Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Evolution of reproductive barriers and its implications for adaptive speciation (ADAPTIVE SPECIATION)

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: 2008-09-01
End date: 2010-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 168823.92
EU funding (EUR): 168823.92
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Perhaps the most basic question about the process of speciation is whether or not it is an adaptive progress. Recent studies suggest that natural selection and adaptation may play a more significant role in the early stages of divergence and the evolution of reproductive isolation than previously thought. This ‘adaptive speciation’ may be particularly common where there is partial spatial separation between habitats, such as on the steep environmental gradients that characterize sea-shore habitats. Species living in these habitats are, therefore, excellent models for the study of adaptation and its contribution to speciation. Novel approaches based on genomic tools now make the genetic basis of adaptation and speciation more accessible than ever before. The overall goal of the proposed application is to increase our understanding of adaptive speciation. My model system will be the rocky shore gastropod Littorina saxatilis. This powerful model shows independent but similar responses to habitat gradients in different parts of Europe, with evidence of progression towards speciation. I will combine studies of morphological variation, using the latest methods of geometric analysis, with the population genomics approach, using AFLP markers, to dissect the genetic basis of adaptation and the role of morphological adaptation in the overall divergence between snail morphotypes. Furthermore, I will examine plastic responses to the environmental gradient and determine their contribution to adaptation. This project will provide me with a much enhanced suite of skills, including new laboratory and analytical skills in molecular ecology and population ge

Keywords: marine sciences,evolutionary biology,speciation,adaptation,biodiversity
FDI and DETERMINANTS OF CAPITAL STRUCTURE IN NEW MEMBER STATES OF EU (FDIANDEUINTEGRATION)

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: 2008-03-01
End date: 2009-02-28
Duration (months): 12.0
Total project cost (EUR): 82597.53
EU funding (EUR): 82597.53
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The objective of this proposal is to measure the effect of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on firm’s capital structure determinants in the post-liberalization era in the new twelve member states of the EU. The assumptions of this proposal are as follows: (i) firm’s that have attracted FDI in the post-liberalization period have had access to international capital markets, (ii) optimized their capital structure mix faster and (iii) had overcome liquidity constraints better than firms without FDI due to their foreign investors in developed markets. Accordingly, we are proposing to examine the capital structure determinants of firms that have attracted FDI (FDI firms) and that have not (Non-FDI firms), in the post liberalization period for determining structural differences. The findings will reveal not only the differences of capital structure determinants of firms but also if FDI facilitated the integration process between EU-15 and the new member states. To our information this approach has not been studied in the set of emerging markets especially for the new twelve member states of the EU and will enable observing how capital structures take shape once FDI is injected. If findings confirm the given expectations, this study can be used as a risk management tool for a more strategic and efficient allocation of EU funds both to new member states and to candidates states of South Eastern Europe for the purpose of integrating them to EU-15, to European Monetary Union in line with the Stability Pact and even contribute to the newly released Neighborhood policy.

Keywords: social sciences,capital structure determinants,foreign direct investment,financial integration,european union,emerging markets,stability pact,european monetary union,neighborhood policy
Validation of Aerosol optical Properties and surface Irradiance measured from Ozone Monitoring Instrument on board of AURA satellite (VAP-OMI)

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: Finland
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2007-2-1-IEF, 2007)
Start date: 2008-05-20
End date: 2009-11-19
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 125241.24
EU funding (EUR): 125241.24
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The aim of VAP-OMI is to validate and improve atmospheric parameters retrieved from multi-spectral solar irradiance observations from space, using the Dutch/Finnish Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on board of the AURA satellite. It focuses on aerosol properties (Aerosol optical depth (AOD) and single scattering albedo (SSA)) and spectral surface UV Irradiance (UVI), using synchronized and collocated high quality ground-based (GB) measurements, combined with radiative transfer model sensitivity studies. The proposed work will be carried out at the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) which hosts the OMI co-PI and world-leading experts on aerosol properties and UVI, retrieved both from space and from the ground. Firstly, possible improvement on the OMI multi-wavelength aerosol retrieval algorithm (OMAERO) will be investigated. The main issues to be considered are the effects of clouds (cloud screening), surface reflectance and the standard aerosol models that OMAERO currently uses. The retrieved AOD from OMI will be compared with GB AOD measurements taken from existing global aerosol networks (AERONET) as well as measurements of related aerosol campaigns such as ARCTAS and SCOUT. Of particular interest are measurements with three AERONET instruments recently installed in high latitudes, which allow studies of effects of snow and ice. Methodologies of SSA retrieval from GB solar irradiance measurements will be applied to the widely deployed Brewer spectroradiometer network in order to enlarge the GB SSA database, especially in the UV part of the solar spectrum. The OMAERO algorithm outputs will be compared to the Brewer SSA retrievals and also with other satellite derived and selected AERONET SSA measurements. Finally, OMI retrieved UVI will be compared using results from selected UV monitoring stations from the European UV Data Base (that is hosted at FMI).The effect of the atmospheric aerosol properties to the results of this comparison will be investigated.

Keywords: physical sciences,remote sensing (climate change),aerosols (climate change),uv radiation (climate change),atmospheric physics (climate change),remote sensing
Towards sustainable urban design; Developing automated visibility analysis tools to be used along the urban planning and design development process (VISIBILITY TOOLS)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Outgoing Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Israel
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2007-4-1-IOF, 2007)
Start date: 2008-04-01
End date: 2011-07-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 231122.48
EU funding (EUR): 231122.48
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

In order to develop and maintain sustainable urban design, new methods and tools are needed to evaluate the environmental quality of the urban fabric. This research proposes development of 3- dimensional visual analysis models and automated tools based on GIS technology in order to evaluate urban environments relating to privacy aspects, on one hand, and openness to the view on the other. This research aims to emphasize the point of view of urban designers and architects. Most of the current state-of-the-art analysis methods relate to 2-dimensional reality. I propose an objective measurable 3-dimensional morphological approach to be used by urban designers and architects along the urban design and development process in order to contribute to the development of sustainable urban environments. Visual openness to the view is one of the main objectives in the sustainable development of urban areas adjacent to open space such as coastal regions or open green spaces. Many people and economic forces are interested in such attractive locations. This attraction may be translated into economic terms: the rise of real estate value of land and built-up areas that benefit from accessibility and visual openness to open space. In addition, Visual Exposure, referring to privacy aspects in the built environment, is a major aspect influencing sustainable environmental quality. 'Visual Exposure' is defined as visual penetration of one's privacy as a result of being viewed from the external spaces of other building façades or public spaces at street level. One of the conditions for recouping investments designated for raising urban density is to preserve and maintain the attractiveness of the urban environment, where one of its dominant components is visual quality. Identifying the principles that govern visual openness to the view and visual exposure and their expression in quantitative terms is of great importance and can support development of sustainable urban environments.

Keywords: urban quality of life,spatial design,urban design,computer-aided design
GEOARCHAEOLOGY, PALEOENVIRONMENTS AND LUMINESCENCE GEOCHRONOLOGY IN THE EASTERN ALPINE REALM AND SOUTH AFRICA DURING THE LAST GLACIAL CYCLE (115-11 ka) (GEOPAL)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Outgoing Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Austria
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2007-4-1-IOF, 2007)
Start date: 2008-09-01
End date: 2011-10-31
Duration (months): 38.0
Total project cost (EUR): 237050.23
EU funding (EUR): 237050.23
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The last glacial cycle included some of the coldest and most unstable moments of the last 2 million years of Earth history. Climate-driven environmental changes impacted on the landscape and also influenced human evolution, dispersal and culture; they may also have played a role in the extinction of the Neanderthals. Human/environment relations thus merit detailed research. Accurate chronologies for human activities and contemporaneous paleoenvironmental records are key requirements to sustain further progress in geoarchaeology and to improve our knowledge of the history of humankind. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating is currently one of the most dynamic fields in geochronology. The single-grain approach, in particular, opens up new opportunities for dating materials that have hitherto been ignored. Pioneering work has shown that archaeological sequences in cave-mouth deposits can be reliably dated using single sand-sized grains of quartz. The overseas host institution (U. Wollongong, Australia) is a world-renowned geochronology laboratory with recognised expertise in single-grain OSL dating. The applicant will join this group in an international and interdisciplinary project to examine the origin of modern human behaviour and the role of paleoenvironmental changes in landscape and human evolution in South Africa. A carefully designed research agenda will enable single-grain OSL dating to be applied to selected archaeological sites and related paleoenvironmental records in the eastern alpine realm as part of the follow-up phase. We will develop high-precision OSL chronologies for archaeological and loess sequences, and match these to the paleoclimatic record of U-Th dated alpine speleothems. The improved chronological control will greatly assist archaeological interpretations of when and how past environmental changes impacted on human societies.

Keywords: optically stimulated luminescence dating,osl,geochronology,paleoclimatology,archaeology,late pleistocene,loess,aeolian sediments,cave mouth sediments,alps,africa
Community phylogenetics and conservation on an oceanic archipelago: the flora of the Azores as a case study (AZORES)

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: 2008-05-01
End date: 2010-04-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 168823.92
EU funding (EUR): 168823.92
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The Azores are a group of nine volcanic islands in the Northern Atlantic Ocean with a distance of c. 1,500 km to the European and c. 1,900 km to the American coast. Building on the results of earlier chorological analyses of the flora of this archipelago, we propose to build a phylogenetic tree for the flora of the islands based on molecular data, including all native and introduced angiosperm species, and analyse the phylogenetic diversity (PD) of the present ecological assemblages. PD is the evolutionary heritage of the islands' flora and provides crucial information for conservation planning. Specifically, we will test two hypotheses: 1) PD is decoupled from species diversity in oceanic island systems. 2) Invasives in the Azores are not closely related to indigenous species and tend to fill empty niches. Our study would be the first species-level phylogeny for the complete angiosperm flora of an archipelago. Since we combine traditional species list approaches with state-of-the-art phylogenetic, genetic, and statistic approaches, our results could serve as a model system for informed and systematic conservation on islands throughout the world.

Keywords: natural sciences,biodiversity,plant ecology
Development of Self-lubricating Nanocomposite Coatings impregnated with in-situ formed MoS2 for Tribological Applications (NANOCOAT)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Incoming Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Belgium
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2007-4-2-IIF, 2007)
Start date: 2008-12-03
End date: 2010-12-02
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 224989.69
EU funding (EUR): 224989.69
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Use of self-lubricated coatings in dynamic contacting parts of the system not only reduces complexity, weight, and cost to the system, but also improves the performance to a great extent by reducing friction and wear. Unlike liquid lubricants, the release of various toxic and harmful chemicals to the environment can also be avoided. So, a self-lubricated surface with a long lifetime is a promising one to meet future challenges. The most common solid lubricants are graphite and transition metals layered dichalcogenides, among which MoS2/WS2 has a great prominence. In this proposal, electrodeposition of Co-W alloys impregnated with MoS2 and WC nanoparticles will be carried out to form nanocomposite coatings by a low cost electrodeposition process. The idea is to impart high hardness and mechanical strength by WC particles for wear resistance; and self-lubrication property by MoS2 particles to a Co-W matrix. Firstly, unlike ELECTROLYTIC CO-DEPOSITION from suspensions of MoS2 nanoparticles, here, emphasis will be on the in-situ formation of MoS2 particles in the electrical double layer followed by their incorporation into Co-W alloys during electrolytic reduction process. Secondly, R&D efforts will be directed to co-deposit WC particles from suspensions along with MoS2 to make self-lubricated wear-resistant nanocomposite coatings. The detailed mechanistic study of MoS2 nucleation and growth; the surface and structural characterization of the nanocomposite coatings, wear and friction property and corrosion will be investigated to understand the structure property correlation. Thirdly, the electrodeposition of Co-W+WC+IF-MoS2 nanocomposite coatings will be carried out from electrolytic suspensions of WC and IF-MoS2 nanoparticles, and the properties will be compared with the former nanocomposites. A special attention will be given on the onset of an implementation of this technology into industrial practice.

Keywords: nanomaterials,surface engineering,electrolytic co-deposition,tribology,solid lubricants,wear,coefficient of friction,self-lubrication,modeling,technological sciences
Using clonal sampling to analyse oesophageal epithelial homeostasis (OESOPHAGUS)

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: 2009-06-01
End date: 2011-05-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 169390.93
EU funding (EUR): 169390.93
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Stem cells are generally thought to maintain homeostasis in adult tissues, producing committed progenitor cells that in turn generate terminal differentiated cells. Although adult stem cells have been studied intensively, far less is known about how they function in vivo to maintain tissue homeostasis. It has long been assumed that adult tissues are maintained by long lived, slow cycling, self renewing stem cells which generate a population of committed progenitors known as “transit amplifying” (TA) cells. TA cells undergo several rounds of proliferation, after which they terminally differentiate. This widely accepted model has been called into question by a recent study of the epidermis, which shows that the normal tissue is maintained by a single type of progenitor cell capable of both asymmetric and symmetric cell division, stem cells being quiescent under normal conditions. It is unclear whether this single compartment model will apply to other tissues as well as the epidermis. In this project we will study how tissue homeostasis is achieved in another stratified squamous epithelium, that of the oesophagus. By defining the behaviour of a representative sample of progenitor cells, we will be able to determine whether their behaviour conforms to the predictions of the stem and TA cell hypothesis or an alternative model. Since many of the pathways that control normal stem cell fate have been associated to tumour development, advances in the knowledge of the oesophageal homeostasis will establish the basis for further research in the study of the molecular alterations that lead to cancer development in this little studied but important tissue, which is a common cause of human disease.

Keywords: stem cells,oesophagus,proliferation,differentiation,homeostasis
Pursuing goals you really want: Motive congruence and well-being in Turkish immigrants (ACCULTURATION)

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): 150135.26
EU funding (EUR): 150135.26
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

People all over the world feel unhappy or even depressed when their explicit goals are incongruent with their implicit needs. This discrepancy plays a crucial role especially during stressful life events that are typical for immigrants. The aim of our research project is to go beyond previous studies on acculturation and well-being by assessing potential discrepancies between explicit goals and implicit motives as "hidden stressors" in the acculturation process of Turkish first- and second-generation immigrants. We draw upon recent findings in the areas of motivation, acculturation and identity to construct a model about immigrants’ subjective well-being. We propose that well-being is influenced by the alignment of implicit motives and explicit goals, which reflect relations between the private and public domain in acculturation. This relationship is mediated by the interaction of an individual’s acculturation orientation and identity status. Our research design consists of three studies that employ state-of-the-art methodology, including a multi-method approach, and a cross-sectional study, and a longitudinal study using cultural frame switching: We first test the general model (Study 1). Then, we experimentally investigate immigrants’ well-being in different cultural contexts (i.e., host culture/culture of origin; Study 2). Finally, we examine differences in well-being in varying cultural contexts within each person (Study 3). Our approach goes beyond self-reports and can shed light on why some acculturation strategies level may not work equally well for all individuals. Improving psychological assessment and counselling, our framework can build a basis for social intervention programs by shifting the focus to interindividual differences in immigrants so that steps, based on the individual case, can be taken to facilitate an individual’s endeavour of becoming a happy and adapted member of society.

Keywords: psychology,acculturation,identity,motive congruence,well-being