Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
The reconstruction of hunting techniques as an instrument to understand the diffusion of populations and ideas in European Palaeolithic. (PALEOHUNT)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2013-09-01
End date: 2015-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 309235.2
EU funding (EUR): 309235.2
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

This project aims to reconstruct changes in hunting strategies during the European Upper Palaeolithic through the analysis of stone tools and bone points in order to understand the mode and timing of the spread of new techniques and ideas and whether they relate to physical movement of people or assimilation of ideas. A new multidisciplinary and methodological approach involving the techno-functional analysis of projectile points, residue analysis and a thorough ethnographic study, will be used to compare data from different archaeological contexts. The main phase of the project will involve the comparative analysis of hunting equipment from the principal Moravian Gravettian sites (Dolnì Vestonice and Pavlov, Czech Republic) with that from the Italian site of Grotta Paglicci to determine whether tools share morphological and functional characteristics and how they are linked to hunting in different natural environments. The project will link to the interdisciplinary "Moravian Gate" project currently hosted by the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge. This aims to understand human adaptation to climate change and natural resources during the Gravettian (30,000 – 20,000 BP) in a crucial, densely populated area of Central Europe, Moravia. The Paleohunt project will take this a step further and extend it to the Epigravettian and the mediterranean zone.

Keywords: palaeolithic,hunting strategies,lithic points,bone points,functional analysis,residues analysis
Molecular architecture of a prototypical trans-synaptic complex: GluD2-Cerebellin1-Neurexin1β. (TRANSSYNAPTICARCH)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2014-04-01
End date: 2016-03-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 221606.4
EU funding (EUR): 221606.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Chemical synapses in the central nervous system (CNS) employ a multitude of neuronal cell-surface receptors, adhesion proteins, secreted effector molecules, and proteoglycans. Within such vast network of interactions, synapse-spanning protein complexes mediate cell-cell adhesion, align pre- and postsynaptic specializations and exert bidirectional signaling, inducing pre- and postsynaptic differentiation. This proposal focuses on the “Glutamate receptor D2–Cerebellin1–Neurexin1β” trans-synaptic complex, a key component of the excitatory parallel fiber - Purkinje cell (PF-PC) synapse in the cerebellum. This tripartite interaction is essential for bidirectional synaptogenesis, and its specific disruption leads to impairment of cognition and motor coordination. However, the structure of this complex and its implications for synapse organization and modulation of neurotransmission remain unknown. The goal of this proposal is to elucidate the molecular architecture of the GluD2–Cerebellin1–Neurexin1β protein complex, and understand its functional implications. I will use X-ray crystallography to obtain high-resolution structural information on binary and ternary complexes between the soluble, extracellular GluD2, Cerebellin1 and Neurexin1β regions. A range of biophysical methods combined with site-directed mutagenesis will be applied to dissect complex formation with respect to affinity, kinetics, stoichiometry and contribution of functional modules. In parallel, using cryo-electron tomography I aim to visualize and reconstruct the higher-order architecture of GluD2–Cerebellin1, and ultimately the trans-synaptic triad, in model cellular membranes. This integrated approach should reveal general principles of supra-molecular organization and function at neuronal synapses, as structurally related molecules are broadly present within the CNS. Understanding synaptic functions in molecular terms will produce enduring paradigms in basic neuroscience and benefit human health.

Keywords: l107 structural biology,l101 molecular biology and interactions,l108 biochemistry of signal transduction,l502 molecular and cellular neuroscience
Chemical and Physical Properties and Source Apportionment of Airport Emissions in the context of European Air Quality Directives (CHEERS)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2013-08-01
End date: 2015-07-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 231283.2
EU funding (EUR): 231283.2
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

While knowledge of anthropogenic sources of air pollution is increasing rapidly, there are major deficiencies in knowledge of the emissions of air pollutants from airports and their impacts upon air quality. Given the forecast future growth in the volume of air traffic, a significant increase of pollution levels generated by airports is probable. The main goals of the CHEERS project arise from the research needs associated with this source. The project focuses primarily upon (i) the determination of the impact of aircraft emissions upon particulate matter concentrations and size distributions used as an indicator of particle sources and formation mechanisms, and (ii) on the PM2.5 source apportionment to quantify the impact of aircraft, road traffic and other airport emissions upon local air quality. A field study will be carried out close to a runway at London Heathrow Airport which is recognised as a major source of air pollution and a location where EU air quality Limit Values are currently exceeded. Simultaneous deployment of fast-response instruments will allow a disaggregation of the contributions of different sources to PM, and analysis of particle size distributions will throw light on the atmospheric dispersion and processing of aircraft emissions. A concurrent PM2.5 sampling campaign will be carried out at two sites, one heavily impacted by aircraft emissions and the other representing the local background. Samples will be analysed chemically to give mass closure and to provide data on the concentrations of elemental, ionic and organic molecular marker constituents indicative of emission sources, allowing a molecular marker-based chemical mass balance study to quantify the contributions of the various sources of PM. Since air pollution problems associated with airports are common across the EU, this study will have implications far beyond the southern UK and will help in the design of air pollution mitigation strategies on both local and regional scales.

Keywords: v201 atmospheric chemistry - air pollution,c131 environment chemistry,airport emissions,aerosol chemistry,source apportionment
Carmelo M Vicario Reward and Punishment: what somatosensory intra-oral activity can tell about the value of goods. (REWARDING THE TONGUE)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2014-03-03
End date: 2016-03-02
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 221606.4
EU funding (EUR): 221606.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Objectives. This project seeks to understand the psychobiology of reinforcement in health and illness. The neural processing of, and behavioural response to, reward and punishment drives learning, skill acquisition and socialization. It shapes behaviours from the most primitive (fight/flight, ingest/avoid,) to complex (buy/sell).Motivated by evidence for a direct link between the tongue muscle and the midbrain regions involved in the extrapolation of reward properties from stimuli, I will test the hypothesis that appetitive stimuli along the rewarding-punishing continuum are mapped in a specific somatotopic pattern of intra-oral muscles measurable as changes in motor cortex excitability. I will further test an embodied cognition hypothesis that the same circuitry that is activated by appetitive stimuli also mediate more evolutionarily advanced reinforcers such as monetary compensation and social disgust. Methods.Single pulse TMS elicited Motor Evocated Potentials (MEPs) recorded from the tongue will serve as a measure of cortico-bulbar neuronal excitability during vision and/or smelling a range of rewarding/punishing stimuli.The excitability of cortico-bulbar innervation of the tongue could be particularly informative as a somatic marker of the activity in the reward-related neural circuits, and may provide a direct measure of the hedonic/disliking dimension conveyed by reinforcers. Relevance to the Work Programme. The project addresses the challenge for neuroscience to provide conceptual tools and methodologies for understanding, predicting and modelling the influences of reinforcement on human behaviour including economic decision making. An understanding of deranged processing and responding to reinforcing stimuli is also critical across a range of challenges to Psychology, medicine and to society as a whole, including brain damage, eating disorders, additction, sociopathy, pathological gambling and challenging behaviours in developmentally disabled children.

Keywords: l501 neuroanatomy and neurophysiology,l814 food sciences,l504 sensory systems,l507 cognition,l508 behavioral neuroscience,s203 neuropsychology and cognitive psychology,s212 ethics and morality
Identification and functional characterization of lncRNA-chromatin protein complexes associated with specific chromatin modifications in breast cancer (CHR_LNCRNA)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Germany
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2013-03-01
End date: 2015-02-28
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 216952.8
EU funding (EUR): 216952.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

It is now know that the mammalian genome encodes many thousands of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs, >200nt long), some of which are implicated in human pathogenesis including cancers. A subset of lncRNAs such as HOTAIR and ANRIL are overexpressed in several cancers and play roles in epigenetic gene regulation during carcinogenesis, mainly by recruiting chromatin modifier complexes to their target loci. Interestingly, recent studies indicate that some lncRNAs including ANRIL bind to and act together with other chromatin binding proteins (CBPs) that recognize specific histone modifications. However, lncRNA research is still in its infant stage and physical and functional links among lncRNAs, CBPs and histone modifications have not yet been studied extensively. Moreover, considering the facts that the levels of some CBPs change during carcinogenesis, it is likely that different repertoires of lncRNAs-CBP complexes exist in normal and cancer cells. Based on these facts, I hypothesize that cell type-specific repertoires of lncRNA-CBP complexes lead to altered readouts of specific histone modifications and ultimately contribute to formation/progression of cancer. Using breast cancer cell lines as model systems, I aim to identify repertoires of lncRNA-CBP complexes associated with cancer-related histone modifications (methyl-H3Lys9/27) in normal and cancer cells and unravel their oncogenic or tumour suppressor functions in vivo using proteomics, genomics, molecular and cell biology approaches. In particular, I will develop a novel, highly versatile method for efficient identification of multiple lncRNA-CBP complexes, by combining photo-mediated RNA crosslinking to proteins, nucleosome-based pulldown and quantitative SILAC mass spectrometry. I believe that the outcome of this project will provide novel and deeper insights into the interplay among lncRNAs, CBPs and histone modifications in carcinogenesis, which can be applied to translational medicine in the future.

Keywords: epigenetics and gene regulation,non-coding rna,chromatin,chromatin modifications,proteomics,high-throughput rna sequencing,cancer
Home sweet home: investigating Neolithic houses in Britain through the microwear and residue analysis of tools (HOUSE)

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-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2013-10-01
End date: 2015-09-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 243847.8
EU funding (EUR): 243847.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The construction of houses is a defining feature of the earliest farming communities in NW Europe, but we have a limited understanding of the role of the house in the development of Neolithic societies. How was the house constituted? How did dwelling in houses alter the composition of daily maintenance tasks? How did these changes effect social reproduction? This project will address these fundamental questions within the context of the British Neolithic. Starting from the premise that areas around houses are spaces defined by activities (cooking, craft activities etc.) the project explores how the house was defined through material practices. This will be achieved by reconstructing the character and spatial arrangement of those practices through the analysis of the tools used to conduct them. Tool use will be investigated by analysing: a) microscopic traces of wear characteristic of using tools on different materials (e.g. wood, bone, hide) b) residues left on tools (e.g. blood, minerals and plant starch). Two case studies have been chosen that include the best-preserved Neolithic houses in Britain: a) the Orkney Islands where multiple settlements have been found with well-preserved stone-built Neolithic houses b) the Late Neolithic settlement at Durrington Walls that once housed the builders of Stonehenge. The case studies include a variety of settlement types (e.g. individual/aggregated, short-term/long-term). The analysis will show whether these different forms of settlements were associated with different ranges of technical activities. Ultimately the research will show how houses were used during their earliest developmental stage. The scientific training that will be offered by the Faculty of Archaeology of Leiden University lies at the heart of this project. The training programme will develop new scientific skills for the researcher and significantly enhance his opportunities for career independence, whilst contributing to European research excellence.

Keywords: s401 archaeology - archaeometry - landscape archaeology,s114 social studies of science and technology,s402 prehistory and protohistory,microwear and residue analysis,neolithic houses
Brain functional and anatomical correlates of variability in the degree of success in the learning of the L2 phonemes (BILBRAIN)

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: Spain
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2013-03-01
End date: 2015-02-28
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 223002.2
EU funding (EUR): 223002.2
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Economic and cultural globalization has turned the learning of foreign languages into a socioeconomic need. For that reason, the learning of at least one foreign language is a compulsory subject in the academic curriculums of most countries in Europe and around the world. One of the greatest difficulties for the learners of second languages (L2) is to accurately produce and perceive the speech sounds (phonemes) of the new language and, despite educational efforts of foreign language programs, few individuals manage to achieve high proficiency levels in these skills. The present study aims to investigate the functional and anatomical brain correlates of variability in the degree of success in the learning of the L2 phonemes. Our research question will be addressed by investigating (i) functional, (ii) morphological, and (iii) functional connectivity differences between good and poor perceivers of the L2 by means of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Individual differences in the learning of the L2 sounds will investigate all the levels of the phonological processing hierarchy (i.e., processes that cover auditory-sensory analysis, speech analysis, and attention) involved in producing and perceiving native phonemes. The results of this research are not only relevant because they will enhance our knowledge about how the brain processes and learns languages but also because they have the potential to help in the development of efficient language teaching programs.

Keywords: bilingualism,individual variability,phonology,language learning,speech processing,magnetic resonance imaging
Strongly correlated fermions in optical lattices with single-site resolution (FERMISITE)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2013-03-01
End date: 2015-02-28
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 221606.4
EU funding (EUR): 221606.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Ultracold atoms in optical lattices offer previously unparalleled possibilities to simulate quantum many-body effects with almost full control and detection at the single particle level. Recently, in-situ-imaging with single-atom resolution has become available for bosonic rubidium atoms, but an experimental demonstration of the single-site-resolved detection of fermions is still missing. The aim of this research project is to detect and to manipulate strongly correlated fermionic quantum systems in an optical lattice by means of a specially designed microscope objective with single-site and single-atom resolution. This will allow us to simulate several seminal models of condensed matter physics, in particular the Fermi-Hubbard model, which is conjectured to be a key model for high-Tc superconductivity. Probing strongly correlated systems at this most fundamental, single-particle level is a fantastic advantage over the present techniques which use time-of-flight images. Gaining access to the in-trap atom distribution of the fermions with single-atom resolution will enable the precise characterization of spatial order, temperature, and entropy distribution of fermionic many-body states, such as fermionic Mott insulators, band insulators, metallic phases or Néel antiferromagnets. Furthermore, spin manipulations on the scale of individual lattice sites can locally perturb the system, and the ensuing dynamical in-trap evolution can be recorded with unprecedented resolution. By simulating condensed matter systems with ultracold fermionic atoms in optical lattices, this project will help to make Richard Feynman’s vision of a quantum simulator become a reality.

Keywords: p108 optics and quantum optics,p107 atomic - molecular physics
Genomic screening of the Embryo for Novel targets in the tumor Endothelium (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: Netherlands
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2013-05-01
End date: 2015-04-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 175974.6
EU funding (EUR): 175974.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Several angiogenesis inhibitors are in the market for treatment of cancer, but efficiency in terms of prolongation of survival is still very moderate. This can be explained by induction of resistance to therapy, since most agents neutralize tumor produced growth factors. An alternative and preferred strategy would be to directly target the tumor endothelial cells, which will not easily mutate to resist treatment due to genetic stability. It is hypothesized that by mining the pool of genes that have embryo-specific functions, new and fully specific markers of tumor endothelial cells can be found. The approach will be to isolate the full transcriptome of mouse embryos at early and late developmental stages, and compare it with adult mouse isolates. The pool of purely embryo-specific genes will be screened for expression in the transcriptome of FACS sorted tumor endothelial cells. Genomic screening will be performed, by next-generation sequencing, to maximize the identification of specific genes or splice variants. Gene function will be tested by genetic loss- and gain-of-function approaches in in vitro angiogenesis assays. Transmembrane and secreted tumor endothelial specific molecules will receive priority. Endogenous binding partners will be identified by yeast 2-hybrid technology and peptide design will yield specific drugs. Also, antibodies against target molecules will be generated. Initial preclinical testing will be part of this project. Translation of the technology for treatment of patients, i.e. finding the human orthologs, and extensive preclinical testing will be beyond the scope of this project and will be subject of a new grant application.

Keywords: l201 genomics - comparative genomics - functional genomics,l202 transcriptomics,l406 cancer and its biological basis