Lehigh University

NATIONAL CENTER FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH (NCSER)

NEW COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT TITLED: LIGHTWEIGHT HIGH ENTROPY METALLIC ALLOY DISCOVERY (LHEAD)

LEHIGH UNIVERSITY CARES ACT - INSTITUTIONAL PORTION

LEHIGH UNIVERSITY CARES ACT - STUDENT AID

TAILORING OF ATOMIC-SCALE INTERPHASE COMPLEXIONS FOR MECHANISM-INFORMED MATERIAL DESIGN

ART: BUILDING AN INCLUSIVE, ACCESSIBLE, AND SUSTAINABLE ECOSYSTEM TO ACCELERATE RESEARCH TRANSLATION AT LEHIGH UNIVERSITY -THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO ENHANCE AND ACCELERATE THE SOCIETAL IMPACT OF RESEARCH CONDUCTED AT LEHIGH UNIVERSITY. THIS WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED BY CREATING AND OPERATING A COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH TRANSLATION ECOSYSTEM THAT EFFECTIVELY GUIDES INDIVIDUALS AND PROJECT TEAMS ALONG THE PATHWAYS OF VENTURE CREATION, TRANSLATION TO EXISTING INDUSTRY, AND/OR SOCIAL IMPACT. ALL ECOSYSTEM COMPONENTS AND ACTIVITIES WILL BE DESIGNED AND IMPLEMENTED TO OPTIMIZE DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND ACCESSIBILITY. A PEOPLE-FOCUSED APPROACH WILL BE TAKEN TO REALIZE MAXIMUM IMPACT ON THE TARGETED AND CAMPUS WIDE GRADUATE STUDENT, POST-DOCTORAL SCHOLAR, AND FACULTY POPULATIONS. THESE INDIVIDUALS WILL BE SUPPORTED BY AN ACTIVE NETWORK OF INTERNAL ART AMBASSADORS, EXTERNAL EXPERTS, AND AN INTERDISCIPLINARY PROJECT LEADERSHIP TEAM. THE ENTIRE EFFORT WILL ALSO BE ENHANCED BY GUIDANCE AND MENTORSHIP PROVIDED BY CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY, AND ASSESSED IN REAL-TIME TO ASSURE CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT AND LONG TERM PROGRAM SUSTAINABILITY. THE RESEARCH TRANSLATION ECOSYSTEM AT LEHIGH UNIVERSITY WILL BE CREATED THROUGH FULLY COUPLED INITIATIVES FOCUSED ON BUILDING INCLUSIVE RESEARCH TRANSLATION CAPACITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE, PROVIDING RELEVANT EDUCATION AND TRAINING THAT IS ACCESSIBLE TO THE TARGET POPULATIONS, AND DRIVING CULTURE CHANGE TOWARD RESEARCH TRANSLATION AS A PERVASIVE EMPHASIS THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY. THIS WILL INVOLVE THE CREATION AND/OR EXPANSION OF RESEARCH TRANSLATION FOCUSED POSITIONS, ORGANIZATIONAL UNITS, AND FACILITIES. THE DEVELOPMENT AND CONVENIENT OFFERING OF NEW SINGLE CREDIT EDUCATION AND TRAINING MODULES WILL ALSO BE CARRIED OUT, ALONG WITH THE MODERNIZATION OF INSTITUTIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES TO FAVORABLY SUPPORT RESEARCH TRANSLATION. FROM A PARTICIPANT STANDPOINT, INDIVIDUALS AND PROJECT TEAMS WILL BE GUIDED AS THEY DEVELOP THE MINDSETS, SKILL SETS, AND EXPERT CONNECTIONS NECESSARY TO ACCELERATE AND OPTIMIZE RESEARCH IMPACT. CAREFULLY SELECTED PROJECT TEAMS WILL RECEIVE SUPPORT EACH YEAR AS THEY CARRY OUT SEED TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH PROJECTS TO REALIZE NEAR TERM ECONOMIC AND/OR SOCIETAL BENEFIT FROM THE AFFILIATED RESEARCH INNOVATIONS. THE SUCCESS OF THESE TARGETED PROJECTS, ALONG WITH THE POSITIVE EXPERIENCES OF THE INDIVIDUALS INVOLVED, WILL HELP POSITION EFFECTIVE AND USE INSPIRED TRANSLATIONAL IMPACT AS A FOUNDATIONAL PRIORITY FOR UNIVERSITY BASED RESEARCH INTO 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 PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

NATURAL HAZARDS ENGINEERING RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE: EXPERIMENTAL FACILITY WITH LARGE-SCALE, MULTI-DIRECTIONAL, HYBRID SIMULATION TESTING CAPABILITIES 2021-2025

REVEALING THE HYDRODYNAMICS PRINCIPLES OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL FISH SCHOOLS: FROM BIOLOGY TO SCHOOLING ROBOTICS

NSF CONVERGENCE ACCELERATOR TRACK H: VISIT UNKNOWN PLACES CONFIDENTLY: MAPPING FOR ACCESSIBLE BUILT ENVIRONMENTS (MABLE) -WAYFINDING AND NAVIGATION WITHIN UNFAMILIAR INDOOR BUILT ENVIRONMENTS ARE CHALLENGING PROPOSITIONS FOR MANY PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES. BLIND OR LOW-VISION USERS STRUGGLE DUE TO THE LACK OF ACCESSIBLE SIGNAGE AND THEIR INABILITY TO CREATE A MENTAL MAP OF THE SPACE. INDIVIDUALS WITH MOBILITY IMPAIRMENTS FIND IT DIFFICULT TO IDENTIFY ACCESSIBLE ROUTES AND KNOW UPFRONT ABOUT POTENTIAL CHALLENGES THEY MAY ENCOUNTER. INDIVIDUALS WITH COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENTS STRUGGLE TO CREATE OR RECOLLECT MENTAL MAPS THEY MAY HAVE MADE. SUCH CHALLENGES IN NAVIGATING UNFAMILIAR SPACES ARE A SOURCE OF CONSTANT ANXIETY FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES (PWDS) AND A BARRIER TO EQUAL PARTICIPATION IN SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC LIFE. ACCESSIBLE SPACES REDUCE BARRIERS FOR PWDS TO USING SERVICES AND AMENITIES, INCREASING THE RANGE OF REGULAR ACTIVITIES CONDUCTED INDEPENDENTLY, INTEGRATING INTO THE WORKFORCE, AND INCREASING PRODUCTIVITY. THE PROPOSED PROJECT HAS THE LONG-TERM GOAL OF IMPROVING ACCESSIBILITY FOR PWDS WITHIN AND AROUND INDOOR BUILT ENVIRONMENTS THROUGH THE CREATION OF MABLE (MAPPING FOR ACCESSIBILITY IN BUILT ENVIRONMENTS). MABLE WILL PROVIDE DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY MAPS OF INDOOR ENVIRONMENTS WITH AN INTERFACE FOR ASSESSING, PLANNING, AND NAVIGATING WITHIN THEM BASED ON THE AFFORDANCES AND CAPABILITIES OF THE USER. IT WILL ALSO PERMIT MAP AUGMENTATION BY USERS BASED ON THEIR EXPERIENCES AND OBSERVATIONS. ENVISIONED USERS INCLUDE PERSONS WITH VISUAL OR MOBILITY IMPAIRMENTS (BLIND, LOW VISION, WHEELCHAIR USERS, CANE USERS, ETC.) AS WELL AS OTHER CATEGORIES OF DISABILITIES, AND PERSONS WITHOUT DISABILITIES WHO DESIRE PLANNING AND NAVIGATION ASSISTANCE. ACHIEVING BOTH SCALABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY WITH INDOOR MAPS IS A CHALLENGING PROPOSITION. COMPANIES FOCUSED ON ACCESSIBILITY MAPPING THAT CAN SCALE TEND TO PRIORITIZE FEATURES OR OFFERINGS THAT DO NOT COVER THE RICHNESS NEEDED FOR NAVIGATION. COMPANIES THAT FOCUS ON MAPPING WITHOUT ACCESSIBILITY EMPHASIZE SCALABLE OFFERINGS WITH REDUCED LABOR DEMANDS AND DEEP LEARNING ENABLED IMAGE PROCESSING. OTHERS THAT RELY ON USER CONTRIBUTIONS FOR SCALABILITY CANNOT GUARANTEE RICHNESS AND COMPLETENESS OF INFORMATION, AND DO NOT INTEGRATE LOCALIZATION TOOLS THAT CAN ENABLE REAL-TIME TURN-BY-TURN NAVIGATION AND EXPLORATION USING CONTEXTUAL INFORMATION. TO ACHIEVE BOTH SCALABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY, MABLE PROPOSES TO LEVERAGE ADVANCES IN AI, BUILDING MODELING, ROBOTICS, AR/VR VISUAL SCENE REASONING, AND LOW-POWER CONSUMER ELECTRONICS. MABLE WILL EXTRACT MOST ACCESSIBILITY-RELATED INFORMATION DIRECTLY FROM FLOOR PLANS USING DEEP-LEARNING AUGMENTED IMAGE-PROCESSING ALGORITHMS, AND ANY MISSING INFORMATION CAN BE AUGMENTED THROUGH ROBOT MAPPING AND SURVEYING, AND STAKEHOLDER AND USER CONTRIBUTIONS. FURTHER, BY QUANTIFYING THE LOCALIZATION PERFORMANCE AND COSTS OF AN ARRAY OF INDOOR LOCALIZATION TECHNOLOGIES, THE MABLE PRODUCT WILL CREATE CUSTOM LOCALIZATION DEPLOYMENTS THAT WORK BEST FOR A STAKEHOLDER, ENCOURAGING GREATER ADOPTION. THE PROJECT WILL CREATE NEW KNOWLEDGE IN THE AREAS OF COLLECTION, PROCESSING, AND EVALUATION OF ACCESSIBILITY INFORMATION FROM BUILT ENVIRONMENTS. IN ADDITION TO A SUSTAINABILITY MODEL, THE PROJECT WILL ALSO CREATE NEW FRAMEWORKS FOR QUANTIFYING ECONOMIC BENEFITS FROM ACCESSIBLE BUILT ENVIRONMENTS ENCOMPASSING PERSPECTIVES OF FUTURE ECONOMIC GROWTH POTENTIAL, COST SAVINGS, AND RETURN ON INVESTMENTS. 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.

NATURAL HAZARDS ENGINEERING RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE: EXPERIMENTAL FACILITY WITH LARGE-SCALE, MULTI-DIRECTIONAL, HYBRID SIMULATION TESTING CAPABILITIE

LEHIGH AND WEST VIRGINIA INDUSTRIAL ASSESSMENT CENTERS – CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE

INTERNATIONAL MATERIALS INSTITUTE FOR NEW FUNCTIONALITY IN GLASS (IMI-NFG) - PHASE II

INTEGRATED MAGNETIC AND KINETIC PROFILE CONTROL FOR ADVANCED ITER SCENARIOS IN DIII-D

ADVANCING STEEL AND CONCRETE BRIDGE TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE INFRASTRUCTURE PERFORMANCE

ASSESSING TELEPHONE ALL NATIONS BREATH OF LIFE FOR EFFICACY

EARLY INTERVENTION FOR YOUNG CHILDREN AT-RISK FOR ADHD: EVALUATING EFFICACY AND DELIVERY FORMAT FOR BEHAVIORAL PARENT EDUCATION

MODELING MECHANISMS IN CYTOKINESIS, CELL POLARIZATION AND MOTILITY

URBAN AND RESERVATION IMPLEMENTATION OF ALL NATIONS BREATH OF LIFE TO IMPROVE SMOKING CESSATION RATES AMONG AMERICAN INDIANS

CONTROL AND EXTENSION OF ITER AND ADVANCED SCENARIOS TO LONG PULSE IN EAST AND KSTAR

CONNECTIVITY OF CORAL ECOSYSTEMS IN THE NORTHWESTERN GULF OF MEXICO

NRT - STAKEHOLDER ENGAGED EQUITABLE DECARBONIZED ENERGY FUTURES -CARBON-BASED ENERGY SOURCES LIKE COAL, GASOLINE, AND DIESEL CONTRIBUTE TO GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS WHICH ARE A LEADING CAUSE OF CLIMATE CHANGE. EFFORTS TO REDUCE THE HARM CAUSED BY FOSSIL FUEL ENERGY GENERATION INCLUDE RENEWABLE TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS AND POLICY CHANGES. HOWEVER, MANY SOLUTIONS ARE EXPENSIVE, AND ACCESS TO THEM IS UNEQUAL. LOW-INCOME GROUPS HAVE HISTORICALLY SPENT A DISPROPORTIONATE AMOUNT OF THEIR INCOME ON ENERGY AND MAY FACE ADDITIONAL ECONOMIC BURDEN IN THE FUTURE DUE TO UNEVEN DEPLOYMENT OF ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES AND PROGRAMS. DEVELOPING NEW CLEAN ENERGY SOLUTIONS AND FINDING LOW-COST AND EQUITABLE WAYS TO DELIVER THEM WILL REQUIRE A WORKFORCE TRAINED TO INNOVATE NON-CARBON ENERGY SOLUTIONS AND INTEGRATE THEM WITH INFRASTRUCTURES AND POLICIES SO THAT ENVIRONMENTAL, ECONOMIC, AND HEALTH BENEFITS CAN BE EQUITABLY SHARED. THIS FUTURE WORKFORCE WILL NEED TO ENGAGE WITH COMMUNITIES TO TAILOR ENERGY SOLUTIONS TO ADDRESS NEEDS; COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY WITH STAKEHOLDERS FROM INDUSTRY, POLICY ORGANIZATIONS, AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES; AND ENSURE AWARENESS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL, ECONOMIC, AND HEALTH IMPLICATIONS OF CLEAN ENERGY SOLUTIONS AMONG IMPACTED COMMUNITIES. THIS NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION RESEARCH TRAINEESHIP (NRT) AWARD TO LEHIGH UNIVERSITY WILL ESTABLISH A PROGRAM TO TRAIN A NEW CLASS OF ENERGY WORKERS WITH THE SKILLS NEEDED FOR DEVELOPING AND DELIVERING CLEAN, EQUITABLE ENERGY SOLUTIONS VIA INTERDISCIPLINARY TRAINING IN ENGINEERING, POLICY, ECONOMICS, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, DATA SCIENCE, AND POPULATION HEALTH. THE PROJECT ANTICIPATES TRAINING 64 TRAINEES, INCLUDING 24 FUNDED PH.D. TRAINEES AND AN ADDITIONAL 40 GRADUATE STUDENTS WHO WILL ENROLL IN CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS AND PARTICIPATE IN RESEARCH PROJECTS. THIS NRT PROGRAM WILL INNOVATE THE TRAINING OF PH.D. AND MASTER?S STUDENTS THROUGH STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT, EQUITY CONSIDERATIONS, AND INTERDISCIPLINARITY TO PIONEER IMPACTFUL SOLUTIONS WHILE DEVELOPING KEY SKILLS FOR ENERGY SECTOR LEADERSHIP IN ACADEMIA, INDUSTRY, GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, AND POLICY ORGANIZATIONS. THIS WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH SEVEN NOVEL PROGRAM PILLARS: (1) COURSEWORK ON STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT THAT CULMINATES IN AN ANNUAL STUDENT-LED STAKEHOLDER WORKSHOP; (2) A REQUIRED COURSE ON ETHICS AND EQUITY IN TECHNOLOGY; (3) A MULTIDISCIPLINARY ENGINEERING, POLICY, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, ECONOMICS, AND POPULATION HEALTH GRADUATE COURSEWORK AND CERTIFICATE PROGRAM; (4) PARTICIPATION IN INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH TEAMS THAT TARGET LOCALLY BASED BUT UNIVERSALLY-RELEVANT TOPICS IN EQUITABLE ENERGY DECARBONIZATION AND REQUIRE THESIS CONTRIBUTIONS CONNECTING TECHNOLOGY, POLICY, AND STAKEHOLDERS; (5) REQUIRED STAKEHOLDER-BASED INTERNSHIPS; (6) COMMUNITY BUILDING TO AMPLIFY THE PROJECT?S VISION AMONG A BROADER STUDENT POPULATION; AND (7) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND LEADERSHIP SEMINAR SERIES TO INTRODUCE STUDENTS TO A WIDE RANGE OF ROLES IN THE ENERGY SECTOR. PROGRAM OUTCOMES WILL BE MEASURED BY THE EFFICACY IN MEETING IDENTIFIED LEARNING OBJECTIVES, WORKFORCE PREPAREDNESS OF TRAINEES, AND ABILITY TO RECRUIT AND RETAIN STUDENTS AND ADDRESS WORKFORCE DIVERSITY IN THE ENERGY SECTOR. THE NSF RESEARCH TRAINEESHIP (NRT) PROGRAM IS DESIGNED TO ENCOURAGE THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF BOLD, NEW POTENTIALLY TRANSFORMATIVE MODELS FOR STEM GRADUATE EDUCATION TRAINING. THE PROGRAM IS DEDICATED TO EFFECTIVE TRAINING OF STEM GRADUATE STUDENTS IN HIGH PRIORITY INTERDISCIPLINARY OR CONVERGENT RESEARCH AREAS THROUGH COMPREHENSIVE TRAINEESHIP MODELS THAT ARE INNOVATIVE, EVIDENCE-BASED, AND ALIGNED WITH CHANGING WORKFORCE AND RESEARCH NEEDS. 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.

MACHINE LEARNING ENHANCED LASER INDUCED BREAKDOWN SPECTROSCOPY (LIBS) FOR AUTOMATIC CONTROL OF HYDROGEN PRODUCING GASIFIERS. THE PROJECT’S OVERALL OBJECTIVE IS TO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF LIBS INTEGRATED WITH MACHINE LEARNING (ML) DESIGNED TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF FEEDSTOCK STREAMS INTO ENTRAINED-FLOW AND FLUIDIZED BED GASIFIER SYSTEMS THAT PRODUCE CLEAN HYDROGEN WITH BIOMASS, WASTE PLASTICS, AND LEGACY COAL WASTE AS THE FEEDSTOCKS. TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL, THE RESEARCH TEAM WILL FOCUS ON THE FOLLOWING SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES AND CRITICAL FACTORS: (1) ASSEMBLING A MATERIAL INVENTORY AND DEVELOPING SAMPLING PROCEDURE; (2) DESIGNING AND ASSEMBLING LIBS SYSTEM FOR STATIC AND DYNAMIC CONDITIONS; (3) DEVELOPING AND VALIDATING ML ALGORITHMS FOR LIBS DATA PROCESSING; (4) INSTALLING LIBS+ML SYSTEMS ON ONE ENTRAINED-FLOW AND ONE FLUIDIZED BED GASIFIER; (5) INTEGRATING LIBS+ML OUTPUTS INTO GASIFIER CONTROL SYSTEMS; AND (6) PERFORMING A TECHNO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS (TEA).

SCHOOL LEADERSHIP PROGRAM

TAS::89 0222::TAS NEW: LASER FABRICATION OF ACTIVE SINGLE-CRYSTAL ARCHITECTURE IN GLASS; PI - HIMANSHU JAIN

LEHIGH ADVANCE: BUILDING COMMUNITY BEYOND ACADEMIC DEPARTMENTS

ESTABLISHING MULTIMODAL BRAIN BIOMARKERS USING DATA-DRIVEN ANALYTICSFOR TREATMENT SELECTION IN DEPRESSION - PROJECT ABSTRACT MAJOR DEPRESSION IS THE LEADING CAUSE OF ILL HEALTH AND DISABILITY WORLDWIDE ACCORDING TO THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION. ALTHOUGH SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE IN UNDERSTANDING THE DISEASE AND DEVELOPING TREATMENTS, ANTIDEPRESSANTS, AS THE TREATMENT MAINSTAY, ARE EFFECTIVE FOR ONLY ABOUT 50% OF PATIENTS, IN PART DUE TO THE NEUROBIOLOGICAL AND CLINICAL HETEROGENEITY IN DEPRESSION. DEVELOPING ADVANCED DATA-DRIVEN TECHNIQUES BY LEVERAGING MACHINE LEARNING WITH LARGE-SCALE MULTIMODAL NEUROIMAGING DATA FROM RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIALS PROVIDES US A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLORE BRAIN BIOMARKERS TO IDENTIFY TREATMENT-PREDICTIVE NEUROBIOLOGICAL PHENOTYPES. ESTABLISHING SUCH BIOMARKERS IS CRUCIAL FOR REDUCING THE NEED FOR MULTIPLE DRUG TRIALS AND EXPEDITING REMISSION BY SHARPENING THE SEARCH FOR TREATMENT TARGETS. HOWEVER, INTEGRATIVE ANALYSIS OF MULTIMODAL DATA FOR IDENTIFYING BIOMARKERS AND DIFFERENTIATING INDIVIDUAL RESPONSES TO TREATMENT IN DEPRESSION REMAINS HIGHLY CHALLENGING AND UNDEREXPLORED. IN THIS PROPOSAL, WE WILL DEVELOP NEW DATA-DRIVEN ANALYTICAL TOOLS TO QUANTIFY MULTIMODAL MODERATORS AND SIGNATURES JOINTLY FROM PRE-TREATMENT FUNCTIONAL MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (FMRI) AND ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY (EEG) DATA FOR THE PREDICTION OF TREATMENT RESPONSE TO ANTIDEPRESSANT MEDICATION. IN AIM 1, WE WILL IDENTIFY MULTIMODAL MODERATORS OF TREATMENT EFFECT USING DATA FROM THE ESTABLISHING MODERATORS AND BIOSIGNATURES OF ANTIDEPRESSANT RESPONSE FOR CLINICAL CARE (EMBARC) TRIAL. A CANONICAL CORRELATION ANALYSIS-BASED DATA-DRIVEN MODEL WILL BE DESIGNED TO EXTRACT COMBINED FEATURES THAT FUSE TOGETHER COMPLEMENTARY INFORMATION FROM BOTH FMRI AND EEG MODALITIES. INTENT-TO-TREAT PREDICTION LINEAR MIXED MODELS WILL BE USED TO PROBE MULTIMODAL MODERATORS OF ANTIDEPRESSANT SERTRALINE VERSUS PLACEBO TREATMENT RESPONSE. IN AIM 2, WE WILL BUILD A SUPERVISED LATENT SPACE MODEL THAT UNIFIES THE FEATURE FUSION AND PREDICTIVE MODELING AND APPLY IT TO QUANTIFY MULTIMODAL BRAIN SIGNATURES THAT CAN PREDICT INDIVIDUAL TREATMENT RESPONSES TO SERTRALINE VERSUS PLACEBO MEDICATION. IN AIM 3, WE WILL RECRUIT 50 DEPRESSED PATIENTS AS AN INDEPENDENT COHORT UNDERGOING SERTRALINE TREATMENT TO OPTIMIZE AND VALIDATE THE IDENTIFIED MULTIMODAL BIOMARKERS. BOTH FMRI AND EEG WILL BE COLLECTED AT BASELINE FOLLOWED BY TREATMENT WITH THE ANTIDEPRESSANT MEDICATION SERTRALINE (IN A MANNER PARALLELING EMBARC PROCEDURES) AND CLINICAL ASSESSMENT OF OUTCOMES. WE WILL RELEASE THE DEVELOPED SOFTWARE TOOLS AND COLLECTED DATA TO BE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE TO THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY TO FACILITATE MULTIMODAL NEUROIMAGING STUDIES IN OTHER MENTAL DISORDERS.

ELECTRON CYCLOTRON HEATING & CURRENT DRIVE IN TOROIDAC GEOMETRY.

INTEGRATED LIBS-RAMAN-AI SYSTEM FOR REAL-TIME, IN-SITU CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF MSW STREAMS

CAREGIVING, ATTACHMENT, AND REGULATION OF EMOTION (CARE)

ACCELERATING PRESCHOOL CHILDREN’S LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT WITH PARENTS PLUS

DESIGNING TWO-LEVEL BIOMIMETIC FIBRILLAR INTERFACES

QUANTUM INFORMATION SCIENCE

MULTISCALE PREDICTIVE MODELING OF BLOOD CELL DAMAGE WITH EXPERIMENTAL VERIFICATION

A FEEDING TUBE MODEL FOR BACTERIAL CELL-CELL COMMUNICATION

A PUTATIVE HEPARIN RECEPTOR IN SMOOTH MUSCLE CELLS

HIGH-PERFORMANCE SCENARIO DEVELOPMENT IN NSTX-U VIA PHYSICS-BASED MODELING AND MODEL-BASED CONTROL

CRISP TYPE 2/COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: PROBABILISTIC RESILIENCE ASSESSMENT OF INTERDEPENDENT SYSTEMS (PRAISYS)

EFRI BEGIN OI: BIOCOMPUTATION OF DYNAMIC PATTERNS WITH CORTICAL NEURONAL ORGANOIDS -INFORMATION PROCESSING IN THE BRAIN HAS INSPIRED ADVANCES IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. HOWEVER, SOME ASPECTS OF INFORMATION PROCESSING IN THE BRAIN HAVE BEEN DIFFICULT TO TRANSLATE TO CONVENTIONAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE. NEURONS IN THE CORTEX OF THE BRAIN CAN PROCESS TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL INFORMATION SIMULTANEOUSLY, UNLIKE ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS. THIS MAY EXPLAIN WHY HUMAN BRAINS CAN MAKE SENSE OF MOVING VISUAL SCENES ACCURATELY AND WITHOUT SIGNIFICANT EFFORT. THIS AWARD WILL SUPPORT A PROJECT TO EXPLORE THE USE OF LAYERED BIOLOGICAL NEURAL NETWORKS FOR PROCESSING DYNAMIC VISUAL INFORMATION. CONNECTIONS BETWEEN LAYERS WILL BE GUIDED BY HARNESSING NATURAL DEVELOPMENT TO MIMIC THE VISUAL PATHWAY IN THE BRAIN. FULLY DEVELOPED AND TRAINED, THESE LAYERED BIOLOGICAL NEURAL NETWORKS WILL BE USED FOR IDENTIFICATION OF MOVING OBJECTS IN VIDEOS. ETHICAL, LEGAL, AND SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS (ELSI) OF THE USE OF HUMAN-DERIVED NEURONS TO CREATE ORGANOIDS WILL BE EXAMINED. TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPED DURING THE PROJECT MAY HAVE SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON NATIONAL NEEDS SUCH AS IMPROVING ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND ENDOWING AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS WITH IMPROVED VISION. RESEARCH FINDINGS WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO COURSES, AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WILL BE RECRUITED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PROJECT TO PROMOTE THEIR INTEREST IN RESEARCH. K-12 OUTREACH WILL ALSO BE UNDERTAKEN TO PROMOTE STUDENT INTEREST IN HIGHER EDUCATION AND ENGINEERING. THIS PROJECT WILL ADDRESS LONG-STANDING CHALLENGES IN COMPUTATION WITH LIVING NEURONS THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF FUNCTIONAL AND STRUCTURAL NETWORKS IN MULTILAYER ORGANOIDS. THESE CHALLENGES INCLUDE TRANSFER OF TWO-DIMENSIONAL INFORMATION, AGGREGATION AND COMPACTION OF NEURONS, UNDESIRABLE SPONTANEOUS ACTIVITY, RANDOM CONNECTIVITY, AND SYNAPTIC SCALING. NETWORKS OF NEURONS WILL BE ORGANIZED INTO STACKED LAYERS. INTER-LAYER CONNECTIVITY WILL BE RETINOTOPIC, WHILE INTRA-LAYER CONNECTIVITY WILL PROVIDE RECURRENT CONNECTIVITY. THIS NETWORK STRUCTURE IS OPTIMIZED FOR PROCESSING OF SPATIOTEMPORAL INFORMATION. IT TAKES ADVANTAGE OF THE RICH REPERTOIRE OF INTRACELLULAR DYNAMIC PROCESSES AND ENERGY-EFFICIENT RECURRENT CONNECTIVITY OF BIOLOGICAL NEURONS THAT ENDOWS THEM WITH COMPLEX TEMPORAL PROPERTIES. CREATION OF LAYERED ORGANOIDS IS MADE POSSIBLE BY ADVANCES IN 3D-PRINTED SCAFFOLDS THAT STABILIZE THREE-DIMENSIONAL NEURONAL CULTURES AND ADDRESS AGGREGATION AND SYNAPTIC SCALING CHALLENGES. AN ALL-OPTICAL INTERFACE WILL BE USED TO ENCODE AND DECODE INFORMATION AND TO PREVENT SPONTANEOUS ACTIVITY. NEURONAL ACTIVITY WILL BE HARNESSED TO DEVELOP DESIRED CONNECTIVITY. COMPUTATIONAL MODELS WILL BE CREATED TO ASSIST WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENCODING, DECODING, AND TRAINING ALGORITHMS, AS WELL AS WITH SECURE INFORMATION PROCESSING. PERFORMANCE OF STRUCTURED ORGANOIDS ON OPTICAL FLOW AND MOVING OBJECT SEGMENTATION TASKS WILL BE ASSESSED. THIS PROJECT SHOULD LEAD TO THE CREATION OF FUNDAMENTAL NEW KNOWLEDGE IN COMPUTER ENGINEERING, BIOENGINEERING, AND NEUROSCIENCE. 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 PURPOSE OF THIS AGREEMENT IS TO FUND RESEARCH SUPPORTING THE DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY DARPA ULTRA WIDE BANDGAP SEMICONDUCTORS UWBGS PROGRAM. THIS EFFORT SHALL BE CARRIED OUT GENERALLY AS SET FORTH IN EXHIBIT B, RESEARCH DESCRIPTION DOCUMENT, DATED JULY 8, 2024 AND IN THE RECIPIENTS PROPOSAL TITLED, DEVELOPMENT AND SCALING OF CUBIC BORON NITRIDE SUBSTRATES, DATED DECEMBER 14, 2023, COPIES OF WHICH ARE IN THE POSSESSION OF BOTH PARTIES.

CHARACTERIZATION AND RECOVERY OF RARE EARTH ELEMENTS/ELEMENTS OF INTEREST IN COAL COMBUSTION RESIDUAL WASTEWATER AND SOLID WASTES ASSOCIATED WITH COAL POWER GENERATION THE PROJECT OBJECTIVE IS TO CHARACTERIZE THE RARE EARTH ELEMENTS/ELEMENTS OF INTEREST IN COAL COMBUSTION RESIDUAL WASTEWATER AND SOLID WASTES ASSOCIATED WITH COAL POWER GENERATION, AS FUNCTION OF COAL TYPE, COAL COMBUSTION TECHNOLOGIES, AND AIR POLLUTION CONTROL DEVICES CONFIGURATIONS. THE SECONDARY OBJECTIVE IS TO DEMONSTRATE THE TECHNOLOGY FOR POTENTIAL RARE EARTH ELEMENTS/ELEMENTS OF INTEREST RECOVERY TO ENABLE COAL COMBUSTION RESIDUAL WASTEWATER AND SOLID WASTE BENEFICIAL USE.

THIS PROJECT WILL ENHANCE AVAILABLE RESOURCES FOR LOW-CARBON CONCRETE BINDER COMMERCIALIZATION, TO TEST LOW-CARBON NON-ORDINARY PORTLAND CEMENTS THAT CAN DECARBONIZE THE CEMENT AND CONCRETE INDUSTRIES BY ADVANCING LOW TEMPERATURE CALCINED CLAYS WITH A 50% LOWER CARBON FOOTPRINT THAN TRADITIONAL CEMENT. THE RESEARCH TEAM WILL FOCUS ON FIVE KEY OBJECTIVES: (1) RESEARCH ULTRASONICATION PROCESSING AS A CONTAMINANT SEPARATION AND CLAY BENEFICIATION PROCESS FOR LOW-GRADE KAOLIN (LGK) AND BLENDED CALCINED CLAYS. (2) PRODUCE CALCINED CLAYS AT APPRECIABLE QUANTITIES FOR ANALYSIS AND CONCRETE BATCHING USING THE ULTRASONICATION-CALCINATION-GRINDING PROCESS. (3) INVESTIGATE CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF NATURALLY OCCURRING CLAYS AS COMPARED TO ULTRASONICALLY PROCESSED CLAYS, BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER CALCINATION. (4) TEST AND QUANTIFY THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND DURABILITY PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE MIX DESIGNS UTILIZING CALCINED CLAYS. (5) QUANTIFY THE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF CALCINED CLAYS IN TERMS OF THE DOE’S METRICS AND TO DETERMINE AN OPTIMAL TRADE-OFF POINT TO MAXIMIZE DESIRABLE PROPERTIES.

EFRI-PSBR: CONTINUOUS LIQUID FUEL PRODUCTION VIA SCALABLE BIOSYNTHESIS OF ENZYME-QUANTUM DOT HYBRID PHOTOCATALYSTS

DMREF: THRIVING WHILE DETONATING - MATERIALS FOR EXTREME DYNAMIC THERMOMECHANICAL PERFORMANCE -THE ABILITY TO RELIABLY ORDER OUR GROCERIES OR TAKEOUT, ENJOY RAPID PACKAGE DELIVERY, CHECK THE WEATHER FORECAST, AND NAVIGATE WITH GPS IS ALL A PART OF THE UNITED STATES? EVER-GROWING SPACE ECONOMY. ONE PROMISING BREAKTHROUGH IN PROPULSION TECHNOLOGY THAT COULD ENABLE MORE AFFORDABLE AND EFFICIENT ACCESS TO SPACE IS THE ROTATING DETONATION ENGINE (RDE), A REVOLUTIONARY ENGINE CONCEPT NOW UNDER ACTIVE DEVELOPMENT. AN RDE GENERATES POWER THROUGH SUSTAINING A CIRCULATING DETONATION WAVE IN AN ANNULAR CHAMBER AT THOUSANDS OF METERS PER SECOND, ACHIEVING POWER LEVELS ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE HIGHER THAN CONVENTIONAL ENGINES, WHILE PROVIDING HIGHER EFFICIENCIES, MORE COMPACT DESIGNS, AND HIGHER THRUST-TO-WEIGHT RATIOS. WHILE THE RDE TECHNOLOGY IS ADVANCING RAPIDLY, THE LACK OF ESTABLISHED MATERIAL SOLUTIONS TO CONTEND WITH THE EXTREME THERMOMECHANICAL LOADINGS ASSOCIATED WITH DETONATION REMAINS A CRITICAL BARRIER TO DEPLOYMENT. CURRENT TESTING HAS REPORTED MATERIAL FAILURES AFTER ONLY A FEW ENGINE CYCLES, WITH NO CLEAR CONSENSUS ON IDEAL MATERIALS. METALS, COMPOSITES, AND CERAMICS ARE ALL BEING EXPLORED. THIS DESIGNING MATERIALS TO REVOLUTIONIZE AND ENGINEER OUR FUTURE (DMREF) PROJECT AIMS TO TACKLE THIS MATERIALS BARRIER BY ESTABLISHING A SYNERGISTIC PLATFORM INFORMED BY THE MATERIALS GENOME INITIATIVE. IT WILL INTEGRATE INDUSTRY COLLABORATION AND A PARTNERSHIP WITH THE AIR FORCE RESEARCH LABORATORY TO ACCELERATE THE DESIGN OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE COPPER ALLOYS AND TESTING PROTOCOLS FOR THE KINDS OF EXTREME DYNAMIC CONDITIONS FOUND IN RDES. THROUGH A STRATEGIC COMBINATION OF (I) MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH ENCOMPASSING MATERIALS SCIENCE, MATERIALS INFORMATICS, MECHANICS, AERODYNAMICS AND COMBUSTION, (II) ORGANIZATION OF WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES WITH ACADEMIC, GOVERNMENT AND INDUSTRIAL PARTICIPATION, AND (III) EDUCATIONAL AND OUTREACH INITIATIVES TO UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AND THE K-12 COMMUNITY, THIS PROJECT WILL ESTABLISH A NEW HUB OF MATERIALS DISCOVERY AND DESIGN FOR EXTREME AEROSPACE ENVIRONMENTS AND HELP TRAIN THE NEXT-GENERATION WORKFORCE. THIS DMREF PROJECT WILL LEVERAGE A GENERATIVE AI MULTI-AGENT FRAMEWORK TO ENABLE CLOSED-LOOP DESIGN OF COPPER-BASED ALLOYS FOR EXTREME DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENTS, USING BOTH COLD SPRAY AND DIRECTED ENERGY DEPOSITION ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING. THIS FRAMEWORK WILL COORDINATE EXPERIMENTAL AND SIMULATION ACTIVITIES THROUGH AN UNCERTAINTY-RESPONSIVE MODEL, GUIDING MATERIAL DESIGN THROUGH ITERATIVE LEARNING. A UNIQUE ASPECT OF THE PROJECT IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND MINIATURIZED RDE MATERIAL TESTING PLATFORM, SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED AND INSTRUMENTED TO RAPIDLY SCREEN CANDIDATE MATERIALS UNDER REALISTIC RDE CONDITIONS. IN ADDITION, THIS PROJECT WILL INTEGRATE REDUCED-ORDER MODELS FOR CYCLIC AND HIGH-STRAIN-RATE MATERIAL PERFORMANCE AND GENERATE DAMAGE AND FAILURE MECHANISM REGIME MAPS, PROVIDING FUNDAMENTAL INSIGHTS INTO HOW COMPOSITION, MICROSTRUCTURE, AND GRADATION MAY MITIGATE HIGH-FREQUENCY, HIGH-AMPLITUDE THERMOMECHANICAL LOADS. THE RESULTING KNOWLEDGE WILL NOT ONLY ADVANCE COPPER-BASED ALLOYS BUT ALSO PROVIDE TRANSFERABLE PRINCIPLES FOR DESIGNING BROADER CLASSES OF STRUCTURAL ALLOYS VIA ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING AND COATED MATERIALS SYSTEMS FOR PROPULSION AND POWER GENERATION. THIS PROJECT IS SUPPORTED BY THE DIVISION OF CIVIL, MECHANICAL AND MANUFACTURING INNOVATION (CMMI) OF THE DIRECTORATE FOR ENGINEERING (ENG), AND THE DIVISION OF MATERIALS RESEARCH (DMR) OF THE DIRECTORATE FOR MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES (MPS). 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.

LEHIGH UNIVERSITY PROJECT TITLE: FLEXIBLE COAL POWER PLANT OPERATION WITH THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE UTILIZING THERMOSIPHONS AND CEMENTITIOUS MATERIALS. NEW AWARD

LEAP-HI/GOALI: MESO-SCALE MECHANISMS FOR FRICTION IN STRUCTURED SOFT MATERIALS: ELASTIC HYSTERESIS AND DISLOCATION ARRAYS

DMREF: DNA-NANOCARBON HYBRID MATERIALS FOR PERCEPTION-BASED, ANALYTE-AGNOSTIC SENSING -NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: SENSING SPECIFIC MOLECULES IS ESSENTIAL FOR LIFE AND FORMS THE BASIS OF MANY DIAGNOSTIC TECHNOLOGIES. OFTEN, THIS IS ACHIEVED BY ONE SENSOR-ONE ANALYTE LOCK-AND-KEY MECHANISMS, E.G., BY ANTIBODY-ANTIGEN BINDING. THIS PROJECT DEVELOPS MATERIALS FOR AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO SENSING BASED ON AN ARTIFICIAL PERCEPTION SYSTEM. THIS SYSTEM COMPRISES A SET OF NANOSENSOR ELEMENTS CHOSEN FROM THE FAMILY OF DNA/SINGLE-WALLED CARBON NANOTUBES (SWCNT) AND WILL WORK ON BODILY FLUIDS. EACH NANOSENSOR ELEMENT (A PARTICULAR DNA/SWCNT COMBINATION) WILL HAVE ONLY A WEAKLY SPECIFIC RESPONSE TO AN ANALYTE OR PHYSIOLOGICAL STATE. HOWEVER, ACTING IN CONCERT WITH MACHINE LEARNING (ML) TECHNIQUES AND HIGH THROUGHPUT EXPERIMENTAL INTERROGATION, A SUITABLY DESIGNED NANOSENSOR ARRAY CAN ACCURATELY DETECT OR MEASURE MULTIPLE ANALYTES OR PHYSIOLOGICAL STATES IN BIOFLUIDS. A COMPELLING FEATURE OF THIS APPROACH WILL BE THE ABILITY FOR A NANOSENSOR ARRAY TO BE DESIGNED FIRST AND PRIMARILY BY THE CHOICE OF NANOSENSOR ELEMENTS AND SECONDARILY BY THE USE OF MACHINE LEARNING ALGORITHMS. BECAUSE THE NANOSENSOR ARRAY WILL BE BUILT AS INITIALLY ANALYTE-AGNOSTIC, THE OPTIMALLY DESIGNED SENSOR ARRAY HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE A UNIVERSAL BIOFLUID SENSING SYSTEM CAPABLE OF DIAGNOSING MANY DISEASES. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: THE PRINCIPAL GOAL OF THIS PROJECT WILL BE TO TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT WELL-CHOSEN NANOSENSOR ARRAYS CAN BE FOUND AND TRAINED TO DETECT A VARIETY OF ANALYTES OR PHYSIOLOGICAL STATES IN AQUEOUS BODILY FLUIDS. THREE PRINCIPAL AIMS ARE PROPOSED: TO DEVELOP A METHOD FOR SELECTION OF A FUNCTIONALLY DIVERSE SET OF NANOSENSOR ELEMENTS FROM THE FAMILY OF DNA/SINGLE-WALLED CARBON NANOTUBES (SWCNT) BASED ON A STANDARD AMINO ACID TEST; TO DEMONSTRATE THAT AN INITIALLY ANALYTE-AGNOSTIC POOL OF NANOSENSOR ELEMENTS CAN BE USED AS ELEMENTS OF A SYSTEM THAT CAN BE TRAINED TO SENSE SPECIFIC ANALYTES OR PHYSIOLOGICAL CONDITIONS; AND TO ESTABLISH THE STRUCTURAL AND PHYSICAL BASIS FOR ANALYTE-DNA-SWCNT INTERACTIONS USING COARSE-GRAINED (CG) AND ALL-ATOM (AA) MOLECULAR MODELS. THE PROJECT INTEGRATES HIGH-THROUGHPUT EXPERIMENTATION, MACHINE LEARNING (ML), AND PHYSICAL MODELING IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH THE MATERIALS GENOME INITIATIVE (MGI) MISSION TO DISCOVER, MANUFACTURE, AND DEPLOY ADVANCED MATERIALS MUCH MORE QUICKLY AND AT A MUCH-REDUCED COST. THE MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM IS LED BY SCIENTISTS FROM THREE INSTITUTIONS, INCLUDING A CHEMIST, A MATERIALS SCIENTIST, A BIOENGINEER, AND A COMPUTER SCIENTIST. 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.

POROUS AND GLUED LANGMUIR-BLODGETT MEMBRANES

EVOLUTIONARY APPROACHES TO IDENTIFY GENETIC ARCHITECTURE REGULATING AGGRESSION

IDENTIFYING ELECTRICALLY COUPLED NETWORKS IN VITRO - SUMMARY WE PLAN TO EXPLORE THE FUNCTIONAL TOPOGRAPHY OF ELECTRICAL SYNAPSES IN THE THALAMIC RETICULAR NUCLEUS (TRN), A CENTRAL BRAIN REGION THAT CONTROLS CORTICAL ATTENTION TO THE SENSORY SURROUND BY GATING THALAMOCORTICAL INTERACTIONS. DURING SLOW-WAVE OF SLEEP AND ABSENCE EPILEPSY, THE BRAIN IS UNRESPONSIVE TO SENSORY INPUT; THE TRN IS THOUGHT TO FOCUS THIS NEURAL “SEARCHLIGHT” OF ATTENTION, AND TO GENERATE THE RHYTHMS THAT APPEAR AS SPINDLES DURING SLEEP AND SHARP-WAVE DISCHARGES IN EPILEPSY. NEURONAL COMMUNICATION IN THE TRN IS DOMINATED BY THE ELECTRICAL SYNAPSES THAT ARE FORMED BY CONNEXIN36 GAP JUNCTIONS AMONGST ITS GABAERGIC NEURONS. OUR BEST UNDERSTANDING OF ELECTRICAL SYNAPSES IS LIMITED BY CURRENT TECHNIQUES TO PAIRS OF NEURONS AND A SINGLE ELECTRICAL SYNAPSE. HERE, WE WILL LEVERAGE MODERN OPTOGENETIC AND FOCAL PHOTOSTIMULATION TECHNIQUES TO MAP ELECTRICALLY COUPLED NETWORKS IN MOLECULARLY DEFINED POPULATIONS OF GABAERGIC NEURONS OF THE LIVE TRN. OUR CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS IS THAT THE ELECTRICALLY COUPLED NETWORKS WITHIN THE TRN LINK NEURONS ACROSS MOLECULAR IDENTITY, SENSORY MODALITY AND HIGHER-ORDER AND PRIMARY RELAY CHANNELS, AND THEREBY REGULATE THALAMOCORTICAL TRANSMISSION. WE WILL TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT ACTIVITY-DEPENDENT ELECTRICAL SYNAPTIC DEPRESSION, WHICH IS INDUCED BY BURSTING PATTERNS THAT ARE PROMINENT DURING SLOW-WAVE SLEEP, IS GLOBAL FOR ALL SYNAPTIC COUPLING TO A STRONGLY BURSTING NEURON, DUE TO ITS DEPENDENCE ON PAN-NEURONAL T CURRENTS. FINALLY, WE WILL MODEL AND EXPERIMENTALLY VALIDATE HOW PLASTIC ELECTRICALLY COUPLED NETWORKS FINELY CONTROL THE INHIBITION THAT TRN NEURONS DELIVER TO THALAMOCORTICAL RELAY CELLS, AND THEREBY GATE THALAMOCORTICAL COMMUNICATION. BECAUSE THESE SYNAPSES ARE BOTH WIDESPREAD AND UNDERAPPRECIATED FOR THEIR POWER THROUGHOUT THE MAMMALIAN BRAIN, IT IS CRUCIAL TO UNDERSTAND THE MOLECULAR AND FUNCTIONAL TOPOGRAPHY AND THE DYNAMICS OF THEIR NETWORKS. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPOSAL LIES IN ITS POTENTIAL TO, FOR THE FIRST TIME, IDENTIFY AND CHARACTERIZE ELECTRICALLY COUPLED NETWORKS IN VITRO, BOTH IN THE TRN AND EVENTUALLY, THROUGHOUT THE BRAIN. THIS RESEARCH WILL MAKE GREAT STRIDES IN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE PHYSIOLOGICAL FUNCTION AND PLASTICITY OF ELECTRICAL SYNAPSES, AND PROVIDE INSIGHT INTO HOW THE TRN CONTROLS THALAMOCORTICAL INFORMATION PROCESSING.

GENETIC INTERACTIONS AND THE EVOLUTION OF COMPLEX TRAITS IN YEAST - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT ADAPTIVE EVOLUTION IS A FUNDAMENTAL PROCESS IN BIOLOGY. AT ITS SIMPLEST RANDOM MUTATION PRODUCES PHENOTYPIC VARIATION ON WHICH SELECTION ACTS, ENRICHING FOR FAVORABLE PHENOTYPES AND PURGING THE LESS- FAVORABLE ONES. THIS PROCESS HAS PRODUCED THE DIVERSITY OF LIFE ON EARTH. YET AT THE SAME TIME, ADAPTIVE EVOLUTION IS RESPONSIBLE FOR SOME OF THE MOST VEXING PROBLEMS IN HUMAN HEALTH, FROM THE GROWING PROBLEM OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE TO REAL-TIME EVOLUTION OF VIRAL PATHOGENS TO CANCERS THAT RESIST DRUG TREATMENTS AND EVADE THE IMMUNE SYSTEM. DESPITE THIS, WE LACK A BASIC MECHANISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF HOW GENOMES RESPOND TO SELECTION. ONE MAJOR UNKNOWN IS HOW ADAPTIVE EVOLUTION “CHOOSES” ONE PARTICULAR PATH FROM AMONG A VAST NUMBER OF POSSIBLE ONES. ANOTHER MAJOR UNKNOWN IS HOW GENETIC VARIATION PRODUCES NEW PHENOTYPES ON WHICH SELECTION ACTS. EXPERIMENTAL EVOLUTION PROVIDES A WAY FORWARD TO ADDRESS BOTH OF THESE SIGNIFICANT GAPS IN OUR KNOWLEDGE. WITH ADVANCES IN HIGH-THROUGHPUT BIOLOGY WE CAN EVOLVE HUNDREDS OF INITIALLY IDENTICAL POPULATIONS IN PARALLEL FOR THOUSANDS OF GENERATIONS, WITH EXQUISITE CONTROL OVER EXPERIMENTAL PARAMETERS. THIS VERSATILE TECHNIQUE MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO TEST EVOLUTIONARY THEORY THROUGH EXPERIMENTS THAT ARE IMPOSSIBLE TO PERFORM IN NATURAL POPULATIONS. AT THE SAME TIME, EXPERIMENTAL EVOLUTION IS POWERFUL TOOL FOR FUNCTIONAL GENOMICS. BY IDENTIFYING THE GENES AND PATHWAYS THAT RESPOND TO SELECTIVE PRESSURES, AND HOW THESE MUTATIONS INTERACT TO ALTER PHENOTYPE, LABORATORY EVOLUTION EXPERIMENTS IDENTIFY PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN CELLULAR CONNECTIONS. IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS MY LABORATORY HAS ADVANCED A MECHANISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF ADAPTIVE EVOLUTION. FUTURE WORK WILL DETERMINE HOW GENETIC CHANGES GIVE RISE TO COMPLEX PHENOTYPES. WE WILL PERFORM EVOLUTION EXPERIMENTS FOLLOWING PERTURBATION OF THE GENETIC BACKGROUND AND IN SHIFTING ENVIRONMENTS. IN ADDITION TO ADVANCING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF ADAPTIVE EVOLUTION, WE EXPECT, BASED ON OUR PRIOR WORK, TO IDENTIFY PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN NUCLEAR-NUCLEAR, NUCLEAR-CYTOPLASMIC, AND GENE- ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS. FINALLY, WE WILL DEVELOP A FAST AND RELIABLE METHOD FOR PERFORMING MULTIPLE ROUNDS OF POOLED GENE EDITING IN YEAST, AND WE WILL USE THIS METHOD TO SYSTEMATICALLY ASSAY GENETIC INTERACTIONS THAT HAVE BEEN MISSED BY OTHER METHODS. BY CONNECTING GENOTYPE TO PHENOTYPE IN AN EVOLUTIONARY CONTEXT, OUR WORK WILL PROVIDE A MECHANISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF HOW COMPLEX TRAITS EVOLVE. THIS WORK WILL ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF ADAPTIVE EVOLUTION AND THE GENETIC BASIS OF COMPLEX TRAITS IN LESS TRACTABLE SYSTEMS, INCLUDING HUMANS AND HUMAN PATHOGENS.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: INTRACONTINENTAL DEFORMATION AND SURFACE UPLIFT: GEODYNAMIC EVOLUTION OF THE HANGAY DOME MONGOLIA CENTRAL ASIA

MOLECULAR LEVEL FOUNDATION FOR OLEFIN METATHESIS BY HETEROGENEOUS SUPPORTED MOLYBDENA CATALYSTS

EFFERENT INHIBITORY MECHANISMS IN BINAURAL PROCESSING

DETERMINING MECHANISMS OF REGENERATIVE NEURAL SPECIFICATION

PREDICTED INTEGRATED MODELING OF HEATED TOKAMAK PLASMAS

ARI-R2: ADVANCED NETWORKING FOR THE IACOCCA HALL C-WING RESEARCH FACILITY

COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT BETWEEN LEHIGH UNIVERSITY AND ARL TO SUPPORT RESEARCH INTO ELECTRONICS

INVESTIGATION OF CAVEOLIN STRUCTURE, TOPOLOGY, AND OLIGOMERIZATION

MAPPING GENETIC INTERACTIONS BETWEEN GROWTH-PROMOTING MUTATIONS IN YEAST

PROMOTING RECEPTOR PROTEIN TYROSINE PHOSPHATASE ACTIVITY BY TARGETING TRANSMEMBRANE DOMAIN INTERACTIONS

TELOMERE MAINTENANCE BY THE TELOMERASE RNA-PROTEIN COMPLEX

REGULATION OF SYNAPTIC DYSFUNCTION AND MAINTENANCE WITH AGE USING DROSOPHILA

THIS COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT IS AWARDED TO THE LEHIGH UNIVERSITY FOR A PROJECT ENTITLED, “APPLICATION OF BANKING SCORING AND RATING FOR COHERENT RISK MEASURES IN ELECTRICITY SYSTEMS”. THIS AWARD IS BEING MADE IN ACCORDANCE WITH FOA NUMBER DE-FOA-0002171 (PERFORM) AND APPLICATION CONTROL NUMBER 2171-1548.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: EXPANDING SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE INVESTIGATIONS WITH GEOSPATIAL TECHNOLOGIES IN HIGH SCHOOLS

SPECIAL EDUCATION RESEARCH

INDUSTRIAL ASSESSMENT CENTER (IAC) AT LEHIGH UNIVERSITY

COUPLED AERO-HYDRO-MECHANICAL HYBRID SIMULATION TESTING OF OFFSHORE WIND TURBINES SUBJECTED TO OPERATIONAL AND EXTREME LOADING CONDITIONS

SPECIAL EDUCATION RESEARCH PROGRAM

MATRIX REGENERATIVE NANOTHERAPEUTICS FOR SMALL ABDOMINAL AORTIC ANEURYSM REPAIR

FULL SAIL AHEAD: HOW MEMBRANES MOVE AND RESPOND TO FLOW - PROJECT SUMMARY A REMARKABLE FEATURE OF LIPID MEMBRANES IS THEIR FLUIDITY: THEY CAN SELF-HEAL, BEND, AND CIRCULATE. INDIVIDUAL CELLS ALSO EXPERIENCE AND RESPOND TO THE FLOWS IN THEIR ENVIRONMENT. FLOW RESPONSES REGULATE DIVERSE PROCESSES SUCH AS BLOOD PRESSURE, BONE DENSITY, AND NEURAL GROWTH. THIS IS PARTICULARLY APPARENT IN BLOOD VESSELS, WHERE A MONOLAYER OF ENDOTHELIAL CELLS FORMS THE INTERFACE BETWEEN FLOWING BLOOD AND STATIONARY TISSUE. CORRELATION BETWEEN REGIONS OF LOW FLOW AND ATHEROSCLEROTIC PLAQUES WAS OBSERVED A CENTURY AGO, LEADING TO THE HYPOTHESIS THAT SHEAR FLOW IMPACTS ENDOTHELIAL CELL FUNCTION. UNDERSTANDING HOW CELLS ACCOMPLISH MECHANOTRANSDUCTION OF SHEAR STRESS INTO CELLULAR SIGNALS IS OF WIDE INTEREST. HOWEVER, THE MOLECULAR DETERMINANTS BEHIND FLOW MECHANOTRANSDUCTION REMAIN UNCLEAR. PARTICULARLY, WE LACK INFORMATION ON THE LATERAL MOVEMENT OF EXTRACELLULAR MEMBRANE PROTEINS LOCATED AT THE CELL-FLUID INTERFACE. WHILE FLOW HAS BEEN OBSERVED TO TRANSPORT MEMBRANE PROTEINS, HOW THIS TRANSPORT AFFECTS PROTEIN FUNCTION AND CELL RESPONSES REMAINS UNKNOWN. THE GOAL OF THE PROPOSED STUDIES IS TO QUANTITATIVELY MEASURE THE PHYSICAL INTERACTIONS SPECIFIC TO LIPID MEMBRANES THAT DETERMINE HOW LIPIDS AND PROTEINS MOVE IN RESPONSE TO FLOW AND TEST WHETHER FLOW TRANSPORT OF A MEMBRANE PROTEIN ACTIVATES INTRACELLULAR SIGNALING IN ENDOTHELIAL CELLS. OUR CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS IS THAT PHYSIOLOGICALLY SIGNIFICANT PROTEIN AND LIPID CONCENTRATION GRADIENTS ARISE FROM PHYSICAL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN FLUID FLOW AND COMPLEX MEMBRANES. THIS HYPOTHESIS IS BASED ON THE PREMISE THAT EXTRACELLULAR LIPID-ANCHORED PROTEOGLYCANS LIKE GLYPICAN-1 CAN BE TRANSPORTED ALONG THE PLASMA MEMBRANE BY EXTERNAL FLOW, WITH THE AQUEOUS PART OF THE PROTEIN ACTING AS A MOLECULAR SAIL. WE WILL ACCOMPLISH THREE SPECIFIC AIMS: OUR FIRST AIM IS TO IDENTIFY THE FUNDAMENTAL PROPERTIES AND PRINCIPLES THAT GOVERN FLOW TRANSPORT OF MEMBRANE-LINKED PROTEINS IN MODEL MEMBRANES AND TO BUILD A MODEL TO PREDICT PROTEIN MOTION IN PHYSIOLOGICAL CONTEXTS. IN THE SECOND AIM, WE WILL DETERMINE HOW THE FLOW-MEDIATED LATERAL TRANSPORT OF A PHYSIOLOGICALLY IMPORTANT MEMBRANE PROTEIN (GLYPICAN-1) INITIATES THE SHORT-TERM FLOW RESPONSE IN ENDOTHELIAL CELLS. IN OUR THIRD AIM, WE WILL INVESTIGATE HOW LIPID SORTING BY FLOW CONTRIBUTES TO FLOW SIGNALING IN OUR MODEL SYSTEM AND LIVING CELL MEMBRANES. OUR APPROACH IS TO CONDUCT PARALLEL EXPERIMENTS IN MODEL MEMBRANES AND LIVING CELLS, ALLOWING US TO DIRECTLY RELATE PHYSIOLOGICAL FUNCTION TO MOLECULAR BIOPHYSICS. THE EXPERIMENTS RELY ON THE PI'S EXPERTISE USING EXPERIMENTAL MICROFLUIDICS AND CONFOCAL MICROSCOPY TO DETERMINE FUNDAMENTAL MEMBRANE PROPERTIES. WHILE THE MODEL PROTEIN STUDIED HERE IS SPECIFIC TO ENDOTHELIAL CELLS, THE PRINCIPLES OF FLUID MECHANICS THAT WE WILL UNCOVER ARE UNIVERSAL. WE, THEREFORE, ANTICIPATE THAT OUR MODELS WILL APPLY TO MULTIPLE CELL LINES AND FLOW CONDITIONS, AND WILL LAY THE GROUNDWORK FOR FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS.

CIRCUIT FUNCTIONS OF FAST-SPIKING INTERNEURONS IN THE MAIN OLFACTORY BULB - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT THE OLFACTORY SYSTEM IS CRITICAL TO SEVERAL ASPECTS OF BEHAVIOR AND SURVIVAL IN MAMMALS, INCLUDING HUMANS. THE OLFACTORY BULB IS THE FIRST PROCESSING STATION OF THE OLFACTORY SYSTEM AND CONSTITUTES AN EXCEPTIONAL MODEL SYSTEM FOR THE STUDY OF NEURAL CODING, CAPABLE OF ENCODING A HIGHLY COMPLEX SENSORY SPACE WITHIN A COMPACT AND WELL- ORGANIZED STRUCTURE. UNDERSTANDING LOCAL CIRCUIT COMPUTATION WITHIN THE OLFACTORY BULB WILL THUS PROVIDE KEY INSIGHT INTO FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF BRAIN FUNCTION. BROAD PERTURBATION OF SYNAPTIC INHIBITION WITHIN THE OLFACTORY BULB SIGNIFICANTLY DISRUPTS PROJECTION MITRAL/TUFTED CELL SYNCHRONIZATION AND OLFACTORY-GUIDED BEHAVIOR, UNDERSCORING A CENTRAL ROLE OF INHIBITORY INTERNEURONS IN LOCAL CIRCUIT COMPUTATION. IN CONTRAST TO OTHER REGIONS OF THE BRAIN SUCH AS NEOCORTEX AND HIPPOCAMPUS, HOWEVER, FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THE DIVERSE INHIBITORY INTERNEURONS WITHIN THE OLFACTORY BULB SPECIFICALLY SUPPORT NEURAL CODING HAS REMAINED ELUSIVE, WITH DETAILED KNOWLEDGE OF HOW UNITARY SYNAPTIC INTERACTIONS CONTRIBUTE TO THE PRECISE REGULATION OF MITRAL/TUFTED CELL SPIKE TIMING IN PARTICULAR LACKING. TO ADVANCE UNDERSTANDING OF LOCAL CIRCUIT COMPUTATION AND NEURAL CODING IN THE OLFACTORY BULB, THIS PROJECT WILL THEREFORE DIRECTLY EXAMINE UNITARY SYNAPTIC INTERACTIONS BETWEEN MITRAL/TUFTED CELLS AND A HIGHLY-CONSERVED BUT UNDERSTUDIED CLASS OF FAST-SPIKING INTERNEURONS, USING WHOLE-CELL PAIR RECORDINGS IN ACUTE MOUSE BRAIN SLICES TOGETHER WITH PHARMACOLOGY, MORPHOLOGICAL RECONSTRUCTION, IMMUNOSTAINING, AND SIMULATIONS. INVESTIGATION WILL SPECIFICALLY ADDRESS THREE AIMS: 1) DETERMINE HOW FAST-SPIKING INTERNEURONS REGULATE MITRAL/TUFTED CELL SPIKE TIMING, 2) DETERMINE HOW DENDRITIC COMPUTATION SUPPORTS FAST-SPIKING INTERNEURON FUNCTION, AND 3) DETERMINE HOW FAST-SPIKING INTERNEURON SIGNALING ADAPTS WITH NEURAL ACTIVITY.

LEHIGH VALLEY PARTNERSHIP FOR GK-12 TEACHING FELLOWS: WIDENING THE PIPELINE

DEVELOPMENTAL DETERMINATION OF CENTRAL AUDITORY PHYSIOLOGY BY THE INNER EAR - PROJECT SUMMARY: A LONGSTANDING AND FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION OF NEURAL DEVELOPMENT IN SENSORY PATHWAYS IS: WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SENSORY EPITHELIUM IN ESTABLISHING CENTRAL TOPOGRAPHIC ORGANIZATION? IN THE AUDITORY SYSTEM A DIRECT APPROACH TO ADDRESSING THIS QUESTION HAS BEEN ELUSIVE BECAUSE IT HAS NOT BEEN POSSIBLE TO MANIPULATE THE INPUT TO THE BRAIN FROM THE AUDITORY PERIPHERY WITHOUT EITHER COMPLETE ABLATION OF THE INNER EAR OR INDUCTION OF HEARING DYSFUNCTION. THE PROPOSED EXPERIMENTS WILL ESTABLISH FOR THE FIRST TIME, A MODEL OF REPATTERNED FREQUENCY REPRESENTATION IN THE CHICK INNER EAR BY UTILIZING A NEW GENETIC MANIPULATION IN EMBRYOS. THIS MANIPULATION TAKES ADVANTAGE OF THE KNOWN GENETIC FACTORS THAT ESTABLISH THE ORGANIZATION OF THE EAR AT A VERY EARLY DEVELOPMENTAL STAGE THAT PRECEDES THE AUDITORY NERVE INNERVATION OF THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. BY OVEREXPRESSING ONE OF THESE FACTORS, BONE MORPHOGENIC PROTEIN 7 (BMP7), INNER EARS DEVELOP ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY LOW FREQUENCY HAIR CELL PHENOTYPES. IN THE FIRST BRAIN STRUCTURE TO RECEIVE AUDITORY NERVE INPUT, THE COCHLEAR NUCLEUS, NEURONS EXPRESS A NUMBER OF WELL CHARACTERIZED BIOPHYSICAL AND MORPHOLOGICAL SPECIALIZATIONS FOR PROCESSING SOUND IN SPECIFIC FREQUENCIES. FREQUENCY SPECIFIC TUNING IS TOPOGRAPHICALLY MAPPED IN BOTH THE EAR AND AUDITORY BRAIN REGIONS, A FEATURE KNOWN AS 'TONOTOPY.' THUS, NEURAL SPECIALIZATION OCCURS ALONG AN ORDERLY TONOTOPIC MAP IN THE COCHLEAR NUCLEUS. THE CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS OF THIS PROPOSAL IS THAT TONOTOPIC REFINEMENT OF SPECIALIZATIONS IN THE COCHLEAR NUCLEUS IS DEVELOPMENTALLY DETERMINED BY PATTERNED INPUT FROM THE INNER EAR, AND IS NOT INDEPENDENTLY INDUCED BY LOCAL CUES IN THE DEVELOPING BRAIN. THIS HYPOTHESIS IS NOW TESTABLE USING ANIMALS WITH TONOTOPICALLY ALTERED INNER EARS. THE FIRST AIM OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO EXAMINE WHETHER THE BMP7 MANIPULATION INDEED INDUCES REPATTERNING OF HAIR CELL TUNING MECHANISM IN THE INNER EAR. THE SECOND AIM INVESTIGATES THE ELECTRICAL INPUT RESPONSE PROPERTIES OF COCHLEAR NUCLEUS NEURONS IN ANIMALS THAT HAVE DEVELOPED WITH TONOTOPICALLY ALTERED INNER EARS. FINALLY, THE THIRD AIM WILL INVESTIGATE THE DEPENDENCE OF COCHLEAR NUCLEUS STRUCTURE ON NORMAL TOPOGRAPHIC INNERVATION FROM THE AUDITORY NERVE. THESE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES, IF SUCCESSFUL, WILL PROVIDE NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE MECHANISMS THAT ESTABLISH THE FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION OF AUDITORY STRUCTURES. REVELATION OF THESE MECHANISMS MAY BE INFORMATIVE TO OPTIMIZATION STRATEGIES FOR THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTIONS IN EARLY DEAFNESS OR HEARING LOSS THAT AIM TO PRESERVE NORMAL FUNCTION AND CAPACITY IN AUDITORY CIRCUITRY.

ADVANCES IN THE THEORY OF REDUCED ANOMALOUS TRANSPORT MODELING AND CONFINEMENT OF TOKAMAK PLASMAS

A PROPOSAL FOR THE CONTINUATION OF INDUSTRIAL ASSESSMENT CENTER (IAC)

COMPACT, FAST INTRACELLULAR BIO-DETECTION BY INTEGRATED NANOPULSE GENERATOR AND PLANAR MICROCHAMBER

SPECIAL EDUCATION RESEARCH PROGRAM

TAS::89 0328::TAS RECOVERY OE WORKFORCE TRAINING FOR THE ELECTRIC POWER SECTOR, LEHIGH UNIVERSITY, KEYSTONE SMART GRID FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM, NEW AWARD.

MOLECULARE STRUCTURES AND REACTIVITY OF MIXED METAL OXIDE MONOLAYER CATALYSTS

LEHIGH UNIVERSITY INDUSTRIAL ASSESSMENT CENTER

EXPERIENCE-DEPENDENT PLASTICITY OF OLFACTORY BULB CIRCUITS

CHARMM-GUI DEVELOPMENT FOR BIOMOLECULAR MODELING AND SIMULATION COMMUNITY

UNDERSTANDING HOW CX43 REGULATES JOINT FORMATION IN THE ZEBRAFISH FIN

THE IMPACT OF FORCED DISPLACEMENT ON AGING ADULT MENTAL HEALTH: IMPLICATIONS FOR DEVELOPING INTERVENTIONS - ABSTRACT IN THE US, THERE ARE 7.3 MILLION OLDER ADULT IMMIGRANTS (INCLUSIVE OF REFUGEES), AND BY 2060 THE US’S OLDER ADULT IMMIGRANT POPULATION IS ANTICIPATED TO INCREASE TO 22 MILLION. COMPARED TO OTHER OLDER ADULTS IN THE GENERAL POPULATION, OLDER REFUGEES HAVE A DISPROPORTIONATE BURDEN OF CHALLENGES RELATED TO PAST PRE-RESETTLEMENT TRAUMAS, LANGUAGE BARRIERS, FAMILY STRESS, SOCIAL ISOLATION, EMPLOYMENT, AND ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE. THESE CHALLENGES AND STRESSORS, IN TURN, ARE ASSOCIATED WITH POOR MENTAL HEALTH. UNFORTUNATELY, OLDER REFUGEES RECEIVE LIMITED ATTENTION FROM PROVIDERS, AND THERE IS A DEARTH OF EVIDENCE-BASED INTERVENTIONS DESIGNED TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THIS VULNERABLE POPULATION. OUR GOAL IS TO USE A COMMUNITY-BASED PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH APPROACH (CBPR) TO CONDUCT AN EXPLORATORY SEQUENTIAL MIXED METHODS LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF MENTAL HEALTH OF OLDER ADULT ETHNIC-NEPALI BHUTANESE WITH A REFUGEE LIFE EXPERIENCE RESETTLED IN THE US. FIRST, WE AIM TO USE QUALITATIVE METHODS TO EXPLORE SOCIAL SUPPORT AS A PROTECTIVE FACTOR FOR MENTAL HEALTH AMONG OLDER BHUTANESE AND DEVELOP A CONCEPTUAL MODEL THAT WILL BE EVALUATED AND REFINED OVER THE COURSE OF THE STUDY. SECOND, WE WILL USE A 3- YEAR, LONGITUDINAL DESIGN TO QUANTITATIVELY ASSESS THE ROLE OF POST-RESETTLEMENT RISK AND PROTECTIVE FACTORS IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PRE-RESETTLEMENT EXPERIENCES AND MENTAL HEALTH AMONG 200 BHUTANESE AGED 50 AND OLDER. WE WILL USE A LONGITUDINAL STUDY DESIGN TO ASSESS PAST EXPOSURE TO WAR-RELATED TRAUMAS/STRESSORS IN THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN (BHUTAN) AND REFUGEE CAMPS (NEPAL), CURRENT BIO-PSYCHO-SOCIAL RISK AND PROTECTIVE FACTORS, AND MENTAL HEALTH OUTCOMES AT THREE-TIME POINTS. THIRD, WE WILL QUALITATIVELY EXPLORE THE CAREGIVING EXPERIENCE OF BHUTANESE OLDER ADULT CAREGIVERS AND QUANTITATIVELY EXAMINE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FAMILY CAREGIVER MENTAL HEALTH AND MENTAL HEALTH. A FAMILY CAREGIVER OF EACH OLDER ADULT WILL BE ENROLLED IN THE LONGITUDINAL STUDY (N=200) AND INTERVIEWED AT THE SAME THREE-TIME POINTS AS THE PRIMARY STUDY PARTICIPANT. WE WILL ASSESS THE PSYCHOSOCIAL FUNCTIONING OF THESE CAREGIVERS OVER THE DURATION OF THE STUDY. ACCOMPLISHING THESE AIMS WILL INCREASE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPACT OF FORCED DISPLACEMENT AND IMMIGRATION ON LONG-TERM MENTAL HEALTH AND INFORM MULTI- LEVEL INTERVENTIONS TO ADDRESS THE PSYCHOSOCIAL FUNCTIONING OF AGING REFUGEES RESETTLED IN THE US. THIS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO REDUCE HEALTH DISPARITIES AMONG AGING IMMIGRANTS FROM RACIAL/ETHNIC MINORITY GROUPS.

DEVELOPMENT OF A RESPONSIVE COMPUTERIZED-ADAPTIVE ASSESSMENT SYSTEM FOR PRE-K MATHEMATICS

INTERNATIONAL MATERIALS INSTITUTE: NEW FUNCTIONALITY IN GLASSES

SUPPORTED COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS (SCCR) FOR SECONDARY STUDENTS WITH EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS

"IMPEDANCE SPECTROSCOPY OF NEURON EXCITABILITY UNDER ELECTROMAGNETIC STIMULATION" THE GRANTEE'S TECHNICAL PROPOSAL DATED 25 SEP 2018 AND REVISED BUDGE

MODELING AND ANALYSIS OF ACTIN FILAMENT ORGANIZATION IN YEAST

DEVELOPMENT OF CATALYTIC ALKYLATION AND FLUOROALKYLATION METHODS

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A PLASMA FOCUSED ION BEAM SYSTEM FOR DYNAMIC IN-SITU MICRO-MECHANICAL TESTING OVER CRYOGENIC AND ELEVATED TEMPERATURES -DIRECT OBSERVATION OF DEFORMATION BEHAVIOR AT THE MICRO/NANO SCALES CAN LEAD TO SIGNIFICANT ADVANCES IN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE DEFORMATION MECHANISMS IN MATERIALS BY CORRELATING MICROSTRUCTURAL CHANGES WITH LOAD-DISPLACEMENT CHARACTERISTICS. FOR EXAMPLE, THE PROPAGATION OF A CRACK-TIP THAT WOULD LEAD TO A CATASTROPHIC FAILURE OF A COMPONENT, OR DEFORMATION/TEMPERATURE-INDUCED PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS AND CRYSTALLINITY CHANGES ARE IMPORTANT PROCESSING PHENOMENA THAT CAN LEAD TO FAILURE IN MATERIALS. THE PLASMA FOCUSED ION BEAM (FIB) IN THIS PROJECT ALLOWS RESEARCHERS TO EFFICIENTLY EXTRACT SAMPLES FROM SPECIFIC SITES OF INTEREST IN MATERIALS FOR MICROMECHANICAL TESTING, WHICH CAN BE PERFORMED USING A STATE-OF-THE-ART MICROMECHANICAL TESTING DEVICE INTEGRATED WITHIN THE SAME FIB INSTRUMENT. IT IS POSSIBLE TO OBSERVE BOTH MICROSTRUCTURAL AND CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC CHANGES THAT OCCUR DURING DEFORMATION USING THIS SYSTEM, AND THESE CHANGES CAN BE DIRECTLY CORRELATED WITH LOCALIZED STRESS-STRAIN DATA. THE EQUIPMENT WILL BENEFIT A WIDE VARIETY OF FUNDED RESEARCH ACTIVITIES AT LEHIGH ACROSS SECTORS OF MATERIALS SCIENCE RANGING FROM CERAMICS, METALS/ALLOYS, 3D-PRINTED MATERIALS, POLYMERS AND BIOMATERIALS. IN ADDITION, THE RAPID MATERIAL REMOVAL RATE ACHIEVABLE IN THE PLASMA FIB ACCELERATES THE FABRICATION OF A WIDE RANGE OF NANOSTRUCTURES SUCH AS TOOLING FOR MICRO/NANO INJECTION MOLDING, AS WELL AS ENABLE LARGE-SCALE INTERNAL CHARACTERIZATION OF VARIOUS SAMPLES INCLUDING HIGHLY SENSITIVE BIOMATERIALS AND SOFT POLYMERS AT CRYOGENIC TEMPERATURES. THE INSTRUMENT ALSO SUPPORTS RESEARCH PROJECTS FROM OTHER UNIVERSITIES, GOVERNMENT LABS AND INDUSTRY THROUGH LIAISON PROGRAMS ALREADY ESTABLISHED AT LEHIGH. THE TECHNIQUES AND KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPED USING THIS SYSTEM ARE SHARED WITH LEHIGH STUDENTS AS WELL AS NUMEROUS INDUSTRY/GOVERNMENT ATTENDEES OF THE LEHIGH MICROSCOPY SCHOOLS. THE SYSTEM AS SPECIFIED CONSISTS OF (1) A PLASMA FOCUSED ION BEAM (FIB) INSTRUMENT, INTEGRATED WITH (2) A STATE-OF-THE-ART IN-SITU MICROMECHANICAL TESTING DEVICE WITH TESTING CAPABILITY OVER A WIDE TEMPERATURE RANGE AND (3) A HIGH SPEED ELECTRON BACKSCATTERED DIFFRACTION (EBSD) CAMERA. THE SYSTEM WILL BE ABLE TO SIMULTANEOUSLY ACQUIRE MANY TYPES OF DATA, INCLUDING HIGHLY SENSITIVE TRANSMISSION KIKUCHI DIFFRACTION PATTERNS, DURING MECHANICAL TESTING. THE RAPID MILLING RATE OF THE XE-ION BASED PLASMA FIB, WHICH IS ~10?100 TIMES GREATER THAN CONVENTIONAL GA-ION SYSTEMS, MARKEDLY INCREASES THE FABRICATION THROUGHPUT OF MICROMECHANICAL TEST SAMPLES, AND HENCE ADDRESSES WHAT IS CURRENTLY A SEVERE LIMITATION, NAMELY THE ABILITY TO TEST A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF SAMPLES. IN-SITU MECHANICAL TESTING WITHIN THE FIB AT TEMPERATURES FROM MINUS 130 TO 1000 DEGREES C WILL ENABLE THE CORRELATION OF DEFORMATION PROCESSES (SUCH AS SLIP AND MICROCRACK/VOID NUCLEATION) WITH MICROSTRUCTURAL FEATURES AT THE NM SCALE. FURTHERMORE, THE LOAD-DISPLACEMENT SIGNALS CAN BE SAMPLED AT 1.2 MHZ, WHICH IS MUCH FASTER THAN THE TYPICAL FRAME RATES ENCOUNTERED IN SEM IMAGING. THIS INFORMATION WILL BE COMPLEMENTED BY DIGITAL IMAGE CORRELATION, WHICH WILL BE USED TO QUANTIFY LOCALIZED DEFORMATION. THESE CAPABILITIES ARE HIGHLY ADVANTAGEOUS, BUT WHAT MAKES THE REQUESTED INSTRUMENTATION TRULY UNIQUE IS THE ABILITY TO SIMULTANEOUSLY EXTRACT REAL TIME EBSD DATA DURING MECHANICAL TESTING, WHICH IS MADE POSSIBLE BY A NOVEL TEST PLATFORM GEOMETRY. MOREOVER, THE EFFICIENCY OF SERIAL CROSS-SECTIONING FOR THE CHARACTERIZATION OF MULTI-COMPONENT MATERIALS, AS WELL AS SPECIFIC FEATURES SUCH AS INTERFACES AND BOUNDARIES IN MATERIALS AND DEVICES, IS IMPROVED TREMENDOUSLY. THE SAMPLE SECTIONING CAPABILITY AT CRYOGENIC TEMPERATURES IS ESPECIALLY USEFUL FOR CROSS-SECTIONAL OBSERVATION OF SOFT MATERIALS SUCH AS POLYMERS AND BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES, AND FOR THIN-SPECIMEN PREPARATION TO ALLOW MORE DETAILED OBSERVATION IN A TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPE. 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.

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A STATE-OF-THE-ART ABERRATION-CORRECTED ANALYTICAL ELECTRON MICROSCOPE WITH ENHANCED ATOMIC-LEVEL SPECTROMETRY AND LOW-VOLTAGE PE

PARENTS PLUS EN ESPAÑOL

NEW AWARD ENTITLED "RECOVERY OF WATER FROM BOILER FUEL GAS USING CONDENSING HEAT EXCHANGERS."

HCC CORE: MEDIUM: MAKING MEANING OUT OF CRISIS: MIXED-METHODS INVESTIGATION INTO THE NATURE AND IMPACT OF FRAMING PROCESSES DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC -THIS RESEARCH INVESTIGATES THE ROLE IN ONLINE MEDIA OF FRAMING PROCESSES, THE CONCEPTS AND LOGICAL STRUCTURES THAT INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITIES DEVELOP TO UNDERSTAND MAJOR CURRENT EVENTS. IT FOCUSES ON THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, A GLOBAL HEALTH CRISIS THAT HAS BEEN UNIQUE NOT ONLY FOR ITS UNPRECEDENTED MAGNITUDE AND SEVERITY, BUT ALSO FOR THE MEDIA ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH PEOPLE COMMUNICATED ABOUT IT. GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS, NEWS SERVICES, ONLINE GROUPS, LOCAL COMMUNITIES, AND INDIVIDUAL PERSONS ALL INTERACT AS THEY SEEK TO UNDERSTAND, ORIENT TOWARD, AND SITUATE THEMSELVES IN RELATION TO EVENTS UNFOLDING IN REAL TIME. THESE DIVERSE PARTICIPANTS CONTINUALLY FRAME AND REFRAME EVENTS ACROSS MULTIPLE COMMUNICATION PLATFORMS IN WAYS THAT REINFORCE, UNDERMINE, SUBVERT, FRACTURE, OR EVEN ENTIRELY REPLACE ONE ANOTHER. IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND NOT ONLY THE DYNAMICS OF THESE PROCESSES THEMSELVES BUT ALSO HOW THEY RELATE WITH INDIVIDUAL, COMMUNITY, AND SOCIETAL BELIEFS AND BEHAVIORS. ADDRESSING GLOBAL HEALTH EVENTS REQUIRES UNDERSTANDING HOW INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITIES INTERPRET THOSE EVENTS. THE WORK WILL CONTRIBUTE TO COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA STUDIES, COMPUTATIONAL LINGUISTICS, AND SOCIAL COMPUTING. THE RESEARCH FINDINGS WILL ALSO INFORM THE DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATIONAL MODULES DESIGNED TO ENRICH STUDENTS' UNDERSTANDING OF THE ROLE THAT TECHNOLOGY CAN PLAY IN MEDIATING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF MAJOR CURRENT EVENTS. TO ANALYZE FRAMING AS A PROCESS THAT OCCURS WITHIN A DIVERSE MEDIA ECOLOGY, THIS PROJECT SYNERGISTICALLY COMBINES PERSPECTIVES AND METHODS FROM VARIED DISCIPLINES ACROSS FOUR INTERCONNECTED PHASES. PHASE 1 WILL APPLY QUALITATIVE METHODS FROM MEDIA STUDIES, HEALTH HUMANITIES, AND SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY STUDIES TO ANALYZE DOMINANT FRAMINGS OF THE PANDEMIC, AS WELL AS HOW PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THEIR RESPONSES TO AND PARTICIPATION IN THOSE FRAMINGS. PHASE 2 WILL PLACE THE METHODS AND FINDINGS FROM PHASE 1 IN DIALOG WITH COMPUTATIONAL TECHNIQUES, BOTH INFORMING THE IMPLEMENTATION DETAILS OF THOSE TECHNIQUES AND OFFERING TEXTUAL FOCI FOR FURTHER QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS. PHASE 3 WILL DERIVE TESTABLE HYPOTHESES FROM PHASE 1 AND PHASE 2 ABOUT HOW FRAMING PROCESSES INTERACT WITH PEOPLE'S BELIEFS AND BEHAVIORS, AND IT WILL DEVELOP INNOVATIVE METHODS THAT CAN EXPERIMENTALLY TEST THOSE HYPOTHESES IN REAL WORLD SETTINGS. IN PHASE 4, REFLEXIVE ENGAGEMENT WITH DIVERSE STAKEHOLDERS WILL ENRICH BOTH RESEARCHERS' AND STAKEHOLDERS' UNDERSTANDINGS OF THEIR ROLE IN FRAMING THE PANDEMIC WITHIN A DIVERSE MEDIA ECOLOGY. ANALYSES ACROSS ALL PHASES WILL GENERATE FINDINGS THAT ADVANCE RESEARCH ON HOW INDIVIDUALS, COMMUNITIES, AND SOCIETIES COMMUNICATE WITHIN HETEROGENEOUS, SOMETIMES VOLATILE NETWORKED MEDIA ENVIRONMENTS TO FORM UNDERSTANDINGS THAT GUIDE BOTH BELIEFS AND BEHAVIOR ABOUT MAJOR CURRENT EVENTS. 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.

MOLECULAR UMBRELLA-AMPHOTERICIN B CONJUGATES

RESEARCH PRIORITY: POPULATION CONNECTIVITY OF DEEPWATER CORALS IN THE NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO

SPECIAL EDUCATION RESEARCH

PREPARATION OF LEADERSHIP PERSONNEL

SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE INVESTIGATIONS USING THE GEOSPATIAL CURRICULUM APPROACH WITH WEB GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS

DESIGNING TWO LEVEL BIOMIMETIC FIBRILLAR INTERFACES

MECHANO-BIOLOGICALLY INFORMED MOLECULAR MODELS OF FLOW SENSITIVE BIOPOLYMERS

INTERNALIZATION OF GAP JUNCTIONS AS A REGULATORY MECHANISM OF DIRECT GJIC

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: LHASA BLOCK TOP TO BOTTOM--LITHOSPHERIC EVOLUTION OF ASIA'S LEADING EDGE

THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES OF DISTRIBUTED ACTIN TURNOVER

SNM: TECHNOLOGIES FOR NANOPARTICLE MONOLAYER SELF-ORGANIZATION AND DEPOSITION

NOVEL THERMAL STORAGE TECHNOLOGIES FOR CONCENTRATING SOLAR POWER GENERATION

FRG: GLASS SCIENCE, PROCESSING AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF TELLURITE FIBERS

GRANTED: PATHWAYS FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS INTO THE RESEARCH ENTERPRISE -CURRENTLY THERE IS A CRITICAL UNMET NEED FOR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IN RESEARCH ENTERPRISE SERVICE AND SUPPORT CAREERS. GRANTED: PATHWAYS FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS INTO THE RESEARCH ENTERPRISE PROVIDES GRADUATE STUDENTS TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT TO PREPARE THEM FOR CAREERS IN RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION, RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT, RESEARCH INTEGRITY AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER. THE PATHWAYS PROGRAM WILL PROVIDE: (A) A PIPELINE OF TRAINED RESEARCH PROFESSIONALS WHO WILL BE ABLE TO STEP INTO SPECIALIZED OR GENERALIST ROLES IN THE RESEARCH ENTERPRISE AND (B) A MODEL FOR COMPARABLE INSTITUTIONS TO DEVELOP SIMILAR PROGRAMS. THESE TYPES OF EMPLOYEES ARE WIDELY SOUGHT AFTER BY RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, GOVERNMENT LABS, HOSPITALS, COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES. GRANTED: PATHWAYS FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS INTO THE RESEARCH ENTERPRISE IS A PILOT TRAINING MODEL THAT WILL PROVIDE SENIOR DOCTORAL STUDENTS WITH TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TO PREPARE THEM FOR RESEARCH ENTERPRISE CAREERS. MANY INDIVIDUALS THAT PREVIOUSLY TRAINED FOR RESEARCH CAREERS IN PHD PROGRAMS ULTIMATELY MOVE INTO STAFF ROLES. BEGINNING EXPOSURE AND TRAINING RELEVANT TO RESEARCH ENTERPRISE CAREERS WHILE THEY ARE GRADUATE STUDENTS PROVIDES INDIVIDUALS A PATH TO REWARDING, RESEARCH-RELATED CAREERS. IT WILL AUGMENT A PIPELINE OF TRAINED RESEARCH STAFF READY TO STEP INTO PRIMARILY UNDERGRADUATE UNIVERSITIES SEEKING TO EXPAND RESEARCH CAPACITY, AS WELL AS COMPLEX RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS. THE PROJECT TEAM WILL LEVERAGE THE SIZE AND SCOPE OF THE LEAD INSTITUTION TO DEVELOP AND TEST A PROGRAM THAT PROVIDES GRADUATE STUDENTS A BROAD OVERVIEW, WHILE ALSO DEVELOPING DEEP SKILL SETS IN SELECT AREAS OF THE RESEARCH ENTERPRISE. 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.

ALGORITHMIC IDENTIFICATION OF BINDING SPECIFICITY MECHANISMS IN PROTEINS

DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTATIONAL TOOLSET FOR STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS PHARMACOLOGY

POROUS AND GLUED LANGMUIR BLODGETT MEMBRANES

CAREER: INVESTIGATING THE ORIGINS OF DEVELOPMENTAL AND REGENERATIVE NEUROGENESIS.

COMBINED PRIORITY FOR PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENT

RAISE: CET: COUPLED AERO-HYDRO- GEOTECHNICAL-MECHANICAL INTERACTION AND CONTROL OF FLOATING OFFSHORE WIND TURBINES SUBJECTED TO EXTREME LOADING CONDITIONS -THIS RESEARCH ADVANCED BY INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (RAISE) AWARD IS MADE IN RESPONSE TO DEAR COLLEAGUE LETTER 23-109, AS PART OF THE NSF-WIDE CLEAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE. THIS AWARD WILL FOCUS ON OPTIMIZED, EFFICIENT, RESILIENT, AND ECONOMICALLY COMPETITIVE FLOATING OFFSHORE WIND TURBINES. THE OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY RESOURCES IN THE U.S. ARE BROADLY DISTRIBUTED AND WITHIN REASONABLE DISTANCES FROM MAJOR URBAN CENTERS. THE MAJORITY OF OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY FARMS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED IN SHALLOW AND INTERMEDIATE WATER DEPTHS (<60 M), IN WHICH OFFSHORE WIND TURBINES ARE SUPPORTED BY FIXED-BOTTOM SUBSTRUCTURES. HOWEVER, ALMOST 70% OF THE U.S. OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY RESOURCE IS IN DEEP WATER (>60M), WHERE FLOATING OFFSHORE WIND TURBINES ARE NEEDED. DEVELOPING ECONOMICALLY COMPETITIVE FLOATING OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY PRODUCTION FACES NUMEROUS BARRIERS, INCLUDING LIMITED INNOVATION OF SUBSTRUCTURES (PLATFORM, MOORINGS, AND ANCHORS) AND POOR UNDERSTANDING OF CRITICAL INTERACTIONS AMONG SUBSYSTEMS OF THE FLOATING OFFSHORE WIND TURBINE SYSTEM, AS WELL AS INSUFFICIENT DATA FROM HIGH QUALITY, APPLICABLE EXPERIMENTS. THIS MULTI-DISCIPLINARY PROJECT WILL ADDRESS THESE BARRIERS BY FACILITATING A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF COUPLED EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL SIMULATION METHODS LEADING TO ENHANCED PERFORMANCE, EFFICIENCY, AND RELIABLE SIMULATION OF NEXT GENERATION FLOATING OFFSHORE WIND TURBINES. THIS RESEARCH WILL BE COMPLEMENTED BY AN EDUCATIONAL PLAN TO ASSIST IN ADDRESSING THE EXPECTED DEMAND FOR A WELL-EDUCATED WORKFORCE IN THE OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY INDUSTRY BY ORGANIZING WORKSHOPS, RECRUITING DIVERSE GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS TO BROADEN THEIR PARTICIPATION IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE, AND ENGAGING TALENTED MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS. THE SPECIFIC GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY AND RESILIENCE OF FLOATING OFFSHORE WIND TURBINES UNDER EXTREME LOADING CONDITIONS. THIS GOAL WILL BE ACHIEVED BY: (1) CREATING NEW UNDERSTANDING OF AND NOVEL CONCEPTS FOR REDUCING FLOATING OFFSHORE WIND TURBINE PLATFORM MOTIONS, USING INNOVATIONS SUCH AS TUNED-MASS DAMPERS AND BIO-INSPIRED OSCILLATING HYDROFOIL HYDROKINETIC TURBINES FOR THE DUAL FUNCTION OF MOTION CONTROL AND ENERGY CO-PRODUCTION; (2) EVALUATING THE EFFECTS OF PLATFORM MOTION REDUCTIONS ON MOORING LINE FATIGUE RESPONSE; (3) INVESTIGATING BIO-INSPIRED FOUNDATIONS TO IMPROVE THE RESPONSE OF FLOATING OFFSHORE WIND TURBINES UNDER REALISTIC LOADING CONDITIONS; AND (4) DEVELOPING COUPLED AERO-HYDRO-GEOTECHNICAL-MECHANICAL REAL-TIME HYBRID SIMULATIONS OF COMPLETE FLOATING OFFSHORE WIND TURBINE-PLATFORM-MOORING-FOUNDATION SYSTEMS TO ACCURATELY REPRESENT FIELD CONDITIONS IN THE LABORATORY AND TO SIMULATE FLOATING OFFSHORE WIND TURBINES UNDER EXTREME LOADING CONDITIONS. ACHIEVING THESE GOALS WILL ENABLE THE PROJECT TO ADVANCE THE KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED TO ADDRESS THE TECHNICAL CHALLENGES FACING COST-EFFECTIVE FLOATING OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY PRODUCTION. THE OVERARCHING FOCUS WILL BE ON IMPROVING THE UNDERSTANDING OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND RESILIENCE OF FLOATING OFFSHORE WIND TURBINES UNDER EXTREME LOADING CONDITIONS. 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.

PIPP PHASE I: DYNAMICS OF PANDEMIC SPREAD AND PREVENTION IN INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES -IT HARDLY NEEDS STATING IN TODAY?S WORLD HOW DEADLY AND DESTRUCTIVE TO SOCIETY PANDEMICS CAN BE, AND HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO UNDERSTAND AND PREDICT THE EVOLUTION OF PANDEMICS OVER TIME AND SPACE. NOTABLY, THE SEVERITY OF PANDEMICS IMPACTS COMMUNITIES DIFFERENTLY, OFTEN CAUSING MUCH GREATER MORTALITY IN UNDERSERVED AND ISOLATED COMMUNITIES. FOR EXAMPLE, OVER THE DECADES AND ACROSS DIFFERENT TYPES OF EPIDEMICS, INCLUDING THE CURRENT COVID-19 PANDEMIC, MORTALITY RATES AMONG INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS HAVE BEEN MORE THAN THREE TIMES THAT OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC. THIS RESEARCH TEAM AIMS TO CONTRIBUTE TO GLOBAL PANDEMIC PREDICTION AND PREVENTION BY ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE ABOUT PANDEMIC DYNAMICS WITHIN ISOLATED AND UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS. SPECIFICALLY, THE INVESTIGATORS EXAMINE HOW PANDEMICS OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE AFFECT AND ARE AFFECTED BY THEIR SPREAD IN INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES. THE FOCUS WILL BE ON HOW SPECIFIC FEATURES OF THESE COMMUNITIES INFLUENCE VARIOUS ASPECTS OF EPIDEMICS, SUCH AS THE INITIAL SPILLOVER TO HUMANS, THE HUMAN-TO-HUMAN SPREAD OF THE PATHOGEN, THE BIOLOGICAL BEHAVIOR OF THE PATHOGEN, AND COUNTERMEASURES THAT CAN MITIGATE THE IMPACT OF THE DISEASE. THE ASSEMBLED TEAM IS HIGHLY INTERDISCIPLINARY, COVERING THE BROAD SCIENTIFIC EXPERTISE, INCLUDING MEMBERS OF THE CHEYENNE RIVER SIOUX AND PRAIRIE BAND POTAWATOMI TRIBES, AND CONNECTING WITH EXTERNAL PARTNERS. TEAM MEETINGS SERVE AS OBSERVATIONAL DATA FOR A STUDY OF CONVERGENT TEAM SCIENCE, AND STUDENT TRAINING AND MENTORING ACTIVITIES PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR BRIDGING TO THE NEXT GENERATION OF RESEARCHERS. THE INVESTIGATORS HAVE IDENTIFIED THREE OVERARCHING QUESTIONS THAT MOTIVATE FOUR SPECIFIC RESEARCH THRUSTS: (1) WHAT FACTORS, ENVIRONMENTAL TO MOLECULAR, CONTRIBUTE TO THE MORTALITY RATES IN INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES? (2) CAN THE FINDINGS OF THIS STUDY TRANSLATE TO BROADER UNDERSTANDING OF PANDEMIC DYNAMICS? (3) WHAT ENGINEERING, EDUCATION, BIOLOGICAL, AND POLICY SOLUTIONS CAN BE DEVISED TO ADDRESS THE ROOT CAUSES OF THE PROBLEMS? THE PROJECT INITIALLY FOCUSES ON INFLUENZA, ALTHOUGH IT IS EXPECTED THAT THE FINDINGS WILL APPLY TO OTHER VIRAL DISEASES SUCH AS COVID-19, EBOLA, AND ZIKA. IN ORDER TO ADDRESS THESE OVERARCHING QUESTIONS, THE PROJECT WILL INNOVATE COLLABORATIVELY IN THE FIELDS OF ENGINEERING, BIOLOGY, DATA SCIENCE, AND COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY ALONG FOUR INTERLINKED THRUSTS: (I) COMMUNITY UNDERSTANDING OF CAUSE AND PREVENTION, WHICH WILL ESTABLISH THE BELIEFS IN INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES REGARDING DISEASE AND ITS AMELIORATION. THE INVESTIGATORS WILL EMPLOY A COMMUNITY BASED PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH (CBPR) APPROACH, WHICH INVOLVES COMMUNITIES IN ALL ASPECTS OF THE RESEARCH, SO AS TO BUILD TRUST BETWEEN COMMUNITIES AND RESEARCHERS. (II) PREDICTING VIRUS SPILLOVER AND SPREAD, WHICH WILL BRING COMPUTATIONAL, STATISTICAL, AND DATA SCIENCE EXPERTISE IN CATASTROPHE AND NETWORK MODELING TO PREDICTING DYNAMICS IN ISOLATED COMMUNITIES. (III) ENGINEERING DEVICES FOR POINT-OF-CARE SENSING, WHICH WILL DEVELOP SENSITIVE AND SIMPLIFIED TOOLS TO ENHANCE TESTING CAPABILITY IN UNDERSERVED INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS AND IMPROVE PANDEMIC TRACKING. (IV) BIOLOGICAL DIFFERENTIATORS: PREDICTING INFECTION, WHICH WILL INVESTIGATE VIRUS-HOST CELL INTERACTIONS, AND PHENOTYPIC AND GENOTYPIC DIFFERENTIATORS. THIS AWARD IS SUPPORTED BY THE CROSS-DIRECTORATE PREDICTIVE INTELLIGENCE FOR PANDEMIC PREVENTION PHASE I (PIPP) PROGRAM, WHICH IS JOINTLY FUNDED BY THE DIRECTORATES FOR BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES (BIO), COMPUTER INFORMATION SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (CISE), ENGINEERING (ENG) AND SOCIAL, BEHAVIORAL AND ECONOMIC SCIENCES (SBE). 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.

IHBEM: ENHANCING INFLUENZA FORECASTING THROUGH AN INTEGRATED PLATFORM FOR USER-GENERATED TEMPORAL FORECASTS -IN THIS PROJECT, A PARTICIPATORY MODELING APPROACH IS TAKEN TO GUIDE CONSTRUCTION OF A HUMAN JUDGMENT PLATFORM THAT GENERATES TEMPORAL FORECASTS OF THE TRAJECTORY OF AN INFECTIOUS AGENT. IT IS POSITED THAT TO LEARN ABOUT THE BEHAVIORAL DYNAMICS OF EXPERTS THREE KEY FEATURES MUST BE CONSIDERED: (1) THE FACTORS THAT AN EXPERT USES TO MAKE DECISIONS, (2) THE ACCURACY BY WHICH ANY HUMAN AND EXPERT CAN PREDICT AN EPIDEMIC, AND (3) HOW A SET OF FORECASTS CAN BE COMBINED TO MORE ACCURATELY MODEL THE FUTURE TO IMPROVE DECISION MAKING. WORK IN THE FIELD OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE MODELING AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR TYPICALLY CONCENTRATES ON THE PUBLIC, OFTEN OVERLOOKING EXPERTS WHO MAKE DECISIONS THAT INFLUENCE THE GENERAL POPULATION. NO WORK TO DATE HAS EXPLORED CONSTRUCTING A HUMAN JUDGMENT FORECASTING PLATFORM THAT CAN COLLECT TEMPORAL FORECASTS FROM INDIVIDUALS, METHODOLOGY SPECIFIC TO COMBINING HUMAN JUDGMENT TEMPORAL FORECASTS INTO AN ENSEMBLE, AND FOCUSING ON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF PUBLIC HEALTH DECISION PROCESSES WHICH IMPACT DOWNSTREAM GENERAL POPULATION BEHAVIORS. NOT ONLY DOES THIS PROJECT ADVANCE THE SCIENCE OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE FORECASTING, BUT IT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BENEFIT SEVERAL POPULATIONS WHO ARE AT HIGH RISK FOR ADVERSE OUTCOMES DUE TO INFLUENZA. THE GOALS OF THIS PROPOSAL ARE DIVIDED INTO THREE TASKS. TASK 1 INVOLVES RECRUITMENT OF EXPERTS IN THE MODELING OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE, PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICIALS, AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES CLINICIANS. FROM THIS POPULATION, CULTURAL NORMS/NEEDS ARE ESTABLISHED AND THOUGHT PROCESSES ASSOCIATED WITH INFECTIOUS DISEASE DECISION MAKING ARE IDENTIFIED. IN TASK 2, A NOVEL HUMAN JUDGMENT PLATFORM IS CONSTRUCTED THAT EXPERTS AND A LAY AUDIENCE CAN USE TO GENERATE TEMPORAL FORECASTS OF THE TRAJECTORY OF AN INFECTIOUS AGENT. THIS SERVES AS A TESTBED TO MEASURE THE PERFORMANCE OF EXPERT AND LAY TEMPORAL FORECASTS AND COMPARE HUMAN FORECASTS TO COMPUTATIONAL MODEL FORECASTS. TASK 3 INVOLVES IMPLEMENTATION AND COMPARISON OF THE PERFORMANCE OF ALGORITHMS FOR COMBINING HUMAN JUDGMENT FORECASTS; UNDERSTANDING THE PROPERTIES THAT ARE IN COMMON BETWEEN HUMAN JUDGMENT AND COMPUTATIONAL FORECASTS; AND BUILDING A NOVEL ALGORITHM TRAINED ON TRADITIONAL SURVEILLANCE AND AUGMENTED BY HUMAN JUDGMENT TEMPORAL FORECASTS. 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.

SPECIAL EDUCATION-PERSONNEL PREPARATION TO IMPROVE SERVICES AND RESULTS FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES - PREPARATION OF LEADERSHIP PERSONNEL

MRI: DEVELOPMENT OF HETEROGENEOUS EDGE COMPUTING PLATFORM FOR REAL-TIME SCIENTIFIC MACHINE LEARNING -THIS PROJECT AIMS TO DEVELOP A HETEROGENEOUS EDGE COMPUTING PLATFORM FOR REAL-TIME SCIENTIFIC MACHINE LEARNING (HEC-SML) AT THE EXTREME EDGE. SUCH A PLATFORM WILL ALLOW FOR REAL-TIME ANALYSIS AND CONTROL OF OPTICAL, SCANNING PROBE, AND TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY. PUTTING COMPUTATION AT THE EDGE ?- AS CLOSE TO THE DATA SOURCE AS POSSIBLE -? CIRCUMVENTS LATENCY AND BANDWIDTH CHALLENGES WHEN SENDING DATA TO HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING FACILITIES AND WILL ENABLE REAL-TIME DATA ANALYSIS TO CONDUCT SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENTS WITH CREATIVE INQUIRY. THE DEVELOPMENT OF HEC-SML WILL LEAD TO THE CONVERGENCE OF MICROSCOPY, MACHINE LEARNING (ML), AND HETEROGENEOUS COMPUTING CONCEPTS. IN MICROSCOPY, ADVANCED CONTROL SYSTEMS WILL ENABLE NEW IMAGING MODALITIES; METHODS FOR PERSONALIZED MEDICINE; AND DISCOVERY AND UNDERSTANDING OF FUNCTIONAL AND QUANTUM MATERIALS. IN ML, HEC-SML WILL MOTIVATE THE DESIGN OF STRATEGIES TO IMPOSE PHYSICS CONSTRAINTS AND DEVELOP OPTIMIZATION METHODS FOR TRAINING MORE EFFICIENT ALGORITHMS. COMBINED RESEARCH IN THESE DISPARATE FIELDS CREATES NEW OBJECTIVES THAT MOTIVATE TRANSFORMATIVE ADVANCES IN EACH DISCIPLINE. THE RESEARCH ENABLED BY HEC-SML WILL ENABLE ADVANCES TO AND TRAIN SCIENTISTS THAT CAN ADDRESS EDGE COMPUTING CHALLENGES FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATION, HEALTHCARE MONITORING, ADVANCED MANUFACTURING, AND MULTI-AGENT AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS. THE INSTRUMENT WILL ALSO ENABLE SEVERAL STUDENT CURRICULUM ADVANCES ALONG THIS CONVERGENCE OF FIELDS. THIS PROGRAM WILL ENGAGE INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCHERS IN BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, MATERIALS SCIENCE, MACHINE LEARNING, AND HETEROGENEOUS COMPUTING AND LEAD TO NOVEL RESEARCH THRUSTS. HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING (HPC) HAS MADE TREMENDOUS ADVANCES IN SCHEDULED, PARALLELIZED, AND DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING. EXPERIMENTAL MICROSCOPY REQUIRES THAT VOLUMINOUS DATA AT HIGH VELOCITY IS PROCESSED IN TIMESCALES RELEVANT TO THE EXPERIMENT (NANOSECONDS-MINUTES). HPC FACILITIES CANNOT MEET THESE NEEDS AS THEY ARE NOT DESIGNED FOR DEDICATED NETWORKING AND COMPUTATION AND TYPICALLY DO NOT HAVE HETEROGENEOUS COMPUTE NODES FOR LOW-LATENCY COMPUTATION. HEC-SML WILL BE A PURPOSE-BUILT INSTRUMENT FOR REAL-TIME ANALYSIS AND CONTROL OF MICROSCOPY. A TECHNICAL INNOVATION IS CO-LOCATING HPC WITH MICROSCOPY TO ENABLE LOW-COST, RECONFIGURABLE, DEDICATED HIGH-SPEED NETWORKING. WITH THIS, WE WILL DEVELOP A CENTRALIZED EDGE COMPUTING PLATFORM FOR SIGNAL PROCESSING, DATA REDUCTION, AND ML TOOLS FOR MANY MICROSCOPY MODALITIES. THE INSTRUMENT WILL PROVIDE A PLATFORM FOR REAL-TIME ANALYSIS AND CONTROL OF OPTICAL, SCANNING PROBE, AND TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY. HEC-SML WILL PROVIDE NEW CAPABILITIES FOR COUNTING AND SORTING CELLS AS WELL AS FOR THE CHARACTERIZATION AND MANIPULATION OF MATERIALS FOR ENERGY CONVERSION, SENSING, AND QUANTUM MATERIALS. HEC-SML WILL PROVIDE A TURN-KEY SOLUTION FOR MICROSCOPY AND OTHER DATA-INTENSIVE SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENTS. FURTHERMORE, HEC-SML WILL ENABLE TRANSFORMATIVE ADVANCES IN PERSONALIZED MEDICINE; SENSING, ENERGY CONVERSION, AND QUANTUM MATERIALS; SCIENTIFIC AND PHYSICS-INFORMED ML METHODS USING EXPERIMENTAL DATA; AND CODESIGN OF HETEROGENEOUS COMPUTING AND ML FOR LOW-LATENCY DATA REDUCTION, SCIENTIFIC SIGNAL PROCESSING, AND CONTROL 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.

TAS::89 0222::TAS; NEW; ENERGY SYSTEMS ENGINEERING INSTITUTE AT LEHIGH UNIVERSITY; ANDREW COLEMAN, PI

ADAPTIVE GOAL-DRIVEN AUTONOMOUS AGENTS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: TRIPODS INSTITUTE FOR OPTIMIZATION AND LEARNING

NOVEL OPTOELECTRONIC DEVICES FROM TERAHETZ TO ULTRAVIOLET

SINGLET AND TRIPLET EXCITON INTERACTION AND DYNAMICS IN MOLECULAR CRYSTALS

A REGIONAL CLIMATE RESILIENCE CENTER FOR WATER EXTREMES ADAPTATION STRATEGIES IMPLEMENTATION

EXTENDING TIME-TEMPERATURE-TRANSFORMATION (TTT) TO GRAIN BOUNDARIES USING COMBINED THEORETICAL, MATHEMATICAL, AND EXPERIMENTAL APPROACHES

CYBERSEES: TYPE 2: OCEAN WAVE ENERGY AND THE POWER GRID: OPTIMIZATION AND INTEGRATION

III-COR-MEDIUM: EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE SEARCH SERVICES OVER ARCHIVAL WEBS

BAYESIAN ANALYSIS OF ACADEMIC OUTCOMES FROM SINGLE-CASE EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS

UNDERSTANDING HOW MSCS CONTROLLABLY REMODEL THEIR ENVIRONMENT

NEW START CA

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: MOLECULAR MECHANISMS UNDERLYING REPEATED EVOLUTION: INTEGRATING MICRO- AND MACROEVOLUTIONARY ANALYSES AND FUNCTIONAL GENOMICS -PLANTS AND ANIMALS HAVE ADAPTED TO SURVIVE IN A VARIETY OF EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS, AND UNDERSTANDING THESE ADAPTATIONS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO AID IN DEVELOPING STRATEGIES TO BETTER WITHSTAND A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT. DESPITE THEIR IMPORTANCE, MUCH IS LEFT TO BE LEARNED ABOUT THE GENES RESPONSIBLE FOR ADAPTATIONS TO EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS. THIS PROJECT INVESTIGATES THE GENETIC CHANGES THAT ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALLOWING ANIMALS TO LIVE IN EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS. CAVE ENVIRONMENTS PROVIDE NATURAL LABORATORIES TO STUDY HOW ORGANISMS CAN LIVE WITHOUT ABUNDANT FOOD SOURCES AND IN CONSTANT DARKNESS. CAVE ANIMALS HAVE UNDERGONE SHIFTS IN THEIR METABOLISM, SLEEP PATTERNS, AND SENSORY SYSTEMS AND CAN INFORM THE UNDERSTANDING OF THESE BASIC BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES. THIS RESEARCH WILL FIND COMMONALITIES IN HOW ORGANISMS RESPOND TO EXTREME CAVE ENVIRONMENTS AND ASKS SPECIFICALLY IF SOME PARTS OF THE GENOME CONTRIBUTE TO ADAPTATION MORE SO THAN OTHER PARTS AND IF SO, WHY THOSE PARTS OF THE GENOME ARE UNIQUE. IN ADDITION, THIS WORK PROVIDES OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS AND FOR TRAINING THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS IN THE CLASSROOM, IN THE LABORATORY, AND ACROSS THE WORLD THROUGH INTERACTIVE AND VIRTUAL EXPERIENCES. OVER 200 SPECIES OF BONY FISH HAVE ADAPTED TO LIVE IN CAVE ENVIRONMENTS, REPRESENTING AN UNPARALLELED OPPORTUNITY FOR COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY TO UNCOVER THE GENETIC BASIS OF DRAMATIC TRAIT SHIFTS. THROUGH USING CUTTING-EDGE THIRD-GENERATION SEQUENCING AND NEWLY DEVELOPED POPULATION AND COMPARATIVE GENOMIC ANALYSIS METHODS, THIS WORK WILL IDENTIFY GENETIC VARIATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH CAVE-DERIVED TRAITS WITHIN THREE SPECIES OF CAVEFISH THAT HAVE CLOSE SURFACE RELATIVES: THE MEXICAN TETRA (ASTYANAX MEXICANUS), THE CAVE MOLLY (POECILIA MEXICANA) AND THE BRAZILIAN CATFISH (ASPIDORAS MEPHISTO) TO DETERMINE IF THE SAME GENES AND GENETIC CHANGES UNDERLIE REPEATED EVOLUTION OF CAVE ADAPTATIONS. GENOMIC ANALYSES ACROSS THE TELEOST TREE OF LIFE WILL ALSO BE PERFORMED TO FIND COMMON GENETIC CHANGES ACROSS CAVE-ADAPTED GROUPS. BY COMPARING BOTH WITHIN AND BETWEEN SPECIES, THIS PROJECT WILL IDENTIFY IF MUTATIONAL BIAS AND MUTATIONAL OPPORTUNITY PREDISPOSE REGIONS OF THE GENOME TO CONTRIBUTE TO PHENOTYPIC CHANGE. FUNCTIONAL GENOMIC TESTS USING CRISPR-CAS9 WILL BE EMPLOYED TO VALIDATE GENETIC CHANGES FOUND IN CAVE SPECIES AND TEST THE IMPACT OF MUTATIONS ON PHENOTYPES. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

MATERNAL, INFANT, AND EARLY CHILDHOOD HOME VISITING (MIECHV) RESEARCH PROGRAM

PURPOSE: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE, COMMUNITY PROJECT FUNDING/CONGRESSIONAL DIRECTED SPENDING AWARDS ARE AUTHORIZED UNDER THE CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2022 PUBLIC LAW 117-328 AND THE EXPLANATORY STATEMENT FOR DIVISION L OF THAT ACT. PROJECTS SELECTED FOR COMMUNITY PROJECT FUNDING/CONGRESSIONAL DIRECTED SPENDING ARE LISTED IN THE JOINT EXPLANATORY STATEMENT (JES) THAT ACCOMPANIES A SPECIFIC FISCAL YEAR’S APPROPRIATIONS ACT OR CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. THE JES LISTS PROJECT, RECIPIENT, STATE, AMOUNT AND CONGRESSIONAL SPONSOR.; ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE, COMMUNITY PROJECT FUNDING/CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING AWARD PROJECTS INCLUDE A WIDE VARIETY OF ACTIVITIES THAT RESULT IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT OUTCOMES. HUD WILL NOT KNOW THE FULL SCOPE OF THE PROJECT UNTIL THE RECIPIENT SUBMITS THE REQUIRED PROJECT NARRATIVE AND CONFIRMS ALIGNMENT WITH THE LANGUAGE AS PROVIDED IN THE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. TO FIND THE DETAILS OF THE GRANT AWARD AS WRITTEN WITHIN THE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD USE THE FOLLOWING LINK AND PATH SELECTIONS TO GET TO THE DESCRIPTION OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE, COMMUNITY PROJECT FUNDING GRANTS HTTPS://WWW.HUD.GOV/PROGRAM_OFFICES/COMM_PLANNING/EDI-GRANTS, SELECT THE FISCAL YEAR OF INTEREST, SCROLL DOWN TO PROGRAM LAWS AND REGULATIONS, UNDER FISCAL YEAR 20XX CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 20XX: CONGRESSIONAL RECORD (JOINT EXPLANATORY STATEMENT).; EXPECTED OUTCOMES: COMPLETION OF THE PROJECT AS DESCRIBED IN THE JOINT EXPLANATORY STATEMENT (JES) PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND SUBSEQUENT APPROVED PROJECT NARRATIVE.; INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: THE PROJECT BENEFICIARIES ARE THE INDIVIDUALS AND/OR ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE AWARDED GRANT FUNDS OR SERVED BY THE ENTITIES THAT ARE AWARDED GRANT FUNDS AS IDENTIFIED IN THE JES RECIPIENT OR PROJECT DESCRIPTION SECTIONS.; SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES ARE UNKNOWN AT THE TIME OF AWARD.

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A HIGH-SENSITIVITY LOW ENERGY ION SCATTERING (LEIS) SPECTROMETER FOR RESEARCH INTO THE NATURE OF FUNCTIONAL SURFACES AND INTERFAC

CYTOTOXIC MECHANISMS OF AGGREGATIBACTER ACTINOMYCETEMCOMITANS LEUKOTOXIN

PLASTICITY OF ELECTRICAL SYNAPSES

CAREER: JETS MEASUREMENTS AT THE RELATIVISTIC HEAVY ION COLLIDER

NOVEL SORPTION ENHANCED REACTION PROCESS FOR SIMULTANEOUS PRODUCTION OF CO2 AND H2 SYNTHESIS GAS PRODUCED BY COAL GASIFICATION

NEAREST-NEIGHBOR RECOGNITION IN LIPID BILAYERS

SCH: PENNSYLVANIA ASTHMA-COPD SYNDROMIC SURVEILLANCE (PASS) - PROJECT SUMMARY (SEE INSTRUCTIONS): FOSSIL-FUEL-RELATED OUTDOOR PARTICULATE MATTER, OZONE, AND FIRST- OR SECOND-HAND CIGARETTE SMOKE COLLECTIVELY AFFLICT OVER 545 MILLION PEOPLE GLOBALLY, HALF OF WHICH IS MADE UP OF CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD) AND THE OTHER HALF WITH ASTHMA CASES [1] AS OF 2020, PENNSYLVANIA LED THE COUNTRY WITH THE HIGHEST EXCESS MORTALITY DUE TO AIR POLLUTION [2]. LEHIGH VALLEY IN EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA, AND ALLENTOWN, IN PARTICULAR, A CITY WITHIN LEHIGH VALLEY, REPRESENTS ONE OF THE WORST METROPOLITAN REGIONS IN THE NATION WITH ONE OF THE HIGHEST RISKS OF ASTHMA IN THE US [2]. HOWEVER, THERE IS AN ABSOLUTE ABSENCE OF AN EARLY-WARNING SYSTEM OF ENVIRONMENTALLY ATTRIBUTABLE RISKS FOR LOWER RESPIRATORY INFECTION, ASTHMA, AND COPD, REFERRED TO HEREIN AS CHRONIC RESPIRATORY SYNDROME (CRS) FOR THE GENERAL US POPULATION AND VULNERABLE CITIZENS OF PENNSYLVANIA IN PARTICULAR. FURTHERMORE, PARSING OUT THE EMERGENT (IE., AIR POLLUTION-ATTRIBUTABLE) FROM THE LEGACY (IE., SYSTEMIC BUILT ENVIRONMENT, ACCESS, AND SOCIOECONOMIC DISPARITY) RISKS REPRESENTS A DIRECT ANSWER TO THE RESPIRATORY HEALTH NEEDS IN PENNSYLVANIA. OUR OVERARCHING GOALS FOCUS ON INSTITUTING AN INTELLIGENT AND AGILE EARLY-WARNING SYSTEM FOR TWO PRIMARY STAKEHOLDERS - CITIZENS WHO CAN VISUALIZE CRS RISKS IN MAPS AND CLINICAL PROVIDERS IN LOCAL HEALTHCARE SETTINGS WHO CAN MANAGE THE PATIENT FLOW THROUGH OUTBREAK PREDICTION. OUR PROPOSED PENNSYLVANIA ASTHMA-COPD SYNDROMIC SURVEILLANCE (PASS) BUILDS A NIMBLE DATA ANALYTIC INFRASTRUCTURE CAPABLE OF TEASING APART THE LEGACY OF UNDERLYING HEALTH VULNERABILITIES, APART FROM EMERGENT ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS (E.G., FOSSIL-FUEL-RELATED AIR POLLUTION), TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC FROM CRS BY INTEGRATING PUBLICLY AVAILABLE SECONDARY DATA STREAMS. OURS WILL BE THE FIRST STUDY TO CLARIFY HOW PENNSYLVANIA'S RECURRENT AIR POLLUTION EPISODES AND ERRATIC WEATHER PATTERNS CONTRIBUTE TO 'OUTBREAKS' OF LOWER RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS IN CHILDREN AND ASTHMA AND COPD OUTBREAKS IN ALL AGE GROUPS WITHIN SPECIFIC GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS. ACCORDINGLY, WE WILL DISTINGUISH THE TIME-VARYING NATURE OF PENNSYLVANIA POPULATION VULNERABILITIES AS A FUNCTION OF POLLUTANT EXPOSURE BURDEN, APART FROM BUILT INFRASTRUCTURE DISPARITY, SOCIOECONOMIC BARRIERS, AS WELL AS THE UNDERLYING SUSCEPTIBILITY OF THE RESIDENTS TO PROPOSE A NOVEL DEFINITION OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE TARGET REGION (AL M 1 ). WE WILL DETERMINE THE BURDEN OF POOR AIR QUALITY ON CRS ACROSS PENNSYLVANIA (AIM 2). FINALLY, WE WILL BUILD SYNDROMIC SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS OF CRS HOTSPOTS BY COMBINING AIR QUALITY DATA WITH UNDERLYING SUSCEPTIBILITIES OF THE POPULATION (DEFINED IN TERMS OF HEALTH, SOCIAL, AND RESOURCE DISPARITIES) (AIM 3).

RI: MEDIUM: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: TOWARDS PERPETUAL FLIGHT OF A GLIDING UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE IN THE JET STREAM

DNA HELICASE FUNCTIONS IN GENOME MAINTENANCE

MICROFLUIDIC-MULTIPLE ELECTRODE ARRAY PLATFORM FOR SCALABLE ANALYSIS OF EPILEPSY

HARNESSING NONNEGATIVE MATRIX FACTORIZATION FOR ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL MATERIALS MODELING

COMBINED PRIORITY FOR PERSONNEL PREPARATION

GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM (GRFP) -THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (NSF) GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM (GRFP) IS A HIGHLY COMPETITIVE, FEDERAL FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM. GRFP HELPS ENSURE THE VITALITY AND DIVERSITY OF THE SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING WORKFORCE OF THE UNITED STATES. THE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES AND SUPPORTS OUTSTANDING GRADUATE STUDENTS WHO ARE PURSUING RESEARCH-BASED MASTER'S AND DOCTORAL DEGREES IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) AND IN STEM EDUCATION. THE GRFP PROVIDES THREE YEARS OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR THE GRADUATE EDUCATION OF INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE DEMONSTRATED THEIR POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT RESEARCH ACHIEVEMENTS IN STEM AND STEM EDUCATION. THIS AWARD SUPPORTS THE NSF GRADUATE FELLOWS PURSUING GRADUATE EDUCATION AT THIS GRFP INSTITUTION. 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.

DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS TO VARIOUS BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS - PROJECT SUMMARY BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES WORK TOGETHER IN A COMPLEX NETWORK TO CARRY OUT ESSENTIAL CELLULAR FUNCTIONS IN LIVING ORGANISMS. UNDERSTANDING THIS COMPLEX NETWORK OF INTERACTIONS AT THE MOLECULAR LEVEL BY DEVELOPING NECESSARY COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS IS AN ALL-ENCOMPASSING GOAL OF OUR LABORATORY. THIS PROPOSAL AIMS TO CONTINUE SUCH EFFORTS PARTICULARLY ON CHARMM-GUI FOR THE BIOMOLECULAR MODELING AND SIMULATION COMMUNITY, G-LOSA-RELATED TOOLS FOR STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS PHARMACOLOGY, AND GLYCANSTRUCTURE.ORG FOR GLYCAN MODELING AND SIMULATION AND GLYCAN BINDING SITE PREDICTION. FIRST, CHARMM-GUI HAS BECOME AN ESSENTIAL WEB-BASED CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR CONSTRUCTING COMPLEX BIOMOLECULAR SIMULATION SYSTEMS. WE WILL FURTHER DEVELOP AND EXPAND ITS FUNCTIONALITY TO SUPPORT MORE FORCE FIELDS, QM/MM INTERFACE FOR ENZYMATIC CATALYSIS REACTIONS, MORE ADVANCED SIMULATION METHODS, API DEVELOPMENT, AND DOI ASSIGNMENT. SECOND, WE WILL CONTINUE TO EXPAND THE APPLICATION OF OUR LOCAL-STRUCTURE CENTRIC COMPUTATIONAL TOOLSET, G-LOSA (GRAPH-BASED LOCAL STRUCTURE ALIGNMENT), FOR THE STUDIES OF PROTEIN-LIGAND INTERACTIONS AT THE PROTEOMIC LEVEL. OUR LOCAL STRUCTURE REFINEMENT METHOD WILL BE EXTENDED TO INCLUDE PROTEIN-PROTEIN BINDING INTERFACES TO FURTHER ELUCIDATE CONSERVED LOCAL SURFACE REGIONS OF PROTEIN-PROTEIN INTERACTIONS THAT ARE CRUCIAL IN BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES. THIRD, OUR GLYCAN MODELING AND SIMULATION TOOLSET WILL BE EXTENDED TO GLYCAN BINDING POSE PREDICTION, GLYCAN BINDING SITE PREDICTION, AND GLYCAN BINDING SITE OPTIMIZATION FOR RATIONAL DESIGN AND REFINEMENT OF A KNOWN OR POTENTIAL GLYCAN BINDING SITE. THE SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THIS PROJECT IS EXPECTED TO PROVIDE A LARGE AND UNIQUE SCOPE OF RESEARCH SOFTWARE TOOLS FOR THE BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH COMMUNITY TO CARRY OUT INNOVATIVE AND NOVEL BIOMOLECULAR MODELING AND SIMULATION RESEARCH FOR THE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF HUMAN DISEASE.

RISK- AND UTILITY-INFORMED OPTIMUM DECISION MAKING FOR NAVAL SHIP STRUCTURES INTEGRATING INSPECTIONS, SHM, TIME-VARIANT SYSTEM PERFORMANCE, AND PROBA

MOLECULAR MODELING AND SIMULATION OF THE MYCOBACTERIA CELL ENVELOPE

DEEP LEARNING BASED PREDICTIVE CONTROL OF FUTURE NAVAL POWER AND ENERGY SYSTEMS

RESEARCH AREA 4.1 NANO- AND BIO-ELECTRONICS: FUNDAMENTAL THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF NANOPORATION OF BIOLOGICAL CELLS BY NOVEL ELECTRICAL/O

HEAVY FLAVOR AT RHIC

BIOMOLECULAR ASSEMBLY PROCESSES IN THE DESIGN OF NOVEL FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS

FAST, DYNAMIC, AND SCALABLE ALGORITHMS FOR LARGE-SCALE CONSTRAINED OPTIMIZATION

NEESR-CR: PERFORMANCE-BASED DESIGN FOR COST-EFFECTIVE SEISMIC HAZARD MITIGATION IN NEW BUILDINGS USING SUPPLEMENTAL PASSIVE DAMPER SYSTEMS

CAREER: DEVELOPING SPATIALLY ORGANIZED BIOMATERIALS TO ENGINEER COMPLEX TISSUE INTERFACES

** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** THE COMPLEXITY OF PROBLEMS FACING THE AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS DEMONSTRATES THE NEED FOR ENGINEERED MATERIALS THAT SIMULTANEOUSLY ADDRESS SEVERAL OF THE SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGES IN AGRICULTURE. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH PROGRAM AIMS TO CREATE AND STUDY ENGINEERED COMPOSITE MATERIALS - BIODEGRADABLE PLASTIC MULCH CONTAINING MAJOR NUTRIENTS - WITH THE POTENTIAL TO REDUCE SOIL DEGRADATION CAUSED BY PLASTIC POLLUTION. IN THIS WORK, WE WILL SYNTHESIZE UREA CO-CRYSTAL FERTILIZERS AT A KG SCALE AND COMBINE THEM WITH SEVERAL PLASTIC POLYMERS TO EXTRUDE MULCH FILMS THAT CAN BE EFFICIENTLY DEGRADED BY THE SOIL MICROBIOME. NEXT, WE WILL ASSESS THE COMPOSITE MULCH EFFECTS ON MICROBIAL COMMUNITY HEALTH, COMPOSITE MULCH DEGRADATION AS WELL AS NUTRIENT RELEASE PROPERTIES. FINALLY, WE WILL APPLY SELECTED COMPOSITE BIODEGRADABLE PLASTIC MULCH IN PILOT FIELD EXPERIMENTS CULTIVATING HIGH-VALUE CROPS, SUCH AS TOMATOES WHILE INVESTIGATING SOIL FEATURES AND HEALTH, AS WELL AS CROP PHYSIOLOGY, YIELD AND QUALITY. IN THIS MANNER, WE WILL OBTAIN OPTIMIZED BIODEGRADABLE NUTRIENT-CONTAINING PLASTIC MULCH FORMULATIONS THAT WILL RESULT IN ENHANCED CROP YIELDS COMBINED WITH ENHANCED SOIL HEALTH.

NOVEL THERMAL STORAGE TECHNOLOGIES FOR CONCENTRATING SOLAR POWER GENERATION

PFI: DEVELOPMENT, TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER, AND COMMERCIALIZATION OF THE AUTOMATED TRANSPORT AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM (ATRS)

SOLID SOLUTION ENHANCED SYNTHESIS OF MULTI-PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ALLOYS VIA OXIDE REDUCTION -NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY MULTI-PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ALLOYS (MPCAS) ARE A RADICAL NEW CLASS OF ALLOYS THAT CONSISTS OF APPROXIMATELY EQUAL MIXTURES OF FOUR OR MORE METALLIC ELEMENTS. THESE MATERIALS CAN POSSESS NOVEL AND EXCITING COMBINATIONS OF PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. IN PARTICULAR, A SUB-GROUP OF THESE ALLOYS, SO-CALLED REFRACTORY MPCAS EXHIBIT HIGH TEMPERATURE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES THAT SURPASS THOSE OF THE ALLOYS CURRENTLY IN USE. THE APPLICATION OF THESE NEW ALLOYS IN TURBINE ENGINES COULD THEREFORE RESULT IN HIGHER EFFICIENCY AND REDUCED GREENHOUSE EMISSIONS. CURRENT METHODS USED TO FABRICATE REFRACTORY MPCAS UTILIZE EXTREMELY HIGH TEMPERATURES, AND CAN RESULT IN COMPOSITIONAL VARIATIONS WITHIN THE ALLOY. THIS PROGRAM SEEKS TO EXPLORE A NEW PROCESS WHEREBY THE METALLIC ALLOY IS PRODUCED BY REDUCING A MIXTURE OF THE METALLIC OXIDES. THIS IS ACHIEVED BY HEAT-TREATMENT IN A HYDROGEN ENVIRONMENT. NOT ONLY IS THIS A NOVEL TECHNIQUE, BUT PRIOR WORK HAS SHOWN THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO CONVERT CERTAIN OXIDES THAT NORMALLY WOULD BE EXTREMELY STABLE. THE RESEARCH SEEKS TO UNDERSTAND THIS UNEXPECTED ASPECT OF THE OXIDE REDUCTION PROCESS. A RATIONALE IS SUGGESTED WHEREBY THE REDUCTION IS ENHANCED BY THE COMPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENT. THIS MODEL IS TESTED BY STUDYING THE REDUCTION BEHAVIOR OF A RANGE OF MPCAS COMPOSED OF DIFFERENT ELEMENTAL COMBINATIONS. COMPUTER MODELLING IS USED TO HELP IDENTIFY ALLOY COMBINATIONS WITH THERMODYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS THAT SHOW PROMISE BASED ON THE MODEL. THESE RESEARCH FINDINGS COULD LEAD TO ENHANCED PROCESSING OF TAILORED MPCA COMPOSITIONS, WITH POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT SOCIETAL IMPACT IN MANY TECHNOLOGICAL AREAS, INCLUDING ENERGY STORAGE AND GENERATION, TRANSPORTATION, AND MEDICAL DEVICES. OUTREACH ACTIVITIES RELATING TO ALLOY DESIGN AND FORMING FOCUS ON ENCOURAGING UNDER-REPRESENTED MINORITIES TO PURSUE OPPORTUNITIES IN STEM FIELDS, AND TO INCREASE AWARENESS OF MATERIALS ENGINEERING AMONGST MIDDLE- AND HIGH-SCHOOL STUDENTS. TECHNICAL SUMMARY THE AIM OF THIS PROGRAM IS TO DEVELOP A SCIENTIFIC FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING THE COMPLEX REDUCTION BEHAVIOR OF A MIXTURE OF OXIDE MATERIALS, AND HENCE ESTABLISH COMPOSITION-BASED STRATEGIES FOR THE PROCESSING OF TECHNOLOGICALLY IMPORTANT MULTI-PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ALLOYS (MPCAS). THIS RESEARCH BUILDS ON PRIOR WORK THAT DEMONSTRATED THAT MPCAS CAN BE FABRICATED VIA THE REDUCTION OF A COMPACTED METAL-OXIDE MIXTURE. ALLOYS COMPOSED OF CO, CR, FE, NI AND MN HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFULLY SYNTHESIZED BY THIS ROUTE, USING RELATIVELY MILD HEAT-TREATMENT CONDITIONS FOR WHICH THE REDUCTION OF MNO WOULD NOT BE EXPECTED. A MODEL IS PROPOSED WHEREBY THE THERMODYNAMIC DRIVING FORCE FOR REDUCTION IS ENHANCED DUE TO THE FORMATION OF THE ALLOY SOLID SOLUTION. ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE CALCULATIONS OF THE ENTHALPY OF MIXING GUIDE THE SELECTION OF ELEMENTAL COMBINATIONS FOR TESTING. THE REDUCTION BEHAVIOR OF THESE OXIDE COMPOSITIONS ARE STUDIED UNDER CONTROLLED CONDITIONS OF TEMPERATURE AND OXYGEN PARTIAL PRESSURE (PO2). THE SEQUENCE OF REACTIONS AND PHASE EVOLUTION IS REVEALED BY THE CHARACTERIZATION OF PARTIALLY REDUCED SAMPLES USING SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (SEM) AND SCANNING TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (STEM) TECHNIQUES, AS WELL AS IN-SITU X-RAY DIFFRACTION REDUCTION STUDIES USING A SYNCHROTRON LIGHT SOURCE. IDENTIFICATION OF THE NUCLEATION MECHANISMS OF THE METALLIC PHASES, ROLE OF TRANSIENT PHASES, AND RATE-CONTROLLING TRANSPORT MECHANISMS IS OF BROAD FUNDAMENTAL INTEREST, AND BENEFIT RELATED RESEARCH ON CATALYSIS AND OXYGEN LOOPING. THE ENHANCED PROCESSING OF TAILORED MPCA COMPOSITIONS, BOTH BULK AND POWDER, IS EXPEDITED BY THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOLID SOLUTION MODEL, SINCE IT WILL HELP IDENTIFY THE HEAT TREATMENT AND COMPOSITIONAL PARAMETERS THAT ARE CRITICAL TO THE PROCESS. THE RESEARCH ALSO BENEFITS THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY BY GENERATING REDUCTION-COMPOSITION DIAGRAMS FOR SELECT MPCA ELEMENTAL COMBINATIONS. OUTREACH ACTIVITIES RELATING TO ALLOY DESIGN AND FORMING INCLUDE CHOICES (CHARTING HORIZONS AND OPPORTUNITIES IN CAREERS IN ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE), WHICH IS DEDICATED TO ENCOURAGING MIDDLE-SCHOOL GIRLS TO CONSIDER CAREERS IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, AND THE ASM TEACHER AND HIGH SCHOOL MATERIALS CAMPS, DESIGNED TO INCREASE AWARENESS OF MATERIALS ENGINEERING AMONGST HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM(GRFP)

REU SITE: RESEARCH EXPERIENCE FOR UNDERGRADUATES IN PHYSICS AT LEHIGH UNIVERSITY

MRI: ACQUISITION OF AN ADVANCED INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL X-RAY PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY/OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPY INSTRUMENT FOR SIMULTANEOUS SURFACE, BULK AND GAS/LIQUID PHASE

THE EFFECTS OF STRENGTH AND DE-MIXING IN BUOYANCY (RAYLEIGH-TAYLOR) DRIVEN TURBULENCE

PATRIOT LEAGUE INSTITUTIONS MENTOR ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS WISELY

PROJECT STAY: SUPPORTING TEACHERS OF AUTISM IN YEARS 1-3

GOALI: SPATIALLY SELECTIVE PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS OF GLASS TO SINGLE CRYSTAL AND ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTING 3D ARCHITECTURES -NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: JUST AS INTEGRATED CIRCUIT TECHNOLOGY REDUCED THE SIZE, LOWERED THE COST AND MADE SOPHISTICATED ELECTRONIC DEVICES ACCESSIBLE TO MASSES, A SIMILAR TRANSFORMATIVE IMPACT IS EXPECTED FROM THE TRANSITION OF 2D ASSEMBLY OF DISCRETE OPTICAL ELEMENTS ON A SURFACE TO A 3D INTEGRATED OPTICS PLATFORM, ESPECIALLY WITH EVER INCREASING DEMAND FOR INFORMATION AND DATA TRANSMISSION. MANIPULATION OF PHOTONS THAT REQUIRE SPECIAL TRANSPARENT SINGLE CRYSTALS IS INHERENTLY MUCH MORE DIFFICULT, MAKING INTEGRATED OPTICS A PERSISTENT CHALLENGE VS. THAT OF ELECTRONS THAT FLOW READILY THROUGH ANY CONDUCTING WIRE. THIS INDUSTRY-UNIVERSITY COLLABORATIVE PROJECT ADVANCES NEW FABRICATION METHODS FOR REALIZING OPTICALLY ACTIVE SINGLE CRYSTAL ARCHITECTURE IN GLASS SUITABLE FOR PRACTICAL DEVICES, WHILE EDUCATING DOCTORAL STUDENTS THROUGH A NOVEL PASTEUR PARTNERS PHD (P3) MODEL. THESE STUDENTS PURSUE USE-INSPIRED MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH CO-ADVISED BY A FACULTY AND A COMPANY SCIENTIST, AND ACQUIRE ESSENTIAL SKILLS FOR SUCCESSFUL CAREERS IN INDUSTRY, ACADEMIA, NATIONAL LABS, ETC. TECHNICAL DETAILS: A WORKING INTEGRATED ?MICRO-OPTICS CHIP? WOULD NOT BE COMPLETE WITHOUT OPTICALLY ACTIVE ELEMENTS THAT ARE ALSO ACCESSIBLE TO RECEIVE AN ELECTRICAL SIGNAL. SUCH ELEMENTS NEED TO BE HIGH QUALITY ELECTRO-OPTIC SINGLE CRYSTALS INCORPORATED WITHIN A CIRCUIT OF WAVEGUIDES. THIS PROJECT BUILDS ON THE SUCCESSFUL DEMONSTRATION OF FERROELECTRIC SINGLE CRYSTAL ARCHITECTURE IN GLASS (SCAG) WHICH IS CONSTRUCTED IN 3D USING FEMTOSECOND LASERS. HOWEVER, THE OPTICAL LOSS OF SUCH SCAG WAVEGUIDES HAS BEEN TOO HIGH. OFTEN THE SCAG FORMATION IS ACCOMPANIED BY A REDISTRIBUTION OF ELEMENTS BETWEEN GLASS AND CRYSTAL. ALSO, THE LATTICE OF SCAG IS MODIFIED BY THE STRESSES RESULTING FROM CHANGE IN DENSITY AT THE GROWTH FRONT DURING CRYSTALLIZATION. THROUGH A FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF THESE FEATURES OF CRYSTAL GROWTH UNDER THE CONFINEMENT BY THE SURROUNDING GLASS, THIS PROJECT IS REDUCING OPTICAL LOSS BY CREATING A GRADED REFRACTIVE INDEX PROFILE WITHIN THE CRYSTAL. THE DESIRED VARIATION OF REFRACTIVE INDEX IS INTRODUCED THROUGH DYNAMIC CONTROL OF TEMPERATURE BY A LASER BEAM OF APPROPRIATE INTENSITY PROFILE. IN PARALLEL, THIS PROJECT IS PURSUING FORMATION OF CONDUCTING PATHS BY FORMING METALLIC NANOPARTICLES OR PRECIPITATES OF A CONDUCTING OXIDE BY FS LASER IRRADIATION. THE PROJECT IS INTRODUCING NEW METHODOLOGIES FOR FABRICATING 3D CRYSTAL-IN-GLASS METAMATERIALS FOR A RANGE OF PHOTONIC AND OPTOELECTRONIC 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.

EXAMINING READING INSTRUCTION FOR STUDENTS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY

MULTIFUNCTIONAL FERROELECTRIC SINGLE-CRYSTAL ARCHITECTURE IN GLASS: FABRICATION, OPTICAL PROPERTIES, AND NANOSCALE POLAR ORDER

GOALI: OP: INCONGRUENT GROWTH OF SINGLE CRYSTAL 3D ARCHITECTURE FOR NEW OPTICAL FUNCTIONALITIES IN GLASS

A MULTI-COMPONENT ALCOHOL AND SEX RISK INTERVENTION FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS

NEW APPROACHES TO MINIMIZE BIOFOULING

INTEGRATING SHM AND TIME-VARIANT SYSTEM PERFORMANCE OF NAVAL SHIP STRUCTURES FOR NEAR REAL-TIME DECISION MAKING UNDER UNCERTAINTY: A COMPREHENSIVE FR

CONTROL WITHOUT TRUST: RISK OF AMBIGUOUS PERCEPTION ( ONR TRACKING:23-000004438)

REAL-TIME PERCEPTION AND PLANNING IN NETWORK OF AGENTS

THE EFFECTS OF MATERIALS STRENGTH AND DEMIXING ON RAYLEIGH TAYLOR TURBULENCE

CAREER: INVESTIGATING THE MOLECULAR FACTORS THAT UNDERLIE MYELIN-ASSOCIATED GLYCOPROTEIN BINDING

MODELING AND SIMULATION OF BACTERIAL OUTER MEMBRANES AND INTERACTIONS WITH PROTEINS

GOALI: ULTRA-LOW WEAR PLASMA ENHANCED ATOMIC LAYER DEPOSITED NITRIDE THIN FILMS: EXPLORING PROCESSING, STRUCTURE, PROPERTIES AND MECHANISMS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: BIOMEMBHUB CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR MODELING AND ANALYSIS OF PROTEINS, PEPTIDES, AND SMALL MOLECULES IN BIOMEMBRANES -BIOLOGICAL MEMBRANES SEPARATE LIVING CELLS FROM THE ENVIRONMENT AND CREATE INTRACELLULAR COMPARTMENTS AS A HYDROPHOBIC BARRIER. THEY ARE COMPOSED OF DIVERSE LIPIDS AND FORM DENSE ENVIRONMENTS WITH THOUSANDS OF TRANSMEMBRANE AND PERIPHERAL PROTEINS. THESE PROTEINS ARE ENGAGED IN ESSENTIAL CELLULAR FUNCTIONS, INCLUDING METABOLISM, ENERGY GENERATION, SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION, SOLUTE TRANSPORT, VESICLE TRAFFICKING, CELLULAR MOTILITY, RECOGNITION, ADHESION, DIFFERENTIATION, AND PROLIFERATION. ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL METHODOLOGIES AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ALGORITHMS HAVE LED TO A SURGE IN MEMBRANE PROTEIN THREE-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURES AND IN SILICO MODELS THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO RESEARCHERS. NONETHELESS, A COMPREHENSIVE UNDERSTANDING OF MEMBRANE PROTEIN ORGANIZATION, INCLUDING FACILITATING THE DYNAMIC INTERACTIONS WITHIN AND BETWEEN CELLS REMAINS ELUSIVE. THIS GAP IN OUR UNDERSTANDING IMPEDES OUR ABILITY TO DECIPHER MEMBRANE PROTEIN FUNCTIONAL ROLES AND REGULATORY MECHANISMS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE CELLS, ORGANS, OR ORGANISMS IN WHICH THEY WORK. THE PROPOSED BIOMEMBHUB CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE (HTTPS://BIOMEMBHUB.ORG) IS DESIGNED TO ADVANCE, EXPAND, AND UNIFY DATABASES AND WEB SERVERS FOR STRUCTURAL MODELING AND ANALYSIS OF PROTEINS, PEPTIDES, AND SMALL MOLECULES IN LIPID MEMBRANES OF VARYING MOLECULAR COMPOSITIONAL COMPLEXITY. BIOMEMBHUB IS DISTINGUISHED BY ITS INTEGRATION OF PHYSICS-BASED METHODOLOGIES, BIOINFORMATICS TECHNIQUES, AND THE DEEP LEARNING CAPABILITIES OF THE WIDELY USED ALPHAFOLD SYSTEM. BIOMEMBHUB WILL BE EASY-TO-USE AND THUS SERVE NOT ONLY AS A VALUABLE RESEARCH RESOURCE FOR SCIENTISTS AND EDUCATORS, BUT AS AN EDUCATIONAL PLATFORM FOR STUDENTS AND AN INSTRUMENT FOR PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT WITH CUTTING-EDGE BIOMEMBRANE RESEARCH. THE GOAL OF THE BIOMEMBHUB COLLABORATIVE PROJECT IS TO CREATE AN INTEGRATED PLATFORM CONSISTING OF SEVEN WEB SERVERS AND THREE LARGE DATABASES, WHICH WOULD ENABLE EXPLORATION OF THE STRUCTURAL AND DYNAMIC ASPECTS OF BIOMOLECULES IN MEMBRANES USING BOTH IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT MEMBRANE REPRESENTATIONS. THE SUITE OF WEB SERVERS, NAMELY TMPFOLD, FMAP, PPM, OPRLM, AND TMDOCK, ENABLES ALL-ATOM MODELING AND ANALYSIS OF FOLDING, STABILITY, CONFORMATIONAL POSITIONING, AND MOLECULAR INTERACTIONS OF PROTEINS AND PEPTIDES IN MEMBRANES. PERMM AND CELLPM WEB SERVERS CALCULATE MEMBRANE PERMEABILITY COEFFICIENTS AND TRANSLOCATION PATHWAYS ACROSS LIPID BILAYERS OF SMALL MOLECULES AND PEPTIDES. THE OPM DATABASE INCLUDES THE MASSIVE SET OF EXPERIMENTAL STRUCTURES OF MEMBRANE PROTEINS AND PEPTIDES FROM THE RCSB PROTEIN DATA BANK (PDB) POSITIONED IN MEMBRANES BY PPM. THE MEMBRANOME 3.0 DATABASE SERVES AS REPOSITORY FOR THOUSANDS IN SILICO MODELS OF SINGLE-PASS TRANSMEMBRANE PROTEINS FROM SIX PROTEOMES. THE PERMM DATABASE COLLECTS EXPERIMENTAL AND CALCULATED PERMEABILITIES DATA FOR FIVE HUNDRED SMALL MOLECULES. WITH EXECUTION OF THE PROJECT, THE OPM/OPRLM DATABASE WILL BE SIGNIFICANTLY ADVANCED BY STREAMLINING ITS UPDATE PROCEDURES AND BROADENING THE DATASET OF MEMBRANE PROTEINS AND PEPTIDES WITH KNOWN STRUCTURES ALIGNED IN FLAT OR CURVED MEMBRANES. THE MEMBRANOME(X) DATABASE WILL BE EXPANDED BY INCORPORATING SINGLE-PASS TRANSMEMBRANE PROTEINS FROM 20 PROTEOMES AND A NOVEL COLLECTION OF PROTEIN COMPLEXES. THESE COMPLEXES WILL BE MODELED USING THE ALPHAFOLD MULTIMER METHODOLOGY AND VALIDATED BY EMPLOYING TMDOCK. THE SUSTAINABILITY AND EXPANDABILITY OF THESE RESOURCES WILL BE IMPROVED TO ENSURE THEIR LONG-TERM UTILITY AND RELEVANCE TO THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY. 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.

ABI SUSTAINING: MAINTAINING CHARMM-GUI TO SUPPORT THE BIOMOLECULAR MODELING AND SIMULATION COMMUNITY

COMBINED PRIORITY FOR PERSONNEL PREPARATION

TAS::89 0227::TAS RECOVERY NEW RECOVERY ACT - INTEGRATED SHAPE, CURRENT PROFILE, AND ROTATION PROFILE CONTROL IN DIII-D; PI - EUGENIO SCHUSTER

LEHIGH UNIVERSITY: NEW GO COMPETITION AWARD. CONTROL NUMBER: 1952-1510 TITLE: ''HYBRID INTERIOR-POINT/ACTIVE-SET PSCOPF ALGORITHMS EXPLOITING POWER SYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS'' ----------

DISCOVERING THE ROLE OF GRAIN BOUNDARY COMPLEXIONS IN MATERIALS

CAREER: FREEZE-FRAME SPECTROSCOPY A TECHNIQUE FOR ELUCIDATION OF FUNDAMENTAL INTERACTIONS UNDERLYING NANOCATALYTIC REACTIONS

SINGLE CRYSTAL GROWTH BY SOLID STATE REACTION SYNTHESIS: INFORMATICS DRIVEN MICROSTRUCTURAL ANALYSIS AND DESIGN

IDR: COUPLING THEORY AND EXPERIMENT TO QUANTIFY BIOMOLECULE-NANOMATERIAL INTERACTIONS

MRI: DEVELOPMENT OF A HIGH ENERGY-LOSS ELECTRON SPECTROMETRY SYSTEM WITH IMPROVED DETECTION SENSITIVITY FOR AN ADVANCED ELECTRON MICROSCOPE

CAREER: DEVELOPMENT OF SUPER-RESOLUTION SCANNING PROBE STIMULATED RAMAN MICROSCOPY WITH EXCELLENT SPATIAL RESOLUTION

NOVEL SYNTHESIS OF SINGLE CRYSTAL ENTROPY-STABILIZED CERAMICS: IDENTIFYING CRITICAL REACTION AND TRANSPORT PARAMETERS -NON-TECHNICAL ABSTRACT THE ABILITY TO PRODUCE FUNCTIONAL CERAMICS HAVING TAILORED GEOMETRIES HAS BEEN ELUSIVE GIVEN THE COMPLEXITY OF THE UNDERLYING PROCESSES. THE PROPOSED WORK INVESTIGATES A NOVEL APPROACH TO FABRICATE SUCH CERAMICS VIA SOLID-STATE SYNTHESIS, A PROCESS THAT INVOLVES A CHEMICAL REACTION OF MOBILE ATOMS TO CREATE A DESIRED PRODUCT PHASE. THE FOCUS OF THESE STUDIES IS TWO-PHASE SYSTEMS THAT REACT TO FORM A NOVEL PRODUCT-PHASE, NAMELY A SO-CALLED ENTROPY-STABILIZED CERAMIC (ESC) THAT IS STABLE AT HIGH TEMPERATURES. TWO NEW PROTOTYPES OF SUBSTANTIAL TECHNOLOGICAL RELEVANCE ARE OF PARTICULAR INTEREST HERE. FIRST, THE CUO-CUAL2O4-CUALO2 SYSTEM PROVIDES AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE DESIGN OF NEW FUNCTIONAL ELECTRONIC DEVICES SUCH AS TRANSPARENT TRANSISTORS AND JUNCTION DIODES, AND CUALO2 ALSO HAS POTENTIAL AS A SENSOR MATERIAL AND FOR OXYGEN STORAGE MATERIAL APPLICATIONS. SECOND, THE IN-SN-O SYSTEM MAY BE EXPLOITED TO FABRICATE SINGLE-CRYSTAL THERMOELECTRICS (E.G., IN4SN3O12), WHICH ARE DEVICES THAT TURN TEMPERATURE DIFFERENCES INTO VOLTAGES. THIS COMBINED EXPERIMENTAL AND MODELING PROGRAM SEEKS TO DESCRIBE QUANTITATIVELY THE CREATION AND PROPAGATION OF THE DESIRED PRODUCT PHASE FOR EACH SYSTEM SO THAT IT MAY BE READILY FABRICATED, WITH THE FOLLOWING OVERARCHING AIMS: 1) ELUCIDATE THE REACTION MECHANISM RESULTING IN THE PRODUCT PHASE (I.E., HOW DOES THE REACTION OCCUR?); 2) UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF ELASTIC FIELDS ON THE REACTION (I.E., HOW DOES THE MATERIAL DEFORM DURING A REACTION?); 3) CHARACTERIZE THE DIFFUSION KINETICS ALONG INTERNAL INTERFACES (I.E., HOW DO ATOMS MIGRATE NEAR PHASE BOUNDARIES?); AND 4) DESIGN PATTERNED SINGLE-CRYSTAL PHASES WITH UNIQUE MICROSTRUCTURES (I.E., GEOMETRIES) FOR SPECIFIC APPLICATIONS. IN SHORT, THE INTELLECTUAL MERIT OF THE PROPOSED WORK IS THAT IT WILL IDENTIFY THE CRITICAL PROCESSES AND REACTION PARAMETERS IN THE SOLID-STATE REACTION TO FORM AN ESC. SOME BROADER IMPACTS OF THIS PROGRAM INCLUDE THE EDUCATION OF THE NEXT GENERATION OF COMPUTATIONAL MATERIALS SCIENTISTS USING TOOLS DEVELOPED HERE AND THE USE OF INTERACTIVE DEMONSTRATIONS DEVELOPED HERE TO ENCOURAGE UNDER-REPRESENTED MINORITIES IN EXISTING PROGRAMS (E.G., CHOICES FOR MIDDLE-SCHOOL GIRLS) TO PURSUE STEM OPPORTUNITIES. TECHNICAL ABSTRACT THE ABILITY TO EXPLOIT SOLID-STATE REACTIONS TO PRODUCE FUNCTIONAL CERAMICS HAVING TAILORED MICROSTRUCTURES HAS BEEN ELUSIVE GIVEN THE COMPLEX INTERPLAY AMONG VARIOUS KINETIC PROCESSES AND THE RESULTING PATTERN OF AN EVOLVING PRODUCT PHASE. WHILE STOCHASTIC REACTION-DIFFUSION SIMULATIONS PROVIDE IMPORTANT INSIGHT ON THE KINETICS AND MICROSTRUCTURAL EVOLUTION, THE DETAILS OF THE UNDERLYING REACTION MECHANISMS AND TRANSPORT PATHWAYS ARE NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD. THE PROPOSED WORK, SUPPORTED BY THE CERAMICS PROGRAM IN THE DIVISION OF MATERIALS RESEARCH, SEEKS TO ELUCIDATE THESE MECHANISMS BY CONSIDERING SEVERAL PROTOTYPICAL SYSTEMS INCLUDING CO-TI-O, CUO-CUAL2O4-CUALO2 AND SN-IN-O. THESE SYSTEMS WERE CHOSEN GIVEN THEIR TECHNOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE; FOR EXAMPLE, AS A SENSOR AND AN OXYGEN STORAGE MATERIAL (E.G., CUALO2) AND AS A SINGLE-CRYSTAL THERMOELECTRIC (E.G., IN4SN3O12). WHILE FOR THE FIRST SYSTEM IT IS KNOWN THAT IT PROCEEDS FROM A DUPLEX TWO-PHASE STRUCTURE TO A SINGLE CRYSTAL OF COTI2O5, A SO-CALLED ENTROPY STABILIZED CERAMIC (ESC), THE IMPORTANT ROLE OF MISFIT STRAIN IN DICTATING TRANSFORMATION KINETICS AND MORPHOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT REMAINS UNCLEAR AND WILL BE EXAMINED HERE. THE PROPOSED PROGRAM WILL ALSO INVESTIGATE THE MECHANISMS AND KINETICS OF TRANSPORT ALONG INTERPHASE BOUNDARIES (IBS) ? PROCESSES THAT HAVE RECEIVED VERY LITTLE ATTENTION IN THE CERAMICS COMMUNITY. IN PARTICULAR, ADVANCED ELECTRON MICROSCOPE TECHNIQUES WILL BE EMPLOYED TO CHARACTERIZE BOTH THE COMPOSITION AND ORIENTATION OF PHASES AT THE REACTION FRONT, AND THE DETAILED STRUCTURE OF THE IBS. IN TANDEM, NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS WILL BE USED TO ASSESS THE IMPACT OF INDUCED TRANSFORMATION STRESSES AS WELL AS BOUNDARIES WITH DIFFERENT DEGREES OF FREE VOLUME. FINALLY, TO DEVELOP GREATER INTUITION ABOUT UNDERLYING KINETIC PROCESSES, A WHIPPLE-LIKE SOLUTION WILL ALSO BE FORMULATED TO STUDY REACTION AND DIFFUSION AT A PROTOTYPICAL IB. IN SHORT, THE INTELLECTUAL MERIT OF THE PROPOSED WORK IS THAT IT WILL IDENTIFY THE CRITICAL PROCESSES AND REACTION PARAMETERS IN THE SOLID-STATE REACTION TO FORM AN ESC. THE BROADER IMPACTS OF THIS WORK ARE DESIGNED TO FOSTER INTEREST IN STEM FIELD SUBJECTS, PARTICULARLY IN UNDER-REPRESENTED GROUPS. THIS WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED, FOR EXAMPLE, VIA THE CHOICES (CHARTING HORIZONS AND OPPORTUNITIES IN CAREERS IN ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE) PROGRAM, WHICH IS DEDICATED TO ENCOURAGING MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS TO CONSIDER CAREERS IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, AND A DATA SCIENCE BOOT CAMP THAT WILL PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH THE BASIC BACKGROUND SKILLS TO APPLY MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUES IN MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING. 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.

CREATING PROTEASE-RESPONSIVE HYDROGELS TO GENERATE CELL-SPECIFIC NICHES WITHIN MATRICES - PROJECT SUMMARY THE INABILITY TO BUILD PHYSIOLOGICALLY RELEVANT IN VITRO TISSUE MODELS GREATLY LIMITS BOTH RESEARCH CAPABILITIES AND REGENERATIVE THERAPIES. HYDROGELS ARE FREQUENTLY USED TO MIMIC THE EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX (ECM) WHICH SURROUNDS CELLS IN TISSUE, AND THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THESE SCAFFOLDS CAN BE TAILORED TO INDIVIDUAL CELL TYPES. THESE SCAFFOLDS ARE OFTEN MADE FROM POLYMERS CROSSLINKED BY PEPTIDES THAT ARE SUBSTRATES FOR CELL-SECRETED PROTEASES TO ENABLE THE ENCAPSULATED CELLS TO SPREAD AND MIGRATE WITHIN THE MATRICES. A CHALLENGE FOR THESE SYSTEMS IS THAT EACH CELL TYPE WITHIN A TISSUE CAN HAVE A UNIQUE SET OF IDEAL MATRIX PARAMETERS. FOR INSTANCE, MOST TISSUES ARE HIGHLY VASCULARIZED, BUT ENDOTHELIAL NETWORK FORMATION IS OPTIMIZED WITHIN MATRICES THAT ARE VERY SOFT, WHILE OTHER PHYSIOLOGICAL PROCESSES, SUCH AS OSTEOGENIC DIFFERENTIATION, ARE TYPICALLY OPTIMIZED WITHIN STIFFER, MORE HIGHLY CROSSLINKED HYDROGEL MATRICES. THIS HIGHLIGHTS THE NEED FOR MAKING HYDROGELS WITH SPECIFIC NICHES FOR EACH CELL TYPE. TO ADDRESS THIS NEED, WE PROPOSE FABRICATING SCAFFOLDS IN WHICH CELL-SPECIFIC PROTEASE ACTIVITY CREATES TAILORED MICROENVIRONMENTS AROUND INDIVIDUAL CELL TYPES. EACH CELL TYPE EXPRESSES A UNIQUE COMBINATION OF PROTEASES, AND WE HAVE DEVELOPED NOVEL METHODS TO IDENTIFY PEPTIDES THAT ARE SPECIFICALLY CLEAVED BY INDIVIDUAL CELL TYPES. WE ARE ALSO ABLE TO DETERMINE WHETHER THESE PEPTIDES ARE CLEAVED NEAR THE SURFACE OF THE CELL OR BY SOLUBLE PROTEASES THAT INDUCE BULK MATRIX DEGRADATION. USING A SPLIT-AND-POOL PEPTIDE SYNTHESIS TECHNIQUE, WE CAN GENERATE MORE THAN 300 VARIANTS OF PROTEASE-SUBSTRATE PEPTIDES TO TUNE THE DEGRADATION RATES TO DESIRED VALUES. WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT HYDROGELS CROSSLINKED WITH PEPTIDES WITH OPTIMAL SPATIOTEMPORAL DEGRADATION KINETICS WILL HAVE INCREASED BIOLOGICAL PERFORMANCE OVER EXISTING CROSSLINKING PEPTIDES. WE WILL TEST THIS HYPOTHESIS IN TWO AIMS: IN AIM 1, WE WILL USE A SPLIT-AND-POOL SYNTHESIS TECHNIQUE TO IDENTIFY HYDROGEL CROSSLINKING PEPTIDES WHOSE DEGRADATION KINETICS ARE OPTIMIZED FOR EITHER OSTEOGENIC DIFFERENTIATION OF HUMAN MESENCHYMAL STEM CELLS (HMSCS) OR VASCULOGENESIS OF HUMAN UMBILICAL VEIN ENDOTHELIAL CELLS (HUVECS). WE WILL ALSO MAKE PEPTIDES WHICH ARE CONJUGATED WITH CHEMICALLY-LABILE BONDS THAT WILL ENABLE QUANTIFICATION OF THE FRACTION OF CROSSLINKS CLEAVED DURING CULTURE, WHICH WILL COUPLE PHYSIOLOGICAL BEHAVIOR IN GELS TO DYNAMIC CHANGES IN HYDROGEL STRUCTURE. IN AIM 2, WE WILL DEVELOP CO-CULTURE HYDROGELS THAT CONTAIN BOTH HMSCS AND HUVECS TO IDENTIFY A SINGLE PEPTIDE THAT SUPPORTS BOTH OSTEOGENESIS AND VASCULOGENESIS WITHIN HYDROGELS. THIS WILL PIONEER THE USE OF HYDROGEL CROSSLINKING PEPTIDES TO SIMULTANEOUSLY PROMOTE MULTIPLE PHYSIOLOGICAL PROCESSES WITHIN A SINGLE SYSTEM. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH PLAN COMBINES BIOMATERIAL SYNTHESIS, ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, AND CELL CULTURE TO DEVELOP A VERSATILE PLATFORM THAT CAN BE USED ACROSS TISSUE SYSTEMS TO IMPROVE OUR ABILITY TO MODEL TISSUES IN VITRO AND REGENERATE THEM IN VIVO.

INTEGRATE DATA-DRIVEN MODELING AND MULTI-SCALE MEASURES TOWARDS TISSUE FUNCTION - HUMAN TISSUES ARE HIGHLY ORGANIZED STRUCTURES WITH SPECIFIC COLLAGEN MATRIX ARRANGEMENTS AND THE RESULTING MECHANICAL PROPERTIES VARYING FROM POINT TO POINT. THE EFFECTS OF SUCH HETEROGENEITY PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE FOR TISSUE FUNCTION AND FAILURE. HOWEVER, FUNDAMENTAL CHALLENGES PRESENT IN UNDERSTANDING HOW HETEROGENEITY AFFECTS THE GROWTH AND REMODELING OF VARIOUS TISSUES AND THE RELATED MECHANICAL PERFORMANCE OF THESE TISSUES, DUE TO LIMITED KNOWLEDGE ON UNDERSTANDING OF THE MULTI-SCALE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN CELL SIGNALING AND HETEROGENEOUS MATRIX REMODELING AND THEIR ROLES IN TISSUE FUNCTION. THE CENTRAL THEME OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO DEVELOP A NOVEL BIO-MATHEMATICAL FRAMEWORK THAT DYNAMICALLY INTEGRATES PHYSICS-BASED AND D ATA-DRIVEN MODELING APPROACHES WITH EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENTS, TO CAPTURE CELL-MATRIX INTERACTIONS IN TISSUE MULTI-SCALE BEHAVIOR AND FUNCTION. WE AIM TO IMPROVE THE FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNDERLYING BIOLOGICAL AND MECHANICAL IMPLICATIONS O F MATRIX HETEROGENEITY, AND ADVANCE TOWARDS OUR ULTIMATE GOAL OF PROVIDING A DIGITAL TWIN MODEL FOR IN-VIVO TISSUE DEGENERATION ON ANEURYSM GROWTH. THE TEAM, FORMED BY THREE PL/CO-LS WITH COMPLEMENTARY EXPERTISE ON SCIENTIFIC MACHINE LEARNING, EXPERIMENTAL TISSUE BIOMECHANICS, AND BIOLOGICAL TISSUE MODELING, PLANS TO AD VANCE ON THEORETICAL, COMPUTATIONAL, AND EXPERIMENTAL AS PECTS TOWARDS THE KNOWLEDGE OF FI BROBLAST-MEDI ATED EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX (ECM) REMODELING VIA THREE SPECIFIC AIMS: (I) A MULTI-SCALE DATA-DRIVEN MODEL WILL BE DEVELOPED TO CONCU RRENTLY COUPLE OUR INTRA-CELLULAR SIGNALING NETWORK MODEL, A NOVEL AGENT-BASED CELL POPULATION MODEL, AND A PERIDYNAMICS MODEL OF TISSUE MECHANICS; (II) E NRICHED BY ADVANCED MULTI-TASK/MULTI-MODAL OPERATOR LEARNING TECHNIQUES, AN INFORMATION-THEORY BASED MODEL ADAPTATION-EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN INTEGRATION PIPELINE WILL BE DEVELOPED; AND (III) NEW QUANTITATIVE KNOWLEDGE ON LONG-TERM FIBROBLAST-MEDIATED ECM REMODELING WILL BE OBTAINED AND VALIDATED THROUGH BOTH IN-VITRO AND EX-VIVO EXPERIMENTS. AS A RESULT, OUR COMBINED IN-VITRO/EX-VIVO EXPERIMENTS AND MULTI-SCALE MODEL WILL HELP IDENTIFY FOR THE FIRST TIME HOW HETEROGENEITY AFFECTS TISSUE REMODELING AND THE RELATED MECHANICAL BEHAVIORS OF TISSUE. THE IDENTIFIED KEY FEATURES AND OPTIMIZED MODEL FORMS ENABLE THE LEARNING FROM SMALL DATA REGIME, PROVIDING A STEP-STONE TOWARDS THE DIGITAL TWIN MODELING F OR IN-VIVO ANEURYSM GROWTH. THE PROPOSED MODEL WILL HAVE SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS ON TRANSFORMING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE ROLES OF CELL FUNCTI ONS FOR DETERMINING TISSUE STRUCTURES/MECHANICS, AND THEREBY ENABLING MODEL-BASED VIRTUAL SCREENING TO IDENTIFY AND OPTIMIZE THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTIONS. OUR MULTI-SCALE MODEL WILL OF FER A POWERFUL PREDICTION TOOL TO THE MULTI-SCALE BIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS IN MANY OTHER BIO-TISSUE SYSTEMS, SUCH AS BLAST-INDUCED TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY, AGING OF CARTILAGE TISSUE, AND BONE RECONSTRUCTION.

INDUSTRIAL ASSESSMENT CENTER FOR CONDUCTING ENERGY, WASTE, AND PRODUCTIVITY ASSESSMENTS FOR MANUFACTURING FACILITIES

DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL FUNCTIONALY GRADED TRANSITION JOINTS FOR IMPROVING THE CREEP STRENGTH OF DISSIMILIAR METAL WELDS IN NUCLEAR APPLICATIONS

IDR: NANOPLASMONIC SENSING FOR DYNAMIC CELL-BASED BIOMOLECULAR ASSAYS

CAREER: BENDING AND MANIPULATING OBJECTS IN MIDAIR USING COOPERATIVE ROBOTS -THIS FACULTY EARLY CAREER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM (CAREER) GRANT WILL FUND RESEARCH THAT LOOKS TO ADVANCE THE CAPABILITIES OF AERIAL ROBOTS BY ENABLING AERIAL MANIPULATION AND TRANSPORTATION OF FLEXIBLE OBJECTS SUCH AS CABLES, RODS, HOSES, AND PLASTIC SHEETS, THEREBY PROMOTING THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE, ADVANCING PROSPERITY AND WELFARE, AND SECURING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE. CURRENT AERIAL ROBOTIC SYSTEMS ARE MAINLY LIMITED TO THE MANIPULATION OF RIGID OBJECTS SINCE AERIAL MANIPULATION AND TRANSPORTATION OF FLEXIBLE MATERIALS PRESENT UNIQUE CHALLENGES DUE TO THE DYNAMIC AND UNPREDICTABLE FORCES INVOLVED, WHICH REMAINS AN UNDER-EXPLORED FIELD. THIS RESEARCH PROJECT WILL STRIVE TO SOLVE THESE CHALLENGES BY PROVIDING A NOVEL METHODOLOGY THAT INTEGRATES CONTROL SYSTEMS AND REINFORCEMENT LEARNING TO MAINTAIN STABILITY, ENABLING FAST LEARNING, AND ENSURING TIME-CRITICAL RECOVERY. THE OUTCOMES OF THIS WORK INTEND TO UNLOCK TRANSFORMATIVE APPLICATIONS IN CONSTRUCTION, DISASTER RESPONSE, AND INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION. FOR INSTANCE, AERIAL ROBOTS COULD AUTONOMOUSLY DELIVER AND POSITION CABLES AND RODS IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS, MANIPULATE FIRE HOSES IN EMERGENCY SCENARIOS, OR DEPLOY TEMPORARY PLASTIC COVERS FOR ROOF PROTECTION DURING NATURAL DISASTERS. THIS PROJECT CAN PROMOTE SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS IN ROBOTICS AND BENEFITS SOCIETY THROUGH SAFETY, EFFICIENCY, AND COST-EFFECTIVENESS. IT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO REDUCE HUMAN RISKS IN HAZARDOUS ENVIRONMENTS AND PROVIDE AUTOMATED SOLUTIONS TO LABOR-INTENSIVE TASKS. THE EDUCATIONAL AND OUTREACH COMPONENTS INCLUDE THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN OPEN-SOURCE PLATFORM FOR AERIAL TRANSPORTATION ? A COLLECTIVE EFFORT WITH STUDENTS FROM ALL LEVELS ? AND COLLABORATIONS WITH K-12 SCHOOLS, SUPPORTING THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS BY ENCOURAGING EARLY INTEREST IN PROGRAMMING AND ENGINEERING. THIS RESEARCH AIMS TO MAKE FUNDAMENTAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FIELD OF AERIAL MANIPULATION OF FLEXIBLE OBJECTS BY DEVELOPING A MODULAR CONTROL ARCHITECTURE THAT PROGRESSES FROM STABLE BEHAVIORS TO OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE. THIS FRAMEWORK ENABLES AERIAL ROBOTS TO CONTINUOUSLY ADAPT AND IMPROVE THEIR MANIPULATION CAPABILITIES, ENHANCING PERFORMANCE OVER TIME. THE PROJECT BEGINS WITH THE DESIGN OF AN ADAPTIVE CONTROLLER THAT ENSURES STABILITY AND PROVIDES REAL-TIME COMPENSATION FOR EXTERNAL FORCES WITHOUT PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF AN OBJECT'S MATERIAL PROPERTIES. THIS CONTROLLER ESTABLISHES A ROBUST BASELINE FOR REINFORCEMENT LEARNING, WHICH ENABLES AERIAL ROBOTS TO EXPLORE AND OPTIMIZE CONTROL STRATEGIES THROUGH INTERACTION. BY INTEGRATING ADAPTIVE CONTROL WITH REINFORCEMENT LEARNING, THE FRAMEWORK COMBINES THE RELIABILITY OF BASELINE STABILITY WITH THE AGILITY AND EFFICIENCY OF LEARNED STRATEGIES. TO ADDRESS CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH HIGH-SPEED MANEUVERS AND THE INHERENT RISKS OF REAL-WORLD OPERATION, THE FRAMEWORK INCORPORATES CONTINGENCY STRATEGIES THAT ALLOW THE SYSTEM TO DETECT AND RECOVER RAPIDLY FROM UNSTABLE STATES. THE RESEARCH PROGRESSES SYSTEMATICALLY, BEGINNING WITH THE MANIPULATION OF LINEAR OBJECTS, SUCH AS RODS AND CABLES, AND ADVANCING TO TWO-DIMENSIONAL SURFACES, INCLUDING PLASTIC SHEETS. THESE ADVANCEMENTS WILL BE EVALUATED IN A CONSTRUCTION-INSPIRED TESTBED, WHERE ACTUAL DRONES MUST REPETITIVELY TRANSPORT OBJECTS. 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: PROBING CRYSTALLIZATION OF ATOMIC LAYERS USING IN SITU ELECTRON DIFFRACTION

AERIALHITCHES: FORMING AND CONTROLLING HITCHES FOR FULLY AUTONOMOUS TRANSPORTATION USING AERIAL ROBOTS WITH CABLES -THIS PROJECT WILL IMPROVE AERIAL ROBOTS SO THEY CAN GRASP, MANIPULATE AND TRANSPORT OBJECTS BETTER AND WITHOUT HUMAN INTERVENTION. CONVENTIONAL AERIAL ROBOTS RELY ON GRIPPERS (I.E., END EFFECTORS) AND ROBOTIC ARMS FOR MANIPULATING AND TRANSPORTING OBJECTS. THESE PARTS NOT ONLY ADD SIGNIFICANT WEIGHT, BUT ALSO REDUCE FLIGHT DURATION AND COMPLICATE THE CONTROL OF THE ROBOTS. THIS PROJECT INTRODUCES AN INNOVATIVE ALTERNATIVE, WHEREIN THE ROBOTS UTILIZE LIGHTWEIGHT CABLES TO FORM 'HITCHES' FOR PERFORMING MANIPULATION TASKS, BYPASSING THE NEED FOR WEIGHTY EXTERNAL COMPONENTS. THE BENEFIT OF CABLES IS THAT THEY ARE LIGHTWEIGHT AND FLEXIBLE, ALLOWING FOR VERSATILE MANIPULATION TECHNIQUES THAT TRADITIONAL RIGID GRIPPERS CANNOT PROVIDE. CABLES CAN ALSO CONFORM TO OBJECTS OF VARIOUS SHAPES AND SIZES, INCREASING THE RANGE OF TASKS AN AERIAL ROBOT CAN PERFORM. ADDITIONALLY, USING CABLES DRAMATICALLY REDUCES THE OVERALL WEIGHT OF THE SYSTEM, RESULTING IN INCREASED FLIGHT DURATION. THIS GROUNDBREAKING CONCEPT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO GREATLY IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY IN FIELDS SUCH AS CONSTRUCTION, LOGISTICS, AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT, WHERE HIGH-FREQUENCY, REPETITIVE TRANSPORTATION TASKS ARE COMMON. IN THESE SECTORS, USING A CABLE-BASED AERIAL ROBOTIC SYSTEM COULD REDUCE SAFETY RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH MANUAL TRANSPORTATION AND WORK IN ELEVATED OR HAZARDOUS AREAS. ON A TECHNICAL FRONT, THE PROJECT ENTAILS ABSTRACTING COMMON CABLE CONFIGURATIONS INTO A FINITE-DIMENSIONAL SPACE TO MANAGE THE PHYSICAL DYNAMICS OF THE CABLES. A REINFORCEMENT LEARNING ALGORITHM WILL BE FORMULATED BASED ON THIS ABSTRACTION, EXPEDITING THE CONVERGENCE TO OPTIMAL ACTIONS BY UTILIZING AN IDEAL DYNAMICS MODEL. TOPOLOGY-BASED PLANNING ALGORITHMS WILL BE DEVELOPED TO FORM THE HITCHES, ACCOUNTING FOR THE SPECIFIC MOVEMENTS REQUIRED. IN LIEU OF CREATING PLANS FROM SCRATCH, A LIBRARY OF HITCHES WILL BE ESTABLISHED TO STREAMLINE THE TRANSPORTATION PROCESS, WHICH CAN BE ADJUSTED ACCORDING TO TRANSPORTATION REQUIREMENTS. THROUGH THIS PROJECT, THE POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTIONS INCLUDE ADVANCEMENTS IN REINFORCEMENT LEARNING FOR CONTROLLING INTERLACED CABLES, MODELING CABLES USING TOPOLOGICAL FRAMEWORKS IN AERIAL ROBOTICS, AND PROGRESSING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE PRINCIPLES GOVERNING AERIAL ROBOT BEHAVIOR AND MANIPULATION. 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.