Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
“War of Waves”. European Radio Propaganda in the Arab World: the Experience of Radio Bari (1934-43) (WOW: RADIO BARI)

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: Italy
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-09-01
End date: 2014-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 249911.6
EU funding (EUR): 249911.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

This project deals with the radio propaganda that Italy, Great Britain, France and Germany carried out in the Arab world between the mid-1930s and the early 1940s. In particular, it focuses on Radio Bari (1934-43), the first radio station to broadcast in Arabic with the purpose of courting the Arabs and challenging the French and British colonial power. This topic has attracted scholarly interest but as of yet has not been addressed thoroughly. My research is the first one to tackle this issue in its entirety, with the aim of shedding light on such a neglected page of history. My project has three main objectives. (I) Reconstructing the main elements of Radio Bari—its structure, its programs, and its main actors—according to two theoretical and historiographical frameworks: the use that the Fascist totalitarian regime made of the instruments of modern propaganda in order to exert its control over the population; the Fascist foreign policy’s employment of a tool of “soft power” aimed at transforming the Mediterranean sea into a mare nostrum and expanding the Italian presence in the Arab world. (II) Exploring Radio Bari as a cultural and transnational experience by examining the Orientalist and anti-Semitic messages in its programs, and by enquiring into what extent it might be considered an example of transnational networking between Europe and the Arab world. (III) Investigating the two phases of the “war of waves”, the first one that took place in 1938-39 and the second one that was waged during WWII. In terms of methodology, being as my research is at the crossroads of different disciplines—history of international relations, cultural history, colonial history, transnational history, history of media—I will employ an interdisciplinary approach. In terms of sources, in addition to existing literature, my research will be based on extensive unpublished documentation from Italian, Vatican, British, French, Moroccan, Israeli, Egyptian, and American archives.

Keywords: radio,propaganda,fascism,colonialism,orientalism,anti-semitism,transnational networks,war of waves,europe,arab world,mediterranean,middle east
The role of PKA in the Hepatitis C virus life cycle (HCV-AKAP)

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: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2013-05-22
End date: 2015-05-21
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 200371.8
EU funding (EUR): 200371.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Globally some 200 million people live with Hepatitis C virus (HCV). HCV is one of the most problematic of the RNA viruses, with a slow indolent course of infection often characterised by decades of steady decline, with a significant fraction of infected subjects developing liver disease. Unfortunately our understanding of this disease has been hampered by a lack of virus culture systems and it is only now that we are beginning to develop the molecular tools to investigate the viral life cycle, an essential pre-requisite to developing any form of rational anti-viral therapy. We previously reported a crucial role for cAMP dependent protein kinase (PKA) in HCV infectivity. To carry out its function(s), PKA has to be delivered to its site of action within the cell, and this is achieved by scaffolding via A-kinase anchoring proteins (AKAP) which tether PKA to target membranes or organelles. Our recent data showing that: (i) HCV Core encodes a potential AKAP; (ii) recombinant HCV Core associates with PKA and (iii) HCV structural proteins negatively regulate cAMP-PKA responsiveness, support a novel mechanism for HCV to perturb PKA signalling. PKA plays an important role in the regulation of protein trafficking along the constitutive secretory pathways. By supplying an aberrant anchoring signal to PKA, HCV promotes its localisation to lipid droplets where virus assembly and egress of infectious particles occurs from the cell. This is the first report of a virus encoded AKAP that provides a novel mechanism for pathogens to hijack PKA signalling to defined cellular locations and to subvert host cell defence mechanisms. This proposal seeks to establish a new model of how HCV Core disrupts and re-targets cellular regulators and perturbs hepatocyte biology. Finally, the identification of peptides that specifically disrupt HCV AKAP-mediated protein-protein interactions will provide new targets for novel anti-viral drug design.

Keywords: pka,akap,hcv core,protein-protein interaction,regulation,liver,hepatocyte,lipid droplet,steatosis,bret,fret,imaging,pharmacological disruption,natural sciences,health sciences
Disentangling the contributions of dopamine and amyloid burden to age-related changes in cognition and brain network connectivity in healthy older adults (AMYDA)

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: Sweden
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IOF, 2011)
Start date: 2013-04-01
End date: 2016-03-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 258766.2
EU funding (EUR): 258766.2
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Normal aging is associated with declines in episodic memory and executive functions. Research suggests that around 20-50% of clinically healthy individuals show significant accumulation of amyloid, one of the hallmark biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease but it has been difficult to establish the functional impact of amyloid burden in healthy older adults. Decreases in dopaminergic functioning in old age have been shown to mediate age-related changes in various cognitive domains. This project uses state-of-the-art positron emission tomography, functional magnetic resonance imaging and sensitive neuropsychological testing to disentangle the functional impact of amyloid pathology from those of dopaminergic effects on cognition in clinically healthy older individuals. It is hypothesized that dopamine and amyloid burden will have dissociable effects on cognition and brain network connectivity. The results of the proposed project will have important implications for characterizing the early preclinical phase of Alzheimer’s disease and aid the development of strategies for early identification of incipient neuropathological processes. The research will take place during the 24-months outgoing phase at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA, USA, and be followed by a 12-months reintegration phase at the Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging in Sweden. This IOF will lead to new insights into the neurobiological processes of cognitive aging and early Alzheimer’s disease, contribute to the accumulation of scientific skills and excellence in Europe, and enhance the career opportunities of a young female researcher in Europe.

Keywords: neurobiology,cognitive science,aging,functional magnetic resonance imaging,positron emission tomography,dopamine,amyloid
Approaching an answer to the complex question ‘how do childhood anxiety disorders develop?’ by merging attachment and social learning theory and their methodologies (ANXIETY IN CHILDHOOD)

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: Denmark
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IOF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-06-01
End date: 2014-08-31
Duration (months): 27.0
Total project cost (EUR): 307885.67
EU funding (EUR): 307885.67
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

“Everybody is afraid of something, but I outgrew my childhood fears. Just give your child some time, and I am sure she will grow out of it too.” Words like these are frequently reported by parents who bring their child to treatment of anxiety disorders. Although the statement is partially true - anxiety is a normal part of life, and some children outgrow their fears - it also shows that knowledge about anxiety and its detrimental effect on the child, family and society is lacking. Anxiety disorders are among the most common psychiatric disturbances in childhood with clinical levels of anxiety between 6-10%. Left untreated it increases the risk of academic and social failure as well as psychopathology in adulthood. The societal costs are significant. The development and maintenance of anxiety disorders involves a complex interplay among risk and protective factors in the child, parents and society. Different research traditions have focused on different factors in this complex equation. Attachment theory has provided insights into the impact of parent-child interactions on the child’s psychic development in longitudinal normal samples. Social learning theory and the associated treatment, cognitive behaviour therapy, has focused on e.g. emotional and cognitive factors in clinically anxious children and their parents. Unfortunately knowledge regarding the connections among child, parent, family and societal factors is sparse and research has yet to explain who will develop anxiety and why. The purpose of the present proposal is to take the field a step further, by merging theoretical perspectives and applying gold-standard methodologies, developed on both sides of the Atlantic, from both perspectives. The proposed work addresses the interrelation between anxiety disorders, emotion regulation, attachment, cognitions and behaviours in two studies: (i) a high-risk New York longitudinal sample; and (ii) a Copenhagen sample of clinically anxious children and their parents.

Keywords: developmental psychology,experimental psychology,child anxiety,attachment,parental cognition,parent-child interaction,social learning theory,prospective longitudinal follow-up study
Translational in vivo modelling of a novel 5-HT feedback pathway (TIVMOAN5FP)

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: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF, 2011)
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 200371.8
EU funding (EUR): 200371.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Despite the devastating impact of major depression on society, our knowledge of the brain mechanisms of depression is such that individuals at risk cannot be reliably detected, over a third of patients are refractory to treatment, and patients are being managed on a daily basis with antidepressant strategies without the guidance of a satisfactory explanation of their mechanisms of action. The neurotransmitter 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT, serotonin) is critically important for maintaining mood in vulnerable patients and the therapeutic effect of antidepressant drugs. Recent progress in understanding the role of 5-HT in the neurobiology of depression has led to a focus on 5-HT receptor subtypes, and particularly 5-HT2C receptors, and to the real possibility of resulting therapeutic advances. The present project seeks to provide critical, timely, and translationally-relevant information about a potential key player in the link between 5-HT2C receptors and depression, a 5-HT2C feedback pathway that our work has recently uncovered. In this proposal we aim to address key questions regarding the fundamental aspects of 5-HT2C feedback circuitry and its sensitivity to stress and antidepressant treatment, and expand our pilot animal imaging study of WAY 161503 with a rigorous pharmacological analysis of the BOLD changes in the LHb and DRN, including investigation of the effects of mCPP. We will compliment this animal imaging study with a recently described functional connectivity analysis35 focused on the LHb-DRN pathway. Finally, we will investigate the potential of using a mCPP challenge in combination with fMRI to model the 5-HT2C LHb-DRN feedback pathway in human volunteers. The work will thus contribute to a clinically important and rapidly evolving area of neuroscience.

Keywords: neurophysiology,pharmacy,5-ht2c receptors,antidepressant drugs,fmri
Stress and the aging brain: the interplay between genetic susceptibility, aging and psychosocial stress on early symptoms of dementia (STAGED)

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: Sweden
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-05-01
End date: 2013-10-31
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 136063.8
EU funding (EUR): 136063.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

As the population is growing older, the risk for dementia increases. The complexity of dementia calls for a multidisciplinary approach; in this project I will combine the research fields of Epidemiology, Genetics, Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience. It is crucial to identify persons at risk for developing dementia, as possible treatment interventions should be administered in an early stage of disease, before irreversible brain damage has occurred. Recent studies yield evidence that psychosocial stress may play a relevant role in the development of dementia. The exact underlying mechanism between psychosocial stress and dementia is however unclear and therefore I will investigate whether genetic susceptibility and accelerated telomere shortening interact with or mediate the effect of psychosocial stress on the onset of dementia. First, I propose to investigate whether persons with genetic susceptibilities are more prone for the detrimental effects of psychosocial stress factors on early symptoms of dementia. These genetic susceptibilities will be selected by conducting pathway analysis of mechanisms which have previously been related to dementia. Second, I will examine whether accelerated telomere shortening can explain the relation between psychosocial stress and early symptoms of dementia. I will do this in two large longitudinal population-based cohort studies, namely the SNAC-K study and SATSA study. And third I will translate the findings from the epidemiological studies into a cognitive neuroscience experiment in which I will investigate whether the effect of chronic psychosocial stress on brain activity and gray matter volume can be modified by aging and a common genetic variation. This will be done by conducting a functional MRI study using a working memory task and an emotional cognitive control task. This highly innovative and multidisciplinary project will greatly improve our knowledge on how stress affects the aging brain.

Keywords: epidemiology,degenerative diseases,neuropsychology,brain research
Quantum Thermodynamics of Mesoscopic Systems (QTHERM)

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: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-04-01
End date: 2014-03-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 200371.8
EU funding (EUR): 200371.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

This is a multidisciplinary project aiming at bringing together thermodynamics and the physics of quantum mesoscopic systems. Its founding idea is to exploit quantum mesoscopic devices to address fundamental questions of thermodynamics. The unambiguous quantum mechanical definitions of genuinely thermodynamical quantities (such as heat and work) and their use for the construction of thermal engines and heat-transport mechanisms are key points of the project. The analysis of thermodynamical transformations and thermalization processes will be carried out from an information-theoretical perspective, aiming at connecting thermodynamical quantities and concepts of quantum information theory. QTherM will embody a systematic investigation of quantum heat transport in spatially extended quantum many-body systems such as coupled optomechanical cells and atom-loaded optical lattices. A crucial goal of such endeavours will be the thermodynamical characterization of quantum phase transitions in such artificial, quantum-controllable devices. QTherM will constitute the theoretical backbone for a new generation of experiments in mesoscopics, aiming at ascertaining the foundations of thermodynamics through the framework of modern quantum theory. I will collaborate with top-notch theoretical and experimental groups operating in the areas above to design experimental test-beds for the theory that I will develop. The originality and inter-disciplinarity of the project, the wide spectrum of training objectives that it includes and the highly creative and fertile environment at the proposed host institution will be for me an unprecedented opportunity to reach professional maturity, enrich my scientific background and enhance my career path towards the construction of my own research group.

Keywords: quantum mechanics,thermodynamics,quantum optics,information theory,many-body physics,cold atoms
Modelling lung repair in health and disease (LUNG REPAIR MODEL)

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: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-09-01
End date: 2014-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 200371.8
EU funding (EUR): 200371.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Acute and chronic lung injury is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. During physiological repair of the damaged alveolar epithelium transdifferentiation of Alveolar Type II (ATII) cells occurs into Alveolar Type I (ATI) cells. Also, recently identified human multipotent lung stem cells (hLSCs) may participate in repair mechanisms of injured lung tissue by differentiating into multiple cell lineages in the lung. In pathological repair mechanisms, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) occurs, epithelial cells acquire mesenchymal phenotype, a process that is believed to be associated with aberrant repair and scar formation after epithelial injury. EMT contributes to fibrosis in the lung in both acute and chronic alveolar diseases (e.g. Acute Lung Injury (ALI) and Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The proposed project aims to investigate the role of Wnt11 in the differentiation of alveolar epithelial cells (AECs) and hLSCs. A tissue engineered 3D lung tissue model has been developed to mimic intercellular interactions in the lung which dramatically alters ligand responses in alveolar epithelium. Preliminary results suggest that in 3D co-culture and in human lung explant cultures Wnt11 promotes Alveolar Type II (ATII) like differentiation and prevents Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) in human small airway epithelium. If our hypothesis is correct we will ascertain whether Wnt11 may have important role in lung tissue regeneration thus marking it as a potential therapeutic target to promote alveolar epithelial repair. The use of hLSC may allow novel 3D tissue engineering solutions to be developed to replace damaged alveolar epithelium.

Keywords: chronic diseases,biomedical engineering,pulmonology,lung tissue model,lung epithelial differentiation,type ii alveolar cells,stem cells,injury repair,wnt signaling pathway
Nanoscale Metal–Organic Frameworks for Biomedical Applications (NANOBIOMOFS)

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: Spain
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-03-01
End date: 2014-02-28
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 168896.4
EU funding (EUR): 168896.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The project NanoBioMOFs (Nanoscale Metal–Organic Frameworks for Biomedical Applications) is a step forward to the researcher’s work undertaken during his postgraduate studies which comprised synthesising bulk Metal–Organic Frameworks (MOFs) for applications in gas storage, gas and liquid separation and molecular sensing. MOFs can be obtained from the connection of metal centres and organic ligands through the space in such a way that the structures obtained can be extended in one–, two– or three–dimensions. The applicant wishes to extend his knowledge in the same research area but from a completely different viewpoint, synthesising MOFs at the nanoscale regime for applications in drug delivery. To date, nanoparticle systems (polymer, iron or gold nanoparticles) have been used as drug delivery agents. This methodology has attracted much attention as it can improve many of the drawbacks of conventional therapy including high doses, rapid clearance, poor pharmacokinetics and strong side effects. Porous MOFs can be also used as drug delivery carriers due to their tunable host–guest properties and the ability to post–modify their internal surface. Although MOFs are excellent candidates to deliver drugs, they cannot be used in the form of traditional bulk but they have to be miniaturized at the nanometre scale. The aim of this project will be the synthesis of known and novel biocompatible, water–resistant MOFs based on biological ligands at the nanoscale, loading of MOFs with anticancer drugs and check their in vitro safety and therapeutic efficacy for chronic diseases such as cancer. This project allows the applicant to conduct truly interdisciplinary and inter–sectoral research, complementing his expertise in synthetic and materials chemistry in nanotechnology (Catalan Institute of Nanotechnology) and biomedicine (Biotechnology and Biomedicine Institute) at laboratories with long–standing collaboration, unique validation models and and state–of–the–art infrastructure.