American University

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY CARES FUND: AU CARES INSTITUTIONAL

SRS RN: MULTISCALE RECIPES (RESILIENT, EQUITABLE, AND CIRCULAR INNOVATIONS WITH PARTNERSHIP AND EDUCATION SYNERGIES) FOR SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY CARES FUND: AU CARES

ADULT DRUG COURT SITE-SPECIFIC TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

CONFIRMATION OF THE LOW-GLUTAMATE DIET AS A TREATMENT FOR GULF WAR ILLNESS

ART: AMERICAN UNIVERSITY TRANSLATING RESEARCH INTO ACTION CENTER (TRAC) -TO ADDRESS INCREASINGLY COMPLEX SOCIETAL CHALLENGES, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR LEADERS MUST LEVERAGE RESEARCH TO MAKE EVIDENCE-BASED DECISIONS. YET PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR PRACTITIONERS ARE NOT ALWAYS INFORMED OF THE BEST RESEARCH, AND UNIVERSITY-BASED SCHOLARS OFTEN LACK THE SKILLS OR CAPACITY NEEDED TO TRANSLATE THEIR KNOWLEDGE FOR THEM. THIS PROJECT WILL FOSTER GREATER USE OF EVIDENCE IN THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS BY PRODUCING NEW KNOWLEDGE ON BEST PRACTICES IN RESEARCH TRANSLATION, TRAINING SCHOLARS IN THE EFFECTIVE CONDUCT OF RESEARCH TRANSLATION, SUPPORTING THE DISSEMINATION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS THAT HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BENEFIT SOCIETY, BUILDING INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY FOR PROMOTING RESEARCH TRANSLATION, AND CULTIVATING A CULTURE OF RESEARCH TRANSLATION AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION. BY PROMOTING EVIDENCE-BASED DECISION MAKING IN THESE WAYS, THE PROJECT WILL ADVANCE NATIONAL HEALTH, PROSPERITY, WELFARE, AND SECURITY. THE PROJECT WILL INCLUDE RESEARCH, TRAINING, DISSEMINATION, AND CAPACITY-BUILDING COMPONENTS. THE RESEARCH TEAM WILL INVESTIGATE BEST PRACTICES IN RESEARCH TRANSLATION, CREATE A REPOSITORY OF TRANSLATION METHODOLOGIES, AND ENABLE KNOWLEDGE-SHARING ABOUT EFFECTIVE TRANSLATION PRACTICES AMONG INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION. THE PROJECT TEAM WILL APPLY THIS KNOWLEDGE THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF TRAINING PROGRAMS IN RESEARCH TRANSLATION AND THE PURSUIT OF PROFESSIONAL OPPORTUNITIES BEYOND ACADEMIA FOR SCHOLARS AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY AND OTHER WASHINGTON, DC-AREA INSTITUTIONS. AT THE SAME TIME, THE PROJECT WILL PROVIDE SEED FUNDING TO SUPPORT THE TRANSLATION ACTIVITIES OF A SELECT NUMBER OF HIGH-IMPACT RESEARCH PROJECTS LED BY AMERICAN UNIVERSITY FACULTY, ON ISSUES INCLUDING THE GROWTH OF A DIVERSE AND GLOBALLY-COMPETITIVE STEM WORKFORCE, THE DEVELOPMENT OF EFFECTIVE TRAUMA MITIGATION TRAINING FOR COUNTERTERRORISM PROFESSIONALS, AND THE USE OF MACHINE LEARNING TO IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF CLINICAL DRUG TRIALS. THE PROMOTION OF DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND ACCESSIBILITY WILL BE EMBEDDED INTO ALL THE PROJECT COMPONENTS, INCLUDING THROUGH THE RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION CRITERIA FOR PARTICIPATING IN TRAINING PROGRAMS OR RECEIVING SEED FUNDING SUPPORT. A NETWORK OF SENIOR ADMINISTRATORS AND FACULTY WILL SERVE AS AMBASSADORS FOR THE PROJECT, FURTHER PROMOTING ITS INSTITUTIONALIZATION AND SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH A SERIES OF ASSEMBLIES AND OTHER OUTREACH WITHIN AND BEYOND AMERICAN UNIVERSITY. PARTIAL FUNDING FOR THIS PROJECT WAS PROVIDED BY THE IMPROVING UNDERGRADUATE STEM EDUCATION (IUSE) PROGRAM, WHICH SUPPORTS IMPROVEMENTS IN STEM TEACHING AND LEARNING FOR ALL UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

TEACHER QUALITY ENHANCEMENT GRANTS FOR STATE AND PARTNERSHIPS - PARTNERSHIP GRANTS

THE PROPOSED PROJECT IS A COLLABORATION LED BY AMERICAN UNIVERSITY (AU) WITH WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY (WCU), THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS (VA), ABT ASSOCIATES, AND M‐W CONSULTING. AU PROPOSES PROCESS, IMPACT, AND COST‐EFFICIENCY EVALUATIONS TO EMPIRICALLY EXAMINE A VARIETY OF LEGAL AND EXTRA‐LEGAL OUTCOMES USING RIGOROUS EXPERIMENTAL OR QUASI‐EXPERIMENTAL METHODS TO ADDRESS GAPS IN RESEARCH ON VTCS. PROCESS QUESTIONS INCLUDE: 1) WHAT ARE THE STRUCTURES, POLICIES, PROCEDURES, AND PARTICIPANT POPULATIONS OF THE VTCS? 2) HOW ARE THE SELECTED SITES COMPARABLE AND DIFFERENT? 3) ARE THEY OPERATING WITH FIDELITY/ADHERENCE TO BEST PRACTICES? IMPACT QUESTIONS INCLUDE: 1) DO JUSTICE INVOLVED VETERANS (JIVS) WHO PARTICIPATE IN VTCS EXPERIENCE BETTER OUTCOMES COMPARED TO THOSE OTHERWISE PROCESSED (BUSINESS‐AS‐USUAL) THROUGH THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM (CJS)? 2) DO CERTAIN TYPES OF VTC PARTICIPANTS EXPERIENCE BETTER OUTCOMES THAN OTHERS? 3) ARE CERTAIN VTC PROGRAM ELEMENTS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN OTHERS? COST‐EFFICIENCY QUESTIONS FOCUS ON DETERMINING IF IT IS MORE COST EFFECTIVE OVER THE SHORT‐ AND/OR LONG‐TERM TO TREAT JIVS THROUGH VTCS RATHER THAN THROUGH THE TRADITIONAL CJS (BUSINESS‐AS‐USUAL). PROCESS EVALUATION THE PROCESS EVALUATION WILL IDENTIFY VARIABILITY IN THE SIX SITES’ STRUCTURE, POLICIES, AND PROCEDURES. PROCESS DATA WILL COME FROM: SITE SELECTION ASSESSMENT, SITE SELECTION INTERVIEWS WITH VTC TEAM MEMBERS, A TREATMENT COURTS BEST PRACTICES INVENTORY (BPI), PROGRAM MANUALS, PARTICIPANT HANDBOOKS, AND COURT AND STAFFING OBSERVATION. PRACTICES RELATED TO APPEARANCE FREQUENCY, PEER MENTORSHIP, MILITARY CULTURE, USE OF TECHNOLOGY, SERVICE ACCESS, AND COVID‐19 WILL BE AREAS OF PARTICULAR FOCUS. INTERIM DISSEMINATION ITEMS INCLUDE LOGIC MODELS, PROCESS MODELS, PROCESS REPORT, A SCHOLARLY MANUSCRIPT, AND ONE FACT SHEET OR INFOGRAPHIC. IMPACT EVALUATION SECONDARY DATA ARE COLLECTED ON AN ONGOING BASIS FOR THE IMPACT EVALUATION FROM THE VTC PROGRAM, AS WELL AS FROM THE GENERAL COURT, JAIL, PROBATION, AND VA RECORDS. THE ONSITE RESEARCH LIAISONS WILL WORK WITH THE SITE LIAISONS AND AGENCY RESEARCH PERSONNEL TO OBTAIN DATA. ABT WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR CONDUCTING PROGRAM FIDELITY CHECKS; SITE DATA COLLECTION, CLEANING, STANDARDIZATION, SECURITY, AND TRANSFER; AND ONGOING SITE COMMUNICATIONS. THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN REFERENCES ABT AS ONSITE RESEARCH LIAISON LEAD AND SIX ONSITE RESEARCH LIAISONS TBN. THE ONSITE RESEARCH LIAISONS WILL COLLECT PRIMARY DATA FOLLOWING THE IRB‐APPROVED RESEARCH PROTOCOL ACROSS THE SIX SITES. AN ABT DATA PROCESSOR WILL WORK WITH SITE LIAISONS AND AGENCY RESEARCH PERSONNEL TO ASSESS, OBTAIN, AND PROCESS ADMINISTRATIVE DATA FROM THE SIX SITES TO ENSURE THAT IT INCLUDES THE NEEDED VARIABLES. THE VA CO‐PI WILL LEAD VA DATA ANALYSIS AND WORK WITH A VA STATISTICIAN TO CREATE AND ANALYZE ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD DATASETS MERGED WITH OTHER DATAFILES. THEY PLAN TO OBTAIN SEPARATE VA IRB APPROVAL FOR VA ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS IN YEAR 4 (FOOTNOTE 7). PRIMARY DATA WILL BE COLLECTED VIA INTERVIEWS AND ORAL DRUG TEST SWABS OF JIVS DETERMINED TO BE VTC ELIGIBLE. INTERVIEWS WILL BE ADMINISTERED VIA QUALTRICS BY THE ONSITE RESEARCH LIAISONS, BEGINNING WITH BASELINE AT PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY SCREENING; FOLLOW‐UP INTERVIEWS ARE AT 6, 12, 18, 24, AND 30 MONTHS POST‐BASELINE. SITE LIAISONS WILL INFORM POTENTIAL SUBJECTS OF THE STUDY WHEN THEY SCHEDULE ELIGIBILITY ASSESSMENTS WITH ELIGIBLE JIVS. THE ONSITE RESEARCH LIAISON WILL MEET THE VTC‐ELIGIBLE JIVS AFTERWARDS, USING THE STUDY CONSENT PROCESS. THE BASELINE INTERVIEW OCCURS AFTER VTC ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION, AND BEFORE RANDOMIZATION AND OFFERS OF PROGRAM ADMISSION. INCENTIVE GIFT CARDS WILL BE OFFERED. THE INCENTIVE SCHEDULE STARTS AT $40 PER BASELINE INTERVIEW AND $25 PER SWAB AND INCREASES EVERY 6 MONTHS TO $65 AND $30 BY THE 30‐MONTH FOLLOW‐UP. IN ADDITION TO THE VARIABLES DESCRIBED ABOVE, INTERVIEWS WILL INCLUDE OHIO RISK ASSESSMENT SYSTEM PRETRIAL ASSESSMENT TOOL (ORAS‐PAT) FOR A STANDARD RISK MEASURE ACROSS SITES. POWER ANALYSES ESTIMATES INDICATE 89 PARTICIPANTS IN EACH TREATMENT/ CONTROL GROUP PER SITE. AN ADDITIONAL 10% TO ACCOUNT FOR POTENTIAL ATTRITION, PROVIDES A TOTAL TARGET SAMPLE OF 1,188. THEY WILL GENERATE RANDOM ALLOCATION SEQUENCES FOR EACH PROGRAM WHICH THE VTC WILL NOT SEE. THE SITE LIAISON INFORMS THE ONSITE RESEARCH LIAISON SOMEONE IS ELIGIBLE, AND THEY APPLY THEIR ALLOCATION SEQUENCE WHICH ASSIGNS THE JIV TO A TREATMENT OR CONTROL CONDITION. THE SITE LIAISON IS INFORMED AND OFFERS PARTICIPATION TO THE TREATMENT GROUP AND PROCESSES THOSE IN THE CONTROL GROUP THROUGH THE REGULAR CJS. ALTERNATIVELY, PROPENSITY SCORE MATCHING REQUIRES A POOL OF ELIGIBLE JIVS WHO DO NOT EXPERIENCE THE TREATMENT AND IDENTIFYING AND ACCOUNTING FOR CONFOUNDERS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE SELECTION PROCESS. OPTIONS INCLUDE OPT‐OUTS AND EXCLUSIONS FOR ARBITRARY ADMINISTRATIVE REASONS (DEFENSE ATTORNEY), WITH INFORMATION ON LARGER JIV SAMPLE USING VA DATA REPORTS ON JAIL CENSUS. STATISTICAL MODELS ARE DRIVEN BY THE NATURE OF THE OUTCOME IN QUESTION (LOGISTIC MODELS FOR BINARY OUTCOMES), AS WELL AS THE STRUCTURE OF THE DATA (MULTILEVEL MODELS WITH PERSON‐LEVEL RANDOM EFFECTS FOR TIME POINTS NESTED WITHIN INDIVIDUALS). INTERACTION TERMS WILL BE ADDED TO THE MODEL TO EXPLORE DIFFERENTIAL VTCS EFFECTS ON THE BASIS OF JIV (RISK/NEED, NON/VIOLENT OFFENSES, PRE/POST‐PLEA, DIAGNOSES) AND PROGRAM CHARACTERISTICS (MENTORSHIP, USE OF TECHNOLOGY, TREATMENT ACCESS). COST‐EFFICIENCY EVALUATION M‐W CONSULTING WILL CONDUCT THE COST‐EFFICIENCY EVALUATION. PLANNING ACTIVITIES INCLUDE REVIEWING COST DATA AVAILABILITY AND PROVIDING INPUT ON SITE SELECTION AND INSTRUMENTATION. LOCAL BUDGET DATA WILL BE GATHERED TO ESTIMATE THE COSTS FOR A VTC COMPARED TO CJS BUSINESS‐AS‐USUAL DURING THE RESEARCH PHASE. DATA WILL BE OBTAINED TO ESTIMATE HOW JIVS MOVE THROUGH EACH SITE’S CJS AND HOW MUCH OF EACH RESOURCE A TYPICAL JIV USES. MARGINAL COSTS OF CASE PROCESSING WILL BE ESTIMATED BY COMBINING BUDGET DATA ON EMPLOYEE WAGES AND BENEFITS WITH LOCAL PROFESSIONAL EXPERTISE ON TIME SPENT ON CASE TYPES IN A TYPICAL WEEK, FOR AN ESTIMATE OF THE CASE PROCESSING COST DIFFERENTIAL BETWEEN VTC AND BUSINESS AS USUAL. ANALYSES WILL DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN ACTUAL BUDGETARY SAVINGS AND TIME SAVINGS (OPPORTUNITY COSTS); THEY WILL CONFIRM VTC COSTS AND FUNDING SOURCES, WHETHER FEES PAID BY PARTICIPANTS OR TAXPAYER BUDGETS. DISSEMINATION DISSEMINATION PLANS INCLUDE REQUIRED NIJ FINAL DATA AND WRITTEN DELIVERABLES, A PROJECT WEBPAGE, A PROCESS REPORT WITH LOGIC MODELS AND PROCESS MODELS, THREE SCHOLARLY MANUSCRIPTS, FOUR FACT SHEETS AND INFOGRAPHICS, THREE CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS (AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CRIMINOLOGY, NADCP, AND AMERICAN PROBATION & PAROLE ASSOCIATION), TWO NATIONAL DRUG COURT RESOURCE CENTER PODCASTS, A RESEARCH BRIEF FOR VA NATIONAL CENTER ON HOMELESSNESS AMONG VETERANS, AND A VA VETERAN JUSTICE PROGRAM BRIEFING. CA/NCF

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SPACE GRANT CONSORTIUM BUDGET PROPOSAL FOR NATIONAL SPACE GRANT COLLEGE AND FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM: OPPORTUNITIES IN NASA STEM FY 2020-2024

STIGMA, COHESION AND HIV OUTCOMES AMONG VULNERABLE WOMEN ACROSS EPIDEMIC SETTINGS

SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HIV: THE INTERSECTING IMPACTS OF MASS INCARCERATION, HOUSING STABILITY, AND SUBSIDIZED HOUSING POLICIES

DRUG POLICY INCARCERATION COMMUNITY RE-ENTRY AND RACE DISPARITIES IN HIV/AIDS

THE PURPOSE OF THIS AWARD IS TO FUND THE FY23 NATIONAL SERVICE AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT RESEARCH COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.

FROM THE LABORATORY TO THE CLASSROOM: BUILDING CAPACITY FOR MATH AND SCIENCE TEACHING IN DC (LAB2CLASS)

OJJDP FY 2016 JUVENILE DRUG COURT TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

THE DCSGC MISSION STATEMENT IS TO SUPPORT NASA'S GOALS BY CONTRIBUTING TO STEM WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA UTILIZING THE UNIQUE RESOURCES OF OUR DIVERSE AFFILIATE INSTITUTIONS THROUGH PROGRAMS IN INTERNSHIPS/FELLOWSHIPS/SCHOLARSHIPS RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE HIGHER EDUCATION PRECOLLEGE AND INFORMAL EDUCATION TO INCREASE PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE SUPPORT EDUCATORS AND ATTRACT AND RETAIN STUDENTS TO PURSUE STEM ADVANCED DEGREES AND CAREERS. OUR STRATEGIC PLAN INCLUDES EIGHT MAJOR GOALS THAT HAVE BEEN DERIVED FROM NATIONAL PROGRAM GUIDANCE: ONE FOR EACH OF THE SIX PROGRAM ELEMENTS AND ONE EACH FOR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND DIVERSITY.

MULTISITE SCHOOL-BASED EVALUATION OF A BRIEF SCREENER FOR UNDERAGE DRINKING

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SPACE GRANT CONSORTIUM

THE DC SPACE GRANT CONSORTIUM (DCSGC) MISSION STATEMENT AS DEFINED BY OUR STRATEGIC PLAN IS ".. TO SUPPORT NASA'S GOALS BY CONTRIBUTING TO STEM WOR

ADULT DRUG COURT TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROJECT

TESTING THE EFFICACY OF SAFE SOUTH AFRICA: AN INTERVENTION TO PREVENT HIV RISK AND INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE AMONG ADOLESCENT BOYS - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT ADOLESCENCE PRESENTS AN IDEAL DEVELOPMENTAL TRANSITION PERIOD FOR AN INTEGRATED INTERVENTION TARGETING PREVENTION OF HIV RISK BEHAVIORS AND INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE (IPV), INCLUDING SEXUAL VIOLENCE. ADOLESCENT BOYS IN PARTICULAR ARE AT HIGH RISK FOR HIV AND PERPETRATION OF IPV. YET, FEW BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTIONS INTEGRATE HIV-IPV PREVENTION AND ARE TAILORED FOR THE UNIQUE DEVELOPMENTAL NEEDS OF ADOLESCENT BOYS. IN THIS STUDY, WE BUILD ON PREVIOUS SCIENTIFIC WORK THAT DEMONSTRATED THE ACCEPTABILITY AND FEASIBILITY OF SAFE SOUTH AFRICA, AN INTEGRATED HIV-IPV INTERVENTION THAT USES A DEVELOPMENTALLY- AND GENDER-TAILORED APPROACH GROUNDED IN SOCIAL NORMS THEORY TO PREVENT ADOLESCENT HIV RISK BEHAVIOR AND IPV. WE WORK IN SOUTH AFRICA, A COUNTRY WITH THE LARGEST HIV EPIDEMIC AND SOME OF THE HIGHEST RATES OF IPV IN THE WORLD. WE PROPOSE THE FOLLOWING SPECIFIC AIMS: (1) TAILORING SAFE SOUTH AFRICA INTERVENTION CONTENT TO ADDRESS THE UNIQUE BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL NORMS DATA THAT DRIVES HIV AND IPV BEHAVIORS AMONG BOYS IN THEIR SOCIOECOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENTS. (2) TESTING THE EFFICACY OF THE SAFE SOUTH AFRICA INTERVENTION IN PREVENTING HIV/STIS AND REDUCING IPV FREQUENCY AMONG N=836 ADOLESCENT BOYS (AGES 15- 17), WITH OUR WORKING HYPOTHESIS THAT THE INTERVENTION, RELATIVE TO THE USUAL CARE CONDITION, WILL SHOW (A) LOWER INCIDENCE OF ANY STI (INCLUDING HIV); AND (B) REDUCTIONS IN IPV PERPETRATION FREQUENCY AND DECREASED ENDORSEMENT OF IPV SUPPORTIVE ATTITUDES. (3) IDENTIFYING BARRIERS AND FACILITATORS TO IMPLEMENTING SAFE SOUTH AFRICA WITHIN A SCHOOL SETTING TO PROVIDE DATA FOR FUTURE DISSEMINATION (PRESUMING SAFE SOUTH AFRICA IS EFFICACIOUS). WE EXAMINE PROCESSES CRITICAL TO FUTURE DISSEMINATION THROUGH (A) FIDELITY DATA EXAMINING ADHERENCE TO CORE ACTIVE COMPONENTS OF THE STANDARDIZED INTERVENTION MANUAL GUIDING CONSISTENT DELIVERY OF THE INTERVENTION; AND (B) QUALITATIVE DATA ON THE EXPERIENCE DURING AND POST-IMPLEMENTATION FROM ADOLESCENTS AND STAKEHOLDERS USING N=20 IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS.

IQUA ELECTION EDUCATION AND AWARENESS INITIATIVE.

ADULT DRUG COURT SITE-BASED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROJECT

TO ADDRESS THE GROWING CRISIS OF DEMOCRATIC EROSION WORLDWIDE, DEVELOP A PARTNERSHIP AMONG A DIVERSE SET OF DRG STAKEHOLDERS THROUGH WHICH DATA, THEORIES, RESEARCH QUESTIONS, AND PRACTICES CAN BE DISCUSSED, EVALUATED, AND IMPROVED.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SPACE GRANT CONSORTIUM BUDGET PROPOSAL FOR NATIONAL SPACE GRANT COLLEGE AND FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM: OPPORTUNITIES IN NASA STEM FY 2025-2028 - BASE AWARD AND AUGMENTATION AWARD

PROPOSED SCIENCE/ PROJECT DESCRIPTION OUR CONTINUED SUPPORT FOR THE RHESSI PROJECT WILL ASSURE THE VITALITY OF THE RHESSI DATA/SOFTWARE ARCHIVE WELL

SYNAPTIC AROMATASE: A NOVEL FORM OF ESTROGEN DELIVERY

GLUTAMATE NEUROEXCITOTOXICITY IN GWI

TRANSITION TO TEACHING PROGRAM -- LOCAL

CULTIVATING INQUIRY THROUGH VITAL HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS IN THE CLASSROOM (CIVIC) SEMINARS

OPIOID AND PSYCHOSTIMULANT TAKING: TESTING THE IMPACT OF BEHAVIORAL ECONOMIC CONTEXTS - THE BROAD, LONG-TERM OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO IDENTIFY FACTORS THAT MAY EXPLAIN WHY SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS OCCUR AND TO IDENTIFY METHODS FOR MOST EFFECTIVELY REDUCING DRUG USE. BOTH OF THESE GOALS ARE ALIGNED WITH THE MISSION OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE. MORE SPECIFICALLY, A BEHAVIORAL ECONOMIC APPROACH WILL BE TAKEN HERE TO EXPERIMENTALLY TEST VARIABLES THAT CONTROL COCAINE- AND OPIOID- TAKING BEHAVIOR IN AN ANIMAL (RAT) MODEL OF DRUG ABUSE. ADDICTION HAS BEEN CONCEPTUALIZED AS REPEATED, MALADAPTIVE CHOICE OF DRUGS OVER IMPORTANT NON-DRUG REWARDS. RESEARCH IN BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS HAS FOUND THAT ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS DETERMINING CHOICE BETWEEN TWO REINFORCERS (REWARDS) IS HOW THEY INTERACT ALONG THE SUBSTITUTE-TO-COMPLEMENT CONTINUUM. IF SUBSTITUTES, INCREASING THE PRICE OF ONE REINFORCER RESULTS IN REDUCED CONSUMPTION OF THAT REINFORCER AND INCREASED CONSUMPTION OF THE OTHER BECAUSE SUBJECTS ALLOCATE RELATIVELY MORE BEHAVIOR TO THE NOW CHEAPER OPTION. IF COMPLEMENTS, INCREASING THE PRICE OF ONE REINFORCER REDUCES CONSUMPTION OF BOTH REINFORCERS, BUT, COUNTERINTUITIVELY, SUBJECTS ALLOCATE RELATIVELY MORE BEHAVIOR TO THE NOW MORE EXPENSIVE OPTION. IF THEY ARE INDEPENDENTS, THEN CHOICE IS RELATIVELY INSENSITIVE TO PRICE CHANGES. LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT HOW PSYCHOSTIMULANTS LIKE COCAINE AND OPIOIDS LIKE HEROIN RELATE TO NON-DRUG ALTERNATIVES IN TERMS OF SUBSTITUTABILITY/COMPLEMENTARITY. THIS KNOWLEDGE GAP SIGNIFICANTLY LIMITS OUR ABILITY TO EXPLAIN, PREDICT, OR MODIFY CHOICE BETWEEN THESE DRUGS AND NON-DRUG ALTERNATIVES. THIS PROPOSAL WILL ADDRESS THIS KNOWLEDGE GAP WITH THREE SPECIFIC AIMS. SPECIFIC AIM 1 WILL TEST COCAINE AND HEROIN’S DEGREE OF SUBSTITUTION, INDEPENDENCE, OR COMPLEMENTARITY WITH RESPECT TO A VARIETY OF NON-DRUG ALTERNATIVES (INCLUDING BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE REINFORCERS). SPECIFIC AIM 2 WILL INVESTIGATE HOW THE AVAILABILITY OF NON-DRUG REINFORCERS OF VARYING SUBSTITUTABILITY/COMPLEMENTARITY WITH COCAINE AND HEROIN AFFECTS DRUG VALUE (DEFINED IN TERMS OF BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS, WHERE VALUE REFLECTS HOW MUCH EFFORT SUBJECTS MAKE TO OBTAIN THE DRUG). SPECIFIC AIM 3 WILL TEST HOW THESE DRUGS’ INTERACTIONS WITH NON-DRUG REINFORCERS CHANGE ON THE TRANSITION FROM INITIATION/RECREATIONAL USE TO ADDICTION BY INVESTIGATING SUBSTITUTABILITY/COMPLEMENTARITY BEFORE AND AFTER INTERMITTENT ACCESS SELF-ADMINISTRATION (A PROCEDURE THAT PRODUCES ADDICTION-LIKE BEHAVIOR). COMPLETION OF THIS RESEARCH WILL PROVIDE IMPORTANT NEW INFORMATION ABOUT FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE EXCESSIVE ALLOCATION OF BEHAVIOR TO DRUGS THAT IS A HALLMARK OF SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER, A SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM FOR PUBLIC HEALTH TODAY. BY LEARNING WHAT CAUSES EXCESSIVE ALLOCATION OF BEHAVIOR TOWARDS DRUGS, WE CAN LEARN HOW TO MOST EFFECTIVELY MODIFY BEHAVIOR SUCH THAT DRUG CHOICE IS REDUCED AND THIS INFORMATION CAN BE USED TO IMPROVE TREATMENTS FOR SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER.

SOLE SOURCE REMOTE SENSING OF PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND BEYOND

ADDICTION AS MALADAPTIVE CHOICE OF DRUGS OVER NON-DRUG REWARDS

INVESTIGATORS AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY (AU) PRINCIPALLY MR. ALLEN LUNSFORD WILL WORK CLOSELY WITH SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS AT NASA/GSFC TO DEVELOP DESIGN BUILD TEST AND OPERATE INFRARED AND VISIBLE ARRAY SPECTROMETERS AND IMAGERS FOR ASTRONOMICAL AND TERRESTRIAL OBSERVATIONS. THE TYPES OF INSTRUMENTS ARE IN VARIOUS STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT AND OPERATIONS AT NASA/GSFC; INCLUDING LARGE GRATING SPECTROMETERS LINEAR VARIABLE ETALON (LVE) SPECTROMETERS AND FILTERBASED IMAGERS. THESE INSTRUMENTS HAVE SHOWN GREAT EFFECTIVENESS IN THE LAST DECADE OF DEPLOYMENT IN CURRENT NASA PROJECTS AND CONTINUE TO HOLD HIGH PROMISE FOR THE FUTURE OF PLANETARY ASTRONOMY AND OBSERVATION IN GENERAL ASTRONOMY AND EARTH SCIENCES. AU STAFF WILL WORK CLOSELY WITH NASA/GSFC IN ALL PHASES OF INSTRUMENTAL AND SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT: FABRICATION TESTING CALIBRATION DOCUMENTATION INSTRUMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS AND MAINTENANCE DATA REDUCTION AND DATA ANALYSIS.

MATH FOR AMERICA-DC

ANSWERING GIDEON'S CALL: NATIONAL ASSISTANCE TO IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE RIGHT TO COUNSEL SERVICES

THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS LASER RESEARCH GROUP HAS BEEN WORKING COOPERATIVELY WITH COLLEAGUES AT NASA GODDARD ON THE DEVELOPMENT

CAREER: INVESTIGATING CURIOSITY-DRIVEN VISUAL PROCESSING DURING SCIENCE LEARNING -THIS PROJECT WILL INVESTIGATE THE ROLE THAT CURIOSITY PLAYS IN STUDENTS? LEARNING ABOUT SCIENTIFIC PHENOMENA. CURIOSITY IS A HALLMARK OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY AND CAN PROPEL STUDENTS TO ASK QUESTIONS, EXPLORE SCIENTIFIC IDEAS, ENHANCE MEMORY, AND BOOST PERSISTENCE DURING LEARNING. YET, STUDIES OF CURIOSITY HAVE MOSTLY FOCUSED ON WHETHER CURIOSITY INCREASES LEARNING RATHER THAN HOW CURIOSITY INCREASES LEARNING. THEREFORE, TO UNDERSTAND HOW CURIOSITY IMPACTS LEARNING ABOUT SCIENTIFIC PHENOMENA, THIS PROJECT WILL CONDUCT A SET OF THREE STUDIES WITH HIGH SCHOOL AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS TO TEST WHETHER SPARKING CURIOSITY ABOUT SCIENTIFIC PHENOMENA CHANGES STUDENTS? VISUAL PROCESSING. THESE EXPERIMENTS WILL TEST WHETHER FEELING CURIOUS CHANGES VISUAL PROCESSING IN WAYS THAT SUPPORT STUDENT LEARNING ABOUT SCIENCE. THIS PROJECT WILL ALSO DEVELOP CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECTS TO ENGAGE K-12 STUDENTS IN COGNITIVE SCIENCE RESEARCH ABOUT CURIOSITY AND VISUAL PROCESSING. RESULTS FROM THIS PROJECT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO UNDERSTANDINGS OF CURIOSITY AND VISUAL PROCESSING, PROVIDE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE INTERVENTIONS TO INCREASE THE POSITIVE IMPACT OF CURIOSITY, AND WILL BE THE FIRST TO EXAMINE RELATIONS BETWEEN CURIOSITY AND VISUAL PROCESSING DURING SCIENCE LEARNING. THE PROJECT IS SUPPORTED BY A CAREER AWARD TO AMERICAN UNIVERSITY BY THE EHR CORE RESEARCH (ECR) PROGRAM, WHICH SUPPORTS WORK THAT ADVANCES THE FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH LITERATURE ON STEM LEARNING. WITHIN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH, IT IS CLEAR THAT BOTH MOTIVATIONAL PROCESSES, SUCH AS CURIOSITY, AND COGNITIVE PROCESSES, SUCH AS VISUAL-SPATIAL THINKING, SUPPORT STUDENT LEARNING ACROSS STEM FIELDS. THE POTENTIAL RELATIONS AMONG MOTIVATIONAL AND COGNITIVE PROCESSES ARE WELL-ARTICULATED AT THE THEORETICAL LEVEL. HOWEVER, EMPIRICAL RESEARCH STUDIES IN EDUCATION HAVE NOT YET MAXIMIZED THE POTENTIAL FOR COGNITIVE SCIENCE METHODS SUCH AS EYE-TRACKING TO ELUCIDATE THESE RELATIONS, AND COGNITIVE SCIENCE RESEARCH HAS TENDED TO UTILIZE DOMAIN-GENERAL STIMULI (E.G., TRIVIA FACTS, FACES) TO INVESTIGATE INTERSECTION OF MOTIVATION/EMOTION AND COGNITION DURING LEARNING. THEREFORE, THE CENTRAL QUESTION OF THIS PROJECT IS: HOW DOES CURIOSITY SHAPE VISUAL PROCESSING WHEN STUDENTS USE VISUALS TO LEARN ABOUT SCIENTIFIC PHENOMENA? TO INVESTIGATE THIS QUESTION, THIS PROJECT WILL CONDUCT A SET OF EYE-TRACKING AND BEHAVIORAL STUDIES TO INVESTIGATE THE SPECIFIC WAYS CURIOSITY MODULATES COGNITIVE CORRELATES OF VISUAL PROCESSING. IN THESE STUDIES, HIGH SCHOOL AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WILL LEARN ABOUT SCIENTIFIC PHENOMENA USING VISUALS SUCH AS MAPS AND DIAGRAMS. STUDY 1 WILL EXPERIMENTALLY MANIPULATE CURIOSITY USING A QUESTION-ASKING INTERVENTION. STUDIES 2 AND 3 WILL EXAMINE WITHIN-SUBJECT FLUCTUATIONS IN CURIOSITY AS STUDENTS ARE EXPOSED TO VISUALS ABOUT SCIENTIFIC PHENOMENA DESIGNED TO SPARK OR RESOLVE CURIOSITY. AS BRAIN REGIONS IMPLICATED IN CURIOSITY-DRIVEN REWARD PROCESSING (I.E., DOPAMINERGIC CIRCUITS) ARE ALSO ASSOCIATED WITH A RANGE OF VISUAL PROCESSES INCLUDING VISUAL INFORMATION-SEEKING AND MENTAL IMAGERY FORMATION, THIS PROJECT WILL TARGET THESE VISUAL PROCESSES AS POTENTIAL MEDIATORS TO EXPLAIN WHY STUDENTS LEARN BETTER WHEN THEY FEEL CURIOUS. BECAUSE THESE FINDINGS WILL PROVIDE INSIGHT INTO HOW (RATHER THAN JUST WHETHER) CURIOSITY SUPPORTS LEARNING ABOUT SCIENCE, THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL GENERATE SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE TYPES OF SCIENCE LEARNING TASKS THAT WOULD BENEFIT MOST FROM SUPPORTING CURIOSITY. KNOWING THAT, FOR INSTANCE, CURIOSITY IMPACTS LEARNING BY SUPPORTING VISUAL INFORMATION SEEKING MORE THAN BY ENHANCING MENTAL IMAGERY (OR VICE VERSA), HAS IMPLICATIONS FOR IDENTIFYING THE TYPES OF EDUCATIONAL TASKS THAT MAY BENEFIT MOST FROM CURIOSITY-PROMOTING INSTRUCTION AND FOR DEVELOPING CURIOSITY-PROMOTING INTERVENTIONS THAT ARE MAXIMALLY EFFECTIVE IN SUPPORTING THE UNDERLYING PROCESSES. 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.

INCENTIVE PROPERTIES OF ABUSED DRUGS

THE PROPOSED PROJECT WILL ACCOMPLISH THE FOLLOWING GOALS OVER A 3-YEAR PERIOD (OCTOBER 1, 2022 - SEPTEMBER 30, 2025): ENHANCE AND VALIDATE THE VTC RISK AND NEEDS ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR FULL IMPLEMENTATION, PROVIDE VTC AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROFESSIONALS WITH RESOURCES NEEDED TO USE RESEARCH-BASED TOOLS TO ASSESS THE RISK AND NEED OF JIVS, INCREASE THEIR CAPACITY TO ASSESS VETERANS’ RISK AND NEED, AND BETTER CONNECT THEM WITH EFFECTIVE INTERVENTIONS TO REDUCE RECIDIVISM AND INCREASE ACCESS TO CRITICAL TREATMENT AND RECOVERY SUPPORT SERVICES. TO DO SO, THE PROPOSED PROJECT IS DESIGNED TO MEET FOUR OBJECTIVES AND PRODUCE SEVERAL DELIVERABLES. THE OBJECTIVES INCLUDE: (1) ENSURE THE CREATION OF A RIGOROUS AND FEASIBLE TOOL BY CONVENING A MULTIDISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE OF SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS TO GUIDE, INFORM, AND ADVISE THE FINALIZATION AND VALIDATION OF THE VTC RISK AND NEEDS ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR DISTRIBUTION TO THE FIELD; (2) IDENTIFY ADDITIONAL PILOT SITES AND PROVIDE THEM WITH TTA TO TEST THE USEFULNESS OF THE VTC RISK AND NEEDS ASSESSMENT TOOL, AS WELL AS OBTAIN THE DATA NECESSARY FOR TOOL VALIDATION; (3) USE FEEDBACK TO ENHANCE THE CURRENT RNR TRAINING AND TOOLS FOR FINALIZATION; AND (4) PREPARE A FINAL VTC RISK AND NEEDS ASSESSMENT TOOL AND TRAINING CURRICULA READY TO BE USED IN THE FIELD. THE DESCRIPTION OF THE PROGRAM DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION IS ORGANIZED CATEGORIES OF DELIVERABLES AND OBJECTIVES. THESE INCLUDE: EXPERTISE/EXPERIENCE/PERSPECTIVE; TOOL VALIDATION; TOOL UTILITY/TOOL TRAINING/RNR TRAINING; WORK PLANS/ISSUE IDENTIFICATION/PROJECT MANAGEMENT; ONGOING COLLABORATION AND COORDINATION; AND KNOWLEDGE DIFFUSION. THE AU TEAM IS HIGHLY SKILLED AND COMPETENT WITH EXTENSIVE AND VARIED (BUT PROJECT-RELEVANT) EXPERTISE AND EXPERIENCE. THE AU TEAM IS COMPRISED OF SIX SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS WITH MILITARY, COURT, ACADEMIC, AND CLINICAL BACKGROUNDS. ADDITIONALLY, THE TOOL DEVELOPER AND PROGRAM COORDINATOR FROM EARLIER PHASES OF THE VTC-RNEI WILL ALSO SERVE ON THE TEAM IN TECHNICAL, COORDINATION, AND SUPPORT CAPACITIES. THE AU TEAM WILL PRODUCE FINAL VERSIONS OF: (1) SHORT SCREENER: ONLINE TOOL, HARDCOPY; (2) COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT: ONLINE TOOL, HARDCOPY; (3) CASE PLANNING PROTOCOLS; (4) RNR TRAINING: VIDEO, SLIDES, AND PRE/POST-TESTS; (5) TOOL TRAINING: VIDEO, USER GUIDE, FAQS, SCORING EXERCISE WITH MOCK INTERVIEW, AND INDIVIDUALIZED TRAINING AGENDAS; (6) TOOL DATA REPOSITORY. THE AU TEAM ALSO PROPOSES THE PRODUCTION OF THE FOLLOWING DELIVERABLES: (7) UTILITY FINAL REPORT; (8) VALIDATION FINAL REPORT; (9) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY; (10) SITE INITIATIVES SPREADSHEET; (11) CONFERENCE PRESENTATION(S); (12) FACT SHEETS; AND (13) INFOGRAPHICS.

SIGNALS TO FEED: BIOLOGICAL AND ASSOCIATIVE MECHANISMS

SIGNALS TO FEED: BIOLOGICAL AND ASSOCIATIVE MECHANISMS

THE OFFICE ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN (OVW) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE (TA) INITIATIVE PROVIDES OVW GRANTEES AND SUBGRANTEES WITH THE EXPERTISE AND SUPPORT THEY NEED TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT SUCCESSFUL STATE, LOCAL, TRIBAL, AND CAMPUS PROJECTS; INCREASE VICTIM SAFETY; AND BOLSTER OFFENDER ACCOUNTABILITY. THROUGH COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS, OVW SUPPORTS EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES, CONFERENCES, PEER-TO-PEER CONSULTATIONS, AND TARGETED ASSISTANCE THAT ALLOW CURRENT AND POTENTIAL GRANTEES AND SUBGRANTEES TO LEARN FROM EXPERTS AND ONE ANOTHER ABOUT HOW TO OVERCOME OBSTACLES AND INCORPORATE PROMISING PRACTICES IN THEIR EFFORTS TO ADDRESS VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN. IN ADDITION, OVW IS FOCUSED ON BUILDING THE CAPACITY OF THE CRIMINAL AND CIVIL JUSTICE SYSTEMS AND VICTIM SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS TO RESPOND EFFECTIVELY TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, DATING VIOLENCE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, AND STALKING AND TO FOSTER PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE NOT TRADITIONALLY WORKED TOGETHER TO ADDRESS VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN. WITH FY 2023 TA INITIATIVE FUNDING, AMERICAN UNIVERSITYS NATIONAL IMMIGRANT WOMENS ADVOCACY PROJECT (NIWAP) WILL CONTINUE ITS IMPROVING ACCESS FOR UNDERSERVED IMMIGRANT SURVIVORS: TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ON IMMIGRATION, FAMILY LAW PROTECTIONS, PUBLIC BENEFITS, AND SERVICES PROJECT. THIS PROJECT WILL PROVIDE BASIC AND INTERMEDIATE TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO VICTIM ADVOCATES, ATTORNEYS, LAW ENFORCEMENT, PROSECUTORS, LAW SCHOOL CLINICS, STATE COURT JUDGES AND COURT STAFF, AND SHELTER AND HOUSING PROGRAM STAFF ON STRENGTHENING THEIR KNOWLEDGE AND CAPACITY TO SERVE IMMIGRANT AND LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT (LEP) SURVIVORS EXPERIENCING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT. OVER THE COURSE OF THE PROJECT PERIOD, NIWAP WILL PROVIDE DIRECT TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, AS WELL AS CONVENE IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL TRAININGS, HOST COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE (COP) FOR FAMILY LAW ATTORNEYS AND ADVOCATES, CREATE PODCASTS, AND DEVELOP AND/OR UPDATE RESOURCES AS NEEDED. THIS PROJECT SUPPORTS FY 2023 TA INITIATIVE PURPOSE AREA 7: SERVICES FOR IMMIGRANTS EXPERIENCING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. THIS AWARD IS A CONTINUATION OF 15JOVW-21-GK-02208-MUMU.

EARLY LITERACY INTERVENTION LEADS (ELI LEADS)

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: TARGETED NEUROSTEROIDOGENESIS AND COMPLEX MEMORY FUNCTION

IMPROVING ACCESS TO SERVICES AND LEGAL OPTIONS FOR IMMIGRANT SURVIVORS

EXAMINING BLACKNESS IN POSTSECONDARY STEM EDUCATION THROUGH A MULTIDIMENSIONAL-MULTIPLICATIVE LENS -DESPITE WELL-INTENTIONED UNIVERSITY EFFORTS TO SUPPORT BLACK UNDERGRADUATE STEM STUDENTS, POLICY AND PRACTICE REFORMS RUN THE RISK OF NOT APPROPRIATELY BENEFITING ALL BLACK PEOPLE DUE TO PERVASIVE, DEFICIT-BASED ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT BLACK RACIAL IDENTITIES AND THE TYPES OF STRUCTURAL ENGAGEMENT NEEDED TO ADVANCE HOLISTIC, RACIAL WELL-BEING IN TRANSFORMATIVE AND SUSTAINABLE WAYS. STATED SIMPLY, STEM CONTEXTS DO NOT ADEQUATELY SUPPORT BLACK UNDERGRADUATE STEM STUDENTS BECAUSE STEM EDUCATORS AND PRACTITIONERS REMAIN UNSURE OF WHAT BLACKNESS MEANS FOR INDIVIDUALS, THEREBY CONSTRAINING TRUE RACIAL EQUITY ENDEAVORS. CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE REGARDING RACE POSITS INSTEAD THAT EMBODIMENT(S) OF BLACKNESS DIFFER ACROSS MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS AND AXES, INCLUDING ETHNIC IDENTITY (E.G., AFRICAN AMERICAN, CARIBBEAN AMERICAN, NIGERIAN AMERICAN), PLACE IDENTITY (E.G., SOUTH, MIDWEST), AND GENERATIONAL IDENTITY (E.G., FIRST-GENERATION, SECOND-GENERATION, THIRD PLUS GENERATION). BLACK STUDENTS FROM DIFFERENT ETHNIC AND GENERATIONAL IDENTITIES HAVING VARIED PERCEPTIONS OF THE RACIAL CLIMATE AND UNDERSTANDINGS OF THEIR STEM EXPERIENCES. RECOGNIZING THE SCOPE OF BLACKNESS AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR CREATING AND SUSTAINING HOLISTIC, HETEROGENOUS CONCEPTIONS OF RACIAL EQUITY IN STEM, THE TEAM WILL ESTABLISH A COLLABORATIVE NETWORK AMONG SIX INSTITUTIONS (TWO HBCUS, TWO PWIS, ONE MAJORITY BLACK INSTITUTION, AND ONE HSI) LOCATED ACROSS THE MID-ATLANTIC, SOUTHEAST, SOUTHWEST, AND MIDWEST REGIONS OF THE US TO STUDY HOW BLACK UNDERGRADUATE STEM STUDENTS? NOTIONS OF BLACKNESS VARY WITH RESPECT TO THESE DIMENSIONS. THE RESEARCH TEAM WILL CONDUCT AN EXPLORATORY SEQUENTIAL MIXED METHODS PROJECT, INTEGRATING MOSAIC ETHNOGRAPHY, SURVEY DESIGN AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE SURVEY TO BLACK UNDERGRADUATE STEM STUDENTS ACROSS FIVE STATES. THROUGH THESE METHODS, THE STUDENTS? CONCEPTIONS OF BLACKNESS WILL BE EXPLORED AS IT RELATES TO THEIR STEM ENGAGEMENT AND PERSPECTIVES OF RACIAL EQUITY IN STEM. IN EFFORTS TO FOSTER RACIAL EQUITY IN STEM FOR ALL BLACK PEOPLE, THIS PROJECT WILL PRODUCE TOOLS OF ANALYSIS (I.E., THEORIES, RESEARCH METHODS, QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE MEASURES) AND TRANSLATIONAL PRODUCTS (I.E., PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTS, AMINATIONS, INFOGRAPHICS) THAT WILL CHANGE HOW INSTITUTIONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES, PRACTICES, AND FUTURE RESEARCH TREAT BLACK PEOPLE IN STEM, THEREBY PROMOTING TAILORED RESOURCES AND SUPPORTS TO MEET BLACK PEOPLE?S NUANCED NEEDS. THE DESIRED OUTCOMES FROM THIS WORK WILL INFORM THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF RACIAL EQUITY FOCUSED POLICIES AND PRACTICES IN STEM EDUCATION, FACILITATING INCREASED ACCESS AND SUSTAINED ENGAGEMENT IN STEM FOR BLACK UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS. THIS COLLABORATIVE PROJECT IS FUNDED THROUGH THE RACIAL EQUITY IN STEM EDUCATION PROGRAM (EHR RACIAL EQUITY). THE PROGRAM SUPPORTS RESEARCH AND PRACTICE PROJECTS THAT INVESTIGATE HOW CONSIDERATIONS OF RACIAL EQUITY FACTOR INTO THE IMPROVEMENT OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE. AWARDED PROJECTS SEEK TO CENTER THE VOICES, KNOWLEDGE, AND EXPERIENCES OF THE INDIVIDUALS, COMMUNITIES, AND INSTITUTIONS MOST IMPACTED BY SYSTEMIC INEQUITIES WITHIN THE STEM ENTERPRISE. THIS PROGRAM ALIGNS WITH NSF?S CORE VALUE OF SUPPORTING OUTSTANDING RESEARCHERS AND INNOVATIVE THINKERS FROM ACROSS THE NATION'S DIVERSITY OF DEMOGRAPHIC GROUPS, REGIONS, AND TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONS. FUNDS FOR EHR RACIAL EQUITY ARE POOLED FROM PROGRAMS ACROSS EHR IN RECOGNITION OF THE ALIGNMENT OF ITS PROJECTS WITH THE COLLECTIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT THRUSTS OF THE FOUR DIVISIONS OF THE DIRECTORATE. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

THE PURPOSE OF THIS AWARD IS TO ASSIST THE GRANTEE IN CARRYING OUT A NATIONAL SERVICE PROGRAM AS AUTHORIZED BY THE NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE ACT OF 1990, AS AMENDED (42 U.S.C. ?12501 ET SEQ.).THE AWARD APPROVES FUNDING FOR THE FY 2026 NATIONAL SERVICE AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT RESEARCH FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIBED IN THE APPROVED PROGRAM NARRATIVE AND BUDGET. THE 2026 REQUIRED MATCH IS 0%. THIS AWARD ALSO FORWARD FUNDS $348,168 FOR THE 2027-2028 PROGRAM YEAR AND $348,168 FOR THE 2028-2029 PROGRAM YEAR. THE GRANTEE WILL NOT SPEND ANY OF THE ADDITIONAL FUNDING OF $348,168 FOR YEAR 2 UNTIL THE 2027-2028 PROGRAM YEAR BEGINS. THE GRANTEE WILL ALSO NOT SPEND ANY OF THE ADDITIONAL FUNDING OF $348,168 FOR YEAR 3 UNTIL THE 2028-2029 PROGRAM YEAR BEGINS. CONTINUATION APPLICATIONS WILL BE REQUIRED PRIOR TO BEGINNING YEARS 2 AND 3.

ADVANCE ADAPTATION: AMERICAN UNIVERSITY CREATING GENDER AND RACIAL EQUITY AMONG STEM FACULTY -THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY (AU) ADVANCE ADAPTATION PROJECT WILL IMPROVE THE PROFESSIONAL AND ACADEMIC ENVIRONMENT FOR ALL FACULTY WITH A FOCUS ON THE RETENTION OF WOMEN AND UNDERREPRESENTED RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITY (URM) FACULTY IN STEM FIELDS. THIS FOCUS IS INFORMED BY PRIOR WORK DONE WITH AN ADVANCE CATALYST GRANT, WHICH SHOWED THAT CHANGES TO FACULTY HIRING PRACTICES WERE ACHIEVING INCREASED DIVERSITY IN NEW FACULTY, BUT DEPARTURES OF DIVERSE FACULTY, PARTICULARLY URM WOMEN WAS A MAJOR ISSUE. THE CATALYST WORK ALSO FOUND INEQUITABLE EXPERIENCES AND SUPPORT FOR FACULTY ON TERM AND TENURE-TRACK CAREER PATHWAYS. THUS, THE ADVANCE AU PROJECT FOCUSES ON IMPROVING THE OVERALL ACADEMIC CLIMATE FOR WOMEN AND URM FACULTY IN STEM INCLUDING TENURE TRACK, TENURED, AND TERM FACULTY. THE GOALS OF THE PROJECT ARE TO: 1. ENHANCE FACULTY MENTORING THROUGH TRAINING FOR BOTH MENTORS AND MENTEES; 2. REVIEW AND REVISE DEPARTMENT LEVEL POLICIES WITH ?BOYER-INSPIRED? TENURE, PROMOTION, AND REAPPOINTMENT REFORMS; 3. ELEVATE, RECOGNIZE, AND REWARD THE DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION WORK DONE BY AU FACULTY THROUGH VARIOUS STRATEGIES; AND 4. CREATE AN INSTITUTIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE POSITION WITH RESPONSIBILITIES FOR FACULTY DIVERSITY AND EQUITY IN THE PROVOST OFFICE. THE ADVANCE AU PROJECT WILL CLARIFY EXISTING POLICIES AND DEVELOP AND EXECUTE NEW TENURE, PROMOTION, AND REAPPOINTMENT GUIDELINES THAT INTEGRATE INCLUSIVE AND ANTIRACIST PRINCIPLES. THIS AND OTHER ASPECTS OF THE PROJECT ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE STEM FACULTY FEELINGS OF BELONGINGNESS IN THEIR DEPARTMENTS AND AT AU. THE BOYER-INSPIRED FRAMEWORK, SELECTED TO COMBAT THE ?TEACHING VERSUS RESEARCH? DICHOTOMY, CATEGORIZES FACULTY WORK INTO FOUR DISTINCT BUT OVERLAPPING FUNCTIONS: 1) THE SCHOLARSHIP OF DISCOVERY; 2) THE SCHOLARSHIP OF INTEGRATION; 3) THE SCHOLARSHIP OF APPLICATION; AND 4) THE SCHOLARSHIP OF TEACHING. THE UTILIZATION OF THE FRAMEWORK IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE THE VISIBILITY OF NON-TRADITIONAL FACULTY WORK AND TO EXPAND THE DEFINITION OF FACULTY WORK AS RELATED TO TENURE AND PROMOTION. FINDINGS FROM THE PROJECT ARE EXPECTED TO SHED LIGHT ON HOW TO ENGAGE ACADEMIC LEADERS IN IMPORTANT AND ?DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS? ABOUT THE PERPETUATION OF RACIAL AND GENDER INEQUITIES VIA POLICIES AND PRACTICES IN PROGRAMS AND DEPARTMENTS. THE NSF ADVANCE PROGRAM IS DESIGNED TO FOSTER GENDER EQUITY THROUGH A FOCUS ON THE IDENTIFICATION AND ELIMINATION OF ORGANIZATIONAL BARRIERS THAT IMPEDE THE FULL PARTICIPATION AND ADVANCEMENT OF DIVERSE FACULTY IN ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS. ORGANIZATIONAL BARRIERS THAT INHIBIT EQUITY MAY EXIST IN POLICIES, PROCESSES, PRACTICES, AND THE ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND CLIMATE. ADVANCE ADAPTATION AWARDS PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR THE ADAPTATION AND ADOPTION OF EVIDENCE-BASED STRATEGIES TO ACADEMIC, NON-PROFIT INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION AS WELL AS NON-ACADEMIC, NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

MRI: ACQUISITION OF VOLUMETRIC CAPTURE SYSTEM FOR THE INSTITUTE FOR IDEAS

U & T VISA CERTIFICATION AND LANGUAGE ACCESS: STRENGTHENING LAW ENFORCEMENT AND PROSECUTIONAL ASSISTANCE FOR IMMIGRANT VICTIMS

RESEARCH HAS DOCUMENTED TREATMENT COURTS’ ABILITY TO REDUCE CRIMINAL RECIDIVISM AMONG PARTICIPANTS. HOWEVER, AS TREATMENT COURTS ARE ASSESSED, ONE TOPIC OF CONCERN HAS BEEN RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITIES (RED). DISPARITIES HAVE BEEN FOUND IN LESSER INSTANCES OF ACCESS TO TREATMENT COURT PROGRAMS AND LESSER RATES OF PROGRAM COMPLETION FOR MINORITIES COMPARED TO THEIR WHITE COUNTERPARTS. TO ASSIST TREATMENT COURTS IDENTIFY AND RECTIFY RED IN THEIR PROGRAMS, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY (AU) DEVELOPED THE RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITIES (RED) PROGRAM ASSESSMENT TOOL (RED TOOL). THE RED TOOL IS AN AUTOMATED WEB-BASED PLATFORM THAT HAS A SERIES OF CLOSED AND OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS TO CAPTURE INFORMATION ABOUT TREATMENT COURTS’ OPERATIONS AND PROCEDURES, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON EXAMINING AREAS WHERE RED MAY EXIST. UPON COMPLETION, COURTS ARE GIVEN SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPLEMENT IN THEIR PROGRAMS. THE RED TOOL IS A RESOURCE TO HELP TREATMENT COURTS ADHERE TO THE EVIDENCE-BASED STRATEGY OF MONITORING AND EVALUATING DRUG TREATMENT COURTS, INCLUDING EXAMINING ADMISSION RATES, TREATMENT SERVICES, AND OUTCOMES OF RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITIES. WORKING WITH FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY (FSU) AND SUBJECT-MATTER EXPERTS, AU WILL FOCUS ON THE BUREAU OF JUSTICE ASSISTANCE’S PRIORITY AREA 1A (PROMOTING RACIAL EQUALITY AND THE REMOVAL OF BARRIERS TO ACCESS FOR COMMUNITIES AFFECTED BY INEQUALITY). FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HOW THIS PROJECT WILL ADDRESS PRIORITY AREA 1A, REFER TO PROPOSAL NARRATIVE, PAGES 3 - 8. BELOW IS A LIST OF THE PROJECT’S OVERARCHING GOALS BASED AROUND CREATING CONTENT (E.G., FACT SHEETS, WEBINARS, ISSUES BRIEFS), DELIVERING MID-LEVEL TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE (TTA) TO TREATMENT COURT TEAMS, DEVELOPING AN ONLINE MODULE CURRICULUM, AND EVALUATING PROJECT COMPONENTS. RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITIES (RED) IN TREATMENT COURTS AND ASSIST COURTS TO IDENTIFY RED IN THEIR SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES. RECTIFY RED WITHIN TREATMENT COURTS AND ASSIST WITH IMPLEMENTATION OF RED TOOL RECOMMENDATIONS. CONDUCT PROGRAM EVALUATION OF PROJECT COMPONENTS, INCLUDING TTA AND ONLINE MODULE CURRICULUM. ONCE AU AND PARTNERS IMPLEMENT THEIR PROJECT, IT WILL LEAD TO TREATMENT COURTS IDENTIFYING RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITIES IN THEIR SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES, TREATMENT COURT PROFESSIONALS GAINING TOOLS TO RECTIFY RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITIES IN THEIR PROGRAMS, PROGRAM AND POLICY CHANGES IMPLEMENTED TO ALLEVIATE RED, AND A REDUCTION OF THE RATE OF RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITIES IN TREATMENT COURT. IF RED IS REDUCED IN TREATMENT COURTS, MINORITY PARTICIPANTS WILL BE MORE LIKELY TO ENTER AND COMPLETE PROGRAMS, WHICH WILL LEAD TO LESS CRIME FOR PERSONS WITH SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS.

THIS APPLICATION SEEKS FEDERAL FUNDS OVER 48 MONTHS UNDER CATEGORY 2: ENHANCEMENT TO EXPAND THE BALTIMORE VETERANS TREATMENT COURT (VTC) TO A REGIONAL MODEL TO SERVE 300 VETERANS IN BALTIMORE, CARROLL, HOWARD, AND HARFORD COUNTIES. THE VTC WILL CONTINUE TO BE PRE- AND POST-ADJUDICATION AND ACCEPT ALL RISK LEVELS REGARDLESS OF DISCHARGE AND DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS ELIGIBILITY STATUS. THE DIVERSION TRACK IS 90 DAYS; THE TWO PROBATION TRACKS ARE 12-18 MONTHS IN LENGTH (16 MONTHS AVERAGE). PARTICIPANTS HAVE ACCESS TO ALL THREE FORMS OF MEDICATIONS FOR OPIOID USE DISORDER, ANY FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION-APPROVED MEDICATION ASSISTED TREATMENT FOR OTHER SUBSTANCES AND ACCOMPANYING BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES AT THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS OR COMMUNITY PROVIDERS. INDIVIDUALS PRESCRIBED MEDICATION ASSISTED TREATMENT OR MEDICATIONS FOR OPIOID USE DISORDER WILL NOT BE DENIED PROGRAM ACCESS BECAUSE OF FDA-APPROVED SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER MEDICATIONS. FUNDS WILL BE USED TO HIRE A FULL-TIME VTC CASE MANAGER FOR INTENSIVE CASE MANAGEMENT TO THE ADDITIONAL PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS DUE TO THE INCREASE IN THE CATCHMENT AREA. SECOND, FUNDS WILL SUPPORT ATTENDANCE TO RELEVANT TRAINING AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES TO INCREASE TEAM MEMBER KNOWLEDGE OF CURRENT TRENDS, BEST PRACTICES, AND VETERAN-SPECIFIC ISSUES. THIRD, PURCHASING DRUG SCREENS AND LAB CONFIRMATIONS AND ESTABLISHING A WEEKEND/HOLIDAY TESTING CONTRACT WITH A LOCAL URGENT CARE WILL ALIGN THE PROGRAMS DRUG TESTING PROTOCOL WITH BEST PRACTICES. FOURTH, FUNDS WILL BE USED TO ENHANCE RECOVERY SUPPORT SERVICES THROUGH STRENGTHENING THE MENTOR PROGRAM AND CREATING AN ALUMNI GROUP THROUGH THE HIRING OF THE CASE MANAGER (SO THE MENTOR COORDINATOR CAN SOLELY FOCUS ON THE MENTOR PROGRAM), SENDING ONE TO TWO MENTORS ANNUALLY TO THE MENTOR TRAINING BOOT CAMP, AND THE CREATION OF DATA-DRIVEN RECOMMENDATIONS THROUGH AN EVALUATION OF THE MENTOR PROGRAM AND ALUMNI GROUP. FINALLY, ADDITIONAL TRANSPORTATION SUPPORT FOR PARTICIPANTS WILL BE PROVIDED THROUGH THE PURCHASE OF GAS CARDS AND A RIDE SHARE CONTRACT WITH LYFT.

THE ADVENT OF SENSITIVE HIGH-RESOLUTION SPECTROMETERS AND MODERN ANALYTICAL SPECTROSCOPIC TOOLS IS OPENING NEW WINDOWS IN THE EXPLORATION OF PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES. HIGH-RESOLUTION INFRARED SPECTROMETERS WITH BROAD SPECTRAL COVERAGE AND ARRAYS OF RADI

CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT OF IR VISIBLE SPECTROMETER AND IMAGING ARRAYS FOR GROUND BASED SPACE BORNE PLANETARY OBSERVATIONS

NEW EVIDENCE ON THE ROLE OF FEDERAL FUNDING IN REDUCING THE PREVALENCE OF OBESITY - PROJECT SUMMARY OVER THE LAST TWENTY YEARS, US OBESITY PREVALENCE INCREASED BY OVER A THIRD, WITH THE PREVALENCE OF SEVERE OBESITY INCREASING BY 96%. NEARLY 3 IN 4 ADULTS ARE CLASSIFIED AS OVERWEIGHT OR OBESE, AND 13% OF THESE ADULTS HAVE SEVERE OBESITY. OVER THIS SAME PERIOD, THE PREVALENCE OF OBESITY AMONG CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS INCREASED BY NEARLY 40%, AND THE PREVALENCE OF SEVERE OBESITY INCREASED BY 70%. APPROXIMATELY 16% OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS ARE OVERWEIGHT AND ANOTHER 20% ARE OBESE. THESE FIGURES HAVE LED POLICYMAKERS AND PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICIALS TO CALL OBESITY A NATIONAL EPIDEMIC. OBESITY IS EXPENSIVE IN TERMS OF LIVES LOST AND COST TO THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM. SEVERE OBESITY IS ESTIMATED TO SHORTEN LIFE EXPECTANCY BY UP TO 14 YEARS, AND THE ESTIMATED ANNUAL MEDICAL COST OF OBESITY IS NEARLY $200 MILLION. INDIVIDUALS WITH EXCESS BODYWEIGHT ARE AT ELEVATED RISK FOR THE LEADING CAUSES OF PREVENTABLE, PREMATURE DEATH, INCLUDING HEART DISEASE, DIABETES, AND AT LEAST 13 DIFFERENT TYPES OF CANCER. COMPARED TO HEALTHY WEIGHT CHILDREN, OBESE CHILDREN ARE MORE LIKELY TO HAVE ELEVATED BLOOD PRESSURE, DISPLAY EARLY SIGNS OF ATHEROSCLEROSIS, HAVE A FOUR TIMES GREATER RISK OF DEVELOPING TYPE 2 DIABETES, ARE MORE LIKELY TO DEVELOP CANCER BY AGE 30, AND ARE MORE LIKELY TO DIE BY AGE 30. TO HELP ADDRESS THE OBESITY EPIDEMIC, THE CDC’S DIVISION OF NUTRITION, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, AND OBESITY AWARDS STATE AND COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENTS, LAND-GRANT UNIVERSITIES, AND COMMUNITY-FOCUSED GROUPS FUNDS TO SUPPORT PROGRAMS PROMOTING PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND NUTRITION ACROSS THE LIFESPAN. TO IDENTIFY THE EFFECTS OF FEDERAL FUNDS FOR OBESITY PREVENTION ON WEIGHT-RELATED HEALTH BEHAVIORS, THE PREVALENCE OF OBESITY, AND THE INCIDENCE OF OBESITY-RELATED CHRONIC HEALTH CONDITIONS, OUR STUDY WILL LEVERAGE VARIATION IN WHICH COUNTIES AND STATES RECEIVED AWARDS, WHEN THEY RECEIVED THE AWARDS, HOW MUCH FUNDING THEY RECEIVED, AND THE DEMOGRAPHIC GROUPS TARGETED BY THE AWARDS. IN DOING SO, OUR PROJECT WILL YIELD IMPORTANT INSIGHTS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICIALS LOOKING TO UNDERSTAND HOW TO REDUCE THE PREVALENCE OF OBESITY IN THEIR OWN LOCAL SETTINGS.

SCHOOLS PLAY A SIGNIFICANT ROLE DURING CHILDREN'S FORMATIVE YEARS. AT THE CENTER OF OUR COMMUNITIES, SCHOOLS HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ASSUME LEADERSHIP ROLES IN DEVELOPING AND PROMOTING LIFELONG HEALTHY HABITS IN STUDENTS, TEACHERS, AND FAMILIES. TEACHERS ARE UNIQUELY POSITIONED TO CREATE AND IMPLEMENT INNOVATIVE PROGRAMS THAT ADDRESS STUDENT HEALTH AND EDUCATION NEEDS BY PROVIDING FORMAL AND INFORMAL EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES RELATIVE TO NUTRITIOUS EATING AND LIVING A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE TO PREVENT OBESITY. SCHOOLS THAT FOSTER HEALTHY HABITS WILL PREPARE STUDENTS TO BE HEALTHIER THROUGHOUT THEIR LIFESPAN AND MAY REDUCE EXISTING HEALTH AND ACADEMIC DISPARITIES, ESPECIALLY IN OUR MOST VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES. AMERICAN UNIVERSITY'S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH STUDIES AND INSTITUTE OF INNOVATION IN EDUCATION PROPOSES TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT THE HEALTHY SCHOOLHOUSE 2.0 PROGRAM, WITH A LONG-TERM GOAL TO IMPROVE HEALTH LITERACY AND PREVENT OBESITY IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS. TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL THE PROGRAM TEAM WILL DESIGN, IMPLEMENT, AND EVALUATE A SET OF RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND EXTENSION ACTIVITIES IN SIX ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN WASHINGTON, DC. THE PRIMARY ACTIVITY IS THE DEVELOPMENT, IMPLEMENTATION, AND EVALUATION OF A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (PD) PROGRAM FOR TEACHERS THAT WILL EDUCATE THEM ON INTEGRATING NUTRITION CONCEPTS INTO THE CLASSROOM. THIS LEARNING WILL EXTEND BEYOND THE SCHOOL WALLS THROUGH SCHOOL-WIDE EVENTS THAT INCLUDE FAMILIES, SUCH AS AFTER-SCHOOL EVENTS WITH LOCAL FARMERS MARKETS. HEALTHY SCHOOLHOUSE 2.0 WILL ENGAGE TEACHERS AS AGENTS OF CHANGE BY CREATING A CULTURE OF HEALTH WITHIN THEIR CLASSROOMS AND SCHOOLHOUSES.HEALTHY SCHOOLHOUSE 2.0 UTILIZES AN ECOLOGICAL APPROACH TO IMPROVE HEALTH LITERACY AND PREVENT OBESITY IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS. THE ECOLOGICAL MODEL IDENTIFIES THE SPHERES OF INFLUENCE ON AN INDIVIDUAL, BEGINNING WITH THE PERSONAL FACTORS OF THE INDIVIDUAL, THEN THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT, THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT, AND THE MACRO-LEVEL ENVIRONMENT, SUCH AS SOCIAL NORMS. IN A SCHOOL, THESE FACTORS INCLUDE THE TEACHER AND STUDENT AND HIS/HER KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE OF HEALTH BEHAVIORS, THEN EXTENDS TO THE CLASSROOM OR GRADE LEVEL, AND INCLUDES TEACHERS' AND CLASSMATES' KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, AND PRACTICES OF HEALTHY BEHAVIORS. THE NEXT LEVEL IS THE SCHOOL BUILDING, AND THE OVERALL MESSAGE THAT STUDENTS RECEIVE ABOUT HEALTH AT SCHOOL. FINALLY, THE MODEL ATTENDS TO THE INFLUENCE OF THE COMMUNITY - HOW FAMILIES INFORM STUDENTS ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE AND VALUE OF HEALTH. HEALTHY SCHOOLHOUSE 2.0 TARGETS THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE CLASSROOM THROUGH A PD COURSE FOR TEACHERS. TEACHERS' LESSONS WILL HAVE AN IMPACT ON INDIVIDUAL STUDENTS. THIS LEARNING IS EXTENDED TO THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE NEIGHBORHOOD THROUGH SCHOOL-WIDE EVENTS.

MOSAICS: MAXIMIZING OVC''S SURVIVOR ASSISTANCE IN COURT SETTINGS

THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS LASER RESEARCH GROUP HAS BEEN WORKING COOPERATIVELY WITH COLLEAGUES AT NASA GODDARD ON THE DEVELOPMENT

ROLE OF CANONICAL AND NON-CANONICAL BETA-CATENIN SIGNALING IN HIV-1 LATENCY - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT HIV REMAINS AN INCURABLE INFECTIOUS DISEASE DUE TO ESTABLISHING A SUBSET OF LATENTLY INFECTED RESERVOIR CELLS. HIV LATENT CELLS ARE NOT ERADICATED BY IMMUNE SYSTEMS OR COMBINATION ANTIVIRAL THERAPY (CART) BY REGULATING VIRAL RNA TRANSCRIPTION AND SUBSEQUENT PROTEIN TRANSLATIONS. THE LONG-LIVED CENTRAL MEMORY CD4+ T CELL SUBSET (TCM) IS REGARDED AS THE PREDOMINANT HIV RESERVOIR. LATENCY REVERSAL AGENTS (LRAS) REACTIVATE DORMANT VIRAL GENE EXPRESSION, FOLLOWING HIV CLEARANCE BY IMMUNE RESPONSE OR CART. HOWEVER, THE CURRENT LRAS HAVE FAILED TO REDUCE THE RESERVOIR SIZE IN THE CLINICAL TRIAL DUE TO THE HETEROGENEOUS MECHANISMS IN HIV LATENCY. IN ADDITION, LRAS NEGATIVELY AFFECT IMMUNE FUNCTION. THE LONG-TERM GOAL FOR THIS RESEARCH IS THE IDENTIFICATION OF ALTERNATIVE PHARMACEUTICAL TARGETS TO UNIVERSALLY INFLUENCE REVERSE LATENCY AND IMMUNE RESPONSE FOR HIV FUNCTIONAL CURE. THE WNT/SS-CATENIN PATHWAY RESTRICTS HIV REPLICATION AND IS ALSO INVOLVED IN HIV LATENCY BY PROMOTING SELF-RENEWAL AND PROLIFERATION OF TCM, WHILE SS-CATENIN IS NOT BEING EXPLORED FOR HIV LATENCY REVERSAL. THE WNT SIGNAL TRANSLOCATES SS-CATENIN TO THE NUCLEUS THAT FORMS A CANONICAL TRANSCRIPTIONAL COMPLEX WITH THE TCF/LEF TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS TO INDUCE DOWNSTREAM GENE EXPRESSIONS (CANONICAL SS-CATENIN SIGNALING). RECENTLY, INTERACTIONS OF SS-CATENIN WITH OTHER TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS, FOX FAMILY PROTEINS, HAVE ALSO BEEN REPORTED, WHICH REGULATES GENE EXPRESSION INDEPENDENTLY OF CANONICAL SS-CATENIN SIGNALING (NON-CANONICAL SS-CATENIN SIGNALING). THE RATIONALE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS BASED ON THE PREVIOUS REPORTS AND OUR PRELIMINARY DATA THAT 1) INHIBITION OF SS-CATENIN WITH TCF/LEF COMPLEX REACTIVATED HIV LATENT T CELLS AND IMMUNE STIMULATIONS, AND 2) SYNERGISTIC LATENCY REVERSAL EFFECT WAS OBSERVED WITH THE HDAC INHIBITOR BY SS-CATENIN ATTENUATION. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY IS TO REVEAL THE ROLE OF SS-CATENIN SIGNALING PATHWAYS IN LATENTLY INFECTED T CELLS. THE CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS IS THAT THE NON-CANONICAL SS-CATENIN SIGNALING ALLOWS LATENCY REACTIVATION AND STIMULATES IMMUNE CELL FUNCTION, WHICH WILL AID IN THE DESIGN OF NEW STRATEGIES FOR HIV ERADICATION. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED BY THREE SPECIFIC AIMS WITH A TEAM OF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS: 1) EVALUATION OF NON-CANONICAL SS-CATENIN SIGNALING IN HIV LATENCY 2) ELUCIDATION OF SYNERGISTIC INTERACTION BETWEEN LRAS AND SS-CATENIN SIGNALING, AND 3) ASSESSMENT OF SS-CATENIN NON-CANONICAL SIGNALING IN IMMUNE ACTIVATION. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS STUDY IS NOT ONLY FINDING THE NOVEL PATHWAY TO LET VIRUSES RELEASED FROM LATENCY BUT ALSO CREATING A SYNERGISTIC EFFECT WITH OTHER LRAS AND BEING AN IMMUNOSTIMULANT FOR THE SUBSEQUENT REACTIVATED CELL CLEARANCE THAT MAKES INNOVATION IN THE SUCCESSIVE COMBINATION LRA THERAPY.

COLLABORATIVE CAPACITY BUILDING FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND GENDER

HIGH-ENERGY PROCESSES IN THE SOLAR ATMOSPHERE UNDERPIN MANY PHENOMENA SUCH AS SOLAR FLARES CORONAL HEATING AND VARIATIONS IN THE SUN'S UV IRRADIANCE ALL OF WHICH CAN AFFECT SPACE WEATHER AT EARTH. CURRENT SATELLITE MISSIONS SUCH AS IRIS (DE PONTIEU ET AL. 2014) ARE HELPING US STUDY THESE PROCESSES AND FUTURE MISSION CONCEPTS LIKE FOXSI SMEX WILL IN THE FUTURE ENABLE NEW LEAPS FORWARD IN HOW WE UNDERSTAND THEM.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: FIRE-MODEL: ADVANCED AI FRAMEWORK TO IMPROVE UNDERSTANDING AND PREDICTION OF WILDLAND FIRE -UNDERSTANDING AND PREDICTING WILDLAND FIRE ARE CRITICAL FOR EFFECTIVE RESPONSE, RESOURCE ALLOCATION, AND RISK MITIGATION. HOWEVER, THIS REMAINS A MAJOR CHALLENGE DUE TO THE COMPLEXITY OF FIRE DYNAMICS AND THE LIMITATIONS OF CURRENT DATA SOURCES AND MODELING APPROACHES. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP INNOVATIVE LARGE-SCALE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) AND MACHINE LEARNING (ML) ALGORITHMS FOR THE DETECTION AND FORECASTING OF WILDLAND FIRES USING MULTIMODAL AND LONGITUDINAL GEOSCIENTIFIC DATA. THE RESEARCH TEAM WILL ADDRESS KEY COMPUTATIONAL CHALLENGES IN LARGE-SCALE GEOSCIENTIFIC DATA MINING. THE PROJECT WILL DEVELOP AND VALIDATE AN ADVANCED AI FRAMEWORK TO CURATE GEOSCIENTIFIC DATA, DETECT WILDLAND FIRE, INTEGRATE MULTIMODAL DATA SOURCES, ENABLE LONGITUDINAL DATA-BASED FORECASTING, AND SUPPORT COLLABORATIVE GEOSCIENTIFIC DATA ANALYSIS AND MODEL LEARNING. THIS PROJECT WILL GENERATE BROAD SOCIETAL AND EDUCATIONAL BENEFITS THROUGH OUTREACH, DATA DISSEMINATION, AND CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT. IT WILL PRODUCE AN OPEN-SOURCE, INTEGRATED DATASET TO SUPPORT THE BROADER RESEARCH COMMUNITY IN BENCHMARKING AND DEVELOPING NEW METHODS. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO ENGAGE WITH DIFFERENT STAKEHOLDERS, INCLUDING FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL AGENCIES, SUCH AS NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION (NASA) CENTERS, THE U.S. FOREST SERVICE, AND THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, TO ENSURE THAT THE DEVELOPED TOOLS ALIGN WITH OPERATIONAL NEEDS FOR FIRE TRACKING AND MANAGEMENT. THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO ANSWER URGENT NEEDS IN WILDLAND FIRE RESEARCH BY DEVELOPING A NEW ADVANCED AI FRAMEWORK FOR GEOSCIENTIFIC DATA ANALYSIS AIMED AT ADDRESSING IMPORTANT COMPUTATIONAL CHALLENGES THROUGH SEVERAL KEY EFFORTS. FIRST, THE TEAM WILL INTEGRATE DATA FROM MULTIPLE PLATFORMS AND MODALITIES TO CREATE A COMPREHENSIVE DATASET THAT COMBINES MULTI-INSTRUMENT SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS FROM BOTH GEOSTATIONARY (GEO) AND LOW-EARTH ORBIT (LEO) PLATFORMS, ATMOSPHERIC REANALYSIS DATA, HISTORICAL FIRE RECORDS, SURFACE CHARACTERISTICS, AND FUELS INFORMATION. SECOND, AN ADVANCED AI FRAMEWORK WILL BE DEVELOPED VIA FULLY UTILIZING THE POTENTIALS OF MULTIMODAL AND LONGITUDINAL GEOSCIENTIFIC DATASETS FOR WILDLAND FIRE DETECTION AND FORECASTING. THE PROPOSED ADVANCED AI FRAMEWORK INCLUDES: AN INTERPRETABLE MULTIMODAL TRANSFORMER TO INTEGRATE DIVERSE DATA AND ENSURE INTERPRETABILITY IN FIRE-RELATED FEATURE EXTRACTION; INCOMPLETE MULTIMODAL LEARNING MODEL TO LEVERAGE BOTH GEO AND LEO SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS DURING TRAINING AND REMAIN ROBUST WHEN ONLY PARTIAL DATA ARE AVAILABLE DURING INFERENCE; A TEMPORALLY STRUCTURED DEEP LEARNING MODEL FOR FUTURE WILDLAND FIRE FORECASTING; AND A FEDERATED LEARNING PLATFORM FOR COLLABORATIVE GEOSCIENTIFIC DATA ANALYSIS AND AI MODEL LEARNING. THE INNOVATIVE INTEGRATION OF LARGE-SCALE MACHINE LEARNING AND DATA-INTENSIVE COMPUTING FOR HETEROGENEOUS GEOSCIENTIFIC DATA MINING HOLDS GREAT PROMISE FOR WILDLAND FIRE EARLY FORECASTING. 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.

MINORITY STRESS REACTIVITY AND HAZARDOUS DRINKING

INVESTIGATING THE MOLECULAR BASIS OF EVOLVED STRESS RESILIENCE IN A SUBTERRESTRIAL NEMATODE - A CRITICAL AND WELL-STUDIED CELLULAR STRESS RESPONSE PATHWAY, THE UNFOLDED PROTEIN RESPONSE (UPR), PROTECTS ORGANISMS AGAINST SEVERAL STRESSORS INCLUDING HEAT, HYPOXIA, STARVATION, AND TOXINS. HELPING TO REPAIR CELLULAR DAMAGE, THE UPR CAN ALSO TRIGGER APOPTOSIS IF THE STRESS IS ONGOING, SEVERE, AND UNRECOVERABLE. THEREFORE, PROPER REGULATION OF THIS PATHWAY IS ESSENTIAL, PARTICULARLY SINCE ITS MALFUNCTION CONTRIBUTES TO HUMAN PATHOLOGIES INCLUDING AUTOIMMUNE DISORDERS, CANCER, AND NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES. THE BRACHT LAB RECENTLY PUBLISHED THE GENOME OF A NEMATODE, HALICEPHALOBUS MEPHISTO, ISOLATED FROM THE DEEP TERRESTRIAL SUBSURFACE OF SOUTH AFRICA, OVER A KILOMETER UNDERGROUND. THIS ORGANISM HAS ADAPTED TO A STRESSFUL ENVIRONMENT: HOT, HYPOXIC, AND RICH IN METHANE. THEREFORE THE ORGANISM DISPLAYS A NATURALLY EVOLVED RESILIENCE TO STRESSES THAT WOULD NORMALLY CAUSE LETHALITY; WE ALSO FOUND THAT ITS UPR PATHWAY IS A SITE WHERE ADAPTATION HAS OCCURRED. WE HAVE CONFIRMED THAT RNA INTERFERENCE (RNAI) BY FEEDING CAN BE USED TO MODULATE GENE EXPRESSION IN THIS ORGANISM, SETTING THE STAGE FOR A MOLECULAR INVESTIGATION OF STRESS RESILIENCE. AIM 1. TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT ARMET/MANF IS NOT JUST AN INHIBITOR OF UPR SIGNALING IN H. MEPHISTO. A UPR SIGNALING GENE DISCOVERED IN 2003, ARGININE-RICH, MUTATED IN EARLY-STAGE TUMORS / MESENCEPHALIC ASTROCYTE DERIVED NEUROTROPHIC FACTOR (ARMET / MANF), REMAINS MYSTERIOUS. WHILE ITS PRECISE MOLECULAR FUNCTION HAS PROVEN ELUSIVE, WE IDENTIFIED IT AS THE SECOND MOST HIGHLY UPREGULATED GENE UNDER HEAT STRESS IN H. MEPHISTO. IN THIS AIM, WE WILL PERFORM ANALYSIS OF THE TRANSCRIPTOMIC CHANGES WHEN ARMET / MANF IS KNOCKED DOWN BY RNAI. AIM 2. TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT HSF1 HAS ACQUIRED AN EXPANDED ROLE IN HEAT RESILIENCE IN H. MEPHISTO. HEAT-SHOCK FACTOR 1 (HSF1) IS A WELL-CHARACTERIZED, CONSERVED TRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATOR OF THE HEAT RESPONSE ACROSS METAZOA. HOWEVER, WE IDENTIFIED THE POTENTIAL FOR THIS PROTEIN TO REGULATE 75% OF THE GENES THROUGH A HELITRON-DRIVEN EXPANSION OF ITS RECOGNITION SITE. THIS AIM IS STRUCTURED TO TEST THIS APPARENT RE-WIRING OF THE HSF1 REGULATORY NETWORK. AIM 3. TEST THE ROLE OF HEAT-UPREGULATED-PROTEIN-1 (HTUP-1) IN HEAT AND TUNICAMYCIN RESILIENCE. HTUP-1 IS THE MOST UPREGULATED GENE ON HEAT IN H. MEPHISTO AND IT IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER KNOWN PROTEIN--NO BLAST MATCHES AND NO RECOGNIZABLE DOMAINS. WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT HTUP-1 IS A NOVEL MODULATOR OF THE EVOLVED UPR RESPONSE IN H. MEPHISTO. TO STUDY HTUP-1 FUNCTION, WE WILL INACTIVATE IT BY RNAI, MEASURE GROWTH PHENOTYPES UNDER HEAT OR TUNICAMYCIN STRESS, VERIFY KNOCKDOWN BY QRT-PCR, AND THEN PERFORM RNA-SEQ TO EXAMINE THE PATHWAYS AFFECTED. AIM 4. CONSTRUCT MULTI-COPY ARRAYS OF H. MEPHISTO GENES IN C. ELEGANS AS A MECHANISM OF HEAT RESILIENCE. HSP70 GENES ARE EXTREMELY WELL CHARACTERIZED. HOWEVER, IN H. MEPHISTO WE UNCOVERED A NEW FAMILY OF HSP70 GENES: HSPA15; HERE WE PROPOSE TO EVALUATE WHETHER THESE GENES CAN CONFER HEAT TOLERANCE DE NOVO BY HETEROLOGOUS EXPRESSION IN C. ELEGANS. BECAUSE C. ELEGANS IS NOT THERMOTOLERANT, ANY ACQUIRED HEAT TOLERANCE WILL BE EASILY DETECTED IN THIS GENETIC BACKGROUND.

OVERVIEW WHY IS EARTH WET AND ALIVE? THE EARTH FORMED IN A WATER-POOR REGION OF THE PROTOPLANETARY DISK AND EVEN TODAY THE BULK EARTH IS COSMICALLY DRY (POOR IN HYDROGEN RELATIVE TO THE PROTOPLANETARY DISK). AT SOME 60 MA AFTER EARTH-ACCRETION THE MOON-FORMING IMPACT PROBABLY REMOVED ANY WATER THAT MAY HAVE OUTGASSED AFTER CORE FORMATION LEAVING THE HADEAN EARTH WATER-POOR AT ITS SURFACE. YET EARLY ZIRCONS ARGUE THAT OCEANS EXISTED BY 250 MA AFTER FORMATION. SO WAS WATER DELIVERED BY IMPACT DURING THE INTERVENING MILLENNIA WHILE THE DECLINING HEAVY BOMBARDMENT WAS IN FULL SWING? WHAT ROLE DID PRIMITIVE BODIES PLAY IN DELIVERING WATER AND PRE-BIOTIC ORGANICS TO THE YOUNG EARTH? TOGETHER THE INTERCOMPARISON OF COMETS (AND THEIR DYNAMICAL FAMILIES) WILL ADDRESS THIS ISSUE AND WILL ALSO CLARIFY KEY QUESTIONS OF COMETARY ORIGINS. THE GODDARD COMET TEAM PIONEERED THE DIRECT STUDY OF PRIMARY VOLATILES IN COMETS AT INFRARED WAVELENGTHS ESTABLISHING THE THEORETICAL BASIS FOR THIS APPROACH (MUMMA NASA CP-2223 1982 WEAVER AND MUMMA APJ 1984) AND DEMONSTRATING ITS FIRST SUCCESSFUL APPLICATION BY DETECTING H20 IN COMET IP/HALLEY IN 1985 (MUMMA ET AL. SCIENCE 1986). SINCE THEN THE EVER-EXPANDING AND -EVOLVING GODDARD TEAM HAS PUBLISHED MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED REFEREED PAPERS BASED ON AIRBORNE AND GROUND-BASED ASTRONOMICAL SPECTROSCOPY OF COMETS EXTENDING THE APPROACH TO MANY MOLECULAR SPECIES INCLUDING ISOTOPOLOGUES. SINCE ITS INCEPTION THIS IR APPROACH HAS BECOME A STANDARD FOR REMOTE SENSING OF PRIMARY VOLATILES IN COMETS AND MULTIPLE INDEPENDENT GROUPS WORLDWIDE NOW APPLY IT. AUGMENTED BY RADIO INVESTIGATIONS THE COMBINED APPROACHES NOW ADDRESS UP TO SEVERAL DOZEN MOLECULAR SPECIES IN A GIVEN COMET PERMITTING ATTEMPTS TO DEFINE A TAXONOMY FOR COMETS BASED ON THEIR VOLATILE COMPOSITION USING THE SO-QUANTIFIED ABUNDANCES OF PRIMARY COMA VOLATILES THAT WERE STORED INITIALLY IN THE ICY NUCLEUS. TODAY THIS RESEARCH IS ACHIEVED THROUGH THE CURRENT GENERATION OF NEAR-INFRARED (A.~ 1-5 M) LONG-SLIT ECHELLE GRATING SPECTROMETERS THAT INCORPORATE LARGE-FORMAT 2-D DETECTOR ARRAYS (2KX2K) WITH SUB-ARC-SECOND PIXEL SIZES. THEY COMBINE HIGH ANGULAR RESOLUTION (TYPICALLY :S 1 ARC-SECOND) WITH THE HIGH SPECTRAL RESOLVING POWER (A./8A. 2: 2.5X104 AND HIGHER) REQUIRED FOR ISOLATION OF INDIVIDUAL COMETARY EMISSION LINES. IN PARALLEL WITH THEIR FIRST-LINE USE OF DRAMATICALLY IMPROVED INSTRUMENTS THE TEAM ALSO ACHIEVED MAJOR ADVANCES IN THEORY AND DATA PROCESSING. THESE WERE ENABLED BY THE ADVENT OF COMPREHENSIVE SPECTROSCOPIC DATABASES CONTAINING BILLIONS OF LINES ROBUST RADIATIVE TRANSFER MODELS AND UNPRECEDENTED COMPUTATIONAL POWER. THEY TRANSFORMED THE WAY WE INVESTIGATE COMETARY ATMOSPHERES. THE GOAL IS TO EXTRACT THE MAXIMUM SCIENCE FROM DATA RETURNED BY THESE INSTRUMENTS. THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY PROPOSES TO CONDUCT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH WITH THE GODDARD CENTER FOR ASTROBIOLOGY USING A COMBINATION OF RESEARCHERS AND STAFF (TASK 3) AT VARIOUS LEVELS OF EXPERTISE FROM UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS (TASK 2) TO PH.D. SCIENTISTS (TASK 1). AMERICAN UNIVERSITY P. I. DR. ULYSSES SOFIA WILL OVERSEE ASPECTS OF AU ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT FOR THIS ACTIVITY. TASK 1: WORKING WITH THE GODDARD TEAM DR. MANUELA LIPPI WILL RE-ANALYZE THE COMET DATABASE IN A CONSISTENT FASHION USING THE NEWEST METHODOLOGY AND SO PROVIDE THE MOST ACCURATE DATABASE OF MOLECULAR ABUNDANCES AND RELATED PARAMETERS. TASK 2: UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WILL PERFORM SHORT-TERM RESEARCH PROJECTS UNDER THE DIRECTION OF SENIOR SCIENTIFIC MENTORS OF THE GCA. TASK 3: MS. CORINNE EBY WILL PROVIDE SUPPORT TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY TEAM AND WILL OVERSEE THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE URAA SUMMER RESEARCH PROGRAM.

NOYCE SCHOLAR RETENTION IN RACIALLY AND CULTURALLY NON-DOMINANT COMMUNITIES: STUDYING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARTNERSHIPS AND PERSISTENCE IN THE TEACHING PROFESSION

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY COLLABORATION WITH LAHORE UNIVERSITY OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCE FOR MENTORSHIP AND LEADERSHIP TRAINING ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP FOR FEMALE.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR COUNTERING VIOLENT EXTREMISM

IMPROVING ACCESS FOR IMMIGRANT SURVIVORS: TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING ON IMMIGRATION, FAMILY LAW PROTECTIONS, PUBLIC BENEFITS AND SERVICES

PLACEBO MECHANISMS UNDERLYING SMOKING BEHAVIOR AND RELAPSE PROCESSES

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR COUNTERING VIOLENT EXTREMISM

MECHANISMS CONTROLLING CELLULAR DIFFERENTIATION AND PROLIFERATION IN A PLANT STEM CELL MICROENVIRONMENT

THIS PROJECT WILL BRING TOGETHER 60 PROMISING FEMALE COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY STUDENTS, AGES 18-24, FROM DISADVANTAGED BACKGROUNDS.

CHILD LABOR

REDUCING MATERNAL STRESS TO IMPROVE OBESITY-RELATED PARENTING PRACTICES

THE PROJECT WILL: 1) FOSTER DIALOGUE AMONG SYRIANS ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS PROBLEMS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD AND DIFFERENT MEANS OF ADDRESSING SUCH PROBLEMS;

ASSESSING THE TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL CAPACITY OF MS-13 IN THE U.S. AND EL SALVADOR

THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS LASER RESEARCH GROUP HAS BEEN COOPERATIVELY WORKING WI

CRIMINAL COURTS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROJECT

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CIBR: THE OPENBEHAVIOR PROJECT

EVALUATING THE CAMINO INTERVENTION TO REDUCE HIV RISK AND POOR CARE OUTCOMES AMONG LATIN AMERICANS - LATIN AMERICAN POPULATIONS IN THE U.S. ARE FACING RISING HIV INCIDENT RATES. THE CAMINO STUDY IS AN INTERVENTION TO ADDRESS THE CAUSES OF INCREASING HIV INCIDENCE AMONG LATIN AMERICANS, AND TO IMPROVE THEIR HIV-RELATED OUTCOMES. WE PROPOSE TO ASSESS THE EFFECTS OF THE CAMINO STUDY, A STATUS NEUTRAL MULTI-LEVEL PILOT INTERVENTION COMBINING LEGAL SERVICES WITH PEER NAVIGATION TO IMPROVE HIV PREVENTION AND CARE ENGAGEMENT. THE GOAL OF THE CAMINO INTERVENTION IS TO MINIMIZE FEAR OF HEALTHCARE ENGAGEMENT, REDUCE STRESS, AND IMPROVE ACCESS TO HIV PREVENTION AND CARE SERVICES, THUS ENABLING LATIN AMERICAN PEOPLE TO MAKE CHOICES THAT PRIORITIZE THEIR SAFETY AND WELLBEING AND IMPROVE HIV CARE AND PREVENTION ENGAGEMENT. OUR PRIOR WORK FINDS THIS APPROACH TO BE FEASIBLE AND ENABLED US TO ESTABLISH STRONG COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS IN TWO CITIES WITH SIGNIFICANT HIV EPIDEMICS. WE WILL RECRUIT A STRATIFIED SAMPLE OF 50 LATIN AMERICAN PEOPLE WITH UNMET HIV PREVENTION AND CARE NEEDS. WE WILL USE A QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL WAIT-LIST CONTROL DESIGN BY COMPARING HIV OUTCOMES FOR THOSE WHO RECEIVE THE CAMINO INTERVENTION COMPARED TO THOSE ON A ROLLING WAITLIST OVER 18 MONTHS. OUR PRIMARY OUTCOMES INCLUDE HIV PREVENTION OUTCOMES (HIV TESTING WITHIN THE PAST 6 MONTHS AND PREP UPTAKE) AND HIV CARE OUTCOMES FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV (HIV CARE VISIT ATTENDANCE, ART ADHERENCE AND VIRAL LOAD). FURTHER, WE WILL EXAMINE LEGAL, SOCIAL, AND MENTAL HEALTH FACTORS’ EFFECTS ON HIV PREVENTION AND CARE ENGAGEMENT. DATA WILL COME FROM SURVEYS AND MEDICAL RECORD REVIEW. FINALLY, BY COLLECTING PROCESS EVALUATION DATA DURING THE INTERVENTION AND DRAWING ON KEY INFORMANT INTERVIEWS, WE WILL ASSESS THE FEASIBILITY OF TESTING THE INTERVENTION AT SCALE IN U.S. CITIES WITH LARGE LATIN AMERICAN POPULATIONS. THE CAMINO INTERVENTION PROPOSES TO FILL A CRITICAL GAP IN HIV RESEARCH BY ADDRESSING LEGAL NEEDS AS A BARRIER TO HIV CARE AND PREVENTION, AND BY PROVIDING BEST PRACTICE EVIDENCE FOR SCALE UP TO OTHER HEALTH CARE FACILITIES AND ORGANIZATIONS ON THE FRONTLINES OF HEALTHCARE FOR LATIN AMERICAN POPULATIONS.

FW-HTF-RM: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: AUGMENTING REMOTE MEDICAL PROCEDURE TRAINING AND ASSISTANCE WITH SPATIAL COMPUTING AND VOLUMETRIC CAPTURE

U VISA CERTIFICATION: STRENGTHENING LAW ENFORCEMENT AND PROSECUTORIAL ASSISTANCE TO IMMIGRANT VICTIMS

IMPROVING ACCESS TO SERVICES AND LEGAL OPTIONS FOR IMMIGRANT SURVIVORS

THE RECIPIENT PROPOSES TO DEVELOP ADVANCED METHODS (E.G. RADIATIVE TRANSFER MODELS QUANTUM MECHANICAL MODELS DATA-PROCESSING ALGORITHMS) FOR THE INTERPRETATION OF HIGH-RESOLUTION PLANETARY SPECTRA OF PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES.

GROUNDING COMPUTATIONAL MODELS OF VISION WITH INFANT BRAIN DATA -HOW DO CHILDREN LEARN TO RECOGNIZE VISUAL OBJECTS? THEY SOON LEARN TO RECOGNIZE A CAT OR A CUP OR THE FACES OF THEIR FAMILY VERY QUICKLY, OFTEN WITH NO APPARENT EFFORT. HUMAN VISION IS ONE OF THE MOST COMPLEX SYSTEMS IN OUR BODY. ALMOST HALF OF OUR BRAINS ARE DEVOTED TO THE VISUAL SYSTEM. NEUROSCIENTISTS HAVE A DEEP INTEREST IN UNDERSTANDING VISUAL PERCEPTION AS AN IMPORTANT SENSORY WINDOW TO THE WORLD AND AS A KEY DOMAIN OF HUMAN INTELLIGENCE. COMPUTER SCIENTISTS ARE ALSO INTERESTED IN UNDERSTANDING HUMAN VISION TO GAIN INSIGHTS THAT MAY HELP DEVELOP BETTER COMPUTER VISION SYSTEMS. ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS (ANNS) - A FORM OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE - CAN BE TRAINED TO RECOGNIZE VISUAL OBJECTS AS WELL. THUS, WHILE UNDERSTANDING HUMAN VISION MAY HAVE IMPLICATIONS FOR COMPUTER VISION, THE CONVERSE IS ALSO POSSIBLE AND HENCE ANNS HAVE BEEN PROPOSED AS A MODEL TO UNDERSTAND HUMAN VISION. HOWEVER, ANN MODELS DO NOT YET FULLY MATCH OR EXPLAIN HUMAN VISION. FOR EXAMPLE, ANN MODELS ARE TRAINED IN FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT WAYS FROM HOW HUMANS LEARN FROM INFANCY AND BEYOND. ONE WAY TO TRAIN A COMPUTER TO RECOGNIZE VISUAL OBJECTS, SUCH AS CATS, IS TO GIVE IT MILLIONS OF IMAGES OF CATS THAT HAVE BEEN LABELED. HOWEVER, CHILDREN CAN LEARN TO RECOGNIZE CATS AFTER ONLY A FEW SHORT ENCOUNTERS. THUS, TO BETTER MODEL HUMAN VISION, WE NEED TO KNOW HOW VISION DEVELOPS IN HUMAN INFANTS. THE GOAL OF THE RESEARCH IN THIS PROJECT WILL BE TO STUDY HOW THE INFANT BRAIN REPRESENTS VISUAL OBJECTS. DATA AND TOOLS DEVELOPED AS PART OF THE PROJECT WILL BE SHARED WITH OTHER SCIENTISTS TO STIMULATE FURTHER RESEARCH IN THIS FIELD. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO INVOLVE UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS AS WELL AS OUTREACH TO K-12 STUDENTS, STEM TEACHERS, AND LOCAL FAMILIES. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO JOINTLY INFORM ARTIFICIAL MODELS OF HUMAN VISION, ENHANCE COMPUTER VISION AND ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE INFANT BRAIN. RESEARCHERS WILL USE THE SAFE AND NON-INVASIVE TECHNIQUE OF EEG (ELECTRO-ENCEPHALOGRAPHY) TO MEASURE BRAIN ACTIVITY IN INFANTS (12-15 MONTHS OLD). THE FIRST AIM OF THE RESEARCH WILL BE TO COMPARE HOW INFANTS AND ANNS REPRESENT VISUAL OBJECTS. THE EEG DATA WILL BE ANALYZED USING MULTIVARIATE PATTERN ANALYSIS (MVPA) AND REPRESENTATIONAL SIMILARITY ANALYSIS (RSA) IN RELATION TO PREDICTIONS FROM DIFFERENT ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK (ANN) MODELS. A SECOND AIM WILL BE TO EXPLORE HOW INFANTS REPRESENT VISUAL OBJECTS IN THE CONTEXT OF PARTLY HIDDEN OBJECTS. A RELATED AIM IS TO DISCOVER HOW SPOKEN WORDS, AND LINGUISTIC REPRESENTATION, CAN INFLUENCE OBJECT RECOGNITION. INFANTS WILL BE PRESENTED WITH WHOLE OR PARTIALLY OCCLUDED IMAGES OF OBJECTS, AFTER HEARING A CONGRUENT SPOKEN CUE OR AN INCONGRUENT CUE. CONGRUENT WORDS ARE PREDICTED TO ENHANCE VISUAL PROCESSING FOR PARTIAL IMAGES, AN INDICATION OF RECURRENT OR TOP-DOWN PROCESSING. THIS WILL TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT TOP-DOWN FACTORS SHAPE HOW THE INFANT BRAIN REPRESENTS VISUAL OBJECTS. FINDINGS FROM THIS RESEARCH MAY ULTIMATELY CONTRIBUTE TO THE DESIGN OF MORE HUMAN-LIKE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE DOMAIN OF VISUAL PERCEPTION. THE STUDIES IN THIS PROJECT WILL ALSO BUILD BRIDGES BETWEEN COMPUTATIONAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL NEUROSCIENCE AND MACHINE LEARNING AND COMPUTER VISION. FOR DEVELOPMENTAL RESEARCHERS, THE PROPOSED METHODS (MVPA) PROVIDE A NEW AND PROMISING TOOL FOR THE ANALYSIS OF INFANT EEG DATA AND RESULTS WILL OFFER A FRESH ANGLE FOR UNDERSTANDING INFANTS? VISUAL PROCESSING. FOR RESEARCHERS IN COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE, RESULTS FROM THE PROJECT OFFER AN EXCITING OPPORTUNITY TO ALIGN A WIDE-SPREAD GOAL, DEVELOPING NEURAL NETWORKS THAT LEARN LIKE THE HUMAN BRAIN LEARNS, TO ACTUAL DATA FROM THE LEARNING INFANT BRAIN. 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.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR COUNTERING VIOLENT EXTREMISM

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: THE CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF ADAPTIVE RADIATION IN ANIMAL COMMUNICATION, FROM INDIVIDUALS TO COMMUNITIES -UNDERSTANDING HOW NEW, NOVEL TRAITS ARISE AND PERSIST IS CHALLENGING BECAUSE OBSERVING THIS PROCESS IN REAL TIME IS RARE?IT REQUIRES BEING IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME. YET, RAPID TRAIT CHANGE IS ONE MECHANISM BY WHICH ORGANISMS COULD RESPOND TO ONGOING ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES, AND THE ORIGINS OF NOVELTY ARE CRITICAL TO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW BIOLOGICAL VARIETY ARISES. THIS PROJECT CAPITALIZES ON THE RECENT EMERGENCE OF SEVERAL NEW, NOVEL CRICKET MATING SONGS IN THE PACIFIC FIELD CRICKET. THESE CRICKETS WERE RECENTLY INTRODUCED TO HAWAII WHERE THE DULCET MATING SONGS PRODUCED BY MALES ALSO ATTRACT AN INTRODUCED, LETHAL EAVESDROPPING FLY. OVER ALMOST 20 YEARS, THE PIS HAVE DIRECTLY OBSERVED THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERAL NEW, QUIET SONG TYPES THAT ALLOW COVERT COMMUNICATION, ATTRACTING FEMALE MATES BUT NOT THE EAVESDROPPING FLIES. USING A COMBINATION OF FIELD AND LAB EXPERIMENTS, THE RESEARCHERS AIM TO WATCH TRAIT AND BEHAVIORAL CHANGE PROCEED IN REAL TIME TO LEARN HOW NOVELTY ARISES IN ANIMAL COMMUNICATION, AND TO EXPLORE THE CONSEQUENCES FOR THE COMMUNITY OF INTERACTING ORGANISMS. MOREOVER, THE PROJECT WILL IMPACT THE PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF SCIENCE THROUGH 1) COLLABORATIVE K-16 MENTORSHIP PROGRAMS IN HAWAII, 2) PODCAST EPISODES THAT SHARE THE RESEARCH GLOBALLY, AND 3) THE PRODUCTION OF FOOD ITEMS INSPIRED BY THIS RESEARCH, DESIGNED AND PRODUCED BY RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS, AND SHARED WITH THE COMMUNITY TO CATALYZE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT ANIMAL COMMUNICATION. EVOLUTIONARY NOVELTY IS READILY DETECTABLE AT MACROEVOLUTIONARY SCALES, BUT THE MICROEVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES THAT RESULT IN NOVELTY REMAIN RELATIVELY UNKNOWN AND EXTREMELY CHALLENGING TO STUDY. THIS PROJECT CAPITALIZES ON AN UNPRECEDENTED OPPORTUNITY ? THE ONGOING RAPID DEVELOPMENT OF NEW SIGNALS IN THE INCIPIENT PHASES OF RADIATION ? TO STUDY HOW A PHENOTYPE THAT HAS BEEN STABLE FOR MILLENNIA DIVERGES FROM THE ANCESTRAL TO GENERATE A PLETHORA OF NEW SIGNAL TYPES. IN DOING SO, THE PIS WILL ADDRESS FUNDAMENTAL AND OUTSTANDING QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF EVOLUTIONARY NOVELTY, WHICH IS CRITICAL TO BIOLOGICAL VARIETY. THIS INTEGRATIVE PROJECT ADDRESSES FOUR AIMS USING A COMBINATION OF LONGITUDINAL FIELD STUDIES, CONTROLLED EXPERIMENTS CONDUCTED IN THE LAB AND IN FIELD-BASED MESOCOSMS, AND DEVELOPMENT OF NEW THEORY. THE INVESTIGATORS WILL 1) CHARACTERIZE SIGNAL VARIETY, MECHANISTIC UNDERPINNINGS, AND EVOLUTIONARY DYNAMICS DURING AN ONGOING NATURAL RADIATION, 2) INVESTIGATE THE UNDERAPPRECIATED HYPOTHESIS THAT RELAXED RECEIVER PREFERENCES FACILITATE THE EVOLUTION OF NOVEL ANIMAL SIGNALS, 3) EXAMINE THE IMPACTS OF SIGNAL EVOLUTION FOR HOST-PARASITE DYNAMICS IN A MULTI-HOST ASSEMBLAGE AND TEST HOW ALTERNATIVE HOST SPECIES RECIPROCALLY IMPACT SIGNAL EVOLUTION, AND 4) DEVELOP THEORY TO EXAMINE THE CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF NOVEL SIGNAL EVOLUTION THAT ARE TESTED IN LATER RESEARCH AIMS. THE INVESTIGATORS WILL INTERROGATE AN ONGOING MATING SIGNAL RADIATION AT THE INDIVIDUAL, POPULATION, AND COMMUNITY LEVELS TO UNDERSTAND HOW NOVEL TRAITS ARISE, SPREAD, FAIL, SUCCEED, AND IMPACT OTHERS. THE DYNAMIC AND CHARISMATIC INSECT STUDY SYSTEM PROVIDES OUTSTANDING OPPORTUNITIES TO ENGAGE BROADLY WITH NON-EXPERT AUDIENCES. THIS AWARD IS FUNDED JOINTLY BY THE DIVISION OF INTEGRATIVE ORGANISMAL SYSTEMS ? BEHAVIORAL SYSTEMS CLUSTER AND THE DIVISION OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY ? EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES CLUSTER. 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 OFFICE ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN (OVW) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE (TA) INITIATIVE PROVIDES OVW GRANTEES AND SUBGRANTEES WITH THE EXPERTISE AND SUPPORT THEY NEED TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT SUCCESSFUL STATE, LOCAL, TRIBAL, AND CAMPUS PROJECTS; INCREASE VICTIM SAFETY; AND BOLSTER OFFENDER ACCOUNTABILITY. THROUGH COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS, OVW SUPPORTS EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES, CONFERENCES, PEER-TO-PEER CONSULTATIONS, AND TARGETED ASSISTANCE THAT ALLOW CURRENT AND POTENTIAL GRANTEES AND SUBGRANTEES TO LEARN FROM EXPERTS AND ONE ANOTHER ABOUT HOW TO OVERCOME OBSTACLES AND INCORPORATE PROMISING PRACTICES IN THEIR EFFORTS TO ADDRESS VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN. IN ADDITION, OVW IS FOCUSED ON BUILDING THE CAPACITY OF THE CRIMINAL AND CIVIL JUSTICE SYSTEMS AND VICTIM SERVICE PROVIDERS TO RESPOND EFFECTIVELY TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, DATING VIOLENCE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, AND STALKING AND TO FOSTER PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE NOT TRADITIONALLY WORKED TOGETHER TO ADDRESS VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN. WITH FY 2024 TA INITIATIVE FUNDING, AMERICAN UNIVERSITYS NATIONAL IMMIGRANT WOMENS ADVOCACY PROJECT (NIWAP) WILL CONTINUE ITS U AND T VISA CERTIFICATION: STRENGTHENING LAW ENFORCEMENT AND PROSECUTORIAL ASSISTANCE TO IMMIGRANT VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, STALKING, AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING PROJECT. THIS PROJECT WILL PROVIDE BASIC AND INTERMEDIATE TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS, PROSECUTORS, AND SYSTEMS-BASED VICTIM ADVOCATES ON U AND T VISA PROGRAMS, CERTIFICATIONS, AND LANGUAGEACCESS BEST PRACTICES TO ASSIST MARGINALIZED AND TRADITIONALLY UNDERSERVED IMMIGRANT AND LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT (LEP) SURVIVORS. OVER THE COURSE OF THE PROJECT PERIOD, NIWAP WILL PROVIDE DIRECT TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, HOST IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL TRAININGS, CONDUCT WEBINARS, HOST ROUNDTABLES, CREATE PODCASTS, AND DEVELOP AND/OR UPDATE RESOURCES AND TOOLS AS NEEDED. THIS PROJECT SUPPORTS FY 2024 TA INITIATIVE PURPOSE AREA 20: STRENGTHENING LAW ENFORCEMENT AND PROSECUTORIAL ASSISTANCE TO IMMIGRANT VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, STALKING, AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING. THE TIMING FOR PERFORMANCE OF THIS AWARD IS 24 MONTHS. THIS AWARD IS A CONTINUATION OF 15JOVW-22-GK-04002-MUMU.

SATC: CORE: MEDIUM: SITUATION-AWARE IDENTIFICATION AND RECTIFICATION OF REGRETTABLE PRIVACY DECISIONS

FRG: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CHARACTERS, LIFTINGS, AND TYPES: INVESTIGATIONS IN P-ADIC REPRESENTATION THEORY

HOW TEACHERS LEARN RACIAL COMPETENCY AND HOW TO BE EFFECTIVE FOR ALL OF THEIR STUDENTS

BIOFILM MATRIX-DEGRADING ENZYMES FOR THE TREATMENT AND PREVENTION OF S. AUREUS-AS

THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING WATER AND ORGANIC MOLECULES IS RELATED TO THEIR BIOLOGICAL RELEVANCE. THE ORIGIN OF WATER OCEANS AND PRE-BIOTIC ORGANIC MOLECULES ON EARTH AND THE ORIGIN OF AN ANCIENT OCEAN ON MARS1 IS UNSOLVED. THE TERRESTRIAL PLANETS FORMED IN A DRY REGION OF THE PROTO-PLANETARY DISK BY AGGREGATION OF ROCKY PLANETESIMALS; ICY AGGREGATES COULD FORM ONLY BEYOND THE FROST LINES. EVEN TODAY THE BULK EARTH IS COSMICALLY DRY (POOR IN HYDROGEN RELATIVE TO THE PROTOPLANETARY DISK). ABOUT 60 MA AFTER EARTH-ACCRETION THE MOON-FORMING IMPACT PROBABLY REMOVED ANY WATER THAT MAY HAVE OUTGASSED AFTER CORE FORMATION LEAVING THE HADEAN EARTH WATER-POOR AT ITS SURFACE. YET EARLY ZIRCONS PROVIDE EVIDENCE THAT OCEANS EXISTED BY 250 MA AFTER EARTH S FORMATION. HOW DID TERRESTRIAL PLANETS ACQUIRE THEIR WATER? BOMBARDMENT OF EARTH AND MARS BY ICY AND ROCKY PLANETESIMALS (REPRESENTED TODAY BY COMET NUCLEI AND ASTEROIDS) WAS COMMON FROM THEIR FORMATION THROUGH THE LATE HEAVY BOMBARDMENT2-7. BECAUSE WATER IS THE MOST ABUNDANT NATIVE ICE IN COMETARY NUCLEI WITH THE AGGREGATE CHON ICES COMPRISING A CLOSE SECOND WE WANT TO UNDERSTAND THE ROLE PRIMITIVE BODIES PLAYED IN DELIVERING WATER AND PRE-BIOTIC ORGANICS TO THE YOUNG INNER PLANETS8-10. INVESTIGATIONS OF COSMOGONIC INDICATORS ARE NECESSARY TO TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT SMALL ICY BODIES DELIVERED WATER AND PREBIOTIC ORGANICS TO EARLY EARTH AND MARS. ISOTOPIC RATIOS (E.G. WATER D/H 13/C12C 15N/14N) NUCLEAR SPIN TEMPERATURES AND CHEMICAL ABUNDANCES IN COMETS ARE KEY TO IDENTIFYING TEMPERATURES MOLECULAR ABUNDANCES AND PHYSICAL PROCESSES THAT OCCURRED 4.6 BILLION YEARS AGO IN THE COMET-FORMING REGIONS OF THE PROTO-PLANETARY DISK. OBSERVATIONS OF MARS WILL PROVIDE NEW DATA ON THE COMPOSITION GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION AND VARIABILITY OF CO2 AND TRACE GASES INCLUDING ISOTOPOLOGS. TOGETHER THE INTER-COMPARISON OF COSMOGONIC INDICATORS IN COMETS AND IN PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES THROUGH HIGH-RESOLUTION SPECTROSCOPIC STUDIES WILL ADDRESS THESE UNRESOLVED QUESTIONS.

CAREER: INTEGRATED RESEARCH AND EDUCATION ON GRAVITATIONAL WAVE DETECTOR OPTICS

THE OFFICE ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN (OVW) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE (TA) INITIATIVE PROVIDES OVW GRANTEES AND SUBGRANTEES WITH THE EXPERTISE AND SUPPORT THEY NEED TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT SUCCESSFUL STATE, LOCAL, TRIBAL, AND CAMPUS PROJECTS; INCREASE VICTIM SAFETY; AND BOLSTER OFFENDER ACCOUNTABILITY. THROUGH COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS, OVW SUPPORTS EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES, CONFERENCES, PEER-TO-PEER CONSULTATIONS, AND TARGETED ASSISTANCE THAT ALLOW CURRENT AND POTENTIAL GRANTEES AND SUBGRANTEES TO LEARN FROM EXPERTS AND ONE ANOTHER ABOUT HOW TO OVERCOME OBSTACLES AND INCORPORATE PROMISING PRACTICES IN THEIR EFFORTS TO ADDRESS VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN. IN ADDITION, OVW IS FOCUSED ON BUILDING THE CAPACITY OF THE CRIMINAL AND CIVIL JUSTICE SYSTEMS AND VICTIM SERVICES PROVIDERS TO RESPOND EFFECTIVELY TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, DATING VIOLENCE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, AND STALKING AND TO FOSTER PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE NOT TRADITIONALLY WORKED TOGETHER TO ADDRESS VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN.   THIS AWARD WILL SUPPORT FY 2022 TA INITIATIVE PURPOSE AREA 14, TO PROVIDE TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS AND PROSECUTORS ON THE USE OF U AND T VISA CERTIFICATIONS, INCLUDING U AND T VISA REQUIREMENTS, HOW TO SUBMIT CERTIFICATIONS TO USCIS, HOW CERTIFICATION CAN ASSIST WITH CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS AND PROSECUTIONS, AND STRENGTHENING LANGUAGE ACCESS. THE PROJECT WILL INCLUDE A PRIMARY CADRE OF TRAINERS WHO ARE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS AND/OR PROSECUTORS EXPERIENCED IN WORKING ON U AND T VISAS.   THE TIMING FOR PERFORMANCE OF THIS AWARD IS 24 MONTHS.   THIS AWARD IS A CONTINUATION OF 2017-TA-AX-K063.

CRIMINAL COURTS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROJECT

TO MANAGE THE RECRUITMENT, PLACEMENT, AND PROGRAM ACTIVITIES NECESSARY FOR PARTICIPANTS IN THE US SUMMER SISTERS SUMMER EXCHANGE PROGRAM.

STRENGTHENING GOVERNMENT ABILITY TO HOLD PERPETRATORS ACCOUNTABLE FOR CONFLICT-RELATED SEXUAL AND GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE IN THE CAR

BRC-BIO:THE SYMBIONTS' SYMBIONTS: DISSECTING THE MICROBIOME OF THE CORAL ENDOSYMBIONT (SYMBIODINIACEAE) -CORAL REEFS ARE AMONG THE MOST BIODIVERSE ECOSYSTEMS ON EARTH, YET THEY ARE INCREASINGLY THREATENED. AT THE HEART OF CORAL REEF HEALTH LIES THE SYMBIOSIS BETWEEN CORALS AND PHOTOSYNTHETIC MICROALGAE THAT PROVIDE ESSENTIAL NUTRIENTS TO THEIR HOSTS. THIS PARTNERSHIP UNDERPINS CORAL REEF PRODUCTIVITY AND RESILIENCE, BUT RISING OCEAN TEMPERATURES ARE CAUSING WIDESPREAD CORAL BLEACHING, DRIVEN BY THE BREAKDOWN OF THIS SYMBIOSIS. UNDERSTANDING THE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE CORAL THERMAL TOLERANCE IS CRITICAL FOR PROTECTING REEFS, AND WHILE ALGAL DIVERSITY PLAYS A KEY ROLE, THE POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF THEIR ASSOCIATED BACTERIAL COMMUNITIES REMAIN UNDEREXPLORED. RECENT FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT BACTERIA RESIDING WITHIN THE SPECIALIZED CELL COMPARTMENT HOUSING MICROALGAE MAY INFLUENCE MICROALGAL FUNCTIONING, OPENING NEW AVENUES FOR RESEARCH INTO ENHANCING CORAL RESILIENCE. THIS PROJECT INVESTIGATES THE DIVERSITY, FUNCTIONAL ROLES, AND POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS OF MICROALGAL-ASSOCIATED MICROBIOMES, AIMING TO UNCOVER STRATEGIES FOR MITIGATING THE IMPACTS OF OCEAN WARMING ON CORAL REEFS. THE PROJECT WILL TRAIN MANY STUDENTS, EQUIPPING THEM WITH SKILLS HIGHLY SOUGHT AFTER IN BOTH ACADEMIC AND INDUSTRIAL SETTINGS. BY FOSTERING A NEW GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS AND ADVANCING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF CORAL RESILIENCE, THIS WORK WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE PRESERVATION OF CORAL REEF ECOSYSTEMS AND THEIR VITAL ECOLOGICAL AND SOCIETAL BENEFITS. THIS RESEARCH WILL PROVIDE A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF SYMBIODINIACEAE (I.E. MICROALGAE SYMBIOTICALLY ASSOCIATED WITH CORALS) MICROBIOMES FRESHLY EXTRACTED FROM CORALS, USING A COMBINATION OF AMPLICON AND METAGENOMIC SEQUENCING TO CHARACTERIZE THEIR TAXONOMIC AND FUNCTIONAL DIVERSITY ACROSS FIVE CORAL SPECIES FROM FLORIDA'S CORAL REEF. THE PROJECT WILL ISOLATE BACTERIAL STRAINS FROM THESE MICROBIOMES AND ASSESS THEIR EFFECTS ON SYMBIODINIACEAE PHYSIOLOGY THROUGH CONTACT-INDEPENDENT CO-CULTURE EXPERIMENTS AND TRANSCRIPTOMIC ANALYSES, IDENTIFYING MOLECULAR MECHANISMS UNDERLYING THESE INTERACTIONS. FINALLY, BACTERIAL STRAINS CAPABLE OF ENHANCING SYMBIODINIACEAE PHOTOSYNTHETIC EFFICIENCY WILL BE TESTED FOR THEIR ABILITY TO IMPROVE ALGAL THERMAL TOLERANCE. THESE FINDINGS WILL PROVIDE NOVEL INSIGHTS INTO THE ORGANIZATIONAL COMPLEXITY OF CORAL HOLOBIONTS AND THEIR ADAPTIVE POTENTIAL IN A WARMING OCEAN, LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR MICROBIOME-BASED INTERVENTIONS TO SUPPORT CORAL RESTORATION EFFORTS. 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.

IN RESPONSE TO THE NATION'S NEED FOR MORE QUALIFIED K-12 STEM EDUCATORS, AS IDENTIFIED IN THE FEBRUARY 2012 COORDINATING FEDERAL SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY,

STRENGTHENING VICTIMS ACCESS TO JUSTICE IN BOSNIA

NEW GRANT TO AUC FOR ELEVEN MONTHS WITH A TOTAL ESTIMATED AND OBLIGATED AMOUNT OF $483,358. THEY SUPPORT BLOGGERS TO MONITOR THE US PRESIDENTIAL ELE

NIJ STUDENT RESEARCH ASSISTANTS PROGRAM

CORTICAL ACTIONS OF OPIOIDS ON REWARD-GUIDED DECISION MAKING - THIS RESEARCH INVESTIGATES THE ROLE OF OPIOID SIGNALING IN DECISION-MAKING WITHIN THE RAT PREFRONTAL CORTEX, SPECIFICALLY THE PRELIMBIC AREA. BUILDING ON OUR PREVIOUS NIH-FUNDED WORK WHICH ADDED TO AN EMERGING VIEW THAT THIS CORTICAL AREA HAS IMPORTANCE IN REWARD EVALUATION AND VALUE-BASED DECISION-MAKING, WE WILL EXAMINE HOW OPIOID RECEPTORS IN THIS REGION INFLUENCE REWARD PREFERENCES AND THE SPEED OF VALUE-GUIDED CHOICES. USING A TWO-ALTERNATIVE FORCED CHOICE TASK, WE WILL INTEGRATE INTRA-CORTICAL PHARMACOLOGY, COMPUTATIONAL MODELING, AND VIDEO ANALYSIS TO STUDY HOW CORTICAL OPIOID RECEPTORS AND ENDOGENOUS ENKEPHALINS MODULATE DECISION-MAKING. FURTHER, WE WILL INVESTIGATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OPIOID SIGNALING AND MEDIAL FRONTAL THETA OSCILLATIONS, A NEURAL MARKER FOR COGNITIVE CONTROL, USING MULTI-ELECTRODE RECORDINGS, INTRA-CORTICAL PHARMACOLOGY, AND OPTICAL SENSORS FOR ENDOGENOUS ENKEPHALINS. OUR APPROACH WILL PROVIDE A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE NEURAL MECHANISMS UNDERLYING OPIOID-RELATED DECISION-MAKING IMPAIRMENTS. THIS PROJECT WILL BE CONDUCTED AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY BY A RESEARCH TEAM INCLUDING PHD STUDENTS AND UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANTS, LED BY THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR. IT IS DESIGNED TO ACTIVELY ENGAGE NEUROSCIENCE MAJORS WHO WILL PARTICIPATE IN EXPERIMENTS AND CONTRIBUTE TO COMPUTATIONAL DATA ANALYSES. FOUR LEADING EXPERTS ON OPIOIDS AND SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS WILL SERVE AS CONSULTANTS, PROVIDING GUIDANCE AND ENRICHING THE RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT THROUGH CAMPUS VISITS, LECTURES, AND PARTICIPATION IN AN ADVANCED NEUROSCIENCE COURSE FOCUSED ON CAREER OPTIONS AND PROFESSIONAL SKILLS.

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, TRAINING AND STRATEGIC PLANNING SERVICES TO STATE ADMINISTERING AGENCIES

FY 2006 BJA SOLICITED AWARDS

HOW ARE ACTIVE REGION PROPERTIES AND HEATING CONNECTED

DEFENSE SECURITY COOPERATION UNIVERSITY RESEARCH GRANTS: EVALUATING US SECURITY COOPERATION IN TURKEY AND TUNISIA

SPECTROSCOPIC INVESTIGATIONS OF PROCESSED PLANETARY AND ASTROPHYSICAL ICES WITH THE SUBLIMATION LABORATORY ICE MILLIMETER/SUBMILLIMETER EXPERIMENT (SUBLIME)

MODEL SYSTEMS FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF DNA METHYLATION AND DRUG REPURPOSING

EVALUATING AND IMPROVING LAW ENFORCEMENT COOPERATION IN COMBATTING MEXICAN DRUG TRAFFICKING ORGANIZATIONS

A PROPOSAL FOR SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH ON WRONGFUL CONVICTION

UNDERSTAND TCO NETWORKS AND PRACTICES TO BUILD REGIONAL GOVERNMENTAL COUNTER-TOC CAPACITY.

CEREBELLUM AND AUTISM: REGIONAL SPECIALIZATION FOR SOCIAL AND EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS - PROJECT SUMMARY AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER (ASD) IS A PREVALENT NEURODEVELOPMENTAL CONDITION CHARACTERIZED BY DEFICITS IN SOCIAL COMMUNICATION AND THE PRESENCE OF REPETITIVE AND INFLEXIBLE BEHAVIORS. THERE ARE CURRENTLY FEW BIOLOGICALLY- TARGETED TREATMENT OPTIONS FOR ASD, IN PART BECAUSE THE UNDERLYING NEUROBIOLOGY IS NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD. ONE REGION OF THE BRAIN THAT IS CONSISTENTLY IMPLICATED IN ASD IS THE CEREBELLUM. HOWEVER, DESPITE EXTENSIVE EVIDENCE OF CEREBELLAR DYSFUNCTION IN ASD, THE EXACT CONTRIBUTION OF THE CEREBELLUM TO ASD REMAINS UNCLEAR. THE CEREBELLUM IS RICHLY INTERCONNECTED WITH OTHER REGIONS OF THE BRAIN THAT SUPPORT MOTOR, COGNITIVE, AND AFFECTIVE FUNCTIONS, AND OUR PREVIOUS WORK HAS ESTABLISHED FUNCTIONAL SUBREGIONS WITHIN THE CEREBELLUM, PROVIDING A USEFUL FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING HOW REGIONAL DIFFERENCES WITHIN THE CEREBELLUM MIGHT CONTRIBUTE TO ASD. SPECIFICALLY, TWO CEREBELLAR SUBREGIONS SHOW STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL DIFFERENCES IN AUTISM: RIGHT CEREBELLAR LOBULE VII (RVII) AND THE POSTERIOR CEREBELLAR VERMIS. BASED ON THE DIFFERENT ANATOMICAL CONNECTIVITY OF THESE REGIONS, WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT RVII AND THE POSTERIOR VERMIS REGULATE DIFFERENT CORE DEFICITS IN ASD. OUR PREVIOUS WORK HAS SHOWN THAT GREY MATTER IN RVII CORRELATES WITH SOCIAL AND COMMUNICATION SCORES IN ASD, WHEREAS THE VOLUME OF THE POSTERIOR VERMIS IS ASSOCIATED WITH REPETITIVE BEHAVIORS. IN A PREVIOUS R15 AWARD, WE DETERMINED THE IMPACT OF NON-INVASIVE NEUROMODULATION OF CEREBELLAR RVII ON SOCIAL TASK PERFORMANCE AND BRAIN ACTIVATION PATTERNS. WE FOUND THAT CEREBELLAR NEUROMODULATION CHANGED PERFORMANCE ON A SOCIAL LEARNING TASK AND ALTERED FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY IN BRAIN CIRCUITS RELEVANT TO AUTISM. FURTHER, OUR COLLABORATORS SHOWED THAT RVII INHIBITION LED TO SOCIAL DEFICITS IN MICE, WHILE RVII EXCITATION RESCUED SOCIAL DEFICITS IN A MOUSE MODEL OF AUTISM. THESE FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT CEREBELLAR NEUROMODULATION COULD BE A NOVEL THERAPEUTIC OPTION IN ASD. HOWEVER, THE OPTIMAL MODULATION TARGET WITHIN THE CEREBELLUM HAS YET TO BE ESTABLISHED, AND WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT THIS COULD DIFFER IN A SYMPTOM-SPECIFIC WAY. HERE WE WILL COMBINE CEREBELLAR NEUROMODULATION WITH FUNCTIONAL NEUROIMAGING TO TEST OUR HYPOTHESIS THAT NEUROMODULATION TARGETING RVII WILL SELECTIVELY ALTER SOCIAL LEARNING AND NEURAL NETWORKS SUPPORTING SOCIAL BEHAVIOR, WHILE NEUROMODULATION TARGETING THE POSTERIOR VERMIS WILL IMPACT COGNITIVE FLEXIBILITY AND NEURAL NETWORKS INVOLVED IN THE ALLOCATION OF ATTENTION. NEUROTYPICAL ADULTS AND ADULTS WITH ASD WILL COMPLETE SOCIAL AND COGNITIVE FLEXIBILITY TASKS AFTER EXCITATORY, INHIBITORY, OR SHAM NEUROMODULATION IN A WITHIN-SUBJECTS DESIGN. SOME PARTICIPANTS WILL RECEIVE NEUROMODULATION TARGETING RVII AND OTHERS WILL RECEIVE NEUROMODULATION TARGETING THE POSTERIOR VERMIS. WE WILL ACQUIRE FUNCTIONAL BRAIN IMAGING DATA DURING AND AFTER CEREBELLAR NEUROMODULATION, WHICH WILL ALLOW US TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE MECHANISMS BY WHICH NON-INVASIVE MODULATION MIGHT IMPACT BEHAVIOR IN CLINICAL DISORDERS. THIS WORK WILL FURTHER CONTRIBUTE TO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE NEUROBIOLOGY OF AUTISM, WITH THE BROADER SIGNIFICANCE OF GENERATING CRITICAL PROOF-OF- CONCEPT DATA TO EVALUATE THE CLINICAL TRANSLATIONAL POTENTIAL OF CEREBELLAR NEUROMODULATION.

ADDRESSING THE IMPACTS OF STRUCTURAL RACISM ON RACE INEQUITIES IN HEALTH: A FOCUS ON MASS INCARCERATION, HOUSING, AND THEIR INTERSECTION - THIS MULTI-LEVEL MIXED METHODS STUDY WILL ANALYZE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR RACIAL HEALTH EQUITY OF POLICIES THAT UNDERGIRD STRUCTURAL RACISM (SR) IN THE DOMAINS OF MASS INCARCERATION (MI) AND HOUSING; AND WILL EXAMINE THE POTENTIAL FOR POLICY REFORMS IN THESE DOMAINS TO REDUCE INEQUITIES. WE CONCEPTUALIZE THE DOMAINS OF MI AND HOUSING AS SYSTEMS OF EXPOSURE TO SR THAT ARE GIVEN MEANING BY SPECIFIC POLICIES (AS WELL AS THE LEGACIES OF PAST POLICIES) AND THAT DYNAMICALLY INTERSECT WITH ONE ANOTHER IN WAYS THAT SHAPE THEIR IMPACTS ON POPULATION AND INDIVIDUAL HEALTH. WE WILL MEASURE, IN DIFFERENT WAYS, SR IN, AND AT THE INTERSECTION OF, EACH OF THESE DOMAINS, AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL AND WITHIN THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT (CT) AND ANALYZE THEIR IMPACTS ON HEALTH AND RACE INEQUITIES IN HEALTH. FOCUSING ON THE NATIONAL LEVEL, AIM 1 WILL USE LEGAL POLICY MAPPING TECHNIQUES AND FACTOR ANALYSIS TO DEVELOP QUANTITATIVE INDICES OF SR RELATED TO MI AND HOUSING AND CHARACTERIZE STATE VARIATION IN SR WITHIN AND AT THEIR INTERSECTION. USING PUBLICLY AVAILABLE DATA SOURCES, WE WILL EXPLORE THE ASSOCIATION OF THESE INDICES ALONE AND TOGETHER, WITH RACE INEQUITIES IN VARIOUS MEASURES OF POPULATION HEALTH. THIS AIM WILL ADVANCE METHODS FOR MEASURING SR AS CODIFIED IN STATE POLICES AND PROVIDE INSIGHTS INTO POTENTIAL POLICY REFORMS FOR ADVANCING RACIAL HEALTH EQUITY. FOCUSING ON THE STATE OF CT FOR AIM 2, WE WILL COLLABORATE WITH DATAHAVEN, A NON-PROFIT CT-BASED ORGANIZATION THAT RUNS A BI-ANNUAL COMMUNITY WELL-BEING SURVEY (DCWS) CONDUCTED WITH A RANDOM SAMPLE OF THE POPULATION AS PART OF ITS MISSION TO EMPOWER PEOPLE TO CREATE THRIVING COMMUNITIES. WE WILL ADD TO THE DCWS QUESTIONS TO CAPTURE IN DETAIL WHETHER AND HOW INDIVIDUALS HAVE INTERACTED WITH THE SYSTEMS OF MI AND HOUSING. USING LATENT CLASS ANALYSIS, WE WILL DEVELOP MEASURES OF INDIVIDUALS’ EXPOSURE TO THESE SYSTEMS AND WITH APPROPRIATE REGRESSION TECHNIQUES ANALYZE THE IMPACTS OF THESE DIFFERENT FORMS OF EXPOSURE ON THEIR HEALTH AND RACIAL HEALTH EQUITY. TO UNDERSTAND WHETHER AND HOW POLICY REFORMS MAY PROMOTE GREATER HEALTH EQUITY, FOR AIM 3 WE WILL FOCUS LOCALLY AND CONDUCT A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS—USING METHODS OF CRITICAL POLICY ETHNOGRAPHY—OF THE ROLLOUT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF CLEAN SLATE AND RIGHT TO COUNCIL POLICIES RECENTLY PASSED IN CT AND WITH POTENTIAL TO ADDRESS SR IN THE DOMAINS OF MI AND HOUSING, RESPECTIVELY. FOR THESE PURPOSES, WE WILL WORK WITH HEALTH EQUITY SOLUTIONS, A CT COMMUNITY-BASED NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION FOCUSED ON ENSURING HEALTH EQUITY IS EMBEDDED IN ALL POLICIES, TO ANALYZE HOW A BROAD RANGE OF POLICY IMPLEMENTERS (INCLUDING IMPACTED INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITIES) NAVIGATE, RESIST, AND WORK TO CONFRONT SR AS THESE POLICIES ARE IMPLEMENTED. AND WE WILL CONSIDER THE IMPLICATIONS OF THIS FOR RACIAL HEALTH EQUITY. TOGETHER, THESE ANALYSES WILL HIGHLIGHT HOW POLICIES IN THE DOMAINS OF MI AND HOUSING MAINTAIN SR AND PRODUCE RACE INEQUITIES IN HEALTH, BUT ALSO, HOW POLICY REFORMS IN THESE DOMAINS MAY CONFRONT SR AND REPRESENT INTERVENTIONS TO ADVANCE RACIAL HEALTH EQUITY.

EO14042 ESTIMATING THE IMPACTS OF VOLCANIC AEROSOLS AND PYROCB SMOKE ON DATA ASSIMILATION AND MODEL FORECASTS WITH GEOS.

REMOTE SENSING OF ATMOSPHERIC ISOTOPIC RATIOS IS NOW MORE ACCESSIBLE THAN EVER AND IT HAS RECENTLY PERMITTED US TO INFER THAT MARS LOST AN OCEAN S WORTH OF WATER (VILLANUEVA ET AL. 2015) AND THAT COMETS MAY HAVE DELIVERED THE WATER TO OUR PLANET (HARTOGH ET AL. 2011; VILLANUEVA ET AL. 2009). AT LONGER WAVELENGTHS THE ALMA ARRAY IS REVOLUTIONIZING THE CHARACTERIZATION OF PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES BY PERMITTING HIGH-SPATIAL RESOLUTIONS AND UNPRECEDENTED SENSITIVITIES AS DEMONSTRATED BY THE SURPRISING MAPS OF HNC AND HC3N OBTAINED OF TITAN (CORDINER ET AL. 2014) AND THE VERTICAL PROFILES OF PLUTO S ATMOSPHERE (LELLOUCH ET AL. 2016).

MRI: ACQUISITION OF AN ANALYTICAL TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPE (TEM) TO ENHANCE RESEARCH AND TEACHING AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY

EXPERIMENTAL TESTS OF THE ADEQUACY OF RAT MODELS OF HUMAN EMPATHY

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY'S WASHINGTON COLLEGE OF LAW, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH NC STATE UNIVERSITY'S OPEN KNOWLEDGE CENTER AND RESEARCHERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA, NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY, AND UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, WILL INVESTIGATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LIBRARIAN PRACTICE AND THE THOUGHTFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI). THE PROJECT TEAM WILL EXPLORE ROLES LIBRARIANS SHOULD PLAY, COPYRIGHT EXPERTISE THEY MIGHT NEED, AND OTHER POTENTIAL CURRICULUM TO ADDRESS NEW TECHNOLOGICAL AND LEGAL CHALLENGES. THIS APPLIED RESEARCH PROJECT WILL HELP LIBRARIANS, AND THE LIS PROGRAMS THAT TRAIN THEM, MEET THE NEED FOR LEGAL AND POLICY TRAINING TO SERVE THEIR CORE MISSION AS EXPERTS IN INFORMATION POLICY FOR EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES SUCH AS AI.

LEARNING DIAGNOSTIC LATENT REPRESENTATIONS FOR HUMAN MATERIAL PERCEPTION: COMMON MECHANISMS AND INDIVIDUAL VARIABILITY - ABSTRACT VISUALLY DISCRIMINATING AND IDENTIFYING MATERIALS (SUCH AS JUDGING WHETHER A CUP IS MADE OF PLASTIC OR GLASS) IS CRUCIAL FOR EVERYDAY TASKS, SUCH AS WALKING ON DIFFERENT SURFACES, USING TOOLS, AND SELECTING FOOD; AND YET MATERIAL PERCEPTION REMAINS POORLY UNDERSTOOD. THE MAIN CHALLENGE IS THAT A GIVEN MATERIAL CAN TAKE AN ENORMOUS VARIETY OF APPEARANCES DEPENDING ON THE 3D SHAPE, LIGHTING, AND OBJECT CLASS, AND HUMANS MUST UNTANGLE THESE TO ACHIEVE PERCEPTUAL CONSTANCY. PREVIOUS RESEARCH REVEALED USEFUL IMAGE CUES AND FOUND THAT 3D GEOMETRY INTERACTS WITH THE MATERIAL PERCEPTION IN INTRICATE WAYS. THE DISCOVERED IMAGE CUES, HOWEVER, DO NOT GENERALIZE ACROSS MATERIALS AND SCENES. THE PROPOSED WORK WILL COMBINE UNSUPERVISED GENERATIVE MODELS WITH HUMAN PSYCHOPHYSICS TO IDENTIFY A REPRESENTATION THAT CAN DISENTANGLE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND DISCOVER DIAGNOSTIC IMAGE FEATURES WITHOUT LABELED IMAGE DATA. THE SPECIC AIM 1 IS TO IDENTIFY A LATENT REPRESENTATION THAT PREDICTS HUMAN MATERIAL DISCRIMINATION, USING UNSUPERVISED DEEP NEURAL NETWORKS TRAINED WITH COMPUTER RENDERED IMAGES. THE SPECIC AIM 2 IS TO CHARACTERIZE HIGH-LEVEL SEMANTIC MATERIAL PERCEPTION, THE EFFECTS OF HIGH-LEVEL RECOGNITION AS WELL AS INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES ON ATTRIBUTE RATING AND RECOGNITION TASKS. TO DISCOVER A REPRESENTATION OF REAL-WORLD MATERIALS, THE PI AND THE TEAM WILL TRAIN A UNSUPERVISED STYLE-BASED GENERATIVE ADVERSARIAL NETWORK (STYLEGAN) ON REAL-WORLD PHOTOGRAPHS. THE PRELIMINARY RESULTS SHOW THAT STYLEGAN CAN GENERATE REALISTIC AND DIVERSE IMAGES OF MATERIALS. COLLECTIVELY, THESE STUDIES WILL EXPLORE HOW THE SEMANTIC-LEVEL MATERIAL PERCEPTION PROCESS RELATES TO THE STATISTICAL STRUCTURE OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT LEARNED FROM UNSUPERVISED MODELS. THE PROPOSED WORK WILL ALSO UNCOVER THE TASK-DEPENDENT INTERPLAY BETWEEN HIGH-LEVEL VISION AND MID-LEVEL REPRESENTATIONS, AND PROVIDE GUIDANCE FOR SEEKING NEURAL CORRELATES OF MATERIAL PERCEPTION. THE METHODS DEVELOPED IN THIS PROPOSAL, SUCH AS DISCOVERING PERCEPTUAL DIMENSIONS WITH LIMITED HUMAN LABELED DATA AND CHARACTERIZING INDIVIDUAL VARIABILITY, HAVE IMPACT FOR OTHER RESEARCH IN COGNITION. THE AREA PROPOSAL PROVIDES A UNIQUE MULTIDISCIPLINARY TRAINING OPPORTUNITY TO ENGAGE DIVERSE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN THE RESEARCH OF PSYCHOPHYSICS, MACHINE LEARNING, AND IMAGE PROCESSING. THE PI AND STUDENTS WILL ALSO INVESTIGATE A NOVEL METHOD OF RECRUITING UNDER-REPRESENTED HUMAN SUBJECTS USING "PEER-RECRUITING." FINALLY, THE EXPECTED NDINGS OF THIS PROPOSAL WILL HAVE IMPLICATIONS FOR THE LONG-STANDING DEBATE ABOUT THE DEGREE TO WHICH PERCEPTUAL REPRESENTATIONS ARE PREDETERMINED BY EVOLUTION OR LEARNED VIA EXPERIENCE.

THE OVERARCHING OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO UNDERSTAND THE PHYSICAL PROCESSES WHICH GENERATE ION OUTFLOWS FROM THE IONOSPHERE AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF THOSE OUTFLOWS ON THE GLOBAL MAGNETOSPHERE.

TPL2 IN CARCINOGENESIS-RELATED INFLAMMATION

DEVELOPMENTAL MANIPULATION OF ESTROGEN SIGNALING ALTERS ADULT VISUAL FUNCTION

UNDERSTANDING TREE SPECIES RESPONSE TO URBAN HEAT USING HIGH RESOLUTION REMOTE SENSING

VIRTUAL SCREENING FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF LIGANDS OF GPR101, AN ORPHAN GPCR INVOLVED IN X-LINKED ACROGIGANTISM (X-LAG) - ENABLING THE APPLICATION OF VIRTUAL SCREENING TO GPCRS: IDENTIFYING LIGANDS OF THE GPR101 RECEPTOR PI: DR. STEFANO COSTANZI, DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY, WASHINGTON, DC COLLABORATOR: DR. CONSTANTINE STRATAKIS, NICHD, NIH PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT WE AIM AT IDENTIFYING NEW LIGANDS OF GPR101, AN ORPHAN CLASS A G PROTEIN-COUPLED RECEPTOR (GPCR) INVOLVED IN X-LINKED ACROGIGANTISM (X-LAG). OUR RATIONAL APPROACH IS BASED ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF VALIDATED HOMOLOGY MODELS OF THE RECEPTOR AND THEIR USE AS PLATFORMS FOR VIRTUAL SCREENING FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF NEW LIGANDS. WE ALSO AIM AT PROVIDING ACCESS TO BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING TO A DIVERSE COHORT OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE: 1) IT WILL PROVIDE GPR101 LIGANDS, POSSIBLY INVERSE AGONISTS (ANY LIGAND OF THIS ORPHAN RECEPTOR WILL BE A VALUABLE TOOL TO ILLUMINATE ITS PATHOPHYSIOLOGICAL ROLE; IN PARTICULAR, INVERSE AGONISTS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO SERVE AS TOOLS TO PROBE THE FEASIBILITY OF BLOCKING GPR101 ACTIVITY TO TREAT X-LAG); 2) IT WILL PROVIDE 3D MODELS OF GPR101 AS WELL AS DATA ON THEIR APPLICABILITY TO VIRTUAL SCREENING (THESE MODELS WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE TO THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY AND, IN THE ABSENCE OF EXPERIMENTAL GPR101 STRUCTURES, CAN SERVE AS USEFUL LIGAND-DISCOVERY TOOLS); 3) IT WILL ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE APPLICABILITY OF HOMOLOGY MODELS TO VIRTUAL SCREENING, PARTICULARLY WITH RESPECT TO THE CORRELATION BETWEEN MODEL/TEMPLATE SEQUENCE IDENTITY AND VIRTUAL SCREENING PERFORMANCE. THE PREMISES OF OUR PROPOSED RESEARCH ARE VERY SOLID GIVEN THAT: 1) AS SHOWN IN PRELIMINARY RESULTS, WE HAVE IDENTIFIED 8 GPR101 INVERSE AGONISTS THROUGH THE EXPERIMENTAL SCREENING OF A LIBRARY OF 3,000 COMPOUNDS BY THE STRATAKIS LAB IN COLLABORATION WITH NCATS (THIS DATA ENABLES US TO RUN THE PROPOSED CONTROLLED VIRTUAL SCREENINGS); 2) WE HAVE GATHERED PRELIMINARY RESULTS THAT SHOW THE EFFECTIVENESS IN CONTROLLED VIRTUAL SCREENING CAMPAIGNS OF A GPR101 MODEL IN COMPLEX WITH COMPOUND 1 (THE MOST POTENT OF THE INVERSE AGONISTS PRESENTED IN THE PRELIMINARY RESULTS) – MORE IN GENERAL, WE AND OTHERS HAVE AMPLY DEMONSTRATED THE APPLICABILITY OF HOMOLOGY MODELS TO VIRTUAL SCREENING, ESPECIALLY WHEN OPTIMIZED IN COMPLEX WITH KNOWN LIGANDS; 3) THE STRATAKIS LAB HAS DEMONSTRATED THE IMPLICATION OF GPR101 IN X-LAG. THE INNOVATION OF OUR PROPOSED RESEARCH RESTS ON THE FACTS THAT: 1) LIGANDS OF THE GPR101 RECEPTOR ARE CURRENTLY NOT KNOWN, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE 8 INVERSE AGONISTS PRESENTED IN THE PRELIMINARY RESULTS AND TWO MORE PUTATIVE LIGANDS REPORTED IN THE LITERATURE; 2) VALIDATED GPR101 MODELS APPLICABLE TO VIRTUAL SCREENING ARE CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE; 3) TARGETS FOR THE POTENTIAL TREATMENT OF X-LAG ARE UNDERSTUDIED AND THERE IS A LACK OF EFFECTIVE OPTIONS TO MANAGE THIS CONDITION. WE SEEK TO ACHIEVE OUR OBJECTIVE BY: 1) BUILDING GPR101 MODELS IN COMPLEX WITH KNOWN INVERSE AGONISTS AND SUBJECTING THEM TO CONTROLLED VIRTUAL SCREENING CAMPAIGNS TO IDENTIFY THOSE THAT ARE MORE SUITED TO PRIORITIZE INVERSE AGONISTS OF THE RECEPTOR (SPECIFIC AIM 1); 2) USING THE MOST PROMISING MODELS TO CONDUCT PROSPECTIVE VIRTUAL SCREENING CAMPAIGNS FOLLOWED BY EXPERIMENTAL TESTS, TO IDENTIFY NOVEL GPR101 LIGANDS, POSSIBLY INVERSE AGONISTS (SPECIFIC AIM 2). TO ENSURE RIGOR AND REPRODUCIBILITY, WE WILL CONDUCT A THOROUGH AND SYSTEMATIC STUDY, FOLLOWING HIGHLY REPRODUCIBLE MODELING PROCEDURES, AND SUBJECTING EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS TO A THOROUGH VALIDATION THROUGH SECONDARY TESTS.

LIGNOCELLULOSIC MATERIALS AS INTUMESCING FLAME RETARDANTS FOR BIO-BASED POLYMER COMPOSITES

COGNITIVE AND NEURAL PREDICTORS OF COMORBIDITY BETWEEN READING AND ATTENTION PROBLEMS

SEPARATING THE VISUAL RESPONSE TO COLOR FROM THE VISUAL RESPONSE TO COLOR CONTRAS

INTERPRETING CASSINI CIRS DATA WITH A PHOTOCHEMICAL MODEL USING IMPROVED AB INITIO REACTION RATE COEFFICIENTS

TAILORING CELLULOSE NANOMATERIAL SURFACE PROPERTIES FOR IMPROVED POLYMER STRESS TRANSFER

CEREBELLUM AND AUTISM: NEURAL MECHANISMS AND MODULATION OF PREDICTIVE PROCESSING

WE PROPOSE AN AMERICAN UNIVERSITY EFFORT TO PARTICIPATE AND COOPERATE WITH THE NASA/ GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER TO DEVELOP A SERIES OF FAR INFRARED-SPECTROMETERS USING NOVEL MICROWAVE KINETIC INDUCTANCE DETECTORS (MKIDS) AS WELL AS NOVEL ARCHITECTURES FOR FACILITATING THE READOUT OF CRYOGENIC DETECTORS. THESE EFFORTS WILL BE PRIMARILY BE IN THREE MAJOR AREAS: 1.) DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL MATERIALS FOR PHOTON-COUNTING MKID APPLICATIONS; 2.) DEVELOPMENT OF A MODERATE SPECTRAL RESOLUTION (R ~500) SPECTROMETER WHICH WILL EMPLOY MKIDS FOR A BALLOON-BORNE OBSERVATORY; AND 3.) DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL FABRICATION TECHNIQUES ON MICRO-MACHINED SILICON WAFERS FOR CRYOGENIC DETECTOR READOUT APPLICATIONS.

EFFECTS OF AGE AND LESION LOCATION ON MOTOR, BEHAVIORAL AND COGNITIVE OUTCOMES IN PEDIATRIC POSTERIOR FOSSA TUMORS - PROJECT SUMMARY SIXTY PERCENT OF CHILDHOOD BRAIN TUMORS ARE LOCATED IN THE POSTERIOR FOSSA, WHICH INCLUDES THE CEREBELLUM. CHILDREN WITH DEVELOPMENTAL CEREBELLAR DAMAGE ARE AT AN INCREASED RISK FOR A RANGE OF ADVERSE OUTCOMES, INCLUDING HIGHER RATES OF AUTISM DIAGNOSES AND LONG TERM COGNITIVE AND ACADEMIC CHALLENGES. TRADITIONALLY CONSIDERED A MOTOR STRUCTURE, EXTENSIVE EVIDENCE NOW LINKS THE CEREBELLUM TO VARIOUS COGNITIVE AND BEHAVIORAL FUNCTIONS, AND ATYPICAL CEREBELLAR STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION HAS BEEN REPORTED IN MULTIPLE NEURODEVELOPMENTAL AND PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS. A KEY FEATURE OF CEREBELLAR NEUROANATOMY IS THE EXISTENCE OF FUNCTIONAL SUBREGIONS THAT SUPPORT SENSORIMOTOR AND MULTIPLE NON-MOTOR FUNCTIONS. THIS LEADS TO THE HYPOTHESIS THAT MOTOR, COGNITIVE, AND BEHAVIORAL OUTCOMES SHOULD BE PREDICTABLE BASED ON LESION LOCATION. WHILE OUR PREVIOUS LESION-SYMPTOM MAPPING STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THIS TO BE THE CASE IN ADULT CEREBELLAR STROKE PATIENTS, THERE ARE LIMITED STUDIES LINKING LOCATION OF LESION TO OUTCOMES IN PEDIATRIC POPULATIONS. FURTHER, WE AND OTHERS HAVE PROPOSED THAT THE LEARNING MECHANISMS SUBSERVED BY THE CEREBELLUM ARE CRITICAL DURING DEVELOPMENT, LEADING TO THE HYPOTHESIS THAT CEREBELLAR DAMAGE AT A YOUNGER AGE WOULD BE ASSOCIATED WITH WORSE LONG-TERM OUTCOMES THAN DAMAGE IN ADULTHOOD. BASED ON FINDINGS FROM PRETERM INFANTS WITH PERINATAL CEREBELLAR DAMAGE, EARLY CEREBELLAR DAMAGE COULD LEAD TO THE ATYPICAL DEVELOPMENT OF SPECIFIC CORTICAL REGIONS TO WHICH THE CEREBELLUM INTERCONNECTS IN A LESION LOCATION-DEPENDENT MANNER. TO TEST THESE HYPOTHESES, WE PROPOSE TO ANALYZE PRE-EXISTING STRUCTURAL IMAGING AND NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL DATA FROM ~70 CHILDREN WITH A HISTORY OF PEDIATRIC CEREBELLAR TUMOR. WE WILL CONDUCT MULTIVARIATE VOXEL-BASED LESION-SYMPTOM MAPPING TO DETERMINE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LESION LOCATION AND VARIOUS MOTOR, COGNITIVE, AND BEHAVIORAL OUTCOME VARIABLES; WE WILL SPECIFICALLY EXAMINE THE IMPACT OF AGE AT TUMOR DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT PROTOCOLS ON THESE OUTCOMES; AND, IN PATIENTS WITH LONGITUDINAL DATA, WE WILL EXAMINE THE IMPACT OF AGE OF TUMOR DIAGNOSIS AND LESION LOCATION ON LONG TERM OUTCOMES AND WHOLE-BRAIN GREY AND WHITE MATTER DEVELOPMENT. THE GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO IMPROVE OUTCOME PREDICTION AND EDUCATIONAL PLANNING IN PEDIATRIC CEREBELLAR PATIENTS. A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE MECHANISM(S) BY WHICH EARLY CEREBELLAR DAMAGE IMPACTS LIFELONG MOTOR, COGNITIVE, AND BEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT MAY LEAD TO NEW INTERVENTIONS TO ENHANCE BEHAVIORAL AND NEURAL OUTCOMES FOR THESE CHILDREN.

CPD

23-AIST23_2-0067 INTEGRATING EXPLAINABLE MACHINE LEARNING WITH PHYSICS FOR ENHANCED WILDFIRE DETECTION IN OBSERVATION-CONSTRAINED ENVIRONMENTS

NEURONAL MECHANISMS OF REWARD SIGNALING IN THE PREFRONTAL CORTEX

REVEALING PRIMITIVE MATERIAL PRESERVED IN SOLAR SYSTEM SMALL BODIES

TPL2 IN CARCINOGENESIS-RELATED INFLAMMATION

IMPROVING PERINATAL MENTAL HEALTH AMONG LATINAS THROUGH A CULTURALLY ADAPTED, MULTI-LEVEL INTERVENTION - ABSTRACT SUMMARY: MATERNAL MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY ARE AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH IN TEXAS, PARTICULARLY AMONG LATINA WOMEN. ONE MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TO THIS PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS IS UNDER-TREATED MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS. THE PURPOSE OF THIS CAREER DEVELOPMENT AWARD IS TO PROVIDE DR. PETRUZZI WITH THE TRAINING, CAREER DEVELOPMENT, AND MENTORSHIP NECESSARY TO IMPROVE MATERNAL MENTAL HEALTH OUTCOMES AMONG LATINA WOMEN THROUGH A CULTURALLY-ADAPTED, INTERVENTION THAT SIMULTANEOUSLY ADDRESSES MENTAL HEALTH AND SOCIAL NEEDS. CANDIDATE: DR. PETRUZZI IS A HEALTH EQUITY RESEARCHER AND A RESEARCH ASSOCIATE IN THE DIVISION OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND HEALTH EQUITY AT THE DEPARTMENT OF POPULATION HEALTH OF DELL MEDICAL SCHOOL. SHE IS A CLINICAL SOCIAL WORKER AND HAS OVER A DECADE OF RESEARCH EXPERIENCE IN HOSPITAL AND HEALTHCARE SETTINGS. WHILE SHE HAS EXPERTISE IN MENTAL HEALTH AND SOCIAL NEEDS, HER CAREER WILL BE PROPELLED BY ACQUISITION OF SKILLS IN INTERVENTION DEVELOPMENT, CULTURAL ADAPTATION, AND CLINICAL TRIAL DESIGN. MENTORSHIP: MENTORS ARE NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED INVESTIGATORS WITH COMPLEMENTARY EXPERTISE: DR. CARMEN VALDEZ (LATINA MATERNAL MENTAL HEALTH), DR. DEBORAH PARRA-MEDINA (INTERVENTION DEVELOPMENT AND CULTURAL ADAPTATION) AND DR. EMILY MILLER (PERINATAL MENTAL HEALTH AND CLINICAL TRIALS). SEVERAL ADVISORS WILL SUPPORT THIS PROPOSAL, INCLUDING AN EXPERT IN PROBLEM SOLVING THERAPY (DR. SAMPSON), AN EXPERT IN PERINATAL PATIENT NAVIGATION (DR. YEE) AND A BIOSTATISTICIAN (DR. HOBBS). TRAINING: DR. PETRUZZI WILL RECEIVE BOTH DIDACTIC AND EXPERIENTIAL TRAINING IN COMMUNITY INTERVENTION DEVELOPMENT, CULTURAL ADAPTATION, AND HYBRID EFFECTIVENESS IMPLEMENTATION CLINICAL TRIAL DESIGN THROUGH COURSEWORK, WORKSHOPS, MEETINGS WITH MENTORS AND ADVISORS, CONFERENCES, AND MANUSCRIPT WRITING. RESEARCH: MATERNAL MORTALITY IS AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH IN TEXAS, PARTICULARLY AMONG LATINA WOMEN. MENTAL HEALTH RISK FACTORS SUCH AS DEPRESSION AND SUICIDALITY HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED AS THE LEADING CAUSE OF MATERNAL MORTALITY. EVIDENCE BASED INTERVENTIONS SUCH AS PATIENT NAVIGATION AND PROBLEM-SOLVING THERAPY HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED TO IMPROVE MATERNAL HEALTH OUTCOMES AMONG RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITIES. HOWEVER, FEW INTERVENTIONS ADDRESS BOTH MENTAL HEALTH AND SOCIAL NEEDS, AND EVEN FEWER ARE CULTURALLY OR LINGUISTICALLY ADAPTED, WHICH COULD IMPROVE FEASIBILITY AND ACCEPTABILITY AMONG LATINA WOMEN. THIS PROPOSAL IS INNOVATIVE IN COMBINING TWO EVIDENCE-BASED INTERVENTIONS (PROBLEM-SOLVING THERAPY AND PATIENT NAVIGATION) TO IMPROVE PERINATAL MENTAL HEALTH AMONG LATINAS. THE SPECIFIC AIMS ARE: 1) CONDUCT A COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT TO IDENTIFY THE CULTURALLY RELEVANT MENTAL HEALTH AND SOCIAL NEEDS OF PREGNANT/POSTPARTUM LATINA WOMEN IN CENTRAL TEXAS; 2) COMBINE, CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY ADAPT TWO EVIDENCE-BASED INTERVENTIONS (PROBLEM-SOLVING THERAPY AND PATIENT NAVIGATION) FOR PREGNANT LATINA WOMEN TO SIMULTANEOUSLY ADDRESS MENTAL HEALTH AND SOCIAL NEEDS; AND 3) CONDUCT A FEASIBILITY STUDY TO ASSESS ACCEPTABILITY AND FEASIBILITY OF THE INTERVENTION. PRELIMINARY DATA FROM THE FEASIBILITY STUDY WILL INFORM A R01 HYBRID EFFECTIVENESS IMPLEMENTATION CLINICAL TRIAL TO GENERATE THE NECESSARY EVIDENCE TO IMPROVE RATES OF MATERNAL MORTALITY AMONG LATINA WOMEN.

INTERGENERATIONAL INTERVENTION: EMPLOYING YOUTH TO PROMOTE AGING HEALTHY WITH HIV IN RURAL SOUTH AFRICA - PROJECT SUMMARY: SOUTH AFRICA’S RAPIDLY GROWING POPULATION OF OLDER ADULTS LIVING WITH HIV (OPLHV) HAVE SUBOPTIMAL HIV-RELATED OUTCOMES, AS THEY FACE A CONCOMITANT RISE IN LEVELS OF DISABILITY AND CHRONIC DISEASE ON TOP OF A LACK OF HIV CARE AND TREATMENT INTERVENTIONS EXPLICITLY TARGETING OLDER POPULATIONS. WITH FEW ALTERNATIVES TO FAMILY-BASED CARE, MOST OLDER AFRICANS AGE IN PLACE, BUT WITH THE “HOLLOWED OUT” MIDDLE GENERATION AND HIGH RATES OF LABOR MIGRATION, THERE IS NEED TO LOOK ELSEWHERE TO SEEK THE MULTI-DIMENSIONAL SUPPORT NEEDED TO AGE HEALTHILY. THE PROPOSED PROJECT AIMS TO EXPLORE HOW AN INNOVATIVE INTERGENERATIONAL INTERVENTION COULD IMPROVE APPROACHES TO THE MANAGEMENT OF HIV AND RELATED CO-MORBIDITIES AMONG OPLHV WHILE OFFERING OPPORTUNITY TO THE YOUNGER GENERATION IN SOUTH AFRICA, WHERE YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT IS A NATIONAL CONCERN, BY EMPLOYING YOUTH TO ASSIST OPLHV IN THEIR COMMUNITIES. TO SHAPE EARLY INTERVENTION DEVELOPMENT, THE PROPOSED FORMATIVE AND SEQUENTIAL MIXED METHODS STUDY AIMS TO: 1) IDENTIFY THE DETERMINANTS OF SOCIAL SUPPORT ASSOCIATED WITH AGING HEALTHY WITH HIV BY GENDER AND ACROSS THE LATER LIFE COURSE—INCLUDING ART MANAGEMENT, MANAGEMENT OF MULTIMORBIDITIES, AND LIFE SATISFACTION—AND HOW THAT SUPPORT IS MODERATED BY HOUSEHOLD STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION, THROUGH LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS OF EXISTING QUANTITATIVE DATA FROM THE NIH-FUNDED STUDY, HEALTH AND AGING IN AFRICA: LONGITUDINAL STUDIES OF AN INDEPTH COMMUNITY; AND 2) ELUCIDATE HOW SOCIAL SUPPORT GAPS CAN BE STRATEGICALLY FILLED INTERGENERATIONALLY AND INFORM A FEASIBLE INTERVENTION. THIS AIM WILL BE MET USING QUALITATIVE DATA WITH KEY INTERVENTION STAKEHOLDERS, INCLUDING A) IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS WITH OLDER ADULTS AND THEIR HOUSEHOLD MEMBER(S); B) SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS WITH KEY INFORMANTS FROM THE COMMUNITY; AND C) FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS WITH YOUTH. THIS PROJECT RESPONDS TO THE NEED TO PREPARE FOR THE GROWING POPULATION OF ADULTS AGING WITH HIV AND RELATED CO-MORBIDITIES WHILE INCREASING THE EVIDENCE BASE TO SUPPORT THE DESIGN OF INTERVENTIONS FOR OPLHV IN DIVERSE SETTINGS AND SUBPOPULATIONS.

A PILOT SOCIAL NETWORK INTERVENTION TO REDUCE HIV AND IPV AMONG ADOLESCENT GIRLS

RR: ESTABLISHING AND BOOSTING CONFIDENCE LEVELS FOR EMPIRICAL RESEARCH USING TWITTER DATA

RESIDENCY FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING AND LEARNING (RETL)

NEURAL ESTROGEN SYNTHESIS BY ASTROCYTIC AROMATIZATION, AND NEUROINFLAMMATION.

TYPE I: TENLEYTOWN I-CORPS SITE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES OF POST-ROSETTA COMETARY SCIENCE WITH THE NEW GENERATION OF NEAR-INFRARED SPECTROGRAPHS

23-NUP2023-0084 DEVELOPMENT OF THE MEDDEA INSTRUMENT FOR THE PADRE CUBESAT MISSION TO OBSERVE THE SUN IN HIGH-ENERGY X-RAYS

GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT AND PERSISTENT MYSTERIES IN HELIOPHYSICS IS THE ORIGIN OF SOLAR ERUPTIONS (FLARES AND CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS (CMES)) WHICH ALWAYS COME FROM FILAMENT CHANNELS ALONG MAGNETIC POLARITY INVERSION LINES. THE SHEARED/TWISTED MAGNETIC FIELD OF FILAMENT CHANNELS PROVIDES THE FREE ENERGY THAT POWERS CMES AND SUPPORTS COOL PLASMA IN THE FORM OF FILAMENTS (ALSO KNOWN AS PROMINENCES). SOLAR ERUPTIONS CMES IN PARTICULAR ARE THE MAIN DRIVERS OF SPACE WEATHER. THEREFORE WE MUST UNDERSTAND FILAMENT CHANNEL STRUCTURE AND HOW IT FORMS IN ORDER TO PREDICT THE ONSET OF MAJOR SPACE-WEATHER EVENTS.

THIS PROJECT WILL PRODUCE VIDEOS ABOUT ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION MADE POSSIBLE IN THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE THROUGH THE BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW AND THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT AND PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH OPPORTUNITIES TO WORK ON VIDEO PRODUCTION. STORY CONCEPTUALIZATION, TOPICS, AND LOCATIONS WILL BE DETERMINED BY THE RECIPIENT AND NPS. THE RECIPIENT WILL PRODUCE 3 VIDEO PACKAGES THAT INCLUDE A 3-5-MINUTE VIDEO, 1 2 SEGMENTS APPROPRIATE FOR SOCIAL MEDIA, AND 5-10 STILL PHOTOGRAPHS. ALL CONTENT MUST MEET SECTION 508 ACCESSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS. THE FINAL PRODUCTS WILL BE DISTRIBUTED ON NPS DIGITAL PLATFORMS. BENEFICIARIES INCLUDE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION THAT SUPPORT ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS.

SUPPLEMENT TO PROMOTE DIVERSITY: LOOMING VULNERABILITY AND SMOKING CESSATION ATTEMPTS

NETWORKS OF INFLUENCE AND SUPPORT IN PEACE OPERATIONS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: TRANSFORMATIVE STUDIES OF COMETARY VOLATILES IN THE ERA OF MODERN NEAR-INFRARED SPECTROGRAPHS -COMETS ARE REMNANTS FROM THE EARLY SOLAR SYSTEM THAT RETAIN THE VOLATILES (ICES) FROM THE COLD REGIONS WHERE THEY FORMED. THEIR NUCLEI WERE AMONG THE FIRST OBJECTS TO ACCRETE IN THE EARLY SOLAR NEBULA, AND THEY LIKELY FORMED AT DIVERSE DISTANCES FROM THE YOUNG SUN. THE PRIMARY SCIENCE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO BETTER DISENTANGLE THE NATAL (COSMOGONIC) HERITAGE IN COMETARY VOLATILES FROM SIGNATURES OF POSSIBLE POST-FORMATIVE PROCESSING. THE PROJECT WILL USE HIGH-RESOLUTION, NEAR-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPIC OBSERVATIONS OF COMETS TO ADVANCE UNDERSTANDING OF THE COMPOSITIONAL MEASUREMENTS OF VOLATILES RELEASED FROM THEIR NUCLEI AND CONNECT COMETS TO NATAL CONDITIONS IN THE EARLY SOLAR SYSTEM. THE PROJECT INTEGRATES THE RESEARCH INTO PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF STEM TEACHERS FOLLOWING THE NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS, IN MENTORING UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS, AND IN SUPPORTING A GRADUATE STUDENT TO BUILD A PEER MENTORSHIP NETWORK BETWEEN STEM DEPARTMENTS. A SEQUENCE OF VERY FAVORABLE UPCOMING COMETARY APPARITIONS PRESENTS A TIMELY OPPORTUNITY FOR POTENTIALLY TRANSFORMATIVE STUDIES OF COMETS AS UNIQUE VOLATILE-RICH REMNANTS FROM THE EARLY SOLAR SYSTEM. THE PROJECT WILL USE IR SPECTROSCOPY OF SUFFICIENTLY HIGH SPECTRAL RESOLUTION (~20,000 OR HIGHER) TO MEASURE DISTINCT ROTATIONAL-VIBRATIONAL EMISSIONS FROM PARENT MOLECULES RELEASED INTO THE COMAE OF COMETS. MEASURING THE STRENGTHS OF AND APPLYING FLUORESCENCE MODELING TO THESE EMISSIONS ENABLES THE DETERMINATION OF THE PRODUCTION RATES [MOLECULES/S] FOR MANY SPECIES: CH4, C2H2, C2H6, CO, H2CO, CH3OH, OCS, NH3, HCN, AND H2O. RELATIVE ABUNDANCES (E.G., C2H2/C2H6) ARE THEN EXPRESSED AS THE RATIOS OF PRODUCTION RATES. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO MEASURE COMA SPATIAL DISTRIBUTIONS OF GAS COLUMN DENSITY, WHICH ARE HIGHLY DIAGNOSTIC FOR CONNECTING MEASURED COMPOSITION WITH THE OUTGASSING SOURCES OF INDIVIDUAL VOLATILES. THE PROJECT HAS THE POTENTIAL FOR IMPROVING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF PLANETARY SYSTEM FORMATION AS WELL. 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.

ENHANCED TEACHING AND LEARNING THROUGH PROBLEM-BASED PEDAGOGY IN UNDERGRADUATE PHYSICS AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE COURSES FOR NON-SCIENCE MAJORS

OBJECTIVES. KEPLER HAS REVEALED FREQUENT SUPERFLARES ON SOLAR-TYPE STARS PROVIDING A MECHANISM BY WHICH HOST STARS MAY HAVE PROFOUND EFFECTS ON THE PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL EVOLUTION OF EXOPLANETARY ATMOSPHERES. WHAT EFFECT DO EXTREME ENERGY FLUXES FROM ERUPTIVE EVENTS DURING EARLY STELLAR EVOLUTION TOGETHER WITH UV LIGHT HAVE ON PREBIOTIC CHEMISTRY IN PARTICULAR ON THE PRODUCTION OF SMALL MOLECULE PRECURSORS CURRENTLY THOUGHT NECESSARY FOR NUCLEOSIDE SYNTHESIS AND BY CONSEQUENCE THE ORIGIN OF LIFE ON PRIMITIVE PLANETS? THIS MAY BE IMPORTANT IN TERRESTRIAL PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES WHERE SPECIES SUCH AS MOLECULAR NITROGEN AND CARBON DIOXIDE WOULD REQUIRE HIGH ENERGY IRRADIATION IN ORDER FOR THEM TO BE RECOMBINED INTO REACTIVE SPECIES SUCH AS HCN AND NOX THE FORMER OF WHICH IS CONSIDERED CRUCIAL FOR NUCLEOSIDE FORMATION AN OUTSTANDING CHALLENGE IN THE FIELD. OUR PROPOSAL AIMS TO ADDRESS THESE MAJOR QUESTIONS BY PERFORMING COMPUTATIONAL AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES ON THE EFFECTS OF IONIZING RADIATION INITIATED BY ENERGETIC ERUPTIVE EVENTS INCLUDING SUPERFLARES FROM YOUNG STARS AND ASSOCIATED PARTICLE EVENTS ON THE PREBIOTIC CHEMISTRY OF THE EARLY EARTH AND ITS TWINS. FIRST WE WILL CALIBRATE ATMOSPHERIC PHOTO-COLISSIONAL CHEMICAL MODELS USING EXPERIMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION OF GAS AND AQUEOUS PHASE CHEMISTRY. SECOND WE WILL CHARACTERIZE THE PROCESSES OF NITROGEN FIXATION AND THE CHAIN OF REACTIONS PRODUCING NOX N2O HCN AND OTHER N-CONTAINING SPECIES IN A GAS- AND LATER LIQUID-PHASE THAT MAY EVENTUALLY FORM ORGANIC MOLECULES OF VARYING DEGREES OF COMPLEXITY ESPECIALLY THOSE RELEVANT IN THE PREBIOTIC SYNTHESIS OF NUCLEOSIDES NOTABLY RNA. METHODOLOGY. WE WILL EMPLOY OUR 1D PHOTO-COLLISIONAL ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY MODEL TO COMPUTE THE CHEMICAL FORMATION RATES OF COMPLEX ORGANIC MOLECULES INCLUDING O- AND N-CONTAINING HYDROCARBONS IN THE GAS PHASE. THESE SIMULATIONS WILL ALLOW TO US INVESTIGATE THE VIABLE PHOTOCHEMICAL MECHANISMS FOR NITROGEN AND OXYGEN FIXATION INTO COMPLEX ORGANIC MOLECULES IN THE ATMOSPHERES OF EARLY EARTH AND MARS. THESE SIMULATIONS WILL PROVIDE GUIDANCE IN EXPERIMENTS THAT EXPLORE THE STEADY-STATE GAS COMPOSITION OF N2/CO2/H2O GAS MIXTURES ALONE AND IN COMBINATION WITH MINOR AMOUNTS OF CO OR CH4 EXPOSED TO A VARIETY OF ENERGY SOURCES INCLUDING PARTICLES ELECTRIC DISCHARGES AND UV LIGHT AS WELL AS THE NATURE OF THE WATER SOLUBLE SPECIES WHEN GENERATED IN THE PRESENCE OF AN AQUEOUS PHASE HELD AT VARIOUS PH VALUES THAT SIMULATE PRIMITIVE PLANETARY STANDING WATER BODIES. EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES WILL BE CONDUCTED BY FLOWING 0.1 TO 1 ATM TOTAL PRESSURE GAS MIXTURES CONTAINING VARIOUS PARTIAL PRESSURES OF CO2 AND N2 TOGETHER WITH ADMIXTURES OF LESSER AMOUNTS OF H2O CO H2 OR CH4. THESE WILL BE IRRADIATED BY A PROTON GUN UV LAMP AND ELECTRIC DISCHARGE. STEADY-STATE GAS COMPOSTIONS WILL BE MEASURED DOWNSTREAM FROM THE REACTION CHAMBER USING A RESIDUAL GAS ANALYZER. SOLUBLE SPECIES WILL BE MEASURED USING ION CHROMATOGRAPHY DIRECT INFUSION TIME-OF-FLIGHT MASS SPECTROMETRY SPECTROSCOPICALLY USING NMR AND CHEMICALLY WITH VARIOUS ASSAYS. RELEVANCE TO EXOBIOLOGY PROGRAM. THE PROPOSED STUDIES WILL PROVIDE SIGNIFICANT IMPLICATIONS FOR THE CONDITIONS SETTING STAGE FOR THE ORIGIN OF LIFE ON EARTH THE RESOLUTION OF THE FYS ON THE EARLY EARTH/MARS AND HABITABILITY CONDITIONS ON TERRESTRIAL PLANETS AROUND YOUNG STARS. AS A SOURCE OF PREBIOTIC NITROGEN THIS WORK IS RELEVANT TO THE RESEARCH AREA OF PREBIOTIC EVOLUTION . ABIOTIC NITROGEN FIXATION IS ONE OF THE PLANETARY AND MOLECULAR PROCESSES THAT SET THE PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CONDITIONS WITHIN WHICH LIVING SYSTEMS MAY HAVE ARISEN BY HELPING TO UNDERSTAND HOW PLANETARY NITROGEN BECAME AVAILABLE FOR USE IN THE ORIGIN AND EARLY EVOLUTION OF LIFE. OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE GLOBAL SCALE OF NITROGEN FIXATION WILL HELP MODEL EARLY ENVIRONMENTS ON THE EARTH IN WHICH ORGANIC CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS COULD OCCUR AND MAY SHED LIGHT ON THE PREBIOTIC SYNTHESIS OF NUCLEOSIDES LIKE RNA.

EQUIPMENT: MRI: TRACK 1 ACQUISITION OF AN INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA MASS SPECTROMETER (ICP-MS) TO STRENGTHEN INTERDISCIPLINARY ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY -ELEMENTAL ANALYSIS IS FUNDAMENTAL TO ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE IN EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES. THROUGH THIS AWARD AMERICAN UNIVERSITY WILL ACQUIRE ADVANCED INSTRUMENTATION TO ADDRESS A WIDE RANGE OF RESEARCH QUESTIONS PERTAINING TO BETTER UNDERSTANDING POLLUTION PATHWAYS AND ECOSYSTEM HEALTH, WITH A FOCUS ON THE ARCTIC. FOR EXAMPLE, STUDYING TRACE METALS IN ARCTIC ECOSYSTEMS FROM THAWING PERMAFROST HELPS TO REVEAL THE EXTENT OF CONTAMINANTS AFFECTING WILDLIFE AND INDIGENOUS FOOD SOURCES. BEING ABLE TO CONDUCT DETAILED ANALYSES ACROSS A RANGE OF SAMPLE TYPES?FROM SEDIMENTS AND WATER TO BIOLOGICAL TISSUES?SUPPORTS INVESTIGATIONS INTO POLLUTANT SOURCES, AND THE IMPACT OF CONTAMINANTS ON ECOLOGICAL AND HUMAN HEALTH. THE INSTRUMENTATION WILL BE HOUSED AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY, SUPPORTING COLLABORATIONS WITH INSTITUTIONS ACROSS THE WASHINGTON, D.C. AREA. KEY OBJECTIVES INCLUDE EXPANDING ANALYTICAL CAPABILITIES, ADVANCING COMMUNITY-BASED ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING INITIATIVES IN THE ARCTIC, AND ENHANCING STEM EDUCATION AND TRAINING BY PROVIDING STUDENTS WITH HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE IN ELEMENTAL ANALYSIS. ELEMENTAL ANALYSIS IS FUNDAMENTAL TO ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE IN EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES, AS IT PROVIDES DETAILED INSIGHTS INTO THE COMPOSITION AND DISTRIBUTION OF TRACE ELEMENTS AND CONTAMINANTS ACROSS ECOSYSTEMS. THROUGH THIS AWARD AMERICAN UNIVERSITY WILL ACQUIRE AN INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA MASS SPECTROMETER (ICP-MS) AND MICROWAVE DIGESTION SYSTEM TO ADDRESS INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH QUESTIONS IN MARINE ECOLOGY, ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY, URBAN STREAM ECOLOGY, AND TOXICOLOGY. THE ICP-MS WILL SUPPORT CURRENT AND FUTURE RESEARCH ACROSS A WIDE RANGE OF ECOSYSTEMS, ORGANISMS, AND SUBJECT AREAS. THE EXPANDED ANALYTICAL CAPACITY WILL ENABLE NEW INSIGHTS INTO: (1) HEAVY METALS IN ARCTIC MARINE MAMMALS AND SEABIRDS, (2) TOXIC ELEMENT RELEASE FROM THAWING PERMAFROST, (3) WATER QUALITY IMPACTS, (4) MICROPLASTICS IN URBAN ROAD DUST, (5) URBAN RIVER GEOCHEMISTRY, (6) TREATED WASTEWATER, (7) METAL-ORGANIC FRAMEWORKS, AND (8) METAL UPTAKE IN MODEL ORGANISMS, AMONG OTHER STUDIES. THE INSTRUMENTATION WILL BE HOUSED AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY, SUPPORTING COLLABORATIONS WITH INSTITUTIONS ACROSS THE WASHINGTON, D.C. AREA. KEY OBJECTIVES INCLUDE EXPANDING ANALYTICAL CAPABILITIES, ADVANCING COMMUNITY-BASED ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING INITIATIVES IN THE ARCTIC, AND ENHANCING STEM EDUCATION AND TRAINING BY PROVIDING STUDENTS WITH HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE IN ELEMENTAL ANALYSIS. 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.

AWARD TO PROVIDE ASSESSMENTS ON ANTI-CORRUPTION AND FINANCIAL CRIMES AS WELL AS THE IMPACT OF INTERVENTIONS ON THESE TOPICS IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE

INTERNATIONAL ARTS JOURNALISM INSTITUTE IN VISUAL ARTS

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

UNCOVERING THE ORIGINS OF THE GENDER GAP IN POLITICAL AMBITION

TO UNDERSTAND THE SCOPE OF IUU FISHING-RELATED LEGISLATION IN THE CARIBBEAN, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND SOUTH AMERICA AND IDENTIFY GOVERNMENT-BACKED MALIGN ACTORS VIOLATING THESE LAWS

TAS::57 3600::TAS"(DURIP-10) POSS-MODIFIED CELLULOSE FOR IMPROVED BIOPOLYMER PERFORMANCE"

ENHANCING ICE CLOUD RETRIEVAL THROUGH MULTITASK MACHINE LEARNING

ALUMINUM GALLIUM ARSENIDE COATINGS TO IMPROVE LIGO SENSITIVITY

ADVANCE AU: ASSESSING GENDER AND RACIAL EQUITY AMONG STEM FACULTY

DURABLE FLAME-RETARDANT COATINGS DERIVED FROM NATURAL MATERIALS

VTC RISK ASSESSMENT PROJECT

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: OPENING NEW VIEWS INTO BANKRUPTCY AND CREDIT MARKETS USING COURT RECORDS

NIJ RESEARCH ASSISTANTSHIP PROGRAM 2014-15

HUMAN FORESTS VERSUS RANDOM FOREST MODELS IN PREDICTION

TOPOLOGICAL ACOUSTICAL FEATURE EXTRACTION AND EXPLOITATION (TAFEE)

ATD: EFFICIENT ONLINE DETECTION BASED ON MULTIPLE SENSORS, WITH APPLICATIONS TO CYBERSECURITY AND DISCOVERY OF BIOLOGICAL THREATS

REDUCED POLYMER FLAMMABILITY USING POSS-MODIFIED CELLULOSE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: SHINE: WHERE ARE PARTICLES ACCELERATED IN CORONAL JETS? -KEY QUESTIONS REMAIN REGARDING THE SOURCE REGIONS OF IMPULSIVE SOLAR ENERGETIC PARTICLES AND THEIR ESCAPE INTO THE HELIOSPHERE. UNDERSTANDING THEIR ORIGIN WILL HELP IN FORECASTING SPACE WEATHER AND ITS IMPACTS ON SPACECRAFT AND INSTRUMENTS. THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES THE SOLAR, HELIOSPHERIC, AND INTERPLANETARY ENVIRONMENT (SHINE) GOAL TO ENHANCE UNDERSTANDING OF PROCESSES BY WHICH ENERGY IN THE FORM OF MAGNETIC FIELDS AND PARTICLES ARE PRODUCED BY THE SUN AND ACCELERATED IN INTERPLANETARY SPACE. GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS WILL BE SUPPORTED. FURTHER, A DATABASE OF SOLAR CORONAL-JET EVENTS WILL BE CREATED. THE PROJECT IS AN OBSERVATIONAL AND THEORETICAL STUDY OF CORONAL JETS TO ANSWER TWO SCIENCE QUESTIONS: (1) WHERE ARE ELECTRONS ACCELERATED IN ACTIVE-REGION PERIPHERY JETS? (2) HOW DO FLARE-ACCELERATED PARTICLES FROM ACTIVE-REGION PERIPHERY JETS ESCAPE INTO THE HELIOSPHERE? THE APPROACH COMBINES HIGH-QUALITY OBSERVATIONS WITH STATE-OF-THE-ART NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS. THE TEAM WILL SELECT AND ANALYZE A SET OF CORONAL JETS AT ACTIVE-REGION PERIPHERIES FROM SPACE-BASED AND GROUND-BASED OBSERVATORIES, INCLUDING THE NSF-FUNDED EXPANDED OWENS VALLEY SOLAR ARRAY. THEY WILL DETERMINE WHICH TYPES OF JETS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH IMPULSIVE SOLAR ENERGETIC PARTICLE EVENTS, WHERE THE HIGH-ENERGY ELECTRONS ARE LOCATED BOTH WITHIN AND BEYOND THE SOLAR SOURCES, AND HOW THESE EVENTS EVOLVE. THEIR MAGNETIC TOPOLOGIES WILL BE ESTIMATED BY NONLINEAR FORCE-FREE FIELD EXTRAPOLATIONS FROM MAGNETOGRAMS. BASED ON THE DATA ANALYSIS RESULTS, THEY WILL PERFORM SIMULATIONS WITH INITIAL CONDITIONS CONSISTENT WITH TYPICAL PROPERTIES OF THE OBSERVED EVENTS. POSTPROCESSING THE SIMULATION OUTPUT WITH THE PARTICLE-TRACKING CODE WILL REVEAL WHERE ELECTRONS ARE ENERGIZED, HOW THEIR SPECTRA EVOLVE, AND HOW THESE ENERGETIC PARTICLE ESCAPE. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

MRI: ACQUISITION OF HPC AT AU (EXPANDING CAPABILITIES FOR RESEARCH AND RESEARCH TRAINING AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY THROUGH SHARED HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMP

CHP

HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION AND LAW

COMET CHEMISTRY BEYOND THE H2O SUBLIMATION ZONE: INTERFEROMETRIC IMAGING AND SPECTROSCOPY OF DISTANT COMETS

A PILOT SOCIAL NORMS INTERVENTION TO ENGAGE SOCIAL NETWORKS OF URBAN ADOLESCENT GIRLS AND YOUNG WOMEN IN PREP: MSICHANA SALAMA - ABSTRACT IN AFRICA, ADOLESCENT GIRLS AND YOUNG WOMEN (AGYW) AGED 15 TO 24 YEARS ACCOUNT FOR OVER 25% OF NEW HIV INFECTIONS. AGYW WHO DO NOT COMPLETE HIGH SCHOOL ARE TWICE AS LIKELY TO BE HIV INFECTED AS GIRLS WHO FINISH HIGH SCHOOL. SCALABLE, EFFICACIOUS HIV PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS ARE URGENTLY NEEDED THAT CAN REACH OUT-OF-SCHOOL AGYW TO REDUCE THEIR RISK. PREP (PRE-EXPOSURE PROPHYLAXIS) IS RECOMMENDED FOR HIGH RISK AGYW. IN OUR PRIOR WORK (R21MH114570), WE USED A SOCIAL NETWORK STRATEGY TO RECRUIT A COHORT OF MOSTLY OUT-OF-SCHOOL AGYW IN TANZANIA (N=256); SELF-REPORTED HIV SERO-POSITIVITY AMONG THE AGYW WAS 12.2%, ANY LIFETIME INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE VICTIMIZATION WAS 60.2%, 19.4% REPORTED TRANSACTIONAL SEX WITH THEIR PRIMARY SEXUAL PARTNER, AND NONE WERE USING PREP. DAILY ORAL PREP WAS ONLY ROLLED OUT FOR PUBLIC USE IN TANZANIA IN 2022. SOCIAL NETWORK INTERVENTIONS CAN SCALE UP DELIVERY OF PREP AND OTHER BIOMEDICAL HIV PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS TO OUT-OF-SCHOOL AGYW. NETWORK INTERVENTIONS CAN PROMOTE POSITIVE SOCIAL NORMS TO SUPPORT PREP USE AND ADHERENCE. OUR STUDY WILL ASSESS THE FEASIBILITY OF A SOCIAL NORMS INTERVENTION, MSICHANA SALAMA (SAFE GIRL), TO INCREASE PREP USE AND ADHERENCE AND SUSTAIN REDUCTIONS IN HIV RISK BEHAVIORS (E.G., TRANSACTIONAL SEX) AMONG NETWORKS OF MOSTLY OUT-OF-SCHOOL AGYW. THE STUDY DESIGN IS A PILOT INTERVENTION TRIAL USING 24 SOCIOCENTRIC NETWORKS OF AGYW IN DAR ES SALAAM (N=224). SPECIFIC AIMS ARE: 1) TO CAREFULLY ASSESS THE FEASIBILITY AND ACCEPTABILITY OF MSICHANA SALAMA, A STATUS-NEUTRAL INTERVENTION THAT INTEGRATES SOCIAL NORMS CHANGE FOR PREP USE VIA PEER AMBASSADOR/NAVIGATORS AND LINKAGE TO ADOLESCENT-FRIENDLY SERVICES FOR PREDOMINANTLY OUT-OF-SCHOOL AGYW AGES 15-24; 2) TO CONDUCT A PILOT CLUSTER-RANDOMIZED TRIAL TO PROVIDE ESTIMATES OF THE EFFECT OF MSICHANA SALAMA ON PREP UPTAKE AND ADHERENCE AMONG THE SUBSET OF PARTICIPANTS WHO ARE HIV-NEGATIVE AND SEXUALLY ACTIVE. BY INCREASING DEMAND THROUGH PRO-PREP NORMS, REDUCING PREP STIGMA THROUGH PEER LEADERS WHO WILL BE AMBASSADORS FOR PREP USE AND ADHERENCE, AND INCREASING ACCESS TO PREP THROUGH AN ADOLESCENT-FRIENDLY PROVIDER, WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT MSICHANA SALAMA WILL REDUCE AGYW’S RISK FOR HIV ACQUISITION BY PROMOTING POSITIVE SOCIAL NORMS TO ENGAGE IN PREP UPTAKE AND ADHERENCE. ALL PARTICIPANTS WILL RECEIVE SOCIO-BEHAVIORAL SURVEYS, NETWORK ASSESSMENTS AND BIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENTS AT BASELINE, TWO-, THREE-, AND SIX-MONTHS. PREP UPTAKE AND ADHERENCE WILL BE ASSESSED WITH DRIED BLOOD SPOTS. IF THERE IS A SIGNAL FOR EFFICACY AND THE INTERVENTION IS FEASIBLE, FINDINGS WILL PREPARE US TO CONDUCT AN APPROPRIATELY POWERED RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL ON THIS INTERVENTION WITH SIGNIFICANT PUBLIC HEALTH POTENTIAL IN ADDRESSING AN URBAN POPULATION OF YOUNG WOMEN AT HIGH RISK FOR HIV. DOING THIS RESEARCH IN TANZANIA IS FASTER AND MORE COST EFFICIENT THAN TRYING TO RUN THE SAME STUDY IN THE UNITED STATES, BECAUSE THERE ARE MORE ADOLESCENTS AT RISK OF HIV AND PROGRAMS LIKE PREP ARE ALREADY BEING USED AT SCALE, ALLOWING US TO TEST WHAT WORKS IN A SHORTER TIME AND AT LOWER COST. IF THE APPROACH WORKS, WE CAN BRING THIS PROVEN, REAL-WORLD MODEL BACK TO THE UNITED STATES AND USE IT TO QUICKLY EXPAND AND IMPLEMENT EFFECTIVE HIV PREVENTION, INCREASE PREP USE, AND REDUCE NEW INFECTIONS, WHICH WILL BRING US CLOSER TO ENDING THE HIV EPIDEMIC HERE AT HOME.

THIS PROPOSAL WILL STUDY THE PHOTOCHEMISTRY OCCURRING IN COMETARY ATMOSPHERES THEREFORE IT IS RELEVANT TO THE SSW PROGRAM.

ENABLING THE APPLICATION OF VIRTUAL SCREENING TO GPCR HOMOLOGY MODELS

GLOBAL CONNECTIONS AND EXCHANGES PROGRAM

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY WASHINGTON COLLEGE OF LAW WILL CONDUCT IMPLEMENTATION ACTIVITIES FOR THE RECENTLY RELEASED CODE OF BEST PRACTICES IN FAIR USE FOR OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES. THE GOAL OF THE CODE IS TO CREATE A COMMUNITY-BASED FRAMEWORK FOR EVALUATING FAIR USE INCLUSIONS THAT ALIGNS WITH THE PROFESSIONAL MISSION OF EDUCATORS AND THE PREDICTABLE LEGAL PRINCIPLES OF FAIR USE LAW. WITH THE RELEASE OF THE CODE IN FEBRUARY 2021, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY WASHINGTON COLLEGE OF LAW BEGAN THE CORE WORK TO FOSTER ACTUAL CHANGE, INCLUDING UPTAKE IN DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC COMMUNITIES AND IMPLEMENTATION SUPPORT FOR INSTITUTIONS AND NETWORKS. THIS PROJECT LAYS OUT A SET OF ACTIVITIES THAT ARE TAILORED TO SUPPORT LIBRARIANS, AUTHORS, AND OTHERS TO ENGAGE WITH THE CODE AS A TOOL TO UNDERSTAND THEIR WORK.

THE PURPOSE OF THIS AGREEMENT IS TO FUND RESEARCH SUPPORTING THE DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY (DARPA) DEFENSE SCIENCES OFFICE NEXT GENERATION SOCIAL SCIENCE (NGS2) PROGRAM.

MONITORING LONG-TERM CHANGE IN LAND USAGE PATTERNS USING HIGH RESOLUTION REMOTE SENSING TECHNOLOGIES -THIS RESEARCH EXAMINES THE IMPACTS OF VARIATION ON LAND USE, LAND VALUE, AND MANAGEMENT USING REMOTE MIXED QUALITATIVE METHODS AND HIGH-RESOLUTION REMOTE SENSING TECHNIQUES. THE INVESTIGATORS USE A LONGITUDINAL RESEARCH DESIGN THAT INTEGRATES QUALITATIVE RESEARCH WITH REMOTE SENSING TECHNOLOGY TO TRACK CHANGES AND HUMAN ADAPTATIONS TO LAND USAGE OVER TIME. BROADER IMPACTS OF THE RESEARCH PRODUCE CONCRETE IMPACTS FOR COMMUNITIES, THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOOLS FOR STAKEHOLDERS TO ASSESS CHANGE, AND TRAINING WORKSHOPS FOR STUDENTS AND COMMUNITIES IN THE USE OF HIGH-RESOLUTION, REMOTE-SENSING TOOLS. INVESTIGATORS EMPLOY A NOVEL, TECHNOLOGY-BASED APPROACH FOR DATA COLLECTION THAT IS APPROPRIATE FOR REGIONS THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO ACCESS. THE RESEARCH TEAM HAS THE CAPACITY TO PROVIDE A MODEL FOR HOW A TIME SERIES ANALYSIS OF LANDSAT AND HIGH RESOLUTION PLANETSCOPE IMAGERY CAN BE UTILIZED TO STUDY LAND USE AND LAND MANAGEMENT AND HOW THESE CAN BE INTEGRATED WITH REMOTE ETHNOGRAPHY. IT MEETS THE KEY NSF PRIORITIES OF NSF INVESTMENTS IN BIOTECHNOLOGY AND AI AS IT CONTRIBUTES TO SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY THAT EXPANDS THE SCIENCE OF HOW LIVING THINGS AND THEIR COMPONENTS CAN CREATE TOOLS AND STAKEHOLDER ASSESSMENTS THAT BENEFIT SOCIETY. THE USE OF HIGH-RESOLUTION TECHNOLOGICAL TOOLS HAS THE CAPACITY TO PROVIDE A MODEL FOR THE INTEGRATION OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH, WITH AI AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS. THIS PROJECT IS CO-FUNDED BY THE NSF CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND THE HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT AND GEOGRAPHICAL SCIENCES PROGRAMS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

THSIRU TERAHERTZ HETERODYNE SPECTROMETER FOR IN SITE RESOURCE UTILIZATION

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY, IN COLLABORATION WITH THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PUBLIC LIBRARY WILL TRAIN LIBRARIES IN 25 CITIES AND TOWNS TO SERVE AS HUBS FOR MAKING NEIGHBORHOOD GAMES AND FACILITATING STORYTELLING FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT. THE EXPERIENCES WILL INCLUDE SCAVENGER HUNTS FOR LOCAL MURALS, AUDIO TOURS/STORY WALKS, AND INTERACTIVE PUBLIC ART EXPERIENCES LIKE “TEXTING WITH A SCULPTURE.” THIS PROJECT OFFERS LIBRARIES THE TOOLS, TRAINING, AND TEMPLATES THEY NEED FOR DIY STORYTELLING TO CROSS THE DIGITAL DIVIDE, BRINGING TOGETHER DIGITAL COLLECTIONS AND TECHNOLOGY, WITH RESIDENTS THEMSELVES AS MAKERS. OVER TWO YEARS, RESIDENTS WILL MAKE HUNDREDS OF FREE GAMES—NO CODING SKILLS NEEDED. THE GAMES ARE MADE WITH HIVE MECHANIC, A GAME ENGINE FOR NEIGHBORHOODS. WITH THIS PROJECT, LIBRARIES WILL LEVERAGE THEIR EXPERTISE IN MEDIA LITERACY AND LOCAL INFORMATION TO HELP DEMOCRATIZE CIVIC PLAY, AMPLIFY HIDDEN VOICES, AND ENGAGE NEW AUDIENCES IN PUBLIC SPACE. THE PROJECT WILL RESULT IN TRAINING MATERIALS, GAME TEMPLATES, AND FREE AUTHORING TOOLS FOR LIBRARIES TO USE WITH THEIR COMMUNITIES.

PROCESSING ACOUSTIC SCENES WITH TOPOLOGY (PAST)

LOCAL ACOUSTIC TOPOLOGICAL ESTIMATORS FOR STATISTICAL SIGNAL TOOLS (LATESST)

FY-10 ONE-TIME GRANT COMPETITION -COMPETITION A - ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

UNDERSTANDING HOW SOLAR FILAMENT CHANNELS FORM

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY WASHINGTON INTERNSHIPS FOR NATIVE STUDENTS (WINS)

THE LONG-TERM SOCIOECONOMIC DYNAMICS OF RESETTLEMENT

WHAT DRIVES UNCERTAINTY AND VOLATILITY EXPECTATIONS IN AGRICULTURAL MARKETS?

"NOVEL TECHNIQUES FOR SIGNAL ANALYSIS AND PROCESSING: SAMPLIN IN NON-EUCLIDEAN GEOMETRIES, 30 OCT 2019" (THE GRANTEE'S TECHNICAL PROPOSAL) IS HEREBY I

NCR-NACEP17ACXXXXX FAUNA SPRINGS&SEEPS COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT: P18AC00200

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ER2: THE DEVELOPMENT OF RESEARCH ETHICS GOVERNANCE PROJECTS IN COMPUTER SCIENCE -THIS COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PROJECT IS SUPPORTED BY THE ETHICAL AND RESPONSIBLE RESEARCH PROGRAM. THE CORE FOCUS OF THE PROJECT IS TO DETERMINE WHAT RULES AND PRACTICES SUPPORT THE NATIONAL INTEREST IN PROMOTING THE PROGRESS OF COMPUTER SCIENCE WHILE PREVENTING UNETHICAL AND UNJUST COMPUTER SCIENCE RESEARCH. COMPUTING RESEARCHERS ARE CURRENTLY REVISING ETHICS CODES, WRITING NEW ETHICS GUIDELINES, FORMING NEW ETHICS COMMITTEES WITHIN CONFERENCES AND PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS, DICTATING ETHICS REQUIREMENTS FOR FUNDING, AND PROPOSING NEW ETHICS REQUIREMENTS FOR PUBLICATIONS. THIS PROJECT CHARACTERIZES AND EVALUATES HISTORICAL, ONGOING, AND EMERGING ETHICS GOVERNANCE PROJECTS WITHIN COMPUTER SCIENCE. BY CREATING A RECENT HISTORY OF COMPUTING GOVERNANCE DURING THIS ACTIVE PERIOD OF QUESTIONING, THE PROJECT WILL APPRAISE AND EVALUATE CURRENT EFFORTS, AND RECOMMEND BEST PRACTICES FOR COMPUTING RESEARCH GOVERNANCE. THE RESULTS OF THIS PROJECT WILL SERVE TO ADVANCE SEVERAL SCIENTIFIC FIELDS INCLUDING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY STUDIES, RESEARCH ETHICS, AND COMPUTER SCIENCE. THEY WILL ALSO BE USED IN DISCUSSIONS WITH STAKEHOLDER COMMUNITIES INCLUDING ACTIVISTS IN COMPUTING ETHICS, IN CREATING CLASSROOM MATERIALS FOR EDUCATORS, AND IN DEVELOPING ACCESSIBLE AND BRIEF WHITE PAPERS THAT ARE TO BE DISSEMINATED TO FUNDERS, PRACTITIONERS, AND POLICYMAKERS. TO ACCOMPLISH THE GOALS INDICATED ABOVE, THIS PROJECT USES QUALITATIVE CASE STUDIES TO COMPARE, EVALUATE, AND INTERPRET THE RESOURCES, MECHANISMS, AND OUTCOMES OF CURRENT CROSS-CUTTING EFFORTS IN COMPUTER SCIENCE RESEARCH ETHICS SELF-GOVERNANCE. THE CASE STUDIES WILL EXAMINE THE WORKINGS OF THE COMPUTING RESEARCH?S ETHICS GOVERNANCE PROJECTS TO FACILITATE BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE POSSIBILITIES AND CHALLENGES OF A FIELD UNDERTAKING DIVERSE AND MULTIPLE ETHICS GOVERNANCE EFFORTS. BUILDING ON PREVIOUS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY STUDIES SCHOLARSHIP, OUR RESEARCH REVEALS THE RELATIONS ENROLLING RESEARCHERS IN CULTURES OF ETHICAL PRACTICE. TO IDENTIFY A TYPOLOGY OF ENROLLMENT AND ENFORCEMENT PRACTICES, THE TEAM WILL UNDERTAKE ANALYSIS OF THE RESOURCES EACH PROJECT HAS, AND THE APPROACH THAT EACH PROJECT USES TO REPAIR PAST HARMS, ANTICIPATE THE FUTURE, RESOLVE INSECURITIES ABOUT WHAT COUNTS AS ETHICAL BEHAVIOR, AND SETTLE CONTROVERSIES WITHIN THE FIELD. THROUGH ANALYSIS OF HISTORICAL AND CURRENT ETHICS GOVERNANCE PROJECTS, THE TEAM WILL DISCOVER HOW PROJECT ORGANIZATION SHAPES THE SCOPE, GOALS, AND OUTCOMES OF ETHICS GOVERNANCE PROJECTS; HOW DIFFERENT MECHANISMS FOR EFFECTING ADHERENCE TO ETHICAL GUIDELINES IMPACT OUTCOMES; HOW CONTRASTING STAKEHOLDERS (PARTICIPANTS, OUTSIDE ADVOCATES, PRACTITIONERS) ASSESS THE SUCCESS OF ETHICS GOVERNANCE PROJECTS; AND THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES DIFFERENT ETHICS GOVERNANCE PROJECTS GENERATE. 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.