Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Stock Repurchases in the 21st Century: Theory, Evicence and Implications (STOCK REPURCHASES)

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: Israel
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2007-4-3-IRG, 2007)
Start date: 2007-10-01
End date: 2011-09-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Stock repurchases are an important tool for returning cash back to shareholders. Since their regulation in the US in the mid 1980s, stock repurchases have experienced dramatic growth. EU countries, however, started allowing public corporations to buy back their shares only in the late 1990s. Moreover, firms in EU countries that do start repurchases fail complete them. For example, UK and French firms end up repurchasing only 28% and 10% of their declared intention, respectively, in comparison to about 80% in the US. Without good free cash payout mechanisms companies and markets cannot be efficient, and economies cannot thrive. Why do repurchases efficiently disburse cash in the US but not in the EU? What can be done to make repurchases work in EU countries? The purpose of this project is to help understand the properties and limitations of repurchases. The results will provide guidelines to governments how to regulate repurchases, to firms when to repurchase, and to investors how to adjust their investment strategies when firms they invest in announce a repurchase.

Keywords: social sciences
Elemental nitrogen oxidation – A new bacterial process in the nitrogen cycle (ELNOX)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Products and process engineering
Countries involved: Germany
Call:  (ERC-2007-StG, 2007)
Start date: 2008-07-01
End date: 2013-06-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1450673.0
EU funding (EUR): 1450673.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The largest reservoir for nitrogen on earth is the atmosphere that contains 78 percent nitrogen gas. Until now the only known biological process interacting with elemental nitrogen is the bacterial reduction of nitrogen to ammonia for the build up of biomass (nitrogen fixation). This reaction requires energy and is only carried out in the absence of other nitrogen sources, such as ammonia or nitrate. Thermodynamically, the oxidation of nitrogen to nitrate with oxygen releases reasonable amounts of energy, but no bacterium using this redox couple has been known until today. We have isolated a marine bacterium, which is capable of growing in the dark with nitrogen gas as electron donor and oxygen as electron acceptor while forming nitrate. As this microorganism can also use carbondioxide as a carbon source it basically lives of air. While oxidizing atmospheric nitrogen gas the bacterium releases large amounts of nitrate and thereby enhances the amount of fixed nitrogen available for other organisms. At the moment the apparent flux of elemental nitrogen to the ocean by bacterial nitrogen fixation is much smaller than the loss of nitrogen through bacterial denitrification, suggesting that we are missing a major input of nitrogen. This newly discovered physiology of nitrogen oxidation could close this large gap in our understanding of the nitrogen cycle. The amount of biological available nitrogen determines the amount of biomass that can be build up by living organisms. Therefore, it is crucial to know the nitrogen flux into the biosphere, to understand the balances in the carbon cycle. In this project I propose to study this new bacterial physiology in order to understand, which factors control the activity of nitrogen oxidizing bacteria. We need to know how widespread these bacteria are, to estimate their influence on the global nitrogen cycle, and I propose to investigate the interactions between nitrogen oxidizers and other relevant bacteria of the nitrogen cycle.

Keywords: microbial ecology,nitrogen cycle
Determinants of mammalian transcription start site selection and core promoter usage (DTSSCP)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Genetics,Genomics,Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
Countries involved: Denmark
Call:  (ERC-2007-StG, 2007)
Start date: 2008-09-01
End date: 2013-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 812399.05
EU funding (EUR): 812399.05
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Understanding the mechanisms underlying the initiation and regulation of transcription remains one of the most fundamental questions in biology. Much of what we know about the transcription process was inferred from experiments on a handful of genes. As these experiments are not realistically scalable, corresponding computational methods building on these findings have emerged; however, these are not accurate enough for annotation of genomes. The limitations reflect that we have no accurate universal model describing transcription initiation; to a large extent, our understanding is based on case stories. Recently, high-throughput methods have been developed to chart the TSS landscape with nucleotide resolution. Using these data, I have dissected promoters at nucleotide level and found patterns that explain the transcription initiation rate for individual nucleotides. The objective for this work is to extend this to the first universal model for how cells select core promoters and associated TSSs. This will have two counterparts: i)prediction of TSSs from DNA sequence given a region of accessible DNA, and ii)prediction of DNA accessibility based on DNA sequences and dynamic epigenetic factors. Such a model will be a corner stone of future experimental and computational transcriptome and gene regulation studies.
Aberrant gene expression and muscular dystrophy: role of non-coding RNAs and alternative splicing in the pathogenesis and potential therapies. (NCRNAS-SPLICING-FSHD)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Immunity and infection
Countries involved: Italy
Call:  (ERC-2007-StG, 2007)
Start date: 2008-09-01
End date: 2014-08-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1435140.0
EU funding (EUR): 1435140.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Our goal is to characterize the molecular pathogenesis of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) in order to develop possible therapeutic approaches. FSHD is the third most important myopathy. Currently, no therapeutic treatment is available for FSHD. Unlike the majority of genetic diseases, FSHD is not caused by mutation in a protein-coding gene. Instead, FSHD is the result of a complex epigenetic cascade activated by deletion of a 3.3 kb subtelomeric non-coding repeat (D4Z4) located on chromosome 4q35. D4Z4 appears to be required for maintaining proper chromatin structure at 4q35 and its deletion causes de-repression of several 4q35 genes. Recently, we found that FSHD is caused by over-expression of the 4q35 gene FRG1 and we generated the first animal model of the disease. Our specific aims are: 1. To elucidate the mechanism underlying control of gene expression at 4q35. Our preliminary results suggest that non-coding RNAs and micro-RNAs generated by D4Z4 regulate chromatin structure and 4q35 genes expression. Our analysis will generate novel insights into the biological role of repetitive DNA sequences in higher eukaryotes. 2. To identify the pathways affected by FRG1 over-expression. We have recently found that FRG1 over-expression causes aberrant alternative splicing of selective genes. Using splicing-sensitive microarrays we will identify FRG1-dependent alternatively spliced transcripts and validate them using the FSHD mouse model. Our studies will elucidate the role of alternative splicing in the pathogenesis and will identify targets for therapeutic purposes. 3. To search for a possible therapy for FSHD. Based on our finding, we propose independent strategies aimed at controlling FRG1 activity to interfere with the progression of muscular dystrophy. In summary, our studies will provide relevant information to understand the molecular basis of FSHD and will help the development of effective therapeutic strategies.

Keywords: animal model,shrna,splicing-sensitive microarrays,dna repetitive elements,telomeres,polycomb
Identification of novel iron metabolism genes by genetic screening in Drosophila (DROSOFELA)

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: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2007-4-3-IRG, 2007)
Start date: 2008-01-01
End date: 2011-12-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The Drosophila model will be used for two complementary and unbiased genetic screens, designed to identify novel genes that affect iron homeostasis in multi-cellular organisms. S. cerevisiae has been used successfully for the same purpose, however this unicellular organism does not express neither ferritin (the major iron storage protein) nor iron regulatory proteins (the major regulators of intracellular iron homeostasis in mammals). Knockout mouse models of known iron metabolism genes have been developed to study relevant human disorders, but have limited value for identification of novel genes. To study ferritin expression in Drosophila, we have previously characterized a fly strain expressing GFP-Fer1HCH, which is incorporated into endogenous ferritin complexes that sequester iron and show subcellular and tissue specific expression patterns that are identical to wild type ferritins. Green fluorescence is readily observed in the intestine, brain and in large characteristic pericardial cells of first instar larvae. If fed on iron, ferritin expression is induced in the anterior portion of the intestine. For the first screen EMS-mutagenized chromosomes will be crossed in trans with the GFP-ferritin carrying flies, looking for altered expression patterns. The second screen is based on the observation that ubiquitous overexpression of ferritin can be lethal under iron limiting conditions. Ferritin-induced lethality is rescued by iron supplementation, suggesting that the cause of lethality is related to iron sequestration by excess ferritin. We expect that, under low iron conditions, flies overexpressing ferritin will only grow if we genetically reduce the expression of factors important in ferritin assembly or iron incorporation into ferritin. Combining the two screening strategies we expect to unravel novel genes that impact on iron homeostasis and introduce the Drosophila model in BioIron research.

Keywords: iron metabolism,ferritin assembly,expression,trafficking,iron loading,drosophila,genetic screen
The Greek Interoperability Centre: Enabling Research in the Interoperability Domain (G.I.C.)

Framework: FP7 — Capacities
Programme: Research Potential
Destination: Unlocking and developing the Research Potential of research entities established in the EU�s Convergence regions and Outermost Regions
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Greece
Call:  (FP7-REGPOT-2007-1, 2007)
Start date: 2008-02-01
End date: 2012-01-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1232918.32
EU funding (EUR): 1100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Interoperability has been recognized as the key issue for achieving high productivity of Enterprises (especially SME’s) and their information systems but also as the main driver for delivering effective pan-european electronic government services towards citizens and businesses. Promoted by the i2010 Strategy Framework, being a key area of the eGovernment and eBusiness European Commission research roadmaps, but also being a hot issue for all Governments of the 27 member states and the third countries, Interoperability is recognized as an inter-disciplinary research topic with high political and technological value. The main goal of the proposed project is to establish a new research centre targeting eGovernment and eBusiness Interoperability Research, within the National Technical University of Athens, the leading technological research institute in Greece. The Greek Interoperability Centre (G.I.C.) aims at becoming a premium research centre in the field of Interoperability in Greece, cooperating with local universities across the Greek regions but also institutions from the Balkans and the Mediterranean – thus forming a strong regional pole of research and technology. The Greek Interoperability Centre will be structured through cooperation with 7 leading research institutes from Germany, Italy, Norway, UK, US and China, hosting invited training sessions of more than 12 top-caliber researchers and engaging more than 10 expert and new researchers in its team for a period of 3 years. The Centre will be capable of conducting innovative EU level research, supporting the Greek Government and the IT Industry in achieving the benefits of interoperability, exerting influence in shaping national policy regarding interoperability research and funding, contributing to standardisation in national and international level and disseminating research results and knowledge in relevant identified research centres in Bulgaria, Cyprus, FYRO Macedonia, Romania and Turkey.

Keywords: research,inteoperability,e-business,e-government
Elaboration and refinement of sensorineural dendritic architecture (SENSORINEURAL)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Molecular and Structural Biology and Biochemistry
Countries involved: Germany,Spain
Call:  (ERC-2007-StG, 2007)
Start date: 2008-09-01
End date: 2014-02-28
Duration (months): 66.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1100000.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Vertebrate sensory perception and integration depend on the formation of ordered connections between sensory neurons and their target cells that occur along several steps: a- establishment of cellular identity, b- neuronal axon growth, arborization and dendritogenesis, c- somatodendritic contact and synaptic refinement. Although there is a wealth of information about the molecular mechanisms controlling neuronal cell-fate determination and synaptogenesis during embryonic development, very few studies have analyzed the long-term dynamics of sensorineural circuitry in adult animals. We are employing the zebrafish lateral-line system to understand the mechanisms that govern the formation, homeostasis and regeneration of a mechanosensory organ. We have obtained evidence that intrinsic and activity-dependent mechanisms cooperate during the elaboration and refinement of the organ’s innervation. The goal of this research proposal is twofold: to characterize the mechanisms of sensorineural dendritic elaboration and remodeling, and to analyze how sensory organs reinnervate to recover function after damage. The first aim is to perform an exhaustive analysis of the cellular and molecular events leading to the formation of neuronal topography and the kinetics of target recognition. The second aim is to characterize the contribution of sensory function to dendrite arborization, asking whether epigenetic mechanisms shape sensorineural synaptic fields in the periphery. Finally we shall analyze how the architecture of the sensory epithelium relates to dendrite arborization. Achieving these goals will help us understand how animals maintain sensory abilities throughout their entire lives. It may also provide a framework for the development of strategies of regenerative medicine aimed at ameliorating the negative effects of age-related loss of sensory function, peripheral neuropathies, or cerebral stroke in humans.

Keywords: sensory innervation,hearing and deafness,regeneration
Generation of mouse models for the study of cellular senescence in aging and cancer (MODELING SENESCENCE)

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: Israel
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2007-4-3-IRG, 2007)
Start date: 2007-12-01
End date: 2011-11-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Cellular senescence is a central biological mechanism for cancer prevention in mammals. Cells enter senescence when tumor-inducing genes are aberrantly activated, and in response undergo an arrest in proliferation accompanied by dramatic changes in metabolism and morphology, thus preventing their further development into tumors. Various types of physiologic stresses can also induce senescence, and this process is thought to play a central role in promoting aging, possibly by limiting the proliferative potential of stem-cell pools. While much is known about senescence in cultured cells, basic questions regarding the roles of this process in the living organism are still unanswered. In this proposal we describe the development of systems for the study of senescence in the living organism. We utilize the two central molecular activators of senescence: the p16INK4a and p19ARF genes. These genes are specifically induced during cellular senescence, and their expression is sufficient to induce this state. We will develop and characterize mice in which the expression of p16INK4a or p19ARF can be induced in multiple tissues through tetracycline administration, in order to induce cellular senescence in these tissues. This will allow us to experimentally generate senescent cells in the adult mouse and characterize their molecular and functional traits. We will study the effects of cellular senescence on tissue and organism physiology, and assess whether induction of senescence induces aging-like phenotypes. This system will provide the first genetic system to study this central biological program in its proper physiologic context, shedding light on aging processes and cancer prevention mechanisms.

Keywords: health sciences,cancer,aging,cellular senescence,transgenic mice,p16,ink4a,arf,p53,inducible genes,tetracycline
Uncovering the Secrets of an Earthquake: Multidisciplinary Study of Physico-Chemical Processes During the Seismic Cycle (USEMS)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Products and process engineering
Countries involved: Italy
Call:  (ERC-2007-StG, 2007)
Start date: 2008-06-01
End date: 2013-05-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1992000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1992000.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Southern Europe and Turkey lie within the highest seismic risk areas in the world. Understanding the physico-chemical processes controlling earthquake generation is essential in seismic hazard assessment. Destructive earthquakes nucleate at depth (10-15 km), therefore monitoring active faults at the Earth’s surface, or interpreting seismic waves, yields only limited information on earthquake mechanics. We propose to investigate earthquake processes by: 1) installing a new world class high velocity rock friction apparatus to perform experiments under deformation conditions typical of earthquakes; 2) studying fossil seismic sources now exhumed at the Earth's surface; 3) analyzing natural and experimental fault rock materials using a novel multidisciplinary approach involving state of the art techniques in microstructural analysis, mineralogy and petrology; 4) producing new theoretical earthquake models calibrated (and tightly constrained) by field observations, mechanical data from rock-friction experiments and analyses of natural and experimental fault rocks. The integration of such an original and complementary data set shall provide an unprecedented insight into the mechanics of seismic faulting. The installation of the new dedicated rock friction apparatus will allow the European Union to become a key world player competing at the top scientific level in the study of earthquake mechanics. The proposed study has additional implications for understanding other friction-controlled processes important in Earth sciences and hazard mitigation (e.g., rock landslides). Friction also has broad applications in the industry, including innovative but poorly understood production processes. Our experimental results will help to improve industrial milling techniques and investigate the mechanical-chemical transformations induced during milling. The latter is the basis of a new technique for the production of hydrocarbons and hydrogen from inorganic and organic materials.

Keywords: earthquake,friction,tribology,industrial applications,landslides,comminution,milling,tribochemistry
Olfactory perception in Drosophila: analysis of a novel iGluR-related family of odorant receptors (OLFACTORYIGLURS)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Physiology, Pathophysiology and Endocrinology
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call:  (ERC-2007-StG, 2007)
Start date: 2008-07-01
End date: 2013-06-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Chemosensory systems permit organisms to perceive diverse chemicals in the environment signalling the presence of food, dangers, kin or mates. How a specific chemical stimulus is recognised and converted into neural activity that provokes the appropriate behaviour is a fundamental problem in neuroscience. I investigate this question in the olfactory system of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, which exhibits sophisticated odour-driven behaviours under the control of a simple and genetically accessible nervous system. I recently discovered a novel Drosophila olfactory receptor family, the Ionotropic Receptors (IRs). IRs are expressed in sensory neurons distinct from the previously described Odorant Receptor (OR) family. Strikingly, IRs are structurally similar to ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs), a conserved family of ligand-gated ion channels present in animals, plants and bacteria. iGluRs are best characterised for their role in mediating synaptic communication in the mammalian brain as receptors for the neurotransmitter glutamate, but IRs have divergent ligand-binding domains. The proposed project investigates the function of the IRs and their sensory circuits in the recognition of, and behavioural responses to, olfactory stimuli through four specific aims. Aim 1: Defining the molecular basis of IR/odour interactions. Aim 2: Visualising the mechanisms of IR trafficking. Aim 3: Mapping IR sensory circuits in the brain. Aim 4: Exploring the behavioural responses mediated by IR olfactory pathways. By combining genetic, cell biological, electrophysiological and behavioural approaches, this project will provide an integrated understanding of the function and evolution of these novel olfactory receptors and circuits. This knowledge will be of significance to chemical detection mechanisms across diverse sensory systems in eukaryotes and prokaryotes, and of interest to chemical ecologists, neuroscientists, evolutionary biologists and biomedical researchers.

Keywords: olfaction chemosensation drosophila genetics