A Collaborative Cybersecurity Education Program

This chapter presents an implementation of a cybersecurity education program. The program aims to address some issues identified in current cybersecurity teaching in higher education on a European level, like the fragmentation of cybersecurity expertise or resource shortage, resulting in few higher education institutions to offer full degree programs. As a result of the Erasmus+ strategic partnership project SecTech, the program tries to overcome those issues by introducing collaborative development to cybersecurity education. SecTech lays the foundations for a collaborative education program, like the definition of a clear content, module and delivery structure, and the appropriate tool support to facilitate collaboration and content reuse. Additional effort is required to achieve long-term success, including the creation of a community that drives the content creation and maintenance, as well as an independent governance structure to steer the project in the long-term. While the project focuses on European collaboration, a global community is envisioned.

The European Prevalence of Resistance Associated Substitutions among Direct Acting Antiviral Failures

Background: Approximately 71 million people are still in need of direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs). To achieve the World Health Organization Hepatitis C elimination goals, insight into the prevalence and influence of resistance associated substitutions (RAS) is of importance. Collaboration is key since DAA failure is rare and real-life data are scattered. We have established a European collaboration, HepCare, to perform in-depth analysis regarding RAS prevalence, patterns, and multiclass occurrence. Methods: Data were extracted from the HepCare cohort of patients who previously failed DAA therapy. Geno—and subtypes were provided by submitters and mostly based on in-house assays. They were reassessed using the Comet HCV subtyping tool. We considered RAS to be relevant if they were associated with DAA failure in vivo previously reported in literature. Results: We analyzed 938 patients who failed DAA therapy from ten different European countries. There were 239 genotypes (GT) 1a, 380 GT1b, 19 GT2c, 205 GT3a, 14 GT4a, and 68 GT4d infections. Several unusual subtypes (n = 15) (GT1b/g/l, GT3b, GT4k/n/r/t) were present. RAS appeared in over 80% of failures and over a quarter had three or more RAS. Multiclass RAS varied over target region and genotype between 0–48%. RAS patterns such as the Q30R + L31M and Q30R + Y93H in GT1a, the L31V + Y93H and L31V + Y93H for GT1b, and A30K + L31M and A30K/V + Y93H for GT3a all occurred with a prevalence below 5%. Conclusion: RAS occur frequently after DAA failures and follow a specific genotype and drug related pattern. Interpretation of the influence of RAS on retreatment is challenging due to various patterns, patients’ characteristics, and previous treatment history. Moving towards HCV elimination, an ongoing resistance surveillance is essential to track the presence of RAS, RAS patterns and gather data for a re-treatment algorithm.

First Proof-of-Concept Prototype of an Additive Manufactured Radio Frequency Quadrupole

Continuous developments in additive manufacturing (AM) technology are opening up opportunities in novel machining, and improving design alternatives for modern particle accelerator components. One of the most critical, complex, and delicate accelerator elements to manufacture and assemble is the radio frequency quadrupole (RFQ) linear accelerator, which is used as an injector for all large modern proton and ion accelerator systems. For this reason, the RFQ has been selected by a wide European collaboration participating in the AM developments of the I.FAST (Innovation Fostering in Accelerator Science and Technology) Horizon 2020 project. The RFQ is as an excellent candidate to show how sophisticated pure copper accelerator components can be manufactured by AM and how their functionalities can be boosted by this evolving technology. To show the feasibility of the AM process, a prototype RFQ section has been designed, corresponding to one-quarter of a 750 MHz 4-vane RFQ, which was optimised for production with state-of-the-art laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) technology, and then manufactured in pure copper. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first RFQ section manufactured in the world by AM. Subsequently, geometrical precision and surface roughness of the prototype were measured. The results obtained are encouraging and confirm the feasibility of AM manufactured high-tech accelerator components. It has been also confirmed that the RFQ geometry, particularly the critical electrode modulation and the complex cooling channels, can be successfully realised thanks to the opportunities provided by the AM technology. Further prototypes will aim to improve surface roughness and to test vacuum properties. In parallel, laboratory measurements will start to test and improve the voltage holding properties of AM manufactured electrode samples.

EURAD School of Radioactive Waste Management

The European Joint Programme on Radioactive Waste Management (EURAD – H2020, grant agreement No. 847593) aims to achieve a step-wise change in European collaboration towards safe radioactive waste management (RWM) through the development of a robust and sustained science, technology and knowledge management (KM) programme. EURAD has three KM work packages. The main goals are to (i) preserve generated knowledge, (ii) transfer knowledge to Member States with early-stage RWM programmes, (iii) transfer knowledge between generations, and (iv) disseminate knowledge. The EURAD work package (WP) on “Training & mobility” aids in achieving these goals through its “School of Radioactive Waste Management”. The School of RWM supports competence building in RWM matters. Currently four distinguished initiatives can be highlighted: the organization of training courses, the hosting of webinars, the coordination of a mobility programme, and actions to support the EURAD PhD community. The School of RWM has a dedicated webpage (http://www.euradschool.eu, last access: 30 September 2021) where all information on its activities can be found. A portfolio of basic and specialized training courses was set up containing an up-to-date list of existing training initiatives and new training courses. The latter are based on a gap analysis performed within the framework of the priorities set in the EURAD Roadmap and on the end-user needs. The School of RWM gives attention to the best-fitted training format and scientific state-of-the-art is guaranteed through the lecturing by EURAD and/or external subject experts. Besides training courses, webinars on specific topics that are of relevance to the entire EURAD community are hosted on a regular basis. These so-called Lunch & Learn sessions are short, informal online get-togethers, triggering discussion and debate. Presentations are given by experts from the EURAD community and beyond, such as from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) or the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD/NEA) and can deal with all topics that link to RWM, from very specialized scientific matters to more general and overarching themes. The School of RWM also coordinates a mobility programme, allowing its beneficiaries to perform technical visits to infrastructures from EURAD partners or end-users, to undertake internships and to set up exchange programmes between organizations within EURAD. These activities serve as enhanced training as well as collaboration between all members of the EURAD community. These mobility actions can be complementary to an educational or training programme and/or part of a continuous personal development programme. Last but not least, the initiative was taken to support the EURAD PhD community. As future key players in the field of RWM, they will benefit from the possibilities for early networking with their peers and with established RWM experts. With these four initiatives, the School of RWM, and by extension the “Training & Mobility” WP, is an integral part of EURAD's KM programme. This presentation describes how the School of RWM is linked to the EURAD Roadmap, what its goal and long-term objectives are and how it aids in achieving EURAD's KM goals.

Increasing integrated testing in community settings through interventions for change, including the Spring European Testing Week

Background Maximising access to testing by targeting more than one infection is effective in identifying new infections in settings or populations. Within the EU funded Joint Action INTEGRATE, this paper examined the feasibility and impact of expanding integrated testing for HIV, hepatitis C (HCV), chlamydia, gonorrhoea and/or syphilis in four community-based pilots through targeted interventions in Croatia, Italy and Poland and the Spring European Testing Week since community settings are key in detecting new infections and reaching key populations. Methods Pilots led by local INTEGRATE partners prioritised testing for other infections or key populations. The Croatian pilot expanded testing for men who have sex with men to syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhoea. Italian partners implemented a HIV and HCV testing/information event at a migrant centre. A second Italian pilot tested migrants for HIV and HCV through outreach and a low-threshold service for people who use drugs. Polish partners tested for HIV, HCV and syphilis among people who inject drugs in unstable housing via a mobile van. Pilots monitored the number of individuals tested for each infection and reactive results. The pilot Spring European Testing Week from 18 to 25 May 2018 was an INTEGRATE-driven initiative to create more testing awareness and opportunities throughout Europe. Results The Croatian pilot found a high prevalence for each syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhoea respectively, 2.1%, 12.4% and 6.7%. The Italian migrant centre pilot found low proportions who were previously tested for HIV (24%) or HCV (11%) and the second Italian pilot found an HCV prevalence of 6.2%, with low proportions previously tested for HIV (33%) or HCV (31%). The Polish pilot found rates of being previously tested for HIV, HCV and syphilis at 39%, 37%, and 38%, respectively. Results from the Spring European Testing Week pilot showed it was acceptable with increased integrated testing, from 50% in 2018 to 71% in 2019 in participants. Conclusions Results show that integrated testing is feasible and effective in community settings, in reaching key populations and minimising missed testing opportunities, and the pilots made feasible because of the European collaboration and funding. For sustainability and expansion of integrated community testing across Europe, local government investment in legislation, financial and structural support are crucial.

The Cultural Heritage of Architectural Linear Perspective: The Mural Paintings in Nantang Church

This paper presents a contextual use of the innovative drawing techniques that involved architecture and painting in the Qing court during the first half of the eighteenth century. At this point architectural linear perspective in painting (quadratura) and stage design had become common fields of experimentation for the Chinese and Jesuit artists missionaries. In this conceptual context, Western quadratura was developed in China by Giovanni Gherardini. (1655–1729), and especially by Giuseppe Castiglione (1688–1766), who is remembered as an extraordinarily versatile architect–painter. The focus of this paper is on the “illusory mural paintings of architectural perspective in Nantang Church” (Beijing), which has now disappeared, and which spread the influence of the Western Renaissance. The imported Western linear perspective and the fundamentals of architectural drawing facilitated the systematization and dissemination of the quadratura as an unknown technique in China. Based on the text described by the contemporary scholar Yao Yuan Zhi, an original interpretation of the architectural perspective mural paintings in Nantang Church is proposed. These paintings provide an important case study of Sino-European collaboration in the eighteenth century from different points of view: the representation of the light in drawings and the fact that the concept of shadow in some respects was unknown to the Chinese artist.

Cooperation between the EU and China: A post-liberal governmentality approach

The European Union's partnership with China has received significant academic attention. Experts have focused on both parties’ economic and political objectives and have made efforts to grasp the dynamics of the institutionalisation of EU-China cooperation. However, little has been said about how this collaboration affects the lives of citizens, especially in China. Adopting a Foucauldian epistemology, this article's key contention is that EU-China cooperation imposes a joint form of post-liberal governmental power on the Chinese population, which socially constructs empowered but not liberal political subjectivities for Chinese citizens. The article first reviews Foucault's approach to governmentality. It then explores Sino-EUropean collaboration after 2013, when the two partners established the ‘EU-China 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation’. We illustrate how the institutionalisation of the partnership has been consistent with a governmentalised political rationality, and how policy implementation has allowed a post-liberal form of governmental power to flow from both EU and Chinese policymakers towards the Chinese population, triggering processes of political subjectivisation.

A unified pH scale for all solvents: part I – intention and reasoning (IUPAC Technical Report)

The definition of pH, its measurement and standard buffers, is well developed in aqueous solutions. Its definition in solvents other than water has been elaborated for a couple of solvents and their mixtures with water. However, the definition of a universal pH scale spanning all solvents and phases, not to mention standard procedures of measurement, is still a largely uncharted territory. UnipHied is a European collaboration and has the goal of putting the theoretical concept of an earlier introduced (2010) unified pHabs scale on a metrologically well-founded basis into practice. The pHabs scale enables the comparability of acidity between different phases. This article draws the connection of the concepts of unified acidity and secondary pH measurement.