Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Resource Allocation and Policy Choice through Democratic Bargaining or Conflict (POLECPUBECINF)

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
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-03-01
End date: 2018-11-28
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

When a group of agents has to choose one action from a given set of feasible actions, it faces a collective-choice problem. If agents have different information about the consequences of each action, or different preferences over consequences, agents have different preferences over the action they want the group to take. The group must make a choice aggregating these divergent preferences. For instance, citizens of any given country have different policy preferences that are aggregated to generate a policy outcome. One way to aggregate conflicting preferences to make a choice is through conflict: agents exert competing costly efforts in a confrontation, and the group choice is determined, perhaps probabilistically, by these efforts. Alternatively, in democratic societies, group actions, such as policies, are chosen by means of bargaining and voting. In an indirect or representative democracy, citizens elect representatives, who bargain over policy proposals. Ultimately, a policy is approved by voting, and becomes the group choice. I propose to study the problem of resource allocation and ideological policy-making, both at the national level in the realm of domestic political economy, and at the supranational level in the context of international relations, through the lens of the game-theoretic advances in collective choice and social choice theory. I will study the problem of allocating a fixed amount of a resource or desirable good to a set of agents (citizens, regions, industries, or countries) with conflicting claims, and the related problem of choosing an ideological policy outcome when agents affected by the policy have divergent preferences over outcomes, and I will compare the solutions that are obtained if outcomes are determined by conflict, or by voting in a representative democracy with a presidential, or with a parliamentarian system. The results will help to design better institutions, implement better public policies and improve governance.

Keywords: political economy,public economics,economic theory,game theory. collective choice. bargaining. policy-making. public choice. conflict. resource allocation.
Infant Responses to Maternal Carrying in Human as Early Biomarker and Prognosis Estimator of Child Psychopathology: a Study on Autism Spectrum Disorders and Perinatal Brain Disorders in Early Infancy (CARRYING)

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-2013-CIG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-03-01
End date: 2017-09-01
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 75000.0
EU funding (EUR): 75000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

In this project we aim to understand the psycho-physiological aspects of mother-infant interaction and their paramount influence on typical and atypical development. Mother-infant bonding is the earliest and most critical social relationship of mammalian infants. To promote this bond, infants have innate behaviors to seek maternal proximity and protest upon separation via communication with the mother vocally and through body movement. However, the physiological mechanisms regulating these infant behaviors remain largely undefined. As a model to study very early mother infant interaction we study the maternal and filial contribution during maternal carrying. In a pioneering study (Esposito et al., 2013) we have shown in rodent pups and human infants a specific calming response to maternal carrying. This calming response is a coordinated set of central, motor, and cardiac regulations and is a conserved component of mammalian mother-infant interactions. During the proposed project we aim to test the hypothesis that: (i) the calming response to maternal carrying influence the efficiency of mother-infant interaction; (iia) very early malfunctioning of the infant contribution to maternal carrying may be an early biomarker of child psychopathology (i.e. Autism Spectrum Disorders, ASDs) and (iib) may provide an opportunity for an early estimation of prognosis in infants with Perinatal Brain Disorders (PBDs, i.e. Cerebral Palsy). The study will use physiological and behavioral assessment of infants with typical and atypical development. The present study provides immediate implications for general parenting practices and might provide a tool for the evaluation of the autonomic functions and sensory integrations of neurological disorders in early infancy. Finally, these results may contribute to elucidation of neurobiological mechanisms governing social bonding and cooperation in humans.

Keywords: infant calming response,physiological response,autism spectrum disorders,perinatal brain disorders,mother-infant interaction,early diagnosis,prognosis,neonatal assessment,maternal carrying
The hidden sulfur cycle in freshwater wetlands: an eco-systems biology approach to identify and characterize major microbial players (WETLAND-ECOSYSBIOL)

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-2013-CIG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-03-01
End date: 2018-02-28
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Freshwater wetlands are a major source of the greenhouse gas methane but can also act as carbon sink, storing currently more than one third of the terrestrial organic carbon. Understanding their intertwined biogeochemistry and microbiology is therefore indispensable to foresee their influence to positive and negative climate feedback cycles. This proposal aims to elucidate the identity and ecophysiology of sulfate reducing microorganisms (SRM) driving a highly active but hidden sulfur cycle in wetlands, which is not apparent from the low standing pools of sulfate and thus has been severely understudied. Since sulfate reduction effectively competes with methanogenic degradation of organic matter, SRM have an important control function on methane production in wetlands. Little is known about wetland SRM. This stands in contrast to the high diversity of evolutionary deep-branching dsrAB genes, which are functional markers for SRM, indicating a large number of yet undiscovered SRM in wetlands. The expected scientific outcome of this proposal comprise: (i) identification of microorganisms involved in the hidden sulfur cycle with focus on SRM, (ii) elucidating their substrate preferences and preferred environmental conditions, (iii) identifying their interaction partners, and (iv) linking their function to their genome as well as their major transcripts and proteins. This will be achieved by an interdisciplinary approach, where (i) structure-function methods like stable isotope probing are linked to meta-genomics and -proteomics, (ii) high-throughput amplicon sequencing of phylogenetic markers and metatranscriptomics is combined with controlled experimental setups under monitored biogeochemical parameters, and (iii) by targeted cultivation of novel microorganisms. This proposal will be vital for me to build up an own research group, to strengthen my international collaborative network, and to maximize my integration in the European Research Area.

Keywords: rice paddies,peatlands,climate change,hidden sulfur cycle,anaerobic carbon degradation,molecular biology,microbial ecology,dsrab,sulfate reducers,next-generation sequencing
Euroscience Open Forum 2014 (ESOF 2014)

Framework: FP7 — Capacities
Programme: Science in Society
Destination: Science in Society
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Denmark
Call:  (FP7-Adhoc-2007-13, 2007)
Start date: 2013-09-04
End date: 2014-11-03
Duration (months): 14.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1368000.0
EU funding (EUR): 799000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF) is a biennial pan-European scientific meeting staged to provide an interdisciplinary forum for open debate and discussion on the role and future of scientific research, education and innovation. The ESOF meeting has taken place every second year in a major European city since 2004. ESOF 2014 will take place from the 21st to the 26th of June 2014 in Copenhagen with up to 5,000 delegates. To capture the essence of ESOF, the 2014 edition will be entitled ‘Science Building Bridges’. The bridge is a symbol of the vision of ESOF 2014: closing the distance between science and society, while forging a European scientific integration. ESOF 2014 will: • emphasize public debate, collective reasoning and reflection as intrinsic to the democratic community. • promote awareness of European science and engage the scientific community in Europe and globally. • honour the expectations of the various ESOF delegates by offering inspiring conference formats and state-of-the-art sessions addressing major global issues, e.g. health, resource management, and green economy. • increase the level of integration between the different target audiences – scientists, politicians, journalists, students and the public. All elements in the Copenhagen conference concept are part of an overall move towards a tighter integration of science, innovation communication and public engagement.

Keywords: euroscience open forum,science conference,european public engagement
The end-Cretaceous extinction and Paleogene recovery of mammals: evolution during a period of intense environmental change (BRUS)

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
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-03-01
End date: 2018-02-28
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

How do organisms respond to environmental change? Answering this question is an essential challenge in contemporary scientific research, as it will help us understand—and better prepare for—the rapid pace of current climate change. A striking example of major environmental change in the geological record is the ~30 million years bracketing the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary (66 million years ago), a time that witnessed a sudden mass extinction that killed off the dinosaurs and an ensuing recovery that vaulted mammals into a dominant role in terrestrial ecosystems during a time of fluctuating climates. This project aims to better understand the end-Cretaceous extinction and Paleogene recovery of mammals by integrating information from a wealth of new fossils, phylogenetic analyses that put these fossils into genealogical context, and cutting-edge quantitative and evolutionary modelling techniques that establish major trends in mammalian evolution and test how these trends were related to environmental change. We will focus on three major mammal groups as exemplars: Metatheria, Taeniodonta, and Pantodonta. We will comprehensively describe the anatomy of five critical species of Paleogene mammals from these groups, which will provide data for genealogical analysis. Next, we will conduct genealogical analyses showing the within-group relationships of these three exemplar groups, and place them on the broader family tree of mammals. Third, we will use these genealogies to quantify rates of species evolution, body size evolution, and anatomical character change in these mammals during the Cretaceous-Paleogene. Fourth, we will evaluate the relationship between Cretaceous-Paleogene mammal diversity and evolutionary rates with changing climates. Taken together, these analyses will test how both sudden and long-term environmental changes affected mammalian evolution, and in doing so will give insight into how modern climate change may affect organisms and ecosystems.

Keywords: climate change,mammals,environmental change,palaeontology,evolution,evolutionary biology,macroevolution,anatomy,systematics,phylogeny,global change
Plasticity of the Burst-Pause Response in the Tonically Active Cholinergic Interneurons of the Striatum in Normal and Parkinsonian Mice (BURSTPAUSEPLASTICITY)

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-2013-CIG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-06-01
End date: 2018-05-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Our ability to attend to novel stimuli requires an intact projection from the parafascicular (PF) nucleus of the thalamus to the cholinergic interneurons (ChIs) of the striatum. ChIs respond to novel stimuli with a burst-pause (B-P) in their tonic firing. The B-P response is a neural correlate of classical conditioning, and as such shows a large degree of plasticity in response to behavioral contingencies. The B-P response (and its plasticity) are severely compromised in animal models of Parkinson's disease (PD), which may be related to the akinetic nature of the disorder. The biophysical mechanism of the B-P response is still debated, but to date none of the candidate mechanisms has accounted for its plasticity. In the current proposal, we will identify and characterize the mechanism that gives rise to the plasticity using acute brain slices from mice. The study will combine optogenetics (to selectively activate afferent inputs to ChIs), wide-field calcium imaging of ChIs, molecular biology, numerical and analytical tools. Preliminary results show that the current underlying the prominent slow afterhyperpolarization (IsAHP) in ChIs, is up-regulated merely by stimulating the afferent glutamatergic PF (but not the cortical) projection. This is the first-ever description of an up-regulation of IsAHP in any brain region. Because the up-regulation is synaptically generated, it suggests the involvement of group I metabotropic glutamate receptors. This possibility will be tested, as well as the role of intracellular calcium stores. Because the B-P response is known to be dopamine dependent, we will also study the impact of dopamine depletion on the mechanism of the B-P response and on its plasticity. We believe that this study can potentially point to therapeutic targets aimed at normalizing the B-P response in order to alleviate akinesia and other symptoms of PD.

Keywords: basal ganglia,striatum,parkinson's disease,group i mglur,isahp,optogenetics,channelrhodopsin-2,intralaminar nuclei,tans,electrophysiology,calcium imaging,akinesia,slice physiology,rodent,modeling
School Food Environments (SCHOOL FOOD ENVIRON.)

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-2013-CIG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-03-01
End date: 2018-02-28
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Obesity rates have nearly tripled since the 1980’s in the United States and in many European countries, and this rise has been particularly alarming with regards to children. To combat childhood obesity, policy makers have increasingly been examining school food environments. School food environments are defined as policies enacted by a school affecting students’ dietary intake during the school day. The proposed project will evaluate various consequences of three distinct school food environment components. The first policy is the ban of carbonated beverages in schools, and the analysis will ask whether household compensation in response to these bans - already observed in my ongoing research - varies based on household characteristics or how long it has been since the ban was initially introduced. The second policy is the provision of healthier school lunches, and I will evaluate the effect the provision of healthier school lunches in a Northern California school district had on student test scores and fitness outcomes. The third school food environment component is whether high schools grant their students the privilege to go off campus during the school day, which exposes these children to food purchasing options outside of school. This analysis will extend upon my previous research on open/closed campus policies concerning their effect on academic outcomes and will examine the effect on student behavior outcomes and fitness outcomes.

Keywords: child nutrition,child health,school meals,education,negative incentives
Response of the Atmospheric and Oceanic Circulation to a Warming Climate (ATMOSOCEAN)

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
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-04-01
End date: 2018-03-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

This is a proposal to re-integrate the applicant into the European scientific community. The applicant proposes to study the large-scale circulation of the atmosphere and ocean and possible changes under global warming. It is well known that the climate is warming; it is less well known how the circulation of the atmosphere and ocean will respond to this warming and that is the subject of this proposal. It is the response of the circulation that will determine the regional changes of weather and climate that will most affect society. The applicant will develop and use a novel hierarchy of atmospheric and oceanic models to study this problem. Some of the problems to be addressed include changes in the height of the tropopause and the polewards expansion of the tropical and mid-latitude circulation, and changes in the ocean circulation that might lead to intermittency in the rate of warming. Each model that is developed will connect to a neighboring model, or two models, of different complexity. At the high end of the hierarchy lie comprehensive climate models and earth system models and at the low end lie one-dimensional radiative-convective models and energy balance climate models. The application will seek to develop collaborative activities with colleagues across Europe, including at the UK Meteorological office in Exeter and at other universities in Europe. The applicant will visit and give talks at these universities and attend meetings and scientific conferences. He will also seek additional funds from UK research councils and, in collaboration with European colleagues, the European Union. The University of Exeter is fully committed to the applicant and is providing generous financial support. The University is also committed to putting significant financial and human resources into the climate sciences. Overall, the CIG will enable the applicant to play a leading role in the European scientific community and will bring cutting-edge science to Europe.

Keywords: climate,atmospheric,oceanic,global warming,circulation,geophysical fluid dynamics.
Route to guided TeraHertz backscattering Inspection and Analysis (THEIA)

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
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-03-01
End date: 2018-02-28
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The ancient Greeks believed that eyes are the source of beams of light that allow human beings to see. In Greek mythology THEIA, Titan goddess of sight, was in fact the mother of the Sun, Moon, and Dawn. Gaining from this inspiration, this research plan focuses on the development of accessible technologies to exploit the several probing capabilities demonstrated by Terahertz (THz) waves, targeting applications in fields like medicine, biology, material science. Over the last few years, Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy (THz-TDS) has become a highly promising tool for real-time spectroscopy analysis of a wide variety of materials. Although TDS based on the transmission of THz waves through materials reached a form of standardization due to its simplicity of operation, there is a common consensus that spectroscopy in reflection mode would be required for most THz-TDS. THEIA explores the capability of the reflective-THz spectroscopy proposing key-enabling solutions (e.g. the use of waveguide technologies) to the several technological and practical constrains that currently limits its application deployment. THEIA will investigate the waveguide delivery of ultra-wide band THz pulse toward a sample and the recollection and detection through same structure. In addition in such a framework, it will present a structured approach to solve the inherent problem in real world scenarios of the lack of reference signals –required for THz-TDS- in compound detection via reflective spectroscopy. Taking also into account disabling issues like the unknown position of the target and the significant contribution of the sample surface roughness, THEIA will establish a consistent technique of inference respect to databanks of known fingerprints to recognize complex compounds, paving the way to a new form of remote electromagnetic probing device.

Keywords: terahertz,time-domain spectroscopy,terahertz waveguides