Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Intra-continental Reconstruction of the North Atlantic Oscillation using Stalagmite Isotopes and Trace Elements (INSITE)

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-2007-2-1-IEF, 2007)
Start date: 2008-03-03
End date: 2010-03-02
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 177173.03
EU funding (EUR): 177173.03
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is the Northern Hemisphere’s dominant mode of atmospheric variation. It is the most significant driver of European climate and weather but the profound impact of NAO on society, economy, environment, and ecology cannot be assessed because we do not know how it has varied over long timescales and which factors drive its variation over both short and long timescales. Does the NAO fluctuate only in response to natural drivers or does its unprecedented shift since the 1970’s reflect anthropogenic forcing? Available instrumental, documentary and proxy-based reconstructions are too short to resolve a low-frequency NAO component. Therefore, we cannot (i) determine the cause of 0.7 – 1.0 °C warming during the past 150 years, (ii) predict the magnitude and rate of global warming as atmospheric ‘greenhouse’ gas concentrations increase, and (iii) validate hindcasting of atmosphere-ocean global climate models as a first step to their use as accurate forecasters of future NAO activity. These three issues are vital to mitigate NAO-induced climate and weather risks upon the socio-economic sustainability of Europe. Stalagmite chemistry provides an ideal test of NAO influence on European climate. Isotope and trace element variations preserve high-frequency records of past precipitation in seasonal growth lamina. Growth over many millennia also records low-frequency climate change. Recent stalagmite records from Germany and Austria suggest stalagmite climate proxies (oxygen isotope ratios) correlate strongly with solar irradiation. Our Polish site is ideal to test this hypothesis because we have shown that the NAO is the primary control of oxygen isotope ratios of precipitation in this area (Baldini et al., in review). INSITE will develop an innovative combination of stalagmite palaeoclimate proxies from this site to determine how natural and anthropogenic forcing influence high- and low-frequency NAO variation.

Keywords: palaeoclimate isotopes,stalagmites,atmospheric circulation,trace elements,proxy records,climate change
Efficient Micromachining of Ceramic Materials in free formed, accurate and reliable shapes (MICMA^3)

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: Belgium
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2007-2-1-IEF, 2007)
Start date: 2008-06-01
End date: 2010-05-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 157288.66
EU funding (EUR): 157288.66
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Technical ceramics (Al2O3, ZrO2, SiC, Si3N4) have received increasing attention in the recent years and they significantly contribute to sustainable growth and development. However, their extensive use throughout industry is still hindered by the lack of efficient technologies enabling to provide accurate and free formed components without defects. Near/net-shape manufacturing techniques have mayor benefits (mass production, different size available and versatile shapes). However, the accurate control of properties, surface characteristics and dimensions of the finished parts is still crucial. This challenge is even more evident for microscale applications. Emanating from these considerations, the main target of MiCMa3 is to identify the new micromanufacturing technologies for the accurate and reliable micromachining of free formed features and ceramic components. The investigated technology families will be EDM (Electrical Discharge Machining) and HSM (High Speed Milling). Micro-EDM capabilities have been improved to a large extends in the last decades. Furthermore, spark erosion is a potential and attractive technology for the machining of ceramics, once a sufficient electrical conductivity is provided to the base material. In this context, the competitiveness of micro-EDM in the processing of ceramic composites will be investigated and the project will develop process parameters and strategies for the micro EDM-manufacturing of a selected group of ceramic composites (objective 1). In the domain of mechanical cutting process, High Speed Milling (HSM) has been recently introduced as the key answer for the machining of brittle materials; the feasible machining of marble stone and technical ceramics has been demonstrated. In this context, the project will explore the feasibility of High Speed Milling of ceramic materials at micro-scale (objective 2). A test-bed of micro-HSM will be developed and experiments will be conducted to identify its competitiveness.

Keywords: micromanufacturing,ceramic materials,micro-electrical discharge machining,micro-high speed milling
CHARACTERIZATION OF THE B-CELL-SPECIFIC GENE REGULATORY NETWORK BY GENOME-WIDE IDENTIFICATION OF DIRECT PAX5 TARGET GENES (PAX5TARGETS)

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: Austria
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2007-2-1-IEF, 2007)
Start date: 2008-03-01
End date: 2010-02-28
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 160749.69
EU funding (EUR): 160749.69
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

A complex network of transcription factor interactions controls the process by which B lymphocytes develop from hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Pax5 has been identified as the critical transcription factor controlling B cell commitment throughout B lymphopoiesis. These analyses revealed that Pax5 commits early hematopoietic progenitors to the B cell pathway by repressing B-lineage-inappropriate genes and by simultaneously activating B-cell-specific genes. By comprehensive cDNA microarray analysis, 110 Pax5-repressed and 170 Pax5-activated genes have been identified, demonstrating that Pax5 controls a complex regulatory network involved in B cell signaling, adhesion, migration and immune function. The goal of the project proposed here will be to systematically analyze all direct Pax5 target genes in the entire genome during B cell development. Recently, a mouse strain carrying a biotin tag at the C-terminus of Pax5 has been generated. We will use this mouse strain for genome-wide identification of Pax5-binding sites by chromatin precipitation and Solexa 1G ultrahigh-throughput DNA sequencing. Islands of chromatin modifications have been shown to provide an efficient way of identifying active and repressed promoters and cis-regulatory elements. Here we propose to use chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-sequencing to map the entire mouse genome for Pax5-controlled promoters and cis-regulatory elements. Integration of this information with the identification of Pax5-binding sites will provide us with a genome-wide map of functional Pax5-binding sites, from which a list of all direct target genes of Pax5 during B cell development will be obtained. The project proposed here will constitute an essential piece of a larger group effort, which aims at elucidating the gene regulatory network interactions controlling B cell development.

Keywords: gene regulatory network,pax5,b lymphocytes,lymphopoiesis,lineage commitment,genome-wide mapping,transcriptional regulation,transcription factor
Many-Electron Wigner Molecules: 3-D quantum dots. (3DQDOTS)

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: Poland
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2007-2-1-IEF, 2007)
Start date: 2009-04-01
End date: 2011-03-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 112331.55
EU funding (EUR): 112331.55
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

At the outset of the 21st century, and after eighty years of the advent of quantum mechanics, theoretical studies on small species still raise a lot of interest as foundations upon which research on methods for treatment of general systems is based. It is often believed that the gap which separates the exactly treatable models from the experimental results works against multidisciplinary character of research that is sought in modern science. However, in the case of quantum dots this common belief does not reflect reality, as these systems can have their structures theoretically analyzed in an exhaustive way and at the same time they are of great experimental relevance. Harmonium atoms are an especial kind of 3D quantum dots in which the central Coulombic potential of nuclear attraction is replaced by a harmonic one. For a small number of atoms these systems are analytically solvable or quasi-solvable. In the recent years there has been a renewed interest in harmonium atoms, particularly in the so-called Wigner molecules. In this project we study several harmonically confined clusters, and few-electron harmonium atoms with the aim to understand the electronic structure and the energetics of these species, especially at strong correlation limit (Wigner molecules) in order to provide guidance for future experimental research on quantum dots and assessment of their usefulness as benchmarks for DFT, DMFT and other electronic structure methods.

Keywords: physical sciences,computer chemistry,quantum chemistry,chemical physics,molecular physics
Chagas' disease - Inhibitor discovery and optimization for Trypanosoma cruzi trans-sialidase (TRANSSIADRUG)

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: Belgium
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2007-2-1-IEF, 2007)
Start date: 2008-04-01
End date: 2009-08-31
Duration (months): 17.0
Total project cost (EUR): 157288.66
EU funding (EUR): 157288.66
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

This proposal focus on finding new potential lead compounds to inhibit the trans-sialidase of Trypanosoma cruzi, as a step towards finding a drug against Chagas’ disease. A new high through-put enzyme assay will be used to scan a large library of small molecules and in combination with in silico pharmacophoric modelling this is expected to provide new types of scaffolds as well as identifying important functionalities in the ligand. Based on the obtained information a set of ligands will be designed. These ligands will be synthesised and further evaluated through the enzyme assay, kinetic and thermodynamical studies as well as structural studies. In an iterative optimization, these tools will be combined to obtain future generations of inhibitory ligands.

Keywords: tropical medicine,pharmaceutical chemistry,computational chemistry,structural chemistry,biochemistry,organic chemistry,trypanosoma cruzi,high through-put enzyme assay,inhibitor design,pharmacophore
Separation and purification of biopolymers and biopharmaceuticals using advanced chemical engineering tools (PLASTICBIOPHARMAPUR)

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-2007-2-1-IEF, 2007)
Start date: 2008-07-01
End date: 2010-06-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 178874.06
EU funding (EUR): 178874.06
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Novel advanced tools for robust, low-cost separation and purification of Biopolymers are expected to drive EU improvements in the fields of clinical analysis, proteomics and downstream purification of biopharmaceuticals. The application of plastic microcapillaries to the separation and purification of biopolymers will offer high accuracy and reliability with significant reductions in instrumentation cost over conventional systems. Platforms to be designed with multiplexed capillaries will significantly enhance productivity in the biopharmaceutical and medical fields and open up new markets for capillary instrumentation. Plastic microcapillaries will be adapted to support separations of biopolymers through affinity and ion-exchange chromatography and capillary electrophoresis. Capillary walls (made of a wide range of thermoplastics) will act as the matrix for immobilisation of affinity ligands or deposition of positive/negative charges. The added values of optical transparency, stability and precise internal diameter of the plastic capillaries will be explored for the purification of biopolymers by electrophoretic methods. The project will be carried out at the University of Cambridge, where very accurate, parallel capillaries have been embedded in a plastic film extruded through a patented process. Prof. Malcolm Mackley, at the department of chemical engineering, was the co-inventor of the new extrusion process and will be in charge of supervising this project. The extrusion process is very cheap, making the plastic films disposable after a single cycle of purifications. Prof. Howard Chase will provide the necessary knowledge in bioseparations for the development of plastic, affinity and ion-exchange capillaries. Lamina Dielectrics Ltd is currently licensed for manufacturing of microcapillary films and will be an important industrial partner. Analytical techniques such as UV-Vis absorbance, laser induced fluorescence and mass spectroscopy will be used.

Keywords: plastic microcapillaries,separation,purification,biopolymers,biopharmaceuticals
Synthesis, characterization and conductivity studies of conducting polymer-DNA hybrids (POLYCONDNA)

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-2007-2-1-IEF, 2007)
Start date: 2008-10-01
End date: 2010-09-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 169957.94
EU funding (EUR): 169957.94
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

In this project we propose to develop conducting nanoscale molecular wires based on hybrid polymer materials. The concept is to use DNA as a scaffold for the attachment of polymerisable monomer units covalently bound to the DNA nucleosides. Novel synthetic nucleosides will be prepared for oligomerisation using automated solid phase DNA synthesis. It is intended to synthesise modified nucleosides, in particular the pyrimidines, which can be applied to the sequence specific synthesis of DNA strands. The nucleoside will be modified with units derived from pyrrole and thiophene since these compounds are readily polymerized to conducting materials. In using DNA as a scaffold or backbone the self-assembling properties of DNA may be exploited for the construction of large and complex nanoscale architectures. In this way it should be possible to direct the assembly of nanoscale wiring by using the inherent biological assembly process of the DNA part of the hybrid material. Established synthetic methodologies will used for the synthesis of the precursor compounds and these will be characterised using standard techniques to establish structural details, e.g. NMR, elemental analysis, ionized electrospray mass spectroscopy LC(IES-MS), spectroscopic (FTIR, UV-vis). The synthesis of DNA oligomers will rely on phosphoramidite chemistry and automated solid phase protocols. The formation of conducting polymer wires will involve oxidation of the resulting DNA-pyrrole/DNA-thiophene strands using chemical and electrochemical approaches. The resulting materials will be characterised using a range of spectroscopies (FTIR, CD, UV-vis) as well as voltammetry and probe microscopy. Finally, the conducting properties of the materials will be examined using a combination of 2-electrode devices and scanning probe methods.

Keywords: natural sciences,technological sciences,physical sciences
DISCURSIVITY. A PHILOSOPHICAL INQUIRY INTO LEGAL THEORY. (LEGAL DISCURSIVITY)

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: Belgium
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2007-2-1-IEF, 2007)
Start date: 2008-09-01
End date: 2010-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 164886.6
EU funding (EUR): 164886.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The notion of legal discourse is used in many studies as a tool or a frame meant to understand various European legal issues. Yet, the fragmentation and multiplicity of the researches (semiotics, philosophy of language, linguistics, and legal theory) hinders a more comprehensive approach to the subject. Indeed, the logic of legal discourse raises problems that have been addressed so far only in a superficial and piecemeal manner, either by philosophy of law or legal theory. There lacks a systematic and pluridisciplinary study of legal language, capable of integrating all the different relevant remarks into a more general frame. This project is aimed precisely at giving a new, rigorous definition of legal discursivity. Its ambition and originality is to integrate various disciplines and authors of different national traditions in an interdisciplinary approach, in which philosophy plays a key role. Bringing together contemporary semiotics, linguistics and legal theory into a philosophical perspective, this research intends to help constitute a new frame of reflection for legal language and rationality. By excavating its philosophical basis, and unveiling its legal particularities, this investigation bestows the vague notion of legal discourse with the precise and operational dimension of a true concept. Such inquiry will in fact give an illuminating insight into most of the relevant logical remarks pervading contemporary legal theory. This research shall particularly focus on Ricoeur and Habermas’ works, whose disagreements have not been systematically explored by the literature so far. Since their respective reflections on justice and legal theory are logically related to a very consistent philosophy of language, confronting their work is indeed the best way to understand the current difficulties in discourse theory identified by contemporary legal philosophy.

Keywords: philosophy of language,philosophy of law,legal theory,semiotics,linguistics,legal language,discourse,pragmatics,formalization,natural logic,argumentation,interpretation,ricoeur,habermas.
The arterial adventitia: a critical actor in atherosclerotic plaque progression and stability? (ADVENTITIA)

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
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2007-2-1-IEF, 2007)
Start date: 2008-08-01
End date: 2010-07-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 159434.23
EU funding (EUR): 159434.23
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Background: The clinical outcome of cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction and stroke is generally caused by rupture or erosion of an atherosclerotic plaque. While the contribution of the plaque intima and media to plaque initiation and progression are well acknowledged, that of the arterial perivascular tissue, the adventitia, is not established yet. Hypothesis: Adventitial inflammation, which is partially modulated by adipocyte activity, profoundly impacts plaque progression and stability and that modulation of this process could be a new therapeutic approach to improve the resilience of a plaque to rupture. Key objectives: 1) Determine the contribution of adventitial activation of adipocytes to plaque progression and stability in vivo in our model of collar aided carotid artery atherosclerosis, which affords flow induced atherosclerotic lesions, accessible to local intervention. Specific adipocyte activators will be applied, either systemically or focally and its effect on plaque development tested. Likewise, the effect of specific inhibitors of adipocytes activation will be determined. 2) Assess the possible activation pathways in situ and the culprit actors responsible for the plaque destabilizing effect. Implications: The results of these studies will not only increase our insight in the pivotal role of the adventitia in atherosclerotic plaque development and stability, but also is expected to lead to new targets and therapeutic modalities in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. The applicant finished her Ph.D. summa cum laude at the CSIC (Spanish Research Council) in Seville and is currently Post-doctoral fellow. The mutual intentions of creating a long-term collaboration between the two institutes furthermore contributes to the impact the fellowship will have on EU scientific excellence.

Keywords: atherosclerosis,adventitia,unstable plaque,adipocytes
Anterograde regulation of axon targeting in the Drosophila visual system (AXON TARGETING)

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-2007-2-1-IEF, 2007)
Start date: 2008-06-15
End date: 2010-06-14
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 168256.91
EU funding (EUR): 168256.91
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

To understand how a functional nervous system generates complex behaviors, it is essential to determine the molecular mechanisms that direct the formation of precise connections between afferent axons and their targets during development. In the Drosophila visual system, neuronal circuit assembly depends on intricate bidirectional interactions between photoreceptor axons and target neurons. Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (Alk) and its activating ligand Jelly belly (Jeb) have recently been shown to act as an anterograde signaling system that mediates photoreceptor axon targeting. The aim of this proposal is to elucidate the mechanisms underlying anterograde Jeb/Alk signaling in the visual system. I propose (1) to develop cell-biological and genetic assays to determine whether Jeb acts as a global or local cue; (2) using mosaic analysis and RNA interference approaches, to analyze the potential function of downstream cell adhesion molecules, Dumbfounded/Kirre and its paralog Roughest/IrreC in target neurons; (3) to investigate the role of the interacting factors, Hibris and Sticks and stones; (4) to characterize the function of Frazzled/DCC and a possible link to Jeb/Alk signaling; and (5) using gain-of function and knock-down approaches in specific neuron subtypes, to test whether combinations of these differentially expressed cell-adhesion molecules form a “layer code” for R-cell axons.

Keywords: neurobiology,developmental biology,molecular genetics,anaplastic lymphoma kinase