Board Of Trustees Of Illinois State University

CARES ACT EMERGENCY RELIEF FUNDING FOR INSTITUTIONAL COSTS

CARES ACT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS TO STUDENTS

TOGETHER EVERYONE ACHIEVES MORE THROUGH INTEGRATED LEADERSHIP (TEAM LEAD)

INTERROGATING PENNYCRESS NATURAL AND INDUCED VARIATION TO IMPROVE ABIOTIC STRESS TOLERANCE AND OILSEED BIOENERGY CROP RESILIENCE

TEACHER QUALITY PARTNERSHIPS GRANTS

FY 2009 TEACHER QUALITY PARTNERSHIPS GRANTS

SCHOOL LEADERSHIP PROGRAM

CHAMPAIGN AREA RELATIONSHIP EDUCATION FOR YOUTH (CARE4U)

EMERGING AND EFFECTIVE CULTURALLY RELEVANT PRACTICES FOR MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE TEACHING IN HIGH NEEDS SCHOOLS

ADVANCED NURSING EDUCATION WORKFORCE

LEARNING TRAJECTORIES TO SUPPORT THE GROWTH OF MEASUREMENT KNOWLEDGE: PRE-K THROUGH MIDDLE SCHOOL

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

COMMUNITY PROJECT FUNDING/CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING - CONSTRUCTION

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ENVIRONMENTAL DATA-DRIVEN INQUIRY AND EXPLORATION (EDDIE): USING LARGE DATASETS TO BUILD QUANTITATIVE REASONING

A LONGITUDINAL EXAMINATION OF CHILDREN'S DEVELOPING KNOWLEDGE OF MEASUREMENT: MATHEMATICAL AND SCIENTIFIC CONCEPT AND STRATEGY GROWTH FROM PRE-K THRO

TRIO STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES GRANT

ADVANCED NURSING EDUCATION WORKFORCE

MIDWEST REGIONAL ROBERT NOYCE CONNECTIONS 2017, 2018, 2019: STRENGTHENING THE NETWORK FOR TEACHER LEARNING AT THE INTERSECTION OF HIGH-QUALITY AND HI

ISU'S NOYCE SCHOLARSHIPS FOR STEM TEACHERS OF UNDER-REPRESENTED GROUPS

TRANSITION TO TEACHING PROGRAM (LOCAL)

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

ADVANCED EDUCATION NURSING TRAINEESHIP

STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES PROGRAM

STEM-BASED UNIVERSITY PATHWAY ENCOURAGING RELATIONSHIPS WITH CHICAGO HIGH SCHOOLS IN AUTOMATION, ROBOTICS AND GREEN ENERGY -THIS DEVELOPING AND TESTING INNOVATIONS PROJECT WILL ADVANCE EFFORTS OF THE INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY EXPERIENCES FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS (ITEST) PROGRAM TO BETTER UNDERSTAND AND PROMOTE PRACTICES THAT INCREASE STUDENTS' KNOWLEDGE AND INTEREST IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) AND INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) CAREERS BY CONNECTING FACULTY AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AT ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY WITH STUDENTS AND TEACHERS AT FOUR CHICAGO-AREA HIGH SCHOOLS AND FOUR COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS (CBOS) THAT SERVE THE COMMUNITIES AROUND THEM. THE PROJECT IS BASED ON THE EXPLORATION OF STEM-FOCUSED TECHNOLOGIES INCLUDING ROBOTICS, SOLAR ENERGY, AND ELECTRIC VEHICLES, AND AIMS TO SERVE STUDENTS FROM POPULATIONS THAT ARE UNDERREPRESENTED IN STEM FIELDS. STUDENTS WILL MEET AFTER SCHOOL ONCE PER WEEK TO ENGAGE IN INFORMAL, HANDS-ON STEM EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES. DURING THE SUMMERS, STUDENTS WILL ATTEND A THREE-DAY STEM CAMP TO APPLY AND EXTEND THE KNOWLEDGE THEY HAVE GAINED THROUGHOUT THE YEAR AND LEARN ABOUT STEM EDUCATIONAL AND CAREER PATHWAYS THROUGH FIELD TRIPS AND GUEST SPEAKERS FROM STEM INDUSTRIES. TEACHERS AT EACH OF THE HIGH SCHOOLS WILL SERVE AS MENTORS FOR THE STUDENTS. THE RESEARCH, GUIDED BY THE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL?S STEM LEARNING ECOSYSTEM MODEL, WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE DISRUPTION OF INEQUITIES THAT HINDER ACCESS TO STEM CAREER PIPELINES FOR PARTICIPANTS BY SERVING AS A BRIDGE BETWEEN INFORMAL HIGH SCHOOL ACADEMIC EXPERIENCES, STEM-RELATED HIGHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS, AND STEM-RELATED CAREER PATHWAYS. THE PROJECT WILL RECRUIT APPROXIMATELY 320 STUDENTS FROM THE FOUR PARTNER HIGH SCHOOLS. THE PROJECT WILL USE A MIXED-METHOD DATA COLLECTION APPROACH INCLUDING OBSERVATIONS, SURVEYS, AND INTERVIEWS. UTILIZING A PRE TO POST METHODOLOGY, RESEARCHERS WILL EMPLOY THE COMMON INSTRUMENT SUITE (CIS) OF SURVEYS, DEVELOPED AND VALIDATED BY THE PARTNERSHIPS IN EDUCATION AND RESILIENCE (PEAR) INSTITUTE. SURVEY DATA WILL MEASURE STUDENT AND TEACHER'S STEM-RELATED ATTITUDES, INCLUDING STEM ENGAGEMENT, STEM CAREER KNOWLEDGE, AND STEM IDENTITY. THIS WORK OFFERS AN APPROACH TO SUPPORT YOUTH IN THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPACT THAT AUTOMATION, ROBOTICS, AND GREEN ENERGY ARE HAVING ON THE TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY AND THE NATURE OF THAT WORK. ADDITIONALLY, THE WORK WILL CAPTURE THE EFFECTS CBO PARTNERS HAVE IN POST-SECONDARY STEM EDUCATION AND CAREER PATHWAYS. 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.

STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES PROGRAM

CAREER: TEACHERS LEARNING TO BE TECHNOLOGY ACCESSIBILITY ALLIES TO BLIND AND LOW-VISION STUDENTS IN SCIENCE -TO ENTER STEM CAREER PATHWAYS, BLIND AND LOW-VISION STUDENTS NEED EQUITABLE ACCESS TO THE LEARNING THAT OCCURS IN HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE CLASSES. TEACHING AND LEARNING IN SCIENCE CLASSROOMS ARE INCREASINGLY MEDIATED BY TECHNOLOGY. TRAGICALLY, THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY HAS PERPETUATED INEQUITIES IN SCIENCE EDUCATION BECAUSE DIGITAL INTERFACES ARE DESIGNED AND USED IN WAYS THAT FREQUENTLY PROHIBIT BLIND MODES OF LEARNING. CONSEQUENTLY, THIS BLIND-LED PROJECT IS DESIGNED TO IMPROVE THE LONG-TERM ACCESSIBILITY OF TECHNOLOGY-MEDIATED HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE EDUCATION BY IMPROVING TEACHER AWARENESS AND PREPARATION. THE AIMS OF THE PROJECT ARE TO: (1) INVESTIGATE THE STATE OF INSERVICE TEACHERS? KNOWLEDGE ABOUT CONSTRUCTING BORN ACCESSIBLE (I.E., PROACTIVELY ACCESSIBLE) TECHNOLOGY-MEDIATED SCIENCE CLASSES; AND (2) ITERATIVELY DEVELOP OPPORTUNITIES FOR PRE- AND INSERVICE TEACHERS TO LEARN HOW TO CONSTRUCT BORN ACCESSIBLE TECHNOLOGY-MEDIATED SCIENCE CLASSES. THIS PROJECT WILL EXPLORE HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS' KNOWLEDGE OF THE TECHNOLOGICAL, PEDAGOGICAL, IDEOLOGICAL, AND LEGAL ASPECTS OF CREATING BORN ACCESSIBLE TECHNOLOGY-MEDIATED SCIENCE CLASSROOM EXPERIENCES. THE PROJECT WILL SEEK TO EXPLORE THE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE WHAT TEACHERS KNOW. THE FOUR-PHASE EXPLORATORY SEQUENTIAL MIXED METHODS STUDY WILL QUALITATIVELY EXPLORE TEACHERS? KNOWLEDGE. THE PROJECT WILL THEN DEVELOP AND PILOT AN INSTRUMENT TO MEASURE TEACHER KNOWLEDGE. FINALLY, THE INVESTIGATOR WILL INTEGRATE THE QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH FINDINGS. IN SYNERGY WITH THE RESEARCH, THE PROJECT WILL DEVELOP OPPORTUNITIES FOR PRESERVICE TEACHERS TO LEARN HOW TO CREATE TECHNOLOGY-MEDIATED SCIENCE CLASSES THAT ARE BORN ACCESSIBLE TO BLIND AND LOW-VISION STUDENTS. THE EDUCATION ACTIVITIES WILL USE CASE-BASED LEARNING AND AN ITERATIVE INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN PROCESS TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT: (1) A CASE LIBRARY, (2) TWO HYBRID UNITS FOR PRESERVICE TEACHERS, AND (3) ASYNCHRONOUS OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES FOR PRE- AND INSERVICE TEACHERS NATIONWIDE. THE PROJECT AIMS TO IMPROVE THE LONG-TERM ACCESSIBILITY OF SCIENCE EDUCATION TO FOSTER BLIND AND LOW-VISION PEOPLE?S FULL PARTICIPATION IN SCIENCE. THE LONG-TERM GOAL IS TO OPEN MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR BLIND AND LOW-VISION PEOPLE TO CONTRIBUTE TO SCIENTIFIC ADVANCEMENT IN THE PURSUIT OF STEM CAREERS. THIS IS A FACULTY EARLY CAREER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM PROJECT RESPONSIVE TO A NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION-WIDE ACTIVITY THAT OFFERS THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS AWARDS IN SUPPORT OF EARLY-CAREER FACULTY WHO HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO SERVE AS ACADEMIC ROLE MODELS IN RESEARCH AND EDUCATION. THIS PROJECT IS SUPPORTED BY THE DRK-12 PROGRAM AND THE ITEST PROGRAM IN THE DIVISION OF RESEARCH ON LEARNING. 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.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

COMBINED PRIORITY FOR PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENT

LEVERAGING INSTRUCTION TO MAXIMIZE INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAMING IN LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS OF FAMILY SYSTEMS WHEN CHILDREN HAVE SENSORY DISABILITIES (LIMITLESS)

NATIONAL DATABASE OF UTILITY RATES AND RATE STRUCTURE

NURSING WORKFORCE DIVERSITY

COMBINED PRIORITY FOR PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENT

TRIO - STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES - STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES PROGRAM

NURSING WORKFORCE DIVERSITY

THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE OF OUR PROJECT IS TO GENERATE, ISOLATE, AND CHARACTERIZE TRAIT-IMPROVING MUTATIONS WORTHY OF INTROGRESSION INTO ELITE PENNYCRESS BREEDING LINES, TO GENERATE PROFITABLE COMMERCIAL PENNYCRESS VARIETIES. WE WILL EMPLOY BOTH FORWARD GENETIC SCREENS TO IDENTIFY COMMERCIALLY-RELEVANT TRAIT IMPROVING MUTATIONS AS WELL AS A REVERSE GENETICS APPROACH EMPLOYING THE NEWCRISPR-CAS9 GENOME EDITING TECHNIQUE TO TARGET MUTATIONS IN DOMESTICATION TRAIT GENES. WE ENVISION THE COMMERCIAL VARIETIES ARISING FROM THIS WORK WILL CONSISTENTLY YIELD OVER 1,500 LBS OF HARVESTABLE SEED PER ACRE, PRODUCING MEAL THAT IS OF HIGH-ENOUGH QUALITY TO BE PRICE-COMPETITIVE WITH CANOLA MEAL. FUNDING OF THIS PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL BE CRUCIAL IN MEETING THESE GOALS WITHIN A TEN-YEAR TIME FRAME. NOTABLY, THE NATURAL PENNYCRESS VARIETIES WITH REQUISITE REDUCTIONS IN SEED GLUCOSINOLATE AND FIBER CONTENT HAVE NOT BEEN IDENTIFIED IN THE HUNDREDS OF PENNYCRESS STRAINS COLLECTED THROUGHOUT NORTH AMERICA ANDAROUND THE WORLD. THEREFORE, THOSE TRAITS MUST BE IMPROVED BY USING THE FORWARD AND REVERSE GENETICS APPROACHES PROPOSED HERE.

COMBINED PRIORITY FOR PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENT

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

ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY ROBERT NOYCE TEACHER SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

RESPONSIVENESS OF SEX DETERMINATION TO THERMAL CUES AND MATERNAL ESTROGENS AS POTENTIAL MODIFIERS

SPECIAL EDUCATION RESEARCH GRANTS

NURSING WORKFORCE DIVERSITY

INDUCED IMMUNITY AS A SOURCE OF MATERNAL EFFECTS ON OFFSPRING PHENOTYPE

THE MIND PROJECTS CUTTING EDGE HEALTH SCIENCE INITIATIVE

GENETIC REPAIR OF MUSCULAR DEGENERATION ASSOCIATED WITH DUCHENNE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY

ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY (ISU) INITIATES TEACHER EDUCATION IN COMPUTER SCIENCE (TECS)

CELL STRUCTURE-FUNCTION OF NA PUMP ASSEMBLY

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

EXPERIMENTAL EVOLUTION OF INSECT NUPTIAL FOOD GIFTS AND FEMALE RESPONSES

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A LASER SCANNING CONFOCAL MICROSCOPE WITHIN A CORE FACILITY FOR RESEARCH AND TRAINING AT ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY

NEURONAL AND MOLECULAR BASIS FOR MAGNETIC TRANSDUCTION IN THE NEMATODE C. ELEGANS

CC* NETWORKING INFRASTRUCTURE: BUILDING A SCALABLE AND POLYMORPHIC CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR DIVERSE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION NEEDS AT ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY -FACULTY RESEARCHERS AND NETWORKING EXPERTS AT ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY ARE TEAMING UP TO CREATE AN ADVANCED CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE TO MEET THE EVOLVING AND DIVERSE RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL DEMANDS OF THE CAMPUS. THIS CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE BOOSTS THE CAMPUS RESEARCH NETWORK TO A FULL 100G CAPACITY, INTEGRATES A 100G SCIENCE DMZ FOR BETTER EXTERNAL CONNECTIONS, AND INTRODUCES A 100G SOFTWARE DEFINED NETWORKING (SDN) ENABLED TESTBED FOR CREATIVE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES. THIS ENHANCEMENT DRAMATICALLY IMPROVES DIGITAL INTERACTION AMONG RESEARCHERS, SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS, VISUALIZATION STATIONS, HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING (HPC) RESOURCES, AND EXTERNAL COLLABORATORS, ELEVATING RESEARCH SPEED AND ENABLING METHODOLOGIES PREVIOUSLY OUT OF REACH. FOR EXAMPLE, LARGE ENVIRONMENTAL AND HYDROLOGY DATA COLLECTED BY UNMANNED AIRCRAFTS CAN NOW BE MANAGED THROUGH THE SDN, QUICKLY PROCESSED BY HPC CLUSTERS, AND SHARED WITH EXTERNAL COLLABORATORS FOR IMMEDIATE MACHINE-LEARNING ANALYSIS. THIS INFRASTRUCTURE ALSO BENEFITS STUDENTS, PARTICULARLY THOSE FROM UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS AND FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE ATTENDEES, BY PROVIDING THEM WITH HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE WITH TOP-TIER TECHNOLOGY IN THEIR STUDIES AND RESEARCH PROJECTS. THE CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE'S MODULAR DESIGN CATERS TO VARIED RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS. THE SCIENCE DMZ MODULE, FEATURING A HIGH-PERFORMANCE SWITCH AND A CUTTING-EDGE DATA TRANSFER NODE, ISOLATES RESEARCH DATA TRAFFIC FROM GENERAL UNIVERSITY OPERATIONS. THE ON-CAMPUS RESEARCH NETWORK EMPLOYS A SPINE-LEAF ARCHITECTURE FOR ITS SCALABILITY AND RELIABILITY, CONSISTING OF TWO INTERCONNECTED SPINES (64X100GBE) USING 100GB LINKS, LOCATED IN THE HPC AND ANOTHER CAMPUS DATA CENTER. THE SDN-BASED TESTBED ADOPTS A SIMILAR SPINE-LEAF ARCHITECTURE WITH A SINGLE SPINE FOR NOW, PRIZED FOR ITS ADAPTABILITY AND EQUIPPED WITH HYBRID SDN SWITCHES THAT HAVE BUILT-IN CONTROLLERS FOR INNOVATIVE RESEARCH EXPLORATION. PERFORMANCE MONITORING AND ADJUSTMENTS ARE CARRIED OUT WITH PERFSONAR NODES, IN A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT BETWEEN RESEARCHERS AND NETWORK ARCHITECTS TO ENSURE THE CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE'S OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE. 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.

ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY COMPUTER SCIENCE/INFORMATION SYSTEMS (CS/IS) SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

GRADUATING HIGHLY-QUALIFIED SECONDARY MATHEMATICS TEACHERS WITH EMPHASIS ON RECRUITMENT FROM UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS

RESPONSE AND DEFENSE MECHANISMS OF EXTRAINTESTINAL ESCHERICHIA COLI TO REACTIVE OXYGEN AND CHLORINE SPECIES - MEMBERS OF THE ESCHERICHIA COLI SPECIES ARE REMARKABLY DIVERSE AND COMPRISE COMMENSAL, PROBIOTIC AND PATHOGENIC STRAINS. WHILE SOME PATHOGENIC E. COLI CAUSE INTESTINAL DISEASES, EXTRAINTESTINAL E. COLI (EXPEC) CAN COLONIZE AND INFECT ENVIRONMENTS OUTSIDE THE GUT. FOR INSTANCE, MEMBERS OF THIS PATHOTYPE CAN INHABIT THE URINARY TRACT WHERE THEY ARE CONFRONTED WITH A MULTITUDE OF BACTERICIDAL HOST DEFENSE STRATEGIES, WHICH REQUIRES SPECIALIZED GENETIC ADAPTION FOR SURVIVAL. EXPEC MUST DEFEND HIGHLY TOXIC ANTIMICROBIALS SUCH AS HYPOCHLOROUS ACID (HOCL), A POTENT REACTIVE OXYGEN AND CHLORINE SPECIES (RO/CS) GENERATED DURING NEUTROPHIL-MEDIATED PHAGOCYTOSIS AND BY ENZYMES IN UROEPITHELIAL CELLS TO CONTROL BACTERIAL COLONIZATION. THE INCREASING RATE OF EXPEC INFECTIONS IN HUMANS DUE TO CHANGING INFECTION DYNAMICS DEMONSTRATE THE CRITICAL NEED FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF EXPEC PATHOGENESIS, WHICH IS DESPERATELY NEEDED TO IMPROVE APPROACHES FOR INFECTION PREVENTION AND TREATMENT GIVEN THE RISE IN ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE SPREADING AMONG E. COLI. OUR LAB HAS REPORTED THAT MEMBERS OF THE EXPEC PATHOTYPE ARE MORE RESISTANT TO RCS IN VITRO AND TO NEUTROPHIL-MEDIATED PHAGOCYTOSIS WHEN COMPARED TO NON-PATHOGENIC AND ENTEROPATHOGENIC E. COLI. WE IDENTIFIED THE DEFENSE SYSTEM RESPONSIBLE FOR THESE PHENOTYPES AND CHARACTERIZED ITS REGULATION DURING RCS STRESS: THE RCRR REGULON CONSISTING OF THE RCRARB GENES IS CONTROLLED BY THE RCS-SENSING TRANSCRIPTIONAL REPRESSOR RCRR, WHICH REVERSIBLY LOSES ITS REPRESSOR ACTIVITY UPON OXIDATION BY RCS, RESULTING IN DE-REPRESSION OF ITS DOWNSTREAM TARGETS. INDUCED EXPRESSION OF RCRB CONTRIBUTES SIGNIFICANTLY TO EXPEC’S INCREASED RCS RESISTANCE, HOWEVER, THE PRECISE MECHANISM OF RCRB AND THE ROLE OF RCRA (AND POTENTIALLY OTHER DEFENSE PLAYERS) DURING RCS STRESS REMAIN ENIGMATIC. OUR LONG-TERM GOAL IS TO INCREASE THE EFFICACY OF EXISTING ANTIMICROBIAL THERAPIES BY PURPOSEFULLY AND SELECTIVELY SENSITIZING EXPEC TO CLEARANCE BY INNATE IMMUNE CELLS. THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE OF THIS APPLICATION IS A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF EXPEC’S RCS DEFENSE WITH PARTICULAR FOCUS ON THE MECHANISM OF THE RCRR REGULON. WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT RCRB DIRECTLY PROTECTS CELLS FROM HOCL, WHILE RCRA, ANOTHER MEMBER OF THE RCRR REGULON, MEDIATES EVASION FROM HOCL AND INVASION INTO HOST CELLS. IN AIM 1, WE WILL USE PHENOTYPIC, BIOCHEMICAL, AND IMAGING APPROACHES TO INVESTIGATE THE MECHANISM BY WHICH RCRB CONTRIBUTES TO EXPEC’S INCREASED RCS RESISTANCE. IN AIM 2, WE WILL STUDY THE ROLE OF RCRA FOR EXPEC MOTILITY, BIOFILM FORMATION, AND HOST CELL INVASION. IN AIM 3, WE WILL USE INDEPENDENT UNBIASED AND TARGETED APPROACHES, INCLUDING PHENOTYPIC CHARACTERIZATION OF TRANSPOSON MUTANTS, TO FULLY COMPREHEND EXPEC-SPECIFIC RESPONSES TO AND DEFENSES AGAINST RCS. IDENTIFYING, CHARACTERIZING AND TARGETING EXPEC-SPECIFIC DEFENSE SYSTEMS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO INCREASE THE BODY’S OWN CAPACITY TO FIGHT UTIS. OVERALL, WE WILL INVOLVE AT LEAST FOUR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN OUR RESEARCH PROJECTS, WHICH WE BELIEVE WILL PROVIDE AN EXCELLENT TRAINING OPPORTUNITY FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS.

GENETIC REPAIR OF MUSCULAR DEGENERATION ASSOCIATED WITH DUCHENNE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY - SUMMARY DUCHENNE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY (DMD) IS A SEVERE GENETIC DISORDER THAT CAUSES PROGRESSIVE MUSCLE DEGENERATION, AFFECTING APPROXIMATELY 1 IN 5,000 MALES. IT IS CAUSED BY MUTATIONS IN THE GENE ENCODING DYSTROPHIN, A STRUCTURAL PROTEIN CRITICAL FOR MAINTAINING MUSCLE FIBER INTEGRITY. WHILE SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE WITH GENE THERAPY AND CORTICOSTEROIDS, THESE TREATMENTS FOCUS ON SKELETAL AND CARDIAC MUSCLE WHILE 74% OF PATIENTS DEVELOP LIFE-LIMITING BLADDER DYSFUNCTION AND 68% SUFFER SEVERE BOWEL COMPLICATIONS. THERE REMAINS A CRITICAL NEED TO UNDERSTAND SMOOTH MUSCLE PATHOLOGY MECHANISMS AFFECTING THREE-QUARTERS OF DMD PATIENTS. THIS PROJECT INVESTIGATES SMOOTH MUSCLE DYSFUNCTION USING C. ELEGANS, THE FIRST PLATFORM ENABLING SYSTEMATIC CROSS-TISSUE COMPARISON WITHIN INDIVIDUAL ANIMALS. BUILDING ON DISCOVERIES FROM OUR PRIOR NIH-FUNDED WORK, WE FOCUS ON SMOOTH MUSCLE SYSTEMS CONTROLLING GASTROINTESTINAL FUNCTION. OUR PRELIMINARY DATA SHOW THAT CORTICOSTEROIDS RESCUE STRIATED BUT NOT SMOOTH MUSCLE DYSFUNCTION, DIRECTLY MIRRORING CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS WHERE PATIENTS SHOW IMPROVED LOCOMOTION BUT PERSISTENT GASTROINTESTINAL PROBLEMS. WE USE C. ELEGANS ALONGSIDE HUMAN SMOOTH MUSCLE CELL VALIDATION SYSTEMS. IN AIM 1, WE WILL CHARACTERIZE SMOOTH MUSCLE DYSFUNCTION USING BEHAVIORAL ANALYSIS, MULTI-COMPARTMENT CALCIUM IMAGING, AND TRANSCRIPTOMIC PROFILING. IN AIM 2, WE WILL EVALUATE THERAPEUTIC EFFICACY ACROSS MUSCLE TYPES, TESTING MICRODYSTROPHIN CONSTRUCTS AND CORTICOSTEROIDS FOR DIFFERENTIAL RESCUE PATTERNS. THIS WORK SEEKS TO DEFINE SMOOTH MUSCLE PATHOLOGY MECHANISMS THAT REMAIN THERAPEUTICALLY UNADDRESSED. BY ESTABLISHING THE FIRST CROSS-TISSUE PLATFORM FOR SMOOTH MUSCLE DMD RESEARCH, IT WILL IDENTIFY TISSUE-SPECIFIC THERAPEUTIC REQUIREMENTS FOR COMPREHENSIVE TREATMENTS. ADDITIONALLY, IT WILL PROVIDE RESEARCH TRAINING FOR 70+ UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS THROUGH DIRECT HANDS-ON INVOLVEMENT IN ALL RESEARCH PHASES, PREPARING THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS WITH CUTTING-EDGE MICROSCOPY, BEHAVIORAL, AND TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH TECHNIQUES WHILE FULFILLING R15 AREA OBJECTIVES OF STRENGTHENING THE RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT AT UNDERGRADUATE-FOCUSED INSTITUTIONS.

RUI: SYNTHESIS OF CORE MODIFIED AND PI-EXTENDED PORPHYRINOIDS -DR. TIMOTHY LASH OF ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY IS EXPLORING THE SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION, AND REACTIVITY OF CONJUGATED STRUCTURES THAT RESEMBLE NATURALLY OCCURRING PORPHYRINS. PORPHYRINS HAVE APPLICATIONS IN DIVERSE AREAS, INCLUDING MATERIALS SCIENCE, CATALYSIS, AND MEDICINE. TRUE PORPHYRINS HAVE 4 NITROGEN ATOMS WITHIN A CENTRAL CAVITY THAT ALLOW THE STRUCTURE TO BIND METAL IONS. HOWEVER, AN IMPORTANT CLASS OF RELATED COMPOUNDS CALLED CARBAPORPHYRINS HAVE A CARBON ATOM IN PLACE OF ONE OF THESE NITROGENS. CARBAPORPHYRINS HAVE MODIFIED PROPERTIES THAT OFTEN COMPLEMENT THOSE OF NATURALLY OCCURRING PORPHYRINS. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO DEVELOP EFFICIENT ROUTES TO NOVEL CARBAPORPHYRIN-TYPE SYSTEMS THAT HAVE UNIQUE REACTIVITY AND UNUSUAL PROPERTIES. THE RESULTS WILL INCREASE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF FUNDAMENTAL CHEMISTRY CONCEPTS SUCH AS AROMATICITY, A FEATURE THAT OFTEN LEADS TO ENHANCED STABILITY. FURTHERMORE, CARBAPORPHYRINS ACT AS LIGANDS THAT FORM STABLE COMPLEXES WITH IMPORTANT CATALYTIC METALS SUCH AS PALLADIUM AND RHODIUM. THE PROPERTIES EXHIBITED BY THESE SYSTEMS SHOW PROMISE FOR ADVANCED MANUFACTURING APPLICATIONS INCLUDING MEDICINE, SENSOR DEVELOPMENT, AND CATALYSIS. THESE PROJECTS WILL PROVIDE AN EXCELLENT ENVIRONMENT FOR TRAINING UNDERGRADUATES AND MS LEVEL GRADUATE STUDENTS IN THE FIELD OF ORGANIC SYNTHESIS AND EXPOSES THEM TO THE MULTIDISCIPLINARY NATURE OF MODERN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. IN THIS RESEARCH, SYNTHESES OF NEW PORPHYRINOID STRUCTURES BY ?2 + 2? AND ?3 + 1? MACDONALD-TYPE CONDENSATIONS IS PROPOSED, INCLUDING AZAPHENALIPORPHYRINS, HYDROXYNAPHTHIPORPHYRINS, AND QUINONE-FUSED CARBAPORPHYRINS. THE LATTER STRUCTURES HAVE DRAMATICALLY ALTERED CHROMOPHORES WITH STRONG ABSORPTIONS THROUGHOUT THE VISIBLE REGION. A ROUTE TO CARBACHLORINS AND RELATED STRUCTURES WILL BE DEVELOPED USING CYCLOPROPANE DIALDEHYDES AS CRITICAL INTERMEDIATES IN THE ?3 + 1? METHODOLOGY. THE EFFECTS DUE TO STRONGLY ELECTRON-WITHDRAWING UNITS WILL BE INVESTIGATED AND EXAMPLES OF NITROBENZO- AND NITRONAPHTHOPORPHYRINS WILL BE SYNTHESIZED. A SERIES OF INDENOPORPHYRIN ANALOGUES WILL BE PREPARED BY FIRST GENERATING ARYL SUBSTITUTED INTERMEDIATES AND CARRYING OUT OXIDATIVE CYCLIZATIONS (SCHOLL REACTION) TO GENERATE THE CONJUGATED STRUCTURES. INDENOPORPHYRINS INTRODUCE COMPETING AROMATIC AND ANTIAROMATIC CONJUGATION PATHWAYS AND POSSESS UNUSUAL SPECTROSCOPIC PROPERTIES. INSERTION OF PHOSPHORUS ATOMS INTO CARBAPORPHYRIN STRUCTURES WILL BE EXAMINED BY EITHER INTRODUCING A PHOSPHOLE UNIT OR A CYCLOPENTADIENYL YLIDE AND IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT THESE NOVEL STRUCTURES WILL EXHIBIT UNIQUE COORDINATION CHEMISTRY. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

RUI: NITROGEN AS AN ENABLING LINCHPIN FOR COMPLEXITY-BUILDING BASED ON (5 + 2) CYCLOADDITIONS -WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS PROGRAM IN THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY, PROFESSOR ANDREW MITCHELL OF ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY AND PROFESSOR DEAN TANTILLO OF UC-DAVIS ARE DEVELOPING NEW CHEMICAL REACTIONS THAT HAVE CONNECTIONS TO BIOLOGY, MEDICINE, PHYSICS, MATERIALS, ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY, AND OTHER AREAS. PROFESSOR MITCHELL AND HIS UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS STUDY IMPORTANT REACTIONS CALLED CYCLOADDITIONS IN THE LABORATORY AND PROFESSOR TANTILLO AND HIS STUDENTS USE HIGH-POWERED COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY TO AID IN UNDERSTANDING THE INNER WORKINGS OF EACH MOLECULE INVOLVED. IN ADDITION, THEY COLLABORATE WITH PROFESSOR COREY STEPHENSON AND HIS STUDENTS AT UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN WHO STUDY REACTIONS THAT ARE PROMOTED BY VISIBLE LIGHT, WHICH IS AN IMPORTANT AND SUSTAINABLE ALTERNATIVE TO ENVIRONMENTALLY DETRIMENTAL CHEMICALS. THESE REACTIONS ENABLE THE SELECTIVE TRANSFORMATION OF TWO DIMENSIONAL FLAT MOLECULES INTO THREE-DIMENSIONAL BUILDING BLOCKS, WHICH RESEMBLE A NUMBER OF BIOLOGICALLY ACTIVE COMPOUNDS AND MEDICINES. ALTHOUGH NEW REACTION DISCOVERIES ARE FASCINATING, THE MITCHELL AND TANTILLO GROUPS ARE EQUALLY PASSIONATE ABOUT TRAINING NEXT GENERATION SCIENTISTS, MANY OF WHOM ARE FROM UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS, TO ASK IMPORTANT QUESTIONS WITHIN AN ORGANIC CHEMISTRY CORE (COLLABORATION, OUTREACH, RESEARCH, EDUCATION) CURRICULUM. COLLABORATION INVITES STUDENTS TO WORK WITH OTHER ESTABLISHED SCIENTISTS AND SCIENTISTS IN TRAINING. DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF THESE REACTIONS IS OBTAINED BY CREATIVITY, TEAMWORK, COMMUNICATION, AND CHARACTERIZATION OF NEW COMPOUNDS, SKILLS THAT ARE OFTEN CAUGHT MORE THAN TAUGHT. FOR EXAMPLE, STUDENTS LEARN TO THINK ON THEIR FEET AND ENGAGE IN NUANCED SCIENTIFIC DISCUSSIONS DURING LAB WORK AND GROUP MEETINGS. OUTREACH PROVIDES OPPORTUNITIES FOR LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO HEAR STORIES ABOUT HISTORICAL AND CURRENT SCIENCE. RESEARCH IN THE UNDERGRADUATE ENVIRONMENT OPENS THE DOOR FOR GREATER SOPHISTICATION THROUGH MENTORSHIP, CRITICAL REASONING, AND EXPOSURE TO STATE-OF-THE-ART INSTRUMENTATION AT ILLINOIS STATE AND BEYOND. OXIDOPYRYLIUM-BASED [5+2] CYCLOADDITIONS ARE EXCEPTIONALLY USEFUL REACTIONS THAT RESULT IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF IMPORTANT HETEROCYCLIC SMALL MOLECULES. THE MITCHELL GROUP HAS DEMONSTRATED THAT THIS REACTION CAN LEAD TO PREVIOUSLY UNDISCOVERED SCAFFOLDS BUT THAT THE REACTION SUFFERS FROM REGIOSELECTIVITY ISSUES. TO OVERCOME THIS PROBLEM, THEY HAVE CHOSEN TO EMPLOY NITROGEN AS A TRACELESS TETHER AS A MEANS OF CONTROLLING THE REACTION?S REGIOSELECTIVITY. SYNTHETIC AND MECHANISTIC STUDIES IN COLLABORATION WITH THE TANTILLO AND STEPHENSON LABS WILL EXPAND THESE EXPERIMENTS, ESTABLISH THE USE OF TRACELESS TETHERS AS A MEANS OF CONTROLLING THE REACTION, AND EXPLORE THE PHOTOCHEMICAL ACTIVATION OF THE REACTIONS TO DISCOVER NEW PATHWAYS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

IDENTIFICATION OF MECHANISMS FOR MOTOR PATTERN SELECTION DURING MULTIMODAL SENSORY INTEGRATION.

BRC-BIO: PROXIMATE AND ULTIMATE EXPLANATIONS OF EXTRA-PAIR REPRODUCTION IN A HOUSE WREN POPULATION -ANIMALS FACE A MULTITUDE OF CHOICES THROUGHOUT THEIR LIVES. ONE OF THE MOST CONSEQUENTIAL DECISIONS IS WHICH OF MANY POTENTIAL MATES THEY SHOULD CHOOSE FOR REPRODUCTION. BIRDS IN SPECIES THAT TYPICALLY FORM MALE-FEMALE SOCIAL PAIRS FOR MATING AND JOINT CARE OF THEIR OFFSPRING ALSO FREQUENTLY MATE OUTSIDE OF THE SOCIAL PAIR BOND WITH NEARBY BIRDS. THE POSSIBLE COSTS AND BENEFITS OF SUCH EXTRA-PAIR REPRODUCTION ARE NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD, NOR IS IT CLEAR HOW EXACTLY ANIMALS CHOOSE THESE MATES. GENETIC AND BEHAVIORAL DATA WILL BE COLLECTED IN A WELL-STUDIED WILD POPULATION OF HOUSE WRENS (TROGLODYTES AEDON) TO TEST WHETHER FEMALES CHOOSE TO MATE OUTSIDE OF THEIR PAIR BOND WITH NEIGHBORING MALES THAT WILL PROVIDE THEM WITH BETTER GENES FOR THEIR OFFSPRING THAN THEIR SOCIAL MATE. THIS PROJECT WILL FURTHER INVESTIGATE WHETHER FEMALES BASE THEIR CHOICE ON CERTAIN MALE SONG CHARACTERISTICS AND HOW FEMALES AND OTHER MALES REACT TO MORE- AND LESS-ATTRACTIVE SONGS. IN ADDITION TO ADDRESSING TOPICS OF FUNDAMENTAL INTEREST IN BIOLOGY, THIS RESEARCH WILL LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF CRITICAL BUT RARE GENOMIC INFORMATION FOR A WILD POPULATION WITH EXTRAORDINARY LONG-TERM RECORDS AND FITNESS DATA. AN IMPORTANT FOCUS OF THIS PROJECT WILL BE TO PROVIDE TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES AND RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS AND TO INTRODUCE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AND THE YOUNG AND ADULT PUBLIC TO THE PROCESS OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. THESE INITIATIVES WILL CONTRIBUTE TO RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION OF UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS IN SCIENCE AND WILL IMPROVE THE SCIENTIFIC LITERACY OF THE PUBLIC. MALES OF SOCIALLY MONOGAMOUS SPECIES GAIN OBVIOUS FITNESS BENEFITS THROUGH EXTRA-PAIR REPRODUCTION, BUT THE BENEFITS ARE LESS OBVIOUS FOR FEMALES. SEVERAL POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS OF FEMALE EXTRA-PAIR REPRODUCTION CAN ONLY BE TESTED WITH DETAILED GENETIC PEDIGREE RECORDS OR GENOMIC DATA THAT ARE STILL RARELY AVAILABLE FOR WILD POPULATIONS WITH FITNESS RECORDS. ADDITIONALLY, IT IS UNCLEAR HOW FEMALES CHOOSE WHICH MALES TO MATE WITH OUTSIDE OF THE PAIR BOND. MANY BIRDS SING TO ATTRACT MATES AND DEFEND TERRITORIES, BUT IT IS UNCLEAR WHICH SONG CHARACTERISTICS DETERMINE THE ATTRACTIVENESS OF SONG TO FEMALES BECAUSE INDIVIDUAL SONG COMPONENTS ARE OFTEN STUDIED IN ISOLATION, RATHER THAN SIMULTANEOUSLY AS MULTI-COMPONENT TRAITS. THIS RESEARCH WILL TEST IF GOOD-GENES BENEFITS PROVIDE AN ULTIMATE EXPLANATION FOR FEMALE EXTRA-PAIR REPRODUCTION. THE GENETIC DATA WILL ALSO LAY THE FOUNDATION FOR TESTING ADDITIONAL EXPLANATIONS AND MANY OTHER QUESTIONS IN THE FUTURE. NEXT, IT WILL BE INVESTIGATED WHETHER SONG SERVES AS A PROXIMATE SIGNAL THAT FEMALES USE TO CHOOSE THEIR EXTRA-PAIR MATES. THIS RESEARCH WILL DETERMINE WHAT MAKES SONGS OF POTENTIAL EXTRA-PAIR MATES ATTRACTIVE TO FEMALES AND THEN SYNTHESIZE SONGS PREDICTED TO BE ATTRACTIVE OR UNATTRACTIVE ACCORDING TO A MULTIVARIATE SELECTION ANALYSIS. PLAYBACK EXPERIMENTS WILL VERIFY THE ATTRACTIVENESS OF THESE SONGS TO FEMALES AND TEST HOW MALES REACT TO ATTRACTIVE OR UNATTRACTIVE SONG TO IDENTIFY SUSPECTED TRADE-OFFS BETWEEN SONG CHARACTERISTICS THAT ARE ATTRACTIVE TO FEMALES AND SONG CHARACTERISTICS THAT ELICIT AGGRESSIVE RESPONSES FROM MALE RIVALS. 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.

CREATION OF A BUSINESS INCUBATOR FOR SMALL TO MEDIUM SIZED BUSINESSES

SERVICE FOCUSED SPECIAL CONGRESSIONAL INITIATIVE

EXTRINSIC NEUROMODULATION IS A GENERAL MECHANISM TO STABILIZE NEURAL NETWORK FUNCTION DURING TEMPERATURE CHANGES

THIS PROJECT EXAMINES THE FACTORS AFFECTING HOW BUYERS EVALUATE THE VALUE CREATED THROUGH COLLECTIVE ACTION IN RURAL MARKETS, AND THE WAYS IN WHICH COLLECTIVES CAN SHAPE THOSE PERCEPTIONS. THE PROJECT FOLLOWS PRIOR RESEARCH EXAMINING THE ROLE OF IDENTITY AND CULTURE IN FACILITATING COLLECTIVE ACTION BY AGRICULTURAL ENTREPRENEURS/PRODUCERS. IN PARTICULAR, PAST WORK ASSESSED THE COHERENCE OF THE COLLECTIVE IDENTITY OF WINE TRAILS AND ARTISINAL CHEESE ASSOCIATIONS, IN TERMS OF THE PERCEPTIONS OF INTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS - WINERIES AND CREAMERIES. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO "CLOSE THE LOOP" BY EXAMINING HOW COLLECTIVE IDENTITIES/BRANDS ARE PERCEIVED AND EVALUATED BY EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS - CUSTOMERS AND PARTNERS, AND THEN ASSESSING THE RELATIVE CONGRUENCE BETWEEN THE TWO VIEWS. WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT IDENTITY CONGRUENCE IS CRITICAL FOR EFFECTIVE BRAND-BUILDING AND COLLECTIVE MARKETING EFFORTS. ADDITIONALLY, WE BELIEVE THAT IDENTITY CONGRUENCE WILL BE ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED BUYER EVALUATIONS OF LEGITIMACY AND VALUE ADDED. WE ALSO EXAMINE THE DEGREE TO WHICH CERTAIN OTHER FACTORS (E.G. ACCESS, LOCATION, PRODUCT SCOPE, PARTNERSHIPS, ETC.) MIGHT AFFECT CUSTOMERS' PERCEPTIONS OF VALUE, AND THE WAYS IN WHICH COLLECTIVES CAN ENHANCE THOSE PERCEPTIONS. WE BEGIN BY EXAMINING THIS MODEL WITHIN WINE TRAILS IN MISSOURI AND NEW YORK. WE THEN EXAMINE HOW THE DYNAMICS OF COLLECTIVE IDENTITY AND COLLECTIVE ACTION OBSERVED IN WINE TRAILS COMPARE AND CONTRAST WITH THOSE FOUND IN CHEESE ASSOCIATIONS IN NEW YORK AND VERMONT. FINALLY, WE CONDUCT AN INTEGRATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE INSIGHTS FROM THE TWO INDUSTRIES, TO IDENTIFY COMMON ELEMENTS OF SUCCESSFUL COLLECTIVE MARKET DEVELOPMENT THAT CAN BE EXTENDED TO OTHER INDUSTRIES OR MARKET CONTEXTS. WE USE INTERVIEWS FOR COLLECTING QUALITATIVE DATA AND STRUCTURED SURVEYS FOR COLLECTING QUANTITATIVE DATA. PROJECT OUTPUTS INCLUDE SCHOLARLY PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS, AS WELL AS PRACTITIONER-ORIENTED WHITE PAPERS AND FEEDBACK SESSIONS.

ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF SWITCHGRASS PRODUCTION ON HIGH-FERTILITY SOIL, AND AN ASSESSMENT OF ANAEROBIC DIGESTERS AS AN INTERMEDIATE M

CAREER: VERSATILE VANADIUM: MATERIALS SCIENCE, BIOLOGY, AND EDUCATION THROUGH ITS DIVERSE COORDINATION CHEMISTRY

BPC-DP: USING LEARNING COMMUNITIES TO RECRUIT WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN COMPUTING

RUI: NEW PORPHYRINOID ARCHITECTURES WITH EXTENDED CONJUGATION PATHWAYS -WITH SUPPORT FROM THE CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS PROGRAM OF THE NSF DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY, PROFESSOR TIMOTHY LASH OF ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY IS EXPLORING THE SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION, AND REACTIVITY OF COMPOUNDS THAT RESEMBLE NATURALLY OCCURRING PORPHYRINS. METALATED PORPHYRINS ARE WIDESPREAD IN NATURE, E.G. HEMES, AND PLAY CRUCIAL ROLES IN PHOTOSYNTHESIS AND OXYGEN TRANSPORT. PORPHYRINS ALSO HAVE NUMEROUS APPLICATIONS IN A NUMBER OF DIVERSE AREAS, INCLUDING MATERIALS SCIENCE, CATALYSIS, AND MEDICINE. PORPHYRINS HAVE 4 NITROGEN ATOMS WITHIN A CENTRAL CAVITY THAT ALLOW THE STRUCTURE TO BIND METAL IONS. HOWEVER, AN IMPORTANT CLASS OF RELATED COMPOUNDS, CALLED CARBAPORPHYRINS, HAVE A CARBON ATOM IN PLACE OF ONE OF THESE NITROGENS. CARBAPORPHYRINS HAVE MODIFIED PROPERTIES THAT OFTEN COMPLEMENT THOSE OF NATURALLY OCCURRING PORPHYRINS. THE SUPPORTED WORK IS LEADING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF EFFICIENT ROUTES TO NOVEL CARBAPORPHYRINS AND RELATED PORPHYRIN-LIKE SYSTEMS THAT HAVE UNIQUE REACTIVITY AND UNUSUAL PROPERTIES. THE RESULTS ARE INCREASING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF FUNDAMENTAL CHEMISTRY CONCEPTS SUCH AS AROMATICITY, A FUNDAMENTAL PROPERTY OF MOLECULES THAT LEADS TO ENHANCED STABILITY. FURTHERMORE, STRUCTURES OF THIS TYPE ACT AS LIGANDS TO FORM STABLE COMPLEXES WITH IMPORTANT CATALYTIC METALS SUCH AS PALLADIUM AND RHODIUM. PROFESSOR LASH AND HIS STUDENTS ARE STUDYING APPLICATIONS OF THESE METALLOPORPHYRINS IN THE PREPARATION OF FINE CHEMICALS. IN ADDITION, RELATED SUCH COMPLEXES ARE BEING EXPLORED FOR USE AS PHOTOSENSITIZERS IN PHOTODYNAMIC THERAPY. THESE PROJECTS ARE NOT ONLY PROVIDING AN EXCELLENT ENVIRONMENT FOR TRAINING UNDERGRADUATES AND MASTERS LEVEL GRADUATE STUDENTS FOR CAREERS IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) BUT ARE ALSO EXPOSING THESE STUDENTS TO THE MULTIDISCIPLINARY NATURE OF MODERN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. IN THIS RESEARCH, NEW SYNTHETIC ROUTES TO PORPHYRIN-LIKE SYSTEMS ARE BEING DEVELOPED, INCLUDING METHODOLOGY THAT MAKES USE OF CYCLOPROPANE DIALDEHYDES. APPLICATIONS OF THE ?3 + 1? VARIANT OF THE MACDONALD REACTION WILL PROVIDE STRUCTURES HAVING EXTENDED CONJUGATION WITH ALTERNATIVE PROPERTIES. FOR INSTANCE, PORPHYRIN-LIKE STRUCTURES WITH FUSED AROMATIC RINGS, INCLUDING PHENANTHRENE, PYRENE AND ACENAPHTHYLENE, WILL EXTEND THE PLATFORM AND ARE EXPECTED TO SUBSTANTIALLY ALTER THE PROPERTIES OF THESE SYSTEMS. OTHER EXAMPLES OF UNIQUE PORPHYRINS INCLUDE CARBOPORPHYRINS HYDROXYPORPHYRINOIDS, AND TRIPYRROLIC PORPHYRINS. ALL THESE MOLECULES HAVE UNIQUE CONJUGATION PATHWAYS AND, AS A RESULT, INTERESTING PROPERTIES. THE STRATEGY TO SYNTHESIZE THESE SUBSTRATES SHOULD BE APPLICABLE TO VIRTUALLY ALL FUSED AROMATIC RING SYSTEMS. THESE INVESTIGATIONS ARE QUITE FUNDAMENTAL, PROVIDING ACCESS TO IMPORTANT NEW PORPHYRINOID SYSTEMS, AND THUS HAVE THE POTENTIAL FOR MAJOR IMPACT ON THE FIELD OF PORPHYRIN CHEMISTRY. 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.

ENZYME-MEDIATED SITE-SPECIFIC CONJUGATION OF ANTIBODIES TO NANOPARTICLES - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT DESPITE EXTENSIVE EFFORTS, CURRENT STRATEGIES OF ANTIBODY-GOLD NANOPARTICLE (AUNP) CONJUGATION CHEMISTRIES ARE NOT UNIVERSALLY APPLICABLE TO ALL ANTIBODIES, ARE PH DEPENDENT, RESULT IN RANDOM ORIENTATION FOR DIMINISHED ACTIVITY, AND/OR HAVE LIMITED STABILITY. THESE ISSUES MUST BE ADDRESSED TO REALIZE THE FULL POTENTIAL OF AUNP-ENABLED AS- SAYS AND PROMOTE WIDE-SPREAD ACCEPTANCE AND IMPLEMENTATION IN THE DIAGNOSTICS ARENA. THE LONG-TERM GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP A STRATEGY TO IMMOBILIZE ANTIBODY ONTO GOLD NANOPARTICLES TO FORM HIGHLY ACTIVE, ORIENTED, AND STABLE CONJUGATES FOR USE IN AUNP-ENABLED IMMUNOASSAYS. OUR CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS IS THAT EN- ZYME-MEDIATED, SITE-SPECIFIC CONJUGATION OF A POLYPEPTIDE TO THE FC FRAGMENT OF AN ANTIBODY TO INCORPORATE MULTI- PLE THIOL GROUPS AND A HIGH DENSITY OF LOCALIZED POSITIVE CHARGE WILL PROMOTE ORIENTED AND ROBUST ADSORPTION ONTO GOLD NANOPARTICLES. OUR RATIONALE FOR THESE STUDIES IS THAT SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION WOULD DRIVE THE NOVEL DESIGN OF HIGHLY ACTIVE AND STABLE ANTIBODY-GOLD NANOPARTICLE CONJUGATES CRITICALLY NEEDED TO ADVANCE AUNP-ENABLED PLAT- FORM TECHNOLOGIES. DRIVEN BY COMPELLING PRELIMINARY DATA, WE WILL TEST OUR HYPOTHESIS AND PROGRESS TOWARD OUR LONG-TERM RESEARCH GOAL BY COMPLETING THE FOLLOWING AIMS: 1) ENZYME-MEDIATED MODIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZA- TION OF ANTIBODIES; 2) IN SITU ANALYSIS OF MODIFIED ANTIBODY ADSORPTION ONTO AUNPS; AND 3) QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF ANTIGEN-BINDING ACTIVITY FOR ANTIBODY-AUNP CONJUGATES. IN OUR PREVIOUS AND ONGOING WORK, WE HAVE DETAILED THE ROLE OF LOCALIZED PROTEIN CHARGE AND THIOL FUNCTIONAL GROUPS ON THE ORIENTATION AND AFFINITY, RESPECTIVELY, FOR THE ADSORPTION OF PROTEINS TO GOLD NANOPARTICLES. UNDER THE FIRST AIM, A SHORT, CYSTEINE- AND LYSINE-RICH PEPTIDE WILL BE CONJUGATED TO THE SITE-SPECIFIC Q295 THAT IS CONSERVED ON THE FC FRAGMENT OF THE ANTIBODY USING MICROBIAL TRANSGLU- TAMINASE (MTG) AND THE CONJUGATION WILL BE CONFIRMED BY MASS SPECTROMETRY AND PROTEIN CHARGE. UNDER THE SECOND AIM, A COMPETITIVE PROTEIN BINDING ASSAY AND NANOPARTICLE TRACKING ANALYSIS, ALREADY VALIDATED IN OUR LAB, WILL BE USED TO QUANTITATIVELY EVALUATE THE BINDING AFFINITY OF THE PEPTIDE-MODIFIED ANTIBODY TO GOLD NANOPARTICLES. UNDER THE LAST AIM, A PREVIOUSLY PROVEN ENZYME ASSAY WILL BE USED TO QUANTIFY THE ANTIGEN-BINDING ACTIVITY FOR BIOCONJUGATES FORMED WITH UNMODIFIED AND PEPTIDE-MODIFIED ANTIBODIES. THIS STRATEGY IS INNOVATIVE BECAUSE OF THE USE OF A POLYPEPTIDE AS A CROSSLINKING AGENT BETWEEN THE ANTIBODY AND THE AUNP SURFACE AND THE USE OF AN ENZYME FOR SITE-SPECIFIC CONJUGATION OF THE PEPTIDE TO THE FC REGION THE ANTIBODY. THE PROJECT IS SIGNIFICANT BE- CAUSE IT ENABLES THE PRECISE CONTROL OF ANTIBODY ADSORPTION ONTO GOLD NANOPARTICLES WITHOUT PROTEIN ENGINEERING AND WILL LEAD TO GENERALIZED DESIGN PRINCIPLES THAT PROVIDE A STREAMLINED PROCESS TO OPTIMIZE IMMOBILIZATION CHEMISTRY TO FORM ROBUST AND HIGHLY FUNCTIONAL NANOPARTICLE PROBES.

SERVICE-ORIENTED PARADIGM ACROSS INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CURRICULA: AN EXPANSION STUDY

PROMOTING STUDENTS' SPATIAL THINKING IN UPPER ELEMENTARY GRADES USING GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS)

MRI: TRACK 1 ACQUISITION OF A CU MICRO-SOURCE AND HIGH-PERFORMANCE AREA DETECTOR EQUIPPED SINGLE CRYSTAL X-RAY DIFFRACTOMETER FOR RESEARCH AND TEACHING -THIS AWARD IS JOINTLY SUPPORTED BY THE MAJOR RESEARCH INSTRUMENTATION (MRI) AND THE CHEMISTRY RESEARCH INSTRUMENTATION (CRIF) PROGRAMS. ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY IS ACQUIRING A A SINGLE CRYSTAL X-RAY DIFFRACTOMETER (SC-XRD) WITH A MICRO-FOCUSED CU SOURCE AND 80 K TO 400 K VARIABLE TEMPERATURE SAMPLE CONTROL CAPABILITIES TO SUPPORT THE RESEARCH OF PROFESSOR GREGORY M. FERRENCE ALONG WITH COLLEAGUES CHRISTOPHER G. HAMAKER. THIS INSTRUMENT FACILITATES RESEARCH IN THE AREAS OF ORGANIC, ORGANOMETALLIC, AND METALORGANIC (COORDINATION) CHEMISTRY. IN GENERAL, AN X-RAY DIFFRACTOMETER ALLOWS ACCURATE AND PRECISE MEASUREMENTS OF THE FULL THREE-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURE OF A MOLECULE, INCLUDING BOND DISTANCES AND ANGLES, AND PROVIDES ACCURATE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SPATIAL ARRANGEMENT OF A MOLECULE RELATIVE TO NEIGHBORING MOLECULES. THE RESEARCH FACILITATED BY THE INSTRUMENT HAS PROFOUND BROADER IMPACTS IN THAT IT ENHANCES THE EDUCATION OF A LARGE POPULATION OF ISU CHEMISTRY STUDENTS IN COURSES SPANNING THE CURRICULUM, INCLUDING UNDERGRADUATES, GRADUATE STUDENTS, AND HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS. THE INSTRUMENT ALSO SUPPORTS EARLY CAREER FACULTY AND THE NEW INSTRUMENT WILL ENHANCE THE PROFILE AND IMPACT OF THEIR RESEARCH, LEADING TO INCREASED PRODUCTION AND RETENTION OF FACULTY. BY ENCOURAGING THEIR PARTICIPATION, THE TEAM WILL ATTRACT ADDITIONAL EXTERNAL USERS WHICH WILL ONLY BE FEASIBLE WITH THE NEW INSTRUMENT?S REDUCED COLLECTION TIMES. THE AWARD IS AIMED AT ENHANCING MOLECULAR STRUCTURE AND CRYSTAL ENGINEERING RESEARCH AND EDUCATION AT ALL LEVELS. THE SCXRD SYSTEM FEATURES A COPPER MICRO-SOURCE PAIRED WITH A HIGH-PERFORMANCE AREA DETECTOR AND EQUIPPED WITH VARIABLE TEMPERATURE CONTROL. THE ACQUISITION OF AN INSTRUMENT WITH CU RADIATION WILL ALLOW UNAMBIGUOUS ABSOLUTE STRUCTURE DETERMINATION, AN IMPORTANT ADVANCEMENT FOR MANY OF THE INSTRUMENT USERS, AND THE HIGH-PERFORMANCE AREA DETECTOR WILL FACILITATE MEASUREMENTS ON WIDE RANGING CRYSTALS IN TERMS OF ATOMIC CONTENT, MICRON SIZED SAMPLES, AND WEAKLY DIFFRACTING SPECIMENS, IN MANY CASES REQUIRING AN HOUR OR LESS FOR AN INDIVIDUAL DATA SET COLLECTION. VARIABLE TEMPERATURE CAPABILITY PAIRED WITH DATA COLLECTION SPEED WILL ALLOW EXAMINATION OF BOTH THERMAL AFFECTS ON CRYSTALS AS WELL AS THE MEASUREMENT OF KINETICS OF SOLID-STATE TRANSFORMATIONS. IN ADDITION, THE NEW SCXRD WILL ALSO ALLOW THEIR (PI, CO-PI, INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL COLLABORATORS?) RESEARCH STUDENTS TO MAXIMIZE THEIR RESEARCH EXPERIENCES. CONTRARY TO LARGE BLOCKS OF TIME REQUIRED FOR SYNTHESIS, SCXRD WORKFLOW CAN BE RELATIVELY EASILY ?CHUNKED? TO MESH, IN PARTICULAR, WITH UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS? INTENSE COURSE LOADS AND COMPLEX SCHEDULES. ACCOMMODATING ?MODERN? STUDENTS PROVIDES THE OPPORTUNITY TO ENGAGE A MORE DIVERSE STUDENT POPULATION, WHICH ENHANCES PRODUCTION OF IMPACTFUL RESEARCH AND QUALITY OF STUDENT EDUCATION. THE SHORTER DATA COLLECTION TIMES WILL ALSO MAKE IT PRACTICAL TO INCLUDE DATA COLLECTION AS WELL AS DATA ANALYSIS INTO LABORATORY COURSES. 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.

REDOX-REGULATION IN GRAM-NEGATIVE BACTERIA - PROJECT SUMMARY BACTERIA FREQUENTLY ENCOUNTER A VARIETY OF HARMFUL STRESSORS INCLUDING REACTIVE OXYGEN AND CHLORINE SPECIES (RO/CS). ONE PARTICULARLY POTENT ANTIMICROBIAL OXIDANT IS HYPOCHLOROUS ACID (HOCL), WHICH IS GENERATED DURING NEUTROPHIL-MEDIATED PHAGOCYTOSIS AND BY ENZYMES OF THE MUCOSAL EPITHELIA TO CONTROL BACTERIAL COLONIZATION. BACTERIA HAVE EVOLVED STRATEGIES TO COUNTERACT AND REDUCE THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OF RO/CS, E.G. BY UPREGULATING THE EXPRESSION OF STRESS-SPECIFIC GENES. RO/CS-INDUCED CHANGES IN GENE EXPRESSION ARE TYPICALLY MEDIATED BY POSTTRANSLATIONAL MODIFICATIONS OF REDOX-SENSITIVE AMINO ACID SIDE CHAINS IN TRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATORS, WHICH AFFECT THEIR ABILITY TO ACTIVATE/REPRESS THE EXPRESSION OF THE CORRESPONDING STRESS-PROTECTIVE TARGET GENES. OUR PRELIMINARY DATA SHOW THAT UROPATHOGENIC E. COLI (UPEC) RESPOND TO SUBLETHAL HOCL-STRESS WITH THE UPREGULATION OF AN OPERON HARBORING THREE UNCHARACTERIZED UPEC-SPECIFIC GENES. WE IDENTIFIED ONE OF THEM AS A HOCL- SENSITIVE TRANSCRIPTIONAL REPRESSOR THAT REVERSIBLY LOSES ITS REPRESSOR ACTIVITY DURING HOCL-STRESS. ITS INACTIVATION RESULTS IN THE DE-REPRESSION OF THE TWO DOWNSTREAM TARGETS CONTRIBUTING TO THE INCREASED HOCL RESISTANCE OF UPEC STRAINS COMPARED TO COMMENSAL AND ENTEROPATHOGENIC E. COLI. MOREOVER, OUR PRELIMINARY DATA SHOW THAT SUBLETHAL HOCL CONCENTRATIONS CAUSE THE INDUCTION OF NUMEROUS BIOFILM GENES AND STIMULATE BIOFILM FORMATION. THE OVERALL GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO COMPREHENSIVELY UNDERSTAND THE CAUSE AND EFFECTS OF RO/CS STRESS AND TO CHARACTERIZE SPECIFIC BACTERIAL DEFENSE STRATEGIES TO RO/CS USED TO MITIGATE THEIR DAMAGE. OUR WORKING HYPOTHESIS IS THAT RO/CS SPECIFICALLY AND REVERSIBLY MODIFY SURFACE-EXPOSED CYSTEINE RESIDUES IN PROTEINS, WHICH BECOME THE KEY FACTOR IN REDOX SIGNALING BY AFFECTING GENE EXPRESSION AND/OR BACTERIAL PHYSIOLOGY. IN AIM 1, WE WILL USE PHENOTYPIC AND BIOCHEMICAL STRATEGIES TO ASSESS THE MECHANISM BY WHICH THE TRANSCRIPTIONAL REPRESSOR IS INACTIVATED IN VITRO AND IN VIVO. MOREOVER, WE WILL ELUCIDATE THE FUNCTION OF ONE OF ITS DOWNSTREAM TARGETS, WHICH APPEARS TO CONTRIBUTE SUBSTANTIALLY TO UPEC’S INCREASED HOCL RESISTANCE AND IDENTIFY ADDITIONAL HOCL RESISTANCE GENES BY TNSEQ. TO CHARACTERIZE THE BENEFITS OF HOCL-MEDIATED BIOFILM STIMULATION, WE WILL ANALYZE THE COMPOSITION OF CFT073 BIOFILMS BEFORE AND AFTER EXPOSURE TO SUBLETHAL HOCL AND TEST WHETHER BIOFILM CELLS BECOME MORE RESISTANT TO SUBSEQUENT HOCL STRESS OR COMMON ANTIBIOTICS USED TO TREAT UTIS (AIM 2). IN ADDITION, WE WILL INVESTIGATE HOW HOCL STRESS ACTS TO TRIGGER THE INCREASE IN BIOFILM FORMATION IN CFT073 BY DETERMINING THE ROLE THAT THE DIGUANYLATE CYCLASE YDEH PLAYS IN THIS PROCESS. IN AIM 3, WE WILL COMBINE TRANSCRIPTOMIC AND PHENOTYPIC ANALYSES TO IDENTIFY NOVEL REGULONS CONTRIBUTING TO UPEC’S RESISTANCE TO THE SURFACE ANTIMICROBIAL AGXX, WHICH HAS PREVIOUSLY BEEN SHOWN TO GENERATE RO/CS. THESE STUDIES WILL PROVIDE US WITH FUNDAMENTALLY NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE ROLE THAT RO/CS PLAY IN UPEC. IDENTIFYING, CHARACTERIZING AND TARGETING UPEC-SPECIFIC DEFENSE SYSTEMS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO INCREASE THE BODY’S OWN CAPACITY TO FIGHT UTIS.

MRI ANALYSES OF THE VELOPHARYNGEAL MECHANISM AMONG DIFFERENT ADULT POPULATIONS

CRUI: PHYSIOLOGY AND FITNESS CONSEQUENCES OF DIFFERENT LIFE HISTORY PHENOTYPES

FLOE THROUAPTURE FILTERS FOR INVESTIGATING AND ENHANCING ANTIBODY-ANTIGEN BINDING KINETICS

FUNCTION AND REGULATION OF KINESIN MOTOR PROTEINS

QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF DENSITY DEPENDENCE AND COMPENSATION IN CONTAINER MOSQUITOES

REU SITE: MATHEMATICS RESEARCH EXPERIENCE FOR PRE-SERVICE AND FOR IN-SERVICE TEACHERS

REGULATION OF THE VIBRIO CHOLERAE MSHA PILUS DRIVES HOST COLONIZATION AND PATHOGENESIS - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT DEVELOPMENT OF MULTICELLULAR BIOFILM COMMUNITIES IS VITAL TO THE LIFECYCLE OF MANY BACTERIAL SPECIES. BIOFILM FORMATION BEGINS WITH THE ATTACHMENT OF A MOTILE BACTERIUM TO A SURFACE, THOUGH THE UNDERLING MECHANISMS THAT REGULATE SURFACE ATTACHMENT IN MOST BIOFILM-FORMING BACTERIAL SPECIES REMAIN TO BE ELUCIDATED. FOR THE PANDEMIC CHOLERA PATHOGEN VIBRIO CHOLERAE, PROPER REGULATION OF THE TYPE IV MANNOSE-SENSITIVE HEMAGGLUTININ (MSHA), IS A KEY FACTOR FOR MEDIATING THE TRANSITION FROM ENVIRONMENTAL COLONIZATION TO HOST INFECTION AND PATHOGENESIS. MSHA PILUS PRODUCTION IS ESSENTIAL FOR V. CHOLERAE ENVIRONMENTAL SURFACE ATTACHMENT AND BIOFILM FORMATION, BUT CELL-SURFACE EXPOSURE OF MSHA PILI IN THE HOST RESULTS IN BACTERIAL CLEARANCE, PREVENTING HOST INFECTION AND PATHOGENESIS. IN V. CHOLERAE, MSHA PILUS COMPONENTS ARE PROJECTED TO BE ENCODED WITHIN THREE DISTINCT GENETIC OPERONS; AN ASSEMBLY OPERON (MSH-I), A STRUCTURAL OPERON (MSH-II), AND A RETRACTION OPERON (PILTU). HOWEVER, LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT HOW THESE MSH OPERONS ARE EXPRESSED OR REGULATED. GIVEN THAT PROPER REGULATION OF MSHA PILUS EXPRESSION/PRODUCTION IS VITAL FOR NOT ONLY ENVIRONMENTAL SURVIVAL, BUT FOR HOST COLONIZATION AND INFECTION, THE GOAL OF MY RESEARCH GROUP IS TO DEFINE MECHANISMS AND REGULATORY PATHWAYS THAT MEDIATED MSHA PILUS PRODUCTION TO FACILITATE THESE VITAL NICHE TRANSITIONS DURING THE V. CHOLERAE LIFECYCLE. AN INITIAL SCREEN FOR REGULATORS OF MSHA PRODUCTION, IDENTIFIED THE FATTY ACID METABOLISM REGULATOR PROTEIN FADR AS A PUTATIVE POSITIVE REGULATOR (ENHANCER) OF MSH-I OPERON EXPRESSION UNDER ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS. ENHANCER ACTIVITY OF FADR IS NEGATIVELY- CONTROLLED BY EXOGENOUSLY-DERIVED LONG-CHAIN FATTY ACIDS (LCFAS), WHICH ARE A LARGE COMPONENT OF THE MAMMALIAN DIET, AND CAN READILY BE TAKEN UP FROM THE ENVIRONMENT BY V. CHOLERAE. OUR PRELIMINARY DATA DEMONSTRATES THAT BOTH DELETION OF FADR AND SUPPLEMENTATION OF KNOWN FADR LCFA LIGANDS, SIGNIFICANTLY DIMINISHES MSH-I OPERON EXPRESSION. OUR WORKING HYPOTHESIS IS THAT FADR PROMOTES EXPRESSION OF THE MSH-I OPERON TO FACILITATE MSHA PILUS PRODUCTION AND SURFACE COLONIZATION UNDER ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS, AND THAT HOST-DERIVED LCFAS SUPPRESS FADR ENHANCER ACTIVITY TO DOWN-REGULATE MSHA PRODUCTION AND PROMOTE V. CHOLERAE HOST COLONIZATION AND INFECTION. THIS PROPOSAL SEEKS TO ADDRESS THIS HYPOTHESIS, THROUGH TWO SPECIFIC AIMS. IN AIM 1, WE WILL CHARACTERIZE THE PROMOTER REGIONS OF THE MSH OPERONS, AND EVALUATE FADR-MEDIATED REGULATION OF MSH-I OPERON EXPRESSION AND MSHA PILUS PRODUCTION. WE WILL THEN SEEK TO ASSESS THE ROLE OF FADR LCFA LIGANDS ON THE REGULATION OF FADR ENHANCER ACTIVITY OF MSH-I EXPRESSION, MSHA PILUS PRODUCTION, AND V. CHOLERAE SURFACE COLONIZATION AND BIOFILM FORMATION AS A PART OF AIM 2. THE OUTCOME OF THIS WORK WILL ELUCIDATE A NOVEL HOST-RESPONSIVE REGULATORY MECHANISM THAT FACILITATES TRANSITIONS IN NICHE COLONIZATION DURING THE V. CHOLERAE LIFECYCLE, AND COULD LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF STRATEGIES FOR ATTENUATION OF V. CHOLERAE ENVIRONMENTAL PERSISTENCE AND/OR HOST INFECTIVITY.

MMPS CONTRIBUTE TO HYPERTHERMIA-ENHANCED VASCULAR INJURY

BRANCHED-CHAIN FATTY ACIDS AND MEMBRANE FUNCTION IN LISTERIA MONOCYTOGENES

PREDATION, HABITAT DRYING, AND HABITAT SIZE AND PRODUCTION OF VECTOR MOSQUITOES

CHARACTERIZING THE EFFECT OF BISPHENOL-A ON THE METABOLISM OF MATERNALLY DERIVED

THE ROLE OF P38K AND PROTEIN HOMEOSTASIS IN LIMB-GIRDLE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHIES

EVOLUTION OF THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF INSECT FOOD GIFTS

REU SITE: MATHEMATICS RESEARCH EXPERIENCE FOR PRE-SERVICE AND FOR IN-SERVICE TEACHERS

IMPACT OF UNSATURATED FATTY ACIDS ON S. AUREUS MEMBRANE PROPERTIES.

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A FIELD EMISSION SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE TO ADVANCE MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AND EDUCATION

REU/RET SITE: MATHEMATICS RESEARCH EXPERIENCE FOR PRE-SERVICE AND FOR IN-SERVICE TEACHERS

REU SITE: MATHEMATICS RESEARCH EXPERIENCE FOR PRE-SERVICE AND FOR IN-SERVICE TEACHERS

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A HIGH RESOLUTION LC-MS/MS SYSTEM FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATION

ACCESSING THE PROBATIVE VALUE OF PHYSICAL EVIDENCE AT CRIMES SCENES WITH AMBIENT MASS SPECTROMETRY AND PORTABLE INSTRUMENTATION

RUI: SIMULATIONS OF MS SPECTRA: EXAMINING POST-TRANSLATIONAL MODIFICATIONS AND NUCLEOSIDES -WITH SUPPORT FROM THE CHEMICAL STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS (CSD) PROGRAM IN THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY, PROFESSOR GEORGE L. BARNES OF ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY IS INVESTIGATING THE REACTION DYNAMICS TAKING PLACE DURING THE COLLISION-INDUCED DISSOCIATION (CID) OF POST-TRANSLATIONALLY MODIFIED PEPTIDES AND NUCLEOSIDES. INVESTIGATING THE REACTION DYNAMICS TAKING PLACE DURING THE CID OF POST-TRANSLATIONALLY MODIFIED PEPTIDES AND NUCLEOSIDES IS CHALLENGING BECAUSE THESE MODIFICATIONS ENABLE NEW CHEMICAL REACTIONS TO TAKE PLACE THAT CANNOT OCCUR IN THEIR UNMODIFIED COUNTERPARTS. IN ADDITION, THESE MODIFICATIONS CAN PREVENT COMMON CHEMICAL REACTIONS THAT TAKE PLACE IN UNMODIFIED PEPTIDES AND NUCLEOSIDES. PROFESSOR BARNES AND HIS STUDENTS WILL EMPLOY SOPHISTICATED SIMULATION TECHNIQUES THAT ARE ANALYZED USING GRAPH THEORY AND AB INITIO CALCULATIONS TO STUDY CHEMICALLY DIVERSE MODEL SYSTEMS WHERE TANDEM MASS SPECTROMETRY DATA IS ALREADY AVAILABLE. A MODERNIZED SIMULATION SOFTWARE PACKAGE WILL BE RELEASED TO THE COMMUNITY THAT CAN UTILIZE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) BASED POTENTIAL ENERGY SURFACES. THEIR STUDIES COULD RESULT IN REPORTS OF THE FIRST SIMULATIONS OF THE CID OF NUCLEOSIDES AND A USER-FRIENDLY CID SIMULATION SOFTWARE PACKAGE MADE AVAILABLE TO THE COMMUNITY. THROUGHOUT THIS PROJECT, MULTIPLE HIGH SCHOOL, UNDERGRADUATE, AND GRADUATE STUDENTS WILL BE TRAINED IN COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY AND HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING. THEY WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT THEIR WORK AT REGIONAL AND NATIONAL VENUES. A COMBINED COMPUTATIONAL AND EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH IS TAKEN TO ELUCIDATE REACTION DYNAMICS RELEVANT TO TANDEM MASS SPECTROMETRY. PROFESSOR BARNES WILL SELECT MODEL SYSTEMS THAT INCREASE THE CHEMICAL DIVERSITY OF THE SYSTEMS STUDIED THROUGH COMPUTATIONAL MEANS AND TARGET THE MOST COMMONLY OBSERVED POST-TRANSLATIONAL MODIFICATIONS SEEN IN THE DBPTM DATABANK. DIRECT DYNAMICS SIMULATIONS PROVIDE AN ABUNDANCE OF ATOMIC-LEVEL INFORMATION, ALLOWING FOR THE ELUCIDATION OF THE MOST RELEVANT MECHANISTIC STEPS INVOLVED IN CID REACTIONS. ADVANCED ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES THAT RELY ON GRAPH THEORY ALLOW FOR CHEMICAL INSIGHT TO BE EASILY EXTRACTED FROM THIS DATA. ONCE RELEVANT REACTION PATHWAYS ARE IDENTIFIED THROUGH DIRECT DYNAMICS SIMULATION, ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE CALCULATIONS WILL BE EMPLOYED TO PROVIDE RELIABLE ENERGETICS. A COMPARISON TO EXPERIMENTAL DATA WILL BE MADE WHEN POSSIBLE. THE DATA OBTAINED WILL PROVIDE THE COMMUNITY WITH INFORMATION REGARDING PREFERRED REACTION MECHANICS IN A BROAD RANGE OF CID SYSTEMS. THE IMPORTANCE OF AI-BASED POTENTIAL ENERGY SURFACES CANNOT BE IGNORED. THE SOFTWARE CURRENTLY EMPLOYED TO PERFORM DIRECT DYNAMICS SIMULATIONS ON CID SYSTEMS CANNOT UTILIZE SUCH POTENTIAL ENERGY SURFACES. PROFESSOR BARNES AND HIS STUDENTS WILL DEVELOP AND RELEASE A CID SOFTWARE PACKAGE INCORPORATING USER-SPECIFIED POTENTIAL ENERGY SURFACES, INCLUDING AI-BASED SURFACES. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

RUI: SELECTIVE EXCITATION AND CHARGE DYNAMICS OF DARK MOLECULAR TRANSITIONS -WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE MACROMOLECULAR, SUPRAMOLECULAR, AND NANOCHEMISTRY PROGRAM IN THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY, PROFESSORS UTTAM MANNA AND MAHUA BISWAS OF ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY IS STUDYING HOW LIGHT INTERACTS WITH MOLECULES. TYPICALLY, WHEN LIGHT HITS A MATERIAL, IT FOLLOWS WELL-KNOWN ?BRIGHT? PATHWAYS THAT ARE EASY TO DETECT. HOWEVER, LIGHT CAN ALSO TAKE MUCH WEAKER, HIDDEN ROUTES KNOWN AS ?DARK TRANSITIONS.? UNDERSTANDING THESE LESSER-KNOWN PROCESSES COULD LEAD TO IMPORTANT SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGHS. TO INVESTIGATE THESE EFFECTS, THE RESEARCH TEAM WILL USE SPECIAL MATERIALS CALLED METASURFACES?ENGINEERED NANOSTRUCTURES MADE FROM EXTREMELY SMALL PARTICLES WITH UNIQUE ABILITIES TO CONTROL LIGHT. THESE METASURFACES WILL HELP THE RESEARCHERS DETECT DARK TRANSITIONS IN MOLECULES CONTAINING A METAL CALLED RUTHENIUM. BY SHINING LIGHT ON THESE MOLECULES AND USING SENSITIVE TOOLS TO OBSERVE THEIR RESPONSE, THE TEAM WILL AIM TO UNDERSTAND HOW ENERGY MOVES WITHIN THEM. THIS RESEARCH COULD HELP SCIENTISTS DEVELOP BETTER WAYS TO USE LIGHT FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY, NEXT-GENERATION ELECTRONICS, AND THE DESIGN OF NEW MATERIALS. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO SUPPORT SCIENCE EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) FIELDS. UNDERGRADUATE AND MASTER?S STUDENTS WILL GAIN HANDS-ON RESEARCH EXPERIENCE AND TRAINING. THE RESEARCH WILL BE INTEGRATED INTO THE PHYSICS CURRICULUM, PARTICULARLY IN EXPERIMENTAL COURSES. IN ADDITION, THE INVESTIGATORS WILL PROVIDE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS AND WILL ENGAGE LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN MEANINGFUL SCIENCE EXPERIENCES. WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE MACROMOLECULAR, SUPRAMOLECULAR, AND NANOCHEMISTRY PROGRAM IN THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY, PROFESSORS UTTAM MANNA AND MAHUA BISWAS OF ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY IS STUDYING DARK MOLECULAR TRANSITIONS ENABLED BY THE ENHANCED MAGNETIC FIELD OF HIGH REFRACTIVE INDEX DIELECTRIC NANOPARTICLES AND METASURFACES. IN OPTICAL FREQUENCIES, MOST LIGHT?MATTER INTERACTIONS ARE DOMINATED BY ELECTRIC DIPOLE TRANSITIONS, WHILE MAGNETIC DIPOLE TRANSITIONS ARE GENERALLY CONSIDERED SPIN-FORBIDDEN OR DARK. TYPICALLY, SPIN-FORBIDDEN MAGNETIC DIPOLE TRANSITIONS IN MOLECULAR SYSTEMS, SUCH AS THOSE FROM THE GROUND SINGLET STATE TO THE EXCITED TRIPLET STATE, ARE ENABLED BY INTRODUCING SPIN-ORBIT COUPLING TO BREAK THE SELECTION RULES. IN THIS PROJECT, THE TRANSITION FROM THE GROUND SINGLET STATE TO THE EXCITED TRIPLET STATE IN MOLECULAR SYSTEMS WILL BE EXCITED USING THE ENHANCED MAGNETIC FIELD OF HIGH REFRACTIVE INDEX DIELECTRIC NANOPARTICLES AND METASURFACES. THE RESEARCH TEAM WILL PERFORM PHOTOLUMINESCENCE, PHOTOLUMINESCENCE EXCITATION, TIME-RESOLVED PHOTOLUMINESCENCE, AND TRANSIENT PUMP?PROBE X-RAY ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY TO MEASURE THE EMISSION SPECTRA, LIFETIMES, AND OXIDATION STATES ASSOCIATED WITH THE DIRECT EMISSION FROM THE TRIPLET TO THE SINGLET STATE IN RUTHENIUM COMPLEXES AND TO STUDY THEIR CHARGE DYNAMICS. MOLECULAR LIGHT EMISSION IS TYPICALLY LIMITED TO AN INTERNAL QUANTUM YIELD OF APPROXIMATELY 25 PERCENT THROUGH SINGLET?SINGLET TRANSITIONS, WHILE ABOUT 75 PERCENT OF THE DECAY PATHWAYS ARE SPIN-FORBIDDEN SINGLET?TRIPLET TRANSITIONS. THEREFORE, DIRECT EXCITATION OF TRIPLET STATES THROUGH MAGNETIC FIELD ENHANCEMENT WOULD REPRESENT A BREAKTHROUGH IN MOLECULAR EXCITATION AND COULD OPEN NEW DIRECTIONS FOR THE APPLICATION OF TRIPLET STATES IN ENERGY CONVERSION AND CHEMICAL 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

RUI: ADVANCING THE ORGANOMETALLIC CHEMISTRY OF OCTAHEDRAL RE6 CLUSTERS CONTAINING ALKYNYL LIGANDS -WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS PROGRAM IN THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY, PROFESSOR LISA SZCZEPURA OF ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY WILL DEVELOP SYNTHETIC METHODOLOGIES FOR THE PREPARATION AND STUDY OF TRANSITION METAL CLUSTER COMPLEXES CONTAINING ACETYLIDE-BASED LIGANDS. THE CHEMISTRY OF THE RELATED MONOMETALLIC TRANSITION METAL SPECIES CONTAINING ACETYLIDE LIGANDS IS QUITE RICH IN TERMS OF THEIR STRUCTURES, REACTIVITY AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES MAKING THEM DESIRABLE AS PRECURSORS IN THE PREPARATION OF REACTIVE CATALYSTS AND BUILDING BLOCKS IN THE PREPARATION OF EXTENDED MATERIALS. THIS PROJECT FOCUSES ON THE SYNTHESIS AND PROPERTIES OF THE RELATED BUT RELATIVELY UNEXPLORED MULTIMETALLIC CLUSTER SYSTEMS CONTAINING ACETYLIDES. THE POTENTIAL OF THE NEWLY SYNTHESIZED CLUSTERS IN CATALYSIS APPLICATIONS AND IN THE PREPARATION OF HYBRID MATERIALS WILL BE ASSESSED. THIS RESEARCH WILL BE CONDUCTED IN COLLABORATION WITH UNDERGRADUATE AND MASTER?S LEVEL STUDENTS. IN ADDITION, DR. SZCZEPURA WILL WORK WITH UNITS ACROSS CAMPUS TO ENGAGE WITH UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS IN SCIENCE WITH THE GOAL OF INVOLVING THEM IN THE PROPOSED STUDIES. UNDER THIS AWARD, DR. SZCZEPURA AND HER TEAM AT ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY WILL EXPLORE FUNDAMENTAL ASPECTS OF RHENIUM-BASED CLUSTER-ACETYLIDE CHEMISTRY TO DETERMINE HOW THE UNIQUE PROPERTIES OF THESE CLUSTER CORES IMPACT THE CHEMISTRY OF THE COORDINATED ACETYLIDE LIGANDS. THE MAIN OBJECTIVES OF THIS PROPOSAL INCLUDE AN EXPLORATION INTO THE CHEMISTRY OF RE-BASED ACETYLIDES TO DETERMINE THE NATURE OF THESE CLUSTER-CARBON INTERACTIONS, THE DEVELOPMENT OF SYNTHETIC METHODOLOGIES WHICH LINK CLUSTER CORES TOGETHER VIA C-BASED BRIDGES, AND INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE ELECTROCHEMICAL AND PHOTOPHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THESE ORGANOMETALLIC CLUSTER COMPLEXES. RESULTS FROM THIS WORK HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PROVIDE A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE NATURE OF RE-BASED CLUSTER-CARBON INTERACTIONS. THE RESULTS OBTAINED FROM THE PROPOSED OBJECTIVES WILL ADVANCE THE FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF ORGANOMETALLIC HEXANUCLEAR OCTAHEDRAL CLUSTERS WHILE EXPLORING A NEW FACET OF METAL ACETYLIDE CHEMISTRY. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

RUI: CHEMICALLY MODIFIED ENZYMES TO CONTROL ADSORPTION ON GOLD NANOPARTICLES FOR ENHANCED STRUCTURE/FUNCTION -WITH SUPPORT FROM THE MACROMOLECULAR, SUPRAMOLECULAR AND NANOCHEMISTRY PROGRAM IN THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY, PROFESSOR JEREMY DRISKELL OF ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY IS COMBINING CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS AND ADVANCED CHEMICAL ANALYSIS TOOLS TO STUDY HOW PROTEINS ADSORB ONTO GOLD NANOPARTICLES AND MAINTAIN OR ENHANCE THEIR BIOLOGICAL FUNCTION. THE STUDY IDENTIFIES KEY INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE PROTEIN AND NANOPARTICLE THAT CAN BE EXPLOITED TO PREVENT PROTEIN UNFOLDING AND TO FACILITATE CONTROLLED RELEASE FROM THE NANOPARTICLE SURFACE. PROFESSOR DRISKELL AND HIS STUDENTS ARE CHEMICALLY MODIFYING PROTEINS TO INSTALL CHEMICAL ANCHORS WITH HIGH AFFINITY FOR THE GOLD NANOPARTICLES AND MEASURING THE STABILITY AND BIOLOGICAL FUNCTION OF THE ADSORBED PROTEIN LAYER. THEIR DISCOVERIES COULD LEAD TO PREDICTIVE DESIGN PARAMETERS TO FORM ROBUST AND HIGHLY FUNCTIONAL PROTEIN-NANOPARTICLE PROBES AND BROADLY IMPACT MODERN BIOSENSING, MEDICAL IMAGING, DRUG DELIVERY, AND BIOCATALYSIS. THIS PROJECT PROVIDES SUPPORT FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS TO PARTICIPATE IN AN IMMERSIVE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE TO LEARN ADVANCED ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES AND GAIN AN APPRECIATION FOR A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO PROBLEM SOLVING. ADDITIONALLY, IN COLLABORATION WITH THE ILLINOIS RESEARCH ACADEMY, DR. DRISKELL AND HIS SUPPORTED UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS PROVIDE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH AN INTENSE, YET SUPERVISED, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE. A DETAILED UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROTEIN-NANOPARTICLE INTERFACE IS CRITICAL TO MITIGATE STRUCTURAL CHANGES THAT NEGATIVELY IMPACT THE FUNCTION OF THE ADSORBED PROTEIN AND TO LEVERAGE STABILIZING INTERACTIONS THAT ENHANCE PROTEIN FUNCTION. SURFACE ACCESSIBLE THIOLS ON A PROTEIN ARE HYPOTHESIZED TO BE PRIMARILY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ADSORPTION ONTO GOLD NANOPARTICLES AND THE FORMATION OF A HARD CORONA; THUS, THE ABILITY TO PRECISELY CONTROL THE NUMBER OF PROTEIN THIOLS CAN BE EXPLOITED TO OPTIMIZE BIOCONJUGATE FUNCTION. A SYNTHETIC STRATEGY IS PROPOSED TO INSTALL THIOL FUNCTIONAL GROUPS ON A SERIES OF ENZYMES. THE REACTION CONDITIONS ARE OPTIMIZED TO PRECISELY CONTROL THE NUMBER OF THIOLS, AND MONITORED BY HIGH-RESOLUTION MASS SPECTROMETRY, ZETA POTENTIAL, AND ELLMAN?S REAGENT. ADSORPTION AFFINITY, QUANTITATIVELY ASSESSED USING NANOPARTICLE TRACKING ANALYSIS, AND PROTEIN EXCHANGE RATE, MEASURED VIA A COMPETITIVE PROTEIN BINDING, IS CORRELATED WITH THE NUMBER OF SURFACE ACCESSIBLE THIOLS PRESENTED BY THE PROTEIN. ADDITIONALLY, THE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF THE FREE AND NANOPARTICLE-IMMOBILIZED PROTEIN IS COMPARED TO IDENTIFY ANY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PROTEIN THIOLATION AND PROTEIN STRUCTURE/FUNCTION UPON ADSORPTION TO A NANOPARTICLE. SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THIS PROJECT DRIVES THE NOVEL DESIGN OF HIGHLY ACTIVE AND STABLE PROTEIN-AUNP CONJUGATES THAT IS CRITICALLY NEEDED TO ADVANCE BIOCONJUGATE-ENABLED PLATFORM TECHNOLOGIES. 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.

ROLE FOR NA,K-ATPASE IN NUCLEOPLASMIC CALCIUM HOMEOSTASIS

CHARACTERIZING TISSUE SPECIFIC REGULATION OF MUTANT LAMIN PROTEIN DEGRADATION - PROJECT SUMMARY LAMINOPATHIES ARE A WIDE RANGE OF DISORDERS THAT INCLUDE BOTH MULTISYSTEM DISORDERS SUCH AS THE AGING DISORDER HUTCHINSON GUILFORD PROGERIA AND TISSUE SPECIFIC DISORDERS SUCH AS EMERY-DREIFUSS MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY AND THE NEUROPATHY CHARCOT-MARIE-TOOTH DISEASE. ALL OF THESE DIFFERENT DISORDERS CAN BE CAUSED BY MUTATIONS IN THE LMNA GENE, HOWEVER, HOW MUTATIONS IN ONE GENE GIVE RISE TO SUCH DIFFERENT DISORDERS IS INCOMPLETELY UNDERSTOOD. MUTANT FORMS OF LAMIN PROTEIN HAVE BEEN FOUND TO AGGREGATE, AND THIS AGGREGATION IS ASSOCIATED WITH IMPAIRED CELLULAR FUNCTION AND DISEASE PHENOTYPES. THEREFORE, WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT CERTAIN TISSUES ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO SPECIFIC LAMIN MUTATIONS DUE TO THE INABILITY OF TISSUE SPECIFIC QUALITY CONTROL MECHANISMS TO DEGRADE THOSE MUTANT FORMS, LEADING TO PROTEIN AGGREGATION AND CELLULAR TOXICITY. WE WILL TEST THIS HYPOTHESIS USING THE FRUIT FLY DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER AS OUR MODEL SYSTEM. DROSOPHILA ALLOW US TO MANIPULATE GENE EXPRESSION IN SPECIFIC TISSUES, ENABLING EXPERIMENTS TO TEASE APART HOW DIFFERENT LAMIN PROTEIN MUTATIONS ARE DEGRADED IN SPECIFIC TISSUES. FLIES HAVE TWO HOMOLOGUES OF THE HUMAN LMNA GENE, LAMC AND LAM DM0, AND MUTATIONS IN THESE GENES MIMIC HUMAN DISORDERS. IN ADDITION, INTRODUCING THE EQUIVALENT MUTATIONS THAT CAUSE HUMAN DISEASE INTO LAMC RESULTS IN LAMIN PROTEIN AGGREGATION AND DISEASE-LIKE PHENOTYPES. FURTHERMORE, AMPK SIGNALING, WHICH IS DOWNREGULATED IN MUSCLE BIOPSIES FROM PATIENTS, HAS BEEN FOUND TO REDUCE MUTANT LAMC AGGREGATION IN THE FLY MUSCLE. ON THE OTHER HAND, WE FIND THAT LAM DM0 AGGREGATES IN THE MUSCLE DURING AGING, AND THAT P38 MAPK (P38KB) AND THE CASA COMPLEX REGULATE THE DEGRADATION OF LAM DM0. ONE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAMC AND LAM DM0 IS THAT WHILE WITH BOTH LAMINS ARE EXPRESSED IN MUSCLE, ONLY LAM DM0 IS EXPRESSED IN NEURONS. AS LAMC AND LAM DM0 HAVE DIFFERENT TISSUES SPECIFICITIES, WE CAN ALSO ASSESS IF SPECIFIC PROTEIN QUALITY CONTROL MECHANISMS ARE ABLE TO TARGET CERTAIN MUTANT FORMS OF LAMIN IN EACH TISSUE. THIS WILL ALLOW US TO DETERMINE IF DISEASE TISSUE SPECIFICITY IS DUE TO THE FAILURE OF PROTEIN QUALITY CONTROL MACHINERY TO DEGRADE CERTAIN MUTANT FORMS OF LAMIN PROTEIN, RESULTING IN MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY RATHER THAN NEUROPATHY, FOR EXAMPLE. THEREFORE, WE WILL 1) DETERMINE IF P38KB AND THE CASA COMPLEX REGULATE THE AGGREGATION OF SPECIFIC FORMS OF MUTANT LAMC PROTEINS AND HOW THIS CONTRIBUTES TO MUSCLE DEFECTS, 2) CHARACTERIZE HOW SPECIFIC DISEASE MUTATIONS IN LAM DM0 AFFECT AGGREGATION IN MUSCLES AND NEURONS, AND 3) DETERMINE IF AMPK AND P38KB ACT IN THE SAME OR DIFFERENT PATHWAYS TO REGULATE MUTANT LAMIN AGGREGATION. WE EXPECT THAT OUR PROPOSED STUDY WILL PROVIDE NEW INSIGHTS INTO HOW MUTANT FORMS OF LAMIN RESULT IN A DISEASE STATE AND IF ACTIVATING DIFFERENT PROTEIN QUALITY CONTROL MECHANISMS COULD PROVE TO BE AN EFFECTIVE THERAPEUTIC MECHANISM.

ESTABLISHING THE SCAFFOLDING ROLE OF THE TON1A PROTEIN IN THE FORMATION OF A NONCENTROSOMAL MICROTUBULE CORTICAL ARRAY

MISMATCH REPAIR RESPONSES TO GUANINE-RICH DNA

HOST AND MICROBE FACTORS INFLUENCING COMPOSITION AND FUNCTIONING OF AN ACCESSIBLE GUT MICROBIOTA MODEL

IDENTIFYING AND CHARACTERIZING PROTEINS THAT DETECT UNPAIRED DNA DURING MEIOSIS.

ADVANCED EDUCATION NURSING TRAINEESHIP

MUCOSAL IGA RESPONSES DURING AGING

RUI: CHARGE MODIFIED ANTIBODY FOR ROBUST AND DIRECTIONAL ADSORPTION ONTO GOLD NANOPARTICLES

RUI: AROMATICITY, TAUTOMERIZATION AND METALATION OF CARBAPORPHYRINOID SYSTEMS

NATURE OF SYSTEMIC AND MUCOSAL B CELL FUNCTION IN REPTILES

TRIO STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES GRANT

RUI: CARBAPORPHYRINS, CARBACHLORINS AND RELATED CONJUGATED MACROCYCLES

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A HIGH SPEED CELL SORTER FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDENT RESEARCH AND TRAINING IN BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

RUI: SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL DYNAMICS OF MATTER IN INTENSE LASER FIELDS

RUI: ACTIVATION OF SMALL MOLECULES BY HEXANUCLEAR CLUSTERS

RUI: SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL DYNAMICS OF MATTER IN INTENSE LASER FIELDS

RUI - SUPRAOCTAHEDRAL RHENIUM AND MOLYBDENUM CLUSTERS: N-HETEROCYCLIC CARBENES AND EXPLORATION INTO THE COORDINATION OF FISCHER VS SCHROCK CARBENES

IDBR COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: WIRELESS INTEGRATED DEVICES FOR BRAIN MONITORING AND STIMULATION

RUI: CARBAPORPHYRINS, NEO-CONFUSED PORPHYRINS AND RELATED SYSTEMS

RUI: SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL DYNAMICS OF MATTER IN INTENSE LASER FIELDS

SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL DYNAMICS OF MATTER IN INTENSE LASER FIELDS

RUI: SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL DYNAMICS OF MATTER IN INTENSE LASER FIELDS

COUPLING RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY WITH AMBIENT SAMPLING PORTABLE MASS SPECTROMETRY FOR ON-SITE HIGH-THROUGHPUT EVIDENCE CONFIRMATION ON A SINGLE INSTRUMENTAL PLATFORM

SELF-REFERENCING AS A UNIVERSAL MECHANISM PROMOTING POLYANDRY IN INSECTS

EMBRYONIC REGULATION OF THE ENDOCRINE ENVIRONMENT VIA THE SULFOTRANSFERASE-SULFATASE PATHWAY IN AN OVIPAROUS VERTEBRATE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF INTEGER GAMES TO REDUCE BARRIERS TO ALGEBRA -ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS' PROLONGED EXPERIENCES WITH POSITIVE NUMBERS AND OPERATIONS OFTEN LEAD TO THEIR OVERGENERALIZATIONS OF RULES (E.G., ADDING ALWAYS MAKES LARGER NUMBERS, SUBTRACTING ALWAYS MAKES SMALLER NUMBERS). THESE OVERGENERALIZATIONS CAN MAKE LEARNING ALGEBRA MORE DIFFICULT LATER, PARTICULARLY WHEN STUDENTS MUST SIMULTANEOUSLY LEARN ALGEBRA, NEGATIVE NUMBERS, AND OPERATIONS WITH NEGATIVE NUMBERS. THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DESIGN AND DEVELOP EDUCATIONAL GAMES CENTERED ON NEGATIVE NUMBER CONCEPTS THAT TARGET STUDENTS BEFORE THEY LEARN ALGEBRA IN MIDDLE SCHOOL. EARLIER EXPOSURE TO AND LEARNING ABOUT NEGATIVE NUMBERS COULD INCREASE STUDENTS' MOTIVATION, UNDERSTANDING OF CONNECTIONS BETWEEN POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE NUMBERS, AND PREPARATION FOR ALGEBRA. IN THE LONG TERM, THIS EARLIER EXPOSURE COULD LEAD TO LATER SUCCESS IN ADVANCED MATHEMATICS AND IMPROVE SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING MATHEMATICS (STEM) EDUCATION. THE PROJECT TEAM WILL DESIGN AND DEVELOP THE EDUCATIONAL GAMES THROUGH AN ITERATIVE PROCESS OF PROTOTYPING AND TESTING. DURING THE PROTOTYPING PHASE, THE PROJECT TEAM WILL CONSULT WITH EXPERTS ABOUT HOW THE GAMES' MECHANICS AND RULES ALIGN WITH AND SUPPORT SECOND- TO FOURTH-GRADE STUDENTS' LEARNING OF INTEGER PRINCIPLES. NEXT, THEY WILL TEST THE GAMES WITH STUDENTS. BASED ON STUDENTS' INTERPRETATIONS AND USES OF THE RULES, THEIR INTERACTION WITH THE MATERIALS, AND THEIR FEEDBACK, THE RESEARCH TEAM WILL REFINE THE MATERIALS. DURING THE TESTING PHASE, THE PROJECT TEAM WILL CONDUCT A SIX-SESSION EVALUATION STUDY (PRETEST, FOUR GAMEPLAY SESSIONS, POSTTEST) TO EXAMINE THE REFINED MATERIALS. THE PRETESTS AND POSTTESTS WILL INCLUDE A SET OF INTEGER KNOWLEDGE MEASURES, ALONG WITH MATHEMATICS AND MOTIVATION MEASURES, SO THE INVESTIGATORS CAN QUANTITATIVELY AND QUALITATIVELY ANALYZE STUDENTS' INTEGER KNOWLEDGE GAINS AND CHANGES IN THEIR MOTIVATION. FURTHER, THE INVESTIGATORS WILL QUALITATIVELY ANALYZE THE SESSIONS TO TRACK AND CHARACTERIZE STUDENTS' LEVELS OF ENGAGEMENT AND IDENTIFY THOSE MECHANICS THAT SUPPORT LEARNING OF INTEGER PRINCIPLES. DURING THE PROJECT'S FINAL YEAR, THE SET OF PRINT-READY EDUCATIONAL GAMES WILL BE FINALIZED AND MADE FREELY AVAILABLE FOR TEACHERS AND FAMILIES. THIS RESEARCH WILL CONTRIBUTE TO A GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF STUDENTS' LEARNING ABOUT NEGATIVE NUMBERS AS WELL AS THE MECHANICS OF GAMES THAT SUPPORT MATHEMATICAL LEARNING. THIS PROJECT IS SUPPORTED BY THE DISCOVERY RESEARCH PREK-12 PROGRAM (DRK-12) WHICH SEEKS TO SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCE THE LEARNING AND TEACHING OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) BY PREK-12 STUDENTS AND TEACHERS, THROUGH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF INNOVATIVE RESOURCES, MODELS AND TOOLS. PROJECTS IN THE DRK-12 PROGRAM BUILD ON FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH IN STEM EDUCATION AND PRIOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS THAT PROVIDE THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL JUSTIFICATION FOR PROPOSED PROJECTS.? THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

RUI: UNRAVELING NOVEL NANOPHOTONIC EFFECTS IN MID-INDEX MICRO-SIZED DIELECTRIC MATERIALS -NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: WHEN LIGHT INTERACTS WITH MATTER, A NUMBER OF THINGS CAN HAPPEN ? IT CAN BE ABSORBED, REFLECTED, SCATTERED, OR TRANSMITTED. IF MATTER HAS NANOSCALE FEATURES, LIGHT-MATTER INTERACTIONS CAN LEAD TO INTERESTING PHENOMENA. FOR EXAMPLE, OPTICAL ANAPOLES CAN CONFINE LIGHT ENERGY WITHIN THE VOLUME OF NANOSTRUCTURES. IN THE CASE OF ZERO BACK SCATTERING (ZBS), LIGHT IS PREFERENTIALLY SCATTERED IN THE FORWARD DIRECTION. THE EMERGING FIELD OF NANOPHOTONICS PUTS SUCH PHENOMENA TO USE IN APPLICATIONS SUCH AS SOLAR ENERGY, IMAGING, MEDICINE, OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS, AND DATA STORAGE. HOWEVER, OBSERVATION OF THESE NOVEL NANOPHOTONIC EFFECTS IS CURRENTLY RESTRICTED TO MATERIALS WITH A HIGH REFRACTIVE INDEX, SUCH AS SILICON AND GERMANIUM, AND REQUIRES FEATURES SIZES ON THE NANOMETER SCALE. THE RESEARCH TEAM AT ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY (ISU) PLANS TO DEMONSTRATE THESE EFFECTS IN MID-INDEX MATERIALS, SUCH AS TITANIUM DIOXIDE AND DIAMOND, WITH MICROMETER SCALE FEATURES. THIS RESEARCH WILL PUSH THE BOUNDARY IN TERMS OF AVAILABILITY OF MATERIALS AND THEIR SIZE WELL BEYOND THE CURRENT LIMIT FOR OBSERVATION OF THESE NOVEL NANOPHOTONIC EFFECTS. IN THE LONG RUN, THE KNOWLEDGE GAINED FROM THE TEAM?S RESEARCH COULD BE USED TO DEVELOP MORE EFFICIENT OPTICAL AND PHOTONIC DEVICES, SUCH AS PHOTODETECTORS AND NANOLASERS. THE PI WILL WORK TO BROADEN THE WORKFORCE IN OPTICS AND PHOTONICS BY TRAINING UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN RESEARCH AND INTEGRATING THE RESULTS OF THIS RESEARCH PROJECT INTO THE PHYSICS CURRICULUM. PARTICIPATION OF UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN STEM WILL BE ENCOURAGED BY USING EXISTING ISU INFRASTRUCTURE TO RECRUIT AND TRAIN UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS, INCLUDING OUTREACH TO LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS. TECHNICAL SUMMARY: RESONANT OPTICAL EXCITATION OF HIGH REFRACTIVE-INDEX DIELECTRIC PARTICLES OFFERS UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES TO DEMONSTRATE NOVEL NANOPHOTONIC EFFECTS SUCH AS NONRADIATING ANAPOLE STATES, OPTIMUM FORWARD SCATTERING, AND MAGNETIC HOTSPOT ENHANCED PURCELL EFFECTS. THESE NOVEL NANOPHOTONIC EFFECTS OBSERVED ARE RELATED TO THE EXCITATION OF SINGLE DIPOLAR MODES IN HIGH-INDEX LOSSLESS DIELECTRIC MATERIALS. THESE EFFECTS ARE INACCESSIBLE FOR MICROSCALE OBJECTS DUE TO THE CONTRIBUTIONS FROM HIGHER ORDER MULTIPOLAR MODES UNDER PLANE WAVE ILLUMINATION. HENCE, OBSERVATION OF NANOPHOTONIC EFFECTS IS CURRENTLY RESTRICTED TO A FEW RELATIVELY HIGH-INDEX MATERIALS IN THE LIMIT OF NANOMETER SIZE ? TYPICALLY WITHIN SILICON AND GERMANIUM. IT WAS RECENTLY THEORETICALLY PREDICTED THAT ONE CAN UNRAVEL DIPOLAR REGIMES IN HOMOGENOUS HIGH-INDEX SPHERES WITH A WIDE RANGE OF SIZE PARAMETER AND REFRACTIVE INDICES UNDER ILLUMINATION. THE RESEARCH TEAM AT ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY (ISU) PLANS TO EXPERIMENTALLY UNRAVEL THE DIPOLAR REGIME, EXCITE NON-RADIATING ANAPOLE STATES, AND DEMONSTRATE ZERO BACKSCATTERING IN MID-INDEX (1.5 < N < 3.0) DIELECTRIC SPHERES IN THE MICROMETER RANGE UNDER ILLUMINATION WITH TIGHTLY FOCUSED GAUSSIAN BEAMS (TFGBS). TFGBS SELECTIVELY EXCITE A FEW RELEVANT MIE COEFFICIENTS AND CONTROL THE RELATIVE WEIGHT OF THE DIFFERENT MULTIPOLAR MODES OF THE INCIDENT FIELD. THIS APPROACH WILL ENABLE THE INVESTIGATORS TO UNRAVEL THE DIPOLAR REGIME AND ASSOCIATED NOVEL NANOPHOTONIC EFFECTS IN MICROSCALE HOMOGENOUS SPHERES IN THE MID-INDEX REGIME. UNDERSTANDING THESE PHENOMENA OPENS UP ENORMOUS POSSIBILITIES IN TERMS OF AVAILABILITY OF MATERIALS AND OBJECTS WITH SIZE PARAMETERS WELL BEYOND THE CURRENT PHYSICAL PICTURE FOR RELATED NANOPHOTONIC APPLICATIONS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

ELUCIDATING CONSERVED MECHANISMS OF NONCENTROSOMAL MICROTUBULE ARRAY FORMATION

ACQUISITION OF A SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE FOR RESEARCH AND TRAINING IN THE BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY, GEOGRAPHY-GEOLOGY, AND PHYSICS PROGRAMS AT ILLINOI

A NOVEL DROSOPHILA MODEL TO UNDERSTAND THE ROLE OF INNATE IMMUNITY IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

SYNTHESIS OF HIGHLY MODIFIED PORPHYRINOID SYSTEMS

CAREER: FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF THE TOMATO CA-ATPASE MECHANISM

RUI: PHOSPHOLIPID SYNTHESIS IN PROTOZOA

HOW DO SPORE KILLERS KILL SPORES? ELUCIDATING THE MECHANISM OF MEIOTIC DRIVE BY SPORE KILLING IN NEUROSPORA FUNGI.

HEALTHY NATIVE POLLINATOR COMMUNITIES CONTRIBUTE TO PRODUCTIVITY AND DIVERSITY IN BOTH NATURAL AND AGRICULTURAL ECOSYSTEMS. YET, MANY INSECT POLLINATOR SPECIES HAVE EXPERIENCED SIGNIFICANT REDUCTIONS IN POPULATION SIZES AND RANGE IN RECENT DECADES. IN NORTH AMERICA, BUMBLE BEE DECLINES APPEAR TO HAVE A SIGNAL OF RELATEDNESS, WITH MANY THREATENED SPECIES IN THE SAME SUBGENUS, WHICH INCLUDES THE FEDERALLY ENDANGERED RUSTY PATCHED BUMBLE BEE. THIS SUGGESTS THAT THIS GROUP HAS A SUSCEPTIBILITY TO FACTORS DETRIMENTAL TO BUMBLE BEE POPULATION HEALTH. BUMBLE BEE POPULATION HEALTH, FUTURE REINTRODUCTIONS AND MANAGEMENT OF THREATS ALL RELY ON KNOWLEDGE OF EXISTING STRESSORS, ECOLOGY, AND MEASURES OF POPULATION HEALTH, SUCH AS GENETIC DIVERSITY. THE PROPOSED WORK HAS TWO OBJECTIVES: 1) A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SUSCEPTIBILITY OF A REPRESENTATIVE OF THIS SPECIES TO PROPOSED DRIVERS OF DECLINE, AND 2) AN ASSESSMENT OF NON-DESTRUCTIVE SAMPLING FROM FECES TO ASSESS BUMBLE BEE COMMUNITY HEALTH. FOR THE FIRST OBJECTIVE, USING LAB COLONIES OF SURROGATE SPECIES WITHIN BOMBUS SENSU STRICTO AND COMPARISON NON-THREATENED SPECIES WITHIN NATIVE BUMBLE BEE COMMUNITIES FROM OTHER SUBGENERA, A SERIES OF EXPERIMENTAL EXPOSURE STUDIES FOLLOWING ESTABLISHED PROTOCOLS WILL BE CARRIED OUT TO ASSESS SUSCEPTIBILITY TO PATHOGENS, POOR NUTRITION AND AGRI-CHEMICALS LINKED WITH DECLINES. IN ADDITION, COMBINATIONS OF THESE STRESSORS WILL BE ASSESSED FOR SYNERGISTIC DETRIMENTAL EFFECTS. WHERE PHENOTYPIC DIFFERENCES IN SUSCEPTIBILITY ARE UNCOVERED, A TARGETED MOLECULAR APPROACH WILL BE TAKEN TO UNCOVER UNDERLYING MECHANISMS.THE SECOND OBJECTIVE WILL BUILD ON PRELIMINARY DATA ON THE NON-DESTRUCTIVE SAMPLING OF FECES TO ASSESS PATHOGEN PRESENCE AND LOADS. THIS WILL BE EXPANDED TO ASSESS IF FECES CAN BE USED TO ACCURATELY DETECT OTHER COMMON AND DECLINE ASSOCIATED PATHOGENS, AND AN INDIVIDUAL BEE'S DIET AND GENETICS. VERIFICATION OF APPROACHES AND INFORMATION GAINED ON POTENTIAL DIFFERENTIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY AND ITS ROOT CAUSE WILL INFORM STRESSOR ASSESSMENTS AND REMEDIATION EFFORTS THAT ARE CRITICAL FOR NOT ONLY THE HEALTH OF THE EXISTING BUMBLE BEE POPULATIONS BUT ALSO FEASIBILITY OF POTENTIAL FUTURE REINTRODUCTIONS.

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

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A SINGLE CRYSTAL CCD X-RAY DIFFRACTOMETER FOR RESEARCH AND TEACHING

MULTISPECIES COMPETITION, INDIRECT EFFECTS, AND INVASION IN MOSQUITO COMMUNITIES

RUI: HARNESSING MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUES FOR ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR COLLISIONS -CHARGED PARTICLE SCATTERING PROCESSES PLAY A VITAL ROLE IN MANY FIELDS, INCLUDING PLASMA PHYSICS, ASTROPHYSICS, AND BIOMEDICAL PHYSICS. IN ORDER TO ADVANCE TECHNOLOGIES AND DEVELOP INNOVATIVE NEW TECHNIQUES IN THESE FIELDS, FUNDAMENTAL CHARGED PARTICLE COLLISION DATA IS REQUIRED FOR ELECTRON AND HEAVY-ION SCATTERING. THIS COLLISION DATA OFTEN SERVES AS INPUTS FOR SOPHISTICATED APPLICATION-BASED MODELS, AND IS NEEDED FOR A WIDE RANGE OF ENERGIES, PROJECTILES, TARGET SPECIES, AND COLLISION PROCESSES. CURRENT DATABASES AND THEORETICAL MODELS LACK DATA FOR COMPLEX MOLECULAR TARGETS, WHICH ARE PARTICULARLY RELEVANT FOR BIOMEDICAL AND PLASMA PHYSICS APPLICATIONS. THIS RESEARCH WILL DEVELOP AND APPLY MACHINE LEARNING MODELS TO HELP FILL THE GAPS IN AVAILABLE COLLISION DATA AND PROVIDE INSIGHT INTO THE PHYSICS OF CHARGED PARTICLE COLLISIONS WITH MOLECULES. BY MERGING TRADITIONAL CHARGED PARTICLE COLLISIONS PHYSICS WITH THE EMPOWERING TECHNOLOGY OF MACHINE LEARNING, IT WILL RESULT IN FREELY ACCESSIBLE, USER-FRIENDLY MODELS THAT REQUIRE ONLY MINIMAL INPUT AND EXPERTISE TO USE. ADDITIONALLY, THE RESEARCH WILL TRAIN THE NEXT GENERATION OF THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY WORKFORCE BY PROVIDING CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES TO STUDENTS WHO WILL GAIN NECESSARY CAREER SKILLS THROUGH HANDS-ON PARTICIPATION IN MODEL DEVELOPMENT, IMPLEMENTATION, AND ANALYSIS. THIS RESEARCH WILL DEVELOP MACHINE LEARNING MODELS FOR THE ESTIMATION OF ELECTRON AND HEAVY-ION COLLISION CROSS SECTIONS FOR A WIDE RANGE OF MOLECULAR TARGET SPECIES, ENERGIES, AND COLLISION PROCESSES. ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK MODELS WILL BE DEVELOPED TO PREDICT CROSS SECTIONS FOR MANY DIFFERENT COLLISION PROCESSES AND PAIRED WITH CONVOLUTIONAL NEURAL NETWORK MODELS TO INCLUDE STRUCTURE AND ORIENTATION EFFECTS THROUGH THE USE OF MOLECULAR STRUCTURE IMAGES. CROSS SECTIONS WILL BE CALCULATED FOR LONG- AND SHORT-CHAIN PER- AND POLYFLUOROALKYL SUBSTANCES AND BIOMOLECULES RELEVANT TO ION BEAM CANCER THERAPIES IN ORDER TO QUANTIFY THE LIKELIHOOD OF MOLECULAR DISSOCIATION AND THE PRODUCTION OF REACTIVE SECONDARY ELECTRONS THAT CAN LEAD TO MOLECULAR BREAKUP. THIS RESEARCH WILL ALSO DEVELOP A NEW ADDITIVITY RULE THAT USES THE ?KNOWLEDGE? OF AN ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK TO INFORM THE THEORETICAL RULE. THIS ADDITIVITY RULE WILL BE USED TO STUDY MOLECULAR ORIENTATION IN COLLISION CROSS SECTIONS, SOMETHING THAT IS IMPORTANT, BUT COMPUTATIONALLY PROHIBITIVE IN EXISTING THEORETICAL MODELS. THE NEW ADDITIVITY RULE WILL BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH EXISTING THEORETICAL MODELS FOR ATOMIC COLLISION CROSS SECTIONS TO DETERMINE HOW CONSTITUENT ATOM PROPERTIES INFLUENCE THE PRODUCTION OF FREE ELECTRONS AND PROVIDE AN IMPROVED GENERAL METHOD FOR ESTIMATING MOLECULAR COLLISION CROSS SECTIONS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

RUI: SILYLOXYPYRONE-BASED [5+2] CYCLOADDITIONS: MECHANISMS, METHODS, AND MENTORSHIP

RUI: OXADIAZINES-STRUCTURALLY NOVEL TEMPLATES FOR CATALYTIC ASYMMETRIC SYNTHESES

LEAPS-MPS: ENERGY DECAY FOR THE TIME DEPENDENT DAMPED WAVE EQUATION -UNWANTED VIBRATIONS POSE HAZARDS TO MECHANICAL SYSTEMS AT A VARIETY OF SCALES. EXAMPLES INCLUDE: EARTHQUAKES AND HIGH WINDS FOR BUILDINGS, ENGINE AND ROAD VIBRATION FOR VEHICLES, AND SELF-INDUCED VIBRATIONS FOR WASHING MACHINES OR CENTRIFUGES. ADDING DAMPING MATERIAL ATTENUATES THESE VIBRATIONS AND PROTECTS SUCH SYSTEMS. THE INVESTIGATOR STUDIES THE DAMPED WAVE EQUATION, WHICH MODELS THESE SYSTEMS. DAMPED SYSTEMS EXHIBIT COUNTER-INTUITIVE PHENOMENA, SUCH AS OVERDAMPING, WHERE MORE DAMPING ACTUALLY CAUSES SLOWER ENERGY DECAY. THE MATHEMATICAL MODEL PREDICTS AND EXPLAINS THESE PHENOMENA, WHICH ARE IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND IN ORDER TO PROPERLY DESIGN DAMPING FOR A GIVEN APPLICATION. THIS PROJECT PROVIDES RESEARCH TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS. THIS PROJECT STUDIES HOW ENERGY DECAY RATES FOR THE DAMPED WAVE EQUATION ARE INFLUENCED BY TIME-DEPENDENCE, UNBOUNDEDNESS, AND REGULARITY OF THE DAMPING. ONE MAJOR OBJECTIVE IS TO FULLY GENERALIZE THE CLASSICAL THEORY FOR BOUNDED AUTONOMOUS DAMPING TO UNBOUNDED OR TIME-DEPENDENT DAMPING. IN PARTICULAR, FOR UNBOUNDED DAMPING, THE GOAL IS TO PROVIDE A DYNAMICAL HYPOTHESIS ON THE SUPPORT OF THE DAMPING THAT IS EQUIVALENT TO EXPONENTIAL ENERGY DECAY. FOR TIME-DEPENDENT DAMPING, THE GOAL IS TO PROVIDE THE WEAKEST POSSIBLE HYPOTHESIS THAT STILL GUARANTEES ENERGY DECAY AT SOME RATE. TECHNIQUES FROM MICROLOCAL ANALYSIS, SEMIGROUP THEORY, FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS, AND SPECTRAL THEORY WILL BE USED. 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 USE OF HIGH-FREQUENCY DATA TO ENGAGE STUDENTS IN QUANTITATIVE REASONING AND SCIENTIFIC DISCOURSE

HAEMOPHILUS PARAINFLUENZAE AND CARDIOPULMONARY DISEASE

ANALYSIS OF VRASR AND VRASR REGULATED GENE EXPRESSION IN STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS

THE ROLE OF MISMATCH REPAIR FACTORS IN CLASS SWITCH RECOMBINATION

ROLE OF MEMBRANE FLUIDITY IN S. AUREUS ANTIMICROBIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: WHAT LIES BENEATH: AN INVESTIGATION OF SUBGLACIAL SILICIC MAGMA SYSTEMS (VATNAJOKULL, ICELAND) -ICELAND IS POSITIONED WHERE A MID-OCEAN RIDGE AND A MANTLE PLUME INTERSECT AT HIGH LATITUDE, RESULTING IN DYNAMIC AND DANGEROUS VOLCANO-ICE INTERACTIONS. TWO OF ICELAND?S FOUR MOST HISTORICALLY ACTIVE VOLCANOES (GR?MSV?TN AND B?R?ARBUNGA) OCCUR NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF THE RIDGE AND PLUME, BUT THEY ARE LARGELY OBSCURED FROM VIEW BY VATNAJ?KULL, AN ICE CAP THAT COVERS ~10% OF ICELAND?S SURFACE AREA. THERE ARE INDICATIONS THAT GLACIAL RETREAT CAN LEAD TO INCREASED ERUPTION RATES BY DESTABILIZING EXISTING MAGMA BODIES AND EVEN PROMPTING NEW MAGMA GENERATION. AS CLIMATE CONTINUES TO CHANGE AND ICELAND?S ICE CAPS CONTINUE TO THIN, THERE IS INCREASING CONCERN ABOUT THE IMPACTS ON SUBGLACIAL VOLCANIC SYSTEMS AND THEIR ASSOCIATED HAZARDS. IT IS IMPORTANT TO BETTER UNDERSTAND PAST AND PRESENT BEHAVIOR OF SUBGLACIAL VOLCANIC SYSTEMS TO BETTER PREPARE FOR FUTURE VOLCANIC THREATS. THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY IS TO EXPLORE THE ORIGIN, EVOLUTION, AGE, AND LONGEVITY OF MAGMAS UNDER VATNAJ?KULL IN ORDER TO BETTER UNDERSTAND ICELAND?S GLACIO-VOLCANIC HAZARD POTENTIAL, WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY LEARNING ABOUT A GEOLOGICALLY UNIQUE PART OF THE WORLD. THIS WORK WILL STRENGTHEN EXISTING, AND FACILITATE NEW, COLLABORATIONS WITH DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL SCIENTISTS IN THE FIELD AND IN ANALYTICAL LABS. IT WILL ALSO CREATE OPPORTUNITY FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND PUBLIC EDUCATION, AND PROVIDE RIGOROUS RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR 6+ UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS, A MAJORITY OF WHOM ARE FROM TRADITIONALLY UNDER-REPRESENTED BACKGROUNDS. IN ICELAND, SILICIC MATERIAL ACCOUNTS FOR ~10% OF THE EXPOSED CRUST; AT CENTRAL VOLCANOES, THIS AMOUNT INCREASES TO ~30%. VOLCANIC SYSTEMS BENEATH VATNAJ?KULL APPEAR TO HAVE A PAUCITY OF SILICIC MATERIAL RELATIVE TO THEIR SUBAERIAL COUNTERPARTS. THIS MAY BE A CONSEQUENCE OF THE PROXIMITY TO THE RIDGE-PLUME INTERSECTION, OR (MORE LIKELY) A CONSEQUENCE OF POOR EXPOSURE LEADING TO SAMPLE BIAS. SINCE SILICIC MAGMAS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO ERUPT MORE EXPLOSIVELY AND WITH GREATER ASSOCIATED HAZARDS THAN BASALTIC MAGMAS, IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THE ROLE THEY MAY PLAY AT THE PRODUCTIVE, ACTIVE, SYSTEMS OBSCURED FROM VIEW BY VATNAJ?KULL. THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS TO BE INVESTIGATED ARE: TO WHAT EXTENT ARE SILICIC MATERIALS ASSOCIATED WITH B?R?ARBUNGA, GR?MSV?TN, AND NEIGHBORING KVERKFJ?LL? ARE COLLECTED SILICIC MATERIALS FROM ACTIVE MAGMATIC SYSTEMS, OLDER BEDROCK, OR A COMBINATION? HOW DO THE GEOCHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THESE SYSTEMS? SILICIC MATERIALS COMPARE TO THOSE IN THE KNOWN ROCK RECORD ELSEWHERE IN ICELAND? WHAT HAZARDS DO SILICIC MAGMAS PRESENT IN THIS DYNAMIC RIFT-MANTLE PLUME-ICE ENVIRONMENT? DATA GENERATED IN THIS STUDY WILL FACILITATE MAPPING THE REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF SUBGLACIAL SILICIC MATERIALS (BOTH THOSE ASSOCIATED WITH ACTIVE VOLCANIC SYSTEMS AND THOSE FROM OLDER BEDROCK). EVIDENCE FROM NUNATAK AND MORAINE ROCKS (MAJOR AND TRACE ELEMENTS; HF, ND, AND PB ISOTOPES; PETROGRAPHY) AND THEIR ACCESSORY MINERALS (ZIRCON: U-TH AND U-PB DATES, O AND HF ISOTOPES, TRACE ELEMENTS; APATITE: TRACE ELEMENTS, VOLATILES) WILL MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO DECIPHER THE PETROGENETIC ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION OF SILICIC SYSTEMS AT ICELAND?S MOST PLUME-AFFECTED, AND MOST ACTIVE, CENTRAL VOLCANOES. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

RUI: EXPLORATION OF [5+2] CYCLOADDITIONS TOWARD NOVEL HETEROCYCLIC SCAFFOLDS

ENDOCRINE-IMMUNE INTERACTIONS: ESTROGENS AS IMMUNOMODULATORS

ELUCIDATING THE MECHANISM OF MEIOTIC DRIVE BY MRNA EDITING-MEDIATED SPORE KILLING IN NEUROSPORA FUNGI.

ERI: INTELLIGENT MODELING AND PARAMETER SELECTION IN DISTRIBUTED OPTIMIZATION FOR POWER NETWORKS -THIS ENGINEERING RESEARCH INITIATION (ERI) GRANT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF NATIONAL PROSPERITY, ECONOMIC WELFARE, AND NATIONAL SECURITY BY FUNDING RESEARCH THAT ADDRESSES THE CHALLENGE OF OPTIMIZING LARGE-SCALE NETWORKED SYSTEMS SUCH AS NATION?S POWER SYSTEM, WHICH IS RAPIDLY EVOLVING DUE TO THE GROWING PREVALENCE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES AND ELECTRIC VEHICLES. THIS AWARD SUPPORTS RESEARCH EXAMINING THE DEVELOPMENT OF INNOVATIVE ALGORITHMS ENABLING MULTIPLE AGENTS TO COMMUNICATE AND COLLABORATE EFFECTIVELY IN SOLVING COMPLEX NETWORK OPTIMIZATION PROBLEMS WHILE SAFEGUARDING INDIVIDUAL PRIVACY. BY INTEGRATING MATHEMATICAL OPTIMIZATION AND ENGINEERING, THE RESULTS OF THIS CROSS-DISCIPLINARY PROJECT WILL BENEFIT ACADEMIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCHERS, DATA SCIENTISTS, AND POLICYMAKERS. THE EDUCATIONAL AND OUTREACH ACTIVITIES SEEK TO INSPIRE STEM STUDENTS, ESPECIALLY THOSE FROM UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS, TO EXPLORE DATA-DRIVEN METHODOLOGIES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING THROUGH INITIATIVES LIKE SUMMER RESEARCH PROGRAMS. THIS RESEARCH CREATES INTELLIGENT MODELING AND PARAMETER SELECTION METHODS TO ADDRESS IMPORTANT CHALLENGES IN DISTRIBUTED OPTIMIZATION (DO), A PROMISING APPROACH FOR A BROAD CLASS OF COMPLEX NETWORKED SYSTEMS SUCH AS THE QUICKLY EVOLVING MODERN POWER NETWORKS. THIS RESEARCH DESIGNS INNOVATIVE PARTITIONING TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE THE SLOW CONVERGENCE OF DO ALGORITHMS. THIS APPROACH NOT ONLY SIMPLIFIES THE CUSTOMIZATION OF DO BY REDUCING THE NUMBER OF SUB-PROBLEMS BUT ALSO IMPOSES DESIRABLE STRUCTURES ON THE SUB-PROBLEMS. THE PI DEVISES ADAPTIVE AND LEARNING-BASED STRATEGIES TO ADDRESS THE PERVASIVE CHALLENGE OF PARAMETER SELECTION FOR DO ALGORITHMS USING BOTH CLASSICAL PARAMETER SELECTION TECHNIQUES AND LEARNING-BASED METHODS, SUCH AS PHYSICS-INFORMED DEEP LEARNING. THE RESEARCH WILL ALSO EXAMINE THE ROBUSTNESS OF DO ALGORITHMS TO DATA UNCERTAINTY AND COMMUNICATION ERRORS. RESULTS WILL BE DISSEMINATED THROUGH OPEN-SOURCE OPTIMIZATION SOFTWARE PACKAGES, FACILITATING THE REAL-WORLD IMPLEMENTATION OF THESE INNOVATIVE ALGORITHMS. 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.

NSL - BACCALAUREATE NURSING - LOAN GRANT WITH FUNDS FOR NEW BUDGET PERIOD

COPSMETH

LEAPS-MPS: NANOPATTERNING NITRIDE BASED NANOSTRUCTURES USING SEQUENTIAL INFILTRATION SYNTHESIS FOR OPTOELECTRONIC APPLICATIONS -THIS AWARD IS FUNDED IN WHOLE OR IN PART UNDER THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT OF 2021 (PUBLIC LAW 117-2). NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: OPTOELECTRONIC DEVICES, INCLUDING PHOTODETECTORS, SOLAR CELLS, AND LIGHT-EMITTING DIODES (LEDS), ARE ESSENTIALLY ENERGY CONVERSION DEVICES WHICH CONVERTS LIGHT TO ELECTRICITY OR VICE VERSA. THESE DEVICES ARE USED IN MANY ASPECTS OF MODERN LIFE SUCH AS TELECOMMUNICATION, ENERGY, CONSUMER ELECTRONICS, AND SOLID-STATE LIGHTING. MOST COMMONLY THE ACTIVE MATERIAL IN OPTOELECTRONIC DEVICES ARE GALLIUM NITRIDE (GAN) OR ALUMINUM NITRIDE (ALN). THESE MATERIALS HAVE ATTRACTED SIGNIFICANT ATTENTION AND ARE OF GREAT INTEREST BECAUSE OF THEIR EMISSION IN ULTRAVIOLET (UV) AND VISIBLE WAVELENGTHS. NANOSTRUCTURES OF NITRIDE MATERIALS ARE NOT AS COMMON AS PLANAR STRUCTURES WHICH ARE CURRENTLY USED IN COMMERCIAL DEVICES, BUT THEY COULD ENABLE FUTURE DEVICES WITH NOVEL FUNCTIONALITIES. WITH THIS AWARD FROM THE LEAPS-MPS PROGRAM RESEARCHERS AT ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY DEVELOP NANOPATTERNS OF ALN AND GAN BY USING A SYNTHESIS APPROACH CALLED SEQUENTIAL INFILTRATION SYNTHESIS (SIS). SIS ALLOWS THEM TO INVESTIGATE THE GROWTH MECHANISM OF THE NITRIDE MATERIALS AS WELL AS OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF NANOSTRUCTURES WITH DIFFERENT SHAPES MORPHOLOGIES. IN ADDITION TO THIS RESEARCH BEING OF GREAT INTEREST TO THE SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY, THE PROJECT ALSO ENHANCES THE UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION AT A PRIMARILY UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTION BECAUSE STUDENTS CAN PARTICIPATE IN CUTTING-EDGE EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH, WHICH PROVIDES HANDS-ON SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OPPORTUNITIES. THIS EFFORT ALSO BROADENS THE SEMICONDUCTOR WORKFORCE BY INTEGRATING RESEARCH RESULTS INTO THE PHYSICS CURRICULUM AS PART OF AN UPPER-LEVEL EXPERIMENTAL PHYSICS COURSES. THE RECIPIENT OF THIS AWARD, AN EARLY CAREER FEMALE FACULTY MEMBER IS A ROLE MODEL FOR FEMALE AND MINORITY STUDENTS, ENCOURAGING THEM TO CHOOSE STEM CAREERS. TECHNICAL SUMMARY: IN THE FIELD OF OPTOELECTRONIC RESEARCH, GROUP III NITRIDES SUCH AS ALN AND GAN HAVE GAINED SIGNIFICANT ATTENTION OVER LAST FEW DECADES DUE TO THEIR STABILITIES AND AS A WIDE BAND GAP SEMICONDUCTOR WITH EMISSION IN THE ULTRAVIOLET AND VISIBLE RANGES. THE PLANAR STRUCTURED NITRIDE MATERIALS CURRENTLY USED IN COMMERCIAL DEVICES COME WITH LIMITATIONS SUCH AS DEFECTS AND DISLOCATIONS DUE TO LATTICE MISMATCH WITH AVAILABLE SUBSTRATES WHICH CONSEQUENTLY LIMIT THE PERFORMANCE OF THE RESULTING DEVICES, HIGH TEMPERATURE REQUIREMENTS LIMITING CHOICE OF SUBSTRATES AND THE DIMENSIONS ARE NOT SUITABLE FOR FUTURISTIC NANOSCALE DEVICES. FOR EMERGING DEVICES, THE CONCERNS RELATED TO PLANAR STRUCTURES CAN BE ALLEVIATED BY EMPLOYING NANOSTRUCTURES OF THESE MATERIALS. HOWEVER, FABRICATION METHODS OF NANOSTRUCTURED NITRIDE MATERIALS ARE STILL IN INFANCY AND CURRENT APPROACHES ARE COMPLEX AND MULTI-STEP PROCESSES. SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS AND A FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING ARE NEEDED REGARDING THE GROWTH OF NITRIDE NANOSTRUCTURES AND SUBSEQUENT LONG-RANGE PATTERNING OF THESE NANOSTRUCTURES. WITH THIS AWARD FROM THE LEAPS-MPS PROGRAM THE RESEARCHERS SYNTHESIZE ALN AND GAN NANOROD PATTERNS USING NANOSTRUCTURED BLOCK COPOLYMER (BCP) TEMPLATES AND AN INORGANIC DEPOSITION METHOD CALLED SEQUENTIAL INFILTRATION SYNTHESIS (SIS). THE SIS PROCESS INVOLVES INFILTRATION OF GAS PHASE MOLECULES INTO SOFT POLYMERIC MATERIALS. THIS PROJECT INVESTIGATES THE SIS GROWTH MECHANISM FOR NITRIDE MATERIALS USING FOURIER TRANSFORM INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY (FTIR) AS WELL AS OTHER PHYSICAL, STRUCTURAL AND OPTICAL CHARACTERIZATION TECHNIQUES. THESE AND OTHER METHODS, INCLUDING SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (SEM), ENERGY DISPERSIVE X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY (EDX), X-RAY DIFFRACTION (XRD), PHOTOLUMINESCENCE (PL) AND PHOTOLUMINESCENCE EXCITATION (PLE) SPECTROSCOPY, AND CATHODOLUMINESCENCE (CL) IMAGING, ARE USED TO STUDY THE RESULTING NANOSTRUCTURES. THE PROPOSED WORK OPENS UP NEW AVENUES OF RESEARCH TO REALIZE NITRIDE NANOMATERIAL GROWTH AND PATTERNING USING SIS AS A FACILE AND COST-EFFECTIVE METHOD. 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.

INTEGRATING KNOWLEDGE: A MODEL FOR SECONDARY TEACHER PREPARATION

RUI: ATOMIC PHYSICS WITH A TWIST -THE ABILITY TO IMAGE AND CONTROL ELECTRON DYNAMICS AT THE ATOMIC SCALE HAS LED TO A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF ATOMIC STRUCTURES AND INTERACTIONS, WHICH IN TURN HAS INSPIRED TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES IN AREAS SUCH AS MICROSCOPY, QUANTUM COMPUTING, AND QUANTUM COMMUNICATION. MANY OF THESE ADVANCES USE ULTRASHORT LIGHT PULSES OR ELECTRON BEAMS TO CONTROL AND OBSERVE ENERGY AND MOMENTUM PROPERTIES OF ATOMIC ELECTRONS ON THEIR NATURAL ATTOSECOND TIMESCALE (A BILLIONTH OF A BILLIONTH OF A SECOND). RECENTLY, SO-CALLED TWISTED ATTOSECOND LASER PULSES AND ELECTRON BEAMS HAVE BECOME AVAILABLE. THESE BEAMS CARRY ORBITAL ANGULAR MOMENTUM, WHICH OPENS THE DOOR TO CONTROLLING NOT JUST THE ENERGY AND MOMENTUM PROPERTIES OF ATOMIC ELECTRONS, BUT ALSO THEIR ROTATIONAL PROPERTIES. THIS RESEARCH WILL DEVELOP AND APPLY THEORETICAL MODELS FOR USING ULTRASHORT TWISTED LASER PULSES AND TWISTED ELECTRON BEAMS TO IMAGE AND CONTROL THE ROTATIONAL PROPERTIES OF ATOMIC ELECTRONS. IT WILL PROMOTE THE PROGRESS OF ATTOSECOND PHYSICS BY DEVELOPING NEW TECHNIQUES FOR STUDYING TWISTED ELECTRON CREATION, CHARACTERIZING THE TEMPORAL DYNAMICS OF PREVIOUSLY INACCESSIBLE ATOMIC STATES, AND ESTABLISHING THE EFFICIENCY OF THE CREATION OF ATOMIC STATES USED QUANTUM COMPUTING APPLICATIONS. THESE PROJECTS WILL PROVIDE THE THEORETICAL UNDERPINNING FOR FUTURE EXPERIMENTS AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS, DEMONSTRATE THE ADVANTAGES OF TWISTED LIGHT AND ELECTRONS IN CONTROLLING ATOMIC-LEVEL ROTATIONAL MOTION, AND ENHANCE THE U.S. INFLUENCE IN ATTOSECOND PHYSICS. IN ADDITION, THE RESEARCH WILL TRAIN THE NEXT GENERATION OF THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY WORKFORCE BY PROVIDING CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES TO UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WHO WILL GAIN NECESSARY CAREER SKILLS THROUGH HANDS-ON PARTICIPATION IN MODEL DEVELOPMENT, IMPLEMENTATION, AND ANALYSIS. STUDENTS WILL PRESENT THEIR RESULTS AT REGIONAL AND NATIONAL CONFERENCES, GIVING THEM A MORE DIVERSE VIEW OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND ENHANCING THEIR ACCESS TO SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CAREERS. THIS RESEARCH WILL USE COMPUTATIONAL MODELING TO (1) DEVELOP THE NEW TECHNIQUES OF TWISTED ATTOSECOND ENERGY AND ANGULAR STREAKING USING LAGUERRE-GAUSS OPTICAL VORTEX PULSES AND (2) DETERMINE IF TWISTED OPTICAL AND ELECTRON WAVE PACKETS CAN IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF CIRCULAR RYDBERG ATOM PRODUCTION FOR USE IN QUANTUM COMPUTING APPLICATIONS. IN THE FIRST PROJECT, THE RESEARCH WILL COMBINE OPTICAL VORTEX WAVE PACKETS WITH ATTOSECOND STREAKING TECHNIQUES TO STUDY THE EFFECTS OF ANGULAR MOMENTUM ON THE CREATION OF TWISTED PHOTOELECTRONS, THE IONIZATION TIME DELAY BETWEEN MAGNETIC SUBLEVELS, AND THE TUNNELING BARRIERS OF DIFFERENT ANGULAR MOMENTUM STATES. CALCULATIONS WILL BE PERFORMED USING THE TIME-DEPENDENT SCHROEDINGER EQUATION AND SEMI-CLASSICAL MODELS TO PROVIDE BOTH QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE INSIGHT. THIS RESEARCH WILL RESULT IN THEORETICAL MODELS THAT OUTLINE NEW TWISTED ATTOSECOND STREAKING TECHNIQUES AND WILL HAVE FAR-REACHING IMPLICATIONS FOR FUNDAMENTAL QUANTUM MECHANICS AND APPLICATIONS IN FIELDS SUCH AS CHEMICAL REACTION CONTROL AND CHARGE MIGRATION IN SOLID STATE PHYSICS. IN THE SECOND PROJECT, THE EFFICIENCY WITH WHICH TWISTED PHOTONS AND ELECTRONS CAN BE USED TO CREATE CIRCULAR RYDBERG STATES WILL BE DETERMINED. THE RESEARCH WILL RESULT IN A COMPREHENSIVE DATASET DETAILING WHICH RYDBERG STATES ARE MOST ACCESSIBLE THROUGH TWISTED WAVE PACKET EXCITATION AND PROVIDE MUCH-NEEDED INFORMATION FOR FUTURE APPLICATIONS THAT HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO TRANSFORM FIELDS SUCH AS QUANTUM COMPUTING AND QUANTUM SIMULATION. BOTH PROJECTS WILL ENHANCE THE ILLINOIS STEM WORKFORCE BY PROVIDING CUTTING-EDGE TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES TO A DIVERSE GROUP OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS FROM THE FRESHMAN TO SENIOR LEVEL. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

CRII: III: ADVANCE MATHEMATICAL THEOREMS FOR EXTREME VALUE AND RISK MEASURE IN ROBUST INTELLIGENCE -THIS AWARD IS FUNDED IN WHOLE OR IN PART UNDER THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT OF 2021 (PUBLIC LAW 117-2). RISK IS UBIQUITOUS IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS. IT OCCURS IN AREAS FROM HARDWARE/SOFTWARE FAILURE, CYBER-ATTACK, HUMAN ERROR TO FRAUD. RISK IS USUALLY ASSOCIATED WITH EXTREME SCENARIOS (ALSO CALLED LONG TAIL EVENTS) THAT ARE OF A LOW PROBABILITY OF HAPPENING, BUT, IF ONCE THEY HAPPEN, ARE TIED TO HUGE LOSSES. THEREFORE, RISK MANAGEMENT IS VERY CRITICAL TO ENSURE ROBUST INFORMATION SYSTEM AND INTELLIGENCE. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP RISK MEASUREMENT FOR HIGH-DIMENSIONAL (HD) DATA WITH LONG TAILS. THE PROJECT OVERCOMES CHALLENGES CAUSED BY THE LACK OF DATA ON THE TAIL, THE DIMENSIONALITY IN RISK MEASUREMENT AND PARAMETER ESTIMATION, AND THE UNDERDEVELOPED MATHEMATICAL PROPERTIES OF HD RISK MEASURES. THE INVESTIGATOR SEEKS TO ADVANCE MATHEMATICAL RISK MEASURES AND CONTRIBUTE TO RESEARCH AND EDUCATION THAT ENABLE RESILIENT RISK MANAGEMENT IN COMPUTING-DRIVEN DECISION-MAKING. TO ACHIEVE THE GOAL, THIS PROJECT WILL FILL THE KNOWLEDGE GAPS BY ADVANCING MATHEMATICAL THEOREMS AND SCIENTIFIC METHODS FOR HIGH-DIMENSIONAL RISK MEASURES IN DATA-INTENSIVE SYSTEMS. THE RESEARCH ACTIVITIES INCLUDE: (I) DEVELOPING NEW HIGH-DIMENSIONAL RISK MEASURES, RISK SHARING, AND RISK AGGREGATION METHODS FOR BIG DATA WITH HEAVY TAILS BY INTEGRATING COPULA, EXTREME VALUE THEORY, AND STATISTICAL INFERENCES; (II) UNDERSTANDING IN-DEPTH MATHEMATICAL PROPERTIES OF RISK MEASURES AND EXPLORING NEW METHODS OF STATISTICAL INFERENCE WITH THEORETICAL GUARANTEES (E.G., ASYMPTOTIC PROPERTY, CONVERGENCE) FOR HIGH-DIMENSIONAL RISK MEASURES; (III) EXPANDING THE DEPENDENCE INVESTIGATION BETWEEN HEAVY-TAILED LOSSES, ESPECIALLY UNDER EXTREME CONDITIONS, AND PROPOSING THE OPTIMAL DECISION-MAKING STRATEGY GIVEN SPECIFIC RISK MEASURES. IF SUCCESSFUL, THIS PROJECT WILL PROVIDE NEW SCIENTIFIC INSIGHTS AND MATHEMATICAL THEOREMS/TOOLS FOR INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS' RISK QUANTIFICATION AND RISK MANAGEMENT. IT CAN IMPROVE THE SYSTEM SAFETY, STABILITY, AND RESILIENCE, AND INCREASE U.S. COMPETITIVENESS IN RISK MANAGEMENT AND OPTIMAL DECISION MAKING. BROADER IMPACTS WILL BE PROMOTED BY DEVELOPING NEW TEACHING MODULES, ADVANCING COMPUTING-ORIENTED MATH EDUCATION, AND IMPROVING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT. 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.

BUSINESS AND INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION

INTEGRATING SERVICE-ORIENTED PARADIGM INTO INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CURRICULA

HEALTHY NATIVE POLLINATOR COMMUNITIES CONTRIBUTE TO PRODUCTIVITY AND BIODIVERSITY IN BOTH NATURAL AND AGRICULTURAL ECOSYSTEMS. YET MANY INSECT POLLINATOR SPECIES HAVE EXPERIENCED SIGNIFICANT REDUCTIONS IN POPULATION SIZES AND RANGE IN RECENT DECADES. IN NORTH AMERICA BUMBLE BEE DECLINES APPEAR TO HAVE A SIGNAL OF RELATEDNESS WITH MANY THREATENED SPECIES IN THE SAME SUBGENUS WHICH INCLUDES THE FEDERALLY ENDANGERED RUSTY PATCHED BUMBLE BEE. THIS SUGGESTS THAT THIS GROUP HAS A SUSCEPTIBILITY TO FACTORS DETRIMENTAL TO BUMBLE BEE POPULATION HEALTH. BUMBLE BEE POPULATION HEALTH AND FUTURE REINTRODUCTIONS AND MANAGEMENT OF THREATS ALL RELY ON KNOWLEDGE OF EXISTING STRESSORS AND ECOLOGY AND MEASURES OF POPULATION HEALTH SUCH AS GENETIC VARIATION. THE CONTINUING WORK HAS TWO OBJECTIVES. 1. A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SUSCEPTIBILITY OF A REPRESENTATIVE OF THIS SPECIES TO PROPOSED DRIVERS OF DECLINE AND 2. AN ASSESSMENT OF NONDESTRUCTIVE SAMPLING FROM FECES TO ASSESS BUMBLE BEE COMMUNITY HEALTH. FOR THE FIRST OBJECTIVE USING LAB COLONIES OF SURROGATE SPECIES WITHIN BOMBUS SENSU STRICTO AND COMPARISON NONTHREATENED SPECIES WITHIN NATIVE BUMBLE BEE COMMUNITIES FROM OTHER SUBGENERA A SERIES OF EXPERIMENTAL EXPOSURE STUDIES FOLLOWING ESTABLISHED PROTOCOLS WILL BE CARRIED OUT TO ASSESS SUSCEPTIBILITY TO PATHOGENS AND POOR NUTRITION AND AGRICHEMICALS LINKED WITH DECLINES. IN ADDITION COMBINATIONS OF THESE STRESSORS WILL BE ASSESSED FOR SYNERGISTIC DETRIMENTAL EFFECTS. WHERE PHENOTYPIC DIFFERENCES IN SUSCEPTIBILITY ARE UNCOVERED A TARGETED MOLECULAR APPROACH WILL BE TAKEN TO UNCOVER UNDERLYING MECHANISMS. THE SECOND OBJECTIVE WILL BUILD ON PRELIMINARY DATA ON THE NONDESTRUCTIVE SAMPLING OF FECES TO ASSESS PATHOGEN PRESENCE AND LOADS. THIS WILL BE EXPANDED TO ASSESS IF FECES CAN BE USED TO ACCURATELY DETECT OTHER COMMON AND DECLINE ASSOCIATED PATHOGEN AND AN INDIVIDUAL BEE DIET AND GENETICS. VERIFICATION OF APPROACHES AND INFORMATION GAINED ON POTENTIAL DIFFERENTIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY AND ITS ROOT CAUSE WILL INFORM STRESSOR ASSESSMENTS AND REMEDIATION EFFORTS THAT ARE CRITICAL FOR NOT ONLY THE HEALTH OF EXISTING BUMBLE BEE POPULATIONS BUT ALSO FEASIBILITY OF POTENTIAL FUTURE REINTRODUCTIONS.

RUI: ADVANCING THE CONSTRUCTIVE STANDARD MODEL: EFFICIENT TECHNIQUES FOR HIGH-MULTIPLICITY AMPLITUDE CALCULATIONS -THIS AWARD FUNDS THE RESEARCH ACTIVITIES OF PROFESSOR NEIL CHRISTENSEN AT ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY. AT THE LARGE HADRON COLLIDER (LHC), PROTONS ARE ACCELERATED TO NEAR-LIGHT SPEEDS AND SMASHED TOGETHER TO POTENTIALLY CREATE NEW MASSIVE PARTICLES THAT HAVE NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE. THESE PARTICLES COULD REVEAL NEW FUNDAMENTAL LAWS THAT GOVERN THE UNIVERSE. HOWEVER, THESE RARE EVENTS OCCUR IN LESS THAN 1 IN TEN MILLION MILLION COLLISIONS, NECESSITATING ULTRA-PRECISE CALCULATIONS THAT WOULD ALLOW US TO IDENTIFY NEW PHYSICS SIGNALS AMID THE MOUNTAIN OF BACKGROUND NOISE. AS PART OF HIS RESEARCH, PROFESSOR CHRISTENSEN WILL PERFORM SUCH CALCULATIONS. THE NEW CALCULATIONAL METHODS DEVELOPED IN THIS RESEARCH WILL ADVANCE THE NATIONAL INTEREST BY SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASING THE EFFICIENCY AND ACCURACY OF THESE BACKGROUND CALCULATIONS. THIS IMPROVEMENT WILL ALLOW SCIENTISTS TO USE DATA FROM THE LHC MORE EFFECTIVELY IN ORDER TO DISCOVER NEW PHYSICS THAT WAS PREVIOUSLY OUT OF REACH. ADDITIONALLY, THIS RESEARCH KEEPS THE UNITED STATES AT THE FOREFRONT OF THEORETICAL PROGRESS, DEEPENING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE FUNDAMENTAL PARTICLES, FIELDS, AND LAWS THAT GOVERN THE UNIVERSE. THIS PROJECT ALSO SUPPORTS EDUCATION AND DIVERSITY BY TRAINING THE NEXT GENERATION OF PHYSICISTS IN CUTTING-EDGE TECHNIQUES. AT A MORE TECHNICAL LEVEL, THIS PROJECT EXTENDS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A ?CONSTRUCTIVE? TECHNIQUE FOR CALCULATING SCATTERING AMPLITUDES, POTENTIALLY REPLACING FEYNMAN DIAGRAMS. CONSTRUCTIVE AMPLITUDES ELIMINATE THE UNPHYSICAL DEGREES OF FREEDOM PRESENT IN FEYNMAN DIAGRAMS, ENSURING TRIVIAL GAUGE INVARIANCE WITHOUT THE NEED FOR A GAUGE SYMMETRY TO CANCEL UNPHYSICAL EFFECTS. CONSEQUENTLY, EVERY DIAGRAM IS PHYSICALLY MEANINGFUL, AND THE EXPRESSIONS ARE TYPICALLY MORE COMPACT AND NUMERICALLY EFFICIENT. HOWEVER, THE INTERACTIONS ARE NON-LOCAL, AND ON-SHELL IDENTITIES MUST BE USED AT INTERMEDIATE STAGES TO OBTAIN CORRECT RESULTS. THIS METHOD IS STILL RELATIVELY NEW FOR MASSIVE THEORIES SUCH AS THE STANDARD MODEL, AND THIS RESEARCH ACTIVELY EXTENDS IT TO UNCALCULATED AMPLITUDES, HIGHER MULTIPLICITY FINAL STATES, AND HIGHER LOOPS. AS WE DEVELOP THIS TECHNIQUE, WE AIM TO CREATE A COMPREHENSIVE ALGORITHM THAT CAN BE FAITHFULLY FOLLOWED AND INTEGRATED INTO COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS IN ORDER TO AUTOMATE THESE CALCULATIONS. 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.

IMPROVED MODELING AND MEASUREMENT OF THE GEOGRAPHIC SPREAD OF INVASIVE ORGANISMS

IUSE/PFE:RED PLANNING: REDBIRDS EXPLORING GLOBAL GRAND CHALLENGES IN ENGINEERING -THIS PROJECT IS A PLANNING PROJECT AT ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY (ISU) TO DEFINE STRATEGIES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF INNOVATIVE UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS IN THE NEW COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING. THE CURRENT PROJECT WILL CREATE A FRAMEWORK TO ATTRACT AND RETAIN STUDENTS AND TO PREPARE ALL STUDENTS TO TACKLE THE COMPLEX SOCIETAL PROBLEMS IDENTIFIED BY THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING GRAND CHALLENGES FOR ENGINEERING, AND USE THAT FRAMEWORK TO DEVELOP A RED TRACK 2 PROPOSAL. ULTIMATELY, THE PROJECT WILL ADDRESS CRITICAL NATIONAL NEEDS FOR A WELL-PREPARED STEM WORKFORCE. RATHER THAN REPLICATING TRADITIONAL ENGINEERING PROGRAMS, THE PROJECT WILL EXPLORE NEW APPROACHES THAT FOSTER A STRONG SENSE OF ENGINEERING PURPOSE AMONG UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING STUDENTS, PARTICULARLY DURING THE CRUCIAL SECOND AND THIRD YEARS. THE COLLEGE WILL INCORPORATE THE GRAND CHALLENGES FOR ENGINEERING AS A UNIFYING THEME ACROSS CURRICULAR, CO-CURRICULAR, AND EXTRA-CURRICULAR EXPERIENCES. BY PLANNING A PROGRAM THAT CONNECTS TECHNICAL SKILLS WITH REAL-WORLD CHALLENGES, AND BY DESIGNING MENTORING SYSTEMS THAT MAINTAIN STUDENT ENGAGEMENT ACROSS PROGRAM YEARS, THE PROJECT WILL LAY THE GROUNDWORK FOR LONG-TERM ENGINEERING EDUCATION REFORM. DURING THIS PLANNING PROJECT, THE PROJECT TEAM WILL DRAW ON EVIDENCE-BASED STRATEGIES AND LESSONS LEARNED FROM PREVIOUS NSF-SUPPORTED EFFORTS TO FOSTER CULTURAL CHANGE AT THE INSTITUTIONAL LEVEL. THE BROADER IMPACT OF THIS WORK LIES IN ITS POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE ENGINEERING GRADUATES WHO ARE MORE AWARE OF GLOBAL SOCIETAL CHALLENGES, AND TO RESHAPE HOW FUTURE ENGINEERS ARE EDUCATED?NOT ONLY AT ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY, BUT AT OTHER INSTITUTIONS SEEKING TO BUILD MORE GLOBALLY AWARE AND CHALLENGE-DRIVEN ENGINEERING PROGRAMS. THROUGH PLANNING AND COLLABORATION, THE PROJECT WILL BUILD THE FOUNDATION FOR AN UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING PROGRAM DESIGNED TO PREPARE GRADUATES WHO ARE READY TO ADDRESS THE CHALLENGES THAT FACE SOCIETY AND AFFECT THE LIVES OF ALL PEOPLE. THIS PLANNING PROJECT WILL DEFINE STRATEGIES FOR ESTABLISHING COLLEGE-WIDE PROGRAMMATIC INFRASTRUCTURE AND A CULTURE THAT SUPPORTS STUDENT SUCCESS WITHIN THE NEWLY CREATED COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AT ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY. THE GOALS OF THE PLANNING PROJECT ARE: (1) DEVELOP DETAILED STRATEGIES FOR CREATING A COLLEGE ENVIRONMENT THAT IS FOCUSED ON WELCOMING ALL STUDENTS AND HELPING THEM DEVELOP A PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING IDENTITY; (2) CREATE A SPECIFIC PLAN FOR A NEAR-PEER MENTORING PROGRAM WITH AN EMPHASIS ON 2ND AND 3RD YEAR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS; AND (3) DEFINE STRATEGIES TO INCORPORATE A COLLEGE-WIDE FOCUS ON THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING GRAND CHALLENGES, WITH CONNECTIONS TO CORE SECOND AND THIRD YEAR UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING COURSES AND A PATHWAY FOR STUDENTS TO ACHIEVE CERTIFICATION AS A GRAND CHALLENGE SCHOLAR UPON GRADUATION. THE CURRICULAR, CO-CURRICULAR, AND EXTRA-CURRICULAR WORKING GROUPS WILL LEAD THESE EFFORTS, DEVELOPING PLANS FOR PROGRAMMATIC INFRASTRUCTURE IN THEIR RESPECTIVE AREAS. THE PROJECT WILL ANALYZE RELEVANT LITERATURE, UNDERTAKE STRUCTURED PLANNING, COLLABORATE WITH ORGANIZATIONS INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE UNIVERSITY, HOLD SITE VISITS TO PEER INSTITUTIONS, AND CONSULT REGULARLY WITH AN EXTERNAL ADVISOR EXPERIENCED IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION PROJECTS AND INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE. COLLABORATION WITH PARTNERS SUCH AS THE ISU OFFICE OF CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND FACULTY FROM THE ISU COLLEGE OF EDUCATION WILL SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF LEARNING EXPERIENCES THAT CONNECT ENGINEERING CONTENT TO REAL-WORLD PROBLEMS. EXPECTED OUTCOMES INCLUDE A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN TO DEVELOP A SUPPORTIVE YET CHALLENGE-FOCUSED CURRICULUM, A STRUCTURED MENTORING PROGRAM, A PATHWAY FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE GRAND CHALLENGE SCHOLARS PROGRAM, AND A WELL-DEVELOPED TRACK 2 RED PROPOSAL ORGANIZED AROUND THE CONCEPT OF USING SECOND- AND THIRD-YEAR CONTENT UNDERGRADUATE COURSES TO BUILD A COLLEGE ENVIRONMENT THAT SUPPORTS STUDENTS' PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT AND SCAFFOLDS THE SOCIOTECHNICAL SKILLS THAT UNDERLIE THE NAE GRAND CHALLENGES. THE PLANNING PROCESS AND RESULTING FRAMEWORK WILL PROVIDE A MODEL THAT OTHER INSTITUTIONS MAY USE TO ENHANCE STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND PREPAREDNESS TO ADDRESS COMPLEX SOCIETAL CHALLENGES THROUGH UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING EDUCATION. 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.

**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** FOOD WASTE AND LOSS AT THE FARM LEVEL IS SIGNIFICANT, REPRESENTING A WASTE OF 15.3% OF FOOD PRODUCED GLOBALLY WITH A TOTAL VALUE OF $370 BILLION IN 2021. THE TEAM CONDUCTED A SURVEY IN 2017, WHICH REVEALED THAT GROWERS LOOK FOR BETTER MANAGEMENT OF VEGETABLE WASTES AND CROP RESIDUES. THE ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM CURRENTLY CONSISTS OF ONE B.S. DEGREE IN AGRICULTURE WITH TEN SEQUENCES AND IS EXPANDING THE CURRICULUM TO INCLUDE THREE NEW SEQUENCES IN SUSTAINABLE FOOD AND BIOENERGY PRODUCTION, REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE, AND PRECISION AGRICULTURE. HOWEVER, CURRENTLY, THE AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT IS LACKING ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTS FOR STUDENT EDUCATION AND TRAINING. CAPACITY BUILDING OF ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTATION IS URGENT AND MUCH NEEDED.THIS PROJECT AIMS TO ADDRESS THE AFOREMENTIONED ISSUES. WE WILL DEVELOP A NEW ANAEROBIC DIGESTION TECHNOLOGY FOR THE TREATMENT OF VEGETABLE WASTES TO PRODUCE ENERGY AND CAPTURE NUTRIENTS IN THE VEGETABLE WASTES, AND THEN REUSE THE NUTRIENTS IN A HYDROPONIC PRODUCTION SYSTEM. WE WILL PURCHASE A PIECE OF ANALYTICAL EQUIPMENT, GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY, FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATION ACTIVITIES. THIS EQUIPMENT ACQUISITION WILL BE CO-SPONSORED BY AN INDUSTRY PARTNER. TEACHING AND LEARNING MATERIALS WILL BE DEVELOPED AND USED TO EDUCATE STEM MAJOR STUDENTS IN MULTIPLE COURSES WITH A TOTAL ANNUAL ENROLLMENT OF 200. TOURS AND WORKSHOPS WILL BE PROVIDED TO COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND K-12 STUDENTS. WE WILL ALSO DISSEMINATE THE PROJECT RESULTS TO FARMERS AND AGRICULTURE PROFESSIONALS THROUGH FIELD DAY AND CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS. SUCCESSFUL PROJECT COMPLETION WILL PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE, INCREASE THE QUALITY OF THE FUTURE AGRICULTURAL WORKFORCE, AND ADVANCE THE ANAEROBIC DIGESTION TECHNOLOGY.

** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** THIS PROJECT AIMS TO ADDRESS THE CHALLENGE IN SUSTAINABLE URBAN AGRICULTURE, AN AREA THATHAS AN INCREASING DEMAND FOR HIGH-QUALITY WORKFORCE BUT IS LACKING EXPERIENTIAL AND SERVICELEARNINGCOMPONENTS IN HIGHER-ED. THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS INTEGRATED PROJECT WILL BE TO 1) ASSESSTHE URBAN AGRICULTURE KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL LEVELS OF CURRENT REGIONAL PARTICIPANTS; 2) DEVELOP ACOURSE SUSTAINABLE URBAN AGRICULTURE THAT INTEGRATES ESSENTIAL SKILLS INTO PROJECT-BASED LEARNING;AND 3) APPLY EXPERIENTIAL, SERVICE-LEARNING PROJECTS WITH CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY URBAN AGRICULTUREPARTNERS. ASSESSMENTS OF URBAN AGRICULTURE PARTICIPANTS WITH BE CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE EDUCATIONALAND TRAINING NEEDS. THE NEW COURSE WILL INCORPORATE LECTURE AND LABORATORY COMPONENTS TO INCREASESTUDENT KNOWLEDGE AND HANDS-ON SKILLS IN URBAN AGRICULTURE PRODUCTION, MARKETING, AND BUSINESSPRACTICES. A TOTAL OF 11 EDUCATIONAL PROJECTS, INCLUDING NUTRIENT AND PEST MANAGEMENT, CROP QUALITYENHANCEMENT, COMPOSTING AND WASTE MANAGEMENT, CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT AGRICULTURE INCLUDINGLED LIGHTING, VERTICAL FARMING, AND HYDROPONICS, MARKETING AND DECISION MAKING, AND BUSINESSAND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, WILL BE CREATED TO PROVIDE COMPREHENSIVE EXPERIENTIAL LEARNINGOPPORTUNITIES TO STUDENTS. PRODUCTION FACILITIES INCLUDE A FREIGHT FARM, A CONTROLLED-ENVIRONMENTGREENHOUSE, AN URBAN FARM, AND A REFUGE FOOD FOREST, WILL BE USED IN THIS PROJECT. PARTNERSHIPS WITHURBAN FARMS, COMMUNITY COLLEGES, K12 SCHOOLS, AND EXTENSION PROGRAMS WILL PROVIDE SERVICELEARNINGOPPORTUNITIES TO STUDENTS AND ALSO BENEFIT COMMUNITIES IN YOUTH EDUCATION, LOCAL FOODPRODUCTION, AND SUSTAINABILITY. PROJECT OUTCOMES WILL INCLUDE A NEW COURSE ADDED TO THE EXISTINGUNIVERSITY CURRICULUM, EDUCATING 46+ STUDENTS IN URBAN AGRICULTURE PRACTICES, CONFERENCEPRESENTATIONS, ONE PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATION, AND ENHANCED UNIVERSITY-COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENTAND PARTNERSHIP.

ELUCIDATING BACTERIAL RESPONSES TO THE NOVEL ANTIMICROBIAL AGXX - SUMMARY NEW ANTIMICROBIAL STRATEGIES ARE BADLY NEEDED, AS THE SPREAD OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE IS RAPIDLY COMPROMISING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CURRENT ANTIBIOTICS. MOREOVER, NEW DRUG DEVELOPMENT HAS NOT KEPT PACE WITH THE RISE OF DRUG-RESISTANT PATHOGENS. PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA IS PARTICULARLY DIFFICULT TO TREAT AND COMMONLY FOUND IN THE LUNGS OF CYSTIC FIBROSIS PATIENTS OR IN PATIENTS WITH BURN WOUNDS. DUE TO THE EMERGING ANTIBIOTIC CRISIS, EFFORTS ARE NOW FOCUSED ON FINDING ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT STRATEGIES. SILVER-CONTAINING COMPOUNDS REPRESENT SUCH OPPORTUNITY DUE TO THEIR MULTI-SPECIFIC ABILITY TO INHIBIT BACTERIAL GROWTH. ONE EXAMPLE IS SILVER SULFADIAZINE, A TOPICAL FORMULATION THAT IS OFTEN ADMINISTERED TO TREAT OR PREVENT ACUTE P. AERUGINOSA WOUND INFECTIONS. THE NOVEL SILVER CONTAINING SURFACE COATING AGXX WAS RECENTLY DEVELOPED AS A PROMISING COMPOUND WITH ANTIMICROBIAL PROPERTIES. COMPOSED OF THE TWO TRANSITION METALS SILVER AND RUTHENIUM WHICH FORM A MICRO-GALVANIC CELL, AGXX KILLS GRAM-POSITIVE BACTERIA THROUGH THE FORMATION OF REACTIVE OXYGEN SPECIES, SUCH AS HYDROGEN PEROXIDE. HOWEVER, ITS EFFECT ON GRAM-NEGATIVE BACTERIA SUCH AS P. AERUGINOSA AS WELL AS THEIR RESPONSES TO AGXX EXPOSURE HAVE NOT YET BEEN STUDIED. WE FOUND THAT AGXX ELICITS STRONG PROTEOTOXIC EFFECTS IN P. AERUGINOSA EVEN AT SUBLETHAL CONCENTRATIONS, AND THAT THE COMPOUND IS SIGNIFICANTLY MORE POTENT THAN SILVER SULFADIAZINE, THE GOLD STANDARD FOR THE TREATMENT OF BURN WOUNDS. MOREOVER, WE DISCOVERED THAT THE BACTERICIDAL ACTIVITY OF SUBLETHAL CONCENTRATIONS OF AGXX IS UP TO 50,000-FOLD HIGHER IN THE PRESENCE OF SUBLETHAL AMINOGLYCOSIDES CONCENTRATIONS, INDICATING A POTENTIAL APPLICATION FOR AGXX AS AN ADJUVANT. WE WILL NOW INVESTIGATE THE MOLECULAR MECHANISM BEHIND THE SYNERGY OF AMINOGLYCOSIDE ANTIBIOTICS AND AGXX. IN AIM 1, WE WILL TEST OUR HYPOTHESIS THAT AGXX-INDUCED ROS PRODUCTION DISRUPTS THE CELLULAR IRON-SULFUR CLUSTER POOL AND THEREFORE TRIGGERS HYDROXYL RADICAL PRODUCTION VIA THE FENTON REACTION. AS A RESULT, WE EXPECT TO OBSERVE INCREASED MEMBRANE DISRUPTION, POTENTIALLY FACILITATING AN ELEVATED AMINOGLYCOSIDE INFLUX INTO THE CELL, WHICH IS RESPONSIBLE FOR INCREASED BACTERIAL KILLING THAT IS OBSERVED AFTER SIMULTANEOUS TREATMENT OF P. AERUGINOSA WITH AGXX AND AMINOGLYCOSIDES. FURTHERMORE, WE WILL DETERMINE THE EFFECT A COMBINATIONAL TREATMENT HAS ON P. AERUGINOSA BIOFILMS AND PERSISTER CELLS AND ON ISOLATES OF OTHER CLINICALLY RELEVANT BACTERIAL SPECIES. IN AIM 2, WE WILL USE INDEPENDENT UNBIASED AND TARGETED APPROACHES, INCLUDING TNSEQ AND SUBSEQUENT PHENOTYPIC CHARACTERIZATION OF TRANSPOSON MUTANTS, TO IDENTIFY AND DETERMINE P. AERUGINOSA-SPECIFIC RESPONSES TO AND DEFENSES AGAINST AGXX TREATMENT. MOREOVER, WE WILL ASSESS THE CYTOTOXICITY OF THIS COMPOUND IN DIFFERENT CELL LINES OF RELEVANCE. THESE FINDINGS WILL GUIDE EFFORTS TO DEVISE STRATEGIES TO IMPLEMENT AGXX AS A POTENTIAL ANTIMICROBIAL AND ADJUVANT IN ERADICATING P. AERUGINOSA INFECTIONS.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ADDRESSING KEY GAPS IN THE ERUPTIVE HISTORY, MAGMATIC STORAGE, AND PUBLIC PREPAREDNESS AT ASKJA VOLCANO, ICELAND -IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE A COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE TYPE AND NUMBER OF ERUPTIONS AT A VOLCANO TO PREPARE FOR POTENTIAL FUTURE VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS. ASKJA VOLCANO IS A POPULAR TOURIST DESTINATION IN ICELAND THAT HAS PRODUCED SMALL LAVA FLOWS AND LARGE EXPLOSIVE ERUPTIONS. NO ONE HAS STUDIED ASKJA?S PRE-HISTORIC EXPLOSIVE ERUPTIONS IN DETAIL. THE LIKELIHOOD AND TIMING OF FUTURE EXPLOSIVE ERUPTIONS AT ASKJA IS NOT WELL KNOWN. THIS STUDY WILL USE FIELD WORK TO CONFIRM THE ORDER OF ERUPTIONS AT ASKJA. ROCK AND MINERAL CHEMISTRY WILL BE USED TO LOOK FOR CONNECTIONS BETWEEN DIFFERENT ROCK TYPES AND THE MAGMAS FROM WHICH THEY CRYSTALLIZED. ANALYSES WILL ALSO HELP DATE OLDER ERUPTIVE MATERIALS AND IDENTIFY HOW MAGMA IS STORED BENEATH THE VOLCANO BEFORE ERUPTION. A COMPLETE HISTORY OF ASKJA?S ERUPTIONS WILL REVEAL PATTERNS TO IDENTIFY FUTURE ERUPTION SCENARIOS. ASKJA SITS NEXT TO TWO OTHER RECENTLY ACTIVE VOLCANOES COVERED BY GLACIAL ICE. RESULTS FROM ASKJA WILL LEAD TO A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HARDER TO REACH VOLCANOES IN ICELAND AND VOLCANOES IN THE US. THIS STUDY WILL INCREASE AWARENESS OF THE HAZARDS OF ACTIVE VOLCANOES AND THE RISK TO NEIGHBORING POPULATIONS. ASKJA VOLCANO IN ICELAND HAS PRODUCED MULTIPLE EXPLOSIVE RHYOLITIC ERUPTIONS AND NUMEROUS BASALTIC FISSURE ERUPTIONS OVER THE LAST 70 KA AND HAS BEEN EXPERIENCING UPLIFT SINCE 2021. THE RECENT CA. 65 CM UPLIFT (2021-ONGOING) IN ASKJA CALDERA MAKES IT IMPERATIVE TO UNDERSTAND THE PAST ERUPTIVE ACTIVITY AND MAGMA STORAGE CONDITIONS TO PREPARE FOR A POTENTIAL FUTURE ERUPTION. THE UNSTUDIED, HIGH-SILICA ERUPTION DEPOSITS AND GABBRO XENOLITHS PROVIDE THE OPPORTUNITY TO INVESTIGATE NOT ONLY THE ERUPTIVE FREQUENCY, BUT ALSO THE PATTERNS AND LOCATION OF MAGMA STORAGE UNDER ASKJA. THIS STUDY AIMS TO ADDRESS QUESTIONS: 1) AT WHAT DEPTH DO SILICIC AND MAFIC MAGMAS ACCUMULATE UNDER ASKJA, AND HOW COMMON IS MAGMA RECHARGE? 2) WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMON ERUPTION SCENARIOS AT ASKJA BASED ON THE LAST 70,000 YEARS? AND 3) HOW CAN VATNAJOKULL NATIONAL PARK BETTER COMMUNICATE WITH VISITORS AT ASKJA ABOUT HAZARDS? THESE QUESTIONS WILL BE ADDRESSED THROUGH FIELD WORK; WHOLE ROCK CHARACTERIZATION; PLAGIOCLASE, CLINOPYROXENE AND ZIRCON MINERAL ANALYSES; 40AR/39AR AND U-TH GEOCHRONOLOGY, AND VISITOR SURVEYS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE VATNAJOKULL NATIONAL PARK. THE BREADTH OF APPROACHES IN THIS STUDY AIMS TO TARGET KEY GAPS FROM MULTIPLE DIRECTIONS TO INCREASE UNDERSTANDING OF THE ASKJA VOLCANIC SYSTEM, ITS HAZARDS, AND THE POPULATIONS AT RISK. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A FLOW INJECTION ANALYSIS ? ION CHROMATOGRAPH SYSTEM FOR RESEARCH AND TRAINING IN BIOLOGY, GEOLOGY, AND AGRICULTURE AT ILLINOIS

THIS INTEGRATED PROJECT WILL ADDRESS THE NEED AREAS OF EDUCATION AND RESEARCH BY BUILDING ANAEROBIC DIGESTION CAPACITY TO INTEGRATE STUDENT EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AND CAREER PREPARATION WITH EXPERIMENTATION TO ENHANCE SUSTAINABLE AND RENEWABLE ENERGY DISCOVERY. IN CONTRAST TO THE GROWING NEED FOR TRAINED AND SKILLED WORKERS ENTERING THE AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIES, THERE ARE INCREASING NUMBERS OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WHO ENROLL IN 4-YEAR BACHELORETTE AGRICULTURAL OR LIFE SCIENCES PROGRAMS WITHOUT PRIOR AGRICULTURAL WORK EXPERIENCE. INTRODUCTORY AGRICULTURAL COURSES AT ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY ARE MADE UP OF 38.1% STUDENTS FROM AN URBAN CITY OR SUBURBAN AREA. ANAEROBIC DIGESTION CAN BE AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL WASTE, NUTRIENT CYCLING, AND ENERGY MANAGEMENT, BUT THE COMPLEXITY OF THIS TECHNOLOGY AND PROCESS REQUIRES STUDENT EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING TO DEVELOP USEFUL SKILL SETS AND THIS IS LACKING IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS. EDUCATION NEED AREAS OF PROVIDING SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTATION FOR EDUCATION AND EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING WILL BE ACHIEVED THROUGH THE EDUCATION TASK OBJECTIVES: 1) INCREASING UNDERGRADUATE PARTICIPATION AND TRAINING IN SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE RESEARCH; AND 2) ENHANCING TEACHING OF LABORATORY-BASED, HANDS-ON SKILLS ON ANAEROBIC DIGESTION. RESEARCH NEED AREAS WILL BE ADDRESSED BY: 1) DETERMINING POTENTIAL SYNERGISTIC EFFECTS OF COMBINING ANAEROBIC DIGESTION AND COMPOSTING FOR AGRICULTURAL WASTE MANAGEMENT; 2) QUANTIFYING THE REVENUES AND COSTS OF ADDING AN ANAEROBIC DIGESTION SYSTEM TO THE ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY FARM AT LEXINGTON AND A LOCAL ORGANIC FARM TO IMPROVE WASTE, NUTRIENT, AND ENERGY MANAGEMENT; AND 3) EXAMINING AN BIO-ELECTROCHEMICAL METHOD FOR PHOSPHORUS RECOVERY FROM THE ANAEROBIC DIGESTION EFFLUENT.

GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM (GRFP)

RUI: OPTICAL EXCITATION OF NONRADIATING NANOSPHERE FOR LOSSLESS DEVICE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: MOVING MOUNTAINS: TIMING AND EMPLACEMENT OF THE MARYSVALE GRAVITY SLIDE COMPLEX

RUI: PATH INTEGRAL APPROACH TO ION-IMPACT COLLISIONS

RUI: SIMULATIONS OF MS2 SPECTRA: AN EXAMINATION OF POST-TRANSLATIONAL MODIFICATION, SECONDARY STRUCTURE, AND NON-COVALENT COMPLEXES -WITH THIS AWARD, THE CHEMICAL STRUCTURE, DYNAMICS, AND MECHANISMS (CSDM-A) AND CHEMICAL MEASUREMENT AND IMAGING (CMI) PROGRAMS OF THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY SUPPORT PROFESSOR GEORGE L. BARNES AT SIENA COLLEGE TO STUDY HOW PEPTIDE MOLECULES FALL APART OR STICK TO SURFACES FOLLOWING HIGH-ENERGY COLLISIONS IN THE GAS PHASE. SUCH COLLISIONS OCCUR WHEN MOLECULES ARE BEING ANALYZED USING INSTRUMENTS CALLED MASS SPECTROMETERS, WHICH IDENTIFY MOLECULES AND THEIR FRAGMENTS ACCORDING TO THEIR MASS AND ELECTRIC CHARGE. THE ACCURACY OF THE MASS SPECTRAL ANALYSIS DEPENDS ON HOW WELL THE COLLISIONS ARE UNDERSTOOD. THIS PROJECT EXAMINES THE IMPORTANCE OF THE MOLECULAR SHAPE AND OF COMMON BIOLOGICAL MODIFICATIONS ON THE COLLISIONS AND THE MOLECULAR PRODUCTS GENERATED BY THE COLLISIONS. PROTEINS ARE SYNTHESIZED IN LIVING CELLS BY MOLECULAR MACHINES CALLED RIBOSOMES, WHICH TRANSLATE THE INFORMATION STORED IN MESSENGER RIBONUCLEIC ACID (MRNA) INTO PROTEINS. MODIFICATIONS OF THE PROTEINS AFTER TRANSLATION ARE CALLED POST-TRANSLATIONAL MODIFICATIONS (PTMS). PROF. BARNES IS ESPECIALLY INTERESTED IN HOW THE PTMS AFFECT THE OUTCOMES OF GAS PHASE COLLISIONS. THIS PROJECT ACTIVELY INVOLVES UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCHERS WHO ARE CROSS-TRAINED IN BOTH THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL METHODS AND HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT THEIR RESULTS AT NATIONAL CONFERENCES AND OTHER SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS. A COMBINED COMPUTATIONAL AND EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH IS TAKEN THAT FOCUSES ON MODEL SYSTEMS RELEVANT TO TANDEM MASS SPECTROMETRY (MS2). IN PARTICULAR, A RANGE OF PROTONATED PEPTIDES AND THEIR POST-TRANSLATIONALLY MODIFIED VERSIONS ARE SELECTED TO INVESTIGATE THE IMPACT OF SECONDARY STRUCTURE ON SOFT LANDING AND COLLISION-INDUCED DISSOCIATION. THE STUDY ELUCIDATES THE IMPORTANCE OF NON-COVALENT INTERACTIONS AND COMPLEX FORMATION OF PEPTIDE FRAGMENTS. METHODS INCLUDE DIRECT DYNAMICS SIMULATIONS, AB INITIO CALCULATIONS, RATE CALCULATIONS, AND EXPERIMENTAL TANDEM MASS SPECTROMETRY. IN ADDITION TO THE FUNDAMENTAL INSIGHTS GAINED REGARDING MOLECULAR COLLISIONS AND REACTIONS, THE PROJECT HAS DIRECT IMPLICATIONS FOR THE OPTIMIZATION OF MASS SPECTROMETRIC EXPERIMENTS ON BIOMOLECULES AND THE INTERPRETATION OF THE RESULTING DATA. IN TURN, THE RESEARCH MAY HAVE IMPORTANT IMPLICATIONS FOR A WIDER RANGE OF BIOLOGICAL AND HEALTH-RELATED SCIENCES. COLLABORATION WITH PROF. JULIA LASKIN AT PURDUE UNIVERSITY IS PROVIDING VALUABLE EXPERIENCE IN THE LARGE RESEARCH UNIVERSITY CONTEXT FOR PROF. BARNES' SIENA COLLEGE STUDENT RESEARCHERS. 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.

JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE AND INTERBRANCH CONFLICT IN THE AMERICAN STATES

RUI: PATH INTEGRALS AND CHARGED PARTICLE DYNAMICS

ILLINOIS WIND WORKERS GROUP

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH WORKFORCE EDUCATION AND TRAINING FOR PROFESSIONALS AND PARAPROFESSIONALS

ADVANCED EDUCATION NURSING TRAINEESHIPS

DATABASING OF THE BIRD & MAMMAL COLLECTIONS AT ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY

CAPITALIZING ON EXPORT OPPORTUNITIES FOR ILLINOIS BUSINESSES

RUI: QUANTUM INFORMATION OF INTERFERENCE FEATURES IN TRANSPORT -ERWIN SCHR?DINGER STATED THAT QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT IS THE CHARACTERISTIC TRAIT OF QUANTUM MECHANICS, THE ONE THAT ENFORCES ITS ENTIRE DEPARTURE FROM CLASSICAL LINES OF THOUGHT. QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT, WHICH REQUIRES COHERENCE BETWEEN QUANTUM STATES, IS FUNDAMENTAL TO QUANTUM INFORMATION SCIENCE (QIS) AND QUANTUM THERMODYNAMICS. THESE FIELDS LEVERAGE UNIQUE QUANTUM PROPERTIES TO SENSE, ENCODE, MANIPULATE, AND TRANSMIT INFORMATION IN WAYS CLASSICAL SYSTEMS CANNOT. ALTHOUGH QIS HAS MADE SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS WITH OPERATIONAL QUANTUM COMPUTERS AND SENSORS, IT STILL FACES MAJOR CHALLENGES, INCLUDING REFINING ALGORITHMS, IMPROVING ERROR-CORRECTION TECHNIQUES, AND ENHANCING SYSTEM STABILITY AND SCALABILITY. THIS AWARD SUPPORTS RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL EFFORTS TO DEVELOP AN ALTERNATIVE NONEQUILIBRIUM TRANSPORT FORMULATION TO ADDRESS THESE CRITICAL CHALLENGES, FOCUSING ON CONTROLLING DECOHERENCE AND REALIZING SCALABLE QUANTUM MACHINES THROUGH CHEMICAL DESIGN. BY STUDYING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN QUANTUM COHERENCE, ENTANGLEMENT, AND INFORMATION FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF TRANSPORT AND NANOSTRUCTURE SYMMETRY, THIS RESEARCH HOPES TO SIGNIFICANTLY ADVANCE THE QIS FIELD, POTENTIALLY LEADING TO BREAKTHROUGHS IN INFORMATION PROCESSING AND TRANSMISSION, BENEFITING SOCIETY AND ENHANCING NATIONAL TECHNOLOGICAL CAPABILITIES. UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AT ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY (ISU) WILL BE DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN ALL ASPECTS OF THE RESEARCH, GAINING HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE IN MODERN THEORETICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL APPROACHES. THIS PROJECT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE PREPARATION OF THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS, ENSURING CONTINUED PROGRESS AND NATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS IN QIS. AT ITS CORE, QUANTUM INFORMATION SCIENCE (QIS) SEEKS TO HARNESS THE UNIQUE PROPERTIES OF QUANTUM MECHANICS, PARTICULARLY COHERENCE AND ENTANGLEMENT, TO DEVELOP NOVEL METHODS FOR ENCODING, MANIPULATING, AND TRANSMITTING INFORMATION. DESPITE SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS, QIS REMAINS IN ITS EARLY STAGES AND FACES MANY TECHNICAL AND PRACTICAL CHALLENGES. IN QUANTUM MECHANICS, DIFFERENT OBSERVABLES OFTEN HIGHLIGHT VARIOUS ASPECTS OF THE SAME PROBLEM. TYPICALLY, QIS CONCEPTS ARE OFTEN UNDERSTOOD IN TERMS OF WAVEFUNCTIONS. THIS PROJECT PROPOSES AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH USING NONEQUILIBRIUM QUANTUM TRANSPORT THEORY TO ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF QUANTUM INTERFERENCE AND ENTANGLEMENT AS QIS RESOURCES, FOCUSING ON CONTROLLING DECOHERENCE AND REALIZING SCALABLE QUANTUM MACHINES THROUGH CHEMICAL STRUCTURE. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL ADDRESS THE FOLLOWING PROBLEMS: (1) DETERMINING THE INFORMATION CONTENT OF QUANTUM INTERFERENCE FEATURES IN TRANSPORT, INCLUDING THE INFLUENCE OF DEPHASING AND THE ABILITY TO SCALE AND MANIPULATE INFORMATION USING MOLECULAR STRUCTURE; AND (2) DEVELOPING AND SIMULATING EXPERIMENTALLY VIABLE SYSTEMS TO MEASURE THE INFORMATION CONTENT, SUCH AS THROUGH APPARENT 2ND LAW VIOLATIONS AND THE ONSET OF FOURIER?S LAW. TO ADDRESS THESE CHALLENGES, STATE-OF-THE-ART THEORETICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS WILL BE DEVELOPED, COMBINING NON-EQUILIBRIUM GREEN'S FUNCTIONS WITH STATISTICAL MECHANICS AND MANY-BODY ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE THEORIES. THIS RESEARCH IS EXPECTED TO PROVIDE NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE FUNDAMENTAL ASPECTS OF INTERACTING NONEQUILIBRIUM QUANTUM SYSTEMS AND QUANTUM INFORMATION, ESTABLISHING ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES TO ADDRESS LONGSTANDING CHALLENGES IN QIS. 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.

CC* PLANNING: FOSTERING DATA DRIVEN STEM RESEARCH AND EDUCATION THROUGH CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE AT ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY -ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY (ISU) IS CREATING A COMPREHENSIVE BLUEPRINT FOR IMPROVING ITS CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE (CI) TO FOSTER DATA-DRIVEN RESEARCH AND EDUCATION. THE GOAL OF THIS PLANNING PROJECT IS TO DESIGN A LOGICAL, REPRODUCIBLE, AND DEFENSIBLE SCIENCE DMZ FOR ISU VIA A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH CALLED ANALYSIS-ARCHITECTURE-DESIGN. THE PARTNERSHIP AND STRUCTURE BETWEEN CAMPUS IT STAFF AND THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY, ESPECIALLY FACULTY IN COMPUTER NETWORKING DISCIPLINE, PRESENTS A MODEL FOR CONSOLIDATING THE ECOSYSTEM OF CI AND INTEGRATING NEW NETWORK TECHNOLOGIES INTO AN EXISTING FRAMEWORK. THE DESIGN AND PROTOTYPE OF AN INTENT-BASED SOFTWARE DEFINED SCIENCE DMZ WITH HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING CLUSTERS ARE A NOVEL EXTENSION OF CAPABILITIES THAT ARE NOT COMMONLY IN PLACE TODAY. THIS PLANNING PROJECT PRODUCES A PROFOUND IMPACT ON THE STEM COMMUNITY AT ISU TO INCREASE THEIR AWARENESS OF THE AVAILABILITY AND SCALES OF COMPUTATION, DATA, AND THE RELATED DATA ANALYTIC TOOLS AND EXPERTISE. THE INCREASED AWARENESS IS EMITTED FROM ISU AS A HUB TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITY, THE REGION, AND MANY CONNECTED INSTITUTIONS NATIONALLY. THE ADOPTED ANALYSIS-ARCHITECTURE-DESIGN METHODOLOGY IS BENEFICIAL TO MANY SIMILAR INSTITUTIONS THAT WANT TO REVITALIZE THEIR CAMPUS CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE. 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.

REVISITING THE FRESHWATER IMPERATIVE: A WORKSHOP TO SYNTHESIZE AND PRIORITIZE KEY CHALLENGES IN FRESHWATER SCIENCE

RUI: QUANTUM ENHANCED THERMOELECTRIC RESPONSE OF MOLECULE-BASED SYSTEMS

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LARVAL HABITAT AND THE SPREAD OF INVASIVE DISEASE VECTORS

EXPLORING LIFE-COURSE AND DAY-TO-DAY EXPERIENCES OF MILITARY VETERANS IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

DIMENSIONS US-CHINA: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: MICROBE ECO-EVOLUTIONARY FEEDBACKS AS DRIVERS OF PLANT COEXISTENCE AND DIVERSITY GRADIENTS

TEACHING THE CULTURAL WEALTH OF OAXACA, MEXICO: FUND OF KNOWLEDGE CURRICULUM FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY CLASSROOM

NURSE EDUCATION PRACTICE QUALITY RETENTION- REGISTERED NURSE IN PRIMARY CARE COVID

FULBRIGHT-HAYS GROUP PROJECTS ABROAD

MESO-SCALE MAGNETIC FIELD STRUCTURE DETERMINATION USING CLUSTER/GEOTAIL DATA ND NONLINEAR DYNAMICS MODELING

RUI: SPECEES: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ENABLING SECURE, ENERGY-EFFICIENT, AND SMART IN-BAND FULL DUPLEX WIRELESS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: BIODIESEL AND POGIL FOR NON-STEM MAJORS: THREE APPLICATIONS

RUI: SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL DYNAMICS OF MATTER IN INTENSE LASER FIELDS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ASYNCHRONOUS DISCUSSIONS TO ENGAGE STUDENTS IN SCIENTIFIC ARGUMENTATION

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: A TRIAL-AND-FAILURE PROJECT TUTORING SYSTEM

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: COOPERATIVE PROCESSES AT SURFACES: LIGAND BINDING AT THE SINGLE MOLECULE LEVEL -WITH SUPPORT FROM THE CHEMICAL STRUCTURE, DYNAMICS, AND MECHANISMS-A (CSDM-A) PROGRAM IN THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY, URSULA MAZUR AND KERRY HIPPS OF WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY AND BHASKAR CHILUKURI OF ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY ARE EXPLORING COOPERATIVE BINDING EVENTS USING HIGHLY SENSITIVE IMAGING AND COMPUTATIONAL METHODS. CHEMICAL PROCESSES SUCH AS CHEMICAL REACTIVITY AND DETECTION SENSITIVITY DEPEND ON COOPERATIVITY. STUDYING THESE COOPERATIVE INTERACTIONS REQUIRES BOTH SURFACE TECHNIQUES THAT ARE CAPABLE OF SINGLE MOLECULE DETECTION AND COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS FOR QUANTIFYING THE DEGREE OF INTERACTIONS. DRS. CHILUKURI, HIPPS, AND MAZUR AND THEIR STUDENTS WILL INVESTIGATE HOW SINGLE MOLECULES INTERACT WITH ONE REACTIVE SITE AND HOW THAT SYSTEM IMPACTS BEYOND OTHER NEARBY DOMAINS USING BOTH EXPERIMENTAL AND COMPUTATIONAL METHODS. THE INTERPLAY AMONG INTERMOLECULAR, INTRAMOLECULAR, AND SUBSTRATE-INDUCED EFFECTS ON CHEMICAL REACTION COOPERATIVITY AT SURFACES WILL BE STUDIED AND ANALYZED. HIGH SCHOOL, GRADUATE, AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WILL BE MENTORED IN RESEARCH, AND AN UNDERGRADUATE COURSE IN NANOSCALE PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY WILL BE DEVELOPED. SCANNING TUNNELING MICROSCOPY (STM) MEASUREMENTS REVEAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF BOTH INTER- AND INTRAMOLECULAR COMMUNICATIONS TO COOPERATIVITY ON THE SUBMOLECULAR LEVEL WHILE DENSITY FUNCTIONAL THEORY (DFT) AND MOLECULAR DYNAMICS PROVIDE A MECHANISM FOR QUANTIFYING THE ROLE OF THE SUBSTRATE, INTER AND INTRAMOLECULAR INTERACTIONS, SPATIAL EFFECTS, AND SPIN-SPIN INTERACTIONS IN PRODUCING COOPERATIVITY IN AXIAL COMPLEXATION. REAL-TIME STM IMAGING WILL BE USED TO MONITOR THE REACTION BETWEEN MOLECULES IN SOLUTION AND/OR THE GAS PHASE AND REACTIVE SITES ON SURFACE SUPPORTED METAL COMPLEXES CONTAINING TWO OR MORE REACTIVE SITES. REACTIVITY WILL BE MONITORED AS A FUNCTION OF TEMPERATURE, REACTANT CONCENTRATION, SOLVATION ENVIRONMENT, AND NATURE OF THE SUPPORT FOR THE METAL COMPLEXES. SEVERAL APPROACHES WILL BE USED TO MODEL THE STM EXPERIMENTS, INCLUDING THE GRAND CANONICAL ENSEMBLE TO PARAMETERIZE THE ENERGETICS OF BINDING FOR EACH DISTRIBUTION OVER THE REACTIVE SITES AND PERIODIC DFT CALCULATIONS TO PROVIDE INSIGHT INTO HOW ELECTRONIC DISTRIBUTIONS AFFECT BINDING COOPERATIVITY AT REACTIVE SITES. MOLECULAR DYNAMICS CALCULATIONS WILL BE EMPLOYED TO MODEL SOLVENT EFFECTS. BY DEVELOPING A COMPREHENSIVE MODEL OF REACTION COOPERATIVITY AT SURFACES, IMPROVED PREDICTABILITY OF REACTIVITY IN SURFACE CHEMISTRY, CATALYSIS, AND SENSOR DEVELOPMENT IS ENVISIONED. 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.

BUILDING A BETTER BACK-END: EDITOR AUTHOR & READER TOOLS FOR SCHOLARLY MULTIMEDIA

TO SUPPORT PERSONNEL COSTS IN RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.

INTEGRATING LIMNOLOGICAL, REMOTE SENSING, AND MODELING APPROACHES TO UNDERSTAND GLOBAL LAKE ICE DYNAMICS