Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
A Multidisciplinary Approach to Turbulence (MULTITURB)

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-2009-IEF, 2009)
Start date: 2011-01-01
End date: 2012-12-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 232589.6
EU funding (EUR): 232589.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Turbulent flows are pervasive in industry and nature. Breakthroughs in their understanding can therefore have multi-billion dollar impacts. History has ample examples that a better understanding of the physics leads to better engineering. This is a proposal to study the physics of turbulent motions. The primary research value from the proposed exchange would be the opportunity to pursue jointly three new and emerging areas of research. First, to start for the first time a systematic international multidisciplinary research programme at Imperial College London on the role of initial and upstream conditions in turbulence. Second, to explore how the turbulence is generated and acquires and/or loses its energy, and how the mean flow profiles are created as a result. Third, to exploit the full scale similarity of turbulent jets to carry out a direct numerical simulation (DNS) which increases by nearly an order of magnitude the Reynolds number and downstream distance of present numerical computations. All three of these tasks represent a convergence of several long-term interests as well as important extensions into the new paths and opportunities which clearly need to be taken by the proposed Visiting Fellow, William K. George, and faculty at Imperial College London; in particular, Professors J. D. Gibbon, J.C. Vassilicos, W. P. Jones, X. Wu and Dr. B. van Wachem. This is also a unique opportunity to invest new knowledge and training in applied mathematics and computational fluid dynamics in the proposed fellow. This will result in an unprecedented multidisciplinary combination of expertise of unique power and effectiveness which will both be of enormous benefit to him, and enhance his future contributions to the field of turbulent fluid dynamics in Europe.

Keywords: turbulence,fluid mechanics,initial conditions,shear flows
Dynamic regulation of Ras signaling – a novel way to attenuate PI3K activity in cancer and inflammation. (PI3KACT)

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: Switzerland
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IIF, 2009)
Start date: 2011-01-01
End date: 2012-12-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 172065.2
EU funding (EUR): 172065.2
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Ras genes take a center stage in signal transduction and molecular oncology, where Ras-driven signaling pathways control proliferation, differentiation, cell adhesion, apoptosis, and cell migration. Mutations in RAS are very common in cancer, and have been found in 20-30% of all human tumors. Moreover, constitutive Ras activation is known to trigger senescence in the absence of “second hit” mutations (e.g. loss of p53). Interestingly, both processes - cancer progression and oncogene-induced cellular senescence - were shown to be dependent on Ras interaction with phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), which points to a dominant role of Ras-mediated PI3K activation in proliferative disease. Here we propose to investigate the possibility that Ras/PI3K interactions are dynamically regulated, which is supported by preliminary data: in certain cellular states, post-translational modification of Ras disrupts its binding to PI3K. We aim to elucidate the importance of this process in physiology and disease. We assume that regulated Ras interactions with PI3Kalpha act in cancer progression, while Ras/PI3Kgamma complexes transiently regulate inflammatory processes. Along these lines, we aim to uncover cellular signaling networks that dynamically dissociate Ras from PI3K. When the above mechanism is validated, we plan to study the consequences of the abrogation of Ras/PI3K interactions in “in vivo” mouse models. These will elucidate if and how PI3K detachment from Ras acts as a a general and central mechanism to balance inflammatory cell recruitment, oncogen-mediated metastasis, proliferation and senescence.

Keywords: pi3k,ras,cell signaling,cancer,inflammation,oncogene-induced senescence
A single-molecule view of initial transcription (SM-TRANSCRIPTION)

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-2009-IEF, 2009)
Start date: 2010-03-01
End date: 2011-08-31
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 172740.8
EU funding (EUR): 172740.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The overall objective of this project is to study the initial phase of gene-transcription – i.e., the transformation of genetic information from DNA to RNA – at the level of individual molecules. State-of-the-art single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy will be used in combination with a nanoscale “spectroscopic ruler” (a method based on the phenomenon of fluorescence resonance energy transfer, also known as FRET) to capture the transient intermediates and conformational changes of RNA polymerase, the protein machine that orchestrates transcription. This analysis will complement the static snapshots of transcription complexes, which have been obtained using X-ray crystallography. Single-molecule fluorescence methods are well suited for real-time studies of initial transcription, since the available temporal resolution is sufficient for monitoring conformational changes during the addition of a single nucleotide to an RNA chain. The specific aims are to develop novel real-time assays for detecting promoter-DNA opening and promoter-escape in vitro; to use the in vitro assays for studying the effect of specific DNA sequences on promoter-proximal pausing and promoter escape; and to take the first steps towards developing similar single-molecule FRET assays that report on transcription in living bacterial cells. The proposed work will contribute to the understanding of initial transcription, providing insights applicable to the transcription systems of higher organisms such as humans. The proposed toolbox will also find extensive use in the study of other important protein-DNA interactions, both in vitro and in vivo.

Keywords: biophysics,single-molecule spectroscopy,transcription,molecular biophysics
Identification of phospholipid-Apo B adducts in atherosclerosis by a mass spectrometry approach (ATHERO_MASS)

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,United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IEF, 2009)
Start date: 2010-11-01
End date: 2012-10-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 173240.8
EU funding (EUR): 173240.8
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory response, clinically asymptomatic in the first decade. The deposition of lipids in arterial walls, due to the uptake of oxidized low density lipoproteins (oxLDL) by macrophages, causes blood flow restriction making cardiovascular diseases (CVD) a serious public health problem in EU countries. In oxLDL, oxidation of (phospho)lipids and proteins occurs, originating phospholipids-protein adducts by cross-linking reactions. Though phospholipid-protein adducts were identified in atherosclerotic plaques by immunoassays, their structural features were not yet described. It is known that smaller and denser (SD) oxLDL is more atherogenic, but the mechanism is yet unclear. Improved understanding of the pathology and potential therapies depends on molecular characterization of atherogenic LDL particles including the phospholipid-Apo B (PL-Apo B) adducts. To achieve this, mass spectrometry based strategies will be used to characterize PL-Apo B adducts in SD oxLDL from healthy and diseased clinical samples. The methodological approach will be developed in control LDL in vitro oxidized (HOCl, MPO, Me+H2O2) to determine the nature of PL-Apo B adducts formed, followed by biotinylation and separation by avidin magnetic beads of PL-Apo B adducts for optimization of PL-Apo B adducts isolation protocols with high specificity and sensitivity. Detection through MS strategies (MRM, CID) avoids time consuming analysis by a focused detection approach. Subsequently, the optimized approach will be applied to LDL from clinical samples in search of PL-Apo B adducts. The data from clinical samples will be scrutinized by chemometric techniques for discriminant ions prior to full characterization. This study will contribute to the molecular understanding of CVD pathology. The development of advanced methods for routine analysis will enable identification of new biomarkers for early clinical diagnosis.

Keywords: health sciences,chronic diseases,diagnostics,instrumental techniques
Pulses in active and nonlinear metamaterials (PEARL)

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: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IIF, 2009)
Start date: 2010-12-20
End date: 2012-12-19
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 239289.6
EU funding (EUR): 239289.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Electromagnetic pulses have ubiquitous applications as information carriers, and the continuously increasing demand for larger capacity of information channels, faster data transmission and high resolution real time imaging necessitate novel approaches to pulse generation, transmission and exploitation in functional devices. Artificial electromagnetic materials (metamaterials) have opened new avenues for controling the properties of waves in the engineered media. The periodic and quasi-periodic layered semiconductor structures constitute a novel class of composite materials, which can offer a novel means for the design of innovative microwave and THz applications using pulsed signals. The main objective of this project is to investigate the properties of pulses in active and nonlinear artificial media composed of periodic and quasi-periodic arrangements of semiconductor, ferrite and metal layers. The theory of nonlinear three-wave interaction in pumping regime in a periodic nipi and periodic and quasi-periodic magnetoactive structures will be developed and the resonance phenomena improving second-harmonic generation efficiency will be analysed. The effects of external biasing fields, pumping, layers&apos; parameters and geometry on the properties of pulsed signals in the semiconductor based metamaterials will be investigated in millimetre, THz and optical frequency ranges. The expected outcomes will give insight into the pulse propagation phenomena in the semiconductor based active and nonlinear artificial electromagnetic materials and provide the conceptual basis for the waveform control of the pulsed signals in the physical layer of hardware and the new applications ranging from ultra-wideband (UWB) communications to THz sensors.

Keywords: electromagnetism,electromagnetic pulse,metamaterial,nonlinear artificial media,semiconductor,quasi-periodic structure,nonlinear mixing,second harmonic generation,terahertz,mm-wave,optics
An Evaluation Framework for Service-Oriented Requirements Engineering (EFRASYS)

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-2009-IEF, 2009)
Start date: 2010-09-01
End date: 2012-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 158048.8
EU funding (EUR): 158048.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

EFRASYS aims to create new methodological frameworks for evaluating software development methods and techniques within the new discipline of Service-oriented Requirements Engineering (SoRE). The project will involve the following multidisciplinary research: (i) New and novel SoRE methods and techniques will be analyzed with the purpose of understanding their nature, assumptions, and principal associated features. (ii) Empirical software engineering methods will be applied to SoRE, through revision of existing empirical research techniques to identify potential uses and value, and production of a set of guidelines to combine empirical research techniques, for example simulation-based experiments, to suit the nature of services-oriented computing. (iii) Software measurement will be involved through definition of quantitative and qualitatively measurable attributes from service customer and provider perspectives. (iv) Theoretical disciplines such as ontology and cognitive psychology will be incorporated into the understanding of SoRE methods to complement the evaluation framework. EFRASYS will be developed within the IS Research Group of the University of Twente under the supervision of two prestigious researchers in their respective areas, namely Requirements Engineering and Sofware Measurement. The high quality of the host institution and supervisors as well as the complementary training and experience that will be provided, will allow her to attain career goals as senior researcher, professor and business consultant. EFRASYS is relevant to the Marie Curie Work Programme because it will allow the fellow to develop new research competences including the new service orientation computing paradigm, improve existing research competences at an advanced level in empirical software engineering and measurement and in related disciplines, and hone skills in lecturing, leadership, and industry-research collaboration.

Keywords: computer engineering,measurement technology,information technology
The spread of Information on real-world networks (SPREAD OF BELIEFS)

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-2009-IEF, 2009)
Start date: 2010-11-01
End date: 2011-03-31
Duration (months): 5.0
Total project cost (EUR): 155461.0
EU funding (EUR): 155461.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The main theme of this project is the rigorous analysis of mathematical models for the dissemination of information on networks whose characteristics approximate those of networks that emerge in social life as well as in nature. In particular, we intend to study mathematical models which describe the spread of new beliefs and ideas within a given network. Such models have become of great importance in the last decade mainly due to the development of the Internet and its widespread influence on many aspects of social and economic life. Various beliefs and ideas as well as reputations of new products are spread through a word of mouth mechanism. The individuals of a certain society are influenced by those individuals they are related to and according to their own criteria they decide to adopt a new belief. On the other hand, the networks that arise in social life are not arbitrary, but exhibit certain structural characteristics which are mainly the result of their intrinsic randomness. Our primary aim is to analyse rigorously mechanisms that describe the word of mouth dissemination of information on a typical instance of a random network whose distributional characteristics are similar to those observed in real social networks. Furthermore, we intend to develop strategies that aim at the maximisation of the spread of a new belief on a typical instance of such a random network. More specifically, we will attempt to identify those structures that typically arise in a random network and facilitate the efficient spread of a new idea in it. This will lead to the design of efficient algorithms that will be working well in practice, that is, for the majority of the instances of a social network.

Keywords: discrete mathematics,algorithms,social changes
Molecular control of vascular remodelling: A role for Wnt signalling. (WNT VASCULAR REMODEL)

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-2009-IEF, 2009)
Start date: 2010-08-01
End date: 2012-07-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 173240.8
EU funding (EUR): 173240.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

A functional network of blood vessels is essential for all aspects of growth and organ function during embryonic development and adult life. A wide number of human disorders are related to vascular defects like cancer, diabetic retinopathy or stroke. During vascular remodelling, superfluous blood vessels regress in a process named vascular pruning. In contrast to the molecular mechanisms controlling vascular sprouting, vascular pruning has been less studied and very little is known about the cellular and molecular mechanisms controlling this process in vivo. Accumulating evidence indicates that Wnt signalling regulates multiple aspects of endothelial cell behaviour during vascular morphogenesis including vascular regression. However, the precise cellular mechanism of vessel pruning as well as the expression and function of relevant Wnt signalling components in this process remain undefined. The present proposal therefore aims to elucidate the cellular mechanism of Wnt signalling during vascular pruning. Targeted inactivation of Wnt ligands and receptors in different cell population in mouse, in combination with pharmacological activation or inhibition of the Wnt pathway, will be used for deciphering the Wnt contribution in vascular pruning, both in retinal and zebrafish angiogenesis. In addition, we aim also to implement an ex-vivo model of vascular remodelling, which will be used to perform a pharmacological screen for drugs that can stabilise or induce vascular remodelling, regression or apoptosis. Improving the knowledge of the molecular regulation of vascular morphogenesis, particularly in vascular pruning and the contribution of Wnt signalling in angiogenesis, will facilitate the development of new therapeutic strategies for diseases related to vascular defects such as cancer and retinopathies.

Keywords: wnt signalling,vascular remodelling,pruning,angiogenesis,endothelial cell,retinopathy,developmental biology
Molybdate transport in animals. Role of gephyrin (MOT GEPHYRIN)

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-2009-IEF, 2009)
Start date: 2010-10-01
End date: 2012-09-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 162661.0
EU funding (EUR): 162661.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Molybdenum (Mo) is an essential micronutrient for almost all living beings. Mo participates as cofactor (Moco) in the active site of more than 50 Mo-enzymes that are involved in vital processes such as inorganic nitrogen assimilation, sulphur metabolism, phytohormone biosynthesis, and stress reactions. Mo is acquired by cells in form of the anion molybdate. Molybdate transport process is well known in bacteria, poorly characterized in plants, algae and fungi, and unknown in animals. In animals Moco deficiency leads to a neuronal damage and finally to an early death. Using the green algae Chlamydomonas and on the basis of his previous experience in the identification of the first eukaryotic molybdate transporter (MoT1), the candidate has identified a putative molybdate transporter in humans (C2H2). The main aim of the research project is to characterize the molybdate transport process mediated by the human protein C2HS. This includes the determination of putative interactions of this protein with other proteins like gephyrin, the subcellular localization of C2HS and its tree-dimensional structure. The proposed project will be developed by the applicant in the Institute of Biochemistry of the University of Cologne under supervision of Prof. G. Schwarz. The quality of the infrastructures and facilities of the University of Cologne, the experience of the host group in the field, as well as a good defined work plan supporter by an appropriated methodology, guarantee a good training for the candidate that will be crucial for him to obtain the skills necessaries to reach a position of professional maturity.

Keywords: natural sciences,biological sciences,nutritional sciences
Precision agricultural crop monitoring using laser scanning and unmanned aerial vehicles (AGRIC-LASERUAV)

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: Spain
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IIF, 2009)
Start date: 2011-02-01
End date: 2013-01-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 154417.0
EU funding (EUR): 154417.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Currently the science of the remote sensing community does not meet the stringent requirements of sustainable agriculture and forestry practices, where quasi-real-time decision making of irrigation management, fertilizer application and disease detection is needed. The two highlighted obstacles that the remote sensing community needs to overcome are: a) the high cost and operational limitations of airborne remote sensing for short turnaround time needed for agricultural applications, and b) the lack of detailed vegetation canopy structural information that can be used to bridge the gap between spectroscopic methods with 3D radiative transfer models. Recent remote sensing advancements have addressed these challenges using two recently-available, high-potential technological developments: a) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) coupled with microsensors, and b) Ground-based Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) systems. The introduction of cost-effective UAV-based systems allows us to characterize individual trees within forested and agricultural ecosystems thereby highlighting novel scientific issues at new spatial scales. Such issues can potentially be addressed with terrestrial LiDAR systems that allow the characterization of spatial organization of tree crown elements from a ground-level perspective. As such, this project aims to couple the use of UAV-based imagery with ground-level LiDAR data to characterize important biophysical processes at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions, suitable for precision, and sustainable forestry/agricultural monitoring. The project will investigate the impact of vegetation architectural parameters, retrieved using a ground-based LiDAR scanner, on the quantitative estimation of physiological indicators of stress (i.e. evapotranspiration, and leaf chlorophyll content) using UAV-based spectral imagery and 3D radiative transfer modeling.

Keywords: laser scanning,unmanned aerial vehicle (uav),precision farming,sustainable agriculture,evapotranspiration,photosynthesis,chlorophyll,crop yield