Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Quantum Monte Carlo simulation of Feynman diagrams (FDIAGMC)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Germany
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2012-11-01
End date: 2016-10-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The research field of this proposal is situated in the domains of computational physics, mostly quantum Monte Carlo simulations, field theoretical approaches to condensed matter systems and dilute ultra-cold atoms. We want to systematically develop a new diagrammatic Monte Carlo method, which will be applied to cold gases and strongly interacting systems in solid state physics. The method has the attractive feature that it can be formulated for totally different systems ranging from ultracold atoms to particle physics. It has shown some successes for benchmark systems, but its full potential for the hardest models remains unknown. This would require a systematic study for which the time has come. Monte Carlo simulations of cold atomic systems have in recent years shown a remarkable one-to-one agreement with experiments without free fitting parameters, a field to which the PI has greatly contributed. Now that such experiments are maturing, novel numerical methods are needed to describe the parameter regimes which experiments are beginning to reach. The methods we want to explore have the full capability of doing that. If successful, the message for the numerical methods is that they have been validated and can be applied to other systems that are otherwise intractable. Learning about a hard model by simulating it with another quantum system is known as "quantum simulation" and we wish to extend this paradigm to the future. The PI has strong experience in numerical methods (especially Monte Carlo simulations) and ultracold atom physics, and has acquired international recognition with more than 50 publications and several prizes. With the close connection to the experimental cold atom group by I. Bloch in Munich, and the computer infrastructure present in Munich, no better combination of expertise and infrastructure can be found to bring this project to a good end, determine the ultimate fate of this method, and potentially push the frontiers of theoretical physics.

Keywords: monte carlo,cold atom physics,strongly correlated systems,hubbard model
Hippocampal-prefrontal synaptic transmission in cognitive function (HIPPOFRONTALSYN)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Israel
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2012-08-01
End date: 2016-07-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Neural circuitry underlies human behavior in all of its forms. High-level ‘Executive’ regions such as the prefrontal cortex (PFC) are the subject of particular interest as functional imaging, electrophysiological, and post-mortem studies have shown cellular and neurophysiological abnormalities in these regions associated with psychiatric disorders (e.g. schizophrenia, mood disorders, and addiction). The prefrontal cortex is one of the most highly interconnected regions of the brain, integrating inputs from widespread cortical and subcortical regions and transmitting information to an equally diverse set of targets. Major sources of synaptic input into the PFC include the thalamus and the hippocampus, which convey sensory, contextual and spatial information to be processed in the PFC and guide decision making and goal-directed behavior. A direct synaptic connection between the ventral hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex has been proposed to subserve the synchronization of activity between these two regions in defined behavioral states. Recent studies have indicated that the organization of PFC neurons that receive direct hippocampal input might support the entrainment of PFC activity to hippocampal theta oscillations. The goal of this proposal is to identify the prefrontal neuron population which receives direct hippocampal input and test the contribution of these neurons to cognitive processing and emotional states. Using an innovative combination of imaging approaches, electrophysiology and optogenetic techniques, we will first quantify the functional properties of hippocampal-prefrontal synapses and then examine the effects of neuromodulation on the properties of these synapses. Finally, through trans-synaptic labeling we will directly manipulate the activity of cells receiving monosynaptic hippocampal input and test the hypothesis that hippocampal-prefrontal theta phase-locking plays an important role in cognitive processing.

Keywords: l509 systems neuroscience,l502 molecular and cellular neuroscience,l512 psychiatric disorders
Gene Expression Regulation and Cancer (MISWI)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Spain
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2012-10-01
End date: 2016-09-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Cancer remains the most predominant cause of premature death in Europe. It constitutes a major public health problem with 1.28 million predicted deaths in the European Union in 2011. Changes in the gene expression patterns are a key feature of cancer cell transformation through an increase in expression of genes that promote carcinogenesis (oncogenes) and/or a decrease in expression of genes that prevent it (tumour suppressor genes). Chromatin-structure and microRNAs (miRNAs) both play important roles in this process and have been found to be critical in the development of human pathologies. DNA is packaged inside cells through a scaffold of proteins, constituting the chromatin. The chromatin not only has a structural role, but it also plays an active role in other processes including gene expression. The SWI/SNF complex is an ATP-dependent chromatin-remodelling complex that uses the energy from ATP hydrolysis to modify the interactions between DNA and histones. In this way, the SWI/SNF complex can render the DNA accessible or inaccessible to the transcription machinery. Ever increasing evidence demonstrates that some components of the SWI/SNF complex act as tumour suppressors and their dysregulation is involved in human cancer development. MiRNAs are a recently discovered class of small RNA molecules that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. Due to their small size and unusual nature, miRNAs were not discovered in humans until 2000. Today, over one thousand miRNAs have been identified in the human genome. Aberrant biogenesis and/or expression of miRNAs has been linked to human diseases including cancer. Pioneering reports suggest a functional relationship between the SWI/SNF complex and miRNAs. MiRNAs regulate the expression of chromatin remodelling complex proteins, which in turn have been shown to influence levels of miRNA transcription. In the present proposal, I will study this regulatory relationship in the context of cancer.

Keywords: micrornas,cancer,epigenetics,swi/snf,tumor supperssors
Privacy and Security for Mobile Cooperative Devices (PRISM CODE)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Italy
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2012-11-01
End date: 2016-10-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

We propose PRISM CODE project (PRIvacy and Security for Mobile COoperative DEvices). The aim of this project is to design some of the fundamental tools for privacy and security of the upcoming distributed services, which are built upon the cooperation of mobile personal devices like smartphones, PDAs, or tablets. In analogy with the geometric prism which is built on two parallel bases, we believe that a wide adoption of cooperative services for mobile devices is possible only on the following two bases, to be present at the same time: privacy, to give to the users and other stakeholders some confidence that no private information will be disclosed by taking part in those services; and security, to guarantee (to some extent) that the services will not be exploited in a malicious way (e.g. having no money loss for stakeholders). This four-year project will be executed by Dr. Mauro Conti (as Principal Investigator) at the University of Padua, Italy, which recently granted him a stable research post as Assistant Professor. This position is subject to an evaluation after the third year. Upon a positive evaluation, the position will becomes permanent. This grant will improve considerably the research results of the fellow, hence the prospects for his permanent integration.

Keywords: smartphone security and privacy,cooperative security,cooperative privacy,security systems
Small-Molecule Probes of Neuronal Differentiation (SMOLDIF)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Czechia
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2012-11-01
End date: 2016-10-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Proposal presented herein combines methods of synthetic organic chemistry, cellular neurobiology, and chemical biology to study processes involved in neuronal differentiation. The primary objective of the project is to discover, characterize, and make broadly available high-quality research tools useful in studies of the dynamic processes of differentiation. The outcome of the project is expected to be of immediate value to the basic research in neurobiology, with potential for clinical applications. To perturb the dynamic process of neuronal differentiation, a small-molecule approach will be pursued. Chemical synthesis will play a central role in providing access to structurally complex molecules that are nontrivial to prepare and, partly as a consequence, underrepresented in the commercial vendor libraries. Ability of the prepared molecules to affect neuronal differentiation will be assessed in phenotype-based assay employing physiologically relevant neuronal cultures. Identification of cellular targets binding to the active small molecules will be an integral part of the project and will make use of small molecule-derived reagents and proteomic analysis. A link between the small-molecule structure, neuronal phenotype, and cellular proteins affected by the small molecule, will be instrumental en route to the small-molecule probes of neuronal differentiation. The multidisciplinary nature of the project necessitates interaction among several laboratories, including the applicant’s laboratory for organic synthesis, in order to realize the objectives of the proposal. Establishment of such research environment will catalyze applicant’s integration into the scientific community of Masaryk University in the Czech Republic and development of lasting scientific connections within the region (“centers of excellence” FNUSA-ICRC and CEITEC) and Europe-wide (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology).

Keywords: c134 biological chemistry,c141 organic chemistry,c111 method development in chemistry,l502 molecular and cellular neuroscience,phenotypic analysis,chemical biology
Modelling the Complexity of Ageing in a Simple Genetic System (ELDERLYEAST)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: France
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2012-10-01
End date: 2016-09-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Ageing is the highest risk factor for a large number of diseases and yet surprisingly little is known about the underlying molecular mechanisms. Ageing is a classical complex trait affected by both the genetic background and the environment, and varies quantitatively among individuals. Identifying the causal genetic variants underlying variation in longevity is a major challenge. I propose to use the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) contributing to natural variation in replicative life span, telomerase negative cellular senescence and chronological life span in a vast array of environmental conditions. Many of these longevity pathways are conserved from yeast to higher eukaryotes making S. cerevisiae an attractive model system for ageing. Recently, I developed groundbreaking approaches in population genomics and complex traits that open the door to next generation QTL mapping in yeast. I propose to combine my unique high resolution QTL mapping with an artificial multiparent population that broadly captures the genetic and phenotypic species diversity. This population will contain all the ideal features for QTL mapping and will resemble samples used in human genome-wide association studies. The outcomes of this research will help to resolve some long standing questions including what types of alleles are responsible for natural variation in ageing; how do the alleles interact among themselves and with the environment; and how they vary and are distributed across natural populations. Once the broad structure of longevity traits has been dissected, we will extrapolate this knowledge to make predictions and to understand what evolutionary forces maintain the variability in natural populations. Revealing how these elusive natural genetic variants affect longevity will deepen on our knowledge of the cellular mechanisms that drive ageing, offering new possibilities to promote health span in humans and livestock.

Keywords: l207 quantitative genetics,l201 genomics - comparative genomics - functional genomics,l404 ageing,l802 population biology - population dynamics - population genetics
Large Deviations for Random Walks in Random Environments (LARGEDEVRWRE)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Türkiye
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2012-09-01
End date: 2016-08-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Random walk in random environment (RWRE) is one of the standard models in the study of random media. Originally motivated by molecular biology applications and subsequently used in the modeling of disordered systems, it has been a constant source of fascinating mathematical phenomena and challenging open problems over the last four decades. The theory of large deviations is a cornerstone of modern probability, with applications to statistical mechanics, information theory, control engineering, risk management and many other fields. The main goal of the proposed project is to attain a clear and detailed understanding of the large deviation properties of multidimensional RWRE. The objectives can be summarized as follows: (i) Obtain simple expressions for the quenched and the averaged large deviation rate functions. (ii) Compare these rate functions and find a formula that links them. (iii) Identify the dynamics of the walk when it is conditioned to have an atypical velocity. (iv) Characterize when the new dynamics is obtained from the original one by a simple change of measure. (v) Find the ergodic invariant measure on environments from the point of view of the particle under such a conditioning. The project will build on the past accomplishments of the researcher on this topic and will involve variational formulas for the rate functions and their minimizers. The researcher will start by studying directed RWRE and focus on specific environment distributions. He will then consider general distributions and adapt the results to ballistic undirected walks by making use of regeneration times. The techniques are robust, they also cover polymers in random environments, and are likely to shed light on the open problem of strong vs. very strong disorder. The project has applications to some of the most active areas of probability theory, statistical mechanics, mathematical physics, and stochastic PDEs.

Keywords: m114 probability and statistics,random walk,random environment,large deviations,quenched vs. averaged,rate function,polymers,free energy,h-transform,point of view of the particle.
Human subsistence and climate change in European refugia: late Neanderthals and early modern humans (EUROREFUGIA)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Spain
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2012-08-01
End date: 2016-11-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

EUROREFUGIA aims to contribute to the on-going debate about the causes of the rapid replacement of Neanderthals by modern humans in Europe around ±45 kyr BP and the probable difficulties that the former could have faced while withdrawing to certain refuge areas until their final extinction ±10 kyr years later. This is a key period of human evolution that witnessed the confrontation of two different but advanced cultures. Among other possible explanations, EUROREFUGIA focuses on the palaeoeconomic perspective, and hence, it will characterize the hunting skills of both human species and, above all, their ability to cope with a changing scenario. To do so, EUROREFUGIA will study faunal material of the two main known refugia: the Balkans and the Iberian Peninsula, with a multidisciplinary approach that includes: 1. An updated archaeozoological analysis of the unpublished macromammalian remains belonging to the last Neanderthal and earliest modern human occupations of La Viña rock shelter and El Miron Cave, on the Cantabrian Coast, and Salitrena Pecina, in Central Serbia. 2. A detailed reconstruction of the strategy of subsistence adopted by both human species: diet-breadth, butchering processes (taphonomy), human mobility, transport decisions, catchment areas (GIS) and intra-site spatial organization. 3. A complete analysis of stable isotopes (C, N and O) of red deer fossils sampled from contemporaneous archaeological sites in both regions, which will provide the palaeoenvironmental context where both human species lived. 4. An estimation of the relationship between diet, demography, topography and climate change in order to investigate whether climatic variability, lack of suitable technology to exploit different biotopes, increasing competition or resource depletion could have caused Neanderthal populations to diminish. 5. A comparison between two geographic regions that share a similar topographic relief but have different climates.

Keywords: neanderthal,homo sapiens,climate change,subsistence,archaeozoology,stable isotopes,taphonomy
Discovery of drugs for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's disease (ALZHEIMERSDRUG)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Israel
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2012-08-01
End date: 2016-07-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by the accumulation of proteins and protein fragments in the brain, progressive neuronal loss, inflammation, and the gradual and inevitable decline of memory and cognition. Decline of memory and cognition is coupled with binding of β amyloid peptides (Aβ) and their derived diffusible ligands (ADDL) to the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR). To prevent this binding and improve cognition, we are designing, synthesizing, and testing new drugs that are capable of disrupting the calamitous interactions of Aβ with AChR, dull it’s anesthesia like effect, and prevent neurodegeneration. For drug design, we use proprietary software based on normal mode dynamics developed in our laboratory. These software have shown promising results with 98% accuracy in predicting ligand binding sites and drug screening. For chemical synthesis, we use our highly experienced chemistry laboratory. In the past, we synthesized complex molecules and drugs with high yields. Preliminary results of our drugs are promising in that they bind AChR without interfering with acetylcholine binding. These Aβ like drugs open a new window of opportunity for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's disease.

Keywords: amyloid,alzheimer's,drug discovery,acetylcholine receptor