Kent State University

KENT STATE UNIVERSITY CARES INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT

KENT STATE UNIVERSITY CARES FOR STUDENTS

HEAVY ION COLLISIONS OVER A RANGE OF RELATIVISTIC ENERGIES

"(MURI FY 06) MURI ON SELF-ASSEMBLED SOFT OPTICAL NIMS" (THE GRANTEE'S TECHNICAL PROPOSAL), DATED 2 NOV 05

PURPOSE: RECONSTRUCT RUNWAY; REHABILITATE RUNWAY. ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED/EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THIS PROJECT RECONSTRUCTS 1,000 FEET OF THE EXISTING RUNWAY 1/19 PAVEMENT THAT HAS REACHED THE END OF ITS USEFUL LIFE. THIS PROJECT REHABILITATES 3,000 FEET OF THE EXISTING RUNWAY 1/19 TO MAINTAIN THE STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF THE PAVEMENT AND TO MINIMIZE FOREIGN OBJECT DEBRIS. . THIS GRANT FUNDS THE FINAL PHASE, WHICH CONSISTS OF RUNWAY SAFETY AREA IMPROVEMENTS. THIS GRANT FUNDS THE FIRST PHASE, WHICH CONSISTS OF PAVEMENT RECONSTRUCTION. THIS GRANT FUNDS THE SECOND PHASE, WHICH CONSISTS OF PAVEMENT REHABILITATION. NON-4 CFR PART 139 CERTIFICATED AIRPORTS WERE NOT SUBJECT TO THE RUNWAY SAFETY AREA DEADLINE OF DECEMBER 31, 2015, AND SOME AIRPORTS, INCLUDING THIS ONE, CONTINUE TO PURSUE FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS AS THEY BECOME FEASIBLE. INTENDED BENEFICIARY: THIS GRANT WILL PROVIDE FEDERAL FUNDING FOR AIRPORTS ASSOCIATED WITH STOW, OHIO.

PURPOSE: RECONSTRUCT TAXIWAY; RECONSTRUCT APRON. ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED/EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THIS PROJECT RECONSTRUCTS 1,500 SQUARE YARDS OF THE EXISTING COMPASS CALIBRATION PAD APRON PAVEMENT THAT HAS REACHED THE END OF ITS USEFUL LIFE. THIS PROJECT RECONSTRUCTS 3,700 FEET OF EXISTING PAVED TAXIWAY A PAVEMENT THAT HAS REACHED THE END OF ITS USEFUL LIFE. THIS GRANT FUNDS THE FINAL PHASE, WHICH CONSISTS OF CONSTRUCTION. INTENDED BENEFICIARY: THIS GRANT WILL PROVIDE FEDERAL FUNDING FOR AIRPORTS ASSOCIATED WITH STOW, OHIO.

NURSE EDUCATION, PRACTICE, QUALITY, AND RETENTION - INTERPROFESSIONAL COLLBORATIVE PRACTICE

MINDFULNESS-BASED STRESS REDUCTION FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE: A TWO-SITE RCT

NUCLEUS-NUCLEUS COLLISIONS AND THE NUCLEAR EQUATION OF STATE

UNPACKING EMOTION INFLEXIBILITY AND PROSPECTIVE PREDICTION OF AFFECTIVE DISEASE

KENT STATE UNIVERSITY UPWARD BOUND CLASSIC 2022-2027

SUPPORTING AND HARMONIZING RESEARCH ENDEAVORS (SHARE) -SUCCESSFUL RESEARCH REQUIRES SKILLED RESEARCH LEADERS AND ADMINISTRATORS; WITHOUT THEM RESEARCH STAGNATES AND STUDENTS ARE NOT TRAINED IN THE JOBS OF TOMORROW. MASTERING THE COMPLEXITY OF RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT IS ESSENTIAL FOR A SUCCESSFUL RESEARCH PROGRAM. HOWEVER, THIS IS A MAJOR CHALLENGE FOR SENIOR RESEARCH OFFICERS (SROS) AS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES IN RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION ARE SCARCE AND COSTLY. SROS NEED ACCESS TO ADDITIONAL RESOURCES TO FULLY UNDERSTAND AND ADDRESS THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES AND OPTIMIZE OPPORTUNITIES. THEY ALSO NEED INFRASTRUCTURE SUPPORT, IN PARTICULAR TO MAINTAIN COMPLIANCE AND ENSURE INTEGRITY. BUILDING NETWORKS THAT SHARE THE COST OF THESE RESOURCES BETWEEN INSTITUTIONS MAY PROVIDE A FISCALLY-EFFICIENT METHOD OF DEVELOPING TOOLS AND ACCESS TO DEVELOP KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND TOOLS TO GROW AND SUPPORT RESEARCH AND CREATE JOBS. THE PROPOSED SUPPORTING AND HARMONIZING RESEARCH ENDEAVORS (SHARE) PROJECT TESTS AN APPROACH TO ADDRESSING RESEARCH LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AND COMPLIANCE NEEDS OF INSTITUTIONS BY DEVELOPING REGIONAL COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE (RCOPS). PARTICIPANTS WILL DEVELOP NETWORKS TO SHARE INFORMATION AND PROVIDE COMPLIANCE SUPPORT. THESE RCOPS WILL INCREASE THE RESEARCH CAPACITY AND THEREBY THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF ALL INSTITUTIONS INVOLVED. BY FOCUSING SPECIFICALLY ON LEADERSHIP WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND COMPLIANCE, THE PROJECT SUPPORTS RESEARCH VISION AND INFRASTRUCTURE, THEREBY SUPPORTING REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT WHILE PROMOTING THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. THE PROPOSED SUPPORTING AND HARMONIZING RESEARCH ENDEAVORS (SHARE) PROJECT EXAMINES AN APPROACH TO ADDRESSING A RECOGNIZED GAP IN NATIONAL RESEARCH LEADERSHIP PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING AND SUPPORT FOR RESEARCH INTEGRITY AND COMPLIANCE OPERATIONS. SHARE ACCOMPLISHES THIS GOAL BY DEVELOPING REGIONAL COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE (RCOPS) THAT PROVIDE A BREADTH AND DEPTH OF EXPERTISE TO RESEARCH ADMINISTRATORS FROM A RANGE OF RESEARCH ACTIVE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES. IF SUCCESSFUL, THIS PROJECT, WILL: 1) DEVELOP AN EASILY REPLICABLE RCOP MODEL OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT (CREATING RCOPS IN OHIO, IOWA, GEORGIA, AND MINNESOTA) THAT WILL PROVIDE RESEARCH LEADERSHIP TRAINING, SUPPORT, AND BROAD KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER; AND 2) CREATE TWO COMPLIANCE RCOPS (IN OHIO AND IOWA) THAT DISTRIBUTE THE REGULATORY BURDEN AMONG PARTICIPATING INSTITUTIONS WHILE ALSO DEVELOPING THE KNOWLEDGE BASE AND EXPERTISE AMONG CONSTITUENTS. EACH RCOP WILL BE HOSTED AT AN INSTITUTION, AND BEGIN WITH A COHORT OF PARTICIPANTS RECRUITED FROM WITHIN A 300-MILE RADIUS OF THAT INSTITUTION. THE RCOPS ARE THEN EXPECTED TO GROW ANNUALLY. OVER TIME, THE LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AND COMPLIANCE RCOPS CAN BE JOINED TO FORM REGIONAL RESEARCH NETWORKS, AND THE MODEL CAN BE AVAILABLE TO BE REPLICATED AND EXPANDED ACROSS THE U.S. TO STRENGTHEN RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION CAPACITY AND, IN TURN, NATIONAL RESEARCH CAPACITY. THE SHARE PROJECT WILL INCREASE THE RESEARCH CAPACITY AND ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE INSTITUTIONS INVOLVED. FURTHER, IT WILL TRANSFORM THE NATIONAL RESEARCH ENTERPRISE BY DEVELOPING PUBLICLY AVAILABLE TOOLS AND RESOURCES TO SUPPORT RCOPS, EXPAND THE POOL OF QUALIFIED RESEARCH ADMINISTRATORS, PROMOTE RESEARCH COMPETITIVENESS, AND PROVIDE TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES. 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.

KENT STATE UNIVERSITY UPWARD BOUND CLASSIC ACADEMY

SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE TRAINING FOR CUSTODIAL GRANDMOTHERS AND THEIR ADOLESCENT GRANDCHILDREN

NEW; BIAXIALITY IN THERMOTROPIC BENT-CORE AND TETRAPODIC NEMATIC LIQUID CRYSTALS; PI - SATYENDRA KUMAR

IGERT: ENVIRONMENTAL AQUATIC RESOURCE SENSING: BASIC SCIENCE, BUSINESS EDUCATION AND OUTREACH

COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT AND SELF-MANAGEMENT IN ADULTS WITH HEART FAILURE

KENT STATE UNIVERSITY STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES PROGRAM

COGNITIVE BENEFITS OF CARDIAC REHABILITATION IN HEART FAILURE

SUMMIT COUNTY MAT EXPANSION (SC-MATX) - THE SUMMIT COUNTY MEDICATION-ASSISTED TREATMENT EXPANSION (SC-MATX) WILL ENHANCE AND EXPAND SERVICES BY PROVIDING ROBUST, TRAUMA-INFORMED, EVIDENCE-BASED, AND COORDINATED MEDICATION-ASSISTED TREATMENT (MAT) WITHIN COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER ADDICTION SERVICES (CHC) FOR COMMUNITY PERSONS 18 YEARS AND OLDER WITH OPIOID USE DISORDER (OUD) AND CO-OCCURRING MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS IN SUMMIT COUNTY, OHIO. THERE IS A GREAT DEMONSTRATED NEED FOR OTP SERVICE EXPANSION IN SUMMIT COUNTY. NOTABLY, OHIO HAS BEEN AT THE CENTER OF THE OPIOID PANDEMIC WITH THE OHIO ATTORNEY GENERAL WARNING IN JANUARY 2021, THAT THE PANDEMIC IS ONLY GETTING WORSE AS A RESULT OF COVID-19. DRUG USE AMONG SUMMIT COUNTY’S RESIDENTS HAS CONTINUED TO RISE WITH THE 2019 SUMMIT COUNTY COMMUNITY HEALTH ASSESSMENT FINDING THAT ABUSE OF BOTH LEGAL AND ILLEGAL DRUGS, ESPECIALLY OPIATES, HAS SHARPLY INCREASED OVERDOSE DEATH RATES (76 IN 2013 TO 310 IN 2016). ADDITIONALLY, A COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENT CONDUCTED BY CLEVELAND CLINIC AKRON GENERAL (2019) REPORTED THAT DEATHS DUE TO “ACCIDENTAL POISONING BY AND EXPOSURE TO DRUGS AND OTHER BIOLOGICAL SUBSTANCES” HAVE BEEN INCREASING ACROSS THE STATE WITH THE RATE IN SUMMIT COUNTY NOW EXCEEDING THE OHIO AVERAGE BY OVER 50 PERCENT. IN 2019 AND 2020, CHC PROVIDED MAT TO OVER 700 PATIENTS EACH YEAR, YET THE NEED FOR MAT IS GREATER AND IN 2020 TURNED AWAY APPROXIMATELY 500 PATIENTS SEEKING MAT. THE GOALS OF SC-MATX ARE (1) PROVIDE MAT SERVICES, USING FDA-APPROVED MEDICATIONS, COMBINATION WITH COMPREHENSIVE AND EVIDENCE-BASED PSYCHOSOCIAL SERVICES TO AT LEAST 350 (50 IN THE YEAR ONE, AND 75 EACH FOR YEARS TWO THROUGH FIVE) ADDITIONAL PATIENTS, INCLUDING AN EXPANSION OF SERVICES THROUGH AN OFFICE-BASED OPIOID TREATMENT MODEL; (2) CONDUCT CLINICAL ASSESSMENTS TO DETERMINE PATIENTS MEETING ELIGIBLE CRITERIA FOR MAT; (3) CHECK THE PDMP FOR EACH NEW ADMISSION TO PREVENT MEDICATION DIVERSION; (4) CONDUCT SCREENINGS AND ASSESSMENTS FOR CO-OCCURRING SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS AND MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS AND ENSURE ADEQUATE DELIVERY AND COORDINATION OF SERVICES; (5) ESTABLISH AND IMPLEMENT A DIVERSION PLAN TO ENSURE APPROPRIATE MEDICATION USE BY MAT PATIENTS; (6) DEVELOP OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES TO AT-RISK DIVERSE POPULATIONS THAT INCREASE ACCESS TO AND PARTICIPATION IN MAT; (7) ENSURE ALL APPLICABLE PRACTITIONERS OBTAIN A DATA WAIVER; (8) BUILD FUNDING MECHANISMS AND SERVICE DELIVERY MODELS WITH RURAL AND RESOURCE-LIMITED AREAS/MUNICIPALITIES AND ORGANIZATIONS TO PROVIDE ROBUST TREATMENT AND RSS TO EFFECTIVELY IDENTIFY, ENGAGE, AND RETAIN INDIVIDUALS IN OUD TREATMENT AND FACILITATE LONG-TERM RECOVERY; (9) USE TELEHEALTH SERVICES OR OTHER INNOVATIVE INTERVENTIONS, AS CLINICALLY APPROPRIATE, TO REACH, ENGAGE, AND RETAIN OUD PATIENTS IN TREATMENT; (10) PROVIDE RSS, INCLUDING PEER RECOVERY SERVICES, DESIGNED TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO AND RETENTION IN MAT AND FACILITATE LONG-TERM RECOVERY FOR MAT PATIENTS

COMPARING INTERVENTIONS TO IMPROVE THE WELL-BEING OF CUSTODIAL GRANDFAMILIES

USING COMBINATORIAL THERAPIES WITH DENDRITIC CELL THERAPIES TO IMPROVE SURVIVAL AND PREVENT RECURRENCE OF BREAST CANCER LEPTOMENINGEAL DISEASE (LMD)

UPWARD BOUND

A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND CASE MANAGEMENT (PDCM) MODEL FOR SEAMLESS TRANSITION PLANNING: IMPROVING POSTSCHOOL OUTCOMES

STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES PROGRAM

UPWARD BOUND PROGRAM

SPONTANEOUS SPEECH AND HEALTH DISPARITIES IN RISK OF COGNITIVE DECLINE: WHICAP OFFSPRING ANCILLARY STUDY

TOWARDS A MODEL OF SAFETY AND CARE FOR TRAUMA ROOM DESIGN

STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES PROGRAM

NON-INVASIVE MAGNETIC NANOTHERMOTHERAPY FOR RESOLUTION OF WOUND BIOFILM INFECTION

SMALL AND MECHANOSENSITIVE MEMBRANE PROTEINS STUDIED WITH DNA-BASED TOOLS - PROJECT SUMMARY MEMBRANE PROTEINS (MPS) ARE MOLECULES THAT CAN BE FOUND IN MEMBRANES ON THE SURFACE AND THE INSIDE OF ALL CELLS. THEY ENABLE VITAL CELLULAR FUNCTIONS SUCH AS TRANSPORT OF WATER, SALTS AND NUTRIENTS ACROSS THE MEMBRANES, SENSING OF THE CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT OF THE CELL, COMMUNICATION BETWEEN CELLS, CELL ADHESION AND ENERGY CONVERSION. MPS PLAY A ROLE IN EVERY PHYSIOLOGICAL AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE AND 60% OF ALL FDA APPROVED DRUG MOLECULES TARGET THEM. TO UNDERSTAND HOW EXACTLY THESE PROTEINS FUNCTION, WHAT ROLE THEY PLAY IN DIFFERENT DISEASES, OR TO SIMULATE IN A COMPUTER HOW NEW POTENTIAL DRUGS WOULD INTERACT WITH MPS, THE EXACT MOLECULAR STRUCTURES OF THE MPS NEED TO BE DISCOVERED FIRST. AS MPS ARE NATURALLY EMBEDDED IN LIPID MEMBRANES, THEY ARE NOT SOLUBLE IN WATER AND IT IS THEREFORE MUCH MORE CHALLENGING TO SOLVE THEIR MOLECULAR STRUCTURES COMPARED WATER-SOLUBLE PROTEINS. CONSEQUENTLY, THE MOLECULAR STRUCTURES OF LESS THAN 100 OUT OF ~8,000 HUMAN MPS ARE KNOWN. THIS PROPOSAL WILL PROVIDE NEW DNA-BASED TOOLS THAT WILL OVERCOME MANY OF THESE CHALLENGES FOR MP STRUCTURE DETERMINATION. FOR THIS, DNA MOLECULES WITHOUT A GENETIC FUNCTION ARE CHEMICALLY SYNTHESIZED AND SELF-ASSEMBLED INTO RING-SHAPED DNA NANOSTRUCTURES. THESE RINGS CAN THEN BE FILLED WITH LIPIDS AND MPS, THUS MAKING MPS SOLUBLE IN WATER. MOREOVER, THESE DNA-LIPID NANODISCS PROVIDE A NATIVE CELL-MEMBRANE-LIKE ENVIRONMENT FOR THE MP, WHICH IS IMPORTANT TO KEEP MPS IN THEIR NATIVE PHYSIOLOGICAL STATE. BY TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE PROGRAMMABLE NATURE OF CHEMICAL DNA SYNTHESIS, AND SELF-ASSEMBLY, THE SIZE, CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THESE NANODISCS CAN BE CONTROLLED WITH A PRECISION AND EASE THAT ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGIES DO NOT PROVIDE. THIS WILL BE PARTICULARLY USEFUL FOR SOLVING THE STRUCTURES OF SMALL MPS OR MECHANOSENSITIVE MPS, WHICH ARE ACTUATED BY MOLECULAR FORCES AND STRESS IN CELL MEMBRANES. IT IS EXPECTED THAT THE DNA-BASED MOLECULAR TOOLS FROM THIS RESEARCH WILL OVERCOME CURRENT OBSTACLES FOR MP STRUCTURE DETERMINATION AND PROVIDE FUNCTIONALITIES THAT CURRENT MOLECULAR TOOLS CANNOT OFFER. THIS RESEARCH WILL THEREFORE ENABLE DISCOVERIES IN STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY, PHARMACOLOGY AND VIROLOGY, AND THEREBY ENHANCE THE UNDERSTANDING AND TREATMENT OF MP-ASSOCIATED DISEASES.

DISABILITY AND REHABILITATION RESEARCH PROGRAM: PROJECT CAREER

MAGNETOTHERMAL BRAIN STIMULATION TOWARDS THE RESCUE OF BETA-AMYLOID PATHOLOGY - PROJECT SUMMARY ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE (AD) IS A DEVASTATING NEURODEGENERATIVE DISORDER AND THE FIRST CAUSE OF DEMENTIA. MANY LINES OF GENETIC AND BIOCHEMICAL EVIDENCE STRONGLY HIGHLIGHT A PATHOLOGICAL ROLE OF BETA-AMYLOID (ASS) WHERE EXTRACELLULAR DEPOSITION OF AMYLOID PLAQUES CONTRIBUTES TO THE LOSS OF SYNAPSES AND NEURONS, RESULTING IN COGNITIVE DEFICITS AND EVENTUALLY DEMENTIA. AS SUCH, THE SEARCH FOR DISEASE-MODIFYING THERAPIES FOR AD HAS BEEN FOCUSED ON TARGETING THE HALLMARK OF THE DISEASE. CURRENTLY, THERE IS NO PROVEN PHARMACOLOGICAL TREATMENT FOR PREVENTING THE PLAQUES ONCE ASS FORMS A LARGER AGGREGATE AND THUS THERE IS AN URGENT NEED TO DEVELOP AN INNOVATIVE AND ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY TO CLEAR ASS PLAQUES IN THE AD BRAIN FOR THE TREATMENT OF AD. OUR LONG-TERM GOAL IS TO DEVELOP A MINIMALLY INVASIVE, NON-PHARMACOLOGICAL INTERVENTION TO REMOVE TOXIC ASS PLAQUES TOWARDS THE TREATMENT OF AD. TO THIS END, HEREIN WE PROPOSE TO APPLY MAGNETOTHERMAL BRAIN STIMULATION AS A NON-PHARMACOLOGICAL STRATEGY TO TARGET AND REMOVE TOXIC ASS PLAQUES TOWARDS THE RESCUE OF ASS PATHOLOGY. THE PRINCIPAL OF THIS APPROACH IS TO TRANSLATE THE ENERGY OF THE HIGH FREQUENCY ALTERNATING MAGNETIC FIELD (AMF) INTO THERMAL ENERGY USING SUPERPARAMAGNETIC NANOPARTICLES (MNPS) AS A TRANSDUCER THAT CAN TRIGGER THERMO-MECHANICAL AND BIOLOGICAL SIGNAL WITH HIGH TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL SPECIFICITY. OUR CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS IS THAT MAGNETOTHERMAL BRAIN STIMULATION FACILITATES ASS CLEARANCE AND IMPROVES COGNITIVE FUNCTION VIA HEAT SHOCK PROTEIN 70 (HSP70) SIGNALING IN THE AD BRAIN. THIS HYPOTHESIS IS BASED ON OUR PUBLISHED DATA DEMONSTRATING THE FEASIBILITY OF THIS APPROACH IN TARGETING ASS PLAQUES WHERE WE SHOWED THAT MNP/AMF-INDUCED THERMO-MECHANICAL ENERGY, APPLIED WITHIN A SAFE THRESHOLD FOR BRAIN TISSUE, WAS SUFFICIENT TO DIRECT THE DISRUPTION OF ASS FIBRILS INTO SMALLER FRAGMENTS, WHICH WERE THEN READILY PHAGOCYTOSED AND CLEARED BY MICROGLIA. IN OUR PRELIMINARY STUDY, WE ALSO FOUND THAT THE REMOTELY STIMULATED THERMAL ENERGY DIRECTED TO HUMAN MICROGLIA COULD TRIGGER BIOLOGICAL SIGNAL THAT SHIFTS MICROGLIAL ACTIVATION TOWARDS IMPROVED ASS CLEARANCE VIA HSP70-DEPENDENT MANNER. TO PROVE OUR HYPOTHESIS, WE PROPOSE TO (1) ESTABLISH THE THRESHOLD SAFE THERMAL DOSE OF MAGNETOTHERMAL BRAIN STIMULATION FOR BRAIN FUNCTIONING IN MICE, (2) DEVELOP STRATEGIES FOR TARGETED MAGNETOTHERMAL BRAIN STIMULATION TOWARDS THE IMPROVED CLEARANCE OF ASS PLAQUES, AND (3) INVESTIGATE THE CELLULAR MECHANISM BY WHICH MAGNETOTHERMAL BRAIN STIMULATION INFLUENCES ASS PATHOLOGY. THE SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THE PROPOSED STUDY WILL PROVIDE DETAILED KNOWLEDGE OF HOW TO APPLY MAGNETOTHERMAL BRAIN STIMULATION AS AN INNOVATIVE THERAPEUTIC STRATEGY AGAINST ASS-MEDIATED PATHOLOGY IN AD.

TAS::89 0222::TAS; NEW; TITLE: TRACKING DOWN CHEATERS: MOLECULAR ANALYSIS OF CARBON CONSUMPTION BY ORGANISMS THAT DO NOT CONTRIBUTE TO EXTRACELLULAR

PHYSICAL SCIENCE ROBOTICS INTERDISCIPLINARY DESIGN IN COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION: BROADENING PARTICIPATION IN STEM THROUGH CASCADING PEER-MENTORSHIP -PHYSICAL SCIENCE ROBOTICS INTERDISCIPLINARY DESIGN (PRIDE) IN COMPUTER SCIENCE (CS) EDUCATION INVESTIGATES HOW AN INNOVATIVE CASCADING PEER-MENTORSHIP APPROACH CAN IMPROVE UPON CURRENT PRACTICES IN K-12 CS EDUCATION. THE PROJECT WILL DESIGN, FIELD TEST, SUPPORT TEACHERS WITH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, AND EVALUATE A CASCADING PEER-MENTORING MODEL THAT CONNECTS HIGH SCHOOL, MIDDLE, AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS AS WELL AS THEIR CS AND SCIENCE TEACHERS WITH THE ADVANCED TELEROBOTICS RESEARCH LAB AT KENT STATE UNIVERSITY THROUGH THE PRIDE CURRICULUM. THIS CURRICULUM PROVIDES STUDENTS WITH INTERDISCIPLINARY LEARNING EXPERIENCES IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE, ROBOTICS, AND ROBOTICS ENGINEERING DESIGN CHALLENGES. CASCADING MENTORSHIP TRANSFORMS JUNIOR MEMBERS FROM PASSIVE RECIPIENTS INTO ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS BY ALLOWING THEM TO MENTOR YOUNGER STUDENTS WHILE CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR PARTICIPANTS TO EXPERIENCE RECIPROCAL MENTORING AND DEVELOP AN UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT IT MEANS TO TEACH OR MENTOR SOMEBODY ELSE IN CS. THIS PROJECT WILL CREATE AND IMPLEMENT A CASCADING MENTORSHIP LADDER IN FORMAL EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS THAT CONNECTS MORE THAN 650 ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS ALONG WITH THEIR CS AND SCIENCE TEACHERS FROM A PREDOMINATELY BLACK AND HISPANIC SCHOOL DISTRICT WITH A UNIVERSITY CS RESEARCH LAB. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO CREATE MULTIPLE PATHWAYS THAT ENCOURAGE STUDENTS WITH DIFFERENT INTERESTS TO CONNECT TO AND COMMUNICATE ABOUT SCIENCE AND ROBOTICS BY (A) COMBINING ENGINEERING DESIGN CHALLENGES WITH ROBOTICS, (B) ENCOURAGING STORYTELLING AND CREATIVITY WITHIN ROBOTICS, (C) INCLUDING MENTORING AND SOCIALIZING EXPERIENCES, AND (D) ORGANIZING ROBOTICS EXHIBITIONS. A DESIGN-BASED RESEARCH APPROACH WILL BE USED TO ITERATIVELY DESIGN AND FIELD TEST THE PROPOSED PROJECT CURRICULUM WITH CASCADING MENTORING TO FIND OUT WHAT WORKS AND WHAT DOES NOT, IMPROVE IT IN AN INFORMED WAY, AND EVALUATE ITS IMPACT ON STUDENTS. A MIXED METHODS EXPERIMENTAL INTERVENTION DESIGN THAT EMPLOYS QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DATA WILL BE USED TO INVESTIGATE HOW THE PROPOSED CURRICULUM WITH AND WITHOUT CASCADING PEER-MENTORSHIP INFLUENCES PARTICIPATING STUDENTS' CS AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE LEARNING AND THEIR ATTITUDES TOWARD CS AND SCIENCE. IN ADDITION, IT WILL EXPLORE STUDENTS' CASCADING PEER-MENTORSHIP EXPERIENCES AND ENGAGEMENT IN CS USING SURVEYS, FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEWS, CLASSROOM OBSERVATIONS, AND SCHOOL METRIC DATA. THIS PROJECT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE RESEARCH ON K-12 CS EDUCATION BY DEVELOPING A PROTOTYPE OF A CASCADING PEER-MENTORING MODEL, FIELD TESTING IT IN REAL-WORLD CLASSROOMS, AND EXAMINING ITS IMPACT ON PARTICIPANTS. MOREOVER, IT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE RESEARCH ON EDUCATIONAL ROBOTICS BY EXAMINING THE SOCIOCULTURAL DIMENSIONS OF COMPUTING AND CONNECTING ROBOTICS WITH SCIENCE THROUGH CRITICAL SOCIAL ISSUES OF ENERGY AND SUSTAINABILITY USING AN AFFORDABLE CUSTOM-DEVELOPED ROBOT. THIS PROJECT IS CO-FUNDED THROUGH THE DISCOVERY RESEARCH PREK-12 PROGRAM (DRK-12) AND THE CS FOR ALL: RESEARCH AND RPPS PROGRAM. THE DISCOVERY RESEARCH PREK-12 PROGRAM (DRK-12) SEEKS TO SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCE THE LEARNING AND TEACHING OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) BY PREK-12 STUDENTS AND TEACHERS, THROUGH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF INNOVATIVE RESOURCES, MODELS AND TOOLS. PROJECTS IN THE DRK-12 PROGRAM BUILD ON FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH IN STEM EDUCATION AND PRIOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS THAT PROVIDE THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL JUSTIFICATION FOR PROPOSED PROJECTS. 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.

TPSID

NEURAL MECHANISMS UNDERLYING ESTRADIOL-ENHANCED EXTINCTION OF COCAINE SEEKING

LINCS REGIONAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CENTERS

FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERIZATION OF A CAUSATIVE GENE FOR INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY

EFFECTS OF EMBEDDED ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT TRAINING IN DVM AND RVT PROGRAMS AS STUDENTS TRANSITION INTO THE WORKFORCE

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH WORKFORCE EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAM

SPECIFIC RECOGNITION OF G-QUADRUPLEXES

COMBINED PRIORITY FOR PERSONNEL PREPARATION

ADVANCED NURSING EDUCATION- NURSE PRACTITIONER RESIDENCY FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

POST-MARCUS THEORY AD SIMULATION OF INTERFACIAL CHARGE TRANSFER DYNAMICS IN ORGANIC SEMICONDUCTING MATERIALS

KENT STATE UNIVERSITY UPWARD BOUND MATH-SCIENCE

NORTHEAST OHIO TRI-COUNTY PREVENTION INFRASTRUCTURE (TCPI)

KENT STATE UNIVERSITY UPWARD BOUND HEALTH PROFESSIONS

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF IMMERSIVE REPRESENTATIONS OF PRACTICE

TRIO - STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES - STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES PROGRAM

ADVANCED NURSING EDUCATION NURSE PRACTITIONER RESIDENCY INTEGRATION PROGRAM

NON-EQUILIBRIUM DYNAMICS OF THE QUARK GLUON PLASMA

MECHANICAL MODULATION OF CELL MIGRATIONS BY DNA NANOASSEMBLIES - SUMMARY. IN THIS PROJECT, WE WILL EXPLOIT MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF SELF-ASSEMBLED DNA NANOSTRUCTURES TO MODULATE CELL MIGRATIONS. CELL MIGRATION REPRESENTS A FUNDAMENTAL PROCESS IN BIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS OF ALMOST ALL MULTICELLULAR ORGANISMS. NUMEROUS DISEASES OCCUR IF CELL MIGRATIONS ARE NOT ADEQUATELY REGULATED. WE WILL MODULATE THE CELL MIGRATION BY MECHANICALLY INTERFERING WITH LATERAL CLUSTERING OR DECLUSTERING OF TRANSMEMBRANE INTEGRIN RECEPTORS, WHICH IS A MECHANO-TRANSDUCTION PROCESS FOLLOWING THE BINDING OF THE LIGAND (E.G. RGD) TO THE INTEGRIN AND CHARACTERIZED BY THE ASSOCIATION OF THE INTEGRIN TO THE ACTIN FIBERS IMPORTANT FOR CELL MOTIONS. WE WILL FABRICATE DNA ORIGAMI NANOASSEMBLIES, DNA NANOSPRINGS, FOR THIS MODULATION. BY PLACING DISCRETE PIERS IN AN EXTENDED TEMPLATE OF DNA HELIX BUNDLES, THE DNA ORIGAMI TEMPLATE WILL BEND INTO COILS OF A NANOSPRING WHEN ADJACENT PIERS ARE BROUGHT TOGETHER BY COMPACT DNA LINKERS FORMED BETWEEN PIERS. WE PLAN TO USE THESE DNA NANOSPRINGS AS NANOMETER FORCE GAUGES TO MONITOR BOTH COMPRESSIVE AND TENSILE LATERAL FORCES FOR THE CLUSTERING AND DECLUSTERING OF INTEGRIN RECEPTORS, RESPECTIVELY, ON CELL MEMBRANES. TO SERVE AS FORCE GAUGES, WE WILL FIRST DETERMINE THE SPRING CONSTANT OF NANOSPRINGS IN OPTICAL TWEEZERS. WE WILL THEN EVALUATE THE EXTENSION CHANGE OF THE NANOSPRING UNDER EXTERNAL FORCE USING FRET DYE PAIRS. BY MULTIPLICATION OF THESE TWO VARIABLES ACCORDING TO THE HOOKE’S LAW, WE WILL REVEAL THE FORCE EXPERIENCED BY THE NANOSPRING. TO MODULATE CELL MIGRATION, WE WILL ADJUST THE SPACING OF RGD MOLECULES ANCHORED ON DNA NANOSPRINGS BY COILING AND UNCOILING OF NANOSPRINGS UNDER ENVIRONMENTAL CUES. SINCE RGD CAN BIND TO THE INTEGRIN ON A CELL MEMBRANE, THE SPACING OF RGD ON NANOSPRINGS ALLOWS TO CLUSTER/DE-CLUSTER INTEGRIN RECEPTORS. IN THE FIRST APPROACH, WE WILL USE DNA I-MOTIF AS A CHEMO(PH)-RESPONSIVE LINKER IN THE DNA NANOSPRING. SLIGHT ACIDITY FOLDS I-MOTIF IN THE LINKER, WHICH COILS THE NANOSPRING AND SHORTENS SPACING OF RGD TO CLUSTER INTEGRINS. SUCH A NANOSPRING WILL THEREFORE INHIBIT MIGRATIONS OF CANCER CELLS IN SLIGHTLY ACIDIC EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX. AT OR ABOVE PH7, NANOSPRINGS ARE COILED AFTER DUPLEX DNA IS FORMED IN THE LINKER REGION. WHEN COMPLEMENTARY OLIGONUCLEOTIDES ARE APPLIED TO REMOVE ONE OF THE DUPLEX STRANDS IN THE LINKER, THE NANOSPRING IS UNCOILED, WHICH ELONGATES RGD SPACING. THIS WILL PROMOTE MIGRATIONS OF CELLS SUCH AS HUMAN MACROPHAGES THAT PLAY IMPORTANT ROLES TO HEAL SKIN WOUNDS. THE SKIN SURFACE ALSO PERMITS THE USE OF THE LIGHT WITHOUT DEEP PENETRATION ON TOPICALLY APPLIED NANOSPRINGS. FOR THIS OPTO-MECHANICAL MODULATION, WE WILL INCORPORATE LIGHT-SENSITIVE AZOBENZENE GROUPS IN THE LINKERS OF DNA NANOSPRINGS. USING THE LIGHT WITH DIFFERENT WAVELENGTHS, THE AZOBENZENE UNDERGOES CIS/TRANS ISOMERIZATION. THIS VARIES DNA LINKER LENGTH BETWEEN NEIGHBORING PIERS, CHANGING RGD SPACING VIA COILING OR UNCOILING THE DNA NANOSPRING. WE HAVE SUCCESSFULLY DEMONSTRATED THE FEASIBILITY OF THIS STRATEGY IN THE CELL SPREAD AND MIGRATION ASSAYS. IN THE PROPOSAL, WE WILL USE THESE ASSAYS TO TEST THE EFFECTS OF NANOSPRINGS WITH DIFFERENT MECHANICAL PROPERTIES (AIM 1) ON MIGRATIONS OF HELA CELLS (AIM 2) AND HUMAN MACROPHAGES (AIM 3).

NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR LITERACY - LITERACY INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION (LINCS) RESOURCE COLLECTIONS GRANT

SUPRACHIASMATIC NUCLEUS TO KISSPEPTIN CIRCUIT IN THE CIRCADIAN CONTROL OF REPRODUCTION - THE CIRCADIAN CLOCK IS A FUNDAMENTAL REGULATOR OF MANY ASPECTS OF PHYSIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR, INCLUDING REPRODUCTION. REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS DEPENDS ON APPROPRIATE DAILY TIMING OF NEUROENDOCRINE EVENTS THAT CONTROL OVULATION. KISSPEPTIN (KISS1) NEURONS IN THE PREOPTIC AREA (POA) OF THE HYPOTHALAMUS PLAY A CRITICAL ROLE IN THIS BY DRIVING THE ACTIVITY OF DOWNSTREAM GONADOTROPIN-RELEASING HORMONE (GNRH) NEURONS TO GENERATE THE SURGE IN GNRH AND LH SECRETION THAT TRIGGERS OVULATION. THE SURGE IN RODENTS IS TIMED BY THE CENTRAL CIRCADIAN CLOCK IN THE SUPRACHIASMATIC NUCLEUS (SCN) TO INITIATE JUST BEFORE THE ONSET OF DIURNAL ACTIVITY, ENSURING THAT OVULATION, WHICH OCCURS A FEW HOURS LATER, COINCIDES WITH SEXUAL BEHAVIOR. PROJECTIONS FROM THE SCN PROVIDE TIMING SIGNALS TO THE GNRH NEURONAL NETWORK, INCLUDING TO POA KISS1 NEURONS. INDEED, REPORTS INDICATE THAT ARGININE VASOPRESSIN (AVP)-EXPRESSING SCN NEURONS MAY PLAY A KEY ROLE IN DAILY TIMING OF THE SURGE BY ACTIVATING POA KISS1 NEURONS. OUR PRIOR PUBLISHED STUDIES PROVIDE EVIDENCE THAT SCN PROJECTIONS RELEASE AVP TO STIMULATE POA KISS1 NEURON ELECTRICAL ACTIVITY, AND THAT THIS CIRCUIT IS MOST EFFECTIVE IN DRIVING KISS1 NEURON ACTIVITY ON THE DAY THE SURGE OCCURS. RECENTLY, WE HAVE OBTAINED EXCITING PRELIMINARY DATA THAT INDICATE THAT A DISTINCT SCN POPULATION RELEASES GABA AND INHIBITS KISS1 NEURON ACTIVITY. THESE NEW OBSERVATIONS, ALONG WITH OUR PUBLISHED WORK, REVEAL THAT SCN NEURONS MAY BIDIRECTIONALLY CONTROL THE ELECTRICAL ACTIVITY OF KISS1 NEURONS, THROUGH THE RELEASE OF GABA AND AVP. THIS HAS LED US TO HYPOTHESIZE THAT A SHIFT IN THE BALANCE OF SCN-DERIVED AVP- MEDIATED EXCITATION AND GABA-MEDIATED INHIBITION CONTRIBUTES TO GATING THE ACTIVATION OF POA KISS1 NEURONS FOR THE SURGE. WE WILL EMPLOY A COMBINATION OF ANATOMICAL AND FUNCTIONAL APPROACHES TO ADDRESS THIS CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS. OUR FIRST AIM WILL BE TO ESTABLISH THAT SCN NEURONS DIRECTLY PROJECT TO AND RELEASE GABA ON POA KISS1 NEURONS USING BRAIN SLICE ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY AND OPTOGENETICS. FURTHER, WE WILL DETERMINE THE FUNCTIONAL IMPACT OF GABA RELEASE ON KISS1 NEURON ELECTRICAL ACTIVITY ACROSS THE ESTROUS CYCLE. IN THE SECOND AIM, WE WILL USE TRACT-TRACING AND IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL APPROACHES TO ESTABLISH THAT SCN NEURON PROJECTIONS TARGET THOSE POA KISS1 CELLS THAT ARE INVOLVED IN THE SURGE AND DETERMINE THE IDENTITY OF THE CELLS THAT CONTRIBUTE THESE PROJECTIONS AS WELL AS THEIR ACTIVATION PATTERNS PRIOR TO THE SURGE. IN OUR THIRD AIM, WE WILL FIRST ASSESS THE ELECTRICAL ACTIVITY OF SCN NEURONAL POPULATIONS IN THE HOURS THAT PRECEDE THE PREOVULATORY SURGE. USING THIS INFORMATION, WE WILL THEN DETERMINE HOW KISS1 NEURONS INTEGRATE SCN TIMING SIGNALS, MEDIATED THROUGH GABA AND AVP RELEASE, ON THE DAY OF THE SURGE. TOGETHER, THIS RESEARCH WILL PROVIDE NEW INFORMATION ABOUT THE CIRCADIAN CONTROL OF REPRODUCTION, AND SPECIFICALLY THE DAILY TIMING OF THE NEUROENDOCRINE EVENTS THAT TRIGGER OVULATION. A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE NEURAL MECHANISMS RESPONSIBLE FOR CIRCADIAN REGULATION OF THESE CIRCUITS UNDER PHYSIOLOGICAL CONDITIONS MAY OPEN NEW AVENUES FOR POTENTIAL FUTURE TREATMENTS OF OVULATORY DYSFUNCTION.

PROPOFOL AND PROTEIN KINASE C: MOLECULAR INTERACTIONS IN CARDIOMYOCYTES

UPWARD BOUND MATH & SCIENCE

UPWARD BOUND

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: IGNITING, ENGAGING, AND MEASURING FAMILY STEM LEARNING USING A FOOD LAB

KENT STATE UNIVERSITY UPWARD BOUND HEALTH PROFESSIONS

KENT STATE UNIVERSITY MCNAIR SCHOLARS PROGRAM

PURPOSE: INSTALL PERIMETER FENCING NOT REQUIRED BY 49 CFR 1542. THIS GRANT INCLUDES FUNDING BY THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT OF 2021 TO INCREASE THE FEDERAL SHARE TO 100 PERCENT FOR THE AIRPORT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM (AIP). ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED/EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THIS PROJECT INSTALLS 15,500 FEET OF WILDLIFE FENCING TO ENHANCE SAFE AIRFIELD OPERATIONS BY MITIGATING WILDLIFE HAZARDS. THIS PROJECT IS IN A FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION APPROVED WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT PLAN. INTENDED BENEFICIARY: THIS GRANT WILL PROVIDE FEDERAL FUNDING FOR AIRPORTS ASSOCIATED WITH STOW, OHIO.

NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION RESEARCH

COMBINED PRIORITY FOR PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENT

UPWARD BOUND PROGRAM

COGNITIVE BASES OF SCHIZOPHRENIC LANGUAGE SYMPTOMS

GONADOTROPIN INVOLVEMENT IN COGNITION AND ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE: THERAPEUTIC IMPLIC

RONALD E. MCNAIR POST-BACCALAUREATE ACHIEVEMENT

COMMAND OF ACTIVE AND RESPONSIVE ELASTOMERS BY TOPOLOGICAL DEFECTS AND PATTERNS

INTERDISCIPLINARY PREPARATION IN EARLY EDUCATIONAL PROFESSIONS (PROJECT INPREP)

KENT STATE UNIVERSITY NOYCE SCHOLARS PROGRAM

ELECTRIC FIELD EFFECTS IN LIQUID CRYSTALS WITH DIELECTRIC DISPERSION

RESOURCES ACCESSED TO CULTIVATE AND ENHANCE RESILIENCE (RACER)

COMBINED PRIORITY FOR PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENT

UPWARD BOUND MATH AND SCIENCE COMPETITION

FOSTERING PATHWAYS FOR BRIGHT FUTURES

THE ROLE OF KISSPEPTIN/NEUROKININ B/DYNORPHIN (KNDY) NEURONS IN AN ANIMAL MODEL OF POLYCYSTIC OVARY SYNDROME - POLYCYSTIC OVARY SYNDROME (PCOS) IS A LEADING CAUSE OF FEMALE INFERTILITY WORLDWIDE. THE SYNDROME IS DIAGNOSED BY OVARIAN SYMPTOMS, INCLUDING CYSTIC OVARIES, DISRUPTED OR ABSENT MENSTRUAL CYCLES AND HYPERANDROGENISM. HOWEVER, CHANGES IN THE BRAIN PLAY A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF PCOS. UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS, NEURONS IN THE HYPOTHALAMUS RELEASE GONADOTROPIN-RELEASING HORMONE (GNRH) IN A PULSATILE MANNER TO ELICIT THE SECRETION OF LUTEINIZING HORMONE (LH) FROM THE PITUITARY GLAND. LH PULSES ACT AT THE OVARY TO CONTROL FOLLICULOGENESIS AND STEROID HORMONE RELEASE. OVARIAN STEROID HORMONES, IN TURN, ACT BACK IN THE BRAIN THROUGH AN AFFERENT NETWORK TO SUPPRESS GNRH SECRETION IN A HOMEOSTATIC NEGATIVE FEEDBACK LOOP. IN WOMEN WITH PCOS, THE ABILITY OF STEROID HORMONES TO SUPPRESS THE FREQUENCY OF PULSATILE GNRH/LH SECRETION IS IMPAIRED, LEADING TO OVARIAN DYSFUNCTION. THE NEURONAL POPULATION WITH A DIMINISHED RESPONSE TO STEROID HORMONE FEEDBACK IS CURRENTLY UNKNOWN. HOWEVER, CELLS THAT EXPRESS KISSPEPTIN, NEUROKININ B, AND DYNORPHIN PEPTIDES, TERMED KNDY CELLS, ARE A PROMISING CANDIDATE AS THEY ARE HYPOTHESIZED TO PLAY A ROLE IN STEROID HORMONE FEEDBACK AND DEMONSTRATE SYNCHRONIZED EPISODES OF ACTIVITY THAT GENERATE GNRH/LH PULSES. OUR RECENT RESEARCH USING A MOUSE MODEL OF PCOS INDUCED USING PRENATAL ANDROGEN (PNA) EXPOSURE DEMONSTRATED THAT KNDY CELLS HAVE LOWER EXPRESSION OF RECEPTORS REQUIRED FOR STEROID HORMONE FEEDBACK AND A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN SYNAPTIC INNERVATION BY GABAERGIC AFFERENT NETWORKS. BASED ON THESE FINDINGS, WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT INCREASED GNRH/LH PULSE FREQUENCY IN PCOS IS MEDIATED BY CHANGES IN THE REGULATION OF KNDY CELLS BY STEROID HORMONES AND AFFERENT NETWORKS. TO INVESTIGATE THIS, OUR FIRST AIM WILL USE IN VIVO CALCIUM IMAGING, WHICH PERMITS THE VISUALIZATION OF INDIVIDUAL CELL ACTIVITY WITHIN A POPULATION OF NEURONS IN FREELY BEHAVING MICE, TO DEFINE IF INCREASED LH PULSE FREQUENCY IN PNA MICE IS ASSOCIATED WITH AN IMPAIRED ABILITY OF ESTRADIOL AND PROGESTERONE TO SUPPRESS KNDY CELL ACTIVITY. OUR SECOND AIM WILL IDENTIFY THE ORIGIN OF REDUCED GABAERGIC AFFERENT INPUT TO KNDY CELLS USING RETROGRADE MONOSYNAPTIC RABIES-MEDIATED TRACT TRACING. WE WILL THEN DEFINE HOW A LOSS IN GABAERGIC AFFERENT INPUT FUNCTIONALLY IMPACTS KNDY CELL ACTIVITY BY COMBINING IN VIVO CALCIUM IMAGING OF KNDY CELLS IN FERTILE MICE WHILST OPTOGENETICALLY MANIPULATING THE ACTIVITY OF APPOSING GABAERGIC AXON TERMINALS. FINALLY, WE WILL USE CHRONIC CHEMOGENETIC INHIBITION OF KNDY CELLS TO DETERMINE IF EXOGENOUSLY REGULATING KNDY CELL-MEDIATED GNRH/LH PULSE GENERATION IS SUFFICIENT TO OVERRIDE NEUROENDOCRINE DYSFUNCTION IN PNA MICE AND RESTORE REPRODUCTIVE CAPACITY. TOGETHER, THIS RESEARCH WILL GREATLY IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW GNRH PULSE GENERATION IS REGULATED, BOTH IN INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE HEALTHY AND IN THOSE WHO DEVELOP PCOS. AS THERE ARE ONGOING CLINICAL STUDIES AIMING TO REDUCE SYNCHRONIZED KNDY CELL ACTIVITY IN PCOS PATIENTS, SUCH AS THROUGH THE USE OF PHARMACEUTICAL ANTAGONISTS AGAINST THE NEUROKININ B RECEPTOR, THIS RESEARCH MAY OFFER VALUABLE INFORMATION TO GUIDE THE DEVELOPMENT OF TREATMENTS TARGETING CENTRAL DYSFUNCTION IN THE SYNDROME.

CONNECTING SHORT RANGE ORDER TO MACROSCOPIC PROPERTIES IN COMPLEX STRUCTURED FLUIDS

BRAIN MECHANISMS OF NON-EXERCISE ACTIVITY THERMOGENESIS

KENT STATE UNIVERSITY UPWARD BOUND MATH SCIENCE

INNOVATIONS IN DEVELOPMENT: THE USE OF MOBILE APPLICATIONS FOR INFORMAL LEARNING IN THE CUYAHOGA VALLEY NATIONAL PARK

KENT STATE UNIVERSITY EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY CENTER

PROJECT NEXT (NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS X TEAMS)

NEURAL MECHANISMS UNDERLYING CENTRAL INDUCTION OF SKELETAL MUSCLE THERMOGENESIS

STRUCTURE, ACCESSIBILITY AND EXTENSION OF TELOMERIC OVERHANGS - PROJECT SUMMARY: TELOMERES CONTAIN REPEATING GGGTTA SEQUENCES AND TERMINATE WITH A 50-300 NT LONG SINGLE-STRANDED OVERHANG (SSTEL). THIS OVERHANG FOLDS INTO TANDEM G-QUADRUPLEX (GQ) STRUCTURES, WHICH STABILIZE THESE OTHERWISE VULNERABLE ENDS AND PLAY CRITICAL ROLES IN DISTINGUISHING THEM FROM DAMAGED DNA. IN ADDITION, TELOMERES ARE PROTECTED AND ORGANIZED BY SHELTERIN, A MULTI-PROTEIN COMPLEX. DUE TO END REPLICATION PROBLEM, TELOMERES GRADUALLY SHORTEN IN DIVIDING SOMATIC CELLS, WHICH UNDERGO SENESCENCE OR APOPTOSIS WHEN TELOMERES REACH A CRITICAL LENGTH. HOWEVER, TELOMERE LENGTH IS MAINTAINED IN MOST CANCERS BY ACTIVATION OF TELOMERASE, A RIBONUCLEOPROTEIN COMPLEX THAT ELONGATES TELOMERES USING AN RNA TEMPLATE. HUMAN SSTEL CAN FORM 2-12 GQS, SEPARATED BY UNFOLDED REGIONS WHICH ARE POTENTIALLY ACCESSIBLE TO NUCLEASES, DNA DAMAGE RESPONSE (DDR) ACTIVATORS, TELOMERASE, AND TELOMERIC REPEAT CONTAINING RNA (TERRA). THEREFORE, TELOMERES MUST PERFORM THEIR CRITICAL FUNCTIONS WHILE THEIR STRUCTURE, STABILITY, AND ACCESSIBILITY ARE DYNAMICALLY MODULATED. WHILE SINGLE MOLECULE AND ENSEMBLE TECHNIQUES HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFULLY EMPLOYED TO STUDY INTERACTIONS OF “SINGLE” TELOMERIC GQS WITH PROTEINS AND SMALL MOLECULES, ONLY FEW SUCH STUDIES HAVE BEEN PERFORMED ON SSTEL OF PHYSIOLOGICALLY RELEVANT LENGTHS (>50 NT) DUE TO THEIR COMPLEX STRUCTURES AND LIMITATIONS OF EMPLOYED METHODS. RECENTLY, WE DEMONSTRATED THE EXCITING POTENTIAL OF A NEW APPROACH, BASED ON SINGLE MOLECULE FRET-PAINT, TO QUANTIFY THE IMPACT OF SHELTERIN ON TELOMERE ACCESSIBILITY. WE ALSO DEVELOPED A COMPUTATIONAL MODEL TO INTERPRET THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE OBSERVED ACCESSIBILITY PATTERNS IN TERMS OF GQ FOLDING PROPENSITY OF DIFFERENT REGIONS OF SSTEL, COOPERATIVITY BETWEEN NEIGHBORING GQS, AND FOLDING FRUSTRATION. HERE, WE PROPOSE USING SINGLE MOLECULE FLUORESCENCE METHODS, INCLUDING FRET-PAINT, CRYO-ELECTRON MICROSCOPY AND SEVERAL ENSEMBLE METHODS, ANALYTICAL MODELING AND MONTE CARLO SIMULATIONS TO GAIN MECHANISTIC UNDERSTANDING ABOUT STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF PHYSIOLOGICAL SSTEL AND THEIR INTERACTIONS WITH SHELTERIN, TELOMERASE, TERRA, SMALL MOLECULES, DDR ACTIVATORS, AND NUCLEASES. FOR EXAMPLE, WE WILL DETERMINE HOW OVERHANG LENGTH, SHELTERIN, AND MULTIMERIC SMALL MOLECULES IMPACT THE ACCESSIBILITY OF SSTEL TO TELOMERASE, NUCLEASES, AND DDR ACTIVATORS. FINALLY, WE WILL INVESTIGATE THE IMPACT OF SHELTERIN AND SMALL MOLECULES ON TELOMERASE-CATALYZED TELOMERE EXTENSION AND ON HOW THE FOLDING PATTERNS OF THE NEWLY SYNTHESIZED REPEATS EVOLVE OVER TIME TO ENSURE THEIR PROTECTION AGAINST NUCLEASES. UPON SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THE PROPOSED WORK, WE WILL HAVE A SINGLE-MOLECULE UNDERSTANDING OF: (1) LENGTH DEPENDENT VARIATION OF STRUCTURAL AND KINETIC CHARACTERISTICS OF TELOMERIC OVERHANGS; (2) THE IMPACT OF SHELTERIN, TERRA, AND SMALL MOLECULES ON ACCESSIBILITY OF SSTEL TO NUCLEIC ACID PROBES, DDR ACTIVATORS, NUCLEASES, AND TELOMERASE; (3) HOW RELEVANT PHYSIOLOGICAL FACTORS AFFECT TELOMERASE-CATALYZED TELOMERE EXTENSION AND THE FOLDING PATTERNS OF NEWLY SYNTHESIZED TELOMERES. THESE STUDIES WILL PROVIDE US WITH A DETAILED EXPERIMENTAL AND COMPUTATIONAL PICTURE OF THE STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS OF LONG TELOMERIC OVERHANGS AND THEIR INTERACTIONS WITH RELEVANT PHYSIOLOGICAL FACTORS. THE TECHNICAL ADVANCES ACHIEVED IN THIS WORK WILL ALSO HELP ESTABLISHING NEW SINGLE MOLECULE APPROACHES TO STUDY REPEATING SEQUENCES THAT ARE ENCOUNTERED DIFFERENT SETTINGS, INCLUDING MAJOR NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS.

STAPHLOCOCCUS AUREUS: IS RAW MEAT A RISK FACTOR FOR COLONIZATION AND INFECTION?

ABSTRACT OHIO IS ONE OF EIGHT STATES WITH THE HIGHEST INCARCERATION RATES, AND NORTHEAST OHIO (THE TARGET AREA FOR THIS GRANT) IS RIPE FOR CONNECTING JUSTICE IMPACTED INDIVIDUALS WITH HIGHER EDUCATION PROVIDERS AND EMPLOYERS TO BUILD BRIDGES AND CREATE MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO PROACTIVELY DEVELOP A ROBUST TALENT PIPELINE FOR SUCCESSFUL REENTRY (TEAM NORTHEAST OHIO, 2022). KENT STATE UNIVERSITY, AN INSTITUTION WITH THE MISSION TO TRANSFORM LIVES BY PROVIDING ACCESS AND OPPORTUNITY AND FOSTER DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE COMMUNITIES, PROPOSES THE KENT STATE UNIVERSITY PRISON REENTRY PROGRAM WITH THE PURPOSE OF DEVELOPING COMPREHENSIVE EDUCATIONALLY AND EMPLOYMENT-BASED REENTRY SERVICES FOR ALL, TARGETING MODERATE TO HIGH-LEVEL RISK JUSTICE IMPACTED INDIVIDUALS IN THE TRUMBULL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION FOR SUCCESSFUL REENTRY INTO NORTHEASTERN OHIO COMMUNITIES. TRANSITIONAL AND REENTRY PROGRAM ACTIVITIES WILL SUPPORT PARTICIPANTS BASIC NEEDS, EDUCATION AND SKILL-BUILDING SERVICES, CAREER EXPLORATION AND PLANNING, EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS PREPARATION, INTERNSHIPS, AND PERMANENT EMPLOYMENT. THIS WILL INCLUDE DESIGNING A PROGRAM-SPECIFIC REENTRY COLLEGE MICROCREDENTIAL, IMPLEMENTING EVIDENCE-BASED SERVICES, GROWING PARTNERSHIPS WITH LIKE-MINDED NORTHEASTERN OHIO SECOND CHANCE EMPLOYERS, ESTABLISHING A PRISON REENTRY ADVISORY BOARD, AND TRACKING AND MONITORING EDUCATIONAL AND EMPLOYMENT OUTCOMES. TARGETING CRIMINOGENIC NEEDS WILL BE BASED ON THE RISK-NEED-RESPONSIVITY MODEL. PROGRAMMING WILL UTILIZE COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL APPROACHES TO PRODUCE AND REINFORCE NEW THINKING AND BEHAVIORS. THE INTENDED OUTCOMES ARE THE SUCCESSFUL REINTEGRATION OF PARTICIPANTS AND PROMOTION OF RACIAL EQUITY IN REENTRY COMMUNITIES, INCREASE OF EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AND EMPLOYMENT WITH A SUSTAINABLE WAGE, AND REDUCTION OF RECIDIVISM FOR JUSTICE IMPACTED INDIVIDUALS, THE PROJECT'S INTENDED BENEFICIARIES. THE PROGRAM EVALUATION STAFF, WILL INCORPORATE ONGOING RESEARCH ON JOB TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES WITH THE SUPPORT OF AN ADVISORY COUNCIL TO ASSESS IN-DEMAND JOB NEEDS. POSTRELEASE, THE REENTRY STAFF WILL CONDUCT INDIVIDUALIZED AND SMALL GROUP REENTRY CAREER AND EMPLOYMENT PLANNING WITH EXPERTISE FROM KENT STATES CAREER EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER AND MONITOR EMPLOYMENT OUTCOMES. THE PROJECT UPPORTS EQUITABLE ACCESS TO SERVICES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN REENTRY COMMUNITIES THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS WITH ORGANIZATIONS THAT PRIMARILY SERVE HISTORICALLY MARGINALIZED AND UNDERSERVED GROUPS SUCH AS ORIANA HOUSE, A REENTRY COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS ORGANIZATION THAT SERVES OVER 3,000 INDIVIDUALS. LIKE-MINDED COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS WILL SERVE AS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERS, OUTREACH WILL BE TAILORED TO HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED AND MARGINALIZED GROUPS TO ENCOURAGE PROGRAM PARTICIPATION, AND INDIVIDUAL TOUCH POINTS WITH REENTERING JUSTICE IMPACTED INDIVIDUALS WILL BE INITIATED TO ASSESS SERVICES AND GARNER FEEDBACK.

PROSPECTIVE RISK AND PROTECTIVE FACTORS FOR SUICIDE AND CO-OCCURRING RISK BEHAVIO

RONALD E. MCNAIR POSTBACCALAUREATE ACHIEVEMENT

COMBINED PRIORITY FOR PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENT

CAREER: MULTIPLEXED MRNA DETECTION AT NANOMETER RESOLUTION -UNDERSTANDING WHERE MESSENGER RNAS (MRNAS), MOLECULES THAT CARRY GENETIC INSTRUCTIONS FROM DNA TO DIRECT PROTEIN PRODUCTION, ARE LOCATED WITHIN CELLS IS ESSENTIAL FOR EXPLAINING PROCESSES SUCH AS BRAIN DEVELOPMENT, CELLULAR COMMUNICATION, AND REPRODUCTIVE FUNCTION. HOWEVER, CURRENT IMAGING TECHNOLOGIES SUCH AS FLUORESCENCE MICROSCOPY AND ELECTRON MICROSCOPY, CANNOT SIMULTANEOUSLY IDENTIFY MULTIPLE MRNAS WHILE ALSO REVEALING THE EXTREMELY SMALL CELLULAR STRUCTURES IN WHICH THEY OPERATE. FLUORESCENCE MICROSCOPY WHICH USES LIGHT-EMITTING LABELS TO DETECT SPECIFIC MOLECULES, CAN IDENTIFY BIOLOGICAL TARGETS BUT CANNOT CLEARLY VISUALIZE THEIR EXACT LOCATIONS AT EXTREMELY SMALL SCALES. IN CONTRAST, ELECTRON MICROSCOPY, A TECHNIQUE THAT USES BEAMS OF ELECTRONS TO GENERATE HIGHLY DETAILED IMAGES OF CELLS, CAN REVEAL FINE CELLULAR STRUCTURES BUT HAS LIMITED ABILITY TO SIMULTANEOUSLY DISTINGUISH MANY DIFFERENT LABEL-MOLECULES. THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES THIS MAJOR TECHNOLOGICAL GAP BY DEVELOPING A NEW IMAGING PLATFORM THAT COMBINES THE STRENGTHS OF BOTH APPROACHES UTILIZING DNA NANOTECHNOLOGY, A METHOD THAT USES DNA AS A PROGRAMABLE BUILDING MATERIAL TO CREATE TINY STRUCTURES. THESE TINY STRUCTURES WILL FUNCTION AS BARCODES BY CARRYING IDENTIFICATION TAGS FOR MRNAS THAT CAN BE DETECTED BY BOTH IMAGING TECHNIQUES, ENABLING SCIENTISTS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW THE BRAIN AND HORMONES WORK TOGETHER TO CONTROL FEMALE FERTILITY. BECAUSE STANDARD FLUORESCENCE AND ELECTRON MICROSCOPES ARE ALREADY AVAILABLE AT MANY UNIVERSITIES, THIS APPROACH HAS THE POTENTIAL TO MAKE ADVANCED MOLECULAR IMAGING MORE BROADLY ACCESSIBLE TO THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY. IN PARALLEL, THE PROJECT WILL SUPPORT INTERDISCIPLINARY STEM EDUCATION THROUGH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH TRAINING, ENGAGING STUDENTS FROM BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY, ENGINEERING, PHYSICS, AND COMPUTER SCIENCE IN COLLABORATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING AND HANDS-ON NANOBIOTECHNOLOGY RESEARCH. THE PROJECT ALIGNS WITH THE BIOTECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) PRIORITY AREAS OF THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP A MODULAR DNA ORIGAMI?BASED BARCODING PLATFORM FOR MULTIPLEXED MRNA DETECTION USING BOTH FLUORESCENCE MICROSCOPY (FM) AND ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (EM), AN APPROACH KNOWN AS CORRELATIVE LIGHT AND ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (CLEM). THE PROPOSED WORK WILL OPTIMIZE THE PRODUCTION OF DNA ORIGAMI BARCODES CONTAINING PROGRAMMABLE NANOCRYSTAL PATTERNS FOR EM DETECTION AND FLUORESCENT LABELS FOR FM DETECTION, WITH THE ABILITY OF TARGETING MULTIPLE SPECIFIC MRNAS. BARCODE ASSEMBLY AND PERFORMANCE WILL BE CHARACTERIZED USING GEL ELECTROPHORESIS, FLUOROMETRY, AND EM. THE PLATFORM WILL THEN BE VALIDATED IN NEUROENDOCRINE CELL LINES EXPRESSING REPRODUCTIVE SIGNALING TRANSCRIPTS. OPTIMIZED WORKFLOWS WILL SUBSEQUENTLY BE APPLIED TO ULTRATHIN TISSUE SECTIONS TO PERFORM HIGH-RESOLUTION SPATIAL MAPPING OF MULTIPLE MRNAS IN HYPOTHALAMIC REGIONS RELEVANT TO REPRODUCTIVE NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY. ADVANCED IMAGE ANALYSIS AND SEGMENTATION METHODS, INCLUDING MACHINE LEARNING-ASSISTED APPROACHES, WILL BE USED TO RESOLVE CLUSTERED BARCODES AND INTEGRATE FM AND EM DATASETS, WHICH CONTRIBUTES TO THE AI PRIORITY AREA OF NSF. BY ENABLING MULTIPLEXED RNA DETECTION WITH NANOMETER-SCALE SPATIAL RESOLUTION, THIS PROJECT WILL ESTABLISH A NEW TECHNOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK FOR SPATIAL TRANSCRIPTOMICS AND MULTIMODAL BIOIMAGING WHILE ADVANCING THE FIELDS OF DNA NANOTECHNOLOGY AND MOLECULAR IMAGING. IN ADDITION, THIS PLATFORM COULD BE BROADLY ADAPTED TO STUDY A WIDE RANGE OF BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS REQUIRING HIGH-RESOLUTION MOLECULAR MAPPING. THE PROJECT WILL ADVANCE THE FIELD OF BIOTECHNOLOGY BY DEVELOPING AN ACCESSIBLE TOOLKIT USING DNA-NANOBIOTECHNOLOGY FOR MULTIPLEXED MOLECULAR IMAGING AT NANOMETER RESOLUTION; THIS IS A BIOTECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT THAT WILL BENEFIT THE BROADER 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.

BIMODAL HAPTIC-MIXED REALITY (HMR) NEEDLE INSERTION SIMULATION FOR HAND-EYE SKILLS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: SCALE-DEPENDENT PROCESSES AS THE DRIVERS FOR UNDERSTANDING RANGE- AND NICHE-EXPANSION IN A WIDESPREAD NATIVE SPECIES

NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS BY TEAMING 2.0 (NEXT 2.0)

NEUTRAL HYPERON SPECTROSCOPY WITH THE CRYSTAL BALL

KENT STATE UNIVERSITY MCNAIR SCHOLARS PROGRAM

GEO-CM: EVALUATING HYDROGEOCHEMICAL CONTROLS ON RARE EARTH ELEMENT AND YTTRIUM MOBILITY DURING ROCK WEATHERING FROM THE MICRO- TO LANDSCAPE-SCALE -RARE EARTH ELEMENTS (REES) ARE A GROUP OF METALS THAT ARE CRITICAL COMPONENTS OF HUNDREDS OF CONSUMER PRODUCTS AND MODERN TECHNOLOGIES, INCLUDING SMART DEVICES, ELECTRIC AND HYBRID VEHICLES, AND ADVANCED BATTERIES. DESPITE INCREASING NEED FOR ACCESS TO THESE RESOURCES FOR EVERYTHING FROM NATIONAL DEFENSE APPLICATIONS TO CLEAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES, THE U.S. CURRENTLY HAS LIMITED DOMESTIC SOURCES OF REES, WHICH HAS LIMITED PRODUCTION OUTPUT AND HAS DRIVEN EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE DOMESTIC SOURCES OF THESE CRITICAL METALS. THIS PROJECT WILL EXPLORE HOW THE WASTE PRODUCTS OF COAL PRODUCTION COULD POTENTIALLY BE AN IMPORTANT SOURCE OF REES. ALTHOUGH THERE ARE VAST AMOUNTS OF THESE MATERIAL IN THE U.S., ESPECIALLY WITHIN THE APPALACHIAN REGION, NOT ALL COAL MINE WASTE HAS ABUNDANT REES. THE RESEARCHERS AIM TO EXPLAIN WHY SOME COAL MINE WASTES HAVE HIGHER AMOUNTS OF REES AND HOW THIS IS RELATED TO TYPES OF ROCK NEARBY. UNDERSTANDING THESE RELATIONSHIPS CAN HELP IDENTIFY AREAS THAT COULD BE TARGETED FOR COST-EFFECTIVE EXTRACTION OF REES, PROVIDING A POTENTIAL ECONOMIC RESOURCE FOR THE REGION AND NATION. THE PROJECT ALSO INCLUDES TEACHER TRAINING ACTIVITIES AND CO-DESIGN OF A WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM THAT WILL ENGAGE REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS AND STUDENTS, AND PROVIDE LOCAL SCIENCE EXPERIENCES RELATED TO LOCALLY AVAILABLE, CRITICAL MATERIALS-RELATED CAREERS. THESE EDUCATION ACTIVITIES WILL PROVIDE MEANINGFUL WORKFORCE AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT FOR THE APPALACHIAN REGION. THE PRIMARY HYPOTHESIS TO BE TESTED IS THAT REES AND YTTRIUM (REYS) IN ACID MINE DRAINAGE (AMD), A PRIMARY FORM OF COAL MINE WASTE, ARE SOURCED FROM THE WEATHERING OF OVERLYING LITHOLOGIES AND THAT LOCAL HYDRO(GEO)LOGIC CONDITIONS FAVOR THEIR ENRICHMENT IN BOTH THE AMD THAT DEVELOPS IN ABANDONED MINES AND THE SECONDARY SOLIDS THAT PRECIPITATE DOWNGRADIENT. THE FIRST PROJECT WILL EXAMINE GRAIN AND SUB-GRAIN SCALE REE SPECIATION AND DISTRIBUTION IN LITHOLOGIES OVERLYING COAL SEAMS. LITHOLOGIES WITH HIGH CONCENTRATIONS OF REYS ARE LIKELY DUE TO THE PRESENCE OF PHOSPHATE MINERALS IN MUDSTONES AND SILTSTONES, WITH MORE LEACHING OF REYS FROM LARGER (> 10 MICROMETER) EUHEDRAL GRAINS IN AN FE-POOR MATRIX TO MINIMIZE RE-SEQUESTRATION BY SECONDARY OXIDES. THE SECOND PROJECT WILL LINK REY OUTPUT IN COAL MINE DRAINAGE TO LOCAL HYDRO(GEO)LOGICAL CONDITIONS USING CONCENTRATION-DISCHARGE BEHAVIOR, WHERE PSEUDO-KARST BEHAVIOR OF AMD IN ABANDONED MINE WORKS COUPLED WITH A SURFACE WATER-DOMINANT SOURCE WILL RESULT IN HIGHER REY LOADINGS DUE TO HIGHER WEATHERING RATES COMPARED TO GROUNDWATER-DOMINATED FLOW THROUGH LOW TRANSMISSIVITY ZONES. THE THIRD PROJECT WILL DISCERN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN REY ENRICHMENT IN AMD SOLIDS IN RESPONSE TO FLOW CONDITIONS AND REDOX VARIABILITY, WHERE HYDRODYNAMIC CONDITIONS WITHIN AMD DEPOSITS CONTROL FE-OXIDE MINERALOGY AND REY SEQUESTRATION WITH HIGHEST ENRICHMENT IN CONTINUOUS FLOW SYSTEMS RATHER THAN INTERMITTENT FLOW OR VERNAL PONDS. 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.

ELECTROMECHANICAL EFFECTS OF FERROELECTRIC NEMATIC LIQUID CRYSTALS -NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: THIS PROJECT FOCUSES ON INVESTIGATING LIQUID CRYSTALS WHICH EXHIBIT A RECENTLY DISCOVERED SPECIAL PROPERTY CALLED ?FERROELECTRIC NEMATIC PHASE?. FERROELECTRIC NEMATIC MATERIALS ARE REMARKABLE IN THAT EVEN THOUGH THEY CARRY NO NET ELECTRIC CHARGE, THEY GENERATE A SPONTANEOUS ELECTRIC FIELD, SOMEWHAT ANALOGOUSLY TO HOW CERTAIN MATERIALS SUCH AS IRON BECOME MAGNETIC WITHOUT THE ACTION OF AN EXTERNAL AGENT. MOREOVER, BECAUSE FERROELECTRIC NEMATICS ARE FLUID, THE DIRECTION OF THEIR PERMANENT ELECTRIC ORIENTATION CAN BE ALTERED WITH A RELATIVELY SMALL APPLIED VOLTAGE. THESE PROPERTIES MAKE FERROELECTRIC NEUMATIC MATERIALS VERY ATTRACTIVE FOR NEW TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS FOR MOTION-CONTROL AND ENERGY CONVERSION, WHICH ARE IMPORTANT IN APPLICATIONS RANGING FROM SOFT ROBOTICS TO GREEN ELECTRICITY GENERATION. THE PROJECT ENABLES MENTORING STUDENTS AT ALL LEVELS IN PHYSICS, CHEMISTRY AND MATERIALS SCIENCE, WITH A SPECIAL FOCUS ON UNDER-REPRESENTED GROUPS VIA THE MCNAIR SCHOLAR AND RESEARCH EXPERIENCE FOR UNDERGRADUATES (REU) PROGRAMS. IT PROVIDES YOUNG SCIENTISTS WITH INTERDISCIPLINARY TRAINING THAT ENABLE THEM TO SECURE PRODUCTIVE CAREERS IN CUTTING-EDGE STEM ENTERPRISE. AN ADDITIONAL PRIORITY IS THE INTEGRATION OF HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TEAM?S RESEARCH INTO HANDS-ON, PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: LINEAR ELECTROMECHANICAL COUPLING IS AN INHERENT PROPERTY OF FERROELECTRIC MATERIALS, BUT HAS PREVIOUSLY BEEN EXPLORED ONLY IN CRYSTALS, POLYMERS, AND POSITIONALLY ORDERED LIQUID CRYSTALS. THE PROJECT?S RESEARCH ON FERROELECTRIC NEMATIC LIQUID CRYSTALS (FNLCS) EXPLORES THE SPECIFIC DEPENDENCE OF THIS COUPLING ON BOTH POLARIZATION AND NANOSTRUCTURE. COMPLEMENTARY FLEXOELECTRICITY STUDIES ILLUMINATE THE ELASTIC AND ELECTRIC PROPERTIES AND REVEAL THE ROLE OF FERROELECTRICITY ON FLEXOELECTRICITY. THE TEAM?S MATERIALS? SYNTHESIS EFFORT FURNISHES AN EXPANDING LIBRARY OF FNLC COMPOUNDS WITH OPTIMIZED PROPERTIES. VARIOUS EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES ARE DEPLOYED TO MEASURE KEY MATERIAL PARAMETERS, INCLUDING FERROELECTRIC POLARIZATION, DIELECTRIC CONSTANTS, ELASTIC CONSTANTS, ORIENTATIONAL VISCOSITIES, AND INTERMOLECULAR CORRELATIONS THAT TEST CURRENT MODELS PREDICTING SPATIAL MODULATION OF THE POLARIZATION ORIENTATION AS AN IMPORTANT FEATURE OF THE FERROELECTRIC PHASE. DETAILED CHARACTERIZATION OF THE COLLECTIVE MOLECULAR FLUCTUATIONS ELUCIDATES THE NATURE OF PHASE TRANSITIONS BETWEEN DIFFERENT VARIANTS OF POLAR NEMATIC PHASES AND EXPLAINS VARIATIONS OF THE ELECTROMECHANICAL EFFECTS IN ANTIFERROELECTRIC, FERROELECTRIC, AND MODULATED PHASES. THE BASIC EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS GUIDE THE WAY TO NEW, COMPREHENSIVE MICROSCOPIC THEORIES IN ADDITION TO PROVIDING PATHWAYS TO POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS IN EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES SUCH AS SOFT ROBOTICS AND CLEAN ELECTRIC ENERGY GENERATION. 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.

SPECIAL EDUCATION-PERSONNEL PREPARATION TO IMPROVE SERVICES AND RESULTS FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES - COMBINED PRIORITY FOR PERSONNEL PREPARATION

COMBINED PRIORITY FOR PERSONNEL PREPARATION

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

COMBINED PRIORITY FOR PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENT

CAREER: WHAT?S NEXT? DEVELOPING NOVEL QUANTITATIVE TOOLS TO ADDRESS CONFLICTING EVIDENCE IN TEMPORAL ECOLOGY

CAREER: BEYOND N AND P: HOW TRACE METAL LIMITATION INFLUENCES STREAM ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION

CAREER: KINETICS STUDIES AND GROUND BASED ATMOSPHERIC OBSERVATIONS OF TROPOSPHERIC AEROSOL NUCLEATION

DETERMINING SENSORY PLASTICITY AND DEVELOPING RECOVERY FOR SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION IN CHRONIC SPINAL CORD INJURED MALE RATS

SPECIAL EDUCATION RESEARCH GRANTS

NEURAL CIRCUITS MEDIATING PULSATILE AND SURGE GNRH SECRETION - SUMMARY FERTILITY IN FEMALE MAMMALS IS CRITICALLY DEPENDENT ON BOTH OF THE TWO MAJOR MODES OF GNRH RELEASE: EPISODIC AND SURGE SECRETION. ALTHOUGH THE IMPORTANCE OF EPISODIC GNRH SECRETION TO FERTILITY, AND THE KEY ROLE OF THE HYPOTHALAMIC ARCUATE NUCLEUS (ARN), HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED FOR 40 YEARS, THE PRECISE IDENTITY OF NEURONS RESPONSIBLE FOR GNRH PULSE GENERATION HAS ONLY BECOME KNOWN IN THE LAST DECADE, STEMMING FROM THE DISCOVERY OF KNDY NEURONS, A UNIQUE SUBPOPULATION OF ARC CELLS THAT CO-EXPRESS KISSPEPTIN, NEUROKININ B (NKB), AND DYNORPHIN. THE ORIGINAL HYPOTHESIS PROPOSED THAT THE SYNCHRONOUS FIRING OF KNDY NEURONS DRIVES GNRH PULSES, WITH KISSPEPTIN BEING THE OUTPUT SIGNAL TO GNRH NEURONS, AND NKB AND DYNORPHIN ACTING AS START AND STOP SIGNALS FOR KISSPEPTIN RELEASE, RESPECTIVELY. HOWEVER, THERE IS GROWING EVIDENCE SUGGESTING A MORE COMPLEX ORGANIZATION OF THE GNRH PULSE GENERATOR, WITH NON-KNDY ARN NEURONS THAT CONTAIN KISS1R PLAYING A FUNCTIONAL ROLE IN PULSE GENERATION, AS WELL AS EVIDENCE THAT BOTH KNDY AND KISS1R NEURONS ARE IMPORTANT FOR GNRH SURGE SECRETION. WE HAVE ALSO IDENTIFIED GABA AND GLUTAMATE (GLUT) AS NEUROTRANSMITTERS IN A HIGH PERCENTAGE OF ARN KISS1R CELLS THEREFORE, IN THIS PROPOSAL, WE WILL: 1) TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT ONE OR BOTH OF THESE ARN KISS1R SUBPOPULATIONS ARE CRITICAL FOR NORMAL EPISODIC LH SECRETION IN EWES, AND 2) DETERMINE THE NEURAL CIRCUITS BY WHICH ARN KISS1R CELLS DRIVE THE LH SURGE IN SHEEP, WITH A FOCUS ON GABA AND GLUT KISS1R CELLS. THESE STUDIES WILL USE SHEEP, AN ANIMAL MODEL IN WHICH THE NEUROENDOCRINE CONTROL OF REPRODUCTION IS VERY SIMILAR TO HUMANS, ENSURING THAT WHAT WE LEARN ABOUT THE NEURAL CONTROL OF GNRH SECRETION WILL VERY LIKELY BE APPLICABLE FOR CLINICAL TRANSLATION TO HUMANS. THE RESULTS OF THESE STUDIES WILL FURTHER REFINE OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE NEURAL SYSTEMS RESPONSIBLE FOR PULSATILE AND SURGE GNRH SECRETION, AND SPECIFICALLY ADDRESS THE NOVEL ROLE OF ARN KISS1R NEURONS. IMPORTANTLY, A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THESE SYSTEMS WILL ALSO BE RELEVANT TO PATHOLOGICAL CONDITIONS IN HUMANS BECAUSE DYSFUNCTION OF THE GNRH PULSE GENERATOR UNDERLIES A VARIETY OF REPRODUCTIVE DISORDERS INCLUDING POLYCYSTIC OVARIAN SYNDROME. ALTERATIONS IN KNDY NEURONS ARE THOUGHT TO PLAY A KEY ROLE IN THESE DISORDERS, AND PHARMACEUTICAL AGENTS TARGETING KNDY PEPTIDES AND THEIR RECEPTORS ARE CURRENTLY BEING EXPLORED AS NEW AVENUES OF TREATMENT IN CLINICAL TRIALS.

"NOVEL ORGANO-SOLUBLE OPTICALLY TUNABLE CHIRAL HYBRID GOLD NANORODS"

NEUROLOGIC REGULATION OF THE SCN CIRCADIAN CLOCK

NSDL MATERIALS DIGITAL LIBRARY PATHWAY: HUB FOR MATERIALS EDUCATION AND RESEARCH

NITROGEN METABOLISM IN SLEEP HOMEOSTASIS AND PATHOLOGY - SLEEP IS ESSENTIAL FOR LIFE, AND CHRONIC SLEEP DEPRIVATION (SD) IS ASSOCIATED WITH PATHOLOGY INCLUDING ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE IN HUMANS. UREA CYCLE ABNORMALITIES HAVE BEEN OBSERVED BY OTHERS IN ANIMAL SD PARADIGMS AND HUMAN SLEEP AND FATIGUE DISORDERS. I FOUND THAT POLYAMINES (PAS), COUPLED TO UREA CYCLE BY THE METABOLITE ORNITHINE, ARE ELEVATED IN DROSOPHILA SLEEP MUTANTS, ESPECIALLY ACETYLATED PAS AND PUTRESCINE. I HYPOTHESIZE THAT NITROGEN DIVERSION FROM UREA CYCLE TO PA SYNTHESIS DRIVES SLEEP WHEN SD IS ACUTE AND NEURODEGENERATION WHEN SD IS CHRONIC. MENTORED AIM 1 WILL TEST WHAT MECHANISMS LINK SD TO NITROGEN METABOLISM BY USING SLEEP MUTANTS FOR 13C-ORNITHINE MASS SPECTROMETRY TO IDENTIFY THE METABOLITES THAT ORNITHINE IS CHANNELED TOWARD, AND ENZYME ASSAYS TO ASSESS WHAT CATALYTIC DIFFERENCES SHAPE THE NITROGEN METABOLOME UNDER CHRONIC SD. MASS SPECTROMETRY WILL ALSO BE CONDUCTED UNDER MORE ACUTE SD TO DETERMINE IF THIS MIRRORS CHRONIC SD IN PA PROFILE. MENTORED AIM 2 WILL TEST HOW PA SUPPLEMENTS, AND BROADLY EXPRESSED RNAI THAT PROMOTE PUTRESCINE SYNTHESIS, BOTH PROMOTE SLEEP IN WILD-TYPE FLIES. SUBPOPULATION RNAI SLEEP EXPERIMENTS WILL ASSESS WHAT NEURAL CIRCUITS ARE INVOLVED IN PA SLEEP RESPONSES. BROADLY EXPRESSED RNAI SLEEP EXPERIMENTS WILL DETERMINE WHETHER PAS GENERALLY ARE REQUIRED FOR REBOUND SLEEP FOLLOWING SD, AND WHETHER PRODUCTION OF PUTRESCINE SPECIFICALLY IS REQUIRED FOR PA SUPPLEMENT SLEEP INCREASES. INDEPENDENT AIM 3 WILL TEST WHETHER PA INCREASES CONTRIBUTE TO THE WELL-DOCUMENTED WORSENING OF ALZHEIMER'S PATHOLOGY BY SD. MASS SPECTROMETRY WILL TEST WHETHER PA INCREASES OBSERVED IN MOUSE ALZHEIMER'S MODELS BY OTHERS, WHICH ARE VERY SIMILAR TO MY FLY SLEEP MUTANTS, CARRY OVER TO MULTIPLE FLY ALZHEIMER'S MODELS. I WILL ALSO TEST WHETHER BROAD PA SYNTHESIS RNAI THAT BLUNTS PRODUCTION OF ACETYL-PAS AND PUTRESCINE CAN BLOCK THE WORSENING EFFECTS OF SD IN MULTIPLE FLY ALZHEIMER'S MODELS. MEASURES OF PROTEIN PATHOLOGY, CELL DEATH, LETHALITY, AND MEMORY WILL BE USED AS METRICS. INDEPENDENT AIM 4 WILL TEST WHETHER PA SYNTHESIS IS SLEEP-REGULATED AND SLEEP-PROMOTING IN MOUSE BRAIN. MASS SPECTROMETRY UNDER CHRONIC ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT SD WILL TEST WHETHER MICE EXHIBIT SIMILAR PA CHANGES TO WHAT I OBSERVE IN MY FLY SLEEP MUTANTS. MOTION-SENSING AND EEG SLEEP METRICS WILL BE USED TO ASSESS WHETHER BOTH PA SUPPLEMENTATION AND PHARMACOLOGICAL DEPLETION OF PAS ALTER SLEEP IN MICE. ANY ONE OF THESE FOUR AIMS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO LAUNCH A LONG-RUNNING RESEARCH PROJECT IF SUCCESSFUL, ENHANCING MY ABILITY TO LAUNCH AN INDEPENDENT CAREER FROM THIS PROPOSAL. MY TRAINING PLAN BUILDS ON MY CORE MOUSE AND FLY SKILLSETS, ADDING IMPORTANT COMPLEMENTARY SKILLS IN GENETIC ENGINEERING, FLY MEMORY BEHAVIOR, SPECIALIZED MOUSE SLEEP BEHAVIOR PROTOCOLS, AND ISOTOPIC LABELING METABOLOMICS. MY TRAINING PLAN WILL ALSO ENHANCE MY THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE OF NEURODEGENERATION AND ENHANCE MY MENTORSHIP SKILLS. THIS PROPOSAL WILL GIVE ME THE DATA AND SKILLS I NEED TO SUCCEED AS AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATOR AT A RESEARCH INSTITUTION, BUILDING OUT A LAB OF MY OWN FOCUSED ON BIOCHEMICAL REGULATION OF HOMEOSTASIS, AND LINKAGES TO NEURAL PATHOLOGY.

STRUCTURED FLUIDS FROM REDUCED SYMMETRY MOLECULES

THE ROLE OF KISSPEPTIN/NEUROKININ B/DYNORPHIN (KNDY) NEURONS IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF POLYCYSTIC OVARIAN SYNDROME - PROJECT SUMMARY: POLYCYSTIC OVARIAN SYNDROME (PCOS) IS THE LEADING CAUSE OF INFERTILITY WORLDWIDE. THE CARDINAL FEATURES OF THE SYNDROME ARE ANOVULATORY AND CYSTIC OVARIES, DISRUPTED MENSTRUAL CYCLES AND HYPERANDROGENISM. THE OVARIES ARE CONTROLLED BY A SMALL GROUP OF NEURONS THAT RESIDE IN THE HYPOTHALAMUS, GONADOTROPIN-RELEASING HORMONE (GNRH) NEURONS. ACTIVITY IN THESE NEURONS REGULATE PULSATILE LUTEINIZING HORMONE (LH) RELEASE FROM THE PITUITARY GLAND, WHICH CONTROLS OVULATION AND SEX STEROID HORMONE PRODUCTION AT THE OVARY. STEROID HORMONES, IN TURN, ACT IN THE BRAIN THROUGH AN AFFERENT NEURONAL NETWORK TO PROVIDE CRITICAL FEEDBACK TO GNRH NEURONS. IN MANY WOMEN WITH PCOS THIS FEEDBACK PATHWAY IS IMPAIRED, RESULTING IN INCREASED GNRH/LH PULSE FREQUENCY WHICH DRIVES THE DOWNSTREAM CONSEQUENCES OF THE SYNDROME. NEURONS UPSTREAM FROM GNRH NEURONS THAT CO-EXPRESS THE PEPTIDES KISSPEPTIN, NEUROKININ B AND DYNORPHIN (KNDY NEURONS) ARE HEAVILY IMPLICATED IN BOTH STEROID HORMONE FEEDBACK AND GNRH/LH PULSE GENERATION, THEREFORE, PERTURBATIONS IN THE NORMAL FUNCTION OF THIS POPULATION MAY MANIFEST AS THE PCOS NEUROENDOCRINE PHENOTYPE. HOWEVER, RECENT EVIDENCE INDICATES THAT STEROID HORMONE SIGNALING DOES NOT OCCUR DIRECTLY AT THE LEVEL OF KNDY NEURONS, IMPLICATING IMPAIRED STEROID HORMONE FEEDBACK OCCURS WITHIN A POPULATION UPSTREAM TO KNDY NEURONS. AS THE IDENTITY OF AFFERENTS TO KNDY NEURONS IS LARGELY UNKNOWN, THE LONG TERM GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO CHARACTERIZE THE PHENOTYPE AND FUNCTIONAL ROLES OF NEURONAL POPULATIONS THAT REGULATE KNDY NEURON ACTIVITY, AND, DETERMINE WHETHER CHANGES IN THE IDENTIFIED NEURONS CONTRIBUTE TO THE PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF PCOS. TO ACHIEVE THIS, WE WILL USE A WELL CHARACTERIZED MOUSE MODEL OF PCOS INDUCED BY PRENATAL ANDROGEN TREATMENT. THE MENTORED PHASE OF THIS PROPOSAL WILL INCLUDE A SOPHISTICATED COMBINATION OF TRANSGENIC MICE, RABIES-MEDIATED TRACT TRACING TECHNIQUES, WHOLE BRAIN OPTICAL CLEARING AND THREE-DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS TO DEFINE THE UPSTREAM KNDY NEURONAL POPULATIONS AND DETERMINE WHETHER IMPAIRED GNRH/LH HYPERSECRETION IS THE RESULT OF ALTERED SYNAPTIC INPUT TO KNDY NEURONS (AIM 1) AND/OR ALTERED ACTIVITY OF AFFERENTS TO KNDY NEURONS (AIM 2). AT THE END OF MY MENTORED PHASE, I WILL HAVE GAINED EXPERTISE IN NEUROANATOMICAL TECHNIQUES NECESSARY FOR TRANSITIONING TO INDEPENDENCE IN MY FIELD AND TRAINED IN FUNCTIONAL TECHNIQUES REQUIRED FOR THE INDEPENDENT PHASE OF THIS PROPOSAL. IN AIM 3, I WILL USE CHEMOGENETIC AND/OR OPTOGENETIC TOOLS TO DEFINE WHETHER CHANGES IN THE REGULATION OF KNDY NEURONS BY AFFERENT POPULATIONS IS SUFFICIENT TO INCREASE GNRH/LH PULSATILE RELEASE. IN AIM 4, I WILL USE VIRAL-MEDIATED DELETION TECHNIQUES TO CONFIRM THAT IMPAIRED STEROID HORMONE SENSITIVITY IN AFFERENT NEURONS DRIVES DOWNSTREAM CHANGES AND RESULTS IN THE PCOS PHENOTYPE OF IMPAIRED STEROID HORMONE FEEDBACK AND RESULTANT INFERTILITY. THESE STUDIES HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO IDENTIFY NEW COMPONENTS OF THE CIRCUITRY CRITICAL FOR THE NEURONAL CONTROL OF FERTILITY, AND MAY PROVIDE NOVEL TARGETS FOR THE THERAPEUTIC TREATMENT OF PCOS IN ADULTHOOD, OR, TO PREVENT THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DISORDER IN YOUNG WOMEN.

ELECTRIC FIELD EFFECTS IN LIQUID CRYSTALS WITH DIELECTRIC DISPERSION

SIMULATING PHOTO-INDUCED ELECTRONIC ENERGY AND CHARGE TRANSFER DYNAMICS IN COMPLEX MOLECULAR SYSTEMS AND THEIR SPECTROSCOPIC SIGNATURE

COGNITIVE EFFECTS OF BARIATRIC SURGERY

CAREER: ATTENTION RELATED HEALTH COGNITIONS AS A CHRONIC STRESSOR -OBESITY HAS STEADILY RISEN IN THE UNITED STATES AND ABOUT HALF OF AMERICANS REPORT HAVING NEGATIVE EXPERIENCES RELATED TO THEIR BODY WEIGHT. IN RESPONSE, PEOPLE PAY MORE ATTENTION TO THE WORLD AROUND THEM TO IDENTIFY AND AVOID FUTURE NEGATIVE INTERACTIONS RELATED TO THEIR BODY WEIGHT. ALTHOUGH INCREASES IN ATTENTION TO BODY WEIGHT ARE MEANT TO PROTECT THE PERSON, IT MAY DO THE OPPOSITE BY CAUSING INCREASES IN STRESS AND COUNTERPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIORS. THIS NSF CAREER PROJECT EXAMINES WHETHER INCREASED ATTENTION TO BODY WEIGHT CAUSES PHYSICAL CHANGES IN THE BODY, PSYCHOLOGICAL CHANGES, AND BEHAVIORAL CHANGES. THIS WORK IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT IDENTIFIES PHYSICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND BEHAVIORAL INDICES THAT CAN BE TARGETED TO HELP REDUCE OBESITY AND SUPPORT A PHYSICALLY ACTIVE COUNTRY. THIS RESEARCH ESTABLISHES ATTENTION RELATED HEALTH COGNITIONS AS A CHRONIC STRESSOR WITH DIRECT IMPACTS ON PHYSIOLOGICAL, BEHAVIORAL, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL OUTCOMES. FIRST, IN THREE LAB EXPERIMENTS, THIS WORK TESTS WHETHER ATTENTION RELATED HEALTH COGNITIONS CAUSE INCREASES IN STRESS AND AROUSAL HORMONES, CHANGES IN EATING BEHAVIOR, CHANGES IN EMOTIONALITY, AND INCREASES IN THE PERCEIVED DIFFICULTY OF MODERATE EXERCISE. NEXT, USING SHORT-TERM LONGITUDINAL METHODS, THIS PROJECT EVALUATES WHETHER ATTENTION RELATED HEALTH COGNITIONS FIRST INDUCE RESTRICTIVE DIETING BEHAVIOR FOLLOWED BY OVEREATING OR BINGE EATING BEHAVIOR IN THE SAME DAY. IT ALSO TRACKS EMOTIONAL CHANGES THAT OCCUR WITH BODY-RELATED EXPERIENCES AND ATTENTION RELATED HEALTH COGNITIONS. FINALLY, THIS PROJECT HAS AN INTEGRATED EDUCATION PLAN THAT CREATES OPPORTUNITIES TO TRAIN OUTSTANDING EMERGING SCIENTISTS IN HIGH SCHOOL, COLLEGE, AND GRADUATE SCHOOL WITH NEW CLASSES ON BEHAVIORAL HEALTH, OPPORTUNITIES TO ENGAGE IN FIRSTHAND RESEARCH, AND BENEFITS FROM EVIDENCE-BASED MENTORING STRATEGIES. 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.

TRACK 1, GK-12: INQUIRY-BASED APPROACHES TO EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE

DEVELOPING NEUROENDOCRINE BRAIN, ANDROGEN, AND FIBROBLAST GROWTH FACTOR SIGNALING

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH WORKFORCE EDUCATION AND TRAINING (BHWET) PROGRAM

THE ROLE OF 14-3-3 PROTEINS IN OOGENESIS AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT

INVESTIGATIONS OF BARYON SPECTROSCOPY VIA ELECTROMAGNETIC AND HADRONIC SCATTERING

CAREER: DISENTANGLING THE CONTROLS AND IMPACTS OF SEDIMENTARY IRON CYCLING ACROSS ALASKAN CONTINENTAL SHELVES -THIS RESEARCH WILL EXAMINE HOW IRON CYCLES ON NORTHERN ALASKAN SHELVES. IRON IN ARCTIC SEDIMENTS CAN PLAY A KEY ROLE IN HOW NUTRIENTS AND OTHER ELEMENTS, INCLUDING TOXIC TRACE METALS AND ECONOMICALLY CRITICAL METALS, CYCLE BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE SEAFLOOR. IRON IS ALSO AN IMPORTANT NUTRIENT THAT CONTROLS HOW MUCH PRODUCTIVITY OCCURS IN THE SURFACE OCEAN, WHICH HAS IMPORTANT IMPLICATIONS FOR FISHERIES. OCEAN MARGIN SEDIMENTS MAY BE AN IMPORTANT SOURCE OF IRON TO THE ARCTIC OCEAN. A KEY PART OF THE PROJECT WILL FOCUS ON THE CHANGING IRON CONTENT OF ARCTIC RIVERS. THE PROJECT LEADER WILL DESIGN EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES TO TRAIN STUDENTS AT KENT STATE UNIVERSITY IN PLANNING OCEANOGRAPHIC FIELD WORK AND USING ELEMENTAL DATA TO STUDY DIFFERENT OCEAN PROCESSES. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO PROVIDE OUTREACH AND EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALASKAN STUDENTS AND WILL SUPPORT GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS. THE TEAM WILL DETERMINE THE DISTRIBUTION OF REACTIVE FE WITHIN SHELF SEDIMENTS, THE CONTROLS ON ACTIVE FE REMOBILIZATION, AND LINKS BETWEEN FE CYCLING AND OTHER NUTRIENTS, TOXIC TRACE METALS, AND ECONOMICALLY IMPORTANT METALS. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH INCLUDES AN EXPEDITION TO THE REGION TO COLLECT WATER COLUMN, SEDIMENT, AND POTENTIAL FERROMANGANESE CRUST SAMPLES ACROSS FOUR LAND TO SLOPE TRANSECTS. PAIRED POREWATER AND SEDIMENT GEOCHEMICAL RESULTS WILL BE USED TO DETERMINE THE MODERN EXCHANGE OF FE AND OTHER ELEMENTS ACROSS THE SEDIMENT WATER INTERFACE. LONGER SEDIMENT CORES WILL BE USED FOR PALEOCEANOGRAPHIC RECONSTRUCTIONS OF PAST CHANGES IN IRON CYCLING. EDUCATION PLANS FOR THE PROJECT WILL INTEGRATE RESEARCH EFFORTS AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE PROPOSED OCEANOGRAPHIC EXPEDITION AND SURROUNDING ACTIVITIES TO ENGAGE WITH ALASKAN MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS, DEVELOP NEW SKILLS-BASED CURRICULUM FOR UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS AT KENT STATE UNIVERSITY, AND TRAIN STUDENTS IN SEAGOING AND LABORATORY RESEARCH TECHNIQUES. 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.

MATERNAL BEHAVIOR AMONG PUERTO RICAN ADOLESCENT MOTHERS

DOPAMINE D3 AGONISTS: DEVELOPING TREATMENTS FOR SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION IN CHRONIC SPINAL CORD-INJURED MALE RATS

THEORETICAL INTERPRETATION OF DATA OBTAINED IN HIGH ENERGY NUCLEAR COLLISIONS

REGULATION OF SPERM FUNCTION BY PROTEIN PHOSPHORYLATION

"LIGHT-DRIVEN CHIRAL MOLECULAR MOTORS FOR PASSIVE AGILE FILTERS"

CI-ADDO-EN: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ENHANCING THE SRCML INFRASTRUCTURE: A MIXED-LANGUAGE EXPLORATION, ANALYSIS, AND MANIPULATION FRAMEWORK TO SUPPORT

THE EFFECT OF AGING ON NEUROTRANSMITTERS AND MOTOR PERFORMANCE IN A PRIMATE MODEL - PROJECT SUMMARY THE AGING BRAIN UNDERGOES FLUCTUATIONS IN NEUROTRANSMITTERS AND GENE EXPRESSION, VOLUMETRIC ATROPHY, CELLULAR SENESCENCE, VASCULAR DYSFUNCTION, NEUROINFLAMMATION, AND COGNITIVE DEFICITS. AGE ALSO IS A RISK FACTOR FOR DEVELOPING NEURODEGENERATIVE DISORDERS LIKE ALZHEIMER'S (AD) AND PARKINSON'S DISEASES (PD). THE CURRENT PRIMARY THERAPIES FOR AD AND PD TARGET TRANSMISSION OF NEUROTRANSMITTERS ACETYLCHOLINE AND DOPAMINE, AND NEUROTRANSMITTER DEFICIENCIES ARE ASSOCIATED WITH COGNITIVE AND MOTOR IMPAIRMENTS. THUS, INVESTIGATING SPECIES DIFFERENCES IN NEUROTRANSMITTERS IS VITAL TO DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE MODELS OF AGE-RELATED NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS. NONHUMAN PRIMATES, PARTICULARLY CHIMPANZEES, ARE AN INVALUABLE RESOURCE FOR AGING STUDIES. LIKE HUMANS, OLDER APES EXPERIENCE MILD DECLINE IN MEMORY, EXECUTIVE FUNCTION, AND COGNITIVE FLEXIBILITY, AND THEIR BRAINS BEAR REMARKABLE SIMILARITIES TO ELDERLY HUMANS IN GENE EXPRESSION, CEREBROVASCULAR DYSFUNCTION, AND NEUROINFLAMMATION. CHIMPANZEES ALSO EXHIBIT THE AD HALLMARKS OF AMYLOID-BETA PLAQUES AND NEUROFIBRILLARY TANGLES IN THE ABSENCE OF SIGNIFICANT NEURONAL LOSS OR DEMENTIA SYMPTOMS. ONE POSSIBILITY FOR THE LACK OF SEVERE COGNITIVE DECLINE IN CHIMPANZEES, DESPITE THE PRESENCE OF AD LESIONS, MAY BE SPECIES-SPECIFIC ALTERATIONS IN NEUROTRANSMITTERS. WHILE PRIOR STUDIES REPORT MILD AGE-RELATED CHOLINERGIC AND DOPAMINERGIC REDUCTIONS IN AGED MACAQUE BRAINS, THE EFFECT OF AGING AND AD PATHOLOGY ON NEUROTRANSMITTERS IN CHIMPANZEES REMAINS UNKNOWN. TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE, WE WILL INVESTIGATE NEUROTRANSMITTER GENE EXPRESSION AND PROTEIN LEVELS IN THE CHIMPANZEE BRAIN FOR AGE-, SEX- AND AD PATHOLOGY-RELATED CHANGES AS OBSERVED IN HUMANS. UTILIZING IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY, UNBIASED STEREOLOGY, AND POSTMORTEM BRAIN SAMPLES FROM ADULT AND AGED CHIMPANZEES PREVIOUSLY IDENTIFIED WITH AD PATHOLOGY, WE WILL MEASURE NEUROTRANSMITTER NEURON OR AXON LENGTH DENSITIES FOR: DOPAMINE IN THE DORSAL STRIATUM AND MIDBRAIN; ACETYLCHOLINE IN THE DORSAL STRIATUM, BASAL FOREBRAIN, AND PONS; SEROTONIN IN THE RAPHE NUCLEUS; AND NOREPINEPHRINE IN THE LOCUS COERULEUS. WE ALSO WILL EXAMINE EXPRESSION OF GENES INVOLVED IN THE TRANSMISSION AND METABOLISM OF NEUROTRANSMITTERS USING BULK RNA SEQUENCING AND FROZEN BRAIN SPECIMENS FROM YOUNG AND AGED CHIMPANZEES WITH AND WITHOUT AD PATHOLOGY. TO DETERMINE IF MODIFICATIONS IN NEUROTRANSMITTERS CORRELATE WITH BEHAVIORAL CHANGES, WE WILL USE ARCHIVAL BEHAVIORAL DATA. IN ADDITION, WE WILL ASSESS LONGITUDINAL CHANGES IN COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS USING AN AUTOMATED TOUCHSCREEN TESTING SYSTEM, MOTOR SKILL ON A TOOL USE TASK, WALKING SPEED, AND AGONISTIC AND AFFILIATIVE SOCIAL INTERACTIONS IN A COHORT OF LIVING CHIMPANZEES. DISTINGUISHING IF SPECIES DIFFERENCES IN NEUROTRANSMITTER SYSTEMS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH AGE-RELATED BEHAVIORAL CHANGES IS ESSENTIAL FOR IMPROVING CURRENT MODELS OF NEURODEGENERATIVE AND PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS, AND THIS PROPOSAL WILL FILL A CRITICAL GAP IN OUR EVOLUTIONARY KNOWLEDGE OF THE INFLUENCE OF AGING AND AD NEUROPATHOLOGY ON NEUROTRANSMITTERS IN CHIMPANZEES, OUR CLOSEST LIVING ANCESTOR.

MRI: ACQUISITION OF AN ULTRASMALL-, SMALL- AND WIDE-ANGLE X-RAY SCATTERING INSTRUMENT FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY ADVANCED MATERIALS AND SOFT MATTER RESEARCH AND EDUCATION

BARYON SPECTROSCOPY THROUGH PARTIAL-WAVE ANALYSIS AND MESON PHOTOPRODUCTION

DMREF/COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CHEMORESPONSIVE LIQUID CRYSTALS BASED ON METAL ION-LIGAND COORDINATION

NORTHEAST OHIO MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS TRAINING (NEO MHAT) - NORTHEAST OHIO MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS TRAININGS (NEO MHAT) IS A COLLABORATIVE PROJECT SPANNING 69 SCHOOL DISTRICTS LOCATED IN NINE COUNTIES IN NORTHEAST OHIO, INCLUDING LARGE CITIES LIKE CLEVELAND AND AKRON. NEO MHAT WILL UTILIZE EVIDENCE-BASED MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS TRAININGS AND COMMUNITY RESOURCE EDUCATION TO TRAIN TEACHERS AND RELEVANT SCHOOL PERSONNEL TO CONNECT CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN A SCHOOL SETTING TO APPROPRIATE MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES. USING QUESTION, PERSUADE, REFER (QPR) AND YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID (YMHFA), NEO MHAT WILL TRAIN TEACHERS AND RELEVANT SCHOOL PERSONNEL ON HOW TO RECOGNIZE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF MENTAL DISORDERS, HOW TO SAFELY DE-ESCALATE CRISIS SITUATIONS, AND WILL PROVIDE EDUCATION ON APPROPRIATE RESOURCES AVAILABLE IN THE COMMUNITY. THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS NEO MHAT SERVES INCLUDES NEARLY 261,000 STUDENT, AND 89,673 (34%) OF THOSE STUDENTS ARE IN THE CLEVELAND MUNICIPAL SCHOOL DISTRICT OR PART OF FIRST RING SCHOOL COLLABORATIVE, WHICH ADDRESS POVERTY, DIVERSITY, MOBILITY, AND ACHIEVEMENT GAPS. FOR THIS GROUP OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH, 29% ARE WHITE, 54% ARE BLACK, 11% ARE HISPANIC OR LATINO, 6% ARE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE LEARNERS, 75% ARE ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED, AND 19% HAVE A DISABILITY. ACCORDING TO THE NORTHEAST OHIO YOUTH HEALTH SURVEY (2021), 35% OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH REPORTED HAVING A MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEM AND 32% HAD THOUGHTS ABOUT KILLING THEMSELF. OF THE LGBTQ YOUTH IN OHIO, 46% SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED SUICIDE IN THE PAST YEAR, 14% ATTEMPTED SUICIDE, 77% REPORTED EXPERIENCING SYMPTOMS OF ANXIETY, AND 62% REPORTED EXPERIENCING SYMPTOMS OF DEPRESSION. (TREVOR PROJECT, 2022). WHILE THERE ARE NUMEROUS BEHAVIORAL HEALTH AGENCIES IN THE NINE COUNTIES, TEACHERS AND RELEVANT SCHOOL PERSONNEL NEED MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS TRAININGS, WHICH WILL ALLOW THEM TO IDENTIFY SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF MENTAL DISORDERS IN CHILDREN AND YOUTH AND THEN PROVIDE EDUCATION AND RESOURCES TO THOSE INDIVIDUALS AND THEIR PARENTS/GUARDIANS. THE GOALS OF THE PROJECT ARE (1) CERTIFY 36 QPR INSTRUCTORS (12 EACH YEAR OVER 3 YEARS), CERTIFY 6 YMHFA INSTRUCTORS (2 EACH YEAR OVER 3 YEARS), AND TRAIN 2,200 INDIVIDUALS IN QPR OR YMHFA (600 IN YEAR 1, 800 IN YEAR 2, AND 800 IN YEAR 3); (2) IDENTIFY A DIVERSE GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS TO RECEIVE TRAININGS; (3) DEVELOP WRITTEN AND ELECTRONIC MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCE MATERIALS FOR INDIVIDUALS TRAINED; (4) CREATE A REFERRAL GUIDE FOR THOSE TRAINED AND LAUNCH HEAR TO HELP—A STIGMA REDUCTION CAMPAIGN DESIGNED TO INCREASE HELP-SEEKING BEHAVIOR AND REFERRALS TO MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES; (5) DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT A MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS TRAINING PLAN, WHICH INCLUDES CULTURALLY AND DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE TRAININGS AND MATERIALS; (6) DEVELOP COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIPS WITH AGENCIES IN THE COMMUNITY TO IMPROVE COORDINATION OF SERVICES; (7) UTILIZE SOCIAL MEDIA TO DISSEMINATE INFORMATION RELATED TO NEO MHAT; (8) DEVELOP A SOCIAL MARKETING AND AWARENESS CAMPAIGN TO REDUCE STIGMA ABOUT PERSONS WITH MENTAL ILLNESS AND RAISE AWARENESS OF THE NEED FOR CULTURALLY COMPETENT AND DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE SERVICES FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH. NEO MHAT WILL CONSIST OF A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN KENT STATE UNIVERSITY, EDUCATIONAL SERVICE CENTER OF NORTHEAST OHIO, STARK COUNTY EDUCATIONAL SERVICE CENTER, ALCOHOL DRUG ADDICTION & MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES BOARD OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY, STARK COUNTY MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTION RECOVERY, AND COMMUNITY AGENCIES IN NORTHEAST OHIO.

PFI: PARTNERSHIP FOR INNOVATION ON LIQUID-CRYSTAL POLYMER INTERFACES

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR BROADENING PARTICIPATION IN SCIENCE

HYDRODYNAMICS AND ELECTROKINETICS OF FERROELECTRIC NEMATIC -NON-TECHNICAL ABSTRACT: NEMATIC LIQUID CRYSTALS ARE FLUIDS FORMED BY ORIENTATIONALLY ORDERED ROD-LIKE MOLECULES. THE COMBINATION OF FLUIDITY AND ORIENTATIONAL ORDER MAKES THEM HIGHLY RESPONSIVE TO EXTERNAL ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS, A PROPERTY THAT REVOLUTIONIZED THE INDUSTRY OF INFORMATIONAL DISPLAYS. FOR MORE THAN 100 YEARS, RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS FOCUSED ON NEMATICS WITH A NONPOLAR ORIENTATIONAL ORDER THAT DOES NOT DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE HEADS AND TAILS OF THE MOLECULES. IT WAS ESTABLISHED THAT THE FLUID PROPERTIES OF THESE NON-POLAR NEMATICS ARE INCREDIBLY COMPLEX, WITH FIVE DIFFERENT VISCOSITY COEFFICIENTS AND A VARIETY OF FLOW REGIMES, SUCH AS FLOW-ALIGNING, TUMBLING, LOGROLLING, KAYAKING, BACK-FLOWING, ETC. PRIOR STUDIES UNCOVERED HOW ONE CAN CONTROL THE FLOWS TO ENABLE USEFUL FUNCTIONALITIES, SUCH AS OPTICAL CONTRAST SWITCHING IN LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAYS OR PRODUCTION OF HIGHLY ORDERED KEVLAR POLYMERS WITH A HIGH TENSILE STRENGTH. THE PROJECT EXPLORES FLOWS IN NEWLY DISCOVERED FERROELECTRIC NEMATIC LIQUID CRYSTALS, IN WHICH THE ORIENTATIONAL ORDER IS POLAR, WITH ALL THE MOLECULES POINTING IN THE SAME DIRECTION, THUS BUILDING A MACROSCOPIC ELECTRIC POLARIZATION. THE ACTIVITY?S BROADER SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPORTANCE IN RESEARCH AND EDUCATION IS THAT IT ESTABLISHES HOW THE HYDRODYNAMIC FLOWS OF FERROELECTRIC NEMATIC FLUIDS ARE TRIGGERED BY EXTERNALLY APPLIED SHEAR AND BY THE APPLICATION OF ELECTRIC FIELD. UNDERSTANDING FLOWS OF FERROELECTRIC FLUIDS HAS THE POTENTIAL FOR ENORMOUS SOCIETAL BENEFITS IN THE TECHNOLOGIES OF THE FUTURE, WHICH EXPLOIT THE UNIQUE SENSITIVITY OF THE FERROELECTRIC NEMATICS TO WEAK ELECTRIC FIELDS. THE DATA FORM AN IMPORTANT BACKGROUND FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF MINIATURE MACHINES AND ACTUATORS. THE RESEARCH PROVIDES AN EXCELLENT PLATFORM TO EDUCATE STUDENTS IN MATERIALS SCIENCE, OUT-OF-EQUILIBRIUM PHENOMENA, HYDRODYNAMICS, ELECTROKINETICS, AND ADVANCED MICROSCOPY. THE ACTIVITY EDUCATES A NEW AND DIVERSE GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS WITH FUNDAMENTAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL EXPERTISE IN ADVANCED SOFT MATERIALS. THE RESEARCH INVOLVES FEMALE GRADUATE STUDENTS, HIGH SCHOOLERS, AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS. TECHNICAL ABSTRACT: EXPLORATION OF FERROELECTRIC NEMATIC FLUIDS, WHICH STARTED ONLY A FEW YEARS AGO, IS AN EXPLOSIVELY GROWING FASCINATING AREA. THE PROJECT ANSWERS FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS OF HOW THE ELECTRIC POLARIZATION OF FERROELECTRIC NEMATIC BEHAVES UNDER SHEAR, HOW SURFACE ANCHORING PATTERNING SHAPES ELECTRO-OSMOTIC FLOWS, AND WHAT ARE THE MECHANISMS OF ELECTROPHORESIS OF COLLOIDS IN THE FERROELECTRIC FLUID ENVIRONMENT AND FERROELECTRIC DROPLETS IN ISOTROPIC ELECTROLYTES. THE INTELLECTUAL MERIT IS IN UNVEILING NEW PHYSICS OF FLUID FERROELECTRICS AND ADVANCING THE KNOWLEDGE OF MECHANISMS BY WHICH THE UNIFORM AND SPATIALLY VARYING PREDESIGNED POLARIZATION FIELD CAN COMMAND THE DYNAMICS IN RESPONSE TO THE EXTERNAL ELECTRIC FIELD. THE RESEARCH UNVEILS THE REMARKABLE POTENTIAL OF FERROELECTRIC NEMATICS TO CONVERT THE ENERGY OF THE ENVIRONMENT INTO SYSTEMATIC AND CONTROLLED DIRECTIONAL MOVEMENT AT THE MICROSCALE. THE DYNAMICS OF FERROELECTRIC NEMATICS IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE SCIENCE OF OUT-OF-EQUILIBRIUM PHENOMENA. THE EXPERIMENTS COMBINE PRECISION SHEAR-PRODUCING AND SHEAR-CHARACTERIZING RHEOMETERS WITH STATE-OF-THE-ART MODERN OPTICS TECHNIQUES SUCH AS POLARIZING MICROSCOPY, SECOND HARMONIC GENERATION MICROSCOPY, FLUORESCENCE CONFOCAL POLARIZING MICROSCOPY. 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.

NEW LIQUID CRYSTAL MATERIALS FACILITY

ADOLESCENT DATING VIOLENCE: DEVELOPMENT OF A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: HARNESSING THE CHIRALITY MATCHING PRINCIPLE FOR ENHANCED CATALYTIC REACTIVITY -WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE CHEMICAL CATALYSIS PROGRAM IN THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY, HARBIN MAO AND HAO SHEN OF KENT STATE UNIVERSITY (KSU) AND WEI-SHUN CHANG OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS, DARTMOUTH (UMASSD), ARE STUDYING HOW CHIRALITY (NON-SUPERIMPOSABLE MIRROR CONFIGURATIONS) MATCHING CAN BE USED TO ENHANCE CATALYST DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE. DEVELOPING CATALYSTS WITH BETTER EFFICIENCY TO CARRY OUT A CHEMICAL REACTION WOULD BE CONSEQUENTIAL FOR A VARIETY OF FIELDS INCLUDING SYNTHETIC CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS SCIENCE, AND BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE. IN THE PROPOSED RESEARCH PROJECT, CHIRALITY MATCHING BETWEEN THE GOLD CORE AND THE COATING MATERIAL (I.E., DNA) WILL BE EXAMINED IN AN EFFORT TO OPTIMIZE THE CATALYTIC EFFICIENCY OF SUCH SYSTEMS. THIS RESEARCH PROJECT AIMS TO SYNERGIZE EXPERTISE IN DNA BIOMATERIALS WITH EXPERTISE IN FORCE-BASED SINGLE-MOLECULE BIOPHYSICS (MAO) AND IN SINGLE-MOLECULE FLUORESCENCE AND IN CATALYSIS (SHEN), AND IN SINGLE PARTICLE SPECTROSCOPY AND MICROSCOPY (CHANG). THIS INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENCE IS EXPECTED TO PROVIDE A RICH LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR A DIVERSE RESEARCH TEAM THAT INCLUDES MEMBERS OF UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS ACROSS ITS HIGH-SCHOOL, COLLEGE, AND GRADUATE STUDENT MEMBERS. THESE STUDENTS WILL CLOSELY INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER VIA JOINT RESEARCH MEETINGS AS WELL AS FREQUENT VISITS BETWEEN KSU AND UMASSD. IN THIS RESEARCH PROJECT, THIS HIGHLY COLLABORATIVE TEAM PROPOSES THAT CHARGE TRANSFER EXISTS WITHIN A CATALYST DURING A CATALYTIC REACTION, WHICH COULD BE MODULATED BY MATCHING THE CHIRAL COMPONENTS IN THE CATALYST. A MODULAR ARTIFICIAL ENZYME, ?CORONAZYME?, HAS BEEN DEVELOPED AS THE PLATFORM TO TEST THE HYPOTHESIS. THIS CORONAZYME CONSISTS OF A GOLD NANOPARTICLE AS A CORE AND DNA AS A COATING MATERIAL, WITH EACH COMPONENT ASSUMING LEFT-HANDED OR RIGHT-HANDED CHIRALITY. THE MATCHING OF THE CHIRALITY IN COMBINATION WITH EXTERNAL CIRCULARLY POLARIZED LIGHT EXCITATION COULD YIELD NOVEL CATALYSTS WITH SUPERIOR PERFORMANCES TO THEIR PREDECESSORS. THE RESEARCH PROJECT AIMS TO ESTABLISH THIS CHIRALITY MATCHING PRINCIPLE, WHICH, IF SUCCESSFUL, CAN LIKELY BE EXTENDED TO THE FIELDS BEYOND CATALYSIS, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE MOLECULAR RECOGNITION EMPLOYED IN MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT AND SENSING 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.

OAC CORE: INTERPRETABLE RESILIENCE ANALYSIS PLATFORM FOR SCIENTIFIC WORKFLOW APPLICATIONS -FOR YEARS, SCIENTISTS HAVE CONTINUED TO IMPROVE THE PERFORMANCE OF THE SIMULATIONS WHERE RESILIENCE WAS NEGLECTED. THIS APPROACH WAS DRIVEN BY A LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF THE CAUSE AND EFFECT IN RESILIENCE ANALYSIS. WHILE THE CURRENT RESILIENCE ANALYSIS TOOL CONTINUES TO LACK TRANSPARENCY AND INTERPRETABILITY, IT IS CRITICAL THAT THE IMPORTANCE OF RESILIENCE ANALYSIS IS PROMOTED AND THAT SCIENTISTS ARE EDUCATED ON ITS CRITICALITY. THIS PROJECT'S NOVELTIES ARE REDEFINING THE RESILIENCE ANALYSIS IN TERMS OF INTERPRETABILITY AND EXPLAINABILITY. THE APPROACH IS SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT FROM EXISTING ENDEAVORS. IT CAN EXPLAIN OR IDENTIFY THE LOGIC BEHIND THESE PREDICTIONS AND DIFFERENTIATE THE FUNCTIONS AND USAGES OF THE EXISTING TOOLS BUILT ON DIFFERENT THEORIES. THE PROJECT'S IMPACTS INCLUDE DESIGNING A NEW RESILIENCE ASSESSMENT SYSTEM USING VISUALIZATION AND DEVOPS TO ENABLE TRANSPARENT RESILIENCE ANALYSIS, VULNERABILITY POSITIONING, AND AUTOMATION OF RESILIENCE CONTINUOUS INTEGRATION. THE PROJECT WORK WITH NSF AND DOE-SPONSORED SUPERCOMPUTING CENTERS TO ADOPT THE SYSTEM WITH PROVEN SUCCESS. GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS, ESPECIALLY FROM UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS, WILL BE TRAINED IN MULTIPLE DISCIPLINES THAT WILL ENABLE THEM TO HAVE SUCCESSFUL CAREERS IN COMPUTING/SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AREAS THAT ARE BECOMING INCREASINGLY INTERDISCIPLINARY. THIS PROJECT BUILDS UPON EXISTING KNOWLEDGE TO CREATE A NEW INSIGHTFUL APPROACH THAT ENABLES THE RESILIENCE PROPERTY OF SCIENTIFIC APPLICATIONS TO BE ASSESSED UNDER THE INEVITABLE EXISTENCE OF SURGING SOFT ERRORS IN NEXT-GENERATION HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING SYSTEMS. THIS PROJECT WILL BRING FURTHER CLARITY, INSIGHT, AND UNDERSTANDING INTO HOW SYSTEMS BEHAVE WHILE RUNNING HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING SCIENTIFIC WORKLOADS COMPOSED OF PARALLEL SIMULATIONS FOR DATA GENERATION, BIG DATA ANALYTICS, AND MACHINE LEARNING TO EXTRACT DATA INSIGHTS IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. THE PROJECT PROPOSES 1.) THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN ERROR PROPAGATION ANALYSIS PLATFORM, WHICH CREATES INTERPRETABLE VISUALIZATION OF THE CRITICAL PATHS AND CRITICAL SECTIONS OF THE CODES; 2.) ANALYTICS TO ALLOW DOMAIN SCIENTISTS TO COMPARE AND CONTRAST THE DIFFERENT RESILIENCE MODELS ON THE SIMULATION CODES; 3.) A CONTINUOUS RESILIENCE ASSESSMENT (RESILIENCE CI) THAT CAN BE INTEGRATED INTO A STANDARD CONTINUOUS INTEGRATION TO AUTOMATE THE PROCEDURE; WHEREBY THE RESILIENCE PROPERTY BETWEEN COMMITTED VERSIONS WILL BE DELIVERED TO DEVELOPERS AS A STANDARD REPORT AND TO SUPPORT THE DEVOPS OF EXA-SCALE SCIENTIFIC APPLICATIONS; AND 4.) QUANTUM CHEMISTRY WORKFLOW WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE EVALUATION AS THE DRIVER APPLICATIONS. THE PROJECT'S OUTCOMES, SUCH AS TUTORIALS, COLLECTED DATA, AND THE VISUALIZATION SOFTWARE SYSTEM, CAN ENCOURAGE THE APPLICATION DEVELOPERS TO INCORPORATE COST-EFFECTIVE FAULT TOLERANCE STRATEGIES. IN ADDITION, THE INVESTIGATORS WILL INCORPORATE RESEARCH OUTCOMES IN NEW COURSES AND TUTORIALS FOR THE WORKFORCE TRAINING. THE PROJECT WILL ENGAGE AND ADVANCE THE PARTNERSHIP WITH THE INDUSTRY FOR COMMERCIALIZATION. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

CAREER: THE RESEARCH OF NOISE-AWARE SCHEDULING FOR NOISY INTERMEDIATE-SCALE QUANTUM SYSTEMS -IN THE NOISY INTERMEDIATE-SCALE QUANTUM (NISQ) ERA, IT IS CRUCIAL TO IMPROVE THE FIDELITY OF QUANTUM COMPUTING, ENABLING THE CORRECTNESS OF QUANTUM ALGORITHMS. DESIGNERS OF QUANTUM ALGORITHMS NEED TO CLEARLY UNDERSTAND THE HIDDEN NOISE OF DIFFERENT QUANTUM COMPUTERS AND THE NOISE INSIDE DIFFERENT COMPILED CIRCUITS ON THE SAME QUANTUM COMPUTER FOR A SPECIFIC QUANTUM ALGORITHM. HOWEVER, THIS IS NOT A TRIVIAL TASK. THE COMMUNITY LACKS A SYSTEMATIC SOLUTION TO OVERCOME THE IMPACT OF NOISE ON THE EXECUTION OF THE JOBS. EXISTING ERROR MITIGATION METHODS SUFFER FROM UNAFFORDABLE OVERHEAD OR UNPREDICTABLE PERFORMANCE. THE PROPOSED APPROACH ADDRESSES THE MAJOR CHALLENGES THAT COME FROM THE COMPLEX AND DYNAMICALLY EVOLVING QUALITY OF QUANTUM COMPUTERS AND SIGNIFICANT VARIATIONS OF THE COMPILED CIRCUITS. THE PROJECT'S IMPACTS INCLUDE DESIGNING A NOVEL NOISE-AWARE SCHEDULING SYSTEM FOR QUANTUM CLOUD SYSTEMS AND A SIMULATION FRAMEWORK FOR TESTING SCHEDULING ALGORITHMS FOR QUANTUM CLOUD SYSTEMS. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL ENHANCE THE UTILIZATION AND EFFICIENCY OF THE NISQ-ERA QUANTUM CLOUD SYSTEM. THE PROPOSED CLOUD SYSTEM SIMULATION TOOLKIT BRIDGES THE GAP OF THE LACK OF AN EXPERIMENTAL PLATFORM FOR QUANTUM CLOUD SYSTEM RESEARCH BY ENABLING A SIMULATION PLATFORM FOR NEW RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND SCHEDULING APPROACHES. IN ADDITION, THE CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT AND THE STUDENT TRAINING PROGRAM SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF A DIVERSE AND COMPETITIVE WORKFORCE OF QUANTUM INFORMATION AND SCIENCE. NEW COURSES AND NEW CURRICULUM CONCENTRATIONS IN QUANTUM COMPUTING WILL BE DEVELOPED. GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS, ESPECIALLY FROM UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS, WILL BE TRAINED IN MULTIPLE DISCIPLINES THAT WILL ENABLE THEM TO HAVE SUCCESSFUL CAREERS IN QUANTUM INFORMATION AND SCIENCE. THIS PROJECT BUILDS UPON EXISTING KNOWLEDGE TO CREATE A NEW INSIGHTFUL APPROACH THAT ENABLES THE EFFICIENT USAGE OF NOISY QUANTUM COMPUTERS. THIS PROJECT PRESENTS THE NOVELTY OF THE RESEARCH, PRACTICAL VALUE, AND DOMAIN IMPACTS. THE RESEARCH TEAM WILL DESIGN, DEVELOP, AND APPLY NEW METHODS TO 1) PROFILE AND MODEL HARDWARE FIDELITY'S TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL PATTERN, STUDY THE SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL NOISE MODEL BASED ON THE TEMPORAL PATTERN, AND FURTHER BUILD THE FIDELITY FORECAST MODE; 2) BUILD A NOVEL NOISE-AWARE SCHEDULING SYSTEM, WHICH PROPOSES THE OPTIMAL SCHEDULING APPROACH FOR BACKEND ALLOCATION AND QUBIT ALLOCATION BASED ON THE CIRCUIT NOISE TOLERANCE FACTOR AND THE PREDICTION OF THE HARDWARE FIDELITY; 3) BUILD QUANTUM CLOUD SIMULATION TOOLKIT TO ALLOW THE QUANTUM SYSTEM ENGINEERS AND RESEARCHERS TO TEST AND EVALUATE THE NEW RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND SCHEDULING STRATEGIES; 4) BUILD A NEW TRAINING PROGRAM ?QUANTUM COMPUTING FOR ALL?, BY COMPILING THE RESEARCH OUTCOMES TO FOSTER THE WORKFORCE OF QUANTUM INFORMATION AND SCIENCE. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

PHASE BEHAVIOR AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THERMOTROPIC AND LYOTROPIC LIQUID CRYSTAL OLIGOMERS

STRUCTURE OF THE NUCLEON AND FEW-BODY NUCLEAR SYSTEMS WITH ELECTRON SCATTERING

FIELD INITIATED

CAREER: TRANSACTIONAL MEMORY FOR DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS

CAREER: TOWARDS SAFE AND INTERPRETABLE AUTONOMY IN HEALTHCARE -THIS FACULTY EARLY CAREER DEVELOPMENT (CAREER) GRANT WILL FUND RESEARCH THAT ENABLES NEW KNOWLEDGE RELATED TO SAFE AND INTERPRETABLE AUTONOMOUS MEDICATION DOSING IN CRITICAL CARE, THEREBY PROMOTING THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE AND ADVANCING NATIONAL HEALTH, PROSPERITY, AND WELFARE. SUBSTANTIAL CHALLENGES IN MODELING, CONTROL, AND TESTING CURRENTLY IMPEDE THE APPLICATION OF THEORETICAL AUTONOMY IN PRACTICAL HEALTHCARE. BY CONCENTRATING ON INFUSION THERAPY, THE PROJECT INTENDS TO DEVELOP FOUNDATIONAL CAPABILITIES FOR OVERCOMING AUTONOMY BARRIERS IN CRITICAL CARE DRUG DOSING. THE SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THIS PROJECT WILL SET THE STAGE FOR THE SEAMLESS INCORPORATION OF AUTONOMOUS ALGORITHMS INTO CLINICAL SETTINGS. FURTHERMORE, THE PROJECT IS COMMITTED TO EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE AND OUTREACH, AIMING TO ENGAGE UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES AND PROVIDE COMPREHENSIVE LEARNING AND TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS AT ALL LEVELS. FOCUSING ON THE SAFE AND INTERPRETABLE AUTONOMY, THESE INITIATIVES INCLUDE ENRICHING THE EXISTING ENGINEERING CURRICULUM, DEVELOPING EDUCATIONAL MODULES FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, MENTORING CAPSTONE PROJECTS, PROVIDING COLLEGE COACHING, AND ORGANIZING REGULAR LAB TOURS TO FOSTER INTEREST IN STEM FIELDS AND PROMOTE INCLUSIVITY. THE RESEARCH AIMS TO MERGE INSIGHTS FROM MACHINE LEARNING, CONTROL SYSTEMS, PROBABILITY MODELING, AND CAUSAL INFERENCE TO INNOVATE IN THE DOMAIN OF AUTONOMOUS MEDICATION DOSING FOR CRITICAL CARE. THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE IS TO ENABLE A HOLISTIC, INTEGRATED AUTONOMOUS FRAMEWORK THAT ACCOUNTS FOR UNCERTAINTY AND DATA SCARCITY IN THE MODELING OF HEMODYNAMIC SYSTEMS, WHILE ENSURING THEIR CONTROL REMAINS SAFE, RELIABLE, AND INTERPRETABLE. THE APPROACH IS THREEFOLD: FIRST, A HOLISTIC MODELING FRAMEWORK WILL BE DEVELOPED TO ESTIMATE UNCERTAINTIES AND ENHANCE PREDICTION ACCURACY FOR HEMODYNAMIC RESPONSES, INTEGRATING BAYESIAN INFERENCE, AUTOENCODER LEARNING, THE UNSCENTED KALMAN FILTER, AND BAYESIAN OPTIMIZATION. SECOND, A NOVEL CONTROL ALGORITHM WILL BE ESTABLISHED, FOCUSING ON THE SAFETY AND INTERPRETABILITY OF DOSING DECISIONS, LEVERAGING DOSE-RESPONSE INSIGHTS FROM BAYESIAN CAUSAL MODELS, AND OPTIMIZING REINFORCEMENT LEARNING POLICIES WITHIN A SAFETY-CENTRIC FRAMEWORK. LASTLY, THE PROJECT WILL TEST AND VALIDATE THESE ADVANCEMENTS ACROSS VARIOUS CRITICAL CARE SCENARIOS, PARTICULARLY IN THE MANAGEMENT OF CIRCULATORY SHOCKS, AND DEVELOP NEW TESTING METHODOLOGIES TO ASSESS THE SAFETY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THE AUTONOMY. THIS PROJECT IS POISED TO CONTRIBUTE SIGNIFICANTLY TO THE FIELD, ENHANCING THE RELIABILITY AND INTERPRETABILITY OF AUTONOMOUS MEDICATION DOSING SYSTEMS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

FACTORS AFFECTING GUIDED IMAGERY RESPONSE IN TOTAL KNEE REPLACEMENT

THE GREAT LAKES IS THE LARGEST SURFACE FRESHWATER SYSTEM ON EARTH. THIS SYSTEM PROVIDES WATER FOR CONSUMPTION, TRANSPORTATION, POWER, FISHERIES AND A

CELLULAR MECHANISM OF ARID1B HAPLOINSUFFICIENCY-ASSOCIATED SOCIAL DEFICIT - PROJECT SUMMARY AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER (ASD) IS CHARACTERIZED BY IMPAIRED SOCIAL INTERACTION AND COMMUNICATION AS WELL AS REPETITIVE BEHAVIOR. WHILE ASD BEHAVIORS ARE WELL DESCRIBED, THE PATHOLOGICAL MECHANISM UNDERLYING THIS DEVELOPMENTAL CONDITION REMAINS UNKNOWN. THERE ARE NO PHARMACOLOGICAL AND/OR GENETIC PREVENTIONS OR CURES FOR ASD. DEVELOPMENT OF THERAPEUTIC TOOLS REQUIRES IDENTIFICATION OF CAUSATIVE FACTORS AND THEIR CELLULAR MECHANISMS IN THE BRAIN. RECENT GENETIC STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT HAPLOINSUFFICIENCY OF THE AT-RICH INTERACTIVE DOMAIN 1B (ARID1B) GENE CAUSES ASD AND INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY, SUGGESTING THAT ARID1B MAY PLAY A CRITICAL ROLE IN SOCIAL BEHAVIOR CONTROL. ALTHOUGH ARID1B HAPLOINSUFFICIENCY REPORTEDLY CAUSES ASD, NOTHING WAS KNOWN ABOUT HOW ARID1B DYSFUNCTION LEADS TO ABNORMAL SOCIAL BEHAVIOR IN ASD. IN RESPONSE TO THIS CHALLENGE, WE GENERATED A MOUSE MODEL OF ARID1B HAPLOINSUFFICIENCY AND FOUND THAT THIS MOUSE DISPLAYS SOCIAL DEFICITS RECAPITULATING HUMAN ASD PHENOTYPES. OUR GOAL IS TO IDENTIFY THE CELLULAR MECHANISM OF ARID1B HAPLOINSUFFICIENCY-INDUCED SOCIAL DEFICITS. PRIOR STUDIES SHOW THAT THE BRAIN CIRCUIT BETWEEN THE VENTRAL TAGMENTAL AREA (VTA) AND NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS (NAC) REGULATES SOCIAL BEHAVIOR. THEY ALSO PRESENT A STRONG LINK BETWEEN ASD AND MITOCHONDRIAL DEFECTS. FURTHERMORE, STUDIES SUGGEST AN ASSOCIATION OF ARID1B HAPLOINSUFFICIENCY WITH MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION. IN OUR PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION, WE FOUND THAT THE VTA-TO-NAC CONNECTION WAS REDUCED IN ARID1B HAPLOINSUFFICIENT MICE COMPARED TO WILD-TYPE CONTROLS. ADDITIONALLY, WE OBSERVED FUNCTIONAL ALTERATIONS OF MITOCHONDRIA AND OVERPRODUCTION OF REACTIVE OXYGEN SPECIES IN THE ARID1B MOUSE MODEL OF ASD. MITOCHONDRIA-ASSOCIATED GENES WERE DOWNREGULATED IN THE ARID1B MODEL. BASED ON OUR PRELIMINARY FINDINGS COMBINED WITH PREVIOUS STUDIES, WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT DISTURBANCE IN THE VTA-NAC CIRCUIT PLAYS A KEY ROLE IN SOCIAL DEFICITS IN ARID1B HAPLOINSUFFICIENT MICE AND THAT MITOCHONDRIAL DEFECTS UNDERLIE THE SOCIAL ALTERATION. USING A COMBINATION OF MOUSE GENETICS, VIRUS-MEDIATED CIRCUIT MANIPULATION, ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT, HUMAN IPSC INVESTIGATION, AND MOLECULAR/BIOCHEMICAL APPROACHES, WE WILL TEST THESE IDEAS IN MOUSE AND HUMAN MODELS BY EXAMINING THE FOLLOWING RELATED AIMS: AIM 1) EXAMINE THE ROLE OF THE MESOLIMBIC CIRCUIT IN SOCIAL BEHAVIOR IN ARID1B HAPLOINSUFFICIENT MICE; AIM 2) EXAMINE MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION AS A CELLULAR MECHANISM OF ARID1B HAPLOINSUFFICIENCY-INDUCED MESOLIMBIC ABNORMALITY; AIM 3) IDENTIFY THE MOLECULAR MECHANISM UNDERLYING MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION IN ARID1B HAPLOINSUFFICIENCY. OUR STUDY MAY PROVIDE NOVEL MECHANISTIC INSIGHTS INTO SOCIAL DEFICITS IN ASD RELATED TO BRAIN CIRCUIT ALTERATION AND MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION.

NUCLEON STRUCTURE AND NUCLEAR FORCE STUDIES

LIBRARIANS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

ENHANCING DURABLE AND EFFICIENT STUDENT LEARNING IN UNDERGRADUATE GATEWAY STEM COURSES

SMALL DOMAINS OR ISLANDS OF LIQUID CRYSTAL EMBEDDED IN A FEW MOLECULAR LAYER THICK SMECTIC LIQUID CRYSTAL ULTRATHIN FILMS OFFER AN IDEAL SYSTEM TO STUDY TWO DIMENSIONAL COLLOIDAL PHENOMENA. THE SMECTIC FILM HAS FLUIDITY AND ORIENTATIONAL ORDER OF MOLECULAR AXIS THAT IN COMBINATION RESULT IN COMPLEX ISLAND ISLAND INTERACTIONS WHICH DO NOT EXIST IN ORDINARY COLLOIDAL SYSTEMS. LIQUID CRYSTAL MOLECULES ALSO POSSESS A SYMMETRY PROPERTY SUCH AS CHIRALITY AND POLARITY THAT MACROSCOPICALLY MANIFEST IN STRUCTURAL SYMMETRIES AND IN ELASTIC AND HYDRODYNAMIC PROPERTIES. THE MOLECULAR CHIRALITY FURTHER GIVES RISE TO A UNIQUE NON EQUILIBRIUM MOLECULAR DYNAMICS ARGUABLY REFERRED TO AS MOLECULAR MOTORS WHICH ARE KNOWN TO PLAY A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN THE BIOLOGICAL ENERGY TRANSDUCTION. ALTHOUGH THE ELASTICITY AND FLOW INDUCED ISLAND ISLAND INTERACTIONS ARE EXPECTED TO OPEN A NOVEL ROUTE TO SELF ASSEMBLED ORDERED STRUCTURES THE MENISCUS OR CAPILLARY FORCES CONVECTIVE FLOWS AND SEDIMENTATION CAUSED BY GRAVITATIONAL FIELD MAKE IT DIFFICULT TO EXPLORE THE ANTICIPATED POSSIBILITY WITH SUFFICIENT CLARITY AS TO BE COMPARED WITH THEORETICAL PREDICTIONS. THE PROPOSED PROJECT INVESTIGATES THE STATIC AND DYNAMIC 2D STRUCTURES IN SMECTIC FILM BASED 2D COLLOID BY THE USE OF ADVANCED INKJET TECHNIQUE TO DISPENSE SMALL LIQUID CRYSTAL ISLANDS OF FIXED SIZE 20MICRON ON THE SMECTIC FILM IN A PRESCRIBED PATTERN AT THE RIGHT POINT AT THE RIGHT TIME. THE STRUCTURAL EVOLUTION OF THE 2D ISLAND SYSTEM THUS CREATED WILL BE OBSERVED AND COMPARED WITH THEORETICAL SIMULATIONS TO ELUCIDATE THE UNDERLYING ISLAND ISLAND FORCES AND THEIR MOLECULAR ORIGINS. FOR THIS FLIGHT EXPERIMENT WE DEVELOP A COMPACT SUB FEMTOLITER DROPLET DISPENSER COMPATIBLE WITH FLIGHT EXPERIMENTS USING THE SUPER INKJET WHICH HAS A CAPABILITY TO DELIVER SUB FEMTOLITER DROPLETS AND STUDY THE 2D SELF ORGANIZATION OF DOMAINS AND NONEQUILIBRIUM BEHAVIORS SUCH AS DOMAIN COALESCENCE OSWALD RIPENING LEHMANN ROTATIONS AND COLLECTIVE ORIENTATIONAL EXCITATIONS AND 2D FLOW. WE DEVELOP AN INTEGRATED INKJET CHIP THAT IS CAPABLE OF DEPOSITING FINE DROPLETS OF LIQUID CRYSTALS IN PRESCRIBED PATTERN. THE STRUCTURAL EVOLUTION OF A CERTAIN PATTERN OF ISLANDS IN 2D ALLOWS A RIGOROUS THEORETICAL TREATMENT THEREBY ENABLING US TO STUDY THE COLLOIDAL BEHAVIORS IN AN UNPRECEDENTED DETAIL. SPECIFICALLY WE STUDY OSWALD RIPENING AND SPONTANEOUS RECONFIGURATION OF ISLANDS.OF PARTICULAR FUNDAMENTAL SIGNIFICANCE IN THE LIQUID CRYSTAL MOLECULAR SCIENCE IS THE COUPLING BETWEEN MOLECULAR ROTATION AND FLOW VORTEX. THIS IS A MULTISCALE PHENOMENON COVERING THE LENGTH SCALE FROM A SINGLE MOLECULE TO MACROSCOPIC FLOW. THE MICROGRAVITY ENVIRONMENT COMBINED WITH A HIGHLY ACCURATE THEORETICAL MODELLING IS EXPECTED TO ADDRESS THIS SUBTLE YET FUNDAMENTAL ISSUE IN LIQUID CRYSTAL SCIENCE THAT HAS EVADED FULL UNDERSTANDING FOR DECADES DUE TO THE EXPERIMENTAL DIFFICULTY IN THE GROUND BASED STUDIES.ALTHOUGH LIQUID CRYSTAL IS A MACROSCOPIC STATE OF MATTER THE LOCAL INTERACTION INSIDE AND BETWEEN THE MOLECULES IS DECISIVE IN DETERMINING THE CRITICAL MATERIAL PARAMETERS SUCH AS THE ROTATIONAL VISCOSITY. THE OUTCOMES OF THE PROPOSED MICROGRAVITY STUDY WILL SHED NEW LIGHT ON THE RATIONAL DESIGN OF HIGH PERFORMANCE LIQUID CRYSTALS WITH REGARD TO THE UNDEREXPLOITED YET ATTRACTIVE FEATURES OFLIQUID CRYSTALS.

PFI-RP: A DEVELOPMENT OF ZERO-POWER OPTICAL SENSOR PLATFORM FOR THE DETECTION OF TOXIC GASES

CAREER: DENSE PHASES IN NEUTRON STARS

KENT STATE UNIVERSITY SEXUAL VIOLENCE CAMPUS PROGRAM

DMREF: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ACCELERATED DESIGN AND DEPLOYMENT OF METAL ALLOY SURFACES FOR CHEMORESPONSIVE LIQUID CRYSTALS

KENT STATE UNIVERSITY 2025-2030 SSS CLASSIC GRANT PROJECT PROPOSAL

STRUCTURE OF THE NUCLEON AND FEW-BODY NUCLEAR SYSTEMS WITH ELECTRON SCATTERING

ACTIVE COLLOIDS WITH TUNABLE INTERACTIONS IN LIQUID CRYSTALS

TARGETING PROMOTER G-QUADRUPLEXES WITH CRISPR-DCAS9 FOR TRANSCRIPTION REGULATION - PROJECT SUMMARY: CLUSTERED REGULARLY INTERSPACED PALINDROMIC REPEATS (CRISPR) AND CRISPR- ASSOCIATED (CAS) PROTEINS, PARTICULARLY CAS9, HAVE PROVIDED UNPRECEDENTED PROGRAMMABLE CONTROL ON TARGETING SPECIFIC SEQUENCES. CAS9 AND ITS ENGINEERED MUTANT ENDONUCLEASE-DEAD CAS9 (DCAS9), USE CRISPR-RNA (CRRNA) AS A GUIDE TO TARGET A 20-NUCLEOTIDE LONG DNA SEQUENCE. AN ACTIVE CRISPR COMPLEX REQUIRES NEAR-PERFECT COMPLEMENTARITY AND R-LOOP FORMATION BETWEEN CRRNA AND THE TARGET DNA. DESPITE ITS FREQUENT USE IN DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS AND EXTENSIVE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT IT, THE CAPABILITIES AND LIMITATIONS OF CAS9 FOR TARGETING SEQUENCES THAT ARE PRONE TO FOLDING INTO SECONDARY STRUCTURES ARE NOT KNOWN. SECONDARY STRUCTURES, SUCH AS G-QUADRUPLEXES (GQS), ARE ABUNDANT IN THE HUMAN GENOME AND ARE PHYSIOLOGICALLY AND MEDICALLY SIGNIFICANT. IN TWO RECENT PUBLICATIONS, WE DEMONSTRATED EXAMPLES OF HOW GQS COULD INHIBIT TARGET RECOGNITION AND R-LOOP FORMATION, DISTORT THE STRUCTURE, AND INHIBIT CAS9-MEDIATED DNA CLEAVAGE. WE PROPOSE TO PERFORM SYSTEMATIC SINGLE MOLECULE AND BULK BIOPHYSICAL STUDIES TO DETERMINE HOW GQS LOCATED IN THE VICINITY OF CAS9 TARGET SITE IMPACT CRITICAL ASPECTS OF ITS FUNCTION. TARGETING POTENTIALLY GQ FORMING SEQUENCES (PQS) ALSO PROVIDES NEW APPLICATION VENUES FOR CRISPR AND COULD SOLVE A LONG-STANDING PROBLEM IN ACHIEVING TRANSIENT AND SEQUENCE-SPECIFIC TRANSCRIPTION REGULATION THROUGH PQS. PQS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED IN PROMOTERS OF PROMINENT ONCOGENES AND TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS THAT ARE UPREGULATED IN MANY CANCERS. STABILIZING GQS IN PROMOTERS OF THESE ONCOGENES WITH SMALL MOLECULES HAS RESULTED IN SUPPRESSION OF THEIR TRANSCRIPTION, WHICH MADE THIS APPROACH A POTENTIAL ANTI- CANCER THERAPY. HOWEVER, DESPITE THEIR STRUCTURAL SPECIFICITY, THESE SMALL MOLECULES ARE NOT SEQUENCE SPECIFIC. SITE-DIRECTED MUTAGENESIS HAS ALSO BEEN USED TO MODIFY PQS TO CONTROL GENE EXPRESSION; HOWEVER, SUCH CHANGES ARE PERMANENT. TARGETING PQS WITH SEQUENCE-SPECIFICITY AND MODULATING GENE EXPRESSION TEMPORARILY HAVE NOT BEEN POSSIBLE WITH ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES, WHICH WE PROPOSE CAN BE ACHIEVED WITH DCAS9. WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT GENE EXPRESSION CAN BE UP OR DOWN REGULATED BY TARGETING PQS OR THEIR VICINITY WITH DCAS9. WE PRESENT DATA ON TYROSINE HYDROXYLASE (TH) TRANSCRIPTION WHICH SUPPORTS THIS HYPOTHESIS. THE PROPOSAL HAS TWO SPECIFIC AIMS: (1) TO DETERMINE HOW GQS IN TARGET STRAND OR NON-TARGET STRAND OF DNA INFLUENCE TARGET RECOGNITION, BINDING, CONFORMATIONAL STATES, KINETICS, AND CLEAVAGE ACTIVITIES OF CAS9 (AND DCAS9) USING IN VITRO SINGLE MOLECULE FLUORESCENCE, PARTICULARLY FRET, AND ENSEMBLE METHODS. (2) TO TARGET PQS IN PROMOTERS OF C-MYC, KRAS, AND TH GENES BY DCAS9 TO DETERMINE WHETHER THEIR MRNA AND PROTEIN EXPRESSIONS CAN BE MODULATED IN RELEVANT CELL LINES. WHILE C-MYC CODES FOR A TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR THAT IS UP-REGULATED IN MANY CANCERS, KRAS IS AN ONCOGENE THAT IS SIGNIFICANT IN SIGNALING AND CELL PROLIFERATION. TH IS THE RATE LIMITING ENZYME IN DOPAMINE BIOSYNTHESIS.

CAREER: NOVEL DATA MINING TECHNOLOGIES FOR COMPLEX NETWORK ANALYSIS

INVESTIGATION OF THE KEY STRUCTURAL AND SEQUENCE FEATURES ESSENTIAL FOR M6A RECOGNITION DURING POST-TRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATION OF GENE EXPRESSION

US-IRELAND R&D PARTNERSHIP: STRUCTURE-PROPERTY RELATIONSHIPS OF NEW POLAR LIQUID CRYSTALLINE PHASES THROUGH SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION USING A RANGE OF ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES -NONTECHNICAL EXPLANATION: THE WELL-KNOWN LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY IS GENERALLY BASED ON MOLECULES THAT ARE ROD-LIKE AND MAY BE MODELED AS A PENCIL SHARPENED AT BOTH ENDS. IN THE PAST 10-15 YEARS THERE HAS BEEN SIGNIFICANT SCIENTIFIC INTEREST IN LIQUID CRYSTALS FORMED FROM BENT MOLECULES, MODELED AS A HOCKEY STICK, WHICH ALSO COINCIDE WITH THEIR MIRROR IMAGE. THE STUDY OF MOLECULES WITH THESE TWO STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES HAS LED TO THE DISCOVERY OF NEW LIQUID CRYSTALLINE PHASES WITH UNIQUE PROPERTIES THAT ARE LARGELY UNEXPLORED. THE PURPOSE OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO CHEMICALLY SYNTHESIZE NEW MOLECULES THAT HAVE THESE STRUCTURES AND EXHIBIT THESE NEW PHASES AND THEN STUDY THEIR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES WITH THE DUAL GOALS OF BETTER UNDERSTANDING THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN MOLECULAR STRUCTURE AND LIQUID CRYSTAL PROPERTIES AND FACILITATING FUTURE APPLICATIONS OF THESE MATERIALS AS PHOTONIC, ENERGY STORAGE, AND SWITCHING DEVICES. THESE GOALS ARE ACCOMPLISHED BY THE POOLING OF THE COMPLEMENTARY EXPERTISE OF A SYNTHETIC CHEMIST, A PHYSICIST, AND AN ENGINEER, FROM NORTHERN IRELAND, THE US, AND THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND RESPECTIVELY. THIS PROVIDES STUDENTS AND POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWS A UNIQUE MULTIDISCIPLINARY AND MULTINATIONAL ENVIRONMENT FOR SCIENTIFIC, PROFESSIONAL, AND CULTURAL ENRICHMENT THROUGH COLLABORATION, SCIENTIFIC RESIDENCIES IN OTHER PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR?S LABORATORIES AND THE ACQUISITION OF SKILLS THAT ARE NOT OBTAINABLE BY WORKING IN A SINGLE LABORATORY. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: CURRENT LIQUID CRYSTAL TECHNOLOGIES ARE ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY BASED ON ROD-LIKE (CALAMITIC) MOLECULES THAT FORM NEMATIC, AND/OR SMECTIC PHASES. HOWEVER, OVER THE PAST 10-15 YEARS THERE HAS BEEN GREAT INTEREST IN NON-CHIRAL MOLECULES THAT ARE NOT ROD-LIKE. THIS LED TO THE DISCOVERY OF NEW NEMATIC PHASES AND CORRESPONDING NEMATIC-NEMATIC PHASE TRANSITIONS. THESE NEW PHASES ARE CALLED THE TWIST-BEND, THE SPLAY-BEND, THE SPLAY, AND THE FERRO NEMATIC. THESE PHASES AND THEIR PHASE TRANSITIONS AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES ARE A LARGELY UNEXPLORED FRONTIER. MOLECULES OF THIS GEOMETRY SOMETIMES FORM POLAR SMECTIC PHASES, AND SHOULD SUCH PHASES BE FOUND; THEY TOO WILL BE STUDIED. THE GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO SYNTHESIZE AND STUDY THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF NEW LIQUID CRYSTALLINE MATERIALS THAT FORM FROM ?BENT? MOLECULES WITH THE OBJECTIVE OF BETTER UNDERSTANDING AND ADVANCING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MOLECULAR STRUCTURE, THE RESULTING LIQUID CRYSTALLINE PHASES, AND THE PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF THE RESULTING POLAR NEMATIC AND SMECTIC MESOPHASES. THIS IS ACHIEVED THROUGH SYSTEMATIC SYNTHESIS OF NEW MESOGENS THAT FORM THE DESIRED PHASES FROM BENT CORE, BIMESOGEN, AND TWISTED CORE MOIETIES; DETERMINATION OF LIQUID CRYSTAL PHASES AND THEIR TRANSITION TEMPERATURES; USE OF ELECTRO-OPTICAL AND COMPLEMENTARY SPECTROSCOPIC TECHNIQUES (X-RAY SCATTERING, RAMAN SCATTERING, INFRARED, BIREFRINGENCE, WIDEBAND DIELECTRIC SPECTROSCOPY, AND SECOND HARMONIC GENERATION) TO INVESTIGATE THE STRUCTURE AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THESE PHASES. FINALLY, TEST CELLS WITH WELL ORIENTED LIQUID CRYSTAL MOLECULES WILL BE FABRICATED. THESE WILL BE USED TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECT OF VARIOUS (ELECTRIC, MAGNETIC, SURFACE ANCHORING, AND FLOW) FIELDS TO INVESTIGATE APPLICATIONS OF THESE PHASES AS WELL AS TO FACILITATE MEASUREMENTS OF PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. 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.

CYBERTRAINING: IMPLEMENTATION: SMALL: INTERACTIVE AND INTEGRATED TRAINING FOR QUANTUM APPLICATION DEVELOPERS ACROSS PLATFORMS -ALONG WITH THE EVOLUTION OF ACTUAL QUANTUM COMPUTERS FROM INDUSTRY, LIKE IBM, IONQ, RIGETTI, AND D-WAVE, QUANTUM COMPUTING RESEARCH HAS RAPIDLY GROWN IN THE PAST FEW YEARS. HOWEVER, THE INDUSTRY AND ACADEMIA LACK MATURE AND EFFECTIVE WORKFORCE TRAINING PLANS FOR CUTTING ACROSS MULTIPLE DISCIPLINES, THE MOST RELEVANT BEING PHYSICS, COMPUTER AND INFORMATION SCIENCE, AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING. THE PROJECT AIMS TO DELIVER A PROJECT-ORIENTED TRAINING PROGRAM THAT CAN ASSIST THE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT FOR QUANTUM COMPUTING CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE AND HELP FOSTER BROAD ADOPTION OF QUANTUM COMPUTING CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE TO ADVANCE FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH. THE PROPOSED TRAINING PROGRAM TARGETS STUDENTS AND EARLY-STAGE RESEARCHERS, E.G., UNDERGRADUATES, GRADUATE STUDENTS, AND POSTDOCS, WHO ARE INTERESTED IN QUANTUM COMPUTING SYSTEMS, QUANTUM APPLICATIONS, CYBER-PHYSICAL SYSTEMS, QUANTUM PHYSICS, QUANTUM CHEMISTRY, AND QUANTUM MACHINE LEARNING. A LONG-TERM COLLABORATION WITH DOE NATIONAL LABORATORIES WILL ENSURE BROAD ADOPTION OF QUANTUM COMPUTING INFRASTRUCTURE BY THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY TO CATALYZE SIGNIFICANT RESEARCH ADVANCES AND TRAIN PROFESSIONAL CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE CONTRIBUTORS TO OPTIMIZE THE CURRENT HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE STACK. THE PROPOSED CYBER TRAINING PROGRAMS WILL ACCOMMODATE 80+ TRAINEES PARTICIPATING IN CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH PROJECTS EACH YEAR. THESE PROGRAMS WILL EXPEDITE ADOPTERS AND USERS TO UNDERSTAND HOW TO USE THE QUANTUM COMPUTING CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE AND ENABLE THEM TO ADVANCE RESEARCH IN CISE, BIO, ENG, AND MPS' CORE AREAS. THIS PROJECT BUILDS UPON EXISTING KNOWLEDGE, DATA, AND TOOLS TO CREATE TAILORED, HIGH-IMPACT, ENGAGING, COLLABORATIVE, AND INTEGRATED TRAINING MODULES FOR QUANTUM COMPUTING CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE RESEARCH WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT. THREE TRAINING PROJECTS ARE BUILT UPON THE PI AND CO-PI'S INNOVATIVE RESEARCH ON QUANTUM ERROR CHARACTERIZATION AND MODELING, VISUAL ANALYTICS OF THE QUALITY OF THE QUANTUM HARDWARE SYSTEM AND QUANTUM COMPILER OPTIMIZATIONS, AND RELIABILITY ASSESSMENT OF THE QUANTUM APPLICATIONS. EACH TRAINING MODULE WILL FOCUS ON ONE MINI-PROJECT. WITH THE AIM TO ENHANCE THE TRAINEE'S DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION CAPABILITY, PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS, AND CRITICAL THINKING ABILITY, THE TRAINING MODULES WILL BE DELIVERED WITH MULTIPLE LESSONS ON THE BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM, LITERATURE STUDY, DATA COLLECTION AND PROCESSING, METHODOLOGY, EVALUATIONS OF THE SOLUTIONS, AND HANDS-ON EXPERIMENTS. THE DELIVERIES OF THE PROPOSED TRAINING PROGRAM WILL INCLUDE: 1) A NEW COURSE ON ST: FUNDAMENTALS OF QUANTUM COMPUTING SYSTEMS; 2) A PROJECT-BASED SHORT COURSE PLUS ITS LONG-TERM MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT; 3) HANDS-ON TUTORIALS BASED ON THE TRAINING PROJECTS; AND 4) MULTIPLE RESEARCH TOPICS FOR UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE CAPSTONE PROJECTS. THE LONG-TERM GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO BOOST THE ADOPTION OF NEW QUANTUM COMPUTING CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE TO MULTIDISCIPLINARY STUDENTS AND RESEARCHERS FROM DIFFERENT STEM DOMAINS. THIS AWARD BY THE OFFICE OF ADVANCED CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE IS JOINTLY SUPPORTED BY THE PHYSICS AT THE INFORMATION FRONTIER PROGRAM IN THE DIVISION OF PHYSICS WITHIN THE DIRECTORATE FOR MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES, THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY IN THE DIRECTORATE FOR MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES, THE DIVISION OF COMPUTING AND COMMUNICATION FOUNDATIONS IN THE COMPUTER AND INFORMATION SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING DIRECTORATE, AND THE DIVISION OF CHEMICAL, BIOENGINEERING, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND TRANSPORT SYSTEMS IN THE DIRECTORATE FOR 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.

MATERIALS WORLD NETWORK: STRUCTURE, DYNAMICS AND CRITICAL PHENOMENA IN BIAXIAL LIQUID CRYSTALS

DISABILITY REHABILITATION RESEARCH PROJECTS

ELECTRICALLY TUNABLE CHOLESTERIC OPTICAL FILTERS

PRUSSIAN BLUE NANOPARTICLES AS CELLULAR T1 MRI CONTRAST AGENTS

CC* INTEGRATION-SMALL: ADIABATIC MICROSERVICE LEVEL LOAD BALANCED FORWARDING ON PISA SWITCH FOR ACCELERATING URGENT PROCESSES IN SCIENCE DATA CENTER NETWORKS -CAMPUS SCIENCE DATA CENTERS (SCI. DC) INCREASINGLY NEED SUPPORT FOR MORE VARIED CLASSES OF WORKLOADS, MAINLY BECAUSE MANY ARE INTERACTIVE. SCI. DCS ARE USING VIRTUALIZATION FOR BETTER JUST-IN-TIME DISTRIBUTED RESOURCE PROVISIONING. ALSO ON THE HORIZON ARE THE MICROSERVICES THAT CAN ACCELERATE COLLABORATIVE DEVELOPMENT AT SCALE. VIRTUALIZATION AND SERVICE-BASED APPLICATIONS DEMAND ADVANCED FUNCTIONALITIES, PARTICULARLY LOAD BALANCE (LB), WHILE THE REQUESTERS AND SERVERS ARE DYNAMICALLY MOVING BETWEEN PHYSICAL HOSTS AT UNCOMPROMISING LINE RATES. VERY RECENTLY, USING PROGRAMMABLE PISA HARDWARE, THIS TEAM WAS ABLE TO DESIGN A LOAD-BALANCING SWITCH, QLB, THAT CAN DISTRIBUTE AND LOAD-BALANCE LOAD GROUPS WITH A GENERAL WEIGHTED-COST MULTI-PATH (WCMP) SCHEME WHILE CONCURRENTLY FORWARDING TO THE NETWORK?S DATA PLANE AT THE TOTAL LINE RATE OF THE HARDWARE. IT ALSO HAS TODAY'S PRODUCTION-SCALE PATH AND APPLICATION CARDINALITY, OVERCOMING LIMITATIONS OF THE SOFTWARE-BASED LBS OR EARLY PISA REALIZATIONS. THE PROJECT AIMS TO DEVELOP A PROTOTYPE OF THIS WCMP LOAD BALANCING SWITCH THAT IS DEPLOYABLE AT SCI. DC. IN CONJUNCTION WITH SMART NICS, THIS SMART SWITCH WILL BE READY TO OFFER LOAD BALANCING FROM INSIDE THE NETWORK IN MULTIPLE MODALITIES. IF SUCCESSFUL, THIS TECHNOLOGY WILL SIGNIFICANTLY REMOVE THE DELAY AND SCALABILITY LIMITATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CURRENT GENERATION SOFTWARE-BASED LOAD BALANCING IN CAMPUS SCI. DCS. IT WILL ALSO PROVIDE EARLY INSIGHT INTO SECURITY, CONFIGURATION, AND MAINTENANCE ISSUES RELATED TO DEPLOYING AND OPERATING PROGRAMMABLE SWITCHES. IN LINE WITH THE GOALS OF THE CC* PROGRAM, THIS WILL DIRECTLY CONTRIBUTE TOWARDS COORDINATED CAMPUS-LEVEL CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS, INNOVATION, INTEGRATION, AND ENGINEERING FOR SCIENCE APPLICATIONS AND DISTRIBUTED RESEARCH PROJECTS. THE PROJECT WILL PROVIDE NOVEL EXPOSURE TO PROGRAMMABLE CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE - THE FIRST FOR KENT?S CAMPUS IT TEAMS AND MANY OTHER CAMPUSES. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO HAVE A SIGNIFICANT BROADER IMPACT: IT WILL ENGAGE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN INTERDISCIPLINARY DIRECTED RESEARCH INTERNSHIPS WITH STEM SCIENCE TEAMS, WHICH IS ESPECIALLY EFFECTIVE IN RETAINING AND ATTRACTING UNDERREPRESENTED AND DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS. IT WILL EMPOWER SCIENCE PROJECTS AT KENT STATE ACROSS DISCIPLINES. 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: THE WORKING MECHANICS OF ORGANIC ELECTROCHEMICAL TRANSISTORS

SI2-SSE:GEOVISUALS SOFTWARE: CAPTURING, MANAGING, AND UTILIZING GEOSPATIAL MULTIMEDIA DATA FOR COLLABORATIVE FIELD RESEARCH

DMREF: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: MATERIALS ENGINEERING OF COLUMNAR AND LIVING LIQUID CRYSTALS VIA EXPERIMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION, MATHEMATICAL MODELING, AND SIMULATION

LABORATORY STUDIES OF MULTICOMPONENT AEROSOL NUCLEATION INVOLVING ORGANIC AMINE COMPOUNDS

TAIL-FREE DISCOTIC LIQUID CRYSTALS

LASER SINTERING SYSTEM FOR RESEARCH ON ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING OF ADVANCED FUEL CELLS

FINITE ELEMENT MODELING OF INDENTATION MEASUREMENTS

KENT STATE UNIVERSITY, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, WILL RESEARCH AND DEVELOP A SOCIAL JUSTICE, OUTCOMES-BASED PLANNING AND ASSESSMENT TOOL. THIS TOOL WILL SUPPORT LIBRARY STAFF IN DEVELOPING OUTREACH PROGRAMS AND SERVICES THAT MEET THE NEEDS OF FAMILIES WITH YOUNG CHILDREN FROM UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES. SMALL, MEDIUM, AND LARGE LIBRARIES IN RURAL, URBAN, AND SUBURBAN AREAS WILL COLLABORATE WITH THE RESEARCH TEAM ON THE DESIGN PROCESS. THE LIBRARIES WILL HELP ITERATE, TEST, AND REFLECT ON THE TOOLKIT. THIS TOOLKIT WILL EMBED THE SOCIAL JUSTICE PRINCIPLES OF EQUITY, ENGAGEMENT, AND EMPOWERMENT INTO THE CREATION OF OUTREACH PROGRAMS IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES. THIS PROGRAM AIMS TO SUPPORT THE OUTREACH PRODUCTION PROCESS BY IMPLEMENTING DESIGN THINKING, BUILDING LIBRARY COMMUNITY AWARENESS, AND DEVELOPING A LIBRARY PEER COMMUNITY.

HEALTH CARE AND OTHER FACILITIES

REHABILITATION LONG-TERM TRAINING - REHABILITATION OF THE DEAF

SENSING, IMAGING, TUNING AND CREATING NANOMATERIAL CHIRALITY USING LIQUID CRYSTAL PHASES

ELECTRONIC AND MAGNETIC PHENOMENA IN HEAVY-FERMION AND IRON-BASED SUPERCONDUCTORS

RESEARCH ON OFFENDER DECISION-MAKING UTILIZING GEO-NARRATIVES

NUCLEON STRUCTURE AND NUCLEAR FORCE STUDIES

FINITE ELEMENT MODELING OF MULTIAXIAL DEFORMATION OF METALS

STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF THE TWIST-BEND NEMATIC PHASE

EMOTION PROCESSING DEFICITS AND RISK FOR IMPAIRMENT IN CHILD INJURY VICTIMS

THE HEMOGLOBIN BETA SUBUNIT REGULATES CHROMATIN AND TRANSCRIPTION TO ADAPT TO METABOLIC DEMANDS - ABSTRACT SEVERAL STUDIES HAVE REPORTED THAT HEMOGLOBIN IS EXPRESSED IN NEURONS IN THE RODENT AND HUMAN BRAIN, HOWEVER THE FUNCTION OF HEMOGLOBIN IN THESE CELLS HASN'T BEEN CLEARLY DEFINED. THE LONG TERM GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND WHY HEMOGLOBIN IS EXPRESSED IN CELLS OTHER THAN RED BLOOD CELLS. THE HEMOGLOBIN  AND  SUBUNITS (HBA AND HBB) ARE EXPRESSED IN NEURONS IN THE BRAIN, BUT ONLY HBB IS LOCALIZED TO THE NUCLEUS. IN THIS PROPOSAL OUR OBJECTIVE IS TO UNDERSTAND WHY HBB IS EXPRESSED IN THE NUCLEUS AND TO UNCOVER MECHANISMS INVOLVED IN HBB SIGNALING. WE HAVE FOUND THAT HBB INTERACTS WITH CHROMATIN WHERE IT INHIBITS THE ACTIVITY OF THE KDM5B HISTONE DEMETHYLASE BY SEQUESTERING OXYGEN REQUIRED FOR KDM5B ACTIVITY. HBB MEDIATED INHIBITION OF KDM5B RESULTS IN INCREASED LEVELS OF H3K4ME3, A HISTONE MARK THAT ACTIVATES TRANSCRIPTION. THE AIMS OF THIS PROPOSAL WILL TEST THE HYPOTHESIS: THAT HBB REGULATES CHROMATIN AND TRANSCRIPTION IN THE BRAIN TO ADAPT TO METABOLIC DEMANDS. IN AIM 1: CHIP- SEQ WILL BE EMPLOYED TO FIND OUT WHERE HBB IS BOUND TO CHROMATIN AND WHICH GENES ARE REGULATED BY HBB SIGNALING IN PRIMARY NEURONAL CULTURES. IN AIM 2: EFFECTS OF HBB ON BIOENERGETICS WILL BE ASSESSED WITH SEAHORSE RESPIROMETRY. AIM 3: WILL TEST THE ROLE OF EXERCISE ON REGULATION OF HBB SIGNALING PATHWAYS AND ENERGY METABOLISM IN THE BRAIN. THE PROPOSED STUDY WILL INCREASE THE UNDERSTANDING OF MECHANISMS INVOLVED IN REGULATING THE CHROMATIN LANDSCAPE AND GENE EXPRESSION RELATED TO BALANCING ENERGY METABOLISM NEEDS.

UNDERSTANDING THE CENTRAL EMBRYONIC VASOPRESSIN SYSTEM - PROJECT SUMMARY COMPELLING EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT THE CENTRAL EMBRYONIC VASOPRESSIN SYSTEM HAS A ROLE TO PLAY IN SEX-SPECIFIC BRAIN DEVELOPMENT AND SUBSEQUENT BEHAVIOR. THE VASOPRESSIN SYSTEM IS PRESENT AND FUNCTIONAL DURING EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT, WITH SEX DIFFERENCES IN THE EXPRESSION OF THE LIGAND. HOWEVER, VERY LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT THE STRUCTURE OR FUNCTION OF THIS SYSTEM. THUS, THE WORKING HYPOTHESIS OF THIS R15 PROPOSAL IS THAT THE CENTRAL EMBRYONIC VASOPRESSIN SYSTEM, AND SPECIFICALLY VASOPRESSIN 1A RECEPTOR SIGNALING, DIRECTLY CONTRIBUTES TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEURAL CIRCUITRY THAT SUPPORTS SOCIAL BEHAVIOR IN FEMALES AND MALES. TO TEST THIS HYPOTHESIS THREE SPECIFIC AIMS ARE PROPOSED. THE FIRST AIM WILL DEFINE THE STRUCTURAL DETAILS OF THE DEVELOPING VASOPRESSIN SYSTEM IN FEMALES AND MALES. THE SECOND AIM WILL DETERMINE HOW EMBRYONIC VASOPRESSIN RECEPTOR SIGNALING IMPACTS FEMALE AND MALE BRAIN DEVELOPMENT. THE THIRD AIM WILL ESTABLISH THAT EMBRYONIC VASOPRESSIN RECEPTOR SIGNALING HAS SEX-SPECIFIC EFFECTS ON SOCIAL BEHAVIOR. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS SCIENTIFICALLY IMPORTANT BECAUSE UNDERSTANDING HOW THE EMBRYONIC VASOPRESSIN SYSTEM AFFECTS SEX-SPECIFIC BRAIN DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOR IN MICE HAS IMPLICATIONS FOR HUMANS. SPECIFICALLY, SEVERAL NEUROPSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS WITH NEURODEVELOPMENTAL ORIGINS, MANY OF WHICH HAVE A KNOWN SEX-BIAS SKEWED TOWARDS MALES, ARE ASSOCIATED WITH IMPAIRMENTS IN SOCIAL BEHAVIORS THAT HAVE BEEN LINKED TO THE VASOPRESSIN SYSTEM. THUS, THE DATA GENERATED FROM THE PROPOSED EXPERIMENTS WILL PROVIDE CRITICAL INSIGHTS INTO SOME OF THE SHARED ORIGINS OF THESE DISORDERS AND WILL MOVE US CLOSER TO MORE TARGETED INTERVENTIONS.

MOLECULAR INSIGHTS INTO ACUTE AND CHRONIC HYPOXIA TOLERANCE: INVESTIGATING MECHANISMS OF SHORT-TERM PLASTICITY AND LONG-TERM GENETIC ADAPTATION - PROJECT SUMMARY HYPOXIA IS A CONDITION IN WHICH THE BODY IS DEPRIVED OF AN ADEQUATE SUPPLY OF OXYGEN WHICH CAN LEAD TO SEVERE DAMAGE TO VARIOUS TISSUES AND ORGANS AND CAN HAVE SERIOUS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF THE AFFECTED INDIVIDUAL. EXPOSURE TO HIGH ALTITUDES IS A COMMON CAUSE OF HYPOXIA; POPULATIONS WHO PERMANENTLY RESIDE AT HIGH ALTITUDES ARE EXPOSED TO CHRONIC HYPOXIA, WHILE POPULATIONS ONLY VISITING HIGH ALTITUDES FOR A SHORT PERIOD ARE EXPOSED TO ACUTE HYPOXIA. HIGH-ALTITUDE HUMAN POPULATIONS AND CERTAIN ANIMAL MODELS HAVE BEEN EXTENSIVELY UTILIZED TO EXAMINE PHYSIOLOGICAL CHANGES ASSOCIATED WITH RAPID PLASTIC RESPONSES TO ACUTE HYPOXIA AND LONG-TERM ADAPTIVE RESPONSE TO CHRONIC HYPOXIA. RECENT GENOMIC STUDIES OF HIGH-ALTITUDE HUMAN POPULATIONS HAVE PROVIDED KEY INSIGHTS INTO THE GENETIC BASIS OF LONG-TERM ADAPTATION TO HYPOXIA. E.G., GENETIC VARIATIONS IN THE GENES ASSOCIATED WITH HYPOXIA-INDUCIBLE FACTORS (HIFS) PATHWAYS ARE KNOWN TO PLAY A CRITICAL ROLE IN THE CHRONIC HYPOXIA RESPONSE. WHILE THE GENETIC BASIS OF LONG- TERM ADAPTATION TO HYPOXIA IS WELL STUDIED, WE STILL HAVE A LIMITED UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNDERLYING GENOMIC REGULATION ASSOCIATED WITH PLASTIC RESPONSE TO ACUTE HYPOXIA. IN ADDITION, LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT HOW THE DURATION AND FREQUENCY OF HYPOXIA EXPOSURE MAY PLAY A ROLE IN SUCH PLASTIC AND ADAPTIVE RESPONSES. THUS, THE WORKING HYPOTHESIS OF THIS PROPOSAL IS THAT THE PLASTIC AND ADAPTIVE RESPONSE TO HYPOXIA MAY VARY ACCORDING TO THE AMOUNT OF TIME AN INDIVIDUAL SPENDS UNDER HYPOXIC CONDITIONS. TO TEST THIS HYPOTHESIS, WE WILL STUDY BIRDS RESIDING ACROSS THE ELEVATIONAL GRADIENT IN THE HIMALAYAS AND TIBETAN PLATEAU THAT DEMONSTRATE NATURAL ACCLIMATION/ADAPTATION TO ACUTE/CHRONIC HYPOXIA. WE PROPOSE TWO SPECIFIC AIMS: THE FIRST AIM WILL QUANTIFY INTRA- AND INTER-SPECIES CHANGES IN HEMATOLOGICAL TRAITS ASSOCIATED WITH CHRONIC HYPOXIA AND STUDY THE GENOMICS/TRANSCRIPTOMICS PROFILES IN LOW/HIGH ALTITUDE RESIDENTS AND ALTITUDINAL MIGRANTS TO IDENTIFY THE UNDERLYING GENETIC BASIS OF PHYSIOLOGICAL TRAITS ASSOCIATED WITH LONG-TERM ADAPTATION TO HYPOXIA. THE SECOND AIM WILL EXPOSE BIRDS TO THEIR “NON-NATIVE” ELEVATION VIA TRANSPLANTATION EXPERIMENTS AND MEASURE PLASTICITY IN HEMATOLOGICAL TRAITS AND GENE EXPRESSION PROFILES TO IDENTIFY GENE REGULATORY MECHANISMS ASSOCIATED WITH RAPID ACCLIMATION TO ACUTE HYPOXIA. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS SCIENTIFICALLY IMPORTANT BECAUSE UNDERSTANDING THE GENETIC BASIS OF ACUTE AND CHRONIC HYPOXIA RESPONSES HAS IMPLICATIONS FOR HUMAN HEALTH. THE DATA GENERATED FROM THE PROPOSED STUDY WILL PROVIDE CRITICAL INSIGHTS INTO THE GENETIC FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH SHORT AND LONG-TERM HYPOXIA EXPOSURE THAT CAN BE USED TO INFER RISK FACTORS OF MULTIPLE DISEASES ASSOCIATED WITH HYPOXIA AND IDENTIFY POTENTIAL TARGETS FOR DRUG DEVELOPMENT.

INVESTIGATION OF THE ESSENTIAL STRUCTURAL AND SEQUENCE FEATURES FOR THE RECOGNITION OF RNA METHYLATIONS DURING POST-TRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATION OF GENE EXPRESSION - PROJECT SUMMARY THE EXISTENCE OF RNA NUCLEOTIDE MODIFICATIONS IN FUNCTIONAL RNAS IS KNOWN FOR MANY DECADES. SEVERAL RECENT STUDIES ILLUSTRATE THE TRANSCRIPTOME-WIDE PRESENCE OF NUCLEOTIDE MODIFICATIONS SUCH AS PSEUDOURIDINES, N6-METHYLADENOSINES (M6A), AND 5-METHYLCYTOSINES. THE LEVELS OF NUCLEOTIDE MODIFICATIONS IN MRNA ARE IN TIGHT EQUILIBRIUM UNLESS CELLS ARE UNDER VARIOUS STRESS CONDITIONS. CHANGES IN M6A LEVELS IN MRNA HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO IMPACT VIRAL INFECTIONS, SPERM MATURATION, AND CANCER PROGRESSION. IN CELLS, M6A LEVELS ARE CONTROLLED BY METHYL WRITERS AND READERS. THESE PROTEINS CODE THE STRESS SIGNAL ON TO MRNA TRANSCRIPTS, BOTH POST-, AND CO-TRANSCRIPTIONALLY. METHYL READERS THAT RECOGNIZE METHYLATIONS PLAY THE CRITICAL ROLE OF DECODING STRESS SIGNALS AND DIRECT MRNA TO EITHER GETTING EDITED, PROCESSED, DEGRADED, OR TRANSLATED. GIVEN THE BROADER DIVERSITY OF MRNA METHYLATION STATES UNDER VARIOUS STRESS CONDITIONS AND IN HUMAN DISEASES, AN ASSEMBLAGE OF METHYL READERS THAT ARE CAPABLE OF READING EACH UNIQUE STRESS SIGNAL SHOULD EXIST. THE LACK OF GENERAL STRUCTURAL AND SEQUENCE CONSENSUS FOR METHYL-RECOGNIZING PROTEINS (READER OR ERASERS) IMPEDES THE DISCOVERY OF NOVEL REGULATION MECHANISMS BY READERS AND ERASERS NOT KNOWN UP TO DATE. THE THREE SHORT TERM GOALS OF THIS PROJECT ARE 1) TO DISCOVER SEQUENCE OR STRUCTURAL CONSENSUS FOR SHORT PEPTIDES THAT INTERACT WITH M6A, 2) TO UNDERSTAND HOW RNA STRUCTURE AND SEQUENCE CAN CHANGE THE SEQUENCE AND THE STRUCTURE OF M6A-RECOGNIZING PEPTIDES, 3) TO INVESTIGATE THE ABILITY OF ENRICHED PEPTIDES TO INHIBIT READER AND ERASER PROTEIN. WE USE PHAGE DISPLAY METHOD TO DISCOVER A GENERAL SEQUENCE OR STRUCTURAL CONSENSUS FOR PROTEINS THAT RECOGNIZE NUCLEOTIDE METHYLATIONS. WE PROPOSE TO TEST THE IMPACT OF RNA STRUCTURE AND SEQUENCE ON THE SEQUENCE OR STRUCTURE OF THE ENRICHED PEPTIDES. OUR PULLDOWN ASSAYS WILL EVALUATE THE POTENTIAL OF THE ENRICHED PEPTIDES TO MIMIC KNOWN METHYL READERS. WE ALSO PROPOSE TO COMPARE THE PEPTIDES SELECTED AGAINST METHYLATED TARGETS (PHAGE DISPLAY) AND PROTEINS IDENTIFIED FROM PULLDOWN ASSAYS FOR SEQUENCE SIMILARITY. OUR PRELIMINARY WORK SHOWS THAT 1) RNA METHYLATIONS ENHANCE THE RNA SEQUENCE-SPECIFIC INTERACTIONS WITH PROTEINS, 2) TWO TRYPTOPHAN RESIDUES THAT RESIDE FOUR AMINO ACID RESIDUES APART MAY PLAY A GREATER ROLE IN M6A RECOGNITION 3) RNA BINDING SITES OF WRITER OR ERASER PROTEINS HAVE SIMILAR SEQUENCES AS THE SELECTED PEPTIDES AGAINST UNMODIFIED AND MODIFIED RNA TARGETS, RESPECTIVELY. OUR LONG-TERM OBJECTIVE IS TO ENGINEER UNIQUE DESIGNER PROTEINS IN WHICH M6A-RECOGNIZING PEPTIDES (THAT BINDING SEQUENCE SPECIFICALLY OR STRUCTURE SPECIFICALLY) ARE FUSED WITH PROTEINS RELATED TO RNA PROCESSING, LOCALIZATION, AND DEGRADATIONS TO USE IN TREATING HUMAN DISEASES.

LABORATORY STUDIES OF SULFURIC ACID-WATER-AMMONIA TERNARY HOMOGENEOUS NUCLEATION UNDER CONDITIONS RELEVANT TO THE LOWER TROPOSPHERE

THINKING WITH DATA: A CROSS-DISCIPLINARY APPROACH

SEX DIFFERENCES IN THE DEVELOPING OXYTOCIN SYSTEM

INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION IN CHEMISTRY: POPULATION DYNAMICS AND SUBDOMAIN STABILITY OF FOLDED SPECIES IN THE FULL-LENGTH OVERHANG REGION OF HUMAN T

ROLE OF MICROGLIA AND IL-1 IN STRESS-INDUCED ENHANCEMENT OF AVERSIVE MEMORIES

THE IMPACT OF MATERNAL CYANOTOXIN INGESTION ON THE DEVELOPMENT AND FUNCTION OF THE STRESS AXIS IN OFFSPRING - THE IMPACT OF MATERNAL CYANOTOXIN INGESTION ON THE DEVELOPMENT AND FUNCTION OF THE STRESS AXIS IN OFFSPRING. ANTHROPOGENIC ACTIVITIES AND GLOBAL WARMING HAVE INCREASED WATER EUTROPHICATION, WHICH CAUSED A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE FREQUENCY IN CYANOBACTERIAL HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS IN FRESHWATERS. THIS DRAMATICALLY ELEVATED THE PRODUCTION AND RELEASE OF HAZARDOUS CYANOTOXINS, MAINLY MICROCYSTINS (MCS), OF WHICH MC LEUCINE ARGININE (MC-LR) IS THE MOST ABUNDANT AND TOXIC FORM. ACCIDENTAL, AND SUB-CHRONIC EXPOSURE TO ENVIRONMENTAL LEVELS OF MCS IS ALMOST INEVITABLE, THROUGH INGESTION, INHALATION, AND/OR DERMAL CONTACT WITH MC-CONTAMINATED DRINKING WATER. EVIDENCE INDICATE THAT MCS DISRUPT THE MAMMALIAN STRESS RESPONSE, WHICH IN MAMMALS IS UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE HYPOTHALAMUS-PITUITARY-ADRENAL (HPA) AXIS. STRESSORS ACTIVATE HYPOTHALAMIC PARAVENTRICULAR NUCLEUS (PVN) NEURONS TO RELEASE THE NEUROHORMONE CORTICOTROPIN-RELEASING HORMONE, WHICH STIMULATES ADRENOCORTICOTROPIC HORMONE RELEASE FROM THE PITUITARY TO ACTIVATE RELEASE OF GLUCOCORTICOIDS FROM THE ADRENALS. WE AND OTHERS SHOWED THAT DISRUPTED HPA ACTIVITY TO BE LINKED TO PROMOTING ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION. OUR STUDIES IN MALE MICE FOUND THAT SUB-CHRONIC INGESTION OF NON-LETHAL MC-LR LEVELS CAUSED MALADAPTIVE HPA ACTIVATION THAT MAY LEAD TO STRESS-RELATED MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS, SUCH AS ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION. WE ALSO FOUND THAT PERIPHERAL CORRELATES OF HPA FUNCTION, SUCH AS METABOLIC ACTIVITY AND MICROBIOME WERE MC-LR SENSITIVE. TOGETHER THESE DATA FORMED THE PREMISE THAT SUB-CHRONIC INGESTION OF NON-LETHAL MC-LR LEVELS CAUSES SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN HPA ACTIVATION IN MICE. UNLIKE STUDIES FOCUSED ON ADULT ANIMALS, PRENATAL SUB-CHRONIC MC-LR EFFECTS ON THE HPA DEVELOPMENT AND FUNCTION IN THE OFFSPRING HAVE NOT BEEN STUDIED IN DETAIL. IN THIS PROPOSAL, WE WILL TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT SUB-CHRONIC MATERNAL INGESTION OF NON-LETHAL MC-LR LEVELS DISRUPTS EMBRYONIC HPA DEVELOPMENT AND HPA FUNCTIONS IN THE ADULT OFFSPRING. AIM 1 WILL DETERMINE THAT SUB-CHRONIC MATERNAL INGESTION OF NON-LETHAL MC-LR LEVELS DISRUPTS THE DEVELOPMENT OF BRAIN REGIONS THAT CONTROL STRESS AXIS IN EMBRYOS, WHILE AIM 2 WILL DETERMINE THAT SUB-CHRONIC MATERNAL INGESTION OF NON-LETHAL MC-LR LEVELS DISRUPTS HPA FUNCTIONS IN THE ADULT OFFSPRING. THIS PROPOSAL WILL DETERMINE THE IMPACT OF MATERNAL INGESTION OF MC-LR ON HPA DEVELOPMENT AND FUNCTION IN THE OFFSPRING. THIS ALLOWS FOR THE EVALUATION OF HOW IN UTERO CHAB TOXINS IN FRESHWATER SOURCES AFFECT THE HOMEOSTASIS AND HEALTH OF THE OFFSPRING, WHICH IS OF CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE GIVEN THAT IT IS WELL-ESTABLISHED THAT DISRUPTED HPA FUNCTION UNDERLIES ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION.

EXPLORATORY STUDY OF CHILDREN'S MULTI-DIGIT MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION -DESPITE THE SIGNIFICANT ROLE OF MULTIPLICATIVE REASONING IN FACILITATING STUDENTS? MATHEMATICAL LEARNING, THERE IS LITTLE RESEARCH ON CHILDREN?S USE OF AND REASONING WITH DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO MULTIPLY OR DIVIDE MULTI-DIGIT NUMBERS. IN ADDITION, MANY STUDENTS FINISH FIFTH GRADE WITH A LACK OF MULTIPLICATIVE REASONING STRATEGIES. THIS PROJECT WILL IMPROVE STEM EDUCATION BY STUDYING THE VARIOUS STRATEGIES TAUGHT TO AND USED BY STUDENTS FOR SOLVING MULTI-DIGIT MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION TO DEVELOP A MORE COHESIVE UNDERSTANDING OF CHILDREN'S MULTIPLICATIVE REASONING. THE WORK WILL ALSO SUPPORT TEACHERS? ABILITY TO BETTER SUPPORT STUDENTS? MULTIPLICATIVE REASONING STRATEGIES VIA PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT VIDEOS THAT HELP THEM LEARN ABOUT STUDENTS? STRATEGIES. THIS THREE-YEAR, EXPLORATORY, LEARNING STRAND PROJECT FOCUSES ON STUDYING 4TH-6TH GRADE STUDENTS? MULTIPLICATIVE REASONING IN THE CONTEXT OF MULTI-DIGIT MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION. THIS PROJECT UTILIZES A MIXED-METHODS APPROACH AND WILL COLLECT LARGE-SCALE DATA WITH PAPER-BASED MEASURES, FOLLOWED BY INTERVIEWS TO INTEGRATE EMPIRICAL DATA FROM PSYCHOLOGICAL (OBSERVATIONAL DATA, ASSESSMENT SCORES) AND EMBODIED PERSPECTIVES (EYE-TRACKING, GESTURE). THIS APPROACH WILL ALLOW FOR TRIANGULATION OF PSYCHOLOGICAL MEASURES OF MULTIPLICATIVE REASONING, CHILDREN?S VIDEO-RECORDED ACTIONS IN PROBLEM SOLVING, AND ANALYSIS OF CHILDREN?S WRITTEN AND SPOKEN DISCOURSE. THUS, THE PROJECT WILL: (1) EXAMINE AND DOCUMENT THE RANGE OF STRATEGIES CHILDREN USE TO SOLVE MULTI-DIGIT MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION TASKS; (2) EXAMINE STUDENTS? EXPOSURE TO AND TEACHERS? USE OF DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO MULTI-DIGIT MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION, AS WELL AS THE EFFECT OF SUCH APPROACHES ON CHILDREN?S MATHEMATICS; AND (3) EXPLORE HOW EYE-TRACKING DATA AND GESTURE IS ASSOCIATED WITH CHILDREN?S STRATEGIES WHEN SOLVING MULTIPLICATION/DIVISION TASKS. FULFILLMENT OF THESE OBJECTIVES WILL RESULT IN SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES AND PRODUCTS OVER THE FUNDING PERIOD OF THE PROJECT. FIRST, FINDINGS WILL ALLOW FOR AN IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF HOW CHILDREN SOLVE MULTI-DIGIT MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION TASKS. THIS INCLUDES HOW EXPOSURE TO DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO MULTI-DIGIT MULTIPLICATION/DIVISION INTERACT WITH THEIR REASONING AND PROBLEM SOLVING. SECOND, RECORDED VIDEOS AND IMAGES OF STUDENT WORK WILL ALLOW FOR CREATION OF A PUBLICLY AVAILABLE REPOSITORY OF CHILDREN?S STRATEGIES. THIS REPOSITORY WILL BE AVAILABLE TO TEACHER EDUCATORS FOR USE IN THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS. THE DISCOVERY RESEARCH PREK-12 PROGRAM (DRK-12) SEEKS TO SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCE THE LEARNING AND TEACHING OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) BY PREK-12 STUDENTS AND TEACHERS, THROUGH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF INNOVATIVE RESOURCES, MODELS, AND TOOLS. PROJECTS IN THE DRK-12 PROGRAM BUILD ON FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH IN STEM EDUCATION AND PRIOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS THAT PROVIDE THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL JUSTIFICATION FOR PROPOSED PROJECTS. 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.