Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Multimedia Information Extraction from Social Networks (MIESON)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Outgoing Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Spain
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IOF, 2009)
Start date: 2011-02-01
End date: 2013-03-31
Duration (months): 26.0
Total project cost (EUR): 163843.35
EU funding (EUR): 163843.35
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Vast amounts of Multimedia data are being generated nowadays all around the world. A number of complementary factors have contributed to this explosion of content: affordability of high quality capturing gear, miniaturization and ubiquity of devices, and, especially, the Internet as an efficient technology to store and transmit the data. The Internet has deeply impacted the way we interact with information. It has provided the means for every user to air their own contents with extreme ease. The traditional information flow model, coming from a few sources to many consumers, has been replaced with this many-to-many paradigm. A plethora of problems related to search and discovery of resources is generated in this complex scenario: users have difficulties finding the content they care about, and demand facilities to discover new potentially appealing assets. While traditional Information Retrieval research has investigated solutions to search and discover relevant content in large-scale databases of text documents, multimedia information is still difficult to retrieve using automatic tools. Multimedia analysis methods find their main limitation in the so-called semantic gap, i.e. the difficulty of inferring high-level concepts from the set of low-level features which can be extracted from multimedia data. The objective of the MIESON project is to address the shortcomings of state of the art technology in multimedia data analysis and retrieval in order to provide effective tools for searching and discovering relevant content in real world applications. A multi-disciplinary approach will be used to bring together expertise from different areas in an effort to construct novel methodologies to fuse content and context information that would overcome current limitations. The MIESON project considers a user-centric approach; tools, methods and technology developed will focus on enhancing information retrieval and user experience in multimedia-enabled contexts.

Keywords: multimedia information mining and retrieval,community wisdom,user generated data,user feedback,automatic tagging,aesthetics modelling,semantic gap
The tympanal ears of insects: structural solutions to acoustic signal analysis. (INSECT EARS)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Incoming Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IIF, 2009)
Start date: 2010-10-26
End date: 2012-10-25
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 173240.8
EU funding (EUR): 173240.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Tympanal ears are common among insects and have a simple design- thinned cuticle, the tympanum, overlies a tracheal cavity. The motion of the tympanum in response to sound is transmitted to a mechanotransductor organ, which converts the acoustic signal into an electrical signal for the nervous system. Tympanal ears are, however, not requisite for hearing. Bladder grasshoppers have an atympanate hearing organ and yet are remarkably sensitive. It is increasingly apparent that tympanate ears evolved to provide the insect additional information through acoustic signal analysis, which is accomplished by the structure of tympanal membranes. The objective of our research is to investigate biophysical mechanisms that underlie the auditory processing carried out by tympanal membranes. To achieve our objectives, the vibrational mechanics of insect tympana will be studied using a microscanning laser Doppler vibrometer (mLDV). Tympana will be examined by mLDV employing a destructive (removal of elements) and constructive (addition of elements) approach using focused ion beam (FIB) techniques. Physical models of the tympana will be constructed and tested in order to study the contribution of individual elements to the behaviour of the entire membrane. In addition, computer simulations of these membranes will be used to model and hence dissect the physics underlying membrane behaviour, leading the way to rational miniature acoustic sensor design. The interplay between modeling and experimentation will embody the systems biology approach of our research. We will focus on field cricket, tree cricket and locust tympana, investigating the physical mechanisms that underlie frequency tuning, directional hearing and frequency discrimination in these three systems respectively. The research with tree crickets will extend previous collaboration with Prof. Balakrishnan from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and form the nucleus for further collaborations between UK and India.

Keywords: natural sciences,auditory mechanisms,directionality,tympanal membranes,nanomechanics,auditory modelling
Defects in two dimensional field theories (D2DFT)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: France
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IEF, 2009)
Start date: 2010-09-01
End date: 2012-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 157945.6
EU funding (EUR): 157945.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The aim of this proposal is to study aspects of one dimensional defects in two dimensional field theories. One aspect is the relation of a certain class of defects, Wilson loops, to the integrable structure of Wess-Zumino-Witten models and coset models. Through the use of quantum groups, it should be possilbe to quantize these classical defects and describe exactly in a universal way a large class of boundary renormalization group flows of conformal field theories. A second aspect is the relations of defects to N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories in four dimensions. Recent results have shown mysterious connections between the eigenvalues of quantum defects and the instanton corrections of the moduli space of the gauge theories. We plan to study the defects of the Hitchin systems underlying the gauge theories, and relate them to kown defects in Liouville theory. This work should help elucidate the still poorly understood relations between N=2 gauge theories, integrable systems and conformal field theories in two dimensions.

Keywords: mathematical physics,quantum field theory,d-branes,defects,gauge theory,integrable systems
Association of Aquaporin Transmembrane Channels and Influence of their Oligomerization State on the Transport Properties (AQPASSOC)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Incoming Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Italy
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IIF, 2009)
Start date: 2010-10-22
End date: 2012-10-21
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 165958.6
EU funding (EUR): 165958.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The goals of this proposal are to (i) determine how does the oligomerization state of aquaporin (AQP) transmembrane channels influence the water transport properties of these channels, and to (ii) understand how aquaporins’ association and transport properties change under different lipid composition conditions. The study will be conducted on the human AQP5 aquaporin, whose atomistic high resolution structure has been recently determined. First we will determine the water transport properties of the wildtype tetrameric AQP5 channels from fully atomistic simulations. Then we will compare our results with the corresponding properties we obtain for a single channel in the same lipid bilayer. Second, we will study the association of AQP5 channels in a lipid bilayer closest to its natural environment by describing both the dynamics and the energetics of such associations. Since these processes occur on a mesoscopic timescale, unattainalble from fully atomistic simulations, we will use a coarse-grained model of the AQP5 porins and its surrounding environment. Third, we will investigate the influence of lipid composition on the association of these aquaporins. Fourth, we will compare transport properties of AQP5 channels in various lipids that were studied at the third point. The simulated systems will use fully atomistic models with initial configurations obtained from the coarse-grained simulations. The techniques used in our research proposal are based on free energy profile calculations using well established methods from steered molecular dynamics, as well as new approaches from Monte Carlo based flat-histogram simulations. Our novel approach for studying aquaporins can help us understand better how their association influences their functionality. Furthermore, the proposed investigating methods can be, in principle, extended to any transmembrane Channel that manifest oligomerization.

Keywords: physical sciences,molecular biophysics,computational physics,computational chemistry,structural biology
ROLE OF ANTISENSE RNAs ON PU.1 REGULATION AND HEMATOPOIESIS (PU.1 ANTISENSE)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Outgoing Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Austria,Austria
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IOF, 2009)
Start date: 2012-01-01
End date: 2014-12-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 245962.0
EU funding (EUR): 245962.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

PU.1 levels are critical for normal hematopoiesis and, even modest alterations can lead to leukemia and lymphoma. To achieve optimal expression of the PU.1 gene at different stages of hematopoiesis, multiple interactions are required between its regulatory elements to form fine chromatin architecture. While significant advances have been made in understanding which PU.1 locus chromatin states are active or silent, nothing is known how these states are propagated and maintained. The overall goal of the proposed project is to understand the role of antisense RNAs in the regulation of the PU.1 gene. Therefore I will (1) Characterize the timing, order, cellular localization, and levels of the natural noncoding antisense and coding PU.1 transcripts and formation of the active chromatin architecture within the PU.1 gene locus during cell development; (2) Investigate the functional effect of nuclear ablation of antisense concoding RNAs ablation on the formation of the active chromatin configuration and the expression of the PU.1 gene and, ultimately, on hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) fate; (3) Study the functional role of antisense noncoding RNAs in tissue culture and transgenic systems; and (4) Investigate the functional connection between the expression of the antisense noncoding RNAs and the occurrence of the other epigenetic marks, such as chromatin compaction, covalent histone modification, and DNA methylation. Accomplishment of these aims will enable us to understand the roles of antisense noncoding RNAs corresponding to PU.1 gene locus in the regulation of hematopoietic stem cell differentiation and to identify naturally occurring RNAmediated regulatory mechanisms, the manipulation of which might lead to critical changes in cell fate and provide knowledge of how changes in antisense RNAs can lead to disorders of hematopoietic stem cell function and leukemia.

Keywords: haematology,anticancer therapy,genetically modified organisms,molecular genetics,medical genetics
Fresh volcanic deposits as a sink for atmospheric carbon: A laboratory, field, and modelling approach to quantifying variation in chemical weathering rates (VOLCANIC WEATHERING)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Iceland
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IEF, 2009)
Start date: 2011-01-01
End date: 2012-12-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 204568.0
EU funding (EUR): 204568.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

A timely theme in Earth Sciences is the quantification of chemical weathering and fluxes to the oceans, and their role in defining seawater chemistry and atmospheric CO2 levels. Until recently, most studies have assumed that weathering rates and river fluxes are essentially at a steady state and that present day rates are typical of the past. Where rate changes have occurred, they are largely thought to have been gradual – e.g. in response to mountain uplift. However, recent work has suggested that weathering rates and river fluxes show rapid changes on timescales of ~1000 years; resulting from accelerated weathering of fresh fine-grained glacial deposits exposed during deglaciation. The same is true of new erupted lava and volcanic ash, which weathers much faster when newly erupted. Volcanic islands have already been recognised as important contributors to terrestrial weathering rates and the transport of dissolved elements to the oceans. Volcanism can vary from small, high-frequency eruptions that are part of the climatic &apos;steady-state&apos;; to large, rare eruptions that either produce widely dispersed ash or great volumes of lava. Several processes allow this newly erupted material to weather quickly in the initial years after deposition. This introduces, in the case of the large eruptions, a new sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide by providing elements necessary for calcite shell formation to the oceans. The subsequent &apos;biological pump&apos; depletes the ocean in CO2, which in turn reacts with the atmosphere to cool the planet. This process could potentially act as &apos;tipping point&apos;, pushing the Earth&apos;s climate from an inter-glacial to a glacial regime. This project seeks to quantify the early, elevated weathering of two types of volcanic rock using a combination of laboratory experiments and field observations. We will then use this data to model the potential impact of this phenomena using a state-of-the-art global climate model.

Keywords: global change,geochemistry,biogeochemistry,natural sciences,chemical oceanography,water-climate interactions
Synaptic vesicle acidification and refilling dynamics (VESDYN)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Germany
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IEF, 2009)
Start date: 2010-10-08
End date: 2012-10-07
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 161661.0
EU funding (EUR): 161661.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

In newly endocytosed synaptic vesicles, a proton electrochemical gradient is produced by the vacuolar-type H+-ATPase in order to power transport processes across the membrane. The mechanisms responsible for vesicle refilling have been largely investigated on isolated synaptic vesicles. Biochemical investigation indicates that the preference of vesicle filling for each component of the electrochemical gradient, namely the membrane potential and the proton gradient, depends on the specific transport system for classical neurotransmitters. But, in the process of vesicular refilling, not only the pH gradient is of uttermost importance, also a chloride gradient plays a key role. For instance, chloride allows isolated synaptic vesicles to acidify by collapsing the membrane potential. In addition, it influences vesicular glutamate transport velocity and final content. The work on isolated vesicles has led to a solid concept of how vesicles are filled with neurotransmitters. Yet, the dynamics of vesicle acidification and refilling in neurotransmitter in intact preparations (i.e. neurons) is still largely unknown. Because vesicular transmitter content is now recognized to influence synaptic transmission, vesicular acidification and refilling dynamics need to be elucidated in physiological conditions. Using imaging techniques and new fluorescent probes, changes in proton and chloride gradient will be monitored simultaneously to study vesicular refilling dynamics in cultured hippocampal neurons, during spontaneous or frequency-dependent activity. I will test to which extent proton and chloride ions affect vesicular refilling dynamics and whether glutamatergic and GABAergic vesicles shared some common features or if vesicles possess some unique properties by virtue of the presence of selective transporters in their membranes. This project should provide new insights into the mechanisms of vesicular electrochemical gradient generation and neurotransmitter refilling in neurons.

Keywords: cell biology,neurobiology,synaptic vesicle,high-speed optical imaging,ph- and cl-sensitive probes,refilling dynamics,neurotransmitter uptake
Promoting legume-non-legume communities through plant and soil traits (PROLEGSO)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Netherlands,Netherlands
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IEF, 2009)
Start date: 2011-01-01
End date: 2014-07-31
Duration (months): 43.0
Total project cost (EUR): 215599.2
EU funding (EUR): 215599.2
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

The role of biodiversity for the functioning of ecosystems and the provisioning of ecosystem services is a key issue in ecology. Both in natural ecosystems and in agriculture legumes are critical for enhancing ecosystem productivity because of their ability to fix aerial nitrogen (N). Many studies have tested how non-leguminous plants may benefit from legumes, however, a main and unresolved question is whether and how legumes can benefit from growing with non-leguminous species. This question is central in my proposed research. Models predict that increased N input from legumes will feed back to suppression of legumes by non-leguminous species that are better competitors for light, which suggests that legumes will perform best in monocultures. However, field observations indicate that productivity of legume monocultures is unstable and that legumes must have an advantage of growing in mixtures with non-leguminous species. It has been suggested that interactions with soil organisms are critical in explaining why legumes persist poorly, but whether non-leguminous species can modify soil properties to the benefit of legumes remains to be tested. The aim of my proposal is to unravel how leguminous grassland species may benefit from growing with non-leguminous species through interactions with abiotic (resources) and biotic (detrimental and beneficial) soil components and whether enhancement of legumes results in increased plant community productivity and nutrient retention. My three specific study objectives are: 1. How aboveground and belowground traits of leguminous species and non-leguminous species may promote complementary use of resources 2. How non-leguminous plants may suppress root herbivores of the legumes and 3. How non-leguminous plants may promote positive effects of root mutualistic symbionts. The main benefits of the program for my career are enhanced independency, experience in cutting-edge techniques and coaching in acquiring funding.

Keywords: plant ecology,molecular ecology,functional biology,ecosystem management,nematodes,mycorrhiza,ecosystem sustainability
Gröbner strata in multigraded Hilbert schemes (HILBERT)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Outgoing Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Germany
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IOF, 2009)
Start date: 2010-09-01
End date: 2013-08-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 227299.9
EU funding (EUR): 227299.9
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The aim of the present research project is to establish new connections between algebraic geometry, commutative algebra and combinatorics. The geometric objects of study are Hilbert schemes. These schemes are highly relevant in algebraic geometry, as they form the basis for the construction of numerous moduli spaces. The algebraic objects of study are Gröbner bases. They are the core of great parts of constructive methods in commutative algebra. The combinatorial objects of study are standard sets. These are central to the theory of Gröbner bases, as there is a canonical bijection between monomial ideals and standard sets. I use a newly defined addition of standard sets, which establishes a link between geometry, algebra, and combinatorics. I will construct a new moduli space which parametrises all reduced Gröbner bases in a polynomial ring having a prescribed standard set. I will embed this moduli space as a locally closed subscheme into various multigraded Hilbert schemes after Haiman and Sturmfels, and decompose a given multigraded Hilbert scheme as a coproduct of moduli spaces of reduced Gröbner bases, where the union is indexed by a set of standard sets. Moreover, I will pursue the question whether the above described decomposition into locally closed strata is a stratification of the multigraded Hilbert scheme or not. In the case where the given standard set is finite, I have already constructed the moduli space of all reduced Gröbner bases with the given standard set. I have aldready embedded this moduli space canonically into the Hilbert scheme of points. Now I will study these spaces in more detail, using the lexicographic order on the polynomial ring. I shall prove a conjecture by Sturmfels which establishes a close connection between the geometry of moduli spaces of reduced Gröbner bases on the one hand and the combinatorics of standard sets on the other.

Keywords: algebraic geometry