Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Use of BioEngineered Plant-Integrated Cover (BioEPIC) to Enhance Slope Performance (BIOEPIC SLOPE)

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: 2014-10-06
End date: 2018-10-05
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: TERMINATED

Climate change threatens the stability of infrastructure slopes, which form a large proportion of the European transport network. Slope failures due to increasing intense rainfall have already resulted in significant socio-economic loss across the Europe. Slope revegetation is identified as a more environmentally friendly and aesthetically pleasing stabilisation technique, when compared to other high-embodied-CO2 methods such as sprayed concrete cover. However, there are series of research questions at the interface of unsaturated soil mechanics and plant biophysics relating to this application that, if answered, will allow better engineered and widespread deployment of this ‘green’ solution. Many of these questions relate to the effects of plant transpiration on slope stability. The key aims of this project are to improve the understanding of soil-water-plant interaction, and then to apply the improved knowledge to quantify the performance of BioEngineered Plant-Integrated Cover (BioEPIC) slopes under a changing European climate. Through laboratory testing, parameters controlling root-water uptake will be identified, and they will be used to interpret the responses of BioEPIC slopes observed from scaled centrifuge tests. By “vegetating” novel “transpiring” root models to BioEPIC slope in the centrifuge, plant effects on long-term slope failure mechanisms will be investigated. This will create a high-quality database that will give engineers increased confidence in adopting BioEPIC to mitigate slope stability problems anticipated under climate change. Through the CIG, this project will generate original findings that will provide the first step for the applicant (who is holding his first permanent academic appointment in Europe) to build his research team as an integrated component of European research; and raise the international profile of the research excellence of EU with regards to devising sustainable and low-CO2 engineering solutions for slope stabilisation.

Keywords: geotechnics,slope stability,unsaturated soils,suction,plant transpiration,centrifuge modelling
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF PROTEIN SEQUENCES TO INFER 3D STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION (EVO-COUPLINGS)

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: 2015-01-01
End date: 2018-12-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Across natural science, experimental techniques that generate large and inherently noisy datasets are currently being developed. As these techniques gain popularity, the potential impact of inference methods that enable useful information to be extracted from the resulting data is large. However, different experiments generate datasets that are afflicted by different types of noise, and require different analysis methods. In particular while the development of general theoretical tools is important, it is also necessary for researchers to take a multidisciplinary, intersectorial approach, and to work with both theoreticians and experimentalists to gain understanding of how the available theoretical tools can be applied to different datasets, so that relevant and useful information can be extracted from the data. This approach can give rise to the collection of new data, which can establish whether the theoretical approach is making accurate inferences and predictions from the existing data. I collaborate with both theorists and experimentalists to extract useful information from large sets of protein sequence data. This approach led to the development of state of the art techniques that make inferences about the 3D structure and function of proteins from large multiple sequence alignments. My research will focus on understanding the scope and the accuracy of the information that we are able to infer from the data, and how this depends on the parameters of the data. Collaborations with experimentalists will help us understand how this information can be exploited to engineer changes in protein phenotypes. The experience and knowledge gained from this specific domain will inform my longer-term goal; to take this approach of close collaboration with both theorists and experimentalists in order to extract information from high dimensional, noisy datasets, and apply it more widely to important and outstanding questions across different areas of natural science.

Keywords: protein sequence to phenotype,statistical inference,coevolution,maximum entropy modelling,protein structure prediction,protein engineering,synthetic biology
Formal Verification of Stability of Embedded Control Systems (VERISTAB)

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-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

Building high confidence embedded control systems is a grand challenge today. A fundamental property expected out of every control system design is stability, which captures the notion that small perturbations in the initial state or input to the system result in only small variations in the eventual behavior of the system. Systems which do not possess this property are operationally critical and could lead to catastrophic consequences. The main goal of the project is to develop automated formal techniques for verifying stability of embedded control systems. The project proposes a novel approach for stability verification - the application of model-checking, a successful verification paradigm from the formal methods field, to stability verification. In contrast to existing techniques which are deductive, the approach taken in the project is algorithmic. This will facilitate the development of fully automated and scalable methods for stability verification, thereby addressing the shortcomings of the state-of-the-art deductive techniques. An algorithmic approach to stability verification is a challenging task, since, even fundamental notions for abstraction and composition, which form the backbone of scalable algorithmic verification, have not been well explored. In this project, we propose a three phase plan from developing theoretical foundations to algorithm design and software tool development.

Keywords: formal methods,verification,model-checking,stability,abstractions,embedded control systems,cyber-physical systems
The CD300 family of receptors in HIV infection (CD300SHIV)

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-2013-CIG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-08-01
End date: 2018-07-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

This project's main objective is to study the role of the CD300 receptor family in the pathogenesis of the infection by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and viral escape mechanisms. We will use peripheral blood samples from patients chronically infected with HIV as well as from healthy donors. The samples will be collected in hospitals of the Basque Country, Spain. The experimental part will be performed at BioCruces Health research Institute-Cruces University Hospital. The expression of the CD300 receptors will be determined by flow cytometry techniques in cells from peripheral blood from patients and healthy subjects, and correlations studies will be performed with markers of chronic inflammation. It will be studied the CD300a inhibitory receptor in CD8+ T cells in great detail, with a particular emphasis on its participation in the processes of cell exhaustion, which is defined by the loss of effector functions and proliferative capacity of memory T cells. Finally, we will determine the degree of translocation of phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylethanolamine, the two ligands of the CD300a inhibitory receptor, into the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane in HIV-infected cells, and their involvement in the functional recognition by HIV specific CD8+ T cells and by NK cells. We will use recombinant viruses to infect cell lines and primary cells. We believe that the results that we will obtain can be of prognostic value and it will help to identify new targets for the treatment of this disease.

Keywords: cd300,nk cells,t cells,cell surface receptors,inhibitory receptors,hiv,viral chronic infections,phosphatidylserine,phosphatidylethanolamine
Maintenance of functional identity of Drosophila colour photoreceptor neurons (COLOURHODOPSIN)

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-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

This proposal asks the fundamental question of how complex cells, such as sensory neurons, maintain the functional identities they acquire during terminal differentiation. It builds on my recent results which showed that in one photoreceptor neuron subtype of fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, a green-sensitive Rhodopsin6 (Rh6, a G-protein-coupled receptor that detects photons) not only functions in the phototransduction, but also signals to maintain repression of the sister receptor gene, the blue-sensing Rh5. This maintains in aging flies a mutually exclusive expression between the two Rhodopsins established during development. The signaling pathway that ensures this exclusion does not use key components of the phototransduction cascade and thus represents a new molecular pathway downstream of Rhodopsin signal. The main goal of this proposal is to elucidate the transduction pathway which mediates the Rhodopsin exclusion signal: Objective 1. Using Drosophila genetics I will focus on the role of negative modulators of phototransduction, Arrestin2 and Gprk1, in Rh5/Rh6 exclusion mechanism. Preliminary results suggest that loss of these genes leads to de-repression of Rh6 in blue photoreceptors, an “opposite” phenotype to loss of Rh6. These results will allow me to establish the logic of Rhodospin cross-regulation. Objective 2. Based on strong preliminary evidence, I will determine the role that Hippo tumor suppressor pathway plays in transducing the Rhodopsin signal. This will provide important information about new upstream regulators of the Hippo pathway. 3. I will exploit my discovery of variability in Rh5/Rh6 expression patterns in wild flies to identify genes involved in the mutual exclusion of the blue and green Rhodopsins and to understand the ecology and evolution of fly color vision. This proposal will directly impact our understanding of aging of sensory systems and the role that Hippo pathway plays in this process.

Keywords: rhodopsin,sensory,drosophila,colour,gpcr,hippo pathway,maintenance,development
Understanding elementary excitations in correlated materials: pushing the frontiers of the first-principles Bethe-Salpeter equation (ULTRA BSE)

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-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 goal of the ULTRA BSE project is to obtain a deep understanding of the low-energy elementary electronic excitations that can be measured by inelastic scattering experiments in correlated materials. It will push forward the ability of first-principles many-body methods to deal with correlated materials and will foster their integration with experiments. The outcome of ULTRA BSE will be a set of new ab initio theoretical tools capable to guide new experiments on correlated materials with the aim of realising their potential for novel nanoscale devices beyond the limits of today’s electronics. The research budget will be used to support the integration of M. Gatti as permanent CNRS researcher at the Laboratoire des Solides Irradiés (LSI), including cofunding a PhD fellowship. It will create the best possible conditions for establishing the applicant in the new stable research career as leader of an independent theoretical team working at a synchrotron facility. Finally, it will strengthen ongoing international collaborations with colleagues working in the fields of synchrotron and theoretical spectroscopies (notably with his former group in San Sebastian, Spain).

Keywords: condensed matter,optical/dielectric properties,inelastic scattering spectroscopy,elementary electronic excitations,bethe-salpeter equation,ab initio green function methods,correlated materials
Epigenetics in Mental Disorders: The role of imprinting and methylation patterns in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). (EPIMEN)

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: Norway
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-09-01
End date: 2016-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 50000.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common and most heritable childhood onset psychiatric conditions. At the same time, genetics of ADHD are largely unknown and increasingly controversial. So far, the genetic risks implicated in ADHD generally tend to have small effect sizes or be rare, or often refer to co-occurring psychopathologies. Thus, there is a growing need for projects pursuing approaches alternative to association studies that have been dominating the field of ADHD genetics in recent years. Motivated by this issue, we propose to examine the epigenetic effects in ADHD. The object is to evaluate imprinting and methylation patterns in ADHD cases and controls. The proposed project aims to utilize methods that complement conventional genetic association studies and have a starting point not limited to hypotheses of specific candidate genes. Imprinting will be analyzed by log-linear regression method, while Illumina Human Methylation 450K chip will be applied to obtain methylation patterns. We will exploit the data of such large cohorts as ALSPAC and Norwegian mother-child study. The assessment of determined epigenetic candidate genes will extend to additional four satellite projects in collaboration with our: (1) clinical group (epigenetics and perinatal factors), (2) neurotargeting group (epigenetics in cell lines), (3) statistical genetics group (epigenome x genome interaction) and (4) animal studies group (epigenetics and stress). The proposal will not only shed light on etiology of ADHD, but also unite several European research groups (Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Norway and UK) as well as create a bridge between the Academia and a private research sector at the University of Bergen (K.G.Jebsen neuropsychiatric center).

Keywords: epigenetics,adhd,imprinting,maternal effects,dna methylation
Molecular Basis of Coral Symbiosis (ESYMBIOSIS)

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: 2014-05-01
End date: 2018-04-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Coral reefs are the world's most diverse marine ecosystems and their existence depends upon a functional intracellular symbiosis between dinoflagellates (single-celled algae) and their coral host. Stresses, such as elevated seawater temperature, cause the obligate symbiosis to break down, a phenomenon known as coral “bleaching”. Incidences of coral bleaching worldwide are on the rise, linked to global climate change. Most corals (phylum Cnidaria) first initiate symbiosis with dinoflagellates (genus Symbiodinium) during larval stages. The molecular basis of coral symbiosis is not well understood, mainly because corals are difficult to work with and have slow generation times. I propose to use an emerging model system based on the small, experimentally tractable sea anemone Aiptasia (phylum Cnidaria) to analyze symbiosis establishment at the cellular and molecular level, including the ways in which symbiosis establishment is affected by environmental changes. First, I will establish a thorough cellular description of symbiosis establishment in Aiptasia larvae. Next, I will identify conserved genes involved in larval symbiosis in cnidarians and use molecular techniques to dissect their functions. Finally, I will establish gain-of function techniques (transgenesis) for Aiptasia using microinjection into early embryos to visualize membranes, nuclei and the cytoskeleton during symbiosis establishment using life imaging. Analysis of coral symbiosis at the cellular and molecular level will provide the missing link between existing genomic approaches and field population-level approaches and will help identify measures to protect coral symbiosis in the face of environmental change.

Keywords: endosymbiosis,cnidaria,aiptasia,dinoflagellate,symbiodinium,coral,climate change,planula larvae,microscopy,cell biology,new model system,transcriptome
Inflammation and Immunity in Human Hypertension and Vascular Dysfunction. (IMMUNOTENSION)

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: 2014-05-01
End date: 2018-04-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Hypertension is a major cause of death and disability in Europe and in the rest of the World. It affects 30% of adults, and additional 30% are at very high risk of developing hypertension. This is an enormous health problem as it is a cause of subsequent renal failure, stroke, myocardial infarction and heart failure. Despite extensive research, the mechanisms of most cases of hypertension remain unclear. In spite of therapies available, over 40% of treated patients do not reach treatment goals and present with uncontrolled disease. Since the mid-1980s, no new classes of drugs have been successfully developed to treat hypertension. We and others have recently made observations providing a novel mechanism for hypertension involving activation of the immune system, with involvement of T lymphocytes, monocytes and dendritic cells. Mice lacking T cells or monocytes are protected from severe hypertension and renal/vascular dysfunction. Perivascular and renal infiltration of these cells producing cytokines such as IL-17 and TNF-alpha has been implicated. The exact mechanisms or relevance of these observations for human hypertension is unclear. Therefore, we propose to investigate the involvement of the immune system in human hypertension. First, we propose to analyse in depth the characteristics of leukocytes in hypertensive patients in comparison to normotensive controls. Subsequently we will focus on leukocytes infiltrating perivascular adipose tissue and cortex and medulla of the kidney in hypertension in relation to detailed clinical phenotypes of the disease such as ambulatory blood pressure monitoring or vascular dysfunction. Subsequently we will perform ex vivo functional studies by co-incubation of reporter vessels with hypertensive T cells (other leukocytes) to examine their role in vascular dysfunction. These interdisciplinary studies of hypertension have the potential of providing a new understanding and possibly treatment of this otherwise devastating disease.

Keywords: hypertension,endothelial function,cardiovascular disease,inflammation,t cells,monocytes,immunophenotype,oxidative stress,kidney,vascular disease