Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Biomimetic nanopore for a mechanistic study of the nuclear pore complex (BIONANOPORE)

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: Netherlands
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IIF, 2010)
Start date: 2011-06-01
End date: 2013-05-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 185540.8
EU funding (EUR): 185540.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Compartmentalization of the eukaryotic genome into a nucleus necessitates nuclear import and export to achieve basic cellular processes. The nuclear pore complex (NPC) is a large (60 - 125 MDa) macromolecular structure in eukaryotic cells, where it spans the nuclear membrane and serves as the gatekeeper of nucleocytoplasmic transport. While water, ions, and small molecules can freely diffuse through the NPC, macromolecules larger than 25 - 40 kDa cannot pass the NPC’s permeability barrier unless ferried by specific transport proteins called nuclear transport receptors (NTRs). While the structural arrangement and biochemistry of the complex have been largely worked out, the underlying mechanism of the pore’s transport and selectivity remains poorly understood. Mechanistic studies of the NPC have been largely carried out in vivo because in vitro reconstitution of the complex is not possible. Here, I propose to develop a biomimetic NPC-like system based on solid-state nanopore technology to conduct a real-time, single-molecule investigation into the mechanism of NPC transport and selectivity. Both electrical detection and a novel optical-electrical method will be used to monitor the translocation of individual substrates through a single biomimetic pore. The biomimetic approach proposed here will provide a significant step forward in experimentally studying the NPC, by affording an in vitro system that will allow for rigorous testing of key NPC proteins and their mechanistic role in transport and selectivity. This work will be carried out in the laboratory of Professor Cees Dekker, who is a world leader in nanofabrication and the application of solid-state nanopores to biology. My expertise in single-molecule biophysics, fluorescence microscopy, and biochemistry is well suited to complement the resources of the Dekker lab to collectively meet the interdisciplinary demands of this innovative effort.

Keywords: molecular biophysics,nanotechnology,nuclear pore complex,single-molecule,solid-state nanopore,fluorescence microscopy
Three valued logics and uncertainty management (3VAL)

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: France
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IEF, 2010)
Start date: 2011-10-01
End date: 2012-09-30
Duration (months): 12.0
Total project cost (EUR): 126887.5
EU funding (EUR): 126887.5
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The main objective of the present proposal is to study three valued logics in connection with uncertainty management and applications in artificial intelligence. A survey of the existing three valued logics and the motivation underlying their definition will be performed; a complete study of the operations (implication, conjunction, disjunction, negation) on three values and their logical formalization pursued and applications of three valued logics investigated. The challenge is to link formal studies with applications and to arrive at a complete view on three valued logics. The proposal has a theoretical part and a more applicative one. The former is devoted to a formal study of three valued logics: already existing ones, specifically defined on three values or not, and new defined ones, starting from connectives definitions to arrive at a complete logical calculus. In the applicative part the formal systems will be applied to uncertainty management and in particular to rough sets, conditional events and NULL value management in databases. In each situation, new solutions in the form of new ways to handle three values through a proper logical system will be proposed.

Keywords: artificial intelligence,mathematical logic,uncertainty management,rough sets,fuzzy logics,conditional events,null value
Analysis of the neural transcriptome of the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis. (ANTSAN)

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: Norway
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IIF, 2010)
Start date: 2011-05-05
End date: 2013-05-04
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 209979.2
EU funding (EUR): 209979.2
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The origin of simple nervous systems marks a key moment in animal evolution. To identify the genetic processes that underpinned this event, we need to study how neurogenesis occurs in early branching animal groups with simple non-centralised nervous systems. The Cnidaria (corals, sea anemones, jellyfish) are a particularly informative group for such investigations; however studies of cnidarian neural development have been hampered by a lack of appropriate tools for analysing gene function and visualising neurogenesis in these animals. The recent development of experimental assays and transgenic lineages in the cnidarian sea anemone Nematostella vectensis has addressed this problem and we are now able to examine neural development in this ancient phylum in exceptional detail. ANTSAN proposes to employ these advanced tools to identify and functionally characterise genes that underpin the critical process of establishing neural connectivity (e.g. axon guidance and synaptogenesis) in this species. To achieve this objective, N. vectensis neural cells will be isolated by performing fluorescence activated cell sorting on transgenic animals in which the nervous system is fluorescently labelled. The global gene expression in this cell population will then be documented via microarray analysis. This inventory of neural expressed genes will inform candidate gene selection for the functional studies of neural connectivity, and will also be compared to published datasets from other animals to identify genes with common roles in neural development across the animal kingdom. The research outcomes of ANTSAN will make a novel and significant contribution to our understanding of the essential factors involved in nervous system development, and of the earliest steps in nervous system evolution. ANTSAN may also contribute to studies of human neurological disorders, by identifying conserved genes with neural functions that have not yet been studied in biomedically relevant species.

Keywords: evolutionary and developmental biology,nervous system evolution,molecular biology,gene expression,functional genetics.
Biochemical and functional studies of lineage-specific transcription factor complexes in glioblastoma-derived stem cells (GNS_CELLS)

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-2010-IEF, 2010)
Start date: 2011-06-01
End date: 2013-05-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 200049.6
EU funding (EUR): 200049.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Brain cancers, in particular glioblastoma (GBM), have incredibly poor prognosis and there are currently few effective treatments. Our understanding of the molecular defects associated with cancer has significantly increased over the past decade. Many of the commonly disrupted genes control cell proliferation and survival pathways. However, it is increasingly clear that genetic changes operate in a tissue-specific and developmental context and cancer can be viewed as a disease of aberrant cell differentiation. For some cancers, including GBM, cells with stem cell characteristics may initiate and/or sustain tumour growth. Therefore, knowledge and methods from developmental biology and stem cell biology are likely to provide new insights into the biology of this disease and lead to new therapeutic strategies. I will focus on a set of lineage-specific transcription factors with known expression within neural stem and progenitor cells, both in vitro and in vivo. My goal is to dissect their role in self-renewal and differentiation and how this is related to the cell cycle machinery and “classic” cancer pathways. How cell differentiation and cell proliferation programs operate in stem and progenitor cells is a fundamental question for both basic biology and cancer research.

Keywords: natural sciences,neurobiology,health sciences,cell biology,developmental biology,proteomics,molecular biology
Conformal Field Theory (CFT)

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: Greece
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IEF, 2010)
Start date: 2011-08-01
End date: 2013-07-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 150520.0
EU funding (EUR): 150520.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The research will be on CFT and address two issues: constraints on correlation functions and operator spectra via respectively conformal partial wave analysis and superconformal indices. This will be achieved using techniques largely developed in the applicant's and coordinator's past work on these fields. This work is important for a deeper understanding of dualities in physics.

Keywords: physical sciences
Development of a proof of principle model for the therapeutical use of induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells. (GOODCELLS)

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-2010-IEF, 2010)
Start date: 2011-07-20
End date: 2013-07-19
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 230980.0
EU funding (EUR): 230980.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Cystic Fibrosis is a hereditary disease produced by the absence or malfunctioning of the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductase Regulator (CFTR) gene. To date over 1,200 alterations in the DNA composition of the CFTR gene have been detected, although the deletion of the phenylalanine in position 508 (ΔF508) is responsible for more than 70% of the cases described in the European Population. CF is a degenerative disease, which can be considered as the main genetic cause of death in Caucasian children. Its first manifestations occur in early childhood, generally affecting the respiratory tract, and later extending to other organs. The identification and isolation of the gene responsible for the disease raised great expectations of finding a treatment. However, such hopes have yet to be realized. Different attempts to develop effective gene therapy protocols have not provided satisfactory results. In the current circumstances, I believe that the best strategy to develop an effective treatment for CF is to use autologous grafts of healthy lung epithelium progenitors, derived, in vitro, from human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. The method that I propose will be developed simultaneously in human and mouse cells, and includes the following steps: (I) Production of iPS cells from keratinocytes obtained from ΔF508 CF patients and ΔF508 mutant mice; (II) Correction of the mutation in the iPS cells; (III) in vitro differentiation of repaired iPS (iPSr) cells up to a state compatible with their functional integration into the pulmonary epithelium; (IV) Transplantation of the differentiated cells into suitable receptors. Steps I through III will be carried out in parallel with human and mouse cells. Step IV will serve as a preclinical study and will be performed only in mice. During the process we plan to: 1) incorporate new, less aggressive de-differentiation methods, 2) improve homologous recombination efficiency in iPS cells, 3) determine the optimal differ

Keywords: health sciences,regenerative medicine,stem cells,ips cells,cystic fibrosis.
Improving the Realism of Mobility and Cooperation Models in Opportunistic Networks (MOVE-R)

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: Switzerland
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IEF, 2010)
Start date: 2011-09-01
End date: 2013-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 239977.8
EU funding (EUR): 239977.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The project MOVE-R - Improving the Realism of Mobility and Cooperation Models in Opportunistic Networks - will provide techniques for increasing the representativeness of models and algorithms used in opportunistic networking research. Opportunistic networking is a novel paradigm in future networks based on data storing, carrying, and forwarding by mobile nodes which exploit wireless ad-hoc communication opportunities when coming in range of one another. These networks are disruption tolerant and use node mobility to transfer data until the next communication contact with another node can take place. Current research in this area is still based on simplified assumptions about movement, co-presence, and cooperativeness of mobile nodes. The overall goal of MOVE-R is to enhance (i) mobility and co-presence models by including social network theory and mobility pattern recognition and (ii) by introducing cooperation algorithms considering device status and assuring fairness among the nodes by applying algorithmic game theory. Additionally, (iii) upcoming novel traffic types fitting to opportunistic networks will be identified, classified, and traffic reference patterns will be provided. The models and algorithms achieved in MOVE-R will have an impact on European and worldwide opportunistic networking research and development efforts which aim at connecting people in situations where a networking infrastructure is either not available, inefficient to use, or too costly, as given, for example in rural areas or by local, spontaneous data dissemination in car-to-car networks. By focusing explicitly on realism in modeling, the adoption of the developed technologies not only by academia, but also by the industrial sector is advocated. The project will clearly contribute to the European Commission's focus challenge on "Pervasive and Trusted Network and Service Infrastructures".

Keywords: technological sciences,mobile networking,mobility modeling,opportunistic computing
Biological Mechanisms for Bayesian Inference (BMBISAMJOHNSON)

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-2010-IEF, 2010)
Start date: 2012-05-01
End date: 2014-04-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 193849.6
EU funding (EUR): 193849.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

A growing body of experimental evidence suggests that animals, and in particular humans, are capable of inferring knowledge about reality from uncertain or incomplete data in a way that is, according to Bayes’ theorem, mathematically optimal [1, 2]. The case that the brain is, at some level, a Bayesian inference machine was made much stronger when Ma et al. [3] recently described a mechanism whereby a neural network could indeed store and manipulate probability distributions – a mechanism that reduces Bayes’ theorem to a sum [4]. We shall bring together tools and recent advances from in the fields of Complex Networks [5] and Computational Neuroscience [6] with a view to: a) designing methods and algorithms for tasks such as grammar inference or network routing; b) putting forward neural network models which are capable of integrating Bayesian inference with other necessary brain functions, such as working memory or information processing; and c) exploring, in greater detail, how Bayesian inference could be carried out in realistic biological settings. References [1] M.O. Ernst, M.S. Banks, N. Models, and S. Thresholds, Humans integrate visual and haptic information in a statistically optimal fashion, Nature, 415, 429-33 (2002). [2] T. Yang and M.N. Shadlen, Probabilistic reasoning by neurons, Nature, 447, 1075-80 (2007). [3] W.J. Ma, J.M. Beck, P.E. Latham, and A. Pouget, Bayesian inference with probabilistic population codes, Nature Neurosci., 9, 1432-8 (2006). [4] J.M. Beck, W.J. Ma, R. Kiani, T. Hanks, A.K. Churchland, J. Roitman, M.N. Shadlen, P.E. Latham, and A. Pouget, Probabilistic population codes for Bayesian decision making, Neuron, 60, 1142-52(2008). [5] S. Johnson, J.J. Torres, J. Marro, and M.A. Muñoz, Entropic origin of disassortativity in complex networks, Phys. Rev. Lett.., 104, 108702 (2010) [6] S. Johnson, J. Marro, and J.J. Torres, Cluster Reverberation: a mechanism for robust working memory without synaptic learning, submitted.

Keywords: statistical physics,physiological biophysics,computational physics,computational biology,functional biology
HUNTER-GATHERER TOOLKITS AND TASKS: DETECTING MICROWEAR TRACES AND RESIDUES ON NORTHWESTERN EUROPEAN MESOLITHIC ARTEFACTS (TRACE)

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-2010-IEF, 2010)
Start date: 2011-11-01
End date: 2014-02-27
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 176685.6
EU funding (EUR): 176685.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The aim of this project is to research wetland activity patterns in Mesolithic Northwest Europe through investigating traditions of tool technology, function and ideology. Throughout history, wetlands have provided rich economic resources for human groups, as well as holding widespread religious significance. However, little is known about the detail and range of tasks undertaken in wetland environments during a key period of early prehistory, the Mesolithic (c.9000-4000BC). The focus of the project is on relevant Irish sites with comparative data drawn from a number of important British and Dutch sites in wetland landscapes of European significance, all with exceptional preservation of organic materials. As the basis for scientifically grounded discussions of key aspects of hunter-gatherer daily life in wetland environments microscopic use-wear (microwear) and residue analyses will be carried out on a range of stone, bone and antler objects. In this way it is possible to reconstruct toolkits used for different tasks, including those that are usually archaeologically ‘invisible’ like plant-based craft activities or ornament making. Microwear and residue analysis has rarely been undertaken on Irish Mesolithic material and will greatly contribute to an understanding of daily life at that time. Such analysis also provides empirical grounds for the reconstruction of the cultural biography of stone (lithic) and organic tools. This can shed light on the social and cultural significance of material culture for hunter-gatherer communities, by revealing the social interactions between people, tools and materials at various temporal and spatial scales.

Keywords: humanities,natural sciences,social sciences
Caring Labour in a Migrating World (CAREMIG)

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-2010-IEF, 2010)
Start date: 2011-09-01
End date: 2013-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 168985.6
EU funding (EUR): 168985.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The position of migrant workers employed in European care systems is defined and shaped by the intersection and interrelation of national social policy and migration regimes embedded in specific economic, political and cultural contexts. The combination of the researcher’s background and knowledge of care and migration and the substantial expertise of the host institution in comparative studies of care in Europe will enable an interdisciplinary and multi-national analysis of the position of migrant workers in European care systems. The two contextual backgrounds and the complementary methodological expertise of the partners in Critical Discourse Analysis (researcher) and Comparative Case Studies Analysis (the host institution, in particular the mentoring group) will allow the partners to develop a new methodological and analytical conceptualisation to study the moral, social, economic, political and cultural context of caring, in which migrants work, by investigating both national policy regimes and people’s reflections on their work trajectories. This project will adress at least two main issues of the future of European societies: Ageing societies have been identified as one of the main challenges for Europe in the Lisbon 2020 strategy and labour migration has been described as important measure to tackle shortcomings in markets. Apart from the politically, economically and socially significant investigation of the position of migrant care workers this cooperation will foster a novel approach in the study of the intersection of care regimes and migration regimes which can furthermore act as a tool for important future investigations combining political, economic, social and cultural perspectives. Both the research community (in the field of care and migration studies and beyond) and policy makers will be able to learn and benefit from the outcomes of this cooperation.

Keywords: care work,migration,social policy,regimes,comparative case study analysis,discourse analysis,social policy,sociology of care,sociology of migration,sociology of labour,migrant care workers