Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Genes, Mediterranean dietary pattern and metabolic syndrome risk (METSGENES)

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-2010-IOF, 2010)
Start date: 2011-10-01
End date: 2014-09-30
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 223669.6
EU funding (EUR): 223669.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The MetS, a cluster of metabolic abnormalities, is of interest from a public health perspective because early intervention amongst these individuals may prevent the development of serious health complications such as diabetes (DM). The prevalence of MetS is 20–30% among adult populations in most countries, and individuals with the MetS have a 6-fold increased risk of DM. Atherogenic dyslipidemia is also involved in the pathogenesis of DM because insulin regulates several of the steps of lipid metabolism. To understand the progression of the disease, it is necessary to consider both candidate genes for involvement, as well as factors related to the advancing age or the environment, diet and lifestyle. Genomics and epigenomics are revolutionizing biomedical research areas that can hopefully decipher some of the gaps in our current knowledge of cardiovascular risk factors. This proposal aims at studying the possible interactions among several candidate genes for MetS-related traits or DM using a genetic predisposition score (GPS), the adherence to the Mediterranean dietary pattern and the risk to develop MetS as well as the influence of classical and new biomarkers related to MetS-traits, in order to prevent/delay the onset of MetS in a European population. It also aims at studying the replication of these gene-diet interactions in different American populations. Furthermore, this proposal aims to examine the expression of microRNAs related to cholesterol and lipoprotein metabolism in the enterocyte cell line; and to dissect the influence of dietary polyphenols (important components of a Mediterranean dietary pattern) and other bioactive food components on the expression of microRNAs related to cholesterol and lipoprotein metabolism as strategy to manage dyslipidemia. This project will address the translation of this knowledge into clinical practice and public health recommendations for the prevention and therapy of the pre-diabetes phase of the MetS and dyslipidemia.

Keywords: genomics,nutrition related disorders,nutrigenomics,nutrigenetics,cardiovascular disease,metabolic syndrome,dyslipidemia,mediterranean diet,genetic perdisposition score
Rough surfaces in sliding contact: A combined atomistic/continuum investigation of topography evolution (TOPOGRAPHY EVOLUTION)

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: Germany
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IOF, 2010)
Start date: 2011-05-01
End date: 2014-04-30
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 211120.0
EU funding (EUR): 211120.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Summary - Mechanical systems have moving parts which dissipate energy at surfaces sliding with respect to each other. Energy efficient devices need interfaces that are tailored to consume little to no energy. This requires a fundamental understanding of frictional dissipation processes. The evolution of the topography of the two surfaces that are in contact is a crucial component of sliding friction: Processes such as fracture and plastic flow dissipate energy and contribute to the macroscopic coefficient of friction. Using molecular dynamics and continuum methods, the surface structure evolution during plastic deformation is investigated for three isotropic model materials. This hybrid atomistic/continuum approach is aimed to reveal at which length-scale the continuum theory starts to fail in its description of the basic plastic processes and what new phenomena occur below this scale. Besides gaining insights into frictional dissipation processes, this will clarify how to extrapolate atomistic results to the continuum. Since continuum theories are typically used for the design of macroscopic devices, this also constitutes a first step towards the incorporation of surface structure as a design element in the engineering process.

Keywords: surface physics,computational physics,materials engineering,mechanical engineering,energy saving
Uncovering the spatial nature of numbers: An investigation of its origins and neural basis (SPANUM)

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: 2012-07-28
End date: 2014-07-27
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 261975.0
EU funding (EUR): 261975.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Coding environmental information in spatial terms is a general propensity of our cognitive systems (e.g., the future is ahead of us, the past behind us). One prominent spatial coding is that of number. While it is now well established that adults’ processing of numerical information is accomplished by spontaneously deploying visuo-spatial mental resources, the specific nature, origins, and neural basis of this phenomenon are poorly understood. Accordingly, the present proposal aims to describe the format, function and development of the link between numbers and space. Following our preliminary findings of an intimate link between numerical magnitude and spatial length in infancy and childhood, we propose to further investigate the neural basis and nature of the number-space linkage through two general lines of experiments. Behavioral experiments on newborns and infants will investigate the format of the number-space linkage, by exploring central questions regarding the automaticity, specificity and symmetrical nature of the link. Neuroimaging experiments on adults will investigate the neural basis of the number-space linkage, by investigating the involvement of common neural populations in the coding of both sources of information, thus seeking anatomical evidence for the spatial format of number representation. The experiments are based on the hypothesis that numerical and spatial representations have a privileged link via common brain and cognitive systems that emerges in infancy and remains operative throughout adulthood. The project has immediate implications at a theoretical level for researchers on cognitive psychology, in particular on numerical cognition, as well as at an applied, educational level. Early mathematics skills is one of the best predictors of later academic performance, and one of the foundations of mathematics education is the understanding of number. Early mathematics instruction might be enhanced by building on the spatial nature of number.

Keywords: psychology,cognitive science,developmental psychology,neuroscience,numerical cognition
Egyptian Periodisation - Object Categories as Historical Signatures (EPOCHS)

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: 2012-01-09
End date: 2014-01-08
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 193349.6
EU funding (EUR): 193349.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The EPOCHS project aims to provide a basis for new interpretative models of material cultural transmission and social transformation in stratified societies. This will require the development of a specific methodology for comparative synthesis at a broad regional level (equivalent to the ‘national’ in modernity); the case-study will be Egypt in transition from Middle to Late Bronze Age (1850-1500 BC). From current collections-database control-lists, the project will pursue two linked tracks, categorisation and periodisation of material cultural products, to identify period ‘signatures’. This framework will be used to analyse (a) synchronic patterns recurrent across different signature object-categories, and (b) diachronic variations within each. From historical and laboratory analyses of prioritised objects in collections, the interregional relationships of material production and consumption will be charted on the two horizons of (a) endogenous (internal Egyptian regionalism) and (b) exogenous (‘internationalism’, relations between Egyptian and external groups), in order to assess in synthesis the societal impact at local, internal-regional and national levels. The final phase of the project will address questions of ideology in material-cultural products, applying the concept of performativity in order to explore relations between archaeological context/material and ritual/non-ritual practice. The outcomes will create the ground for a new historical synthesis between the evidence-bases for the wide range of relevant archaeological sub-disciplines from archaeometry to philology.

Keywords: humanities,social sciences,social transformation,egypt,middle bronze age,categorisation,periodisation,signature object-categories,ideology,material-cultural products,archaeology
Diffusion of Ions in Cementitious Materials (DICEM)

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: 2013-02-28
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 134255.6
EU funding (EUR): 134255.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Durability and reliability of concrete infrastructure is a serious, large scale, financial and safety concern with an increasing scientific, engineering and economical focus. Although the interest for numerical modelling of cementitious materials and durability issues increases rapidly in recent years, a comprehensive knowledge on their fundamental processes is still lacking. The proposed project is interdisciplinary, bridging fundamental understanding of multiphase ionic transport in porous materials and durability based design of cementitious materials that combine computational materials science, chemistry, physics and engineering technology. The influence of the morphological effect and the level of water saturation on the ionic diffusion properties of hydrating cement pastes will be investigated using the TU Delft's HYMOSTRUC cement hydration and microstructure development model. The diffusive properties of the simulated microstructures will be analyzed by a number of developed numerical 3D network methods. These innovative numerical 3D network models will be coupled with another developed numerical code, called MultIDiff, to describe the multi-component ionic diffusion in concrete structures considering the time and space dependency of parameters. This project will advance the quality of European science, relative to the North America (USA and Canada) and Japan, in the field of numerical tools to predict durability of cementitious materials. As both institutions: the host’s, TU Delft and the fellows, University of Zagreb are actively involved in industry related projects to predict the service-life of new and existing concrete structures, the results of this project will find a direct industry application. The design based on a sound quantitative basis will make cement and concrete a more environmentally friendly, sustainable and affordable material.

Keywords: cement paste,concrete,degradation,diffusion,hydration,microstructure,modeling,transport properties
Compositionality in infants (COIN)

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: France
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IOF, 2010)
Start date: 2011-09-01
End date: 2014-08-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 240106.8
EU funding (EUR): 240106.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The COIN project aims at providing me with training experience in the Harvard Laboratory for Developmental Studies, in collaboration with innovative scholars studying infant cognition. I aim at acquiring expertise on conceptual development, further developing my experimental skills, gaining teaching and mentoring experience as a Teaching Assistant and returning to Europe to develop a pioneer field of research. I will investigate compositionality, a possibly human-specific computational ability that gives rise to the expressive power of human languages and thoughts. It consists in the ability to combine known concepts to create novel concepts. Thirty years of experimental work has shown that infants are equipped with core conceptual representations about objects, numbers and agency. Compositionality allows to go beyond core conceptual domains. However, it is still unknown whether pre-lexical infants can combine mental representations. As a case study, I ask whether young infants can compose representations of ‘same’ and ‘negation’ to generate the representation of ‘different’. Infants as young as 7-months can generalize a structure based on the concept ‘same’ (i.e. pairs of identical elements, AA), but no evidence were yet reported of the generalization of the concept ‘different’ (i.e. AB). I first seek to find the age at which infants can use both the concepts ‘same’ and ‘different’, asking whether the maturation of the language system correlates with the emergence of this ability. Second, I explore under what conditions younger infants might be induced to represent ‘different’, in order to further specify the representational and computational resources from which compositional logical structures are built in infancy. Specifically, I study the role of linguistic labels, which may allow infants to form summary mental symbols for what are previously analogical similarities. This transformation may be necessary for, or at least conductive to, compositionality.

Keywords: cognitive science,developmental psychology,concepts,language,compositionality,negation,infants
Bilattices meet d-Frames (BMDF)

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: 2011-11-01
End date: 2013-10-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 193349.6
EU funding (EUR): 193349.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Bilattices and frames are mathematical structures widely applied in Theoretical Computer Science, although in quite different areas. Bilattices were introduced within the context of non-monotonic and paraconsistent reasoning in Artificial Intelligence, while frames have a key role in Domain Theory, the mathematical theory of computation introduced by Dana Scott as a foundation for denotational semantics of programs. The introduction of d-frames, a generalization of frames designed to handle partial and conflicting information, has recently opened a way to combine these two formalisms. The aim of the present proposal is to explore this possibility in order to obtain a mathematically rigorous and versatile formalism that unifies the approach of bilattices and the one of d-frames, thus having a primary impact on Domain Theory but also on bilattice-based formalisms. This is to be accomplished, on the one hand, by applying the algebraic and logical methods that proved to be successful in the study of bilattices to the theory of d-frames, with the main aim to develop and achieve a deeper understanding of the logic underlying d-frames; on the other hand, by extending the scope of bilattices to the setting of Domain Theory, focusing on issues such as completeness and topological duality. This is to be accomplished by (1) applying the algebraic and logical methods that proved to be successful in the study of bilattices to the theory of d-frames, with the main aim of developing and achieving a deeper understanding of the logic underlying d-frames; and by (2) extending the scope of bilattices to the setting of Domain Theory, focusing on issues such as completeness and topological duality.

Keywords: theoretical computer science,mathematical logic,semantics
Using next generation DNA sequencing to link soil fungal diversity to ecosystem function (MYCODIVERSITY)

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: 2014-02-28
Duration (months): 30.0
Total project cost (EUR): 280443.65
EU funding (EUR): 280443.65
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

This Fellowship is a partnership between the University of California, Berkeley, USA (outgoing host) and Newcastle University, UK (return host) and focuses on fungal molecular ecology. Fungi play vital roles in natural and agricultural soil systems but are extremely diverse and difficult to study. New molecular based techniques e.g. next generation DNA sequencing technology (NGST) are beginning to reveal the complexity of fungal communities. However, enumeration of species diversity reveals little about how community structure affects key ecosystem functions and the power of NGST must be harnessed to link fungal taxonomic diversity to function. Given the unique status of fungi in soil systems this project aims to utilise NGST to answer fundamental ecological questions relating to fungi. The first objective is to compare and optimise DNA and RNA extraction methods from soil to provide information on fungal taxonomic and functional diversity. Nucleic acid extraction methods will be optimised for ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) in a globally unique Californian pine forest ecosystem. Despite the importance of EMF little is known how their diversity relates to function and in particular, there is current debate over contribution of EMF to soil saprophytic activities. Hence the second objective is to use NGST to examine the contribution of EMF to soil organic matter transformation. Finally, given the lack of knowledge on fungal diversity and function it is extremely difficult to assess how abiotic stress may affect essential soil fungal diversity and function. Hence the third and final objective of this project is to assess the effect of increased atmospheric ozone levels (a model system) on soil fungal diversity and function. The project is designed to provide state of the art training in fungal molecular ecology and analysis of complex data thereby providing excellent career development potential for the Fellow.

Keywords: natural sciences,biodiversity,fungi,soil biology,dna,rna,anthropogenic impact on ecosystems
Multimodal plasticity in the human brain following hand amputation: Bridging the gap between neuronal reorganization and rehabilitation (PLASTICITYINAMPUTEES)

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): 202049.6
EU funding (EUR): 202049.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Our brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life is a key mechanism that enables adjustments to novel situations, as well as compensation for nervous system injury. Reorganization following hand-amputation is a striking example of brain plasticity, yet both the full extent of such reorganization and its functional consequences remain unknown. In this proposed research project, two main questions will be addressed: a) To what extent does the human brain reorganize following hand amputation? b) What are the behavioural consequences of this reorganization, and its impact on rehabilitation? These questions will be tackled using a two-fold experimental approach: a) Identifying small-scale reorganization in the primary somatosensory cortex using sophisticated analytic methods and state-of-the-art ultra high-field imaging techniques, thus examining brain plasticity in humans from a perspective that has never been available before; and, b) Exploring the extent of large-scale cortical reorganization using a unique multisensory approach and whole-brain imaging techniques, thus examining new aspects of brain plasticity in amputees beyond the scope of the primary sensory brain areas. The imaging techniques will be complemented with a battery of behavioural tests, designed to identify the adaptive and maladaptive correlates of reorganization, and their impact on rehabilitation. By characterizing the full scope of brain reorganization following amputation (including reorganization associated with the remaining hand), and studying the behavioural changes that are associated with it, the proposed research is expected to shed new light on our understanding of the fundamental bases of brain organization and reorganization. Importantly, this will also allow us to better characterize the challenges that stand before amputees in their way towards rehabilitation, thus improving the medical care that is currently provided to them.

Keywords: health sciences,neurosciences,neurophysiology,neuroimaging,neurorehabilitation,mri,fmri,amputees,motor control,multisensory,phantom pain,plasticity,reorganization,somatosensory cortex
Fast and slow endocytosis at the synapse (FSES)

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): 209092.8
EU funding (EUR): 209092.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The mechanism of neurotransmitter release is a fundamental aspect of nervous system function, but it is still highly controversial. There is overwhelming evidence that vesicles can release their contents by fully collapsing into the cell surface, after which they are retrieved slowly (10-20 s) by formation of a clathrin cage around the membrane. But it has also been suggested that there is a second mode of exocytosis in which vesicular content is released through a transitory fusion pore and then quickly retrieved (“kiss-and-run”). Several lines of evidence indicate that a fast mechanism of endocytosis (~1 s) does indeed operate at some synapses, but the idea that the vesicle does not merge with the surface membane remains controversial. We will investigate synaptic vesicle endocytosis in two types of retinal synapse (conventional and ribbon-type), using genetically modified zebrafish expressing fluorescent fusion proteins that report synaptic vesicle fusion and retrieval. Neurons will be isolated and total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRFM) used to monitor the synaptic vesicle cycle in real-time at the level of individual vesicles. A key aim of this project will be to establish the role of fast and slow endocytosis during both spontaneous vesicle fusion and ongoing synaptic activity and identify proteins recruited to the membrane during these processes (including clathrin, dynamin and endophilin).

Keywords: synaptic vesicle cycle,exocytosis,endocytosis,tirfm,zebrafish