Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Integrated Nanocrystal Tunnelling for Molecular Electronics (INNATE)

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: Switzerland
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2007-2-1-IEF, 2007)
Start date: 2008-04-01
End date: 2010-03-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 246177.73
EU funding (EUR): 246177.73
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The INNATE project focuses on noble metal nanocrystals in the quantum confinement size range as active elements in molecular electronic circuits. Supported by a successful proof-of-concept experiment, multistate switch and transistor function for these systems will be demonstrated, unparalleled in conventional electronics. This novel electronic function will be integrated with that of tailored redox molecules both in a vertical Scanning Probe Microscopy configuration and in a nanogap electrode set-up to form nanoelectronic circuits, thus bridging top-down and bottom-up approaches. Our strategy focuses on electrolyte gating at electrified solid/liquid interfaces, which can address physical gates down to 1 nm by achieving strong electronic coupling, and allows the target “device” to function under ambient conditions. In addition to its ambitious technical goals, the INNATE project will substantially contribute to prospects of professional maturity and independence of the applicant by adding crucial scientific competencies in the highly interdisciplinary area of nanoscale electrochemistry and molecular electronics, thus developing his research niche of organic–inorganic hybrid nanostructures towards a high-level molecular understanding of structure–functionality–reactivity relations. Research training objectives focus on advanced scanning probe and nanogap electrode techniques, together with complementary training in research management, high-level dissemination and networking activities, including links to industry. Fully integrated in the European Research Area, the project will significantly enhance visibility and attractiveness of European science and technology.

Keywords: electrochemistry,in situ scanning tunnelling microscopy,monolayer-protected clusters,tunnelling phenomena
Graft engineering to improve allogeneic stem cell transplantation (GIFT)

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: Sweden
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2007-4-2-IIF, 2007)
Start date: 2008-08-01
End date: 2010-07-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 179588.95
EU funding (EUR): 179588.95
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Allogeneic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is a curative therapy for various haematological malignancies. Obtaining suitably matched donors, problems with graft versus host disease (GVHD) and infection, however, limit the wider application of this therapy. Knowledge from previous studies has highlighted the need for a more effective and integrated approach to address these issues. This project examines how our knowledge of immune cell trafficking can be exploited in conjunction with haploidentical stem cell transplantation to minimise GVHD, promote immunity and antileukemic responses in ASCT. The knowledge derived from this study will contribute to a greater understanding of how immune cell trafficking can be utilised to improve ASCT and immunotherapies. Its success will lead to new and more effective protocols for the design and development of stem cell grafts for the treatment of cancer.

Keywords: haematology,immunology,oncology
Role of canonical Wnt signaling during somite formation in the zebrafish embryo (ZEBRASOMWNT)

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-2007-2-1-IEF, 2007)
Start date: 2008-04-01
End date: 2008-12-31
Duration (months): 9.0
Total project cost (EUR): 158694.85
EU funding (EUR): 158694.85
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Segmental elements of the vertebrate body plan, such as vertebrae, ribs and most skeletal muscles, derive from embryonic somites. Somitogenesis is a spatially periodic process that is prefigured in the presomitic mesoderm (PSM) by coordinated oscillations of gene expression that set the rhythm of the “segmentation clock”. The position in the PSM where these oscillations arrest is termed the determination front and is the site where segment boundary is positioned. Although the Delta/Notch pathway has recently been shown to synchronize oscillating cells, little is known about the molecular mechanisms that define the determination front and link it to the segmentation clock. The Wnt pathway has been hypothesized to provide such a link in mouse and chick, but its early effects on mesoderm specification and tail formation have made studying its role in later somite patterning difficult. Here we propose to investigate the role of Wnt signaling during somitogenesis in the zebrafish embryo, which offers unique accessibility to both genetics and imaging. In order to uncouple Wnt function in early mesoderm specification and somite patterning, we will use inducible transgenic zebrafish lines to transiently modulate Wnt signaling later in development. Our preliminary results clearly show that this transient disruption of Wnt specifically affects somite patterning. Thus we will combine this method with analysis of determination markers, boundary formation and oscillating gene expression to further explore the role of Wnt. We will also use a new quantitative time-lapse method to measure potential changes in oscillator period. Finally, we will test genetic interactions between Wnt and the Notch pathway by using mutant lines available in the Oates lab. Our project will thus take advantage of the zebrafish model to investigate the spatial and temporal functions of Wnt signaling in somitogenesis, providing a combined analysis at tissue, cellular and molecular levels.

Keywords: zebrafish,wnt,somite,segmentation,oscillations,determination,period
Proneural mechanisms coupling cell cycle exit and differentiation (PROCYCDIF)

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

Understanding how a neuron develops is one the most challenging enterprises of modern biology, with obvious impacts in developmental biology and biomedicine. Proneural factors regulate many of the steps involved in the generation of new neurons and their functions have been thoroughly characterised at the cellular level. However, little is known of the mechanisms they use to evoke such diverse effects throughout neurogenesis. Therefore, the characterisation of molecular pathways activated by a proneural protein will be particularly instructive to cast light on the multistep process driving progenitor cells into assorted neuronal fates. My main goal will be to examine the implication of the bHLH proneural proteins in coupling cell cycle exit and differentiation within the developing mouse telencephalon and in cultured neural stem cells. To this aim four recently identified Mash1 targets, presumably involved in cell cycle control, will be functionally approached by electroporating overexpression constructs or small interfering RNAs in the neural stem cell line NS5. Subsequently, various parameters of neurogenesis will be analysed, with special emphasis in cell cycle arrest and neuronal differentiation. The results will be contrasted in vivo by in utero and/or ex vivo electroporation of mouse embryonic brains. Both dorsal (Mash1+/Ngn2-) and ventral (Mash1-/Ngn2+) telencephalon will be targeted to analyse Mash1 and Ngn2 control over the four genes, which are naturally expressed in both domains. Overall, this project seeks to fill the gap that presently exists between the cellular effects evoked by proneural proteins and the mechanisms they use to shape the complex vertebrate nervous system, giving insights into effective methodologies to manipulate neural stem cells for therapeutic purposes.

Keywords: neurobiology,brain research,developmental biology,gene therapy,molecular markers and recognition
Iron geobiology at deep-ocean hydrothermal vents (IRONGEOBIOVENT)

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-2007-2-1-IEF, 2007)
Start date: 2009-09-14
End date: 2011-11-25
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 170466.89
EU funding (EUR): 170466.89
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Rimicaris exoculata is a caridean shrimp that lives in the deep ocean around active high-temperature hydrothermal sites. This chemosynthetic vent species maintains dominant populations at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and is highly adapted to life in this extreme environment. Feeding mechanism include grazing on sulfides from hydrothermal chimneys and living in symbiosis with bacteria that are cultivated inside their respiratory and digestive systems. The energy sources for these symbioses generally rely on the bacterial oxidation of hydrogen sulfide or methane emitted at vent sites. However, the recent discovery of iron oxide minerals within the gill chamber of shrimps collected from the ‘Rainbow’ vent site suggests that iron-oxidizing symbionts, as well as sulphide-oxidising symbionts, could be involved in the metabolism of vent communities. Our first objective will be to better understand the mechanism by which shrimps gain their energy. Cycling of redox-sensitive elements, such as Fe, by biological process has been the rule on Earth for at least several billion years. Over the last decade, the measurement of Fe isotopes has become an emerging technique for understanding biogeochemical cycles. Experiments investigating metabolic processing of Fe have shown that measurable Fe isotope fractionations are produced during bacterial Fe+3 reduction, as well as anaerobic photosynthetic Fe+2 oxidation. Iron isotopes represent therefore a potentially exciting tool to investigate the complex interplay between microbial activity, biogeochemical processes and Fe redox cycling at hydrothermal vent sites. Our second objective will be to provide a fuller understanding of the microbial pathways for iron in hydrothermal systems. This will be achieved by systematically measuring the Fe isotopic composition of the iron oxide mineralization found within R. Exoculata, as well as a few selected samples of hydrothermal fluids and black smoker sulfides.

Keywords: natural sciences,isotope geochemistry,hydrothermal vent sites,shrimps,bacteria
Island Selection and Lizard Ecology (ISLE)

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: Spain
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2007-4-1-IOF, 2007)
Start date: 2008-08-11
End date: 2011-11-14
Duration (months): 40.0
Total project cost (EUR): 220405.98
EU funding (EUR): 220405.98
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The proposal is based in the study of ecological processes, particularly natural selection caused by predation as one of the major biological interactions, using islands systems as models. As well, it is focused on the understanding of invasive species ecology, nowadays one of the most relevant lines of research for conservationists and ecologists. It will be accomplished in three different scenarios: Great Abaco Island (Bahamas) and Florida [outgoing phase], and the Canary Islands (Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria and Tenerife) [return phase]. The main general objectives pursued during the outgoing phase of the proposal are: 1) Studying the larger predator Leiocephalus carinatus effects on Anolis sagrei on Great Abaco; 2) Measuring the larger predator L. carinatus’ effects on A. sagrei on mainland Florida. During the return phase it is aimed to: 1) Exploring the affections of the introduced big endemic lizard of Gran Canaria (Gallotia stehlini) into the endemic small lizard of Fuerteventura (G. atlantica); 2) Investigating the reverse situation: affections upon the small endemic lizards from Fuerteventura introduced into Gran Canaria; 3) Measuring the effects of the long-term co-occurrence of the endemic giant lizards (G. intermedia) and the endemic big lizards populations (G. galloti) in Tenerife. Specific objectives for both phases are: 1) Measuring how a larger predator affects traits and densities of an intermediate predator, 2) Measuring natural selection comparing differences in traits changes in each experiment, 3) Interpreting and comparing survival rates, 4) Measuring changes in population trait distribution, and 5) Quantifying the effects of habitat on other aspects of intermediate lizards behaviour. The proposal will constitute an interesting study, uniting the areas of ecology, evolution, behaviour and conservation, providing parallel natural scenarios as ecological models to explore ecological patterns through an unique an exciting way.

Keywords: biogeography,invasion,evolutionary biology,behavioural biology,animal ethology,animal morphology,applied zoology,animal ecology,island ecology
High-temperature stable nano-structured silicides for highly efficient thermogenerators and their contacting technology (NANOSICON)

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: Germany
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2007-4-2-IIF, 2007)
Start date: 2008-08-01
End date: 2010-07-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 159828.87
EU funding (EUR): 159828.87
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Deficiency of natural energy resources on Earth makes advanced energy management a challenge. Efforts are taken to harness cheap, inexhaustible, eco-friendly renewable sources of energy. Among these, thermoelectric (TE) conversion is a promising principle. Best materials for TE application are non-conventional heavily doped semiconductors. In particular, high temperature stable silicides (higher manganese silicides = HMS, CrSi2 and others) represent suitable candidates for demanded TE applications operable at high temperature. A main aim of TE materials development is to improve the figure of merit ZT, which essentially depends on the energy band structure and scattering of carriers and phonons in the material. It is planned to investigate qualitatively the transport behaviour of HMS compacted from nano-sized powders, to optimize its properties by chemical synthesis, and to reach a reduction of the thermal conductivity in nano-crystalline material. Starting from the synthesis of nano-powders by melting and ball milling, forming of a nano-structure with suitable scaling will be optimized by a rapid hot pressing technology. CrSi2 and other high temperature silicides will be optimized in a similar way for high electrical and thermal conductivity. They shall be applied as contacting materials and interlayers, ending up to advanced materials and technology procedures for high temperature thermogenerators. Materials will be characterized by XRD, SEAD (structure), TEM, SEM (morphology), EDAX (analysis). Having achieved the targeted nano-structure, the TE properties will be measured in dependence on temperature for optimising the application-relevant material parameters. The performance of thermogenerator devices based on the new solutions will be tested by unique measuring techniques of the host. The fellow will deepen his knowledge and experience on TE materials and thermogenerator technology for high temperature and is expected to develop superior contacting methods.

Keywords: thermoelectric energy conversion,thermogenerator,contacts,silicides,nano-structured compacts,functional properties,thermal conductivity,structural analysis,high temperature stability
Role of Nitroxyl (HNO) in the cardio and cerebrovascular system. (HNO AND CVD)

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-2007-2-1-IEF, 2007)
Start date: 2009-03-01
End date: 2012-04-30
Duration (months): 38.0
Total project cost (EUR): 167549.28
EU funding (EUR): 167549.28
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The World Health Organization reported that in 2003 cardio and cerebrovascular diseases such as heart failure, myocardial infarction, hypertension, coronary artery disease and stroke make up to 16.7 million (29%) of total worldwide deaths (www.who.int). In Europe these diseases are responsible for 27% to 56% of total deaths and are estimated to require 53% of the total health expenditures. Despite extensive efforts to develop therapeutic strategies for these diseases the results are not yet satisfying and there is a need for further development of new pharmacological treatments. The function of nitric oxide (NO), which is produced in the healthy endothelium, has been summarized as “anti-atherosclerotic”. Therefore, endothelial dysfunction, i.e. the inability of the endothelium to produce NO and subsequent impaired vasorelaxation leads to pathophysiological conditions, such as atherosclerosis, which is one of the major pathogenic factors contributing to the cardio and cerebrovascular clinical endpoints mentioned above. Under certain conditions, nitric oxide synthase has been shown to generate nitrogen species that are chemically distinct from NO. Among these, nitroxyl (HNO), the one-electron-reduced form of NO, has attracted scientific interest for its unique cardio and cerebrovascular effects that are pharmacologically different from NO. These effects make HNO a very promising pharmacological agent to be used in the treatment of cardio and cerebrovascular diseases. Furthermore, we recently found that HNO can be formed from myoloperoxidase (MPO) in vitro. MPO is upregulated under inflammatory conditions and inflammation is one major pathophysiological mechanism in cardio and cerebrovascular diseases. Thus, the basis to promote HNO as a therapeutic strategy is the understanding of the underlying mechanisms of action, signaling pathways and function in the in vivo system under physiological and pathophysiological conditions.

Keywords: nitroxyl,hno,cardio and cerebrovascular system,stroke,inflammation,organ bath,hplc,esi-ms.
STUDY THE ROLE OF OXYGEN SENSORS PROLYL HYDROXYLASE DOMAIN (PHD) PROTEIN IN OBESITY AND TYPE II DIABETES (PHD-OB-T2D)

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: 2008-03-01
End date: 2010-02-28
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 164886.6
EU funding (EUR): 164886.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Various alterations of metabolism are a central characteristic of physiological disorders and diseases, including cancer, obesity, type 2 diabetes (T2D) and the metabolic syndrome (MS) and are as such a major burden on national budgets. Thus, there is an urgent need to further understand the various processes that determine the occurence of metabolic alterations, predominantly obesity and T2D and to develop strategies to provide therapeutic aid. Several intrinsic factors either predetermine or correlate with the occurence of obesity and the development of T2D and MS. Our laboratory has recently reported a yet unidentified role of the mammalian oxygen sensor PHD1 in the control of glucose homeostasis by phenotyping PHD1 knockout mice. In detail, loss of PHD1 lowers oxygen consumption in skeletal muscle by shifting glucose metabolism from oxidative to more anaerobic ATP production which impairs oxidative muscle performance in healthy conditions, but induces hypoxia tolerance and protects myofibers against lethal ischemia. In addition, novel findings suggest a correlation between PHD1 and intrinsic obesity and T2D related factors. To extend our studies on PHD specific metabolic alterations we will utilize several in the lab made transgenic PHD mice to address the followong issues (i) assess obesity and T2D related changes in lipid and glucose homeostasis in mice lacking each of the PHDs either constitutively or specifically in key metabolic tissues by comparing various metabolic parameters before and after administration of a high fat diet (ii) determine the consequences of loss of PHD function in pancreatic ß-cell physiology, insulin signalling and glucose tolerance using a mouse model of dietary induced diabetes and (iii) determine whether loss of PHD function might have any potential for pharmaceutical intervention by intercrossing our PHD deficient mouse strains with well established mouse models to study obesity and obesity related disorders such as T2D and MS.

Keywords: type 2 diabetes,obesity,nutrition related disorders,genetically modified organisms,molecular biology,metabolism