Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Cell biology of inflammasome activation in macrophages infected with Francisella (INFLAFRAN)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Re-integration Grants
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: France
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-RG, 2010)
Start date: 2011-01-15
End date: 2015-01-14
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The inflammasome is an innate immune signalling pathway that is key to fight infections. Inflammasome activation leads to caspase-1 activation, secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and host cell death. Inflammation and cell death can be deleterious for the host and the inflammasome has been involved in numerous inflammatory syndromes. Despite its key importance in the immune responses to infections and in diseases, the cell biology of inflammasome activation remains unclear. Particularly, the spatiotemporal localization of the different players (the receptor, the adaptor ASC and the effector caspase-1) remains to be studied. Furthermore, the interaction of the inflammasome pathway with other innate immune pathways such as the autophagy pathway or with bacterial virulence factors is still unclear. Francisella tularensis is a highly infectious bacterium that causes tularemia. Its pathogenicity is linked to its ability to replicate within the cytosol of macrophages. The outcome of the infection depends on the balance between bacterial virulence factors and host immune responses, which include the inflammasome and the autophagy pathways. Francisella infection is detected by the macrophages through the Aim2 inflammasome. In this project, we propose to set up an inflammasome reporter system to monitor in real time and in single cells, the dynamic of Aim2, ASC and caspase-1. This will allow us to dissect the cell biology of inflammasome activation during Francisella infection and particularly to address the following points: • What are the spatiotemporal dynamics of the different players? • What is the connection between the inflammasome and the autophagy pathways? • What are the molecular mechanisms of Francisella virulence factors that modulate inflammasome activation? We believe development of inflammasome fluorescent reporter systems will increase our fine knowledge on the inflammasome activation and will lead to new insights into its biology and its regulation.

Keywords: immunology,infections,cell biology,bacteriology,inflammasome,francisella tularensis,autophagy
BIOFILMS IN BIOREACTORS FOR ADVANCED NITROGEN REMOVAL FROM WASTEWATER (BIONIT)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: European Re-integration Grants
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Czechia
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-RG, 2010)
Start date: 2010-09-01
End date: 2013-08-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 45000.0
EU funding (EUR): 45000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

For both economic and environmental reasons, maximal use of resources present in wastewater is becoming a very important issue. From this perspective, wastewater is not seen as waste that must be disposed off, but as resource that should be utilized. For energy recovery, anaerobic wastewater treatment is an ideal option, but further research and further developments on the application of combined systems for organics and nitrogen removal under low to moderate temperature conditions are deemed necessary to overcome challenges on extensive applications. The temperature aspect is most important, because even in moderate regions such as Central Europe, the average temperature of wastewater is not higher than 15 °C and e.g. in Scandinavia can be even much lower. Under such conditions, heating of the entire wastewater stream to temperatures favorable for anaerobic digestions and/or e.g. Anaerobic Ammonia Oxidation (ANAMMOX) process (around 30°C) is economically impossible. Within the proposed project, the researcher will investigate the feasibility of combined anaerobic-aerobic treatment of municipal wastewater, specifically 1) at the temperature of municipal wastewater (<15 °C) and 2) using biofilm bioreactors for nitrogen removal to obtain robust and stabile biotechnology. The research fellow will apply number of novel and advanced techniques (MRI, NMR, FISH, microelectrodes) to elucidate mass transport phenomena in biofilms carrying out nitrogen removal from wastewater. As shown in literature, transport of nitrogen species and oxygen in the biofilm is the key phenomenon for control of the nitritation/denitritation process. The output of this project is expected to improve ecological and economical aspects of municipal wastewater treatment in Europe, leading to less energy dependent wastewater treatment plants, less excess sludge production and lower operational costs.

Keywords: wastewater treatment,wastewater management,waste biotreatment,pollution control,biogas production,bioprocess engineering
Discovering the role of AVRblb2 in suppression of chitin triggered plant immunity (EFFECTOR FUNCTION)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: European Re-integration Grants
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-RG, 2010)
Start date: 2010-09-01
End date: 2012-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 30000.0
EU funding (EUR): 30000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Phytophthora infestans causes the re-emerging and devastating late blight disease, which threatens potato and tomato production worldwide. With the recent publication of the P. infestans genome, it has become clear that this hemibiotrophic pathogen secretes hundreds of effector proteins to modulate plant immunity and enable colonization. Therefore, my long-term aim is to reveal the mode of action of P. infestans effectors and to analyze host molecular mechanisms that are perturbed by this devastating pathogen. Thereby, I plan to generate valuable information for the scientific community that will help to develop novel strategies to fight against plant pathogens and contribute to addressing the issue of food security. Plant innate immunity relies on pattern recognition receptors that recognize pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) such as chitin. Given that oomycetes contain some chitin in their cell wall, we decided to investigate the role of chitin recognition in plant immunity against oomycetes. The overall objective of this proposal is to elucidate the mechanism of suppression of chitin elicitor signalling by P. infestans RXLR effector AVRblb2, and to identify host components involved in this process. The rationale behind this research is based on our exciting preliminary data, which showed that (i) silencing of Cerk1 in Nicotiana benthamiana increased susceptibility towards P. infestans infection, (ii) AVRblb2 suppressed the defense responses induced by chitin, and (iii) heterologous expression of AVRblb2 in N. benthamiana increased susceptibility towards P. infestans infection. We aim to determine the extent of suppression of PAMP triggered immunity (PTI) by AVRblb2 and identify the potential mechanism of suppression. We will use a multifaceted approach including genetic, biochemical, and cell imaging methods to functionally characterize suppression of PTI by AVRblb2 and elucidate the role of chitin recognition in plant immunity against P. infestans.

Keywords: natural sciences
Development of a Self Sufficient Modular Mechatronic Device and Its Proof of Concept with a Workpiece Positioning Study. (MECHACELL)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Re-integration Grants
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Türkiye
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-RG, 2010)
Start date: 2010-11-01
End date: 2014-10-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Applications of microsystems have been increasing over the recent years in many fields. Microsystems are usually designed and manufactured in highly specialized establishments. The potential application of modular design and development techniques at the micro scale has many benefits. As a result of this effort, a mighty and dependable micro module can be mass produced at a very affordable price and can be used in many applications. Using common micro mechatronic modules (i.e. MechaCells) will increase the number of skilled developers, which will eventually result in increased quality in end products. Groups of these MechaCells (i.e a MechaCell Pack) can perform tasks under different conditions sharing mechanical, electrical and computing resources. The proposed project is a more focused and strengthened version of an earlier submission based on valuable feedback from the technical experts. The project proposed here in its latest form aims to take the first step towards realization of micro-mechatronic cells with measurable goals and performance requirements. Specifically, the primary objectives are to develop design requirements for a workpiece positioning application, develop mathematical and empirical simulation models and control algorithms for the MechaCell Prototype and a pack of MechaCells collaborating, and develop a macro scale workpiece positioning testbed. The proposed research differs from the previous work in that it will focus on building self sufficient mechatronic modules (with on-board energy generation and storage and on-board distributed intelligence) rather than solely for actuation purposes. The proposed project will help the applicant establish the specific research background and testbed facilities required to take the design and development of the proposed MechaCell to the next level during his successful reintegration period to European Region.

Keywords: technological sciences,mechatronic design,modular development
Forced Vibration Testing and Seismic Fragility Assessment of Instrumented Structures (FORAGAINST)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Re-integration Grants
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Türkiye
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-RG, 2010)
Start date: 2012-02-08
End date: 2016-02-07
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The objectives of this proposed research are to perform forced vibration tests on the following reinforced concrete structures, which are permanently instrumented for recording their dynamic responses in the case of future earthquakes in Turkey: a four-story dormitory building in Bolu, a four-story office building in Istanbul, a five-story hospital building in Antakya, a three-story school building in Antakya, and a four-story university building in Izmir, and to derive seismic fragilities for these structures to evaluate their seismic vulnerability. The structural dynamic properties identified from the forced vibration tests will be used in validating or calibrating the-state-of-the-art finite element models of these structures. These structural models will then be used in developing probabilistic seismic risk assessment tools in the form of fragility curves for these permanently instrumented structures. The end-product of this study, the seismic fragilities, will serve the building owners and local authorities in pre-earthquake planning to mitigate probable losses and in post-earthquake planning to develop emergency response and recovery strategies in earthquake prone regions of Turkey.

Keywords: buildings,concrete (reinforced),earthquakes,fragility,instrumentation,reliability,risk,structural dynamics,structural engineering
Controlling information flow in multi-layered neuronal networks. (CIFINE)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Re-integration Grants
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-RG, 2010)
Start date: 2010-09-01
End date: 2014-08-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The neural representation of the physical world is an often deliberated concept whose concrete rules still elude our understanding. Behavioral responses must be generated from a myriad of different stimulus combinations, but it is still not clear which factors contribute to the brain’s ability to target small cell populations for distinctive stimuli, and reliably route a signal to its appropriate targets. Previous work has made considerable progress on the sub ject of stable propagation of temporally and rate encoded signals in neuronal networks. However, simple signal propagation does not suffice to explain cortical processing because at any given instant most stimuli are ignored, not propagated, and signal paths have to change dynamically with the task at hand. I have recently shown that rate encoded signals can be turned on or off by a mechanism called detailed balance, making it a very good candidate to control functional connectivity in neuronal networks. I want to implement this mechanism in large networks to unite or separate multiple simultaneous signal streams to filter and propagate task-specific information. The often talked-about cocktail party problem, in which a listener must gather a single multi-faceted signal from a rich and noisy background, is an intuitive example of such a task and should be generally solvable by the networks we will implement. The results will, for the first time, give rise to a canonical, generally applicable yet stimulus specific processing circuit in cortical networks. This will be of tremendous help for the experimentally complex task of observing real signal processing and provide for a platform for the discussion of dynamic cortical processing.

Keywords: health sciences,neuroinformatics,neuonal networks,signal propagation,information processing,cocktail party problem
Systematic Analysis of Gene Synergies to Discover Drug Synergies (GS2DS)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Re-integration Grants
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Türkiye
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-RG, 2010)
Start date: 2010-09-01
End date: 2013-08-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 75000.0
EU funding (EUR): 75000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Using multitherapeutics against disease is a promising direction in medicine. A particularly useful drug combination is a synergistic drug pair, where two drugs administered together produce a collective effect better than the added independent effects of both. Since drug interaction screening is an expensive experiment, most synergistic drug pairs are found by serendipity. In this proposal, we describe a research plan which aims to develop predictive tools for drug synergy. During the proposed research, drug pairs with synergistic antifungal activity will be discovered. A preliminary study has shown that these predictive tools are likely to succeed. The results of the proposed research will lead to a better understanding of drug interactions and their potential in medicine.

Keywords: systems biology,drug combinations,genetic interactions,chemogenomics,computational biology,molecular genetics,pharmacy
Colonic Disease Investigation by Robotic Hydro-colonoscopy (CODIR)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: ERC Advanced Grant Interdisciplinary Panel
Countries involved: United Kingdom,United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2010-AdG_20100317, 2010)
Start date: 2011-08-01
End date: 2016-07-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2999948.04
EU funding (EUR): 2999948.04
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

CODIR proposes a new configuration of fundamental and applied biomedical and engineering multidisciplinary research to explore and characterise colon behavior necessary for the project and wider objectives. Scope and focus is on novel robotic hydro-colonoscopy (RHC), which stems from two considerations: (i) replacement of the flexible colonosocope with a patient-friendly system for inspection of the mucosal surface colon and (ii) the very recent concept of hydro-colonoscopy whereby water is used instead of traditional air insufflation. RHC can enable a breakthrough in patient-compliant complete endoscopic examination and biopsy of the colon for the further study of life threatening disorders of the colon commonly categorized as inflmmatory bowel disease, all of unknown aetilogy despite intensive research. CODIR will provide new insights for biomedical investigation and research applicable to many biomedical fields: biologic [absorption of water and electrolyte from the colon, characterisation of surface topograpgy of the colon, mechanical properties of colonic wall], imaging, mechatronics robot functionality and a novel colonic irrigation and filling system. The ambition is to develop a one-stop holistic system which cleans the colon of faecal debris and then introduces a tethered swimming/ submerging robot for inspection of the mucosal aspect of colon under the control of a clinician operating the endoluminal mini-robot from a control console. A secondary, very important outcome of CODIR is to increase patient compliance (currently 50%) for screening colonoscopy in early diagnosis of colorectal cancer, the worlds second commonest cancer. RHC can overcome major disadvantages of existing colonoscopy examination: discomfort, sedation, thus increasing compliance and enabling future research.

Keywords: colonoscopy,bowel diseasse,cancer,surfaces
The Immune function of NK cells (THINK)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Immunity and infection
Countries involved: France
Call:  (ERC-2010-AdG_20100317, 2010)
Start date: 2011-07-01
End date: 2016-12-31
Duration (months): 66.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 2500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

In this project, we propose to explore a new area in biological research aiming at dissecting emerging of properties of the innate immune responses. Our system model is the Natural Killer (NK) cell. Specifically, we will investigate the mechanisms by which these players of innate immunity achieve tolerance to self and participate to immune responses. Multidisciplinary approaches will be combined to achieve groundbreaking results at nanoscopic and macroscopic scales on the following issues: - How NK cells are educated to self-tolerance? - How NK cells distinguish their targets from normal cells? - How NK cells participate to immunological memory? THINK (THe Immune function of Natural Killer cells) is a challenging project supported by an array of preliminary data obtained by our team of investigators in various fields of expertise: - innate immunity and NK cells in human and mouse models - random insertional mutagenesis in the mouse - genome-wide epigenetic, transcriptomic and RNAi analysis and - state-of-the-art optical imaging techniques from intravital biphoton microscopy to the quantification of proteins in nano-sized areas of the cell. THINK is thus a multidisciplinary project that bridges disciplines: immunology, biophysics, genetics and epigenetics. In a scientific perspective, we think that this project will open new technological and scholar horizons, in reassessing the actual concepts on the links between innate immunity, tissue homeostasis and stress response. In a clinical and translational perspective, we also think that this project will help to design innovative NK cell-based therapies and immunomonitoring protocols.

Keywords: natural killer cells recognition strategies in innate immunity tumor immunity
Stochastic Population Biology in a Fluctuating Environment (STOCHPOP)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Evolutionary, population and environmental biology
Countries involved: Norway
Call:  (ERC-2010-AdG_20100317, 2010)
Start date: 2011-05-01
End date: 2016-04-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2000000.0
EU funding (EUR): 2000000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The aim of this project is to produce a new synthesis integrating ecological and evolutionary processes. This synthetic approach is based on the fundamental premise that the effects of environmental stochasticity are essential for the understanding of biological processes at every time scale because all natural populations are exposed to a fluctuating environment. Following my recent advances in the development of stochastic population models I will in this proposal address three questions. First, I will examine to whether the ecological effects of a fluctuating environment can be predicted from some basic set of characters distributing species along a slow-fast continuum of life history variation. Secondly, I will using my own long-term study systems partition selection on fitness-related traits into different hierarchical components, which all must be estimated for predicting the rate of evolutionary changes in quantitative characters. Thirdly, I will examine to what extent using a comparative approach how the strength of fluctuating selection caused by environmental change is predictable from basic life history characteristics. I expect that any emerging patterns arising from the evaluation of these hypotheses will represent a major break-through in evolutionary biology because it will enable identification of general principles and processes that affect the rate of change of populations both at ecological and evolutionary time scales and hence provide tools for development of quantitative predictions for the expected rate of Darwinian evolution in fluctuating environments. I further anticipate that the knowledge advanced will have significant implications for research in population biology and its future application in applied conservation biology.

Keywords: population ecology,evolutionary biology,natural selection