Villanova University

VILLANOVA CARES ACT - HIGHER EDUCATION EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND-INSTITUTIONAL PORTION

VILLANOVA CARES ACT - HIGHER EDUCATION EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND

A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL OF AN INNOVATIVE IN-HOME REHABILITATION PROGRAM FOR PERSONS WITH TBI AND THEIR FAMILIES: HOME-BASED OCCUPATIONAL-THERAPY AND MANAGEMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT (HOME FOR US)

ADVANCING AND SUPPORTING FEMALE STEM FACULTY AT A UNIVERSITY IN TRANSITION

NURSE FACULTY LOAN PROGRAM

AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS RESEARCH & EDUCATION

MRI: DEVELOPMENT OF A CAVE SYSTEM FOR IMMERSIVE VIDEO RESEARCH, IMMERSIVE LEARNING, AND VISUALIZATION SUPPORT FOR RESEARCH AT VILLANOVA

SCC-IRG TRACK 1: INTEGRATING COMMUNITY DYNAMICS, ENVIRONMENTAL DATA, AND AI TO ADVANCE GREEN STORMWATER INFRASTRUCTURE SUSTAINABILITY IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS -THIS SMART AND CONNECTED COMMUNITIES (SCC) PROJECT SUPPORTS RESEARCH ON GREEN STORMWATER INFRASTRUCTURE (GSI) SYSTEMS THROUGH REAL-TIME MONITORING AND AI-DRIVEN MODELS. IT INTEGRATES ENGINEERING, COMPUTER SCIENCE, URBAN PLANNING, POLICY MAKING, AND SOCIAL SCIENCE TOGETHER WITH GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS IN TWO US CITIES (AUSTIN AND PHILADELPHIA). GSI SYSTEMS ARE BECOMING A PREVALENT STRATEGY TO MITIGATE STORMWATER CHALLENGES. HOWEVER, ADOPTION IS CONSTRAINED BY A LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OF LIFE-CYCLE PERFORMANCE, LACK OF STANDARD PROCESSES FOR INCLUDING DATA INTO DESIGN AND POLICY, AND POOR UNDERSTANDING OF COMMUNITY DYNAMICS. THE PROJECT AIMS TO DEVELOP AI MODELS TO ADVANCE GSI MANAGEMENT BY INCORPORATING LOCAL COMMUNITY AND ENVIRONMENT NEEDS, AND ULTIMATELY ENABLE EFFECTIVE, ACCURATE, EFFICIENT, CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE, AND AUTOMATED OPERATIONS. THE MODELS ARE INTENDED TO HELP BROADEN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT WITH STORMWATER SOLUTIONS WHILE PROVIDING IMPORTANT SOCIAL CONTEXT FOR ENGINEERS AND PLANNERS. AS A RESULT, URBAN ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AND COMMUNITY RESILIENCE ARE EXPECTED TO IMPROVE OVER TIME. FINDINGS OF A PRIOR SCC PLANNING GRANT REVEALED A SET OF GAPS AT THE INTERSECTION OF COMMUNITIES AND GSI SUSTAINABLE PERFORMANCE: 1) LACK OF SCIENCE-BASED, DATA-DRIVEN GSI MAINTENANCE PROTOCOLS; 2) LACK OF INCORPORATION OF COMMUNITY DYNAMICS IN GSI MANAGEMENT; AND 3) A NEED FOR PUBLIC ACCESS TO ACTIONABLE INFORMATION, A CRITICAL FACTOR TO LONG-TERM SUCCESS OF SUCH SYSTEMS. TO BRIDGE THESE GAPS, RESEARCH WILL LOOK TO DEVELOP INNOVATIVE REAL-TIME MONITORING AND AI -DRIVEN MODELS TO BE INTEGRATED TO SUPPORT DECISIONS BY GSI MANAGERS, MAINTENANCE CREWS, PROPERTY OWNERS AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS. THE DEVELOPED SMART GSI SYSTEM WILL BE EQUIPPED TO 1) ALLOW FOR TARGETED AND EFFICIENT MAINTENANCE, 2) IMPROVE SUSTAINABLE FUNCTION BY INCORPORATING COMMUNITY COMPOSITION AND HISTORY, AND 3) EMPOWER COMMUNITIES WITH ACTIONABLE INFORMATION AND PLATFORMS. THE INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM OF RESEARCHERS, GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, AND COMMUNITY PARTNERS WILL COLLABORATE TO CREATE A SET OF DATA DRIVEN TECHNOLOGIES AND TOOLS TO DESIGN SMART, SUSTAINABLE, COMMUNITY DRIVEN, EQUITABLE GSI SYSTEMS FOR URBAN COMMUNITIES IN TWO DISPARATE CITIES. 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 PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

PREVENTION OF INFECTIONS THROUGH APPROPRIATE STAFFING (PITAS) - PROJECT SUMMARY: PREVENTION OF INFECTIONS THROUGH APPROPRIATE STAFFING (PITAS) STUDY NATIONALLY, HEALTHCARE-ASSOCIATED INFECTIONS (HAIS) ARE A COSTLY PATIENT SAFETY CONCERN IN ACUTE CARE HOSPITALS. INFECTION PREVENTIONISTS (IPS) AND INFECTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL (IPC) DEPARTMENTS PLAY AN INTEGRAL ROLE IN IMPLEMENTING EVIDENCE-BASED POLICIES AND PROCEDURES TO PREVENT, MITIGATE AND CONTROL HAIS. HOWEVER, EVIDENCE DESCRIBING AND VALIDATING APPROPRIATE IP STAFFING IS LACKING. IN ADDITION, THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS PLACED AN ENORMOUS STRAIN ON THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM. EMERGING EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT THE PANDEMIC HAS RESULTED IN INCREASED RATES OF HAI IN THE ACUTE CARE SETTING. HOWEVER, THE IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC ON IPC DEPARTMENTS, INCLUDING STAFFING AND RESOURCES, AND ON ROUTINE IPC ACTIVITIES IS UNKNOWN. WE DESIGNED A UNIQUE AND INNOVATIVE STUDY TO DETERMINE HOW IPC DEPARTMENTS HAVE RESPONDED TO THE PANDEMIC AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF IPC INFRASTRUCTURE AND PROCESSES IN PREVENTING HAIS. GUIDED BY DONABEDIAN’S FRAMEWORK OF QUALITY, WE PROPOSE A 3-YEAR MIXED METHOD STUDY TO: 1) DESCRIBE THE EVOLUTION OF IPC PROGRAMS FROM 2011 TO 2019 AND DETERMINE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF IPC STAFFING, INFRASTRUCTURE AND PROCESSES IN PREVENTING HAI IN ACUTE CARE HOSPITALS; 2) QUANTIFY THE IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON INFECTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL DEPARTMENTS, HAI RATES AND RATES OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE IN ACUTE CARE HOSPITALS; AND 3) DEVELOP AN IN-DEPTH UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON INFECTION PREVENTIONISTS, IPC RESOURCES AND PRACTICES IN ACUTE CARE HOSPITALS. IN AIM 1, BUILDING UPON OUR PREVIOUS WORK, WE WILL LINK HOSPITAL SURVEYS TO LONGITUDINAL NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SAFETY NETWORK (NHSN) HAI AND STAFFING DATA (2011-2019) TO EXAMINE EFFECTIVENESS OF IPC STAFFING, INFRASTRUCTURE AND PROCESSES ON REDUCING HAI. IN AIM 2, WE WILL CONDUCT A NATIONAL SURVEY OF U.S. HOSPITALS AND LINK THE SURVEY TO NHSN (2011-2022) AND CMS DATA (2018-2022) TO EXAMINE THE IMPACT OF COVID-19. IN AIM 3, WE WILL CONDUCT INTERVIEWS WITH PERSONNEL INVOLVED IN INFECTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL IN 20 HOSPITALS. IN OUR EARLIER FEDERALLY-FUNDED WORK, USING A LONGITUDINAL SAMPLE OF NHSN HOSPITALS, WE FOUND THAT HIGH CLINICIAN COMPLIANCE WITH BUNDLED CARE AND POSITIVE ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE WERE ASSOCIATED WITH LOWER HAI RATES IN ICUS. WE NOW PROPOSE TO DEVELOP A MORE COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION OF THE IMPACT OF IPC STAFFING ON HAI RATES BY EXPANDING THE ANALYSIS BEYOND THE ICU AND INCLUDING OTHER TYPES OF HAI. WE WILL ALSO EVALUATE THE IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON IPC STAFFING AND INFRASTRUCTURE, WHICH IS AN AREA PREVIOUSLY NOT STUDIED. AS EARLY STAGE AND NEW INVESTIGATORS, WE REPRESENT THE EPITOME OF INTERDISCIPLINARY AND INTERCOLLEGIATE RESEARCH. WE HAVE DESIGNED AN INNOVATIVE STUDY THAT BUILDS UPON OUR ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIP WITH INTERNATIONALLY-RENOWN RESEARCHERS AND NHSN HOSPITALS, REFINES PSYCHOMETRICALLY SOUND INSTRUMENTS, AND FILLS AN IMPORTANT GAP IN THE EVIDENCE. THE RESULTS OF THIS STUDY WILL PROVIDE THE EVIDENCE TO STRENGTHEN IPC CAPACITY AND PREPAREDNESS IN ACUTE CARE HOSPITALS TO MORE EFFECTIVELY RESPOND TO FUTURE INFECTIOUS DISEASE CRISIS.

EQUIPMENT: MRI: TRACK 2 ACQUISITION OF A HYDRAULIC AND SEDIMENT RECIRCULATION FLUME TO ADVANCE FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH IN URBAN STORMWATER AND FLUVIAL PROCESSES -AS THE FREQUENCY AND INTENSITY OF EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS SUCH AS HEAVY RAINS AND FLOODS INCREASE IN THE UNITED STATES AND WORLDWIDE, THERE IS AN URGENT AND CRITICAL NEED FOR NEW EXPERIMENTAL AND COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS TO ADVANCE THE FUNDAMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING KNOWLEDGE NEEDED TO CHARACTERIZE, UNDERSTAND, AND MITIGATE THE ADVERSE IMPACT OF HEAVY RAINS AND FLOODS ON WATER QUALITY AND AVAILABILITY. THIS NSF MRI TRACK 2 AWARD WILL ENABLE VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY (VU) TO ACQUIRE A UNIDIRECTIONAL SEDIMENT-FEED TILTING FLUME (USTF). THIS NEW INSTRUMENT WILL ENABLE VU AND ITS ACADEMIC, MUNICIPAL, AND INDUSTRIAL PARTNERS TO CARRY OUT CRITICALLY NEEDED RESEARCH ON URBAN GREEN STORMWATER INFRASTRUCTURE, FLUVIAL PROCESSES, URBAN FLOOD MITIGATION, AND IMPACTS ON BUILT URBAN ENVIRONMENTS. THE USTF WILL FACILITATE COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION WITH THE PARTNER INSTITUTIONS IN TWO MAJOR THEMES: 1) GREEN URBAN STORMWATER INFRASTRUCTURE, AND 2) RIVER PROCESSES AND IMPACTS ON URBAN ENVIRONMENTS. THE ACQUISITION OF THE USTF WILL ALSO SUPPORT EDUCATION AND TRAINING AT THE UNDERGRADUATE, GRADUATE, AND PROFESSIONAL LEVELS IN WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING, GEO-ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING, GEOCHEMISTRY, AND GEOMORPHOLOGY, AS WELL AS FACILITATE RESEARCH COLLABORATIONS AND INCREASE ENGAGEMENT WITH ACADEMIC, MUNICIPAL, AND INDUSTRY PARTNERS. MANAGING URBAN STORMWATER HAS EMERGED AS A CRITICAL CHALLENGE FOR MANY CITIES IN THE UNITED STATES AS THE FREQUENCY AND INTENSITY OF EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS SUCH AS HEAVY RAINS AND FLOODS INCREASE. STORMWATER WORSENS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS RELATED TO FLOODING, SEDIMENT, NUTRIENT, AND POLLUTANT TRANSPORT THAT ADVERSELY IMPACT THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH. GREEN STORMWATER INFRASTRUCTURE (GSI) PROVIDES PROMISING AND COST-EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS FOR MANAGING STORMWATER IN CITIES AND URBAN AREAS. GSI CONSISTS OF INTEGRATED SOIL, WATER, AND PLANT SYSTEMS THAT INTERCEPT STORMWATER, INFILTRATE A PORTION OF IT INTO THE GROUND, AND RELEASE A PORTION OF IT SLOWLY BACK INTO SEWER SYSTEMS. THIS NSF MRI TRACK 2 AWARD WILL ENABLE VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY TO ACQUIRE A UNIDIRECTIONAL SEDIMENT-FEED TILTING FLUME (USTF) SYSTEM WITH CUSTOM INSERTS TO SIMULATE GSI. THE USTF WILL BE USED TO STUDY URBAN STORMWATER INFRASTRUCTURE, FLUVIAL PROCESSES, URBAN FLOOD MITIGATION, AND IMPACTS ON BUILT URBAN ENVIRONMENTS THAT ARE OTHERWISE UNATTAINABLE THROUGH FIELD STUDIES OR COMPUTATIONAL MODELS ALONE. THE COLLABORATIVE NATURE OF THIS PROJECT WILL ENABLE STUDENTS FROM VILLANOVA, TEMPLE UNIVERSITY, OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, DREXEL UNIVERSITY, THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY, PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY-HARRISBURG, AND DENISON UNIVERSITY TO WORK TOGETHER ON PROJECTS, FURTHERING THEIR EDUCATIONAL AND RESEARCH EXPERIENCES. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO INVOLVE COLLABORATIONS/PARTNERSHIPS WITH A PUBLIC UTILITY (PHILADELPHIA WATER DEPARTMENT) AND ENGINEERING FIRMS INCLUDING ATERRA SOLUTIONS, HERBERT, ROWLAND & GRUBIC, NTM ENGINEERING, PRINCETON HYDRO, SCHNABEL ENGINEERING, AND WSP GLOBAL. THIS AWARD WAS JOINTLY FUNDED BY THE NSF MRI AND THE CBET ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING PROGRAMS. 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 PROJECT: ENSEMBLE: ENRICHING COMMUNITIES AND COLLECTIONS TO SUPPORT EDUCATION IN COMPUTING

NURSE FACULTY LOAN PROGRAM

MOLECULAR ENGINEERING OF CARTILAGE PCM MECHANOTRANSDUCTION IN OSTEOARTHRITIS USING BIOMIMETIC PROTEOGLYCANS - ABSTRACT REGENERATION OF OSTEOARTHRITIC CARTILAGE HAS BEEN A LARGELY UNMET BIOMEDICAL CHALLENGE FOR THE PAST FIFTY YEARS. NUMEROUS STRATEGIES ARE BEING EMPLOYED TO HARNESS THE SYNTHETIC POWER OF CELLS TO GENERATE NEW EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX IN THE HOPE OF REVERSING THE PAIN AND DYSFUNCTION ASSOCIATED WITH OSTEOARTHRITIS (OA), IN KEEPING WITH THE MISSION OF THE NIH TO SEEK FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE ABOUT OF LIVING SYSTEMS AND THE APPLICATION OF THAT KNOWLEDGE TO ENHANCE HEALTH, LENGTHEN LIFE, AND REDUCE ILLNESS AND DISABILITY. OF PARTICULAR INTEREST IS THE EMERGING ROLE OF THE PERICELLULAR MATRIX (PCM), THE REGION IMMEDIATELY SURROUNDING THE CHONDROCYTE, DUE TO ITS DEMONSTRATED IMPORTANCE IN MEDIATING CHONDROCYTE MECHANOTRANSDUCTION IN BOTH HEALTHY AND OA CARTILAGE. IN OA, DEGENERATION OF THE PCM IS ONE LEADING EVENT OF DISEASE INITIATION, CONTRIBUTING TO DISRUPTED CHONDROCYTE MECHANOTRANSDUCTION AND IRREVERSIBLE CARTILAGE DEGRADATION. THUS, IF WE CAN ENGINEER THE PROPERTIES OF THE PCM, THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR US TO MODULATE CHONDROCYTE MECHANOSENSITIVE ACTIVITIES, AND IN TURN, TO PROMOTE CARTILAGE REGENERATION AND/OR TO ATTENUATE OSTEOARTHRITIC CARTILAGE DEGENERATION. OUR BIOMIMETIC PROTEOGLYCANS (BPGS) HAVE THE NICHE EFFECT OF ENGINEERING CARTILAGE PCM. WE CHEMICALLY END-ATTACHED 7-8 CHONDROITIN SULFATE GLYCOSAMINOGLYCANS (CS-GAGS) TO A POLY(ACRYLIC ACID) (PAA) CORE (MW ~10 KDA), RESULTING IN A BIOMIMETIC PROTEOGLYCAN, BPG10, WITH A BOTTLE-BRUSH NANOSTRUCTURE MIMICKING THE NATIVE AGGRECAN. WHEN INFILTRATED INTO BOVINE CARTILAGE EXPLANTS IN VITRO OR INTRA-ARTICULARLY INJECTED INTO RABBIT KNEES IN VIVO, BPG10 WAS PREFERENTIALLY LOCALIZED IN THE PCM. THIS LOCALIZATION LED TO A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE MICROMODULUS OF THE PCM IN VITRO, AND IN TURN, SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCED CHONDROCYTE INTRACELLULAR CALCIUM SIGNALING ACTIVITIES. THE ROLE OF BPG10 IS ALSO RELEVANT TO OA. WHEN INFILTRATED INTO HUMAN OA CARTILAGE, BPG10 WAS ALSO LOCALIZED IN THE PCM, AND ENHANCED THE LOCAL PCM MODULUS, INDICATING A POTENTIAL FOR RESTORING DEGENERATIVE PCM AND RESCUING DISRUPTED CHONDROCYTE MECHANOSENSITIVE ACTIVITIES. GIVEN THAT THE SYNTHETIC PAA CORE IS NOT SUSCEPTIBLE TO PHYSIOLOGIC ENZYMES, AS ARE NATURAL PROTEOGLYCANS, BPG10 COULD ALSO BE RESISTANT TO CHONDROCYTE CATABOLISM IN VIVO. OUR CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS IS THAT BIOMIMETIC PROTEOGLYCANS WILL MOLECULARLY ENGINEER THE PCM, INCREASING THE MICROMODULUS OF THE PCM THROUGH INTERACTIONS WITH NATIVE PCM MOLECULES, THUS PROMOTING CHONDROCYTE MECHANOTRANSDUCTION AND ATTENUATING OA-INDUCED CARTILAGE DEGENERATION. TO TEST THIS HYPOTHESIS, WE WILL: (1) STUDY THE PHYSICAL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN BPG10 AND CARTILAGE MATRIX BIOMOLECULES; (2) DETERMINE IF BPG10 AUGMENTS THE NEO-PCM OF CHONDROCYTES IN 3D CULTURE AND THE PCM OF DEGRADING CARTILAGE EXPLANTS, AND THUS, MODULATES CHONDROCYTE MECHANOTRANSDUCTION AND METABOLIC ACTIVITIES AND (3) TEST IF INTRA-ARTICULAR ADMINISTRATION OF BPG10 ATTENUATES THE PROGRESSION OF OA IN RABBITS IN VIVO. IN THESE STUDIES, INDIVIDUAL CS-GAGS WILL BE TESTED AS A CONTROL TO EXAMINE THE ROLE OF BPG10'S UNIQUE STRUCTURE.

RUI: POST-FIRE NITROGEN CYCLING IN BOREAL BOGS - CRITICAL UNKNOWNS EXPLORED

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: SCH: ASSESSMENT OF COGNITIVE DECLINE USING MULTIMODAL NEUROIMAGING WITH EMBEDDED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE - SUMMARY: ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE (AD) AND ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE-RELATED DEMENTIAS (ADRD) ARE HIGHLY PREVALENT AMONG OLDER INDIVIDUALS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. THE ADVERSE IMPACT OF COGNITIVE DECLINE, RANGING FROM MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT (MCI) TO AD AND ADRD, PRESENTS NOT ONLY A PROHIBITIVE FINANCIAL COST BUT ALSO PHYSICAL, MENTAL, AND EMOTIONAL BURDEN TO OLDER ADULTS, THEIR CAREGIVERS, AND SOCIETY. MCI IS A WELL-ESTABLISHED RISK FACTOR FOR AD. HOWEVER, TRADITIONAL DIAGNOSTIC PROCEDURES AND BIOMARKERS HAVE LIMITED UTILITY IN IDENTIFYING ALTERATIONS IN BRAIN MECHANISMS THAT UNDERLIE THE COGNITIVE DECLINE OBSERVED IN MCI. WHILE THE LITERATURE CONCERNING NEUROIMAGING CORRELATES OF MCI, AD AND ADRD IS CONSIDERABLE, TRADITIONAL BRAIN IMAGING METHODS ARE EXPENSIVE, RESTRICTIVE, AND TYPICALLY CONDUCTED SEPARATELY. MOREOVER, RESEARCH USING MULTIMODAL NONINVASIVE NEUROIMAGING METHODS THAT CAN BE UTILIZED IN NATURALISTIC SETTINGS TO DETECT BRAIN-BASED SIGNATURES OF MCI HAS BEEN LIMITED. DEVELOPING TOOLS TO EXTRACT SUCH SIGNATURES CAN LEAD TO THE IDENTIFICATION OF NOVEL BIOMARKERS THAT CAN GUIDE THE DEVELOPMENT OF PRECISE, AND INDIVIDUALIZED ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT OF AGE-RELATED COGNITIVE DECLINE AND DEMENTIA. IN THIS PROJECT, WE WILL DEVELOP A TOOLCHAIN FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF MCI USING MULTIMODAL NEUROIMAGING AND MACHINE LEARNING (ML) METHODS. WE PROPOSE THREE SPECIFIC AIMS: (1) TO DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE COGNITIVE TESTING BATTERY SENSITIVE TO MCI IN A MOBILE SOFTWARE SYNCHRONIZED WITH MULTIMODAL FUNCTIONAL NEAR INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY AND ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY (FNIRS-EEG) BASED NEUROIMAGING SYSTEM THAT CAN CONCURRENTLY PROVIDE ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL, HEMODYNAMIC AND BEHAVIORAL MEASURES; (2) TO EXTRACT, SELECT, AND VALIDATE THE MULTITUDE OF WITHIN AND ACROSS MODALITY BIOMARKERS FROM FNIRS-EEG DATA IN TEMPORAL, SPATIAL, SPECTRAL, AND COMPLEXITY DOMAINS TOGETHER WITH THE BEHAVIORAL ONES; (3) TO DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE MULTIMODAL ML APPROACH TO DETECT MCI BASED ON FNIRS-EEG AND BEHAVIORAL FEATURES. DEVELOPING A MOBILE APPLICATION THAT COMBINES FNIRS AND EEG ON ONE PLATFORM THAT COULD BE USED IN LESS EXPENSIVE AND RESTRICTIVE TESTING ENVIRONMENTS TO DETERMINE FUNCTIONAL BRAIN ALTERATIONS IN OLDER ADULTS WITH MCI IS VERY INNOVATIVE. THE FINDINGS OF THIS PROJECT CAN LEAD TO A TRANSFORMATION IN EARLY DETECTION AND MONITORING OF COGNITIVE DECLINE IN OLDER ADULTS AT RISK OF DEVELOPING AD.

THE OVERARCHING OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO MONITOR, DEVELOP, AND DEMONSTRATE HIGH-PERFORMING NEXT GENERATION GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE (GI)

MODELING TECHNIQUES FOR DYNAMIC SYSTEMS USING NONLINEAR PHYSICS AND MACHINE LEARNINGWITH APPLICATION TO PEPDS AND OTHER NAVAL SYSTEMS

TAILORED SIRNA DELIVERY TO HUMAN ENDOTHELIUM TO INHIBIT AND REVERSE INFLAMMATORY DAMAGE FOLLOWING ISCHEMIA REPERFUSION INJURY IN THE KIDNEY - ABSTRACT ISCHEMIA REPERFUSION INJURY (IRI) CAUSES ENDOTHELIAL INFLAMMATION AND MICROVASCULAR RAREFACTION THAT LEADS TO ADVERSE KIDNEY GRAFT OUTCOMES IN ORGAN TRANSPLANT. DIRECT TREATMENT OF ENDOTHELIAL CELLS (EC) CAN REDUCE THE IMPACT OF IRI ON THE HEALTH OF THE GRAFT, BUT THERE IS A LACK OF EC TARGETED THERAPIES THAT CAN EFFECTIVELY INTERVENE AND ALLEVIATE THE VARIOUS MODES OF DYSFUNCTIONAL ENDOTHELIAL RESPONSE. THE GOAL OF THIS WORK IS TO DEVELOP A THERAPEUTIC STRATEGY THAT ADDRESSES THE TWO KEY MODES OF ENDOTHELIAL DAMAGE IN RESPONSE TO IRI: DYSFUNCTIONAL INFLAMMATION IN ECS AND DAMAGE TO CAPILLARY NETWORKS, IN A SITE-SPECIFIC AND TEMPORARY MANNER. WE PROPOSE THAT THERAPEUTIC SIRNA CAN BE DELIVERED DIRECTLY TO ENDOTHELIAL CELLS USING POLYMERIC NANOPARTICLES (NPS), WHICH PROVIDE A CUSTOMIZABLE PLATFORM TO ENHANCE THE CELL PENETRATION AND TO SUSTAIN THE DELIVERY OF NUCLEIC ACIDS. IN AIM 1, WE WILL DETERMINE THE NP CHARACTERISTICS UTILIZING A NOVEL FAMILY OF PACE POLYMERS THAT ENABLE MAXIMUM AND SUSTAINED SIRNA TO ENDOTHELIAL CELLS IN ORDER TO REDUCE ADHESION MOLECULE EXPRESSION UPON INFLAMMATORY ACTIVATION. IN AIM 2, WE WILL TRANSLATE THIS KNOWLEDGE OF STRUCTURE/FUNCTION RELATIONSHIP OF THE NP TO RATIONALLY DESIGN SIRNA-MEDIATED KNOCKDOWN OF ADHESION MOLECULES IN RELEVANT MODELS OF 3D HUMAN VASCULATURE AND EVALUATE THE LONG-TERM EFFECT AFTER TRANSPLANTATION IN VIVO. IN THE R00 PHASE OF THE AWARD, THE PRINCIPLES DETERMINED IN AIM 1 AND 2 TO IMPACT ENDOTHELIAL-NP INTERACTION WILL BE APPLIED TO POLYMER NPS DELIVERED WITHIN A HYDROGEL DELIVERY VEHICLE TO THE RENAL CORTEX. AIM 3 WILL INVESTIGATE THE POTENTIAL OF ENDOTHELIAL-TAILORED SIRNA-NPS TO LOCALLY DELIVER ANTI-FIBROTIC SIRNAS WITHIN AN ECM-DERIVED HYDROGEL TO IRI- DAMAGED RENAL CORTEX IN VIVO. DR. LAURA BRACAGLIA HAS EARNED HER PHD IN BIOENGINEERING AND IS CURRENTLY A POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW IN THE DEPARTMENT OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING AT YALE UNIVERSITY. IN HER TRAINING SO FAR, SHE HAS STUDIED NP AND DRUG DELIVERY METHODS IN HUMAN TISSUE MODELS THAT PROVIDE TRANSLATABLE INSIGHTS INTO VASCULAR INFLAMMATION. TO SUCCESSFULLY ACCOMPLISH THE SPECIFIC AIMS OF THIS PROPOSAL, DR. BRACAGLIA HAS IDENTIFIED THAT SHE WILL NEED ADDITIONAL TRAINING IN THE 1) CHEMICAL AND POLYMER SCIENCE ASPECTS INVOLVED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NPS. IN ADDITION, THE IMPACT OF THE PROPOSED WORK WOULD BE ENHANCED WITH TRAINING AND EXPERTISE IN 2) VASCULAR IMMUNE BIOLOGY, 3) RENAL PATHOLOGY AND RESPONSE TO INJURY, AND 4) TRANSLATION TO HUMAN IMMUNOLOGY. TO TRAIN IN THESE AREAS, DR. BRACAGLIA HAS ASSEMBLED A TEAM OF EXPERT MENTORS WHO CAN PROVIDE CLINICAL PERSPECTIVE AND TECHNICAL EXPERTISE. IN ADDITION, SHE HAS PLANNED KEY COURSE WORK AND SET MILESTONES FOR PROGRESS IN SCIENTIFIC AND PROFESSIONAL GOALS. THIS PROPOSED TRAINING IN THE K99 MENTORED PHASE WILL SUPPORT MEETING THE INITIAL GOALS OF THIS WORK. NP TREATMENT STRATEGIES DEVELOPED DURING THE MENTORED PHASE, TOGETHER WITH HER EXPERTISE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ECM-BASED BIOMATERIALS, WILL SUPPORT THE FINAL AIM OF THIS PROPOSAL (R00).

PFI:BIC SELF-LEARNING ALGORITHMS FOR ADVANCEMENT OF SMART STORMWATER GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE SYSTEMS

UNRAVELING TRANSMUTATION EFFECTS IN TUNGSTEN-BASED PLASMA-FACING MATERIALS: A COMPUTATIONAL APPROACH THAT INTEGRATES NUCLEAR TRANSMUTATION, FIRST-PRINCIPLES CALCULATIONS, AND MACHINE LEARNING

** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** POLLINATORS PLAY A CRUCIAL ROLE IN GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY BY PROVIDING VITAL ECOSYSTEM SERVICES TO AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY AND WILD FLORA PRESERVATION. HOWEVER, THEIR CONTINUAL DECLINE IN POPULATION ACROSS THE GLOBE THREATENS MANY POLLINATOR SERVICES WITH IMPACTS AFFECTING MAINTENANCE OF WILD PLANT DIVERSITY, ECOSYSTEM STABILITY, CROP PRODUCTION, FOOD SECURITY, AND HUMAN WELFARE. OUR PROJECT WILL DIRECTLY ADDRESS TWO OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARMENT OF AGRICULTURE'S POLLINATOR HEALTH PRIORITIES, INCLUDING FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE ABUNDANCE, DIVERSITY AND HEALTH OF POLLINATORS AND DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF INNOVATIVE TOOLS AND MANAGEMENT PRACTICES THAT WOULD LIKELY BE ADOPTED BY STAKEHOLDERS TO ENSURE HEALTHY POLLINATORS, BY USING UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES (UAV) AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) TOOLS TO PROVIDE A CRITICAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POLLINATOR ABUNDANCE AND FLORAL PRESENCE. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH AIDS IN DETERMINING THE ABUNDANCE AND DIVERSITY OF BOTH POLLINATOR AND FLOWER SPECIES ACROSS LARGE SWATHES OF AGRICULTURAL FIELDS, PRAIRIES, AND LANDMASSES BY PROVIDING ACCURATE AI IMAGE DETECTORS AND CLASSIFIERS, TRAINED FROM EXPERTLY COLLECTED AND CURATED DATASETS OF BOTH POLLINATOR AND FLOWER SPECIES. WE WILL ALSO PRODUCE A FREE, PUBLIC, WEB APPLICATION WITH DOCUMENTED USER GUIDES FOR EXPERTS AND NON-EXPERTS ALIKE THAT LEVERAGES THE AI DETECTION AND CLASSIFICATION MODELS TO DETECT, CLASSIFY, AND QUANTIZE BOTH BOMBUS AND FLOWER SPECIES FROM UPLOADED IMAGES AND TARGET AREAS. BY MATCHING POLLINATORS WITH THEIR HOST FLOWER SPECIES AND EVALUATING BEST PRACTICES FOR UTILIZING UAVS IN ACQUIRING REAL-TIME MONITORING INFORMATION, RESEARCHERS, LAND MANAGERS, AND ENVIRONMENTAL WATCHDOGS HAVE THE TOOLS NEEDED TO OBSERVE AND MAKE BETTER INFORMED DECISIONS REGARDING POLLINATOR HEALTH AND CONSERVATION.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RUI: THE INFLUENCE OF MANGROVE INVASION AND RISING TEMPERATURES ON BELOWGROUND PROCESSES IN COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS

CAREER: INTEGRATING INFORMATION ACROSS LEVELS OF PROCESSING DURING REAL-TIME SPOKEN LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION

CO-PRIME FREQUENCY AND APERTURE DESIGN FOR HF SURVEILLANCE, WIDEBAND RADAR IMAGING, AND NONSTATIONARY ARRAY PROCESSING

STRATEGIES FOR CO-EXISTENCE OF RADIO TELESCOPE ARRAYS WITH BROADCAST STATIONS AND WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

RUI: REVSYS: INTEGRATIVE SYSTEMATICS OF GEKKOTAN LIZARDS - PHYLOGENETIC RESOLUTION, TAXONOMIC REVISION, AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY

MULTIPATH EXPLOITATION & KNOWLEDGE BASED URBAN RADAR IMAGING USING COMPRESSIVE SENSING

CAREER: HOW THE DISSATISFACTION NUCLEAR RECEPTOR REGULATES DROSOPHILA COURTSHIP BEHAVIOR

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: THE INTERPLAY OF NITROGEN LOADING AND ECOSYSTEM SUSTAINABILITY IN THREATENED WETLANDS: AN EXTENSION OF THE WETFEET PROJECT -OVER THE LAST DECADE, POLLUTION IN FLORIDA ESTUARIES HAS HAD DIRE CONSEQUENCES SUCH AS RED TIDES AND MASSIVE DIE-OFFS OF FISH AND MARINE MAMMALS. THIS TEAM OF RESEARCHERS HAS WORKED CLOSELY WITH LAND MANAGERS IN NORTHEASTERN FLORIDA WHO SEEK DATA-DRIVEN GUIDANCE ON STRATEGIES TO MITIGATE POLLUTION AND HELP SUSTAIN THESE WETLANDS. CRITICAL WETLAND HABITATS ARE INCREASINGLY BEING LOST TO EROSION AT THE EDGES, AND PONDING IN THE INTERIOR DUE TO SEA LEVEL RISE. AS SEA LEVELS AND POLLUTION ARE INCREASING, THE THIN GREEN STRIPS OF VEGETATION THAT PROTECT FLORIDA?S HUMAN POPULATION FROM BIG STORMS ARE CHANGING FROM SALT MARSH GRASSES TO MANGROVE FORESTS. TO DETERMINE HOW THESE WETLANDS WILL FARE IN A FUTURE WITH HIGHER SEAS, MORE NUTRIENT INPUTS, AND LARGER PLANTS, THIS PROJECT WILL USE A COMBINATION OF FIELD EXPERIMENTS, MAPPING, AND MATHEMATICAL MODELING. INFORMATION WILL BE OBTAINED ON HOW COASTAL WETLANDS CAN HELP REMOVE NITROGEN, A COMMON POLLUTANT IN COASTAL WATERS. THE RESEARCHERS WILL INVESTIGATE WHETHER WETLAND DECLINE IS CONTRIBUTING TO THE CURRENT UPTICK IN NUTRIENT LEVELS THAT THREATENS THE HEALTH OF HUMANS AND OTHER ANIMALS. FINALLY, THE TEAM WILL USE THE RELATIONSHIPS THAT THEY HAVE BUILT WITH NORTHEASTERN FLORIDA LAND MANAGERS, GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AND RESTORATION PRACTITIONERS TO HELP PLAN FOR THE FUTURE OF THESE THREATENED WETLANDS IN THE GUANA TOLOMATO MATANZAS NATIONAL ESTUARINE RESEARCH RESERVE (GTMNERR) AND BEYOND. DATA FROM THIS PROJECT WILL BE USED TO MAP NUTRIENT HOTSPOTS IN THE GTMNERR, AND TO TRAIN UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCHERS IN THE STUDY OF COASTAL WETLANDS AND PLAN FOR THEIR RESTORATION. IN NORTHEASTERN FLORIDA, COASTAL WETLAND ECOSYSTEMS ARE FACED WITH RISING SEAS AND POLLUTION LOADS, AND ARE UNDERGOING DRAMATIC CLIMATE-DRIVEN VEGETATION CONVERSION FROM MARSH PLANTS TO MANGROVES. NITROGEN (N) EUTROPHICATION AND RISING SEA LEVELS EACH INDIVIDUALLY CAN SEVERELY IMPACT COASTAL WETLANDS. THIS PROJECT WILL EXPLORE HOW THESE TWO PROBLEMS MAY BE LINKED BY COASTAL WETLAND FEEDBACKS, WHICH UNDERLIE THE PROJECT'S THREE CENTRAL HYPOTHESES: (1) EXCESS N LOADING MAY INTERRUPT THE MECHANISMS OF SOIL ACCUMULATION THAT SUSTAIN WETLANDS; (2) CONVERSION OF MARSH TO MANGROVE GREATLY ENHANCES N DEMAND WHICH MAY MITIGATE N POLLUTION OF ADJACENT WATERWAYS; (3) N-EUTROPHICATION CAN ACCELERATE TRANSFORMATION OF MARSH TO MANGROVE BY SATISFYING THE GREATER N DEMAND OF MANGROVES COMPARED TO MARSH PLANTS. PAST STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT N ADDITION CAN HINDER THE ABILITY OF WETLANDS TO KEEP UP WITH SEA LEVEL RISE BY STIMULATING LOSS OF ORGANIC MATTER, WHEREAS OTHERS HAVE SHOWN THAT N ADDITION MAY PROMOTE PLANT GROWTH, WHICH CAN HELP SUSTAIN COASTAL WETLANDS. THE DISCREPANCY MAY RESULT FROM STARK DIFFERENCES IN BIOGEOMORPHIC PROCESSES BETWEEN WETLAND EDGES AND INTERIORS. THIS PROJECT WILL ADDRESS THIS DISCREPANCY DIRECTLY BY LEVERAGING ESTABLISHED INFRASTRUCTURE TO CONDUCT EXPERIMENTAL N ADDITION AT BOTH CREEKSIDE AND INTERIOR LOCATIONS, IN ADDITION TO COMPARING N EFFECTS ON MARSHES AND ADJACENT MANGROVE-DOMINATED PLOTS FOR THE FIRST TIME. NEW HYPOTHESES WILL BE TESTED ABOUT HOW N MAY ALTER MECHANISMS OF ELEVATION GAIN AND MANGROVE ENCROACHMENT ACROSS THE LANDSCAPE AS WELL AS HYPOTHESES ABOUT HOW ONGOING LOSS OF WETLANDS AND CONVERSION OF MARSHES TO MANGROVES COULD HAVE DRAMATIC EFFECTS ON COASTAL N BUDGETS. EXAMINING N INFLUENCES ON WETLAND RESILIENCE TO SEA LEVEL RISE WAS IDENTIFIED AS A RESEARCH PRIORITY BY THE GTMNERR MANAGEMENT AT A RECENT COASTAL VULNERABILITY WORKSHOP (SEPTEMBER 2021). THIS TEAM OF RESEARCHERS WILL WORK WITH THE GTMNERR WATER QUALITY DATA AND OUR OWN DATA COLLECTION FROM THIS PROJECT TO BUILD A NEW NUTRIENT LAYER ONTO A COASTAL VULNERABILITY MAP THAT WILL HELP PRIORITIZE GTMNERR SITES FOR PLANNED CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION INITIATIVES. RESEARCH FINDINGS WILL BE CONVEYED TO THE PUBLIC BY WORKING WITH THE ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTER AT THE GTMNERR TO PRODUCE AN EXHIBIT AND CURRICULA FOR VISITORS AND CAMPS. INTERDISCIPLINARY TRAINING OF YOUNG SCIENTISTS WILL ALSO TAKE PLACE AT THREE INSTITUTIONS- VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA AND ROOSEVELT UNIVERSITY. 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.

CAREER: COUPLED PHENOMENA RESILIENCE AND DYNAMICS IN BENTONITE BARRIERS -THIS FACULTY EARLY CAREER DEVELOPMENT (CAREER) AWARD WILL ADDRESS NATIONAL AND GLOBAL CHALLENGES OF WATER SECURITY, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, AND PREPARATION OF FUTURE STEM PROFESSIONALS. THE RESEARCH FOCUSES ON TRANSFORMING HOW WE MEASURE, PREDICT, AND EDUCATE OTHERS ABOUT THE LONG-TERM PERFORMANCE OF CLAY BARRIERS USED FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION. ENGINEERED CLAY BARRIERS, PARTICULARLY THOSE UTILIZING BENTONITE CLAY, ARE COMMONLY USED TO PROTECT COMMUNITIES AND THEIR WATER RESOURCES FROM POLLUTANTS FROM INDUSTRIAL, MUNICIPAL, AND RADIOACTIVE WASTES. SUSTAINING PERFORMANCE OF PROTECTIVE BARRIERS OVER TIME WITHIN EVOLVING GEOENVIRONMENTS IS CRITICAL TO PRESERVING NATIONAL WATER QUALITY AND PUBLIC HEALTH. HOWEVER, VARIABLE CHEMICAL, TEMPERATURE, HYDRAULIC, AND STRESS CONDITIONS THAT OCCUR IN BENTONITE IN THE FIELD HAVE COMPLEX, COUPLED EFFECTS ON THE RATE OF CONTAMINANT TRANSPORT THROUGH THE BARRIER. UNTIL RECENTLY, RESEARCH ON THESE COUPLED PHENOMENA HAS PRIMARILY FOCUSED ON OVERLY-SIMPLIFIED CONDITIONS THAT DO NOT REPRESENT THE REAL-WORLD DYNAMICS OF CLAY BARRIERS EXPOSED TO WASTES. THIS RESEARCH INCLUDES COMPREHENSIVE EXPERIMENTAL AND ANALYTICAL EVALUATION OF COUPLED CONTAMINANT TRANSPORT PROPERTIES OF BENTONITE BARRIERS UNDER MORE REALISTIC CONDITIONS. THE RESULTS WILL IMPROVE PREDICTION AND MODELING OF HOW CONTAMINANTS ESCAPE THROUGH CLAY BARRIERS OVER TIME, SUPPORTING DESIGN OF RESILIENT BARRIER SYSTEMS AND IMPROVED PROTECTION OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT. THE INTEGRATED EDUCATION AND RESEARCH OBJECTIVES INCLUDE RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS, MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL STEM OUTREACH FOR WOMEN AND UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS, AND DEVELOPMENT OF AN ACTIVITY LIBRARY TO ADVANCE GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION. THE GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO ADVANCE SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING OF HOW ENVIRONMENTAL DYNAMICS AND COUPLED PHENOMENA IMPACT LONG-TERM RESILIENCY OF BENTONITE-BASED CONTAINMENT BARRIERS. THE PROJECT INCLUDES ADVANCED EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENTS OF COUPLED TRANSPORT PROPERTIES OF BENTONITES UNDER CHANGING CHEMICAL, TEMPERATURE, HYDRAULIC, AND STRESS CONDITIONS FOR BOTH VIRGIN AND FIELD-EXHUMED SAMPLES. THE OBJECTIVES OF THE INTEGRATED RESEARCH AND EDUCATION PLAN INCLUDE: (I) MEASUREMENT OF COUPLED PHENOMENA AND CHEMICAL TRANSPORT PROPERTIES OF TRADITIONAL AND POLYMER-ENHANCED BENTONITES; (II) IMPROVED MODELLING OF COUPLED MASS FLUX THROUGH CLAYS; (III) UNDERGRADUATE INVOLVEMENT THROUGH MENTORED RESEARCH EXPERIENCES; AND (IV) DEVELOPMENT OF A DIGITAL ACTIVITY LIBRARY TO ENHANCE GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION. THE RESULTS WILL ANSWER FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW BARRIER PERFORMANCE IS IMPACTED BY EVOLVING CHEMICAL-HYDRAULIC-THERMAL-STRESS CONDITIONS, FIELD EXPOSURE, AND MATERIAL ENHANCEMENT. THIS PROJECT WILL ALLOW THE PI TO ADVANCE THE KNOWLEDGE BASE IN GEOTECHNICAL, ENVIRONMENTAL AND WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING, AS WELL AS CLAY SCIENCE, AND SUPPORT HER LONG-TERM CAREER IN INNOVATIVE GEOENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH. 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.

HYBRID DIAGNOSTIC ALGORITHMS FOR HIGHER ORDER NONLINEAR SYSTEMS

COMPUTING SCHOLARS: A WORLD VIEW

ADAPTIVE MODELING OF NONLINEAR DYNAMIC SYSTEMS BY INTEGRATION OF PHYSICS AND DATA

GOALI: WATER-BASED ASSEMBLY OF FUNCTIONAL NANOMATERIAL COATINGS FOR SMART TEXTILES -SMART TEXTILES ARE TEXTILE STRUCTURES OR FABRICS WITH FUNCTIONAL COATINGS THAT CAN FACILITATE HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS AND PROTECT HUMANS AND EQUIPMENT FROM HARMFUL ENVIRONMENTS. SMART TEXTILES HAVE A WIDE RANGE OF APPLICATIONS IN METAVERSE, HEALTHCARE, SPORTS AND FITNESS, FASHION AND ENTERTAINMENT, AUTOMOTIVE MANUFACTURING, AEROSPACE, AND THE MILITARY. MANUFACTURING SMART TEXTILES BY SELF-ASSEMBLY IN WATER FACES A FUNDAMENTAL CHALLENGE ENTAILED BY THE VERY LIMITED CHOICES OF POLYMER TEXTILES AND NANOMATERIALS THAT CAN BIND SPONTANEOUSLY WITH STRENGTH AND DURABILITY, WHICH SEVERELY RESTRICTS THE APPLICATIONS OF SMART TEXTILES. THIS GRANT OPPORTUNITY FOR ACADEMIC LIAISON WITH INDUSTRY (GOALI) AWARD WILL SUPPORT RESEARCH BETWEEN INVESTIGATORS AT VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY AND TEMPLE UNIVERSITY, PARTNERING WITH OTEX SPECIALTY NARROW FABRICS INC, TO ESTABLISH A TRANSFORMATIVE WATER-BASED SALT-ASSISTED-ASSEMBLY PROCESS THAT WILL UNLOCK THE FULL POTENTIAL OF SMART TEXTILES BY EXPANDING THE DESIGN SPACE OF VIABLE NANOMATERIAL-TEXTILE SYSTEMS TO INCLUDE A VAST RANGE OF HYDROPHOBIC AND HYDROPHILIC MATERIALS. THIS INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH WILL CREATE A DISTINCTIVE TRAINING PLATFORM THAT INTEGRATES ACADEMIA AND INDUSTRY, ENABLING STUDENTS TO GAIN HANDS-ON FACTORY EXPERIENCE WHILE FOSTERING COLLABORATION TO ADDRESS FUTURE CHALLENGES. THE EDUCATIONAL GOALS WILL BE ACHIEVED BY CREATING NEW COURSE MODULES, OFFERING UNDERGRADUATE SUMMER INTERNSHIPS, AND EDUCATING K-12 STUDENTS THROUGH ACTIVITIES SUCH AS THE VU-LIBRARY STEM PROGRAM. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO ESTABLISH A TRANSFORMATIVE SALT-ASSISTED-ASSEMBLY METHOD, TO ACHIEVE SELF-ASSEMBLY AT HYDROPHILIC-HYDROPHOBIC INTERFACES AND OTHER PREVIOUSLY UNFEASIBLE SYSTEMS FOR MANUFACTURING DURABLE SMART TEXTILES. THE INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM WILL RESOLVE FUNDAMENTAL CHALLENGES IN (1) UNDERSTANDING MULTI-PHASE INTERACTIONS IN THE COMPLEX ASSEMBLY SYSTEM; (2) UNDERSTANDING PARTICLE TRANSPORT AND DEPOSITION UNDER DYNAMIC FLOW AND ACOUSTIC FIELDS; (3) ESTABLISHING MULTISCALE MODELING TO ACHIEVE CONTROLLABLE AND DESIGNABLE MANUFACTURING; AND (4) ESTABLISHING SCALABLE MANUFACTURING PROCESSES WITH THE INDUSTRIAL PARTNER AND DEMONSTRATING MULTIFUNCTIONAL SMART TEXTILES. INSTEAD OF USING DESTRUCTIVE SURFACE TREATMENTS ON PARTICLES AND POLYMER TEXTILES TO ENHANCE THEIR AFFINITY TO EACH OTHER AND WETTABILITY WITH WATER, THIS RESEARCH WILL INVESTIGATE AND UNDERSTAND THE ASSEMBLY PRINCIPLE ALTERED BY ADDING A LOW CONCENTRATION OF SALT TO MANIPULATE THE SOLVENT-NANOMATERIAL-POLYMER SUBSTRATE INTERACTIONS, ENABLING RAPID AND UNIFORM COATING ON HETEROGENEOUS INTERFACES. TO PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT, THE SALT CONCENTRATION USED IN THIS PROCESS WILL COMPLY WITH EPA DRINKING WATER GUIDELINES. AFTER THE NANOPARTICLES ARE DEPLETED, THE SALT WILL BE RECYCLED AND REUSED. FINALLY, THE LAB-SCALE NANOMATERIAL DIP-COATING PROCESS WILL BE TRANSFORMED INTO AN INDUSTRIAL-LEVEL ROLL-TO-ROLL PROCESS WITH UNPRECEDENTED HIGH THROUGHPUT AND CONTROLLABILITY. THIS RESEARCH WILL SIGNIFICANTLY EXPAND THE DESIGN SPACE AND APPLICATIONS OF SMART TEXTILES AND OTHER POLYMER SYSTEMS. 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 PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

PFI: PARTNERSHIPS FOR INNOVATION IN ACOUSTIC AND ULTRASOUND TECHNOLOGIES FOR MEDICAL AND INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS

CAREER: HARNESSING INTERFERENCE WITH DEEP LEARNING: ALGORITHMS AND LARGE-SCALE EXPERIMENTS -THE INCREASING DENSITY OF CELLULAR NETWORKS AND THE ADOPTION OF DRONES HAVE MADE INTERFERENCE A SIGNIFICANT OBSTACLE TO ACHIEVING EFFICIENT AND HIGH-QUALITY COMMUNICATION. EXISTING SOLUTIONS FOR INTER-CELL INTERFERENCE ARE IMPRACTICAL DUE TO EXCESSIVE SIGNALING OVERHEAD AND SYNCHRONIZATION BURDEN. THIS PROJECT LEVERAGES DEEP LEARNING TO MANAGE INTERFERENCE FROM NEIGHBORING CELLS WITHOUT REQUIRING CHANNEL INFORMATION FOR INTERFERENCE SIGNALS. THE PROPOSED ALGORITHMS WILL RELY ON MEASURED SIGNAL AND INTERFERENCE POWER OR QUALITY, WHICH ARE AVAILABLE IN MODERN CELLULAR NETWORKS, PARTICULARLY IN 5G. THE GOAL IS TO IMPROVE THE SPECTRAL EFFICIENCY OF CELLULAR NETWORKS, ENABLE WIDESPREAD DRONE ADOPTION, AND SIMPLIFY THE DESIGN OF COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS. THE PROJECT ALSO INCLUDES OUTREACH EFFORTS TO EDUCATE UNDERREPRESENTED HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN PHILADELPHIA. UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WILL HAVE OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, AND A NEW SENIOR ELECTIVE COURSE ON DEEP LEARNING FOR COMMUNICATIONS WILL BE DESIGNED. THE FINDINGS OF THIS RESEARCH WILL BE DISSEMINATED THROUGH HIGH-IMPACT JOURNALS, CONFERENCES, AND WORKSHOPS, BENEFITING BOTH ACADEMIC AND INDUSTRIAL COMMUNITIES. THIS PROJECT WILL PURSUE A NEW APPROACH FOR INTERFERENCE MITIGATION IN TWO-DIMENSIONAL AND THREE-DIMENSIONAL CELLULAR NETWORKS. THE PROPOSED DEEP LEARNING-AIDED ALGORITHMS COULD TRANSFORM THE WAY REAL-LIFE CELLULAR NETWORKS ARE DESIGNED AND OPERATED IN TWO WAYS: (I) BY CREATING NEW FOUNDATION FOR INTERFERENCE MANAGEMENT THAT WORK EVEN WHEN CHANNEL INFORMATION IS UNKNOWN AND THE NETWORK TOPOLOGY DYNAMICALLY CHANGES; AND (II) DESIGNING END-TO-END COMMUNICATION MODELS THAT CAN ADAPT TO INTERFERENCE, SIMPLIFY THE CURRENT BLOCKBY-BLOCK DESIGN, AND YIELD SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER DATA RATES. THE PROPOSED ALGORITHMS WILL UNDERGO EXTENSIVE TESTING ON BOTH SMALL AND LARGE SCALES, AND THE RESULTS WILL BE EVALUATED ON THE NSF PAWR PLATFORMS THAT COULD LEAD TO REAL-WORLD IMPLEMENTATION. THIS PROJECT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE THE EFFICIENCY OF CURRENT AND NEXT-GENERATION CELLULAR NETWORKS AND ENABLE THE WIDESPREAD USE OF DRONES IN CELLULAR NETWORKS. 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.

VILLANOVA COMPUTING SCHOLARS: THE SEQUEL

PEANUTS IN SPACE: SOLVING THE THERMODYNAMICAL CONUNDRUM IN CONTACT BINARY STARS -THE TWO STARS OF A CONTACT BINARY SYSTEM ORBIT SO CLOSE TO EACH OTHER THAT THEY SHARE A COMMON ENVELOPE, RESULTING IN THEIR DISTINCTIVE PEANUT SHAPE. CONTACT BINARIES ARE UBIQUITOUS, EASILY OBSERVABLE THANKS TO THEIR 0.2-1.2-DAY ORBITAL PERIODS AND LARGE BRIGHTNESS VARIATIONS, AND MOREOVER APPEALING DUE TO THE PHYSICS GOVERNING THEIR OBSERVED PROPERTIES. MOST PERPLEXING IS THE FACT THAT DESPITE THEIR GENERALLY DIFFERENT MASSES AND RADII, THE TWO STARS POSSESS ESSENTIALLY IDENTICAL TEMPERATURES, INDICATING THAT THEY ARE IN THERMAL EQUILIBRIUM AND REQUIRING A SIGNIFICANT FLOW OF MASS AND ENERGY BETWEEN THE TWO STARS' COMMON ENVELOPE. HOWEVER, CURRENT CONTACT BINARY MODELS DO NOT ACCOUNT FOR MASS/ENERGY MIXING. THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR'S (PI) TEAM WILL CORRECT THIS SITUATION BY UPGRADING THEIR MODELING SOFTWARE PHOEBE TO ACCOUNT FOR MASS/ENERGY TRANSFER BY THE INTRODUCTION OF A MIXING PARAMETER. THEY WILL ANALYZE THOUSANDS OF CONTACT BINARY LIGHT CURVES AND EXPLORE MIXING PARAMETER CORRELATIONS TO INFER THE PHYSICAL PROCESSES DRIVING THIS MASS AND ENERGY TRANSFER, LEADING TO A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THESE SYSTEMS. THIS AWARD WILL SUPPORT A POSTDOC AND THREE UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS EACH YEAR, AS WELL AS SUPPORTING REGULAR GENERAL AUDIENCE LEVEL ARTICLES TO BE DISTRIBUTED ONLINE THROUGH THE IAU OUTREACH OFFICE. THE TEAM WILL EXPLORE THREE SIMPLE 1-PARAMETER MODEL EXTENSIONS TO PHOEBE: RADIAL MIXING, LATERAL MIXING, AND MAGNETIC ACTIVITY. IN EACH CASE MIXING WILL BE ASSUMED TO AFFECT ONLY THE COOLER STAR, AND THAT THE AMOUNT OF MIXING IS APPROXIMATED WELL ENOUGH BY A POWER LAW. IN EACH CASE THE MODEL WILL BE PARAMETRIZED BY THE SINGLE MIXING PARAMETER P, SERVING AS A PROXY TO THE HYDRODYNAMICAL UNDERPINNINGS OF MASS AND ENERGY FLOWS IN THE ENVELOPE. THEY WILL EVALUATE THE EFFECT OF ?P? ON THE LIGHT CURVE, AND SINCE ?P? IS AT LEAST SOMEWHAT DEGENERATE WITH THE REMAINING PRINCIPAL PARAMETERS, OTHER PARAMETERS WILL BE CONSIDERED TO GENERATE A GOOD FIT TO THE DATA AND ACCOUNT FOR MIXING. CARRYING OUT THIS SAME ANALYSIS ON THOUSANDS OF CONTACT BINARY LIGHT CURVES AVAILABLE IN PUBLIC ARCHIVES, THEY WILL BE ABLE TO STUDY THE CORRELATIONS BETWEEN ?P? AND THE DEGREE OF THERMAL AND GEOMETRICAL CONTACT, AND THE DISTRIBUTIONS OF PARAMETER ?P? FOR EACH OF THE SINGLE-PARAMETER MODELS. THOSE CORRELATIONS ARE WHAT WILL INFORM THE TEAM OF THE UNDERLYING PHYSICS, AND ?P? WILL PROVIDE THEM WITH AN ESSENTIAL GUIDANCE ON HOW TO PROPERLY FORMULATE A MORE ADVANCED MIXING MODEL. THIS SCHEME IS ALREADY IMPLEMENTED IN PHOEBE FOR COMPUTING STELLAR FLUXES, MAKING CONTACT BINARY ATMOSPHERES A NATURAL EXTENSION TO PHOEBE?S EXISTING CAPABILITIES. 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.

CAREER: MICROWAVE TRANSMISSION SPECTROSCOPY OF VAN DER WAALS MATERIALS

CAREER: ATMOSPHERE/SNOW/ICE INTERACTIONS: PHOTOCHEMISTRY OF ORGANIC POLLUTANTS IN ARCTIC SNOW AND ICE

RUI: CONTROL OF PROTEASOMAL UNFOLDING ABILITY BY SUBSTRATE UBIQUITINATION

PHASE II IUCRC VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY: CENTER FOR ENERGY-SMART ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS (ES2)

TRAINING A NEW GENERATION OF STATISTICS EDUCATORS (TANGO STAT ED)

SORTING AND ASSEMBLY OF NANOMATERIALS ON POLYMER SUBSTRATES USING FLUIDIC AND WEAK ULTRASOUND FIELDS FOR FABRICATION OF FLEXIBLE ELECTRONIC DEVICES

MRI-R2 ACQUISITION OF ENHANCED ANTENNA MEASUREMENT FACILITIES FOR EMERGING RF AND MILLIMETER-WAVE APPLICATIONS

RUI: CHARACTERIZATION OF THIAMINE SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION PATHWAY IN CANDIDA GLABRATA AND OTHER ASCOMYCETES

CAREER: TRANSFORMING THE SYNERGISTIC INTERACTIONS BETWEEN PYROGENIC CARBONACEOUS MATTER AND SULFUR SPECIES INTO SOLUTIONS FOR CONTAMINANT DETOXIFICATION

RUI: EVOLUTION OF SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION PATHWAYS IN YEAST

CAREER: MIXED-DOMAIN PRE-DISTORTION OF RF NON-LINEAR COMPONENTS FOR HIGH-EFFICIENCY, WIDE-BAND, AND RECONFIGURABLE TRANSMITTERS -THIS PROJECT AIMS TO SIGNIFICANTLY ADVANCE WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS BY DEVELOPING AI-ENHANCED ENERGY-EFFICIENT HIGH-PERFORMANCE RF TRANSMITTERS TO ADDRESS THE GROWING ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND EFFICIENCY CHALLENGES FOR NEXT-GENERATION WIRELESS SYSTEMS, WHICH HAVE SIGNIFICANT ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACTS. RADIO-FREQUENCY (RF) POWER AMPLIFIERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR 60% OF THE ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN RADIO UNITS, MAKING THEM A CRITICAL AREA FOR IMPROVEMENT. THE PROJECT INTRODUCES A NOVEL MIXED-DOMAIN PRE-DISTORTION (MPD) APPROACH THAT COMBINES AI/MACHINE-LEARNING (ML) ALGORITHMS AND DIGITAL/ANALOG/RF NONLINEAR COMPONENTS TO CREATE HIGH-EFFICIENCY, WIDE-BAND, AND RECONFIGURABLE TRANSMITTERS. BY REDUCING POWER CONSUMPTION, IMPROVING BANDWIDTH, AND ENHANCING LINEARITY, THIS RESEARCH HAS THE POTENTIAL TO TRANSFORM THE DESIGN OF RF TRANSMITTERS, ENABLING MORE SUSTAINABLE AND COST-EFFECTIVE WIRELESS NETWORKS. THE PROJECT ALSO INCLUDES A ROBUST EDUCATIONAL AND OUTREACH PLAN, WHICH WILL MODERNIZE RF/MICROWAVE COURSES, ENGAGE UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS IN HANDS-ON RESEARCH, AND INSPIRE HIGH-SCHOOL STUDENTS TO PURSUE STEM CAREERS THROUGH PRACTICAL DESIGN PROJECTS. THE OUTCOMES OF THIS RESEARCH WILL DIRECTLY BENEFIT U.S. INDUSTRIES SUCH AS TELECOMMUNICATIONS, DEFENSE, AND ENERGY, WHILE CONTRIBUTING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A GLOBALLY COMPETITIVE U.S. STEM WORKFORCE. THE RESEARCH OF THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO DEVELOP A UNIFIED THEORY AND PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION OF MIXED-DOMAIN PRE-DISTORTION, LEVERAGING THE STRENGTHS OF DIGITAL, ANALOG, AND RF NONLINEARITIES. THE RESEARCH WILL INVOLVE CREATING A UNIFIED THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR MPD, DESIGNING AND PROTOTYPING TRANSMITTER SYSTEMS, AND VALIDATING THEIR PERFORMANCE THROUGH SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENTAL TESTING. ADVANCED SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES, SUCH AS GAN AND GAAS, WILL BE UTILIZED TO FABRICATE MPD PROTOTYPES, WHICH ARE EXPECTED TO ACHIEVE SIGNIFICANT REDUCTIONS IN POWER CONSUMPTION, WIDER BANDWIDTHS, AND IMPROVED LINEARITY COMPARED TO EXISTING SOLUTIONS. THE PROJECT WILL UTILIZE STATE-OF-THE-ART FACILITIES INCLUDING ADVANCED MEASUREMENT SETUPS AND PROTOTYPING TOOLS. THE MPD APPROACH AIMS TO ACHIEVE A 70% REDUCTION IN POWER CONSUMPTION COMPARED TO DIGITAL-ONLY SOLUTIONS WHILE MAINTAINING HIGH LINEARITY AND ENABLING GHZ-LEVEL BANDWIDTH. THE RESEARCH WILL EXPLORE INNOVATIVE NONLINEAR SHAPES, AI/ML ALGORITHMS, AND CIRCUIT ARCHITECTURES, WITH DIRECT APPLICATIONS IN RF COMPONENTS SUCH AS POWER AMPLIFIERS, LOW-NOISE AMPLIFIERS, AND CONVERTERS. THE FINDINGS WILL BE SHARED WITH INDUSTRY PARTNERS AND THE BROADER RESEARCH COMMUNITY, CONTRIBUTING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF MORE EFFICIENT AND SCALABLE WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS. BY ADDRESSING THE EFFICIENCY-LINEARITY-BANDWIDTH TRADEOFF, THIS PROJECT WILL ADVANCE THE STATE-OF-THE-ART RF COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS AND PROVIDE TRANSFORMATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR FUTURE WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES, INCLUDING 5G-ADVANCED AND 6G NETWORKS. 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: PHYSIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS INVOLVED IN THE ALLOCATION OF ENERGY TO REPRODUCTION IN CORALS UNDER THERMAL STRESS

CAREER: MANIPULATING THE INNATE IMMUNE RESPONSE TO IMPROVE GENE THERAPY

SELF-LIMITING PARTICLE ASSEMBLY ON SOFT SUBSTRATES -UNDERSTANDING AND CONTROLLING THE INTERACTION BETWEEN PARTICLE AND SOFT SUBSTRATE IS OF FUNDAMENTAL IMPORTANCE, PARTICULARLY IN BIOLOGICAL AND MANUFACTURING PROCESSES. FOR EXAMPLE, SUCH PROCESSES INCLUDE DRUG PARTICLE DELIVERY ONTO SOFT TISSUES, AS WELL AS ADVANCED MANUFACTURING OF PARTICLE COATING ON FLEXIBLE POLYMER SUBSTRATES. DESPITE EXTENSIVE EFFORTS, THE EXISTING ANALYSIS MODELS COMMONLY IGNORE OR MISTREAT THE MECHANICAL COLLISION PROCESS DURING THE INTERACTION BETWEEN PARTICLE AND SOFT SUBSTRATE. THE GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO LAY THE THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL FOUNDATION FOR THE COLLISION-BASED ASSEMBLY PROCESS. THIS RESEARCH WILL LEAD TO A NEW METHOD FOR PREDICTING AND DESIGNING THE PARTICLE ASSEMBLY ON SOFT SUBSTRATE MATERIALS. RESULTS FROM THIS PROJECT WILL ENABLE THE DEVELOPMENT OF PRECISE DRUG DELIVERY AND ACCURATE, SUSTAINABLE, AND WASTE-FREE MANUFACTURING OF FLEXIBLE ELECTRONICS THAT WILL MINIMIZE THE FOOTPRINT OF NANOMATERIALS IN BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS. THE RESEARCH TEAM WILL ALSO CREATE IMPACTFUL AND BROAD-REACHING NANOTECHNOLOGY EDUCATION PROGRAMS THAT INCLUDE THE VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY-LIBRARY STEM PROGRAM, AND A NANOTECHNOLOGY RESEARCH TRAINING AND CURRICULUM AIMED AT ATTRACTING AND TRAINING THE FUTURE WORKFORCE. THIS RESEARCH WILL ELUCIDATE A NEW COLLISION-BASED SELF-LIMITING ASSEMBLY MECHANISM AND ESTABLISH AN ACOUSTIC SELF-LIMITING ASSEMBLY OF PARTICLE METHOD FOR HARD-PARTICLE-ON-SOFT-SUBSTRATE SYSTEMS. THE TEAM WILL PIONEER AN INTEGRATED APPROACH THAT COMBINES NANOINDENTATION WITH THE IN-SITU OBSERVATION AND ASSEMBLY PLATFORM. NANOINDENTATION WILL MIMIC PARTICLE-SUBSTRATE COLLISION, TEST PARTICLE-SUBSTRATE ADHESION AND CHARACTERIZE SUBSTRATE?S VISCOELASTICITY, WHICH WILL BE CORRELATED WITH THE COLLISION-INDUCED ENERGY DISSIPATION. THE IN-SITU PLATFORM WILL ANALYZE THE AGGREGATION STATUS OF PARTICLES IN THE LIQUID MEDIUM AND IN-SITU MONITOR THE DYNAMIC PROCESS OF PARTICLE ASSEMBLING ON THE SUBSTRATE. WHILE MOST OF THE EXISTING RESEARCH CONSIDERS PARTICLE-SUBSTRATE THERMODYNAMIC INTERACTIONS AS THE ONLY DOMINANT CONTROLLING FACTOR FOR PARTICLE ASSEMBLY, THIS PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL SYSTEMATICALLY INVESTIGATE THE IMPACT OF THE PARTICLE-SUBSTRATE DYNAMIC COLLISION PROCESS, PARTICULARLY THE COLLISION ENERGY DISSIPATION ON THE SELF-LIMITING MECHANISM OF PARTICLE ASSEMBLY. IF SUCCESSFUL, THIS MODEL PROMISES TO FACILITATE THE FOLLOWING ADVANCEMENTS: THE DESIGN OF FUTURE NANOPARTICLE-BASED DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEMS, EFFICIENT POLLUTANT CAPTURE, NANOPARTICLE COATING ON BIOLOGICAL MEDIA, SCALABLE MANUFACTURING OF HIGH-QUALITY FUNCTIONAL COATINGS, FLEXIBLE OPTICS AND FLEXIBLE ELECTRONICS, AS WELL AS THE SUSTAINABLE AND OPTIMAL APPLICATION OF COSTLY FUNCTIONAL PARTICLES WITH MINIMAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS. THE RESEARCH TEAM WILL ALSO CREATE IMPACTFUL AND BROAD-REACHING NANOTECHNOLOGY EDUCATION PROGRAMS THAT INCLUDE THE VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY-LIBRARY STEM PROGRAM, AND A NANOTECHNOLOGY RESEARCH TRAINING AND CURRICULUM AIMED AT ATTRACTING AND TRAINING THE FUTURE WORKFORCE. 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.

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A CONFOCAL RAMAN MICROSCOPE SYSTEM FOR NANO-BIO-CHEMICAL-THERMAL RESEARCH

CAREER: SUPPORTING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT OF INFANTS IN CONTEXTS OF POVERTY AND HOMELESSNESS

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A 500 MHZ NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE (NMR) SPECTROMETER TO ENHANCE UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH AND TEACHING AT A PRIMARILY UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTION

INTBIO: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: INTEGRATING MOLECULAR, CELLULAR, ORGANISMAL AND COMMUNITY SCALES TO UNDERSTAND HOW PLANTS STRUCTURE POLLINATOR-PATHOGEN DYNAMICS

HOW LARVAL NEURONS ARE REPROGRAMMED FOR ADULT BEHAVIORS IN DROSOPHILA -AS ANIMALS ENTER DIFFERENT STAGES OF LIFE, THEIR NEEDS AND BEHAVIORS CHANGE. HOW THE NERVOUS SYSTEM CHANGES TO ALLOW FOR STAGE-APPROPRIATE BEHAVIORS IS A CENTRAL QUESTION IN NEUROSCIENCE, WITH CONNECTIONS TO NEUROLOGICAL DISEASE AND MENTAL HEALTH. MANY BEHAVIORS SPECIFIC TO ADULTS ARISE AFTER A PERIOD OF MATURATION, E.G., PUBERTY, WHEN A JUVENILE TRANSFORMS INTO AN ADULT. THE NERVOUS SYSTEM TRANSFORMS DRASTICALLY DURING THIS TIME, INCLUDING THE BIRTH OF NEW CELLS THAT BUILD THE CIRCUITS FOR ADULT BEHAVIORS. ACROSS THE ANIMAL KINGDOM, JUVENILE NEURONS HAVE BEEN REPORTED TO REPROGRAM DURING MATURATION AND CONTRIBUTE TO CIRCUITS FOR ADULT-SPECIFIC BEHAVIORS BY POORLY UNDERSTOOD MOLECULAR MECHANISMS. THE LAG IN OUR UNDERSTANDING IS DUE IN PART FROM THE TECHNICAL CHALLENGES IN IDENTIFYING DEVELOPMENTALLY REPROGRAMMED NEURONS IN THE FIRST PLACE. THIS PROJECT LEVERAGES A POWERFUL SYSTEM TO STUDY MATURATIONAL REPROGRAMMING OF NEURONS AT CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR LEVEL. THIS INVESTIGATION WILL TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT DEVELOPMENT CAN USE THE SAME NEURONS TO CONSTRUCT A VARIETY OF NEURAL CIRCUITS WHOSE USE IS SPECIFIC TO DIFFERENT SEXES AND STAGES OF LIFE. THE PROJECT WILL OFFER IMMERSIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOMEDICAL TRAINING FOR UNDERGRADUATES, MASTER?S STUDENTS, AND POSTBACCALAUREATE RESEARCHERS BEFORE PURSUING A PHD IN NEUROSCIENCE OR RELATED FIELDS. UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN AN INVESTIGATIVE NEUROBIOLOGY COURSE WILL ALSO ENGAGE IN HANDS-ON LAB EXPERIENCES, CONTRIBUTING DIRECTLY TO ONGOING RESEARCH. IN DROSOPHILA, SEX-SPECIFIC BEHAVIORS, LIKE MATING, DEVELOP WHEN JUVENILE LARVAE METAMORPHOSE INTO ADULTS. PRIOR STUDIES IDENTIFIED A SMALL POPULATION OF INTERNEURONS IN THE ADULT FEMALE NERVE CORD, THE DDAG NEURONS, THAT INFLUENCE MANY ASPECTS OF FEMALE FERTILITY. THESE NEURONS ARE BORN DURING EMBRYOGENESIS AND EXIST AS MATURE INTERNEURONS IN LARVAE OF BOTH SEXES. DURING METAMORPHOSIS, THE JUVENILE COUNTERPARTS OF THE DDAG NEURONS ACQUIRE SEX-SPECIFIC IDENTITY, APOPTOSE IN MALES, AND REPROGRAM IN FEMALES FOR MATING FUNCTIONS. THE CIRCUITS FOR REPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOR IN FLIES ARE THUS PARTIALLY BUILT FROM DEVELOPMENTALLY REPROGRAMMED NEURONS WITH FORMER ACTIVITIES IN SEX-AGNOSTIC JUVENILE LARVAE. THIS PROJECT WILL USE THE DDAG NEURONS TO STUDY THE DEVELOPMENTAL AND MOLECULAR MECHANISMS THAT REPROGRAM NEURONS DURING MATURATION. THE WORK WILL (1) DETERMINE HOW DIFFERENT SUBTYPES OF DDAG NEURONS IN ADULTS CONTRIBUTE TO FEMALE BEHAVIOR AND ELUCIDATE THE LARVAL COUNTERPARTS OF EACH DDAG SUBTYPE AND THEIR FUNCTIONS IN LARVAE; AND (2) UNCOVER THE MOLECULAR MECHANISM THAT REPROGRAMS THE DDAG NEURONS DURING METAMORPHOSIS. THIS INVESTIGATION WILL TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT TWO SEGMENTALLY REPEATING NEURONAL SUBTYPES IN LARVAE THAT REGULATE LOCOMOTION REPROGRAM TO FIVE ADULT SUBTYPES WITH DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS IN FEMALE MATING. FURTHER, THE STUDY WILL TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT A TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR PROGRAM PRESENT IN THE LARVAL COUNTERPARTS OF THESE NEURONS REPROGRAMS THEM IN RESPONSE TO A PERMISSIVE METAMORPHIC HORMONE. TAKEN TOGETHER, THIS PROJECT WILL PROVIDE TRANSFORMATIVE INSIGHTS INTO THE MECHANISMS THAT GOVERN THE REPROGRAMMING OF JUVENILE NEURONS DURING MATURATION. 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.

CAS- CLIMATE: CDS&E: FACILITATING SUSTAINABLE AND FAIR TRANSFORMATION OF GSI THROUGH AI -AS CLIMATE CHANGE EXACERBATES ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH URBAN GROWTH, GREEN STORMWATER INFRASTRUCTURE (GSI) IS A PREVALENT STORMWATER MITIGATION STRATEGY TO PROVIDE RESILIENCE AND MITIGATE THE IMPACTS OF DEVELOPMENT ON FLOODING. IN PARALLEL, FULLY SUSTAINABLE GSI SYSTEMS MUST CONFRONT THE CHALLENGES OF HISTORICALLY UNEQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF INFRASTRUCTURE. THE CURRENT DATA REVOLUTION HAS REACHED MUNICIPAL STORMWATER PROGRAMS; HOWEVER, THESE PROGRAMS ARE LIMITED BY A LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OF GSI LIFE-CYCLE DYNAMICS, HIGH PERFORMANCE AND EMERGING COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS, AND HOW TO INTEGRATE NEW SCIENCE INTO DESIGN AND PLANNING DECISIONS. THERE IS A SCIENTIFIC GAP IN THE SPACE FORMED AMONG GSI DESIGN, PERFORMANCE FUNCTION, AND PLANNING DECISIONS THAT REQUIRES BRIDGING HYDROLOGIC SCIENCE, URBAN PLANNING, AND DATA ANALYTICS. THIS PROJECT LEVERAGES INNOVATIONS IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI), ADVANCEMENTS IN THE EMPIRICAL AND THEORETICAL UNDERSTANDING OF URBAN HYDROLOGIC SCIENCE, AND SOCIAL DATA TO PRODUCE A NEW MODEL OF GSI DYNAMICS THAT CONSIDERS SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL EQUITY ISSUES. THIS MODEL WILL FLIP THE PARADIGM OF INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING AND PUT THE IMPACT ON SOCIETY AND THE ENVIRONMENT ON PAR WITH ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS TO FLOODING. THE MODEL WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE FOR USE BY PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PRACTITIONERS TO PLAN, DEVELOP, AND MANAGE MORE SUSTAINABLE AND EQUITABLE GSI, AND BY RESEARCHERS TO DEEPEN CONVERGENT KNOWLEDGE OF THE COMPLEX SOCIAL ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH URBAN FLOODING. THE CURRENT STATE OF GSI RESEARCH IS RIPE FOR THE APPLICATION OF AI TECHNIQUES TO ADVANCE GSI KNOWLEDGE TO DISCERN KEY PARAMETERS, OPTIMIZE GSI DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT, AND ENABLE FUTURE PERFORMANCE FORECASTS IN A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT. FOR THIS PROJECT, CIVIL ENGINEERS, COMPUTER SCIENTISTS, AND GEOGRAPHERS ARE JOINING TOGETHER TO PRODUCE A NEW PLATFORM THAT USES AI IN A DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENT WITH MULTIPLE DATA MODALITIES, RANGING FROM THEIR SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL CHARACTERISTICS TO DATA TYPES. THE RESEARCH FRAMEWORK ACKNOWLEDGES THE WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF GSI AND ITS HIGH INTERDEPENDENCY AND CONNECTION TO THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITY AND AIMS TO IMPROVE SOCIAL JUSTICE OF GSI DESIGN THROUGH AN EQUITY-AWARE AI MODEL. THIS PROJECT WILL USE A LARGE GSI MONITORING RELATIONAL DATABASE (HOUSED AT VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY) BY COMBINING GSI PERFORMANCE DATA AND CITY-WIDE OPEN DATA AND APPLYING MACHINE LEARNING METHODS TO DEVELOP PREDICTIVE MODELS APPLICABLE ACROSS THE US. THIS WORK TARGETS ADVANCING UNDERSTANDING OF GSI DYNAMICS BY FORECASTING THE PERFORMANCE OF GSIS FOR A GIVEN ARRAY OF CONDITIONS AND CONSTRAINTS IN URBAN SETTINGS TO EQUITABLY MAXIMIZE GSI COMMUNITY BENEFITS. THE PROJECT WILL SUPPORT A DIVERSE FACULTY TEAM AND ENGAGE STUDENTS, URBAN COMMUNITIES, AND INDUSTRY AND ACADEMIC COLLEAGUES BY: (1) CREATING STATE-OF- THE-ART RESEARCH AND MENTORING OPPORTUNITIES FOR GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS FROM UNDERREPRESENTED BACKGROUNDS, (2) DEVELOPING AND DELIVERING GSI LEARNING MODULES FOR PRACTITIONERS, AND (3) INTEGRATING AND PROMOTING ISSUES OF EQUITY AND SUSTAINABILITY WITHIN URBAN STORMWATER MANAGEMENT. 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.

NURSE FACULTY LOAN PROGRAM

SOLVING 150 000 ECLIPSING BINARY LIGHT CURVES WITH AN AI POWERED MODEL

YOUNG CHILDREN'S BELIEFS ABOUT CAUSAL SYSTEMS: LEARNING ABOUT BELIEF REVISION IN THE LAB AND IN MUSEUMS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RUI: FUNCTIONAL MORPHOLOGY AND ECOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF ANT ADHESION IN THE TROPICAL FOREST CANOPY

RUI: EVOLUTION OF THE PHOSPHATE STARVATION RESPONSE IN YEAST

CAREER: DEVELOPMENT OF CHEMICAL TOOLS FOR THE PREPARATION OF STRAINED CYCLIC PEPTIDES -WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS PROGRAM IN THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY, MATTHEW O?REILLY OF VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY IS DEVELOPING CHEMICAL TOOLS FOR THE PREPARATION OF STRAINED CYCLIC PEPTIDES. OVER 80 FDA APPROVED PEPTIDE-BASED THERAPEUTICS EXIST, INCLUDING INSULIN, WHICH WAS THE FIRST DRUG OF THIS CLASS. WHILE THE SYNTHESIS AND PRODUCTION OF LINEAR PEPTIDES, A STRAIGHT CHAIN OF AMINO ACIDS, IS NOW SEEN AS A RELATIVELY MATURE SCIENCE, THE USE OF LINEAR PEPTIDES AS THERAPEUTICS IS LIMITED BY THEIR GENERAL LACK OF BIOAVAILABILITY AND IN VIVO STABILITY. OFTEN THESE LIMITATIONS CAN BE ADDRESSED IF THE PEPTIDE IS CYCLIC, BUT CYCLIZING PEPTIDES VIA CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS REMAINS CHALLENGING. FURTHER, IF THE CHAIN OF AMINO ACIDS IS SHORT ENOUGH, CYCLIZATION BECOMES EVEN MORE CHALLENGING, AS THE FINAL PRODUCT HAS STRAIN, AND THE MOLECULAR TRANSITIONS LEADING TO THOSE PRODUCTS ARE GEOMETRICALLY LESS ACCESSIBLE. TO ADDRESS THESE CHALLENGES, THE O?REILLY LAB IS DEVELOPING GENERAL TOOLS TO MAKE STRAINED CYCLIC PEPTIDES, UNLOCKING THEM FOR THE ENTIRE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY, WHERE THEY CAN THEN BE USED IN THE AREAS OF THERAPEUTICS, MATERIALS SCIENCE, OR CATALYSIS. THE SYNTHETIC METHODS ARE BEING VALIDATED THROUGH OUR SYNTHESIS OF VARIOUS BIOLOGICALLY ACTIVE STRAINED CYCLIC PEPTIDE NATURAL PRODUCTS. BEYOND THE PURELY SCIENTIFIC GOALS, THIS PROJECT WILL EXPAND RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES AT VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY TO UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS, AND A COURSE-BASED UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE IS BEING IMPLEMENTED IN THE UNDERGRADUATE TEACHING CURRICULUM TO INVOLVE A BROADER AUDIENCE IN THE RESEARCH AIMS. TOWARD PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT, COLLABORATION WITH A CHILDREN?S MUSEUM IS PLANNED TO BRING A FACILITATED EXHIBIT FOCUSED ON PEPTIDES TO THE PUBLIC AND TO STUDENTS. THE RESEARCH FROM THE O?REILLY GROUP IS FOCUSED ON DEVELOPING CONSISTENT AND REPRODUCIBLE METHODS THAT WILL BE APPLIED TO THE PREPARATION OF A WIDE VARIETY OF STRAINED CYCLIC PEPTIDES. INITIAL EFFORTS WILL BE FOCUSED ON THE SYNTHESIS OF CYCLIC TETRAPEPTIDES. THE FIRST OBJECTIVE INVOLVES THE DESIGN AND USE OF REAGENT ARRAYS TO FACILITATE CYCLIZATION, WHICH WILL BE SIMULTANEOUSLY SCREENED TO EXAMINE REACTION PROGRESS AROUND A VARIETY OF PARAMETERS WITH RAPID REACTION ANALYSIS USING LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY-MASS SPECTROMETRY. AS AMINO ACID IDENTITY AND STEREOCHEMISTRY HAVE PROFOUND IMPACTS ON THE RATES OF CYCLIZATION, COMPUTATIONAL EFFORTS WILL BE EMPLOYED TO EVALUATE PRODUCT STABILITY AND THE ENERGETIC CONSIDERATIONS INVOLVED IN CYCLIZATION. COMBINING THE EXPERIMENTAL DATA AND COMPUTATIONAL INSIGHTS ARE EXPECTED TO PROVIDE FOR A MORE RATIONAL APPROACH TO THE EVALUATION OF STRAINED CYCLIC PEPTIDES. THE O'REILLY TEAM WILL ALSO EXAMINE AUXILIARY-MEDIATED LIGATION APPROACHES TO FACILITATE CYCLIZATION TO A LESS-STRAINED, KINETIC INTERMEDIATE. THE TEAM ANTICIPATES THAT THESE INTERMEDIATES WILL THEN UNDERGO RING CONTRACTION TO PROVIDE THE STRAINED, BUT THERMODYNAMICALLY FAVORED AMIDE PRODUCTS. IF SUCCESSFUL, THESE STUDIES SHOULD PROVIDE IMPROVED ACCESS TO CYCLIC PEPTIDES, ESPECIALLY RING STRAINED VARIANTS FOR FURTHER EXPLORATION IN CHEMICAL BIOLOGY. 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: EVOLUTION OF PHOSPHATE STARVATION RESPONSE IN YEAST

NURSE FACULTY LOAN PROGRAM

FLIZ1 REGULATION OF GATA-3 IN BREAST CANCER

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: FMITF: TRACK I: SPECIFICATION-GUIDED MULTIAGENT REINFORCEMENT LEARNING -MULTI-AGENT SYSTEMS (MAS) ARE PERVASIVE WITH APPLICATIONS IN VARIOUS AREAS SUCH AS COMPUTER NETWORKS, ROBOTICS, AND POWER GRIDS. FOR EXAMPLE, MULTI-ROBOT SYSTEMS PLAY A CRITICAL ROLE IN OUR SOCIETY, INCLUDING INDUSTRIAL ROBOTS IN CAR ASSEMBLY LINES, HUNDREDS OF DRONES IN A LIGHT SHOW, AND MANY VEHICLES IN FUTURE AUTONOMOUS RIDE-SHARING SERVICES. SEQUENTIAL DECISION-MAKING IS CRUCIAL TO CONSTRUCT FUNCTIONAL, INTELLIGENT MAS THAT CAN MEET OUR NEEDS. MULTI-AGENT REINFORCEMENT LEARNING IS AN APPROACH THAT FACILITATES MACHINE LEARNING THROUGH FEEDBACK THAT REINFORCES THE DESIRED BEHAVIOR. HOWEVER, THIS APPROACH REQUIRES A QUANTITATIVE REWARD FUNCTION THAT IS OFTENTIMES UNAVAILABLE OR HARD TO DESIGN. FORMAL METHODS (FM), BY NATURE, CAN ACCURATELY SPECIFY AND VERIFY SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE SYSTEMS. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO COMBINE THE TWO APPROACHES IN ORDER TO CONSTRUCT MULTI-AGENT SYSTEMS THAT ARE MORE SCALABLE, EASIER TO UNDERSTAND, AND SAFER. THE INVESTIGATORS WILL ALSO DISSEMINATE RESEARCH FINDINGS, INTEGRATE THEM IN TEACHING, AND TRAIN GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS. SPECIFICALLY, THIS PROJECT HAS THE FOLLOWING THREE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES. OBJECTIVE A DEVELOPS NOVEL SPECIFICATION-GUIDED MULTI-AGENT REINFORCEMENT LEARNING (MARL) APPROACHES THAT OPTIMALLY DECOMPOSE THE SPECIFICATION AND ASSIGN THE RESULTING PARTS TO AGENTS. THE PRINCIPLED AND INTERPRETABLE METHODS CAN LEARN A ?CORRECT BY CONSTRUCTION? SCHEDULER TO DECOMPOSE SIGNAL TEMPORAL LOGIC SPECIFICATIONS OPTIMALLY, CORRESPONDING TO THE CREDIT ASSIGNMENT IN SPECIFICATION-GUIDED MARL. OBJECTIVE B AIMS TO ANALYZE AND EXPLAIN THE EMERGENT COORDINATED BEHAVIORS OF MARL BY MINING SPECIFICATIONS FROM THE TRAJECTORY ROLLOUTS OF THE POLICIES. AN INTERACTION GRAPH IN THE MAS IS FIRST LEARNED BY GRAPH NEURAL NETWORKS, FOLLOWED BY A NOVEL TEMPLATE-FREE, GENERATIVE APPROACH FOR SPECIFICATION MINING IN A HIERARCHICAL AND SCALABLE MANNER. OBJECTIVE C AIMS TO ENABLE THE TRANSFER OF MARL POLICIES ACROSS A DISTRIBUTION OF TASKS BY SIMULTANEOUS SPECIFICATION INFERENCE AND POLICY LEARNING. A SPECIFICATION-GUIDED META MARL APPROACH IS DEVELOPED BASED ON APPROXIMATE BAYESIAN INFERENCE. THIS WORK CAN LEAD TO MORE SCALABLE AND ROBUST AUTONOMY IN FACTORIES, WAREHOUSES, HOSPITALS, AND HOMES. CONCRETE EXAMPLES INCLUDE LARGE-SCALE SELF-DRIVING VEHICLES, OFF-ROAD AUTONOMY IN THE WILD, AND ADVANCED AIR MOBILITY. 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.

THE CURRENT STATE-OF-THE-ART LEVEL OF ACCURACY IN FUNDAMENTAL STELLAR PARAMETERS FROM ECLIPSING BINARY STARS IS 2-3%. HERE WE PROPOSE TO USE ECLIPSING TRIPLE STARS TO REDUCE THE ERROR BARS BY AN ENTIRE ORDER OF MAGNITUDE I.E. TO 0.2-0.3%. THIS CAN BE DONE BECAUSE A PRESENCE OF THE THIRD COMPONENT BREAKS MOST OF THE DEGENERACY INHERENT IN BINARY SYSTEMS BETWEEN THE INCLINATION AND STELLAR SIZES. WE DETAIL THE FEASIBILITY ARGUMENTS AND FORESEE THAT THESE RESULTS WILL PROVIDE EXCEPTIONAL BENCHMARK OBJECTS FOR STRINGENT TESTS OF STELLAR EVOLUTION AND POPULATION MODELS. THE FORMATION CHANNEL OF CLOSE BINARY STARS (WITH SEPARATIONS OF SEVERAL STELLAR RADII) IS A MATTER OF DEBATE. IT IS CLEAR THAT CLOSE BINARIES CANNOT FORM IN SITU BECAUSE (1) THE PHYSICAL RADIUS OF A STAR SHRINKS BY A LARGE FACTOR BETWEEN BIRTH AND THE MAIN SEQUENCE YET MANY MAIN-SEQUENCE STARS HAVE COMPANIONS ORBITING AT A DISTANCE OF ONLY A FEW STELLAR RADII AND (2) IN CURRENT THEORIES OF PLANET FORMATION THE REGION WITHIN ~0.1 AU OF A PROTOSTAR IS TOO HOT AND RAREFIED FOR A JUPITER-MASS PLANET TO FORM YET MANY HOT JUPITERS ARE OBSERVED AT SUCH DISTANCES. CURRENT THEORIES OF DYNAMIC ORBITAL EVOLUTION ATTRIBUTE ORBITAL SHRINKING TO KOZAI CYCLES AND TIDAL FRICTION WHICH ARE LONG-LASTING PERTURBATIVE EFFECTS THAT TAKE GYRS TO SHRINK ORBITS BY 1-2 ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE. THIS IMPLIES THAT IF A BINARY STAR SYSTEM HAS A TERTIARY COMPANION IT WILL BE IN A HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE AND ANY DISRUPTIVE ORBITAL ENCOUNTERS SHOULD BE EXCEEDINGLY RARE AFTER A CERTAIN PERIOD. THE KEPLER SATELLITE OBSERVED CONTINUOUSLY OVER 2800 ECLIPSING BINARY STARS OVER 4 YEARS OF ITS MISSION LIFETIME. THE ULTRA-HIGH PRECISION PHOTOMETRY AND ESSENTIALLY UNINTERRUPTED TIME COVERAGE ENABLES US TO TIME THE ECLIPSES TO A ~6 SECOND PRECISION. BECAUSE OF THE WELL UNDERSTOOD PHYSICS THAT GOVERNS THE ORBITAL MOTION OF TWO BODIES AROUND THE CENTER OF MASS THE EXPECTED TIMES OF ECLIPSES CAN BE PREDICTED TO A FRACTION OF A SECOND. WHEN OTHER PHYSICAL PROCESSES INTERPLAY SUCH AS APSIDAL MOTION MASS TRANSFER OR THIRD BODY INTERACTIONS THE TIMES OF ECLIPSES DEVIATE FROM PREDICTIONS: THEY EITHER COME EARLY OR LATE. THESE DEVIATIONS ARE CALLED ECLIPSE TIMING VARIATIONS (ETVS) AND CAN RANGE FROM A FEW SECONDS TO A FEW HOURS. OUR TEAM MEASURED ETVS FOR THE ENTIRE KEPLER DATA-SET OF ECLIPSING BINARIES AND FOUND 516 THAT DEMONSTRATE SIGNIFICANT DEVIATIONS. OF THOSE 16 SHOW STRONG INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE BINARY SYSTEM AND THE TERTIARY COMPONENT THAT SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECTS THE BINARY ORBIT WITHIN A SINGLE ENCOUNTER. THIS OBSERVED RATE OF DYNAMICAL PERTURBATION EVENTS IS UNEXPECTEDLY HIGH AND AT ODDS WITH CURRENT THEORIES. WE PROPOSE TO STUDY THESE OBJECTS IN GREAT DETAIL: (1) TO APPLY A DEVELOPED PHOTODYNAMICAL CODE TO MODEL MULTIPLE BODY INTERACTIONS; (2) TO FULLY SOLVE ORBITAL DYNAMICS OF THESE INTERACTING BODIES USING ALL AVAILABLE KEPLER DATA DERIVING MASSES OF ALL OBJECTS TO BETTER THAN 1%; (3) TO MEASURE THE OCCURRENCE RATE OF STRONG ORBITAL INTERACTIONS IN MULTIPLE SYSTEMS AND COMPARE IT TO THE PREDICTED RATES; (4) TO HYPOTHESIZE AND SIMULATE ADDITIONAL EVOLUTION CHANNELS THAT COULD POTENTIALLY LEAD TO SUCH A HIGH OCCURRENCE RATE OF DISRUPTIVE EVENTS; AND (5) TO INTEGRATE THESE SYSTEMS OVER TIME AND TEST WHETHER THIS DYNAMIC EVOLUTION CAN CAUSE EFFICIENT ORBITAL TIGHTENING AND THE CREATION OF SHORT PERIOD BINARIES. THE TEAM CONSISTS OF A PI WHO HAS EXPERIENCE WITH KEPLER SATELLITE'S IDIOSYNCRASIES TWO POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS ONE GRADUATE STUDENT AND SIX UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS THAT WILL INVEST THEIR SUMMER MONTHS TO LEARN ABOUT MULTIPLE BODY INTERACTIONS. THE PROPOSED STUDY HAS FAR-REACHING RESEARCH GOALS IN STELLAR AND PLANETARY SCIENCE ASTROPHYSICS A STRONG EDUCATIONAL/TRAINING COMPONENT AND IS ALIGNED WITH NASA'S OBJECTIVES AS OUTLINED IN THE NRA CALL. KEPLER IS THE ONLY INSTRUMENT THAT CAN PROVIDE THE ACCURACY AND TEMPORAL COVERAGE REQUIRED FOR THE EXECUTION OF THIS PROJECT.

WEIGHT BIAS REDUCTION INTERVENTION WITH NURSING STUDENTS USING SIMULATION: THE BRAVE STUDY - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT LONGSTANDING EVIDENCE DOCUMENTS THE DETRIMENTAL EFFECTS OF PROVIDER BIASES ON POOR PATIENT OUTCOMES. WEIGHT BIAS AMONG NURSES IS AN UNDERSTUDIED CONCEPT THAT CAUSES INCREASED MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY IN POPULATIONS LIVING WITH OBESITY. SPECIFICALLY, STUDIES SHOW THAT NURSES WITH WEIGHT BIAS: 1) ASSUME PATIENTS' SYMPTOMS ARE RELATED TO OBESITY AND DO NOT FURTHER PROBE UNDERLYING CAUSES, 2) ARE MORE RELUCTANT TO PERFORM PREVENTATIVE HEALTH SCREENINGS (SUCH AS PELVIC EXAMINATIONS, CANCER SCREENINGS, AND MAMMOGRAMS), 3) SPEND LESS TIME ENGAGING WITH PATIENTS DURING VISITS, ALL OF WHICH CAUSES PATIENTS TO WITHDRAW FROM THE PROVIDER, POTENTIALLY RESULTING IN DIFFICULTY REMEMBERING OR ADHERING TO PROVIDER ADVICE AND AVOIDING FUTURE PREVENTATIVE CARE VISITS. GIVEN THE INCREASING RATES OF OBESITY IN THE UNITED STATES, EFFORTS ARE DIRELY NEEDED TO IMPROVE THE CARE PROVIDED BY NURSES WHO WORK WITH THIS DEMOGRAPHIC TO THWART PREVENTABLE HEALTH CONSEQUENCES (E.G., DIABETES, HEART DISEASE). OUR PILOT WORK SHOWED FAVORABLE IMPROVEMENTS IN NURSING STUDENTS' ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS TOWARD INDIVIDUALS WITH OBESITY FOLLOWING A WEIGHT BIAS REDUCTION (WBR) INTERVENTION WHEN IMPLEMENTED INTO THEIR CLINICAL COURSE. GAPS REMAIN, HOWEVER, IN: 1) WHETHER WBR INTERVENTIONS CAN TRANSLATE INTO BEHAVIOR CHANGE IN CLINICAL PRACTICE AND MAKE NOTABLE REDUCTIONS IN THE WEIGHT BIAS PATIENTS ARE EXPERIENCING, AND 2) WHETHER THESE CHANGES ARE SUSTAINED OVER TIME. TO FILL THESE GAPS, THE PROPOSED BRAVE (BUILDING RESPECT AND ACCEPTANCE THROUGH VALUING EVERYBODY, WBR INTERVENTION) WILL BUILD ON OUR PREVIOUS RESEARCH TO INCLUDE EDUCATION ON COMMUNICATION SKILLS AND EMPATHIC COMPETENCE, AS WELL AS UTILIZE SIMULATION WITH STANDARDIZED PARTICIPANTS LIVING WITH OBESITY. THE STUDY DESIGN IS A CLUSTER-RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL COMPARING BRAVE TO SOL (STANDARD OBESITY LECTURE) IN REDUCING WEIGHT BIAS AMONG NURSING STUDENTS (N = 368) AND WILL INCLUDE FOLLOW-UP MEASURES TO DETERMINE THE INTERVENTION'S SUSTAINED EFFECTS ONE YEAR LATER. ADDITIONALLY, THE BROADER IMPACTS OF THIS BRAVE INTERVENTION CAN ENHANCE LONG-TERM HEALTH OUTCOMES WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR IMPROVED PATIENT SATISFACTION WHILE NAVIGATING THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM. THIS MAY HAVE SIGNIFICANT COST SAVINGS IN OUR FINANCIALLY OVERWHELMED HEALTHCARE SYSTEM. IMPLEMENTING THIS PROJECT WILL ALSO STRENGTHEN NURSING CURRICULA WITH A PIONEERING WBR PROGRAM AS AN OPTIMAL WAY OF PROVIDING HEALTHCARE FOR PATIENTS LIVING WITH OBESITY. THE PROJECT WILL LEVERAGE A ROBUST RESEARCH TEAM, CREATE A PIPELINE OF NURSING STUDENTS WHO WILL BE INTEGRATED THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE RESEARCH PROJECT, AND WILL BUILD ON THE EXISTING SIMULATION INFRASTRUCTURE AT VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY TO PROVIDE TRANSFORMATIVE AND INNOVATIVE EDUCATIONAL SIMULATIONS FOR IMPROVED CLINICAL CARE AND SUBSEQUENT HEALTH OUTCOMES. THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NURSING RESEARCH’S MISSION IS TO PROMOTE AND ENHANCE THE HEALTH OF INDIVIDUALS DIRECTLY, AND THIS RESEARCH ALIGNS DIRECTLY WITH THIS GOAL BY SEEKING TO IMPROVE THE HEALTHCARE EXPERIENCE FOR PERSONS LIVING WITH OBESITY THROUGH A BRAVE INTERVENTION.

EVALUATION OF INVERTEBRATE HEMOGLOBINS AS EFFECTIVE, SAFE, AND ULTRA-STABLE BLOOD SUBSTITUTES

BRC-BIO: SCENTS AND SENSIBILITY: THE IMPACTS OF VASOTOCIN AND HUMIDITY ON CHEMICAL COMMUNICATION IN LIZARDS -CHEMICALS CONTROL THE SOCIAL LIVES OF ANIMALS, AND SOME COMPOUNDS NEED TO BALANCE MULTIFUNCTIONAL ROLES TO PERFORM EFFECTIVELY. THE COMPOUND ARGININE VASOTOCIN (AVT) IS USED FOR BOTH OSMOTIC BALANCE AND SOCIAL COMMUNICATION. ALL ANIMALS RELY ON AVT, OR A RELATED HORMONE, FOR SIMILAR FUNCTIONS AND USE CHEMICAL COMMUNICATION TO TRANSMIT SOCIAL INFORMATION BETWEEN MEMBERS OF THEIR OWN SPECIES. THUS, DETERMINING HOW AVT AFFECTS CHEMICAL COMMUNICATION WILL OFFER BROAD INSIGHTS INTO THE MECHANISMS GOVERNING SOCIAL DYNAMICS. SINCE ENVIRONMENTAL HUMIDITY IMPACTS BOTH AVT SECRETION AND THE PERSISTENCE OF CHEMICAL SIGNALS USED IN COMMUNICATION, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AVT AND CHEMICAL COMMUNICATION COULD DEPEND ON HUMIDITY. AS BEHAVIORAL THERMOREGULATORS, LIZARDS OCCUPY PLACES WITH VARYING HUMIDITIES, AND MANY SPECIES RELY ON CHEMICAL SIGNALING FOR TERRITORIAL MAINTENANCE. THIS PROJECT COMPARES TWO SPECIES OF SCELOPORUS SPINY LIZARDS REPRESENTING OPPOSITE EXTREMES IN HABITAT HUMIDITY TO ASK ABOUT THE RELATIVE IMPACTS OF HUMIDITY ON CHEMICAL COMMUNICATION. THIS PROJECT WILL TRAIN UNDERGRADUATES TO CONDUCT VERTEBRATE RESEARCH USING TECHNIQUES IN ANIMAL BEHAVIOR, NEUROSCIENCE, AND CHEMICAL ECOLOGY IN THE FIELD AND LAB. A RESEARCH TECHNICIAN WILL GAIN EXTENSIVE TRAINING IN EXPERIMENTATION, LAB MANAGEMENT, FIELD RESEARCH, UNDERGRADUATE MENTORSHIP, AND RESEARCH DISSEMINATION AS PREPARATION FOR A CAREER IN STEM. THE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS PIPELINE CREATED THROUGH THIS PROJECT WILL OFFER ENGAGING WORKSHOPS FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS AND NUMEROUS UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES BEYOND THE SCOPE OF THIS GRANT. THIS PROJECT ALSO PROVIDES RESOURCES FOR OUTREACH TO EDUCATE THE COMMUNITY ABOUT LOCAL LIZARD POPULATIONS. THE GOAL OF THIS WORK IS TO DETERMINE WHETHER AVT MODULATION OF CHEMICAL COMMUNICATION IS HUMIDITY-DEPENDENT IN LIZARDS BY INVESTIGATING CHEMICAL PRODUCTION IN SIGNALERS AND RECEIVER RESPONSES TO CHEMICAL SIGNALS. EACH AIM ADDRESSES A DIFFERENT ASPECT OF CHEMICAL COMMUNICATION, COMPARING EITHER BEHAVIORAL RESPONSES TO CHEMICAL SIGNALS, NEURAL RESPONSES TO CHEMICAL SIGNALS, OR THE COMPOSITION OF CHEMICAL SIGNALS ACROSS HUMIDITY (LOW VERSUS HIGH) AND DRUG (AVT VERSUS SALINE) TREATMENTS. SCELOPORUS LIZARDS HAVE FEMORAL GLANDS THAT SECRETE CHEMICALS USED IN TERRITORIAL COMMUNICATION, AND SOME SPECIES, SUCH AS S. UNDULATUS, HAVE ADAPTED TO A RANGE OF HUMIDITIES. ADULT MALES FROM HUMID TEMPERATE REGIONS (HIGH HUMIDITY SPECIES, S. UNDULATUS) OR DRY DESERT HABITATS (LOW HUMIDITY SPECIES, S. MAGISTER) WILL BE CAPTURED AND TRANSPORTED TO A CLIMATE-CONTROLLED LAB AT VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY FOR EXPERIMENTATION. FOR BOTH HIGH AND LOW HUMIDITY SPECIES, SIGNALERS WILL RECEIVE AVT OR SALINE INJECTIONS AND BEHAVIORAL ASSAYS WILL DETERMINE WHETHER AVT IN SIGNALERS IMPACTS THE 1) CHEMOSENSORY BEHAVIOR OR 2) ACTIVATION OF AVT NEURONS IN RECEIVERS. THEN, RESEARCHERS WILL 3) DESCRIBE THE ACUTE AND DELAYED IMPACTS OF AVT ON CHEMICAL SIGNAL PRODUCTION AT HIGH AND LOW HUMIDITY LEVELS IN S. UNDULATUS BY TREATING SIGNALERS WITH AVT, MANIPULATING ENVIRONMENTAL HUMIDITY, AND COLLECTING AND CHEMICALLY ANALYZING LIZARD GLANDULAR SECRETIONS OVER TIME. THIS COMPARATIVE FRAMEWORK OFFERS A COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT OF AVT?S HUMIDITY-DEPENDENT ROLE IN CHEMICAL COMMUNICATION. THE DATA AND CHEMICAL ANALYSIS PIPELINE GENERATED BY THIS PROJECT WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT ADDITIONAL UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE RESEARCH PROJECTS, AS WELL AS FOSTER RESEARCH COLLABORATIONS AND COMMUNITY OUTREACH. 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: (LIT): MITIGATION OF DEHYDRATION-INDUCED NANOMECHANICAL FAILURE IN ARABIDOPSIS

MRI: ACQUISITION OF ATOMIC LAYER DEPOSITION DEVICE FOR NANOSCALE MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH

RUI: EFFECT OF SUBSTRATE POLYUBIQUITINATION ON PROTEASOMAL UNFOLDING ABILITY

NSF-SNSF: UNDERSTANDING HUMAN WELL-BEING THROUGH RESIDENTIAL LOCATION -THIS PROJECT INTRODUCES A NOVEL, DATA-DRIVEN, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)-ENHANCED FRAMEWORK FOR EVALUATING HOW PHYSICAL FEATURES OF CITIES?SUCH AS LAND USE, STREET NETWORK DESIGN, AND CONNECTIVITY?SHAPE STRESS, COGNITION, AND EMOTIONAL HEALTH. AS CITIES BECOME MORE DENSE, AND TECHNOLOGICALLY COMPLEX, UNDERSTANDING HOW ENVIRONMENTS AFFECT HUMAN WELL-BEING HAS EMERGED AS A KEY CONCERN. BY COMPARING NEIGHBORHOODS, THE PROJECT IDENTIFIES FORM ELEMENTS THAT CONSISTENTLY SUPPORT WELL-BEING. IN COLLABORATION WITH LOCAL STAKEHOLDERS AND STUDENTS, AS A TRANSLATIONAL ASPECT, THE RESEARCH GENERATES ACTIONABLE PLANNING GUIDELINES GROUNDED IN EXPERIMENTAL DATA. THIS WORK ADVANCES NATIONAL PRIORITIES BY SUPPORTING INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH, FOSTERING GLOBAL COLLABORATION, AND TRAINING THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS. ULTIMATELY, THE PROJECT CONTRIBUTES TO HEALTHIER AND MORE RESILIENT COMMUNITIES THROUGH EVIDENCE-BASED DESIGN. TO ACCOMPLISH THESE GOALS, THE PROJECT PROCEEDS IN THREE PHASES. FIRST, MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUES GROUP AREAS BY KEY FORM CHARACTERISTICS (E.G., LAND USE VARIATION, BLOCK SIZE, STREET NETWORK CONNECTIVITY). THESE CLUSTERS SERVE AS MATCHED ENVIRONMENTS FOR COMPARISON. SECOND, THE PROJECT CONDUCTS CONTROLLED EXPERIMENTS WITHIN THESE CLUSTERS TO ASSESS HOW DIFFERENT FORMS IMPACT HUMAN WELL-BEING. ACROSS THREE EXPERIMENTAL PLATFORMS?ONLINE SURVEYS, IMMERSIVE VIRTUAL REALITY SIMULATIONS, AND REAL-WORLD WALKING STUDIES?PARTICIPANTS ENGAGE WITH ENVIRONMENTS WHILE RESEARCHERS COLLECT BIOSIGNAL DATA (E.G., HEART RATE, BRAIN ACTIVITY, GAZE BEHAVIOR) USING SMARTWATCHES, EYE-TRACKING GLASSES, AND EEG MONITORS, AS WELL AS STANDARDIZED WELL-BEING ASSESSMENTS. THIRD, FINDINGS ARE INTEGRATED WITH EXISTING DESIGN FRAMEWORKS AND TRANSLATED INTO THE DEVELOPMENT OF PLANNING GUIDELINES THAT ARE SENSITIVE TO BOTH GLOBAL PATTERNS AND LOCAL NEEDS. THE RESEARCH ALSO GENERATES NEW EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS, INCLUDING A COURSE, AND PROVIDES INTERDISCIPLINARY TRAINING AT THE INTERSECTION OF LAND PLANNING, MOBILITY, PHYSIOLOGICAL MONITORING, AND DATA SCIENCE. 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.

SYNTHESIS OF INCONGRUENT TEMPORAL INFORMATION

CAREER: DEFINING NOVEL PATHWAYS FOR MITOCHONDRIAL DYNAMICS IN AN EARLY-DIVERGING EUKARYOTE

GOALI: 3D-PRINTED BIOMIMETIC STRUCTURES FOR ENHANCED BOILING HEAT TRANSFER AND THERMAL MANAGEMENT -BOILING HEAT TRANSFER IS ONE THE MOST EFFICIENT WAYS OF REMOVING HEAT FROM A HOT SURFACE BY CHANGING THE COOLANT FROM LIQUID TO VAPOR. BOILING HAS BEEN WIDELY EMPLOYED IN THERMAL MANAGEMENT OF POWER GENERATION, REFRIGERATION AND AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEMS, ELECTRONIC DEVICES, AND OTHER HIGH-POWER DENSITY SYSTEMS. THIS GOALI PROJECT WILL STUDY FUNDAMENTAL ASPECTS OF LIQUID SUPPLIES AND BOILING HEAT TRANSFER AS AFFECTED BY SURFACE STRUCTURE CHARACTERISTICS THAT INCLUDE A NOVEL BIOMIMETIC STRUCTURE. THIS WILL BE INTEGRATED INTO COMMERCIAL HEAT EXCHANGERS THAT CAN POTENTIALLY ACHIEVE SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN HEAT TRANSFER PERFORMANCE. THE BIOMIMETIC STRUCTURES WILL BE DESIGNED BY A LEAF-VEIN GROWTH ALGORITHM AND MANUFACTURED BY 3D METAL PRINTING. IN ADDITION TO LIQUID SUPPLIES AND BOILING HEAT TRANSFER TESTS, THE BIOMIMETIC STRUCTURES WILL BE TESTED IN COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS FOR DURABILITY AND FOULING. THE RESULTS OF THE STUDY WILL ASSIST BOTH IN DEVELOPING BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF BOILING HEAT TRANSFER BY BIOMIMETIC STRUCTURES AND IN DEVELOPING NEXT-GENERATION COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS FOR ELECTRONIC DEVICES AND DATA CENTER COOLING. RESEARCH RESULTS AND ACTIVITIES WILL BE INTEGRATED INTO EDUCATIONAL AND OUTREACH PROGRAMS FOR UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS AND THE PUBLIC, INCLUDING HANDS-ON 3D BIOMIMETIC STRUCTURE DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE, AND HEAT TRANSFER TESTS. ENHANCEMENTS OF THE CRITICAL HEAT FLUX AND HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENT IN BOILING HEAT TRANSFER ARE DICTATED BY THE MAXIMUM LIQUID SUPPLY AND THE BUBBLE GENERATION RATE. THE LIMITS FOR ENHANCEMENTS WILL BE EXAMINED AND OPTIMIZED THROUGH NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS AND EXPERIMENTS. A BIOMIMETIC STRUCTURE WILL ADDRESS THE LIMITS OF HYDRODYNAMIC INSTABILITY AND VISCOUS CHOKING OF LIQUID SUPPLY PERPENDICULAR TO THE HEATING SURFACE, AND OF LIQUID WETTING/WICKING PARALLEL TO THE HEATING SURFACE. CRITICAL STRUCTURAL CHARACTERS AND SURFACE PROPERTIES WILL BE FABRICATED BY 3D METAL PRINTING AND TUNED BY ATOMIC LAYER DEPOSITION. THE STRUCTURAL CHARACTERS AND SURFACE PROPERTIES WILL BE DIRECTLY CORRELATED TO LIQUID SUPPLY AND BUBBLE NUCLEATION AND QUANTIFIED BY MODELS. 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.

GP-IN: AN IMMERSIVE URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL GEOCHEMISTRY RESEARCH EXPERIENCE AS A PATHWAY TO CAREERS IN THE GEOSCIENCES

NONLINEAR MODELING AND CONTROL OF SMART VALVE SYSTEMS

CC* COMPUTE: HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING BACKBONE FOR ACCELERATING CAMPUS-WIDE AND REGIONAL RESEARCH

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ASSESSING THE SYSTEMATICS AND DIVERSITY OF HAEMOSPORIDA IN AFRICAN LIZARDS -STUDYING THE DIVERSITY OF SYMBIONTS OFFERS A UNIQUE WINDOW TO OBSERVE ECOLOGICAL AND EVOLUTIONARY DYNAMICS BETWEEN INTERDEPENDENT ORGANISMS. FURTHER, LIKE A CANARY IN A COAL MINE, HOST SWITCHING BY SYMBIONTS MAY REVEAL EMERGING RISK FACTORS LEADING TO INFECTIOUS DISEASES IN HOSTS. ON THE OTHER HAND, EXTINCTION OF SYMBIONTS INFORM CAN INFORM US ABOUT THE IMPACTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE. INFORMATION ON SYMBIONTS DIVERSITY IS LIMITED, HOWEVER, SINCE THEY ARE RELATIVELY UNDERSTUDIED ORGANISMS. THIS PROJECT INVESTIGATES LIZARDS AND THEIR HAEMOSPORIDIAN SYMBIONTS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA. HAEMOSPORIDA IS A DIVERSE GROUP OF VECTOR-BORNE PROTOZOAN SYMBIONTS FOUND IN TERRESTRIAL VERTEBRATES IN ALMOST ALL WORLD ECOSYSTEMS. ALTHOUGH SOME SPECIES HAVE BEEN STUDIED BECAUSE OF THEIR LINK TO MALARIA IN BIRDS AND HUMANS, HAEMOSPORIDIAN SYMBIONTS IN AFRICAN LIZARDS ARE POORLY KNOWN. THIS PROJECT PROVIDES TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS. LOCAL ASSEMBLAGES OF AFRICAN LIZARDS INCLUDE SETS OF TAXA DIFFERING IN DEGREE OF ECOLOGICAL AND PHYLOGENETIC DISTINCTIVENESS. UNLIKE BIRDS, LIZARDS DO NOT DISPERSE BROADLY, AND LOCAL ASSEMBLAGES ARE LESS DIVERSE. THESE CHARACTERISTICS REDUCE BIAS IN HOST SPECIES CENSUSES, ALLOWING US TO TEST HYPOTHESES ABOUT THE FACTORS DRIVING HOST/SYMBIONT BIODIVERSITY. THUS, THIS STUDY AIMS TO (1) ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HAEMOSPORIDA SPECIES DELIMITATION BY FORMALIZING AN APPROACH THAT INTEGRATES MORPHOLOGICAL, MOLECULAR, AND ECOLOGICAL DATA, (2) GENERATE NEW KNOWLEDGE ON THE PROCESSES DRIVING HAEMOSPORIDIAN SPECIES DIVERSITY BY STUDYING NEWLY DETECTED HAEMOSPORIDA SPECIES IN HOST CLADES ACROSS THEIR DISTRIBUTION IN DISTINCT BIOMES, (3) ENRICH BIODIVERSITY SCIENCES BY DEVELOPING STANDARDS FOR SYMBIONT-HOST DATA INTEGRATION, AND (4) GENERATE KNOWLEDGE ON THE REGIONAL HERPETOFAUNA WITH NEW SPECIMENS AND METADATA. THIS STUDY WILL PROVIDE NEW INSIGHTS INTO REGIONAL EVOLUTIONARY AND ECOLOGICAL PROCESSES BY CONSIDERING HAEMOSPORIDA AS TRUE ELEMENTS OF BIODIVERSITY RATHER THAN AS TRAITS OR PATHOGENS OF THEIR HOSTS. 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.

A STUDY OF STELLAR PULSATIONS IN ECLIPSING BINARY STARS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CPATH CB: DISTRIBUTED EXPERTISE IN ENHANCING COMPUTING EDUCATION WITH CONNECTIONS TO THE ARTS

CAREER: REDESIGN OF ANCILLARY SERVICES VIA AGGREGATION AND DISAGGREGATION OF INFORMATION, FLEXIBILITY, AND CAPABILITY -THIS NSF CAREER PROJECT AIMS TO PROVIDE THE THEORETICAL FOUNDATION OF AGGREGATING AND DISAGGREGATING NODAL GENERATION CAPACITY, FLEXIBILITY, AND INFORMATION, WHICH WILL ALLOW EXPLOITING THE FULL POTENTIAL OF DISTRIBUTED ENERGY RESOURCES AND ELECTRIFIED TRANSPORTATION IN FUTURE DECARBONIZED POWER GRIDS. THE PROJECT WILL TRANSFORM THE CONVENTIONAL ENERGY AND ANCILLARY SERVICE CO-OPTIMIZATION-BASED POWER GRID OPERATION SCHEME INTO A NOVEL CAPACITY-FLEXIBILITY DISPATCH AND REDISPATCH CONTROL FRAMEWORK. THIS WILL BE ACHIEVED BY CONVERTING EXISTING RESOURCE PLANNING PROBLEMS WITH SYSTEM-WIDE REQUIREMENTS INTO GRANULAR CONTROL PROBLEMS WITH MULTI-SCALE, MULTI-DOMAIN NODAL REQUIREMENTS. THE INTELLECTUAL MERITS OF THE PROJECT INCLUDE DEVELOPING NODAL DEMAND, CAPACITY, FLEXIBILITY COMPOSITE MODELS AND COMPUTATIONALLY EFFICIENT AGGREGATION ALGORITHMS WITH GUARANTEED CHARACTERISTICS UNDER UNCERTAINTY. THE BROADER IMPACTS OF THE PROJECT INCLUDE PROMOTING THE INTEGRATION OF RESEARCH AND EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS WITH VARIED BACKGROUNDS. PRE-COLLEGE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WILL BENEFIT FROM RESULTED SUMMER RESEARCH PROGRAMS, WORKSHOPS, CAPSTONE PROJECTS, AND OPEN-ACCESS CURRICULUM MATERIALS. IF SUCCESSFUL, THIS PROJECT WILL ALSO PROVIDE POWER SYSTEM OPERATORS WITH TECHNOLOGY ADVANCEMENTS TO INTEGRATING LARGE-SCALE RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENHANCING GRID RESILIENCE. UNCERTAINTIES BY FAST-GROWING PENETRATION OF DISTRIBUTED ENERGY RESOURCES, PROLIFERATION OF ELECTRIFIED TRANSPORTATION, AND CLIMATE CHANGE INTERTWINE AND AMPLIFY CHALLENGES POSED ON POWER SYSTEM RELIABILITY. CONSEQUENTLY, WIDESPREAD AND PROLONGED POWER OUTAGES HAVE BEEN OCCURRING INCREASINGLY MORE FREQUENTLY AND SEVERELY IN RECENT YEARS, WHICH ILLUSTRATES THE INADEQUACY OF EXISTING ANCILLARY SERVICES PROVIDED BY RESERVING UNLOADED CAPACITY ON GENERATION RESOURCES. THE PROPOSED PROJECT WILL REDESIGN CONVENTIONAL RESOURCE PLANNING-BASED ANCILLARY SERVICES INTO A NOVEL CAPACITY-FLEXIBILITY DISPATCH/REDISPATCH CONTROL PROBLEM THROUGH THREE MAJOR TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS: (1) MATHEMATICAL MODELS AND EFFECTIVE AGGREGATION OF NODAL FLEXIBILITY PROVIDED BY BOTH DISTRIBUTED ENERGY RESOURCES AND ELECTRIFIED TRANSPORTATION THROUGH NOVEL COST-AWARE, MULTI-PERIOD OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES. (2) COMPUTATIONALLY EFFECTIVE, GRANULAR CONTROL POLICIES FOR THE PROPOSED NODAL LEVEL CO-DISPATCH ARE ESTABLISHED AS THEORETICAL CO-OPTIMIZATION PROBLEMS CONVERTED THROUGH TRANSFORMATIONS AND INFORMATION AGGREGATION, WHICH WILL BE SOLVED BOTH PRECISELY WITH GUARANTEED PERFORMANCE AND APPROXIMATELY AS A DATA-DRIVEN PROBLEM. (3) AGGREGATING NODAL INFORMATION TO DETERMINE NODAL ANCILLARY SERVICE REQUIREMENTS BY EXTENDED MINKOWSKI SUM OF POLYTOPES, WHICH WILL BE FURTHER INTEGRATED INTO A UNIFIED THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK BY DIFFERENCE OF CONVEX PROGRAMMING. 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.

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY TANDEM MASS SPECTROMETER TO ENHANCE UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH AND TEACHING AT A PRIMARILY UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTION

TEMPORAL MODULATION OF 'WANTING' AND 'LIKING'

ACCRETING WHITE DWARFS (WDS) IN CATACLYSMIC VARIABLES (CVS) ARE THE CRITICAL COMPONENT IN THE SINGLE DEGENERATE PATHWAY TO TYPE IA SUPERNOVAE (SNE IA) ALONG WITH THE DOUBLE DEGENERATE MERGER PATHWAY

IMPROVING NON-VIRAL GENE DELIVERY, INTEGRATION, AND EXPRESSION METHODS FOR CELL THERAPIES - PROJECT SUMMARY SINCE 2017, SIX CAR-T CELL THERAPIES AND FOUR HEMATOPOIETIC STEM CELL (HSC) THERAPIES HAVE BEEN APPROVED IN THE U.S. AND E.U. TO TREAT CANCERS, HEMOPHILIA, ALD, MLD, AND ADA-SCID. THESE THERAPIES USE A LENTIVIRUS (LV) TO EFFICIENTLY DELIVER AND INTEGRATE A THERAPEUTIC GENE INTO THE HOST CELL GENOME, BUT LVS ARE EXPENSIVE TO PRODUCE AND THEIR SEMI-RANDOM GENOMIC INTEGRATION PATTERNS HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO INDUCE CANCER IN SOME PATIENTS (E.G., 3/67 PATIENTS TREATED WITH SKYSONATM). THEREFORE, WHILE LV IS A HIGHLY EFFICIENT GENE DELIVERY VEHICLE, ITS DISADVANTAGES HAVE MOTIVATED THE SEARCH FOR ALTERNATIVE NON-VIRAL GENE DELIVERY (NVGD) METHODS. THE GOAL OF THIS COLLABORATIVE MULTI-PI PROPOSAL IS TO DEVELOP NVGD METHODS THAT ARE LESS EXPENSIVE AND SAFER THAN LV, WHILE ACHIEVING COMPARABLY HIGH LEVELS OF TRANSGENE EXPRESSION. IN AIM 1, THE BRACAGLIA LAB WILL DEVELOP NOVEL POLYMERIC GENE DELIVERY VEHICLES THAT MAXIMIZE THE DELIVERY OF SIRNAS (OR OTHER CARGOES) TO T CELLS AND HSCS. IN AIM 2, DRS. ELMER AND HUANG WILL COLLABORATE TO DISCOVER AND TEST NOVEL DRUGS THAT TEMPORARILY INHIBIT HOST CELL PROTEINS THAT REPRESS FOREIGN GENES. FINALLY, THE ELMER LAB WILL OPTIMIZE THE NON-VIRAL INTEGRATION OF TRANSGENES IN AIM 3 BY IDENTIFYING THE SAFEST AND MOST EFFECTIVE SITES FOR TRANSGENE INTEGRATION IN THE T CELL AND HSC GENOMES. ALTOGETHER, THESE EFFORTS WILL RESULT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL NVGD METHODS THAT SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE A WIDE RANGE OF CURRENT AND FUTURE GENE THERAPIES AND PROVIDE A HOLISTIC RESEARCH EXPERIENCE IN CELLULAR ENGINEERING FOR AT LEAST 18 UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS THAT WILL WORK ON THIS PROJECT AS PART OF OUR SENIOR PROJECT STUDIO (SPS), IN WHICH STUDENTS WILL WORK WITH THE PIS ON THE PROPOSED PROJECTS IN AIMS 1-3 FOR COURSE CREDIT. IN ADDITION, THE PIS WILL ALSO INVOLVE DOZENS OF ADDITIONAL STUDENTS IN THE PROJECT BY DESIGNING RELEVANT HANDS-ON RESEARCH PROJECTS THAT WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO SIX LAB AND LECTURE COURSES THAT ARE TAUGHT BY THE PIS.

AN RUI COMPREHENSIVE INVESTIGATION OF RED DWARF STARS: AGES ROTATION MAGNETIC DYNAMO ACTIVITY AND HABITABILITY OF HOSTED PLANETS

THE DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL DISINFECTANTS TO OVERCOME BACTERIAL RESISTANCE - PROJECT SUMMARY BACTERIAL INFECTIONS CAUSE A TREMENDOUS BURDEN TO HUMAN HEALTH, AND OUR FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE – AMPHIPHILIC DISINFECTANTS AND ANTISEPTICS – RELY ON CENTURY-OLD TECHNOLOGY AND ARE NOW SUSCEPTIBLE TO BACTERIAL RESISTANCE. THIS RESEARCH PROGRAM HAS WORKED FOR OVER A DECADE TO DEVELOP NOVEL DISINFECTANTS, BROADLY EXPANDING BEYOND THE DOGMATIC RELIANCE ON SINGLE-CATION AMPHIPHILES LIKE BENZALKONIUM CHLORIDE. WE AIM TO CAPITALIZE ON RECENT INSIGHTS, AND FORGE INNOVATIONS AS YET UNSEEN BY BACTERIA. SPECIFICALLY, WE WILL CONTINUE TO EXPLORE PHOSPHORUS-BASED ANALOGUES TO TRADITIONAL DISINFECTANTS (QUATERNARY PHOSPHONIUM COMPOUNDS OR QPCS); WORK TO IMPROVE ATOM ECONOMY AND MITIGATE TOXICITY VIA INNOVATIVE STRUCTURE DESIGN; ENDEAVOR TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW A CATIONIC CENTER (WHATEVER THE ELEMENT) INFLUENCES BIOACTIVITY; AND FINALLY BROADEN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF STRUCTURE-ACTIVITY RELATIONSHIPS, ANCHORED BY SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE OF CHARGE DENSITY AND SOLUTION BEHAVIORS. WHILE OUR GROUP HAS PREPARED ROUGHLY 840 NOVEL DISINFECTANT COMPOUNDS TO DATE, OF FIRST PRIORITY WILL BE THE CONSTRUCTION OF AN EVEN WIDER VARIETY OF AMPHIPHILIC STRUCTURES. THIS WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR RECENT DISCOVERIES IN MULTICATIONIC QPC STRUCTURE CLASSES, WHICH SHOW THE ABILITY TO ERADICATE BACTERIAL STRAINS THAT HAVE OTHERWISE BEEN DEEMED PAN-RESISTANT. COMPOUNDS WITH BUSHY-TAILS – SPECIES BEARING MULTIPLE MID- LENGTH ALKYL CHAINS – AS WELL AS CHIMERIC PHOSPHONIUM/AMMONIUM HYBRIDS AND LESS-EXPLORED BOLAAMPHIPHILIC STRUCTURES WILL BE PURSUED TO BROADEN OUT STRUCTURE-ACTIVITY RELATIONSHIP UNDERSTANDING. WE ALSO AIM TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW THE ELECTRONIC NATURE OF OUR CATIONIC ATOM (P VS N) IN OUR AMPHIPHILES CAN CORRELATE TO, AND ULTIMATELY PREDICT, BIOACTIVITY. CHARGE DENSITY ANALYSES (AIDED BY X-RAY STRUCTURE ANALYSIS IN THE LAB OF MICHAEL ZDILLA AT TEMPLE UNIVERSITY) AND HAMMETT-STYLE ELECTRON DENSITY- VS-BIOACTIVITY PLOTS WILL ENHANCE OUR FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF HOW CATIONIC CHARACTER INFLUENCES ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY AND RESISTANCE SUSCEPTIBILITY. DYNAMIC SURFACE TENSION BEHAVIOR DATA WILL BE CORRELATED TO TIME-KILL OBSERVATIONS TO FURTHER EXPAND THE UTILITY OF THESE DISINFECTANTS. AT THE FOREFRONT OF THIS RESEARCH PROGRAM IS THE WORK OF UNDERGRADUATE COLLABORATORS, WHO HAVE BEEN THE DRIVERS OF OUR 36 PUBLICATIONS IN THIS FIELD, AND SERVE AS FIRST AUTHORS ON 10 OF OUR PAPERS. WE ENVISION CONTINUING TO EMPLOY STRAIGHTFORWARD CHEMICAL SYNTHESES, BASED ON HYPOTHESIS-DRIVEN RATIONALES. THE RESULT IS TWOFOLD: WE ARE ABLE TO LEARN A GREAT DEAL ABOUT THE ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF QPC AND QAC SCAFFOLDS WITH EVALUATIONS OF INDIVIDUAL STRUCTURAL MOTIFS IN A VERY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME, AND OUR STUDENTS ARE ABLE TO EXPERIENCE INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENCE, AS PART OF A COLLABORATIVE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM TO ADVANCE OUR KNOWLEDGE.

RUI: THE SYMMETRY OF HALONIUM IONS

RCN: THE GOVERNING KNOWLEDGE COMMONS RESEARCH COORDINATION NETWORK

USE OF A BIO-INSPIRED EDUCATIONAL SNAKE-JAW ROBOT TO ENHANCE STEM ENGAGEMENT -INTEGRATED STEM LEARNING EXPERIENCES CAN SUPPORT STUDENTS IN MAKING CONNECTIONS ACROSS DISCIPLINES, FOSTERING A MORE HOLISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF STEM CONCEPTS AND HOW THESE CONCEPTS CO-EXIST IN THE REAL WORLD. DIFFERENT EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES, INCLUDING EDUCATIONAL ROBOTS, HOLD PROMISE IN SUPPORTING INTEGRATED STEM LEARNING. DESPITE THIS PROMISE, HOWEVER, THERE HAS BEEN LIMITED ATTENTION TOWARDS EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF EDUCATIONAL ROBOTS IN THE CONTEXT OF INTEGRATED STEM LEARNING. TO ADDRESS THIS GAP IN WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT HOW EDUCATIONAL ROBOTS SUPPORT STEM LEARNING, THIS PROJECT WILL DESIGN AND STUDY AN INTEGRATED STEM EDUCATION PROGRAM FOR 5TH TO 8TH GRADE STUDENTS USING A BIO-INSPIRED SNAKE JAW ROBOT. THE PROGRAM WILL BE ALIGNED WITH THE NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS (NGSS) AND WILL BE DEVELOPED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH DELAWARE MUSEUM OF NATURE AND SCIENCE. STUDENTS WILL INTERACT WITH A UNIQUELY DESIGNED, EDUCATIONAL SNAKE JAW ROBOT TO SUPPORT LEARNING CONCEPTS IN BIOLOGY, PHYSICS, AND MATHEMATICS AND HOW SEPARATE DISCIPLINARY IDEAS CONNECT TO EACH OTHER. RESEARCHERS WILL EXAMINE STUDENTS' INTERACTIONS WITH THE ROBOT, ALONGSIDE ASSESSING OVERALL ENGAGEMENT, TO PROVIDE A COMPREHENSIVE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW SUCH TECHNOLOGIES CAN ENHANCE LEARNING EXPERIENCES. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO PERMANENTLY EQUIP THE MUSEUM WITH UNIQUE, EDUCATIONAL SNAKE-JAW ROBOTS FOR CONTINUED EXPOSURE TO STUDENTS AND THE PUBLIC BEYOND THE TENURE OF THIS PROJECT. THE PROJECT WILL OFFER VALUABLE INSIGHTS AND TOOLS FOR INTEGRATED STEM EDUCATION, BENEFITING EDUCATORS, STUDENTS, AND THE BROADER EDUCATIONAL COMMUNITY. THE GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH PROJECT IS TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A BIO-INSPIRED SNAKE JAW ROBOT IN PROMOTING INTEGRATED STEM EDUCATION AMONG 5TH TO 8TH GRADE STUDENTS. TO GAIN INSIGHT INTO HOW THIS TECHNOLOGY CAN SUPPORT STUDENTS? ENGAGEMENT IN INTEGRATED STEM LEARNING, THE PROJECT TEAM WILL EXAMINE THE LEARNER-ROBOT INTERACTIONS THAT OCCUR WHILE STUDENTS ARE ENGAGED IN INTEGRATED STEM LEARNING ACTIVITIES USING THE ROBOT. THE STUDY WILL EXPOSE 300 STUDENTS AND 12 TEACHERS TO AN INTEGRATED NGSS-ALIGNED STEM PROGRAM DESIGNED TO HIGHLIGHT DEEP AND AUTHENTIC CONNECTIONS BETWEEN DIFFERENT DISCIPLINARY CONCEPTS IN MATHEMATICS, PHYSICS, ENGINEERING, AND BIOLOGY. USING A MIXED METHODS APPROACH AND RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS, DATA COLLECTION WILL INCLUDE FOCUS GROUPS, OBSERVATIONS, AND LEARNER SURVEYS. THE STUDY WILL COMPARE OUTCOMES BETWEEN A CONTROL GROUP AND AN EXPERIMENTAL GROUP, THE LATTER ENGAGING WITH THE ROBOT. EARLY IN THE PROJECT, FOCUS GROUPS WILL BE CONDUCTED TO UNDERSTAND INITIAL LEARNER-ROBOT INTERACTIONS, GUIDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN OBSERVATIONAL PROTOCOL. THE OBSERVATION PROTOCOL WILL BE USED TO DOCUMENT HOW STUDENTS INTERACT WITH THE ROBOT, CAPTURING DATA SUCH AS ACTIONS, DURATION, AND FORMS OF ENGAGEMENT. PRE- AND POST-PROGRAM SURVEYS, BASED ON VALIDATED WANG?S MATH AND SCIENCE ENGAGEMENT SCALES, WILL MEASURE STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN STEM. THE STUDY WILL PROVIDE INSIGHT INTO HOW LEARNER-ROBOT INTERACTIONS OCCUR AND HOW THESE INTERACTIONS CAN BE ASSESSED AND OPTIMIZED. THIS IS CRUCIAL AS EDUCATIONAL ROBOTS HAVE SHOWN PROMISE BUT HAVE YET TO BE FULLY EXPLORED IN THE CONTEXT OF INTEGRATED STEM EDUCATION. THIS PROJECT IS SUPPORTED BY NSF'S EDU CORE RESEARCH BUILDING CAPACITY IN STEM EDUCATION RESEARCH (ECR: BCSER) PROGRAM, WHICH IS DESIGNED TO BUILD INVESTIGATOR'S CAPACITY TO CARRY OUT HIGH-QUALITY STEM EDUCATION RESEARCH. 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 PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CLOSING THE GAP BETWEEN THEORY AND EVIDENCE: COUPLED PHENOMENA IN UNSATURATED BENTONITE BARRIERS UNDER VARIABLE TEMPERATURE AND CHEMICAL CONDITIONS

RUI: MESOSCALE METHODS FOR ELECTROCHEMISTRY: CONFRONTING THE COMPLEXITY OF ION AND ELECTRON TRANSFER

CELLULAR EFFECTS OF SUBWAY AIR PARTICLES IN HUMAN LUNG CELLS - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT THIS PROJECT WILL COMPARE INDOOR AIR QUALITY AT THREE UNDERGROUND SUBWAY STATIONS IN PHILADELPHIA WITH THE CORRESPONDING ABOVEGROUND URBAN LOCATIONS AS WELL AS ONE SUBURBAN LOCATION. WE FOUND PREVIOUSLY THAT PM LEVELS IN PHILADELPHIA SUBWAY STATIONS CAN BE UP TO FIVE TIMES HIGHER THAN LEVELS ON AN URBAN STREET. WE WILL ASSESS EFFECTS OF PARTICULATE MATTER (PM) FROM THE VARIOUS LOCATIONS ON LUNG EPITHELIAL CELLS (16HBE AND PRIMARY CELLS), ASSESSING CYTOTOXICITY, OXIDATIVE STRESS, AND THE CELLULAR RESPONSE PATHWAYS INVOLVING THE ANTIOXIDANT RESPONSE ELEMENT (ARE) AND THE XENOBIOTIC RESPONSE ELEMENT (XRE). A PRIMARY PURPOSE IS TO ASSESS THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF VARIOUS PM COMPONENTS TO THESE CELLULAR RESPONSES. IN AIM 1, WE WILL COLLECT 102 TOTAL SAMPLES FROM THE VARIOUS LOCATIONS AND DETERMINE TO WHAT EXTENT LEVELS OF BLACK CARBON (BC), ULTRAFINE PARTICLES (UFP), AND METALS CORRELATE WITH THE CELLULAR EFFECTS. BOTH BC AND UFP HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH CELLULAR OXIDATIVE STRESS. SUBWAY PM IS PARTICULARLY HIGH IN METALS SUCH AS IRON, COPPER, ANTIMONY AND ZINC, WHICH COME FROM THE RAILS, WHEELS, BRAKE PADS, AND OTHER PARTS OF THE TRAINS, WHICH HAVE BEEN CORRELATED WITH OXIDATIVE STRESS AND ARE ACTIVATION FROM OTHER PM SOURCES. IN AIM 2, WE WILL EXAMINE THE ROLE OF SOLUBLE/CHELATABLE METALS COMPARED TO METALS IN WHOLE PARTICLES ON THE CELLULAR EFFECTS, AS WELL ASSESS CONTRIBUTIONS FROM ORGANIC COMPOUNDS ON THESE EFFECTS. AS PART OF THIS WORK, WE WILL PROBE THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE XRE AND ARE PATHWAYS TO THE CELLULAR EFFECTS BY USING SIRNA AGAINST THE RELEVANT SENSORS/TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS, ARYL HYDROCARBON RECEPTOR (AHR) AND NRF2, RESPECTIVELY. DOSE RESPONSE CURVES WILL BE USED TO ASSESS EFFECTS OVER A RANGE OF CONCENTRATIONS. RESULTS WILL HELP IN UNDERSTANDING AND IDEALLY MITIGATING THE HEALTH RISKS OF SUBWAY AIR PARTICLES. WE HAVE ASSEMBLED A MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM OF RESEARCHERS, INCLUDING EXPERTS IN AIR PARTICULATE ANALYSIS, CELLULAR OXIDATIVE STRESS, STATISTICAL ANALYSIS, AND ANALYTICAL METAL ANALYSIS, AND AN INHALATION TOXICOLOGIST AT THE EPA. THE PROJECT INCLUDES TEN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT POSITIONS WORKING IN THREE DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS AT VILLANOVA AND TWO SUMMER POSITIONS AT AN EPA LAB. STUDENTS WILL BE PRIMARY DRIVERS OF THE WORK, ITS INTERPRETATION, AND PRESENTATION AT NATIONAL CONFERENCES AND AUTHORS ON PUBLISHED WORK.

NEW CA - PROPOSAL ENTITLED "ASSESSMENT OF ENERGY AND EXERGY FLOWS IN ARMY INSTALLATIONS: TOWARDS EFFICIENCY AND RESILIENCE"

NURSE FACULTY LOAN PROGRAM

DEVELOPMENT OF ALLOSTERIC DIHYDROFOLATE REDUCTASE INHIBITORS: EXPLORATION OF A NOVEL INHIBITORY MECHANISM FOR A VALIDATED ANTIBIOTIC TARGET

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RUI: HUMAN ALTERATION OF SEDIMENT OF DELIVERY TO THE COAST - LEGACIES OF LAND USE, COASTAL WETLAND ACCRETION, AND FUTURE VULN

THIS STUDY WILL EXPLORE WHAT PATHWAYS TRANSPORT MARINE DEBRIS FROM UPSTREAM AREAS OF THE GU NICA WATERSHED AND DETERMINE THE FATE OF MARINE DEBRIS EN ROUTE TO THE COAST. A FIELD COMPONENT WILL EXAMINE TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL VARIABILITY OF MARINE DEBRIS TRANSPORT, CONSIDERING WET/DRY SEASONS, TYPE AND QUANTITY OF DEBRIS IN THE RIVER BASED ON LAND USE/COVER (AGRICULTURAL FIELDS, FORESTS, URBAN, ETC.), AND WILL ALSO LOOK AT OTHER LIKELY SOURCES OF DEBRIS SUCH AS FROM STORMWATER AND WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS. THIS STUDY WILL ALSO EXAMINE DEBRIS DEGRADATION AND FRAGMENTATION RATES IN THE REGION WITH A COMBINATION OF FIELD AND LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS. THEY WILL CONDUCT A FACTORIAL EXPERIMENT ANALYZING NUMEROUS VARIABLES THAT MIGHT IMPACT FRAGMENTATION AND DEGRADATION RATES, SUCH AS ANALYZING EFFECTS OF SALINITY, UV, AND ENVIRONMENTAL COMPARTMENT (WATER, SAND, SEDIMENT). THEY WILL THEN CONDUCT A REGIONAL ASSESSMENT OF THE GU NICA WATERSHED BY ANALYZING UPSTREAM SOURCES OF MARINE DEBRIS AND THE

DEVELOPMENT OF ENHANCED PERFORMANCE ENERGY STORAGE MATERIALS USING TAILORABLE PERCOLATION NETWORKS OF NANOFIBERS

SATC: CORE: SMALL: NOVEL HARDWARE ACCELERATION FOR POST-QUANTUM DIGITAL SIGNATURE SCHEME FALCON -THE RAPID PROGRESS IN QUANTUM COMPUTING HAS ATTRACTED INCREASING ATTENTION IN VARIOUS COMMUNITIES. SPECIFICALLY, IT IS PROVEN THAT THE EXISTING PUBLIC-KEY CRYPTOSYSTEMS LIKE RIVEST SHAMIR ADLEMAN (RSA) AND ELLIPTIC CURVE CRYPTOGRAPHY (ECC) CAN BE BROKEN BY THE LARGE-SCALE QUANTUM COMPUTERS EXECUTING A TYPE OF QUANTUM COMPUTING ALGORITHM INVENTED BY AMERICAN MATHEMATICIAN PETER SHOR. TO ADDRESS THIS THREAT, POST-QUANTUM CRYPTOGRAPHY (PQC) EMERGES AS A PRACTICAL AND EFFECTIVE CRYPTOSYSTEM THAT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO RESIST ATTACKS FROM QUANTUM COMPUTERS. EFFORTS AND INITIATIVES FROM GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS HAVE BEEN CARRIED OUT SINCE 2016. IN JULY 2022, FOUR PQC ALGORITHMS WERE SELECTED TO BE STANDARDIZED FOR GENERAL PURPOSE USAGE. FOLLOWING THE NIST PQC STANDARDIZATION EFFORTS, MANY RESEARCH INVESTIGATIONS IN THE FIELD HAVE GRADUALLY SWITCHED TO THE IMPLEMENTATION SIDE, ESPECIALLY REGARDING THE EFFICIENT ACCELERATION OF THESE NIST-SELECTED PQC ON HARDWARE PLATFORMS. THIS PROJECT FOLLOWS THIS TREND TO CONDUCT A COMPREHENSIVE EXPLORATION OF NOVEL HARDWARE ACCELERATION FOR FALCON, ONE OF THE NIST-SELECTED DIGITAL SIGNATURE PQC SCHEMES. OVERALL, THIS PROJECT ECHOES THE RECENT U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY MEMORANDUM ON PROMOTING PQC RESEARCH TO MITIGATE RISKS TO VULNERABLE CRYPTOGRAPHIC SYSTEMS, AND WILL SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACT THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEXT-GENERATION NATIONAL SECURITY TECHNOLOGIES IN THIS COUNTRY. FINALLY, THIS PROJECT TEAM OFFERS AN OPPORTUNITY TO PROMOTE UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH IN THE AREA OF PQC. THIS PROJECT INVESTIGATES THE FOLLOWING THREE ASPECTS: (I) NEW FAST ALGORITHMS AND NOVEL COMPUTER ARITHMETIC TECHNIQUES FOR THE HIGH-COMPLEXITY FUNCTIONS/COMPONENTS IN FALCON, TARGETING SIGNIFICANT COMPLEXITY REDUCTION WITH DEDICATED DESIGN; (II) INNOVATIVE ALGORITHM-TO-ARCHITECTURE CO-DESIGN STRATEGIES FOR COMPONENTS/MODULES THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO DESIGN IN HARDWARE, TARGETING EASE OF HARDWARE DESIGN WITH SUPERIOR EFFICIENCY; (III) A FULL-HARDWARE ACCELERATOR DESIGN FRAMEWORK FINALIZATION FOR FALCON, WITH THE CONSIDERATION OF PRACTICAL SECURE IMPLEMENTATION. 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.

MRI: ACQUISITION OF AN INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA MASS SPECTROMETER (ICP-MS) FOR ECOLOGICAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND ECOSYSTEM-LEVEL RESEARCH

THERMAL TRANSPORT IN NANO-ENHANCED PHASE CHANGE MATERIALS

THE ROLE OF SUPPRESSED BONE TURNOVER IN CORTICAL BONE MATERIAL COMPOSITION, ORGANIZATION, AND FRACTURE RESISTANCE

COLLABORATIVE CENTER: I/UCRC IN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS

SELF-EXPLOITATION AND ELECTRONIC AGGRESSION: HIGH RISK INTERNET BEHAVIORS IN ADOLESCENTS

RUI: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: SURVEY AND ANALYSIS OF THE ANGOLAN HERPETOFAUNA

WITH THE ADVENT OF ADVANCED SPACE MISSIONS SUCH AS KEPLER AND COROT THE FILED OF ASTEROSEISMOLOGY HAS MADE SIGNIFICANT ADVANCES ESPECIALLY IN THE AREA OF SOLAR-LIKE OSCILLATIONS. THROUGH THE APPLICATION OF THE SO-CALLED SCALING RELATIONS TO THE STOCHASTIC SOLAR-LIKE PULSATIONS THE RADII AND MASSES OF THOUSANDS OF MAIN SEQUENCE AND RED-GIANT STARS HAVE NOW BEEN DETERMINED. BUT HOW RELIABLE ARE THEY? THERE IS SIGNIFICANT EVIDENCE TO SUGGEST THAT THE RADII AND MASSES OF MAIN SEQUENCE STARS ARE DETERMINED TO AS GOOD AS 2% AND 5% RESPECTIVELY. BUT FOR THE RED GIANTS IT SEEMS TO BE A DIFFERENT STORY. RECENT STUDIES INCORPORATING BINARY STARS HAVE SHOWN THAT ASTEROSEISMIC DETERMINATIONS OF RED-GIANT RADII AND MASSES ARE ONLY ACCURATE TO 10% AND 15% RESPECTIVELY. THE OFFSET IS BELIEVED TO COME FROM THE USE OF THE SUN A MAIN-SEQUENCE STAR FOR CALIBRATION. EXTENSIVE WORK IS CURRENTLY BEING UNDERTAKEN BY THE ASTEROSEISMIC COMMUNITY TO IDENTIFY CORRECTION FACTORS TO EMPIRICALLY MATCH THE ASTEROSEISMIC RESULTS TO THOSE FOUND USING BINARY STARS. BUT RESULTS FROM THE BINARY STAR ANALYSES WHICH ARE COMMONLY TAKEN AS "GROUND TRUTH" ARE ALSO BEING CONTESTED BY SEVERAL WORKS THAT HAVE CONSIDERED A SMALL SUBSET OF THE SAMPLE AND FOUND CONFLICTING RESULTS AND ISSUES WITH THE ANALYSIS APPROACH. WITH THIS PROPOSAL WE AIM TO VALIDATE AND EXPAND THE TESTS OF ASTEROSEISMOLOGY BY REANALYZING THE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE RED-GIANT BINARYSTAR SAMPLE (10 OBJECTS) AND EXPANDING IT BY MORE THAN 50%. IN THE PROPOSAL WE DETAIL THE MODIFICATIONS THAT MAKE OUR APPROACH SIGNIFICANTLY MORE RELIABLE COMPARED WITH THE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE STUDIES. THE AIM OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO PROVIDE A ROBUST SAMPLE OF BINARY DETERMINED MASSES AND RADII SO THAT THE ASTEROSEISMIC COMMUNITY HAVE A REAL BENCHMARK WITH WHICH THEY CAN FINE-TUNE THEIR RELATIONS. THE LEGACY OF THIS WORK WILL INCLUDE THOUSANDS OF ACCURATELY DETERMINED RED-GIANT MASSES AND RADII THAT WILL PROPAGATE INTO ALL ASPECTS OF ASTRONOMY

RADAR IMAGING FOR URBAN SENSING

ENHANCING THE AUGMENTED REALITY SANDBOX'S SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE TO SUPPORT QUANTITATIVE SIMULATION FOR STEM EDUCATION -THIS PROJECT AIMS TO SERVE THE NATIONAL INTEREST BY ENHANCING AND EVALUATING THE AUGMENTED REALITY SANDBOX TO ADVANCE TECHNICAL CURRICULA IN CIVIL ENGINEERING AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE COURSES. THE SANDBOX IS A WIDELY DEPLOYED STEM CLASSROOM TOOL THAT ENABLES STUDENTS TO MODEL LANDSCAPES WITH SAND AND OBSERVE HOW VIRTUAL WATER FLOWS OVER THE LANDSCAPE. ITS BASIC DESIGN CONSISTS OF A BOX OF SAND ON A TABLE WITH A SHORT-THROW PROJECTOR AND AN ALTIMETRY SENSOR MOUNTED ABOUT 3 FEET ABOVE THE SAND. THE ALTIMETRY SENSOR PASSES A 3D SCAN OF THE SAND SURFACE TO SOFTWARE THAT GENERATES A COLOR ELEVATION MAP OF THE SURFACE AND PROJECTS IT ONTO THE SURFACE OF THE SAND. THE SOFTWARE PROJECTS VIRTUAL WATER FLOWING ACROSS THE SAND LANDSCAPE ACCORDING TO THE FLUID DYNAMICS DRIVEN BY THE SAND SURFACE'S SHAPE. THIS PROJECT WILL ADVANCE THE GEOPHYSICAL PRINCIPLES THAT THE SANDBOX CAN MODEL BY ADDING NEW SIMULATION CAPABILITIES TO ITS OPEN-SOURCE SOFTWARE. THE PROJECT AIMS TO IMPROVE EDUCATORS' UNDERSTANDING OF BEST PRACTICES FOR THIS TOOL BY MEASURING THE SANDBOX'S EFFECT ON STUDENTS' PERFORMANCE IN COURSES. BY BRINGING TOGETHER A TEAM OF INVESTIGATORS FROM BOTH CIVIL ENGINEERING AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, THE PROJECT WILL PRODUCE LABORATORY PROJECTS AND EVALUATIONS THAT WILL IMPACT THE PEDAGOGY OF GEOPHYSICS AND HYDROLOGY TOPICS COMMON TO BOTH FIELDS. IT WILL ALSO MEET A CRITICAL NEED FOR UPDATING THE SANDBOX'S SOFTWARE TO WORK WITH NEWER ALTIMETRY SENSORS, THEREBY EXTENDING THE SANDBOX'S LIFE AS A CLASSROOM INSTRUMENT. PROJECT OUTCOMES WILL INCLUDE PUBLICATION OF FINDINGS ON BEST PRACTICES FOR USING THE CLASSROOM TOOL. THE PROJECT WILL ADD NEW CAPABILITIES IN THE AUGMENTED REALITY SANDBOX'S SOFTWARE. THE SCOPE OF THE NEW ABILITIES COVERS MODELING DRAINAGE BASIN DELINEATION, AS WELL AS DEFINING AND REPRESENTING INFILTRATION RATES FOR REGIONS IN THE LANDSCAPE, RAINFALL RATES OVER REGIONS OF THE LANDSCAPE, AND SCALE FACTORING FOR THE SANDBOX'S MODELED AREA. THESE SOFTWARE EXTENSIONS WILL PROVIDE STUDENTS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND CIVIL ENGINEERING COURSES WITH ENGAGED LEARNING EXPERIENCES THAT DEPICT THE DYNAMICS OF THE WATER CYCLE AND SUPPORT BOTH QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE MODELING. THIS PROJECT WILL ALSO DEVELOP HARDWARE EXTENSIONS TO THE SANDBOX FRAME'S DESIGN TO SUPPORT RAPID TURNAROUND ON LABORATORY PROJECT SETUP BETWEEN LAB PERIODS AND CONSISTENT SAND LANDFORM MODELS ACROSS LAB PERIODS AND PROJECTS. THE PROJECT'S EVALUATION GOAL IS TO STUDY THE SANDBOX'S EFFECTIVENESS IN STUDENT LEARNING. THE PROJECT WILL EVALUATE BOTH THE ORIGINAL AND THE EXTENDED VERSIONS OF THE SANDBOX THROUGH STUDENT SURVEYS AND ANALYSIS OF AGGREGATED SCORES ON PERTINENT EXAM QUESTIONS. WITH THIS INFORMATION, THE PROJECT WILL ADVANCE UNDERSTANDING OF THE SANDBOX'S EFFECT ON STUDENTS' QUALITATIVE UNDERSTANDING OF GEOPHYSICAL PROCESSES. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO INVESTIGATE CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH THE SANDBOX'S NEW MODELING CAPABILITIES HELP STUDENTS UNDERSTAND GEOPHYSICAL PROCESSES THROUGH SIMULATIONS. THE PROJECT AIMS TO IMPROVE EDUCATORS' UNDERSTANDING OF BEST PRACTICES FOR THIS TOOL BY MEASURING THE SANDBOX'S EFFECT ON STUDENTS' PERFORMANCE IN COURSES UNDER VARYING NUMBERS OF LABORATORY PROJECTS IN WHICH STUDENTS USE THE SANDBOX. 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.

1% ACCURACY IN FUNDAMENTAL STELLAR PARAMETERS? NOT WITHOUT AN EXTENSIVE REDESIGN OF ECLIPSING BINARY MODELS.

EAGER: BIOMANUFACTURING: OPTIMIZING THE ISOLATION, TRANSFECTION, AND EXPANSION OF CAR-T CELLS WITH MODIFIED PES MEMBRANES

(YIP) DECIPHERING THE INFLUENCE OF UNSTEADY AERODYNAMICS ON MECHANOSENSATION AND OLFACTION IN INSECT FLIGHT

BY EXTENDING OUR RECENTLY DEVELOPED TECHNIQUES FOR DETERMINING EXTINCTION CURVES TO COOLER STARS AND LONGER WAVELENGTHS, WE INTEND TO CHARACTERIZE TH

CROSS LAMINATED TIMBER PANELS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PLAY A MAJOR ROLE IN SUSTAINABLE BUILDING CONSTRUCTION, INCLUDING AS THE PRIMARY STRUCTURAL FLOORING MEMBERS. OFTEN, CROSS LAMINATED TIMBER PANELS ARE TOPPED WITH CONCRETE TO INCREASE THEIR VIBRATION RESISTANCE, IMPROVE ACOUSTIC PROPERTIES, AND INCREASE FIRE RESISTANCE. HOWEVER, THE BEHAVIOR OF THESE AS COMPOSITE SYSTEMS HAS NOT BEEN SIGNIFICANTLY STUDIED, AND REFINEMENTS COULD BE MADE TO IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF THE SYSTEM ALLOWING FOR LONGER SPANS AND REDUCED COSTS. THE DESIGN OF A CROSS LAMINATED TIMBER FLOOR SYSTEM IS GOVERNED BY EITHER STRENGTH OR SERVICEABILITY CRITERIA. FOR TYPICAL APPLICATIONS AND CASES WHERE LONGER SPANS ARE DESIRED, SERVICEABILITY LIMIT STATE GOVERNS DESIGN. THIS STUDY AIMS TO REFINE THESE CRITERIA BY EXAMINING THE SHORT- AND LONG-TERM DEFLECTION BEHAVIOR OF FIVE LAYER CROSS LAMINATED TIMBER PANELS WHICH ARE TESTED TO FAILURE AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE LONG TERM DEFLECTION TESTING.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: COUPLED EFFECTS OF DENSITY, MICROSTRUCTURE, AND ION SELECTIVITY FOR CLAY MEMBRANES -THIS AWARD WILL SUPPORT RESEARCH THAT ADVANCES FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF BENTONITE CLAY, PROMOTING THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE AND CONTRIBUTING TO NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND WATER SECURITY NEEDS. BENTONITE IS A NATURAL CLAY MINERAL WITH A UNIQUE ABILITY TO ACT LIKE A SEMI-PERMEABLE MEMBRANE, SLOWING THE MOVEMENT OF CHEMICALS WHILE STILL ALLOWING WATER TO PASS THROUGH. THIS SPECIAL PROPERTY CAN AFFECT THE PERFORMANCE OF ENGINEERED CONTAINMENT SYSTEMS FOR MUNICIPAL, AGRICULTURAL, NUCLEAR, AND MINING WASTES. BENTONITE MEMBRANE BEHAVIOR IS ALSO BEING LEVERAGED FOR EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES IN WATER TREATMENT, DESALINATION, CARBON STORAGE, AND OSMOTIC POWER GENERATION. HOWEVER, ENGINEERS DO NOT FULLY UNDERSTAND THE MECHANISMS BEHIND THIS BEHAVIOR DUE TO LIMITED EXPERIMENTAL DATA TO VALIDATE EXISTING MODELS OR APPLY THEM IN DESIGN PRACTICE. THE RESEARCH WILL QUANTIFY HOW THE STRUCTURE AND BEHAVIOR OF BENTONITE INFLUENCE ITS ABILITY TO CONTROL CHEMICAL MOVEMENT AND WATER FLOW. RESULTS WILL HELP IMPROVE THE DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE OF INFRASTRUCTURE THAT RELIES ON BENTONITE, SUPPORTING NATIONAL PROSPERITY AND WELFARE THROUGH MORE EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS. IN ADDITION, THE AWARD WILL SUPPORT WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH TRAINING AND MENTORING OF UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS, AS WELL AS STEM OUTREACH TO EDUCATE AND INSPIRE THE NEXT GENERATION OF COLLEGE STUDENTS TO PURSUE ENGINEERING. THE GOALS OF THE RESEARCH ARE TO INVESTIGATE INTERRELATED EFFECTS OF ION SELECTIVITY, POROSITY, AND MICROSTRUCTURE ON BENTONITE MEMBRANE BEHAVIOR, AND TO CHARACTERIZE THE IMPACTS OF THESE EFFECTS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND ENGINEERED SYSTEMS THAT UTILIZE BENTONITE. OUR CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE SIGNIFICANCE AND PERSISTENCE OF MEMBRANE BEHAVIOR IN THESE SYSTEMS IS HINDERED BY LIMITED AVAILABILITY OF EXPERIMENTAL DATA. FOR EXAMPLE, ALTHOUGH THE FILTRATION EFFICIENCY OF BENTONITE MEMBRANES IS KNOWN TO BE SENSITIVE TO MEMBRANE DENSITY AND THE TYPES AND CONCENTRATIONS OF CHEMICAL SPECIES BEING FILTERED, THE VAST MAJORITY OF PREVIOUS STUDIES HAVE FOCUSED ON LOW-DENSITY BARRIERS AND ELECTROLYTE SOLUTIONS CONTAINING ONLY MONOVALENT SALTS. THE EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM WILL INCLUDE MEASURING CHEMICAL TRANSPORT RATES, MEMBRANE EFFICIENCY, AND PORE SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS IN BENTONITE SPECIMENS OF DIFFERENT DENSITIES AND SOLUTION CHEMISTRIES. THE RESEARCH WILL EXPAND THE EXISTING DATABASE OF PHYSICO-CHEMICAL AND TRANSPORT PROPERTIES OF BENTONITE MEMBRANES, SO THAT THEORETICAL MODELS FOR COUPLED WATER AND CHEMICAL FLOWS THROUGH THESE MEMBRANES CAN BE VALIDATED OVER A WIDER RANGE OF CONDITIONS EXPECTED IN REAL-WORLD APPLICATIONS. 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.

LYING AT THE INTERFACE OF LAND, ATMOSPHERE, AND OCEAN, COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS, LIKE THOSE AT THE KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (KSC), ARE PARTICULARLY SENSITIVE T

IUCRC PHASE III VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY: CENTER FOR ENERGY SMART ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS (ES2) -WITH THE PROLIFERATION OF AUTOMATION AND ELECTRONIC DEVICES THROUGHOUT MOST MAJOR INDUSTRIES, THE AMOUNT OF DATA BEING PRODUCED AND THE NEED TO PROCESS/MANAGE THAT DATA CONTINUES TO GROW. AUTOMATED MANAGEMENT OF DATA CENTERS, ADDRESSING THEIR EMERGING THERMAL CHALLENGES AND IMPROVING THEIR ENERGY EFFICIENCY FORM THE KEY TO ADDRESSING THIS DEMAND. THE CENTER FOR ENERGY-SMART ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS (ES2), AN NSF INDUSTRY UNIVERSITY COOPERATIVE RESEARCH CENTER (IUCRC), WAS ESTABLISHED IN 2011 TO ADDRESS THESE NEEDS FOR DATA CENTERS. THIS AWARD PROVIDES A PHASE III RENEWAL FOR THIS 3-SITE IUCRC, WHICH CONSISTS OF BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY, VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY AND UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON. ES2'S VISION IS TO DEVELOP SYSTEMATIC METHODOLOGIES FOR OPERATING ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS, INCLUDING DATA CENTERS, AS DYNAMIC, SELF- SENSING AND REGULATING SYSTEMS THAT ARE PREDICTABLE AND VERIFIED IN REAL TIME. THE FOCUS IN PHASE I AND PHASE II HAS BEEN TO DEVELOP NEW ENERGY-OPTIMIZATION AND THERMAL MANAGEMENT MODELS AND DESIGNS, AS WELL AS TOOLS AND ALGORITHMS ENABLING ELECTRONIC DATA SYSTEMS TO OPERATE MORE EFFICIENTLY AND SECURELY. PHASE III WILL FURTHER EXPAND ON THESE METHODOLOGIES TO PROGRESS CLOSER TO A FULL REALIZATION OF THE ES2 VISION. THE CENTER BRINGS TOGETHER COMPUTER SCIENTISTS, ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERS IN A SYNERGISTIC MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM TO ADVANCE INDUSTRIALLY RELEVANT RESEARCH IN THIS AREA. ES2, IN PROMOTING SIGNIFICANT REDUCTIONS IN ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS, WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE NATIONAL AGENDA OF EVENTUALLY REACHING NET-ZERO CARBON EMISSIONS. REDUCING ENERGY COSTS IN DATA CENTERS WILL HELP TO ALLOW COMPUTING SERVICES TO BE MORE DEPLOYABLE AND ACCESSIBLE FOR A LARGER POPULATION SEGMENT. ES2 CONTINUES TO ATTRACT A DIVERSE GROUP OF STUDENTS AT THE UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE LEVELS AND PROVIDES INDUSTRIALLY RELEVANT TRAINING IN THEIR CAREERS BEYOND GRADUATION. ES2 HAS ALSO INTEGRATED A VARIETY OF MECHANISMS ACROSS THE PARTNERS UNIVERSITIES AND INDUSTRY MEMBERS TO INCREASE PARTICIPATION BY WOMEN AND UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS. AT THE VILLANOVA SITE, RESEARCH ACTIVITIES FOCUS ON ADVANCING THE OVERALL CENTER GOALS OF SMART WORKLOAD AND SERVER MANAGEMENT, SMART INTEGRATION OF CONTROLLED ON-DEMAND COOLING, AND SMART ELIMINATION OF ENERGY WASTE AND INEFFICIENCIES. ACTIVITIES ARE FOCUSED IN THREE MAIN FOCUS AREAS: AIR- AND HYBRID AIR- LIQUID COOLING SYSTEMS, ADVANCED LIQUID COOLING, AND SUSTAINABILITY, INCLUDING THE CONSUMPTION OF WATER, ENERGY, AND THE RE-USE OF WASTE HEAT. RESEARCH IN THE HYBRID AIR-LIQUID COOLING SYSTEMS FOCUSES ON DEVELOPING CAPABILITIES FOR SIMULATING AND PREDICTING THE BEHAVIOR OF COMPONENTS AND SYSTEMS SUCH AS HEAT EXCHANGERS THAT ARE AT THE HEART OF MOST SYSTEMS. OF PARTICULAR INTEREST IS IN DEVELOPING COMPACT THERMAL-FLUID MODELS THAT CAN BE EMBEDDED IN SYSTEM CFD COMPUTATIONAL FRAMEWORKS. THE FOCUS OF RESEARCH IN ADVANCED LIQUID COOLING SYSTEMS IS IN INDIRECT OR DIRECT-TO-CHIP LIQUID COOLING USING SINGLE PHASE COOLING, I.E., WITH WATER, OR USING TWO-PHASE COOLING, USING REFRIGERANTS. INVESTIGATIONS SPAN THE ENTIRE SYSTEM FROM: THE CHIP-SCALE, TO THE COLD PLATE AND SERVER COOLING SYSTEM SCALE, TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF SIMULATION TOOLS FOR ENTIRE SYSTEMS. NEW RESEARCH WILL BE LAUNCHED IN DIRECT IMMERSION TWO-PHASE COOLING WITH THE GOALS OF UNDERSTANDING AND EXTENDING THE LIMITS OF DIRECT IMMERSION COOLING OF SERVER ELECTRONICS. A NEW FOCUS ON SUSTAINABLE DATA CENTERS WILL FEATURE NEW PROJECTS IN THE AREAS OF CARBON SEQUESTRATION AND DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE TOOLS AND METRICS TO PREDICT AND TRACK THE IMPACT OF DATA CENTERS ON WATER AND ENERGY CONSUMPTION. THE VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY ES2 SITE IS COMMITTED TO RESEARCH WITHIN THE OVERALL CONTEXT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY, WITH A COMMITMENT TO USE NSF FUNDED ES2 RESEARCH TO INITIATE, PROMOTE, AND ADVANCE THE CAREERS OF STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND RESEARCHERS FROM DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS, AND TO DISSEMINATE OUR RESEARCH TO THE SCIENTIFIC, ENGINEERING, AND PUBLIC COMMUNITIES THROUGH INNOVATIVE USES OF PRINT AND VISUAL MEDIA AND PUBLIC FORUMS. 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: TRANSIENT CEREBROSPINAL FLUID (CSF) FLOW IN BRAIN CONCUSSION -IMPACTS TO THE HEAD ARE IDENTI?ED AS THE COMMON CAUSE OF CONCUSSION INJURY. AN ESTIMATED 2.8 MILLION PEOPLE IN THE US SUSTAIN A TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY (TBI) ANNUALLY WHICH CONTRIBUTES 30.5% OF ALL INJURY-RELATED DEATHS AND COSTS AN ESTIMATED $60 BILLION ANNUALLY. TO DEVELOP EFFECTIVE PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION STRATEGIES, IT IS CRITICAL TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE CEREBROSPINAL FLUID (CSF)-BATHED BRAIN RESPONDS TO SUDDEN EXTERNAL IMPACTS AND WHAT MECHANICAL AND CELLULAR MECHANISMS DRIVE THE PATHOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT OF CONCUSSIVE BRAIN INJURY. HOWEVER, DUE TO THE BRAIN?S FORBIDDING COMPLEXITY, THE SMALL CONFINES OF THE SUBARACHNOID SPACE (SAS) BETWEEN THE SKULL AND THE BRAIN, THE EXTREMELY TRANSIENT FEATURE, AND THE SKULL?S OPACITY PREVENTING DIRECT VISUALIZATION OF ANY COMPLEX PHYSICAL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE CSF FLOW AND THE COMPLIANT BRAIN, THE MECHANISM OF BRAIN CONCUSSION REMAINS UNCLEAR. THE PROPOSAL IS AIMED TO TACKLE THIS CHALLENGING PROBLEM BY INTEGRATING INNOVATIVE ANALYTICAL, NUMERICAL, AND BIOMIMETIC APPROACHES WITH CONCUSSION ANIMAL MODELS TO REVEAL, FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE CRUCIAL ROLES OF TRANSIENT CSF FLOW DURING BRAIN CONCUSSION. THE PROJECT WILL FILL A GLARING KNOWLEDGE GAP, WITH HIGH-PAYOFF FEATURE ENSUING FROM ITS POTENTIALS TO GUIDE THE CREATION OF EFFECTIVE HEAD PROTECTION, REDUCE THE INCIDENCE OF CONCUSSION, LEAD TO SIGNIFICANT COST SAVINGS, AND BENEFIT THE SOCIETY BY SAVING LIVES. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO ENCOMPASS SIGNIFICANT EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES, INCLUDING CURRICULUM REFORM, MULTI-YEAR UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PROGRAM, AND OUTREACH PROGRAMS FOR ANNUAL GIRL SCOUTS DAY AND HIGH SCHOOL ACADEMY FOR UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES AT VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY (VU), THE VU ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT AND THE LOCAL PUBLIC LIBRARIES. THE GOAL OF THE PROJECT IS TO EXAMINE THE TRANSIENT CEREBROSPINAL FLUID FLOW IN THE POROUS SUBARACHNOID SPACE (SAS) FILLED WITH ARACHNOID TRABECULAE (AT), AS THE HEAD IS EXPOSED TO RAPID EXTERNAL IMPACTS, AND HENCE TO ELUCIDATE THE CRITICAL ROLE OF THE CSF FLOW IN TRANSMITTING AND MITIGATING EXTERNAL IMPACTS. THE PROPOSAL INTEGRATES ANALYTICAL, NUMERICAL, EXPERIMENTAL (BIOMIMETIC AND BIOMECHANICAL) INVESTIGATIONS, BUILT UPON SOLID AND ENCOURAGING PRELIMINARY STUDY RESULTS. ANALYTICAL AND NUMERICAL MODELS, CAPTURING THE KEY CSF FLOW PHYSICS THAT HAVE BEEN NEGLECTED TO DATE, WILL BE TESTED USING A NOVEL BIOMIMETIC EXPERIMENTAL PLATFORM, AND FURTHER EVALUATED BY IN VIVO BIOMECHANICAL STUDY. THE PROPOSAL IS THE FIRST, AND SO FAR, THE ONLY STUDY OF ITS KIND TO ATTEMPT TO UNCOVER A LONG-STANDING MYSTERY IN BRAIN BIOMECHANICS. IT IS EXPECTED TO YIELD HIGHLY TRANSFORMATIVE RESULTS AND PROVIDE THE PLATFORM FOR FUTURE STUDY IN THIS RESEARCH AREA. 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.

KEPLER'S ULTRA-HIGH PRECISION PHOTOMETRY IS REVOLUTIONIZING STELLAR ASTROPHYSICS. WE ARE SEEING INTRINSIC PHENOMENA ON AN UNPRECEDENTED SCALE, AND IN

ARRA - EQUIPMENT TO ENHANCE TRAINING FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

MPS-ASCEND FACULTY CATALYST: PREPARING FOR EARLY SCIENCE WITH RUBIN OBSERVATORY: INTRINSIC VARIABILITY OF ACCRETING COMPACT OBJECTS -SOME OF THE LEAST UNDERSTOOD PATTERNS IN BRIGHTNESS VARIABILITY ARE THOSE THAT COME FROM ACCRETING COMPACT OBJECTS, SUCH AS ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI (AGN) AND X-RAY BINARY SOURCES (XRB). THE VERA C. RUBIN OBSERVATORY WILL PROVIDE AN UNPRECEDENTED NUMBER OF OBJECTS IN ITS LEGACY SURVEY OF SPACE AND TIME (LSST). A RESEARCHER AND HER TEAM AT VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY, HAS BEEN AWARDED A MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES ASCENDING FACULTY CATALYST (AFC) AWARD TO INVESTIGATE NOVEL WAYS TO IDENTIFY ACCRETING COMPACT OBJECTS FROM WITHIN THE VAST LSST DATASET. STUDYING LARGE NUMBERS OF THESE OBJECTS WILL HELP IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THESE COMPACT OBJECTS INTERACT WITH THEIR ENVIRONMENT. THIS AWARD WILL ALSO ENABLE THE DEVELOPMENT OF A REGIONAL NETWORK OF SCIENTISTS, TEACHERS, AND STUDENTS FROM A RANGE OF INSTITUTIONS THAT USE THE RUBIN OBSERVATORY TO PERFORM RESEARCH IN ASTRONOMY. A CRITICAL PILLAR OF ACHIEVING REGIONAL AWARENESS IN LEVERAGING RUBIN DATA WILL BE A 2-DAY WORKSHOP HOSTED AT VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY THAT PROVIDES TRAINING ON ACCESSING RUBIN DATA AND SUPPORT FOR DESIGNING PROJECTS THAT LEVERAGE THE CAPABILITIES OF RUBIN. OVER THE COURSE OF THE AFC AWARD, THE PROPOSER WILL USE SIMULATED DATA PREVIEWS FROM LSST AS WELL AS ARCHIVAL OBSERVATIONS FROM TESS TO CURATE A SAMPLE OF SYNTHETIC LIGHT CURVES OF AGN AND XRBS THAT CAN BE USED TO TEST NOVEL TIME SERIES METHODOLOGIES. A NOVEL TECHNIQUE FROM NONLINEAR DYNAMICS, RECURRENCE PLOTS, COMBINED WITH MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUES, WILL BE USED TO CLASSIFY THE SYNTHETIC LIGHT CURVES OF ACCRETING SYSTEMS IN PREPARATION FOR THE ABUNDANCE OF DATA AVAILABLE WITH THE UPCOMING RUBIN OBSERVATORY. THE GOAL IS TO DEVELOP A CLASSIFIER THAT DISTINGUISHES THE TIMING VARIABILITY FEATURES UNIQUE TO DIFFERENT ACCRETING SYSTEMS. THIS WORK WILL CONTRIBUTE TO A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE ORIGINS OF INTRINSIC VARIABILITY IN THESE EXOTIC SYSTEMS. IN ADDITION, THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR WILL CREATE AND RUN A TWO-DAY LONG WORKSHOP ON USING RUBIN DATA AND FULL DAY HACKATHON TO A REGIONAL NETWORK OF RUBIN USERS. 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.

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE APPLICATION OF CONDUCTIVITY-ENHANCED PHASE CHANGE MATERIALS FOR TRANSIENT THERMAL MANAGEMENT OF NAVAL ELECTRONICS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: SELF-ASSEMBLED MULTILAYER MICROSPHERE PARTICLE ARRAYS AS ENGINEERED PHOTONIC STRUCTURES FOR SUSTAINABLE AND ENERGY-EFFICIENT RADIATIVE COOLING -TRADITIONAL AIR CONDITIONING COOLING IS A HUMAN NECESSITY AND ESSENTIAL FOR SOCIETY. HOWEVER, IT CONSUMES A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF ENERGY AND RELEASES UNDESIRABLE GREENHOUSE GASES. PASSIVE DAYTIME RADIATIVE COOLING WITH ENGINEERED PHOTONIC STRUCTURES IS A PROMISING SUSTAINABLE AND ENERGY-EFFICIENT COOLING TECHNIQUE. HOWEVER, CURRENT PHOTONIC STRUCTURES EITHER REQUIRE SOPHISTICATED, EXPENSIVE, AND HARD-TO-SCALE MANUFACTURING PROCESSES TO ACHIEVE PRECISE MATERIAL AND STRUCTURAL CONTROL OR HAVE POOR MATERIAL AND STRUCTURAL CONTROL WITH INEXPENSIVE, SCALABLE MANUFACTURING PROCESSES LEADING TO INEFFICIENT AND COSTLY PASSIVE COOLING. RESEARCH FUNDED BY THIS AWARD LOOKS TO ADVANCE FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING AND DEVELOPMENT OF SELF-ASSEMBLED ARCHITECTURES FOR NEW SUSTAINABLE COOLING TECHNOLOGIES. IN ADDITION, THE STUDIED INTEGRATED DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING APPROACH INTENDS TO BE UNIVERSALLY APPLICABLE TO OTHER PHOTONIC APPLICATIONS IN BROAD WAVELENGTH RANGES, SUCH AS STRUCTURAL COLORATION IN THE VISIBLE WAVELENGTH. THE PROJECT?S MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH ACTIVITIES INTEND TO OFFER NEW PERSPECTIVES IN BROAD TECHNOLOGY DOMAINS, INCLUDING ADVANCED MANUFACTURING, OPTICS, OPTOELECTRONICS, SEMICONDUCTORS, HEAT TRANSFER, AND MACHINE LEARNING. FURTHERMORE, THIS PROJECT LOOKS TO CREATE NEW EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES INCLUDING TRANSFERABLE MODULAR CURRICULAR AND ONLINE LECTURES THAT ARE INTEGRATED INTO GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE COURSES ACROSS DIFFERENT DISCIPLINES, ALONG WITH NEW HANDS-ON DEMONSTRATIONS FOR A VARIETY OF OUTREACH ACTIVITIES. RESEARCH COMPLETED BY THE PROJECT WILL EMPLOY A HOLISTIC, PARADIGM-SHIFTING, AND CLOSED-LOOP APPROACH OF DESIGNING, MANUFACTURING, AND DEPLOYING MULTILAYER SELF-ASSEMBLED MONOLAYER MICROSPHERE (MSMS) ARRAY ARCHITECTURES FOR PASSIVE DAYTIME RADIATIVE COOLING APPLICATIONS. IN THE MSMS STRUCTURE, INDIVIDUAL MICROSPHERES ARE SELF-ASSEMBLED INTO A MONOLAYER FILM OF AN ORDERED ARRAY, INSTEAD OF RANDOM DISTRIBUTION. THE PARTICLES CAN BE FROM A LARGE VARIETY OF MATERIALS, SUCH AS SIO2, TIO2, POLYMETHYL METHACRYLATE (PMMA), AND OTHERS. FURTHER, THESE SELF-ASSEMBLED FILMS WILL BE STACKED TOGETHER WITH POLYMER FILMS TO FORM A MULTILAYER STRUCTURE FOR ENGINEERING OPTICAL RESPONSE. THE RESEARCH TEAM WILL INTEGRATE EXPERTISE IN EXPERIMENTAL SELF-ASSEMBLY, PHOTONIC DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING OPTIMIZATION TO ACHIEVE ITS OBJECTIVES. SPECIFIC TASKS INCLUDE: (1) UNIVERSAL SELF-ASSEMBLY OF PARTICLES BASED ON A SALT-ASSISTED AND ACOUSTIC SELF-LIMITING MECHANISM, WHOSE MANUFACTURING PROCESSES ARE AUTOMATED WITH IN-SITU CHARACTERIZATION SYSTEMS AND SCALABLE THROUGH ROLL-TO-ROLL SYSTEMS; (2) EXPERIMENT-AWARE INVERSE DESIGN OF STRUCTURES BASED ON A GRAPHICS-PROCESSING-UNIT-ACCELERATED HIGH-THROUGHPUT SEMI-ANALYTICAL RIGOROUS-COUPLED-WAVE-ANALYSIS SOLVER, WHICH IS FURTHER INTEGRATED WITH A MACHINE LEARNING-DRIVEN OPTIMIZATION OF THE MANUFACTURING PROCESSES; AND (3) EXPERIMENTAL DEMONSTRATIONS OF PASSIVE DAYTIME RADIATIVE COOLING WITH THE ENGINEERED PHOTONIC STRUCTURES. IN ADDITION, THE PROJECT STUDIES PROCESSING-STRUCTURE-PROPERTY RELATIONSHIPS AND DETECTION AND MITIGATION OF IMPERFECTIONS. 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: INTEGRATING THE EFFECTS OF SEA LEVEL RISE ON TIDAL FRESHWATER AND SALT MARSH STABILITY IN THE DELAWARE RIVER ESTUARY

GENDER-ETHNIC IDENTIFICATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF STEM ACHIEVEMENT BEHAVIORS

24-ADAP24-0131 THE ACCRETION RATE AND WHITE DWARF CHARACTERISTICS OF CLASSICAL AND RECURRENT NOVAE: AN ARCHIVAL ULTRAVIOLET SPECTROSCOPIC ANALYSIS

DECIPHERING THE CONNECTION BETWEEN DUST AND ANOMALOUS MICROWAVE EMISSION

UNS: LIFT GENERATION IN A FUNCTIONALIZED SUPRA MOLECULAR POROUS LAYER, FROM RED CELLS TO SUPER LUBRICATION

TRAINING SUCCESSFUL TRAJECTORIES: INTERVENTIONS TO INCREASE MINORITY STUDENT AND FUTURE ENGINEERING AND OTHER STEM FACULTY APPLICATION SUCCESS RATES

THE SARI PROGRAM: TRAINING NURSE SCIENTISTS IN SYSTEMIC AND INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS - SYSTEMIC AND INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS (SIF)—SUCH AS UNSTABLE HOUSING, FOOD INSECURITY, AND EDUCATIONAL GAPS—CONTRIBUTE TO VARIATIONS IN OUTCOMES ACROSS THE LIFESPAN. APPLIED RESEARCH IS URGENTLY NEEDED TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SIF AND HEALTH OUTCOMES AND IDENTIFY EVIDENCE-BASED STRATEGIES TO OPTIMIZE HEALTH FOR ALL INDIVIDUALS. HOWEVER, THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY LACKS ADEQUATE TRAINING AND RESOURCES TO TACKLE THE METHODOLOGICAL CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH STUDYING AND ADDRESSING SIF. WE DESIGNED THE SCHOLARS FOR APPLIED RESEARCH AND IMPACT (SARI) PROGRAM TO ADDRESS THIS CRITICAL NEED BY EQUIPPING A WORKFORCE OF PHD STUDENTS THROUGH MID-CAREER NURSE SCIENTISTS WITH THE SKILLS TO CONDUCT HIGH-QUALITY SIF RESEARCH. NURSE SCIENTISTS ARE OUR PRIMARY DEMOGRAPHIC; HOWEVER, GIVEN THE BENEFITS OF TRANSDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION, THE PROGRAM WILL ALSO BE OPEN TO OTHER SCIENTISTS. TWO NATIONALLY RECRUITED COHORTS OF 15 REJS (N = 30) WILL PARTICIPATE IN 12 MONTHS OF TRAINING, IN WHICH THEY WILL LEARN CONCEPTUAL, METHODOLOGICAL, AND MEASUREMENT STRATEGIES IN SIF RESEARCH. THEY WILL THEN APPLY THESE LEARNINGS TO STUDY THE EVERYDAY ENVIRONMENT (E.G., PHYSICAL/BUILT ENVIRONMENT), AND SOCIAL (E.G., ENGAGEMENT) AND INSTITUTIONAL (E.G., HEALTHCARE) DIFFERENCES. THE INTENT IS TO EFFECT CHANGE ACROSS HEALTH CONDITIONS, POPULATIONS, LIFE COURSE STAGES, AND SIF. WE ASSEMBLED A BROADLY REPRESENTATIVE GROUP OF 33 TRANSDISCIPLINARY EXPERTS TO PROVIDE DIDACTIC CONTENT, MENTORSHIP, HANDS-ON RESEARCH EXPERIENCE IN SIF, AND PROGRAM ADVISEMENT. DRAWING FROM THE RICH RESOURCES AT VILLANOVA, JOHNS HOPKINS, AND HOWARD UNIVERSITIES, OUR FIRST AIM IS TO TRAIN SARI ON THE FUNDAMENTALS OF SIF RESEARCH AND NOVEL STRATEGIES TO REDUCE POOR HEALTH OUTCOMES, LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR A CADRE OF NURSING AND OTHER SCIENTISTS TO INTEGRATE SIF CONCEPTS IN RESEARCH, PRACTICE, EDUCATION, AND POLICY. OUR SECOND AIM IS TO MENTOR SARI IN THE COMPLETION OF A SIF RESEARCH-RELATED PRODUCT. HANDS-ON MENTORSHIP AND RESEARCH EXPOSURE WILL ENABLE SCHOLARS TO CONTINUE TO RESEARCH AND PUBLISH ON THEIR CHOSEN TOPICS AFTER TRAINING, BECOMING LEADERS AT THEIR HOME INSTITUTIONS AND BEYOND. IN OUR THIRD AIM WE WILL EVALUATE THE IMPACT OF THE SARI PROGRAM TO CONSIDER PROGRAM CONTINUATION AND REPLICATION. THESE DATA WILL GUIDE FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS TO ENSURE MAXIMAL IMPACT AND PARTICIPANT SATISFACTION. WE EXPECT THAT THE REACH OF OUR PROGRAM WILL BE EXPONENTIAL AS EACH TRAINEE SHARES WHAT THEY LEARNED WITH THEIR INSTITUTIONS, EMPLOYERS, COLLEAGUES, STUDENTS/TRAINEES, AND BROADER COMMUNITIES TO EFFECT SYSTEMATIC CHANGE. WE WILL ALSO SHARE OUR CURRICULUM MANUAL AND LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR OTHERS TO REPLICATE THE SARI PROGRAM, EXTENDING OUR REACH BEYOND THE PROPOSED AWARD PERIOD.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: PROBE PFAS USING POLYMER SUBSTRATES THROUGH INTERFACIAL INTERACTIONS -PER- AND POLY-FLUOROALKYL SUBSTANCES (PFAS) HAVE RAISED SIGNIFICANT PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERNS DUE TO THEIR POSSIBLE TOXICITY. THEY ARE OFTEN CALLED FOREVER CHEMICALS BECAUSE THEY PERSIST FOR LONG PERIODS IN THE ENVIRONMENT. PFAS CAN CONTAMINATE GROUNDWATER SUPPLIES. RECENT REPORTS SUGGEST THAT PFAS IS PRESENT IN THE DRINKING WATER OF 200 MILLION AMERICANS. THE PROBLEM IS ESPECIALLY SEVERE IN COMMUNITIES THAT LACK MUNICIPAL WATER SUPPLIES AND RELY ON GROUNDWATER. LARGE-SCALE PFAS MONITORING IS EXPENSIVE. THIS PROJECT WILL ADVANCE A NEW PFAS-DETECTION TECHNOLOGY THAT IS FASTER, CHEAPER, AND MORE SENSITIVE THAN CURRENT DETECTION METHODS. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO RAISE AWARENESS OF PFAS RISKS AND MITIGATION STRATEGIES. ADDITIONAL BENEFITS INCLUDE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AND UNDERGRADUATE COURSEWORK IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP. THE PROJECT WILL ADVANCE A NEW METHOD CALLED MOLECULE-PROBED RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY (MPRS) FOR POLLUTANT DETECTION. MPRS RELIES ON MOLECULAR PROBES THAT ARE ATTACHED TO A POLYMER SURFACE. THIS IS DIFFERENT FROM STATE-OF-THE-ART RAMAN METHODS WHICH DETECT C-F BONDS IN PFAS DIRECTLY, WITHOUT USING MOLECULAR PROBES. IN MPRS, WHEN THE -CF GROUP OF THE PFAS INTERACTS WITH THE MOLECULAR PROBE, THERE IS A CHANGE IN THE RAMAN SIGNAL OF THE MOLECULAR PROBE. BY MONITORING THIS CHANGE IN SIGNAL, MPRS CAN DETECT EVEN LOW LEVELS OF PFAS RAPIDLY. THE PROJECT WILL INTEGRATE EXPERIMENTS WITH DENSITY FUNCTIONAL THEORY AND MOLECULAR DYNAMICS SIMULATIONS TO DISCOVER THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN PFAS AND POLYMERS IN AQUATIC ENVIRONMENTS. THE KEY OBJECTIVES OF THIS RESEARCH ARE TO: (1) UNDERSTAND FUNDAMENTAL MECHANISMS OF HOW INTERACTIONS BETWEEN PFAS AND MOLECULAR PROBES AMPLIFY RAMAN SIGNALS AND THEREFORE DISCOVER NEW PROBES FOR PFAS DETECTION, (2) INVESTIGATE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE PFAS ADSORPTION, AND (3) EXPLORE HOW SALTS IMPACT MOLECULAR INTERACTIONS AND PFAS DETECTION. THIS PROJECT WILL CREATE A PORTABLE SENSOR FOR ULTRA-SENSITIVE, RAPID QUANTIFICATION OF PFAS FROM A VARIETY OF WATER SOURCES SUCH AS GROUNDWATER, BRACKISH WATER, AND BLOOD. THE TEAM WILL DEVELOP A NEW INTERACTIVE SEMINAR ON PFAS TARGETING K-12 STUDENTS, THEIR PARENTS, AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC. 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.

ADVANCED NURSING EDUCATION GRANTS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: GP-IN: TRANSFORMING GEOSCIENCE FIELDWORK INTO INTEGRATED, VIRTUAL EDUCATION EXPERIENCES -SUCCESSFUL SOLUTIONS TO COMPLEX GLOBAL CHALLENGES TRANSCEND DISCIPLINARY BOUNDARIES AND NECESSITATE INTEGRATING DIVERSE FIELDS OF KNOWLEDGE, MAKING INTERDISCIPLINARY EDUCATION AN URGENT NEED TO TRAIN OUR NATIONAL WORKFORCE. FEW SCIENCES RELY ON INTEGRATION MORE THAN GEOSCIENCES, WHICH PLAY CRITICAL, FOUNDATIONAL ROLES IN NEARLY EVERY SECTOR OF THE U.S. ECONOMY, FROM ENERGY EXPLORATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION TO DISASTER PREPAREDNESS. EXPERIENCES SUCH AS FIELD TRIPS, SUMMER PROGRAMS, AND HANDS-ON OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES HAVE BEEN REPEATEDLY SHOWN TO INCREASE RETENTION, MAXIMIZE LEARNING GAINS, AND IMPROVE STUDENTS? ATTITUDES, PERCEPTIONS, AND FEELINGS TOWARD STEM TOPICS. UNFORTUNATELY, FIELD TRIPS CAN BE COSTLY, AND PHYSICAL DISABILITIES AND LOGISTICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE CONSTRAINTS CAN RESTRICT ACCESS TO FIELD-BASED LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR MANY STUDENTS, POTENTIALLY HINDERING THEIR INTEREST IN GEOSCIENCE. THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES THIS IMPORTANT IMPEDIMENT TO INCLUSIVITY BY DEVELOPING THE FIRST IMMERSIVE, ONLINE VIRTUAL FIELD TRIP (VFT) THAT CAPITALIZES ON THE EXCITING IMAGERY AND EXPERIENCE OF PALEONTOLOGIC FIELDWORK. THE NOVEL VFT WILL HELP ADDRESS ISSUES IN EXPOSURE TO GEOSCIENCE CONTENT BY PROVIDING HIGH SCHOOL AND EARLY-COLLEGE TEACHERS WITH FREELY AVAILABLE, GEOSCIENCE-INCLUSIVE RESOURCES WHICH CAN BE EASILY INCORPORATED INTO THEIR EXISTING CLASSES. THIS PROJECT WILL CAPITALIZE ON THE BROAD APPEAL OF BOTH DINOSAUR PALEONTOLOGY AND VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS (VFT) BY COMBINING THEM INTO AN INNOVATIVE NEW RESOURCE FOR EDUCATORS. THE VFT WILL COVER CORE PRINCIPLES OF GEOGRAPHY, MATH, BIOLOGY, AND PHYSICS WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF A VIRTUAL PALEONTOLOGY EXPEDITION, WHICH WILL FUNCTION AS AN OPEN-ENDED, SELF-PACED, ?CAPSTONE? EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM EMBEDDED WITH A PLETHORA OF EDUCATIONAL ?TRAINING? MATERIALS AND MEDIA FROM REAL FIELDWORK. THE PRIMARY GOALS OF THIS PROJECT ARE TO: (1) INCREASE EXPOSURE TO GEOSCIENCES IN HIGH SCHOOLS AND EARLY-COLLEGE CLASSROOMS BY INCORPORATING LESSONS UTILIZING GEOSCIENCE EXAMPLES AND PROBLEMS INTO EXISTING COURSES; (2) ENHANCE EDUCATIONAL CONTENT FOR TRADITIONAL COURSES SUCH AS GEOGRAPHY, MATH, PHYSICS, AND BIOLOGY BY INTEGRATING THESE DISCIPLINES, AND; (3) IDENTIFY FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO EFFECTIVE RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION IN THE GEOSCIENCE PIPELINE SO THAT THEY MAY BE EMPLOYED BY EDUCATORS TO SUCCESSFULLY BROADEN PARTICIPATION IN THESE EXCITING AND IMPACTFUL FIELDS. 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.

MANY ULTRAVIOLET SPECTRA OF CATACLYSMIC VARIABLES (CVS) WITH A WHITE DWARF (WD) ACCRETING AT A HIGH RATE HAVE BEEN DIFFICULT EVEN IMPOSSIBLE TO MODEL WITH STANDARD DISK MODELS. THE STANDARD DISK MODELS APPEAR TO BE TOO BLUE IN COMPARISON TO THE OBSERVED SPECTRA. WE PROPOSE TO CARRY OUT A SYSTEMATIC AND CONSISTENT ANALYSIS OF ARCHIVAL ULTRAVIOLET SPECTRA OF 90 CVS USING A TRUNCATED INNERDISK MODEL (BASED AND BACKED BY OBSERVATIONAL DATA AND THEORETICAL RESULTS). WE USE THE SYNTHETIC STELLAR SPECTRA CODES TLUSTY AND SYNSPEC TO GENERATE THESE SYNTHETIC SPECTRA. DERIVING MASS ACCRETION RATES FOR CVS WILL ADVANCE THE THEORIES OF EVOLUTION OF CVS AS WELL AS SHED LIGHT ON THE PHYSICS OF ACCRETION DISKS. AS A BY PRODUCT WE WILL MAKE OUR THEORETICAL SPECTRA PUBLICLY AVAILABLE ONLINE.THIS WILL BE OF INVALUABLE IMPORTANCE TO FUTURE NASA UV MISSIONS. THE WD IS THE MOST COMMON END-PRODUCT OF STELLAR EVOLUTION AND THE ACCRETION DISK IS THE MOST COMMON UNIVERSAL STRUCTURE RESULTING FROM MASS TRANSFER WITH ANGULAR MOMENTUM AND BOTH CAN BE OBSERVED IN CVS IN THE UV. AS A CONSEQUENCE AN UNDERSTANDING OF ACCRETION IN CV SYSTEMS IS THE FIRST STEP TOWARD A GLOBAL UNDERSTANDING OF ACCRETION IN OTHER SYSTEMS THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSE RANGING FROM YOUNG STELLAR OBJECTS GALACTIC BINARIES TO AGN.THIS ADP PROPOSAL ADDRESS THE NASA STRATEGIC GOALS AND SCIENCE OUTCOMES 3D: DISCOVER THE ORIGIN STRUCTURE EVOLUTION AND DESTINY OF THE UNIVERSE AND SEARCH FOR EARTH-LIKE PLANETS.

WE PROPOSE A THREE YEAR EFFORT TO UTILIZE THE WISE DATA TO CREATE A FULL-SKY MAP OF PAH EMISSION. THIS MAP WILL BE COMPARED TO PLANCK DATA PRODUCTS TO TEST THE THEORY THAT PAHS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ANOMALOUS MICROWAVE EMISSION (AME) AT LOW FREQUENCY MICROWAVE DATA. IF SUCH A CORRELATION CAN BE ESTABLISHED IT WILL INCREASE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THIS FOREGROUND FOR FUTURE COSMIC BACKGROUND STUDIES AND WILL ENHANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE PHYSICS OF THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM.

DIMENSIONS: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DIVERSITY AND SYMBIOSIS: EXAMINING THE TAXONOMIC, GENETIC, AND FUNCTIONAL DIVERSITY OF AMPHIBIAN SKIN MICROBIOT

WE PROPOSE TO CARRY OUT A SYSTEMATIC ULTRAVIOLET (UV) SPECTRAL ANALYSIS OF 43 DISK-DOMINATED SYSTEMS IN CATACLYSMIC VARIABLE (CV) BINARIES WITH THE I

ROBOTICS AND SIMULATION FOR COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: NSF-AOF: CIF: SMALL: AI-ASSISTED WAVEFORM AND BEAMFORMING DESIGN FOR INTEGRATED SENSING AND COMMUNICATION -COMMUNICATIONS AND SENSING HAVE TRADITIONALLY OPERATED INDEPENDENTLY, UTILIZING SEPARATE FREQUENCY BANDS AND HARDWARE. THE INTEGRATION OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES, KNOWN AS INTEGRATED SENSING AND COMMUNICATION (ISAC), AIMS TO ENHANCE SPECTRAL, ENERGY, AND COST EFFICIENCY. ISAC DESIGNS FIND APPLICATIONS IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS, LOCALIZATION, AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES, AREA IMAGING, ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING, AND MORE. HOWEVER, ACHIEVING OPTIMAL ISAC DESIGNS SOLELY THROUGH ANALYTICAL APPROACHES FACES CHALLENGES DUE TO PERFORMANCE TRADE-OFFS AND COMPLEXITY. TO OVERCOME THESE HURDLES, THIS PROJECT EMPLOYS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) TO DESIGN SUCH SOLUTIONS AND ESTABLISH THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS FOR ISAC. A UNIQUE EUROPEAN COLLABORATION (FINLAND) UNITES DIVERSE RESEARCH EXPERTISE, FOSTERING ECONOMIC, SOCIETAL, AND RESEARCH IMPACTS. KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER OCCURS THROUGH DISSEMINATION, CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT, STUDENT EXCHANGES, AND INDUSTRY COLLABORATIONS. THE PROJECT ALSO ENGAGES WITH FARMERS' MARKETS TO SHOWCASE ISAC'S POTENTIAL TO BENEFIT LOCAL AGRICULTURE. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO EXPLORE THE OPTIMAL INTEGRATION OF SENSING AND COMMUNICATIONS THROUGH AI-ASSISTED ISAC DESIGNS. THE RESEARCH CONSISTS OF THREE INTERCONNECTED THRUSTS. THE FIRST THRUST INVOLVES DESIGNING UNIFIED WAVEFORMS, CONSTELLATIONS, AND BEAMFORMING TECHNIQUES FOR BOTH SENSING AND COMMUNICATIONS. ADDITIONALLY, AI-BASED CHANNEL LEARNING AND GENERATION METHODS WILL BE DEVELOPED. THE SECOND THRUST FOCUSES ON IMPLEMENTING ISAC DESIGNS USING LARGE APERTURE ARRAYS. THE PROJECT AIMS TO ESTABLISH THE THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE EXTENDED NEAR-FIELD OF ISAC CHANNELS WITH ELECTRICALLY LARGE APERTURE ARRAYS AND LEVERAGE THE UNIQUE CHANNEL CHARACTERISTICS TO OPTIMIZE INTEGRATION GAINS. THE THIRD THRUST IS DEDICATED TO REAL-TIME IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION OF THE AI-ASSISTED ISAC DESIGNS AND ALGORITHMS, CONSIDERING FACTORS SUCH AS PERFORMANCE, ROBUSTNESS, AND ADVANCEMENT METRICS. 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.

IMPROVED TARGET DETECTION IN URBAN STRUCTURES USING DISTRIBUTED SENSING AND FAST DATA ACQUISITION TECHNIQUES

CAREER: ODOR-GUIDED FLAPPING FLIGHT: NOVEL FLUID DYNAMIC MECHANISMS OF INSECT NAVIGATION

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: UNCOVERING THE MULTISCALE DETERMINANTS OF ATYPICAL FEMORAL FRACTURE USING MRI AND CT-BASED MODELING

ECLIPSING BINARY STARS (EBS) SERVE AS FUNDAMENTAL ASTROPHYSICAL LABORATORIES FOR STUDYING THERMODYNAMICAL PROPERTIES OF STARS AND THEIR INTERACTIONS. TESS IS PROVIDING US WITH AN UNPRECEDENTED ALL-SKY PHOTOMETRIC SAMPLE OF BRIGHT EBS. BY CONTINUED

GLOBAL CENTERS TRACK 2: NATURE-BASED URBAN HYDROLOGY CENTER -CLIMATE CHANGE CONTINUES TO EXACERBATE ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH URBAN GROWTH. TO HELP MINIMIZE THESE CHALLENGES FOR URBAN HYDROLOGIC SYSTEMS AROUND THE WORLD, NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS (NBS) ARE BECOMING A POPULAR STRATEGY. THE NATURE-BASED URBAN HYDROLOGY CENTER (NUHC) WILL PROVIDE GLOBALLY RELEVANT, SUSTAINABLE, HOLISTIC, TRANSFERABLE, AND COMMUNITY-DRIVEN APPROACHES TO RESPOND TO URBAN HYDROLOGY CHALLENGES. ALIGNED WITH THE GOALS OF THE GLOBAL CENTERS PROGRAM, THIS AWARD SUPPORTS THE PLANNING PHASE OF THE NUHC TO BRING TOGETHER AN INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM OF DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS TO PERFORM USE-INSPIRED RESEARCH. WORKING WITH URBAN COMMUNITIES, THE NUHC WILL SHARE KNOWLEDGE AND MAKE BROADLY TRANSFERABLE ADVANCES THAT LEVERAGE NBS TO MEET THE CHALLENGES BROUGHT BY CLIMATE CHANGE ON URBAN HYDROLOGY. THE NUHC WILL ESTABLISH A CLEARINGHOUSE FOR EASILY SHARED DATA AND FINDINGS THAT DOES NOT CURRENTLY EXIST, AS WELL AS ENABLE BETTER MODELING AND DATA ANALYSIS. THROUGH GLOBAL COLLABORATION, THE NUHC WILL BROADEN UNDERSTANDING OF THE POTENTIAL BENEFIT OF NBS ON URBAN HYDROLOGY, INCREASE NBS ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AND RESILIENCE, ADVANCE UNDERSTANDING OF THESE SYSTEMS TO INFLUENCE POLICY, AND AID IN IMPROVING THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIAL EQUITY. THE NUHC PLANNING PHASE WILL BUILD A FRAMEWORK TO ENGAGE STUDENTS, URBAN COMMUNITIES, AND INDUSTRY AND ACADEMIC COLLEAGUES TO PROMOTE ISSUES OF FAIRNESS AND SUSTAINABILITY WITHIN URBAN HYDROLOGY. AS CLIMATE CHANGE EXACERBATES ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH URBAN GROWTH GLOBALLY, NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS (NBS) ARE RAPIDLY BECOMING THE PREVALENT STRATEGY TO MITIGATE THE VARIED IMPACTS ON URBAN HYDROLOGY SYSTEMS. HOWEVER, CURRENTLY THERE IS NO COMMON DATA PORTAL OR CONTROLLED LANGUAGE AROUND NBS, THERE IS INCONSISTENT TERMINOLOGY, DIFFERING DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE GOALS, AND CHALLENGES IN SCALING AND TRANSFERRING FINDINGS INHIBIT WIDESPREAD SHARING OF KNOWLEDGE. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO PLAN AND DESIGN THE NUHC TO BRING TOGETHER A GROUP OF DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS THAT HAVE DEEP KNOWLEDGE ON DIVERSE ASPECTS OF URBAN HYDROLOGY AND NBS THAT WILL ENABLE SIGNIFICANT ADVANCES IN DESIGN AND POLICY PRACTICES TO DEVELOP APPROACHES FOR RESTORATION, AND PROTECTION THAT CONSIDER BROADER CONTEXTS, SUCH AS ECOSYSTEM HEALTH, STREAM HEALTH, SOIL HEALTH, SOCIAL HEALTH, AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT. A KEY OUTCOME WILL BE TO CREATE A DATA STRUCTURE TO LEVERAGE EXISTING DATA AND TO EASILY SHARE DATA AND FINDINGS TO ADVANCE MODELING AND ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES TO DETERMINE NBS AND URBAN HYDROLOGY TRENDS, COMMONALITIES, AND DIFFERENCES BASED ON CLIMATE, POLICY, DESIGN, AND PHYSIOGRAPHIC PARAMETERS. AS PART OF THIS PLANNING PROJECT, A FRAMEWORK FOR HOW GLOBAL PARTNERS CAN WORK TOGETHER, CHOOSE RELEVANT RESEARCH PROJECTS, TRAIN STUDENTS, AND ENGAGE URBAN COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND INDUSTRY AND ACADEMIC PARTNERS WILL BE DEVELOPED. THROUGH GLOBAL COLLABORATION, THIS PROJECT WILL BROADEN THE COMMUNITY?S UNDERSTANDING OF NBS AND URBAN HYDROLOGY, INCREASE NBS ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AND RESILIENCE, ADVANCE UNDERSTANDING OF THESE SYSTEMS TO INFLUENCE POLICY, AND AID IN IMPROVING THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIAL EQUITY. THIS AWARD IS FUNDED BY THE GLOBAL CENTERS PROGRAM, AN INNOVATIVE PROGRAM THAT SUPPORTS USE-INSPIRED RESEARCH ADDRESSING GLOBAL CHALLENGES RELATED TO CLIMATE CHANGE AND/OR CLEAN ENERGY. TRACK 2 DESIGN AWARDS SUPPORT U.S.-BASED RESEARCHERS TO BRING TOGETHER INTERNATIONAL TEAMS TO DEVELOP RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS, CONDUCT LANDSCAPE ANALYSES, SYNTHESIZE DATA, AND/OR BUILD MULTI-STAKEHOLDER NETWORKS TO ADVANCE THEIR USE-INSPIRED RESEARCH AT LARGER SCALE IN THE FUTURE. 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.

LEAPS-MPS: COMBINATORICS FROM AN ALGEBRAIC AND GEOMETRIC LENS -THIS AWARD IS FUNDED IN WHOLE OR IN PART UNDER THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT OF 2021 (PUBLIC LAW 117-2). THE FOCUS OF THIS PROJECT IS THREEFOLD. FIRST, TO STUDY PERMUTATIONS FROM A COMBINATORIAL AND GEOMETRIC POINT OF VIEW. PERMUTATIONS ARE WAYS TO DESCRIBE SYMMETRIES AND ARRANGEMENTS OF OBJECTS. THEY HAVE APPLICATIONS IN MANY FIELDS SUCH AS COMPUTER SCIENCE (E.G., SORTING ALGORITHMS), PHYSICS (E.G., DESCRIBING STATES OF QUANTUM PARTICLES), AND BIOLOGY (E.G., DESCRIBING RNA SEQUENCES). THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO DESCRIBE THE COMPOSITION OF PERMUTATIONS THAT SHARE A GIVEN COLLECTION OF PROPERTIES AND THEIR SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION WHEN PLOTTING THESE PERMUTATIONS IN A CARTESIAN SPACE. THE SECOND FOCUS IS THE STUDY OF ARITHMETICAL STRUCTURES OF GRAPHS. GRAPHS ARE WAYS TO GEOMETRICALLY DESCRIBE A GIVEN RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN A COLLECTION OF OBJECTS. ARITHMETICAL STRUCTURES OF GRAPHS PROVIDE (AMONG OTHER THINGS) A COMBINATORIAL DESCRIPTION OF THE NUMBER OF TIMES CERTAIN CURVES INTERSECT. THE PI SEEKS TO DESCRIBE THE TOTAL NUMBER OF ARITHMETICAL STRUCTURES IN CERTAIN COLLECTION OF GRAPHS. FINALLY, THE PROJECT WILL CREATE THE VILLANOVA-PUERTO RICO RESEARCH RETREAT (VPR^3), A COLLABORATION RESEARCH SUMMER PROGRAM BETWEEN STUDENTS AT VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY AND THE UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO. THE PROJECT BUILDS ON PREVIOUS WORK TO BETTER UNDERSTAND PEAK AND DESCENTS OF PERMUTATIONS. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO DESCRIBE THE STRUCTURE COEFFICIENTS OF THE PEAK ALGEBRA AND PROVIDE A COMBINATORIAL RECIPROCITY THEORY FOR THE COEFFICIENTS OF PEAK AND DESCENT POLYNOMIALS. THESE POLYNOMIALS ARE CRUCIAL IN THE ENUMERATION OF PERMUTATIONS WITH A GIVEN PEAK OR DESCENT SET. A SECOND GOAL IS TO DESCRIBE A COLLECTION OF POLYTOPES CREATED BY PERMUTATIONS THAT SHARE PEAK SETS AND THOSE THAT SHARE DESCENT SETS. FINALLY, THE PI WILL STUDY THE COLLECTION OF ARITHMETICAL STRUCTURES ON A FAMILY OF ?Y-GRAPHS? TO ENUMERATE THEM AND TO DESCRIBE THE EFFECT OF A SMOOTHING OPERATION ON THESE ARITHMETICAL STRUCTURES. 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.

IRES CAMBODIA: MECHATRONICS FOR HUMANITARIAN REMEDIATION OF EXPLOSIVE REMNANTS OF WAR

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: NRI: SMART SKINS FOR ROBOTIC PROSTHETIC HAND -IN THE U.S., THERE ARE OVER 41,000 REGISTERED PERSONS WHO HAD AN AMPUTATION OF HAND OR COMPLETE ARM, AND APPROXIMATELY 10,000 NEW AMPUTATION CASES IN THE UPPER LIMB EACH YEAR. PROSTHETIC HANDS THAT CAN SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF AMPUTEES? LIFE ARE HIGHLY DESIRED TO RESTORE MANY ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING, PARTICULARLY IN HAND GRASPING AND OBJECT MANIPULATION. HOWEVER, BEING ABLE TO USE THE HAND ACCURATELY REMAINS A GRAND AND FUNDAMENTAL CHALLENGE IN ROBOTIC PROSTHETIC HANDS, ESPECIALLY IN THE DESIRED TRAIT OF SLIP PREVENTION FOR RELIABLE AND STABLE GRASPING IN REAL LIFE ENVIRONMENTS. THE CHALLENGE RESIDES IN INTEGRATING FAST SENSING OF SLIP DETECTION AND RAPID MOVEMENT IN THE SMALL-AREA IN THE FINGERTIPS TO PREVENT SLIPPAGE THROUGH THE USE OF SENSORS AND CONTROLS OF THE PROSTHETIC HANDS. THIS PROJECT PROPOSES TO MEET THIS CHALLENGE BY EXPLORING A NEW CONCEPT OF A SKIN THAT CAN CHANGE ITS SHAPE FOR PROSTHETIC HANDS IN REAL-TIME. FOR THIS RESEARCH PROJECT, THE INVESTIGATORS WILL EXPLORE HOW TO ADJUST THE SKIN FRICTION AUTOMATICALLY. THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO SIGNIFICANTLY ADVANCE THE CURRENT STATE-OF-THE-ART PROSTHETIC HANDS TO ACHIEVE THE SIMILAR FUNCTIONALITY OF HUMAN HANDS, AS WELL AS ENHANCE THE ABILITY OF UPPER LIMB AMPUTEES FOR PERFORMING ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING. THROUGH BOTH COLLABORATIVE AND INDIVIDUAL EFFORTS OF THE INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM WITH DISTRIBUTED GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION ACROSS THE COUNTRY (RALEIGH, PHILADELPHIA, AND ROLLA), THIS NSF PROJECT OFFERS A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO INTEGRATE INSIGHTS FROM ROBOTICS, MECHANICS, DESIGN, ADVANCED MANUFACTURING TO GENERATE AN INTRIGUING AND VISUALLY APPEALING BROAD PARTICIPATION PLAN. THROUGH EXISTING PROGRAMS, SUCH AS SENIOR DESIGN PROJECTS, SOCIETY OF WOMEN ENGINEERING, HONOR PROGRAM, AND UNC WORKING ON WOMEN IN SCIENCE, THE INVESTIGATORS WILL ENCOURAGE UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN RESEARCH ACTIVITIES, INCLUDING FEMALE AND AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS. WITH THE HELP OF ESTABLISHED SIMILAR SUMMER PROGRAMS AND OTHER EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS IN EACH INSTITUTION, THE INVESTIGATORS AIM TO IMPROVE THE STEM EDUCATION OF K-12 STUDENTS. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO FUNDAMENTALLY UNDERSTAND THE ADAPTIVE TACTILE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE SMART SHAPE-MORPHING ROBOTIC SKINS AND GRASPED OBJECTS FOR AUTONOMOUS SLIP PREVENTION IN ROBOTIC PROSTHETIC HANDS. THREE THRUSTS WILL BE PURSUED RANGING FROM FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF CONTACT BEHAVIORS IN SMART MORPHING SKINS-OBJECTS THROUGH DESIGN, FABRICATION, ACTUATION, AND MODELING IN THRUST 1, TO INTEGRATE FLEXIBLE TACTILE AND SPATIAL SENSING ON THE SMART SKINS IN THRUST 2, AND TO INTERACTIVE INTEGRATED HUMAN-ROBOTIC SYSTEM FOR ANTI-SLIP EVALUATION IN THRUST 3. THIS PROJECT WILL EXAMINE AND DEMONSTRATE THE INTEGRATION OF MULTI-SCALE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES TO ACHIEVE COMPLEX FUNCTIONAL SYSTEMS AT HUMAN-OBJECT INTERFACE, AS WELL AS THE INNOVATIVE REFLEX-LIKE CONTROL OF A ROBOTIC PROSTHESIS HAND. THIS PROJECT WILL GENERATE NEW KNOWLEDGE ON THE ACTIVE ROLE OF ACTUATED SHAPE-MORPHING SURFACE MORPHOLOGIES IN TUNING THE FRICTION. THE TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH ON UPPER LIMB AMPUTEES WILL PROVIDE NEW INSIGHT ON HUMAN-PROSTHESIS INTERACTIONS AND EFFECTIVENESS OF SHARED PROSTHESIS CONTROL PARADIGM ON AMPUTEES? MOTOR FUNCTION AND COGNITIVE LOAD. THIS PROJECT WILL ALSO ADVANCE THE KNOWLEDGE IN THE MULTIDISCIPLINARY FIELD OF MECHANICS, SENSING, MANUFACTURING, ROBOTIC PROSTHESIS CONTROLS, AND HUMAN-ROBOT INTERACTION. 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.

TEST AND MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENTATION FOR TRANSPARENT URBAN STRUCTURE

RUI: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: MARINE AEROSOLS IN THE ARCTIC: LINKING SURFACE WATER CHEMISTRY AND BIOLOGY WITH PRIMARY PARTICLE PRODUCTION

IUSE COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DATA COMPUTING FOR ALL: DEVELOPING AN INTRODUCTORY DATA SCIENCE COURSE IN FLIPPED FORMAT

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: UNDERSTANDING STEM TEACHING THROUGH INTEGRATED CONTEXTS IN EVERYDAY LIFE

A HOPE INTERVENTION TO INFLUENCE QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG FEMALE SURVIVORS OF CHILDH

REU SITE: ASTROPHYSICS AND CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS AT VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CRYOPRESERVATION OF ZEBRAFISH OOCYTES BY AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: SELF-REGULATING ARTIFICIAL CILIA ARRAYS WITH STEREOTYPIC MOTOR PATTERNS FOR OMNIDIRECTIONAL FLUID AND PARTICLE MANIPULATION -MICROSCALE CONTROL OF LIQUIDS AND SUSPENDED PARTICLES IS ESSENTIAL FOR THE NEXT-GENERATION MEDICAL DIAGNOSTICS, ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING, AND FOR DEVELOPMENT OF MINIATURE SOFT MACHINES CAPABLE OF LOCOMOTION IN COMPLEX FLUID ENVIRONMENTS. YET EXISTING DEVICES STEER FLUID FLOW ALONG ONLY A FEW FIXED DIRECTIONS AND LOSE PRECISION WHEN CONDITIONS CHANGE. THIS PROJECT WILL CREATE ARTIFICIAL MOTILE CILIA ARRAYS (SOFT FILAMENTS SLIMMER THAN A HUMAN HAIR) THAT CAN ADJUST THEIR RHYTHM ON THE FLY AND MOVE FLUID OR CARGO IN ANY DIRECTION. BY MELDING RECENT PROGRESS IN SOFT-COMPOSITE MANUFACTURING, EMBEDDED SENSING, AND MODEL-BASED CONTROL, THE WORK SEEKS TO EMULATE THE VERSATILITY OF LIVING CILIA WHILE OFFERING GREATER DURABILITY AND SCALABILITY. THE ANTICIPATED ADVANCE WILL NOT ONLY DEEPEN FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF MICROSCALE TRANSPORT, BUT ALSO STRENGTHEN NATIONAL HEALTH THROUGH FASTER DIAGNOSTICS AND GENTLER CELL HANDLING. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO PROPEL ECONOMIC PROSPERITY BY ENABLING AGILE SOFT MICROROBOTS FOR TARGETED DRUG DELIVERY AND HIGH-PRECISION MICROASSEMBLY OF NEXT-GENERATION DEVICES. A COORDINATED EDUCATION PLAN WILL INTEGRATE PROJECT DISCOVERIES INTO UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE CURRICULA, OFFER MENTORED RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS, AND DELIVER HANDS-ON DEMONSTRATIONS TO LEARNERS FROM KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE TWELVE. THE RESEARCH WILL ESTABLISH A NEW CLASS OF SELF-REGULATING ARTIFICIAL CILIA ARRAYS DESIGNED TO ENABLE PRECISE, ENERGY-EFFICIENT MANIPULATION OF FLUIDS AND SUSPENDED PARTICLES IN THREE DIMENSIONS. EACH SOFT FILAMENT IN THE ARRAY WILL OPERATE UNDER LOCALIZED ACTUATION AND EMBEDDED FEEDBACK, ALLOWING IT TO AUTONOMOUSLY ADJUST ITS MOTION IN RESPONSE TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS. RATHER THAN RELYING ON PRE-PROGRAMMED SEQUENCES, THE SYSTEM WILL EXPLOIT HYDRODYNAMIC INTERACTIONS AND INTERNAL SENSING TO GENERATE COORDINATED, ADAPTIVE WAVE-LIKE PATTERNS THAT EMERGE FROM SIMPLE LOCAL RULES. THIS SELF-ORGANIZATION ENABLES ROBUST CONTROL OVER THE FLOW DIRECTION AND TRANSPORT BEHAVIOR, EVEN AS FLUID PROPERTIES OR EXTERNAL CONSTRAINTS CHANGE. A PROTOTYPE ARRAY WILL BE BUILT TO DEMONSTRATE THESE CAPABILITIES IN REPRESENTATIVE VISCOUS MEDIA. IN PARALLEL, THEORETICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL STUDIES WILL INFORM THE DESIGN OF CONTROL STRATEGIES AND GUIDE THE SCALING OF THE SYSTEM FOR BROADER APPLICATION. THE RESULTING FRAMEWORK WILL OFFER A VERSATILE FOUNDATION FOR NEXT-GENERATION MICROFLUIDIC DEVICES AND SOFT ROBOTIC SYSTEMS CAPABLE OF AUTONOMOUS OPERATION IN COMPLEX, DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENTS. 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.

UNRAVELING THE INTERACTIONS OF URBAN SEDIMENTS AND FLOODPLAIN FUNCTION

EVALUATING AND IMPROVING THE EFFICACY OF EXTRACORPOREAL CARDIOPULMONARY RESUSCITATION (ECPR) IN PEDIATRIC PATIENTS USING INTERACTIVE MACHINE LEARNING - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT PEDIATRIC CARDIAC ARREST IS A SERIOUS LIFE-THREATENING PROBLEM AFFECTING MORE THAN 15,000 HOSPITALIZED CHILDREN EACH YEAR IN THE US ALONE. FEWER THAN 50% OF THESE CHILDREN SURVIVE TO HOSPITAL DISCHARGE, AND NEUROLOGICAL MORBIDITY IS COMMON AMONG THOSE WHO SURVIVE. IMPORTANTLY, PEDIATRIC CARDIAC ARREST SURVIVAL OUTCOMES PLATEAUED MORE THAN A DECADE AGO, AND THERE IS HENCE A CRITICAL NEED FOR EVIDENCE-BASED AND INNOVATIVE THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES. IN PARTICULAR, A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF PATIENTS FAIL TO ACHIEVE RETURN OF SPONTANEOUS CIRCULATION (ROSC) EVEN AF- TER 30 MINUTES OF CONVENTIONAL CPR AND MAY BE CANDIDATES FOR WHAT IS TERMED EXTRACORPOREAL CARDIOPULMONARY RESUSCITATION (ECPR). ECPR IS A TREATMENT THAT INVOLVES THE USE OF VENO-ARTERIAL EXTRACORPOREAL MEMBRANE OXY- GENATION (VA-ECMO) AND HAS BEEN USED SUCCESSFULLY FOR RESUSCITATION FROM SHOCK OR CARDIAC ARREST IN ADULT AND PEDIATRIC PATIENTS. IT IS OFTEN UTILIZED AS AN ALTERNATIVE RESUSCITATION INTERVENTION FOR IN-HOSPITAL CARDIAC ARREST (IHCA) PATIENTS. CURRENTLY IT IS NOT CLEAR IF AND WHICH SUBPOPULATION OF CARDIAC ARREST VICTIMS MAY BENEFIT FROM THIS INTERVENTION. HENCE THIS PROPOSAL AIMS TO DEVELOP ADVANCED MACHINE LEARNING AND SIGNAL PROCESSING ALGO- RITHMS USING A SIZEABLE, HIGH-QUALITY DATASET WHICH WILL IDENTIFY SPECIFIC UNDERLYING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PATIENT WHO WOULD BENEFIT FROM ECPR. IN PARTICULAR, IN AIM 1, WE WILL DEVELOP A MODEL USING PRE-ARREST DEMOGRAPHIC, PHYSIOLOGIC, AND BIOCHEMICAL DATA TO PREDICT FAILURE TO ACHIEVE ROSC WITHIN 30 MINUTES OF CPR. WE WILL ALSO DE- VELOP A MODEL USING PRE-ARREST AND INTRA-ARREST PHYSIOLOGIC DATA, INCLUDING CONTINUOUS INVASIVE AND NON-INVASIVE WAVEFORM DATA OVER THE FIRST <5, <10, <15, <20, <30 MINUTES OF CPR TO PREDICT FAILURE TO ACHIEVE ROSC. IN AIM 2, WE WILL IDENTIFY PRE- AND INTRA-ARREST CHARACTERISTICS FROM DISCONTINUOUS DATA AND CONTINUOUS INVASIVE AND NON-INVASIVE WAVEFORM DATA OF ECPR AND DEVELOP A MODEL TO PREDICT SURVIVABILITY TO HOSPITAL DISCHARGE. SUCH A MODEL WOULD ENABLE INITIATION OF ECPR IN CRITICALLY ILL PATIENTS WHO ARE UNLIKELY TO SURVIVE OTHERWISE AND HENCE LEAD TO OVERALL IMPROVEMENT OF SURVIVAL FOR IN-HOSPITAL CPR PATIENTS.

ROBUST CONTROL OF NETWORKS OF HETEROGENEOUS NONHOLONOMIC VEHICLES IN UNCERTAIN ENVIRONMENTS

TRYPANOSOME RNA SYNTHESIS: CHARACTERIZATION OF A NOVEL TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR AS A

KINETICS OF INTRACELLULAR ICE FORMATION DURING CRYOPRESERVATION OF TISSUE ENGINEERED CONSTRUCTS

WE PROPOSE TO INVESTIGATE THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE HOT COMPONENTS OF SYMBIOTIC VARIABLE STARS. THEY ARE BINARY STAR SYSTEMS CONSISTING OF A RED

WHITE DWARFS IN CATACLYSMIC VARIABLES: PROBES OF EVOLUTION AND ACCRETION PHYSICS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: MATERIALS CHARACTERIZATION TOWARD UNDERSTANDING THE CLEANING AND PRESERVATION OF PAINTED MODERN ART SURFACES

SPECTRAL AND EXTREMAL GRAPH THEORY -THIS PROJECT IS IN GRAPH THEORY, WHERE PROPERTIES AND STRUCTURES OF A NETWORK ARE EXPLORED. THE PI WILL FOCUS ON EXTREMAL GRAPH THEORY WHICH ATTEMPTS TO QUANTIFY WHAT COMBINATORIAL PROPERTIES A GRAPH MUST HAVE WHEN IT GETS LARGE (WHERE SIZE CAN BE DEFINED BY SEVERAL GRAPH PARAMETERS, EACH GIVING AN INTERESTING THEORY). THE PROJECT HAS TWO MAIN THRUSTS. FIRST TO STUDY CLASSICAL TURAN AND RAMSEY THEORY, TWO CENTRAL AREAS IN COMBINATORICS. AND SECOND TO STUDY EXTREMAL PROBLEMS IN SPECTRAL GRAPH THEORY, WHERE ONE USES LINEAR ALGEBRA TO DEDUCE COMBINATORIAL PROPERTIES OF THE GRAPH VIA MATRICES. THESE PROBLEMS ARE FUNDAMENTAL ONES IN GRAPH THEORY AND ADDITIONALLY HAVE APPLICATIONS TO FINITE GEOMETRY, COMBINATORIAL NUMBER THEORY, COMBINATORIAL MATRIX THEORY, AND THEORETICAL COMPUTER SCIENCE. THE PROJECT WILL WILL ALSO HAVE A SPECIFIC FOCUS ON ADVISING STUDENT RESEARCH. THE PROJECT WILL FIRST ATTEMPT TWO NOTORIOUSLY DIFFICULT PROBLEMS IN EXTREMAL GRAPH THEORY: FINDING CONSTRUCTIONS OF GRAPHS CERTIFYING LOWER BOUNDS FOR BIPARTITE TURAN NUMBERS AND FINDING CONSTRUCTIONS OF RAMSEY GRAPHS. THE PI WILL DEVELOP THE RECENT TREND OF COMBINING ALGEBRAIC AND GEOMETRIC OBJECTS WITH PROBABILISTIC METHODS TO MAKE PROGRESS ON THESE TWO DIFFICULT AREAS. SECOND, THE PROJECT WILL ATTEMPT TO SOLVE SEVERAL LONG-STANDING CONJECTURES IN SPECTRAL GRAPH THEORY REGARDING FOR EXAMPLE SPECTRAL GAPS OF GRAPHS, NORDHAUS-GADDUM TYPE PROBLEMS, AND SPECTRAL VERSIONS OF TURAN-TYPE PROBLEMS. ADDITIONALLY, APPLICATIONS IN DISCRETE GEOMETRY AND COMBINATORIAL NUMBER THEORY WILL BE EXPLORED USING GRAPH THEORETIC METHODS. 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.

THE SPREADING OF MATTER IN BOUNDARY LAYERS OF ACCRETING WHITE DWARFS: RELEVANCE TO SPACE OBSERVATION

RUI: THE MULTI-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURE OF URBAN LANDSCAPES AND THE SUPPLY AND DISTRIBUTION OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

ADVANCED ALGORITHMS FOR NONLINEAR SYSTEM DIAGNOSTICS

THE PURPOSE OF THE LOW-INCOME TAXPAYER CLINIC LITC GRANT IS TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO, 1. A CLINICAL PROGRAM AT AN ACCREDITED LAW, BUSINESS, OR ACCOUNTING SCHOOL IN WHICH STUDENTS REPRESENT LOW-INCOME TAXPAYERS IN CONTROVERSIES ARISING UNDER IRC 7526. 2. AN ORGANIZATION DESCRIBED IN SECTION 501C AND EXEMPT FROM TAX UNDER SECTION 501A THROUGH REPRESENTATION OF TAXPAYERS OR REFERRAL OF TAXPAYERS TO QUALIFIED REPRESENTATIVES. ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED UNDER THE LITC PROGRAM, THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE AWARDS GRANTS SO THAT GRANT RECIPIENTS ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE TAX REPRESENTATION BEFORE THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE OR OTHER TRIBUNAL ON FEDERAL TAX MATTERS, EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES ON VARIOUS TAX TOPICS AND ADVOCACY ON TAX ISSUES IMPACTING THE INTENDED BENEFICIARIES. END GOAL AND EXPECTED OUTCOMES, THE LITC PROGRAM AWARDS GRANTS TO, 1. OPEN NEW AND WORK PREVIOUSLY OPENED REPRESENTATION CASES. 2. CONSULT WITH TAXPAYERS ON THEIR SPECIFIC TAX ISSUE. 3. CONDUCT EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES. 4. MAKE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE IMPROVEMENT TO TAX ADMINISTRATION BY ADVOCATING FOR CHANGES OR IMPROVEMENTS TO IRS ADMINISTRATION. INTENDED BENEFICIARIES, TAXPAYERS WITH INCOMES THAT DO NOT EXCEED 250 PERCENT OF THE FEDERAL POVERTY GUIDELINES AND TAXPAYERS FOR WHOM ENGLISH IS THEIR SECOND LANGUAGE. SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES, IN LIMITED CIRCUMSTANCES AND WITH ADVANCED APPROVAL BY THE LITC PROGRAM OFFICE, SUBRECIPIENTS MAY BE UTILIZED BY GRANT RECIPIENTS TO HELP DELIVER KEY BROADBAND ELEMENTS OF THE PROGRAM. 5. REASON FOR MODIFICATION IF SHOWING A POSITIVE AMOUNT IS AN OBLIGATION FOR THE YEAR THAT IS REPRESENTED BY THE FIRST TWO DIGITS OF THE PRIME AWARD I.D., IF SHOWING A NEGATIVE AMOUNT IT IS A DE-OBLIGATION OR A RETURN OF FUNDS FOR THE YEAR REPRESENTED BY THE FIRST TWO DIGITS OF THE PRIME AWARD I.D.

THE PURPOSE OF THE LOW-INCOME TAXPAYER CLINIC LITC GRANT IS TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO, 1. A CLINICAL PROGRAM AT AN ACCREDITED LAW, BUSINESS, OR ACCOUNTING SCHOOL IN WHICH STUDENTS REPRESENT LOW-INCOME TAXPAYERS IN CONTROVERSIES ARISING UNDER IRC 7526. 2. AN ORGANIZATION DESCRIBED IN SECTION 501C AND EXEMPT FROM TAX UNDER SECTION 501A THROUGH REPRESENTATION OF TAXPAYERS OR REFERRAL OF TAXPAYERS TO QUALIFIED REPRESENTATIVES. ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED UNDER THE LITC PROGRAM, THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE AWARDS GRANTS SO THAT GRANT RECIPIENTS ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE TAX REPRESENTATION BEFORE THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE OR OTHER TRIBUNAL ON FEDERAL TAX MATTERS, EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES ON VARIOUS TAX TOPICS AND ADVOCACY ON TAX ISSUES IMPACTING THE INTENDED BENEFICIARIES. END GOAL AND EXPECTED OUTCOMES, THE LITC PROGRAM AWARDS GRANTS TO, 1. OPEN NEW AND WORK PREVIOUSLY OPENED REPRESENTATION CASES. 2. CONSULT WITH TAXPAYERS ON THEIR SPECIFIC TAX ISSUE. 3. CONDUCT EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES. 4. MAKE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE IMPROVEMENT TO TAX ADMINISTRATION BY ADVOCATING FOR CHANGES OR IMPROVEMENTS TO IRS ADMINISTRATION. INTENDED BENEFICIARIES, TAXPAYERS WITH INCOMES THAT DO NOT EXCEED 250 PERCENT OF THE FEDERAL POVERTY GUIDELINES AND TAXPAYERS FOR WHOM ENGLISH IS THEIR SECOND LANGUAGE. SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES, IN LIMITED CIRCUMSTANCES AND WITH ADVANCED APPROVAL BY THE LITC PROGRAM OFFICE, SUBRECIPIENTS MAY BE UTILIZED BY GRANT RECIPIENTS TO HELP DELIVER KEY BROADBAND ELEMENTS OF THE PROGRAM. 5. REASON FOR MODIFICATION IF SHOWING A POSITIVE AMOUNT IS AN OBLIGATION FOR THE YEAR THAT IS REPRESENTED BY THE FIRST TWO DIGITS OF THE PRIME AWARD I.D., IF SHOWING A NEGATIVE AMOUNT IT IS A DEOBLIGATION OR A RETURN OF FUNDS FOR THE YEAR REPRESENTED BY THE FIRST TWO DIGITS OF THE PRIME AWARD I.D.

THE PURPOSE OF THE LOW-INCOME TAXPAYER CLINIC LITC GRANT IS TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO, 1. A CLINICAL PROGRAM AT AN ACCREDITED LAW, BUSINESS, OR ACCOUNTING SCHOOL IN WHICH STUDENTS REPRESENT LOW-INCOME TAXPAYERS IN CONTROVERSIES ARISING UNDER IRC 7526. 2. AN ORGANIZATION DESCRIBED IN SECTION 501C AND EXEMPT FROM TAX UNDER SECTION 501A THROUGH REPRESENTATION OF TAXPAYERS OR REFERRAL OF TAXPAYERS TO QUALIFIED REPRESENTATIVES. ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED UNDER THE LITC PROGRAM, THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE AWARDS GRANTS SO THAT GRANT RECIPIENTS ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE TAX REPRESENTATION BEFORE THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE OR OTHER TRIBUNAL ON FEDERAL TAX MATTERS, EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES ON VARIOUS TAX TOPICS AND ADVOCACY ON TAX ISSUES IMPACTING THE INTENDED BENEFICIARIES. END GOAL AND EXPECTED OUTCOMES, THE LITC PROGRAM AWARDS GRANTS TO, 1. OPEN NEW AND WORK PREVIOUSLY OPENED REPRESENTATION CASES. 2. CONSULT WITH TAXPAYERS ON THEIR SPECIFIC TAX ISSUE. 3. CONDUCT EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES. 4. MAKE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE IMPROVEMENT TO TAX ADMINISTRATION BY ADVOCATING FOR CHANGES OR IMPROVEMENTS TO IRS ADMINISTRATION. INTENDED BENEFICIARIES, TAXPAYERS WITH INCOMES THAT DO NOT EXCEED 250 PERCENT OF THE FEDERAL POVERTY GUIDELINES AND TAXPAYERS FOR WHOM ENGLISH IS THEIR SECOND LANGUAGE. SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES, IN LIMITED CIRCUMSTANCES AND WITH ADVANCED APPROVAL BY THE LITC PROGRAM OFFICE, SUBRECIPIENTS MAY BE UTILIZED BY GRANT RECIPIENTS TO HELP DELIVER KEY BROADBAND ELEMENTS OF THE PROGRAM. 5. REASON FOR MODIFICATION IF SHOWING A POSITIVE AMOUNT IS AN OBLIGATION FOR THE YEAR THAT IS REPRESENTED BY THE FIRST TWO DIGITS OF THE PRIME AWARD I.D., IF SHOWING A NEGATIVE AMOUNT IT IS A DE-OBLIGATION OR A RETURN OF FUNDS FOR THE YEAR REPRESENTED BY THE FIRST TWO DIGITS OF THE PRIME AWARD I.D.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ECCS: SMALL: PERSONALIZED RF SENSING: LEARNING OPTIMAL REPRESENTATIONS OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES AND ETHOGRAM ON THE FLY -RADIO FREQUENCY (RF) SENSING CAN BE A GAME CHANGER TO REDUCE HEALTHCARE COSTS AND DISPARITIES, IMPROVE QUALITY OF CARE, AND FACILITATE AGING-IN-PLACE BECAUSE THEY ARE NON-CONTACT, LOW-POWER DEVICES THAT ARE EFFECTIVE IN THE DARK, DO NOT LIMIT OR ALTER FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT, AND DO NOT ACQUIRE PRIVATE VISUAL OR AUDIO RECORDINGS. HOWEVER, A SIGNIFICANT IMPEDIMENT TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF RF TECHNOLOGIES FOR RECOGNITION AND HEALTH ASSESSMENT OF HUMAN GAIT IS THE CONTINUOUS AND SEQUENTIAL NATURE OF HUMAN MOVEMENT, WHICH CAN BE CHARACTERIZED BY PERIODS OF ACTIVITY AND TRANSITIONS BETWEEN ACTIVITIES THAT DEPEND UPON A PERSON?S MOBILITY. GAIT IS A PERSON-SPECIFIC TRAIT THAT EMBODIES IMPORTANT HEALTH INFORMATION FOR MANY DISORDERS AS WELL AS AGING RELATED IMPACTS. THUS, A SECOND IMPORTANT CHALLENGE IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONALIZED MACHINE LEARNING (ML) MODELS THAT CONTINUALLY LEARN FROM PERSON-SPECIFIC RF DATA TO IMPROVE HEALTH-DRIVEN GAIT ANALYSIS. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS THE DESIGN OF A PERSONALIZED RF-SENSING FRAMEWORK FOR THE MONITORING OF ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING (ADL), DETECTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF PATHOLOGICAL, GAITS ROUND-THE-CLOCK 24/7 IN A NATURAL SETTING. THE PROPOSAL?S TWO MAIN OBJECTIVES ARE: 1) CREATE A HUMAN ETHOGRAM VIA THE FORMULATION OF A NEW AND GENERAL FRAMEWORK FOR INTERPRETATION, SEGMENTATION, AND CATEGORIZATION OF A BROAD SWATH OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES BASED ON MODELING THE STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS OF INDIVIDUAL MOBILITY; 2) DESIGN A NEW APPROACH FOR PERSONALIZATION OF DEEP NEURAL NETWORKS, WHERE CONSECUTIVE AND CONTIGUOUS OBSERVATIONS ARE USED TO INCREASE THE CLASSIFICATION ACCURACY OF ADL FOR THE MONITORED PERSON. THE ETHOGRAM IS A QUANTITATIVE, STRUCTURED APPROACH TO DESCRIBING DAILY HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN TERMS OF ?BODY STATES? WHILE ACTIVITIES ARE THEN MODELED AS TRANSITIONS BETWEEN STATES. BY INTRODUCING THE CONCEPT OF PERSONALIZATION TO RF SENSING, THIS PROJECT WILL BROADEN THE REALM OF PERSONALIZED DEVICES BEYOND ITS CURRENT SCOPE OF WEARABLE AND IMPLANTABLE DEVICES TO NOW INCLUDE RF SENSORS. THE PROPOSAL INTEGRATES SENSOR AND KINEMATIC KNOWLEDGE INTO DNN DESIGN, RESULTING IN NOVEL ARCHITECTURES WITH GREATER ACCURACY THAT WILL ADVANCE THE STATE-OF-THE-ART IN RF SIGNAL CLASSIFICATION MORE GENERALLY. MOREOVER, THE CENTRAL IDEAS IN THIS PROPOSAL ARE INDEPENDENT OF DEVICE SPECIFICATIONS AND CAN BE GENERALIZED TO OTHER SENSING MODALITIES, PAVING THE WAY FOR NON-CONTACT, UBIQUITOUS, FINE-GRAINED PERSONALIZED GAIT CLASSIFICATION AND ANALYSIS. THE OUTCOMES OF THIS PROJECT WILL PAVE THE WAY FOR TIMELY INTERVENTIONS AND MORE EFFECTIVE TREATMENTS IN BOTH HOME AND CLINICAL SETTINGS, REDUCING THE COSTS AND IMPROVING THE ACCESSIBILITY OF HEALTH CARE. 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.

ERI: IODINE VARIABILITY IN WATERSHEDS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR DRINKING WATER TREATABILITY AND PUBLIC HEALTH -OVER 260 MILLION PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES RECEIVE DRINKING WATER THAT HAS BEEN DISINFECTED WITH CHEMICALS LIKE CHLORINE. ALTHOUGH CHEMICAL DISINFECTION HAS MAJOR PUBLIC HEALTH BENEFITS THROUGH THE PREVENTION OF WATERBORNE DISEASE, IT ALSO FORMS DISINFECTION BYPRODUCTS (DBPS) THROUGH THE REACTION OF BROMINE (BR), AND/OR IODINE (I) WITH DISSOLVED ORGANIC MATTER IN THE WATER SOURCE. THESE DBPS HAVE BEEN LINKED TO HEALTH RISKS, THUS REDUCING THE HEALTH GAINS OF DISINFECTION. RELATIVELY LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT HOW MUCH BR AND I VARY IN DRINKING WATER SOURCES ACROSS SPACE AND TIME. STILL LESS IS KNOWN REGARDING WHAT CONCENTRATIONS OF THESE COMPOUNDS RESULT IN THE FORMATION OF DBPS. THIS PROPOSAL WILL ADDRESS THESE GAPS IN OUR UNDERSTANDING BY ASSESSING HOW BR AND I VARY IN DRINKING WATER SOURCES. SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THIS RESEARCH PROJECT WILL HELP US BETTER UNDERSTAND DRINKING WATER RISK RESULTING FROM BR AND I TO CREATE BETTER MONITORING AND GUIDELINES FOR IMPROVED PUBLIC HEALTH PROTECTION. FURTHER BENEFITS TO SOCIETY INCLUDE STRENGTHENING THE NATION?S STEM WORKFORCE THROUGH OUTREACH TO K-12 STUDENTS AND EDUCATORS THROUGH WATERSHED DECISION-MAKING ACTIVITIES. THE GOAL OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO ADVANCE THE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW BR AND I LOADING TO DRINKING WATER SOURCES CONTRIBUTE TO DOWNSTREAM DRINKING WATER SYSTEM VULNERABILITY ACROSS SPACE AND TIME. DBPS FORM WHEN NATURAL ORGANIC MATTER IN DRINKING SOURCE WATER REACTS WITH BR AND/OR I IN SOURCE WATERS. WHILE RESEARCH INDICATES THAT BR- AND I-CONTAINING DBPS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH HIGHER CYTO- AND GENOTOXICITY COMPARED TO THEIR CHLORINATED ANALOGS, THE 11 CURRENTLY REGULATED DBPS ARE UNLIKELY TO BE FULLY RESPONSIBLE FOR DRIVING TOXICITY. THERE IS THUS AN URGENT NEED FOR SYSTEMS-LEVEL RESEARCH ON BR AND I VARIABILITY IN DRINKING WATER SOURCES TO UNDERSTAND THE POTENTIAL FOR DBP FORMATION AND CONTROL. THIS RESEARCH PROJECT ADDRESSES THIS NEED BY I) DEVELOPING GEOSPATIAL AND STATISTICAL METHODS TO ASSESS IODINE INPUTS TO DRINKING WATER SOURCES, AND II) PERFORMING TARGETED SOURCE WATER SAMPLING TO ASSESS THE SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL VARIABILITY OF I AND BR IN AFFECTED DRINKING WATER SOURCES. IN THE FIRST OBJECTIVE, BR AND I WILL BE ASSESSED IN WATER SYSTEMS AND COMBINED WITH THE NATIONAL HYDROGRAPHY DATASET TO ESTABLISH A GEOSPATIAL FLOW PATH MODEL THAT LINKS UPSTREAM DISCHARGES TO DOWNSTREAM DRINKING WATER SYSTEMS. IN THE SECOND OBJECTIVE, THE RESULTS FROM THE TRANSPORT MODEL WILL INFORM TARGETED MONITORING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH A WATER UTILITY TO BETTER UNDERSTAND SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL VARIABILITY OF BR AND I AND THE EFFECTS ON FINISHED WATER BR- AND I-DBPS. SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THIS PROJECT WILL BENEFIT SOCIETY BY IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL VULNERABILITIES TO UNREGULATED DBPS. RESULTS AND SUPPORTING WORK WILL BE SHARED WITH STAKEHOLDERS AND THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY THROUGH PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS AT SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCES, UTILITIES, AND REGULATORS THROUGH TARGETED BRIEFINGS. 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.

ERI: FROM DATA TO DESIGN: ENHANCING PEDESTRIAN INFRASTRUCTURE FOR WELL-BEING THROUGH MOBILE SENSING AND EXPERIENCE SAMPLING IN THE WILD -THIS ENGINEERING RESEARCH INITIATION (ERI) AWARD WILL ADVANCE RESEARCH IN UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT OF PEDESTRIAN INFRASTRUCTURE ON VARIOUS ASPECTS OF WELL-BEING, INCLUDING EMOTIONS, STRESS, AND COGNITIVE ABILITIES. PEDESTRIAN INFRASTRUCTURE PLAYS A CRUCIAL ROLE IN INFLUENCING WELL-BEING METRICS AND CAN EITHER ENCOURAGE OR DISCOURAGE WALKING AS A MODE OF TRANSPORTATION, EVEN IN AREAS WITH SAFE WALKWAYS. BY EMPLOYING INNOVATIVE HUMAN SENSING TECHNIQUES, THIS PROJECT WILL ESTABLISH A COMPREHENSIVE PEDESTRIAN DATA COLLECTION FRAMEWORK. THROUGH COLLABORATION WITH PRACTITIONERS AND ROAD USERS IN FOCUS GROUPS, ALTERNATIVE INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGNS WILL BE DEVELOPED AND EVALUATED USING IMMERSIVE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS. THIS RESEARCH BRIDGES THE GAP BETWEEN REAL-WORLD DATA, INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGN, AND BEHAVIORAL ASPECTS OF WALKING ADOPTION. THIS PROJECT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO DRIVE POSITIVE CHANGES IN URBAN PLANNING, DESIGN, AND PUBLIC POLICY THROUGH DATA-DRIVEN INSIGHTS. THE RESULTING NATURALISTIC DATASET CAN BENEFIT RESEARCH IN VARIOUS DISCIPLINES SUCH AS BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE, PSYCHOLOGY, AND COMPUTER SCIENCE. THIS PROJECT WILL BRING OPPORTUNITIES FOR GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS AS WELL AS PH.D. STUDENTS FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE TO LEARN, GROW, BECOME TRAINED IN AN ACADEMIC ENVIRONMENT, AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE SCIENCE OF HUMAN-CENTERED INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGN. CURRENT PEDESTRIAN RESEARCH PREDOMINANTLY CONCENTRATES ON SAFETY, LEAVING A SUBSTANTIAL GAP IN WELL-BEING-RELATED DATA, ESPECIALLY IN REAL-WORLD SETTINGS. WELL-BEING METRICS WHILE INCLUDING PHYSICAL ASPECTS, ENCOMPASS DIFFERENT PARAMETERS SUCH AS PERCEIVED STRESS, VALENCE, AND AROUSAL AND EMOTION METRICS, CREATIVITY, SOCIAL INTERACTIONS, AND COGNITIVE ABILITIES AMONG OTHER FACTORS. THE FIRST COMPONENT OF THIS STUDY INTRODUCES A NOVEL NATURALISTIC FRAMEWORK TO COMPREHENSIVELY MONITOR AND COLLECT DATA ON VARIOUS ASPECTS OF PEDESTRIAN WELL-BEING. THIS FRAMEWORK INTELLIGENTLY INTEGRATES DATA FROM MOBILE SENSING DEVICES, SUCH AS SMARTWATCHES, WITH IN-THE-WILD EXPERIENCE SAMPLING TECHNIQUES THROUGH A SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED APP. IN THE SECOND COMPONENT, THIS FRAMEWORK IS APPLIED IN A SUBURBAN AREA TO CREATE A FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND, LONGITUDINAL, AND NATURALISTIC DATASET, ADDRESSING THE SCARCITY OF PEDESTRIAN WELL-BEING DATA. THIS COMPONENT WILL YIELD QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE MODELS CONNECTING INFRASTRUCTURAL ELEMENTS WITH REAL-WORLD PEDESTRIAN WELL-BEING METRICS, EMPLOYING OBSERVATIONAL STUDIES AND COMPUTER VISION TECHNIQUES. THE PROJECT WILL DEVELOP HEATMAPS HIGHLIGHTING REGIONS ASSOCIATED WITH DIFFERENT WELL-BEING METRICS THAT WILL BE SHARED WITH BROADER RESEARCH COMMUNITIES. THE THIRD COMPONENT WILL RESULT IN PRELIMINARY GUIDELINES FOR IDENTIFYING DESIGN FLAWS IN PEDESTRIAN INFRASTRUCTURE CONSIDERING HUMAN WELL-BEING. LASTLY, IMMERSIVE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS WILL BE UTILIZED TO ASSESS ALTERNATIVE DESIGNS OBJECTIVELY AND SUBJECTIVELY, CLOSING THE LOOP IN ENHANCING PEDESTRIAN INFRASTRUCTURE PRIOR TO CONSTRUCTION. 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.

EFFICIENT HARDWARE IMPLEMENTATION OF LATTICE-BASED POST-QUANTUM CRYPTOGRAPHY

EARLIER AND BROADER ACCESS TO MACHINE LEARNING

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ONLINE INTERACTIVE LEARNING PLATFORMS IN STEM EDUCATION: A STUDY OF MOTIVATION AND ENGAGEMENT

COMPUTING IN CONTEXT

ERI:INTERFERENCE-AWARE CONSTELLATION DESIGN -WIRELESS NETWORKS HAVE SEEN AN EXPONENTIAL INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF USERS REQUIRING ACCESS, MAKING IT IMPRACTICAL TO ALLOCATE A DEDICATED SPECTRUM TO EACH USER. TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE, NON-ORTHOGONAL TRANSMISSION HAS BEEN PROPOSED AS A POTENTIAL SOLUTION. BY SHARING SPECTRUM AMONG MULTIPLE USERS, MORE DEVICES CAN ACCESS THE SPECTRUM OR MORE BANDWIDTH CAN BE COMMITTED TO EACH TRANSCEIVER, ACHIEVING HIGHER DATA TRANSMISSION RATES. HOWEVER, NON-ORTHOGONAL TRANSMISSION SUFFERS FROM INTERFERENCE AMONG USERS, AND EFFECTIVE TRANSMISSION AND DECODING METHODS ARE NEEDED FOR ITS SUCCESSFUL DEPLOYMENT. THE PRIMARY GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP SUCH METHODS AND ADVANCE THE FIELD, WHICH HAS SIGNIFICANT VALUE FOR NEXT-GENERATION WIRELESS NETWORKS AND APPLICATIONS LIKE THE INTERNET OF THINGS (IOT). IN ADDITION, THE PROJECT WILL PROVIDE EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES, INCLUDING INVOLVING UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN RESEARCH ON DEEP LEARNING FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND DESIGNING GRADUATE-LEVEL COURSE MATERIAL. THE FINDINGS OF THIS RESEARCH WILL BE SHARED WITH BOTH ACADEMIC AND INDUSTRIAL COMMUNITIES. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO ADDRESS INTER-USER INTERFERENCE BY PROPOSING A NOVEL END-TO-END LEARNING-BASED DIGITAL MODULATION DESIGN. DIGITAL MODULATION TECHNIQUES ARE USED TO ACHIEVE A BALANCE BETWEEN HIGH BIT RATES AND LOW BIT-ERROR RATES FOR INFORMATION TRANSMISSION. A PARTICULAR FOCUS OF THIS RESEARCH IS ON DESIGNING NEW SUPERIMPOSED CONSTELLATIONS FOR NON-ORTHOGONAL MULTIPLE ACCESS (NOMA) THAT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT BOTH NOISE AND INTERFERENCE DURING THE DESIGN PHASE. UNLIKE TRADITIONAL CONSTELLATIONS SUCH AS QUADRATURE AMPLITUDE MODULATION, THE PROPOSED TRANSFORM RESULTS IN NON-UNIFORM CONSTELLATIONS THAT CAN ADAPT TO DIFFERENT INTERFERENCE LEVELS AND WORK EFFECTIVELY IN THEIR PRESENCE. THIS APPROACH PROVIDES NEW INSIGHTS AND TOOLS FOR MULTI-USER CONSTELLATION DESIGN, WHICH HAS THE POTENTIAL TO IMPROVE SPECTRAL EFFICIENCY, REDUCE BIT-ERROR RATE, AND DECREASE LATENCY IN COMMUNICATION FOR NEXT-GENERATION WIRELESS NETWORKS. 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.

CRII: SHF: GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE TEST CODE ADAPTATION FOR DEVELOPING VOICE ASSISTANT FEATURES IN MOBILE APPLICATIONS -THE POPULARITY OF VOICE ASSISTANT (VA) HAS SKYROCKETED IN RECENT YEARS, WITH USERS ABLE TO PERFORM TASKS FASTER AND MORE EFFICIENTLY THROUGH SIMPLE VOICE COMMANDS. THE SUCCESS OF LEADING PRODUCTS LIKE GOOGLE ASSISTANT AND AMAZON ALEXA HAS MOTIVATED MOBILE APP DEVELOPERS TO INTEGRATE VOICE ASSISTANT FEATURES INTO THEIR APPLICATIONS. HOWEVER, ADDING THESE FEATURES CAN BE SIGNIFICANTLY TIME-CONSUMING FOR DEVELOPERS, AS THE EXISTING CODE DESIGN PRIMARILY FOCUSES ON GRAPHICAL INTERACTIONS RATHER THAN VOICE INTERACTIONS. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO PROVIDE A SOLUTION TO THIS ISSUE BY UTILIZING EXISTING TEST CODE TO DESIGN THE VOICE ASSISTANT FEATURES. TEST CODE IS A SERIES OF SIMULATED USER INTERACTIONS WITH AN APPLICATION THAT IS USED TO VALIDATE THE FUNCTIONALITY OF THE APPLICATION. BY REUSING THE TEST CODE AND MAPPING IT TO THE CORRESPONDING VOICE QUERY, THE DEVELOPERS CAN QUICKLY INCORPORATE VOICE ASSISTANT CAPABILITIES INTO THEIR APPLICATIONS. AS A RESULT OF THIS PROJECT, DEVELOPERS WILL BE MORE LIKELY TO REDESIGN THEIR EXISTING CODE TO ACCOMMODATE SUCH NEW VOICE INTERACTIONS. FURTHERMORE, THIS PROJECT WILL BRING MANY TRAINING AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR BOTH UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS. IT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO SUPPORT THOUSANDS OF MOBILE DEVELOPERS IN ADDING VOICE ASSISTANT OPTIONS TO THEIR APPLICATIONS. IN THIS PROJECT, THE INVESTIGATOR AIMS TO ANSWER THE QUESTION OF WHETHER AND HOW EXISTING GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE (GUI) TEST CODE CAN BE ADAPTED TO DEVELOP VOICE ASSISTANT FEATURES IN MOBILE APPLICATIONS. THE INVESTIGATOR WILL BEGIN BY EXTRACTING THE GENERAL FUNCTIONALITY FROM A SPECIFIC FUNCTIONALITY INSTANCE IN A GUI TEST CODE. THE INVESTIGATOR WILL STUDY HOW TO DIFFERENTIATE THE GENERAL CODE AND NON-GENERAL CODE IN GUI TEST CODE, AND DEVELOP AUTOMATED TECHNIQUES TO DETECT THEM. THE INVESTIGATOR WILL ALSO INVESTIGATE HOW TO CONVERT THE GENERAL FUNCTIONALITY INTO A REUSABLE CODE TEMPLATE FOR VOICE ASSISTANT FEATURE DEVELOPMENT. SECOND, THE INVESTIGATOR WILL STUDY HOW TO REPRESENT THE CODE TEMPLATE USING HUMAN-UNDERSTANDABLE LANGUAGE AND CREATE POTENTIAL VOICE QUERY TEMPLATES BASED ON THIS LANGUAGE. A MAP WILL BE CREATED TO CONNECT THE VOICE QUERY TEMPLATE WITH THE CODE TEMPLATE. FINALLY, THE INVESTIGATOR WILL DEVELOP TECHNIQUES TO FACILITATE MOBILE APPLICATIONS IN EXECUTING THE CODE TEMPLATE IN RESPONSE TO A PARTICULAR VOICE QUERY. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO SUPPORT DEVELOPERS IN ADDING VOICE ASSISTANT FUNCTIONALITY TO EXISTING MOBILE APPS BY REUSING THE TEST ARTIFACTS OF THE APPLICATION. THE RESULTS OF THIS RESEARCH WILL INSPIRE FURTHER INVESTIGATION INTO OTHER FORMS OF CODE REUSE AND MIGRATION FOR VOICE ASSISTANTS OR OTHER NEW FEATURES IN MOBILE APPLICATIONS. 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.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: MACHINE LEARNING-ASSISTED MODELING AND DESIGN OF APPROXIMATE COMPUTING WITH GENERALIZABILITY AND INTERPRETABILITY -BY 2040, THE PROJECTED ENERGY CONSUMED BY COMPUTERS WILL EXCEED THE ELECTRICITY THE WORLD CAN GENERATE, UNLESS RADICAL CHANGES ARE MADE IN THE WAY WE DESIGN COMPUTERS. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO DEVELOP APPROXIMATE COMPUTING TECHNIQUES TO DRASTICALLY REDUCE THE ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN MODERN COMPUTATION-INTENSIVE COMPUTING, FOR EXAMPLE, VIDEO/IMAGE PROCESSING AND MACHINE LEARNING APPLICATIONS. APPROXIMATE COMPUTING IS A PROMISING TECHNIQUE THAT CAN TRADE OFF ACCURACY FOR ENERGY SAVING AND PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT. THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES ONE OF THE FUNDAMENTAL OBSTACLES THAT HAS BEEN IMPEDING THE PRACTICAL USAGE OF APPROXIMATE COMPUTING: HOW TO ACCURATELY AND QUICKLY DESIGN APPROXIMATE COMPUTING SYSTEMS TO MAXIMIZE THE BENEFITS OF APPROXIMATE COMPUTING WITHOUT INTRODUCING TOO MUCH ACCURACY LOSS OR ERRORS. THE SUCCESS OF THIS PROJECT CAN GREATLY IMPROVE THE PRACTICALITY OF APPROXIMATE COMPUTING AND ENABLE ITS WIDE USAGE IN REAL-WORLD APPLICATIONS, SUCH AS VIDEO/IMAGE PROCESSING AND MACHINE LEARNING. BY PAVING THE WAY FOR FUTURE APPROXIMATE COMPUTING, THIS PROJECT CAN LEAD TO CONSIDERABLE ENERGY SAVING FOR FUTURE COMPUTING PARADIGM AND CARBON FOOTPRINT REDUCTION. IT ALSO ADVANCES THE APPLICATIONS OF MACHINE LEARNING ALGORITHMS IN CIRCUIT DESIGN AREA, AS WELL AS IDENTIFIES SEVERAL FUNDAMENTAL MACHINE LEARNING QUESTIONS MOTIVED BY SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE CIRCUIT DESIGN PROBLEM, SUCH THAT MACHINE LEARNING ALGORITHMS CAN BETTER BENEFIT HARDWARE DESIGN. THIS CAN LEAD TO NEW DESIGN AND TESTING APPROACHES FOR A BROAD RANGE OF COMPUTING SYSTEMS, FROM LOW-POWER EMBEDDED SYSTEMS TO HIGH-PERFORMANCE DATA CENTERS. THE EDUCATIONAL PLAN WILL INTEGRATE RESEARCH ACTIVITIES INTO CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT AND WILL PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH EARLY RESEARCH TRAINING. THE TEAM IS COMMITTED TO BROADENING THE PARTICIPATION OF UNDERGRADUATES AND UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH AND IN STEM OUTREACH ACTIVITIES. GIVEN THE HUGE AMOUNT OF ENERGY CONSUMED BY MODERN COMPUTATION-INTENSIVE COMPUTING SUCH AS MACHINE LEARNING AND VIDEO/IMAGE PROCESSING APPLICATIONS, ENERGY EFFICIENT COMPUTING IS AN URGENT NEED. APPROXIMATE COMPUTING, BY SLIGHTLY TRADING OFF ACCURACY FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE AND/OR EFFICIENCY, E.G., COMPUTATION LATENCY, AREA, AND ENERGY AND POWER, HAS BEEN A PROMISING NEW COMPUTING PARADIGM. MANY APPROXIMATE COMPUTING APPROACHES, SUCH AS LOW-PRECISION COMPUTING, VOLTAGE SCALING, INEXACT APPROXIMATE CIRCUITS AND MEMORY, HAVE ACHIEVED ORDERS OF SPEEDUP OR ENERGY SAVING. HOWEVER, TO SAFELY DEPLOY APPROXIMATE COMPUTING IN PRACTICE, TWO MAJOR CHALLENGES NEED TO BE ADDRESSED: (1) HOW TO ACCURATELY AND QUICKLY ESTIMATE THE IMPACT OF APPROXIMATION ON APPLICATION OUTPUT QUALITY; AND (2) HOW TO ACCURATELY AND QUICKLY FIND THE BEST APPROXIMATION CONFIGURATION TO MAXIMIZE THE BENEFITS OF APPROXIMATE COMPUTING. THIS PROPOSAL PRESENTS THREE CLOSELY-INTERACTED RESEARCH TASKS TO ADDRESS THESE TWO CHALLENGES AND TO SEEK THE WIDE-REACHING BENEFITS OF APPROXIMATE COMPUTING: (1) TO DEVELOP INPUT-AWARE ERROR MODELS OF APPROXIMATE CIRCUITS AND INPUT-AWARE SIMULATION PLATFORM FOR APPROXIMATE COMPUTING; (2) TO DEVELOP A GRAPH NEURAL NETWORKS (GNNS)-BASED FRAMEWORK TO QUICKLY ESTIMATE APPLICATION OUTPUT QUALITY; (3) TO DEVELOP A RESOURCE-AWARE APPROXIMATION CONFIGURATION FRAMEWORK TO OPTIMIZE PERFORMANCE/ENERGY WHILE SATISFYING USER-DEFINED QUALITY CONSTRAINTS. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO UNVEIL THE UNDERLINING KNOWLEDGE OF THE INTRINSIC RELATIONS BETWEEN OUTPUT QUALITY AND INPUT DATA, APPROXIMATE CIRCUITS, AND APPROXIMATE PROGRAM STRUCTURES. THE PROJECT WILL PROVIDE A PRACTICAL, GENERALIZABLE, AND INTERPRETABLE TOOLSET THAT CAN LEARN TO CONFIGURE APPROXIMATE COMPUTING ONCE AND FOR ALL. THE INTELLECTUAL MERITS OF THIS PROJECT INCLUDE BOTH AXC DESIGN INNOVATIONS AS WELL AS MACHINE LEARNING INNOVATIONS. (1) THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP INPUT-AWARE ERROR MODELS FOR APPROXIMATE CIRCUITS CONSIDERING THE IMPACT OF INPUT DATA, WHICH ARE USUALLY OVERLOOKED; THEN, IT EXPOSES THE CIRCUIT-LEVEL ERRORS TO BEHAVIORAL-LEVEL APPROXIMATE PROGRAMS BY DEVELOPING AN INPUT-AWARE SIMULATION PLATFORM. THIS WILL FORM THE FOUNDATION FOR A MUCH-NEEDED HOLISTIC EVALUATION OF APPROXIMATE COMPUTING. (2) THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP INDUCTIVE GNN MODELS AND MACHINE LEARNING MODELS TO PREDICT THE OUTPUT QUALITY OF ANY UNSEEN APPROXIMATE PROGRAMS AND APPROXIMATION CONFIGURATIONS. THIS WILL PROVIDE KEY GENERALIZABILITY AND INTERPRETABILITY OF APPROXIMATE COMPUTING. IN ADDITION, THE INVESTIGATION OF GNN IN THIS PROJECT WILL UNCOVER TWO NEW FUNDAMENTAL STUDIES TO GNN COMMUNITY, INCREASING GNN EXPRESSIVENESS POWER BY AMENDING GRAPH CONNECTIVITY, AND UTILIZING GRAPH REGULARITY. (3) THIS PROJECT WILL DESIGN A RESOURCE-AWARE REINFORCEMENT LEARNING (RL) BASED APPROACH TO AUTOMATICALLY CONFIGURE APPROXIMATION SETTINGS FOR OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE/ENERGY-QUALITY TRADEOFF. IN ADDITION, THE INVESTIGATION OF GNN AND RL IN THIS PROJECT WILL UNCOVER A NEW RESEARCH QUESTION, THE JOINT OPTIMIZATION OF THE RL AGENT AND THE SURROGATE MODEL. THIS PROJECT IS A PIONEERING APPROACH TO THE JOINT AREAS OF REINFORCEMENT LEARNING, GRAPH NEURAL NETWORKS, AND APPROXIMATE COMPUTING. IT AIMS TO ESTABLISH THE TECHNOLOGICAL FOUNDATION FOR PRACTICAL APPROXIMATE COMPUTING. THIS PROJECT WILL BRING AN UNPRECEDENTED TRANSFORMATION IN OUR ABILITY TO UNDERSTANDING AND DESIGNING APPROXIMATE COMPUTING FOR PRACTICAL USE, BY ENABLING A MORE DISCIPLINED, GENERALIZABLE, AND INTERPRETABLE APPROXIMATION. THE RESEARCH TEAM WILL RELEASE MODELS, TOOLS, AND INFRASTRUCTURES TO THE RESEARCH AND INDUSTRY COMMUNITY. THIS CAN LEAD TO NEW DESIGN AND TESTING APPROACHES FOR A BROAD RANGE OF COMPUTING SYSTEMS, FROM LOW-POWER EMBEDDED SYSTEMS TO HIGH-PERFORMANCE DATA CENTERS. THE EDUCATIONAL PLAN WILL INTEGRATE RESEARCH ACTIVITIES INTO CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT AND WILL PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH EARLY EXPOSURE TO RESEARCH. THE PIS ARE COMMITTED TO BROADENING THE PARTICIPATION OF UNDERGRADUATES AND UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH AND IN STEM OUTREACH ACTIVITIES. 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: DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE SOLVENT EXTRACTION METHODS AND TANDEM MASS SPECTROMETRIC ANALYSIS OF POLYBROMINATED DIPHENYL ETHERS IN AUTOMOBILE INT

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: IIBR: INNOVATION: BIOINFORMATICS: LINKING CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL SPACE: DEEP LEARNING AND EXPERIMENTATION FOR PROPERTY-CONTROLLED MOLECULE GENERATION -A PROFOUND QUESTION THAT UNDERLIES MUCH INQUIRY ACROSS SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES IS THAT OF WHAT FORMS ADMIT DESIRED PROPERTIES AND BEHAVIORS. THE FOCUS OF THIS PROJECT IS ON A MOLECULAR BIOLOGY INSTANTIATION. THE RAPID GROWTH OF PUBLICLY-AVAILABLE SMALL MOLECULAR DATABASES HAS SPAWNED MUCH RESEARCH AND INTEREST RECENTLY IN DEEP LEARNING TREATMENTS OF IN-SILICO MOLECULE DESIGN AND OPTIMIZATION. WHILE MANY OF THE EXISTING DEEP LEARNING METHODS DEMONSTRATE THEIR ABILITY TO GENERATE CHEMICALLY-VALID MOLECULES, THEY ARE CURRENTLY LIMITED IN THEIR ABILITY TO INFORM WET-LABORATORY STUDIES AIMING TO EXERT CONTROL AND ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION: CAN YOUR INFORMATICS MODEL GENERATE MOLECULES THAT ARE CONSTRAINED TO THESE SPECIFIC REGIONS OF A LANDSCAPE OF BIOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF INTEREST? MODELS, FINDINGS, AND DATA WILL BE DISSEMINATED BROADLY WITH THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY. THE INVESTIGATORS WILL JOINTLY MENTOR STUDENTS OF ALL LEVELS. THEY CONNECT THEIR EFFORTS WITH THEIR INSTITUTION?S INFRASTRUCTURES TO BROADEN THE IMPACT OF THEIR EDUCATIONAL AND OUTREACH ACTIVITIES AND ENSURE THE PARTICIPATION OF DIVERSE STUDENTS ACROSS THE VARIOUS DISCIPLINES THAT COME TOGETHER IN THIS PROJECT. THIS PROJECT ADVANCES PROPERTY-CONTROLLED MOLECULE GENERATION. A KEY INSIGHT PROPELLING IT IS THAT MACHINE LEARNING MODELS NEED TO BE SITUATED IN BIOLOGICAL DATA AND KNOWLEDGE. THE RESEARCH ACTIVITIES ARE ORGANIZED IN THREE THRUSTS: (1) DEVELOPING GENERALIZABLE AND INTERPRETABLE MODELS CAPABLE OF INCORPORATING BIOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS, (2) ACCOMMODATING SMALL, INCOMPLETE, AND NOISY WET-LABORATORY DATA, AND (3) INTEGRATING COMPUTATION AND WET-LAB INQUIRY UNDER AN ACTIVE LEARNING FORMULATION. THE PROJECT CATALYZES SYNERGISTIC AND INNOVATIVE WORK AT THE INTERFACE OF MACHINE LEARNING, AI, GENERATIVE AI, AND THE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES TO ADDRESS LONG-STANDING CHALLENGES IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY BOTH BROADLY AND SPECIFICALLY ON QUATERNARY AMMONIUM COMPOUNDS (QACS), SMALL DISINFECTANT ANTIMICROBIAL COMPOUNDS, WHERE STRUCTURAL INNOVATION HAS BEEN SORELY LACKING AND RESISTANT BACTERIA REPRESENT AN UNCOUNTERED THREAT. 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.

AF: SMALL: RUI: GEOMETRIC GRAPHS FOR DIRECTIONAL COMMUNICATION

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: MOLECULAR LEVEL CHARACTERIZATION OF ORGANIC MATTER IN ICE CORES USING HIGH-RESOLUTION FTICR MASS SPECTROMETRY

FASTER, CLEARER, STRONGER COMMUNICATION AND ACTION: BUILDING IWT AND VULNERABLE RESIDENT CONNECTIONS TO IMPROVE SEVERE WEATHER LITERACY AND OUTCOMES

UNDERGRADUATE INTERNATIONAL STUDIES AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: MANIPULATING EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS TO ENHANCE NON-VIRAL TRANSGENE EXPRESSION

OPUS: THE DIVERSITY AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY OF GECKOS

CRII: HCC: UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT OF SPIRITUALITY ON TECHNOLOGICAL IMAGINATION AND DESIGN -THIS PROJECT WEAVES TOGETHER TWO THREADS OF ONGOING COMPUTING RESEARCH TO ADVANCE AN UNDERSTANDING OF HOW TECHNOLOGY CAN HELP PEOPLE CONNECT THEIR RELIGIOUS OR SPIRITUAL VALUES WITH SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLE CHOICES. DESPITE THE FACT THAT MILLIONS OF AMERICANS (AND BILLIONS WORLDWIDE) IDENTIFY AS RELIGIOUS, THERE IS LITTLE RESEARCH ON HOW RELIGIOUS OR SPIRITUAL VALUES IMPACT COMPUTING USE. THE SECOND RESEARCH THREAD IS SUSTAINABLE HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION WHICH EXPLORES HOW COMPUTING TECHNOLOGY CAN BE USED TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABILITY AND PRIORITIZE THE HEALTH OF THE PLANET. THE FIRST PHASE OF THE PROJECT WILL CREATE ACTIONABLE STEPS FOR EMBEDDING RELIGIOUS OR SPIRITUAL VALUES INTO COMPUTING TOOLS TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE HABIT-BUILDING. THE SECOND PHASE WILL PRODUCE CONCRETE, OPEN-SOURCE TOOLS FOR USE BY RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS, ALLOWING THEM TO TAKE ACTION TOWARDS MAINTAINING A HEALTHY PLANET AND FLOURISHING COMMUNITIES. THE PROJECT WILL PRODUCE INSIGHTS THAT CAN BE EXPLORED IN MULTIPLE RELIGIOUS OR SPIRITUAL CONTEXTS. THE FIRST PHASE OF THE PROJECT DRAWS ON PARTICIPATORY AND SPECULATIVE DESIGN TO UNDERSTAND HOW PEOPLE?S RELIGIOUS OR SPIRITUAL VALUE SYSTEMS IMPACT THE WAY THEY ENVISION TECHNOLOGY FOR PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLES. PARTICIPATORY DESIGN ACTIVITIES WILL BE CONDUCTED WITH MEMBERS OF COMMUNITY CONGREGATIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS, AND WILL BE TAILORED TO FIT WITHIN THEIR PARTICULAR RELIGIOUS OR SPIRITUAL FRAME. DRAWING ON INSIGHTS FROM THE PARTICIPATORY AND SPECULATIVE DESIGN ACTIVITIES, IN THE SECOND PHASE A LOW-CODE, MODULAR PLATFORM FOR BUILDING SPIRITUALLY-BASED APPLICATIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE HABIT FORMATION WILL BE CREATED AND EVALUATED IN A LONGITUDINAL STUDY. THIS PROJECT CONTRASTS A RATIONAL AND SECULAR VISION OF HOW SUSTAINABILITY CHOICES ARE MADE WITH ONE THAT INTEGRATES RELIGIOUS OR SPIRITUAL BELIEFS IN COMMUNITY CONTEXTS. 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.

LEAPS-MPS: UNRAVELING THE SURFACE EFFECTS ON TUNGSTEN-BASED PLASMA-FACING MATERIALS THROUGH FIRST-PRINCIPLES CALCULATIONS -THIS AWARD IS FUNDED IN WHOLE UNDER THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT OF 2021 (PUBLIC LAW 117-2). NONTECHNICAL SUMMARY FUSION, THE NUCLEAR REACTION THAT POWERS THE SUN, IS AN ENERGY SOURCE WITH ONE OF THE HIGHEST ENERGY DENSITIES. HOWEVER, THERE IS A LACK OF UNDERSTANDING ASSOCIATED WITH THE PLASMA-FACING MATERIALS (PFMS), WHICH ARE LOCATED IN A CRITICAL REGION OF THE FUSION REACTOR VESSEL THAT PROVIDES THE PHYSICAL BOUNDARY FOR THE HOT, CHARGED STATE OF MATTER COMPOSED OF FREE ELECTRONS AND ATOMIC NUCLEI, CALLED THE PLASMA. THIS LEAPS-MPS AWARD SUPPORTS THEORETICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL EFFORTS THAT AIM TO FACILITATE HUMAN-ENGINEERED FUSION THROUGH THE DESIGN OF PLASMA-FACING STRUCTURAL MATERIALS WITH SUPERIOR PLASMA-SURFACE INTERACTIONS. THE PI AND HIS TEAM WILL FORMULATE A NOVEL MULTI-PHYSICS FRAMEWORK TO UNRAVEL SURFACE EFFECTS ON STRUCTURAL PFMS, PREDICTING THEIR BEHAVIOR WHEN EXPOSED TO THE HYDROGEN AND HELIUM PLASMA-SURFACE INTERACTIONS EXPECTED IN FUSION POWER PLANTS. SPECIFICALLY, IT WILL ADVANCE THE STATE OF KNOWLEDGE REGARDING (I) THE LOCAL CHEMICAL ORDER AND SEGREGATION OF TUNGSTEN-BASED PFMS BOTH IN PRISTINE FORM AND IN THE PRESENCE OF DEFECTS, AND (II) THE PREDICTION OF THE SURFACE-STRUCTURE-PROPERTY RELATIONSHIPS IN THESE MATERIALS. IN ADDITION TO THE RESEARCH EFFORTS, THIS AWARD ALSO SUPPORTS A BROADENING PARTICIPATION PLAN WHICH IS AIMED AT INCREASING RACIAL, GENDER, AND SOCIOECONOMIC DIVERSITY IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) CAREERS BY INTEGRATING FUNDAMENTAL MATERIALS RESEARCH INTO PROGRAMS OF PARTICULAR INTEREST TO YOUNG LEARNERS: SAILING FOR ITS EXCITEMENT AS AN OFTEN INACCESSIBLE, COSTLY HOBBY, AND GAME PROGRAMMING FOR ITS FAMILIARITY AND DRAW WITHIN YOUTH CULTURE. THESE BROADENING PARTICIPATION PLATFORMS ARE ESPECIALLY CONDUCIVE TO SPARKING STUDENTS? INTEREST IN MATERIALS SCIENCE AND HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING AT THE ELEMENTARY, MIDDLE, HIGH SCHOOL, AND COLLEGE LEVELS. ADDITIONALLY, STUDENTS? INTERESTS WILL BE NURTURED AND SUSTAINED THROUGH THE COLLABORATION WITH THE SOCIETY OF HISPANIC PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS AND A FOLLOW-UP VIRTUAL MENTORING PLATFORM TO HELP THEM CHOOSE FUTURE COURSES AND OPPORTUNITIES AS THEY BUILD THEIR PATHS TOWARD CAREERS IN THESE STEM FIELDS. TECHNICAL SUMMARY THIS LEAPS-MPS AWARD SUPPORTS THEORETICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL EFFORTS THAT AIM TO FACILITATE HUMAN-ENGINEERED FUSION THROUGH THE DESIGN OF PLASMA-FACING STRUCTURAL MATERIALS WITH SUPERIOR PLASMA-SURFACE INTERACTIONS. THROUGH THIS PROJECT, THE PI PROPOSES TO UNRAVEL THE H AND HE SURFACE EFFECTS ON CANDIDATE TUNGSTEN-BASED PLASMA-FACING MATERIALS (PFMS) THROUGH ACCURATE AND COMPUTATIONALLY EFFICIENT FIRST-PRINCIPLES DFT ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE CALCULATIONS. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH STRATEGY FOR ACCOMPLISHING THIS OBJECTIVE INCLUDE: (I) THE CONSTRUCTION OF ATOMISTIC STRUCTURES (BOTH IN BULK AND IN THE VICINITY OF DEFECTS) WITH ENERGETICALLY-STABLE ARRANGEMENTS OF CHEMICAL ELEMENTS; (II) THE ASSESSMENT OF THE H AND HE SURFACE-INTERACTION PARAMETERS WITH THE CANDIDATE PFMS; AND (III) THE PREDICTION OF THE SURFACE-STRUCTURE-PROPERTY RELATIONSHIPS IN THESE MATERIALS. IN ADDITION TO THE RESEARCH EFFORTS, THIS AWARD ALSO SUPPORTS A BROADENING PARTICIPATION PLAN WHICH IS AIMED AT INCREASING RACIAL, GENDER, AND SOCIOECONOMIC DIVERSITY IN STEM CAREERS BY INTEGRATING FUNDAMENTAL MATERIALS RESEARCH INTO PROGRAMS OF PARTICULAR INTEREST TO YOUNG LEARNERS: SAILING FOR ITS EXCITEMENT AS AN OFTEN INACCESSIBLE, COSTLY HOBBY, AND GAME PROGRAMMING FOR ITS FAMILIARITY AND DRAW WITHIN YOUTH CULTURE. THESE BROADENING PARTICIPATION PLATFORMS ARE ESPECIALLY CONDUCIVE TO SPARKING STUDENTS? INTEREST IN MATERIALS SCIENCE AND HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING AT THE ELEMENTARY, MIDDLE, HIGH SCHOOL, AND COLLEGE LEVELS. ADDITIONALLY, STUDENTS? INTERESTS WILL BE NURTURED AND SUSTAINED THROUGH THE COLLABORATION WITH THE SOCIETY OF HISPANIC PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS AND A FOLLOW-UP VIRTUAL MENTORING PLATFORM TO HELP THEM CHOOSE FUTURE COURSES AND OPPORTUNITIES AS THEY BUILD THEIR PATHS TOWARD CAREERS IN THESE STEM FIELDS. 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.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: A UNIFORM SAMPLE OF KEPLER ECLIPSING BINARIES AS BENCHMARK STARS TO CONSTRAIN STELLAR MODELS AND EVOLUTION AT THE BOTTOM OF T

DISTRIBUTED ON-FARM BIOENERGY, BIOFUELS & BIOCHEMICALS (FARMBIO3) DEV. & PRODUCTION VIA INTEGRATED CATALYTIC THERMOLYSIS (VU)-CFDA 10.312

TOWARD A CLIMATE FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY COMPUTING

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RUI: COUPLED PROTON/ELECTRON TRANSFER REACTIONS OF EXCITED STATES

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: HOST AND PATHOGEN INTERACTIONS IN THE AMPHIBIAN DISEASE, CHYTRIDIOMYCOSIS