Dragon09/odtu_chatbot huggingface dataset:
elucidating inner cells contribution to pavement cell shape acquisition in arabidopsis

in plants the outermost epidermal cell layer is critical for protecting the entire plant against external threats such as rain wind and pathogens the plant epidermis is a complex tissue consisting of multiple cell types all with different shapes functions and developmental trajectories although studied in isolation our understanding of how these cells interact to ensure tissue integrity is poor but at present the outermost jigsawpuzzleshaped pavement cells have emerged as key players recent findings in the host lab suggest that the diverse physical andor mechanochemical nature of the cell wall is crucial for pavement cellshape acquisition and thus under influence of the underlying tissue layers however yet the identity of the putative signals derived from inner cell layers defining the shape of epidermal cells and the integrity of the multilayered leaf tissue remains to be explored hence in icon i will join the robert host lab to disentangle the signaling networks and mechanical constraints of inner mesophyll cells that determine epidermal pavement cell shape and organogenesis of the leaf using a suite of novel and multidisciplinary approaches in the model plant arabidopsis thaliana specifically i will acquire new skills in cuttingedge microscopy cell biology and biomechanics to generate a highresolution 3d map and uncover mechanicalphysical cues and leverage my expertise in transcriptomics genetics and molecular biology to determine molecular components together allowing me to decipher the overall mechanism via which mesophyll cells orchestrate pavement cell shape acquisition besides contributing new knowledge icon will allow me to expand my scientific expertise and gain key transferrable skills boosting my strive to become a research leader ultimately knowledge on how plants maintain tissue integrity can support the development of stressresilient plants and thus contribute to a sustainable agriculture in a changing climate
violence work creating and contesting colonial authority on the ground in africa through everyday violence

violence work is a groundbreaking study of everyday violence in belgian central africaburundi congo and rwanda 19th20th c though colonial violence has been studied widely few have explored how everyday violence enabled colonialism and allowed it to persist this project combines hitherto neglected source materials and a novel conceptual entry pointviolence workersto foreground the everyday violent practices crucial to creating and maintaining the colonial state the projects core claim and main innovation is that violence work was not performed exclusively by formal violence workersthe men in uniformbut rather by a range of actors colonizer and colonized in and outside the state everyday violence work includes not only direct acts of physical violence eg whipping but also other forms of punishment such as incarceration and coercion through the threat of violence as well as subtler forms of aggression forcing compliance eg harassment and the ways these different levels of violence reinforced each other this inclusive definition enables an unprecedented comprehensive view of the enforcement practices that colonial rule depended on violence work opens up new questions about the centrality of violence in theorizing creating and maintaining colonialism and the colonial state this first indepth multisited transnationalregional comparative study of everyday colonial violence will undergird further research on how colonial legacies persist and interact with local and new repertoires of violence work contributing to dismantling persistent colonial myths about these regions and their inhabitants as inherently violent the online database will be a crucial tool for future researchers and open up many new avenues of research its major innovation of a pluralistic approach to everyday violence work will reinvigorate the debate not only about colonial violence but also ultimately about colonial states and nationstates more broadly
explorations in polar question meaning and its variation

this project addresses polar question meaning and its variation by documenting and analyzing nuanced polar question meanings and their expressions across languages under current models of polar question meaning meaning nuances across languages are heavily undergenerated and certain effects such as negative polarity licensing and forms of bias remain elusive we use the idea of the duality of primary polar question meanings introduced in the applicants recent work as a departure point which defends a separation between polar and other propositional alternatives this view makes correct predictions in the treatment of existing problems and generates hypotheses as to the limits and structural correlates of variation the project will generate a crosslinguistically viable semantic model of polar question meaning and a framework of its variation based on a sizeable empirical contribution detailing polar question usage profiles from a diverse set of languages elicited with a stateoftheart twin questionnaire the project combines advanced insights and techniques from the semantics and pragmatics of questions semantic variation and linguistic documentation and is particularly timely in the context of the applicants recent work the applicant and the host possess crucial complementary skills in addressing these issues the applicant is an expert in syntax intonation and linguistic variation the entire host institute and in particular the supervisors are worldrenowned for their work on semantics and pragmatics with a strong focus on questions their collaboration will thus create a unique opportunity to thoroughly reanalyze a central topic from multiple theoretical and empirical angles while furnishing the applicant with skills in semantics pragmatics and advanced empirical methods with which she intends to launch further crossmodular linguistic variation projects and position herself as a leader in this domain of research
inhibitormediated programming of glycoforms

sitedirected mutagenesis revolutionised the study of proteins and enabled the development of proteinbased therapeutics our longterm vision is to have equivalent impact through the precise manipulation of the glycans carbohydrates on cells and recombinant proteins that will enable the discovery and production of the next generation of therapies for cancer neurodegeneration and other disease families the glycans that are present on most proteins and cells have a substantial impact on their biological functions yet the untemplated nature of their synthesis leads to inherent heterogeneity in both their structure and activity this heterogeneity is very difficult to control making it impossible to generate defined glycan ensembles with optimal activity using current technology here we present a radically new approach to the controlled manipulation of glycans that will be the functional equivalent of sitedirected mutagenesis for manipulating proteins we will use the delivery of computationally defined mixtures of enzymespecific inhibitors to the site of glycan biosynthesis in the cell to tune the activity of glycosyltransferases our approach termed inhibitormediated programming of glycoforms improglyco will provide an effective strategy to manipulate the glycosylation machinery and thereby generate proteins with defined ensembles of glycans it will enable the production of precision glycan engineered therapeutic proteins and vaccines moreover shaping cellular glycan profiles will aid discovery science to uncover glycan functions and improve therapeutic cells such as those used in chimeric antigen receptors cell therapy cart our technology will be adaptable and expandable into other cell types and organisms allowing glycan shaping in all areas of eukaryotic cell biology to enable new biotechnological applications and fundamental studies of biology
advanced cleantech studies for the enhancement of the research and innovation capacity of the plovdiv agricultural university au element

the element project at the plovdiv agricultural university bulgaria represents a notable advance in cleantech and biomass resource efficiency key to this initiative is the appointment of an era chair which will bring significant expertise in applied sciences the core objective of the project is to stimulate both basic and applied research with a focus on broadening and enriching the knowledge base in these specific areas in order to achieve these goals element will establish a new centre of excellence in cleantech and biomass resource efficiency this centre is expected to optimise the use of existing scientific capabilities improve the efficiency of innovation generation and application and facilitate increased multinational cooperation through these efforts the project aims to make a substantial contribution to the field and enhance bulgarias scientific standing in cleantech and biomass resources
engineered heart tissue eht devices based on ion conductive guanosinequadruplex gq hydrogels a route to advance in vitro 3d cardiac tissue models

in this project a microengineered heart tissue eht device that will advance the physiological relevance of current in vitro 3d cardiac tissue models will be developed in moving towards this goal this project will synthesize conductive guanosinequadruplex gq hydrogels and implement them as cell scaffolds in eht devices key aspects of biomaterials design are the unique conductive and hierarchical 3d fibrous network and the good biocompatibility of gq hydrogels which will support cardiac cell culture upon integration in the eht platform the mentioned properties of gq hydrogels will enable electrical stimulation of embedded cardiac cells under mild pacing voltages thereby promoting the formation of morphologically and functionally mature cardiac tissue gq hydrogels will demonstrate high flexibility and potentially broad utility as a biocompatible and conductive biomaterial for in vitro cell experimentation the outcomes of this project will expand the horizon of preclinical 3d cardiac tissue models paving the way for future approaches to drug testing and personalized cardiovascular medicine
towards primatelike artificial neural networks for visual object tracking

the prinnevot project embarks on a mission to bridge the gap between computer vision and the primate visual system in the context of visual object tracking vot vot is the task of maintaining focus the prinnevot project embarks on a mission to bridge the gap between computer vision and the primate visual system in the context of visual object tracking vot vot is the task of maintaining focus on a specific object amidst a dynamic visual environment our brains excel at it but replicating this ability in artificial vision systems remains a challenge this project seeks to develop a novel class of vot algorithms inspired by the primate visual systems prowess despite notable advancements in deep learningbased vot over the past decade these algorithms still fall short in emulating the robustness exhibited by primate vision prinnevot will address this gap through a multifaceted approach firstly prinnevot will construct a comprehensive reference dataset investigating both primate behavior and neural recordings secondly among the existing artificial neural network annbased vot methodologies the project aims to identify those that align most closely with the primate brains mechanisms lastly prinnevot will leverage the discovered inductive biases to develop a new ann architecture for vot that closely mirrors the primates way of continuous object recognition and localization by merging computer vision and computational neuroscience research prinnevot aspires to contribute to the development of more accurate and robust vot algorithms these algorithms in alignment with the european unions pursuit of safer and ethically grounded artificial intelligence promise to enhance humancentric and trustworthy technologies furthermore the projects outcomes will not only benefit ai and computer vision but also advance our understanding of the primate visual system offering new empirical models of how the brain tracks objects in dynamic visual environments
the paradox of political marginalisation young people and political power

political marginalisation understood as the systematic underrepresentation of social groups in political office constitutes a major democratic problem by betraying the ideal of equal voice it biases political decision making challenges democratic legitimacy and ultimately risks creating political alienation and discontent yet we fail to understand the persistence of the problem because extant research has not probed the underlying norms that exist in a society about what political power is who can hold it and how it can be exercised thus while we know that members of underrepresented groups do not reach out for power to the same extent as others we do not have a theory that can explain why the voices missing from politics seem to exclude themselves while those already represented speak with great fervouryopow breaks new ground in the study of political marginalisation by locating its roots in societal norms about political power that make a lasting imprint already early in life the theoretical framework explains how societal norms affect young people through the messages they receive and internalise and the unequal experiences they have with political power methodologically pioneering the project combines machinelearning techniques and indepth interpretations to detect how societal norms pattern the meaning of political power across societies and social groups empirically yopow generates the firstofitskind database of messages about political power directed at young people insights into their beliefs about power expressed in their own words and novel data on youths early experiences with political power in political youth organisations this project will significantly improve our understanding of one of the most serious and persistent challenges for democracies of today and the future by exposing the societal norms that give rise to biased beliefs and eventually shape who is seen as fit for power among societys youngest members
valorisation and optimization of novel firstin class succinatedepleting therapies

succipro is a spinoff company from pere virgili health institute and rovira virgili university it is an earlystage drug development company focused on therapies able to modulate the succinatesucnr1 pathway which have strong potential on many inflammatory and metabolic disorders currently the company is developing suczyme a novel firstinclass oral enzyme therapy able to deplete succinate that has crohns disease as a first indication succipro will lead the development until the end of clinical phase 2a when the asset will be licensed to a bigger pharma companycurrent proposal aims to conduct critical technical and business activities with the overall goal of raising a first seed investment round from a technological perspective during the project the team will advance in the development of the enzyme therapy by partnering with an innovative company expert in enzyme engineering able to improve our candidates in terms of specificity activity and stability later we will conduct in vitro and in vivo efficacy studies that will enable the designation of final lead candidate in parallel to the technical development and in order to have more a more accurate vision about the european market we aim to perform early price reimbursement and market studies in europe we will also participate in the activities organised by investeu and the enterprise europe network and we will introduce our company into the us startup ecosystem to expand companys innovation network and look for investment in the us overall the project will contribute to increase the trl level of our asset improve our competitiveness and visibility within the international biotech sector and support us in the raising of a seed investment round
expanding a prospective clinical trial examining the immune response of participants receiving modified vaccinia ankara vaccine to africa

the current mpox outbreak affecting the democratic republic of the congo ongoing since 2023 has resulted in more than 19000 causes and over 1000 deaths with women accounting for more than half of those affected the previous global mpox outbreak in 2022 was alleviated in part with use of preventive vaccination using modified vaccina ankara mva vaccine however whether this vaccine induces sufficient immune responses in women and those with immunosuppression which is common in affected areas and how long vaccineinduced immunity lasts is not well defined furthermore outbreak responses within africa are also limited by lack of robust diagnosticsthe mpox afrivac project will engage with key stakeholders and the community to address these knowledge gaps and capacity limitations by adapting a phase 4 clinical trial of preexposure vaccination against mpox currently underway in europe to african sites affected by the current outbreak this will be accompanied by technology transfer to develop mpox immune diagnostics and knowledge transfer to develop a regional vaccineefocused clinical trials unit together these activities will address key strategic priorities within the region address knowledge gaps and significantly contribute to regional capacity and public health response to bring an end to the mpox outbreak
root2resilience root phenotyping and genetic improvement for rotational crops resilient to environmental change

root2res will deliver a package of solutions to enhance the resilience of rotational cropping system by considering relevant root traits with respect to the impact of climate change innovations will include phenotyping genetic and modelling tools that will help breeders evaluate in field and controlled conditions novel and existing genotypes of a range of crops cereals potatoes legumes as root ideotypes for different soil and climatic environments across europe root2res will also investigate the potential role of emerging crops sweet potato lentil to enhance resilience to environmental change by assessing their genotypic and phenotypic variation the environments targeted include those predicted to suffer from the largest impact of climate change on yield in europe resilience to stress will focus on greater variation in water availability both drought and waterlogging and interactions with other stresses temperature reduced nutrient availability we will also consider the impact of novel understanding of the plasticity of traits to stress traits to be assessed will focus on exploration exploitation and rhizosphere microbiome related traits integrated in an extended phenotype the impacts of the more resilient ideotypes designed in root2res on the delivery of climate change mitigation outcomes soil carbon sequestration nutrient utilisation and greenhouse gas emission will be assessed in field root2res will integrate a strong interaction with stakeholders all through the project particularly breeders and farmers the ambition of root2res is to deliver crops adapted to changing environments and able to mitigate climate change by utilising existing genetic diversity for breeding programs in a range of crop species essential to cropping systems and then widening understanding to crops suitable for resilient future systems this ambition will be supported by the joined commitment of a multidisciplinary partnerships across europe and beyond
highquality laserdriven proton beams for multidisciplinary applications

proton accelerators are in significant demand due to their widespread societal applications for instance clinical cancer therapy as the protons target deepseated tumours with negligible damage to the surrounding healthy tissues high capital and operational costs associated with the conventional accelerators make proton therapy poorly accessible which has triggered interest in search for affordable alternatives in this context proton acceleration employing high power lasers has recently emerged as a promising alternative to the conventional techniques in addition to their compactness and cost effectiveness the laserdriven sources deliver high doses in an extremely shorttime period one billionth of the second offering a unique prospect for radiobiological studies the key challenge however is to overcome broad energy spread and large divergence of the laserdriven proton beams this project aims to control these shortcomings by employing a novel target arrangement at pw class laser which can effectively tailor the spatial and spectral profile of the beam at the source importantly at high repetition rate 1 hz transporting the beams to large distances away from the laser interaction region will be demonstrated by using a system of magnets as a step towards building dedicated beamlines for multidisciplinary applications the highquality proton beams with energies required for therapeutic applications 50mev will be deployed for the first time in invitro radiobiological studies on cancer breast cells at dose rate of 100 gymin the timeliness of the project is underpinned by the ongoing developments of highpower laser facilities globally eg the pillars of the paneuropean extreme light infrastructure epac uk and zeus usa notably this cutting edge research would reinforce europes leading role in the development of alloptical accelerators and and position me at the forefront of this emerging field
fluency as faithfulness a cognitive approach to an interpreting megacorpus

professional interpreters provide the highest quality and most instantaneous type of multilingual communication across interpreting in spoken and signed languages users evoke the notion of fluencyasfidelity when they engage with and evaluate interpreters this notion is also applied to language learners and politicians this implies that fluency taps into a universal cognitiveevaluative mechanism that provides information about the speaker in communicative contexts recent research on fluency has explored small corpora of interpreting and shown the value of the usagebased theory in connecting the social and cognitive underpinnings of fluency however prior studies fail to represent the multimodal context of interpreting and remain removed from end users the intersectional embedding of this notion and the process of explicating meanings in creating fluency often go unnoticed the project fluency as faithfulness a cognitive approach to an interpreting megacorpus faith investigates the role of fluency in the production and perception of faithfulness the objective will be to explain how interpreters create unfaithfulness using cognitive abilities such as chunking and construal it will do so by unifying existing interpreting corpora comparing the production and perception of fluency in political interpreting and empirically demonstrating the cognitive basis of explicitations in interpreting faith will contribute the first multimodal intermodal and openaccess interpreting corpus and implement for the first time multimodality and intersectionality in corpusbased interpreting studies it will provide answers to longstanding questions concerning the nature of the faithfulness norm the explicitation universal and language forms in interpreting cumulatively faith will further the eu priority of promoting european interests and values on the global stage by enabling intercultural understanding between policymakers and diverse groups