circuits, bounded-retrieval model, physically-observable cryptography, and human-assisted cryptography. We view these theories just as the departing points, since the area is very fresh and we expect to soon witness completely new ideas in this field.
Project acronym CULTURECONTACT
Project Europe and America in contact: a multidisciplinary study of cross-cultural transfer in the New World across time
Researcher (PI) Justyna Agnieszka Olko
Summary "At the core of this research proposal is the aim of reconstructing and understanding the nature, exact trajectories, mechanisms and implications of cross-cultural contact and transfers between Europeans and the native people of the Americas, focusing on, but not limited to, the Nahuatl-speaking zone of central Mexico. A major innovation of this project is to study this process of cross-cultural communication in its full historical depth, through the colonial and postcolonial eras up to the present day and encompassing different stages and types of contact. The meticulous and cross-disciplinary study of an extensive body of texts in Nahuatl ("Aztec") and Spanish, complemented by present-day ethnolinguistic data, will make it possible to deduce and understand patterns across time and space in ways novel to existing scholarship, embracing both micro- and macroregional trends. The proposed research starts with identifying transfers in language, studied systematically through the creation of extensive databases, but leads to exploring the substance of cross-cultural transfer and the essence of developments, becoming a fundamental way of studying culture and its transformations. Thus, an important aim is the correlation of language phenomena with more general contact-induced culture change, including especially evolving forms of political, social and municipal organization in the native world, where the change is more salient. Breaking existing disciplinary boundaries in the humanities, the project embraces both indigenous and European perspectives, assuming that the innovation of studying both sides in a single framework and in the proposed time span is particularly promising in dealing with a notably two-sided, prolonged historical process. The complementary lines of research, native and Spanish, are expected to highlight and make understandable factors underlying and facilitating cultural convergence between them in different aspects of colonial life and beyond."
"At the core of this research proposal is the aim of reconstructing and understanding the nature, exact trajectories, mechanisms and implications of cross-cultural contact and transfers between Europeans and the native people of the Americas, focusing on, but not limited to, the Nahuatl-speaking zone of central Mexico. A major innovation of this project is to study this process of cross-cultural communication in its full historical depth, through the colonial and postcolonial eras up to the present day and encompassing different stages and types of contact. The meticulous and cross-disciplinary study of an extensive body of texts in Nahuatl ("Aztec") and Spanish, complemented by present-day ethnolinguistic data, will make it possible to deduce and understand patterns across time and space in ways novel to existing scholarship, embracing both micro- and macroregional trends. The proposed research starts with identifying transfers in language, studied systematically through the creation of extensive databases, but leads to exploring the substance of cross-cultural transfer and the essence of developments, becoming a fundamental way of studying culture and its transformations. Thus, an important aim is the correlation of language phenomena with more general contact-induced culture change, including especially evolving forms of political, social and municipal organization in the native world, where the change is more salient. Breaking existing disciplinary boundaries in the humanities, the project embraces both indigenous and European perspectives, assuming that the innovation of studying both sides in a single framework and in the proposed time span is particularly promising in dealing with a notably two-sided, prolonged historical process. The complementary lines of research, native and Spanish, are expected to highlight and make understandable factors underlying and facilitating cultural convergence between them in different aspects of colonial life and beyond."
Project acronym CUTACOMBS
Project Cuts and decompositions: algorithms and combinatorial properties
Researcher (PI) Marcin PILIPCZUK
Summary In this proposal we plan to extend mathematical foundations of algorithms for various variants of the minimum cut problem within theoretical computer science. Recent advances in understanding the structure of small cuts and tractability of cut problems resulted in a mature algorithmic toolbox for undirected graphs under the paradigm of parameterized complexity. In this position, we now aim at a full understanding of the tractability of cut problems in the more challenging case of directed graphs, and see opportunities to apply the aforementioned successful structural approach to advance on major open problems in other paradigms in theoretical computer science. The specific goals of the project are grouped in the following three themes. Directed graphs. Chart the parameterized complexity of graph separation problems in directed graphs and provide a fixed-parameter tractability toolbox, equally deep as the one in undirected graphs. Provide tractability foundations for routing problems in directed graphs, such as the disjoint paths problem with symmetric demands. Planar graphs. Resolve main open problems with respect to network design and graph separation problems in planar graphs under the following three paradigms: parameterized complexity, approximation schemes, and cut/flow/distance sparsifiers. Recently discovered connections uncover significant potential in synergy between these three algorithmic approaches. Tree decompositions. Show improved tractability of graph isomorphism testing in sparse graph classes. Combine the algorithmic toolbox of parameterized complexity with the theory of minimal triangulations to advance our knowledge in structural graph theory, both pure (focused on the Erdos-Hajnal conjecture) and algorithmic (focused on the tractability of Maximum Independent Set and 3-Coloring).
In this proposal we plan to extend mathematical foundations of algorithms for various variants of the minimum cut problem within theoretical computer science. Recent advances in understanding the structure of small cuts and tractability of cut problems resulted in a mature algorithmic toolbox for undirected graphs under the paradigm of parameterized complexity. In this position, we now aim at a full understanding of the tractability of cut problems in the more challenging case of directed graphs, and see opportunities to apply the aforementioned successful structural approach to advance on major open problems in other paradigms in theoretical computer science. The specific goals of the project are grouped in the following three themes. Directed graphs. Chart the parameterized complexity of graph separation problems in directed graphs and provide a fixed-parameter tractability toolbox, equally deep as the one in undirected graphs. Provide tractability foundations for routing problems in directed graphs, such as the disjoint paths problem with symmetric demands. Planar graphs. Resolve main open problems with respect to network design and graph separation problems in planar graphs under the following three paradigms: parameterized complexity, approximation schemes, and cut/flow/distance sparsifiers. Recently discovered connections uncover significant potential in synergy between these three algorithmic approaches. Tree decompositions. Show improved tractability of graph isomorphism testing in sparse graph classes. Combine the algorithmic toolbox of parameterized complexity with the theory of minimal triangulations to advance our knowledge in structural graph theory, both pure (focused on the Erdos-Hajnal conjecture) and algorithmic (focused on the tractability of Maximum Independent Set and 3-Coloring).
Project acronym FIELDS-KNOTS
Project Quantum fields and knot homologies
Researcher (PI) Piotr Sulkowski
Summary This project is concerned with fundamental problems arising at the interface of quantum field theory, knot theory, and the theory of random matrices. The main aim of the project is to understand two of the most profound phenomena in physics and mathematics, namely quantization and categorification, and to establish an explicit and rigorous framework where they come into play in an interrelated fashion. The project and its aims focus on the following areas: - Knot homologies and superpolynomials. The aim of the project in this area is to determine homological knot invariants and to derive an explicit form of colored superpolynomials for a large class of knots and links. - Super-A-polynomial. The aim of the project in this area is to develop a theory of the super-A-polynomial, to find an explicit form of the super-A-polynomial for a large class of knots, and to understand its properties. - Three-dimensional supersymmetric N=2 theories. This project aims to find and understand dualities between theories in this class, in particular theories related to knots by 3d-3d duality, and to generalize this duality to the level of homological knot invariants. - Topological recursion and quantization. The project aims to develop a quantization procedure based on the topological recursion, to demonstrate its consistency with knot-theoretic quantization of A-polynomials, and to generalize this quantization scheme to super-A-polynomials. All these research areas are connected via remarkable dualities unraveled very recently by physicists and mathematicians. The project is interdisciplinary and aims to reach the above goals by taking advantage of these dualities, and through simultaneous and complementary development in quantum field theory, knot theory, and random matrix theory, in collaboration with renowned experts in each of those fields.
This project is concerned with fundamental problems arising at the interface of quantum field theory, knot theory, and the theory of random matrices. The main aim of the project is to understand two of the most profound phenomena in physics and mathematics, namely quantization and categorification, and to establish an explicit and rigorous framework where they come into play in an interrelated fashion. The project and its aims focus on the following areas: - Knot homologies and superpolynomials. The aim of the project in this area is to determine homological knot invariants and to derive an explicit form of colored superpolynomials for a large class of knots and links. - Super-A-polynomial. The aim of the project in this area is to develop a theory of the super-A-polynomial, to find an explicit form of the super-A-polynomial for a large class of knots, and to understand its properties. - Three-dimensional supersymmetric N=2 theories. This project aims to find and understand dualities between theories in this class, in particular theories related to knots by 3d-3d duality, and to generalize this duality to the level of homological knot invariants. - Topological recursion and quantization. The project aims to develop a quantization procedure based on the topological recursion, to demonstrate its consistency with knot-theoretic quantization of A-polynomials, and to generalize this quantization scheme to super-A-polynomials. All these research areas are connected via remarkable dualities unraveled very recently by physicists and mathematicians. The project is interdisciplinary and aims to reach the above goals by taking advantage of these dualities, and through simultaneous and complementary development in quantum field theory, knot theory, and random matrix theory, in collaboration with renowned experts in each of those fields.
Project acronym IMMOCAP
Project 'If immortality unveil…'– development of the novel types of energy storage systems with excellent long-term performance
Researcher (PI) Krzysztof FIC
Host Institution (HI) POLITECHNIKA POZNANSKA
Summary The major goal of the project is to develop a novel type of an electrochemical capacitor with high specific power (up to 5 kW/kg) and energy (up to 20 Wh/kg) preserved along at least 50 000 cycles. Thus, completion of the project will result in remarkable enhancement of specific energy, power and life time of modern electrochemical capacitors. Advanced electrochemical testing (galvanostatic cycling with constant power loads, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, accelerated aging and kinetic tests) will be accompanied by materials design and detailed characterization. Moreover, the project aims at the implementation of novel concepts of the electrolytes and designing of new operando technique for capacitor characterization. All these efforts aim at the development of sustainable and efficient energy conversion and storage system.
The major goal of the project is to develop a novel type of an electrochemical capacitor with high specific power (up to 5 kW/kg) and energy (up to 20 Wh/kg) preserved along at least 50 000 cycles. Thus, completion of the project will result in remarkable enhancement of specific energy, power and life time of modern electrochemical capacitors. Advanced electrochemical testing (galvanostatic cycling with constant power loads, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, accelerated aging and kinetic tests) will be accompanied by materials design and detailed characterization. Moreover, the project aims at the implementation of novel concepts of the electrolytes and designing of new operando technique for capacitor characterization. All these efforts aim at the development of sustainable and efficient energy conversion and storage system.
Project acronym INDEX
Project Rigidity of groups and higher index theory
Researcher (PI) Piotr Wojciech Nowak
Host Institution (HI) INSTYTUT MATEMATYCZNY POLSKIEJ AKADEMII NAUK
Summary The Atiyah-Singer index theorem was one of the most spectacular achievements of mathematics in the XXth century, connecting the analytic and topological properties of manifolds. The Baum-Connes conjecture is a hugely successful approach to generalizing the index theorem to a much broader setting. It has remarkable applications in topology and analysis. For instance, it implies the Novikov conjecture on the homotopy invariance of higher signatures of a closed manifold and the Kaplansky-Kadison conjecture on the existence of non-trivial idempotents in the reduced group C*-algebra of a torsion-free group. At present, the Baum-Connes conjecture is known to hold for a large class of groups, including groups admitting metrically proper isometric actions on Hilbert spaces and Gromov hyperbolic groups. The Baum-Connes conjecture with certain coefficients is known to fail for a class of groups, whose Cayley graphs contain coarsely embedded expander graphs. Nevertheless, the conjecture in full generality remains open and there is a growing need for new examples of groups and group actions, that would be counterexamples to the Baum-Connes conjecture. The main objective of this project is to exhibit such examples. Our approach relies on strengthening Kazhdan's property (T), a prominent cohomological rigidity property, from its original setting of Hilbert spaces to much larger classes of Banach spaces. Such properties are an emerging direction in the study of cohomological rigidity and are not yet well-understood. They lie at the intersection of geometric group theory, non-commutative geometry and index theory. In their study we will implement novel approaches, combining geometric and analytic techniques with variety of new cohomological constructions.
The Atiyah-Singer index theorem was one of the most spectacular achievements of mathematics in the XXth century, connecting the analytic and topological properties of manifolds. The Baum-Connes conjecture is a hugely successful approach to generalizing the index theorem to a much broader setting. It has remarkable applications in topology and analysis. For instance, it implies the Novikov conjecture on the homotopy invariance of higher signatures of a closed manifold and the Kaplansky-Kadison conjecture on the existence of non-trivial idempotents in the reduced group C*-algebra of a torsion-free group. At present, the Baum-Connes conjecture is known to hold for a large class of groups, including groups admitting metrically proper isometric actions on Hilbert spaces and Gromov hyperbolic groups. The Baum-Connes conjecture with certain coefficients is known to fail for a class of groups, whose Cayley graphs contain coarsely embedded expander graphs. Nevertheless, the conjecture in full generality remains open and there is a growing need for new examples of groups and group actions, that would be counterexamples to the Baum-Connes conjecture. The main objective of this project is to exhibit such examples. Our approach relies on strengthening Kazhdan's property (T), a prominent cohomological rigidity property, from its original setting of Hilbert spaces to much larger classes of Banach spaces. Such properties are an emerging direction in the study of cohomological rigidity and are not yet well-understood. They lie at the intersection of geometric group theory, non-commutative geometry and index theory. In their study we will implement novel approaches, combining geometric and analytic techniques with variety of new cohomological constructions.
Project acronym KAPIBARA
Project Homotopy Theory of Algebraic Varieties and Wild Ramification
Researcher (PI) Piotr ACHINGER
Summary The aim of the proposed research is to study the homotopy theory of algebraic varieties and other algebraically defined geometric objects, especially over fields other than the complex numbers. A noticeable emphasis will be put on fundamental groups and on K(pi, 1) spaces, which serve as building blocks for more complicated objects. The most important source of both motivation and methodology is my recent discovery of the K(pi, 1) property of affine schemes in positive characteristic and its relation to wild ramification phenomena. The central goal is the study of etale homotopy types in positive characteristic, where we hope to use the aforementioned discovery to yield new results beyond the affine case and a better understanding of the fundamental group of affine schemes. The latter goal is closely tied to Grothendieck's anabelian geometry program, which we would like to extend beyond its usual scope of hyperbolic curves. There are two bridges going out of this central point. The first is the analogy between wild ramification and irregular singularities of algebraic integrable connections, which prompts us to translate our results to the latter setting, and to define a wild homotopy type whose fundamental group encodes the category of connections. The second bridge is the theory of perfectoid spaces, allowing one to pass between characteristic p and p-adic geometry, which we plan to use to shed some new light on the homotopy theory of adic spaces. At the same time, we address the related question: when is the universal cover of a p-adic variety a perfectoid space? We expect a connection between this question and the Shafarevich conjecture and varieties with large fundamental group. The last part of the project deals with varieties over the field of formal Laurent series over C, where we want to construct a Betti homotopy realization using logarithmic geometry. The need for such a construction is motivated by certain questions in mirror symmetry.
The aim of the proposed research is to study the homotopy theory of algebraic varieties and other algebraically defined geometric objects, especially over fields other than the complex numbers. A noticeable emphasis will be put on fundamental groups and on K(pi, 1) spaces, which serve as building blocks for more complicated objects. The most important source of both motivation and methodology is my recent discovery of the K(pi, 1) property of affine schemes in positive characteristic and its relation to wild ramification phenomena. The central goal is the study of etale homotopy types in positive characteristic, where we hope to use the aforementioned discovery to yield new results beyond the affine case and a better understanding of the fundamental group of affine schemes. The latter goal is closely tied to Grothendieck's anabelian geometry program, which we would like to extend beyond its usual scope of hyperbolic curves. There are two bridges going out of this central point. The first is the analogy between wild ramification and irregular singularities of algebraic integrable connections, which prompts us to translate our results to the latter setting, and to define a wild homotopy type whose fundamental group encodes the category of connections. The second bridge is the theory of perfectoid spaces, allowing one to pass between characteristic p and p-adic geometry, which we plan to use to shed some new light on the homotopy theory of adic spaces. At the same time, we address the related question: when is the universal cover of a p-adic variety a perfectoid space? We expect a connection between this question and the Shafarevich conjecture and varieties with large fundamental group. The last part of the project deals with varieties over the field of formal Laurent series over C, where we want to construct a Betti homotopy realization using logarithmic geometry. The need for such a construction is motivated by certain questions in mirror symmetry.
Project acronym KaraimBible
Project (Re)constructing a Bible. A new approach to unedited Biblical manuscripts as sources for the early history of the Karaim language
Researcher (PI) Michal NÉMETH
Summary Eastern European Karaims are the sole representatives of Karaite Judaism in Europe. Their native tongue is a severely endangered Turkic vernacular listed on the UNESCO Atlas of the Worlds' Languages in Danger. Due to many historical events, including World War II and the Soviet era, the cultural heritage of this intriguing ethnic minority suffered great losses. At the same time, since its investigation requires a rare combination of unique linguistic and palaeographic skills merely a fraction of its surviving written heritage has entered scholarly circulation. In particular, no comprehensive edition of the Karaim Hebrew Bible exists, even though nearly 100 Karaim Biblical texts have been discovered to date. The project will construct a digital edition of the entire Karaim Bible, almost exclusively based on unedited texts in Hebrew script (15th–20th cc). It will be used as a tool to deliver the first linguistic and palaeographic descriptions of the oldest, still unedited records of Karaim as well as reconstruct the way in which the Karaim Bible was created. Combining traditional and computer-aided research methods will provide essential data on the early history of the Karaim language and ethnicity. The edition will be a highly complex instrument interconnected with a dictionary, which is an absolute novelty in the field. The edition will contain the first ever comprehensive Karaim translation intelligible to present-day native-speakers. The texts will be treated according to the principles of textual criticism and translated into English. If permitted, facsimiles will be provided. One exciting aspect of the enterprise is that it will offer a virtual unification of the Karaim translations of one of the most important and influential works in world literature. Such a task is of fundamental importance and is crucial to sustaining an endangered culture, given that an awareness of the oldest Bible translations is an important component of European national identities.
Eastern European Karaims are the sole representatives of Karaite Judaism in Europe. Their native tongue is a severely endangered Turkic vernacular listed on the UNESCO Atlas of the Worlds' Languages in Danger. Due to many historical events, including World War II and the Soviet era, the cultural heritage of this intriguing ethnic minority suffered great losses. At the same time, since its investigation requires a rare combination of unique linguistic and palaeographic skills merely a fraction of its surviving written heritage has entered scholarly circulation. In particular, no comprehensive edition of the Karaim Hebrew Bible exists, even though nearly 100 Karaim Biblical texts have been discovered to date. The project will construct a digital edition of the entire Karaim Bible, almost exclusively based on unedited texts in Hebrew script (15th–20th cc). It will be used as a tool to deliver the first linguistic and palaeographic descriptions of the oldest, still unedited records of Karaim as well as reconstruct the way in which the Karaim Bible was created. Combining traditional and computer-aided research methods will provide essential data on the early history of the Karaim language and ethnicity. The edition will be a highly complex instrument interconnected with a dictionary, which is an absolute novelty in the field. The edition will contain the first ever comprehensive Karaim translation intelligible to present-day native-speakers. The texts will be treated according to the principles of textual criticism and translated into English. If permitted, facsimiles will be provided. One exciting aspect of the enterprise is that it will offer a virtual unification of the Karaim translations of one of the most important and influential works in world literature. Such a task is of fundamental importance and is crucial to sustaining an endangered culture, given that an awareness of the oldest Bible translations is an important component of European national identities.
Project acronym McHAP
Project Entrapment of Hypoxic Cancer by Macrophages Loaded with HAP
Researcher (PI) Magdalena KROL
Host Institution (HI) SZKOLA GLOWNA GOSPODARSTWA WIEJSKIEGO
Summary The proposed project seeks to open a new research front within the field of drug delivery to the solid tumours. Unsatisfactory response of tumours to chemotherapy is mainly related to impaired diffusion of the anticancer drug because of decreased drug uptake due to poor vasculature. Moreover, the drug is not able to penetrate the most hypoxic sites. Cells from these 'untreated' sites are responsible for relapse and metastasis. However, these avascular regions attract macrophages that migrate even to areas far away from blood vessels. Therefore, they might constitute a unique delivery system of drug containing particles to these parts of the tumour mass. A promising example of such particles that could be used are ferritins, whose caged architecture allows for efficient drug encapsulation and whose uptake from macrophage cells has been well demonstrated. My recent ground breaking finding was that macrophages are also able to specifically and actively transfer these taken up ferritins (loaded with the compound of choice) to cancer cells. Thus, these preliminary results indicate the possibility to use macrophages to deliver ferritin encapsulated compounds directly to the tumour cells even in its hypoxic areas. Then, the use of hypoxia-activated prodrugs (HAP) which are selectively activated only in hypoxic regions will be exploited in order to make cancer therapy safer. However, the molecular mechanism of ferritin uptake by macrophages, their storage, and transport to the cancer cells represent key issues to be investigated and pave the way to the experimental design of the present project. In the present project, we will develop and characterize a completely new and modern approach to anticancer therapy and drug delivery. As such we expect to be able to precisely administer drugs to the tumour site (even to the hypoxic regions) where it is activated by tumour-specific conditions, avoiding side effects of anticancer therapy.
The proposed project seeks to open a new research front within the field of drug delivery to the solid tumours. Unsatisfactory response of tumours to chemotherapy is mainly related to impaired diffusion of the anticancer drug because of decreased drug uptake due to poor vasculature. Moreover, the drug is not able to penetrate the most hypoxic sites. Cells from these 'untreated' sites are responsible for relapse and metastasis. However, these avascular regions attract macrophages that migrate even to areas far away from blood vessels. Therefore, they might constitute a unique delivery system of drug containing particles to these parts of the tumour mass. A promising example of such particles that could be used are ferritins, whose caged architecture allows for efficient drug encapsulation and whose uptake from macrophage cells has been well demonstrated. My recent ground breaking finding was that macrophages are also able to specifically and actively transfer these taken up ferritins (loaded with the compound of choice) to cancer cells. Thus, these preliminary results indicate the possibility to use macrophages to deliver ferritin encapsulated compounds directly to the tumour cells even in its hypoxic areas. Then, the use of hypoxia-activated prodrugs (HAP) which are selectively activated only in hypoxic regions will be exploited in order to make cancer therapy safer. However, the molecular mechanism of ferritin uptake by macrophages, their storage, and transport to the cancer cells represent key issues to be investigated and pave the way to the experimental design of the present project. In the present project, we will develop and characterize a completely new and modern approach to anticancer therapy and drug delivery. As such we expect to be able to precisely administer drugs to the tumour site (even to the hypoxic regions) where it is activated by tumour-specific conditions, avoiding side effects of anticancer therapy.
Project acronym microCODE
Project Microfluidic Combinatorial On Demand Systems: a Platform for High-Throughput Screening in Chemistry and Biotechnology
Researcher (PI) Piotr Garstecki
Host Institution (HI) INSTYTUT CHEMII FIZYCZNEJ POLSKIEJ AKADEMII NAUK
Summary This proposal addresses an important opportunity in the rapidly developing art of microfluidics. On one hand vast expertise is available on automation of single phase flows via microvalves or electrokinetics and on flow of drops on planar electrodes. These systems are perfectly suited for a range of applications but are inherently inefficient in handling massively large numbers of processes due to correspondingly large number of input/output controls that at best scales logarithmically in the number of processes. On the other hand conducting reactions in thousands micro droplets embodies many of the most acclaimed promises of microfluidics – ultra-miniaturisation, speed, rapid mixing and extensive control of physical conditions. Demonstrations of incubation of cells, in-vitro translation and directed evolution confirm that these techniques can reduce the cost and time of existing processes by orders of magnitude. Droplet microfluidics is at the moment, however, almost (except sorting) completely passive. We recently demonstrated the use of external valves to automate formation and motion of droplets on simple disposable chips and screening up to 10000 compositions per hour. We propose to develop externally controlled programmable modules for i) multiplexed, on-demand generation of multiple emulsions, ii) aspiration of libraries of samples and multiplexing linear libraries into full cross matrices, iii) splitting drops into two, few and large numbers (e.g. 10000) drops, iv) optical monitoring of presence and content of droplets, v) counting cells inside the drops, vi) circulating drops, vii) titration, viii) holding paramagnetic beads in drops. Our design rules will allow to integrate these modules into externally controlled systems for research on i) combinatorial synthesis, ii) material science, iii) role of noise in metabolic networks, iv) evolution of bacteria, v) inexpensive multiplexed diagnostics systems, including cytometry, PCR and ELISA assays in drops.
This proposal addresses an important opportunity in the rapidly developing art of microfluidics. On one hand vast expertise is available on automation of single phase flows via microvalves or electrokinetics and on flow of drops on planar electrodes. These systems are perfectly suited for a range of applications but are inherently inefficient in handling massively large numbers of processes due to correspondingly large number of input/output controls that at best scales logarithmically in the number of processes. On the other hand conducting reactions in thousands micro droplets embodies many of the most acclaimed promises of microfluidics – ultra-miniaturisation, speed, rapid mixing and extensive control of physical conditions. Demonstrations of incubation of cells, in-vitro translation and directed evolution confirm that these techniques can reduce the cost and time of existing processes by orders of magnitude. Droplet microfluidics is at the moment, however, almost (except sorting) completely passive. We recently demonstrated the use of external valves to automate formation and motion of droplets on simple disposable chips and screening up to 10000 compositions per hour. We propose to develop externally controlled programmable modules for i) multiplexed, on-demand generation of multiple emulsions, ii) aspiration of libraries of samples and multiplexing linear libraries into full cross matrices, iii) splitting drops into two, few and large numbers (e.g. 10000) drops, iv) optical monitoring of presence and content of droplets, v) counting cells inside the drops, vi) circulating drops, vii) titration, viii) holding paramagnetic beads in drops. Our design rules will allow to integrate these modules into externally controlled systems for research on i) combinatorial synthesis, ii) material science, iii) role of noise in metabolic networks, iv) evolution of bacteria, v) inexpensive multiplexed diagnostics systems, including cytometry, PCR and ELISA assays in drops.
Project acronym NERCOMP
Project Structural studies of Nucleotide Excision Repair complexes
Researcher (PI) Marcin Nowotny
Host Institution (HI) INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MOLECULAR AND CELL BIOLOGY
Summary "DNA damage caused by chemical and physical factors can lead to detrimental effects to the cell and must be corrected. One of the primary pathways to achieve this repair is nucleotide excision repair (NER). In NER, the DNA damage is first located, a stretch of bases harboring the lesion is removed, and the gap is filled by a DNA polymerase. The unique feature of NER is its ability to correct a wide spectrum of DNA modifications of different sizes and chemical structures. The aim of the project is to structurally and biochemically characterize protein complexes involved in NER pathways in bacteria and eukaryotes. In bacterial NER, a complex of UvrA and UvrB proteins locates the damage and verifies its presence. In the first part of the project we plan to determine the crystal and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) structures of a UvrA-UvrB-DNA complex to elucidate the details of the mechanism of the first steps of bacterial NER. In eukaryotic NER, the 3′ incision is executed by XPG/Rad2 protein. Currently, no structural information is available for this protein. In the second part of the project, we plan to solve the crystal structures of XPG/Rad2 nuclease in apo form and in complex with the DNA substrate to elucidate the mechanism of the 3′ cut. We also plan to determine the structure of XPG/Rad2 in complex with the XPG/Rad2-binding domain from the p62 component of TFIIH, which will be an important building block for the determination of the architecture of the eukaryotic NER pre-incision complex. The third part of the project will elucidate the structure and mechanism of the Rad16-Rad7 yeast NER complex. It is implicated in numerous stages of NER, from damage detection to ubiquitination of other NER components. We plan to solve the crystal structures of the Rad16-Rad7 alone and in complexes with DNA or partner protein Abf1 to elucidate the mechanisms of various activities of Rad16-Rad7 and help design experiments that could test the in vivo function of this complex."
"DNA damage caused by chemical and physical factors can lead to detrimental effects to the cell and must be corrected. One of the primary pathways to achieve this repair is nucleotide excision repair (NER). In NER, the DNA damage is first located, a stretch of bases harboring the lesion is removed, and the gap is filled by a DNA polymerase. The unique feature of NER is its ability to correct a wide spectrum of DNA modifications of different sizes and chemical structures. The aim of the project is to structurally and biochemically characterize protein complexes involved in NER pathways in bacteria and eukaryotes. In bacterial NER, a complex of UvrA and UvrB proteins locates the damage and verifies its presence. In the first part of the project we plan to determine the crystal and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) structures of a UvrA-UvrB-DNA complex to elucidate the details of the mechanism of the first steps of bacterial NER. In eukaryotic NER, the 3′ incision is executed by XPG/Rad2 protein. Currently, no structural information is available for this protein. In the second part of the project, we plan to solve the crystal structures of XPG/Rad2 nuclease in apo form and in complex with the DNA substrate to elucidate the mechanism of the 3′ cut. We also plan to determine the structure of XPG/Rad2 in complex with the XPG/Rad2-binding domain from the p62 component of TFIIH, which will be an important building block for the determination of the architecture of the eukaryotic NER pre-incision complex. The third part of the project will elucidate the structure and mechanism of the Rad16-Rad7 yeast NER complex. It is implicated in numerous stages of NER, from damage detection to ubiquitination of other NER components. We plan to solve the crystal structures of the Rad16-Rad7 alone and in complexes with DNA or partner protein Abf1 to elucidate the mechanisms of various activities of Rad16-Rad7 and help design experiments that could test the in vivo function of this complex."
Project acronym PAAL
Project Practical Approximation Algorithms
Researcher (PI) Piotr Sankowski
Summary The goal of this proposal is the development and study of practical approximation algorithms. We will base our study on theoretical models that can describe requirements for algorithms that make them practically efficient. We plan to develop an efficient and useful programming library of approximation algorithms. Our research on approximation algorithms will be concentrated on two main topics: - multi-problem optimization, when the solution has to be composed out of different problems that need to interact, - interplay between regular and random structure of network that could allow construction of good approximation algorithms. The above concepts try to capture the notion of effective algorithms. It has to be underlined that they were not studied before. The practical importance of these problems will be verified by the accompanying work on generic programming concepts for approximation algorithms. These concepts will form the basis of universal library that will include Web algorithms and algorithms for physical applications.
The goal of this proposal is the development and study of practical approximation algorithms. We will base our study on theoretical models that can describe requirements for algorithms that make them practically efficient. We plan to develop an efficient and useful programming library of approximation algorithms. Our research on approximation algorithms will be concentrated on two main topics: - multi-problem optimization, when the solution has to be composed out of different problems that need to interact, - interplay between regular and random structure of network that could allow construction of good approximation algorithms. The above concepts try to capture the notion of effective algorithms. It has to be underlined that they were not studied before. The practical importance of these problems will be verified by the accompanying work on generic programming concepts for approximation algorithms. These concepts will form the basis of universal library that will include Web algorithms and algorithms for physical applications.
Project acronym PAPS&PUPS
Project Regulation of Gene Expression by non-canonical poly(A) and poly(U) polymerases
Researcher (PI) Andrzej Dziembowski
Host Institution (HI) INSTYTUT BIOCHEMII I BIOFIZYKI POLSKIEJ AKADEMII NAUK
Summary In eukaryotes, almost all RNA molecules are processed at their 3' ends and most mRNAs are polyadenylated in the nucleus by canonical poly(A) polymerases (PAPs). Recently, several new non-canonical poly(A) (ncPAPs) and poly(U) polymerases (PUPs) have been discovered that have more specific regulatory roles. In contrast to canonical ones, their functions are more diverse; some induce RNA decay while others, especially cytoplasmic ncPAPs, activate translationally dormant deadenylated mRNAs. Knowledge about ncPAPs and PUPs is very scarce and there are crucial questions about their functions that need to be addressed. The project has 3 parts: 1) Functional analysis of FAM46 proteins, which, according to our preliminary data, constitute a new family of active poly(A) polymerases. FAM46C is frequently mutated in myelomas and mutations in its mouse orthologue cause anaemia, thus demonstrating important biological functions of this unexplored family of proteins. 2) Elucidation of the functions of all known vertebrate ncPAPs and PUPs (7 previously known and 4 members of FAM46 family) using the chicken DT40 cell line as a model system. DT40 has an exceptionally high rate of homologous recombination, allowing easy gene targeting and generation of multiple knockouts that facilitate the study of proteins with overlapping functions. 3) Cytoplasmic polyadenylation of dormant mRNA molecules activates translation in neurons, gametes and reticulocytes. In neurons, it occurs in axons and dendrites following synaptic stimulation while in oocytes, it is induced by progesterone. The exact impact on gene expression is not well defined due to a lack of technologies identifying cytoplasmically polyadenylated transcripts. We will develop a novel detection method for ongoing RNA polyadenylation to assess the biological significance of cytoplasmic polyadenylation. This part of the project will be developed using mouse synaptoneurosomes and then transferred to reticulocytes and possibly oocytes.
In eukaryotes, almost all RNA molecules are processed at their 3' ends and most mRNAs are polyadenylated in the nucleus by canonical poly(A) polymerases (PAPs). Recently, several new non-canonical poly(A) (ncPAPs) and poly(U) polymerases (PUPs) have been discovered that have more specific regulatory roles. In contrast to canonical ones, their functions are more diverse; some induce RNA decay while others, especially cytoplasmic ncPAPs, activate translationally dormant deadenylated mRNAs. Knowledge about ncPAPs and PUPs is very scarce and there are crucial questions about their functions that need to be addressed. The project has 3 parts: 1) Functional analysis of FAM46 proteins, which, according to our preliminary data, constitute a new family of active poly(A) polymerases. FAM46C is frequently mutated in myelomas and mutations in its mouse orthologue cause anaemia, thus demonstrating important biological functions of this unexplored family of proteins. 2) Elucidation of the functions of all known vertebrate ncPAPs and PUPs (7 previously known and 4 members of FAM46 family) using the chicken DT40 cell line as a model system. DT40 has an exceptionally high rate of homologous recombination, allowing easy gene targeting and generation of multiple knockouts that facilitate the study of proteins with overlapping functions. 3) Cytoplasmic polyadenylation of dormant mRNA molecules activates translation in neurons, gametes and reticulocytes. In neurons, it occurs in axons and dendrites following synaptic stimulation while in oocytes, it is induced by progesterone. The exact impact on gene expression is not well defined due to a lack of technologies identifying cytoplasmically polyadenylated transcripts. We will develop a novel detection method for ongoing RNA polyadenylation to assess the biological significance of cytoplasmic polyadenylation. This part of the project will be developed using mouse synaptoneurosomes and then transferred to reticulocytes and possibly oocytes.
Project acronym PGPE
Project Public Goods through Private Eyes. Exploring Citizens' Attitudes to Public Goods and the State in Central Eastern Europe
Researcher (PI) Natalia Garner
Summary Post-communist states of Central and Eastern Europe form a particularly challenging context for public goods production, due to the communist legacies as well as experiences of transformation. Drawing on theory and research available in political science, sociology and economics, this multi-disciplinary, comparative project will formulate and test an extensive model of public goods oriented behaviour and its determinants in the context of post-communist countries of CEE. The key objectives of this proposed project are to: (i) design and execute a full-scale cross-national survey on the determinants of public's attitudes and behaviour towards public goods; and (ii) combine these data with a wider range of existing indicators, relating to institutional design, social changes, political and economic reforms as well as historical legacies, in the context of post-communist Central Eastern Europe. Its fundamental aim, therefore, is to generate knowledge on the key determinants of democratic governance and democratic deepening in new democracies. This knowledge will allow to understand how citizens and governments of transition countries can work together towards a greater social, political, economic and environmental sustainability.
Post-communist states of Central and Eastern Europe form a particularly challenging context for public goods production, due to the communist legacies as well as experiences of transformation. Drawing on theory and research available in political science, sociology and economics, this multi-disciplinary, comparative project will formulate and test an extensive model of public goods oriented behaviour and its determinants in the context of post-communist countries of CEE. The key objectives of this proposed project are to: (i) design and execute a full-scale cross-national survey on the determinants of public's attitudes and behaviour towards public goods; and (ii) combine these data with a wider range of existing indicators, relating to institutional design, social changes, political and economic reforms as well as historical legacies, in the context of post-communist Central Eastern Europe. Its fundamental aim, therefore, is to generate knowledge on the key determinants of democratic governance and democratic deepening in new democracies. This knowledge will allow to understand how citizens and governments of transition countries can work together towards a greater social, political, economic and environmental sustainability.
Project acronym RNA+P=123D
Project Breaking the code of RNA sequence-structure-function relationships: New strategies and tools for modelling and engineering of RNA and RNA-protein complexes
Researcher (PI) Janusz Marek Bujnicki
Summary Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a large class of macromolecules that plays a key role in the communication of biological information between DNA and proteins. RNAs have been also shown to perform enzymatic catalysis. Recently, numerous new RNAs have been identified and shown to perform essential regulatory roles in cells. As with proteins, the function of RNA depends on its structure, which in turn is encoded in the linear sequence. The secondary structure of RNA is defined by canonical base pairs, while the tertiary (3D) structure is formed mostly by non-canonical base pairs that form three-dimensional motifs. RNA is similar to proteins in that the development of methods for 3D structure prediction is absolutely essential to functionally interpret the information encoded in the primary sequence of genes. For proteins there are many freely available methods for automated protein 3D structure prediction that produce reasonably accurate and useful models. There are also methods for objective assessment of the protein model quality. However, there are no such methods for automated 3D structure modelling of RNA. There are only methods for RNA secondary structure prediction and a few methods for manual 3D modelling, but no automated methods for comparative modelling, fold-recognition of RNA, and evaluation of models. Only recently a few methods for de novo folding of RNA appeared, but they can provide useful models only for very short molecules. Recently, inspired by methodology for protein modelling, we have developed prototype tools for both comparative (template-based) and de novo (template-free) modelling of RNA, which allow for building models for very large RNA molecules. These tools will be further optimized and tested. The major goal is to developed tools for RNA modelling to the level of existing protein-modelling methods and to combine RNA and protein-centric methods to allow multiscale modelling of protein-nucleic acid complexes, either with or without the aid of experimental data. This proposal also includes the development of methods for the assessment of model quality and benchmarking of methods. The software tools and the theoretical predictions will be extensively tested (also by experimental verification of models), optimized and applied to biologically and medically relevant RNAs and complexes. In one sentence: The aim of this project is to use bioinformatics and experimental methods to crack the code of sequence-structure relationships in RNA and RNA-protein complexes and to revolutionise the field of RNA & RNP modelling and structure/function analyses.
Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a large class of macromolecules that plays a key role in the communication of biological information between DNA and proteins. RNAs have been also shown to perform enzymatic catalysis. Recently, numerous new RNAs have been identified and shown to perform essential regulatory roles in cells. As with proteins, the function of RNA depends on its structure, which in turn is encoded in the linear sequence. The secondary structure of RNA is defined by canonical base pairs, while the tertiary (3D) structure is formed mostly by non-canonical base pairs that form three-dimensional motifs. RNA is similar to proteins in that the development of methods for 3D structure prediction is absolutely essential to functionally interpret the information encoded in the primary sequence of genes. For proteins there are many freely available methods for automated protein 3D structure prediction that produce reasonably accurate and useful models. There are also methods for objective assessment of the protein model quality. However, there are no such methods for automated 3D structure modelling of RNA. There are only methods for RNA secondary structure prediction and a few methods for manual 3D modelling, but no automated methods for comparative modelling, fold-recognition of RNA, and evaluation of models. Only recently a few methods for de novo folding of RNA appeared, but they can provide useful models only for very short molecules. Recently, inspired by methodology for protein modelling, we have developed prototype tools for both comparative (template-based) and de novo (template-free) modelling of RNA, which allow for building models for very large RNA molecules. These tools will be further optimized and tested. The major goal is to developed tools for RNA modelling to the level of existing protein-modelling methods and to combine RNA and protein-centric methods to allow multiscale modelling of protein-nucleic acid complexes, either with or without the aid of experimental data. This proposal also includes the development of methods for the assessment of model quality and benchmarking of methods. The software tools and the theoretical predictions will be extensively tested (also by experimental verification of models), optimized and applied to biologically and medically relevant RNAs and complexes. In one sentence: The aim of this project is to use bioinformatics and experimental methods to crack the code of sequence-structure relationships in RNA and RNA-protein complexes and to revolutionise the field of RNA & RNP modelling and structure/function analyses.
Project acronym SOSNA
Project Expressive Power of Tree Logics
Researcher (PI) Mikolaj Bojanczyk
Summary Logics for expressing properties of labeled trees and forests figure importantly in several different areas of Computer Science, including verification (branching temporal logics) and database theory (many XML query languages). The goal of this project is to investigate the expressive power of tree logics, mainly those logics that can be captured by tree automata. A similar study, but for word languages, is one of the main lines of research in formal language theory. The study of the expressive power of word logics has lead to many beautiful and fundamental results, including Schutzenberger's characterization of star-free languages, and the Krohn-Rhodes decomposition theorem. We intend to extend this research for trees. The type of questions we want to answer is: what is the expressive power of first-order logic in trees? is there a Krohn-Rhodes decomposition theory for trees? what is a tree group? We expect that our study of tree logics will use algebraic techniques, possibly the setting of forest algebra (as introduced by the principal investigator and Igor Walukiewicz). We would also like to extend the algebraic setting beyond regular languages of finite trees, to e.g. infinite trees, or nonregular languages.
Logics for expressing properties of labeled trees and forests figure importantly in several different areas of Computer Science, including verification (branching temporal logics) and database theory (many XML query languages). The goal of this project is to investigate the expressive power of tree logics, mainly those logics that can be captured by tree automata. A similar study, but for word languages, is one of the main lines of research in formal language theory. The study of the expressive power of word logics has lead to many beautiful and fundamental results, including Schutzenberger's characterization of star-free languages, and the Krohn-Rhodes decomposition theorem. We intend to extend this research for trees. The type of questions we want to answer is: what is the expressive power of first-order logic in trees? is there a Krohn-Rhodes decomposition theory for trees? what is a tree group? We expect that our study of tree logics will use algebraic techniques, possibly the setting of forest algebra (as introduced by the principal investigator and Igor Walukiewicz). We would also like to extend the algebraic setting beyond regular languages of finite trees, to e.g. infinite trees, or nonregular languages.
Project acronym STIMUNO
Project Searching for novel strategies improving cancer immunotherapy
Researcher (PI) Magdalena WINIARSKA
Host Institution (HI) WARSZAWSKI UNIWERSYTET MEDYCZNY
Summary The main goal of this project is to explore new fundamental pathways involved in the regulation of antitumor immune response. Since the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment constitutes a key barrier to effective immunotherapy, our predominant ambition is to characterize novel, hitherto unknown metabolic changes that can support the survival of tumor cells and the escape from the immune surveillance. We have recently discovered a new metabolite within tumor microenvironment with a robust ability to inhibit the activity of immune cells and their potential to kill target tumor cells. Within the project, we plan to corroborate on our preliminary findings in order to establish the role of this factor in mitigating antitumor immune response. To this end, we will determine the level of its production within tumors in murine models. Moreover, we will relate these findings to human data by analysing the immune milieu and the expression of enzymes involved in generation of this metabolic agent in a cohort of cancer patients. We will also investigate the mechanisms by which this factor could perturb the functions of tumor-infiltrating effector cells. Finally, we aspire to use the knowledge gained during the implementation of this project to propose innovative therapeutic solutions. Specifically, we will investigate whether and how the inhibition of selected enzymes involved in the generation of this new metabolic checkpoint can impact on the efficacy of immunotherapeutic agents, including immune checkpoint inhibitors, arginase inhibitors as well as adoptive therapy with CAR-T cells and CAR-NK cells. We strongly believe that by achieving the goals of our project we will make a significant step forward in order to develop and to design cutting-edge therapeutic strategies. These compelling solutions would further improve the efficacy of tumor immunotherapy, thus contributing to a breakthrough advance in cancer treatment.
The main goal of this project is to explore new fundamental pathways involved in the regulation of antitumor immune response. Since the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment constitutes a key barrier to effective immunotherapy, our predominant ambition is to characterize novel, hitherto unknown metabolic changes that can support the survival of tumor cells and the escape from the immune surveillance. We have recently discovered a new metabolite within tumor microenvironment with a robust ability to inhibit the activity of immune cells and their potential to kill target tumor cells. Within the project, we plan to corroborate on our preliminary findings in order to establish the role of this factor in mitigating antitumor immune response. To this end, we will determine the level of its production within tumors in murine models. Moreover, we will relate these findings to human data by analysing the immune milieu and the expression of enzymes involved in generation of this metabolic agent in a cohort of cancer patients. We will also investigate the mechanisms by which this factor could perturb the functions of tumor-infiltrating effector cells. Finally, we aspire to use the knowledge gained during the implementation of this project to propose innovative therapeutic solutions. Specifically, we will investigate whether and how the inhibition of selected enzymes involved in the generation of this new metabolic checkpoint can impact on the efficacy of immunotherapeutic agents, including immune checkpoint inhibitors, arginase inhibitors as well as adoptive therapy with CAR-T cells and CAR-NK cells. We strongly believe that by achieving the goals of our project we will make a significant step forward in order to develop and to design cutting-edge therapeutic strategies. These compelling solutions would further improve the efficacy of tumor immunotherapy, thus contributing to a breakthrough advance in cancer treatment.


text:
EAA is pleased to announce: The Chen Family Scholarship Award
Scholarship Objective: Provide financial support and incentive for students from underrepresented populations to pursue higher education in an AEC-related field.
(AEC = Architecture, Engineering, Construction)
Five $1,000 scholarships will be awarded annually.
Open to students who complete the 2023 Student Impact Project
Plan to pursue an education in Engineering, Architecture or Construction at a 2-year or 4-year college/university or at an accredited trade school
Note: Proof of enrollment required for fund distribution
Submit Application by June 1, 2023 • Winners will be notified by July 1, 2023
Application Opens May 1, 2023
EAA is on social media! Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn to get weekly updates on the program and stay connected to our community.


text:
is a Japanese singer, known for her work on the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack with Yoko Kanno and for her 1980 hit Tasogare.

Early life and solo career
Her career started in 1979 when she participated and won the prize in Yamaha Music Foundation's Cocky Pop, a contest for young singers in Japan. Leading from that she debuted in 1979 with the single . A year later she released her first album, Tasogare (1980). She followed with albums like The Day Before Yesterday (1984), Flying Elephants (1985), Embassy (1986), Woman Tone (1988) and 1958 (1989). She also collaborated with many artists, e.g. in 1993 she worked on project Yamane Mai Kubota Haruo Unit with Haruo Kubota. The same year she began working with Yoko Kanno on anime soundtracks. In 1997 she moved from Tokyo to near Mount Fuji and became an independent musician.

Later career
In 1995 she started playing with New Archaic Smile (NAS), a Japanese band where Mai Yamane was a vocalist. The rest of the band was Mai's sister Eiko Yamane (who also was the vocalist in UGUISS), brother Satoru Yamane and the Sano brothers Satoshi and Atsushi. In 1997 the Futsuu no Uta single was born in collaboration with June Chiki Chikuma. Yamane recorded 3 more albums with New Archaic Smile: Kin no Himo in 2001, Yasashii kimochi in 2003 and Yakitori no uta in 2004.

Yamane has continuously held concerts, such as in 2000 at the Inochi no Matsuri ("Festival of Life") in Nagano, a 2002 Paris concert, at a Global Village event during Expo 2005 in Aichi, and in 2007 at Seoul as a member of the Yoko Kanno team. In 2001 she changed her name from  (Yamane Mai) to  (Yamane Mai). In 2011 she adopted the artist name  and began hosting sessions for workshops and healing.

In 2017, her song "Tasogare" gained attention as the city pop genre got renewed interest, even leading to sampling of it in genres like future funk. In 2019, producer Pierre Bourne and hip hop artists Young Nudy and Playboi Carti used a sample of the song on their unreleased track "Pissy Pamper". A leaked version of the song topped the Spotify US Viral 50 chart before being taken down.

Personal life
In 1996 she married Takao Yamada (山田孝男), a top author on meditation in Japan. For seven years until his death in 2003 she worked as an assistant in his seminars.

Discography

Albums
Tasogare (1980)
Sorry (1981)
Will (1982)
The Day Before Yesterday (1984)
月光浴 (1984)
Flying Elephants (1985)
Embassy (1986)
Best (1987)
Woman Tone (1988)
1958 (1989)
Mai Yamane and Haruo Kubota Unit (1993)
Mai Yamane with New Archaic Smile (1997)
Kin no Himo (2001)
Yasashi kimochi w/New Archaic Smile (2003)
Mai Yamane the Celebrations, Inori no uta (2004)
Mai Yamane and Visions, Bird of Paradise (2007)
Kimi-wo-aishiteru Kagayaki-no-oto (2007)
A-sha Freedoms (2 song special release, 2012)

Vocals (anime)

Cowboy Bebop (1997 anime) OST:
 "Want It All Back"
 "Pushing The Sky"
 "Rain" (Demo version)
 "Don't Bother None"
 "See You Space Cowboy"
 "Mushroom Hunting" (Live version)
 "Blue"
 "The Real Folk Blues"
 "Gotta Knock a Little Harder"

Black Jack OST:
 "Invisible Love" (Starting & ending song)

Mirage of Blaze OST:
 "Vision of Flames "
 "Tears of Indigo"
 "Blaze"
 "Pearly Gate"
 "Insanity"
 "Chikai ~ Book of the Days"
 "Lamentation" (feat. Yoko Ueno)

Macross Plus OST:
 "After in the dark "

Vision of Escaflowne OST:
 "If You"

Darker Than BLACK OST:
 "ScatCat"
 "No One's Home"

Cowboy Bebop (2021 TV series) OST:
 "Cat Attack (Part 1)"

References

External links

Japanese women pop singers
English-language singers from Japan
Living people
1958 births
Musicians from Shimane Prefecture
20th-century Japanese women singers
20th-century Japanese singers
21st-century Japanese women singers
21st-century Japanese singers


I know, I know – we've done Cakes a couple of times before but I felt we all needed a bit of sweet cheerfulness!
To add your cakes, just put the name of the cake together with your blog name/name into the first Mr Linky box you will find below. Then paste the url for your post about it into the second box.
I'll be pinning the dishes to this Pinboard which also has the links from the earlier collections.
Let us all eat cake!
We're having a wet summer in Winnipeg but otherwise doing ok. Hope you are, too.
The post for Pineapple Cake with Coconut Pecan Topping ( # 4 ) also has a link for Ma's Cinnamon Swirl Sour Cream Coffee Cake. Both use pecans, if you're trying to finish some pecans before they go stale. It also works with other nuts.
I need more cakes in my life. Thanks for the link party Carole, I posted by Pineapple Cake - everyone always asks me for the recipe.
I wish I loved cakes a bit less. :) Have a great weekend!
My Gluten Free Vegan Crazy Spice Cake is perfect for families with various food sensitivities. It has no wheat, dairy, eggs, or nuts yet it's delicious! And so quick to make!
oh Carol...I have been on a cake roll lately. Several cakes and more to come!
Cake! Now I want some.
Mocha Cream Hazelnut Torte has become my favorite cake. I like to make it in mini size because I tend to want to work at it until it is all gone.
What do you do when the rosemary is taking over the garden? Make a cake! Fragrant Coconut Lime & Rosemary Syrup Cake. I thought I'd have a lot more cake recipes that I do on the blog but many are muffins etc.
I brought Coca Cola Cake!
Cake... It's always the perfect dessert!
Ah, a theme after my own heart! Cake is my craving typically! Love all these fun recipes!
I have entered my prune and apple cake - very good for you! Looking forward to trying some of the other recipes - cake is most definitely my thing!
I'm a little late to the party, but I brought my Irish Apple Cake, and hope I'm forgiven for my tardiness. Thanks Carole, love to see all the cakes that are presented here.
Cakes are something I rarely make but never turn down! I've linked up a couple of family favorites, some healthier than others. After all, it's cake.