Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Cascade rates of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in the solar wind (SOLWINDCAS)

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-2010-IEF, 2010)
Start date: 2012-03-01
End date: 2014-02-28
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 244575.0
EU funding (EUR): 244575.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Turbulence is one the most important unsolved problems of classical physics. Plasma occurs in states of turbulence under a wide range of conditions including space and astrophysical plasmas as well as those produced in laboratory confinement devices. Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) is the simplest fluid approach to study plasma dynamics. MHD turbulence takes place in many practical applications (solar atmosphere, interstellar medium etc.). Due to this reason MHD turbulence has been intensively studied during the last several decades theoretically as well as by means of high resolution direct numerical simulations. Currently there exist more than ten different theoretical models of anisotropic MHD turbulence. With an abundance of in situ spacecraft measurements, the solar wind is a unique natural laboratory that can be used to test theories and improve our understanding of the basic mechanisms involved in MHD turbulence. Presented project implies the study of cascade rates in the solar wind turbulence using generalized Yaglom’s relation, for determination of the role of MHD turbulence in the solar wind heating, and for testing predictions of various theoretical models of MHD turbulence. The objectives of the presented project are: (i) Derivation of the generalized Yaglom’s relation for MHD turbulence taking into account the effect of expansion of the solar wind; (ii) determination of the role of MHD turbulence in the solar wind heating applying generalized Yaglom’s relation to the data of the solar wind fluctuations; (iii) determination of the relation between the energies and energy dissipation rates for the fast and slow solar wind data and comparison of the obtained results with the predictions of different theoretical model of MHD turbulence; (iv) to derive the analogue of the spectral pinning effect for MHD turbulence in case of kinetic dissipation and to apply it for the study of the solar wind data

Keywords: solar wind,solar wind data,magnetohydrodynamic turbulence,yaglom?s law,turbulent cascade rate,alfven waves
Cascading failures in electrical networks: stochastic analysis and distributed prevention methods (PROFILINGBLACKOUTS)

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: 2011-09-01
End date: 2013-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 208592.8
EU funding (EUR): 208592.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Electricity networks are designed to cope with a set of credible contingencies, usually involving the loss of a single piece of equipment. However, the interconnectedness of the network makes it hard to predict what happens when an unexpected contingency occurs. Sometimes this leads to an overload in one of the lines, causing it to be taken out of service, which may trigger other overloads. In recent years, such cascading failures have lead to a number of large scale blackouts. This project’s first aim is to get a deeper understanding of the fundamental vulnerability of electrical energy systems to experience large-scale cascading failures after the loss of very few components. This is done by generating large numbers of generic networks with given connectivity profiles that satisfy Kirchhoff’s circuit laws and are robust against ‘simple’ contingencies. For these networks, a risk profile is computed that indicates the frequency of outages as a function of their magnitude. These will give insights into the factors influencing a network’s vulnerability. Particular attention will be paid to connectivity, margins and the size distribution of generators. Building on this knowledge, it will be investigated whether the nodes in the network can identify and share information on network stress with their neighbours and whether this information can be used to prevent large-scale cascades. For example, a node may shed some load preventively or exercise a demand reduction contract in order to locally decrease the stress on the network. A few of these schemes will be constructed and it will be investigated how this affects the risk profile. The results will be compared with each other and the business-as-usual scenario with an aim to inform the design of real-world protection schemes.

Keywords: electricity grid systems,computational physics,electrical engineering,stochastic methods,network theory
A model system to study host genome dynamics mediated by integration of non-retroviral RNA virus (NRVINTEGRATIONMODEL)

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: 2011-09-19
End date: 2013-09-18
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 211092.8
EU funding (EUR): 211092.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Genome dynamics is known to be affected by abiotic and biotic factors which enrich the diversity among cells and individuals of the same species. Stress induced by pathogens has been demonstrated to impact host genome stability, but little is known about the effect of non-retroviral RNA viruses (NRVs). NRVs carry a RNA genome and no DNA stage is involved during its infection cycle. Therefore, integration of NRVs' sequences into its host genome is not expected. Despite that, integration of a NRV segment into the host genome has been reported in mammals, plants, insects, fungi and bacteria and was suggested to raise new host phenotypes. Additionally, integration of a host segment within a defective NRV's genome has also been reported demonstrating reciprocal sequence exchange between NRV and its host. Although it has been demonstrated that NRV retrotransposition occurs, the nature of that NRV-mediated host divergence is not clear. Here we propose to further investigate the mechanisms and implications of host-genome plasticity due to NRV integration by building a molecular NRV integration model based on the Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus (LCMV), which has been found integrated within its respective hosts genome, the mouse (Mus musculus) as well as the human. This LCMV-based system is design to carry an integration-induced selective marker, which is assumed to enable identification of cells carrying a DNA version of LCMV-derived sequences in vitro and in vivo. Through combining this experimental system with data analysis, it is likely that we'll be able to initiate, select and track such LCMV-derived integration events. The aforementioned system will serve as a model to determine LCMV's integration frequency, mechanisms, as well as possible implications such as somatic and heritable genetic disorders and virus resistance/tolerance phenotype, triggered by non-retroviral RNA viruses' dynamics with their respective host genomes.

Keywords: infections,animal genetics,viral pathogens of animals,molecular evolution,virology,genomics
Migration and Citizenship in Western Europe: A History (MICITHISEN)

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: 2013-08-03
Duration (months): 15.0
Total project cost (EUR): 150284.38
EU funding (EUR): 150284.38
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The proposed project provides a historical analysis of the impact of human mobility on the institution of citizenship and the definition of citizenry in the countries that historically played a major role in founding the European Union. A useful cross-fertilization between history and the social sciences characterizes this innovative study of citizenship and nationhood in Western Europe, which compares the impact of migration on the policies and politics of citizenship of Belgium, France, (West) Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, from the 19th century to the 1990s. This research brings an original contribution to the studies on citizenship in Europe and a deeper understanding of the political cultures and legal traditions underpinning them. It tackles questions that have been overlooked so far by studies of comparative political science, as it adopts a much-needed historical perspective to analyse each country's historical patterns of nationhood and legal traditions. It does not concentrate only on immigration, but it assesses as well the influences of both emigration and internal migration on their politics and policies of citizenship. The project represents an important attempt to bridge history and socials sciences in their study of citizenship and the definition of citizenry. It turns to theory to explain historical data and analyses on the relationship between migration and citizenship, in an attempt both to overcome the disciplinary tendency of historians to build narratives of the particular and to avoid any methodological nationalism. At the same time, it offers a major contribution to the development of theories on citizenship by challenging them against the litmus tests of history and broad comparison.

Keywords: migration studies,citizenship studies,political history,european history,interdisciplinary history,eu integration,nationalism,international relations.
Targeting of DNA deaminase AID via transcription and the RNA pol II elongation complex (AID RECRUITMENT)

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-2010-IEF, 2010)
Start date: 2011-03-01
End date: 2013-02-28
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 179584.0
EU funding (EUR): 179584.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

In B cells, antibody repertoire is created via two DNA instability complexes, one of which uses DNA cytosine deamination and is needed for immunoglobulin (Ig) diversification. Targeting of DNA deamination is poorly understood and mis-targeting can lead to genetic pathologies. Activation induced deaminase (AID) catalyses the hydrolytic deamination of cytosine residues, with the resulting uracil inducing DNA instability leading to Ig diversification. Recently AID has been implicated in inducing developmental DNA demethylation and pluripotent stem cell formation. Although transcription had been implicated in these mechanism, no direct evidence existed linking AID activity and transcription. The aim of this application is the analysis of AID containing transcription complexes and the role of RNA pol II modification during Ig diversification and epigenetics. Proteomic analysis of AID containing complexes from cytoplasm, nucleoplasm and chromatin revealed distinct associations, with the chromatin complex containing subunits of the elongating RNA pol II, transcription elongation and chromatin remodelling complexes. Biochemical analysis in vitro and in cell lines will identify direct interactions and domains and subsequent in vivo reconstitution of AID mutants determining in vivo relevance. Genetic analysis of candidates using transgene and knockout in cells and mice will delineate the molecular pathways of how transcription can alter the targeting or efficiency of AID. To further determine the role of the candidates on the loci, various forms of ChIP analysis will be utilised (e.g. double ChIP & ChIP-Seq); including the effect of RNA pol II modification, chromatin markers, and associated factors. Conclusions of this study will provide novel and detailed insight into the molecular mechanisms of AID regulation and how this will effect immune diversification and epigenetics, while providing new drug targets for AID pathologies (i.e. cancer and autoimmunity).

Keywords: transcription,aid induced mutations,cpg methylation,elongation complex,antibody diversification
Safety in numbers or beware thy neighbour: collective motion and disease transmission in a migratory pest (LOCDIS)

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: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IOF, 2010)
Start date: 2011-09-01
End date: 2014-08-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 268824.8
EU funding (EUR): 268824.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

A key principle in the evolutionary ecology of disease is the degree to which hosts invest in defence against parasites and pathogens. Established concepts in this area include (1) that disease risk is a function of host density and (2) that risk of disease leads to selection on the host to minimize the potential costs of disease. A clear prediction that arises from these concepts is that hosts living at high densities should invest more in defence than those living at low densities: a hypothesis known as “positive density-dependent prophylaxis” (DDP). For the past three years I have studied the African armyworm system (Spodoptera exempta), a devastating crop pest which expresses an extreme form of density-dependent phenotypic plasticity positive-DDP in response to host crowding. An equally destructive agricultural pest, the Australian Plague Locust (APL), Chortoicetes terminifera, has been suggested to exhibit “negative-DDP”, with certain key immune functions shown to be lower in gregarious than in the solitary insects. This project will attempt to determine why species with similar migratory activity appear to have evolved contrary behavioural and immunological strategies to combat disease transmission. The APL is an ideal model system to study the effects of crowding and migration, occurring in a socio-politically stable continent, allowing state-of-the-art field and laboratory experimentation. I will use my knowledge of migratory host-pathogen dynamics and expertise in experimental biology to investigate three main objectives, a) to determine the spatial and temporal pattern of natural disease epizootics in APL populations, b) to compare immune function and disease resistance in gregarious and solitary locusts, and c) to quantify the impact of protein availability on immune function, host behaviour and disease resistance. This research will contribute to the knowledge-base in global food security and nutrition biology.

Keywords: natural sciences,nutritional sciences,population biology,animal ecology,molecular biology,entomology,behavioural biology,immunity
Gene Discovery in Melanoma Progression and Therapeutic Resistance (MELANOMA GENES)

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: 2012-04-15
End date: 2014-04-14
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 209592.8
EU funding (EUR): 209592.8
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Melanoma is among the most common and deadly human cancers. It kills more than 2000 people in the UK every year but an effective cure for metastatic disease does not exist yet. The mutation of valine to glutamic acid at position 600 (V600E) of the BRAF kinase is found in over 60% of human melanomas, establishing it as a prominent oncogene in melanoma. Since this mutation is also commonly identified in benign and dysplastic nevi, the hypothesis is that additional mutations are required to induce melanomagenesis. Thus, a first challenge in the field is to identify those genetic events cooperating with oncogenic BRAFV600E in melanoma development, and exploit novel targets for combinatorial therapies. Furthermore, the discovery of a central role for the BRAFV600E mutation in melanoma has led to the development of BRAFV600E-specific drug inhibitors. Initial clinical trials report extremely promising tumour regressions in the majority of patients. However, all patients eventually relapse after several months of treatment as a result of acquired resistance. I postulate that the therapeutic inhibition of BRAFV600E alone allows tumour cells to acquire additional yet unknown mutations that finally induce drug resistance and cancer’s regrowth. Therefore a second challenge is to understand the genetic determinants and molecular mechanisms responsible for the drug resistance to BRAFV600E inhibitors, which currently represent the most promising treatment option for melanoma. The aim of this project is to use novel mouse models of melanoma that develop in the setting of a Sleeping Beauty insertional mutagenesis to identify (i) genes cooperating with oncogenic BRAFV600E to promote melanoma and (ii) genes accountable for the development of drug resistance against BRAFV600E inhibitors. Overall, the expected results in understanding the mechanisms of both melanomagenesis and resistance to BRAFV600E inhibitors will provide novel opportunities to develop effective melanoma therapeutics.

Keywords: melanoma,mouse models,forward genetics,drug resistance
Dopaminergic modulation of plasticity during social learning (DOPAMINE&PLASTICITY)

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: Switzerland
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IIF, 2010)
Start date: 2011-06-01
End date: 2013-05-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 179101.6
EU funding (EUR): 179101.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

This project combines computational modeling, electroencephalography (EEG), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and neuropharmacology to investigate the modulation of synaptic plasticity by dopamine during learning about both social and reward-based information. The purpose of the project is to evaluate biologically and computationally interpretable models for obtaining quantitative indices of synaptic plasticity during learning using both EEG and fMRI recording methods. To this aim, we apply a learning paradigm that combines both social and reward-based cues to guide behaviour. Following behavioural assessment, this paradigm will be used in pharmacological EEG and fMRI studies of healthy volunteers, employing a double-blind, placebo-controlled between-subject design with dopaminergic agents. Joint EEG and fMRI recordings will be obtained and analysed using state of the art modeling techniques, including novel approaches that embed hierarchical Bayesian learning models into nonlinear dynamic causal models. Specifically, we will test whether the models can quantify drug-induced changes in synaptic plasticity that occur as a function of trial-wise learning variables, such as reward prediction errors. Finally, we will use recent advances in model-based decoding to test whether our models can detect which pharmacological manipulation took place in any given subject. If these models prove to be mechanistically interpretable, this research could pave the way for future development of non-invasive, model-based measures of neurotransmitter regulation of synaptic plasticity in patients with psychiatric disorders.

Keywords: dopamine,eeg,fmri,effective connectivity,social learning,probabilistic reinforcement,decision-making,valuation,dopamine-receptor genes,bayesian models of learning
Solar Prominences: Stability, Magnetohydrodynamics, and Seismology (SOLPROM-SMS)

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: Belgium
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IEF, 2010)
Start date: 2011-06-01
End date: 2013-05-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 157100.0
EU funding (EUR): 157100.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The solar corona is a natural laboratory to study the behavior and properties of plasmas under conditions that cannot be realized in a laboratory on Earth. Understanding the plasma behaviour in the solar atmosphere is a necessary prerequisite for our understanding of plasma behaviour in the atmospheres of other stars and space weather. The focus in this proposal is on Solar Prominences, spectacular large-scale magnetic structures of the solar corona. Very recent observations have reported on exciting prominence dynamics with unprecedented temporal and spatial resolution as, e.g., oscillations, waves, flows, and instabilities in the fine structure of prominences (threads). Thread oscillations have been interpreted as magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves. Flows may drive Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities (KHI) and resonant flow instabilities (RFI), while the fine structure may be thermally unstable. Despite the timeliness and relevance of the observations, these phenomena are not well-understood. The present research project aims to investigate oscillatory dynamics and stability of prominence threads from a theoretical point of view. This proposal is organized into two sub-projects. The main goals of sub-project A will be to study MHD wave properties in prominence threads. The combination of our theoretical results with the observations will allow us to apply the technique of MHD seismology to indirectly infer the values of relevant physical parameters of the prominence plasma. In sub-project B, we will focus on prominence plasma instabilities. We will study thermal instability of threads and both KHI and RFI driven by shear flows. Throughout this investigation, we will make use of analytical methods in combination with advanced numerical simulations. The research results of this project will be a breakthrough for our knowledge of the physics of solar prominences, and this proposal will strongly promote the applicant's career development within the European Research Area

Keywords: magnetohydrodynamics (mhd),sun: corona,sun: chromosphere,sun: oscillations,waves,instabilities,magnetic fields,prominences/filaments,sun: atmosphere,coronal seismology,kh instability