Swarthmore College

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SIGNALING PATHWAYS IN EARLY HEART DEVELOPMENT

"BLUEPRINTS (PHASE III)"

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RUI: AGE STRUCTURE OF SOCIAL GROUPS AS A CRITICAL DEMOGRAPHIC FACTOR IN THE EVOLUTION OF BEHAVIOR -THIS PROJECT WILL TEST HOW THE AGE OF SOCIAL PARTNERS IN A POPULATION DETERMINES SOCIAL BEHAVIOR AND ADAPTATION. AS INDIVIDUALS AGE, THEIR OWN BEHAVIORAL EXPRESSION CHANGES, MEANING THAT POPULATIONS WITH OLDER MEMBERS REPRESENT A SUBSTANTIALLY DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENT THAN POPULATIONS WITH YOUNGER ONES. POPULATION AGE STRUCTURE CAN THEREBY DETERMINE HOW INDIVIDUALS INTERACT WITH CONSPECIFICS, ALTER WHICH TRAITS DETERMINE FITNESS, AND ULTIMATELY DETERMINE THE STRENGTH AND FORM OF NATURAL AND SEXUAL SELECTION. UNDERSTANDING HOW AGE STRUCTURE GENERATES AND MAINTAINS BEHAVIORAL DIVERSITY REQUIRES A MULTILEVEL APPROACH THAT TESTS HOW INDIVIDUALS CHANGE THEIR CURRENT PHENOTYPIC EXPRESSION, AS WELL AS HOW SELECTION SHAPES BEHAVIOR OVER EVOLUTIONARY TIME. THIS WORK WILL BE THE FIRST TO EVALUATE THE IMPORTANCE OF POPULATION AGE STRUCTURE AS A DEMOGRAPHIC DRIVER OF BEHAVIORAL EVOLUTION. THE PROJECT WILL ADVANCE NSF PRIORITIES IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE BY DEVELOPING AND USING AI-ASSISTED VIDEO TRACKING AND MORPHOLOGICAL MEASUREMENT AND TO QUANTIFY ANIMAL MOVEMENT AND SOCIAL INTERACTIONS AT A SCALE THAT WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE BY HAND. THESE TOOLS WILL ALLOW THE RESEARCH TEAM TO EXTRACT FINE-SCALE BEHAVIORAL DATA FROM LARGE NUMBERS OF BEETLES AND BUILD A MORE PRECISE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW SOCIAL ENVIRONMENTS SHAPE EVOLUTION. THIS PROJECT FURTHER DEVELOPS A TRAINING PIPELINE TO PROVIDE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES IN FIELD BIOLOGY FOR UNDERGRADUATES, INCLUDING COMMUNITY-COLLEGE TRANSFER STUDENTS, EXPANDS K?12 EVOLUTION EDUCATION, AND STRENGTHENS PUBLIC OUTREACH IN STEM. USING A WELL-ESTABLISHED INVERTEBRATE MODEL SYSTEM, THE FORKED FUNGUS BEETLE, REPLICATED LABORATORY AND SEMINATURAL FIELD EXPERIMENTS WILL MANIPULATE POPULATION LEVEL DEMOGRAPHIC FEATURES TO EXPLICITLY TEST WHICH FACTORS ARE MOST IMPORTANT IN DETERMINING HOW INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR IS EXPRESSED, HOW SOCIAL NETWORKS FORM, AND WHICH TRAITS ARE FAVORED BY NATURAL AND SEXUAL SELECTION. A SERIES OF BEHAVIORAL ASSAYS WILL EXAMINE HOW SOCIAL EFFECTS ON BEHAVIORAL EXPRESSION SCALE UP FROM INDIVIDUALS TO SOCIAL NETWORKS TO POPULATION PATTERNS OF INTERACTION. DYADIC INTERACTIONS BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS OF DIFFERENT AGES WILL BE USED TO TEST WHETHER AGE DEPENDENT BEHAVIOR RESULTS FROM ONTOGENETIC CHANGES WITHIN FOCAL SUBJECTS OR PLASTIC RESPONSES TO PARTNERS OF DIFFERENT AGES. FOCAL SUBJECTS ASSAYED IN POPULATIONS WITH MANIPULATED AGE STRUCTURES WILL TEST HOW BEHAVIORAL PLASTICITY RESULTS WHEN INDIVIDUALS RESIDE IN GROUP CONTEXTS WITH DIFFERENT AGE STRUCTURES. A MULTI-YEAR SELECTION EXPERIMENT WILL SEPARATELY MANIPULATE OPERATIONAL SEX RATIO, DENSITY, AND AGE STRUCTURE TO QUANTITATIVELY TEST WHICH OF THESE CONTEXTS HAS THE STRONGEST EFFECTS ON INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIAL SELECTION TARGETING SOCIAL BEHAVIOR AND SOCIAL NETWORK PHENOTYPES. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

FRC STABILIZATION BY INTERNAL TOROIDAL MAGNETIC FIELD

THIS PROJECT WILL DEMONSTRATE THE PERFORMANCE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE (GI) TECHNOLOGIES IN COMBINED SEWER OVERFLOW AREAS WHILE TAKING INTO ACCOUNT CO

FY09 YOUTH EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM (YEP)

VIBRATIONAL DYNAMICS AND RELAXATIONS IN GLASS-FORMING LIQUIDS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RUI: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ENDOCYTIC TRAFFICKING DURING CELL DIVISION

FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF LOCUS-SPECIFIC PERICENTRIC SATELLITE EXPRESSION

RUI: THE ROLE OF MITOTIC TRAFFICKING IN CELL FATE SPECIFICATION

CAREER: EMERGENCE OF POPULATION DIVERSITY FROM STEM CELL DECISION MAKING IN ASEXUAL PLANARIANS

NOVEL CT'S EQUILIBRIUM, STABILITY, AND DYNAMICS

COMPARATIVE MECHANISTIC STUDY OF DEVELOPMENTAL NEUROTOXICITY OF ORGANOPHOSPHORUS PESTICIDES

COGNITIVE BIASES IN THE PERCEPTION OF SPATIAL ORIENTATION

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RUI: EVOLVABILITY OF SOCIAL NETWORKS

RUI: INVESTIGATING NON-LINEAR TISSUE DEFORMATIONS USING HYDRA MOUTH OPENING AS A QUANTITATIVE IN VIVO MODEL

PLASMA ACCELERATOR ON THE SWARTHMORE SPHEROMAK EXPERIMENT

NUCLEAR PROBES OF CONDUCTIVITY IN NA-ION BATTERY MATERIALS -NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION THIS PROJECT EXPLORES CONDUCTIVITY IN LOW-COST SODIUM-BASED MATERIALS FOR USE IN RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES. UNDERSTANDING HOW IONS MOVE IN A BATTERY IS CRUCIAL FOR IMPROVING BATTERY PERFORMANCE, INCLUDING ENERGY DENSITY, OPERATING POTENTIAL, AND CHARGE/DISCHARGE RATES, BUT OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY, IONIC CONDUCTIVITY, AND DIFFUSION IN SODIUM-ION CATHODE MATERIALS IS INCOMPLETE. THIS PROJECT, SUPPORTED BY THE CERAMICS PROGRAM IN THE DIVISION OF MATERIALS RESEARCH AT NSF, WILL INVESTIGATE CONDUCTIVITY WITH EXPERIMENTAL PROBES OF THE NUCLEI OF ATOMS IN COMBINATION WITH TRADITIONAL TOOLS TO STUDY BATTERY MATERIALS. MOSSBAUER SPECTROSCOPY WILL BE USED TO INVESTIGATE THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN ATOMIC NUCLEI AND ITS SURROUNDING ELECTRONS. QUASIELASTIC NEUTRON SCATTERING WILL BE USED TO STUDY THE DYNAMICS OF ATOMS, PROVIDING INFORMATION ABOUT THE DISPLACEMENTS OF ATOMS ON THE LENGTH SCALE OF ANGSTROMS TO NANOMETERS, AND TIME SCALE OF PICOSECONDS TO TENS OF NANOSECONDS. TOGETHER, THESE TECHNIQUES WILL PROVIDE NEW INSIGHTS THAT ENHANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF CONDUCTIVITY IN SODIUM-ION BATTERIES AND PROMOTE THE DEVELOPMENT OF SAFER, HIGHER CAPACITY, AND MORE SUSTAINABLE BATTERY TECHNOLOGIES. SODIUM-ION BATTERIES ARE BEING INVESTIGATED BECAUSE OF THEIR POTENTIAL TO REDUCE RELIANCE ON LITHIUM AND OTHER SCARCE, HIGH-COST METALS. THIS RESEARCH ADDRESSES THE GLOBAL NEED FOR BETTER ENERGY STORAGE SOLUTIONS, AND PROVIDES RESEARCH TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES AND CAREER MENTORSHIP FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS. IT ALSO SUPPORTS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A REGIONAL CENTER FOR COLLABORATION ON OPERANDO AND IN SITU MOSSBAUER SPECTROSCOPY STUDIES. TECHNICAL SUMMARY THE PRIMARY GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO STUDY CONDUCTIVITY IN SODIUM-ION BATTERY CATHODES USING NUCLEAR PROBES OF MOSSBAUER SPECTROSCOPY AND QUASIELASTIC NEUTRON SCATTERING TO ADDRESS THE ROLES OF ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY, IONIC CONDUCTIVITY, AND DIFFUSION IN CATHODES. MOSSBAUER SPECTROSCOPY IS A LAB-BASED TECHNIQUE THAT PROBES THE HYPERFINE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE NUCLEUS AND THE SURROUNDING ELECTRONS. EX SITU TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENT MOSSBAUER WILL BE USED TO DETERMINE ACTIVATION ENERGIES FOR POLARON MOBILITY. IN SITU MEASUREMENTS OF MOSSBAUER SPECTRA DURING ELECTROCHEMICAL CYCLING WILL PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT PHASE, OXIDATION STATE, AND COORDINATION ENVIRONMENT DURING ACTIVE CYCLING. QUASIELASTIC NEUTRON SCATTERING (QENS) IS A PROBE OF THE DYNAMICAL RELAXATION PROCESS IN A MATERIAL. TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENT QENS MEASUREMENTS WILL BE USED TO STUDY SODIUM DIFFUSION, REVEALING TEMPORAL AND MICROSCOPIC SPATIAL INFORMATION ABOUT DIFFUSING IONS THAT CANNOT BE GAINED WITH OTHER EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES. THESE COMPLEMENTARY NUCLEAR TECHNIQUES, ALONGSIDE OTHER COMMONLY USED TOOLS FOR INVESTIGATING BATTERY MATERIALS, WILL BE USED TO EXAMINE THREE HYPOTHESES ABOUT THE LOCATION AND TRANSPORT OF ACTIVE IONS IN BATTERY CATHODE MATERIALS. THE NEW KNOWLEDGE ABOUT CONDUCTIVITY IN CATHODES WILL ADVANCE FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF BATTERY CATHODES AND PROMOTE THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW MATERIALS. THIS RESEARCH PROJECT ALSO TRAINS UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN ENERGY STORAGE RESEARCH AND CREATES A PATHWAY FOR THEIR CONTINUATION ON TO ADVANCED DEGREE PROGRAMS AND CAREERS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

DEVELOPING DYNAMIC AND INTERACTIVE MATERIALS TO TEACH COMPUTING SYSTEMS CONCEPTS TO ALL STUDENTS -THIS PROJECT AIMS TO SERVE THE NATIONAL INTEREST BY BUILDING A COMMUNITY OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS EDUCATION EXPERTS TO DEVELOP AND CONTRIBUTE TO INTERACTIVE ACADEMIC EXPERIENCES FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS. IT WILL ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO HELPING REDUCE THE COST OF HIGHER EDUCATION. THE SIGNIFICANT EXPENSE OF MODERN COLLEGE TEXTBOOKS LIMITS AVAILABILITY TO THOSE WHO CAN AFFORD THEM. AS COMPUTATIONAL THINKING AND PROGRAMMING INCREASINGLY BECOME DESIRED SKILLS, THE COMPUTING COMMUNITY NEEDS LOW-COST CURRICULAR MATERIALS TO MAKE COMPUTING COURSES AVAILABLE TO ALL STUDENTS. ONLINE CURRICULAR MATERIALS ARE READILY AVAILABLE FOR INTRODUCTORY PROGRAMMING COURSES. HOWEVER, SUCH RESOURCES FOR ADVANCED COMPUTING COURSES DO NOT EXIST. TO ADDRESS THIS NEED, THIS PROJECT'S LEADERSHIP DEVELOPED ?DIVE INTO SYSTEMS,? A FREE, ONLINE TEXTBOOK FOR TEACHING ADVANCED COMPUTER SYSTEMS TOPICS. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO AUGMENT ?DIVE INTO SYSTEMS? WITH DYNAMIC VISUALIZATIONS, INTERACTIVE EXERCISES, AND WORKED EXAMPLES MAKING IT A COMPLETE TEXTBOOK WITH ONLINE RESOURCE THAT WILL INCLUDE EXERCISES FOR STUDENTS AND SUPPLEMENTAL RESOURCES FOR INSTRUCTORS. THE PROJECT?S FOCUS IS ON RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT. ITS MAIN RESEARCH QUESTIONS ARE RELATED TO HOW THE RESOURCES ARE DEVELOPED, HOW WELL THEY ARE WORKING, AND HOW EFFECTIVE THEY ARE AS AIDS TO UNDERSTANDING TEXTBOOK TOPICS. THE PROJECT HAS POTENTIAL TO HELP THE FIELD OF COMPUTING BECOME MORE EQUITABLE BY DEVELOPING A HIGH-QUALITY, FREE, ONLINE TEXTBOOK THAT CAN BE USED BY COLLEGE STUDENTS ANYWHERE. THIS PROJECT, A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT BETWEEN SWARTHMORE COLLEGE AND THE US MILITARY ACADEMY, WILL CONTINUE DEVELOPMENT OF A FREELY AVAILABLE ONLINE TEXTBOOK ON COMPUTING SYSTEMS, INCLUDING SYSTEMS SOFTWARE AND COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE FUNDAMENTALS. PROJECT GOALS INCLUDE FOUR KEY AREAS. A PRIMARY FOCUS IS TO DEVELOP INTERACTIVE EXERCISES FOR EACH CHAPTER IN A COMPUTER SYSTEMS TEXTBOOK THAT ALLOW STUDENTS TO PERFORM KNOWLEDGE CHECKS USING AN OPEN-SOURCE, NSF-FUNDED PROJECT CALLED RUNESTONE INTERACTIVE. SECONDLY, THE PROJECT WILL EXPAND THE RUNESTONE FRAMEWORK TO ALLOW FOR INTERACTIVE SYSTEMS PROGRAMMING, SUCH AS ASSEMBLY CODE EXECUTION AND STACK TRACING. AS A THIRD GOAL, THE POWER OF THE COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION COMMUNITY WILL BE LEVERAGED TO CREATE A RICH ASSORTMENT OF INSTRUCTOR MATERIALS. FINALLY, THE TEXTBOOK CHAPTERS WILL BE AUGMENTED WITH SHORT VIDEOS VISUALIZING KEY CONCEPTS AND EXAMPLES. THE PROJECT WILL DEVELOP, IMPLEMENT, AND EVALUATE EXERCISES FOCUSING ON A SUBSET OF SIX TOTAL TOPIC AREAS EACH YEAR. EXPERT PARTICIPANTS FROM THE COMPUTER SCIENCE COMMUNITY WILL WORK IN SMALLER SUB-TOPIC FOCUSED GROUPS WHICH WILL INCLUDE TOPICS ON C PROGRAMMING (E.G., GDB AND VALGRIND), ASSEMBLY PROGRAMMING, BINARY REPRESENTATION, THE MEMORY HIERARCHY AND CACHING, COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE, OPERATING SYSTEMS, AND PARALLEL COMPUTING AND CODE OPTIMIZATION. THE EVALUATION PLAN FOR THE PROJECT WILL EMPLOY QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE METHODS. FOLLOWING THE MODEL OF EARLY ADOPTER EVALUATION IN PRIOR WORK, THE PIS WILL DISTRIBUTE STUDENT AND FACULTY SURVEYS TO GATHER DATA ACROSS MULTIPLE INSTITUTIONS. THE NSF IUSE: EHR PROGRAM SUPPORTS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS TO IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF STEM EDUCATION FOR ALL STUDENTS. THROUGH THE ENGAGED STUDENT LEARNING TRACK, THE PROGRAM SUPPORTS THE CREATION, EXPLORATION, AND IMPLEMENTATION OF PROMISING PRACTICES AND TOOLS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

STRENGTHENING SPONSORED RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE AND FACULTY DEVELOPMENT AT SWARTHMORE COLLEGE

RUI: HYDRA WHOLE-BODY INVERSION AS AN IN VIVO MODEL TO STUDY EXTREME EPITHELIAL DEFORMATIONS -EPITHELIAL CELL DEFORMATIONS, INCLUDING BENDING, STRETCHING, AND COMPRESSION, ARE UBIQUITOUS IN NATURE AND IMPORTANT TO STUDY FROM BOTH PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL VIEWPOINTS TO UNDERSTAND THEIR ROLES FOR TISSUE DEVELOPMENT, MAINTENANCE, AND DISEASE. THIS PROJECT STUDIES EXTREME TISSUE DEFORMATIONS IN A NOVEL GEOMETRY IN A SMALL FRESHWATER ANIMAL, HYDRA VULGARIS. HYDRA CONSISTS OF A CYLINDRICAL BODY MADE OUT OF TWO EPITHELIAL CELL LAYERS AND HAS A SINGLE HEAD-FOOT AXIS. HYDRA CAN SPONTANEOUSLY INVERT THE ORIENTATION OF ITS BODY BACK TO ITS NORMAL STATE AFTER HAVING BEEN TURNED INSIDE-OUT. BECAUSE OF HYDRA?S SIMPLE ANATOMY AND REGENERATIVE PROPERTIES, THIS SYSTEM IS UNIQUELY WELL-SUITED TO STUDY EXTREME EPITHELIAL DEFORMATIONS VIA EXPERIMENTS AND MATHEMATICAL MODELING, AND THUS WILL DEEPEN OUR UNDERSTANDING ABOUT HOW LARGE-SCALE TISSUE DEFORMATIONS CAN BE ACHIEVED AND REGULATED. RESULTS FROM THIS PROJECT WILL ALSO INFORM THE ENGINEERING OF SELF-INVERTING CYLINDRICAL SHEETS, WITH POSSIBLE APPLICATIONS IN SOFT ROBOTICS. IN ADDITION, THIS PROJECT CREATES AUTHENTIC RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR STUDENTS IN TISSUE BIOMECHANICS AND PROVIDES TRAINING IN QUANTITATIVE SKILLS AND SCIENCE COMMUNICATION, THUS EQUIPPING THE FUTURE WORKFORCE WITH VALUABLE SKILLS FOR CAREERS IN STEM FIELDS AND BEYOND. THIS PROPOSAL WILL QUANTIFY AND MODEL THE EXTREME EPITHELIAL DEFORMATIONS OBSERVED DURING FULL-BODY INVERSION IN HYDRA VULGARIS. WHILE EPITHELIAL BENDING, STRETCHING, AND COMPRESSION, ARE OBSERVED IN ALL ANIMALS, MOST EXAMPLES ARE DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESSES THAT AFFECT A COMPARABLY SMALL GROUP OF CELLS. THIS PROJECT WILL EXPAND OUR EXISTING KNOWLEDGE ON LARGE TISSUE DEFORMATION. WHILE HYDRA?S INVERSION WAS FIRST MENTIONED >200 YEARS AGO, ONLY A FEW DESCRIPTIONS AND DRAWINGS EXIST; THE DYNAMICS AND MECHANISM OF INVERSION ARE UNKNOWN. THIS PROJECT WILL QUANTITATIVELY CHARACTERIZE HYDRA INVERSION DYNAMICS USING LIVE FLUORESCENCE IMAGING WITH AVAILABLE TRANSGENIC HYDRA LINES AND QUANTIFY INVERSION TIME- AND LENGTH SCALES. THE RESEARCHERS WILL MEASURE LOCAL QUANTITIES SUCH AS CELLULAR POSITIONS AND SHAPES, NEURONAL AND MUSCULAR ACTIVITY VIA CALCIUM IMAGING, AND GLOBAL PARAMETERS, INCLUDING THE POSITIONS OF THE FOOT, MOUTH, AND MAJOR FOLD OVER TIME. THROUGH GENETIC, PHYSICAL, AND CHEMICAL MANIPULATIONS, THE RESEARCHERS WILL REDUCE THE SYSTEMS? COMPLEXITY AND DETERMINE THE ?MINIMUM INGREDIENTS? NECESSARY FOR HYDRA INVERSION TO OCCUR. THE EFFECT OF THESE PERTURBATIONS WILL BE QUANTIFIED. FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS WILL BE USED TO NUMERICALLY SIMULATE A MINIMAL SYSTEM THAT SHOULD BE CAPABLE OF INVERSION BASED ON EXPERIMENTAL OBSERVATION. THIS SIMULATION WILL IDENTIFY THE PHYSICAL MECHANISM REQUIRED FOR HYDRA INVERSION, AND IN DOING SO, PROVIDE INSIGHT INTO THE DEFORMATION OF EPITHELIAL BILAYERS. THIS PROJECT WILL DEEPEN OUR UNDERSTANDING ABOUT LARGE-SCALE EXTREME EPITHELIAL DEFORMATIONS AND MAY INFORM NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN ACTIVE SOFT MATTER. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

NAVAJO LANGUAGE DIGITAL RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT WITH ELDERS AND VETERAN LANGUAGE TEACHERS TRAINING STUDENT INTERNS [THE NAVAJO LANGUAGE ACADEMY/DIN? BIZAAD NAALKAAH (NLA) REQUESTS FUNDING FOR A THREE-YEAR PROJECT THAT WILL DEVELOP ONLINE DIGITAL LANGUAGE RESOURCES FOR NAVAJO/ DIN? (NAV) OF THE NA-DENE LANGUAGE FAMILY. WE WILL EMPLOY COMMUNITY ELDERS, VETERAN LANGUAGE TEACHERS, LINGUISTS, AND STUDENT INTERNS TO DEVELOP A MINIMUM OF THREE LANGUAGE TOOLS FOCUSING ON DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF NAVAJO GRAMMAR. AT THE SAME TIME, OUR PROJECT WILL ENHANCE THE CAPACITIES OF THE NLA AND NAVAJO TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY (NTU), AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW GENERATION OF NAVAJO LANGUAGE SCHOLARS. [EDITED BY STAFF]]

SIGNAL-DEPENDENT REGULATION OF CARDIAC PROGENITOR PROLIFERATION - TITLE: SIGNAL-DEPENDENT REGULATION OF CARDIAC PROGENITOR PROLIFERATION PROJECT SUMMARY DECIPHERING SIGNAL-DEPENDENT COORDINATION OF CARDIOMYOCYTE PROLIFERATION DURING PRENATAL GROWTH IS ESSENTIAL FOR THE DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF CONGENITAL HEART DISORDERS. THE COMPLEXITY OF THIS PROCESS IN VERTEBRATES HAS HINDERED PROGRESS. WE HAVE BEGUN TO EXPLOIT THE EXTREME CELLULAR SIMPLICITY OF CIONA ROBUSTA, A CLOSE EVOLUTIONARY RELATIVE OF THE VERTEBRATES, TO INVESTIGATE POTENTIALLY CONSERVED ROLES FOR SIGNALS IN COORDINATING CARDIOMYOCYTE LINEAGE DIVISION DYNAMICS. OUR CURRENT HYPOTHESIS IS THAT REGIONAL SIGNALS COORDINATE PROLIFERATION ACROSS DISTINCT SUB-POPULATIONS OF CARDIAC PROGENITORS. THIS HYPOTHESIS IS SUPPORTED BY EVIDENCE FROM OUR PRELIMINARY DATA INDICATING THAT - 1) THERE ARE TWO CIONA CARDIOMYOCYTE PROGENITOR POPULATIONS THAT EXHIBIT DISTINCT DIVISION PATTERNS AND PROLIFERATIVE FREQUENCIES, 2) SUB-POPULATIONS OF CARDIAC PROGENITORS EXPRESS DISTINCT SETS OF RECEPTORS AND 3) DISRUPTION OF CANDIDATE SIGNALING PATHWAYS DISRUPTS DIVISION IN ONE OF THESE PROGENITOR POPULATIONS. THE PROPOSED SPECIFIC AIMS FOCUS ON DETERMINING WHETHER REGIONAL SIGNALS DIRECTLY MEDIATE POPULATION SPECIFIC PROLIFERATION PATTERNS OR INDIRECTLY INFLUENCE PROLIFERATION BY REGULATING PROGENITOR LINEAGE FATE SPECIFICATION. OUR EFFORTS WILL INITIALLY FOCUS ON CHARACTERIZING CARDIOMYOCYTE PROGENITOR CELL DIVISION DYNAMICS. WE WILL THEN IDENTIFY CANDIDATE SIGNALING PATHWAYS BY USING OUR SCRNA-SEQ DATA TO ASSESS EXPRESSION OF SIGNALING LIGANDS AND RECEPTORS WITHIN DISTINCT PROGENITOR CELL TYPES AND SURROUNDING CELLS. WE WILL THEN BEGIN TO ELUCIDATE THE ROLE OF CANDIDATE SIGNALS IN CARDIOMYOCYTE LINEAGE DIVISION AND FATE SPECIFICATION THROUGH TARGETED LOSS OF FUNCTION ASSAYS. THESE EFFORTS WILL PROVIDE INTENSIVE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES FOR A DIVERSE GROUP OF UNDERGRADUATES.

AFTER CHARACTERIZING THE EPOCHS WHICH ARE PROBED MOST PRECISELY BY CURRENT AND FUTURE PLANNED MISSIONS WE WILL HAVE ESSENTIAL INFORMATION TO THEN FOCUS OUR ATTENTION ON OBSERVATIONAL CONSTRAINTS TO THE NEUTRINO SECTOR. IN ADDITION TO ALTERING THE EXPANSION RATE MODIFICATIONS TO THE NEUTRINO SECTOR NATURALLY CHANGE THE EVOLUTION OF INHOMOGENEITIES IN THE UNIVERSE. STUDYING PROBES OF NEUTRINO PHYSICS IS PARTICULARLY INTERESTING IN LIGHT OF RECENT MEASUREMENTS OF THE HUBBLE CONSTANT FROM THE CMB AND TYPE IA SUPERNOVAE. THE INFERRED HUBBLE PARAMETER FROM THESE TWO METHODS ARE IN TENSION AND COULD BE A HINT OF AN ADDITIONAL NEUTRINO SPECIES WITH NONSTANDARD INTERACTIONS. THIS DEVELOPMENT IS PARTICULARLY EXCITING IN LIGHT OF THE EXPERIMENTAL DETECTION OF NEUTRINO MASS NEUTRINO BEAMLINE HINTS OF A NEW SPECIES AND THEORETICAL MODELS FOR THE NEUTRINO MASS WHICH OFTEN REQUIRE THE EXISTENCE OF A NEW LIGHT PARTICLE WITH INTERACTIONS BEYOND THE STANDARD MODEL. WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP THE FRAMEWORK TO TEST THESE MODELS USING UPCOMING COSMOLOGICAL DATA DEVELOPING THE RELEVANT FLUID AND BOLTZMANN FORMALISMS IMPLEMENTING IT COMPUTATIONALLY CONDUCTING FORECASTS AND TESTING MODELS WITH EXISTING MEASUREMENTS.

DECIPHERING THE STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS OF NON-CANONICAL DNA IMPLICATED IN CANCER

DECIPHERING THE STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS OF QUADRUPLEX DNA AND DNA-LIGAND COMPLEXES

REU SITE: BUILDING DIGITAL TOOLS TO SUPPORT ENDANGERED LANGUAGES AND PRESERVE ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE IN MEXICO, MICRONESIA, AND NAVAJO NATION

THE MECHANISM OF ACTION OF A NUDC DOMAIN SMALL HEAT SHOCK PROTEIN

ORGANOPHOSPHORUS PESTICIDE BIOACTIVATION AND DETOXIFICATION IN AN INVERTEBRATE RAPID SCREENING MODEL TO STUDY MECHANISMS OF NEUROTOXICITY - OBJECTIVES. ORGANOPHOSPHORUS PESTICIDES (OPS) HAVE BEEN IMPLICATED IN THE DRAMATIC SURGE OF NEURODEVELOPMENTAL PROBLEMS AMONG U.S. CHILDREN. ACUTE OP POISONING IS DUE TO INHIBITION OF ACETYLCHOLINESTERASE (ACHE). CHRONIC EXPOSURE TO ENVIRONMENTALLY RELEVANT OP LEVELS HAS BEEN SUGGESTED TO CAUSE DEVELOPMENTAL NEUROTOXICITY (DNT) VIA ALTERATIONS TO CHOLINERGIC AND NON-CHOLINERGIC TARGETS NECESSARY FOR NERVOUS SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT AND FUNCTION. WE HAVE DEVELOPED A COST-EFFECTIVE BEHAVIORAL HIGH-THROUGHPUT SCREENING (HTS) METHOD FOR DNT STUDIES USING THE ASEXUAL FRESHWATER PLANARIAN DUGESIA JAPONICA, AND SHOWN IT TO BE WELL-SUITED FOR ASSESSING OP NEUROTOXICITY/DNT. WE HAVE ALSO SHOWN THAT THESE PLANARIANS HAVE TWO GENES THAT ARE EVOLUTIONARY ANCESTORS OF MAMMALIAN CHOLINESTERASES, WITH SIMILAR OP INHIBITION KINETICS. THESE PLANARIANS CAN METABOLIZE OPS AT ALL DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES AND EXHIBIT CARBOXYLESTERASE (CE) AND CALCIUM- DEPENDENT PHOSPHORIC TRIESTER HYDROLASE (PTEH) ACTIVITY. TO EXTRAPOLATE PLANARIAN NEUROTOXICITY DATA TO HUMAN NEUROTOXICITY FURTHER CHARACTERIZATION OF THE OP BIOACTIVATION AND DETOXIFICATION PATHWAYS ARE NEEDED. THE OVERARCHING GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO ESTABLISH PLANARIANS AS A MODEL FOR OP DNT. THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE OF THIS R21 EXPLORATORY/DEVELOPMENTAL GRANT IS TO DETERMINE THE KEY PROTEINS INVOLVED IN OP METABOLISM TO CONTEXTUALIZE PLANARIAN OP SCREENING DATA, ESPECIALLY IN THE CONTEXT OF OP MIXTURES. WE WILL TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT KEY ENZYMES FOR OP BIOACTIVATION AND DETOXIFICATION ARE CONSERVED BETWEEN HUMANS AND PLANARIANS THROUGH 2 AIMS. IN AIM 1, WE WILL IDENTIFY AND CHARACTERIZE OP DETOXIFICATION ENZYMES, CE AND PARAOXONASE (PON). WE HAVE SHOWN THAT CE AND PTEH ACTIVITY EXISTS IN PLANARIANS BUT HAVE NOT YET IDENTIFIED THE RESPONSIBLE GENES. USING STANDARD MOLECULAR BIOLOGY TOOLS, WE WILL IDENTIFY GENE HOMOLOGS, CHARACTERIZE EXPRESSION PROFILES, AND USE RNA INTERFERENCE TO VERIFY FUNCTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE. IN AIM 2, WE WILL IDENTIFY AND CHARACTERIZE THE KEY CYTOCHROME (CYP) P450S RESPONSIBLE FOR OP BIOACTIVATION AND DETOXIFICATION IN PLANARIANS. WE HAVE SHOWN THAT OP BIOACTIVATION EXISTS IN PLANARIANS BUT DO NOT KNOW WHICH CYPS ARE INVOLVED. BECAUSE THERE ARE MANY PUTATIVE CYPS IN THE D. JAPONICA TRANSCRIPTOME AND WE DON’T KNOW A PRIORI WHICH CYPS WILL BE RELEVANT FOR OP BIOACTIVATION, WE WILL FIRST IDENTIFY RELEVANT CYPS USING A CYP INHIBITOR SCREEN. WE WILL EXPOSE PLANARIANS TO EACH OP +/- INHIBITOR FOR 30 MINUTES AND QUANTIFY CHOLINESTERASE ACTIVITY USING AN ELLMAN ASSAY. ONCE WE HAVE IDENTIFIED THE CYP SUBFAMILIES INVOLVED IN OP BIOACTIVATION, WE WILL USE THE SAME STRATEGY AS IN AIM 1 TO IDENTIFY PLANARIAN CYP HOMOLOGS AND TEST FOR THEIR FUNCTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE. IMPACT: THE DATA GENERATED IN THIS PROJECT WILL PROVIDE A FOUNDATION FOR FUTURE MECHANISTIC STUDIES OF OP DNT, ESPECIALLY IN THE CONTEXT OF OP MIXTURES, WHICH HAVE BEEN VASTLY UNDERSTUDIED. BY CHARACTERIZING THE KEY MACHINERY INVOLVED IN PLANARIAN OP METABOLISM, WE CAN CONTEXTUALIZE PLANARIAN OP SCREENING DATA. THIS RESEARCH WILL CREATE UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNDERGRADUATES IN TOXICOLOGY RESEARCH AT SWARTHMORE COLLEGE.

CHORDATE HEART GENE NETWORKS

RUI: DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY OF TURTLE SHELL FORMATION

CHARACTERIZATION OF THE INTERACTION OF M1 AND M2: INFLUENZA A PROTEINS CRITICAL TO VIRAL ASSEMBLY

NOVEL BEHAVIORAL SCREENING TOOL FOR THERAPEUTICS AGAINST ORGANOPHOSPHORUS AGENTS - OBJECTIVES. TERRORIST ACTS OR ACCIDENTAL POISONING INVOLVING ACUTE EXPOSURE TO ORGANOPHOSPHORUS (OP) AGENTS, SUCH AS NERVE GASES AND OP PESTICIDES (OPPS), POSE A SERIOUS THREAT TO INDUCE MASS CASUALTIES. ACUTE OP TOXICITY RESULTS FROM INHIBITION OF ACETYLCHOLINESTERASE (ACHE), CAUSING ACETYLCHOLINE ACCUMULATION AND CHOLINERGIC CRISIS. SYMPTOMS INCLUDE INCREASED SECRETIONS, RESPIRATORY DISTRESS, LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS, AND STATUS EPILEPTICUS, CAUSING PERMANENT BRAIN DAMAGE AND DEATH IF UNTREATED. ACUTE OP TOXICITY IS CURRENTLY TREATED WITH ATROPINE AND PRALIDOXIME (2-PAM) TO MITIGATE CHOLINERGIC HYPERSTIMULATION, AND MIDAZOLAM TO STOP EPILEPTIC SEIZURES. THIS TREATMENT REDUCES MORTALITY, BUT ONLY IF ADMINISTERED WITHIN MINUTES OF EXPOSURE AND IS THUS NOT REALISTIC FOR TREATING THE CIVILIAN POPULATION DURING A MASS CASUALTY. MOREOVER, ADVERSE HEALTH EFFECTS MAY REMAIN AFTER TREATMENT. THUS, THERE IS AN URGENT NEED FOR INEXPENSIVE THERAPEUTICS THAT CAN REDUCE MORTALITY AND ALLEVIATE ADVERSE EFFECTS WHEN ADMINISTERED LATER. THE RIGOR OF THE PRIOR RESEARCH IS HAMPERED BECAUSE CURRENT MAMMALIAN SCREENING METHODS ARE SLOW AND EXPENSIVE, RESTRICTING THE NUMBER OF CANDIDATES THAT CAN BE TESTED. HIGH- THROUGHPUT SCREENING (HTS) PLATFORMS THAT CAN RAPIDLY AND CHEAPLY SCREEN POSSIBLE CANDIDATES PROMISE TO ACCELERATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW THERAPEUTICS. THE OVERARCHING GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP A COST- EFFECTIVE HTS ORGANISMAL PLATFORM TO STREAMLINE AND ACCELERATE FIRST-TIER SCREENING OF POSSIBLE THERAPEUTICS USING THE PLANARIAN D. JAPONICA. THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT PLANARIAN HTS IS “FIT FOR PURPOSE” AS A SCREENING TOOL FOR THERAPEUTIC CANDIDATES THAT CAN ALLEVIATE THE SYMPTOMS OF ACUTE OPP EXPOSURE. PLANARIANS ARE SMALL FLATWORMS WITH TRACTABLE, EVOLUTIONARILY CONSERVED NEURONAL CIRCUITS AND A WIDE REPERTOIRE OF COMPLEX BEHAVIORS THAT ARE AMENABLE TO HTS. AS INVERTEBRATES, THEY ARE CONSIDERED A NON-ANIMAL ORGANISM. UNIQUE TO THE PLANARIAN SYSTEM, DEVELOPING ORGANISMS ARE METABOLICALLY COMPETENT AND CAN BE SCREENED FROM EXPOSURE ONSET INTO ADULTHOOD, ALLOWING FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF TOXICANTS IN MIXED POPULATIONS. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH. IN AIM 1 WILL STUDY THE ACUTE TOXICITY OF 2 OPPS OF CONCERN, DIISOPROPYL FLUOROPHOSPHATE AND PARATHION. USING HTS, WE WILL CHARACTERIZE THEIR TOXICITY PROFILES AND EVALUATE LETHALITY, MORPHOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR IN ADULT PLANARIANS AT 30 MINUTES AND 24 HOURS OF EXPOSURE. IN AIM 2, WE WILL VERIFY THAT OPP-INDUCED SEIZURES IN PLANARIANS ARE TRUE SEIZURES BY DEVELOPING QUANTITATIVE METRICS FOR COMPARISON WITH VERIFIED PLANARIAN SEIZURES AND BLOCKING OF OPP-INDUCED SEIZURES WITH MIDAZOLAM. IN AIM 3, WE WILL DEMONSTRATE THAT ACUTE OPP TOXICITY IN PLANARIANS IS RESPONSIVE TO THERAPEUTICS AND THAT OPP-INDUCED SYMPTOMS CAN BE ALLEVIATED USING COMBINATORY TREATMENT WITH ATROPINE, 2-PAM, AND MIDAZOLAM, TO ESTABLISH A BASELINE TO COMPARE TO NOVEL DRUGS. EXPECTED RESULTS. THIS PROPOSAL WILL DEMONSTRATE THE VALUE OF PLANARIAN HTS FOR TESTING THERAPEUTIC CANDIDATES TO TREAT OPP ACUTE TOXICITY. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS RAPID ORGANISMAL SCREENING METHOD COULD BE EASILY ADOPTED TO OTHER TEST PARADIGMS, INCLUDING DIFFERENT LIFE STAGES, LENGTHS OF EXPOSURE, AND CHEMICAL DOMAINS.

PLANARIAN BEHAVIORAL SCREENING OF TOXCAST PHASE I CHEMICALS TO DETERMINE CONTEXT OF USE - OBJECTIVES. THE DEVELOPING BRAIN IS HIGHLY VULNERABLE TO CHEMICAL TOXICANTS, BUT <2% OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICALS HAVE BEEN TESTED FOR DEVELOPMENTAL NEUROTOXICITY (DNT). THIS DATA DEFICIT RESULTS FROM THE EXTREME COST AND TIME REQUIREMENT OF MAMMALIAN TESTING. THERE IS AN URGENT NEED TO DEVELOP HIGH-THROUGHPUT SCREENING (HTS) MODELS TO REPLACE, REFINE, AND/OR REDUCE (“3RS”) VERTEBRATE TESTING. THE DEVELOPMENT OF HTS MODELS IS ESPECIALLY CHALLENGING FOR NEUROTOXICITY (NT) AND DNT WHERE THE FUNCTIONAL RELEVANCY OF ADVERSE OUTCOMES NEEDS TO BE ASSESSED ON THE WHOLE ORGANISM LEVEL. THE OVERARCHING GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP A COST-EFFECTIVE INVERTEBRATE ORGANISMAL HTS TEST METHOD TO IDENTIFY NT AND DNT TO COMPLEMENT EXISTING IN VITRO TESTS. THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE IS TO DETERMINE THE APPLICABILITY DOMAIN AND UTILITY OF HTS USING THE ASEXUAL FRESHWATER PLANARIAN DUGESIA JAPONICA AS A FIRST-TIER BEHAVIORAL SCREENING PLATFORM FOR NT/DNT. THIS WILL BE ACHIEVED BY SCREENING THE TOXCAST PHASE I LIBRARY, CONSISTING OF 293 UNIQUE, DATA-RICH COMPOUNDS, AND COMPARING THE RESULTS TO EXISTING DATA FROM MAMMALIAN, IN VITRO, AND ALTERNATIVE ORGANISMAL MODELS. PLANARIANS ARE INVERTEBRATES OF INTERMEDIATE NEURAL AND ANATOMICAL COMPLEXITY COMPARED TO NEMATODES AND ZEBRAFISH AND HAVE TRACTABLE, EVOLUTIONARILY CONSERVED NEURONAL CIRCUITS. PLANARIANS UNIQUELY ALLOW FOR DIRECT COMPARISON OF XENOBIOTIC EFFECTS ON THE ADULT AND DEVELOPING NERVOUS SYSTEMS. WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT PLANARIAN BEHAVIORAL HTS ADDS COMPLEMENTARY VALUE TO EXISTING TESTING METHODS BECAUSE OF ITS UNIQUE STRENGTHS (FULL METABOLISM AT ALL DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES, SCREENING INTO ADULTHOOD, PARALLEL SCREENING OF ADULT AND DEVELOPING ORGANISMS). EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH. IN AIM 1, WE WILL USE THE TOXCAST PHASE I LIBRARY TO PROFILE BEHAVIORAL PHENOTYPES IN INTACT AND REGENERATING PLANARIANS TO IDENTIFY THE NEUROTOXIC EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT CHEMICALS’ DOMAINS. WE WILL FIRST TEST EACH CHEMICAL AT 100 ΜM. CHEMICALS THAT ELICIT EFFECTS AT THIS CONCENTRATION WILL THEN BE TESTED ACROSS 7 CONCENTRATIONS. EFFECTS WILL BE QUANTIFIED AS BENCHMARK CONCENTRATIONS FOR 37 READOUTS OVER TWO TIME POINTS. DEVELOPMENT-SPECIFIC EFFECTS WILL BE EXTRACTED BY COMPARISON OF ADVERSE OUTCOMES IN INTACT VS. REGENERATING PLANARIANS. IN AIM 2, WE WILL COMPARE CONCORDANCE WITH MAMMALIAN GUIDELINE DATA AND PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE TOXCAST PHASE I DATA FROM IN VITRO, NEMATODE, AND DEVELOPING ZEBRAFISH ASSAYS. WE WILL ALSO DETERMINE PLANARIAN HTS PERFORMANCE FOR SPECIFIC CHEMICAL DOMAINS TO ASSESS CONTEXT OF USE. THESE COMPARISONS WILL INFORM ON WHETHER PLANARIAN HTS RECAPITULATES ANIMAL NT/DNT, ADDS COMPLEMENTARY INFORMATION TO NT/DNT IN VITRO TESTS, AND HOW IT PERFORMS COMPARED TO MORE ESTABLISHED NON-ANIMAL ORGANISMAL MODELS. EXPECTED RESULTS: THIS PROJECT WILL EVALUATE HOW THE PLANARIAN SYSTEM CAPTURES THE CHEMICAL SUBSPACE OF THIS CHEMICALLY DIVERSE LIBRARY AND HOW OUR RESULTS COMPARE TO DATA IN EXISTING MODELS. THIS WILL DETERMINE THE CONTEXT OF USE OF THIS PROMISING FIRST-TIER NT/DNT SCREENING SYSTEM AND BOLSTER THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPREHENSIVE NON-ANIMAL DNT TESTING BATTERY, TO MEET THE URGENT NEED TO FILL THE DNT DATA GAP AND REDUCE ANIMAL TESTING.

ANALYSIS OF THE INITIATION OF AN HIV BROADLY NEUTRALIZING ANTIBODY LINEAGE IN A SINGLE HOST

CONFORMATIONAL STUDIES OF THE REGION OF INFLUENZA A M2 PROTEIN INVOLVED IN VIRAL BUDDING

DIGITIZING THE SOUND AND SIGHT OF AMERICAN WOMEN'S WORK FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

MECHANISMS AND CONSEQUENCES OF NUCLEIC ACID SENSING IN ERYTHROID PROGENITORS - PROJECT SUMMARY THIS PROPOSED RESEARCH INTENDS TO ELUCIDATE THE MECHANISMS AND CONSEQUENCES OF NUCLEIC ACID-SENSING IN HUMAN ERYTHROID PROGENITORS AND, ULTIMATELY, THE OUTCOMES OF INNATE IMMUNE ACTIVATION ON ERYTHROID CELL BIOLOGY AND FUNCTION. ERYTHROID CELLS ARE TYPICALLY CONSIDERED INERT OXYGEN TRANSPORTERS, AND THUS THEIR POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTION TO HOST IMMUNITY HAS BEEN LARGELY IGNORED. WHILE ERYTHROPOIESIS TYPICALLY OCCURS IN THE BONE MARROW OF HEALTHY ADULTS, IMMATURE, NUCLEATED ERYTHROID PROGENITORS AND PRECURSORS ESCAPE SEQUESTRATION AND CIRCULATE DURING NORMAL FETAL DEVELOPMENT AND IN RESPONSE TO CRITICAL ILLNESS. RECENT FINDINGS CHALLENGE THE CURRENT PARADIGM THAT ERYTHROID CELLS ARE IMMUNOLOGICALLY INACTIVE, AND INSTEAD SUGGEST THAT CIRCULATING ERYTHROID PROGENITORS ARE IMMUNOMODULATORY. HOWEVER, THERE IS LIMITED KNOWLEDGE OF UNDERLYING MECHANISMS, LEAVING A CRITICAL GAP IN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF INNATE IMMUNITY AND ERYTHROID CELL BIOLOGY. PRELIMINARY RESEARCH FROM THE PI AND HER LAB SUGGESTS THAT HUMAN ERYTHROID PROGENITORS SENSE AND RESPOND TO VIRAL MIMETICS VIA ACTIVATION OF NUCLEIC ACID-SENSING PATTERN RECOGNITION RECEPTORS AND DOWNSTREAM SIGNALING PATHWAYS. THIS PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT ERYTHROID PROGENITORS POSSESS INNATE ANTIVIRAL IMMUNE FUNCTIONS, AND THAT ACTIVATION OF IMMUNE SIGNALING PATHWAYS IN ERYTHROID PROGENITORS IMPACTS DIFFERENTIATION, MATURATION, AND FUNCTION OF MATURE ERYTHROID CELLS. THIS HYPOTHESIS WILL BE TESTED THROUGH SYSTEMATIC INVESTIGATION OF BOTH DNA-SENSING (AIM 1) AND RNA-SENSING (AIM 2) PATHWAYS UTILIZED BY ERYTHROID PROGENITORS TO CONTRIBUTE TO HOST ANTIVIRAL DEFENSE. FURTHER, THESE STUDIES PROPOSE TO CHARACTERIZE THE DOWNSTREAM CONSEQUENCES OF NUCLEIC ACID SENSING ON ERYTHROID CELL FUNCTION AND DEVELOPMENT (AIM 3). THE LONG-TERM GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO GAIN A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN IMMUNITY, INFLAMMATION, AND RED BLOOD CELL BIOLOGY. ALL OF THE PROPOSED EXPERIMENTS WILL BE CONDUCTED BY UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS UNDER THE CLOSE MENTORSHIP AND SUPERVISION OF THE PI, ENABLING STUDENTS TO GAIN VALUABLE HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE AND BEGIN BUILDING A LONG-TERM CAREER IN BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RUI: JAMMED GRANULAR MATTER WITHIN NETWORKS OF PINS: STRUCTURE, ELASTICITY, PLASTICITY AND RHEOLOGY UNDER SHEAR

ADAMANTANE DRUG BINDING TO MEMBRANE-BOUND INFLUENZA A M2 PROTEIN

A QUANTITATIVE HIGH RESOLUTION UNDERSTANDING OF HEAT STRESS SENSING AND RESPONSES

RUI: SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF GROUP 13 METAL COMPLEXES DESIGNED FOR THE METAL-LIGAND COOPERATIVE ACTIVATION O-H, N-H, AND C-H BONDS -WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS (SYN) PROGRAM IN THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY PROFESSOR CHRISTOPHER GRAVES OF SWARTHMORE COLLEGE IS STUDYING THE DEVELOPMENT OF GROUP 13 METAL COMPLEXES OF NON-INNOCENT LIGANDS. THESE COMPLEXES WILL HAVE THE ABILITY TO PARTICIPATE IN METAL-LIGAND COOPERATIVE BOND-MAKING AND BREAKING OF SMALL MOLECULES. THE METAL-FACILITATED REACTIVITY OF SMALL MOLECULES IS OF FUNDAMENTAL IMPORTANCE TO THE SYNTHESIS OF BOTH FINE AND COMMODITY CHEMICALS. CONVENTIONAL COORDINATION COMPLEXES OF GROUP 13 ELEMENTS ARE HALLMARKED BY THEIR REDOX STABILITY AND LACK THE MULTI-ELECTRON REDOX CHEMISTRY REQUIRED FOR CHEMICAL TRANSFORMATIONS DEPENDENT ON OXIDATION AND REDUCTION UPON WHICH SMALL MOLECULE ACTIVATION IS TYPICALLY BUILT. IN THIS FUNDED WORK, GROUP 13 METALS COMPLEXES OF NON-INNOCENT LIGANDS WILL BE PREPARED. THE COMPLEXES ARE DESIGNED TO UNDERGO SYNERGISTIC REACTIVITY WITH A SMALL MOLECULE AND BOTH THE METAL ION AND LIGAND-BASED ELECTRONS. THIS METAL-LIGAND-COOPERATIVE (MLC) CHEMISTRY AFFORDS THE BOND MAKING/BREAKING THE METAL CANNOT ACHIEVE ALONE. ULTIMATELY, OUR SYSTEM WILL OFFER A NEW CHOICE FOR ACTIVATION OF SMALL MOLECULES WITH EARTH-ABUNDANT GROUP 13 METALS. THIS PURSUIT ALLOWS UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS TO ACQUIRE SPECIALIZED TRAINING IN THE SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF INORGANIC COORDINATION COMPLEXES, AS WELL AS IN PHYSICAL INORGANIC AND ORGANIC TECHNIQUES APPLIED TO UNDERSTANDING THE RELATIVITIES OF THOSE COMPLEXES. THIS RESEARCH PROJECT SEEKS TO DEVELOP A COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF THE MLC CHEMISTRY OF THE GROUP 13 METAL COORDINATION COMPLEXES HAVING TRIPODAL NITROXIDE-BASED LIGAND SYSTEMS, (RTRINOX3?)M, TO REALIZE ACTIVATION OF A BROAD RANGE OF H?X (X = O, N, C) BONDS. WE WILL PREPARE (RTRINOX3?)M COMPLEXES ACROSS ALL OF THE GROUP 13 METALS (M = B, AL, GA, IN) THAT SYSTEMATICALLY INCORPORATE ELECTRON-DONATING/-WITHDRAWING SUBSTITUENTS (R) WITHIN THE LIGAND FRAMEWORK. WE WILL FULLY DEDUCE THE ELECTRONIC STRUCTURES OF THE (RTRINOX3?)M COMPLEXES AND WILL ASSESS THEIR LEWIS ACIDITIES USING A SUITE OF COMPUTATIONAL AND SPECTROSCOPIC TOOLS. WE WILL THEN EXPLORE THE MLC REACTION CHEMISTRY OF THE COMPLEXES TOWARD THE ACTIVATION OF A RANGE OF H?O, H?N, AND H?C BONDS. AT THE COMPLETION OF THIS PROJECT WE WILL HAVE DEVELOPED THE KEY STRUCTURE-FUNCTION RELATIONSHIPS THAT UNDERPIN PRODUCTIVE MLC REACTIVITY OF THE (RTRINOX)M COMPLEXES. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

INVESTIGATING HOW LIFE SCIENCE STUDENTS DEVELOP LASTING SKILL IN MAKING CONNECTIONS BETWEEN PHYSICS AND BIOLOGY -THIS PROJECT AIMS TO SERVE THE NATIONAL INTEREST BY IMPROVING INSTRUCTION IN THE INTRODUCTORY COLLEGE PHYSICS COURSES THAT ARE TAKEN BY MANY STUDENTS IN THE LIFE SCIENCES AND HEALTH PROFESSIONS. INTRODUCTORY PHYSICS FOR LIFE SCIENCES (IPLS) COURSES ARE DESIGNED TO MAKE PHYSICS ACCESSIBLE AND EXCITING FOR THE THOUSANDS OF STUDENTS WHO TAKE INTRODUCTORY PHYSICS AS A REQUIREMENT FOR ENTERING THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS OR STUDYING THE LIFE SCIENCES. THOSE COURSES EMPHASIZE PHYSICAL CONCEPTS AND COMPETENCIES THAT LIFE SCIENCE PROFESSIONALS HAVE IDENTIFIED AS MOST USEFUL FOR LIFE SCIENCE STUDENTS, AND THE COURSES PRESENT THE CONCEPTS AND COMPETENCIES IN APPROPRIATE BIOMEDICAL CONTEXTS. SINCE PHYSICS IS AN INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT FOUNDATION FOR THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS AND THE LIFE SCIENCES, HELPING FUTURE PRACTITIONERS BECOME MORE SKILLED AND MOTIVATED TO USE PHYSICS IN THEIR WORK HAS GREAT POTENTIAL TO IMPROVE THEIR WORK. PAST STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT IPLS COURSES CAN BE EFFECTIVE AND CAN HAVE A LONG-LASTING POSITIVE IMPACT ON STUDENTS' ATTITUDES TOWARD PHYSICS AND ON THEIR SKILL IN USING PHYSICS TO SOLVE BIOLOGICAL PROBLEMS IN THEIR LATER WORK. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO UNDERSTAND HOW IPLS COURSES ACHIEVE THOSE OUTCOMES AT MULTIPLE INSTITUTIONS. IN PARTICULAR, THE INVESTIGATORS WILL EXPLORE HOW THE TOPICS COVERED, THE PEDAGOGICAL STRATEGIES EMPLOYED, AND THE MESSAGES CONVEYED SHAPE STUDENTS' EXPERIENCES IN THE COURSE. THE CONCLUSIONS OF THIS RESEARCH WILL GUIDE OTHER COLLEGES TO ACHIEVE SIMILAR OUTCOMES AS THEY LAUNCH OR REVISE THEIR OWN IPLS COURSES. THE INVESTIGATORS WILL ADDRESS TWO CENTRAL RESEARCH QUESTIONS: (1) HOW DOES AN IPLS COURSE SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF STUDENTS' INTEREST IN PHYSICS, A SENSE OF SELF-EFFICACY, AND AN INTERDISCIPLINARY IDENTITY (TAKEN TOGETHER, PHYSICS AFFINITY)? (2) HOW DOES AN IPLS COURSE SUPPORT STUDENTS IN SUCCESSFULLY APPLYING PHYSICS TO MODEL AND ANALYZE BIOLOGICAL SITUATIONS? SPECIFICALLY, HOW DO THE COURSE'S CURRICULAR, PEDAGOGICAL, AND INTERPERSONAL ELEMENTS CONNECT TO THE PROCESS OF BECOMING A SKILLED PROBLEM-SOLVER? TO ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS, THE INVESTIGATORS WILL USE EXISTING SURVEY INSTRUMENTS, STUDENTS' WRITTEN REFLECTIONS, STUDENTS' WRITTEN WORK ON SYNTHETIC TASKS APPLYING PHYSICS TO BIOLOGY, INTERVIEWS WITH STUDENTS, AND OTHER TASKS. SOME PRODUCTS OF THE PROJECT WILL INCLUDE A PHYSICS AFFINITY SURVEY (WHICH WILL INCLUDE ELEMENTS RELATED TO SELF-EFFICACY, ACHIEVEMENT GOALS, INTERDISCIPLINARY ATTITUDES, AND MOTIVATION), REFLECTION PROMPTS AND SYNTHESIS TASKS, A SET OF GUIDELINES FOR IPLS DEVELOPERS AND INSTRUCTORS, AND A SET OF STUDENT DEVELOPMENTAL PROFILES THAT ILLUSTRATE HOW DIFFERENT STUDENTS DEVELOP SKILLS AND PHYSICS AFFINITY IN DIFFERENT WAYS. THE NSF IUSE: EHR PROGRAM SUPPORTS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS TO IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF STEM EDUCATION FOR ALL STUDENTS. THROUGH THE ENGAGED STUDENT LEARNING TRACK, THE PROGRAM SUPPORTS THE CREATION, EXPLORATION, AND IMPLEMENTATION OF PROMISING PRACTICES AND TOOLS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

EAGER: EXPLORATION OF EVOLUTIONARY MECHANISMS ACROSS MULTIPLE SCALES

EQUIPMENT: MRI: TRACK # 1 ACQUISITION OF AN X-RAY DIFFRACTOMETER FOR RESEARCH AND UNDERGRADUATE TRAINING -THIS MAJOR RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE (MRI) GRANT PROVIDES SUPPORT FOR THE PURCHASE OF AN X-RAY DIFFRACTOMETER THAT WILL ENHANCE TEACHING AND RESEARCH ACTIVITIES AT SWARTHMORE COLLEGE AND OTHER PRIMARILY UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTIONS IN THE SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA REGION. X-RAY POWDER DIFFRACTION IS ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL AND WIDELY-USED TOOLS FOR MATERIALS CHARACTERIZATION WITH A USER BASE THAT SPANS THE PHYSICS, CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS SCIENCE, AND ENGINEERING COMMUNITIES. STUDENTS AND FACULTY ACROSS THE NATURAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING DIVISION AT SWARTHMORE COLLEGE WILL USE THE X-RAY DIFFRACTOMETER IN COURSES THAT SPAN THE INTRODUCTORY AND ADVANCED CURRICULA AND TO CARRY OUT CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH EXPERIMENTS ON MATERIALS RANGING FROM ENGINEERED NANOMATERIALS TO RECHARGEABLE BATTERY CATHODES. THESE MEASUREMENTS WILL SUPPORT STUDENTS TO GAIN A FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE STRUCTURE OF MATERIALS AND EVALUATE THE STRUCTURE OF NEW MATERIALS THAT HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO IMPROVE UPON EXISTING TECHNOLOGIES. SWARTHMORE COLLEGE WILL ALSO WELCOME EXTERNAL USERS FROM PRIMARILY UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTIONS ACROSS THE SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA REGION TO VISIT SWARTHMORE TO ADVANCE THEIR OWN RESEARCH PROJECTS AND INTRODUCE THEIR STUDENTS TO A WIDELY USED TOOL. THE X-RAY DIFFRACTION SYSTEM AT SWARTHMORE COLLEGE WILL PROVIDE A HIGH-POWERED X-RAY SYSTEM THAT CAN BE FLEXIBLY CONFIGURED TO MEET THE RANGE OF TEACHING AND RESEARCH NEEDS OF CURRENT AND FUTURE FACULTY. THE INSTRUMENT WILL BE EQUIPPED WITH A 1 KW X-RAY SOURCE THAT PROVIDES CAPABILITIES FOR X-RAY DIFFRACTION AND MEASUREMENTS OF POWDERS AND THIN FILMS. AN ADDITIONAL HIGH-TEMPERATURE VACUUM FURNACE WILL ALLOW MEASUREMENTS UP TO 1600 C TO OBSERVE PHASE CHANGES IN MATERIALS. A BATTERY HOLDER WITH AN INTEGRATED POTENTIOSTAT WILL BE USED FOR OPERANDO X-RAY DIFFRACTION MEASUREMENTS DURING ELECTROCHEMICAL CYCLING. ONGOING PROJECTS OF FACULTY THAT WILL IMMEDIATELY BENEFIT FROM THIS INSTRUMENT INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: (I) CHARACTERIZATION OF ENGINEERED NANOMATERIALS, (II) OPERANDO MEASUREMENTS OF THE CATHODE EVOLUTION IN RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES, (III) THERMODYNAMIC INVESTIGATIONS OF BATTERY CATHODE MATERIALS, AND (IV) STUDIES OF STRUCTURALLY AND MORPHOLOGICALLY ENGINEERED GLASSES. THE X-RAY DIFFRACTION SYSTEM WILL CONSIDERABLY EXPAND THE CHARACTERIZATION CAPABILITIES OF RESEARCH GROUPS AT SWARTHMORE COLLEGE, AND PROVIDE A HUB FOR NEIGHBORING INSTITUTIONS TO OBTAIN HIGH-QUALITY DIFFRACTION DATA AND TRAIN RESEARCH STUDENTS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: IOS:RUI: HYDRODYNAMIC CONSEQUENCES OF SPINES ON ZOOPLANKTON: FUNCTIONAL MORPHOLOGY OF HORNS AND TAILS ON BARNACLE NAUPLII -ZOOPLANKTON, SMALL ANIMALS THAT DRIFT WITH OCEAN CURRENTS, ARE CRITICAL LINKS IN MARINE FOOD WEBS. MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF ZOOPLANKTON HAVE ELONGATED SPINES, HORNS, OR HAIRS. THESE STRUCTURES ARE THOUGHT OF AS PREDATOR DETERRENTS OR SENSORY ANTENNAE. THIS PROJECT EXAMINES OTHER ECOLOGICALLY IMPORTANT FUNCTIONS THAT SPINES MIGHT IMPACT: FEEDING, SWIMMING, SINKING, AND DISLODGEMENT FROM SURFACES. THESE FUNCTIONS DEPEND ON HOW ANIMALS INTERACT WITH THE WATER AROUND THEM. THIS STUDY INVESTIGATES HOW SPINES WORK TO ALTER THE MOVEMENT OF THE SURROUNDING WATER AND HOW THAT WATER MOVEMENT VARIES IN THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THE ?NAUPLIUS? LARVAL STAGE OF DIFFERENT SPECIES OF BARNACLES. BARNACLES ARE A TYPE OF CRUSTACEAN, A GROUP THAT INCLUDES THE COMMERCIALLY IMPORTANT CRABS, SHRIMP, AND LOBSTERS. SINCE ALL CRUSTACEANS HAVE A NAUPLIUS LARVAL STAGE, THIS RESEARCH WILL SHED LIGHT ON HOW THIS COMMON BODY FORM OPERATES, PROVIDING INFORMATION ABOUT FUNCTIONAL TRADEOFFS BETWEEN DIFFERENT BEHAVIORS AND BODY SHAPES. THIS PROJECT -- A COLLABORATION BETWEEN A SMALL, LIBERAL ARTS UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGE AND A BIG RESEARCH UNIVERSITY -- BRINGS TOGETHER STUDENTS AND FACULTY FROM BOTH TO CONDUCT THE RESEARCH AND TO TRAIN UNDERGRADUATES. IN ADDITION, THIS PROJECT CROSSES DISCIPLINARY BOUNDARIES BETWEEN BIOLOGY AND ENGINEERING, SO STUDENTS FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS WILL LEARN HOW TO COMMUNICATE AND COLLABORATE. PRINCIPLES DISCOVERED FROM THIS STUDY CAN INFORM BIO-INSPIRED DESIGN OF AQUATIC MICROROBOTS. THE TYPES OF EXPERIMENTS DESIGNED WILL ALSO BE USED TO DEVELOP NEW SCIENCE CURRICULA. DIVERSE ZOOPLANKTERS BEAR SPINES WITH FUNCTIONS THAT ARE POORLY UNDERSTOOD. THIS STUDY OF THE HYDRODYNAMICS OF DIFFERENT SPECIES OF BARNACLE LARVAE WILL DETERMINE (1) FUNCTIONAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE PRESENCE, LOCATION, AND MORPHOLOGY OF SPINES ON HYDRODYNAMIC FORCES AND TORQUES; (2) FUNCTIONAL CONSEQUENCES OF SPINES AND APPENDAGE KINEMATICS ON THE FORCES AND TORQUES GENERATED, AND ON SWIMMING, SINKING, AND FEEDING PERFORMANCE; AND (3) HYDRODYNAMIC CONSEQUENCES OF THE CHANGE IN BODY DESIGN FROM THE PLANKTONIC NAUPLIUS TO THE SETTLING CYPRID FORM. KINEMATICS AND FLOW FIELDS OF LARVAE WITH DISTINCTIVE MORPHOLOGIES AND ECOLOGY ARE MEASURED USING MICRO-VIDEOGRAPHY AND HIGH-SPEED PARTICLE IMAGE VELOCIMETRY. THIS COMPARATIVE STUDY ON LIVE ORGANISMS IS COUPLED WITH EXPERIMENTS USING DYNAMICALLY SCALED PHYSICAL MODELS TO DETERMINE MECHANISMS BY WHICH SPECIFIC FEATURES CONTROL FORCES AND TORQUES ON, AND FLOW FIELDS AROUND, LARVAE. PHYSICAL MODELS ALLOW PARAMETERS ? SPINE SIZE AND SHAPE; BODY SIZE AND SHAPE; LIMB MORPHOLOGY; AND KINEMATICS -- TO BE VARIED IN WAYS NOT POSSIBLE WITH LIVING ORGANISMS. IN ADDITION TO ELUCIDATING GENERAL PRINCIPLES ABOUT THE HYDRODYNAMIC CONSEQUENCES OF SPINES AT THE POORLY UNDERSTOOD SIZE AND SPEED RANGE OF ZOOPLANKTON ? THE DOMAIN OF INTERMEDIATE REYNOLDS NUMBERS -- THE PROJECT WILL ADVANCE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW TRADEOFFS BETWEEN ECOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS IMPOSE BIOMECHANICAL CONSTRAINTS THAT CAN SHAPE THE EVOLUTION OF FORM. COLLABORATION BETWEEN A PUI COLLEGE AND R1 UNIVERSITY INTEGRATES RESEARCH AND UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION AT BOTH. THE QUESTION-DRIVEN, EXPERIENCE-BASED LEARNING APPROACH INVOLVES RESEARCH TEAMS OF UNDERGRADUATES FROM PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES TO DEVELOP THEIR SKILLS AT INTERDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION. NOVEL INTERDISCIPLINARY COURSE MATERIALS WILL BE DEVELOPED WITH CONTEXT-RICH MODULES FOR TEACHING QUANTITATIVE SKILLS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

RUI: CHARACTERIZING AND OPTIMIZING EXTENSIONS OF LCDM -THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO ADDRESS FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES IN COSMOLOGY, SPECIFICALLY THE DISCREPANCIES IN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE EXPANSION RATE OF THE UNIVERSE AND THE CLUSTERING OF MATTER. THESE INCONSISTENCIES, KNOWN AS THE 'HUBBLE TENSION' AND THE ?SIGMA-8' TENSION, CHALLENGE THE CURRENT STANDARD COSMOLOGICAL MODEL. SCIENTISTS AT SWARTHMORE COLLEGE WILL CONDUCT NEW THEORETICAL WORK TO PROVIDE INSIGHTS INTO THE NATURE OF THESE TENSIONS AND OFFER NEW THEORETICAL EXPLANATIONS. AS PART OF THIS PROJECT, THE PI WILL TRAIN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN EFFECTIVE SCIENCE COMMUNICATION AND INVOLVE THEM IN RESEARCH ACTIVITIES. THIS EFFORT WILL LEVERAGE EXISTING TRAINING PROGRAMS AND DEVELOP A SCIENCE COMMUNICATION CURRICULUM, FOSTERING A CULTURE OF RESEARCH AND SPREADING KNOWLEDGE OF THE SCIENTIFIC PROCESS. THIS APPROACH NOT ONLY ENHANCES EDUCATION BUT ALSO PROMOTES DIVERSITY AND INCLUSIVITY IN THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY. OVERALL, THIS PROJECT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF COSMOLOGY, ADDRESS FUNDAMENTAL TENSIONS IN THE STANDARD MODEL, AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE TRAINING OF FUTURE SCIENTISTS WHILE PROMOTING EFFECTIVE SCIENCE COMMUNICATION. THE PI WILL ADDRESS TENSIONS IN THE CURRENT STANDARD COSMOLOGICAL MODEL, KNOWN AS LCDM, BY INVESTIGATING EXTENSIONS AND ALTERNATIVE MODELS. THE TENSIONS ARISE FROM INCONSISTENCIES BETWEEN PREDICTIONS MADE BY LCDM AND MEASUREMENTS OF THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND (CMB) AND THE CLUSTERING OF MATTER. THE PROJECT WILL DETERMINE THE THEORY SPACE AVAILABLE TO MODELS ADDRESSING THESE TENSIONS, CHARACTERIZE THEIR SPECIFIC SIGNATURES ON THE CMB AND LARGE-SCALE STRUCTURE, AND FURTHER EXPLORE THE NON-LINEAR DYNAMICS OF COSMOLOGICAL SCALAR FIELD MODELS. THE PROJECT'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT LIES IN ITS CONTRIBUTION TO THE COSMOLOGICAL RESEARCH COMMUNITY'S READINESS FOR UPCOMING OBSERVATIONS. IT WILL DEVELOP A ROBUST METHOD TO DETERMINE THE PROPERTIES OF MODELS THAT SUCCESSFULLY ADDRESS THE TENSIONS, PROVIDE NEW INSIGHTS INTO CONSTRAINTS USING CURRENT AND FUTURE COSMOLOGICAL DATA, AND EXPLORE THE EFFECTS OF COSMOLOGICAL SCALAR FIELDS ON VARIOUS PHENOMENA. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

X RAY SPECTRAL DIAGNOSTICS OF MASSIVE STAR WINDS AND MAGNETOSPHERES

MRI: ACQUISITION OF 400-MHZ NMR SPECTROMETER

STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL STUDIES OF AUTOINDUCER-2 PROCESSING PROTEINS

NETS: RUI: PRIVACY BY DESIGN: ENABLING STRONG PRIVACY GUARANTEES WITH OPEN-ACCESS NETWORK DATA -IMPORTANT DECISIONS ABOUT THE INTERNET DEPEND ON DATA ABOUT THE NETWORKS THAT HELP CONNECT TO EVERYDAY LIVES. HOWEVER, THESE DATA ARE DIFFICULT TO SHARE PRIVATELY AND SECURELY. NETWORK AND SERVICE PROVIDERS ARE NOW ABLE TO COLLECT RECORDS OF HOW DEVICES CONNECT TO WIRELESS NETWORKS AND HOW INTERNET TRAFFIC FLOWS THROUGH THEIR SYSTEMS. THESE RECORDS CAN REVEAL HOW SERVICES ARE USED BY USERS. SHARING SUCH DATA WOULD HELP RESEARCHERS AND ENGINEERS MAKE NETWORKS FASTER, MORE RELIABLE, AND FAIRER, BUT RELEASING THEM DIRECTLY WOULD PUT INDIVIDUAL PRIVACY AT RISK. THIS PROJECT DEVELOPS MATHEMATICALLY RIGOROUS PRIVACY PRESERVING TECHNIQUES, SO THAT NETWORK OPERATORS CAN SHARE USEFUL VERSIONS OF THEIR DATA WITHOUT EXPOSING SENSITIVE INFORMATION ABOUT ANY SINGLE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION. THE PROJECT DESIGNS AND ANALYZES A SUITE OF DIFFERENTIALLY PRIVATE MECHANISMS TAILORED TO THREE CANONICAL NETWORK DATA SHARING SCENARIOS. THE FIRST THRUST FOCUSES ON SINGLE NETWORK PROVIDERS THAT WISH TO SHARE FINE-GRAINED WORKLOAD TRACES WITH EDGE COMPUTING SERVICES WHILE PROTECTING INDIVIDUAL USERS. THE SECOND THRUST DEVELOPS METHODS FOR RELEASING SEQUENTIAL MOBILITY TRACES, SUCH AS DEVICE MOVEMENTS ACROSS CAMPUS WIRELESS ACCESS POINTS, USING MACHINE LEARNING MODELS COMBINED WITH FORMALLY CALIBRATED NOISE. THE THIRD THRUST TARGETS COLLABORATIVE SETTINGS IN WHICH MULTIPLE INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS MAY JOINTLY COMPUTE STATISTICS, SUCH AS HEAVY HITTER IP PREFIXES AND INTERSECTION COUNTS, WITHOUT REVEALING THEIR OWN RAW TRAFFIC OR IDENTIFIERS. ACROSS THESE THRUSTS, THE PROJECT PLANS TO DEVELOP END-TO-END ALGORITHMS, TO ADDRESS FORMAL PRIVACY GUARANTEES, AND TO CONDUCT EMPIRICAL EVALUATIONS ON REAL NETWORK DATASETS. THE BROADER IMPACTS OF THIS PROJECT SPAN EDUCATION, OPEN SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER TO THE NETWORKING COMMUNITY. THE WORK INTEGRATES PRIVACY-PRESERVING DATA ANALYSIS INTO UNDERGRADUATE COURSES AND YEAR-LONG RESEARCH EXPERIENCES. THE PROJECT RELEASES OPEN-SOURCE CODE, SYNTHETIC DATASETS, AND TEACHING MATERIALS SO THAT OTHER INSTRUCTORS, RESEARCHERS, AND PRACTITIONERS CAN LEARN HOW TO APPLY DIFFERENTIAL PRIVACY TO NETWORK DATA. OUTREACH ACTIVITIES CONNECT THESE IDEAS TO KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE 12 STUDENTS AND LOCAL COMMUNITY PROGRAMS, ILLUSTRATING HOW DATA-DRIVEN TECHNOLOGIES INTERSECT WITH QUESTIONS OF PRIVACY AND FAIRNESS. BY DEMONSTRATING CONCRETE, DEPLOYABLE METHODS FOR SHARING NETWORK DATA SAFELY, THIS PROJECT AIMS TO LOWER BARRIERS TO COLLABORATION BETWEEN INDUSTRY, ACADEMIA, AND POLICYMAKERS ON CHALLENGES IN INTERNET MEASUREMENT AND SECURITY. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

RUI: LOOKING BEYOND LCDM-- OBSERVATIONAL CONSEQUENCES OF MODELS THAT EASE THE HUBBLE TENSION

DO CONNECTIONS PERSIST? A PILOT STUDY INVESTIGATING THE LASTING IMPACT OF A PHYSICS COURSE DESIGNED TO FACILITATE CONNECTIONS WITH BIOLOGY.

O STARS ARE CHARACTERIZED BY THEIR DENSE, SUPERSONIC STELLAR WINDS. THESE WINDS ARE THE SITE OF X-RAY EMISSION FROM SHOCK-HEATED PLASMA. BY ANALYZING

CSR: SMALL: RUI: A FAST BACKING STORE SYSTEM ON TOP OF NETWORK RAM, FLASH, AND OTHER CLUSTER-WIDE STORAGE

RUI: COMBINATORIAL ALGEBRAIC GEOMETRY: CURVES AND THEIR MODULI

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: PLANT, FUNGAL AND LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY OF TAFEA PROVINCE, VANUATU

DETERMINING THE CONFORMATION OF THE INFLUENZA A M2 PROTEIN USING EPR SPECTROSCOPY

ENDOWMENT FOR ARABIC LANGUAGE STUDY

CHARACTERIZATION OF RECEPTORS OF THE BACTERIAL SIGNALING MOLECULE AUTOINDUCER-2

2006 MINORITY HEALTH YOUTH EMPOWERMENT GRANT PROGRAM

RUI: SUSCHEM: REDOX ACTIVE ALUMINUM NITROXIDE COMPLEXES FOR THE ANTI-MARKOVNIKOV HYDROFUNCTIONALIZATION OF ALKENES

CRII: SATC: RUI: UNDERSTANDING AND COLLECTIVELY MITIGATING HARMS FROM DEEPFAKE IMAGERY -THIS CRII RESEARCH IS TAKING AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO AUGMENT UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES? CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY. ALTHOUGH GENERATIVE AI CAN SUPPORT CREATIVE EXPRESSION AND BOOST WORKER PRODUCTIVITY, IT ALSO ENABLES THE CREATION OF SEEMINGLY-REAL IMAGES, VIDEO, AND AUDIO ?KNOWN AS DEEPFAKES. DEEPFAKES ARE BEING USED TO SILENCE, STEAL, EXTORT, AND DEFRAUD, MANIPULATE STOCK PRICES AND PUBLIC OPINION, AND HARM THE REPUTATION OF PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS. THESE ACTIONS HAVE A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON NATIONAL SECURITY, CIVIC INSTITUTIONS, AND PEOPLE?S PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL LIVES. AS GENERATIVE AI TECHNOLOGIES BECOME INCREASINGLY SOPHISTICATED AND ACCESSIBLE, ANYONE CAN CREATE A DEEPFAKE WITH A SINGLE PHOTO OR AUDIO CLIP. THIS RESEARCH SYSTEMATICALLY DOCUMENTS HOW DEEPFAKES HARM UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES AND DEVISES NOVEL, COMMUNITY-CENTRIC SOLUTIONS TO BECOME MORE RESILIENT TO THESE HARMS. THE PROJECT ALSO SUPPORTS THE TRAINING OF DIVERSE STUDENTS IN ADVANCED SOCIAL COMPUTING AND AI TECHNOLOGIES TO ADDRESS URGENT SOCIETAL NEED. THIS RESEARCH TRANSCENDS INDIVIDUALISTIC APPROACHES TO SECURITY AND PRIVACY BY APPLYING CONCEPTS FROM SOCIAL COMPUTING, USABLE SECURITY, AND COMMUNITY-BASED PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH, AND IT USES A MIXED-METHODS APPROACH TO SYNTHESIZE THE POTENTIALLY PROSOCIAL AS WELL AS ANTISOCIAL APPLICATIONS OF DEEPFAKES, AND THEIR IMPACT ON PEOPLE?S PERSONAL AND PRIVATE LIVES. THE FINDINGS COULD INFORM GOVERNMENT AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY THAT ADDRESSES THE NEEDS OF UNDERSERVED GROUPS, AND THE DESIGN OF RESPONSIBLE GENERATIVE AI TOOLS. THE RESEARCH TEAM IS COLLABORATING CLOSELY WITH TWO UNDERSERVED GROUPS IN THE PHILADELPHIA AREA, BLACK COMMUNITIES AND ASIAN IMMIGRANT/DIASPORA COMMUNITIES, TO BUILD A SCALABLE PLATFORM TO ENCOURAGE AND SUPPORT COMMUNITY-LEVEL CYBERSECURITY PRACTICES. THE SITE WILL ALSO ENABLE DEPLOYMENT AND EVALUATION STUDIES, ADVANCING FOUNDATIONAL KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HARM, TRUST, AND SECURITY AND PRIVACY. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

REVEALING THE MECHANISMS OF NEURAL-MEDIATED CARDIAC PROLIFERATION IN CIONA ROBUSTA - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT REGULATION OF CARDIOMYOCYTE DIVISION IS REQUIRED FOR PROPER HEART DEVELOPMENT, AND IS IMPLICATED IN CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE. NEURAL INNERVATION OF THE HEART REGULATES HEART RATE, WHICH IMPACTS CARDIOMYOCYTE PROLIFERATION. FURTHERMORE, NEURONS RELEASE NEUROPEPTIDES THAT ARE KEY FACTORS IN PROMOTING CELL PROLIFERATION. RECENT EVIDENCE SUGGESTS NEURAL INNERVATION FROM THE SYMPATHETIC AND PARASYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM (EXTRINSIC INNERVATION) OF THE HEART PROMOTES CARDIOMYOCYTE PROLIFERATION IN POST-NATAL MICE. CIONA ROBUSTA ARE A CLOSELY RELATED CHORDATE, WHICH HAVE DOCUMENTED CONSERVED FEATURES SUCH AS NEURONS WITHIN THE HEART (INTRINSIC NEURONS). UNLIKE MAMMALIAN HEARTS THAT CEASE PROLIFERATING SHORTLY AFTER BIRTH, CIONA HEARTS PROLIFERATE DURING DEVELOPMENT AND INTO ADULTHOOD. THE NEURONS ASSOCIATED WITH CIONA HEARTS ARE PEPTIDERGIC, SUGGESTING NEUROPEPTIDES ARE SECRETED FROM THESE NEURONS. TACHYKININ IS A CONSERVED FAMILY OF NEUROPEPTIDES THAT INCLUDES SUBSTANCE P, WHICH IS IMPLICATED IN CARDIAC DISEASE, AND IS SECRETED FROM NERVES THAT INNERVATE THE HEART IN VERTEBRATES. THE FUNCTION OF NEURAL INNERVATION IN CIONA IS NOT KNOWN, HOWEVER WE HAVE PRELIMINARY DATA INDICATING THE NEUROPEPTIDE TACHYKININ PROMOTES CARDIAC PROLIFERATION IN THE DEVELOPING AND ADULT CIONA HEART. THE SOLE ARTICLE DOCUMENTING CIONA HEART INNERVATION HAS NOT BEEN FOLLOWED UP, AND THUS WE INVESTIGATED IF THERE WAS UNAPPRECIATED EXTRINSIC INNERVATION THAT EXISTS IN CIONA HEARTS. WE FIND EVIDENCE OF NEURONS FROM THE BRAIN (EXTRINSIC) OF CIONA INNERVATING THE INTRINSIC NEURONS OF THE HEART. WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT NEURONAL INPUT PROMOTES PROLIFERATION IN DEVELOPING CIONA HEARTS. THIS HYPOTHESIS IS SUPPORTED BY OUR PRELIMINARY DATA THAT THE DEVELOPING CIONA HEART IS INNERVATED BY EXTRINSIC AND INTRINSIC NEURONS. FURTHERMORE, OUR DATA SUGGEST TACHYKININ SIGNALING PROMOTES CARDIAC PROLIFERATION IN DEVELOPING AND ADULT ANIMALS. LAST, OUR PRELIMINARY SINGLE CELL RNA-SEQ DATA SUGGEST INTRINSIC NEURONS IN THE HEART CAN RESPOND TO TACHYKININ. WE PROPOSE THE FOLLOWING AIMS TO INVESTIGATE OUR HYPOTHESIS. AIM I: CHARACTERIZE NEURONAL INNERVATION OF THE CIONA HEART. WE WILL DETERMINE THE TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL TIME- COURSE OF NEURAL INNERVATION OF THE CIONA HEART. WE WILL USE SINGLE CELL RNA-SEQ TO IDENTIFY MARKERS OF ALL CELL TYPES IN THE HEART INCLUDING THOSE EXPRESSING THE TACHYKININ RECEPTOR (NEUROKININ) AND SUBTYPES OF NEURONS. AIM II: DETERMINE WHETHER NEURONAL SIGNALING REGULATES CARDIAC CELL PROLIFERATION. WE WILL IDENTIFY THE DEVELOPMENTAL TIME-POINT(S) WHICH TACHYKININ ACTIVATES CARDIOMYOCYTE PROLIFERATION. NEXT WE WILL PREVENT TACHYKININ SIGNALING IN INTRINSIC NEURONS OR CARDIOMYOCYTES TO DETERMINE WHAT CELL TYPE TACHYKININ ACTS ON. WE WILL INVESTIGATE IF TACHYKININ PROMOTES CARDIOMYOCYTE PROLIFERATION INDIRECTLY BY TESTING IF THE GROWTH FACTORS RELEASED BY INTRINSIC NEURONS PROMOTE CARDIOMYOCYTE PROLIFERATION DIRECTLY. MY ULTIMATE CAREER GOAL IS TO STUDY THE ROLE OF NEURAL INNERVATION ON CARDIAC DEVELOPMENT AT A PRIMARILY UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTION.

RUI: STS: STANDARD RESEARCH GRANT: MATHEMATICAL EXPLANATION IN SCIENCE

RUI: COMPRESSIVE SENSING AND NEURONAL NETWORK STRUCTURE-FUNCTION RELATIONSHIPS

NEW STATISTICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS FOR OPTIMIZATION OF PLANARIAN BEHAVIORAL CHEMICAL SCREENS - OBJECTIVES. THERE IS AN URGENT NEED TO DEVELOP HIGH-THROUGHPUT SCREENING (HTS) NON-ANIMAL MODELS TO REPLACE, REFINE, AND/OR REDUCE (“3RS”) VERTEBRATE TOXICOLOGY TESTING. THE DEVELOPMENT OF HTS MODELS IS ESPECIALLY CHALLENGING FOR NEUROTOXICITY (NT) AND DEVELOPMENTAL NEUROTOXICITY (DNT) WHERE THE FUNCTIONAL RELEVANCY OF ADVERSE OUTCOMES NEEDS TO BE ASSESSED ON THE WHOLE ORGANISM LEVEL. THE OVERARCHING GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP A NON-ANIMAL ORGANISMAL HTS METHODOLOGY TO IDENTIFY NT AND DNT. THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE IS TO DETERMINE WHETHER USING STATE-OF-THE-ART COMPUTATIONAL APPROACHES WILL INCREASE SENSITIVITY AND SPECIFICITY OF PLANARIAN HTS TO IDENTIFY NT AND DNT USING THE VERIFIED NATIONAL TOXICOLOGY PROGRAM 87-COMPOUND LIBRARY (NTP87). AS A PARTNER IN THE NTP NEUROTOXICOLOGY SCREENING STRATEGIES INITIATIVE, WE PREVIOUSLY SCREENED THE NTP87 LIBRARY CONSISTING OF KNOWN AND SUSPECTED DEVELOPMENTAL NEUROTOXICANTS IN THE ASEXUAL FRESHWATER PLANARIAN DUGESIA JAPONICA USING 9 READOUTS. USING THIS LIBRARY, WE DEMONSTRATED THAT PLANARIAN HTS CAN IDENTIFY KNOWN (DEVELOPMENTAL-) NEUROTOXICANTS AND ADDS COMPLEMENTARY VALUE TO SCREENS IN DEVELOPING ZEBRAFISH. PLANARIANS ARE INVERTEBRATES OF INTERMEDIATE NEURAL AND ANATOMICAL COMPLEXITY COMPARED TO NEMATODES AND ZEBRAFISH AND HAVE TRACTABLE, EVOLUTIONARILY CONSERVED NEURONAL CIRCUITS. PLANARIANS UNIQUELY ALLOW FOR DIRECT COMPARISON OF XENOBIOTIC EFFECTS ON THE ADULT AND DEVELOPING NERVOUS SYSTEMS. FOR ASEXUAL D. JAPONICA, WHICH REPRODUCE VIA FISSION, NEUROREGENERATION IS THE SOLE METHOD OF NEURODEVELOPMENT AND SHARES CONSERVED KEY EVENTS WITH VERTEBRATE NEURODEVELOPMENT. THESE FEATURES AND OUR PREVIOUS WORK DEMONSTRATE THE VALUE OF PLANARIAN HTS FOR FIRST-TIER SCREENING OF POTENTIAL NEUROTOXICANTS. WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT WE CAN AUGMENT SENSITIVITY AND SPECIFICITY OF THIS NON-ANIMAL MODEL BY RE-ANALYZING OUR NTP87 DATA USING STATE-OF-THE- ART MACHINE LEARNING AND STATISTICAL TOOLS. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH. IN AIM 1, WE WILL RE-ANALYZE THE RAW DATA USING 18 NEW BEHAVIORAL AND 10 NEW MORPHOLOGICAL READOUTS USING COMPUTER VISION AND MACHINE LEARNING. THUS, IN TOTAL WE ASSAY 37 READOUTS EVALUATED AT 5 CONCENTRATIONS, IN INTACT AND REGENERATING ORGANISMS. IN AIM 2, WE WILL RE-ANALYZE POTENCY INCLUDING ALL 37 READOUTS USING A BENCHMARK CONCENTRATION APPROACH WITH EMPIRICALLY DETERMINED, ENDPOINT- SPECIFIC BENCHMARK RESPONSES. THIS ANALYSIS WILL OVERCOME THE INTRINSIC LIMITATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH LOWEST- OBSERVED-EFFECT LEVELS THAT WAS PREVIOUSLY APPLIED. IN AIM 3, WE WILL USE A BAYESIAN STATISTICAL MODEL ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED FOR ZEBRAFISH EMBRYO SCREENS TO OBTAIN A HOLISTIC TOXICITY SUMMARY SCORE AND EVALUATE THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF THE DIFFERENT READOUTS FOR THE PREDICTIVE CAPABILITIES OF THE PLANARIAN SYSTEM. EXPECTED RESULTS. BY COMBINING NON-ANIMAL ORGANISMAL BEHAVIORAL HTS WITH STATE-OF-THE-ART ANALYTICAL APPROACHES, THIS PROJECT WILL BOLSTER THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NON-ANIMAL ORGANISMAL HTS METHODOLOGY THAT CAN BE INTEGRATED WITH PREDICTIVE BIOINFORMATICS TO MEET THE URGENT NEED TO FILL THE DNT DATA GAP.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: IRES TRACK I: STRONGER TOGETHER: EXPLORING HOW COMMUNAL CARE REDUCES INDIVIDUAL COSTS DURING CHALLENGING YEARS

THE BORDER WALL, IMMIGRATION, AND CITIZENSHIP ON THE UNITED STATES/MEXICO BORDER

RUI: MODULI SPACES AND COMBINATORIAL ALGEBRAIC GEOMETRY

THE ARABIC NOVEL IN TRANSLATION

RUI: STRUCTURAL AND DYNAMICAL SPECIALIZATIONS OF AXONS THAT ENHANCE NEURAL COINCIDENCE DETECTION

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ANALYSIS OF WAVE MODE CONTENT IN FULLY TURBULENT, MODERATELY COLLISIONAL PLASMA THROUGH LABORATORY EXPERIMENT AND KINETIC SIMULATION

DIRECT AND SPILLOVER EFFECTS OF MEDICARE PAYMENT CHANGES ON NURSING HOME QUALITY AND VOLUME

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: HYBRID PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TO ENHANCE TEACHERS' USE OF BOOTSTRAP

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: TOWARD A GLOBAL TIMELINE OF BIOLOGICAL AND OCEAN GEOCHEMICAL CHANGE DURING THE EARLY CAMBRIAN

BRIGE: POWER-EFFICIENT EASY-TO-PROGRAM 1000-CORE DESKTOP SUPERCOMPUTER

SUNSET OVER SUNSET: EXPLORING THE STREET-LEVEL VIEW OF POSTWAR URBAN REDEVELOPMENT USING ED RUSCHA?S LOS ANGELES PHOTOGRAPHY

MODULI SPACES IN ENUMERATIVE AND COMBINATORIAL GEOMETRY

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: EMPIRICAL MODELS OF SUPRACOMPETITIVE PRICING IN DIFFERENTIATED PRODUCTS MARKETS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: BOCP-DESIGN: CLIMATE CHANGE ALTERATION OF SOILS FUNCTIONAL BIODIVERSITY OF THE PARAMOS, COLOMBIA -P?RAMOS ARE HIGH-ALTITUDE TUNDRA ECOSYSTEMS NESTED AT THE HEART OF THE ANDES MOUNTAINS. THESE COLD AND HUMID ENVIRONMENTS ARE HOME TO A MULTITUDE OF PLANTS, ANIMALS, AND INSECTS. P?RAMOS ARE A CRITICAL WATER SOURCE FOR DOWNSTREAM URBAN CENTERS, INCLUDING COLOMBIA'S CAPITAL CITY, BOGOTA. ADDITIONALLY, THE P?RAMOS SOILS CONTAIN SUBSTANTIAL ORGANIC CARBON RESERVES DUE TO SLOW RATES OF ORGANIC MATTER DECOMPOSITION. BEYOND BEING A POOL OF CARBON SEQUESTERED AWAY FROM THE ATMOSPHERE, THIS LARGE RESERVOIR OF ORGANIC MATTER CONTROLS THE SOILS? HYDRAULIC AND FERTILITY PROPERTIES. THE P?RAMOS? UNIQUE GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION, AT AN ELEVATION ABOVE 2,800 M ABOVE SEA LEVEL, MAKES THEM HIGHLY VULNERABLE TO THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE. IN FACT, THESE ECOSYSTEMS? SURFACE AREAS ARE PROJECTED TO SHRINK BY HALF WITHIN THE NEXT 50 YEARS POSSIBLY CAUSING LOSS OF THE ESSENTIAL SERVICES THEY PROVIDE. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO CHARACTERIZE THE MICROBIAL DIVERSITY IN THE P?RAMOS SOILS IN COLOMBIA AND INVESTIGATE HOW CLIMATE CHANGE WILL AFFECT MICROBES? FUNCTIONS. THE RESEARCH IS OF HIGH IMPORTANCE, CONSIDERING THAT IMMEDIATE AND LONG-TERM CHANGES IN MICROBIAL METABOLISM COULD IMPACT THE ABILITY OF P?RAMOS SOILS TO STORE ORGANIC CARBON AND REGULATE DOWNSTREAM WATER FLOW. TO STUDY THE CASCADING EFFECT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON P?RAMOS ECOSYSTEMS, THIS PROJECT WILL JUMPSTART COLLABORATIONS AMONG TRANSDISCIPLINARY EXPERTS THAT WILL INTEGRATE THE RESEARCH OF BELOW-GROUND MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES WITH ABOVE-GROUND VEGETATION FUNCTIONS. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO ENGAGE HIGH SCHOOL AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS THAT WILL WORK TOGETHER TO DEVELOP AND DEPLOY LOW-COST LONG-TERM SOIL MONITORING DATA LOGGERS IN CHINGAZA NATIONAL NATURAL PARK, NEAR THE CITY OF BOGOTA. THIS PROJECT WILL ADDRESS THE CRITICAL NEED TO DISENTANGLE THE EFFECT OF MOISTURE AND TEMPERATURE ON THE FATE OF ORGANIC CARBON IN P?RAMOS SOILS WHILE BUILDING A TRANSDISCIPLINARY TEAM CAPABLE OF EXPANDING THE SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH TO AN ECOSYSTEM LEVEL. THE PROJECT INCLUDES ESTABLISHING CONTROLLED SOIL MESOCOSMS THAT WILL ALLOW TO INDEPENDENTLY VARY MOISTURE AND TEMPERATURE LEVELS. ADDITIONALLY, FUNCTIONS OF THE SOIL MICROBIOME WILL BE INVESTIGATED USING METAGENOMICS AND AMPLICON SEQUENCING, AND PROBES WILL BE DEPLOYED TO INITIATE LONG-TERM MONITORING OF THE SOIL RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN SITU. THIS PROJECT WILL CULMINATE IN THE ORGANIZATION OF AN INTERNATIONAL P?RAMOS SYMPOSIUM THAT WILL SET UP PRIORITIES FOR FUTURE SYSTEMS RESEARCH. THE SYMPOSIUM WILL BRING TOGETHER SCIENTISTS FROM DIVERSE FIELDS TO DISCUSS THE LINKAGES BETWEEN ABOVE-GROUND AND BELOW-GROUND ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONS AND PLAN FUTURE COLLABORATIONS IN PREDICTING P?RAMOS-WIDE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

OBSERVING DENSITY EVOLUTION DURING MERGING OF PLECTONEMIC TAYLOR STATES

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ONLINE COLLABORATION TO UNDERSTAND PRESERVICE TEACHERS' DEVELOPING MKT

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: MATH IMAGES

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: COMMUNITY SOURCING INTRODUCTORY PHYSICS FOR THE LIFE SCIENCES

RUI: COMPARING AGE SELECTIVITY IN MODERN EXTINCTIONS AND THE FOSSIL RECORD

RUI: EXPLORING THE ALGEBRAIC GEOMETRY OF MATROIDS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ENERGY-AWARE MEMORY SYNCHRONIZATION FOR EMBEDDED MULTICORE SYSTEMS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: TRIANGULATING ON THE AGES OF STARS: USING OPEN CLUSTERS TO CALIBRATE STELLAR CHRONOMETERS FROM MYR TO GYR AGES

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: INFRASTRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPUTER SCIENCE CONCEPT INVENTORY FOR CS2

SWARTHMORE COLLEGE SPECIAL COLLECTIONS PRESERVATION PLANNING PROJECT

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ESTIMATING THE TEMPO OF THE CAMBRIAN EXPLOSION

RUI: CONFIDENCE INTERVALS FOR THE DURATION OF A MASS EXTINCTION

CONFERENCE: RESEARCH COMPUTING FOR SMALLER INSTITUTIONS (RCSI) 2025 -THIS AWARD PROVIDES PARTICIPANT SUPPORT FOR THE RESEARCH COMPUTING FOR SMALLER INSTITUTIONS (RCSI) CONFERENCE 2025 AT SWARTHMORE COLLEGE IN PENNSYLVANIA. SMALLER INSTITUTIONS CONFRONT CHALLENGES RELATED TO DATA MANAGEMENT, INCREASING ADOPTION OF COMPUTATIONAL METHODS ACROSS MANY DISCIPLINES, AND SUPPORT FOR COMPLEX COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS, AND MUST DO SO WITH FEWER HUMAN, FINANCIAL, AND INFRASTRUCTURE RESOURCES. THE CONFERENCE ADDRESSES RESEARCH COMPUTING CHALLENGES UNIQUE TO SUCH INSTITUTIONS, PROVIDING ACTIONABLE PATHWAYS, IDEA EXCHANGES, AND COMMUNITY BUILDING FOR ATTENDEES. THIS WORKSHOP GRANT WILL SUPPORT TRAVEL COSTS FOR A COHORT OF PARTICIPANTS TO ATTEND THIS SECOND ITERATION OF RCSI, FOLLOWING THE SUCCESSFUL CONFERENCE IN 2024 THAT WELCOMED ABOUT 90 PARTICIPANTS. THE GRANT PROVIDES FULL OR PARTIAL TRAVEL SUPPORT FOR APPROXIMATELY 19 ATTENDEES TO ATTEND THE CONFERENCE. THE SUPPORT MAKES POSSIBLE THE PARTICIPATION OF THOSE WHO OTHERWISE WOULD BE UNABLE TO ATTEND, AN ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION GIVEN THE TARGET AUDIENCE OF THE EVENT. PARTICULAR ATTENTION WILL BE PAID TO DIRECTING SUPPORT TO THOSE WHO NORMALLY MIGHT NOT ATTEND A RESEARCH COMPUTING CONFERENCE. RELEVANT OUTPUTS, SUCH AS PRESENTATIONS, WILL BE MADE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE. BROADER IMPACTS ON RESEARCH COMPUTING PRACTICE IN SUPPORT OF LEARNING, PEDAGOGY, AND RESEARCH WILL BE EXTENSIVE, INCLUDING IMPROVED MODELS FOR SUPPORTING EMERGING RESEARCH COMPUTING INTEGRATION IN PEDAGOGICAL CONTEXTS, GUIDING ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT IN RELEVANT HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE, FACILITATING SKILLS DEVELOPMENT FOR STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND CI PROFESSIONALS, AND LAYING FOUNDATIONS FOR SUBSEQUENT GRANTS AND OTHER FUNDING REQUESTS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

CONFERENCE: RESEARCH COMPUTING AT SMALLER INSTITUTIONS (RCSI) -THIS AWARD PROVIDES PARTICIPANT SUPPORT FOR THE RESEARCH COMPUTING FOR SMALLER INSTITUTIONS (RCSI) CONFERENCE, HELD JUNE 11-12, 2024 AT SWARTHMORE COLLEGE IN PENNSYLVANIA. SMALLER AND UNDER-RESOURCED INSTITUTIONS CONFRONT CHALLENGES RELATED TO DATA MANAGEMENT, INCREASING ADOPTION OF COMPUTATIONAL METHODS ACROSS MANY DISCIPLINES, AND SUPPORT FOR COMPLEX COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS, AND MUST DO SO WITH FEWER HUMAN, FINANCIAL, AND INFRASTRUCTURE RESOURCES. THE CONFERENCE ADDRESSES RESEARCH COMPUTING CHALLENGES UNIQUE TO SUCH INSTITUTIONS, PROVIDING ACTIONABLE PATHWAYS, IDEA EXCHANGES, AND COMMUNITY BUILDING FOR ATTENDEES. THE GRANT SUPPORTS TRAVEL FOR APPROXIMATELY 26 ATTENDEES TO ATTEND THE CONFERENCE. THE SUPPORT MAKES POSSIBLE THE PARTICIPATION OF THOSE WHO OTHERWISE WOULD BE UNABLE TO ATTEND, AN ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION GIVEN THE TARGET AUDIENCE OF THE EVENT. PARTICULAR ATTENTION WILL BE PAID TO DIRECTING SUPPORT TOWARDS VARIOUS UNDERREPRESENTED POPULATIONS AND INSTITUTION TYPES, AS WELL AS TO THOSE WHO NORMALLY MIGHT NOT ATTEND A RESEARCH COMPUTING CONFERENCE, INCLUDING LIBRARY AND APPROPRIATE ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF. RELEVANT OUTPUTS, SUCH AS PRESENTATIONS, WILL BE MADE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE. GIVEN THE ANTICIPATED DIVERSITY AND BREADTH OF ATTENDEES, BROADER IMPACTS ON RESEARCH COMPUTING PRACTICE IN SUPPORT OF LEARNING, PEDAGOGY, AND RESEARCH WILL BE EXTENSIVE, INCLUDING IMPROVED MODELS FOR SUPPORTING EMERGING RESEARCH COMPUTING INTEGRATION IN PEDAGOGICAL CONTEXTS, GUIDING ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT IN RELEVANT HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE, FACILITATING SKILLS DEVELOPMENT FOR STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND CI PROFESSIONALS, AND LAYING FOUNDATIONS FOR SUBSEQUENT GRANTS AND OTHER FUNDING REQUESTS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

CONFERENCE: RESEARCH COMPUTING AT SMALLER INSTITUTIONS (RCSI) 2026 -THIS GRANT FUNDS TRAVEL FOR APPROXIMATELY TWENTY-SIX PARTICIPANTS TO ATTEND THE RESEARCH COMPUTING FOR SMALLER INSTITUTIONS (RCSI) CONFERENCE, TAKING PLACE JUNE 16-17, 2026 AT SWARTHMORE COLLEGE IN PENNSYLVANIA. SMALLER AND UNDER-RESOURCED INSTITUTIONS FACE DISTINCT CHALLENGES IN MANAGING RESEARCH DATA, ADOPTING COMPUTATIONAL METHODS ACROSS A GROWING RANGE OF DISCIPLINES, AND SUSTAINING COMPLEX COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS. THESE INSTITUTIONS HAVE COMPARATIVELY LIMITED HUMAN, FINANCIAL, AND INFRASTRUCTURE RESOURCES. RCSI OFFERS ATTENDEES ACTIONABLE STRATEGIES TO ADDRESS SUCH CHALLENGES, OPPORTUNITIES FOR IDEA EXCHANGE, AND A FORUM FOR COMMUNITY BUILDING. INFORMED BY PRIOR ITERATIONS OF THE CONFERENCE AND ATTENDEE FEEDBACK, THIS YEAR'S PROGRAM EXPANDS ITS FOCUS ON EMERGING TOPICS, INCLUDING QUANTUM COMPUTING RESOURCES AND RELATED RESEARCH FACILITATION GUIDANCE FOR SMALLER INSTITUTIONS, PATHWAYS FOR EFFECTIVE STATE AND REGIONAL COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIPS, EXTENDING AND CUSTOMIZING OPEN ONDEMAND'S FUNCTIONALITY FOR SMALLER INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXTS, LEVERAGING NATIONAL COMPUTING RESOURCES SUCH AS THE NATIONAL AI RESEARCH RESOURCE (NAIRR) AND THE NSF-FUNDED ACCESS PROGRAM AT SMALLER INSTITUTIONS, AND IDENTIFYING APPROACHES TO COMMUNITY-BUILDING AND SUSTAINING ENGAGEMENT YEAR-ROUND BEYOND THE CONFERENCE ITSELF. TRAVEL SUPPORT ENABLES THE PARTICIPATION OF INDIVIDUALS WHO WOULD OTHERWISE BE UNABLE TO ATTEND ? A PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION GIVEN THE EVENT'S TARGET AUDIENCE. CONFERENCE OUTPUTS, INCLUDING PRESENTATIONS, WILL BE MADE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE. GIVEN THE ANTICIPATED RANGE AND BREADTH OF THE ATTENDEE POOL, BROADER IMPACTS ON RESEARCH COMPUTING PRACTICE IN SUPPORT OF LEARNING, PEDAGOGY, AND RESEARCH WILL BE SUBSTANTIAL. IMPACTS INCLUDE INCLUDING GREATER AND MORE EFFICIENT COLLABORATIVE ENGAGEMENTS; IMPROVED MODELS FOR INTEGRATING RESEARCH COMPUTING INTO PEDAGOGICAL CONTEXTS; INFORMED INVESTMENT IN RELEVANT HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, AND INFRASTRUCTURE; SKILLS DEVELOPMENT FOR STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND CI PROFESSIONALS; AND A STRENGTHENED FOUNDATION FOR SUBSEQUENT GRANTS AND FUNDING PROPOSALS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

FY 2013 NIST SURF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM - EL & PML/PL

CONFERENCE: INTEGRATING RESEARCH AND ILLUSTRATION IN NUMBER THEORY -THE WORKSHOP INTEGRATING RESEARCH AND ILLUSTRATION IN NUMBER THEORY WILL BE HELD MARCH 23-27, 2026 AT THE INSTITUTE HENRI POINCAR? IN PARIS, FRANCE, AS PART OF A TRIMESTER PROGRAM FOCUSING ON ILLUSTRATION AS A RESEARCH TECHNIQUE IN MATHEMATICS. IN REGARD TO THE PROGRAM, THE TERM ?ILLUSTRATION? IS USED TO ENCOMPASS ANY OF THE MANY WAYS ONE MIGHT BRING A MATHEMATICAL IDEA INTO PHYSICAL FORM OR EXPERIENCE, INCLUDING COMPUTER VISUALIZATION, 3D PRINTING, AND VIRTUAL REALITY. THE WEEK-LONG WORKSHOP WILL BRING TOGETHER MATHEMATICIANS USING ILLUSTRATION AS A RESEARCH TOOL WITH THOSE NEWLY LEARNING THESE TOOLS. THE MAIN GOALS OF THE WORKSHOP ARE TO ADVANCE RESEARCH THROUGH THE USE OF MATHEMATICAL ILLUSTRATION, DISSEMINATE THE SKILLS FOR THE CREATION OF MATHEMATICAL ILLUSTRATION AND ITS USE IN RESEARCH, AND FURTHER THE THEORY OF ILLUSTRATION AS A TOOL. BROADER IMPACTS OF THE WORKSHOP INCLUDE RAISING PUBLIC AWARENESS ABOUT ILLUSTRATION AS A SCIENTIFIC TOOL AND PROVIDING NEW CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION IN TEACHING AND OUTREACH. AMONG THE MANY APPROACHES TO STUDYING MATHEMATICS, ILLUSTRATION HAS BEEN A COMPANION TO--AND TOOL FOR-- RESEARCH FOR AS LONG AS RESEARCH HAS TAKEN PLACE. WITH MODERN TOOLS, ILLUSTRATION CAN EVEN MAKE MATHEMATICS AN EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE, SO THAT COMPUTATIONAL RESULTS CAN DRIVE THE CYCLE OF PROBLEM, CONJECTURE, AND PROOF. TODAY, MODERN TECHNOLOGY FOR THE FIRST TIME PLACES THE PRODUCTION OF FAR MORE COMPLICATED 3D MODELS WITHIN THE REACH OF MANY INDIVIDUAL MATHEMATICIANS. MOREOVER, THE VERY PROCESS OF ILLUSTRATION ITSELF CHALLENGES HUMAN UNDERSTANDING OF A MATHEMATICAL TOPIC AND FORCES MATHEMATICIANS TO ANSWER QUESTIONS THAT THEY MAY NOT HAVE POSED OTHERWISE. WORKSHOP SPEAKERS' MATHEMATICAL EXPERTISE INCLUDES HOMOGENEOUS DYNAMICS, CONTINUED FRACTIONS, KLEINIAN GROUPS, RANDOM MATRICES, P-ADIC ANALYSIS, MODULAR FORMS, GAUSSIAN PERIODS, ARITHMETIC GEOMETRY, AND MORE. THE STRUCTURE OF THE WORKSHOP WILL INCLUDE RESEARCH TALKS, RESEARCH IN GROUPS, LIGHTNING TALKS, AND COMMUNITY-BUILDING ACTIVITIES; IT HAS BEEN DESIGNED TO PROVIDE A WIDE VARIETY OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR PARTICIPANTS NOT JUST TO DISSEMINATE RESEARCH, BUT TO FORM NEW COLLABORATIONS AND TO LEARN NEW SKILLS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CREATING A COMMON THERMODYNAMICS

GENERALIZED GEOMETRY WORKSHOP

RAPID: PENNSYLVANIA LENAPE DOCUMENTATION

SGER: A NATION DIVIDED: IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP ON THE BORDER

CONFERENCE: SICB 2023 SYMPOSIUM: LARGE-SCALE PHENOMENA ARISING FROM SMALL-SCALE BIOPHYSICAL PROCESSES -THIS AWARD PARTIALLY SUPPORTS EXPENSES FOR PARTICIPANTS IN A SYMPOSIUM AND A WORKSHOP AT THE JANUARY 2023 ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY FOR INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY (SICB). THE SYMPOSIUM BRINGS TOGETHER BIOLOGISTS AND ENGINEERS STUDYING QUESTIONS ABOUT EMERGING LARGE-SCALE INFLUENCES OF SINGLE CELLS IN DIFFERENT STUDY SYSTEMS. SINGLE CELLS, DESPITE THEIR SMALL SIZE, CAN ORGANIZE AND BEHAVE IN WAYS THAT HAVE UNEXPECTED AND WIDE-REACHING CONSEQUENCES. FOR INSTANCE, THE PHYSICAL FORCES THAT EXIST BETWEEN CELLS DRIVE TISSUE FORMATION AND PAVE THE WAY FOR THE EVOLUTION OF COMPLEX, MULTICELLULAR ORGANISMS. ANOTHER VERY DIFFERENT EXAMPLE IN WHICH LARGE-SCALE PATTERNS EMERGE FROM INDIVIDUAL-CELL BEHAVIOR LIES IN THE SWIMMING OF SINGLE-CELLED ALGAE; SWIMMING HELPS THEM NAVIGATE THE OCEAN ENVIRONMENT AND FORM VAST COMMUNITIES VISIBLE FROM SPACE. OF THE ELEVEN SPEAKERS AND TWO SYMPOSIUM ORGANIZERS, SIX ARE FROM GROUPS UNDERREPRESENTED IN SCIENCE AND NINE ARE EARLY-CAREER INVESTIGATORS; THE SPEAKERS WILL PRESENT AND DISCUSS THE LATEST FINDINGS AND TECHNIQUES, MARRYING STATE-OF-THE-ART FIELD, LABORATORY, AND MATHEMATICAL APPROACHES. THE SYMPOSIUM TOPIC INTEGRATES ACROSS SCALES AND TYPES OF ORGANISMS, AND ADDRESSES BOTH PHYSIOLOGICAL AND BIOMECHANICAL QUESTIONS THROUGH EXPERIMENTS AND MODELING. THERE WILL ALSO BE A COMPLEMENTARY WORKSHOP TO DISCUSS STRATEGIES FOR ENGAGING IN SUCCESSFUL CROSS-DISCIPLINARY RESEARCH TO PROMOTE THE USE OF MATHEMATICS, PHYSICS AND ENGINEERING TOOLS TO ADDRESS BIOLOGICAL PROBLEMS. RESULTS FROM THE MEETING AND WORKSHOP WILL BE PUBLISHED IN THE SOCIETY?S JOURNAL, INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY. THE EMERGENCE OF LARGE-SCALE PATTERNS FROM SMALL-SCALE BEHAVIOR AND PHYSIOLOGY OF SINGLE CELLS IS A BROAD THEME OF RESEARCH INTEREST ACROSS MULTIPLE BIOLOGICAL FIELDS. AIMING TO FACILITATE THE EXCHANGE OF EXPERTISE AND TO PROMOTE CROSS-DISCIPLINARY RESEARCH, THIS SYMPOSIUM WILL BRING TOGETHER RESEARCHERS WORKING ON BIOPHYSICAL PROCESSES ACROSS CELLULAR, ORGANISMAL, AND EVOLUTIONARY SCALES IN BOTH AQUATIC AND TERRESTRIAL SYSTEMS. THE THREE MAIN THEMES OF THE SYMPOSIUM ARE 1) HOW SMALL-SCALE BIOMECHANICS SHAPE TISSUE FORMATION; 2) HOW SMALL-SCALE BIOPHYSICS SHAPE ECOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS; AND 3) HOW PHYSICAL FORCES SHAPE THE EVOLUTION OF EARLY LIFE. AS A PART OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY FOR INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY IN AUSTIN, TX, IN JANUARY 2023, THIS SYMPOSIUM HIGHLIGHTS THE WORK OF EARLY-CAREER RESEARCHERS FROM DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS. IN ADDITION TO RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS, THE ORGANIZERS WILL HOST A WORKSHOP ON BEST PRACTICES IN CROSS-DISCIPLINARY RESEARCH. RESULTS FROM THE SYMPOSIUM AND WORKSHOP WILL BE DISSEMINATED VIA PUBLICATION IN AN ISSUE OF THE JOURNAL INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY, AND THE PARTICIPANTS WILL PRODUCE A POSITION PAPER ABOUT FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN THIS INTERDISCIPLINARY FIELD. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

TO SUPPORT WORKSHOPS, CLASSES AND PERFORMANCES IN COLLABORATION WITH AREA DANCERS, CHESTER CHILDREN'S CHORUS, AND ORCHESTRA 2001.

TO SUPPORT "DANCING TOGETHER " A PROGRAM DESIGNED TO PROVIDE EXPOSURE AND TRAINING TO UNDERSERVED CHILDREN.

NIST SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP (SURF) PROGRAM - GAITHERSBURG

WE ARE PROPOSING TO OBSERVE THE MAGNETIC HOT STAR TAU SCO (BO.2V) WITH FOUR SUZAKU POINTINGS OF 10 KSEC EACH. THIS STAR HAS A HIGHLY STRUCTURED SURFA

CAREER: PROBABILISTIC FRAMEWORK FOR SELF-SUPERVISED, DATA-DRIVEN COMPUTATIONAL IMAGING -COMPUTATIONAL IMAGING SYSTEMS AIM TO IMPROVE OVER CONVENTIONAL IMAGING DEVICES, ALLOWING FOR ADVANCED CAPABILITIES SUCH AS SUPER-RESOLUTION OR THREE-DIMENSIONAL IMAGING. IN COMPUTATIONAL IMAGING SYSTEMS, SUCH AS COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY (CT), MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (MRI), AND PHASE MICROSCOPY, INDIRECT MEASUREMENTS OF AN OBJECT ARE TAKEN WITH SPECIALIZED HARDWARE, AND SOFTWARE IS USED TO COMPUTE A FINAL RECONSTRUCTION. FOR EXAMPLE, THE MEASUREMENTS IN CT ARE PROJECTION IMAGES, AND SOFTWARE POST-PROCESSING RESULTS IN A 3-DIMENSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION OF THE OBJECT. THE OBJECT IS THE INPUT OF THE COMPUTATIONAL IMAGING SYSTEM, SUCH AS BIOLOGICAL CELLS ON A MICROSCOPE SLIDE OR A BRAIN IN A CT SCAN. THE DRAWBACK OF COMPUTATIONAL IMAGING SYSTEMS IS THAT THEY GENERALLY REQUIRE A LARGE NUMBER OF MEASUREMENTS PER OBJECT, WHICH MAY BE COSTLY AND SLOW TO COLLECT, MAKING THEM PROHIBITIVE FOR MANY APPLICATIONS. THIS PROGRAM DEVELOPS DATA-DRIVEN, PROBABILISTIC METHODS FOR COMPUTATIONAL IMAGING TO REDUCE IMAGING TIME. THE DEVELOPED ALGORITHMS WILL NOT REQUIRE A GROUND TRUTH OR REFERENCE TRAINING DATASET, UNLIKE MANY OTHER MACHINE LEARNING METHODS. SUCCESS OF THIS PROGRAM WILL ALLOW SCIENTIFIC ADVANCES IN BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE BY IMAGING IN PREVIOUSLY INACCESSIBLE SPATIOTEMPORAL REGIMES. THE BROADER IMPACT IS WIDE-RANGING, INCLUDING: LOWERED DOSE IN CT AND ELECTRON MICROSCOPY, REDUCED ACQUISITION TIME IN MRI, REDUCED PHOTOBLEACHING IN FLUORESCENCE LOCALIZATION MICROSCOPY FOR LIVE CELL IMAGING, AND REAL-TIME MICROSCOPY IN SURGICAL PROCEDURES. DEVELOPED METHODS CAN BE APPLIED TO MAKE MEDICAL IMAGING FASTER, IMPROVING PATIENT COMFORT, REDUCING RADIATION EXPOSURE, AND LOWERING COSTS. COMPLEMENTARY EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS WILL BE DEVELOPED IN TANDEM WITH THE RESEARCH PLAN TO BROADEN PARTICIPATION FROM UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS IN ENGINEERING. INITIATIVES INCLUDE SUMMER EXPERIENCES FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FROM NEARBY UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES AND EARLY COLLEGE RESEARCH INVOLVEMENT FOR UNDERGRADUATES. THE PROPOSED WORK IMPROVES THE TEMPORAL RESOLUTION OF LIGHT-EMITTING DIODE (LED) ARRAY MICROSCOPY, A MODALITY THAT ALLOWS RECONSTRUCTION OF QUANTITATIVE AMPLITUDE AND PHASE (I.E., PERMITTIVITY) IN TWO AND THREE DIMENSIONS WITH HIGH RESOLUTION AND HIGH FIELD-OF-VIEW. ALGORITHM DEVELOPMENT FOR LED ARRAY MICROSCOPY WILL BUILD THE FOUNDATION FOR RESEARCH ON OTHER COMPUTATIONAL IMAGING METHODS SUCH AS MICRO-COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY AND X-RAY NANO-HOLOGRAPHIC TOMOGRAPHY. MEASUREMENTS IN COMPUTATIONAL IMAGING ARE TAKEN WITH VARYING HARDWARE PARAMETERS; IN THE CASE OF LED ARRAY MICROSCOPY, THE ILLUMINATION PATTERN IS VARIED TO COLLECT A STACK OF IMAGES. THE KEY INNOVATION IN THIS WORK IS TO JOINTLY RECONSTRUCT SIMILAR OBJECTS, EACH WITH A LOW NUMBER OF MEASUREMENTS TAKEN WITH HARDWARE PARAMETERS THAT VARY FROM OBJECT TO OBJECT. BY POOLING INFORMATION FROM MEASUREMENTS ACROSS THE SET OF OBJECTS AND INCORPORATING THE FORWARD PHYSICS MODEL, PRIOR AND POSTERIOR DISTRIBUTIONS CAN BE JOINTLY INFERRED. TO EFFICIENTLY SOLVE THIS PROBLEM, THIS PROGRAM CREATES A NOVEL TECHNIQUE THROUGH A REFORMULATION OF VARIATIONAL AUTOENCODERS. CRUCIALLY, NO GROUND TRUTH DATASET IS ASSUMED: ONLY NOISY, SPARSE MEASUREMENTS ON EACH OBJECT. THE PROBABILISTIC FORMULATION CONSIDERED IN THIS WORK PERMITS UNCERTAINTY QUANTIFICATION, IN CONTRAST TO RECONSTRUCTION ALGORITHMS THAT ONLY YIELD A POINT ESTIMATE. SIMULATED AND EXPERIMENTAL DATA WILL BE USED TO EXPLORE THE IMPACT OF MEASUREMENT PARAMETER DIVERSITY ON ACCURACY, STABILITY, AND ROBUSTNESS. A NOVEL ADAPTIVE MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUE WILL BE EVALUATED, IN WHICH THE HARDWARE PARAMETERS FOR OBJECT MEASUREMENT ARE CHOSEN BASED ON THE OBJECT DATA PREVIOUSLY COLLECTED. HIGH MEMORY MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES AND CONSIDERATIONS FOR VIDEO RECONSTRUCTION WILL BE CREATED AND ASSESSED, WITH THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ALLOWING DEVELOPED FRAMEWORKS TO BE APPLIED TO REAL EXPERIMENTAL PROBLEMS OF HIGH SCIENTIFIC INTEREST. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

CSR: SMALL: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: TRANSPARENT AND ENERGY-EFFICIENT SPECULATION ON NUMA ARCHITECTURES FOR EMBEDDED MULTIPROCESSOR SYSTEMS