ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

Many processes in the chemical, petrochemical and/or biological industries involve three phase gas-liquidsolid flows, where the solid material acts as a catalyst carrier, the gas phase supplies the reactants for the (bio-)chemical transformations and the liquid phase carries the product. In these processes the performance and operation of the reactor is mostly constrained by the interfacial mass transfer rate and the achievable insitu heat removal rate. A micro-structured bubble column reactor that significantly improves these crucial properties is proposed in this project. This novel type of reactor takes advantage of micro-structuring of the catalyst carrier in the form of a wire-mesh (see Figure 1). The aim of the wire-mesh is i) to cut bubbles into smaller pieces leading to a larger interfacial area, ii) to enhance the bubble interface dynamics and mass transfer due to the interaction between the bubbles and the wires, and iii) to save costs in practical operation due to the smaller required reactor volume and the fact that there is no need for an external filtration unit. Cutting edge three-phase direct numerical simulation (DNS) tools and novel non-invasive optical (highspeed camera) techniques are used to study the micro-scale interaction between bubbles and a wire-mesh to gain understanding of the splitting and merging of bubbles and associated mass transfer characteristics. Furthermore, a proof-of-principle of the micro-structured reactor will be given through lab-scale experiments and macroscopic Euler-Lagrange numerical simulations, employing bubble-wire interaction closures based on the DNS simulations. In addition to the novel reactor type, the project will generate a broad set of fundamental numerical and experimental research tools that can be used for the improvement of various gas-liquid-solid processes. Several large companies (AkzoNobel, DSM, Sabic and Shell) have indicated their interest in the proposed project and would like to be involved in a users committee.

1 500 000 €

Start date: 2010-09-01, End date: 2015-08-31

This project is directed towards development of new laser diagnostic techniques and a deepened physical understanding of more established techniques, aiming at new insights in phenomena related to combustion processes. These non-intrusive techniques with high resolution in space and time, will be used for measurements of key parameters, species concentrations and temperatures. The techniques to be used are; Non-linear optical techniques, mainly Polarization spectroscopy, PS. PS will mainly be developed for sensitive detection with high spatial resolution of "new" species in the IR region, e.g. individual hydrocarbons, toxic species as well as alkali metal compounds. Multiplex measurements of these species and temperature will be developed as well as 2D visualization. Quantitative measurements with high precision and accuracy; Laser induced fluorescence and Rayleigh/Raman scattering will be developed for quantitative measurements of species concentration and 2D temperatures. Also a new technique will be developed for single ended experiments based on picosecond LIDAR. Advanced imaging techniques; New high speed (10-100 kHz) visualization techniques as well as 3D and even 4D visualization will be developed. In order to properly visualize dense sprays we will develop Ballistic Imaging as well as a new technique based on structured illumination of the area of interest for suppression of multiple scattering which normally cause blurring effects. All techniques developed above will be used for key studies of phenomena related to various combustion phenomena; turbulent combustion, multiphase conversion processes, e.g. spray combustion and gasification/pyrolysis of solid bio fuels. The techniques will also be applied for development and physical understanding of how combustion could be influenced by plasma/electrical assistance. Finally, the techniques will be prepared for applications in industrial combustion apparatus, e.g. furnaces, gasturbines and IC engines

2 466 000 €

Start date: 2010-02-01, End date: 2015-01-31

"Mutation and recombination are fundamental biological processes that determine adaptability of populations. The mutation rate reflects the equilibrium between the need to adapt, the burden of mutation load, the “cost of fidelity”, and random drift that determines a lower limit in achievable fidelity. Recombination fulfills an essential mechanistic role during meiosis, ensuring proper chromosomal segregation. Recombination affects the rate of creation and loss of favorable haplotypes, imposing 2nd-order selection pressure on modifiers of recombination. It is becoming apparent that recombination and mutation rates vary between individuals, and that these differences are in part inherited. Both processes are therefore “evolvable”, and amenable to genomic analysis. Identifying genetic determinants underlying these differences will provide insights in the regulation of mutation and recombination. The mutational load, and in particular the number of lethal equivalents per individual, remains poorly defined as epidemiological and molecular data yield estimates that differ by one order of magnitude. A relationship between recombination and fertility has been reported in women but awaits confirmation. Population structure (small effective population size; large harems), phenotypic data collection (systematic recording of > 50 traits on millions of cows), and large-scale SNP genotyping (for genomic selection), make cattle populations uniquely suited for genetic analysis. DAMONA proposes to exploit these unique resources, combined with recent advances in next generation sequencing and genotyping, to: (i) quantify and characterize inter-individual variation in male and female mutation and recombination rates, (ii) map, fine-map and identify causative genes underlying QTL for these four phenotypes, (iii) test the effect of loss-of-function variants on >50 traits including fertility, and (iv) study the effect of variation in recombination on fertility."

2 258 000 €

Start date: 2013-03-01, End date: 2018-02-28

Much light has been shed on the number, mechanisms and functions of protein-coding genes in the human genome. In comparison, we know almost nothing about the origins and mechanisms of the functional dark matter , including sequence that is transcribed outside of protein-coding gene loci. This interdisciplinary proposal will capitalize on new theoretical and experimental opportunities to establish the extent by which long non-coding RNAs contribute to mammalian and fruit fly biology. Since 2001, the Ponting group has pioneered the comparative analysis of protein-coding genes across the amniotes and Drosophilids within many international genome sequencing consortia. This Advanced Grant will break new ground by applying these approaches to long intergenic non-coding RNA (lincRNA) genes from mammals to birds and to flies. The Grant will allow Ponting to free himself of the constraints normally associated with in silico analyses by analysing lincRNAs in vitro and in vivo. The integration of computational and experimental approaches for lincRNAs from across the metazoan tree provides a powerful new toolkit for elucidating the origins and biological roles of these enigmatic molecules. Catalogues of lincRNA loci will be built for human, mouse, fruit fly, zebrafinch, chicken and Aplysia by exploiting data from next-generation sequencing technologies. This will immediately provide a new perspective on how these loci arise, evolve and function, including whether their orthologues are apparent across diverse species. Using new evidence that lincRNA loci act in cis with neighbouring protein-coding loci, we will determine lincRNA mechanisms and will establish the consequences of lincRNA knock-down, knock-out and over-expression in mouse, chick and fruitfly.

2 400 000 €

Start date: 2010-05-01, End date: 2015-04-30

98% of the human genome is non-protein coding raising the question of the role of the dark matter of the genome. It is now admitted that pervasive transcription generates thousands of noncoding transcripts that regulate gene expression and have broad impacts on development and disease. Among the long non coding (lnc)RNAs, antisense transcripts have been poorly studied despite their putative regulatory importance. Several functional examples include X-chromosome inactivation, maintenance of pluripotency and transcriptional regulation. However, no systematic study has yet addressed the comprehensive functional description of human antisense ncRNA, mainly because of technological issues and their low abundance. Indeed, in budding yeast S. cerevisiae, our group showed the existence of an entire class of antisense regulatory lncRNA extremely sensitive to RNA decay pathways, impinging their study so far. The roles for yeast antisense lncRNAs in shaping the epigenome raises important questions: What are the molecular and biochemical mechanisms by which antisense lncRNAs carry out their functions and are they functionally conserved in human cells? We propose that the dark side of the non-coding genome is another layer of gene regulation complexity that needs to be deciphered. With this proposal, we aim to draw the first exhaustive catalog of human antisense lncRNA in various cell types and tissues using up to date High throughput technologies and bioinformatics pipelines. Second, we propose to determine the functional role of antisense lncRNA on genome expression and stability in the context of cellular stress and cancer. We anticipate that powerful and modern genetic tools such DNA-mediated gene inactivation (ASO) and TALEN approaches will allow precise antisense genes manipulation never achieved so far. Our project is strongly supported by preliminary data indicating an unexpected large number of hidden antisense lncRNA in human cells controlled by RNA decay pathways.

1 998 884 €

Start date: 2014-12-01, End date: 2019-11-30

Liquid-liquid extraction - the transfer of a solute from one solvent to another - is a core process in chemical technology and analysis. The current challenge is to miniaturise the analyte extraction process and to optimize the extraction recovery and preconcentration factor. Lacking a priori calculations, this is now often done by trial-and-error. However, to control and optimize the extraction processes, it is crucial to quantitatively understand the diffusive droplet dynamics in multicomponent fluid systems. This is essential and urgently needed not only for modern liquid-liquid extraction processes for diagnostics & microanalysis, for droplet microfluidics, or in the paint & coating industry, but on larger scales also in remediation industry, in chemical technology, or in food processing. These applications of droplets governed by diffusion include cases of immersed droplets in the bulk & on a surface, single & multicomponent droplets & solvents, and cases with high droplet number density. In spite of their relevance, multiphase & multicomponent fluid systems with relevant diffusive droplet dynamics are poorly understood. The objective of DDD is a breakthrough: to fill this gap and to come to a quantitative understanding of diffusive droplet dynamics, thus illuminating the fundamental fluid dynamics of diffusive processes of immersed (multicomponent) (surface) droplets on multiple scales. To achieve this objective, we will perform a number of key controlled experiments and numerical simulations for idealized setups on 9 orders of magnitude in length scale, allowing for one-to-one comparison between experiments and numerics/theory. It is now time to bridge the gap from modern fluid dynamics to process-technology, colloidal & interface science, from nano/microscopic and purely diffusively governed droplets to macroscopic ones and from single droplets to multiple & multi-component droplets, to arrive at multiscale high-precision chemical engineering for droplets.

2 937 500 €

Start date: 2017-05-01, End date: 2022-04-30

Core formation represents the major chemical differentiation event on the terrestrial planets, involving the separation of a metallic liquid from the silicate matrix that subsequently evolves into the current silicate crust and mantle. The generation of the Earth’s magnetic field is ultimately tied to the segregation and crystallization of the core, and is an important factor in establishing planetary habitability. The processes that control core segregation and the depths and temperatures at which this process took place are poorly understood, however. We propose to study those processes. Specifically, the density of the core is lower than would be expected for pure iron, indicating that a light component (O, Si, S, C, H) must be present. Similarly, the Earth’s mantle is richer in iron-loving (“siderophile”) elements, e.g, V, W, Mo, Ru, Pd, etc., than would be expected based upon low pressure metal-silicate partitioning data. Solutions to these problems are hampered by the pressure range of existing experimental data, < 25 GPa, equivalent to ~700 km in the Earth. We propose to extend the accessible range of pressures and temperatures by developing protocols that link the laser-heated diamond anvil cell with analytical techniques such as (i) the NanoSIMS, (ii) the focused ion beam device (FIB), (iii) and transmission and secondary electron microscopy, allowing us to obtain quantitative data on element partitioning and chemical composition at extreme conditions relevant to the Earth’s lower mantle. The technical motivation follows from the fact that the real limitation on trace element partitioning studies at ultra high-pressure has been the grain size of the phases produced at high P-T, relative to the spatial resolution of the analytical methods available to probe the experiments; we can bridge the gap by combining state-of-the-art laser heating experiments with new nano-scale analytical techniques.

1 509 200 €

Start date: 2008-11-01, End date: 2013-10-31

Historically, people around the world have demanded democratic institutions. Such democratic movements propel political change and also determine economic outcomes. In this project, we ask, how do political preferences, beliefs, and second-order beliefs shape the strategic decision to participate in a movement demanding democracy? Existing scholarship is unsatisfactory because it is conducted ex post: preferences, beliefs, and behavior have converged to a new equilibrium. In contrast, we examine a democratic movement in real time, studying the ongoing democracy movement in Hong Kong. Our study is composed of four parts. In Part 1, we collect panel survey data from Hong Kong university students, a particularly politically active subpopulation. We collect data on preferences, behavior, beliefs, and second-order beliefs using incentivized and indirect elicitation to encourage truthful reporting. We analyze the associations among these variables to shed light on the drivers of participation in the democracy movement. In Part 2, we exploit experimental variation in the provision of information to study political coordination. Among participants in the panel survey, we provide information regarding the preferences and beliefs of other students. We examine whether exposure to information regarding peers causes students to update their beliefs and change their behavior. In Part 3, we extend the analysis in Part 1 to a nationally representative sample of Hong Kong citizens. To do so, we have added a module regarding political preferences, beliefs, and behavior (including incentivized questions and questions providing cover for responses to politically sensitive topics) to the HKPSSD panel survey. In Part 4, we study preferences for redistribution – plausibly a central driver for demands for political rights – among Hong Kong citizens and mainland Chinese. We examine how these preferences differ across populations, as well as their link to support for democracy.

1 494 647 €

Start date: 2017-03-01, End date: 2022-02-28

Mental retardation, like most common neurodevelopmental and psychiatric diseases, shows a strong genetic component, but these underlying genetic causes remain largely unknown. For a long time it was hypothesized that these kind of common diseases are mainly caused by common inherited genetic variants with reduced penetrance. In contrast to this common variant-common disease hypothesis, I here hypothesize that a large proportion of this so-called “missing heritability” for conditions such as mental retardation, schizophrenia, and autism lies in de novo genetic variation that is rapidly eliminated from the population because individuals with such diseases have severely compromised fecundity. My previous work using microarrays has already demonstrated de novo genomic copy number variations in mental retardation and in schizophrenia. However, microarrays do not allow us to capture the most common form of de novo mutations, those occurring at the nucleotide level. Technological innovations now for the first time allow us to comprehensively study the entire genome of an individual for genomic variations at all levels. In this project I will explore the de novo mutation hypothesis in whole exome and whole genome sequence data from patients with mental retardation. I will optimize and apply whole genome sequencing strategies using patient-parent trios, both in rare mental retardation syndromes as well as common forms of mental retardation. Guidelines for pathogenicity will be established by computational studies aimed at unraveling genotype-phenotype correlations in these family-based genome sequence type datasets. This project will contribute significantly to resolving the genetic causes of reproductively lethal disorders such as mental retardation, provide critical knowledge on the frequency and consequences of de novo mutations in our genome and help to establish medical genome sequencing as a routine diagnostic approach.

1 499 154 €

Start date: 2012-02-01, End date: 2017-01-31