Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Evaluating the variability of ecosystem water vapour fluxes and spatiotemporal effects of extreme events (ECOWAX)

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: Switzerland
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IOF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-11-01
End date: 2015-10-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 264112.5
EU funding (EUR): 264112.5
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Water vapour fluxes are a key variable in the biosphere-atmosphere exchange of water in terrestrial ecosystems and have strong interactions with the climate system. However, research on the effects of climate change has been largely focused on carbon cycling and therefore, many open questions remain, in particular with respect to the long-term variability of water vapour fluxes and to spatiotemporal patterns in ecosystem responses to extreme events. The project ECOWAX intends to close this knowledge gap and contribute to a better understanding of ecosystem water cycling, thus assisting in the development of mitigation options to secure water supply for human society in a changing climate. The overarching goals of ECOWAX are (1) to assess the intra- and interannual variability of ecosystem water vapour fluxes across biomes and climate, and (2) to evaluate spatiotemporal effects of extreme events on these fluxes. To achieve these goals, ECOWAX will combine water vapour fluxes measured in situ from a new synthesis dataset of the global measurement network FLUXNET with a novel biophysical process model (BESS – Breathing Earth System Simulator) to upscale ecosystem fluxes globally for spatiotemporal analysis. The research objectives of ECOWAX are (1) to investigate the range and magnitude of intra- and interannual variability of water vapour fluxes across biomes and climates using the FLUXNET synthesis dataset, (2) to improve the novel biophysical model BESS to overcome current limitations, (3) to upscale water vapour fluxes globally with the improved version of BESS and validate the model results with site data from FLUXNET, and (4) to assess the spatiotemporal variability of water vapour fluxes and the effects of extreme events on these fluxes in Europe during the last decade. The outgoing host for ECOWAX will be the lab of Prof. Dennis Baldocchi at the University of California, Berkeley (USA) and the return host will be Prof. Nina Buchmann at ETH Zurich (Switzerland).

Keywords: environmental science,ecosystem modelling (climate change),biochemical and hydrological cycles,water-climate interactions
Organic bio-electronic neural probe for in vivo molecular sensing and stimulation (BIOPROBE)

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: France
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IIF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-04-01
End date: 2014-03-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 193594.8
EU funding (EUR): 193594.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Reducing the burden of neurological disorders (e.g. epilepsy and Alzheimer’s) has become a top research priority. Insights into the basic mechanisms of brain function have enabled the discovery of key concepts regarding brain dysfunction, however, the understanding necessary for treatment and diagnosis is limited due to the complex interplay between ionic and bio-molecular communication in massively interconnected neural networks. The current state-of-the-art of implantable biomedical tools for probing brain function can only sense local electric field potentials, lack the ability to release drugs, and show poor biocompatibility leading to scarring of brain tissue. The goal of BiOprobe is to develop a new generation of chronically implantable probes with multi-sensing recording and chemical stimulation devices for local delivery of drugs that will drastically improve our ability to interface with the nervous system. To achieve these goals, we will utilize organic electronic materials and devices -- often targeted for their low cost processing, and chemical tunability of properties. Through their softness, flexibility and ion permeability, these materials create unique opportunities at the interface with biology that can help transcend the current state-of-the-art in transduction and stimulation of cell activity. Of particular interest to this interface are organic electrochemical transistors that have recently been demonstrated as sensitive biosensors for metabolites such as glucose, and organic electronic ion pumps capable of delivering biochemical stimuli to neurons with precise spatial and temporal control. Using these advances, BiOprobe will deliver a biomedical research tool capable of multifunctional recording and stimulation in a format that is necessary for chronic implantation in animals. This tool will have a major impact on neuroscience research on the origins of cognitive deficits and other aspects of neuronal activity/function in vivo.

Keywords: organic bioelectronics,biomedical engineering,materials engineering,instrumentation technology,multisensory technology,multi-sensing
Asymmetric Organocatalytic Cascade Reactions: Applications toward the Synthesis of Complex Natural Products (ORCASYN)

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-2011-IIF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-07-09
End date: 2014-07-08
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 200371.8
EU funding (EUR): 200371.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

To address the current gap in the literature in defining a suitable synthetic route toward the pharmaceutically and structurally unique cytotoxic natural products, the daphniyunnines, we wish to develop the requisite methods and strategies during this fellowship. Using novel, synthetically flexible and powerful, enantioselective organocatalytic cascade reactions will facilitate our goals in this project. Specifically, we propose to develop an novel, asymmetric organocatalyst-controlled cascade Michael-Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reaction and a subsequent gold(I)-catalysed hydroalkylation. This would establish a novel, powerful and broadly applicable organocatalytic asymmetric strategy toward this moiety. The second objective is to address our ability to access the complex natural products via a common divergent intermediate. To accomplish this, a cascade Michael-aldol condensation reaction will yield a common advanced tetracyclic intermediate which be further elaborated toward the daphniyunnine natural products and additional analogues. This will secure sufficient quantities to fully determine the therapeutic potential of these molecules. This will enable rapid entrance toward structurally intricate intermediates and would ultimately have a profound impact in the understanding of the power of organocatalytic cascade methods in organic synthesis.

Keywords: organic chemistry,enantioselectivity,homogeneous catalysis,organocatalysis,asymmetric reactions,natural products,pharmaceutical chemistry,carbon chemistry,total synthesis,methodology
NO-dependent protein translocation and S-nitrosylation of nuclear proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana (PRONITROARAB)

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-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-05-01
End date: 2014-04-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 174475.2
EU funding (EUR): 174475.2
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

During the last two decades nitric oxide (NO) has emerged as a new chemical messenger in plant biology, which is involved in regulation of many different physiological processes, such as plant defense, transpiration and gas exchange, seed germination, and root development. It is common that many of the biological functions of NO arise as a direct consequence of chemical reactions between proteins and NO or NO oxides. As result of this modification protein activities can be altered, ion channels, transcription factors and signalling proteins can be regulated, the conformation of structural proteins can be altered or proteins can be translocated. Protein translocation is a very important signalling mechanism and there are many reports about protein trafficking during different physiological processes published. However, less is known about NO-dependent protein translocation – especially in the plant field. Based on a proteomics approach we want to investigate the NO-dependent translocation of proteins into the nucleus. Furthermore, a map of nuclear proteins should be generated, which are candidates for protein S-nitrosylation. Besides these proteomic approaches the NPR1/TGA1 system, which is known to be regulated by nitric oxide, will be analysed in more detail. The bZIP transcription factor TGA1 and the regulatory protein NPR1 together are playing a crucial role in SAR during the inducible plant defense response. 3D structures of both proteins will be determined in presence of nitric oxide, to analyse the structural alteration, which result in more effective DNA-binding activity of TGA1. The aim of these studies is to get insight into the regulatory function of NO in gene transcription.

Keywords: nitric oxide,s-nitrosylation,nuclear proteins,plant defense response.
When and how do expectations affect conscious perception? (EXPECT_CONSCIOUS)

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-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2013-05-01
End date: 2015-04-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 209033.4
EU funding (EUR): 209033.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

A key property of the brain is to anticipate and predict future events. Following the early insights of von Helmoltz more than a hundred years ago, there is now abundant research showing that expectations/predictions play a large role in every aspect of cognitive functioning, from perception to action. However, the role of expectations in determining conscious content is poorly understood. The objective of the present project is to establish the scope of influence of expectations on conscious perception: . Do all expectations affect conscious perception? Or only a subset? What, if any, are the necessary neural accompaniments to effective expectations? To answer these questions, we will employ binocular rivalry, fMRI and MEG to determine the functional and neural boundaries of the influence of expectations on conscious perception. Functionally, we will test whether expectation-inducing stimuli have to be consciously perceived, attended, or accompanied by low-level retinal changes, in order to influence subsequent conscious perception. At a neural level, we will explore the neural changes that accompany expectation-based influences on conscious perception, using both bottom-up (data driven) and top-down (theory-driven) approaches. For the latter, we will explore relations between effective expectations and recurrent processing, causal density, and 'global broadcasting' of neural signals. Our results will integrate two rapidly advancing areas of the cognitive and brain sciences: predictive coding, and consciousness science, shedding important new light on each.

Keywords: humanities,consciousness,expectations,meg,fmri,binocular rivalry,functional boundaries,neural boundaries
Solanum in Europe: phylogeny and genetic diversity (SOLANUM)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Finland
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-06-01
End date: 2014-05-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 210611.4
EU funding (EUR): 210611.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Solanum is a genus of nearly 1 400 species and only a small portion of them are cultivated. This genus is important from an agricultural perspective as well as from an evolutionary standpoint, consisting of valuable crops like eggplant, tomato, and especially potato all important in European agriculture. Very little is known about the biology of European native species despite the fact that they offer unexploited genetic resources right here in Europe. The most important European native species include Solanum dulcamara and S. nigrum belonging to the Dulcamaroid and Morelloid clades of Solanum. Both European species are reported to be alternative hosts for many agriculturally important diseases. Both European species are highly resistant to late blight (Phytophthora infestans), the most dangerous disease of potato production. Interestingly the phylogeny and population biology of these two species, or their higher level relatives, has not yet been investigated in detail using molecular level characters. The project will consist of various studies on phylogeny and population biology of the Morelloid and Dulcamaroid species. The main goal is to study naturally occurring genetic diversity of these economically potentially important native European species of Solanum and reconstruct their phylogeny related to their closest relatives. As a first study of this kind in the Solanaceae the historical genetic diversity using herbarium specimens from the 18th century will also be implicated. The project will be hosted by the University of Helsinki, Finland including an intra-European mobility. This project will help to enhance the integration of the ERA and of European scientific experience by initiating a competitive phylogenetic work in certain species and groups in the genus Solanum. In line with the 2020 Vision for ERA we aim to provide competitive knowledge about European Solanum species biology, reproduction, origin and evolution for conservation and ecological purposes.

Keywords: natural sciences,phylogenetics and systematics,genetic diversity,genetic resources,solanaceae,molecular evolution
Metal-Piezoelectric-Insulator-Semiconductor Field-Effect-Transistor for high temperature pressure sensing applications (MPIS-FET)

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-2011-IIF, 2011)
Start date: 2014-03-11
End date: 2016-03-10
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 278807.4
EU funding (EUR): 278807.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

This project, entitled ‘Metal-Piezoelectric-Insulator-Semiconductor Field-Effect-Transistor’ (MPIS-FET), will fabricate a metal-piezoelectric-insulator-semiconductor field-effect-transistor device for pressure sensing, in order to perform high-sensitivity strain detection (gauge factor>100) under harsh conditions (high temperature>500oC). High-temperature pressure sensors are of extreme importance for automotive, aerospace, aircraft, power generation industry, and scientific instruments. The current pressure sensors suffer from various drawbacks such as poor thermal stability, low sensitivity, poor chemical inertness, high complexity in readout circuit, and high cost. This project will bring a very talented researcher (Dr Meiyong Liao) from one of the world leading research institutes (National Institute for Materials Science, NIMS, Japan), specializing in the diamond doping, etching and sensor fabrications, to work with a leading Nanoscience Research Group (NRG) at Aston University (UK), specializing in diamond sensors and power devices, with a combined expertise to address the specific challenge described above. The project will transfer the skills and knowledge from one of the world leading Japanese institutions to the Europe through the Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship Scheme. The proposed novel pressure sensor will contribute to the aerospace, automotive, and industrial society of Europe.

Keywords: technological sciences,electronic engineering
Research into Various Exact and Numerical Aspects of Critical Phenomena (RAVEN)

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-2011-IIF, 2011)
Start date: 2013-04-01
End date: 2015-03-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 278807.4
EU funding (EUR): 278807.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

A cornerstone in the study of phase transitions is the principal of universality. This maintains that entire families of systems behave identically in the neighbourhood of criticality, such as the transition point between a liquid and a gas or at the Curie point in a magnet, at which two phases become indistinguishable. Near the critical point, thermodynamic observables and critical exponents do not depend on the details of intermolecular interactions. Instead they depend only on the range of interactions, symmetries and spatial dimensionality. This fact allows us to understand real materials and systems through simplified mathematical models. The universality concept is commonly stated together with the hypotheses of scaling and finite-size scaling. The associated theories have been mostly successful in describing critical and non-critical properties, but significant discrepancies between them and experiments remain. To understand the experiments, the theories have to be improved. This project seeks to increase our understanding by researching corrections to scaling. Our proposal is to investigate statistical mechanical models in an attempt to place our theoretical understanding of critical phenomena closer on firmer ground and to render them closer to experimental measurements. We will especially target universality, scaling, and finite-size effects in two dimensional models of statistical mechanics as these can be tackled using exact methods, as well as analytic and numerical ones. In addition, more challenging three dimensional models will be investigated. Theories of critical phenomena in particular are crucial in our understanding of how everything depends on everything else in many disciplines outside physics. It thus permeates all of natural sciences and even beyond. It is therefore a priority that this foundation stone be correct, exact and fully understood.

Keywords: statistical physics,critical phenomena,phase transitions,universality,scaling,corrections to scaling,finite-size scaling,amplitude ratios,partition,function zeros
Epicardial adipose tissue as a regulator of myocardial biology: adiponectin signaling pathways (HRS EAT)

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-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-11-15
End date: 2014-11-14
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 200371.8
EU funding (EUR): 200371.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Recent evidence suggests that adipose tissue (AT) affects vascular and cardiac function, through the release of bioactive molecules called adipokines. Adiponectin is an adipokine with potent antiatherogenic effects in experimental studies, while in clinical studies adiponectin is paradoxically an independent predictor of poor clinical outcome of heart failure patients. Up to now the role of adiponectin released by epicardial AT and the role of epicardial fat pad in total in myocardium biology remain poorly understood. The present project aims 1) to investigate the direct / paracrine effects of adiponectin released from epicardial AT on myocardial redox state, 2) to examine the effects of adiponectin on myocardial contractility, 3) to search for possible paracrine effects of myocardium on adiponectin synthesis by epicardial AT and the role of natriuretic peptides as possible mediators in this cross-talk, 4) to determine the critical downstream signaling pathways in human heart, responsible for the regulation of myocardial redox state by adiponectin. To achieve these aims we will harvest myocardial and epicardial AT samples from patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting operation and we will use also a transgenic mouse model. In various sets of ex-vivo experiments we will try to thoroughly investigate the cross-talk between myocardium and epicardial AT. The experiments will include ex-vivo co-cultures of atrial and epicardial AT, determination of adiponectin’s release in AT supernatants, mRNA gene expression / Western blots in tissues, myocardial contractility organ bath studies, chemiluminescence experiments for detection of superoxide production in myocardial tissue and application of proteomics/metabolomics techniques. We strongly believe that the novel findings of the project will expand our knowledge on the pathophysiology of ischemic heart disease and shed light on the still obscure role of epicardial adipose tissue in the biology of human heart.

Keywords: adiponectin,myocardial redox,epicardial adipose tissue,coronary patients
A mechanistic analysis of the impact of arbuscular mycorrhiza on ammonia oxidizing community dynamics and nitrification potential rates in N-limited soils (AM-NITRIFICATION)

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-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-05-03
End date: 2014-05-02
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 167390.4
EU funding (EUR): 167390.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Nitrification represents a key N-cycling process because it impacts biome productivity and interferes with the adaptation strategies of plants. Hence, a lot of research has attempted to disentangle the drivers of ammonia oxidation, the rate limiting step of the process. Amongst them a relatively new identified factor that may affect nitrification appears to be arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) status of plants. Previous work of the applicant has highlighted that a negative relationship operates for the plants that occur in Mediterranean grasslands. The question then is whether this is a specific adaptation of Mediterranean plants or a general consequence of occurrence of AM fungi. In the proposed project the applicant adopts a gradual approach with the following objectives (i) confirm ubiquity of the interaction (ii) achieve a mechanistic understanding of the underlying processes (iii) demonstrate the ecological importance of the interaction when considering nitrification potential rates. The proposed project comprises experiments with a gradual element of difficulty to ensure that some sort of output will be there in the end. Other than ecological and physiological applications the results may be useful in agriculture where a key issue remains to minimize nitrate leaching and N-losses from crops; results of the project may serve as an additional argument for application of AM fungi in agriculture.

Keywords: natural sciences,nitrification,arbuscular mycorrhizas,soil ecology,agriculture,n-cycle