Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
(Post-)Yugoslav LGBT Activism: Between Nationalism and Europeanisation (LGBTQYU)

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: Netherlands
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-10-01
End date: 2016-09-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 175974.6
EU funding (EUR): 175974.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

As the destructive power of nationalism has subsided over the last decade, the status and application of LGBT rights has remained one of the most polarising political issues in the post-Yugoslav space. Drawing upon the conceptual apparatus of social movement studies and Europeanisation and gender theory, this project consists of three major, closely inter-related research foci: 1. if offers a historical account of the emergence, development and operation of LGBT activist groups in the Yugoslav and post-Yugoslav space; 2. it comparatively examines the potentials and limitations of the European Union and European integration processes to promote LGBT rights and protect sexual minorities both before and after accession to the European Union; and 3. it explores the attitudes of LGBT people themselves towards the current forms of LGBT organising in the region and their possible alternatives. Explicitly challenging the systematic absence of discussions of (post-)Yugoslav LGBT and other activist initiatives in recent sociological scholarship, this project employs a variety of empirical sources (in-depth interviews, online surveys, internet fora, documentary material, participant observation, etc) to put gender and sexuality-related issues higher on the regional sociological research agenda and start redressing the imbalance between Western and Eastern European research on LGBT activism and politics. This project also constitutes one of the very first systematic studies to throw light on the ways in which LGBT organisations, positioned in different national contexts in relation to their inclusion in the European Union (member states, candidates, prospective candidates), have been drawing upon the processes of European integration to secure equality and reduce homophobia in one of the most turbulent European regions.

Keywords: lgbt activism,(post-)yugoslav space,europeanization,nationalism,social movements,human rights
Advanced web tool for Isothermel Titration Calorimetry data analysis and managent (FIT)

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-2013-IIF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-04-01
End date: 2016-03-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 269743.8
EU funding (EUR): 269743.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) is a powerful biophysical method to study intermolecular interaction that has become widely used due to its technological advances. It enables the determination of all thermodynamical parameters of interaction after a single one-hour experiment. The key step of experimental data analysis is the fitting of obtained data using an appropriate binding model. Unfortunately, the limited set of models offered by manufacturers does not allow the full use of ITC for the study of complex molecular mechanisms of interaction. Recently we faced this problem when trying to investigate tau-tubulin binding. Because of its implication in cancer and neurodegenerative diseases this interaction presents great interest for both European host (CRO2) and my lab. Here I propose to create an advanced ITC data analysis tool that will allow researchers to create and share new binding models, so that any ITC end user can upload their experimental data and fit it using available models. This tool will also offer ITC data management and collaborative facilities. It should become a professional social network for ITC end users in Europe and beyond. Using this tool, in the host institution, I will first focus on deciphering the exact mechanism of tau-tubulin interaction which, despite extensive study, remains unknown. I will then study the interplay between tau and anticancer drugs. This will allow us to evaluate the impact of anti-tubulin drugs used in cancer treatment on tau mechanism of action. During the return phase I will study the influence of two key factors implicated in neurodegenerative disorders, oxidative stress and zinc ions, on tau-tubulin interaction. My experience in ITC and multidisciplinary skills combined with the expertise and resources of the host lab will ensure the success of this project. Moreover, new software tool will be made available to other European laboratories, helping establishing CRO2 as one of the leaders in ITC field.

Keywords: calorimetry,web tool,fitting,protein binding,cytoskeleton regulation,tubulin,tau,anti-cancer drugs,molecular mechanisms
Targeting the miR-106b~25 cluster in pathological Cardiac Hypertrophy (PATCH)

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: Italy
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-03-01
End date: 2015-02-28
Duration (months): 12.0
Total project cost (EUR): 93707.4
EU funding (EUR): 93707.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

BACKGROUND: There is a tremendous need to develop novel therapies for heart failure. In particular, sustained pathological hypertrophy, a major predictor of this condition, is a complex process, which involves transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation of the cardiac genome. There is now clear indication that, besides a few known transcriptional regulators, multiple, still poorly understood cardiac factors are involved in hypertrophy; understanding this complexity is expected to pave to the way to innovative therapies. In particular, recent data demonstrate that dysregulated microRNAs (miRs) are associated with heart failure, and that selective modulation of miRs can provide therapeutic benefits. Our pilot-data show that expression of the miR-106b~25 cluster decreases during pathological hypertrophy in mice and that virus-mediated overexpression of this cluster prevents phenylephrine-induced hypertrophic remodeling. Following bioinformatics screens for potential direct downstream targets of the miR-25~106b cluster, we identified a series of transcription factors, which might play a role in pathological cardiac remodeling. AIM: To define the functional implication of the miR-106b~25 cluster in pathological cardiac hypertrophy and to exploit this information towards the development of novel therapeutic approaches. APPROACH: We will identify direct downstream targets of the miR-106b~25 cluster during hypertrophy, by performing Ago2-Immunoprecipitation and by treating neonatal cardiomyocytes with precursors of miR-25, miR-93 and miR-106b, followed by next generation sequencing (Objective 1); We aim to reverse pathological cardiac remodeling and prevent heart failure by delivery of recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV9)- miR-106b~25 in mice (Objective 2). The results obtained will generate important intellectual property value and will constitute the basis for further development towards the generation of novel therapies against heart failure.

Keywords: microrna,heart failure,hypertrophy,gene therapy
Network-based Expert-Stakeholder Framework for Sustainable Remediation (NEXSUS)

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: Italy
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-10-10
End date: 2016-02-08
Duration (months): 12.0
Total project cost (EUR): 124621.4
EU funding (EUR): 124621.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The management of contaminated land has moved through different stages over the last few decades, each stage being characterized by a specific approach. The most recent stage is that of sustainable remediation, whereby decisions on the management of contaminated sites have to be sustainable across all the three pillars of sustainable development (environmental, economic and social). In particular, ensuring the social acceptability and support of remediation strategies and actions is currently regarded as being of high importance. The proposed research project aims to improve the development and assessment of sustainability in contaminated land management processes, through the development of an interdisciplinary framework for the integration of new social sustainability indicators with existing indicators of environmental and economic sustainability applicable to remediation projects. The development of this framework requires first the integration of expert and stakeholder-based assessments of social sustainability and the subsequent integration of the social assessments with environmental and economic indicators of sustainability. To achieve these ends, the project advances an original interdisciplinary approach that draws on social network analysis (from sociology), project ecologies (from economic geography) and multi-criteria decision analysis and sustainable remediation (from environmental science). The expected results are relevant for researchers interested in sustainable remediation, to policy makers, experts and consultants involved in contaminated site management as well as for site owners, local authorities, site neighbors and the interested public.

Keywords: sustainable remediation,contaminated land management,social networks,project ecologies,multi-criteria decision analysis
Revealing the hidden secrets of the MEP pathway to engineer new bio-resources for humanity (BIOHELP)

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: Spain
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IOF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-09-01
End date: 2018-07-15
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 265317.3
EU funding (EUR): 265317.3
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The recently-discovered methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway produces isoprenoids in plant plastids and most microorganisms. Its absence in animals makes it a promising target for antibiotic development. In addition, many isoprenoids have important industrial applications (pharmaceuticals, nutriceuticals, fuels, rubbers, etc.). In order to fully exploit this pathway as a drug target and successfully engineer isoprenoid bioproduction, we must understand its regulation. Emerging disciplines like systems biology, synthetic biology, and computational modelling offer powerful tools to address this problem. However, combined expertise in these disciplines is available in few places in the world. The first objective is to study carbon flux through the MEP pathway using systems and synthetic biology. This will enable a detailed understanding of the complexity of regulation in the context of the whole metabolic network. Moreover, it will provide engineering targets to improve flux through the pathway (which thus far has met with little success). Targeted engineering will be linked to bio-production of carotenoids, essential isoprenoid nutrients associated with protection against chronic human diseases. The second objective is to target deoxyxylulose reductase (DXR), a key enzyme that represents a species-specific variant pathway node. The metabolic conseqeunces of this variant node for pathway flux will be examined. Moreover, structural analysis will be used to develop DXR-specific drugs. Indiscriminate use of antibiotics has led to a general decline in their efficacy, and availability of new antibiotics is desperately needed; this approach promises a route to powerful, species-specific antibiotics with fewer side-effects. It is expected that this research will lead to the generation of fundamental knowledge about the MEP pathway regulation and antibiotic development. This will have wide-reaching applications in biotechnological production of isoprenoids and health.

Keywords: systems biology,shyntetic biology,metabolic engineering,modelling drug design,isoprenoid biology,mep pathway regulation,dxr-ii,in vivo kinetic parameters
Social Interaction Characteristics for Socially Accepted Robots (SICSAR)

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: Italy
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-09-15
End date: 2016-11-13
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 187414.8
EU funding (EUR): 187414.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Why robotic research, despite its advances, has not yet lead to the widespread use of robots in operative contexts treatable through human-robot cooperation? The SICSAR project proposes that the main reason resides not in intrinsic technical difficulties, but in the limits of the diffused expectation that, to collaborate with humans, robots need to be almost "perfect" - faultless - in their actions. Humans are certainly not perfect agents, and, to achieve common goals during interactions, mutually correct their behaviors to increase their possibilities of success. Transferring this self-other corrective dynamics to human-robot cooperation could be the key to effectively renew the approach to implement this kind of collaboration: renouncing to build "perfect" robots, and focusing on creating "social" robots, that is, robots able to correct their behaviors on the basis of their capability to understand humans' signals. The proposed project aims at taking a fundamental step in this direction: developing robots able to coordinate their behaviors with those of their human partners. Today this represents a frontier issue also and specifically for HRI and social robotics, which see human-robot "behavioral coordination" as a sine qua non condition to integrate robots in our social context(s). The project tackles this issue through a highly interdisciplinary approach, integrating HRI with experimental psychology, robotics and robot design research. It intends to develop hardware and software solutions providing iCub - one of the most sophisticated European robots – with a new ability: competently correlating and synchronizing its interactive movements with those of its human partners during dyadic interactions. As argued in the proposal, the project is expected to have an impact not only on European robotics' scientific, technological, industrial and commercial competitiveness, but also on some aspects of the current socio-economic setting of the industrialized world.

Keywords: human-robot interaction,self-other/human-robot coordination,robot complex social behaviors,robot social acceptance,synchronization of behavior,icub
Stress, Prefrontal function and Cognition: Role of the Glucocorticoid Receptor (STREPCO)

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-2013-IIF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-09-01
End date: 2016-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 202405.8
EU funding (EUR): 202405.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Cognitive deficits are hallmark features of a variety of psychiatric diseases. While body of evidences pointed to the prefrontal cortex (PFC) as a key structure for cognition, recent studies further suggested that abnormalities in the interaction between inhibitory interneurons and glutamatergic pyramidal cells within PFC microcircuit could be involved in the pathogenesis of cognitive deficits in psychiatric disorders. Thus, intensive effort has been made to understand the mechanisms underlying PFC microcircuit dysfunction and the ensuing cognitive impairment. Stress-induced release of glucocorticoids (GCs) has been associated with cognitive symptoms in multiple mental disorders. GCs modulate behavioral responses to stress via their binding to the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), a nuclear receptor expressed in heterogeneous cell populations throughout the brain. Although it has been suggested that GCs could alter cognition through their action within the PFC, it is still unknown whether and how the GCs via their action on distinct cell types within the PFC can alter cognition, prefrontal microcircuit function and larger brain circuits. Only a genetic approach offering spatial resolution and cell-type specificity can precisely address these issues. Given their key role in cognition and their potential involvement in the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders, I propose to manipulate GR expression within PFC pyramidal neurons and Parvalbumin-expressing interneurons. Using a battery of PFC-dependant cognitive tasks, I will study the behavioral consequences of these manipulations. Finally, combining whole cell patch-clamp and in vivo multisite recordings in behaving mice, I will assess the functional impact of GR gene manipulation on PFC microcircuit and hippocampo-frontal network during working memory. This study should shed light on mechanisms involved in stress-induced cognitive deficit and potentially lead to the finding of new treatment against cognitive symptoms.

Keywords: stress,glucocorticoid receptor,cognition,prefrontal cortex,hippocampo-prefrontal synchrony,working memory,cell-type specific gene
The role of small RNAs in response of maritime pine to drought stress (PINEWS-MIRNA-VS-GENE)

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: Portugal
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF, 2013)
Start date: 2015-10-01
End date: 2017-09-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 147210.0
EU funding (EUR): 147210.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Since small non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) were discovered researchers have been rethinking the “central dogma of molecular biology”. Two types of these small molecules, microRNA (miRNA) and small interfering RNA (siRNA), have been highlighted as critical mediators of biological processes along the different species carrying out their functions though a complex post-transcriptional regulation. In plants, small ncRNAs regulate the expression of genes playing diverse roles, among others those genes involved in abiotic stress responses. Some results have shown that the differential regulation of miRNAs in different tissues is important for adaptation to stress and tree-specific processes. In spite of the importance in regulation of molecular response to stress, the information on gymnosperms miRNAs is scarce. The aim of the present proposal is the identification of novel and conserved small ncRNAs in Pinus pinaster which are involved in drought stress response as well as predicting the specific target genes controlled by these molecules. The study of post-trascriptional regulation carried out by small RNAs represents a novel and exciting field, really unexplored in conifers to date. The development of PineWS-miRNA-vs-Gene will be carried out at iBET supervised for Dr. Célia Miguel who has relevant experience in the research area proposed. Under her supervision and integrated in a high excellence research centre, I will learn interesting and novel lab and bioinformatics tools as well as other additional skills such as better communication in other languages or planning and management of research project, strictly necessary skills to achieve a leadership profile. This project will undoubtedly enhance ERA excellence by promoting novel approaches for facing the expected increased severity of climate change. The expected results could advance knowledge in an innovative field in plant sciences and could help to open new research lines or develop interesting biotechnological tools.

Keywords: small ncrnas,post-transcriptional regulation,mirnas,sirnas,target genes,pinus pinaster,conifers,climate change,drought,abiotic stress,water stress,bioinformatics,physiology
Accurate Waveforms for Extreme/Intermediate-mass-ratio-inspirals (AWE) (AWE)

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: Ireland
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IOF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-10-01
End date: 2017-09-30
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 263058.3
EU funding (EUR): 263058.3
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The age of gravitational wave astronomy will soon be upon us. Initially the most likely sources to be detected by ground-based detectors will be compact binary systems. This project proposes to deepen our understanding of such two-body systems by computing accurate gravitational waveforms from extreme- and intermediate-mass-ratio systems. The latter is expected to be directly observed in the LIGO and VIRGO detectors and having access to accurate waveforms will allow us to perform precision science with the incoming signals. The detailed information revealed by these signals will allow us to test gravity in the strongest-field regimes and provide rich insight into some of the most mysterious objects in the universe, black holes. The approach taken will be to extend existing perturbation theory techniques, with a particular emphasis on using the results to compute the inspiral of a compact object into a black hole. Recent results have shown that the perturbation theory approach is valid over a much wider range of mass-ratios than previously suspected and, as such, perturbation theory results are already having an impact on studies on a wide class of systems within the two-body problem. By making connections with post-Newtonian, numerical relativity and effective-one-body theory perturbation theory has taken centre stage in binary system modeling recently. This project will further these synergies and provide a deep understanding of large-mass-ratio binary systems. Novel approaches to computing inspirals via the so-called `self-force' approach will be developed. In particular, insight coming from University College Dublin via their Green function approach and the deep knowledge at Massachusetts Institute of Technology of the first-order self-force problem will facilitate the development of new methods for computing gravitational wave emission from the systems of physical interest.

Keywords: black hole,binary,inspiral,gravitational waves,self-force,two-body problem,perturbation theory