Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Novel active nanophotonic devices in rare-earth doped double tungstates (RE-ACT)

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: Netherlands
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-CIG, 2011)
Start date: 2011-08-01
End date: 2015-07-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The objectve of Re-ACT is to establish the foundations for a long-term research effort in integrated active nanophotonic devices based on the use of rare-earth doped double tungstate crystalline materials. Re-ACT puts together several disruptive leading edge technologies in an innovative manner to solve several important problems that are hindering the complete integration of nanophotonic circuits. Research areas that will be investigated include plasmonic propagation with gain, gain assisted all-optical processing, integrated optical isolators and the use of plasmonic resonant effects for novel on-chip sensing devices and nanolasers. It is expected that the results obtained in Re-ACT will lead to several breakthroughs that will enable the realization of long searched fully integrated active nanophotonic devices. The possibility to integrate as much functionality on the chip as desired, with almost unlimited bandwidth and with very low power consumption will open the door to new concepts in telecommunications, computing and personal entertainment that will revolutionize the way human communications will take place. Several breakthroughs in diagnostics, medical imaging and environmental monitoring are also expected. In our ageing society, there is an increasing need for technologies enabling non-invasive medical diagnostics and preventive medicine. Environmental care will benefit from the deployment of distributed networks of very small and sensitive sensors that will help monitoring our fragile resources. Water could become a scarce resource in the future and the importance of having safe water is increasingly becoming a priority. These realizations will be enabled thanks to the development of novel miniaturized microspectrometers and networks of biosensors coupled with arrays of integrated low power consumption nanolasers.

Keywords: active devices,gain,nanophotonics,plasmonics,nanolasers,photonics integration,double tungstates
Cocultivation of microorganisms as a strategy for discovery of new natural products with antimicrobial properties (COCULMICRO)

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-2011-CIG, 2011)
Start date: 2011-08-01
End date: 2015-07-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

New antibiotics are urgently needed to combat persistent, emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. Historically, microbial natural products have been a prolific source of antibacterials, and the screening of microbial extracts has yielded many classes of antibiotics. However, this approach was largely abandoned by big pharma because of the high rates of rediscovery of known antibiotics, and the general belief that there were very few new antibacterials to be discovered from microbial natural products. Sequencing of bacterial genomes has changed that view completely. In many bacteria there are far more gene clusters directing the biosynthesis of antibiotic-like metabolites than natural products known to be produced by the organism. These so-called “cryptic” gene clusters (cryptic because their metabolic products are not known) are often silent (not expressed) under standard laboratory conditions, and can represent up to 80-90% of the secondary metabolite gene clusters in some bacteria. In recent years we have witnessed an increased in the employment of cocultures (i.e. cocultivation of more than 1 microorganism) as a strategy to discover new natural products by exploiting cross-communication processes mediated by diffusible signalling molecules. In this project we will carry out an in-depth study of the capacity of this strategy to discover new antibacterials from microbial metabolites. Objectives: a) Cocultivation of microorganisms from an actinomycete-based microbe collection employing a specifically designed dual fermentation system. b) Antibiosis screening of the obtained microbial extracts using modern high-throughput technologies; identification of active extracts c) LC-MS based chemical dereplication of active extracts using in-house and external natural product databases; identification of promising extracts d) Scale-up of active extracts, bioactivity-guided fractionation process to purify active compounds; structural elucidation of active compounds

Keywords: microbiology,organic chemistry,analytical chemistry,microbial natural products,antibiotics,drug discovery,high-throughput screening
Entanglement and the foundations of quantum information (ENFOQI)

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-2011-CIG, 2011)
Start date: 2011-08-01
End date: 2015-07-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The research in this project concerns different aspects of quantum entanglement and the foundations of quantum mechanics. On the more practical side, we will study the structure of multiparticle quantum correlations and how state analysis in experiments can be performed. On the fundamental side, we will investigate non-local hidden variable models and study possible applications of quantum contextuality. The Marie Curie Career Integration Grant will help to build up a strong research group in quantum information theory at the University of Siegen. The grant shall mainly be used to build up international collaborations via mutual visits and to organize workshops in Siegen on the topics of the proposal.

Keywords: quantum mechanics,mathematical physics
ROLE OF CYCLOPHILIN A IN BONE MARROW VASCULAR PROGENITOR CELL MOBILIZATION AND RECRUITMENT IN THE ANGIOGENIC RESPONSE TO ISCHEMIA (CAPI)

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-2011-CIG, 2011)
Start date: 2012-01-01
End date: 2016-06-03
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Critical limb ischemia (CLI) is a major health problem; it affects approximately three million people in Western Europe, its prevalence is increasing, adequate medical treatment is not available, and patients with advanced disease are usually unsuitable for revascularization procedures. Since CLI is characterized by inadequate tissue vascularization, much effort has been focused on strategies aimed at promoting neoangiogenesis. Emerging data suggest the clinical potential of vascular progenitor cells (PCs) to restore blood flow to the ischemic limb. Several factors have been shown to influence PC mobilization and homing to ischemic tissue. However, follow-up studies have yet to show long-term benefit. Therefore, the identification of novel molecules represents a major and clinically relevant task. One factor that mediates the cross-talk between PCs and a variety of cell types, including vascular cells, is stromal-derived factor 1 (SDF-1), which, through interaction with its receptor CXCR4 expressed on PCs, modulates PC role in angiogenesis. A key mediator of SDF-1/CXCR4 axis is Cyclophilin A (CyPA). Specifically, CyPA binds to CXCR4 and modulates SDF-1-mediated chemotactic cell migration. Further, CyPA has been shown to enhance endothelial cell (EC) proliferation as well as capillary-like structure development and migration. Importantly, our published data show that CyPA is crucial for the mobilization and recruitment of bone marrow (BM)-derived cells in the diseased aorta of ApoE-/- mice. However, CyPA role in PC function is unknown. Based on experimental evidences underlying the importance of CyPA in SDF-1/CXCR4 axis, ability to modulate EC function in vitro, and BM cell mobilization or recruitment, this proposal aims at evaluating the role of CyPA in new blood vessel development in response to ischemia. The elucidation of CyPA’s effect on PC functions may provide novel insights for the treatment of ischemic diseases and, specifically, CLI.

Keywords: cyclophilin a,sdf-1,vascular precursor cells,angiogenesis,ischemia
Modulating Human Brain Function and Dysfunction with Neurofeedback. (NEUROFEEDBACK)

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: Switzerland
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-CIG, 2011)
Start date: 2012-01-01
End date: 2014-12-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 75000.0
EU funding (EUR): 75000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Neuroimaging allows to characterize patterns of neural activity that specifically correlate with mental functions such as perception, memory, and emotions. However, conventional imaging experiments are purely observational and cannot be used to establish a causal link between brain activity and the mental functions that are studied. Here I propose using a new approach to investigate causal links between the two: I will use real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (rtfMRI) with neurofeedback to teach participants to voluntarily regulate either the level of brain activity or of the functional coupling of brain areas. I will then test how self-regulation of activity (or connectivity) affects perception and memory, thus allowing an understanding of the causal relationship between the two. Using neurofeedback, I will (a) test how self-regulating brain connectivity in the visual cortex affects visual feature integration, (b) explore the use of neurofeedback to treat patients with visual hemispatial neglect, which is a common and disabling neurological disorder, and (c) use neurofeedback to manipulate visual memory consolidation by indirectly affecting neurotransmitter systems. Besides these three main projects, I will significantly advance the field of rtfMRI-based neurofeedback by (a) extending the neurofeedback approach to control functional brain networks instead of only a single area (connectivity feedback), and by investigating (b) how long learned self-regulation is maintained without further training, (c) if self-regulation causes structural changes in brain anatomy, and (d) how important strategy guidelines are for learning self-regulation. These projects will provide new insights into the causal links between brain activation and mental functions, and they will also provide important methodological innovations which will lay the foundation for valuable clinical applications.

Keywords: neuropsychology,neurobiology,neuroimaging,fmri,neurofeedback,brain-computer interface
Ligand Engineering for Pauson-Khand Reactions (LE-PKR)

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-2011-CIG, 2011)
Start date: 2011-09-01
End date: 2013-11-30
Duration (months): 27.0
Total project cost (EUR): 56250.0
EU funding (EUR): 56250.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

This project is centered on several technological developments around the intermolecular Pauson-Khand reaction, a cobalt catalyzed multicomponent cycloaddition with an unexploited potential to streamline the synthesis of complex organic molecules. The first aim is to find new ligands for the cobalt catalyzed intermolecular Pauson-Khand reaction. A ligand accelerated version of this transformation has been so far elusive and might potentially lead to cheap and efficient ways for the construction of elaborated cyclopentanic compounds from readily available and structurally diverse starting materials. A second aspect of the project deals with the development of stereoselective versions to access chiral cyclopentanic building blocks of high added value in a straightforward manner.

Keywords: physical sciences,organic chemistry,organometallic chemistry,homogeneous catalysis,asymmetric catalysis
Neuronal Activity: Targets for Stimulating Myelin Formation and Repair in the Brain (NEURO-GLIAL SYNAPSES)

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: United Kingdom,United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-CIG, 2011)
Start date: 2011-09-01
End date: 2014-07-31
Duration (months): 35.0
Total project cost (EUR): 72916.67
EU funding (EUR): 72916.67
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Neurological disorders associated with dysfunctional and damaged myelin represent a heavy economic and social burden within the EU. Therefore identifying novel targets for stimulating myelin formation and repair hold significant value. Neuronal activity influences the development of myelinating glia and the formation of myelin in the brain. However the physiological basis of these neuron-glial interactions are poorly described in the context of intact nervous tissues. This work will focus on receptors that are capable of integrating neuronal activity with oligodendrocyte function. Neuronal activity stimulates ionotropic glutamate receptors located on oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs). However the function of these neuron-OPC synapses in the nervous system is unknown. Activation of these receptors regulates the migration and differentiation of oligodendrocyte precursor cells in vitro. By relaying information regarding axonal function these receptors are well positioned to translate changes in activity arising during development, and as a consequence of injury and disease, into signals capable of promoting the developmental programme required for myelination. Consequently these receptors represent valuable targets for stimulating neural repair in conditions of myelin disease and injury. These ideas will be tested by selectively disrupting glutamate receptor functions in OPCs with a series of novel genetically encoded tools. These tools will be deployed in slice cultures that permit the analysis of myelin formation and repair. The effect of these receptor manipulations will then be examined on axon-OPC interactions, OPC development, myelin formation, and myelin replacement. Illuminating mechanisms connecting axonal activity to myelin formation and recovery promises to stimulate novel therapies for myelin-associated disorders such as those underlying cerebral palsy in infants, and multiple sclerosis, which afflicts an estimated 405 thousand adults in the EU.

Keywords: myelination,remyelination,oligodendrocyte precursor cell,neuron-glial interactions,neurotransmitter receptors,glutamate,optogenetics,two-photon imaging,electrophysiology
3D spectroscopy of lensing cluster fields (3DLENS)

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-2011-CIG, 2011)
Start date: 2012-01-01
End date: 2015-12-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

We propose to use new European astronomical facilities in conjunction with the power of massive galaxy clusters used as gravitational telescopes in order to explore the question of galaxy formation and evolution. In particular, new spectroimagers such as the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on the Very Large Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA) allow to directly access and resolve the physical information inside distant galaxies on a pixel-to-pixel basis. The first part of the project will make use of MUSE to study the distribution, size, kinematics and physical properties of very distant galaxies (in particular at z>3), and the addition of gravitational lensing will bring these observations down to very faint luminosities. The second part of the project will characterize the multiwavelength properties of distant (z>1) galaxies, from optical to radio wavelengths, including a millimetre follow-up with ALMA. Only with the gravitational magnification in strongly lensed arcs will ALMA be able to already resolve different parts of high redshift galaxies during the Early Science phase. FInally, we will develop a dedicated software, called 3DLENS, in order to reconstruct the intrinsic properties of lensed sources observed with any spectroimager such as MUSE or ALMA. The proposed integration period will ensure that the researcher, who has just been hired as a tenure-track asssistant astronomer position, will access tenure position quickly in the institute. It will benefit his career as well as the scientific outcome of the European facilities mentioned.

Keywords: physical sciences,astronomy,software development,astrophysics,cosmology,instrumentation
The Dependence Receptors notion: from a cell biology paradigm to anti-cancer targeted therapy (DEPREC)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Physiology, Pathophysiology and Endocrinology
Countries involved: France
Call:  (ERC-2011-ADG_20110310, 2011)
Start date: 2012-05-01
End date: 2017-04-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2485037.0
EU funding (EUR): 2485037.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

While it is assumed that transmembrane receptors are active only in the presence of ligand, we have proposed that some receptors may also be active in the absence of ligand stimulation. These receptors, named “dependence receptors” (DRs) share the ability to transmit two opposite signals: in the presence of ligand, these receptors transduce various classical “positive” signals, whereas in the absence of ligand, they trigger apoptosis. The expression of dependence receptors thus creates cellular states of dependence for survival on their respective ligands. To date, more than fifteen such receptors have been identified, including the netrin-1 receptors DCC (Deleted in Colorectal Cancer) and UNC5H1-4, some integrins, RET, EPHA4, TrkA, TrkC and the Sonic Hedgehog receptor Patched (Ptc). Even though the interest in this notion is increasing, two main questions remain poorly understood: (i) how very different receptors, with only modest homology, are able to trigger apoptosis when unengaged by their respective ligand, and (ii) what are the respective biological roles of this pro-apoptotic activity in vivo. We have hypothesized that the DRs pro-apoptotic activity is a mechanism that determines and regulates the territories of migration/localization of cells during embryonic development. We also demonstrated that this may be a mechanism that limits tumor growth and metastasis. The goal of the present project is, based on the study of a relatively small number of these receptors –i.e., DCC, UNC5H, RET, TrkC, Ptc- with a specifically larger emphasis on netrin-1 receptors, to address (i) the common and divergent cell signaling mechanisms triggering apoptosis downstream of these receptors and (ii) the physiological and pathological roles of these DRs on development of neoplasia in vivo. This latter goal will allow us to investigate how this pro-apoptotic activity can be of use to improve and diversify alternative anti-cancer therapeutic approaches.

Keywords: dependence receptor,apoptosis
Bio-mimetic Multi-functional Active Porous Structures (BIO-MAPS)

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-2011-CIG, 2011)
Start date: 2011-09-01
End date: 2014-08-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 75000.0
EU funding (EUR): 75000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The objective of this research plan is to develop mathematical foundations and geometric computational algorithms to bio-mimetically model fully customized and complex three-dimensional (3D) heterogeneous (multi-material) structures with controlled material composition and distribution. The proposed work will be used to model active multi-functional porous structures with controlled micro-architecture to satisfy different and sometimes conflicting functional requirements. First, computational algorithms are proposed to optimally design multi-material with bio-active molecules spatially in porous structures. A new design methodology is proposed to relate material and bioactive distribution to 3D shape (geometry). The internal micro-architecture of porous structures is also optimized based on biological and mechanical requirements. Second, a novel bio-fabrication processed is proposed to fabricate designed multi-functional active porous structures with various biodegradable materials embedded with active bio-molecules directly from the computer models. The proposed methodologies will be applied to 3D tissue scaffolds. Cell migration into design 3D scaffold will be tested in-vitro to assess and optimize the proposed methodologies. The proposed methods will make more advanced active scaffold systems possible. These active multi-functional porous structures could be used to arrange cells in an appropriate 3D configuration and present molecular signals in a spatial and temporal fashion so that the individual cells will grow and form the desired tissue structures. The results from this research would enable use of active implants, tissue/organ substitutes and micro-scale bio-sensors in many new applications in medicine and biomedical engineering. This project will also advance the knowledge in heterogeneous object modelling in computer-aided design, layered-based fabrication methodologies and biomaterials.

Keywords: manufacturing engineering,biomedical engineering,design,heterogeneous objects,scaffolding