Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
The role of RhoGEFs in epithelial polarity using a three-dimensional model (RHOGEFS IN EPITHELIA)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Re-integration Grants
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Spain
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2007-4-3-IRG, 2007)
Start date: 2007-12-21
End date: 2011-12-20
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Rho-family GTPases control many aspects of cell behavior through the regulation of multiple signaling pathways. Failure to properly regulate Rho GTPases can have deleterious consequences in human development and disease. A key group of spatial and temporal regulators of Rho-family GTPases are the Rho GEF proteins. Rho GEFs serve to couple diverse regulatory stimuli to Rho GTPase activation. There are a large number of Rho GEFs encoded by the human genome and a systematic study addressing cellular function is needed. With this proposal, I aim to complete an unbiased large-scale functional analysis of all the Rho GEF proteins using a lentiviral-RNAi based strategy to identify Rho-family GEF proteins involved in epithelial cell morphogenesis. To achieve this project I will use the three-dimensional Madin-Darby canine kidney epithelial cell (3D-MDCK) system, which is an excellent model to investigate epithelial morphogenesis in vitro. I will verify RNAi mediated knockdown of expression for candidate GEFs and demonstrate that the phenotypes caused by RNAi are not primarily due to off-target effects. Then, I will characterize the phenotypes of Rho GEF RNAi knockdowns in detail and determine the subcellular localization of the GEF proteins. Finally, I aim to determine the Rho GTPase specificity for Rho GEF candidates. The analysis of Rho GEF function in the MDCK 3D cell culture system might have particular relevance to cancer since their aberrant regulation can lead to malignant transformation and a majority of human tumors are thought to be epithelial in origin. In this proposal, I will carry out a more systematic, genome wide knockdown of all known human Rho GEFs with the goal of identifying and characterizing important regulators of MDCK epithelial cell morphogenesis. I hope that the insights I gain from the analysis of Rho GEF function in MDCK epithelial cells will aid our understanding of development and disease in both the kidney and other epithelial tissues.

Keywords: health sciences,epithelial morphogenesis,cell polarity,rho gtpases,rhogefs,rnai screening
Holy Writ & Lay Readers. A Social History of Vernacular Bible Translations in the Middle Ages (HOLY AND LAY)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: The Human Mind and its complexity
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call:  (ERC-2007-StG, 2007)
Start date: 2008-10-01
End date: 2012-09-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 683688.0
EU funding (EUR): 683688.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The European Late Middle Ages, before the Reformation in the 16th century, were witness to a cultural revolution. The ‘traditional’ dichotomy between the categories ‘religious’ and ‘lay’ and ‘Latin’ and ‘vernacular’ dissolved into a more diffuse situation and led to ‘lay emancipation’ characterised by a dramatic increase in the production of vernacular religious texts and, more specifically, by the production and distribution of vernacular Bibles. However, the diffusion of Bible translations across Europe was not homogeneous. Some regions enjoyed several vernacular translations, counting on lenience and even incentives from religious and worldly authorities, while in other translation activities, production and distribution were at some point strictly forbidden. This disparity and the patchwork distribution of vernacular Bibles raise questions about the conditions of this late medieval cultural revolution, a key to the understanding of the transition from the medieval to modern world. What were the ‘cultural dynamics’ behind this revolution? Who were the agents of this transformation process? How can the tension be analysed between the desire of the Church to control the distribution of translations and the hunger for direct access to biblical texts by generally literate lay people? The main objective of Holy Writ & Lay Readers is to map out this late medieval cultural revolution by concentrating on one of its most relevant manifestations and to reconstruct its social context by using an experimental research method which combines extensive codicological and bibliographical textual research with a socio-historical approach. The central question will be addressed by focusing on the interaction of social and cultural elements, such as a high degree of urbanisation and susceptibility to the influence of religious movements which, as preliminary research has shown, were strictly connected to the diffusion of religious vernacular texts.

Keywords: bible translations,italy,low countries,medieval,manuscripts and early prints
Exoplanets and Early Earth Atmospheric Research: THeories and Simulations (E3ARTHS)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Systems and communication engineering
Countries involved: France
Call:  (ERC-2007-StG, 2007)
Start date: 2008-10-01
End date: 2013-09-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 719759.0
EU funding (EUR): 719759.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

This program is dedicated to the simulation and characterization of Extrasolar Terrestrial Planet (ETP) atmospheres. Thanks to new generation codes, the team E3ARTHS aims to provide a top expertise in a key domain of astrobiology: the origin, evolution and identification of habitable worlds, and the quest for biomarkers on Earth-like planets. The team will also revisit early Earth models for a better understanding of the context of the origins of life, in the light of recent works on Earth formation, impact history and Solar evolution. The observable signatures of an ETP and its ability to sustain life are determined by atmospheric properties: chemistry, radiative transfer, climate. Although these processes are usually treated separately, they evolve in a tightly coupled scheme under the influence of astrophysical, geophysical and, if present, biological mechanisms. Eventually, realistic planetary environments will thus have to be modeled with self-consistent 3D tools, involving a multidisciplinary and international approach. Although ambitious by today's standards, such enterprise is a necessary counterpart of the planned ETP searches, and is required to study the discovered planets. Observatories like Darwin/TPF and ELTs will provide direct information on ETPs within 10-15 years. Ongoing transit searches (CoRoT, and Kepler), and radial-velocity surveys, are on the verge of detecting ETPs. In this context, E3ARTHS can become one of the cores in European theoretical research on ETPs, in close interaction with observation programs. Since his PhD, F. Selsis has developed his own research on ETPs, which already had important implications for the design of instruments for TEP search and characterization. His plan is now to take this research at the next level by creating a dedicated team that will integrate new tools such as 3D climate, photochemical and radiative transfer codes, produce virtual observations of ETPs, and study their potential for life.

Keywords: terrestrial exoplanets - planetary atmospheres - early earth - habitability - biosignatures - numerical simulations - virtual observations
Machine Learning-Based Test Solutions for Reliable Mixed-Signal/RF Integrated Devices (MLTSRMSRFID)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Re-integration Grants
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: France
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2007-4-3-IRG, 2007)
Start date: 2007-11-01
End date: 2011-10-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

This project aims to develop test strategies for mixed-signal/radio-frequency (RF) integrated devices using machine learning. The proposed efforts will be directed to two main areas, namely (a) the on-line test of mixed-signal/RF circuits when they are embedded in a System-on-Chip (SoC) or a System-in-Package (SiP) that demands high reliability and (b) the testing of RF micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). The key novelty of this interdisciplinary project lies in the amalgamation of concepts from machine learning with state-of-the-art practices in very large-scale integration (VLSI) design and test, in order to address emerging and open-ended test challenges.

Keywords: computer engineering,electrical engineering,mixed-signal/rf circuit design and test,machine learning,rf micro-electro-mechanical-systems,on-line test,concurrent error detection,reliability
Neurosemantics: the human brain as a meaning processor (NEUROSEMANTICS)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Environment and society
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2007-StG, 2007)
Start date: 2008-09-01
End date: 2013-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 961958.0
EU funding (EUR): 961958.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

This research programme aims at understanding the neural mechanisms underlying the manipulation of meaning in the human brain. Throughout this interdisciplinary research programme four complementary research streams will run in parallel: (a) a developmental stream investigating the characteristics of semantic memory development in infants aged 12 to 36 months; (b) a bilingual stream addressing subtle differences in semantic conceptualisation resulting from the handling of different languages by one brain; (c) a nonverbal stream exploring the capacity of the human brain to process complex meaningful information that is not coded in words; and (d) an unconscious stream targeting the processing of meaning triggered by perceptually distorted stimuli processed outside of awareness. As the research programme unfolds, aspects of verbal and nonverbal semantic development in the infant will be compared to second language semantics and to nonverbal processing in the adult. Similarly, differences found between conscious and unconscious aspects of semantic processing will provide an interpretational basis for results obtained in the other three streams. At the end of this research programme an overall synthesis of data collected in the different streams will make it possible to characterize cognitive factors affecting semantic development in early and later life, which can be expected to lead to a completely novel conception of the human semantic system. The series of experiments planned and those generated in the course of this project will enable the research team to establish international leadership in the emerging field of neurosemantics.

Keywords: cognitive development,bilingualism,nonverbal processing,unconscious priming,cross-modal priming,conceptual categories,object recognition,event-related potentials,multi-modal neuroimaging.
Mixed-Matrix Interfaces for Enhanced Fine Chemicals Downstream Processing and Monitoring (MATRIX)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Computer science and informatics
Countries involved: Spain,Spain
Call:  (ERC-2007-StG, 2007)
Start date: 2008-08-01
End date: 2014-07-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1498138.0
EU funding (EUR): 1498138.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

In the production of fine chemicals the downstream processing may amount up to 75 % of the total manufacturing costs, particularly when the product is aimed at nutritional or therapeutic use which demands a maximum purity. Current downstream processing strategies can face limitations whenever existing purification and separation processes are based on physico-chemical principles and thus exhibit a far more limited selectivity for the target compounds than is known from interactions involving biomolecules. The latter, on the other hand, are less robust and often require specific operating conditions (typically close to ambient) and feed compositions, which often restricts their broad application. This proposal presents an innovative, interdisciplinary approach on designing selective and tuneable interfaces for sensors and separations to be employed in downstream processing techniques. By combining recent advances in biology/biochemistry and chemistry and applying them to chemical engineering principles, the approach goes beyond concepts currently known, involving primarily engineered nucleic acids (aptamers) and tuneable ionic liquids (IL) incorporated in an appropriate support structure. The aim of this proposal is to make use of the unique properties of both biomolecules and ionic liquids in order to create supported mixed-matrix interfaces which exhibit properties that bulk materials can hardly achieve. Another novelty of this proposal is the aim to develop these interfaces in a modular way, namely by joining individually optimised elements during interface design in order to yield the desired overall properties. This approach warrants a maximum of degrees of freedom in the overall interface design while keeping the basic interface architecture constant, and thus overcomes one of the limitations that many conventional separation/purification techniques encounter during optimisation of the bulk material.

Keywords: separation science,membrane technology,downstream processing
Innovative advanced Wood-based Composite Materials and Components (WOODY)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies - NMP
Destination: Integration
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: Sweden,Denmark,Finland,Belgium,Belgium,Italy,Sweden,Israel,Italy,Italy,Portugal,Poland,Italy,Italy
Call:  (FP7-NMP-2007-LARGE-1, 2007)
Start date: 2009-01-01
End date: 2012-12-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 7244481.0
EU funding (EUR): 5099238.0
Participants: 19
Project status: CLOSED

Currently the world of polymeric composite materials is almost exclusively based on fossil derived components. This fact represents a strong issue, as the non-renewable global oil resources are being exploited year after year, also as a consequence of the ever growing demand for plastics engineering materials. WOODY Project goal is to develop new composite panels and laminates from wood derived renewable materials, providing performances competitive with respect to traditional composites. WOODY Project is aimed at introducing a fully innovative paradigm in the composite industry, thanks to development of materials derived from natural resources, enabling to cover the whole necessities of components: fibre, matrix and core. Enzymatic processing is developed in parallel to chemo-thermo-mechanical treatments, for achieving the maximum throughput and eco-sustainability. The breakthrough innovation in materials is backed by an innovative approach in design of composite products, the so called “Composite Thinking”, starting from the phase of conception, to the production and installation, enabling to rethink products and fully exploiting the potentialities of composites. Quality of the approach is based on multidisciplinary research and on the target oriented to the redefinition of the whole processing value-chain for wood derived cellulose nano fibrils and resins deriving from natural raw materials, and the related manufacturing processes for advanced composite components. The Project is aimed to set the basis for the development of a new class of products optimising the use of the natural resources. Such approach is therefore expected to increase the tendency for wild forest areas recovery, and to promote the culture of wooden species dedicated to the extraction of compounds finalized to the production of renewable composite materials.

Keywords: composites materials and parts,sandwich panels,laminates,renewable materials
Cellular and molecular mechanisms of the light response in photoreceptor cells of the mammalian retina (RODCELL)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Re-integration Grants
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Spain
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2007-4-3-IRG, 2007)
Start date: 2008-01-01
End date: 2011-12-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Genetic defects in proteins involved in the transduction of light in photoreceptor cells of the retina lead to severe retinal degenerations and blindness. Mutations that primarily affect rod function lead to retinitis pigmentosas. These diseases affect 1 in 4000 individuals, initially causing night blindness. As the gradual loss of rods eventually compromises cone cell viability, they lead to blindness. Mutations that affect cone function lead to cone dystrophies (CDs) or macular degenerations. There is no current cure for these diseases. The applicant will establish a lab in which the main interests will be: 1) study intracellular signaling in rod and cone photoreceptor cells in response to light, by combining mouse genetics with morphological, biochemical and electrophysiological analysis; and 2) use mouse models to study how genetic defects in these signaling pathways lead to retinal degeneration. In this frame, the first main aim of this proposal is to establish mouse models of the adCDs caused by mutations in the gene encoding Guanylate Cyclase Activating Protein 1 (GCAP1), a Ca2+-binding protein that regulates cGMP synthesis in rods and cones. By expressing mutant forms of the protein in murine rods, and subsequently in cones we will study the pathways leading to cell death in vivo. The second main aim is to study the mechanisms that govern arrestin intracellular localization in darkness and its massive redistribution in response to light. This is a defense mechanism of rod photoreceptors to adapt and to protect themselves to prolonged light exposures (e.g. during cone-operated vision), and its understanding will be relevant for the dark/light physiology or photoreceptor cells.

Keywords: cone,phototransduction,adaptation,rhodopsin,arrestin,gcaps,cgmp metabolism,protein translocation,retina,inherited retinal disorders,cone dystrophies
Novel Nanocomposites for Hydrogen Storage Applications (NANOHY)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Energy
Destination: Hydrogen and fuel cells
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: Germany,Italy,France,Germany,Norway,Germany,Greece,Korea, Republic of
Call:  (FP7-ENERGY-2007-1-RTD, 2007)
Start date: 2008-01-01
End date: 2011-12-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3402945.8
EU funding (EUR): 2399629.0
Participants: 9
Project status: CLOSED

In order to meet the international goals for hydrogen storage materials, the work in NANOHy aims at combining the latest developments in the metal hydride field with novel concepts for tailoring materials properties. Leading expertise in the field of complex hydride synthesis, synthesis and functionalization of nanostructured carbon, nanoparticle coating, structural characterization, and computational methods will be joined to achieve a fundamental understanding combined with considerable practical progress in the development of novel nanostructured materials for hydrogen storage. The target materials are nanocomposites consisting of hydride particle sizes in the lower nanometer range which are protected by a nanocarbon template or by self-assembled polymer layers in order to prevent agglomeration. Thus, there is potential to lower working temperature and pressure, to enhance the reversibility, and to control the interaction between the hydride and the environment, leading to improved safety properties. Materials of this kind can mitigate or solve principal and practical problems which have been identified recently in other projects. The composites will be synthesized out of novel complex hydrides with very high hydrogen content and nanocarbon templates. Alternatively, hydride colloids will be coated in a Layer-by-Layer self-assembling process of dedicated polymers. Computational methods will be used to model the systems and predict optimal materials/size combinations for improved working parameters of the systems. Sophisticated instrumental analysis methods will be applied to elucidate the structure and the properties of the nano-confined hydrides. An upscale of the target nanocomposite will be made in the final stage and 0.5-1 kg of the material will be integrated and tested in a specially designed laboratory tank. Techno-economical evaluation will be performed and potential spin-off applications will be explored by an industry partner in NANOHy.

Keywords: nanotechnology novel materials hydrogen storage
Development of mass spectrometric techniques for 3D imaging and in-vivo analysis of biological tissues (DESI_JEDI-IMAGING)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Physical and Analytical Chemical sciences
Countries involved: United Kingdom,Germany
Call:  (ERC-2007-StG, 2007)
Start date: 2008-09-01
End date: 2013-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1750000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1750000.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Recent development of atmospheric pressure desorption ionization methods has opened a unique area of application for analytical mass spectrometry. Most of these methods do not require any modification of samples, and this feature, together with the minimal invasiveness of these methods allows direct analytical interrogation of biological tissues, even the real-time, in-vivo observation of biochemical processes. The proposed research focuses on the development of atmospheric pressure desorption ionization mass spectrometric methods for the characterization of biological tissues. The first question to answer is aimed at the nature of information which can be obtained, using a variety of desorption ionization methods including desorption electrospray ionization and jet desorption ionization methods. Preliminary results show, that APDI-MS methods provide information on lipids, metabolic compounds, drugs and certain proteins. First task of the proposed research is to implement a chemical imaging system, which is capable of producing 3D concentration distribution functions for various constituents of tissue samples. The developed methodology will be used to tackle fundamental pathophysiological problems including development of various malignant tumors. A database will be created for the unequivocal identification of various tissues including healthy and malignant tissue samples. In-vivo applications of MS will also be developed. JeDI-MS,similarly to water jet surgery, also utilizes high velocity water jet can directly be used as an intelligent scalpel. Real-time in-situ tissue identification has the potential of revolutionizing cancer surgery, since this way the amount of removed tissue can be minimized, while the tumor removal efficiency is maximized. The identical experimental platform can also be used to gather real-time in-situ metabolic information, which can help to understand pathophysiological changes.

Keywords: proteomics,metabolomics,diagnostics,instrument development,mass spectrometry