Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Identification of Basal Immunity mechanismS against plant pathogenic viruses (IBIS)

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-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2013-05-01
End date: 2015-04-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 194046.6
EU funding (EUR): 194046.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Eukaryotic organisms have the ability to defend themselves against pathogenic microorganisms through the action of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) perceiving specific pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), what activates a range of fast, efficient and multi-layered defense responses leading to PAMP-triggered immunity (PTI), also named basal immunity. To counteract this defense strategy, successful pathogens deploy effectors proteins, the primary function of which is to evade/interfere with PTI. In both plants and animals, extensive attention has been paid over the years to the identification of PRRs, signalling components, pathogens effectors and their host targets, in order to dissect the molecular dialog between hosts and pathogens (including bacteria, fungi and viruses). Strikingly, no information related to basal immunity against plant viruses has been obtained so far, in spite of many converging elements suggesting that basal immunity against viruses also exists in plants. The project IBIS aims at the identification of the cellular processes underlying basal immunity against plant viruses, using the Arabidopsis thaliana - Plum pox virus (PPV) pathosystem as a model for plant-virus interactions. Via holistic and multidisciplinary approaches (combining molecular biology, virology, biochemistry, cellular biology, reverse genetics, transcriptomics and proteomics), I will make use of the knowledge I acquired on both basal immunity signaling and plant virology as entry points to tackle the three project objectives: I will first characterize cellular components involved in basal immunity against PPV through a candidate approach and transcriptomic analyses. In addition, I will identify PPV-encoded proteins acting as viral effectors suppressing basal immunity as well as their cellular targets. Finally, I will address the question of the possible overlap between basal immunity pathways triggered by different classes of plant pathogenic microbes.

Keywords: arabidopsis thaliana,viruses,plant pathology,signalling,pathogen effectors
The interface between language and cognition in neurodevelopmental disorders: Evidence from cross-linguistic comparisons (LANGCOGINT)

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-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2013-09-09
End date: 2015-09-08
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 221606.4
EU funding (EUR): 221606.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

This study will investigate the interactions between language and cognition in Down Syndrome (DS), Williams Syndrome (WS) and Specific Language Impairment (SLI) in an attempt to challenge existing views of the modularity of language and to move a step further towards a full understanding of the underlying linguistic challenges faced by people with neurodevelopmental disorders. This main aim will be realized by asking three research questions, namely, (1) Do the language deficits associated with DS, SLI, & WS manifest themselves differently in the comprehension as opposed to the production of language? (2) Are these deficits in the manifestation of language a consequence of more general cognitive impairment in memory or conceptual knowledge? and (3) Is the nature of these deficits comparable in languages of different levels of morphological enrichment (English-Greek)? In order to address these research questions, we will adopt a novel but systematic cross-linguistic approach whereby complex grammatical structures including relative clauses, wh-questions and control sentences will be manipulated for working memory load and reliance on real-world knowledge. Moreover, noun phrases will be elicited to test (i) number and gender concord of the highly inflected language of Greek, and (ii) number agreement between pronouns and nouns due to the lack of grammatical gender and adjectival agreement in English. Each atypical group will comprise fifteen individuals in each language (aged 8 to 18 years) while their performance will be compared to that of larger groups of English and Greek typically developing children using novel regression-based norming approaches. Given that our cross-language comparison will allow for generalization of our results, our findings would be relevant to reducing the cost, and increasing the effectiveness, of supporting individuals with language delay across the ERA.

Keywords: language,cognition,memory,real world knowledge,neurodevelopmental disorders,down syndrome,williams syndrome,specific language impairment,syntax,english,greek
Tilting theory in derived module categories (TTINDMOD)

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-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2013-09-02
End date: 2015-09-01
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 179739.6
EU funding (EUR): 179739.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Tilting theory is a set of tools and techniques used to compare and relate module categories. The development of the subject has shown wide and deep applications to representation theory, geometry and mathematical physics. The homological and combinatorial nature of these applications has led to a growing number of new approaches in the area. This project brings together some of these approaches in the setting of derived module categories. We propose to unify and reconcile views on the bounded and on the unbounded derived categories of a ring, establishing new ways to compare them. The key concepts involved range from tilting and silting objects to t-structures, infinitely generated modules, cotorsion pairs and recollements. We suggest constructions and/or classifications for some of these concepts in suitable contexts (from finite dimensional algebras to fully bounded noetherian rings), linking ring theoretical ideas with the study of derived module categories. Ultimately, we use them to investigate the structure of these derived categories and, therefore, have a better understanding of how they relate.

Keywords: m102 algebra,derived module categories,tilting objects,silting objects,t-structures,recollements
Chromatin dynamics for gene activation in the developing flower (CHROMACT)

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-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2013-05-01
End date: 2015-04-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 194046.6
EU funding (EUR): 194046.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

This proposal for a career development fellowship aims to assist a young researcher in achieving an independent position in the ERA. To reach this goal, we suggest the following project to decipher the molecular events taking place at plant chromatin during gene activation. Highly flexible plant cell fates allow life-long organogenesis, thus providing adequate models to study developmental processes. Differentiation of small stem cell clusters requires activation of developmental factors to follow proper temporal and spatial patterns. ULTRAPETALA 1 (ULT1) was identified by the hosting team as an activator of key genes involved in flower development of Arabidopsis thaliana. Our working hypothesis is that ULT1 induces transcription by functioning at the crossroads between transcription factors, transcriptional machinery and chromatin remodelers. This will be challenged by determining 1. ULT1 influence on repressive/activating histone mark abundance, respectively deposited by Polycomb/Trithorax group proteins, 2. ULT1 direct target genes and 3. ULT1 binding to chromatin during flower development with temporal resolution. We will employ next-generation sequencing (NGS) and computing methodologies, enabling in vitro determination of DNA binding sites and in vivo analysis of chromatin landscapes in Arabidopsis flowers for which genetic tools enable isolation of synchronised tissues in large amounts. This will permit correlating genome-wide ULT1 temporal binding patterns with changes in chromatin marks, transcriptional state of target genes and binding of putative ULT1 interactors and thus shed light on the chronology of events taking place at chromatin during transcriptional activation. Combined with the proposed training, including acquisition of new knowledge on epigenetics and flower development, analysis of NGS data and training in team and project management, the expected results and planned publications will provide a solid foundation for future career development.

Keywords: l208 epigenetics and gene regulation,l210 bioinformatics,flower development,genome-wide chromatin dynamics,transcriptional activation
Hybrid Fluorescence Optoacoustic Imaging (HIFI)

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-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2013-09-01
End date: 2015-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 168794.4
EU funding (EUR): 168794.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Optical imaging tools are in high demand by the biomedical research and clinical communities for applications that greatly impact the life sciences. The invention of fluorescent molecular tomography (FMT) a decade ago can be considered a breakthrough in optical imaging, as it allows for unprecedented, in-vivo, non-invasive and quantitative 3D imaging of fluorescent probes. However, it has been recently shown than its performance can be greatly improved using a priori information for the tomographic algorithm regarding the distribution of optical parameters in tissue. Multispectral Optoacoustic Tomography (MSOT) is a new non-invasive medical imaging modality that is able to retrieve the 3D distribution of light energy deposition in small animals in vivo, and not invasively. Its high resolution has revolutionized the field of optical imaging, having many important applications in preclinical research and clinical diagnosis. By combining MSOT and FMT in a hybrid system, a unique synergy is established, since MSOT can potentially provide the input needed by FMT to achieve a radical improvement in its imaging performance, not to mention that the simple combination of the molecular information yielded by FMT with the functional and anatomical information yielded by MSOT is certainly useful for biomedical researchers and clinics. Furthermore a FMT/MSOT system will be capable of serving as a cheap diagnostic tool for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), shifting the expensive MRI diagnosis paradigm, and for the first time rendering economically viable the frequent monitoring of this aging-related disease, which is a major cause of mortality in Europe. The objective of this project is to develop the first hybrid FMT/MSOT system, engineering the optimal tomographic approaches for exploiting the system’s synergies to achieve unprecedented FMT performance. The system’s capacity as a tool for the diagnosis of RA will be tested at the clinic.

Keywords: g314 medical engineering and technology,l702 diagnostic tools,p320 medical physics
Key factors for the SMEs competitiveness in the context of globalisation (SMES COMPETITIVENESS)

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-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2013-11-04
End date: 2015-11-03
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 299558.4
EU funding (EUR): 299558.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Although economic globalisation created a new environment for SME competitiveness, the latter remains a relatively neglected topic. The project will make three original contributions to this research field. First, it focuses on the conceptualization of competitiveness factors as specific to the globalisation context (key) factors versus more classical ones. Second, it addresses the interaction of these factors in different institutional settings. Third, while the significance of these factors has been analyzed mainly under conditions of growth, this project also examines their variable application under conditions of crisis and recovery. The project addresses the following research questions: To what extent can we distinguish between specific to globalisation (key), and more classical factors of SME competitiveness? How do these factors interact with each other? Do these factors, and their configurations, differ in growth/recession situations and in different national economic contexts? The main research goal is to identify particular combinations of key factors for SMEs competitiveness in different contexts (growth, crisis, and recovery) and different national stages of development. The findings are expected to reveal whether these key factors have a greater influence than classical ones on firms’ performance. During the crisis, factor re-ordering can be expected when some key factors step back and some classical ones become more important. Based on a critical literature review, the project will create and test a conceptual model of SMEs competitiveness factors in terms of specific to globalisation (key) factors. The model will be tested in two ways: a) on samples of Bulgarian SMEs at different dates; b) on comparative samples of SMEs from one sector, tourism, in two countries (Bulgaria and UK). The project findings will contribute to the improvement of SME policy by facilitating greater focus on particular competitiveness factors in specific contexts.

Keywords: eco - smes,globalisation,competitiveness,key factors,bulgaria
Molecular signals for synaptic pruning by microglia (SYNSIGNAL)

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-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2013-05-01
End date: 2015-04-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 179739.6
EU funding (EUR): 179739.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

While emerging body of evidence implicates microglia in synaptic pruning and indicates the role of complement system in mediating phagocytosis of synaptic elements by surrounding microglia, no neuronal signals that label synapses according to their activity and maturity have been identified yet. Here we propose to develop an organotypic hippocampal slice culture system to investigate synaptic pruning during development, and to use it to identify candidate molecular tags that mediate discrimination between weak and strong synapses during circuit maturation. We will test two candidate molecules: "don’t-eat-me" signal sialic acid and "eat-me" signal phosphatidylserine. Using time-lapse spinning disc microscopy of live organotypic slices, pharmacological manipulations and optogenetics we will observe local neural activity-dependent dynamics of desialyation and phosphatidylserine exposure on synapses. Organotypic hippocampal cultures prepared from genetically modified animals lacking sialidase or phospholipid scramblase as well as their chimeras with wild-type animals will help to validate the role of candidate phagocytic signals in synaptic pruning and to determine whether these signaling molecules are cell-autonomous or disturb the system as a whole. Since aberrant or impaired synaptic pruning is hypothesized to be involved in the pathology of various neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism and Rett Syndrome, as well a mental illness, such as schizophrenia, uncovering the mechanisms that mediate circuit formation and refinement are crucial for understanding these disorders and to develop new approaches to their treatment. The research proposed here will provide invaluable insight into the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which microglia refine circuits and contribute to synaptic plasticity, help us to better understand how the immune system and brain interact, and how circuit wiring can become pathologically altered.

Keywords: l307 cell signalling and cellular interactions,l502 molecular and cellular neuroscience,l506 developmental neurobiology,l603 phagocytosis and cellular immunity,microglia,neural circuit maturation
Norms in Action: Designing and Comparing Regulatory Mechanisms for Multi-Agent Systems (NINA)

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-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2013-04-01
End date: 2015-03-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 221606.4
EU funding (EUR): 221606.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

In multi-agent systems, where human and software entities freely interact, the goals of the individual components are often different and at times utterly incompatible, hindering the possibility of reaching desirable and efficient outcomes. In such situations there is a strong need of an explicit regulation of individual behaviour, whose introduction has traditionally followed two alternative approaches, well-known in the economics literature: the 'spontaneous order' approach, which studies how norms result from endogenous agreements among rational individuals, and the 'mechanism design' approach, which studies how norms are exogenously designed in order to reach desirable properties. Before endorsing either approach, however, we need to confront ourselves with the unique structural features of each interaction: some may not be suitable for an endogenous agreement (e.g. absence of communication channels, too high computational requirements etc.) while others do not allow for an exogenous constraint (e.g. impossibility of verifying violations, impossibility of restraining behaviour etc.). The project "Norms in Action: Designing and Comparing Regulatory Mechanisms for Multi-Agent Systems" (NINA) will study norm introduction in multi-agent systems within a unified formal framework and will deliver an automatic procedure to suggest the policy that suits best each interaction. The project will be grounded in Dr. Turrini’s PhD work, extending and generalizing his models of dependence relations in such systems, tailored to the expertise of the Department of Computing, Imperial College London, making use of their modelling and verification techniques, and highly interdisciplinary, analyzing game-theoretical models with computer science tools.

Keywords: g108 intelligent systems,g111 modelling tools,g103 formal methods,m101 logic and foundations,m104 algorithms and complexity,e102 microeconomics
Polymeric ligands for molybdenum and rhenium clusters (POLYMORE)

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-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2013-05-01
End date: 2015-04-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 231283.2
EU funding (EUR): 231283.2
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

PolyMoRe will establish viable technology for a new class of tailored materials that will address pressing global demands in human healthcare and sustainable industrial development. Both sectors are priority areas in EU policy. Specifically PolyMoRe will bridge the gap currently preventing commercial exploitation of nano-sized metal clusters (MeCs) – unique materials with superb properties (photoluminescence, photoredox activity etc). To fully exploit the terrific potential of MeCs, methods will be developed to incorporate them into organic polymers to create novel materials with a plethora of applications that include bioimaging, cancer treatment, LEDs and solar cells. These materials will provide alternatives to expensive and environmentally harmful materials currently in use. Thus PolyMoRe will contribute significantly to the development of a “knowledge-based” economy that will create wealth and improve well-being in the EU. The knowledge that results from PolyMoRe will promote the EU as a leading centre for both academic and industrial research in healthcare and materials science. Another key objective of PolyMoRe is to provide a unique training for a highly skilled female researcher (returning to science after a short career break to start a family) with extant expertise in synthesis/manipulation of MeCs. PolyMoRe will significantly complement her existing skills in inorganic chemistry by training her in organic/polymer synthesis, modern analytical techniques and biotechnology, where the host institution, associate institutions and the company “Deliverics” have leading expertise. This will leave the Fellow uniquely qualified to pursue a high profile academic/industrial career as PI within the EU thus tackling the shortage of materials developers with genuine interdisciplinary skills. An additional legacy of PolyMoRe will be a new collaboration between the Fellow’s former research group in Russia, world-leaders in metal clusters, and Aston (UK).

Keywords: polymer chemistry,inorganic chemistry,organic chemistry,nanoscience,novel technologies,application assessment