Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Function of Non-coding RNAs in Lung Cancer (NCRNALUNGCANCER)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Re-integration Grants
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Germany
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-IRG-2008, 2008)
Start date: 2009-07-01
End date: 2013-06-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Lung cancer is the most frequent cause of tumor-related death in Europe with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) representing 75% of all lung tumors. Its molecular pathogenesis is incompletely understood and specifically the role of functional RNAs in this deadly disease remains to be uncovered. Shifting a paradigm, RNA is now recognized not only as a mediator in protein synthesis, but as important functional molecule in the cell. The microRNA family contributes to lung cancer development, but also other classes of non-coding RNA (ncRNA) are linked to this disease. However, their precise functions in pathological as well as physiological processes remain unknown. Previously, we discovered a ncRNA that correlates with metastasis formation in NSCLC termed MALAT-1. This project aims to characterize the cellular impact, molecular function and prognostic significance of MALAT-1 and the imprinted ncRNA H19 in lung cancer. First, experiments in cell lines with altered ncRNA abundance will unravel their impact on cellular phenotypes like proliferation or migration. Second, identification of interacting proteins of the ncRNAs will elucidate the molecular networks in which these RNAs function and further experiments will analyze their molecular function. Lastly, characterization of the expression and localization of the ncRNAs will determine their potential use as tumor markers for diagnosis or prognosis in tumor samples as well as blood-derived circulating tumor cells. In summary, this project will shed light on important molecular and cellular functions of ncRNAs in cancer and elucidate their potential as disease markers. In parallel, it allows us to broaden our research focus which would be impossible without this funding and delve into one of the most fascinating fields in RNA biology as well as establish lasting collaborations with outstanding laboratories in the USA and facilitate the integration into the research community in Europe.

Keywords: molecular biology,cell biology,oncology,non-coding rna,functional rna,rna-protein-networks,lung cancer,metastasis,tumor marker
Studies of One-Dimensional Tunneling in Carbon Nanotubes (TUN-CNT)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Re-integration Grants
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Israel
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-IRG-2008, 2008)
Start date: 2009-09-01
End date: 2013-08-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Quantum tunneling, the ability of electrons to pass through classically forbidden barriers, has been an invaluable tool in the studies of fundamental electronic properties in condensed-matter systems. The tunneling between two conductors reflects their density-of-states and the properties of their separating barrier and as such can be used to determine these quantities with large accuracy. In this work we will use tunneling experiments to study the fundamental properties of electrons in carbon nanotubes (NT). Here, two unique features make tunneling particularly intriguing – the relativistic-like dispersion of the electrons, and their one-dimensional confinement, which renders them into collective excitations. We will use novel NT device architectures that will allow us to create tunneling barriers of arbitrary shapes, to control the properties of the tunneling electrons and to reach the limit of ultra-clean NTs and ultra-strong interactions between electrons. These devices will be utilized to study a varied set of questions: To what extant can the tunneling in NTs be explained by single-particle Zener-like tunneling? Does the relativistic-like nature of electrons lead to Klein paradoxes in tunneling across a sharp barrier? What are the effects of electronic interactions in the tunneling? What are the roles of disorder and number of one-dimensional channels in the tunneling? Can we discover the recently predicted strongly-interacting spin-incoherent liquid of electrons, which is expected to have a unique tunneling signature? Finally, we would use tunneling experiments as a sensitive tool to study the nature of the yet poorly understood small band-gaps in carbon nanotubes. These studies will address for the first time some core questions about electrons in low-dimensions and will also determine the quantum limits for using NTs in electronic device applications.

Keywords: nanotubes,tunneling,one-dimension,zener,luttinger
“Biochemical isolation and functional characterization of the protein complexes that regulate interchromosomal interactions” (INTERPRO)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Re-integration Grants
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Greece
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-IRG-2008, 2008)
Start date: 2009-06-01
End date: 2013-05-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

A Locus Control Region can act in cis, regulating the expression of cytokine genes on the same chromosome but can also act in trans to regulate the expression of several cytokine genes located on different chromosomes. We have recently shown that the physical interchromosomal association of loci located on three different mouse chromosomes precedes differentiation of CD4+ T cells and acts as a checkpoint for T cell fate determination. The functional significance of these interchromosomal associations is under investigation and preliminary results point towards a repressive role in non-differentiated naïve CD4+ cells and an activatory role in differentiated T cells. As a next step, to further understand how these interactions are established, I propose to use genetic and biochemical approaches to isolate, purify and characterize the protein complexes that generate and maintain such interchromosomal interactions. The model I currently envision integrates cell and tissue specific transcription factors that recruit more general protein complexes with the potency to relocalize whole loci or chromosomes. Biocomputing analysis will be performed to identify the conserved elements on the interacting loci, located on three different mouse chromosomes, which will subsequently be used as baits to perform yeast one hybrid screens, as well as for direct isolation of proteins using biotinylated DNA probes. The protein complexes will then be tested for their ability to remodel or relocalize chromatin using a combination of techniques such as RNA and DNA fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and chromosome conformation capture assays (3C) in wild type T cells as well as in cells with the identified respective genes knocked down, applying RNA-interference or knockout methodologies. The proposed project will provide substantial novel information on how the genome is shaped and how the nuclear structure affects global gene expression.

Keywords: immunology,cd4,th1,th2,interchromosomal,nucleus,chromatin,cell differentiation,locus control region
Do Jets from Young Stars Rotate? (STELLAR JET ROTATION)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: European Re-integration Grants
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Ireland
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-ERG-2008, 2008)
Start date: 2009-03-23
End date: 2011-10-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 30000.0
EU funding (EUR): 30000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The goal of this project is to provide conclusive observational evidence that jets from young stars rotate. This evidence will finally validate widely supported models that explain how bipolar jets can extract angular momentum during gravitationally collapse, thus allowing the disk to accrete onto the infant star. Our team recently published a series of results, based on high angular resolution data from the Hubble Space Telescope, which revealed the very first observational indications of jet rotation close to the jet base. However, the interpretation of our results has become a matter of rigorous debate. This is a crucial moment to follow up on these exciting detections. We must establish that gradients in Doppler shift perpendicular to the direction of jet propagation are justifiably interpreted as a rotation of the flow. This can be done by performing a number of crucial observational checks. Our objectives are therefore to establish that Doppler gradients are commonly observed in many jet targets, that they are also observed at every evolutionary stage of stellar birth, and that there is agreement between the sense of disk and jet rotation in each system. In meeting these three objectives, we expect to achieve our goal of providing long-awaited observational evidence that jets from young stars rotate. Our findings will then form the only existing observational basis for validation of the magneto-centrifugal mechanism of jet launching. Furthermore, the results will finally provide a means of discriminating between steady-state MHD models for jet generation. Providing incontrovertible evidence that jets extract angular momentum from protostellar systems has far-reaching implications, as these models are also standard for launching jets in very diverse objects from brown dwarfs to massive black holes in quasars, all of which still require observational verification.

Keywords: physical sciences,astrophysics,star formation,jets,angular momentum problem,high resolution observations
Active microrheology for probing stress transmission in complex media (ACTIVE)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Re-integration Grants
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Israel
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-IRG-2008, 2008)
Start date: 2009-11-01
End date: 2013-10-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Due to its simplicity of application, the economy of its sample size and its non invasive nature, microrheology proves an ideal tool for probing mechanical properties of complex environments. Conventionally, microrheology is based on translating the diffusive motion of colloidal particles into the elastic properties of the diffusing medium by means of linear response and the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. However, non linear processes such as stress transduction in cellular environments and strong shear in complex fluids are not accessible by this method. It has recently been suggested that by using active microrheology, where the tracer particles are driven, the non-linear nature of stress transmission in complex fluids can be measured. However, the interpretation of these experiments is not straightforward since the fluctuation-dissipation theorem no longer holds. We propose to systematically develop active microrheology as a tool for probing stress transmission in complex fluids with the far goal of applying it to study mechanotransduction in living cells. We will start by studying complex fluids such as dense colloidal suspensions and biological gels in which the nonlinear rheological properties in bulk are known. We will then proceed to study artificial biomimetic model systems and finally apply our method to live cells. To this end we will use a system of holographic optical tweezers to drive colloidal particles in complex fluids in combination with confocal imaging of fluorescent tracer particles to visualize the response of the fluid.

Keywords: soft matter physics,non-equilibrium statistical mechanics,diffusion,complex fluids,stress transmission,holographic optical tweezers,confocal microscopy,cell biology
Demonstrating Industrial Scale Second Generation Bioethanol Production - KAlundborg CELLulosic Ethanol plant (KACELLE)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Energy
Destination: Renewable fuel production
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: Denmark,Norway,Netherlands,Denmark,Portugal,Germany,Netherlands
Call:  (FP7-ENERGY-2008-TREN-1, 2008)
Start date: 2009-08-01
End date: 2014-03-31
Duration (months): 56.0
Total project cost (EUR): 17326342.61
EU funding (EUR): 9099063.0
Participants: 9
Project status: CLOSED

The aim of this project is to bring the patented Inbicon Core technology for 2nd generation bio-ethanol production from a pre-commercial to a full commercial level, making the technology available in the market and attractive to investors in 4 – 5 years. The technology was developed in steps (also partly EU funded) and now a 4 t/hr biomass to ethanol plant is being built in Kalundborg in Denmark. The plant will be in operation in the fall of 2009 and will produce 5 million litres of ethanol annually. More than 10 years of development has brought about a robust process capable of producing substantial quantities of ethanol from biomass. The next necessary step is to reduce the production costs, thus making the process feasible. In this proposal we apply for funding to demonstrate the 4 t/hr at industrial scale and optimise the plant to lower the production costs for ethanol through: Improving the capacity of the plant, reducing the energy consumption and water balance, adding a fermentation step for C5 sugars and recycle the enzymes in the process. Ultimately we will improve the capacity of the plant to become a 8-10 t/hr plant by developing the process from being partly continuous to operate in a truly commercial continuous mode. We expect this to result in a significant cost-cut in ethanol production expenses. The ethanol produced will be characterized and tested in engine test-rigs and in car-fleet, thus covering the whole value chain from the straw entrance to the gate of the ethanol plant production to end-users in cars. The process will be assessed from an environmental perspective through LCA analysis and results will be published for scientific purpose and for expanding the use of the technology to use for future business partners. The team of partners in this project are those who have a relevant business role in the demonstration of this value chain, a research center and universities with competences in key areas.

Keywords: bioethanol,lignocellulosic,liquefaction,ssf,fermentation,hydrolysis
NF-RAD: Near-Field Radiation Absorption and Scattering by Nanoparticles on Surfaces (NF-RAD)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Re-integration Grants
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Türkiye
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-IRG-2008, 2008)
Start date: 2009-05-01
End date: 2012-04-30
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 75000.0
EU funding (EUR): 75000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The process of engineering, controlling and fabricating structures of 1-100 nanometers in size, which defines “nanoscale,” is a challenging endeavor. The unusual characteristics of such particles are due to their small sizes and high percentage of atoms in surface states, which yield unique properties that differ from those of the same bulk materials. Particularly, nanosize metallic particles and colloids can give rise to many unprecedented optical, electronic, and structural properties. With these new properties, these particles can be used for many novel and innovative engineering and biological applications. However, manufacturing of these nanosize building blocks requires careful control of their composition, structure, shape, and size distribution, which necessitates further understanding of the underlying physics and chemistry. This would be possible if these particles can be visualized and measured in real time and non-intrusively. Recently, a new characterization methodology has been developed by the PI and his group using scattering of elliptically polarized evanescent waves by particles on a smooth surface. These surface waves can also be employed to manipulate particles. Again recently, the PI and his colleagues reported a novel directed self-assembly process to melt and fuse metallic of such particles. The objective of the current proposal is to advance both of these approaches to the next level by understanding the influence of near-field effects on absorption, emission and scattering by nanoparticles, coagulates and surfaces in close proximity to each other. It is expected that a successful implementation of this research program will significantly help to the development of future nanomanufacturing platforms. The Marie Curie International Reintegration Project will help the PI to seamlessly transfer the knowledge base he has developed at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky, USA, to Ozyegin University, in Istanbul Turkey.

Keywords: physical sciences,near-field radiation,surface waves,plasmonics,evanescent waves,surface phonon polaritons,near-field scattering,technological sciences
Distraction and task-performance optimization: an integrative neurocognitive approach (ATTENTVSDISTRACT)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: European Re-integration Grants
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Hungary
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-ERG-2008, 2008)
Start date: 2009-04-01
End date: 2012-03-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 45000.0
EU funding (EUR): 45000.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Giving adequate responses to infrequent, unpredictable events occurring in the environment is crucial in many tasks in everyday life (e.g. driving a car, etc.). Such events draw our attention away from the task at hand, or make the use of infrequently used response alternatives necessary, and thereby often lead to a temporary performance loss: responses are slower and more mistakes are made. Most studies focus on the question how the chain of processing events related to distraction triggered by infrequent, unpredictable stimuli unfolds. However, to understand how these distraction-related processes counteract or change task-related processing, one has to consider how performance is optimized in the given task. The goal of the present project is to investigate these processes in the auditory domain, using an integrative approach, which takes both distraction and task-performance optimization into account. By using novel experimental paradigms, behavioral measurements, and high-density EEG recordings, we are going to investigate how task-related attention builds on and influences sensory processing using the concept of attentional templates. We are going to investigate how task-related selective attention sets can be maintained despite the presence of occasional distracting stimuli, that is, what mechanisms are used to shield ourselves and to recover from distraction. Furthermore, we will investigate how stimulus-response translation-related processes contribute to streamlining task-performance. The project will expand our knowledge on auditory perception, attention- and executive functions-related topics. Beyond their basic scientific significance, the results will contribute to a better understanding of attention-related disorders and age-related changes in task-related performance and attention.

Keywords: experimental psychology,attention,distraction,event-related potentials (erps)
Investigating molecular determinants involved in the interaction between Clavibacter michiganensis pv. michiganensis and tomato (CMM-TOMATO INTERACT)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Re-integration Grants
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Israel
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-IRG-2008, 2008)
Start date: 2009-11-03
End date: 2013-11-02
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The Gram-positive bacterium Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis (Cmm) is the causative agent of wilt and canker disease of tomato that is responsible for heavy damages to agricultural tomato crops worldwide. The molecular mechanisms underlying successful Cmm infection of tomato are poorly understood. Like other plants, tomato possesses an innate immunity system for detection of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), motifs found in conserved molecules of potential invading pathogens. Recognition of PAMPs occurs through transmembrane pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and results in activation of basal defense responses. Preliminary studies in the Sessa lab indicated that Cmm expresses an extracellular proteinaceous PAMP(s), which is recognized by tomato cells and induces typical basal defenses. Central goal of this proposal is to investigate how tomato plants sense invading Cmm bacteria to activate a first line of defense, and how Cmm overcomes this basal defense responses and develops a successful infection. To this aim, physiological assays will be used to characterize basal defense responses induced by Cmm in tomato plants and suspension-cultured cells. In addition, biochemical and analytical methods will be employed to isolate and identify Cmm proteins with PAMP activity. A proteomics approach based on multi-dimensional protein identification technology (MudPIT) will be used to identify secreted Cmm proteins. Follow up activities will identify among the secreted proteins virulence determinants and possibly PAMP activities. Finally, a screen of Cmm-induced tomato genes based on virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) techniques will identify tomato proteins involved in recognition of Cmm PAMP(s) and downstream signaling pathways. Together, this investigation will lead to characterization of tomato defense responses activated by Cmm and to the identification of central players in the Cmm-tomato interaction

Keywords: proteomics,mudpit,clavibacter,michiganensis,pamp,prr,innate immunity,pamp triggered immunity,pti,plant pathology,interactions