Loyola University Of Chicago

LOYOLA_CARES_INSTITUTIONAL

LOYOLA CARES

TCR GENE MODIFIED T CELLS FOR ADOPTIVE IMMUNOTHERAPY

PARADOXICAL EFFECTS OF NF-KB IN ISCHEMIA; NOVEL POLYMERIC GENE SILENCING IN VIVO

ALCOHOL INTOXICATION AND POSTBURN INTESTINAL IMMUNITY

A NOVEL ANTI-SPORE NASAL VACCINE FOR PROTECTION FROM ANTHRAX

THE FEMALE URINARY MICROBIOME AND URINARY INCONTINENCE

MAINTAINING B CELL IMMUNITY WITH AGED B LYMPHOCYTES

DETERMINANTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF LOW VITAMIN D IN POPULATIONS OF AFRICAN DESCENT

SOMATIC DIVERSIFICATION OF IMMUNOGLOBULIN GENES IN GALT

COMPREHENSIVE PREPARATION OF SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS TO SUPPORT THE MENTAL HEALTH OF STUDENTS THAT ARE CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE IN THE CICERO COMMUNITY

BINGE ALCOHOL-INDUCED NEURODEGENERATION AND OMEGA-3 DHA PROTECTION

CYBERCORPS SCHOLARSHIP FOR SERVICE: CYBERRAMBLERS BOLSTER NATIONAL SECURITY -CYBERSECURITY IS CRITICAL TO ALL ASPECTS OF MODERN LIFE, FROM ENERGY, COMMERCE, FINANCE, EDUCATION, AND HEALTHCARE TO MANUFACTURING AND AGRICULTURE. WELL-TRAINED CYBERSECURITY PROFESSIONALS SERVING IN THE GOVERNMENT WORKFORCE ARE CRITICAL TO NATIONAL SECURITY. THIS PROJECT WILL ESTABLISH THE CYBERRAMBLERS ? LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO CYBERCORPS? SCHOLARSHIP FOR SERVICE PROGRAM TO IMPROVE THE UNITED STATES' NATIONAL SECURITY. SCHOLARS WILL BE TRAINED IN TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE FROM COMPUTER SCIENCE AND CYBERSECURITY, AND SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL KNOWLEDGE OF CYBERCRIME FROM PSYCHOLOGY, AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND CRIMINOLOGY. THIS LEADS TO SCHOLARS RECEIVING A WELL-ROUNDED CYBERSECURITY EDUCATION AND TRAINING. FOUR COHORTS OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS MAJORING IN THE B.S. FOR CYBERSECURITY PROGRAM WILL BE RECRUITED FOR A TOTAL OF 20 STUDENTS OVER FIVE YEARS. THE STUDENT RECRUITMENT PROCESS EMPHASIZES RECRUITING AND RETAINING MEMBERS OF UNDERREPRESENTED AND UNDERSERVED GROUPS. THE OUTCOME OF THIS PROJECT WILL BE A WELL-PREPARED COHORT OF CYBERSECURITY PROFESSIONALS AND LEADERS READY TO MEET THE NATION?S CYBERSECURITY WORKFORCE NEEDS. THE PROJECT WILL BUILD ON THE EXISTING INTERDISCIPLINARY CYBERSECURITY PROGRAM TO RECRUIT STUDENTS FROM COMPUTER SCIENCE, CYBERSECURITY, PSYCHOLOGY, AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND CRIMINOLOGY. EACH CYBERRAMBLER SCHOLAR WILL RECEIVE TWO YEARS OF SCHOLARSHIP SUPPORT AND ADVISING AND MENTORING SUPPORT TO ENSURE ADEQUATE PROGRESS TOWARD GRADUATION AND SUCCESSFUL JOB PLACEMENT. SCHOLARS WILL BE INVOLVED IN INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AND EDUCATION AND RECEIVE TRAINING TO DEVELOP THE CRITICAL THINKING, INDEPENDENCE, TEAMWORK, AND TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED IN A CYBERSECURITY CAREER. THESE SCHOLARSHIPS FOR SERVICE WILL PROVIDE THE NECESSARY HANDS-ON TRAINING AND EDUCATION FOR SCHOLARS TO START A SUCCESSFUL CYBERSECURITY CAREER AS PART OF THE GOVERNMENT WORKFORCE. TO ENSURE THE EFFECTIVENESS AND SUSTAINABILITY OF THE PROGRAM, COMPREHENSIVE FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE EVALUATION MECHANISMS WILL BE USED TO ASSESS THE PROGRESS AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE STUDENT SCHOLARS. THESE WILL SPECIFICALLY FOCUS ON SCHOLARS? SKILL DEVELOPMENT, KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION, AND READINESS TO MEET THE NATION'S CYBERSECURITY WORKFORCE NEEDS. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO CREATE CYBERSECURITY PROFESSIONALS WHO WILL POSITIVELY IMPACT NATIONAL SECURITY AND MEET THE EVOLVING CHALLENGES OF THE CYBER LANDSCAPE THROUGH STRATEGIC RECRUITMENT, INTERDISCIPLINARY CYBERSECURITY-FOCUSED CURRICULUM, RIGOROUS EVALUATION, AND GOVERNMENT PARTNERSHIPS. THIS PROJECT IS SUPPORTED BY THE CYBERCORPS? SCHOLARSHIP FOR SERVICE (SFS) PROGRAM, WHICH FUNDS PROPOSALS ESTABLISHING OR CONTINUING SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS IN CYBERSECURITY AND ALIGNS WITH THE U.S. NATIONAL CYBER STRATEGY TO DEVELOP A SUPERIOR CYBERSECURITY WORKFORCE. FOLLOWING GRADUATION, SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS ARE REQUIRED TO WORK IN CYBERSECURITY FOR A FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL, OR TRIBAL GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION FOR THE SAME DURATION AS THEIR SCHOLARSHIP SUPPORT. 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.

MONOCYTE REGULATION OF INFANT IMMUNE RESPONSES

CHROMATIN ORGANIZATION AS A PREDICTOR OF STRESS INDUCED IMMUNE DYSREGULATION

CUBA CIVIL SOCIETY PROGRAM - CNECT

LINKING NICOTINIC ACTIVATION WITH SKIN INNATE IMMUNITY AND ATOPIC DERMATITIS

PS09-007, EVALUATING LOCALLY DEVELOPED HOMEGROWN HIV PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH WORKFORCE EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAM

COMMENSAL EXOPOLYSACCHARIDE PROTECTION FROM INFLAMMATION

THE CELL BIOLOGY OF TRIM5ALPHA

SELF-MANAGEMENT IN ADOLESCENTS AND YOUNG ADULTS WITH SPINA BIFIDA

CAN THE SUNSHINE VITAMIN IMPROVE MOOD AND SELF-MANAGEMENT IN WOMEN WITH DIABETES

BRAVE MINORITY YOUTH VIOLENCE PREVENTION PROGRAM

MECHANISMS OF ENTEROPATHOGENIC E. COLI EFFECTS ON POLARITY AND TIGHT JUNCTIONS

A NEW PHARMACOLOGICAL TARGET TO REDUCE THE INCIDENCE OF ACUTE RESPIRATORY DISTRESS SYNDROME AFTER ACUTE LUNG INJURY IN TRAUMA PATIENTS

THE ROLE OF SPARTIN IN AUTOPHAGY OF LIPID DROPLETS: IMPLICATIONS FOR SPG20 DISEAS

DEFINING THE MICROTUBULE MOTORS WHICH DRIVE THE UNCOATING AND TRAFFICKING OF HIV

RESCUING ANTI-TUMOR RESPONSES OF TCR-TD T CELLS BY NKG2D-STIMULATION

STRENGTHENING THE CAPACITY OF THE AFRICAN UNION TO PROMOTE GOVERNANCE AND THE RULE OF LAW IN ITS STATES

ADVANCED NURSING EDUCATION WORKFORCE

CALCIUM RELEASE CHANNEL DYSFUNCTION: MOLECULAR MECHANISMS

REGULATION OF NOTCH SIGNALING BY ERBB-2: NOVEL THERAPEUTIC STRATEGY

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

AWARDING LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO A TWO YEAR COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT FOR $1,500,000 IN SUPPORT OF THEIR PROGRAM ENTITLED, "YES WE CAN!: PARTNERING WIT

JNK SUPPRESSION OF CONNEXIN43 ENHANCES ATRIAL FIBRILLATION IN AGED ATRIA

MECHANISMS OF FORK RESTART IN RESPONSE TO GENOTOXIC STRESS

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH WORKFORCE EDUCATION AND TRAINING FOR PROFESSIONALS AND PARAPROFESSIONALS

EVALUATION OF GOAL-DIRECTED PSYCHOLOGICAL CAPITAL AND EMPLOYER COACHING IN HEALTH PROFESSION OPPORTUNITY DEVELOPMENT

EVALUATION OF EMPOWERMENT PATHWAYS TO SELF-SUFFICIENCY IN HEALTH PROFESSIONS OPPORTUNITY WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT FOR LOW-I

OPIOID WORKFORCE EXPANSION PROGRAM- PROFESSIONAL

PREDICTING GENE REGULATION ACROSS POPULATIONS TO UNDERSTAND MECHANISMS UNDERLYING COMPLEX TRAITS

PRACTICING DEMOCRACY IN COMMUNITIES: DEVELOPING A COMMUNITY-WIDE CIVIC LEARNING SYSTEM; PROVIDING INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORTS TO SCHOOLS; GENERATING INNOVATIVE CIVIC LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS.

EMSC PARTNERSHIP GRANTS

ACE: ACHIEVING COLLEGE EXCELLENCE 2020

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR DETERMINANTS OF TRIM5ALPHA RESTRICTION OF HIV-1

LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO NOYCE SCHOLARS: TEACHING, LEARNING & LEADING WITH SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES -THIS PROJECT AIMS TO SERVE THE NATIONAL NEED OF RECRUITING, DEVELOPING, AND RETAINING A DIVERSE AND TALENTED GROUP OF HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS TEACHERS WITH THE KNOWLEDGE, PRACTICES, AND DISPOSITIONS TO ENACT CULTURALLY RELEVANT STEM EDUCATION. THE PROJECT WILL IDENTIFY AND ATTRACT HIGH-ACHIEVING STEM MAJORS THROUGH SYSTEMATIC OUTREACH EFFORTS AND A TRY TEACHING STIPEND OPPORTUNITY. RECRUITMENT WILL TARGET A DIVERSE AND QUALIFIED POOL OF APPLICANTS THAT INCLUDES PEOPLE OF COLOR, FIRST GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS, VETERANS, AND MULTILINGUAL SPEAKERS. SCHOLARS WILL COMPLETE LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO?S INITIAL TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM, ALIGNED WITH ILLINOIS? CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE TEACHING AND LEADING STANDARDS, AND DESIGNED TO SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS? DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF SUBJECT MATTER AND HOW IT CAN BE TRANSFORMATIVE TO STUDENTS? LIVES. COURSEWORK ALSO EMBEDS PREPARATION FOR EDUCATING MULTILINGUAL LEARNERS AND ENSURES ELIGIBILITY FOR THE STATE'S ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE (ESL) ENDORSEMENT. INDUCTION SUPPORT WILL INCLUDE PARTICIPATION IN FIELD EXPERIENCES AND COACHING SHADOW DAYS IN PARTNER SCHOOLS, AS WELL AS ONGOING MENTORING AND COLLABORATIVE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING, ALL DESIGNED TO SUPPORT INSTRUCTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS AND RETENTION. IN THIS PROJECT, LOYOLA?S SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES, SCHOOL OF SUSTAINABILITY, AND CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND MATH EDUCATION WILL PARTNER WITH ILLINOIS DISTRICT 219 AND CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS. FIVE PROJECT GOALS GUIDE THE EXECUTION OF THE PROJECT. FIRST IS TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL AND OTHER SUPPORTS TO AT LEAST 19 HIGH-ACHIEVING PROSPECTIVE BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY, PHYSICS, AND MATHEMATICS TEACHERS WHO COMMIT TO TEACHING IN HIGH-NEED SCHOOLS. SECOND IS TO INCREASE THE NUMBER AND DIVERSITY OF STEM MAJORS AND PROFESSIONALS ENTERING TEACHING. THE THIRD GOAL IS TO PREPARE CANDIDATES TO WORK WITH CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE STUDENTS, ENSURING THAT 100% OF SCHOLARS FULFILL REQUIREMENTS FOR THE STATE ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE (ESL) ENDORSEMENT. FOURTH IS TO RETAIN TEACHERS IN CHICAGO HIGH-NEED SCHOOLS THROUGH RIGOROUS PREPARATION COMBINED WITH HIGH-QUALITY, MULTI-DIMENSIONAL INDUCTION SUPPORT. FINALLY, THE FIFTH GOAL IS TO STUDY PROGRAM DATA TO INFORM UNDERSTANDING OF URBAN STEM TEACHER PREPARATION, MENTORING, AND INDUCTION SUPPORT. SPECIFICALLY, PROGRAM RESEARCH WILL STUDY POTENTIAL CONNECTIONS AMONG CULTURALLY SUSTAINING INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES, INDUCTION SUPPORTS, AND TEACHER RETENTION. THIS TRACK 1: SCHOLARSHIPS AND STIPENDS PROJECT IS SUPPORTED THROUGH THE ROBERT NOYCE TEACHER SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM (NOYCE). THE NOYCE PROGRAM SUPPORTS TALENTED STEM UNDERGRADUATE MAJORS AND PROFESSIONALS TO BECOME EFFECTIVE K-12 STEM TEACHERS AND EXPERIENCED, EXEMPLARY K-12 TEACHERS TO BECOME STEM MASTER TEACHERS IN HIGH-NEED SCHOOL DISTRICTS. IT ALSO SUPPORTS RESEARCH ON THE EFFECTIVENESS AND RETENTION OF K-12 STEM TEACHERS IN HIGH-NEED SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 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.

REDEFINING STEM TEACHER PREPARATION BY TEACHING, LEARNING ,AND LEADING WITH SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES

THE U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE (USFWS) SHIAWASSEE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE (SNWR) PROPOSES TO CONTROL 200 ACRES OF INVASIVE PLANTS, INCREASE WATERBIRD UTILIZATION, AND REDUCE NUTRIENT RUN-OFF TO THE SAGINAW BAY AREA OF CONCERN THROUGH AN INNOVATIVE MULTI-YEAR RESTORATION AND RESEARCH PROJECT. THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES GLRI ACTION PLAN III PRIORITIES (FOCUS AREA 2) WHICH CALLS TO DEVELOP INVASIVE SPECIES CONTROL TECHNOLOGIES AND REFINE MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES WITH INNOVATIVE EMERGING TECHNOLOGY, IMPLEMENTED AT A LARGE SCALE.WE PROPOSE TO HARVEST INVASIVE HYBRID CATTAIL (TYPHA X GLAUCA) BIOMASS FROM THE 288-ACRE MAANKIKI SOUTH UNIT WITHIN THE SNWR, CONVERT IT TO BIOCHAR ON-SITE, AND RE-APPLY THE BIOCHAR TO A PORTION OF THE UNIT. THE MAANKIKI SOUTH UNIT WAS RESTORED TO WETLAND FROM AGRICULTURAL FIELDS THROUGH A GLRI-FUNDED RESTORATION PROJECT. HOWEVER, DUE TO ITS LEGACY OF AGRICULTURE AND WATERSHED NUTRIENT ENRICHMENT, THE UNIT QUICKLY BECAME DOMINATED BY HYBRID CATTAIL, ALTERING THE WETLAND S ECOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS AND REDUCING HABITAT QUALITY FOR WATERBIRDS. MANAGING THE CATTAIL WITHIN THE UNIT IS THEREFORE A HIGH PRIORITY FOR SNWR.IN THIS PROJECT, WE WILL MANAGE INVASIVE CATTAILS TO THE BENEFIT OF WATERBIRDS ACROSS 200 ACRES OF MAANKIKI SOUTH UNIT, WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY CONDUCTING A LARGE-SCALE EXPERIMENT TO TEST THE COMBINED EFFICACY OF INVASIVE SPECIES BIOMASS-HARVEST AND BIOCHAR RE-APPLICATION TO ACHIEVE MULTIPLE BENEFITS. WE WILL ESTABLISH A MULTI-YEAR, HIGHLY REPLICATED EXPERIMENT WITH LARGE 2.5-ACRE PLOTS, TWO LEVEL OF BIOCHAR APPLICATION, TWO-LEVELS OF REPEATED HARVEST, AND CONTROLS. WE WILL HARVEST BIOMASS ANNUALLY WITH ALLOW-GROUND-PRESSURE PLANT HARVESTER AND PROCESS IT ON-SITE WITH A MOBILE BIOCHAR PRODUCTION UNIT. THROUGHOUT THE 4-YEAR STUDY, WE WILL MONITOR PLANT RESPONSE, BIRD UTILIZATION, SOIL NUTRIENT LEVELS, PLANT AVAILABLE NUTRIENTS, SOIL CARBON CONTENT, AND NUTRIENT EXPORT FROM THE UNIT.THIS PROJECT BUILDS DIRECTLY ON GLRI SUPPORTED PROJECTS TO RESTORE MAANKIKI SOUTH UNIT AND TO DEVELOP INNOVATIVE INVASIVE PLANT MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES. WE ANTICIPATE BROAD ECOLOGICAL BENEFITS INCLUDING THE LONG-TERM REDUCTION OF INVASIVE PLANT DOMINANCE, INCREASED WATERBIRD HABITAT, REDUCED DOWNSTREAM NUTRIENT RUNOFF, AND INCREASED CARBON STORAGE. KNOWLEDGE GAINED WILL BE USED TO DEVELOP MANAGEMENT PROTOCOLS FOR INVASIVE PLANT HARVEST, CONVERSION TO BIOCHAR AND WETLAND RE-APPLICATION.

DYNAMICS AND CONTROL OVER HOST-ASSOCIATED BIOFILM FORMATION AND DISPERSAL

PRESERVATION OF SKELETAL MUSCLE FOLLOWING FROSTBITE INJURY

SPANISH-SPEAKING LATINOS' EARLY LANGUAGE ENVIRONMENTS AND DUAL LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES PROGRAM

LOYOLA UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO WILL INCREASE DEVELOPMENT IN CUBA THROUGH A COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM TO RAISE THE PERFORMANCE OF CIVIL SOCIETY S BUILDING B

MECHANISMS OF IMPAIRED ERYTHROPOIESIS IN POST BURN ANEMIA OF CRITICAL ILLNESS

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH WORKFORCE EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAM

ADVANCED NURSING EDUCATION GRANTS

STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES PROGRAM

URINARY KNOWLEDGE STUDY (U-KNOW)

EXPLOIT DIMETHYL FUMARATE TO UNCOVER DRUGGABLE VULNERABILITIES AND PREVENT RECURRENCE OF ER+ BREAST CANCERS

COMMUNITY PROJECT FUNDING/CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING - CONSTRUCTION - LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO’S SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK (LUC/SSW) IS OPENING A BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SIMULATION LAB AT THE WATER TOWER CAMPUS TO TRAIN SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS AND PROFESSIONALS IN ALLIED FIELDS (E.G., NURSING, MEDICINE) FOR CAREERS IN MENTAL HEALTH SETTINGS, SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS, STATE AND LOCAL SERVICE AGENCIES, ETC. STUDENTS WILL RECEIVE MENTAL HEALTH AND CRISIS INTERVENTION TRAINING IN A SAFE, CONTROLLED, AND SUPERVISED SIMULATED PRACTICE ENVIRONMENT WITH SIMULATED PATIENTS UTILIZING RECORDING SOFTWARE FOR DETAILED FEEDBACK ON SKILL DEVELOPMENT. TELEBEHAVIORAL HEALTH TRAINING CONDUCTED VIA THE SIMULATION LAB WILL ASSIST AT-RISK COMMUNITIES ACROSS CHICAGO HAVING A DIRECT IMPACT UPON THOSE MOST IN NEED OF MENTAL HEALTH CARE. LUC/SSW HAS INTERNALLY WORKED TO BUILD OUT THE NEW BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SIMULATION LAB ON THE 4TH AND 5TH FLOORS OF MAGUIRE HALL AND FUNDING FROM THIS CFP/CDF PROJECT THROUGH HRSA WILL SUPPORT ESSENTIAL ITEMS INCLUDING SOFTWARE, COMPUTERS, FURNITURE, AND OTHER KEY SUPPLIES (E.G., PROPS). ADDITIONAL SUPPORTIVE FUNDING AND COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH CONSTRUCTION ARE OUTLINED IN THIS SUBMISSION AND ARE BEING COVERED SEPARATELY BY LUC.

COMBINED PRIORITY FOR PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENT

CROSS-AGE PEER MENTORING TO ENHANCE RESILIENCE AMONG LOW-INCOME URBAN YOUTH LIVING IN HIGH VIOLENCE CHICAGO COMMUNITIES.

ABSTRACT THE GOAL OF THE LOYOLA STOP SCHOOL VIOLENCE (LSSV) PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT AGE-APPROPRIATE, SCHOOL-SPECIFIC, CULTURALLY COMPETENT, RISK FACTOR-RELEVANT, TRAUMA-INFORMED, SCHOOL-WIDE, AND EVIDENCE-BASED SCHOOL VIOLENCE PREVENTION TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR STUDENTS, SCHOOL STAFF AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS TO PREVENT STUDENTS’ ENGAGEMENT IN VIOLENT ACTIVITIES, TO IMPROVE SCHOOL STAFF’S AWARENESS OF MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS, AND TO ENSURE A SAFE AND POSITIVE SCHOOL CLIMATE. ADOPTING THE RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION (RTI) VIOLENCE PREVENTION STRATEGIES (I.E., PRIMARY PREVENTION, SECONDARY PREVENTION OR INTERVENTION, TERTIARY PREVENTION OR RESPONSE), THE LSSV PROJECT WILL PROVIDE CBITS AND GREAT TO ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY HIGH RISK STUDENTS, WHILE OFFERING TMHFA, SANDY HOOK PROMISE’S SAY SOMETHING PROGRAM, AND 2ND STEP SEL WITH ANTI-BULLYING PROGRAM TO SIX HUNDRED LOWER RISK TARGET STUDENTS AT SIX PUBLIC SCHOOLS (K-12) IN THREE IMPOVERISHED COMMUNITIES IN CHICAGO FOR THREE YEARS. IN ADDITION, THE LSSV PROJECT PROVIDES YOUTH MHFA TRAINING TO TWO HUNDRED FORTY SCHOOL STAFF AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS TO IMPROVE THEIR AWARENESS AND RESPONSES TO MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES. FINALLY, THE LSSV PROJECT AIMS TO OFFER STUDENT-INITIATED AND SCHOOL-WIDE VIOLENCE PREVENTION PROGRAMS TO ENSURE A SAFE AND POSITIVE SCHOOL CLIMATE.

MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR DISSECTION OF CIRCADIAN OUTPUT PATHWAYS IN DROSOPHILA

PROMOTING ASTHMA SELF-CARE IN URBAN AFRICAN AMERICAN TEENS

ADVANCE ADAPTATION: INSPIRED- INCLUSIVE PRACTICES IN THE RETENTION AND EQUITY OF DIVERSE FACULTY

TAS::89 0222::TAS CHICAGO CLEAN AIR, CLEAN WATER PROJECT: ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING FOR A HEALTHY, SUSTAINABLE URBAN FUTURE

CAREER: THE DEVELOPMENTAL REGULATION OF AMNIOTE SKULL DIVERSITY

MECHANISMS OF EPIGENETIC GENE REGULATION BY THE DROSOPHILA COMPASS-LIKE COMPLEX

ALCOHOL AND LUNG TRANSPLANTATION: UNDERSTANDING DONOR AND RECIPIENT CONSEQUENCES

CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR BASIS OF TONOTOPIC MAP FORMATION IN THE MOUSE COCHLEAR NUCLEUS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: MAKING SPACE FOR STORY-BASED TINKERING TO SCAFFOLD EARLY INFORMAL ENGINEERING LEARNING

RONALD E. MCNAIR POSTBACCALAUREATE ACHIEVEMENT

CAREER: CIRCADIAN CONTROL AND INTEGRATION OF FEEDING AND METABOLIC RHYTHMS IN DROSOPHILA

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DECIPHERING THE GENETIC DIVERSITY OF VIRUSES THROUGH GENE NETWORKS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: LATINX FAMILIES' TALK ABOUT SCIENCE IN STORIES WITH YOUNG CHILDREN

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

MECHANISM-BASED DESIGN OF IRON-MEDIATED CARBONYL-OLEFIN METATHESIS PROTOCOLS

CAREER: IMPACT OF ELEMENTAL LIMITATION ON THE EVOLUTION AND COMPOSITION OF BACTERIA -ALL ORGANISMS CONSIST OF A MIXTURE OF ELEMENTS IN DIFFERING RATIOS. ELEMENTS SUCH AS CARBON, NITROGEN, AND PHOSPHORUS ARE NEEDED TO MAKE THE NUCLEIC ACIDS, PROTEINS AND OTHER MOLECULES THAT ARE THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF CELLS. HOWEVER, THE AVAILABILITY OF THESE ELEMENTS IN ORGANISMS? ENVIRONMENTS OFTEN DIFFERS FROM THE PROPORTIONS NEEDED BY ORGANISMS. AS A RESULT, THE AVAILABILITY OF THE SCARCEST ELEMENT CAN LIMIT GROWTH. THIS PROJECT WILL EXPLORE HOW BACTERIA EVOLVE IN RESPONSE TO THE SCARCITY OF DIFFERENT ELEMENTS. BACTERIA WILL EVOLVE UNDER CONTROLLED LABORATORY CONDITIONS WITH VARYING RATIOS OF CARBON, NITROGEN, AND PHOSPHORUS. THE RESEARCHERS WILL MEASURE ELEMENTAL COMPOSITION, GENETIC CHANGES, AND FITNESS OF THE EVOLVED BACTERIA. HUMAN ACTIVITY HAS ALTERED ELEMENTAL AVAILABILITY ACROSS A VARIETY OF HABITATS, INCLUDING ADDITION OF NITROGEN AND PHOSPHORUS AS FERTILIZER. THE RESEARCH IN THIS PROJECT WILL HELP LAY THE FOUNDATION FOR UNDERSTANDING HOW ORGANISMS MAY EVOLVE IN RESPONSE TO CHANGES IN ELEMENTAL AVAILABILITY. THIS PROJECT WILL ALSO PROVIDE RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS WHO WILL CONDUCT AN EVOLUTION EXPERIMENT AS PART OF THEIR INTRODUCTORY BIOLOGY LABORATORY COURSE AND THEN HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE PROJECT AS UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS. THIS PROJECT WILL ADDRESS HOW THE ELEMENTAL COMPOSITION OF BACTERIA EVOLVES IN RESPONSE TO ELEMENTAL LIMITATION. THE RESEARCHERS WILL TEST WHETHER SELECTION UNDER ELEMENTAL LIMITATION FAVORS A NUTRIENT SPARING RESPONSE IN WHICH BACTERIA EVOLVE TO INCORPORATE LESS OF THE LIMITING ELEMENT IN THEIR CELLS. THE EVOLUTIONARY RESPONSE TO ELEMENTAL LIMITATION MAY ALSO DEPEND ON OTHER ASPECTS OF THE ENVIRONMENT. THIS RESEARCH WILL TEST THE ROLE OF DIFFERING SELECTION PRESSURES BY COMPARING THE OUTCOME OF EVOLUTION UNDER SELECTION FOR FASTER GROWTH RATE AND EVOLUTION UNDER SELECTION FOR INCREASED YIELD. RESPONSE TO LIMITATION MAY ALSO DEPEND ON THE STARTING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ORGANISMS. TO EXPLORE THIS, THE RESEARCHERS WILL ALSO TEST THE ROLE OF GENETIC BACKGROUND ON THE EVOLUTIONARY RESPONSE TO LIMITATION. 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.

NON-HYPERTENSIVE CARDIAC DISORDERS IN POLYCYSTIC KIDNEY DISEASE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ADVANCING EARLY STEM LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH TINKERING AND REFLECTION

INVESTIGATION OF MYOSIN 2 REGULATION BY RLC KINASES DURING DYNAMIC CELLULAR PROCESSES

FROM STORIES TO SOLUTIONS: ENGAGING LATINX FAMILIES AS DESIGN PARTNERS TO ADVANCE EQUITABLE INFORMAL ENGINEERING LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUNG CHILDREN -MANY POINT TO THE POTENTIALLY TRANSFORMATIVE ROLE EARLY ENGINEERING EDUCATION CAN PLAY IN BROADENING PARTICIPATION IN STEM AMONG INDIVIDUALS FROM CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE COMMUNITIES. MOREOVER, THIS IDEA HAS DRIVEN THE DRAMATIC EXPANSION OF TINKERING AND MAKING SPACES AND PROGRAMS THAT PROVIDE ENGINEERING LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES IN THE EARLY YEARS. TO FULLY UNLOCK THE PROMISE OF THESE KINDS OF EARLY LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ADVANCING EQUITY IN ENGINEERING, HOWEVER, IT IS NECESSARY TO DO MORE THAN INCREASE ACCESS. THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES THE FURTHER NEED TO UNDERSTAND HOW TO DESIGN THESE ENGINEERING ACTIVITIES AND PROGRAMS TO CONNECT WITH AND BUILD UPON CULTURAL AND FAMILIAL STRENGTHS AND PRACTICES FOR SUPPORTING CHILDREN'S LEARNING. THE PROJECT TAKES AS A STARTING POINT THAT MANY FAMILIES, AND PARTICULARLY THOSE FROM CULTURAL COMMUNITIES WITH RICH ORAL STORYTELLING TRADITIONS SUCH AS FAMILIES OF LATIN AMERICAN HERITAGES, RELY FREQUENTLY ON ORAL STORYTELLING TO COMMUNICATE KNOWLEDGE TO YOUNG CHILDREN. THE PROJECT FOCUSES ON HOW LATINX FAMILIES' EVERYDAY PRACTICES AROUND ENGINEERING AND ORAL STORYTELLING CAN FORM THE BASIS FOR THE DESIGN OF NEW ENGINEERING LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES THAT RECOGNIZE AND VALUE THE ASSETS OF INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITIES. AN EMPHASIS ON WHY AND HOW ORAL STORYTELLING CAN UNDERPIN PROMISING ENGINEERING EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES IS IN KEEPING WITH EFFORTS TO ENGAGE CULTURAL AND FAMILIAL RESOURCES FOR STEM LEARNING, AS WELL AS WORK IN DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY AND LEARNING SCIENCES DEMONSTRATING THAT ORAL STORIES OFFER POWERFUL MECHANISMS FOR CONSTRUCTING KNOWLEDGE AND MAKING MEMORABLE LEARNING. SHARING STORIES IN THE CONTEXT OF ENGINEERING ACTIVITIES MAY ALSO FOSTER A SENSE OF BELONGING, FOR EXAMPLE, BY HIGHLIGHTING THE HUMAN SIDE OF ENGINEERING AND HOW IT CAN HELP OTHERS AND MAKE THINGS BETTER. THE PROJECT REFLECTS A COLLABORATION AMONG COMMUNITY LEADERS AT PALENQUE LSNA, EDUCATORS AT CHICAGO CHILDREN?S MUSEUM (CCM), AND RESEARCHERS AT LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO. WITH A COMMUNITY-ENGAGED PROCESS AND DESIGN-BASED RESEARCH METHODS, 90 LATINX CAREGIVERS AND THEIR 5- TO 8-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN WILL PARTICIPATE AS DESIGN PARTNERS TO CREATE PLAYFUL, HANDS-ON EARLY ENGINEERING ACTIVITIES THAT ARE RELATABLE AND MEANINGFUL. PALENQUE AND CCM FACILITATORS WILL EXPLORE STRATEGIES FOR CENTERING ORAL STORYTELLING AS A POTENTIALLY POWERFUL TOOL FOR EMPOWERING FAMILY DESIGN PARTNERS. IN TURN, THE RESULTING ACTIVITIES FROM THE CO-DESIGN SESSIONS WILL FORM COMMUNITY-BASED INFORMAL ENGINEERING PROGRAMS OFFERED TO MORE THAN 100 COMMUNITY MEMBERS ANNUALLY, AND DURING SUMMERTIME FAMILY PROGRAMMING AT THE MUSEUM WHEN THE NUMBER OF VISITORS CAN EXCEED 200 PER DAY. IN THE COMMUNITY- AND MUSEUM-BASED PROGRAMS, THE PROJECT WILL RESEARCH WHETHER AND TO WHAT EXTENT THE CO-DESIGNED PROGRAMS IMPACT FAMILY ENGINEERING LEARNING IN COMMUNITY- AND MUSEUM-BASED SETTINGS. ADDITIONALLY, THE PROJECT WILL IDENTIFY PRACTICES FOR EFFECTIVELY SHARING THE CO-DESIGN PROCESS AND FIRST-PERSON VOICES OF FAMILY CO-DESIGN PARTNERS, AND STUDY HOW DOING SO MIGHT IMPACT THE ENGINEERING ENGAGEMENT AND STORIES OF CONNECTION AND BELONGING EXPRESSED BY OTHER FAMILIES PARTICIPATING IN THE PROGRAMS. THE PROJECT WILL YIELD A DESIGN NARRATIVE AND A TOOLKIT OF RESOURCES REFLECTING WHAT IS LEARNED ABOUT CO-CREATING ENGINEERING LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR AND WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS IN WAYS THAT REFLECT FAMILIES' CULTURAL RESOURCES AND EVERYDAY PRACTICES. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO CONTRIBUTE PRACTICES THAT SUPPORT OTHER FAMILIES IN COMMUNITY- AND MUSEUM-BASED PROGRAMS TO CONNECT THEIR OWN STORIES TO HANDS-ON ENGINEERING ACTIVITIES IN WAYS THAT CAN ADVANCE ENGINEERING ENGAGEMENT AND EXPRESSIONS OF BELONGING. THE WORK WILL PROVIDE ROBUST TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES ACROSS THE THREE-WAY INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERSHIP. PRACTICE RESOURCES AND OTHER PRODUCTS OF THE WORK WILL BE CREATED COLLABORATIVELY AND DISSEMINATED BROADLY WITH CONTRIBUTIONS OF ALL INVOLVED ACKNOWLEDGED. THIS INTEGRATING RESEARCH AND PRACTICE COLLABORATIVE PROJECT IS FUNDED BY THE ADVANCING INFORMAL STEM LEARNING (AISL) PROGRAM, WHICH SEEKS TO ADVANCE NEW APPROACHES TO, AND EVIDENCE-BASED UNDERSTANDING OF, THE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF STEM LEARNING IN INFORMAL ENVIRONMENTS. THIS INCLUDES PROVIDING MULTIPLE PATHWAYS FOR BROADENING ACCESS TO AND ENGAGEMENT IN STEM LEARNING EXPERIENCES. 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.

MECHANISMS OF EPIGENETIC GENE REGULATION BY THE DROSOPHILA COMPASS-LIKE COMPLEX

CAREER: HOW DO PHAGE DRIVE BACTERIAL DIVERSITY IN LAKE MICHIGAN NEAR-SHORE WATERS? A BIOINFORMATICS PERSPECTIVE

NATIONAL LEADERSHIP GRANTS - MUSEUMS

NURSE, EDUCATION, PRACTICE, QUALITY AND RETENTION - REGISTERED NURSES IN PRIMARY CARE

COMPARATIVE BIOGEOGRAPHY AND DIVERSIFICATION OF BIRDS ON MADAGASCAR

PSYCHOSOCIAL ADJUSTMENT IN ADOLESCENTS WITH SPINA BIFIDA

MODELING ION SELECTIVITY IN EF-HAND PROTEINS - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT METAL IONS PLAY CRUCIAL ROLES IN NUMEROUS VITAL BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES, ENCOMPASSING MUSCLE CONTRACTION, RESPIRATION, PHOTOSYNTHESIS, SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION, ENZYME CATALYSIS, AND HORMONE SECRETION. IT IS ESTIMATED THAT APPROXIMATELY 40% OF PROTEINS RELY ON METAL IONS FOR THEIR FUNCTIONALITY. AMONG THE ROUGHLY TWO DOZEN BIOLOGICALLY AVAILABLE METAL IONS, PRECISE ION SELECTION IS PARAMOUNT, AS INCORRECT ION BINDING CAN LEAD TO REDUCED EFFICIENCY AND TOXICITY. HOWEVER, OUR UNDERSTANDING OF ION SELECTIVITY IN MANY PROTEINS REMAINS LIMITED. MOLECULAR DYNAMICS (MD) SIMULATIONS HAVE EMERGED AS AN IMPORTANT TOOL IN BIOCHEMISTRY RESEARCH, OFFERING ATOMIC-LEVEL INSIGHTS INTO THE FUNDAMENTAL MECHANISMS GOVERNING BIOMOLECULAR FUNCTION. HOWEVER, ACCURATE FORCE FIELD MODELS ARE IMPERATIVE FOR MEANINGFUL MD SIMULATION RESULTS. MODELING METAL ION-LIGAND INTERACTIONS IS CHALLENGING DUE TO THE INVOLVEMENT OF POLARIZATION AND CHARGE TRANSFER EFFECTS. A KEY GOAL OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO ESTABLISH A MULTISCALE MODELING STRATEGY TO SIMULATE ION SELECTIVITY IN PROTEINS. THE LI RESEARCH GROUP HAS DEVELOPED NOVEL FORCE FIELDS THAT EFFICIENTLY AND ACCURATELY CAPTURE THE POLARIZATION AND CHARGE TRANSFER EFFECTS IN PROTEIN-ION SYSTEMS. BY UTILIZING THESE FORCE FIELDS, WHICH ARE PARAMETERIZED FROM HIGH-LEVEL QUANTUM MECHANICAL CALCULATIONS, MD SIMULATIONS WILL BE CONDUCTED TO PROVIDE STRUCTURAL AND DYNAMIC INSIGHTS INTO PROTEIN-ION INTERACTIONS. FURTHERMORE, FREE ENERGY SIMULATIONS WILL BE EMPLOYED TO UNVEIL THERMODYNAMIC INSIGHTS AND IDENTIFY KEY RESIDUES AND FACTORS INFLUENCING ION BINDING AFFINITY. ENHANCED-SAMPLING SIMULATIONS WILL ALSO BE EMPLOYED TO EXTRACT KINETIC PROPERTIES OF ION BINDING. THESE SIMULATION RESULTS WILL BE COMPARED WITH EXISTING EXPERIMENTAL DATA OR RESULTS OBTAINED THROUGH COLLABORATION WITH EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCHERS, WITH THE FUNDAMENTAL FACTORS DICTATING ION SELECTIVITY WILL BE ANALYZED BASED ON A COMPREHENSIVE PERSPECTIVE. ULTIMATELY, OUR PROPOSAL'S CENTRAL OBJECTIVE IS TO APPLY THIS MODELING STRATEGY TO INVESTIGATE ION SELECTIVITY IN EF-HAND CONTAINING PROTEINS, WHICH ARE WIDESPREAD IN VARIOUS ORGANISMS AND DISPLAY REMARKABLE AND DISTINCTIVE ION SELECTIVITY PROFILES. EF-HAND MOTIFS EXHIBIT THE CAPACITY TO BIND TO DIVERSE METAL IONS WITH VARYING AFFINITIES. HOWEVER, THE MECHANISMS GOVERNING THIS SELECTIVITY REMAIN INCOMPLETELY UNDERSTOOD. WE WILL FOCUS ON FOUR EF-HAND CONTAINING PROTEINS: CALMODULIN (CAM), LANMODULIN (LANM), TROPONIN C (TNC), AND LANTHANIDE BINDING TAGS (LBT), EXPLORING THEIR INTERACTIONS WITH VARIOUS METAL IONS. OUR RESEARCH WILL ELUCIDATE THE ROLES OF IONS, LIGANDS, PROTEIN CONFORMATIONAL DYNAMICS, AND SOLVENTS IN DETERMINING ION SELECTIVITY. THE INSIGHTS GAINED REGARDING HOW THESE PROTEINS REGULATE ION SELECTIVITY WILL FACILITATE THE DESIGN OF PROTEINS WITH TAILORED ION SELECTIVITY AND HAVE IMPLICATIONS FOR RELEVANT DRUG DESIGN EFFORTS.

CAREER: LINKING MICROEVOLUTION TO MACROEVOLUTION USING A HIGH RESOLUTION, LONG TERM FOSSIL STICKLEBACK DATASET -THIS AWARD IS FUNDED IN WHOLE OR IN PART UNDER THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT OF 2021 (PUBLIC LAW 117-2). CAN BIOLOGISTS USE CURRENT KNOWLEDGE OF POPULATIONS AND THE FORCES ACTING ON THEM TO HELP PREDICT LONG-TERM OUTCOMES OF EVOLUTION? TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION, PI STUART WILL STUDY 20,000 YEARS OF EVOLUTION IN A FOSSILIZED LINEAGE OF THREE SPINE STICKLEBACK FISH (GASTEROSTEUS DORYSSUS). STUART WILL MEASURE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EARLY POPULATION AND TEST WHETHER THAT INFORMATION ALLOWS ONE TO PREDICT THE EVOLUTION OBSERVED BY THE END OF THE POPULATION?S TRAJECTORY. BEING ABLE TO MAKE PREDICTIONS ABOUT EVOLUTION IS HIGHLY RELEVANT AS IT RELATES TO PANDEMIC FORECASTING, THE DESIGN OF MEDICINES FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE AND CANCER, AS WELL AS PREDICTING HOW AGRICULTURE AND AGRICULTURAL PESTS WILL RESPOND TO HUMAN ACTIVITY. AS SUCH, THIS PROJECT HAS RELEVANCE TO NATIONAL HEALTH, PROSPERITY, AND WELFARE. USING A MUSEUM COLLECTION OF FOSSIL G. DORYSSUS, STUART WILL MEASURE 19 ANATOMICAL TRAITS FROM ~4,500 FISH SAMPLED AT A CONTINUITY, RESOLUTION, AND LENGTH OF TIME RARELY AVAILABLE IN STUDIES OF LIVING OR EXTINCT SPECIES. BECAUSE STUART IS OBSERVING EVOLUTION DIRECTLY IN A SINGLE LINEAGE THROUGH TIME, THE ANCESTRAL FORM IS KNOWN. THUS, STUART CAN BETTER ASK ABOUT RATES OF EVOLUTIONARY CHANGE, HOW SELECTION SHAPED EVOLUTIONARY TRENDS, HOW ANCESTRAL TRAIT CORRELATIONS CONSTRAINED EVOLUTION, AND WHETHER A CONSTRAINT ITSELF EVOLVED. THIS STUDY ORGANISM HAS THE ADDED STRENGTH OF BEING A STICKLEBACK AND PART OF A FAMILY WHOSE EVOLUTION, ECOLOGY, GENETICS, AND DEVELOPMENT HAVE BEEN THOROUGHLY STUDIED IN LIVING POPULATIONS. AS SUCH, STUART CAN PLACE OBSERVED CHANGE IN G. DORYSSUS INTO A BROADER BIOLOGICAL CONTEXT TO BETTER ANSWER WHETHER MACROEVOLUTION IS MICROEVOLUTION PREDICTABLY WRIT LARGE. 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.

MODIFIED PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT SECTION THIS FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AWARD WILL PROVIDE DIRECT ASSISTANCE TO THE LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO TO REMOVE 7,112 POUNDS OF TRASH FROM WATERS IN THE GREATER CHICAGO, IL AREA WHILE SUPPORTING AT LEAST 20 JOBS. LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO IS LEVERAGING EXISTING PARTNERSHIPS TO INSTALL SEVERAL NEW COLLECTION DEVICES TO CAPTURE AND REMOVE THIS TRASH AND BENEFIT THE LOCAL ECONOMY.

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS

THROUGH A COALITION OF PARTNERS, THIS PROJECT WILL INCREASE BIO-DIVERSITY AND WILDLIFE HABITAT IN 200 ACRES OF CATTAIL-INFESTED COASTAL WETLANDS IN T

SYNTHESIS OF GLYCOGEN IN BACTERIA AND STARCH IN PLANTS: EVOLUTION AND MECHANISM OF ALLOSTERIC CONTROL

A PROCESS AND IMPACT EVALUATION OF ILLINOIS' POLICY TO ELIMINATE CASH BAIL AND REFORM PRETRIAL PRACTICES

FY23 CONGRESSIONAL COMMUNITY PROJECT FUNDING

CAREER: CONTROL OF SUBSTRATE ELECTRONIC STATES VIA PHOTOCHROMIC (SWITCHING) MOLECULAR ADSORBATES

CAREER: I. THE LOCAL AND GLOBAL EFFECTS ON GENOMIC ARCHITECTURE BY DEFECTS INDUCED IN REPETITIVE DNA DOMAINS AND II. DEVELOPMENT OF INTEGRATIVE CURRICULUM IN PHYSICS

CAREER: INTEGRATING FORWARD AND REVERSE GENETIC APPROACHES TO IDENTIFY THE GENOMIC BASIS OF PLANT-MICROBIOME INTERACTIONS IN LEGUMES -PLANTS GROW IN CLOSE CO-ASSOCIATION WITH AN INCREDIBLE DIVERSITY AND ABUNDANCE OF MICROORGANISMS, KNOWN AS THE MICROBIOME. ADVANCES IN SEQUENCING TECHNOLOGY OVER THE PAST 15 YEARS HAVE ALLOWED FOR THE UNPRECEDENTED INVESTIGATION OF MICROBIOMES GIVING RISE TO AN ENTIRELY NEW FIELD OF RESEARCH. IT IS NOW CLEAR THAT NEARLY EVERY CONCEIVABLE PLANT INTERACTION WITH THE ENVIRONMENT IS MEDIATED, TO SOME EXTENT, THROUGH INTERACTIONS WITH THE MICROBIOME. FOR THIS REASON, THERE IS PROFOUND SCIENTIFIC INTEREST AND FINANCIAL INVESTMENT AIMED AT HARNESSING PLANT-MICROBIOMES TO IMPROVE AGRICULTURE TO ACHIEVE GREATER FOOD SECURITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY. HOWEVER, THESE EFFORTS ARE SEVERELY LIMITED AS THE GENOMIC MECHANISMS THAT CONTROL PLANT-MICROBIOME INTERACTIONS ARE LARGELY UNKNOWN ? INFORMATION THAT IS ESSENTIAL FOR ENABLING PLANT BREEDING TO ENHANCE AGRICULTURAL MICROBIOMES. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO FILL THIS KNOWLEDGE GAP BY IDENTIFYING THE GENETIC MECHANISMS THAT CONTROL PLANT-MICROBIOME INTERACTIONS IN THE MODEL LEGUME MEDICAGO TRUNCATULA. THE LEGUME, OR BEAN, FAMILY IS THE SECOND MOST AGRICULTURALLY IMPORTANT CROP FAMILY. THIS PROJECT WILL LEVERAGE THE EXTENSIVE RESOURCES AVAILABLE IN MEDICAGO TO MAP THE GENETIC BASIS OF MICROBIOME VARIATION AND VALIDATE THE FUNCTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF CANDIDATE GENES THAT ARE IDENTIFIED. ADDITIONALLY, THIS WORK WILL EXAMINE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN KNOWN PLANT-MICROBE SYMBIOSIS GENES AND INTERACTIONS WITH THE BROADER MICROBIOME. THIS PROJECT WILL ALSO PROVIDE RESEARCH TRAINING FOR HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHERS FROM CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND DEVELOP NOVEL TEACHING MODULES BASED ON THIS RESEARCH THAT WILL BE IMPLEMENTED IN THE CLASSROOM AND BROADLY DISSEMINATED TO THE SCIENCE EDUCATION COMMUNITY. PLANT-MICROBIOME INTERACTIONS PLAY KEY ROLES IN ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS TOLERANCE; HOWEVER, THE MECHANISMS THAT CONTROL THESE INTERACTIONS REMAIN POORLY UNDERSTOOD. WHILE MUCH REMAINS UNKNOWN ABOUT THE GENETIC UNDERPINNINGS OF THE OVERALL PLANT MICROBIOME, THERE IS A CONSIDERABLE BODY OF LITERATURE FROM DECADES OF RESEARCH INTERROGATING THE MECHANISMS CONTROLLING SYMBIOTIC INTERACTIONS WITH ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI (AMF) AND BETWEEN LEGUMES AND NITROGEN-FIXING BACTERIA (RHIZOBIA). SEVERAL OF THE COMMON AMF AND RHIZOBIAL SYMBIOSIS GENES ARE CONSERVED ACROSS PLANT EVOLUTION, EVEN IN NON-SYMBIOTIC SPECIES, WHICH HAS RAISED THE HYPOTHESIS THAT SYMBIOSIS GENES MAY ALSO PLAY A ROLE IN CONTROLLING INTERACTIONS WITH THE BROADER MICROBIOME. THIS PROJECT INTEGRATES FORWARD AND REVERSE GENETIC APPROACHES TO INVESTIGATE THIS HYPOTHESIS AND FILL KEY KNOWLEDGE GAPS REGARDING GENOMIC MECHANISMS THAT SHAPE THE MICROBIOME OF LEGUMES. THIS WORK LEVERAGES RESOURCES AVAILABLE FOR THE MODEL LEGUME MEDICAGO BY CONDUCTING GENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDIES OF MICROBIOME INTERACTIONS AND EXAMINATION OF THE IMPACTS OF KNOCK-OUT MUTANTS FOR AMF AND RHIZOBIAL SYMBIOSIS GENES ON THE MICROBIOME. THIS WORK WILL GREATLY ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF PLANT MICROBIOME GENETICS AND WILL SERVE AS A GUIDE FOR FUTURE PLANT BREEDING EFFORTS TO IMPROVE AGRICULTURE. ADDITIONALLY, TRAINING HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHERS AND DEVELOPING NOVEL CURRICULAR MATERIALS ARE A MAJOR GOAL OF THIS PROJECT. MODERN SCIENCE EDUCATION STANDARDS EMPHASIZE TEACHING THE PRACTICE OF DOING SCIENCE THOUGH INQUIRY-BASED PEDAGOGICAL APPROACHES. ACHIEVING THIS CAN BE CHALLENGING FOR TEACHERS WITHOUT HAVING HAD EXPERIENCE CONDUCTING RESEARCH. MOREOVER, NEW TEACHING MODULES ARE NEEDED THAT ARE ALIGNED WITH MODERN STANDARDS. PROJECT OUTCOMES WILL BE DISSEMINATED BROADLY THROUGH PUBLICATIONS AND LONG-TERM, THROUGH PUBLIC DATA REPOSITORIES. 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.

EXCEL: EXCELLENCE IN COMPUTING AT EVERY LEVEL

CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR VETERAN STUDENT SUCCESS

THE FEMALE URINARY MICROBIOME: ADJACENT MICROBIOMES AND CLINICAL ASSOCIATIONS

CAREER: ANTHROPOGENIC LITTER REVEALS DRIVERS OF ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES IN URBAN STREAMS

REDUCING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, DATING VIOLENCE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, AND STALKING AT LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO: A COMPREHENSIVE PREVENTION AND RESPONSE PROGR

THE CHEMISTRY OF DIHYDROPYRIMIDINE DEHYDROGENASE -WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE PROCESSES (CLP) PROGRAM IN THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY, PROFESSOR GRAHAM MORAN FROM LOYOLA UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO IS STUDYING THE CHEMISTRY OF THE ENZYME DIHYDROPYRIMIDINE DEHYDROGENASE (DPD). THE MOVEMENT OF ELECTRONS AND HYDROGEN IONS IN BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES IS FUNDAMENTAL TO THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE. THE MECHANISM OF TRANSFER OF ELECTRONS IN BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS INVOLVES COMPLEX NETWORKS OF ELECTRON CARRIERS AND HYDROGEN ION DONORS AND REMAINS POORLY UNDERSTOOD. DPD TRANSFERS TWO ELECTRONS FROM AN ELECTRON DONOR TO REDUCE A BASE, WHICH INITIATES DEGRADATION IN A CLASS OF BASES THAT INCLUDES DNA AND RNA. DPD HAS A COMPLEX SET OF COFACTORS THAT TRANSMIT THE ELECTRONS ONE AT A TIME OVER LONG DISTANCES, WHICH IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER SIMILAR ENZYME. THE STUDY OF THIS ENZYME IS EXPECTED TO ADVANCE THE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW CHARGE TRANSFER IS USED TO FAVOR SPECIFIC REACTIONS. THE GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS ENGAGED IN THIS RESEARCH WILL GAIN KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE IN SPECTROPHOTOMETRY, TRANSIENT STATE KINETICS, AND X-RAY CRYSTALLOGRAPHY. STUDENTS WILL ALSO LEARN IN A YEARLY FREE VIRTUAL KINETICS WORKSHOP THAT WILL ILLUSTRATE HOW KINETIC IDEAS ARE EMPLOYED TO GLEAN INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPERTIES OF MOLECULES. DPD CATALYZES THE RATE LIMITING STEP IN THE DEGRADATION OF PYRIMIDINE BASES BUT IT IS SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT FROM OTHER DEHYDROGENASES THAT ACCOMPLISH SIMILAR CHEMISTRY. SPECIFICALLY, DPD CONTAINS TWO FLAVIN COFACTORS, FAD AND FMN, SEPARATED BY ~56 ANGSTROMS AND CONNECTED BY A MOLECULAR WIRE OF FOUR IRON SULFUR CENTERS. THE RESEARCH PLAN IS DESIGNED TO TEST THE HYPOTHESES THAT PYRIMIDINE REDUCTION BY DPD IS THE INSTIGATING STEP IN THE CATALYSIS OF BASE DEGRADATION AND THAT NADPH IS OXIDIZED TO BACKFILL THE ENZYME AND RE-ESTABLISH ITS TWO-ELECTRON REDUCED ACTIVE STATE; IN OTHER WORDS, THE OXIDATIVE HALF REACTION PRECEDES THE REDUCTIVE HALF REACTION. THE RESEARCH INVOLVES THE MODIFICATION OF SPECIFIC CHARGED RESIDUES CLUSTERED AROUND THE FAD AND FMN COFACTORS TO SLOW OR STALL THE PASSAGE OF ELECTRONS THROUGH THESE JUNCTIONS AND THUS TO REVEAL DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE CATALYTIC CYCLE. SPECIFICALLY, MUTATIONS THAT REDUCE THE NUMBER OF NEGATIVE CHARGED RESIDUES PROXIMAL TO THE FAD WILL BE USED TO RAISE THE REDUCTION POTENTIAL OF FAD AND SLOW ELECTRON TRANSFER TO FMN. SIMILARLY, MUTATIONS THAT REDUCE THE NUMBER OF POSITIVELY CHARGED RESIDUES NEAR THE FMN WILL BE USED TO DECREASE ITS CAPACITY TO ACT AS THE ELECTRON SINK. THE RESEARCH IS DESIGNED IN A WAY THAT MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO TRACK THE MOVEMENT OF ELECTRONS AND PROTONS USING COMBINATIONS OF VARIANTS WITH ISOTOPIC SUBSTITUTIONS FOR SUBSTRATES AND SOLVENT. 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.

PRE-SERVICE TEACHER RESEARCH EXPERIENCE IN BIODIVERSITY STUDIES -THE PROJECT AIMS TO SERVE THE NATIONAL NEED OF PREPARING HIGH-QUALITY SECONDARY SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS TEACHERS. MODERN TEACHING STANDARDS AND BEST PRACTICES CALL FOR TEACHERS NOT SIMPLY TO REITERATE FACTS, BUT RATHER TO ENGAGE STUDENTS IN SCIENTIFIC PROCESSES. HOWEVER, PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS OFTEN HAVE LIMITED OPPORTUNITIES TO IMMERSE THEMSELVES IN THE TYPES OF AUTHENTIC RESEARCH EXPERIENCES THAT BEST PREPARE THEM TO MEET THESE STANDARDS. THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES THIS LIMITATION BY PROVIDING A SUMMER PROGRAM AT LOYOLA UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO WITH AUTHENTIC STEM RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR PROSPECTIVE SCIENCE TEACHERS WHO ARE PURSUING A BACCALAUREATE DEGREE IN BIOLOGY, ECOLOGY, OR ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE. A RESEARCH EMPHASIS WILL BE ON BIODIVERSITY IN AN URBAN SETTING. COUPLED WITH THE RESEARCH PROGRAM WILL BE A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SUMMER PROGRAM WITH A FOCUS ON INTRODUCING PROJECT PARTICIPANTS TO MANY WAYS IN WHICH RESEARCH CAN BE APPLIED. AT THE SAME TIME, THE PROGRAM WILL HELP THEM DETERMINE HOW RESEARCH AND OTHER INQUIRY-BASED EXPERIENCES CAN BE INTEGRATED INTO THEIR FUTURE CLASSROOMS. THE PROJECT HAS AN UNDERLYING AIM TO MENTOR 8 NEW PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS EACH YEAR OF A 5-YEAR PROJECT FOR A TOTAL OF 40 UNIQUE PARTICIPANTS WHO WILL HAVE AN AUTHENTIC STEM RESEARCH EXPERIENCE. IN TURN, THESE FUTURE TEACHERS WILL BE PREPARED TO FACILITATE RESEARCH ACTIVITIES IN THE K-12 SETTING. THIS PROJECT AT LOYOLA UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO (LUC) WILL FOCUS ON SEVERAL GOALS. FIRST, THE INVESTIGATORS SEEK TO INCREASE THE NUMBER AND DIVERSITY OF PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS IN THE CHICAGO AREA WHO ARE STEM MAJORS WITH A GENUINE STEM RESEARCH EXPERIENCE. A SECOND GOAL IS TO AUGMENT THE SUMMER RESEARCH EXPERIENCES WITH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES. THESE OPPORTUNITIES WILL BE AIMED AT ENHANCING STEM IDENTITIES, INCREASING PEDAGOGICAL AND CONTENT KNOWLEDGE, GAINING EXPERIENCE WITH COMMUNICATION OF SCIENCE CONCEPTS AND SKILLS, AND DISCUSSING TEACHING PRACTICES WITH SPECIAL ATTENTION GIVEN TO IMPLEMENTING RESEARCH IN THE K-12 ENVIRONMENT. A COMPONENT OF THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WILL BE A WORKSHOP ON EMPLOYING DATA NUGGETS TO EMPOWER THE PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS TO TRANSLATE THEIR RESEARCH EXPERIENCE INTO THEIR FUTURE CAREERS AS TEACHERS. THIRD IS TO ADD TO THE KNOWLEDGE BASE FOR PRE-SERVICE TEACHER PREPARATION. TO ACCOMPLISH THIS, THE PROJECT WILL COLLECT AND ANALYZE DATA ABOUT THE SHORT AND LONG-TERM IMPLICATIONS OF PRE-SERVICE TEACHER RESEARCH AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCES ON PEDAGOGICAL AND CONTENT KNOWLEDGE, SCIENCE AND SCIENCE TEACHER IDENTITIES, AND INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES. A FINAL GOAL IS TO DISSEMINATE OUTCOMES AND FINDINGS ON THE LUC MODEL, ESPECIALLY TO OTHER PROGRAMS INTERESTED IN USING AUTHENTIC STEM RESEARCH EXPERIENCES, COUPLED WITH TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, TO ENHANCE AND IMPROVE PRE-SERVICE SCIENCE TEACHER PREPARATION. QUALITATIVE PROJECT EVALUATION OF THE STATED PROGRAM GOALS WILL RELY ON FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT, INCLUDING MENTOR REFLECTIONS, FOCUS GROUPS, AND INTERVIEWS. ALSO, A SUMMATIVE STUDY OF THE DEPTH AND RIGOR OF THE RESEARCH AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCES WILL BE INCORPORATED. OVERALL, EVALUATION IS DESIGNED TO CONTRIBUTE TO UNDERSTANDINGS OF HOW RESEARCH EXPERIENCES CAN BE INTEGRATED INTO BEGINNING SCIENCE TEACHERS? EARLY PREPARATION. THE PROJECT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO SERVE AS A MODEL FOR IMPROVING PRE-SERVICE TEACHER PREPARATION FOR WHICH INTENSIVE RESEARCH EXPERIENCES WOULD REPRESENT AN IMPORTANT PROGRAM COMPONENT. THIS NOYCE RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS PROJECT IS SUPPORTED THROUGH THE ROBERT NOYCE TEACHER SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM (NOYCE). THE NOYCE PROGRAM SUPPORTS TALENTED STEM UNDERGRADUATE MAJORS AND PROFESSIONALS TO BECOME EFFECTIVE K-12 STEM TEACHERS AND EXPERIENCED, EXEMPLARY K-12 TEACHERS TO BECOME STEM MASTER TEACHERS IN HIGH-NEED DISTRICTS. IT ALSO SUPPORTS RESEARCH ON THE RETENTION AND EFFECTIVENESS OF K-12 STEM TEACHERS IN HIGH-NEED SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 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.

PURCHASE OF A HIGH-RESOLUTION ULTRASOUND IMAGING SYSTEM

MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL MECHANISMS OF PHOSDUCIN-LIKE PROTEIN 3 FUNCTION IN SPERMATOGENESIS - PROJECT SUMMARY APPROXIMATELY 10-15% OF COUPLES IN THE UNITED STATES EXPERIENCE INFERTILITY. IN ONE-THIRD OF THESE CASES, INFERTILITY IS LINKED TO MALE FACTORS, PRIMARILY DUE TO ABNORMAL SPERM PRODUCTION AND FUNCTION. ADDRESSING THIS ISSUE REQUIRES IDENTIFYING AND CHARACTERIZING THE GENETIC MECHANISMS THAT CONTROL SPERM PRODUCTION. RECENTLY, WE IDENTIFIED THE DROSOPHILA PHOSDUCIN-LIKE PROTEIN 3 (PHLP3) AS ESSENTIAL FOR MALE FERTILITY. PHLP3 MUTANT MALES ARE STERILE AND CANNOT PRODUCE MATURE SPERM. SPERMATID NUCLEI FAIL TO CLUSTER, COMPLETE NUCLEAR ELONGATION, AND INDIVIDUALIZE, RESULTING IN SEMINAL VESICLES WITHOUT SPERM AND STERILITY. TO UNDERSTAND HOW PHLP3 FUNCTIONS IN VIVO, IT’S IMPORTANT TO CONSIDER ITS MOLECULAR ROLE. PHLP3 BELONGS TO A FAMILY OF SMALL THIOREDOXIN- DOMAIN-CONTAINING PROTEINS THAT ARE HIGHLY CONSERVED AMONG ALL EUKARYOTES. MEMBERS OF THE PHLP3 FAMILY EXHIBIT CYSTEINE-DEPENDENT REDOX ACTIVITY, AND THEIR FUNCTIONS ARE LINKED TO THE REGULATION OF MICROTUBULES AND ACTIN FILAMENTS. RECENT STUDIES HAVE SHOWN CONSERVATION OF THIS REDOX ACTIVITY ACROSS SPECIES, FROM THE PROTOZOAN PARASITE PLASMODIUM BERGHEI TO HUMANS AND DROSOPHILA, ALTHOUGH THE CYSTEINE DEPENDENCE OF DROSOPHILA PHLP3’S REDOX ACTIVITY HAS NOT YET BEEN CONFIRMED. GIVEN THE PROPOSED ROLE FOR PHLP3 AS A REGULATOR OF CYTOSKELETAL PROTEINS AND THE CRITICAL IMPORTANCE OF CYTOSKELETAL REMODELING DURING SPERMATID MATURATION, WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT PHLP3 IS NECESSARY FOR THE CYTOSKELETAL CHANGES THAT PROMOTE NUCLEAR ELONGATION AND SPERM INDIVIDUALIZATION. WE ALSO HYPOTHESIZE THAT THE CONSERVED REDOX ACTIVITY OF PHLP3 IS ESSENTIAL FOR ITS BIOLOGICAL FUNCTION. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO ELUCIDATE THE MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL MECHANISMS OF PHLP3 FUNCTION DURING SPERMATOGENESIS THROUGH A MULTI-FACETED APPROACH: (1) UNDERSTANDING THE BIOCHEMICAL FUNCTION OF PHLP3 BY IDENTIFYING THE KEY CYSTEINE(S) INVOLVED IN REDOX ACTIVITY AND ITS IN VIVO BINDING PARTNERS, AND (2) CHARACTERIZING THE TISSUE AND SUBCELLULAR LOCALIZATION OF PHLP3 AND EXAMINING HOW PHLP3 MUTATIONS AFFECT CRITICAL STAGES OF LATE SPERMATOGENESIS. THESE STUDIES WILL SHED LIGHT ON THE BIOCHEMICAL AND GENETIC MECHANISMS BY WHICH PHLP3 REGULATES SPERMATOGENESIS. CONSIDERING THE HIGH LEVEL OF SEQUENCE CONSERVATION ACROSS SPECIES, WE PROPOSE THAT PHLP3 PERFORMS SIMILAR FUNCTIONS RELATED TO SPERMATOGENESIS ACROSS DIFFERENT ORGANISMS.

ACE TRIO STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES

THE ROLE OF NECROPTOSIS IN THE PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF BONE MARROW FAILURE

NORMALIZING E:I IMBALANCE IN RETT SYNDROME BY MODULATION OF LATE RESPONSE GENES

CONNECTING KINETICS AND MECHANISMS TO SURFACE STRUCTURES ON HIGHLY-OXIDIZED METAL SURFACES IN HETEROGENEOUS CATALYSIS -WITH FUNDING FROM THE CHEMICAL CATALYSIS PROGRAM OF THE CHEMISTRY DIVISION, DAN KILLELEA OF LOYOLA UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO (LUC) WILL EXPLORE THE REACTIVE SPECIES PRESENT DURING HETEROGENEOUSLY CATALYZED OXIDATION REACTIONS AND WILL PROBE THEIR ENERGETICS TO ADVANCE UNDERSTANDING OF THE OXIDATIVE SURFACE CHEMISTRY OF CATALYTICALLY ACTIVE METALS. HETEROGENEOUSLY CATALYZED OXIDATION REACTIONS ON METAL SURFACES SEEM SUPERFICIALLY STRAIGHTFORWARD, YET SUBTLE DETAILS MAY DOMINATE BECAUSE OF THE HETEROGENEITY OF THE SURFACES. THESE KEY DETAILS ARE OFTEN OBSCURED, RENDERING ACCURATE ATOMIC-LEVEL DESCRIPTIONS ELUSIVE FOR EVEN A ?SIMPLE? REACTION LIKE CO OXIDATION TO CO2. ILLUMINATING THESE ATOMIC-LEVEL DETAILS ABOUT HETEROGENEOUSLY CATALYZED REACTIONS IS EXPECTED TO CONTRIBUTE TO ADVANCES IN THE UTILIZATION OF SCARCE RESOURCES AND TO A REDUCTION IN THE GENERATION OF ENVIRONMENTALLY HARMFUL BYPRODUCTS. IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE SURFACE CHEMISTRY ASPECT, THIS PROJECT WILL OFFER SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES TO UNDER-REPRESENTED SOCIOECONOMIC GROUPS IN THE CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS (CPS) THROUGH VARIOUS OUTREACH EFFORTS: THE HIGH SCHOOL LAB, TOURS OF LUC FACILITIES, AND A SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROGRAM. ADDITIONAL ENGAGEMENT AND OUTREACH EFFORTS WILL INCLUDE HOSTING CPS STUDENT MEETINGS WITH ADMISSIONS COUNSELORS FROM LOCAL UNIVERSITIES AND TRIPS TO ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY. THROUGH THESE EFFORTS, HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FROM ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED NEIGHBORHOODS WILL GAIN EXPOSURE TO SCIENCE AND LEARN ABOUT NEW EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AND CAREERS. UNDER THIS AWARD, DAN KILLELEA OF LOYOLA UNIVERSITY, CHICAGO AND HIS TEAM ARE WORKING TO UNCOVER THE CONNECTION BETWEEN OBSERVED SURFACE STRUCTURES AND REACTION KINETICS AND MECHANISM FOR HETEROGENEOUS CATALYSIS SYSTEMS. RHODIUM METAL SURFACES, WHICH ARE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE LATE-TRANSITION METALS, ARE REPRODUCIBLY PREPARED WITH SPECIFIC, WELL-CHARACTERIZED OXYGENACEOUS PHASES. THE EFFECTS OF DEFECT DENSITY AND GEOMETRY ON SURFACE OXIDATION AND CHEMISTRY WILL BE SYSTEMATICALLY EXPLORED USING A CURVED RH(111) CRYSTAL. STRUCTURAL DATA FROM SCANNING TUNNELING MICROSCOPY(STM)-IMAGING WILL BE INTERPRETED USING INPUT FROM DENSITY FUNCTIONAL THEORY (DFT), WHICH WILL ALSO CALCULATE THE ENERGETICS OF OSUB. THE DATA OBTAINED WILL BE COMPLEMENTED WITH ANCILLARY SURFACE SCIENCE MEASUREMENTS. THE REACTIVITY AND STRUCTURAL MEASUREMENTS COLLECTED AT LOYOLA WILL IDENTIFY THE SURFACE STATES AND CONDITIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY OF CO OXIDATION. THESE EXPERIMENTS WILL BE CONDUCTED IN LEIDEN (NETHERLANDS) AND G?TTINGEN (GERMANY) WITH THE REACTIVE MOLECULAR-BEAM SCATTERING WITH VELOCITY RESOLVED DETECTION. THE RESULTS OF THIS PROJECT ARE EXPECTED TO ADVANCE CATALYTIC SURFACE CHEMISTRY BY PROVIDING MUCH-NEEDED FUNDAMENTAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE KINETICS AND MECHANISMS OF HETEROGENEOUSLY CATALYZED OXIDATION REACTIONS AND REVEAL THE IMPORTANCE OF SUBSURFACE OXYGEN IN THESE INDUSTRIALLY RELEVANT REACTIONS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

THE MICROPHYSICS OF LIGHTNING: OBSERVING THE OPTICAL EMISSION FROM DOWNWARD TERRESTRIAL GAMMA-RAY FLASHES

DEVELOPING NOVEL PROTEIN-BASED GABA SENSOR MODULES USING PLP-DEPENDENT GABR REGULATORS - THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL PROTEIN-BASED GABA SENSOR MODULES USING PLP-DEPENDENT GABR REGULATORS AIMS TO FACILITATE THE UNDERSTANDING OF GABAERGIC NEUROTRANSMISSION. GABR, A BACTERIAL TRANSCRIPTION REGULATOR, SHOWS REMARKABLE SPECIFICITY FOR GABA THROUGH A REVERSIBLE COVALENT BOND WITH PLP, TRIGGERING CONFORMATIONAL CHANGES THAT PRODUCE (CHANGE OF) FLUORESCENCE SIGNALS. IN THIS PROPOSAL, WE PLAN TO CREATE “GENETICALLY ENCODED” AND CHEMICALLY LABELED “SEMISYNTHETIC” FLUORESCENT BIOSENSORS USING GABR TO DETECT REAL-TIME CHANGES IN GABA CONCENTRATIONS. GABA, A KEY INHIBITORY NEUROTRANSMITTER IN THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM (CNS), IS IMPLICATED IN VARIOUS MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES, INCLUDING DEPRESSION, SCHIZOPHRENIA, ADHD AND AUTISM. OUR EFFORT FIRST FOCUSES ON ENHANCING THE STABILITY AND SENSITIVITY OF GABR-BASED BIOSENSORS BY LEVERAGING THE INTRINSIC FLUOROPHORE IN PLP AND EMPLOYING FRET SIGNALS FROM EXCITATION OF PLP. IN ADDITION, WE ALSO AIM TO OPTIMIZE CHEMICALLY LABELED “SEMISYNTHETIC” SENSORS WITH IMPROVED SPECTRAL TUNING AND KINETICS FOR DEEP TISSUE IMAGING AND REAL-TIME GABA SENSING STUDIES. THESE NOVEL GABA SENSORS WILL BE VALUABLE TOOLS FOR INVESTIGATING GABAERGIC NEUROTRANSMISSION IN LIVE CELLS, BRAIN SLICES, AND IN VITRO ASSAYS, WITH POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS IN DRUG DISCOVERY AND IN VIVO NEUROLOGICAL RESEARCH. OUR WORK WILL SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE THE UNDERSTANDING AND MONITORING OF DYNAMIC GABA LEVELS IN NEUROLOGICAL SYSTEMS, OPENING DOORS FOR FURTHER STUDIES ON MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS AND NEUROPHARMACOLOGY. AS AN IMPORTANT PART AN R15(AREA) GRANT, EDUCATIONAL AND OUTREACH EFFORTS ARE DESIGNED IN A COHESIVE STRUCTURE TO PROVIDE INTERDISCIPLINARY TRAININGS FOR GRADUATE, UNDERGRADUATE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS.

CAREER: EFFECT OF CHANGES IN POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY ON NEUROMODULATION -EACH YEAR IN THE UNITED STATES, APPROXIMATELY 2.9 MILLION PEOPLE EXPERIENCE A TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY, MORE THAN 795,000 HAVE A STROKE, AND ABOUT 17,700 EXPERIENCE A SPINAL CORD INJURY. SOME OF THESE INDIVIDUALS LOSE THEIR FUNCTIONAL ABILITIES AND FACE CHALLENGES EVEN IN THE BASIC ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING. NEUROREHABILITATION IS THE USUAL CHOICE OF TREATMENT FOR SUCH NEUROLOGICAL ILLNESSES, AND WHILE FEW PEOPLE WILL ACHIEVE FULL RECOVERY OF THEIR MOTOR FUNCTIONS, SLIGHT INCREMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OUTCOMES MAY GO A LONG WAY TOWARDS BOOSTING THEIR FUTURE QUALITY OF LIFE. THIS PROPOSAL WILL INVESTIGATE HOW BEST TO USE NEUROMODULATION TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE THE OUTCOMES OF NEUROREHABILITATION, BY INCORPORATING DIFFERENT ELECTRICAL STIMULATION SEQUENCES TO DETERMINE OPTIMAL WAYS OF ENHANCING THE EFFECTS OF THERAPEUTIC EXERCISES PERFORMED DURING ROUTINE PHYSICAL THERAPY SESSIONS. THE THEORY BEHIND THE SCIENCE OF NEUROREHABILITATION AND NEUROMODULATION IS THAT THERAPEUTIC EXERCISES CAN REORGANIZE SYNAPTIC CONNECTIONS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM, AND ELECTRICAL STIMULATION CAN BE APPLIED TO ENHANCE THE EFFECTS ON THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, VIA A MECHANISM KNOWN AS NEUROPLASTICITY. THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO ADDRESS THE RELEVANCE BETWEEN THE POWER DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRICAL STIMULATION AND SIGNS OF NEUROPLASTICITY FROM A SIGNAL PROCESSING PERSPECTIVE, CONFIRM THE CURATIVE ROLE OF NEUROMODULATION IN NEUROREHABILITATION APPLICATIONS, AND PROVIDE INSIGHTS AS TO HOW PERIPHERAL NERVE STIMULATION CAN ASSIST AXON REGENERATION FROM A POWER DISTRIBUTION PERSPECTIVE. THE STUDY AIMS TO PROVIDE A TRANSFORMATIVE EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE TO COLLEGE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WHO ASPIRE TO WORK IN THE BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING PROFESSION. STUDENTS WITH STRONG INTERESTS IN ENGINEERING FROM CHICAGO?S PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS WILL BE INVITED TO WORK WITH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS WHO WILL LEAD SPECIFIC PORTIONS OF THE STUDY. THE PI HOPES THAT CONDUCTING RESEARCH ON IMPROVING NEUROREHABILITATION TREATMENT OUTCOMES WILL HELP THESE STUDENTS REALIZE THAT THEIR PROFICIENCY IN MATH AND SCIENCE CAN BE TRANSLATED INTO USEFUL TOOLS TO HELP SOCIETY AND INSPIRE THEM TO PURSUE CAREERS IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING. THIS PROJECT WILL ESTABLISH A FUNDAMENTAL THEORY OF UTILIZING ELECTRICAL MODALITIES TO ENHANCE PHYSICAL REHABILITATION, IN PARTICULAR, THE USE OF NEUROMODULATION APPROACHES TO ASSIST, SUPPORT, AND/OR IMPROVE SENSORY OR MOTOR FUNCTIONS OF PERSONS WHO EXPERIENCE NEUROLOGICAL AILMENTS. THE STUDY WILL INVOLVE THE USE OF AN ANIMAL MODEL TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTS OF ELECTRICAL STIMULATION ON THE NERVOUS SYSTEM BY ACQUIRING FORCE AND ELECTROMYOGRAPHY FROM THE RESULTING NEUROMUSCULAR CONTRACTIONS, FOCUSING ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY AND THE CENTRAL AND PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEMS. UNLIKE PREVIOUS STUDIES THAT EVALUATE THE VARYING EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT STIMULATION FREQUENCIES, THIS STUDY ANALYZES THE POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY OF THE STIMULATION TRAIN, I.E., THE POWER DISTRIBUTION WITHIN SPECIFIC FREQUENCY BANDS. THE PLAN IS TO EVALUATE INDIVIDUALLY THE CENTRAL AND PERIPHERAL EFFECTS OF A STIMULATION TRAIN OVER POTENTIATION, DEPRESSION, OR OTHER FORMS OF NEUROPLASTICITY BY LOOKING AT THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE POWER SPECTRAL DENSITIES AND THE ELICITED MUSCLE FORCE PROFILES BY CONDUCTING MEASUREMENTS BEFORE AND AFTER A NERVE BLOCK. THE HYPOTHESIS UNDERLYING THIS STUDY IS THAT THE ELECTRICAL STIMULATIONS THAT CORRESPOND TO CERTAIN FREQUENCY COMPONENTS OF A POWER SPECTRUM MAY INDUCE HIGHER LEVELS OF POTENTIATION VIA STIMULATION SIGNALS SENT VIA AFFERENT PATHWAYS (CENTRAL CONTRIBUTIONS) AND/OR ACCELERATE THE RECOVERY OF PERIPHERAL NERVE INJURY BY REGULATING ION CHANNELS OF SCHWANN CELLS (PERIPHERAL CONTRIBUTIONS). THREE OBJECTIVES WILL BE EXPLORED: 1) REFINING THE APPARATUS DESIGN TO PROVIDE CONCURRENT ACQUISITION OF ELECTROMYOGRAPHY AND MUSCLE FORCE CORRESPONDING TO SELECTED FREQUENCY BANDS OF ELECTRICAL STIMULATION POWER SPECTRAL DENSITIES; 2) COMPARING THE ELECTROMYOGRAPHY AND FORCE PROFILES BEFORE AND AFTER APPLYING A NERVE BLOCK PROXIMAL TO THE PERIPHERAL NERVE STIMULATION SITE TO EVALUATE THE CENTRAL CONTRIBUTION OF ELECTRICAL STIMULATION POWER SPECTRAL DENSITIES; 3) APPLYING SELECT FREQUENCY BANDS OF ELECTRICAL STIMULATION POWER SPECTRAL DENSITIES TO COMPARE THEIR ABILITIES TO ACCELERATE RECOVERY OF PERIPHERAL NERVE INJURY AND TO EVALUATE THE PERIPHERAL CONTRIBUTION OF ELECTRICAL STIMULATION. THE RESULTS DERIVED FROM THESE STUDIES ARE INTENDED TO PROVIDE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW ELECTRICAL STIMULATION CAN BE USED TO MODULATE HUMAN NEUROMUSCULAR SYSTEMS, DESIGN DEVICES THAT CAN GENERATE DESIRED BRAIN AND PERIPHERAL NERVE STIMULATIONS, AND PROVIDE GUIDANCE FOR PLANNING CLINICAL TRIALS TO TEST SUCH DEVICES. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: SATC: CORE: MEDIUM: TOWARD WELL-BEING BY DESIGN IN SOCIAL MEDIA -THE WIDESPREAD USE, VIRTUAL NATURE, AND LIMITED REGULATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA ENABLE A RANGE OF PROBLEMATIC ONLINE BEHAVIORS SUCH AS CYBERBULLYING THAT HAVE THREATENED USERS' MENTAL HEALTH AND WELL-BEING. THROUGH THE INTEGRATION OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND PSYCHOLOGY, THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW PROBLEMATIC ONLINE BEHAVIORS CAN BE IDENTIFIED AND PREVENTED. THE RESEARCH WILL INVESTIGATE THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN SPECIFIC FEATURES OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND PEOPLE'S WELL-BEING. MAJOR COMPONENTS OF THE WORK INCLUDE DEVELOPING MODELS FOR THE EARLY DETECTION OF PROBLEMATIC ONLINE BEHAVIORS, DESIGNING SOCIAL MEDIA FEATURES THAT PRIORITIZE USERS? WELL-BEING, AND STUDYING HOW CYBERBULLYING MAY ELICIT BYSTANDER INTERVENTION. THE BROADER IMPACT OF THIS PROJECT INCLUDES THE CREATION AND SHARING OF RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES, INFORMATION FOR POLICYMAKERS TO RAISE AWARENESS OF PROBLEMATIC ONLINE BEHAVIORS AND EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES TO ADDRESS THEM, AND A UNIQUE INTERDISCIPLINARY TRAINING EXPERIENCE THAT HELPS STUDENTS DEVELOP INTO SCHOLARS WHO ENACT MEANINGFUL CHANGE. THE PROJECT IS STRUCTURED AROUND THREE CORE RESEARCH AIMS. THE FIRST AIM IS TO STUDY PREDICTIVE MODELS FOR EARLY AND COMMUNITY-AWARE DETECTION OF PROBLEMATIC ONLINE BEHAVIORS, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON THE ASSESSMENT OF SEVERITY. IT ENTAILS THE CONTEXTUALIZED ANNOTATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA DATA AND DESIGN AND TESTING OF MACHINE LEARNING MODELS. THE SECOND AIM ADDRESSES THE NEED FOR NEW SOCIAL MEDIA MECHANISMS THAT TACKLE PROBLEMATIC ONLINE BEHAVIOR AND PROMOTE WELL-BEING. IT DOES SO THROUGH THE DESIGN OF NEW INTERACTION METRICS AND VISUAL INTERFACES AND A FOCUS ON THE DETECTION OF ANTI-BULLYING INTERACTIONS. THE THIRD AIM IS TO INVESTIGATE THE INTERRELATIONS AMONG PROBLEMATIC ONLINE BEHAVIOR, BYSTANDERS, AND WELL-BEING. THIS AIM IS ADDRESSED THROUGH ONLINE EXPERIMENTS EXAMINING HOW DIFFERENT FORMS OF BYSTANDER INVOLVEMENT AND MENTAL HEALTH FACTORS CONTRIBUTE TO THE SEVERITY AND IMPACT OF PROBLEMATIC ONLINE BEHAVIORS. OVERALL, THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO GENERATE NEW INSIGHTS AND IMPROVE SOCIETAL OUTCOMES THROUGH THE SYNERGY OF COMPUTER AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

THIS PROJECT SUPPORTS THE GREAT LAKES RESTORATION INITIATIVE AND THE GREAT LAKES WATER QUALITY AGREEMENT, PURSUANT TO PUBLIC LAW 113-6. THIS PROJECT

FAMILIES, ORGANIZATIONS & CLASSROOMS UNDERSTANDING SCIENCE, SUSTAINABILITY, & SERVICE (FOCUSSS)

SYNTHESIS OF GLYCOGEN IN BACTERIA AND STARCH IN PLANTS: STRUCTURE-FUNCTION RELATIONSHIP OF THE ADP-GLUCOSE PYROPHOSPHORYLASE

19-LARS19_2-0008 TXRF AND GIXRF ANALYSIS OF GENESIS SOLAR WIND SAMPLES TO DETERMINE SULFUR FLUENCES AND DEVELOP NOVEL SURFACE CLEANING TECHNIQUES

MECHANISM-BASED DESIGN OF IRON-MEDIATED CARBONYL-OLEFIN METATHESIS PROTOCOLS - PROJECT SUMMARY THE ACTIVATION OF CARBONYL-CONTAINING SUBSTRATES BY LEWIS ACIDS IS EVER PRESENT IN ORGANIC SYNTHESIS. HOWEVER, LEWIS ACID-CATALYZED CARBONYL-OLEFIN RING-CLOSING METATHESIS EXHIBITS REACTIVITY NOT TYPICALLY SEEN IN TRADITIONAL LEWIS ACID-MEDIATED SYSTEMS. BUILDING ON OUR DETAILED UNDERSTANDING OF THE CATALYST BEHAVIOR IN CARBONYL-OLEFIN METATHESIS, THIS PROPOSAL AIMS TO APPLY THAT KNOWLEDGE TO THE RATIONAL DESIGN OF NEW METATHESIS CATALYSTS. TO SUPPORT THIS, WE WILL EMPLOY SYNTHETIC, SPECTROSCOPIC, KINETIC, AND COMPUTATIONAL TECHNIQUES TO EXPLORE THE CHEMICAL SPACE INFLUENCED BY LIGAND INCORPORATION, ASSESSING THEIR EFFECTS ON BOTH THE CATALYTIC RESTING STATE AND THE TURNOVER-LIMITING STEP. MOREOVER, THE SUBSTRATE ITSELF IS CURRENTLY THE MOST WELL-CHARACTERIZED LIGAND FOR THE CATALYST IN CARBONYL-OLEFIN METATHESIS. WE PLAN TO SYSTEMATICALLY INVESTIGATE THE ROLE OF EACH COMPONENT OF THE METATHESIS SUBSTRATES TO DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE MODEL OF SUBSTRATE BEHAVIOR. OVERALL, THESE IN-DEPTH SYNTHETIC AND MECHANISTIC STUDIES WILL ADVANCE THE USE OF CARBONYL-OLEFIN METATHESIS IN THE SYNTHESIS OF MEDICINALLY VALUABLE COMPOUNDS.

NURSE FACULTY LOAN PROGRAM

SBIRT@LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO 2016

CHEMICAL AND STRUCTURAL CONSEQUENCES OF HIGH OXYGEN COVERAGES AND SUBSURFACE OXYGEN IN CATALYTICALLY ACTIVE METALS

SURFACE CHEMISTRY ON MOLECULAR MATERIALS FOR NEXT GENERATION ORGANIC SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESSING

HYPERPOLARIZED 13C METABOLIC IMAGING OF TUMORIGENESIS IN THE LIVER - PROJECT SUMMARY. ABERRANT GLYCOLYSIS AND MITOCHONDRIAL FUNCTION ARE FEATURES OF MOST LIVER DISEASES INCLUDING HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA (HCC). DESPITE THESE METABOLIC SIGNATURES, THE ABSENCE OF METHODS TO NONINVASIVELY ASSESS METABOLIC FLUXES IN VIVO LIMITS THE ACCURATE CHARACTERIZATION OF LIVER DISEASES AND IN TURN IMPEDES THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW THERAPIES. IN THE PROPOSED STUDY, WE WILL EMPLOY NOVEL HYPERPOLARIZED (HP) 13C PROBES TO IMAGE GLYCOLYSIS, A PATHWAY THAT PLAYS A CRITICAL ROLE IN HCC ONSET AND PROGRESSION. IMPORTANTLY, OUR CROSS-DISCIPLINARY RESEARCH TEAM HAS MADE SIGNIFICANT ADVANCEMENTS IN THE DESIGN AND APPLICATION OF HP 13C-GLYCERATE PROBES. WE HAVE DEMONSTRATED THAT HP [1-13C]GLYCERATE IS A NON-TOXIC SUBSTRATE WITH A LONG T1 RELAXATION TIME (60 SEC), AND THIS HP PROBE IS SENSITIVE TO ALTERATIONS IN LIVER METABOLISM IN VIVO, OFFERING INROADS FOR CLINICAL TRANSLATION. IN ADDITION, OUR RECENT STUDIES IN HCC (DIETHYLNITROSAMINE [DEN]-INDUCED RAT MODEL) DEMONSTRATED THAT HP [1- 13C]GLYCERATE CAN SUCCESSFULLY DISTINGUISH HCC FROM HEALTHY LIVER BASED UPON THE UNIQUE METABOLIC FLUXES DETECTED IN THE CANCEROUS TISSUE. GIVEN THESE ADVANCEMENTS, WE NOW PROPOSE THAT THE HP 13C-GLYCERATE SCAFFOLD CAN BE SYSTEMATICALLY OPTIMIZED TO YIELD 2ND GENERATION HP PROBES, WHICH PROVIDE HIGHLY SENSITIVE ANALYSES OF ENZYMATIC REACTIONS IN THE LIVER AND DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENTS OF ABNORMAL FLUXES IN HCC. THE OVERARCHING GOAL OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT IS TO USE THE HP 13C-GLYCERATE TECHNOLOGY TO ESTABLISH IN VIVO IMAGING BIOMARKERS FOR ASSESSING ALTERED METABOLISM DURING HCC DEVELOPMENT. TO THIS END, IN AIM 1, WE WILL SYNTHESIZE A FOCUSED LIBRARY OF 2ND GENERATION 13C-GLYCERATE PROBES THAT ARE SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO INCREASE THE METABOLIC INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM HP EXPERIMENTS. IN AIM 2, WE WILL ANALYZE THE PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF THESE PROBES IN ORDER TO DETERMINE TOP AGENTS TO ADVANCE TOWARDS IN VIVO HP STUDIES. IN AIM 3, WE WILL INITIALLY ESTABLISH IMAGING BIOMARKERS FOR HP 13C-GLYCERATES IN THE DEN RAT MODEL AND IDENTIFY SPECIFIC PROBES THAT PROVIDE CLEAR METRICS FOR DISTINGUISHING HCC. THESE 13C-GLYCERATE PROBES WILL THEN BE USED TO EVALUATE A STEPWISE PROGRESSION FROM NORMAL LIVER TO HCC IN THE DEN MODEL. FOUR PATHOLOGICAL STATES WILL BE EXAMINED: BASELINE, CHRONIC INFLAMMATION, FIBROSIS, AND HCC. IN VIVO METRICS FOR GLYCOLYSIS WILL BE COMPARED AMONG THE STATES, AND THESE RESULTS WILL BE VALIDATED WITH TISSUE ANALYSES. OVERALL, THE PROPOSED STUDIES OFFER AN INNOVATIVE STRATEGY FOR TACKLING A CHALLENGE OF CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE. STATE-OF-THE-ART HP PROBES WILL BE USED TO ASSESS ALTERED GLYCOLYSIS IN HEPATOCARCINOGENESIS. THIS TECHNOLOGY WILL IN TURN PROVIDE SPECIFIC IN VIVO BIOMARKERS THAT REPRESENT THE METABOLIC PATHWAYS OF INTEREST IN HCC, PROVIDING A NONINVASIVE METHOD FOR ASSESSING DISEASE PROGRESSION IN AT- RISK PATIENTS.

THIS PROJECT SUPPORTS THE GREAT LAKES RESTORATION INITIATIVE AND THE GREAT LAKES WATER QUALITY AGREEMENT PURSUANT TO PUBLIC LAW 111-88. SPECIFICAL

CAREER: MECHANOBIOLOGY OF SEPTINS IN THE CYTOSKELETON

META-ANALYSIS TRAINING INSTITUTE

EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE FAMILY COURT ENHANCEMENT PROJECT IN THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE COURT CHICAGO IL

THE SURFACE DIELS-ALDER REACTION OF TETRACENE AND PENTACENE CRYSTALS; BLURRING THE LINES BETWEEN SOLID STATE, SURFACE, AND SYNTHETIC CHEMISTRY

VIRAL AND CELLULAR DETERMINANTS OF HIV-1 NUCLEAR IMPORT KINETICS

COLLABORATIVE PROPOSAL: PLASTIC SPIRALING IN RIVER NETWORKS (PLASTIC-SIREN): DETERMINING THE CONTROLS OF WATERSHED PLASTIC FLUXES USING A FIELD AND MODELING APPROACH

DEFINING THE BIOLOGY AND PUBLIC HEALTH RISK OF HBV GENOTYPE E

ROLE OF LATERODORSAL TEGMENTAL NUCLEUS CHOLINERGIC AND GLUTAMATERGIC INPUTS TO THE VENTRAL TEGMENTAL AREA IN DRUG REWARD AND SENSITIZATION

URINARY BACTERIAL COMMUNITIES IN URGE INCONTINENCE WOMEN

SUPPORTING REFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT YOUTH'S MENTAL HEALTH: EXAMINING EFFECTIVENESS AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A SCHOOL-BASED INTERVENTION - PROJECT SUMMARY REFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT CHILDREN FLEEING VIOLENCE, WAR, AND/OR POVERTY OFTEN EXPERIENCE HIGH LEVELS OF STRESS AND TRAUMA BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER MIGRATION, RESULTING IN SIGNIFICANT MENTAL HEALTH DISPARITIES. REFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT YOUTH ARE FACED WITH ADDITIONAL STRESSORS DURING RESETTLEMENT, INCLUDING POVERTY, DISCRIMINATION, AND ADJUSTMENT TO AN UNFAMILIAR ENVIRONMENT. THESE RESETTLEMENT STRESSORS FURTHER ELEVATE RISK FOR MENTAL HEALTH DIFFICULTIES INCLUDING ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, AND BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS. NOT ONLY ARE YOUTH FACED WITH THESE STRESSORS, BUT REFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT FAMILIES ALSO EXPERIENCE INEQUITY IN ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT. BARRIERS SUCH AS LACK OF HEALTH INSURANCE, CULTURALLY APPROPRIATE SERVICES, COSTS, FEAR, AND STIGMA IMPACT REFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT SERVICE ACCESS. GIVEN THESE INEQUITIES, IT IS CRITICAL TO PROVIDE MENTAL HEALTH INTERVENTIONS THAT ARE CONTEXTUALIZED TO MEET THE NEEDS OF REFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT YOUTH IN ACCESSIBLE SETTINGS THAT REDUCE BARRIERS. INTEGRATING SERVICES INTO SCHOOLS REDUCES LOGISTICAL BARRIERS AND PROVIDES SERVICES IN A LESS STIGMATIZING ENVIRONMENT. FURTHER, INTERVENTIONS DESIGNED TO FOSTER RESILIENCE, STRENGTHEN ADAPTIVE COPING, AND PROMOTE SCHOOL CONNECTEDNESS, HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO REDUCE MENTAL HEALTH DISPARITIES AMONG REFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT YOUTH. THE SUPPORTING TRANSITION RESILIENCE OF NEWCOMER GROUPS (STRONG) PROGRAM WAS DEVELOPED TO SUPPORT MENTAL HEALTH AMONG NEWCOMER REFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT STUDENTS BY (1) PROMOTING POSITIVE ADJUSTMENT DURING RESETTLEMENT THROUGH A TRAUMA-INFORMED, STRENGTHS-BASED APPROACH, CONTEXTUALIZED TO MEET THE NEEDS OF REFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT YOUTH; AND (2) IMPROVING ACCESS TO SERVICES THROUGH SCHOOL-BASED PROGRAMMING. THE AIMS OF THE PROPOSED STUDY INCLUDE: (1) EVALUATE IMPACT OF STRONG ON STUDENT MENTAL HEALTH VIA RANDOMIZED WAITLIST CONTROL DESIGN; (2) EXAMINE THE IMPACT OF STRONG ON RESILIENCE, COPING, AND SCHOOL CONNECTEDNESS AND HOW THESE CHANGES ARE RELATED TO STUDENT MENTAL HEALTH OUTCOMES; AND (3) EXAMINE IMPLEMENTATION OF STRONG ACROSS SCHOOLS USING QUALITATIVE METHODS (FOCUS GROUPS, INTERVIEWS). STRONG WILL BE IMPLEMENTED IN SIX PUBLIC SCHOOLS DURING 2021-2022 ACADEMIC YEAR AND SIX PUBLIC SCHOOLS DURING THE 2022-2023 ACADEMIC YEAR. IN EACH SCHOOL, ONE GROUP OF APPROXIMATELY 5 STUDENTS WILL BE IMPLEMENTED. SCHOOLS WILL BE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO EITHER PROVIDE THE STRONG PROGRAM IMMEDIATELY (IMMEDIATE TREATMENT) OR AFTER 3 MONTHS (DELAYED TREATMENT). SCHOOL MENTAL HEALTH STAFF (E.G., DISTRICT-EMPLOYED SOCIAL WORKERS OR COMMUNITY CLINICIANS WHO PROVIDE SERVICES IN SCHOOLS) WILL CO-FACILITATE GROUPS IN SCHOOLS, MEETING ONCE A WEEK. THE RESEARCH TEAM, COMPRISED OF APPROXIMATELY 10 UNDERGRADUATE AND FOUR GRADUATE STUDENTS, WILL COLLECT DATA AT BASELINE AND THEN AT 3- AND 6- MONTHS POST BASELINE. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH ENHANCES UNDERSTANDING OF EFFECTIVENESS OF AN INTERVENTION OPTIMIZED FOR REFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT YOUTH AND PROMOTES EQUITY THROUGH ACCESSIBLE SERVICES THAT SUPPORT MENTAL HEALTH OF REFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT YOUTH.

PARATRANSGENIC SAND FLIES

CATALYTIC ENANTIOSELECTIVE SYNTHESIS OF GEMINALLY-BISMETALLATED ORGANIC COMPOUNDS

QUELLING UPEC PROLIFERATION BY LACTOBACILLUS MEDIATED INDUCTION OF LATENT PHAGES - PRIOR STUDIES HAVE FOUND THAT SEVERAL LACTOBACILLUS SPECIES INHIBIT THE GROWTH OF OR KILL UROPATHOGENIC ESCHERICHIA COLI (UPEC). LACTOBACILLUS CRISPATUS, L. GASSERI, L. INERS, AND L. JENSENII ARE FREQUENT DOMINANT MEMBERS OF BOTH THE HEALTHY FEMALE VAGINAL AND URINARY MICROBIOTA AND HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH THE LACK OF LOWER URINARY TRACT SYMPTOMS, INCLUDING URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS (UTIS). URINARY LACTOBACILLI PRODUCE HYDROGEN PEROXIDE (H2O2) AND LACTIC ACID, BOTH OF WHICH CAN STRESS THE UPEC CELL AND ARE ATTRIBUTED TO REDUCED COLONIZATION WITHIN THE BLADDER. AS PHAGE BIOLOGISTS AND THE FIRST GROUP TO INVESTIGATE PHAGES WITHIN THE UROBIOME, WE RECOGNIZED AN IMMEDIATE CONNECTION BETWEEN LACTOBACILLUS-DOMINATED ENVIRONMENTS AND TEMPERATE PHAGE INDUCTION. OUR PRIOR GENOMIC SURVEY OF BACTERIA IN THE URINARY TRACT (UROBIOME) FOUND THAT MOST BACTERIAL GENOMES HAVE LATENT (INTEGRATED) PHAGE GENOMES, AND OUR PRIOR EMPIRICAL WORK SUGGESTS THAT MOST OF THESE LATENT PHAGES ARE IN FACT TEMPERATE PHAGES CAPABLE OF BEING INDUCED. THE INDUCED PHAGE EXCISES FROM THE BACTERIAL GENOME, REPLICATES, AND LYSES (KILLS) ITS BACTERIAL HOST CELL. OUR PROOF-OF-CONCEPT WORK FOUND: (I) CELL-FREE LACTOBACILLUS SUPERNATANT CAN INDUCE UPEC LATENT TEMPERATE PHAGES (COLIPHAGES), (II) LIQUID CULTURES AT LACTOBACILLUS-RELEVANT PH VALUES CAN INDUCE UPEC TEMPERATE COLIPHAGES, AND (III) LIQUID CULTURES AT LACTOBACILLUS-RELEVANT H2O2 LEVELS CAN INDUCE UPEC TEMPERATE COLIPHAGES. THIS LEADS TO OUR HYPOTHESIS: LACTOBACILLI MAY CONTROL UPEC COLONIZATION VIA “LYSIS FROM WITHIN” – H2O2 AND/OR PH STRESS UPEC STRAINS, WHICH LEADS TO INDUCTION OF RESIDENT TEMPERATE COLIPHAGES AND DEATH OF THE UPEC CELL. TAKING AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH, THE PROPOSED PROJECT WILL ASSESS THE FREQUENCY AND CAUSE OF INDUCTION OF UPEC COLIPHAGES BY LACTOBACILLUS. AIM 1 WILL EXPAND OUR PRELIMINARY WORK TO DETERMINE IF THE CELL-FREE SUPERNATANT OF ALL COMMON URINARY LACTOBACILLUS SPECIES INDUCES UPEC COLIPHAGES; MULTIPLE STRAINS OF L. CRISPATUS, L. GASSERI, L. INERS, AND L. JENSENII WILL BE TESTED ON A LARGE COLLECTION OF E. COLI ISOLATED FROM THE BLADDERS OF FEMALES WITH AND WITHOUT LUTS, INCLUDING UTI. IN AIM 2, WE WILL ASCERTAIN IF PHAGE INDUCTION TRIGGERED BY CELL-FREE LACTOBACILLUS SUPERNATANT IS THE RESULT OF STRESS TRIGGERED BY PH AND/OR H2O2 LEVELS. ADDITIONALLY, WE WILL DETERMINE HOW PH AND H2O2 IMPACT UPEC GROWTH OVER TIME. OUR INVESTIGATION WILL DETERMINE WHAT ROLE PHAGE INDUCTION PLAYS IN SHAPING THE UROBIOME COMMUNITY. UNDERSTANDING THE MECHANISMS THAT CONTROL UPEC COLONIZATION CAN INFORM CLINICAL CARE OF ACUTE UTIS. THIS PROJECT IS PROPOSED AS AN R15 AREA FOR UNDERGRADUATE-FOCUSED INSTITUTIONS AND IS DESIGNED TO ENGAGE UNDERGRADUATES IN INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH OF BENIGN UROLOGIC DISEASE.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: MEDIATION OF DENITRIFICATION BY ALGAL/BACTERIAL INTERACTIONS IN STREAM PERIPHYTON: ROLE OF SUCCESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND SPECI

OVERACTIVE BLADDER UROTHELIUM: THE ACH LOOP, IMMUNE RESPONSE AND MICROBIOTA

SATC: CORE: SMALL: INTERDISCIPLINARY MODELS TO IDENTIFY AND UNDERSTAND CYBERBULLYING -CYBERBULLYING, A COMMON FORM OF ONLINE MISBEHAVIOR, CAN DO SERIOUS PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL HARM. THIS PROJECT INTEGRATES COMPUTER SCIENCE AND PSYCHOLOGY FRAMEWORKS TO ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW CYBERBULLYING CAN BE IDENTIFIED AND PREVENTED. THE CORE OBJECTIVE OF THIS INTERDISCIPLINARY PROJECT IS TO DESIGN AND DEVELOP MODELS AND APPS TO PREVENT AND IDENTIFY INSTANCES OF CYBERBULLYING IN SOCIAL NETWORKS. IT USES PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY TO GUIDE INVESTIGATIONS OF THE NATURE OF CYBERBULLYING AND THE ADOPTION OF AUTOMATED ANTI-BULLYING TOOLS, AS WELL AS CAREFULLY-DESIGNED DATA COLLECTION PROCESSES AND EVALUATION FRAMEWORKS. THE PROJECT'S IMPACT INCLUDES SHARING RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES, RAISING CYBERBULLYING AWARENESS WITH POLICY-MAKERS, AND PROVIDING GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WITH THE SCIENTIFIC SCAFFOLDING TO DEVELOP INTO RECOGNIZED INTERDISCIPLINARY SCHOLARS. THE INTELLECTUAL MERIT OF THIS PROJECT STEMS FROM ITS SYNERGISTIC INTEGRATION OF COMPUTER AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCES TO ADDRESS A MAJOR SOCIAL PROBLEM. THIS PROJECT STUDIES AUTOMATED MODELS FOR CYBERBULLYING DETECTION THAT LEVERAGE A LARGE BODY OF RELEVANT EMPIRICAL WORK IN PSYCHOLOGY AND SEEKS TO DEVELOP EVIDENCE-BASED TOOLS FOR IDENTIFYING AND PREVENTING CYBERBULLYING. IT INTEGRATES INNOVATIVE MACHINE LEARNING MODELS FOR CYBERBULLYING IDENTIFICATION (INCLUDING PERSONALIZED, TEMPORAL-ANALYSIS-BASED, MULTI-MODAL, AND PRIVACY-PRESERVING MODELS) WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF EVIDENCE-BASED APPS FOR IDENTIFYING AND ADDRESSING CYBERBULLYING (E.G., APPS THAT STRENGTHEN PARENT-TEEN RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF CYBERBULLYING AND SOCIAL MEDIA). THE PROJECT ALSO USES SYSTEMATICALLY-ANNOTATED DATASETS AND SURVEY METHODS TO IDENTIFY MECHANISMS TO ENHANCE THE USE AND USABILITY OF ANTI-CYBERBULLYING TECHNOLOGIES AND INVESTIGATE KEY ASPECTS OF THE NATURE OF CYBERBULLYING, INCLUDING TEMPORAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CYBERBULLYING AND CONNECTIONS BETWEEN SOCIAL MEDIA USE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF CYBERBULLYING. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

DEVELOPMENT OF A HEPATITIS C VIRUS VACCINE USING PAPILLOMAVIRUS-LIKE PARTICLES FOR ANTIGEN DELIVERY

A NEW ANTIBACTERIAL DRUG TARGET: ANALYZING INHIBITOR BINDING TO A BACTERIAL METAL

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A LASER SCANNING CONFOCAL MICROSCOPE FOR RESEARCH AND TEACHING

ALCOHOL-INDUCED OXIDATIVE STRESS AND MSC DIFFERENTIATION DURING FRACTURE REPAIR

ALCOHOL AND INTESTINAL INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE: THE ROLE OF INTESTINAL MICROBIOTA

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPE

ALCOHOL EFFECTS ON SDF1-MEDIATED STEM CELL HOMING FOLLOWING BONE FRACTURE INJURY

EFFECTS OF ADOLESCENT BINGE ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION ON CARDIAC STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION

IPY: WOMEN CANDIDATES IN REGIONAL RUSSIA: RELIGION AND CULTURE AS BARRIERS TO WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION

TARGETING P. FALCIPARUM GAMETOCYTES FOR DRUG DEVELOPMENT

MECHANISTIC DISTINCTIONS IN FEMALE CHRONIC PELVIC PAIN SUBTYPES

MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR DETERMINANTS OF TRIM5ALPHA RESTRICTION OF HIV-1

TOPICS IN OPTIMAL TRANSPORT AND NONLINEAR PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

EPHA/EPHRINA GUIDANCE OF TASTE AND SOMATOSENSORY AXONS DURING LINGUAL INNERVATION

TARGETING ALTERNATIVE TRANSCRIPTION/TRANSLATION OF RUNX1-ETO FUSION GENE

SENSITIZE LEUKEMIA CELLS TO DIFFERENTIATION BY INHIBITING NECROPTOSIS SIGNAL

TCR/DAP10 CHIMERA AS A MEANS TO ATTAINING PERSISTENT ANTI-TUMOR T CELL RESPONSES

LEVERAGING THE POWER OF REFLECTION AND VISUAL REPRESENTATION IN MIDDLE-SCHOOLERS' LEARNING DURING AND AFTER AN INFORMAL SCIENCE EXPERIENCE

MRI-R2: ACQUISITION OF A TRIPLE QUADRUPOLE MASS SPECTROMETER

EFFICIENT ALGORITHMS FOR CONTINUOUS TIME SERVICE NETWORK DESIGN MODELS THAT ACCURATELY ESTIMATE CONSOLIDATION OPPORTUNITIES IN TIME

FOLDING OF G(ALPHA)SUBUNITS

NOVEL ANTIBIOTIC TARGETS: MECHANISTIC STUDIES ON DINUCLEAR METALLOHYDROLASES

TARGETING HSP70 IN AUTOIMMUNE VITILIGO

MOLECULAR MECHANISM AND LIGAND DESIGN OF A PLP/GABA-DEPENDENT BACTERIAL TRANSCRIPTION REGULATOR GABR

THE EFFECTS OF BINGE ETHANOL ON NEUROINFLAMMATION/FUNCTIONAL RECOVERY AFTER TBI

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: THE CHEMISTRY OF RIBOFLAVIN BIOSYNTHESIS

LUCARE-TOGETHER CAMPUS SUICIDE PREVENTION

BPC-DP: COMMUNITY OUTREACH OPPORTUNITIES WITH RESEARCH IN DATA SCIENCE (COORDS) -THIS AWARD IS FUNDED IN WHOLE OR IN PART UNDER THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT OF 2021 (PUBLIC LAW 117-2). TO BETTER PREPARE A DATA-SAVVY WORKFORCE, UNIVERSITIES ARE INCREASINGLY INCORPORATING PRINCIPLES OF DATA SCIENCE THROUGHOUT STEM CURRICULA. EMERGING TEACHING PRACTICES THAT ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO TAKE A GENUINE INTEREST IN THE SUBJECT MATTER AND UNDERSTAND THE MATERIAL ON A LEVEL WHERE THEY CAN PROBLEM SOLVE CAN BE PARTICULARLY EFFECTIVE FOR BROADENING PARTICIPATION IN COMPUTING. THIS PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN LOYOLA UNIVERSITY, ARRUPE COLLEGE, AND THE CHICAGO YOUTH LEARNING ORGANIZATION, MAPSCORPS AIMS TO DESIGN A DATA SCIENCE PATHWAY IN CHICAGO FOR SCHOLARS FROM UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS. THROUGH RESEARCH, TRAINING, AND MENTORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES, UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS, POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS, AND FACULTY WILL ADDRESS CHALLENGING DATA SCIENCE RESEARCH QUESTIONS WHILE MENTORING THE NEXT COHORT OF SCHOLARS. INCORPORATING PRINCIPLES OF COMPUTATIONAL/DATA SCIENCE IN STEM CURRICULUMS HAS BECOME MORE PREVALENT. THROUGH THE PROGRAMMING AT THE INSTITUTE FOR RACIAL JUSTICE (IRJ) AT LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO, STUDENTS WILL BE IMMERSED IN HANDS-ON EXPERIENCES THROUGHOUT THE CALENDAR YEAR AS WELL AS COMPLEMENTED BY AN INTENSIVE UNDERGRADUATE SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROGRAM. AS PART OF IRJ?S PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH OF NEAR-PEER MENTORING DESIGN, THE PROJECT WILL RECRUIT UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS TO WORK DIRECTLY WITH HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS OVERSEEN BY AN IRJ (POSTDOCTORAL) FELLOW IN CHICAGO. IN A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT WITH THE DATA SCIENCE PROGRAMMING OF THE CHICAGO YOUTH LEARNING ORGANIZATION, MAPSCORPS, THE PROJECT WILL BE CENTERED ON EXPERIENTIAL STEM LEARNING THROUGH STRUCTURED GUIDANCE. THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVES OF THIS BPC DEMONSTRATION PROJECT ARE TO 1) CREATE AN EXPERIENCE FOR SUCCESSFUL STEM RESEARCH AND LEARNING METHODS THROUGH INTERNSHIPS, SYMPOSIUM, AND ONLINE COURSEWORK, PROVIDING TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES, AND SEEDING RESEARCH ACTIVITIES, AND 2) GENERATE A PIPELINE OF STUDENTS, PARTICULARLY UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS FROM CHICAGO, WHO ARE WELL PREPARED FOR THE WORKFORCE AND WILL CHOOSE TO CONTINUE THEIR EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN STEM RELATED DISCIPLINES. AS A RESULT OF THE PROGRAMMING WITH MAPSCORPS, THIS PROGRAMMING WILL ALSO STRENGTHEN THE EXISTING INFORMATICS AND COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE OUTREACH PROGRAMS IN THE CHICAGOLAND ARE BY UTILIZING A GROUP OF WELL-TRAINED FACULTY AND UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS WITH BROAD EXPERTISE AS RESEARCH MENTORS AND INSTRUCTORS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

EAGER: MOVEMENT OF MICROPLASTICS WITHIN AND BETWEEN ECOSYSTEMS: INFLUENCES ON ZOOPLANKTON FEEDING BEHAVIOR, PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY AND NUTRIENT AVAILABILITY IN FRESHWATER SYSTEMS

EDUCATION DCL: EAGER: DEVELOPING EXPERIENTIAL CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY TRAINING FOR AI PRACTITIONERS -ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) AND AI-POWERED TOOLS HAVE GAINED MOMENTUM IN BOTH DEVELOPMENT AND USAGE AND ARE BECOMING INCREASINGLY PREVALENT IN THE WORKPLACE. HOWEVER, MANY AI PRACTITIONERS ARE NOT AWARE OF THE CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH BUILDING AI-BASED SYSTEMS, SUCH AS ADVERSARIAL ATTACKS ON MACHINE LEARNING MODELS, OR PRIVACY AND ETHICS RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH USING AI-BASED SYSTEMS FOR DECISION-MAKING AROUND SOCIAL ISSUES. THIS PROJECT'S GOAL IS TO RAISE AI WORKERS' AWARENESS OF SECURITY AND PRIVACY RISKS BY DEVELOPING AND EVALUATING A COMPREHENSIVE 12-WORKSHOP EXPERIENTIAL TRAINING PROGRAM. THE WORKSHOP SERIES WILL PROVIDE KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS NEEDED TO BUILD AI SYSTEMS THAT ARE NOT ONLY TECHNICALLY SOUND FROM AN AI PERSPECTIVE BUT ALSO SECURE, ETHICAL, AND PRIVACY-PRESERVING. VERSIONS OF THE MATERIALS THAT HAVE BEEN IMPROVED AFTER THE EVALUATION WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE TO THE WIDER COMMUNITY, GIVING THE PROJECT THE POTENTIAL TO WIDELY INCREASE THE AI WORKFORCE'S TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE AND CYBERSECURITY AWARENESS. THE WORKSHOPS WILL FOLLOW AN EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING MODEL AND WILL BE DESIGNED, ORGANIZED, AND DELIVERED BY EXPERTS TO ACHIEVE THE LEARNING OBJECTIVES. THESE OBJECTIVES ARE GROUPED AROUND FIVE MAIN MODULES DESIGNED TO COVER A WIDE SPACE OF SECURITY AND PRIVACY CONCERNS AROUND AI MODELS: FUNDAMENTALS AND THREATS; ADVERSARIAL ATTACKS AND ROBUSTNESS; PRIVACY, ETHICS, AND TRUST; SECURE DEVELOPMENT AND DATA GOVERNANCE; AND CASE STUDIES. EACH MODULE WILL BE COVERED IN TWO TO THREE TWO-HOUR WORKSHOP SESSIONS. EACH WORKSHOP STARTS WITH ONE HOUR OF A WEBINAR OR A PANEL OF EXPERTS DEBATING OR DISCUSSING THE WORKSHOP'S KEY TOPICS, FOLLOWED BY ONE HOUR OF EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING COMPONENT. THAT SECOND COMPONENT WILL CONSIST OF EITHER A DEMO USING REAL-WORLD EXAMPLES OR A HANDS-ON ACTIVITY ASKING PARTICIPANTS TO COMPLETE A LAB ACTIVITY, WHICH BUILDS ON THE MATERIALS COVERED IN THE FIRST HOUR. PARTICIPANTS WILL THEN PRESENT A DEMONSTRATION OF THEIR LAB WORK TO OTHER PARTICIPANTS OR WRITE A REFLECTION ON WHAT THEY LEARNED. THE PROJECT TEAM WILL RUN THE WORKSHOP SERIES THREE TIMES, WITH AN EVALUATION AND ITERATION CYCLE AFTER EACH SERIES TO IMPROVE THE MATERIALS. TOGETHER, THE WORK WILL LEAD TO A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF BOTH BUILDING MORE TRUSTWORTHY AI-BASED SYSTEMS AND HOW TO INCORPORATE SECURITY, PRIVACY, AND ETHICS TRAINING AS PART OF TECHNICAL CURRICULA. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

THE AMY LOWELL LETTERS PROJECT [WE SEEK AN NEH SCHOLARLY EDITIONS IMPLEMENTATION GRANT FOR WORK ON THE AMY LOWELL LETTERS PROJECT, AN OPEN-ACCESS, DIGITAL SCHOLARLY EDITION OF THE NEVER BEFORE COLLECTED LETTERS OF AMERICAN POET, EDITOR, AND CRITIC AMY LOWELL (1874?1925).]

THE ROLE OF SHARED MENTAL MODELS AND COGNITIVE LOAD ON GROUP MEMORY

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CAS-SC: DEVELOPMENT OF HEAVY ATOM - FREE PHOTOCATALYSTS FOR CHEMICAL REACTIONS -WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE CHEMICAL CATALYSIS (CAT) AND CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS (SYN) PROGRAMS IN THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY, THE CRITICAL ASPECTS OF SUSTAINABILITY METAPROGRAM (CAS) AND THE OFFICE OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY ACTIVITIES (OMA), TATIANA ESIPOVA OF LOYOLA UNIVERSITY-CHICAGO AND TOMOYASU MANI OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT ARE DEVELOPING A NEW FAMILY OF METAL- AND HALOGEN-FREE CATALYSTS THAT ARE ACTIVATED BY VISIBLE LIGHT. UPON ACTIVATION THESE CATALYSTS ARE CAPABLE OF PROMOTING A NUMBER OF CHEMICAL REACTIONS. IN CONTRAST TO THIS WORK, MOST VISIBLE LIGHT-ACTIVATED REACTIONS REQUIRE CATALYSTS THAT CONTAIN PRECIOUS METALS OR HALOGEN ATOMS AND THEREFORE ARE NOT CONSIDERED TO BE ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE. WITH A FOCUS ON OVERCOMING THIS LIMITATION, THE COLLABORATIVE MANI/ESIPOVA TEAM IS EMPLOYING COMPUTATIONAL MODELING TO DESIGN AND OPTIMIZE THEIR CATALYSTS AND WILL SUBSEQUENTLY TEST THEM IN LIGHT-DRIVEN TRANSFORMATIONS. IN ADDITION TO ALL OF THIS, THIS RESEARCH PROGRAM IS PROVIDING VALUABLE OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS. UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS THAT ARE INVOLVED IN THIS WORK, INCLUDING STUDENTS WHO HAVE BEEN HISTORICALLY UNDERREPRESENTED IN THE SCIENCES, ARE DEVELOPING INTELLECTUALLY WHILE BUILDING SKILL SETS THAT LIE AT THE INTERSECTION OF SYNTHETIC ORGANIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY. SUCH TRAINING IS VALUABLE FOR THEIR FUTURE CAREERS, BE IT IN ACADEMIA OR INDUSTRY. THIS RESEARCH AIMS TO DEVELOP A NEW FAMILY OF ORGANIC HEAVY ATOM?FREE PHOTOREDOX CATALYSTS THAT CONTAIN A GENERAL MOTIF THAT CONSISTS OF ORTHOGONAL ELECTRON DONOR-ACCEPTOR AROMATIC CHROMOPHORES. GENERALLY SPEAKING, PHOTOCATALYSTS ABSORB LIGHT AND CREATE ELECTRONICALLY EXCITED STATES THAT FACILITATE ELECTRON TRANSFER REACTIONS IN A MILD AND CONTROLLED MANNER; AS A RESULT, THEY CAN PRODUCE HIGHLY REACTIVE INTERMEDIATES THAT LEAD TO VALUE-ADDED BOND-FORMING EVENTS. MOST CURRENTLY UTILIZED PHOTOREDOX CATALYSTS EMPLOY HALOGENS OR PRECIOUS METALS TO ENHANCE THE PRODUCTION OF THESE EXCITED STATES. THE PHOTOREDOX CATALYSTS THAT ARE DEVELOPED IN THIS STUDY NOT ONLY TAKE ADVANTAGE OF AN UNDEREXPLORED PHOTOPHYSICAL PHENOMENON TO PRODUCE EXCITED STATES IN PI-CONJUGATED ORGANIC MOLECULES, BUT THEY AVOID THE USE OF HEAVY ATOMS INCLUDING METALS AND HALOGENS. THE RESEARCH IS DEMONSTRATING THE UNIQUE PROPERTIES AND VERSATILITY OF THIS NEW CLASS OF ORGANIC PHOTOREDOX CATALYSTS. THIS RESEARCH IS EXPECTED TO ESTABLISH STRUCTURE-FUNCTION CORRELATIONS OF DONOR-ACCEPTOR MOLECULES IN TERMS OF THE EFFICIENCY OF THE GENERATION OF THE EXCITED STATE AND THE ASSOCIATED CATALYTIC ACTIVITY. THIS WORK AND THE CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE CATALYSTS IS PROVIDING A FIRM FOUNDATION FOR THE CONTINUED EXPLORATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANIC PHOTOREDOX CATALYSIS. 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.

COMPETITION TO PREVENT HIGH-RISK DRINKING & VIOLENT BEHAVIOR AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS

THE PURPOSE OF THIS AWARD IS TO PROMOTE THE CAPACITY OF GOM JUSTICE SECTOR ENTITIES AND THEIR ABILITY TO TRANSFORM AND ADVISE GOM INSTITUTIONS TO ENA

RECEIVING CONTEXTS OF RETURN THROUGH DEPORTATION

TARGETING THE CHRNA7 RECEPTOR TO MODULATE WOUND ANTIMICROBIAL RESPONSES

SBIRT@LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO 2016

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: OAC CORE: ADVANCING LOW-POWER COMPUTER VISION AT THE EDGE

PREY AVAILABILITY FOR NESTING RUSTY BLACKBIRDS ON THE COPPER RIVER DELTA ALASKA

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: THE UNINTENDED ECOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES OF NANOMATERIALS: EFFECTS OF NANOTITANIA IN BENTHIC SYSTEMS

COLLABORATION RESEARCH: IMPLICATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS FOR LAWS AND PRACTICES IN NATION-STATES -THIS PROJECT CREATES A DATABASE AND DASHBOARD OF ECOSYSTEM GUIDELINES BUILT FROM EXPERT ASSESSMENTS FOR 80 COUNTRIES. SUCH GUIDELINES HAVE PROLIFERATED WORLDWIDE, YET NO SYSTEMATIC MEANS EXISTS FOR THE COMPARATIVE STUDY OF A NATION STATE'S PLEDGES IN RELATION TO WHETHER AND HOW THESE ARE EXECUTED. THE DATA PRODUCED ALLOW SCHOLARS AND ANALYSTS TO COMPARE ECOSYSTEM GUIDELINES AND THEIR EFFECTS ACROSS MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS IN A WIDE RANGE OF NATION STATES. IN ADDITION TO RELEASING THE DATA SET FOR SCHOLARLY AND EXPERT ANALYSIS, GRADUATE STUDENTS ARE TRAINED TO USE THE DATA SET. RESEARCH FINDINGS CAN BE USED TO INFORM THE DEVELOPMENT OF GUIDELINES THAT ADVANCE NATIONAL WELFARE AND SECURITY. TO DEEPEN UNDERSTANDING, THE PROJECT ASSESSES NATIONAL GUIDELINES WITH RESPECT TO PRACTICES ACROSS THE SECTORS PRIORITIZED IN INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS, NAMELY, ENERGY, INDUSTRY, TRANSPORTATION, AGRICULTURE, LAND USE AND FORESTRY, BUILDINGS, AND WASTE AND WASTEWATER. MOREOVER, THE RESEARCHERS MEASURE DOZENS OF INDICATORS OF ADAPTATION IN TWO BROAD AREAS: SHORT-TERM REACTIONS TO WEATHER EVENTS AND LONGER-TERM PLANNING FOR SOCIETAL RESILIENCE. A SURVEY OF AT LEAST 10 EXPERTS IN EACH OF 80 COUNTRIES CHOSEN FROM THE WORLD?S MAJOR REGIONS YIELDS DATA THAT ALLOWS MEASUREMENT OF NATIONS? AMBITIONS AND CLAIMS AGAINST EXPERT EVALUATIONS. SURVEY FINDINGS ARE CORROBORATED WHERE POSSIBLE BY EXTANT COMPLEMENTARY DATA. USING THIS DATA SET, THE PROJECT SEEKS ANSWERS TO MULTIPLE RESEARCH QUESTIONS, INCLUDING: 1) WHAT ARE THE DETERMINANTS OF ROBUST GUIDELINES WITHIN NATION STATES? 2) WHAT ROLES DO ROBUST GUIDELINES PLAY IN DETERMINING PRACTICES OF ADAPTATION AND RESILIENCE? THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: GP-UP: DEVELOPING STEM IDENTITY BY ENGAGING URM UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN RESEARCH ON AIR POLLUTION IN CHICAGO COMMUNITIES

MOTIVATION GAINS ON DIVISIBLE CONJUNCTIVE TASKS

SATC: EDU: COLLABORATIVE: PERSONALIZED CYBERSECURITY EDUCATION AND TRAINING

THIS GRANT IS PROVIDED TO LOYOLA UNIVERSITY IN CHICAGO TO PARTNER WITH THE FACULTY OF LAW AND POLITICAL SCIENCE OF SOUSSE TO PROMOTE RESEARCH AND TRA

PFI-TT: DEVELOPMENT OF A LOW-COST OLED VIA SURFACE CHEMISTRY

QUASICONVEX FUNCTIONS AND NONLINEAR PDE'S

LEAPS-MPS: ANALYTIC AND NUMERICAL TREATMENT OF NONLINEAR MAXWELL'S EQUATIONS -ELECTROMAGNETISM PLAYS A CENTRAL ROLE IN ALMOST EVERY FIELD OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING. AREAS INCLUDE ENERGY SCIENCE, NANOTECHNOLOGY, LIFE SCIENCE, MAGNETISM CONFINEMENT FUSION, MAGNETIC LEVITATION TECHNOLOGY, SENSOR TECHNOLOGY AND MANY OTHERS. THE PHYSICAL LAWS OF ELECTROMAGNETISM ARE MATHEMATICALLY DESCRIBED BY MAXWELL?S EQUATIONS, WHICH ARE COMMONLY USED AS BUILDING BLOCKS TO DERIVE COUPLED SYSTEMS INVOLVING ELECTROMAGNETIC PHENOMENA. PROBLEMS OF OPTIMAL CONTROL OF MAXWELL?S EQUATIONS ARISE IN A VARIETY OF APPLICATIONS INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, STEALTH TECHNOLOGY, DESIGN AND CONTROL OF ANTENNAS, DIFFRACTION OPTICS, MAGNETOTELLURICS AND RELATED FIELDS. THE PROJECT WILL INVESTIGATE THESE OPTIMAL CONTROL PROBLEMS BOTH THEORETICALLY AND NUMERICALLY. MORE SPECIFICALLY, THIS PROJECT WILL SHED LIGHT ON THE OPTIMAL CONTROL OF NON-LINEAR MAXWELL?S EQUATIONS AND PROVIDE EFFICIENT ALGORITHMIC TOOLS OF OPTIMAL COMPLEXITY TO SOLVE A CLASS OF IMPORTANT AND CHALLENGING PROBLEMS IN NONLINEAR OPTIMIZATION. MOREOVER, THE PROJECT WILL ASSESS THE ALGORITHMS? PERFORMANCE BY APPLICATIONS OF MAJOR SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE IN MATERIAL AND LIFE SCIENCES. THE OUTCOMES OF THIS PROJECT WILL ADVANCE THE GREATER FIELDS OF APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCES TO MEET THE GROWING NEED FOR NON-INVASIVE TECHNOLOGIES IN SUPERCONDUCTOR SIMULATION OR PARTICLE ACCELERATOR DESIGN, ETC. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO INVOLVE STATE-OF-THE-ART RESEARCH TRAINING FOR STUDENTS AT LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO AND PROMOTE ADVANCED-DEGREE PURSUITS AND FUTURE WORKFORCE IN STEM, ESPECIALLY FROM WOMEN, MINORITIES, AND UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS. THE RESULTS FROM THIS PROJECT, INCLUDING COMPUTER CODE, WILL BE DISSEMINATED TO THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY AND WILL BE MADE ACCESSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC; IN PARTICULAR, TO RESEARCHERS WORKING ON RELATED PROBLEMS AND INDUSTRIAL PRACTITIONERS. THE MAIN OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO STUDY ANALYTICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL ASPECTS RELATED TO THE OPTIMIZATION OF QUASILINEAR MAXWELL?S EQUATIONS. MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE OPTIMIZATION FRAMEWORK ASSUMES THE FORM OF AN OPTIMAL CONTROL PROBLEM FOR MAXWELL?S EQUATIONS SEEKING A CONTROL STRATEGY VIA DISTRIBUTED ELECTRIC CURRENTS OR BOUNDARY STEERING FUNCTIONS TO OPTIMIZE A PRESCRIBED OBJECTIVE FUNCTIONAL UNDER SUITABLE CONSTRAINTS ON THE STATE AND/OR CONTROL VARIABLES. THE MAIN CHALLENGE LIES IN THE COMPLEXITY OF THE FULL TIME-DEPENDENT MAXWELL?S EQUATIONS WHICH FEATURE A FIRST-ORDER HYPERBOLIC COUPLED STRUCTURE OF QUASILINEAR TYPE. THE INVESTIGATOR WILL DEVELOP ANALYTICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS TO THEORETICALLY UNDERSTAND, NUMERICALLY SIMULATE AND OPTIMALLY MANIPULATE ELECTROMAGNETIC PHENOMENA. THE PROJECT WILL INVOLVE FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH IN NONLINEAR CONTROL THEORY, FINITE ELEMENTS METHOD, NONLINEAR MODEL REDUCTION, TIME INTEGRATORS, OPERATOR SPLITTING, MESH ADAPTIVITY, TO NAME A FEW. THE ANTICIPATED DEVELOPMENTS WILL CONTRIBUTE TO ADVANCE THE GREATER FIELDS OF APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCES BY INVOLVING A THOROUGH INVESTIGATION OF THE FORWARD MAP ARISING FROM THE UNDERLYING DIRECT PROBLEM AND ITS REGULARITY PROPERTIES, NEWTON-TYPE ITERATION FOR SOLVING PONTRYAGIN?S OPTIMALITY EQUATIONS AND ITS SPACE-TIME DISCRETIZATION, DEVELOPMENT OF EFFICIENT TIME-INTEGRATORS AND MODEL REDUCTION 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.

REU SITE:CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR UNDERGRADUATES AT LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO

ADVANCED EDUCATION NURSING TRAINEESHIPS

WE PROPOSE TO APPLY LAB BASED BENCH-TOP TOTAL REFLECTION X-RAY FLUORESCENCE (TXRF) SPECTROMETRY FOR ANALYSIS OF SURFACECONTAMINATIONS OF GENESIS SOL