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Legionella spp. causes acute respiratory infection in humans called Legionnaires' Disease (LD). As aquatic environments are the most important source for Legionella infections it is important from a public health perspective to survey water systems for the presence of Legionella [1]. In recent years, the occurence rate of LD has been reported to be on the increase in many countries [2] and Portugal is not an exception with several media cases being reported very recently [3,4]. The standard method for the detection of Legionella in environmental samples is culture on BCYE agar supplemented with L-cysteine. However, it is very time-consuming and fraught with limitations, since it cannot detect viable but non-culturable cells (VBNC). In other hand, the molecular methods based on PCR overestimate results as it detects both live and killed Legionella [2]. Additionally PCR requires special equipment for nucleic acid extraction and amplification steps, which limit its use to centralised laboratories, hindered the price for testing. In this project we will attempt the development of a NAM-Based ISH method (ColorISH) for the rapid (3h) detection of Legionella cell densities in water samples. This project intended to give insights for the future development of a point-of-use method that can potentially be used to monitor water samples in loco, using a simple and portable detection equipment (e.g. spectrophotometer). To accomplish the ambitious goals of this project, a team with extensive expertise in complementary areas of knowledge was gathered, supplying the consortium with the necessary know-how on mimics and colorimetric methods. The group at FEUP/LEPABE, that includes the PI of the project (Laura Cerqueira) has extensive know-how working with NAM properties and applications, and was involved in the creation of one of the most promising biotechnological companies in Portugal, named Biomode, that recently raised 1.6M€ in venture capital and sells PNA-FISH kits for the detection of pathogens (www.biomode-sa.com). They will be responsible to design nucleic acid mimics sequences and develop the FISH protocols that will be used to develop the colorimetric method. The group at INIAV, that includes Co-PI (Carina Almeida), will be giving advice on the development of colorimetric method and will be responsible to test the performance and robustness of the method. The setup of this project also has the goal of establishing a long-lasting collaboration that will not only strengthen the National Science and Technology System (SCTN) but also to promote collaborations with the industry.The project will also contribute to train two young researchers in the area of molecular biology/microbiology. A Legionella spp. é uma bactéria causadora de infecção respiratória em humanos designada por Doença dos Legionários (DL). Uma vez que os ambientes aquáticos são as mais importantes fontes de infecção por Legionella, é pertinente de uma perspectiva de saúde publica monitorizar a sua presença em sistemas de água [1]. Nos últimos anos a ocorrência de DL tem crescido em muitos países [2] e Portugal não é exceção, tendo sido reportados alguns casos recentemente [3,4]. O conhecimento sobre a epidemiologia de DL é baseado sobretudo na informação recolhida nos surtos. O método standard utilizado para detectar Legionella em amostras ambientais é a cultura em BCYE agar suplementado com L-cisteína. No entanto este método é muito moroso e bastante limitado uma vez que não consegue detectar células viáveis mas não cultiváveis (VBNC). Por outro lado, os métodos moleculares baseados em PCR sobrestimam os resultados uma vez que detectam tanto células vivas como mortas [2]. Precisam também de equipamento especial o que limita o seu uso em laboratórios centralizados, tendo consequentemente preços mais elevados. O objectivo deste projeto é desenvolver um método de ISH com o uso de NAMs (ColorISH) para a detecção rápida (3h) de densidades celulares de Legionella em amostras de água. Este projeto pretende ser a base para um futuro desenvolvimento de um método pronto a usar que pode ser potencialmente utilizado no local usando apenas um sistema de detecção simples e portátil (espectrofotómetro). Para cumprir com os objectivos ambiciosos deste projeto em tão curto prazo, uma equipa com vasta experiência em áreas complementares de conhecimento foi seleccionada fornecendo ao consórcio o know-how necessário sobre NAMs e métodos colorimétricos. O grupo da FEUP/LEPABE, que inclui o IR do projeto (Laura Cerqueira), tem um vasto know-how sobre propriedades e aplicações de NAMs. O grupo está envolvido na criação de uma das empresas biotecnológicas mais promissoras em Portugal, a Biomode, que recentemente angariou 1,6M€ em capital de risco e vende kits de PNA-FISH para a detecção de microrganismos patogénicos (www.biomode-sa.com). Eles serão responsáveis por desenhar as sequências de NAMs e desenvolver os protocolos de ISH que serão usados no método colorimétrico. O grupo do INIAV, que inclui o Co-PI (Carina Almeida) acompanhará o desenvolvimento do método colorimétrico e será responsável por testar o seu desempenho e robustez. O projeto também contribuirá para treinar dois jovens investigadores na interface biologia molecular/microbiologia. Este projeto tem também o objectivo de estabelecer uma colaboração de longa duração que não só irá fortalecer o SCTN, mas também promover colaborações com a industria. O projeto também contribuirá para treinar dois jovens investigadores na interface biologia molecular/microbiologia.

In the domain of Cybersecurity Research and innovation, European scientists hold pioneering positions in fields such as cryptography, formal methods, or secure components. Yet this excellence on focused domains does not translate into larger-scale, system-level advantages. Too often, scattered and small teams fall short of critical mass capabilities, despite demonstrating world-class talent and results. Europe’s strength is in its diversity, but that strength is only materialised if we cooperate, combine, and develop common lines of research. Given today’s societal challenges, this has become more than an advantage – an urgent necessity. Various approaches are being developed to enhance collaboration at many levels. Europe’s framework programs have sprung projects in cybersecurity over the past thirty years, encouraging international cooperation and funding support actions. More recently, the Cybersecurity PPP has brought together public institutions and industrial actors around common roadmaps and projects. While encouraging, these efforts have highlighted the need to break the mould, to step up investments and intensify coordination. The SPARTA proposal brings together a unique set of actors at the intersection of scientific excellence, technological innovation, and societal sciences in cybersecurity. Strongly guided by concrete and risky challenges, it will setup unique collaboration means, leading the way in building transformative capabilities and forming world-leading expertise centres. Through innovative governance, ambitious demonstration cases, and active community engagement, SPARTA aims at re-thinking the way cybersecurity research is performed in Europe across domains and expertise, from foundations to applications, in academia and industry.

We rely on soil to support the crops on which we depend. Less obviously we also rely on soil for a host of 'free services' from which we benefit. For example, soil buffers the hydrological system greatly reducing the risk of flooding after heavy rain; soil contains very large quantities of carbon, which would otherwise be released into the atmosphere where it would contribute to climate change. Given its importance it is not surprising that soil, especially its interaction with plant roots, has been a focus of many researchers. However the complex and opaque nature of soil has always made it a difficult medium to study. In this ERC research program I will develop a state of the art image based model of the physical and chemical properties of soil and soil-root interactions, i.e., a quantitative, model of the rhizosphere based on fundamental scientific laws. This will be realised by a combination of innovative, data rich fusion of structural and chemical imaging methods, integration of experimental efforts to both support and challenge modelling capabilities at the scale of underpinning bio-physical processes, and application of mathematically sound homogenisation/scale-up techniques to translate knowledge from rhizosphere to field scale. The specific science questions I will address with these techniques are: (1) how does the soil around the root, the rhizosphere, function and influence the soil ecosystems at multiple scales, (2) what is the role of root-soil interface micro morphology and mycorrhizae on plant nutrient uptake, (3) what is the effect of plant exuded mucilage on the soil morphology, mechanics and resulting field and ecosystem scale soil function and (4) how to translate this knowledge from the single root scale to root system, field and ecosystem scale in order to predict how the climate change, different soil management strategies and plant breeding will influence the soil fertility.

The need for inexpensive yet highly efficient photodetectors and solar cells is driving the search for a new generation of semiconductors that have high absorbance in the visible, broad wavelength operation range, are transparent and flexible albeit with strong light-matter interaction, and are easy to process. Manufacturing these optoelectronic devices at a large scale involves concerns at technological, economical, ecological, social and political levels. Ideally, the new materials are abundant, easily processed and feature long term stability and non-toxicity. The advent of 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs). e.g., MoS2 and WS2, has generated great expectations since these materials fulfill all these requirements. 2D-TMDCs exhibit direct band gaps, high absorption coefficients, and high carrier mobility values, making them promising candidates for optoelectronic applications. The out-of-plane quantum confinement responsible for the direct bandgap in the monolayer, also allows for the modulation of the bandgap as a function of the number of layers. However, for photovoltaics (PV), even if transparency is an important attribute in some niche markets, e.g. building-integrated PV, thickness-limited absorption poses a challenge in general. To overcome this issue, we propose a photonic nanostructuration to maximize light harvesting in these devices. We will combine strong interference effects based in the small penetration in a metallic substrate and the light trapping due to the nanostructuration by lithography of TMDCs over a metallic substrate. Resonators with high-quality factors will have potential applications in light harvesting devices, such as photodetectors, but also in solar cells. We will design and fabricate such an efficient photodetector, and also a solar cell incorporating the photonic design, and demonstrate enhanced performance in a metal back reflector/TMDC/graphene device.

Early diagnosis of cancer is important for improved survival and patient experience. Reaching a diagnosis needs correct and timely collection of information from consultations, tests and follow-up of results. However, diagnosis can be difficult as non-cancerous conditions are common and cancer is quite rare. The use of tests forms a very important part in diagnosis, but this may also increase the time to cancer diagnosis. It is likely that what and when tests are done and how results are communicated can vary for different patients with the same cancer. These differences may represent missed diagnostic opportunities in some cases. In this project, I will explore how patients with kidney and bladder cancer are diagnosed. Bladder and kidney cancer will be studied together as patients usually present with blood in the urine or other urinary symptoms, and similar tests are done to look for both types of cancer. Despite the increasing trends and gender differences in how quickly these cancers are diagnosed, there is little information on how they are diagnosed. Therefore, studying this and whether there are delays in the use of tests is important to understand how we can improve early diagnosis of these cancers.

The origin and destiny of the Neandertal lineage remains one of the key research questions addressed by Paleoanthropology and Paleolithic Archeology. The project's goal is to advance current knowledge in this scientific field. Begun in 1987, the study of the karst system associated with the spring of River Almonda has contributed the first reliable archeological and chrono-stratigraphic evidence for the study, in Portugal, of the crucial period comprised between 400,000 and 40,000 years ago. The excavation of Gruta da Oliveira exposed a 13 m-thick Mousterian stratigraphy that has already become one of the reference sequences for the study of the Middle Paleolithic of Europe, while the excavation of Gruta da Aroeira revealed an Acheulian cave-habitation context -- one of the few such, in situ contexts known worldwide and in which the presence of concentrations of burnt bone suggests a controlled use of fire. Both sites have also yielded human fossils: at Oliveira, isolated teeth and fragmentary post-cranial Neandertal remains; isolated teeth were also found at Aroeira, alongside a partial cranium that places Almonda in the map of the European sites with paleontologically relevant fossils from the period during which Homo erectus evolved into Homo sapiens. The Gruta da Figueira Brava (Arrábida), excavated 2010-2013 by the project's team, has shown that Atlantic Iberia's Last Interglacial Neandertals exploited marine foods in a scale comparable to that documented among the Mesolithic hunter-gatherers of the estuaries of the Tagus and the Sado. Contra arguments to that effect based on South Africa's Middle Stone Age record, broad spectrum economies and habitual fish consumption are therefore neither exclusive to anatomically modern humans nor can they explain the latter's origin and expansion. Following-up on our previous work, the project has the following goals: (a) in the lab, to conclude the study and publication of the Paleolithic contexts (stone tools, faunal, human and macrobotanical remains, etc.) already excavated by the team at Figueira Brava and at the different Almonda sites, and of their paleoenvironmental background; (b) in the field, to undertake test excavation at new sites in the Almonda system that have already been located but remain unexplored and are estimated to have the potential to fill-in the slots of the local sequence that remain void (namely, the intervals 250,000-100,000 and 40,000-25,000 years ago), as well as to carry out small scale additional excavation of sites known to contain stratigraphic contexts relevant to two major scientific issues addressed by the project -- the Neandertal exploitation of marine resources (Gruta da Figueira Brava), and the nature and timing of the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition, namely where the late persistence of the Neandertals in Portugal and southern Spain is concerned (Gruta do Caldeirão). A investigação da origem e destino da linhagem neandertal é uma das questões-chave da Paleoantropologia e da Arqueologia paleolítica. O projecto visa contribuir para o avanço dos conhecimentos neste domínio. Iniciado em 1987, o estudo do sistema cársico associado à nascente do rio Almonda permitiu obter os primeiros dados arqueológicos e crono-estratigráficos fiáveis para o estudo, em território português, do período compreendido entre 400.000 e 40.000 anos antes do presente. A escavação da Gruta da Oliveira expôs uma estratigrafia moustierense de 13 m que é já uma das sequências de referência para o estudo do Paleolítico Médio europeu, e a escavação da Gruta da Aroeira revelou um contexto habitacional acheulense em gruta -- um dos raros contextos deste tipo conhecidos, in situ, a nível mundial, e em que a presença de concentrações de ossos queimados sugere domínio e uso controlado do fogo. As duas jazidas deram também fósseis humanos. No caso da Oliveira, trata-se de neandertais: material pós-craniano fragmentário e dentes isolados. No caso da Aroeira, trata-se de dentes isolados e de um crânio parcial que coloca o Almonda no mapa das jazidas europeias com fósseis paleontologicamente relevantes datados do período em que o Homo erectus evoluiu para Homo sapiens. A Gruta da Figueira Brava (Arrábida), escavada pela equipa do projecto entre 2010 e 2013, permitiu demonstrar que, na fachada atlântica ibérica, os neandertais do último interglaciar exploravam os recursos marinhos em escala comparável à dos caçadores-recolectores mesolíticos dos estuários do Tejo e do Sado. Portanto, ao contrário do que tem sido proposto com base no registo da Middle Stone Age da África do Sul, as economias de espectro amplo e o consumo habitual de peixe nem são exclusivos do homem anatomicamente moderno nem podem explicar a sua origem e expansão. Dando continuidade ao trabalho anterior, o projecto tem os seguintes objectivos: (a) em laboratório, concluir o estudo e publicação dos contextos paleolíticos (indústria lítica, restos de fauna, restos humanos, restos macrobotânicos, etc.) já escavados nas diferentes jazidas do sistema do Almonda e na Figueira Brava e seu enquadramento paleoambiental; (b) no campo, realizar sondagens dirigidas à caracterização de jazidas do sistema do Almonda já identificadas mas ainda não exploradas e que se estima terem potencial para preencher os espaços vazios da sequência local (os intervalos 250.000-100.000 e 40.000-25.000 anos), bem como levar a cabo intervenções pontuais de escavação em sítios nos quais está já documentada a presença de contextos relevantes para o esclarecimento de dois dos importantes problemas científicos sobre os quais o projecto pretende arrojar luz -- a exploração neandertal dos recursos marinhos (Gruta da Figueira Brava), e a natureza e cronologia da transição do Paleolítico Médio ao Superior, nomeadamente no que respeita à persistência tardia dos Neandertais em Portugal e sul de Espanha (Gruta do Caldeirão).

HOMER is aiming at the development of non-intrusive experimental flow diagnostic and data assimilation methods to expand capabilities from the aerodynamic analysis to the investigations of fluid-structure-interactions (FSI) in wind tunnels and other test facilities. The objective of the project is to develop an unattained combined diagnostic approach with simultaneous optical measurements of fluid and structure. When this is achieved, the measurements can be treated invoking the relation between the balancing forces (inertia-, elastic- and aerodynamic forces) interacting (non-linearly) within the s.c. Collar Triangle (FI + FE + FA = 0). The research focuses on the application and further development of time-resolved volumetric (4D) flow field measurements that enable determining the fluid flow pressure. 3D PIV and Lagrangian Particle Tracking (LPT) along with Digital Image Correlation (DIC) are tailored to determine the position and dynamics of fluid and surface motion and deformations. Pressure Sensitive Paint (PSP) methods will be employed simultaneously with DIC and PIV/LPT to obtain the surface pressure at transonic flow velocities together with the model deformation. The project realizes experiments that support the validation needs of MDO tool developments, enhance the physical knowledge about Fluid-Structure-Interaction phenomena and range from the assessment of the method (turbulent flow over a deforming surface) to relevant problems in aeronautics (transonic buffeting) and flapping flight mechanics.

As summarised in the extracted text below from our full application (page 5 "Proposed work") in Section 10 of this application form (and described in more detail on pages 5-16 of Section 10). During the next 5 years, it is intended to: - Extend cohort-wide linkage to primary care health records, while maintaining and updating health outcome data from existing linkages to death, cancer and hospital records (and explore the added value of linkages to additional healthcare datasets); - Further develop and implement large-scale identification and characterization of many different types of health outcome; - Streamline the research access systems, and improve methods for processing, presenting and providing linked healthcare data to researchers; - Maintain the sample resource, and make increasing amounts of different types of genotype and biomarker data available; - Conduct imaging assessments in 100,000 participants, and develop and implement further enhancements (such as cardiac monitoring and further sample collection and assays). Efforts will continue to be made to ensure that researchers from around the world are suitably well informed about the resource so that the effective use of it increases substantially, leading to novel findings that have a major impact on human health.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common cause of physical disability in adults, affecting millions of people worldwide. It is associated with the breakdown of cartilage, causing pain and joint stiffness. However, other than pain management and surgery, treatments capable of changing the course of this disease and slowing down its progression are not available. Previously, the Meng lab discovered a temperature-responsive body clock in cartilage cells that tracks time and controls important physiological processes, namely tissue repair. This clock becomes deregulated as we age and in the joints of people suffering from OA, playing an important role in disease progression. In this project, we will take a multidisciplinary approach to better understand how the periodic application of heat to the joint affects the clock at the molecular level. To do so, we will use cartilage from mice and patient samples to establish the ideal conditions to restore clock function by testing different temperatures and treatment durations/frequencies. Then, we will study whether repair mechanisms in cartilage have been strengthened by analysing global gene expression patterns and identifying possible therapeutic targets. These studies will help us investigate the potential of using a body clock-based heat treatment to slow down OA progression.