Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ELSWIFLUOPRO (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

In current drug development, the visualization of therapeutic-agent translocation to the cell interior represents one of the essential problems. The transport across cellular membranes is frequently executed by cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs), and the process is routinely studied with fluorescence microscopy when the CPP is attached to a fluorescent marker. Nevertheless, the use of existing labelled CPPs is connected with several drawbacks. Especially, bonding of CPPs to the external face of the cell membrane make interpretation of the translocation difficult and can result in false positive results. Therefore, the development of novel electrochemically switchable fluorescent probe for the detection of CPP translocation is suggested. In this project, a fluorescent organic dye will be coupled with an electro-controlled fluorescent quencher, which could be activated/deactivated in response to applied electric potential. As the electron transfer cannot occur through the cell membrane, labelled external CPPs would be switched off through photoinduced electron transfer, and fluorescence only of internalized CPPs could be studied. Reversibility of the system represents a remarkable advantage as it would allow repetitive on/off switching of the fluorescent probe.

Mots clés : cellular uptake, cell penetrating peptides, fluorescent probes, electrochemistry, photoinduced electron transfer

Participants :
- École normale supérieure PSL (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 185076.0 €
Projet NeuroAPA (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

In current society, a growing number of individuals is affected by mental disorders, thus representing a burden with significant health, social and economic consequences. Notwithstanding, the ethiology of mental disorders is still not fully understood, there is a growing evidence that current trend to delay first childbirth above age of 35 is a factor of risk for the onset of mental disorders (i.e. autism, schizophrenia) in resulting offspring. This “new” reproductive trend, caused by social and economic factors, has already allowed the birth of millions of babies worldwide. In the last decade, epidemiological studies have suggested that children conceived at advanced maternal age are at higher risk of autism spectrum disorders as well as psychotic and/or bipolar disorder and those conceived at advanced paternal age at higher risk of autism and schizophrenia. However, data from population-based investigation are often controversial, due to several confounding factors (i.e. health, socio-economic status, lifestyle), and information from animal studies are still limited. In this context, the assessment of neurological and/or psychiatric health of offspring conceived at advanced parental age (APA) is urgently needed. Moreover, understanding the mechanism(s) behind increased risk of mental affliction (i.e. autism and/or schizophrenia) will contribute to the identification of novel marker for neurologic/psychiatric disorders with a significant impact on basic science, society and health care services.“NeuroAPA” aims to identify structural and functional abnormalities in adult brain which may contribute to the increased risk of psychiatric disorders (i.e. autism, schizophrenia) in offspring conceived by parents at advanced parental age.

Mots clés : advanced parental age  apa, psychiatric disorders  i e  autism, schizophrenia  in offspring, mouse models

Participants :
- Percuros (Netherlands) (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 175572.48 €
Projet NEO-QE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

In data-intensive environments such as data warehouses, efficient execution of query operations is crucial for the overall performance of a system. One of the main performance challenges in such scenarios is the network communications. Significant performance improvements have been achieved by using state-of-the-art methods, designed in the data management and data communication domain. However, the proposed techniques in both fields just view each other as a black box, and the additional gains in performance from a co-optimization perspective have not yet been explored. In this project, I will focus on the design and development of a novel query execution system that can bridge the gap of co-optimization between high-level query executions and low-level data communications. Such a system will be highly efficient and robust in the presence of different workloads and network configurations in large systems, and consequently deliver significant performance improvements to the large scale data-analytics community. In the meantime, the success of the project will also aid my career development through an increased research profile and collaboration with industry, and enhance the knowledge and networks of UCD.

Mots clés : query executions, large data systems, big data processing, coflow scheduling, data communication, energy consumption

Participants :
- National University of Ireland (Irlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 187866.0 €
Projet FLAVODRINKS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

In efforts to help consumers improve their health by reducing their consumption of sugar, salt and fat (Europea 2006/1924/EU), the European Commission recently set new standards for the formulation, production, labeling and advertising of fruit juices (Europea 2012/12/EU). Similar regulations are expected soon for soft drinks. Soft drinks have begun to suffer a poor public image because of their high content of sugar or sugar substitutes, which the beverage industry uses to counteract or mask undesirable flavors. It may be possible to avoid the need to add sugar to fruit juices and soft drinks if we can identify aroma compounds that help the consumer perceive a drink as sweet. Understanding the interaction between aromas allow act on sweetness perceived by the consumer and get drinks with less sugar added. The purpose of the work is to identify aroma compounds responsible for the sensory properties of fruit beverages and analyze how they may affect taste perception (sweet, acid and bitter). Fruit juices and soft drinks will be analyzed in order to characterize the main compounds involved in the perception of aroma as fruity, floral, green and sweet. Close attention will be paid to the chirality of identified compounds in order to study structure-aroma relationships (chemosensory approach). The ability of aroma compounds to interact in influencing taste will also be studied in order to identify synergistic or suppression effects. Moreover, perceptual interactions between aroma and taste will be studied using specific taste compounds. The innovation of the proposed study lies in applying sensory-guided multidimensional chromatographic techniques to beverages, which are complex mixtures of aroma and taste compounds. Aroma compounds will be identified using multidimensional gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry and olfactometry (MDGC-MS-O). Odor-odor interactions will be studied using olfactoscanning, in which a GC-O is coupled to an olfactometer.

Mots clés : mdgc o, multidimensional chromatography, chirality, volatile compounds, aroma, taste, fruit juice, healthy drinks

Participants :
- Institut national de recherche pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 185076.0 €
Projet EGR (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

In genetic redundancy, multiple genes in a genome perform the same or similar function. Although redundancy is widespread across the tree of life, its evolutionary origins are not entirely understood. Genetic redundancy may provide a fitness benefit during evolution by increasing gene dosage and protecting critical genes from deleterious mutations. These fitness effects have been confirmed experimentally, but their long-term consequences for evolution have not been tested. In this study, I will manipulate the genomic content of efflux pump genes in E. coli and test the effect of their redundancy using directed evolution of proteins. By evolving the multidrug efflux pump AcrAB at different levels of redundancy, I will determine how the presence of other genes with overlapping drug-efflux activities affects adaptive evolution. I will compare evolutionary trajectories using comprehensive sequence and fitness analysis of the evolved efflux pump variants. This approach will provide a unique opportunity to directly test the role of genetic redundancy in evolution and help to understand why genetic redundancy is maintained in a genome.

Mots clés : genetic redundancy, efflux pumps, antimicrobial resistance, gene duplication, directed evolution of proteins

Participants :
- University of Zurich (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 191149.44 €
Projet DatA ESPerT (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

In highly industrialised regions, earthquakes severely affect societies in terms of economic, social and environmental consequences due to the complex integrated and highly sensitive industries - even in areas of medium to low seismicity like Europe. Whereas the seismic behaviour of typical building structures is broadly understood and reflected in technical guidelines and damage prognosis tools worldwide, event reports and even assessment tools for industrial facilities are scarce, mainly because affected facilities are usually not generally accessible and are, thus, not covered by reconnaissance teams. After the 2012 Earthquake in the Italian Regione Emilia-Romagna (RE-R), however, the regional government gathered very detailed data on seismic damages to more than 3000 industrial / business facilities in order to distribute financial compensations. The data was collected in an extremely comprehensive database including – besides many other aspects – type, size and location of the business as well as damage to structures, components and stored goods and costs of reconstruction. Within the proposed DatA ESPerT project, the researcher will exploit this globally unique SFINGE-database in a rigorous way, in order to develop mathematical tools to assess the seismic performance of industrial facilities and to give damage prognoses for future earthquakes. Due to the comparable socio-economic context and similar seismic hazard levels, the research results will be valid for many regions in Southern Europe. Additional aspects of the project consider the development of cost/performance curves for seismic mitigation measures and the investigation of the geographical damage distribution in relation to the seismological circumstances in the Emilia-Romagna. The work is strongly supported by RWTH Aachen, by Munich RE reinsurance company and by RE-R who assured to the researcher within an official agreement access to the confidential SFINGE-database in the project's framework.

Mots clés : earthquake engineering, probabilistic seismic performance assessment, consequence, functions for industrial facilities, earthquake database analysis, seismic retrofitting, cost, performance analysis

Participants :
- RWTH Aachen University (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 159460.8 €
Projet ACOSA (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

In international politics, the Arctic has emerged as one of the hottest geo-political arenas for international non-governmental organization (INGO) work in the 21st century. One of the big attractions for INGOs has been the leading regional forum, the Arctic Council, which has integrated a way for INGOs to be included into Arctic regional environmental protection and economic development discussions. This role is called ‘observer status’ and INGOs can apply for, and potentially obtain, observer status within the forum which gives them some degree of access to political discussions as they are unfolding and the political and bureaucratic elite operating on the front line of regional discussions and treaties. The assessment criteria through which Arctic Council evaluates observer status applications, however, is not transparent, with the Arctic Council reserving the right to rescind an observers status if their conduct is deemed against the ethos of the Arctic Council and the work of the forum. This forum dynamic raises an important question that strikes at the heart of Arctic governance cooperation, and more broadly, INGO participation in international forums and institutions: how far can INGOs pursue their work before jeopardizing their involvement in the Arctic Council forum? Exploring concepts such as legitimacy and global governance, this project will use a qualitative research design that draws upon elite level interviews with senior Arctic Council officials and representatives from the World Wildlife Fund and Greenpeace, two INGOs interested in Arctic Council participation but with very different track records for inclusion. Through a detailed examination of the Arctic Council, this project discusses how INGOs are expected to act in order to be included in organizations, institutions and forums in the current international sociological environment which is increasingly critical of INGO involvement in international politics.

Mots clés : arctic council, international non governmental organizations, legitimacy, global governance

Participants :
- University of Southern Denmark (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 200194.8 €
Projet CHODIA (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

In many Former ‘Eastern Bloc’ countries, underlying historical contingencies and unresolved conflict have led to the neglect of a rich cultural resource: remains of the recent past dating to the communist dictatorship period. The aim of the CHODIA project is to provide an in-depth assessment of the significance of the cultural heritage of the dictatorship period in Albania, a country that experienced one of the most oppressive regimes in the Former Eastern Bloc. CHODIA will comprise (1) a survey and analysis of the composition of the cultural heritage of the dictatorship period in all its components (monuments, memorials, public buildings and physical remains of various kinds), and (2) an investigation that, through various quantitative and qualitative methodologies, will allow the assessment of public perceptions of the heritage from this contested period of history (including its intangible aspects). Training received during this EF will include both detailed training by research, aided by staff highly specialised in the themes on which the project will focus, and the attending of both general and highly specific relevant courses on heritage, social anthropology (especially of the socialist and post-socialist period) and related qualitative and quantitative research methods. Such a combination of specialist knowledge and skills is not available in many places – Cambridge is one of few places able to offer the training required. This project will ultimately lead to a deeper understanding of how the past becomes heritage as well as of the inheritance of the experience of dictatorship today - leading to the re-appropriation and valorisation of Albania’s recent cultural heritage for the benefit of the public within and beyond Europe.

Mots clés : albania, dictatorship, difficult heritage, tangible heritage, intangible heritage

Participants :
- University of Cambridge (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195454.8 €
Projet MicroFert (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

In many important agricultural crops successful fertilisation with micronutrients can lead to substantial increases in diseases resistance, marketable yield, and improved nutritional quality of food and feed. However, the plant availability of supplied micronutrients is usually too low due to the high reactivity of fertilisers under unfavourable soil conditions. Recently novel concepts for designing fertilisers have been adopted which try to extend their time of availability in the soil in different ways. This proposal, introduces the release-on-demand concept in which the plants themselves trigger the release of nutrients from nanoparticles at the time in their growth cycle that they need them. Layered Double Hydroxides (LDHs) are currently being developed in the host institution and are interesting candidates for the controlled release of micronutrients. LDHs consist of alternating layers of positively charged metal hydroxides and interlayers of anions so they can include both di and trivalent metal cations and different interlayer anions. The nutrient release is expected to be dependent on rhizosphere acidification via root excretion of protons, low molecular organic acids and CO2. The overall objective is to evaluate the potential of LDHs as release-on-demand micronutrient fertilisers, mainly focusing on Zn, Mn and Cu, and their interactions with N, P or K under a range of soil conditions and growing conditions. Experiments will cover both improving commonly used techniques and novel methods and designs leading to the formulation of patents, the development of novel fertilisers and crop production of increased yield and quality. The applicant has a very strong background in the characterisation of micronutrient fertilisers acquired during her PhD and postdoc experience that, together with the experience and facilities of the host and partners, will lead to the successful completion of the project and to the strengthening the career development of the researcher.

Mots clés : micronutrients, fertilisation, release on demand, root activity, soil, chemistry, characterisation, plant

Participants :
- University of Copenhagen (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 200194.8 €
Projet ProFrost (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

In nature there are many organisms able to control the ice nucleation rate of water. This ability allows such organisms to adapt to environmental changes, like large temperatures excursions, and to facilitate the search for food. Bio-molecules such as antifreeze proteins (AFPs) and ice nucleator proteins (INPs) are known to influence the ice nucleation rate, a feature that attracts great interest from a wide spectrum of scientific disciplines like biology and atmospheric science, and it offers several technological applications like cryo-preservation of tissues and increasing frozen food shelf life. I propose a new approach, based on a novel combination of water-protein coarse-grain model, able, for a wide range of temperatures and pressures, to deeply explore the configurational space of a water-protein solutions. The ProFrost project aims at defining a novel theoretical framework within which it will be possible to study how the folding properties of AFPs and INPs affect the thermodynamic state point of water. The main goal of the project is to understand the influence of protein interfaces on the dynamical and structural properties of water. The success of this project will pave the way for the computer based design of artificial functionalized protein sequences capable of influencing the phase of water. This project follows an innovative research line, with a multi-scale approach that combines multiple fields of research, such as physics, biology and chemistry. This research due to its interdisciplinary character and broad interest, has large impact and is often subject of publications on relevant international scientific journals, such as Nature, Science, Proceeding of National Academy of Science, Physical Review Letters. ProFrost will carried out under the supervision Prof Carlos Vega, a leading expert on water, and in collaboration with Prof. Dellago and Dr. Coluzza, expert in modelling and simulations of biophysical systems,

Mots clés : water protein interplay, water nucleation, protein desine, antifreeze proteins

Participants :
- Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 158121.6 €
Projet Wall-E (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

In plants, the root endodermis functions as a barrier, allowing the selective uptake of nutrients and water. The barrier is formed by cell wall impregnations called Casparian strips (CS), produced by differentiating endodermal cells. In the last decade, pioneering work on the endodermis has identified numerous players involved in CS formation, including transmembrane proteins, peroxidases, dirigent-like proteins, lignin polymerising enzymes, laccases and super-oxide dismutases. However, the forward and reverse genetic approaches used to uncover these proteins are slowly coming to a standstill due to their limitations when faced with gene redundancy or genes with a broader range of activities, causing pleiotropy or lethality. I now propose to use CS formation as a model in order to pioneer a combinatorial, gain-of-function screen, aiming to define a minimally sufficient gene set for the assembly of a CS. I will attempt to reconstitute a CS in the endodermis of the myb36 mutant – a master regulator of endodermal differentiation - by activation screening for genes within the MYB36-dependent gene set. Firstly, I will introduce a “core machinery” for CS formation by expressing important known players and assessing CS formation and stability (WP1). Secondly, I will test the most recently developed second generation CRISPR activator systems for their efficiency in activating genes of interest in the endodermis (WP2). Thirdly, using the CRISPR activator technology, I will screen for novel genes that will improve the formation, stability and functionality of the CS (WP3). Identifying new genes involved in CS formation through a combinatorial, gain-of-function approach represents a novel way to genetically elucidate molecular mechanisms and could become a model for other cellular and developmental processes in Arabidopsis or other organisms.

Mots clés : crispr activator systems, gain of function reconstitution screen, endodermis, casparian strip formation

Participants :
- University of Lausanne (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 191149.44 €