The main goal of this project is to produce software based on language processing and artificial intelligence that detects potential risks of different kinds (health, ecological, economical, etc.) in technical documents. We will concentrate on procedural documents which are, by large, the main type of technical document. Given a set of procedures (e.g. production launch, maintenance) over a certain domain produced by a company, and possibly given some domain knowledge (ontology or terminology), the goal is to process these procedures and to annotate them wherever potential risks are identified. Procedure authors are then invited to revise these documents. Risk analysis is based on three types of considerations: (1) Inappropriate ways of writing: complex expressions, implicit elements, gaps, inappropriate granularity level, etc. (2) Incoherence among procedures : detection of unusual ways of realizing an action (e.g. unusual instrument, temperature, length of treatment, etc.) w.r.t. similar actions in other procedures, (3) Domain requirements not followed in a procedure, therefore leading to risks. This software will be a prototype offering the main functions. It will be based on an existing stable prototype: , which is dedicated to text semantics: given a text grammar and lexical data, it tags in XML the corresponding structures. is in particular dedicated to procedure analysis (titles, instructions, prerequisites, warnings, explanations, etc.). is ‘just’ a language processing platform. To get a real operational value, it needs to be paired with applicative functionalities. One of the most crucial one is risk analysis and prevention in industrial processes via procedure analysis. We propose to pair with add-ons to fulfill this task: - a SAT4J solver (to check for coherence and completeness) , - some domain knowledge specified via a dedicated interface (Arias domain knowledge base) - a rewriting system to produce formal language expressions from natural statements, - two engines to handle the 3 points above together with interfaces and basic functionalities (display, reporting, etc.). This project is realized by the conjunction of efforts in language processing, artificial intelligence and cognitive ergonomics to better fulfill user needs and to make it acceptable. In terms of project management, a large user group is planned to provide us with feedback, to ensure we are on the right track. In terms of valorization, our vision is to offer a freeware engine with some limited linguistic data to show users the services we offer. The added value, which produces returns on investments, is based on the fact that an industrial deployment and integration requires a lot of knowhow and language resources which will be ‘sold’ to our customers. Our strategy is to enrich the product/application/services catalogue of one or more companies since we need industrial support to integrate this prototype into industrial processes. We will develop for that purpose a methodology for industrial deployment of this type of technology. It is clear that the number of customers around the world is potentially very large, since every activity where there are risks should be interested in this work: energy, transportation, health care, chemistry, etc. In terms of innovation, there are some products on requirement editing, but no realizations on the second stage of the process: procedure content analysis w.r.t. form (language) and contents (domain knowledge and requirements). Therefore our proposal fills a major gap.

It is generally agreed that trust is a key concept in nowadays information technologies, which applies not only in contexts where security is in focus. Beyond system reliability it ensures its usability by both human and artificial agents. Numerous works in sociology, psychology, philosophy and cognitive science on the one hand, and in computer science on the other, show that trust is a complex notion with multiple facets. While the concept is used by now in many applications, there is still no consensus about a clear-cut and unified definition. In this project we propose to start from Castelfranchi et col.'s theory of social trust, which is certainly on of the best established theories among the above mentioned disciplines. We are going to confront its analysis to the specific needs in security in order to extract the required key elements, and complete it by some notions that are required in implementations and a priori absent from the theory (such as trust dynamics, the link with the topic notion,...). We are also going to formalize the resulting theory in logic, and implement the properties that have thus been laid bare within agent platforms. The latter step will be done at two levels, viz. the individual and the collective level.

Due to the worldwide increase in life expectancy and evolution towards better life quality for patient there is an increasing demand in the development of biomaterials especially for orthopedic applications capable of: 1) injection processing using minimally invasive surgical techniques; 2) rapid and effective bone substitution, repair and even better regeneration at low cost; 3) limiting post-operative infectious risk and 4) rapid transfer to industrial scale. In a view to enhance the overall surgery benefits for the patient, four main characteristics of the biomaterial have to be considered and investigated: injectability, resorbability, biological activity (especially osteogenecity) and antibacterial activity. The strategy that will be developed in this industrial research program integrates this multiconstraints problem and it is based on the association of two innovative systems, i.e. calcium carbonate-based self-setting powders and selectively modified polysaccharides, and bioactive ions to produce an injectable composite bone substitute with biological and antibacterial activity. On one hand, the original compositions and rheological properties of injectable cement compositions entirely consisting of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) or including a high proportion of metastable CaCO3 (> 40% w/w) which have been recently demonstrated at CIRIMAT and which are expected to lead to bone cements with higher resorption rate due to CaCO3 metastability in biological fluids [Partner 1 patent]. On the other hand, new functional derivatives of chitosan and/or hyaluronic acid, leading to physical or chemical networks as a function of environment conditions have been recently synthesized at CERMAV [Partner 2 patent]. We will take advantage of these two inorganic and organic systems to propose new injectable self-setting composite formulations by controlling specific mineral-organic interactions. The polysaccharides will have different functions: - They will be used as an adjuvant to improve paste cohesiveness while keeping the physico-chemical properties especially injectability suitable for the surgical applications. - They will constitute the matrix of the microspheres which will be exploited to control the interconnected macroporosity of the cement on one hand, and to encapsulate biologically active agents on the other hand. Considering the drawbacks related to the widespread use of antibiotics to limit post-operative infections we propose an alternative strategy using the known antibacterial activity of silver ions. These cations can interact with tailor-made polysaccharide microspheres to give antibacterial sustained release systems within the composite. We will also investigate similar approach to impart osteogenic activity to the injectable composite through incorporation and control of the release of strontium ions whose positive effect on bone formation balance has been demonstrated. This “all-mineral ions” bioactivity strategy can also offer decisive advantage particularly regarding the costly Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP)-loaded biomaterials route which is currently developing. This research program implements an inter- and multidisciplinary research strategy based on the large consortium constituted which gathers 8 national partners (6 academic partners and 2 industrial partners (small companies)). It is combining highly complementary expertises of material scientists for self-setting composite material formulation, chemists to synthesize polysaccharides with tailor-made properties, rheologists for rheological characterization of composite paste, pharmacists for sustained release system formulation, microbiologists for antibacterial evaluation of the composite, biologists for cytocompatibility and biological activity in vitro evaluation of the composite, clinicians and histologists for the animal study and clinical trial, and R&D engineers for production scale-up and technology transfer.

The last decade has been marked by the deciphering of whole genome sequence in numerous species. Recent advances in transcriptomics further reveal that an unexpectedly large proportion of our genome produces atypical RNAs that, unlike mRNAs, do not encode proteins. From seminal works in nematodes, it is well now established that short non-coding RNAs (ncRNA), including microRNAs, play key roles in the control of development and differentiation. In addition, experimental cases show that large (>1kb) non-coding RNAs can contribute as well to various regulatory functions in the control of gene expression. The role and mode of action of large RNAs that do not encode proteins remains however poorly understood. Therefore, a major challenge resides in understanding the molecular and developmental functions of this novel class of RNAs. Most large RNAs nevertheless comprise small Open-Reading-Frames (smORF) that, precisely because of their small size, are generally considered as being non-functional and filtered off from annotations. However, at least some of these smORF may encode peptides, the abundance of which is probably underestimated. We have recently discovered that the Polished-rice (Pri) small peptides (11-32aa) encoded by an alleged “ncRNA” play a critical role in the control of transcriptional programs during the Drosophila development. These atypical small peptides therefore represent the first case of a novel regulatory mechanism. Several evidence support that small peptides encoded by apparently ncRNA fulfill additional roles in regulating development and differentiation, but their abundance, functional repertoire and mode of action remains entirely to be elucidated. We aim to address these questions by a combination of large scale functional and bio-informatics approaches in Drosophila. Our team is a recognized leader in the study of epidermal differentiation during Drosophila embryogenesis, as a paradigm of cell morphogenesis. Previous works have established the importance of the Shavenbaby Transcription Factor that determines, in a robust manner, the precise subset of epidermal cells forming apical extensions, referred to as trichomes. Consistently, independent modifications of Svb expression have caused diversification of trichome patterns throughout the evolution of insects. Shavenbaby directly activates the transcription of various cell effectors, collectively responsible for trichome cell morphogenesis. We have recently found that the transcriptional activity of the Svb protein is controlled by Polished-rice small peptides. During embryogenesis, Pri trigger the N-terminal truncation of the Svb protein, switching its activity from a (full length) Repressor an (truncated) Activator. Importantly, we obtained suitable conditions to transfer this functional interaction between Pri peptides and the Svb Transcription Factor in stable cell lines, providing a unique opportunity to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying this novel aspect of the control of genome expression. Based on accumulated biological tools and a collaborative network with international specialists, this research program aims at unraveling how small peptides control multiple steps of the Drosophila development. Our specific goals are to: 1) provide compelling insights into the molecular determinants and cellular factors mediating Pri peptides activity on the truncation of the Svb transcription factor, 2) identify additional cellular functions and the corresponding regulators that are targeted by Pri peptides during Drosophila development, 3) use Pri as a paradigm to explore the repertoire of small peptides putatively encoded by similar apparently non-coding RNAs.

There are many different methods which contribute to improving software quality. They range from requirement techniques, architecture design, specification languages and programming languages to testing and program verification techniques. Such methods are often specific to a programming paradigm. Rule-based programming and high-level replacement systems constitute one of the most promising abstract programming paradigms. The merits of string and term rewriting are well known, in particular when it comes to applying verification techniques. However, several real-life problems cannot be encoded easily by means of trees but need more powerful structures such as graphs. Graphs are actually common mathematical structures which are visual and intuitive. They constitute a natural and high-level way for system modeling in several areas of science including computer science (such as Model Driven Engineering and security analysis), life sciences, business processes, etc. The goal of the project CLIMTconsists in developing new very high level frameworks to formally design and prove rule-based programs which handle complex structures modeled as graphs. To achieve this goal, we plan to organize our investigation according to three lines of research: 1. The first line consists in investigating new classes of graph transformation systems with particular emphasis on new features such as cloning and inductive attributes. Here, category theory provides a declarative setting, abstracting away from particular implementation methods or logical frameworks. 2.The abstract setting will be concretized in a second line of research which consists in devising new logics and proof techniques dedicated to express and to perform semi-automatically the proofs of correctness and properties of the considered rewriting systems. The emphasis here is on developing a notion of graph transformation programs, on deriving a logic for reasoning about these programs, and on formalizing this logic in an interactive proof assistant, thus permitting machine-supported verification of graph transformations. 3. In a third line, we aim at offering substantial proof automation, by extracting proof obligations to be simplified by focused tactics or to be proved by specialized decision procedures or solvers, such as SAT or SMT solvers. Particular emphasis will be put on avoiding the generation of redundant proof obligations in the first place. On the basis of the previously developed formalization, the soundness of these optimizations can be ensured. This project will be an opportunity to gather complementary skills in graph transformation, automated theorem proving, type theory and logic in order to propose new formal methods, efficient techniques and specific tools for the development and certification of rule-based programs operating on graphs.