Dragon09/odtu_chatbot huggingface dataset:
axon initial segment plasticity unravelling the mechanisms that control neuronal excitability

neurons have the remarkable ability to continuously integrate and propagate information while maintaining their activity state within physiological range the axon initial segment ais is the keystone of neuronal excitability and pivotal for the maintenance of network homeostasis the molecular organization of the ais dictates the generation of action potentials and thereby shapes the principal output of neurons although the ais has long been considered as a static and passive structure recent work from my lab and others demonstrated that network activity induces robust plasticity of the ais causing longlasting changes in excitability however how ais plasticity is regulated to maintain network homeostasis remains elusivein this proposal i aim to resolve at the molecular level how the ais adapts in response to acute and chronic changes in neuronal activity and how maladaptation may lead to disease to this end i developed genome editing tools to label and manipulate endogenous ais components enabling live and superresolution imaging of ais organization in combination with proteomics optogenetics and electrophysiology this project will address the following key objectives1 resolve the nanoscale distribution and dynamics of ais components 2 unravel the mechanisms controlling acute and chronic redistribution of ion channels during ais plasticity and their consequences for excitability3 address the implication of maladaptive ais plasticity in the pathology of angelman syndromethis project bridges the cell biology of the neuron to its physiology provides new insights into how ais plasticity orchestrates network activity and identifies how maladaptation contributes to disease
the encoding of social networks in the brain

in social species peers represent a major part of the external environment and adaptation to the environment requires adaptation to peers one striking example is that not only other species can be deadly predators but members from our own society can pose a deadly threat to us on the other hand not only family members can be our allies but also friends we choose from nonkin related group members this matter of fact exemplifies the importance of tracking others and their relations and possessing a structured knowledge about our societies primates including humans and monkeys spend most of their time watching others while several neural circuits for social perception have been unraveled in their brains we dont know how neural circuits further transform social percepts into a meaningful set of social concepts used spontaneously to represent social networks this question calls for an investigation at multiple levels an exploratory approach at the whole brain level using functional magnetic resonance imaging fmri in monkeys and humans will enable us to chart the brain territories involved in processing social concepts of increasing levels of abstraction whereby concepts about individuals are less abstract than concepts about relationships which are in turn less abstract than concepts about social networks topology next a nailed down approach to the level of neurons using fmriguided neurophysiology will enable us to understand the neuronal network mechanisms by which the transformation from multisensory social percepts to social concepts is implemented finally exploiting realworld social knowledge of semifree ranging monkeys will enable us to track the encoding of social network topology by neuronal networks understanding how neural circuits and singleneurons within these circuits are encoding social networks will provide fundamental mechanistic insights into the toolkit for smoothly maneuvering our primate societies
nanoporous and redoxactive hoops and macrocycles as organic electrode materials for batteries

nextgeneration energy storage solutions are needed to satisfy the increasing demand for electrically powered devices organic electrode materials oems are promising candidates constituted of widely available elements accessible in processes with low co2 footprint and easily recycled however existing oems suffer from a lack of porosity which inhibits counter ion diffusion to the electroactive sites or renders redox processes irreversible severely limiting their performancenanobatt explores a fundamentally new concept for oems in order to significantly improve their intrinsic porosity and provide pathways for efficient counter ion diffusion in nanobatt i and my team will investigate redoxactive conjugated nanohoops and macrocycles with intrinsic porosity as oems in nextgeneration batteries redoxactive groups can be installed with the desired properties their extended conjugation and aromaticity stabilize charges and their rigid 3d shapes and nanometersized cavities lead to nanoporous structures ideally suited to enable fast counter ion diffusion in spite of these outstanding properties conjugated nanohoops have not been explored as oems and even macrocycles have received only little attention as suchthe aims of nanobatt are to develop synthetic strategies and design guidelines for redoxactive conjugated nanohoops and macrocycles as oems elucidate the role of conjugation and porosity on charge stabilization and ion diffusion in their chargedischarge processes and investigate their application as oems in alternative battery cell configurations namely na al mg and allorganic batteries nanobatt uniquely bridges the gap between fundamental research on organic materials and their application in nextgeneration charge storage devices with nanobatt i will initiate a new research field with groundbreaking impact both in the scientific community as well as for the future direction of my own research
providing complete subsurface information of the urban areas

widmo cities is a breakthrough noninvasive solution for the cities and companies within the construction sector widmo cities will provide access to very highprecision subterranean information geology utilities and underground infrastructure location this information can be used two folds 1 to determine the exact location of the gas pipe waterways and electric cables at the project planning stage2 to establish the geological profile and recognize possible landslides and sink holes hazards widmo cities has the technology that allows for rapid gathering and processing of the described information giving any stakeholder incredibly easy access to the needed data this not only significantly decreases the risk and cost of construction but also alleviates safety hazards associated with geological faults widmo cities will be a global onestop shop for everything that lies underground we will revolutionize the construction surveying industry and improve public safety
strengthening understanding and strategies of business to assess and integrate nature

our global economy is intrinsically dependent on nature and at the same time is playing a major role in its degradation recognition of this fact has grown substantially in the past decade as evidenced in the eu biodiversity strategy for 2030 however transformative systemwide changes are still needed to achieve the naturepositive outcomes required to bend the curve of biodiversity loss while the business case for economic actors to address biodiversity is becoming clearer in some sectors it is still lacking in others particularly those more removed from direct interactions with nature sustain strengthening understanding and strategies of business to assess and integrate nature will bring together a multistakeholder and multidisciplinary team to strengthen understanding and awareness of how all economic activities depend and impact on biodiversity the project will build on existing work within the business and biodiversity space to develop and validate a database of business dependencies and impacts develop methods that actors can use to reduce biodiversityrelated risks and a toolbox to support their application the consortium will drive uptake of these resources through dissemination of targeted business case materials drawing on existing networks and expertise in communicating with businesses financial institutions and other key stakeholders
rebranding the patriarchs the aramaic dead sea scrolls as the missing link in redefining the occupational dimensions of patriarchs in early judaism

the project provides a comprehensive picture of the developing depictions of patriarchal figures in mid second temple period jewish sources ca 300 100 bce instead of the patriarchs being merely the forefathers of israel they gain further occupational dimensions andor existing dimensions become more explicitly formulated such occupational dimensions are in earlier sources related to priests prophets scribal scholars and wisdom teachers this rebranding process of patriarchal literary figures produced various kinds of hybrid figuresthe sources cover the ancient versions of genesis the aramaic dead sea scrolls and the book of jubilees the main method used in textual analysis is comparative close reading but theories of literary growth connected with these works and any text critical evidence of variant literary versions are included central part of the methodological conversation is definitions of key concepts and terminologythe scientific novelty of this project placing the aramaic dead sea scrolls into their proper place in the transmission and reception history of the patriarchal tradition and the focus on occupational agency adding this evidence missing in previous studies has major repercussions on our understanding of the development and growth of the patriarchal traditions the project will clarify the early reception of patriarchal figures and how and why the broader multi occupational literary depictions of the patriarchs were formed and transmittedthe project provides a significant addition to the study of the mechanisms and motifs of literary transmission and editorial processes the results are crucial for future studies on sources transmission processes and social structures of the wider mediterranean cultural sphere moreover the project provides a basis for analyzing patriarchal traditions in judaism christianity and islam with the full appreciation of the early background religious dialogue and further innovations
supporting the inclusion wellbeing and growth of rural areas through multiactor smart villages labs for enhanced governance frameworks

inspire project supports sustainable and inclusive development of european rural areas by promoting social wellbeing and inclusion of rural dwellers and vulnerable groups in particular the project contributes to advancing in a multidimensional way the concept of social inclusion in rural areas and supports the access to highquality social services by rural citizens through a series of awarenessraising capacitybuilding and pilot deployment activities that focus on social entrepreneurship in a set of 7 different pilot territories eg coastal rural periurban mountainous to realise its objectives the project provides a novel territorial typology of rural areas sets up and operationalises smart village labs and enhances governance frameworks and informed policy making through edemocracy and userinnovation techniques to eventually deliver a dedicated rural social inclusion policy dashboard
thrombus wearable continuous pointofcare monitoring risk estimation and prevention for deep vein thrombosis

deep vein thrombosis dvt is the formation of a blood clot within the deep veins most commonly those of the lower limbs causing obstruction of blood flow in 50 of people with dvt the clot eventually breaks off and travels to the lung to cause pulmonary embolism clinical assessment of dvt is notoriously unreliable because up to 23 of dvt episodes are clinically silent and patients are symptom free even when pulmonary embolism has developed early diagnosis of dvt is crucial and despite the progress made in ultrasound imaging and plethysmography techniques there is a need for new methods to enable continuous monitoring dvt diagnosis at the point of carethrombus brings together an interdisciplinary team of industrial technology regulatory social science and clinical trial experts to develop a novel wearable diagnostic device for pointofcare operator free continuous monitoring in patients with high dvt risk the device will combine autonomous ai driven dvt detection based on a novel wearable ultrasound hardware impedance plethysmography and light reflection rheography for immediate detection of blood clot formation in the lower limb activity and other physiological measurements will be used to provide a continuous assessment of dvt risk and support dvt prevention via serious gaming the aggregated data will drive an intelligence decision support unit that will provide accurate monitoring and alerts extended reality will be used to guide experts to design exercises and patients to use the device optimally thrombus is intended for use by postoperative patients in the ward during long surgical operations cancer patients or otherwise bedridden patients at home or in care units and women during pregnancy and postpartum thrombus will use big data sets for ai training collected in the project via 3 large scale clinical studies and will validate the outcome in the clinical setting via 1 early feasibility study and 1 multicenter clinical trial
spintronics based on ferroelectrics

current state of the art technologies demand high density and high performance electronic devices with reduced energy consumption this stretches the performance limits of complementary metal oxide semiconductor cmos transistors technology among the many beyond cmos approaches one of the most promising routes is the spintronics ecosystem in the framework of this project we aim to investigate a beyond cmos spintronics device recently proposed and called ferroelectric spin orbit feso device where the spin polarized states of a rashba interface are manipulated through its proximity with a ferroelectric material the projects innovation relies on the exploitation of this effect to transform spin to charge currents in a controllable manner through the reversing a ferroelectrics polarization to develop a new in memory computing technology the feso technology involves nonvolatility low operating voltage and much lower energy consumption compared to conventional cmos and other spintronic devices as a main scientific objective the researcher will investigate and understand the effect of the ferroelectric layer to feso devices performance in terms of materials choice growth quality dimensions and compatibility to ferromagnetic materials the main technological objective is to fabricate a prototype and characterize its operational performance with regards to cutting edge nanoelectronics standards the results of the project and key performance of the feso device will be tabulated in a roadmap during this project the researcher will be trained in advanced nanofabrication techniques and device characterization except from the research skills the researcher will also gain experience in a series of transferable skills this project constitutes a perfect opportunity to establish an independent scientific profile at the frontier of nanoelectronics and semiconductor industry a key field in the framework of major european commission initiatives
building consensus for a new approach to breast cancer prevention in women with a brca1 mutation

women with germline mutations in the brca1 genes face a 40fold increased risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer as a result and due to a lack of other options many women with a brca1 mutation choose to undergo drastic risk reducing surgery removal of both breasts ovaries and fallopian tubes when they are still very young drugs currently recommended for prevention of breast cancer such as tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors do not prevent those cancers with the poorest prognosis such as triple negative breast cancer methods to prevent breast and ovarian cancers in these women are therefore a critical unmet medical need we and others have identified progesterone as one of the key drivers for triple negative breast cancer development we have shown that progesterone is consistently elevated during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle in brca1 mutation carriers compared to women without such a mutation and preliminary data point to progesterone receptor antagonists such as mifepristone as a promising class of drugs for primary prevention clinical trials of primary cancer prevention are extremely challenging due to the timegap between the start of the cancerpreventive treatment and the primary endpoints ie cancer incidence and cancer death current tools do not predict the likelihood of future cancer development with sufficient accuracy to be used to determine the preventive efficacy of a new treatment we have developed dna methylation markers reflecting tissue age and cell type that are increased in cancer tissue as well as in normal tissue from women with a brca1 mutation and could be used to monitor preventive efficacyclinical trials are now required to further investigate the use of antiprogestins for the prevention of breast and ovarian cancer this erc proof of concept grant aims to bring consensus among the scientific patient and regulatoryethical communities regarding the design and conduct of an initial clinical trial
excellent peripheries for a strong european research area

the exper project aims at supporting the institutional transformation of university of las palmas de gran canaria and azores university through capacity building activities and through international cooperation with the leading universities of rostock university de and calabria it exper will enhance the scientific excellence and innovation capacity of the partnering universities with a focus on research fields addressing challenges and opportunities offered by the blue economy and circular economy the project specific objectives are to raise the excellence profile of ulpgc and uac and increase their attractiveness towards local and international talentsto design and plan the institutional transformation of the widening universitiesto organize supporting and capacity building activities to learn from leading organizations on how to increase research excellence and unlock the innovation potential of widening universities with a focus on knowledge transferto set the basis for a european university alliance which realises an integrated cooperation between the research and innovation dimension with the education and training dimensionexper will deploy a communitybased approach to outline a modernization strategy of the widening universities which involves representatives of the surrounding ecosystem the exper strategy will aim at stepping up and stimulating scientific excellence and innovation capacity of the widening universities and their role as drivers of economic and social transformation in their territories
first automated risk management platform to enable safety fairness explainability and continuous monitoring of generative ai systems

we target the global ai market which has current value of 1871b tam and a cagr of 373 until 2029 in this tam the generative ai market with 125b and 27 cagr constitutes a submarket addressed by us ai risk management and governance sector sam has a current market value of 220m and a cagr of 421 until 2029 industry leaders eg musk and wozniak request a stepping back from training models with an everincreasing complexity quantpis platform is the first allinone modelagnostic plug play solution for risk management of generative ai for the first time we enable companies developing or operating generative ai systems to automatically assess and mitigate major risks across dimensions such as performance fairness robustness explainability and more our solution assesses conformance with 100 standards and regulations including the eu ai act isoiec 23894 and nist ai rmf and assists companies in their pursuit of responsible and trustworthy ai systems
modeling erosion of scoria cones to constrain morphometrybased ages

the mecoma project aims to significantly improve hazard assessment of monogenetic volcanic fields vf by creating synergies between recent advances in landscape evolution modelling and the current understanding of scoria cones volcanic structure and evolution assessing hazards from vf is more challenging than that of polygenetic volcanoes as it requires understanding the spatiotemporal distribution of eruptions within the vf constraining temporal information is specifically challenging radiometric dating of scoria cones sc provides until now the most accurate estimate of the date of their eruption but it cannot be systematically applied to the hundreds or even thousands of sc within each of the many vf on earth morphometrybased dating of sc provides an alternative research has shown that following the cones emplacement the volcanic edifices morphology changes due to erosive processes parameters measuring the decrease of slope angle the degree of gully incision and cone irregularity are key indicators of erosion that can be quantified from digital terrain models dtm however some questions still need to be answered to use morphometric indicators as age estimators such as the control of sc size and climate conditions on the time evolution of morphometric indicators or the tradeoffs between diffusive and advective erosion processes mecoma project seeks answers to those questions by implementing numerical models to simulate erosion on cones under controlled erosive conditions and linking the results with an analysis of the morphologies of radiometricallydated scoria cones from different vf exposed to various climatic conditions as an outcome i expect to provide tools and clear guidelines that contribute to implementing morphometrybased dating techniques in vf worldwide and through my training at vub gain experience managing research projects and expertise in landscape evolution modelling and volcanic geomorphology
towards increased biosafety for nontarget insects damageactivated proteolysis to selectively enhance toxicity of pesticides

insects numbers and diversity have rapidly declined in the eu and worldwide pesticides and particularly the toxicity of insecticides to nontarget insects eg bees are one of the major drivers of insect declines apart from destabilizing natural ecosystems pollinator disappearance directly threatens food securityto help combat insect decline i propose an innovative approach for the damageactivation of propesticides dapp by plant proteases that are activated in the gut of feeding caterpillars nontarget beneficial insects that cause no damage including pollinators and natural enemies of pests are spared my team pioneers the study of proteolysis in the plant wound response following our recent discovery that physical damage activates a class of proteases called metacaspases i hypothesize that i damageactivated plant proteolysis is a largely unrecognized but potential key player in the plant wound response to insect herbivores and ii this knowledge can be used to enhance pesticide biosafety we will study the impact of fall armyworm spodoptera frugiperda an invasive insect pest and potential major threat to eu agriculture on the model plant arabidopsis thaliana and the economically important crop maize a combination of advanced nterminomics and novel proteome integral solubility alteration proteomics technologies will allow us to uncover unknown plant metacaspase substrates and damageactivated proteases and to assess their impact on insect herbivory these fundamental studies will feed information into a pipeline of firstinclass dapp development where we will modify biological insecticides with newlydiscovered protease cleavage sites finally we will test toxicity against target spodoptera and nontarget insects my earlystage and fundamental research on damageactivated proteolysis can have a tremendous positive impact on the increase of insecticide selectivity to help combat the escalating problem of insect decline