Catholic University Of America

WE PROPOSE TO SUPPORT THE SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL PROGRAM OF NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER S HELIOPHYSICS SCIENCE DIVISION (HSD) THROUGH A SIX-MEMBER PARTNERSHIP THAT BUILDS ON CURRENT COLLABORATIONS AND EXTENSIVE LOCAL EXPERIENCE IN ALL THE CORE

THE SH SCIENCE CENTER WILL CARRY OUT OBSERVATIONAL EXPERIMENTAL AND THEORETICAL RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF NASA STRATEGIC SCIENCE MISSION OBJECTIVES TO:A.SOLAR-HELIOSPHERIC SCIENCE: THE SUN GEOSPACE OTHER PLANETARY SPACE PLASMA ENVIRONMENTS AND THE INTERACTIONS AND COUPLINGS AMONG THESE PHYSICAL REGIMES;B.THE INFORMATIONAL AND COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCES RELATED TO THE UNIQUE NEEDS OF DATA SYSTEMS AND MODELS REQUIRED TO INTERPRET DATA FROM HELIOPHYSICS SCIENCE MISSIONS; ANDC.THE DEVELOPMENT OF INSTRUMENT TECHNOLOGY AND THEORETICAL TECHNIQUES REQUIRED TO MEET THESE SCIENTIFIC CHALLENGES.THIS COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT WILL ALLOW SUBSTANTIAL PROGRAMMATIC INVOLVEMENT IN THE FORM OF COLLABORATION BETWEEN GSFC AND THE SOLAR-HELIOSPHERIC SCIENCE CENTER AS WELL AS JOINT DEVELOPMENT OF RESEARCH OBJECTIVES.THE PRIMARY GOAL UNDER THE RESULTING COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT IS TO ESTABLISH A FOCUSED GSFC/RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP THAT:A.BRINGS TOGETHER THE SH SCIENCE CENTER AND GSFC SCIENTISTS TO IMPLEMENT THE NASA STRATEGIC GOALS IN HELIOPHYSICS SCIENCE;B.ENHANCES THE CAPABILITIES AND STRENGTHS OF PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS IN HELIOPHYSICS SCIENCE;C.PROVIDES ORGANIZATION AND STAFFING FLEXIBILITY TO ADAPT TO EVOLVING RESEARCH PROGRAM NEEDS;D.ATTRACTS SUPERIOR SCIENTISTS NECESSARY TO CARRY OUT PROGRAMS WHICH WOULD BE OUTSIDE THE CAPABILITIES OF EITHER PARTNER WORKING ALONE;E.PROMOTES THE INVOLVEMENT OF MINORITY AND WOMEN SCIENTISTS IN SPACE SCIENCE RESEARCH; ANDF.FACILITATES ACCESS TO STUDENT TALENT AND PROVIDES OPPORTUNITIES FOR THEIR PARTICIPATION IN NASA PROGRAMS.THE SH SCIENCE CENTER WILL FOCUS PRIMARILY ON SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. IT IS EXPECTED TO STRENGTHEN COOPERATIVE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE PARTNER INSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT SCIENTISTS IN THE GODDARD HELIOPHYSICS SCIENCE DIVISION (HSD) AND WILL PROVIDE A VEHICLE TO INCREASE THE INVOLVEMENT OF THE EXTERNAL SCIENCE COMMUNITY IN THE PURSUIT OF NASA GOALS. THE SH SCIENCE CENTER WILL CONDUCT RESEARCH COLLABORATIVELY WITH ORGANIZATIONAL ELEMENTS WITHIN THE GODDARD HSD (CODE 670). RESEARCH MAY INVOLVE ANALYSIS OF DATA FROM OPERATING AND PAST MISSIONS AND MODELING AND DESIGN OF MISSIONS PLANNED OR UNDER DEVELOPMENT. FUTURE RESEARCH ACTIVITIES WILL EVOLVE AS A FUNCTION OF PRIORITIES BUDGETS FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES AND SUCCESS OF PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS.

CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY CARES ACT HIGHER ED EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND - INSTITUTIONAL PORTION

CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY CARES ACT HIGHER ED EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND IHES

PATIENT-CENTERED, HOME-BASED TECHNOLOGIES TO ASSESS AND TREAT MOTOR IMPAIRMENT IN INDIVIDUALS WITH NEUROLOGIC INJURY

HIGH GROWTH

SINGLE DOSE, MULTIVALENT, ANTHRAX PLAGUE VACCINES USING BACTERIOPHAGE T4 NANOPART

ALCOHOL-INDUCED CHANGES IN HEPATIC MICROTUBULES: MECHANISMS AND CONSEQUENCES

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS

ENGINEERING BACTERIOPHAGE T4 AS A TARGETED GENE THERAPY DRUG FOR IN VIVO HIV CURE - THIS PROPOSAL AIMS TO ESTABLISH A NEW CATEGORY OF SAFE AND AFFORDABLE IN VIVO HIV CURE “DRUGS” THAT WOULD TRANSFORM THE HEALTH OF SUBSTANCE USERS WHO ARE DISPROPORTIONATELY AFFECTED BY HIV-1 (HIV) DISEASE. SUBSTANCE USERS SUFFER FROM HIGH RATES OF HIV ACQUISITION AND TRANSMISSION, POOR ADHERENCE TO ANTIRETROVIRALS AND DRUG RESISTANCE, AND HIGH PREVALENCE OF NEURODEGENERATIVE AND MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS. IT WILL ALSO BE BROADLY TRANSFORMATIVE TO MORE THAN 40 MILLION PEOPLE ACROSS THE GLOBE WHO ARE LIVING WITH HIV TODAY. USING A UNIQUE BACTERIOPHAGE (PHAGE) T4 ARTIFICIAL VIRAL VECTOR (T4-AVV) TECHNOLOGY WE HAVE RECENTLY DEVELOPED, WE WILL ENGINEER THE 120 X 86 NM T4 CAPSID NANOPARTICLE TO TARGET PATIENT'S HEMATOPOIETIC STEM CELLS (HSCS) IN VIVO AND DELIVER A PAYLOAD OF GENOME MODIFICATION MOLECULES. THESE WILL INTRODUCE A DELTA-32 DELETION MUTATION INTO THE CCR5 HIV CO-RECEPTOR GENE, WHICH WILL MAKE THE HSCS AND THE CELLS DERIVED FROM IT, HIV- RESISTANT. THIS IS THE ONLY KNOWN HIV CURE OPTION TODAY, AS EVIDENT FROM AT LEAST FIVE INDEPENDENT HIV CURE CASES WORLDWIDE, ALL REMARKABLY INVOLVING TRANSPLANTED HSCS CONTAINING THE NATURALLY PRESENT DELTA-32 MUTATION. OUR EXPERIMENTAL PATH INVOLVES THREE MILESTONES. FIRST, WE WILL IDENTIFY TARGETING LIGANDS THAT HAVE HIGH AFFINITY AND BINDING SPECIFICITY TO HSCS FROM HUMAN UMBILICAL CORD BLOOD (UCB). THESE WILL BE SELECTED FROM LIBRARIES OF NANOBODIES, DARPINS, AND SCFVS DISPLAYED ON PHAGE T4 CAPSID THROUGH FUSION AT THE TIP OF THE 180Å-LONG, FLEXIBLE, OUTER FIBERS KNOWN AS HOC. NEXT, HSC-TARGETING, LIPID-COATED, T4-AVVS WILL BE ASSEMBLED IN THE TEST TUBE BY INCORPORATING ALL THE HIV CURE MOLECULES INTO ONE NANOPARTICLE BY SEQUENTIAL ASSEMBLY AND DNA PACKAGING. THESE INCLUDE COMBINATIONS OF GENOME EDITING ENZYMES, GRNAS, AND DONOR DNAS. THE T4-AVVS THAT EXHIBIT MAXIMUM DELTA-32 GENOME CONVERSION WILL BE OPTIMIZED USING AN EX VIVO UCB-HSC MODEL. FINALLY, THE HSC-TARGETED T4-AVVS WILL BE TESTED IN VIVO IN A HUMANIZED DRAGA MOUSE MODEL RECONSTITUTED WITH THE SAME UCB-HSCS, USING A PROTOCOL THAT MIMICS HIV CURE IN HUMANS. VARIOUS PARAMETERS WILL BE OPTIMIZED SUCH THAT THE T4-AVVS WILL ENTER HSCS IN MINUTES, DELIVER PAYLOAD IN HOURS, AND MODIFY GENOME IN 1-2 DAYS. THE T4-AVV IN VIVO HIV-CURE WOULD BE A SAFE, AFFORDABLE, OUTPATIENT PROTOCOL THAT CAN BE EASILY ADMINISTERED TO SUBSTANCE USERS. SINCE IT IS TARGETED, A SMALL DOSE OF T4-AVVS (~10E12 PARTICLES) WOULD BE SUFFICIENT TO CAPTURE THE HSCS MOBILIZED INTO PATIENT'S BLOOD, WHILE MINIMIZING HOST IMMUNE RESPONSES AND OFF-TARGET EVENTS. THE DELTA-32 CONVERTED HSCS WILL THEN REPOPULATE THE BODY WITH HIV-RESISTANT BLOOD CELLS INCLUDING CD4+ T CELLS, WHICH WOULD REPLACE THE HIV RESERVOIR AND RESULT IN FUNCTIONAL HIV CURE. A SINGLE DOSE OF T4-AVVS MIGHT BE SUFFICIENT, HOWEVER A SECOND DOSE MAY BE NEEDED TO MAXIMIZE HSC DELTA-32 CONVERSION FOR PERMANENT HIV CURE. CURRENTLY, T4-AVV IS THE ONLY TECHNOLOGY THAT HAS THE CAPACITY AND ENGINEERING CAPABILITY TO CREATE SUCH HIV CURE DELIVERY VEHICLES. FURTHERMORE, THIS PLUG-AND-PLAY DRUG MODEL CAN BE ADAPTED TO MANY OTHER BLOOD CELL DISEASES AND CANCER, POTENTIALLY TRANSFORMING FUTURE GENE THERAPIES AND PRECISION MEDICINE.

COMMUNITY COORDINATED MODELING CENTER: FACILITATING SPACE WEATHER RESEARCH, ADVANCING FORECASTING, AND PROVIDING HANDS-ON OPPORTUNITIES FOR EDUCATION

INDIVIDUAL RESEARCHERS AT CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY ARE COOPERATING WITH GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER IN AN EFFORT TO UNDERSTAND THE LIFECYCLE OF REFRACTORY

INTERSTELLAR CLOUDS, CIRCUMSTELLAR ENVELOPES, PRESTELLAR CORES AND COMETS HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO HOST A RICH CHEMISTRY THAT RESULTS IN THE SYNTHESIS OF A

MULTIVALENT PLAGUE ANTHRAX VACCINES USING BACTERIOPHAGE T4 DISPLAY

INTEGRATED SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER (SUD) TRAINING PROGRAM

STRUCTURAL MECHANISMS OF GENOME FLOW IN BACTERIOPHAGE T4 AND THEIR BIOMEDICAL APPLICATIONS - THIS PROPOSAL AIMS TO FILL A CRITICAL KNOWLEDGE GAP IN THE ASSEMBLY OF ICOSAHEDRAL VIRUSES; MECHANISMS AND CONTROLS BY WHICH A VIRAL GENOME FLOWS INTO AND OUT OF A VIRUS CAPSID WITH HIGH PRECISION AND FIDELITY. THE TAILED DSDNA BACTERIOPHAGE T4 IS OUR MODEL VIRUS. THE PROPOSAL WILL ALSO TRANSLATE THIS BASIC KNOWLEDGE INTO A GENE THERAPY FOR MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY, A DEBILITATING DEGENERATIVE MUSCULAR DISEASE THAT CAUSES EARLY DEATH. WE PROPOSE AN INNOVATIVE EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN BY ADVANCING A NOVEL “MOLECULAR VALVE” HYPOTHESIS. THE HYPOTHESIS STATES THAT A SOPHISTICATED MOLECULAR VALVE AT THE UNIQUE PORTAL VERTEX CONTROLS GENOME FLOW INTO AND OUT OF A VIRUS CAPSID THROUGH DYNAMIC STRUCTURAL AND CONFORMATIONAL CHANGES. BY INTEGRATING GENETICS, BIOCHEMISTRY, AND CRYO-ELECTRON MICROSCOPY, WE WILL GENERATE A SERIES OF ASYMMETRIC RECONSTRUCTIONS OF NANOMACHINES IN DIFFERENT STRUCTURAL AND CONFORMATIONAL STATES. THESE MACHINES TRANSLOCATE GENOME INTO VIRUS CAPSID CREATING A PRESSURIZED CONDENSATE (INWARD GENOME FLOW), ARREST GENOME FLOW AND POSITION FOR DELIVERY, AND ALLOW GENOME EJECTION UPON ENCOUNTERING NEW HOST (OUTWARD GENOME FLOW). IN SPECIFIC AIM 1, WE WILL GENERATE ATOMIC LEVEL STRUCTURES OF THE DNA PACKAGING MACHINE CONSISTING OF THE PORTAL VERTEX-BOUND PACKAGING MOTOR AND ITS INTERMEDIATE STATES DURING ACTIVE TRANSLOCATION. A DETAILED PACKAGING MECHANISM WILL BE FORMULATED THAT WILL HAVE BROAD IMPLICATIONS TO PHAGES, EUKARYOTIC AND ARCHAEAL VIRUSES INCLUDING HERPES AND ADENO VIRUSES. A STRONG WORK-FLOW HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED FOR PREPARATION AND DATA COLLECTION OF PACKAGING COMPLEXES USING A NEWLY CONSTRUCTED SUPER-CHARGED “ACIDIC CAPSID” MUTANT. IN SPECIFIC AIM 2, WE WILL ELUCIDATE THE DYNAMIC MECHANISM OF THE NECK-CONNECTOR VALVE COMPLEX BOUND TO PORTAL BY GENERATING STRUCTURES IN DIFFERENT ASSEMBLY STATES. THESE STRUCTURES WOULD ILLUSTRATE CONFORMATIONAL CHANGES IN THE VALVE COMPLEX THAT LEAD TO ARREST OF GENOME FLOW POST-PACKAGING AND POSITION IT FOR DELIVERY FOLLOWING TAIL DOCKING. WE PRESENT A NOVEL DISCOVERY INVOLVING THE PARTICIPATION OF A HOST NUCLEIC ACID BINDING PROTEIN HFQ IN THESE DYNAMIC TRANSACTIONS. IN SPECIFIC AIM 3, WE WILL PROBE THE MECHANISM OF GENOME EJECTION BY ASYMMETRIC CRYO-EM RECONSTRUCTIONS OF THE GENOME EJECTION MACHINE PRE-INFECTION, DURING-INFECTION, AND POST-INFECTION. A PRELIMINARY CRYO-EM RECONSTRUCTION REVEALED, FOR THE FIRST TIME, DENSITY FOR A HELICAL TAPE MEASURE PROTEIN-DNA COMPLEX IN THE INNERMOST CORE OF THE EJECTION TUBE. IN SPECIFIC AIM 4, WE WILL INCORPORATE THE BASIC KNOWLEDGE GAINED FROM SPECIFIC AIMS 1-3 TO ESTABLISH A NOVEL, LARGE CAPACITY, T4 GENE THERAPY VEHICLE TO DELIVER THE FULL- LENGTH ~11-KB DYSTROPHIN GENE INTO HUMAN MUSCLE CELLS AS WELL AS INTO A MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY MOUSE MODEL. RELYING ON OUR 42-YEARS OF EXPERTISE ON T4 PHAGE ASSEMBLY AND GENOME PACKAGING, OUR SYNERGISTIC RESEARCH TEAM WILL UNCOVER THE BASIC MECHANISMS OF GENOME FLOW IN VIRUSES AND THEIR TRANSLATION INTO POTENTIALLY TRANSFORMATIVE PHAGE-BASED GENE THERAPEUTICS. THESE WILL HAVE BROAD IMPLICATIONS TO VIROLOGY AND HUMAN DISEASE THERAPIES.

CHEMICAL/PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF MOLECULES IN LABORATORY ASTROSCIENCE: ASTOBIOLOGY, ASTROCHEMISTRY &

POTENT PHAGE T4 DERIVED V2 IMMUNOGENS AS HIV VACCINES

SINCE ITS LAUNCH IN FEBRUARY 2002 THE RAMATY HIGH ENERGY SOLAR SPECTROSCOPIC IMAGER (RHESSI) HAS BEEN THE SOLE MISSION DEDICATED TO PROVIDING HARD X

GRADUATE PSYCHOLOGY EDUCATION PROGRAMS

THIS PROPOSAL SUPPORTS RESEARCH IN THE AREAS OF ASTROCHEMIST1Y ASTROBIOLOGY AND COMETA1Y SCIENCE TO ELUCIDATE THE INVENTORIES OF COMPLEX MOLECULES IN EXTRATERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENTS AND WORK ON THEORIES FOR UNDERSTANDING THEIR FORMATION AND EVOLUTION.

SCIENTIFIC & ENGINEERING STUDENT INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

INVESTIGATORS AT CUA WILL WORK CLOSELY WITH SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS AT NASA/GSFC TO DEVELOP, DESIGN, BUILD,TEST AND OPERATE INFRA-RED AND VISIBLE AR

THE PROPOSED WORK TO STUDY THE FORMATION AND THERMAL PROCESSING OF INTERSTELLAR GRAINS (HOW THEY FORM AND HOWTHEY AGGREGATE INTO LARGER BODIES WITHI

PROPOSAL FOR VETERANS UPWARD BOUND PROJECT SERVING VETERANS IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

COMBINED PRIORITY FOR PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENT

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH WORKFORCE EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAM - THE PROPOSED PROJECT WILL INCREASE THE SUPPLY OF BEHAVIORAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS AND IMPROVE THE DISTRIBUTION OF A WELL-TRAINED BEHAVIORAL HEALTH WORKFORCE IN THE WASHINGTON, D.C. METROPOLITAN AREA (WMA) WITH A FOCUS ON INCREASING ACCESS TO BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR CHILDREN, ADOLESCENTS, AND YOUNG ADULTS. CHILDREN, ADOLESCENTS, AND YOUNG ADULTS IN THE WMA EXPERIENCE EXTREME HEALTH DISPARITIES RESULTING FROM VARYING ACCESS TO SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH. MANY EXPERIENCE HIGH RISK OR HIGH NEED FOR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES WHILE RESIDING IN NEIGHBORHOODS WITH LIMITED ACCESS TO SERVICES. MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK (MSW) STUDENTS WILL THEREFORE RECEIVE ENHANCED TRAINING IN TRAUMA-INFORMED BEHAVIORAL HEALTH PRACTICE IN ORDER TO MEET THE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH NEEDS OF WMA CHILDREN, ADOLESCENTS, AND YOUNG ADULTS. ENHANCED TRAINING WILL INCLUDE: 1. EXPERIENTIAL TRAINING AT ONE OF 10 COMMUNITY-PARTNER AGENCIES PROVIDING BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES IN PRIMARY CARE SETTINGS IN THE WASHINGTON, D.C. METRO AREA; 2. PARTICIPATION IN A NEW NINE-CREDIT GRADUATE-LEVEL CERTIFICATE PROGRAM, STRENGTHENING RESILIENCE: INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA (IAIT); AND 3. SIMULATED LEARNING EXPERIENCES THAT WILL ALLOW STUDENTS TO ROLE-PLAY SCENARIOS THEY WILL ENCOUNTER IN TEAM-BASED BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SETTINGS. THE PROJECT WILL CREATE OPPORTUNITIES FOR GRADUATE-LEVEL STUDENTS IN NURSING AND PSYCHOLOGY, AND FOR WORKING PROFESSIONALS, TO PARTICIPATE IN ENHANCED TRAINING ALONGSIDE MSW STUDENTS. COMMUNITY PARTNERS PROVIDING INTERDISCIPLINARY BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES IN PRIMARY CARE SETTINGS WILL BE ENGAGED TO SERVE AS EXPERIENTIAL-LEARNING SITES FOR MSW STUDENTS. THEY WILL ALSO BE INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PROJECT ADVISORY BOARD AND TO INCLUDE STAFF IN PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OFFERED THROUGH THE UNIVERSITY. THE PROPOSED PROJECT WILL INCREASE THE NUMBER OF UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITY (URM) STUDENTS ENROLLED IN ON-CAMPUS AND ONLINE MSW TRAINING BY: 1. RECRUITING UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS FROM MINORITY-SERVING UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTIONS; 2. RECRUITING WORKING PROFESSIONALS EMPLOYED AT COMMUNITY PARTNERS TO PARTICIPATE IN PART-TIME TRAINING; 3. OFFERING STIPENDS TO HELP WITH COST-OF-LIVING EXPENSES DURING THE ADVANCED PORTION OF MSW TRAINING FOR 60 STUDENTS; AND 4. OFFERING SUPPORT AND RESOURCES TO ADDRESS THE SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF LEARNING. THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA IS REQUESTING FUNDING PRIORITY AS THE MSW PROGRAM HAS DEMONSTRATED ABILITY OF TRAINING SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS IN INTEGRATED CARE SETTINGS. THE UNIVERSITY ALSO REQUESTS FUNDING PRIORITY 1 AS A PROGRAM THAT HAS DEMONSTRATED THE ABILITY TO TRAIN PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIAL WORK PROFESSIONALS TO WORK IN INTEGRATED CARE SETTINGS, AND A FUNDING PREFERENCE (QUALIFICATION 1) FOR A HIGH RATE OF GRADUATES PLACED IN PRACTICE SETTINGS SERVING MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES.

CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA PERIODIC PROGRAM

DEVELOPMENT TESTING AND INTEGRATION OF PARTICLE AND WAVE INSTRUMENTS IN SUPPORT OF SOUNDING ROCKET MISSIONS

MECHANISM OF ATP-DRIVEN DNA PACKAGING IN BACTERIOPHAGE T4

GROUND-BASED INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY OF COMETS: A STUDY OF COMETARY COMPOSITION AND ORGIN THIS PROPOSAL SUPPORTS RESEARCH IN THE AREA OF COMETARY AND P

THE COMMUNITY COORDINATED MODELING CENTER: IONOSPHERE-THERMOSPHERE-MESOSPHERE MODELS, APPLICATIONS AND SERVICES FOR RESEARCH, FORECASTING AND ANALYSI

TOPPING OUT COMMUTER TRANSFER STUDENT ENGINEERING EDUCATION -THIS PROJECT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE NATIONAL NEED FOR WELL-EDUCATED SCIENTISTS, MATHEMATICIANS, ENGINEERS, AND TECHNICIANS BY SUPPORTING THE RETENTION AND GRADUATION OF HIGH-ACHIEVING, LOW-INCOME STUDENTS WITH DEMONSTRATED FINANCIAL NEED AT THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA (CUA). LOCATED IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY IS THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES. OVER ITS FIVE-YEAR DURATION, THIS TRACK 1 PROJECT WILL FUND TWO-YEAR SCHOLARSHIPS TO 20 UNIQUE FULL-TIME, THIRD-YEAR TRANSFER STUDENTS WHO ARE PURSUING BACHELOR?S DEGREES IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING, MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, OR COMPUTER SCIENCE. THE PROJECT INTENDS TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS FROM UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS WHO TRANSFER TO CUA FROM LOCAL TWO-YEAR INSTITUTIONS TO COMPLETE THEIR UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING EDUCATION AND JOIN THE MUCH IN-DEMAND DC METRO ENGINEERING WORKFORCE. THE PROGRAM WILL PROVIDE A PATHWAY FOR FIRST- AND SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS AT THE LOCAL PARTNERING INSTITUTIONS TO JOIN THE CUA ENGINEERING COMMUNITY WITHOUT INCREASING THE TIME TO GRADUATION. THE PROJECT WILL INCLUDE FOCUSED EFFORTS ON RECRUITMENT, ONBOARDING, ARTICULATION, AND FINANCIAL AND ACADEMIC SUPPORT THROUGH ADVISING, MENTORING, COMMUNITY-BUILDING AND CULTURAL ENGAGEMENT. THE OUTCOMES OF THIS PROJECT WILL EXPAND KNOWLEDGE OF WAYS TO PROVIDE EFFECTIVE AND LASTING FINANCIAL AND PROGRAMMATIC SUPPORT FOR TRANSFER STUDENTS WHO HAVE NOT PREVIOUSLY IDENTIFIED LOCAL, PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS AS AN OPTION TO COMPLETE THEIR UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION. THE OVERALL GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO INCREASE STEM DEGREE COMPLETION OF LOW-INCOME, HIGH-ACHIEVING UNDERGRADUATES WITH DEMONSTRATED FINANCIAL NEED. THERE ARE THREE PROJECT-SPECIFIC AIMS SUPPORTING THIS GOAL: 1) INCREASING STUDENT BODY DIVERSITY; 2) INCREASING THE TRANSFER RATE FOR LOCAL COMMUTER TRANSFER STUDENTS; AND 3) INCREASING RETENTION AND ULTIMATE GRADUATION RATES OF SCHOLARS. THE PROJECT WILL ADDRESS A NUMBER OF CHALLENGES TO MEETING THESE GOALS, INCLUDING THE NEED FOR LOCAL RECRUITING AT PARTNER INSTITUTIONS, INHERENT COMPLEXITIES OF THE ADMISSIONS PROCESS, AND HIGH TUITION COSTS. THE PROJECT?S COMPONENTS WILL STRENGTHEN CUA?S UNDERSTANDING OF COMMUTER TRANSFER STUDENTS IN ENGINEERING AND ITS COMMITMENT TO ADDRESSING CHALLENGES IN MENTORING, ADVISING, AND ENGAGEMENT OF SCHOLARS. PROJECT EVALUATION WILL UTILIZE SURVEYS ADMINISTERED AT CRITICAL TIME POINTS IN THE PROGRAM TO ASSESS THE IMPACT OF PROJECT ACTIVITIES ON SCHOLARS' ACADEMIC OUTCOMES AND ENGAGEMENT. EVALUATION DATA AND PROJECT OUTCOMES WILL BE SHARED EXTERNALLY WITH THE LARGER ACADEMIC COMMUNITY THROUGH JOURNAL ARTICLES AND PRESENTATIONS AT CONFERENCES JOURNALS, AND TO LOCAL PARTNERS AND THE BROADER PUBLIC THROUGH CHANNELS INCLUDING THE UNIVERSITY?S MAGAZINE, ALUMNI NETWORK, AND SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS. THIS PROJECT IS FUNDED BY NSF?S SCHOLARSHIPS IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS PROGRAM, WHICH SEEKS TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF LOW-INCOME ACADEMICALLY TALENTED STUDENTS WITH DEMONSTRATED FINANCIAL NEED WHO EARN DEGREES IN STEM FIELDS. IT ALSO AIMS TO IMPROVE THE EDUCATION OF FUTURE STEM WORKERS, AND TO GENERATE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT ACADEMIC SUCCESS, RETENTION, TRANSFER, GRADUATION, AND ACADEMIC/CAREER PATHWAYS OF LOW-INCOME 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 NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

MECHANISM OF GENOME PACKAGING IN BACTERIOPHAGE T4

MOLECULAR GENETIC ANALYSIS OF PDR5P, A MAJOR YEAST MULTIDRUG TRANSPORTER

LAUNCHING SBIRT INTO THE COMMUNITY: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH

CONTINUED MULTI-WAVELENGHT MODELING OF SOLAR FLARES INCORPORATING RHESSI HARD X-RAY IMAGES AND SPECT

AUTOMATED PROGRAMMING AND PLANNING FOR AUTOMATED MANUFACTURING

WE PROPOSE TO CONTINUE OUR CLOSE COOPERATION BETWEEN HIGH EDUCATION INSTITUTION, CUA, AND NASA/GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER. WITH LARGE POOLS OF MENTO

DEVELOPMENT OF LINEAR VARIABLE ETASON IR ARRY SPECTROMETERS FOR GROUND-BASED PLANETARY OBSERVATIONS

RESEARCH ON AUTOMATED PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING FOR INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS

THE COMPOSITION OF COMETARY NUCLEI IS KEY TO UNDERSTANDING THE FORMATION AND EVOLUTION OF MATTER WITHIN THE EARLY SOLAR SYSTEM. WE NOW CAN BUILD A TA

RESEARCH ON SOLAR PHYSICS OF SUN-EARTH CONNECTIONS AND EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES CENTERED ON THE SUN

THIS PROPOSED RESEARCH SEEKS TO PROVIDE NEW KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF SOLAR TRANSIENTS FROM AN ANALYSIS OF RADIO OBSERVATIONS DETECTED BY THE RA

EXTREME HIGH-LATITUDE GEOMAGNETIC VARIATIONS AND THEIR DRIVERS

MAL2 REGULATION OF HEPATIC PROTEIN TRAFFICKING: MECHANISMS AND BINDING PARTNERS

AN INCREASINGLY SOPHISTICATED MODEL OF SILICATE GRAIN NUCLEATION AND GROWTH IN CIRCUMSTELLAR OUTFLOWS

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY NUMBER: PROPOSAL NUMBER: 24-NUP2024-0006 FUNDING OPPORTUNITY GOALS TEXT: THE WORK DESCRIBED UNDER THIS UNSOLICITED PROPOSAL REPRESENTS PORTIONS OF RESEARCH PROPOSALS IN WHICH DR. CHARNLEY IS P.I. THE SCIENTIFIC TASKS INVOLVE THEORETICAL AND OBSERVATIONAL RESEARCH ON THE MOLECULAR CHEMISTRY OF COMETS INTERSTELLAR MOLECULAR CLOUDS AND IN THE EARLY PROTOSOLAR NEBULA. CHEMICAL CONNECTIONS WILL ALSO BE MADE TO THE ORGANIC COMPOSITION OF THE PRESENT SOLAR SYSTEM PARTICULARLY TO PREBIOTIC MOLECULES. FUNDS FOR THIS WORK COME FROM AWARDS MADE TO DRS. CHARNLEY UNDER THE GSFC FLARE INTERNAL SCIENTIST FUNDING MODEL (ISFM) AND THE NASA GODDARD CENTER FOR ASTROBIOLOGY. DRS. JIN AND DUFOUR WILL WORK WITH DRS. CHARNLEY AND CORDINER WITH SUPPORT FROM THESE AWARDS. NASA AND GSFC ISFM REVIEW PANELS EVALUATED THE PROPOSED SCIENTIFIC PROPOSALS COMPETITIVELY AND SELECTED THEM FOR FUNDING. THE PROPOSED COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT ESTABLISHES THE VEHICLE FOR IMPLEMENTING THAT RESEARCH. THE PRESENT UNSOLICITED PROPOSAL FROM CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY IS CONSISTENT WITH THE APPROVED RESEARCH AND IT WILL ADVANCE THE SCIENTIFIC STATE-OF-THE-ART. THE RESEARCH DESCRIBED IN THIS PROPOSAL WILL SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACT OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE GALACTIC CHEMICAL EVOLUTION OF ORGANIC MATTER. IT WILL YIELD IMPORTANT INSIGHTS INTO THE ORIGIN OF ORGANIC MATTER IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM PARTICULARLY THAT OF COMETS AND THEIR CONNECTION WITH THE ORIGINS OF OUR PLANETARY SYSTEM AND OF PLANETARY SYSTEMS ELSEWHERE. THESE ARE AMONGST THE KEY QUESTIONS FOR SPACE & EARTH SCIENCES DEFINED BY NASA. IT WILL PRODUCE IMPORTANT DATA CONCERNING THE ORGANIC CHEMISTRY AND ISOTOPIC PROFILES OF THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM PROTOSTELLAR ENVIRONMENTS AND COMETS THUS PROVIDING DEEP INSIGHTS TO ORGANIC MATTER ELSEWHERE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM. THE WORK PROPOSED IS DIRECTLY COMPLEMENTARY TO MEASUREMENTS CARRIED OUT BY THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE AND OBSERVATIONS WITH JWST. IT IS RELEVANT TO VARIOUS NASA R&A PROGRAMS E.G. SOLAR SYSTEM WORKINGS SOLAR SYSTEM OBSERVATIONS EXOBIOLOGY AND EMERGING WORLDS AS WELL AS TO THE ASTROPHYSICS THEORY PROGRAM. DRS. JIN AND DUFOUR WILL WORK FULL TIME AT GODDARD WITH DRS. CORDINER AND CHARNLEY. THE REQUESTED SALARY IS CONSISTENT WITH MARKET CONDITIONS FOR PERSONS OF THEIR EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS AND FOR THE LEVEL OF CONTRIBUTION SPECIFIED. TRAVEL SUPPORT IS REQUESTED FOR JIN CORDINER AND DUFOUR TO ATTEND SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS AND TO SUPPORT CORDINER IN LEADING AN UPCOMING COMETARY OBSERVING CAMPAIGN. THE AMOUNTS REQUESTED ARE REASONABLE AND CONSISTENT WITH THE PROPOSED RESEARCH. THE OVERHEAD AND BENEFITS ARE ALSO CONSISTENT WITH CURRENT STANDARDS. THE PROPOSED WORK WILL ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF INTERSTELLAR NEBULAR AND COMETARY CHEMISTRY BY CONDUCTING STATE-OF-THE-ART RESEARCH THROUGH THEORETICAL MODELING AND MULTI-WAVELENGTH SPECTROSCOPY AND PUBLISHING THE RESULTS IN THE REFEREED SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. THIS WORK WILL IMPROVE OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE CONNECTION BETWEEN MOLECULAR CLOUD CHEMISTRY JUST BEFORE THE SOLAR SYSTEM FORMED AND THE COMPOSITION OF COMETS.

STUDIES OF PION AND KAON STRUCTURE AND AI TO EXPEDITE SCIENCE OUTPUT -ONE OF THE GREAT QUESTS THROUGHOUT HUMAN HISTORY HAS BEEN THE EFFORT OVER THOUSANDS OF YEARS TO UNDERSTAND THE STRUCTURE OF MATTER FROM ITS MOST FUNDAMENTAL CONSTITUENTS. WE ARE DRIVEN BY HUMAN CURIOSITY TO UNDERSTAND THE PHYSICAL WORLD IN WHICH WE HAVE EVOLVED. AT THE SAME TIME, ADVANCES IN UNDERSTANDING THE STRUCTURE OF MATTER HAVE LED TO IMPROVEMENTS IN HUMAN QUALITY OF LIFE. DESPITE THIS LONG HISTORY, OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE NATURE OF STRONGLY BOUND SUB-ATOMIC MATTER IN TERMS OF ITS FUNDAMENTAL STRUCTURE AND ORIGIN IS SEVERELY LACKING. METHODS TO BRIDGE THIS GAP HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED, AND TOOLS HAVE EMERGED TO 3D IMAGE THE STRUCTURE OF MATTER DEEP INSIDE A QUANTUM WORLD. NUCLEAR PHYSICS, THE SUBJECT OF THIS RESEARCH PROGRAM AT THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA, IS THE STUDY OF THE ATOMIC NUCLEUS. IT IS A KEY SCIENTIFIC FIELD THAT INVESTIGATES THE PROPERTIES OF MATTER PERFORMING GROUND-BREAKING RESEARCH TO EXPAND OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE SUB-ATOMIC WORLD. NUCLEAR PHYSICS RESEARCH LEADS TO AN ENORMOUS RANGE OF APPLICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGIES, AND HAS CONTRIBUTED TO DATA, COMPUTATION, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, HEALTH AND SECURITY. THIS RESEARCH PROGRAM AT THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA WILL PERFORM RESEARCH TO ADVANCE THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE UNDERLYING QUARK-GLUON STRUCTURE OF THE BASIC BUILDING BLOCKS OF THE ATOMIC NUCLEUS: ITS PROTONS AND NEUTRONS, AND ALSO THE PIONS AND KAONS THAT BIND THEM. THE PROGRAM WILL INCLUDE AI/ML METHODS TO EXPEDITE SCIENCE OUTPUT IN CONTEMPORARY NUCLEAR SCIENCE. IT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE IMPROVEMENT OF SUB-ATOMIC PARTICLE DETECTORS THAT ARE EMPLOYED IN PARTICLE ACCELERATORS AND THE EDUCATION OF THE FUTURE ADVANCED TECH WORK FORCE THROUGH TRAINING OF GRADUATE, UNDERGRADUATE, AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN STATE-OF-THE ART INSTRUMENTATION AND AI/ML INFORMED SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT. THIS RESEARCH PROGRAM HAS A THREEFOLD FOCUS: 1) TO DEEPEN THE QCD UNDERSTANDING OF CHARGED PIONS AND KAONS, 2) TO PROVIDE MEASUREMENTS TO VALIDATE THE FRAMEWORK FOR 3D HADRON IMAGING, 3) TO INCLUDE AI/ML METHODS TO EXPEDITE SCIENCE OUTPUT FOR LIGHT-MESON STRUCTURE AND 3D IMAGING EXPERIMENTS. THE PROGRAM FOCUSES IN THE NEAR AND INTERMEDIATE TERM ON JEFFERSON LAB 12 GEV, AND IN THE LONG TERM ON THE US-BASED ELECTRON-ION COLLIDER. THE EXPERIMENTAL METHOD USES BEAMS OF HIGHLY ENERGETIC ELECTRONS AND/OR PHOTONS TO PROBE THE DEEP INSIDE OF A HADRON BY A COMPLETELY- (OR NEARLY COMPLETELY-) MEASURED SET OF ONLY A FEW PARTICLES, THROUGH EXCLUSIVE (AND SEMI-INCLUSIVE) SCATTERING PROCESSES. THE EMPHASIS OF THE EXPERIMENTATION IS ON PRECISION MEASUREMENTS OF LONGITUDINAL/TRANSVERSE SEPARATED DEEP EXCLUSIVE MESON ELECTROPRODUCTION CROSS SECTIONS. THE SCIENCE PROGRAM HAS AN INTEGRAL COMPONENT MAKING USE OF JEFFERSON LAB AS A TESTBED TOWARDS APPLICATIONS OF AI/ML TO STREAMING READOUT (SRO) IN CONTEMPORARY NUCLEAR SCIENCE. THIS ADDRESSES THE CRITICAL STEP TOWARDS PHYSICS ANALYSIS SUPPORTED BY FOUNDATIONAL AI/ML MODELS CAPABLE OF IDENTIFYING COMPLEX EVENT TOPOLOGIES WITHIN THE CONTINUOUS DATA FLOW. SUCH MODELS ARE ALSO NEEDED FOR FUTURE SRO-BASED EXPERIMENTS AT JLAB (AND LATER EIC). EARLY-CAREER SCIENTISTS AND STUDENTS AT ALL LEVELS PLAY AN INTEGRAL PART IN THIS PROJECT, WHICH PROVIDES OPPORTUNITIES TO GAIN EXPERIENCE IN THE DESIGN, ASSEMBLY, AND TESTING OF MODERN SUBATOMIC PARTICLE DETECTORS, FAST SIGNAL PROCESSING ELECTRONICS, AND SCIENTIFIC DATA ANALYSIS FOLDING IN AI/ML. 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.

RESEARCH AND INNOVATIVE STEM EDUCATION (RAISE)

SCIENCE INVESTIGATION IN SUPPORT OF SOLAR B-MISSION

SPECIAL EDUCATION-PERSONNEL PREPARATION TO IMPROVE SERVICES AND RESULTS FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES - LOW INCIDENCE

STUDYING THE DYNAMICS OF STELLAR ATMOSPERES THROUGH ULTRAVIOLET SPECTROSCOPY

SEARCH FOR BIOMARKER GASES ON MARS USING HIGH-RESOLUTION INFRARED SPECTROSCOPYMARS IS ONE OF A SELEC

21-HSR21_2-0001 DETERMINING PROCESSES UNDERLYING PLASMA WAVES AND SOLITARY STRUCTURES ASSOCIATED.WITH PLANETARY ION ESCAPE AT MARS.

SCIENCE INVESTIGATION IN SUPPORT OF STEREO/COR1 MISSION WE PROPOSE TO CARRY OUT DATA ANALYSIS OF THE STERE0/C0R1 DATA AS IT BECOME AVAILABLE FOLLOW

DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE TOOLS TO SUPPORT PLANETARY SURFACE EXPLORATION ARCHITECTUREMISSIONS TO EXPLORE THE SURFACES OF SOIAR SYSTEM BODIES INCIUDING

ADVANCED NURSING EDUCATION GRANTS

THIS PROPOSED RESEARCH SEEKS TO PROVIDE NEW KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING FROM AN ANALYSIS OF RADIO EMISSIONS FROM SOLAR TRANSIENTS USING DATA FROM RAD

SCIENCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: WE PROPOSE AN INVESTIGATION USING MHD WAVES AS DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS TO PROBE THE SOLAR CORONA FROM LOCAL TO GLOBAL

STUDY OF SPIN STRUCTURE OF HADRONS USING POLARIZED PHOTONS

PHASE II IUCRC THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA: BROADBAND WIRELESS ACCESS AND APPLICATIONS CENTER (BWAC)

UNDERSTANDING SOLID-SOLUTION-REACTION VS. SOLID-PHASE-TRANSFORMATION COMPETITION OF COMPLEX CONVERSION MATERIALS DOMINATED BY INTERFACIAL KINETICS

TRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATION OF MESODERM DEVELOPMENT

FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH RETENTION OF ARMY, NAVY AND AIR FORCE NURSES

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO ADDRESS SEVERAL KEY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE GEOLOGIC HISTORY OF MERCURY USING THE MESSENGER GEOCHEMISTRY SUITE OF IN

GROUND- BASED INFARED SPECTROSCOPY OF COMETS: A STUDY OF COMETARY COMPOSITION & ORIGIN

THE DETECTION OF RADIATION FROM PLANETARY SURFACES HAS BEEN USED FOR DECADES TO INFER THE COMPOSITION OF ASTEROIDS, THE MOON, AND PLANETS WITH LITTLE

MECHANISM OF GENOME PACKAGING IN BACTERIOPHAGE T4

SHINE: ANALYSIS OF ION KINETIC INSTABILITIES IN THE SOLAR WIND OBSERVED NEAR THE SUN WITH HYBRID MODELING AND MACHINE LEARNING -THE SOLAR WIND INCLUDES CHARGED PARTICLES AND MAGNETIC FIELDS EMANATING FROM THE SUN?S OUTER LAYERS. SPACE WEATHER RESULTS FROM INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE SOLAR WIND AND THE EARTH?S GEOMAGNETIC FIELD. THEREFORE, IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THE DETAILED PROCESSES THAT OCCUR WITHIN THE SOLAR WIND. THIS PROJECT EXPLORES THE PHYSICS OF THE SOLAR WIND THROUGH ANALYSIS OF SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT OF MACHINE LEARNING MODELS. UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS WILL BE TRAINED IN INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH INCLUDING SPACE PLASMA PHYSICS AND MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUES. ALSO, AN EARLY CAREER POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCHER WILL BE SUPPORTED. THIS PROJECT IS CO-FUNDED BY THE DIRECTORATE FOR GEOSCIENCES TO SUPPORT AI/ML ADVANCEMENT IN THE GEOSCIENCES. MOTIVATED BY NEW OBSERVATIONS WITH NASA?S PARKER SOLAR PROBE (PSP) MISSION, THE SCIENCE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO INVESTIGATE THE HEATING AND ACCELERATION OF THE SOLAR WIND PLASMA ASSOCIATED WITH PROTON AND ALPHA PARTICLE TEMPERATURE ANISOTROPY EVOLUTION, THEIR RELATIVE DRIFT AND BEAMING VELOCITIES, AND THE ASSOCIATED ION KINETIC INSTABILITIES. THE WORK WILL FOCUS ON THE EFFECTS OF PROTON BEAMS, DETECTED BY PSP/SPAN-I ON THE NONLINEAR EVOLUTION OF THE MAGNETOSONIC INSTABILITY. THE MAGNETIC WAVE SPECTRA AND ENERGY PARTITION BETWEEN THE IONS AND THE ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS WILL BE DETERMINED FOCUSING ON ION KINETIC SCALES. THE TEAM WILL ANALYZE THE PSP/SPAN-I DATA OF THE PROTON AND ALPHA PARTICLE VELOCITY DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS (VDFS) WITH BEAMS DURING PERIHELIA ENCOUNTERS, AS WELL AS PLASMA MOMENTS SUCH AS DENSITY, ANISOTROPIC TEMPERATURE, AND ALPHA RELATIVE ABUNDANCE DATA. THE FIELDS INSTRUMENT WILL PROVIDE THE CORRESPONDING KINETIC WAVE ACTIVITY MAGNITUDE, SPECTRA, AND POLARIZATIONS. GUIDED BY THE OBSERVATIONS, THE TEAM WILL USE 2.5D AND 3D HYBRID-PARTICLE-IN-CELL (HYBRID-PIC) MODELS OF KINETIC PROTONS AND ALPHA PARTICLES WITH BACKGROUND ELECTRON FLUID IN AN EXPANDING BOX MODEL TO STUDY THE KINETIC INSTABILITIES DRIVEN BY INITIALLY UNSTABLE NON- MAXWELLIAN VDFS SUCH AS SUPER-ALFVE?NIC BEAMS AND ION RELATIVE DRIFTS IN THE INNER SOLAR WIND. THE MODELS WILL BE USED TO CALCULATE THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND NONLINEAR EVOLUTION OF THE PROTON AND ALPHA PARTICLE POPULATIONS IN THE EXPANDING SOLAR WIND, SUCH AS THE ION DRIFT SPEEDS, ANISOTROPIC TEMPERATURES, MAGNETIC ENERGY AND SPECTRA, AND THE ASSOCIATED PLASMA HEATING PROCESSES. THEY WILL DEVELOP ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MACHINE LEARNING (AI/ML) METHODS TO AUTOMATE THE DETECTION OF UNSTABLE VDFS AND CLASSIFICATION OF THE KINETIC INSTABILITIES USING SEMI-SUPERVISED (I.E., LABELED, AND UNLABELED DATA) AND SUPERVISED (I.E., LABELED DATA) ML METHODS SUCH AS MULTI-LAYERED (I.E., DEEP) NEURAL NETWORKS (DNNS). 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.

ADVANCED DEVELOPMENT OF INTEGRATED MICROELECTRONICS SYSTEMS, MEMS, AND QUANTUM WELL INFRARED PHOTODETECTOR (QWIP) -BASED SENSORS.

A RAPID ANTIBIOTIC SUSCEPTIBILITY TESTING (AST) PLATFORM USING MULTIPLEX STATIC GRADIENTS - SUMMARY: THIS PROJECT AIMS TO PROTOTYPE AN INNOVATIVE MICROFLUIDIC REPORTING SYSTEM THAT IDENTIFIES EFFECTIVE ANTIBIOTICS WITHIN 30 MINUTES FOR ACUTE BACTERIAL INFECTIONS, SUCH AS SEPSIS. BACTERIA CAUSE WIDESPREAD DISEASES, INCLUDING URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS (UTI), ACUTE LUNG INFECTIONS, AND BLOODSTREAM INFECTIONS. PRESCRIPTIONS TO TREAT ACUTE BACTERIAL INFECTIONS ARE OFTEN EMPIRIC, USING BROAD-SPECTRUM ANTIBIOTICS AT HIGH DOSES, BECAUSE THE URGENCY OF TREATMENT DOES NOT ALLOW FOR LAB TEST RESULTS THAT TAKE HOURS OR DAYS. HOWEVER, THIS PRACTICE RISKS INEFFECTIVE TREATMENTS, DISRUPTION OF THE HEALTHY MICRO BIOME, AND, MORE DRASTICALLY, THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE, WHICH CAN DEPRIVE FUTURE EFFECTIVE ANTIBIOTIC TREATMENTS WHEN NEEDED. TIMELY MICROBIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY TO NARROW-SPECTRUM ANTIBIOTICS AT THE CLINIC SITE IS IMPRACTICAL BECAUSE STANDARD ANTIBIOTIC SUSCEPTIBILITY TESTING (AST) TAKES 2~3 DAYS AND REQUIRES WELL- EQUIPPED FACILITIES AND SKILLED LABORERS. RECENTLY, RESEARCHERS HAVE DEVELOPED ALTERNATIVE AST TESTS WITH GREAT POTENTIAL USING MICROFLUIDIC DEVICES. THESE METHODS, HOWEVER, MAINLY RELY ON BACTERIAL GROWTH, WHICH TAKES HOURS, ARE INCAPABLE OF TESTING MORE THAN A SINGLE BACTERIAL SPECIES OR A FEW ANTIBIOTIC CONDITIONS, OR REQUIRE BETTER ACCURACY AND THROUGHPUT. THE FIELD NEEDS A RAPID, INEXPENSIVE, AND ACCURATE AST PLATFORM TO DEFINE INDIVIDUALIZED TREATMENT PLANS. WE PROPOSE TO PROTOTYPE A FAST AND PRECISE AST PLATFORM TO PROVIDE INSIGHTS INTO EFFECTIVE TREATMENTS OF ACUTE BACTERIAL INFECTIONS. OUR SOLUTION RECOGNIZES THAT MOTILE BACTERIA, THE PRIMARY SOURCE OF COMMON BACTERIAL INFECTIONS, SWIM AWAY FROM EFFECTIVE ANTIBIOTIC GRADIENTS AND QUICKLY LOSE THEIR MOTILITY WHEN EXPOSED TO SURVIVAL DOSES OF EFFECTIVE DRUGS. IN AIM I, WE WILL DESIGN AND MICROFABRICATE A NOVEL MICROFLUIDIC DEVICE TO GENERATE MULTIPLEX STATIC GRADIENTS OF MULTIPLE ANTIBIOTICS SIMULTANEOUSLY. THE MULTIPLEX GRADIENT DEVICE IS CHEAP TO FABRICATE, EASY TO OPERATE, AND CAPABLE OF SIMULTANEOUSLY EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MULTIPLE ANTIBIOTICS BASED ON BACTERIAL CHEMOTAXIS AND GROWTH ANALYSES WHEN NEEDED. IN AIM II, WE WILL MAP AND QUANTIFY BACTERIAL SWIMMING BEHAVIORS UNDER BRIGHT-FIELD MICROSCOPY TO REPORT ON ANTIBIOTIC EFFECTIVENESS IN REAL TIME. IN AIM III, WE WILL OPTIMIZE THE RAPID AST PLATFORM TO SCREEN EFFECTIVE ANTIBIOTICS AGAINST KNOWN AND UNKNOWN BACTERIAL SAMPLES. BY INTEGRATING ROBUST MICROFLUIDIC CHEMOTAXIS IN MULTIPLEXED ANTIBIOTIC GRADIENTS WITH ADVANCED IMAGE PROCESSING, THE RAPID AST PLATFORM WILL PROVIDE TIMELY INSIGHTS FOR PHYSICIANS TO PRESCRIBE INDIVIDUALLY OPTIMIZED TREATMENTS FOR ACUTE BACTERIAL INFECTIONS, DRAMATICALLY DECREASING THE WAITING TIME FROM DAYS FOR STANDARD AST RESULTS TO 30 MINUTES FOR MOTILE CELL-INDUCED INFECTIONS AND 60 MORE MINUTES FOR NON-MOTILE CELL-INDUCED CONDITIONS. THIS PROTOTYPE PROJECT WILL FULFILL THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF AN AREA PROGRAM BY INVOLVING NINE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WITH VARIOUS BACKGROUNDS IN BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH AND LAY THE FOUNDATION FOR FOLLOW-UP GRANT SUBMISSIONS TO SCREEN CLINICAL SAMPLES.

NURSE FACULTY LOAN PROGRAM

OUR GOAL IS THE STUDY OF THE GEO-EFFECTIVENESS OF SOLAR WIND PERIODIC DENSITY STRUCTURES (PDS) IN DRIVING MAGNETOSPHERIC ULTRA LOW FREQUENCY (ULF) WAVES

THE FORESHOCK REGION UPSTREAM FROM A PLANETARY BOW SHOCK (BS) CONTAINS A VARIETY OF WAVE-PARTICLE INTERACTION PHENOMENA AND IS CHARACTERIZED BY THE PRESENCE OF BACKSTREAMING IONS AND ELECTRONS. THESE BACKSTREAMING PARTICLES PROVIDE A SOURCE OF FREE ENERGY FOR PLASMA INSTABILITIES WHICH GENERATES PLASMA WAVES PROPAGATING ALONG THE INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELD (IMF) CONNECTED TO THE BS. THE WAVES CAN ALTER THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE BACKSTREAMING PARTICLES MODIFY THE BS STRUCTURE AND AFFECT MAGNETOSHEATH DYNAMICS AS THEY ARE CARRIED DOWNSTREAM BY THE SOLAR WIND. INITIAL MESSENGER STUDY HAD IDENTIFIED THE EXISTENCE OF AT LEAST THREE TYPES OF UPSTREAM ULF WAVES IN MERCURY S FORESHOCK WITH THE WHISTLER WAVES AT FREQUENCY NEAR 2HZ BEING MOST COMMONLY OBSERVED. RECENTLY A STATISTICAL STUDY OF 0.05 0.41HZ ULF WAVES (SIMILAR TO THE 30-S WAVES AT EARTH) FOUND THAT THESE MAGNETOSONIC WAVES HAVE SMALLER WAVE AMPLITUDES AND LOWER OCCURRENCE RATE THAN THEIR EARTH S COUNTERPART. HOWEVER ULF WAVES SIMILAR TO THE 3-S WAVES AT EARTH AND MAGNETOSONIC WAVES WITH STEEPENING EDGES (I.E. SHOCKLETS) HAVE NOT YET BEEN OBSERVED IN MERCURY S FORESHOCK. TO DATE MANY QUESTIONS REGARDING THE PROPERTIES AND GENERATION MECHANISMS OF FORESHOCK WAVES AND THEIR INTERACTION WITH MERCURY'S BS AND MAGNETOSHEATH REMAIN UNANSWERED. WE PROPOSE TO USE THE ENTIRE MESSENGER DATASET AND UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN GLOBAL MHD WITH EMBEDDED PARTICLE-IN-CELL (MHD-EPIC) MODEL TO ANSWER KEY SCIENCE QUESTIONS ON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF UPSTREAM ULF WAVES THEIR INTERACTION WITH THE PLASMA ENVIRONMENT SURROUNDING THE BS AND THE FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS BEHIND THEIR GENERATION MECHANISMS IN MERCURY S FORESHOCK. CORRELATION ANALYSIS WILL BE CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE WAVE PROPERTIES SOLAR WIND AND IMF CONDITIONS AND SPACECRAFT LOCATION IN THE FORESHOCK. THE MHDEPIC MODEL WILL BE USED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THIS STUDY TO INVESTIGATE THE ION AND ELECTRON KINETIC PHYSICS OF THE WAVE-PARTICLE INTERACTIONS AND WAVE GENERATION MECHANISMS IN MERCURY S FORESHOCK BY SIMULATING THE BS AND ITS FORESHOCK WITH A FULLY KINETIC CODE. THE PROPOSED WORK WILL GREATLY ENHANCE THE SCIENCE RETURN FROM MESSENGER IN THESE IMPORTANT AREAS AND IT IS HIGHLY RELEVANT TO THE ROSES-2020 DDAP.

MECHANISMS OF MPRO AUTOCLEAVAGE - PROJECT SUMMARY SARS-COV-2, THE VIRUS THAT CAUSES COVID-19, RELIES ON A CRITICAL ENZYME CALLED MPRO (MAIN PROTEASE) TO REPRODUCE INSIDE INFECTED CELLS. THIS ENZYME MUST FIRST CUT ITSELF FREE FROM A LARGER PROTEIN BEFORE IT CAN FUNCTION PROPERLY. THIS PROCESS IS CALLED AUTOCLEAVAGE. HOWEVER, WE DON'T FULLY UNDERSTAND HOW THIS SELF- ACTIVATION IS CONTROLLED, WHICH LIMITS OUR ABILITY TO DEVELOP NEW ANTIVIRAL TREATMENTS. OUR RESEARCH WILL INVESTIGATE TWO KEY QUESTIONS ABOUT MPRO ACTIVATION. FIRST, WE WILL DETERMINE HOW SMALL CHANGES IN THE PROTEIN SEQUENCES SURROUNDING MPRO AFFECT HOW EFFICIENTLY IT CUTS ITSELF FREE. WE SUSPECT THAT CERTAIN SEQUENCE CHANGES COULD MAKE THIS PROCESS WORK BETTER, SUGGESTING THAT THE VIRUS HASN'T YET EVOLVED TO BE PERFECTLY EFFICIENT. IF WE CAN IDENTIFY THESE BETTER SEQUENCES, WE MIGHT DISCOVER NEW WAYS TO DISRUPT THE VIRUS. SECOND, WE WILL EXPLORE HOW THE VIRUS'S ASSOCIATION WITH CELL MEMBRANES INFLUENCES MPRO ACTIVATION. THE PROTEINS THAT FLANK MPRO ATTACH TO CELLULAR MEMBRANES, AND WE BELIEVE THIS PLACEMENT HELPS COORDINATE THE TIMING OF ENZYME ACTIVATION. UNDERSTANDING THIS SPATIAL CONTROL COULD REVEAL NEW TARGETS FOR ANTIVIRAL DRUGS. WE WILL USE BAKER'S YEAST AS OUR EXPERIMENTAL SYSTEM BECAUSE IT ALLOWS US TO STUDY THESE PROCESSES IN A CONTROLLED, SAFE ENVIRONMENT WITHOUT WORKING DIRECTLY WITH THE LIVE VIRUS. THIS APPROACH LETS US SYSTEMATICALLY TEST DIFFERENT PROTEIN VARIANTS AND MEMBRANE INTERACTIONS THAT WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO STUDY IN OTHER SYSTEMS. WE WILL THEN VALIDATE OUR MOST PROMISING YEAST FINDINGS USING SAFE SARS-COV-2 REPLICON SYSTEMS THAT MIMIC VIRAL REPLICATION WITHOUT PRODUCING INFECTIOUS PARTICLES. THIS TWO-STEP APPROACH ENSURES OUR MECHANISTIC RESULTS IN YEAST ARE RELEVANT IN THE VIRAL SYSTEM. OUR RESEARCH HAS A STRONG EDUCATIONAL COMPONENT THAT WILL TRAIN THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS. WE WILL INVOLVE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS, GRADUATE STUDENTS, AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN HANDS-ON RESEARCH EXPERIENCES. THIS WORK COULD LEAD TO NEW THERAPEUTIC STRATEGIES BY IDENTIFYING PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN VULNERABILITIES IN THE VIRUS'S REPLICATION PROCESS. THE PRINCIPLES WE DISCOVER MAY ALSO APPLY TO OTHER SIMILAR VIRUSES, POTENTIALLY INFORMING FUTURE PANDEMIC PREPAREDNESS EFFORTS. THE FINDINGS WILL ADVANCE OUR FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF HOW VIRUSES CONTROL THESE ESSENTIAL ENZYMES WHILE PROVIDING AUTHENTIC RESEARCH EXPERIENCES THAT PREPARE STUDENTS FOR CAREERS IN SCIENCE AND MEDICINE.

THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA WILL CONTINUE ITS WORK WITH NASA'S GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER (GSFC) TO CONDUCT RESEARCH IN SUPPOTT OF PREVIOUS EXISTING AND FUTURE PLANETARY SCIENCE MISSIONS. THIS PROJECT WILL FOCUS ON THE FOLLOWING AREAS: DEVELOPMENT OF ALGORITHMS AND SOFTWARE FOR THE CASSINI COMPOSITE INFRARED SPECTROMETER (CIRS) SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS OF CIRS DATA ESPECIALLY OF ITS ICY MOONS INCLUDING THE INTRIGUING ENCELADUS DEVELOPMENT OF ALGORITHMS FOR THE VOYAGER INFRARED SPECTROMETER (IRIS) SUPPORT OF THE OPERATION OF THE OVIRS VISIBLE/IR SPECTROMETER ON THE OSIRIS-REX MISSION SUPPOTT OF THE COMET ASTROBIOLOGY EXPLORATION SAMPLE RETURN (CAESAR) NEW FRONTIERS PHASE A STUDY BY DEVELOPING AND TESTING A NON-DISPERSIVE INFRARED GAS ASSEMBLY (NDIRGA) SYSTEM AND ITS ASIC ELECTRONICS SUPPORT OF THE DESIGN ASSEMBLY ALIGNMENT AND TESTING OFTHENNAL INFRARED COMPOSITE IMAGING SPECTROMETER (TIRCIS) INSTRUMENT FUNDED THROUGH THE PICASSO PROGRAM SUPPOTT OF THE DESIGN ASSEMBLY ALIGNMENT AND TESTING OF ADVANCED NET FLUX RADIOMETER FOCAL PLANE ASSEMBLY FOR ICE GIANTS (NFR) INSTRUMENT FUNDED THROUGH THE PICASSO PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT OF INSTRUMENTATION AND MISSION CONCEPTS FOR FUTURE PLANETARY MISSIONS MANAGEMENT OFNASA/GSFC CODE 693 INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT LABORATORY UNDER THIS CONTINUED RESEARCH NICOLAS GORIUS - A CUA RESEARCHER WORKING AT GSFC - WILL SERVE AS LAB MANAGER INSTRUMENTATION SYSTEMS ENGINEER AND DATA PROCESSING EXPERT. THESE ROLES ARE KEY POSITIONS IN THE SUCCESS OF THE CASSINI/CIRS THE OSIRIS-REX/OVIRS EXPERIMENTS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW INSTRUMENTS. THESE EFFORTS WILL ALSO REFLECT ON GSFC AS ONE OF THE MAJOR PLAYERS IN PLANETARY SCIENCE.

THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA WILL CONTINUE ITS WORK WITH NASA'S GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER TO CONDUCT MISSION SPECIFIC RESEARCH USING THE COM

CAREER: HIGHLY STABLE LIPID BILAYERS ON FREESTANDING CYTOSKELETON-LIKE MEMBRANE

SHINE WORKSHOP COORDINATION: 2016-2020

STUDIES OF PION AND KAON STRUCTURE AND VALIDATION OF THE EXCLUSIVE REACTION MECHANISM -ONE OF THE PRIMARY GOALS OF TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY PHYSICS IS THE QUANTITATIVE UNDERSTANDING OF THE NATURE OF STRONGLY BOUND SUBATOMIC SYSTEMS IN TERMS OF THE FUNDAMENTAL STRUCTURE OF MATTER. NUCLEAR PHYSICS, THE SUBJECT OF THIS RESEARCH PROGRAM AT THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA, IS THE STUDY OF THE ATOMIC NUCLEUS. IT IS A KEY SCIENTIFIC FIELD THAT INVESTIGATES THE PROPERTIES OF MATTER BY PERFORMING GROUND-BREAKING RESEARCH TO EXPAND OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE SUB-ATOMIC WORLD. THIS PROGRAM WILL PERFORM RESEARCH TO ADVANCE THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE UNDERLYING QUARK-GLUON STRUCTURE OF THE BASIC BUILDING BLOCKS OF THE ATOMIC NUCLEUS: ITS PROTONS, NEUTRONS, PIONS, AND KAONS. IT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE IMPROVEMENT OF SUB-ATOMIC PARTICLE DETECTORS THAT ARE EMPLOYED IN PARTICLE ACCELERATORS AND TO EDUCATING THE FUTURE ADVANCED TECH WORK FORCE THROUGH TRAINING OF GRADUATE, UNDERGRADUATE, AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN STATE-OF-THE ART INSTRUMENTATION AND MACHINE-LEARNING-INFORMED SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT. THIS RESEARCH PROGRAM HAS TWO PRIMARY GOALS, ONE TO DEEPEN THE QCD UNDERSTANDING OF PIONS AND KAONS - THEIR FORM FACTORS, THEIR STRUCTURE FUNCTIONS, AND THEIR MASSES, AND THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE STRUCTURE OF THESE GOLDSTONE BOSONS AND THE PROTON. THE SECOND GOAL OF THIS SCIENCE PROGRAM IS TO PROVIDE MEASUREMENTS TO VALIDATE THE FRAMEWORK FOR 3D (SPATIAL) HADRON IMAGING. THE PROGRAM FOCUSES IN THE NEAR AND INTERMEDIATE TERM ON JEFFERSON LAB 12 GEV, AND IN THE LONG TERM ON THE US-BASED ELECTRON-ION COLLIDER. THE EXPERIMENTAL METHOD USES BEAMS OF HIGHLY-ENERGETIC ELECTRONS AND/OR PHOTONS TO PROBE DEEP INSIDE OF HADRONS BY A COMPLETELY- (OR NEARLY COMPLETELY-) MEASURED SET OF ONLY A FEW PARTICLES, THROUGH EXCLUSIVE (AND SEMI-INCLUSIVE) SCATTERING PROCESSES. THE EMPHASIS OF THE EXPERIMENTATION IS ON PRECISION MEASUREMENTS OF LONGITUDINAL-TRANSVERSE SEPARATED DEEP EXCLUSIVE MESON ELECTROPRODUCTION CROSS SECTIONS. EARLY-CAREER SCIENTISTS AND STUDENTS AT ALL LEVELS PLAY AN INTEGRAL PART IN THIS PROJECT, WHICH PROVIDES OPPORTUNITIES TO GAIN EXPERIENCE IN THE DESIGN, ASSEMBLY, AND TESTING OF MODERN SUBATOMIC PARTICLE DETECTORS, FAST SIGNAL PROCESSING ELECTRONICS, AND SCIENTIFIC DATA 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.

CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS (CMES) THAT DRIVE CORONAL AND INTERPLANETARY SHOCKS ARE KNOWN TO PRODUCE THE LARGER, GRADUAL SEP EVENTS. HOWEVER, UNDERSTANDIN

EXECUTE A BALANCED SCIENCE PROGRAM BASED ON DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC GUIDANCE FROM THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE ADMINISTRATION PRIORITIES AND DIRECTION FROM CONGRESS. PARTICIPATE AS A KEY PARTNER AND ENABLER IN THE AGE

NON-LTE DIAGNOSTICS OF THE INFRARED LIMB OBSERVATIONS OF THE EARTH'S MESOPHERE AND LOWER THERMOSPHER

CORONA TO PHOTOSPHERE: EXPLORING SOLAR FLARE ENERGY TRANSPORT THROUGHOUT THE SOLAR ATMOSPHERE

MRICONSORTIUM: DEVELOPMENT OF A NEUTRAL PARTICLE SPECTROMETER TO INVESTIGATE THE QUARK STRUCTURE OF THE PROTON AT JLAB 12 GEV

HOW A YEAST MULTIDRUG TRANSPORTER IMPROVES ITS ABILITY TO EXPEL XENOBIOTIC COMPOUNDS FROM CELLS

INVESTIGATION OF THE CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF THE STORM-TIME ION RING CURRENT DECAY -THE TERRESTRIAL RING CURRENT IS AN ELECTRIC CURRENT FLOWING AROUND THE EARTH, THOUSANDS OF MILES ABOVE THE ATMOSPHERE. THE RING CURRENT IS ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL CURRENT SYSTEMS THAT CONTROL CONDITIONS IN THE SPACE ABOVE THE ATMOSPHERE WHERE ORBITING SATELLITES OPERATE. ABRUPT CHANGES OF SEVERAL ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE IN THIS CURRENT MAY OCCUR, RESPONSIBLE FOR GLOBAL DECREASES IN THE EARTH'S SURFACE MAGNETIC FIELD, KNOWN AS GEOMAGNETIC STORMS. THE STORM-TIME RING CURRENT IS THUS ASSOCIATED WITH HARMFUL SPACE WEATHER EFFECTS, WHICH MOTIVATES THE STUDY OF ITS FORMATION, DYNAMICS, AND DECAY. AS THE RING CURRENT DECAYS ON TIME SCALES OF HOURS TO SEVERAL DAYS, ITS ENERGY IS RELEASED INTO SPACE AND THE ATMOSPHERE BY LOSS PROCESSES, WHOSE CONTRIBUTION TO THIS DECAY REMAINS ONE OF THE OUTSTANDING QUESTIONS RELATED TO THE RING CURRENT. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO STUDY THE CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF THE STORM-TIME DECAY OF THE RING CURRENT IONS, WHICH ARE THE MAIN CARRIERS IN THE RING CURRENT. THE PROPOSED WORK CAN SIGNIFICANTLY ADVANCE OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE DYNAMICS OF THE EARTH'S RING CURRENT, INCLUDING ITS SPACE WEATHER EFFECTS AND THE COUPLED SPACE ENVIRONMENT. MOREOVER, AS PART OF THE PROPOSED ACTIVITIES, HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WILL BENEFIT FROM STATE-OF-THE-ART SCIENCE RESEARCH BY PARTICIPATING IN THE NASA SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROGRAM AT NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER. AS THE RING CURRENT DECAYS ON TIME SCALES OF HOURS TO SEVERAL DAYS DURING THE STORM RECOVERY PHASE, ITS ENERGY IS RELEASED INTO SPACE, THE ATMOSPHERE, AND THE PLASMASPHERE BY MEANS OF LOSS PROCESSES SUCH AS CHARGE EXCHANGE, COULOMB COLLISIONS, FIELD LINE CURVATURE SCATTERING, RESONANT INTERACTIONS WITH PLASMA WAVES, AND DRIFT OUT LOSS TO THE DAYSIDE MAGNETOPAUSE. THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES UNRESOLVED SCIENCE QUESTIONS REGARDING THE DECAY OF THE RING CURRENT. THE METHODOLOGY WILL CONSIST OF NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS AND VALIDATION WITH OBSERVATIONAL DATA. THE PRIMARY MODELING TOOL IN THIS INVESTIGATION WILL BE THE COMPREHENSIVE INNER MAGNETOSPHERE-IONOSPHERE (CIMI) MODEL. THIS STATE-OF-THE-ART KINETIC MODEL CONSIDERS NECESSARY COUPLINGS BETWEEN THE RING CURRENT AND THE OTHER PLASMA POPULATIONS IN THE INNER MAGNETOSPHERE. SIMULATION STUDIES OF ACTUAL STORM EVENTS WILL BE PERFORMED TO QUANTIFY HOW INDIVIDUAL PROCESSES RESULT IN RING CURRENT LOSSES AND HOW THE ASSOCIATED ION PRECIPITATION AFFECTS THE IONOSPHERIC CONDUCTANCE AND ITS FEEDBACK TO THE MAGNETOSPHERE. THE EXPECTED RESULT FROM THIS MODELING WORK IS A SYSTEMATIC QUANTIFICATION OF THE ROLES OF THE DIFFERENT LOSS MECHANISMS. ACHIEVING THIS QUANTIFICATION REQUIRES AN INVESTIGATION THAT MODELS THE STORM-TIME RING CURRENT, ACCOUNTING FOR ALL THE IDENTIFIED LOSS MECHANISMS. FURTHERMORE, IT IS KNOWN THAT THE INNER MAGNETOSPHERE RESPONDS DISTINCTIVELY TO STORMS PRODUCED BY DIFFERENT SOLAR WIND DRIVERS, I.E., DRIVEN BY CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS (CMES) OR BY CO-ROTATING INTERACTION REGIONS (CIRS). THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL THUS PERFORM A SYSTEMATIC ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIVE ROLES OF THE DIFFERENT ION LOSS PROCESSES DURING STORMS OF CME AND CIR DRIVERS AND THE IMPACTS ON THE MAGNETOSPHERE-IONOSPHERE COUPLED SYSTEM. CONSEQUENTLY, THIS STUDY WILL ADVANCE OUR CURRENT KNOWLEDGE BY PROVIDING A COMPREHENSIVE VIEW OF THE PHYSICAL PROCESSES DURING, AND LEADING TO, THE DECAY OF THE RING CURRENT IN DIFFERENT CONTEXTS OF SOLAR WIND DRIVING. 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.

INVESTIGATION OF GREEN AFTERGLOW OBSERVED ABOVE SPRITE AND GIGANTIC JET TOPS BASED ON SPRITACULAR PROJECT DATABASE

THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA MODELING THE HEATING AND THE ACCELERATION OF MULTI-ION SOLAR WIND PLASMA: WE PROPOSE TO STUDY THE HEATING AND THE

SHINE: PHYSICS-BASED AND STATISTICAL STUDIES CONNECTING SURFACE-FIELD DISTRIBUTIONS TO THE MAGNETIC FLUX ROPE STRUCTURE IN THE CORONA AND HELIOSPHERE -CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS (CMES) FROM THE SUN ARE THE DRIVER OF EXTREME SPACE WEATHER NEAR EARTH. THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES THE SOLAR, HELIOSPHERIC, AND INTERPLANETARY ENVIRONMENT (SHINE) GOAL OF UNDERSTANDING THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF CMES THROUGH AN INVESTIGATION OF MAGNETIC FLUX ROPES. THE PROJECT IS LED BY SCIENTISTS FROM UNDER-REPRESENTED GROUPS IN STEM, WHO WILL MENTOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS FROM UNDERREPRESENTED ETHNIC MINORITY GROUPS OR FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS. THE PROJECT ADVANCES THE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN SCIENCE. OUTREACH WILL ALSO BE CONDUCTED IN PREPARATION FOR THE OCTOBER 2023 AND APRIL 2024 SOLAR ECLIPSES. THE CENTRAL GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO OBTAIN A QUANTITATIVE UNDERSTANDING OF THE STRUCTURE AND EVOLUTION OF MAGNETIC FLUX ROPES FROM THE SOLAR PHOTOSPHERE TO THE INNER HELIOSPHERE. THE SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVE OF THE WORK IS TO DETERMINE HOW THE RECONNECTED MAGNETIC FLUX IN THE SOLAR SOURCE REGION DRIVES THE CME FLUX ROPE STRUCTURE IN THE CORONA AND HELIOSPHERE. THE PROPOSED OBJECTIVE WILL BE ACHIEVED BY ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS: 1) DO FLUX ROPES EXIST PRIOR TO ERUPTIONS, OR ARE THEY FORMED DURING ERUPTIONS, OR SOME COMBINATION OF THE TWO? 2) HOW MAGNETIC RECONNECTION AFFECT THE MAGNETIC PROPERTIES AND KINEMATICS OF CME FLUX ROPES? A COMBINATION OF PHOTOSPHERIC AND CORONAL OBSERVATIONS COMBINED WITH FLUX ROPE FITTING FORM THE BASIS FOR GEOMETRICAL AND MAGNETIC CHARACTERIZATION OF THE ?FLUX ROPE FROM ERUPTION DATA? (FRED). THE TEAM WILL DETERMINE THE DIRECTION OF THE AXIAL MAGNETIC FIELD AND MAGNETIC FLUX ROPE (MFR) HELICITY BY A COMBINATION OF MAGNETOGRAM DATA AND EUV ERUPTIVE FEATURES (E.G., CORONAL ARCADE SKEWS, FE XII STALKS, SIGMOIDS, AND MAGNETIC TONGUES) IN SOLAR SOURCE REGIONS. SINCE THE FLUX ROPE LEGS ARE ANCHORED IN THE PHOTOSPHERE WITHIN THE EUV CORE DIMMING REGIONS IN THE ERUPTION SITE, THE MAGNETIC FLUX WITHIN THE CORE DIMMING REGION CORRESPONDS TO THE FLUX ROPE?S AXIAL FLUX. THE RECONNECTED FLUX WITHIN THE POST ERUPTION ARCADE CORRESPONDS TO THE POLOIDAL FLUX OF THE FLUX ROPE. THUS, A MFR IS FULLY DEFINED IN THE CORONA AND ITS EVOLUTION IS TRACKED UNDER THE ASSUMPTION OF SELF-SIMILAR EXPANSION, ENABLING THE PREDICTION OF THE BZ (OUT OF THE ECLIPTIC FIELD) COMPONENT THAT ENCOUNTERS EARTH. THE CORONAL FLUX ROPE STRUCTURE WILL BE COMPARED AGAINST THE FLUX ROPE IN THE HELIOSPHERE FITTED TO IN-SITU OBSERVATIONS AT VARIOUS HELIOCENTRIC DISTANCES (PARKER SOLAR PROBE, SOLAR ORBITER, AND SPACECRAFT NEAR 1 AU), INCLUDING SELF-SIMILAR EXPANSION, HELICITY AND THE ORIENTATION OF THE CORONAL AND INTERPLANETARY FLUX ROPES. THE TEAM WILL USE THE ELLIPTICAL FLUX ROPE AND GRADUATED CYLINDRICAL SHELL TECHNIQUES FOR FORWARD MODELING OF THE CME FLUX ROPES. BOTH THE LEPPING CYLINDRICAL FORCE-FREE MAGNETIC CLOUD FITTING AND MARUBASHI CYLINDER AND TORUS FITTING ARE USED TO DERIVE THE MFR STRUCTURE IN CMES. 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.

OUR PROPOSED SCIENCE OBJECTIVES ARE TO: (1) DESCRIBE THE FLUX ROPE EROSION PROCESS AS THE EARTHWARD FR TRAVELS INTO THE NEAR-TAIL REGION AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH DIPOLARIZATION FRONTS (DFS) WITH NEGATIVE BZ-DIP (2) DESCRIBE THE NATURE (GEOMETRY AND RECONNECTION RATES) OF THE FR DISSIPATION RECONNECTION X-LINE AND ITS SURROUNDING DIFFUSION REGIONS AND (3) CHARACTERIZE ION AND ELECTRON DYNAMICS AND ENERGIZATION MECHANISMS WITHIN THE ERODING FR AND REGION SURROUNDING THE FR DISSIPATION RECONNECTION X-LINE. FOR THIS INVESTIGATION OUR APPROACH IS TO CONDUCT COMPREHENSIVE STUDIES OF ERODING EARTHWARD FRS USING PUBLICLY AVAILABLE HIGH TIME RESOLUTION MULTI-POINT FIELDS AND PARTICLES MEASUREMENTS COLLECTED BY THE MMS SPACECRAFT DURING THE TAIL PHASE OF ITS PRIMARY AND EXTENDED MISSION WHICH IS SUITABLE AND TIMELY FOR STUDYING THE SPATIAL GRADIENTS AND MULTIDIMENSIONAL PROPERTIES OF THE EARTHWARD FR DISSIPATION PROCESS ON THE KINETIC SCALE. WE WILL IDENTIFY ERODING EARTHWARD FRS BASED ON THEIR ASYMMETRIC BZ OR DF-LIKE SIGNATURES. WE WILL ALSO CHARACTERIZE PARTICLE (IONS AND ELECTRONS) DYNAMICS AND ENERGIZATION WITHIN THE ERODING FR AND THE X-LINE REGION ASSOCIATED WITH RE-RECONNECTION PRIOR TO THE OBSERVATION OF THE FRS/DFS USING MULTI-SPACECRAFT ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES. HIGHER ORDER DATA PRODUCTS PRODUCED BY OUR PROPOSED INVESTIGATION WILL BE ARCHIVED AS PART OF OUR PROPOSED RESEARCH TASKS. THE PROPOSED INVESTIGATION FOCUSES SOLELY ON DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF MMS OBSERVATIONS WHICH IS PART OF THE HELIOPHYSICS SYSTEM OBSERVATORY. THE PROPOSED WORK WILL SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCE THE SCIENTIFIC RETURN OF THE MMS MISSION CONCERNING THE PHYSICS OF MAGNETIC RECONNECTION AND DYNAMICS AND PARTICLE ENERGIZATION WITHIN ERODING EARTHWARD-TRAVELLING FRS IN THE NEAR-TAIL REGION. OUR PROPOSED RESEARCH ALSO DIRECTLY CONTRIBUTES TO TWO HELIOPHYSICS DECADAL SURVEY SCIENCE GOALS OF DETERMINE THE DYNAMICS AND COUPLING OF EARTH S MAGNETOSPHERE IONOSPHERE AND ATMOSPHERE AND THEIR RESPONSES TO SOLAR AND TERRESTRIAL INPUTS AND DISCOVER AND CHARACTERIZE FUNDAMENTAL PROCESSES THAT OCCUR BOTH WITHIN THE HELIOSPHERE AND THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSE. FOR THESE REASONS OUR PROPOSED RESEARCH IS HIGHLY RELEVANT TO THE ROSES-2022 HGIO PROGRAM.

CAREER: NEUROMECHANICS OF FUNCTIONAL IMPAIRMENT OF UPPER EXTREMITY FOLLOWING STROKE AND ITS EFFECTIVE RESTORATION BY RETRAINING MUSCLE ACTIVATION PAT

LIBRARIANS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

HADRON SPECTROSCOPY USING POLARIZED PHOTONS

MILLIMETER WAVE CHARACTERIZATION SYSTEM FOR COMPOSITE ELECTROMAGNETIC MATERIALS

CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS (CMES) CAUSE THE MOST SIGNIFICANT SPACE WEATHER EFFECTS NEAR THE EARTH AND THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM. THESE RAPID EXTREME CHANGES IN PLASMA AND MAGNETIC FIELD CAN CAUSE EFFECTS IN THE ATMOSPHERE AND ON THE SURFACE OF PLANETARY BODIES AS WELL AS THREATEN ANY NEARBY SPACE BORNE TECHNOLOGIES. MITIGATING THESE EFFECTS REQUIRES KNOWING IF AND WHEN A CME MAY IMPACT AS WELL AS THE CME S PROPERTIES UPON IMPACT. KAY ET AL. (2013 2015) DEVELOPED FORECASTING A CME S ALTERED TRAJECTORY A MODEL FOR THE NONRADIAL MOTION OF CMES CLOSE TO THE SUN. FORECAT SIMULATES BOTH DEFLECTION A CHANGE IN A CME S LATITUDE OR LONGITUDE AND ROTATION A CHANGE IN THE CME S ORIENTATION. NUMEROUS STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT FORECAT REPRODUCES THE DEFLECTION AND ROTATION OF OBSERVED CMES (E.G. KAY ET AL. 2016 2017A CAPANNOLO ET AL. 2017). BUILDING UPON THE SUCCESS OF FORECAT KAY ET AL. (2017B) INTRODUCED THE FORECAT IN SITU DATA OBSERVER (FIDO). FIDO USES THE RESULTS FROM FORECAT TO POSITION AND ORIENT A MAGNETIC FLUX ROPE AS IT PASSES OVER AN OBSERVER YIELDING SYNTHETIC IN SITU OBSERVATIONS. KAY&GOPALSWAMY (2017) SHOWED THAT FIDO CAN REPRODUCE THE MAGNETIC PROFILES OF NEAR-EARTH CMES. WE PROPOSE TO CONTINUE DEVELOPING THE FORECAT AND FIDO SUITE OF MODELS AS THEY REPRESENT A UNIQUE STYLE OF MODEL SIMPLE ENOUGH TO RUN LARGE NUMBERS OF CASES BUT COMPLEX ENOUGH TO ACCURATELY REPRODUCE OBSERVATIONS. WE WILL TAKE THE REMAINING STEPS NECESSARY TO YIELD ROBUST COMPLETE MODELS OF THE BEHAVIOR OF CMES BETWEEN THE SUN AND EARTH WHICH WOULD THEN BE READY FOR POTENTIAL SPACE WEATHER OPERATIONS. THE PROPOSED WORK IS DIVIDED INTO FOUR MAJOR SUBTASKS. FIRST WE WILL INCORPORATE PREEXISTING MODELS FOR THE ARRIVAL TIME TO COMPLETE THE SUN-TO-EARTH CHAIN IN OUR MODELS DETERMINING WHEN THE IMPACT OCCURS. SECOND WE WILL USE THE PROPERTIES OF THE ACTIVE REGION FROM WHICH A CME ERUPTS TO DETERMINE THE PROPERTIES OF THE MODELED CME REDUCING THE NUMBER OF UNKNOWN FREE PARAMETERS IN THE MODEL. THIRD WE WILL COMPARE FORECAT AND FIDO RESULTS WITH IN SITU OBSERVATIONS FROM SATELLITES AT MULTIPLE HELIOCENTRIC DISTANCES AND LONGITUDES. FINALLY WE WILL USE THE EFFICIENT NATURE OF FORECAT AND FIDO TO PERFORM ENSEMBLE STUDIES OF THE EFFECTS OF SMALL CHANGES REFLECTING THE UNCERTAINTY IN THE FREE PARAMETERS. BY COMPLETING THE PROPOSED WORK WE WILL HAVE COMPLETED A FULL MODEL FOR THE BEHAVIOR OF CMES FROM THE SUN-TO-EARTH ALLOWING US TO DETERMINE IF WHEN AND HOW A CME MAY IMPACT ON TIMESCALES NECESSARY FOR ACTUAL PREDICTIONS.

PROBING FLARE-GENERATED SLOW-MODE WAVES IN CORONAL LOOPS DETECTED BY SDO/AIA

CAREER: SPIN DEPENDENT TRANSPORT PROPERTIES OF SEMICONDUCTING NANOSTRUCTURES

MULTI-ION DYNAMICS OF THE SLOW SOLAR WIND IN CORONAL STREAMERS

STUDIES OF LIGHT MESON STRUCTURE AND VALIDATION OF THE EXCLUSIVE REACTION MECHANISM

SOLAR RADIO EMISSIONS IN THE 3D HELIOSPHERE OBSERVED BY STEREO WIND AND ULYSSES: THE OVERALL FOCUS

OBSERVATIONS OF THE MHD WAVES ALLOW DETERMINING PHYSICAL PARAMETERS OF CORONAL STRUCTURES THAT CANNOT BE DIRECTLY MEASURED VIA A TECHNIQUE CALLED CORONAL SEISMOLOGY. THE FLARE-EXCITED STANDING SLOW-MODE WAVES WERE FIRST DISCOVERED BY SOHO/SUMER THROUGH DOPPLER SHIFT OSCILLATIONS IN HOT LOOPS. HOWEVER THE PROPERTIES SUCH AS WAVE EXCITATION PROPAGATION AND DISSIPATION ARE STILL POORLY UNDERSTOOD. RECENTLY SDO/AIA HAS DETECTED LONGITUDINAL INTENSITY OSCILLATIONS IN HEATED LOOPS BY FLARES. THESE OSCILLATIONS SHOW SIMILAR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AS PREVIOUSLY DETECTED BY SOHO/SUMER. BY APPLYING THE CORONAL SEISMOLOGY METHOD WE HAVE FOR THE FIRST TIME FOUND QUANTITATIVE EVIDENCE OF THERMAL CONDUCTION SUPPRESSION IN A HOT (>9 MK) LOOP (WANG ET AL. 2015 APJL 811 L13). THIS RESULT HAS SIGNIFICANT IMPLICATIONS IN TWO ASPECTS: (1) CONDUCTION SUPPRESSION SUGGESTS THAT THE COMPRESSIVE VISCOSITY IS GREATLY ENHANCED TO INTERPRET THE OBSERVED STRONG WAVE DAMPING; (2) CONDUCTION SUPPRESSION PROVIDES A REASONABLE MECHANISM FOR EXPLAINING THE LONG-DURATION EVENTS WHERE HOT PLASMA DETECTED IN X-RAYS OR EUV IN MANY FLARES COOLS MUCH SLOWER THAN EXPECTED FROM THE CLASSICAL SPITZER CONDUCTIVE COOLING TIMES. IN THIS PROJECT WE PROPOSE TO INVESTIGATE THE FOLLOWING SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES MOTIVATED BY OUR RECENT DISCOVERY: I) EXPLORE THE PHYSICAL NATURE OF OBSERVED LONGITUDINAL OSCILLATIONS I.E. WHETHER THEY ARE A REFLECTING PROPAGATING WAVE OR A STANDING WAVE. WHAT ARE THE MAIN FACTORS THAT DETERMINE THE EXCITATION TIME OF STANDING WAVES IN CORONAL LOOPS? II) DETERMINE TRANSPORT COEFFICIENTS SUCH AS THERMAL CONDUCTION AND COMPRESSIVE VISCOSITY COEFFICIENTS FROM OBSERVED FLARE-EXCITED SLOWMODE WAVES DYNAMICS BY CORONAL SEISMOLOGY. III) INVESTIGATE THE THEORETICAL EFFECTS AND OBSERVATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE OBSERVATIONALLY DETERMINED EFFECTIVE TRANSPORT COEFFICIENTS ON THE WAVE EXCITATION AND DAMPING MECHANISMS AND THE EVOLUTION OF FLARE PLASMA. THESE OBJECTIVES ARE RELEVANT TIMELY DUE TO THE NEED OF QUANTITATIVE UNDERSTANDING OF SOLAR FLARE ENERGY RELEASE AND ATTAINABLE THANKS TO THE AVAILABILITY OF SDO/AIA OBSERVATIONS. METHODOLOGY: WE WILL COMPILE A CATALOG OF 30-40 LONGITUDINAL OSCILLATION EVENTS USING SDO/AIA OBSERVATIONS IDENTIFY THE WAVE MODES AND MEASURE THE EXCITATION TIME OF THE STANDING WAVES. WE WILL CHARACTERIZE THE MAGNETIC CONFIGURATION AND HEATING SOURCES BY CALCULATING THE MAGNETIC TOPOLOGY FROM SDO/HMI DATA USING THE NONLINEAR FORCE-FREE FIELD (NLFFF) EXTRAPOLATION AND BY ANALYZING OBSERVATIONS FROM SDO/AIA AND RHESSI. WE WILL MEASURE THE THERMAL AND WAVE PROPERTIES OF THE FLARE LOOP. BY APPLYING THE NONLINEAR THERMALLY CONDUCTIVE AND VISCOUS 1D MHD NUMERICAL MODEL IN A PARAMETRIC STUDY WE DETERMINE THE EFFECTIVE TRANSPORT COEFFICIENTS FROM THE MODEL THAT BEST-FITS THE OBSERVED LOOP SLOW-MODE OSCILLATIONS. WE WILL SET UP A 3D MHD MODEL OF ARS WITH INITIAL MAGNETIC CONFIGURATION CALCULATED BY NLFFF METHOD FROM SDO/HMI AND OBSERVED PHYSICAL PARAMETERS. WE USE THIS MODEL TO STUDY THE EFFECTS OF THE EFFECTIVE TRANSPORT COEFFICIENTS ON THE EXCITATION AND DAMPING OF A STANDING SLOW WAVE AND COOLING OF FLARE LOOPS. RELEVANCE: THE PROPOSED INVESTIGATION IS TO DETERMINE THE UNKNOWN TRANSPORT COEFFICIENTS IN THE FLARE-HEATED AR LOOPS AND BASED ON THESE MEASUREMENTS TO DEAL WITH THE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS SUCH AS EXCITATION AND DAMPING MECHANISMS OF MHD WAVES AND THE ENERGY TRANSPORT PROCESSES IN FLARE HEATING. THE PROPOSED ANALYSES ARE THUS IN LINE WITH THE DECADAL SURVEY GOAL: "DISCOVER AND CHARACTERIZE FUNDAMENTAL PROCESSES THAT OCCUR BOTH WITHIN THE HELIOSPHERE AND THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSE."

BLACK HOLES ONCE VIEWED AS AN EXOTIC THEORETICAL POSSIBILITY ARE NOW KNOWN TO BE PRESENT AT THE CENTERS OF MOST GALAXIES INCLUDING OUR OWN. THEIR MASSES CORRELATE WITH GALAXY BULGE MASS AND EVEN MORE TIGHTLY WITH THE VELOCITIES OF STARS IN THE

THE EXPERIENCE OF MILITARY SEPARATION/DEPLOYMENT FOR YOUND CHILDREN AND FAMILIES

CHARACTERIZING REGULATORY MECHANISMS UNDERLYING DRUG RESISTANCE IN BREAST CANCER USING KERATIN 19 - PROJECT SUMMARY DRUG RESISTANCE CONTINUES TO BE THE MAJOR LIMITING FACTOR IN ACHIEVING CURES FOR CANCER PATIENTS. IN BREAST CANCER, CYCLIN-DEPENDENT KINASES 4 AND 6 (CDK4/6) INHIBITORS HAVE BEEN APPROVED RECENTLY TO TREAT PATIENTS WITH ADVANCED ESTROGEN RECEPTOR-POSITIVE TUMORS. HOWEVER, MOST PATIENTS EXHIBIT RESISTANCE DUE TO A LACK OF PREDICTIVE BIOMARKER. UNDERSTANDING THE MOLECULAR BASIS UNDERLYING DRUG RESISTANCE IS REQUIRED TO PROVIDE A CRITICAL BREAKTHROUGH IN IDENTIFYING A PREDICTIVE BIOMARKER AND DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE THERAPEUTIC STRATEGIES. BASED ON OUR PREVIOUS WORK AND PRELIMINARY DATA, WE PROPOSE THAT A CYTOSKELETAL PROTEIN KERATIN 19 (K19), WHICH CURRENTLY SERVES AS ONE OF THE MOST RELIABLE DIAGNOSTIC AND PROGNOSTIC MARKERS, REGULATES SIGNALING EVENTS TO IMPACT RESISTANCE AGAINST CDK4/6 INHIBITORS. WE FOUND THAT K19 BINDS TO AND INHIBITS A MULTIFUNCTIONAL KINASE GSK TO STABILIZE A CDK4/6 PARTNER CYCLIN D3 IN BREAST CANCER CELLS. K19-GSK3 INTERACTION WAS ASSOCIATED WITH DECREASED ACCUMULATION OF GSK3 IN THE NUCLEUS THAT IS CRUCIAL TO GSK3 FUNCTION. MOREOVER, K19 PROMOTED PROLIFERATION AND MAINTAINED THE SENSITIVITY OF CELLS TO CDK4/6 INHIBITORS. WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT CYCLIN D3 STABILIZED BY K19-DEPENDENT INHIBITION OF GSK3 CAUSES TUMORS TO BECOME DEPENDENT ON THE CDK4/6 PATHWAY FOR GROWTH AND SENSITIZES THEM TO CDK4/6 INHIBITORS. AT THE MOLECULAR LEVEL, WE SURMISE THAT K19 FILAMENTS SERVE AS CYTOPLASMIC SCAFFOLDS FOR GSK3 TO PREVENT ITS ENTRY INTO THE NUCLEUS WHERE IT PHOSPHORYLATES CYCLIN D3 FOR DEGRADATION. TO ADDRESS OUR HYPOTHESES, WE PROPOSE TO 1) DETERMINE K19 EFFECTS ON THE GSK3 SIGNALING NETWORK, 2) CHARACTERIZE THE INTERACTION BETWEEN K19 AND GSK3, AND 3) DETERMINE THE IMPACT OF K19 ON DRUG RESISTANCE AND TUMOR GROWTH. TO THIS END, IN AIM 1, WE WILL IDENTIFY UPSTREAM REGULATORS OF K19-GSK3 INTERACTION AS WELL AS GSK3 TARGETS WHOSE ACTIVITIES AFFECT K19- DEPENDENT PHENOTYPES. IN AIM 2, GSK3-BINDING DEFICIENT K19 MUTANT WILL BE CHARACTERIZED TO DETERMINE HOW K19 INTERACTS WITH GSK3 AND AFFECTS THE NUCLEAR ENTRY OF GSK3. IN AIM 3, WE WILL ASSESS HOW K19 AFFECTS SENSITIVITIES OF VARIOUS BREAST CANCER SUBTYPES TO CDK4/6 INHIBITORS AND TEST THE ROLE OF K19 AND GSK3 ON THE SENSITIVITY OF TUMORS TO A CDK4/6 INHIBITOR IN VIVO. UPON SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION, THE KNOWLEDGE GAINED FROM THE STUDY CAN HELP DESIGN NEW DRUGS TARGETING K19-DEPENDENT SIGNALING PATHWAYS, ESTABLISH K19 AS A PREDICTIVE BIOMARKER FOR RESPONSE TO CDK4/6 INHIBITORS, AND DEVELOP EFFECTIVE THERAPEUTIC STRATEGIES TO COMBAT DRUG RESISTANCE.

ROTMAN LENS SIDEWALL DESIGN AND OPTIMIZATION WITH HYBRID HARDWARE/SOFTWARE BASED PROGRAMMING

MRI CONSORTIUM: DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPLETE KAON DETECTION SYSTEM FOR HALL C AT 12 GEV JLAB

HETEROGENEOUS SYNTHETIC MICROBIOME CONSTRUCTED WITH BIOPOLYMER FLUITRODES

GEM: MODELING AND ANALYSIS OF EXTREME GEOMAGNETICALLY INDUCED CURRENTS (GICS) -THIS AWARD IS FUNDED IN WHOLE OR IN PART UNDER THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT OF 2021 (PUBLIC LAW 117-2). THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THE THIS AWARD IS TO ADVANCE THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE FUNDAMENTAL PROCESSES THAT CONTROL THE DEVELOPMENT AND EVOLUTION OF EXTREME GEOMAGNETICALLY INDUCED CURRENTS (GICS). THE HORIZONTAL GEOELECTRIC FIELD INDUCED AT THE EARTH'S SURFACE IS THE PRIMARY QUANTITY THAT DETERMINES THE MAGNITUDE OF GIC THAT FLOW ON HIGH-VOLTAGE POWER TRANSMISSION NETWORKS. HOWEVER, KNOWLEDGE ON MANY ASPECTS OF THE DYNAMIC SOLAR WIND-MAGNETOSPHERE-IONOSPHERE INTERACTIONS THAT CONTROL THE GENERATION AND EVOLUTION OF THE GEOELECTRIC FIELDS IS LACKING, ESPECIALLY DURING EXTREME GEOMAGNETIC STORMS. THE AWARD WOULD CARRY OUT A DETAILED CHARACTERIZATION OF THE DYNAMIC SOLAR WIND-MAGNETOSPHERE-IONOSPHERE PROCESSES THAT PRODUCE EXTREME GEOELECTRIC FIELDS. SPECIFICALLY, THE AWARD WOULD ADDRESS THE SCIENCE OBJECTIVES: 1) WHAT ARE THE KEY HIGH-LATITUDE PROCESSES ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT AND EVOLUTION OF EXTREME GEOELECTRIC FIELDS? (2) WHAT IS THE ROLE OF FIELD-ALIGNED CURRENT MESO-SCALE STRUCTURES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF EXTREME GEOELECTRIC FIELDS? (3) WHAT ARE THE KEY PHYSICAL PARAMETERS/PROCESSES THAT CONTROL THE AURORAL EQUATORWARD BOUNDARY EXPANSION TO LOWER LATITUDES? THE AWARD INVESTIGATION IS ALIGNED WITH THE WHITE HOUSE-LED NATIONAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL (NATIONAL SPACE WEATHER STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN, 2015/2019) THAT IDENTIFIED GICS AS ONE OF THE TOP NATIONAL THREATS. THIS AWARD ALSO CONTAINS A STEM EDUCATION COMPONENT IN-WHICH UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WOULD BE SUPPORTED AND MENTORED TO ADVANCE KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING WHILE PROMOTING TEACHING, TRAINING AND LEARNING. THE AWARD RESEARCH PLAN FEATURES A COMPREHENSIVE DATA ANALYSIS AND MODELING EFFORT THAT WOULD CONNECT NEW MULTISCALE UNDERSTANDING OF THE FUNDAMENTAL DRIVERS OF GICS WITH GIC MODELING. OBSERVATIONS FROM AMPERE/SWARM, SUPERMAG, THEMIS, DMSP, AND SUPERDARN WOULD BE COMBINED WITH GLOBAL MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC (MHD) SIMULATIONS TO ADDRESS THE SCIENCE QUESTIONS. THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, SWMF, A GLOBAL MHD APPLICATION AVAILABLE AT THE CCMC OPERATING AT NASA/GSFC, WOULD CARRY OUT A TIGHTLY INTEGRATED ANALYSIS OF NUMERICAL MODELING IN COMBINATION WITH OBSERVATIONS. THE MAGNETOSPHERE AND IONOSPHERE PROCESSES WOULD BE EXAMINED TO DETERMINE WHEN, WHY, AND HOW CHANGES IN MAGNETOSPHERE, MAGNETOTAIL, MAGNETOPAUSE AND IN IONOSPHERE CURRENTS AFFECT THE ELECTRIC FIELD CHARACTERISTICS. AN IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS WOULD BE PERFORMED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IN THE MAGNETOSPHERE CAUSES THE GEOELECTRIC FIELD LATITUDE BOUNDARY EFFECT, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO THE BOUNDARY LOCATION IN THE SIMULATIONS AND OBSERVATIONS. 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.

CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA LUNAR EXPLORATION NEUTRON DETECTOR (LEND) THE LUNAR EXPLORATION NEU

GEM: QUANTIFYING LOCAL AND GLOBAL CONTROLS OF SOLAR-WIND/MAGNETOSPHERE COUPLING -THE SOLAR WIND?A STREAM OF HOT CHARGED PARTICLES FROM THE SUN?PLAYS A CRUCIAL ROLE IN SHAPING EARTH'S MAGNETIC ENVIRONMENT, KNOWN AS THE MAGNETOSPHERE. THIS INTERACTION DRIVES SPACE WEATHER, WHICH CAN DISRUPT SATELLITES, POWER GRIDS, AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS. WHILE SCIENTISTS HAVE LONG STUDIED HOW THE SOLAR WIND INFLUENCES THE MAGNETOSPHERE, KEY GAPS REMAIN IN UNDERSTANDING EXACTLY WHICH SOLAR WIND CONDITIONS MATTER MOST AND HOW UNCERTAINTIES IN MEASUREMENTS MAY SKEW PREDICTIONS. THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO RESOLVE THE LIMITATIONS ON: (1) HOW THE EARTH'S MAGNETIC BOUNDARY ALTERS THE EFFECT OF THE SOLAR WIND, AND (2) HOW UNCERTAINTIES AND HIDDEN CORRELATIONS IN SOLAR WIND DATA AFFECT OUR UNDERSTANDING OF ITS EFFECTS ON THE EARTH'S MAGNETIC ENVIRONMENT. BY COMBINING SPACECRAFT OBSERVATIONS, ADVANCED SIMULATIONS, AND MACHINE LEARNING, THIS WORK WILL PROVIDE A CLEARER PICTURE OF SOLAR WIND-MAGNETOSPHERE COUPLING?IMPROVING FORECASTS OF GEOMAGNETIC STORMS. THE PROJECT WILL BENEFIT SOCIETY BY MEASURABLY IMPROVING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW SOLAR WIND DRIVES SPACE WEATHER, WHICH IS CRITICAL FOR PROTECTING SATELLITES, AVIATION, AND POWER SYSTEMS. THE TEAM WILL DEVELOP EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES ON HANDLING UNCERTAINTIES IN BIG DATA TO SUPPORT STEM WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. BY ADDRESSING FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS IN SPACE PHYSICS AND DEVELOPING TOOLS FOR SCIENTIFIC EDUCATION, THIS PROJECT ALIGNS WITH NSF'S MISSION TO ADVANCE NATIONAL PROSPERITY AND DEFENSE THROUGH SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS. THE STUDY WILL ANSWER TWO KEY SCIENCE QUESTIONS: ?HOW DO LOCAL (MAGNETOSHEATH) PARAMETERS INFLUENCE GEOMAGNETIC RESPONSE COMPARED TO GLOBAL (SOLAR WIND) MEASUREMENTS?? AND ?WHICH SPECIFIC SOLAR WIND AND MAGNETOSHEATH PARAMETERS BEST EXPLAIN GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY, AND TO WHAT EXTENT??. BY CORRELATING MULTI-POINT SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS IN THE MAGNETOSHEATH AND LAGRANGE POINT-1 WITH GEOMAGNETIC INDICES, THIS WORK WILL QUANTIFY UNCERTAINTIES AND BIASES IN SOLAR WIND DATA AND IMPROVE THE RELIABILITY OF COUPLING FUNCTIONS USED IN SPACE WEATHER FORECASTING. AN MHD MODEL REPRESENTING THE COUPLED MAGNETOSPHERE-IONOSPHERE SYSTEM WILL BE USED TO COMPARE SIMULATED AND OBSERVED MAGNETOSPHERIC RESPONSES, WHERE THE DISCREPANCIES WILL HELP QUANTIFY MISSING KINETIC EFFECTS IN GLOBAL MODELS. THE RESULTS OF THE PROJECT WILL (1) ADVANCE SPACE WEATHER PREDICTION BY REFINING COUPLING FUNCTIONS; (2) RESOLVE DATA LIMITATIONS BY SYSTEMATICALLY QUANTIFYING UNCERTAINTIES IN SOLAR WIND MEASUREMENTS; (3) GUIDE IMPROVEMENTS IN GLOBAL MODELS BY CONSTRAINING MISSING PHYSICS; (4) SUPPORT TRAINING OF RESEARCHERS IN HANDLING UNCERTAINTIES AND RELATED STATISTICAL BIASES WHILE USING BIG DATA. THE PROJECT WILL ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF SOLAR WIND-MAGNETOSPHERE INTERACTIONS WHILE IMPROVING THE RELIABILITY OF SPACE WEATHER MODELS, WITH BROAD IMPLICATIONS FOR BOTH SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND OPERATIONAL SPACE WEATHER 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 PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

CAREER: BONE INSPIRATION IN RESEARCH AND EDUCATION

UNDERSTANDING COMPLEX PHYSICAL PROCESSES BEHIND POST MIDNIGHT EQUATORIAL PLASMA BUBBLES

STUDIES OF THE STRUCTURE OF LIGHT MESONS AND NUCLEONS THROUGH EXCLUSIVE REACTIONS

INFORMATION MODELS AND AUTOMATED REASONING FOR SMART MANUFACTURING AND ADVANCED ROBOTICS

IMPACT OF ALTERED SENSORIMOTOR EXPERIENCE IN ROBOTIC TRAINING ON ADAPTATION OF HAND MUSCLE COORDINATION OF STROKE SURVIVORS - ABSTRACT SIGNIFICANT FUNCTIONAL IMPAIRMENT OF THE HAND IS COMMONLY OBSERVED FOLLOWING STROKE. ROBOT-ASSISTED TRAINING OF THE HAND CAN HELP STROKE SURVIVORS PRACTICE COMPLEX MULTI-DEGREES-OF-FREEDOM MOVEMENTS OF THE HAND, BUT IT REMAINS MOSTLY UNKNOWN HOW TRAINING CONDITIONS AFFECTS COORDINATION PATTERNS OF THE MUSCLES PRODUCING HAND MOVEMENTS; SUCH CHANGES ARE CRITICAL IN RESTORING HAND FUNCTION OF STROKE SURVIVORS AFTER THE TRAINING. THE OVERALL HYPOTHESIS OF THIS PROPOSAL IS THAT THE ADAPTATION OF THE HAND MUSCLES DURING ASSISTED TRAINING, EVEN FOR THE SAME TYPE OF TASK, WILL BE SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECTED BY THE ASSISTANCE DYNAMICS, SENSORY FEEDBACK, AND TASK CONDITION. THE GOAL OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO EXAMINE THE IMPACT OF THE FOLLOWING THREE CONDITIONS OF ROBOT-ASSISTED TRAINING ON THE MOTOR ADAPTATION OF THE THREE HAND MUSCLE GROUPS (EXTRINSIC EXTENSOR, EXTRINSIC FLEXOR, AND INTRINSIC MUSCLES) OF STROKE SURVIVORS. WE WILL INVESTIGATE: (1) WHETHER TWO WIDELY-USED ASSISTANCE MECHANISMS (END- EFFECTOR VS. EXOSKELETON) INDUCE DIFFERENT PATTERNS OF CHANGES IN THE EXTRINSIC AND INTRINSIC HAND MUSCLE COORDINATION; (2) IF SENSORY MODULATION OF DISTAL AND PROXIMAL FINGER JOINT MOVEMENTS RESULTS IN DIFFERENT CHANGES IN THE MUSCLE COORDINATION; AND (3) WHETHER THE DYNAMICS OF THE TASK PERFORMED (STATIC VS. DYNAMIC) AFFECT THESE MUSCLE GROUPS DIFFERENTLY WHEN ASSISTED. THE PROPOSED STUDY WILL ELUCIDATE THE IMPORTANT, BUT CURRENTLY NOT WELL-UNDERSTOOD ASPECTS OF ROBOT-ASSISTED TRAINING OUTCOMES, I.E., HOW ALTERED SENSORIMOTOR EXPERIENCE AFFECTS MOTOR ADAPTATION OF STROKE SURVIVORS AT THEIR MUSCLE LEVEL. WE WILL USE A NOVEL ROBOTIC SETUP AND VIRTUAL-REALITY TECHNOLOGIES TO ALTER SENSORIMOTOR INPUTS/OUTPUTS ASSOCIATED WITH FINGER MOVEMENTS OF STROKE SURVIVORS. THE RESULTS WILL PROVIDE VITAL INFORMATION REGARDING HOW THE KEY ASPECTS OF ROBOT-ASSISTED TRAINING (ASSISTANCE, FEEDBACK, AND TASK DYNAMICS) SHOULD BE DESIGNED TO EFFECTIVELY RESTORE IMPAIRED MUSCLE COORDINATION OF THE HAND. IN THE LONG TERM, THESE OUTCOMES WILL LEAD TO THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES TO RESTORING HAND FUNCTION OF STROKE SURVIVORS EVEN AFTER THE TRAINING IS COMPLETED. 1

REU SITE: RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNDERGRADUATES IN THE HELIOPHYSICS SCIENCE DIVISION AT THE NASA/GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER

ORIGINS AND EFFECTS OF ACCELERATED ELECTRON POPULATIONS AT MARS

THE PROPOSED STUDY CONTINUES THE RESEARCH CONDUCTED UNDER THE NASA RESEARCH GRANT NNX08AG41G NON-LTE DIAGNOSTICS OF SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS OF THE EA

UNDERSTANDING FILAMENT CHANNEL FORMATION: A NEW OBSERVATIONAL APPROACH

SHOCKS IN THE SOLAR CORONA AND INTERPLANETARY MEDIUM (IP) ARE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PHENOMENA FOR SPACE WEATHER BECAUSE THEY PRODUCE HIGH-ENERGY

THE SOLAR ATMOSPHERES RESPONSE TO IMPULSIVE ENERGY INPUT

MAGNETIC FUNCTIONALITY, STICTION & MICROSCOPY RESEARCH OF MICROSHU TTER ARRAYS FOR THE JAMES WEBB

SPECIFYING PROPERTIES OF DAYSIDE MAGNETOPAUSE RECONNECTION FROM A MACHINE-LEARNING MODEL FOR THE EARTH'S CUSPS

HOME THERAPY FOR UPPER LIMB STROKE REHABILITATION USING THE HANDSOME EXOSKELETON

NSWP: AN ANALYSIS OF SPACE WEATHER'S IMPACT ON ELECTRICITY FLOWS, POWER GRID OPERATIONS, AND ELECTRICITY MARKETS

THREE-DIMENSIONAL CME STUDY.

MECHANISM AND IMPACT OF AN INTERACTION BETWEEN KERATIN 19 AND A REGULATOR OF GENE EXPRESSION

TO OUR KNOWLEDGE THIS IS THE FIRST WORK THAT ATTEMPTS TO EXTRACT THE TRUE RESPONSE OF GEOMAGNETIC INDICES BY CORRECTING THE EFFECTS OF UNCERTAINTY IN THE SOLAR WIND DRIVER. IN ADDITION THIS STUDY WILL USE A COMPREHENSIVE DATABASE AND COVER AS MANY OF THE SOLAR WIND PARAMETERS AS POSSIBLE. UNLIKE PREVIOUS STUDIES THE STUDY IMPLEMENTS AN MHD MODEL TO QUANTIFY UNCERTAINTY IN THE DRIVERS THAT ARE NOT ACCESSIBLE USING MEASUREMENTS. THE WORK WILL BE HIGHLY IMPACTFUL FOR PAST AND FUTURE STUDIES OF EXTREME SPACE WEATHER EVENTS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON EARTH. OUR PROPOSED WORK IS IN LINE WITH THE GOALS OF THE 2013 DECADAL SURVEY: TO UNDERSTAND 'THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN SOLAR VARIABILITY AND EARTH AND PLANETARY SPACE ENVIRONMENT.' IT RE-EVALUATES OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE ABOVE CONNECTION AND WILL SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACT OUR CAPABILITY TO ACCURATELY 'PREDICT EXTREME CONDITIONS IN SPACE TO PROTECT LIFE AND SOCIETY AND TO SAFEGUARD HUMAN AND ROBOTIC EXPLORERS BEYOND EARTH.'

OBSTRUCTING TOXIN'S PATHWAYS: UNIVERSAL INHIBITORS OF BINARY BACTERIAL TOXINS

CAREER: DYNAMICS OF MICRO- AND NANOMECHANICAL RESONATOR ARRAYS

NOVEL IMAGING SYSTEM TO OBJECTIVELY ASSESS THE NATURAL HISTORY OF TREATED AND UNT

MECHANISMS THAT PROMOTE HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA DUE TO CHRONIC ETHANOL EXPOSURE - SUMMARY HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA (HCC) IS THE FIFTH MOST COMMON CANCER WORLD-WIDE WITH OVER 600,000 NEW CASES PER YEAR AND A DISMAL FIVE-YEAR SURVIVAL RATE AT LESS THAN 9%. MOST HCC PATIENTS HAVE CHRONIC LIVER DISEASE RESULTING MAINLY FROM HCV/HBV INFECTION, CHRONIC ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION OR AFLATOXIN EXPOSURE. ALTHOUGH MOST PATIENTS THAT DEVELOP HCC HAVE CIRRHOSIS OR HEPATITIS, THE MECHANISMS PROMOTING HCC DIFFER BETWEEN PATHOLOGIES SUCH THAT NOT ALL CASES SHOULD BE TREATED THE SAME. THIS PROPOSAL IS AIMED AT UNDERSTANDING THE MECHANISMS THAT PROMOTE HCC DUE TO CHRONIC ETHANOL EXPOSURE, A FORM OF HCC THAT IS ON THE RISE AS HCV AND HBV INFECTIONS ARE BEING BETTER PREVENTED AND TREATED. IN PARTICULAR, THIS PROPOSAL IS FOCUSED ON UNDERSTANDING CHROMOSOME 8Q24 AMPLIFICATION THAT IS OBSERVED MORE FREQUENTLY IN ALCOHOL-INDUCED HCC. BECAUSE C-MYC RESIDES ON THIS AMPLIFIED REGION, WE PROPOSE THAT AT LATER STAGES OF HCC, CHROMOSOME 8Q24 IS AMPLIFIED LEADING TO HIGH C-MYC LEVELS. THE HIGH MYC PROMOTES MIZ1 TRANSCRIPTIONAL REPRESSION AND LOSS OF THE EPITHELIAL PHENOTYPE AND ACQUISITION OF MESENCHYMAL CELL TRAITS. CONCOMITANTLY, THE HIGH C-MYC ACTIVATES ZEB1 EXPRESSION DRIVING CELLS THROUGH THE EPITHELIAL TO MESENCHYMAL TRANSITION (EMT) FURTHER REPRESSING THE EPITHELIAL PHENOTYPE. AS CELLS METASTASIZE AND COLONIZE AT SECONDARY SITES, EPITHELIAL TRAITS ARE PARTIALLY REACQUIRED AS CELLS PROGRESS THROUGH THE MESENCHYMAL TO EPITHELIAL TRANSITION (MET). OUR HYPOTHESIS IS THAT THE TEMPORAL EXPRESSION PATTERNS OF C-MYC, ZEB1 AND MIZ1 AND EPITHELIAL VS. MESENCHYMAL TRAITS ARE UNIQUE IN PATIENTS WITH ALCOHOL-INDUCED HCC AND CAN PREDICT PROGNOSIS, DRUG RESISTANCE AND POTENTIAL TREATMENT STRATEGIES. IN AIM 1 WE ASK TWO MAJOR QUESTIONS: 1) DOES 8Q24 AMPLIFICATION DRIVE EMT IN ALCOHOL-ASSOCIATED HCC? AND 2) DO METASTATIC LESIONS REACQUIRE A MORE EPITHELIAL PHENOTYPE? TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS, WE WILL EXAMINE PROTEIN EXPRESSION PATTERNS USING IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL (IHC) STAINING OF PARAFFIN-EMBEDDED HUMAN HCC RESECTIONS (TO ANSWER QUESTION 1) AND AFFECTED LYMPH NODES AND METASTATIC LESIONS (TO ANSWER QUESTION 2). STAINING WILL BE CORRELATED TO CANCER STAGE, CLINICOPATHOLOGIC VARIABLES, ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND PATIENT RESPONSES TO TREATMENT. WE WILL ALSO CONFIRM 8Q24 AMPLIFICATION USING FISH ANALYSIS OF C-MYC EXPRESSION. TO DIRECTLY DETERMINE THE TEMPORAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN C-MYC, MIZ1, ZEB1 AND THE EPITHELIAL VS. MESENCHYMAL PHENOTYPES, WE WILL PERFORM TARGETED TRANSCRIPTOME ANALYSIS AND MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF HUMAN BENIGN AND HCC TISSUE. WE WILL ALSO PERFORM OVEREXPRESSION AND KNOCKDOWN STUDIES TO DIRECTLY ESTABLISH THE TEMPORAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN C-MYC, MIZ1, ZEB1 AND EPITHELIAL VS. MESENCHYMAL PHENOTYPES IN SELECTED CELL LINES AND PRIMARY HUMAN NORMAL AND HCC CELLS IN CULTURE. FINALLY, DUE TO THE TREMENDOUS NEED TO DEVELOP NEW STRATEGIES FOR EFFECTIVE COMBINATION THERAPIES TO TREAT HCC, WE WILL EXAMINE DRUG SENSITIVITY IN CELLS TO CLINICALLY RELEVANT COMPOUNDS. WE HAVE GARNERED THE SUPPORT OF SEVERAL OTHERS TO PROVIDE THEIR EXPERTISE TO THE PROJECT. WE HAVE CONTINUED ACCESS TO THE IMAGING FACILITY LOCATED AT NEARBY JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICAL SCHOOL AND ARE MEMBERS OF THE HOPKINS GI CENTER ALLOWING US ACCESS TO MANY SERVICES AND RESOURCES. THE EXPANSIVE EXPERTISE OF OUR COLLABORATORS AND THE ACCESS TO HUMAN TISSUE SAMPLES AND HIGH- END RESOURCES COUPLED WITH OUR CONSIDERABLE EXPERTISE IN POLARIZED HEPATIC CELL BIOLOGY SITUATE US PERFECTLY TO PERFORM THESE IMPORTANT MECHANISTIC AND TRANSLATIONAL STUDIES.

STUDY OF ION VELOCITY DISTRIBUTIONS AND KINETIC WAVE ACTIVITY OBSERVED IN THE ACCELERATION REGION OF THE SOLAR WIND WITH THEORY MODELING AND MACHINE LEARNING

WE PROPOSE TO INVESTIGATE SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL CORRELATION OF METRIC TYPE II PRODUCING CORONAL SHOCKS WITH THE SOLAR ENERGETIC PARTICLE (SEP) EVENTS

SYNTHETIC APERTURE ACOUSTICS (SAA) DETECTION OF CAMOUFLAGED IEDS

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A PHYSICAL PROPERTY MEASUREMENT SYSTEM FOR MATERIALS SCIENCE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION

AN OBSERVATIONAL PROGRAM FOR MASS AND MASS INDEX DETERMINATION OF SMALL METEOROIDS IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF VOYAGER 1 AND 2 MAG DATATHE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR OF THIS PROPOSAL IS AN ADJUNCT PROFESSOR AT CUA AND WILL CONTINUE

IMAGE-GUIDED TRANSBRONCHIAL BIOPSY WITH NOVEL BIOPSY DEVIC

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: LABORATORY AND MODELING STUDIES TO RESOLVE A GRAND CHALLENGE FOR UPPER ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE -THIS COLLABORATIVE PROJECT WILL EXPLOIT THE SYNERGY OF SPACE-BASED OBSERVATIONS, ATMOSPHERIC MODELING, AND LASER-BASED LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS TO RESOLVE THE ORIGINS OF THE CO2 15-UM EMISSION. IT AIMS TO PROVIDE A BETTER QUANTIFICATION OF UPPER ATMOSPHERIC RADIATIVE COOLING BY IR EMISSIONS THROUGH MULTI-DISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES THAT PROMOTE A BROADER APPRECIATION OF THE COMPLEXITY OF THERMAL ENERGY BALANCE IN PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES. THE PROJECT WILL ENABLE IMPROVED DETERMINATION OF ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE PROFILE RETRIEVALS FROM SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS OF THE CO2 15-UM EMISSION AND ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF RADIATIVE BALANCE IN THE ATMOSPHERES OF EARTH, MARS, AND VENUS. THE WORK HAS THE POTENTIAL TO ADD NEW KNOWLEDGE TO THE RADIATIVE ENERGETICS OF THE MLT AND ADDRESS THE LONG-STANDING QUESTION OF CO2 15-UM EXCITATION AND DEEXCITATION PROCESSES. IT WILL ALSO ADVANCE NEW KNOWLEDGE RELEVANT TO OTHER RESEARCH AREAS SUCH AS MOLECULAR ENERGY TRANSFER, CHEMICAL LASERS, EXTRASOLAR PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES, THE EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS IN THE SHOCK WAVES GENERATED DURING SPACE VEHICLE REENTRY, AS WELL AS CHEMICAL REACTION DYNAMICS AND KINETICS. THE RESULTS OF THIS RESEARCH BENEFIT MODELERS OF PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES WITHIN AND BEYOND OUR SOLAR SYSTEM, THEORETICIANS, AND EXPERIMENTALISTS, AND ENHANCE THE SCIENTIFIC RETURNS OF GROUND- AND SPACE-BASED REMOTE SENSING OBSERVATIONS. THIS PROJECT WILL ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO THE EDUCATION AND FORMATIVE RESEARCH EXPERIENCES OF A PH.D. GRADUATE STUDENT AND ONE OR MORE POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS AND SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS. THE MOST IMPORTANT PROCESS CONTROLLING THE POPULATION OF CO2(NU-2) IS ASSUMED TO BE ITS EXCITATION AND RELAXATION IN COLLISIONS OF CO2 WITH THERMALIZED ATOMIC OXYGEN IN ITS GROUND STATE, O(3P). THIS PROCESS IS POORLY UNDERSTOOD DESPITE NUMEROUS STUDIES OVER THE PAST SEVERAL DECADES. THERE ARE TELLTALE SIGNS OF A MAJOR FUNDAMENTAL DEFICIENCY IN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNDERLYING PROCESSES. THIS COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH EFFORT COMBINES (1) ANALYSIS OF GROUND- AND SPACE BASED OBSERVATIONS TO QUANTIFY PREVIOUSLY UNRECOGNIZED SOURCES OF THE CO2 15-?M EMISSION, (2) LASER-BASED LABORATORY EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES OF THE O + CO2 INTERACTION, AND (3) STATE-OF-THE-ART, NON-LTE ATMOSPHERIC MODELING CALCULATIONS TO REEVALUATE THE GLOBAL THERMAL BALANCE OF THE MLT IN THE 15-?M CO2 BAND. THE TEAM WILL CONDUCT LABORATORY STUDIES OF O + CO2 COLLISIONS TO 1) MEASURE THE RATE CONSTANT FOR RELAXATION OF THE CO2(010) VIBRATIONAL LEVEL BY O ATOMS, 2) DETERMINE ITS TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE FROM 150 K TO 600 K, 3) INVESTIGATE THE COLLISION ENERGY DEPENDENCE OF CO2 VIBRATIONAL EXCITATION IN COLLISIONS WITH O ATOMS, AND 4) CHARACTERIZE THE CONCENTRATION OF O ATOMS IN THE INTERACTION REGION AND THEIR DIFFUSION OUT OF THE OBSERVATION VOLUME. THEY WILL ALSO PERFORM OBSERVATION ANALYSIS OF SABER AND LIDAR DATA, THEORY, AND NON-LTE MODELING STUDIES OF O + CO2 COLLISIONS. 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.

DIAGNOSIS OF CORONAL ACTIVE REGIONS WITH 3D MHD MODELS OF WAVE ACTIVITY WITH CHROMOSPHERIC AND PHOTOSPHERIC CONNECTION:WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP WAVE DI

SCIENCE QUESTION: SQ1. WHAT ARE THE GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION AND DYNAMICS OF ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELDS IN THE MAGNETOSPHERE AND IONOSPHERIC POTENTIAL DURING EXTREME EVENTS? SQ2. WHAT CAUSES THE DEEP PENETRATION OF ENERGETIC ELECTRONS AND IONS TO LOW L-SHELLS DURING EXTREME EVENTS? RELEVANCE: THE PROPOSED STUDY IS RELEVANT TO FOCUSED SCIENCE TOPIC (4) UNDERSTANDING PHYSICAL PROCESSES IN THE MAGNETOSPHERE--IONOSPHERE / THERMOSPHERE / MESOSPHERE SYSTEM DURING EXTREME EVENTS. THIS PROPOSAL IS ALSO RELEVANT TO LWS PROGRAM OBJECTIVE (1) UNDERSTAND SOLAR VARIABILITY AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE SPACE AND EARTH ENVIRONMENTS WITH AN ULTIMATE GOAL OF A RELIABLE PREDICTIVE CAPABILITY OF SOLAR VARIABILITY AND RESPONSE. ENERGETIC ELECTRON AND ION TRANSPORT IN THE MAGNETOSPHERE AND IONOSPHERE IS PREDOMINANTLY DETERMINED BY GLOBAL ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELDS. THE PLASMA PRESSURE PRODUCED BY ENERGETIC ELECTRONS AND IONS ALSO CONTRIBUTES TO CHANGING MAGNETIC FIELD CONFIGURATIONS AND THEREFORE AFFECTS THE IONOSPHERIC POTENTIAL. DEEP PENETRATION OF ENERGETIC ELECTRONS AND IONS IN THE INNER MAGNETOSPHERE CAN IMPACT MID-LATITUDE SPACECRAFT AND MID-LATITUDE GROUND-INDUCED CURRENTS (GICS). HOWEVER BOTH EMPIRICAL AND PURE MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC (MHD) MODELS OFTEN FAIL TO REPRODUCE POLAR CAP POTENTIALS AND MAGNETIC FIELD CONFIGURATIONS DUE TO EXTREME SOLAR WIND AND RING CURRENT CONDITIONS. FURTHERMORE RADIAL DIFFUSION COEFFICIENTS DERIVED FROM STATISTICAL ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FLUCTUATIONS ARE NOT VALID FOR EXTREME GEOMAGNETIC CONDITIONS MAKING IT EVEN MORE DIFFICULT TO PREDICT PARTICLE TRANSPORT DURING EXTREME EVENTS. THUS THESE LIMITATIONS MOTIVATE US TO USE A STATE-OF-THE-ART MODEL OF TWO-WAY-COUPLED GLOBAL MHD AND INNER MAGNETOSPHERE TO ANSWER THE TWO SCIENCE QUESTIONS METHODOLOGY: [1] USE THE SPACE WEATHER MODELING FRAMEWORK (SWMF) WHICH COUPLES THE COMPREHENSIVE INNER MAGNETOSPHERE AND IONOSPHERE (CIMI) 4-D BOUNCE-AVERAGED KINETIC RING CURRENT MODEL WITH THE BLOCK ADAPTIVE TREE SOLARWIND ROE-TYPE UPWIND SCHEME (BATSR- US) GLOBAL MHD MAGNETOSPHERIC MODEL TO SELF-CONSISTENTLY SIMULATE THE GLOBAL ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELDS AND THE IONOSPHERIC POTENTIAL. CIMI WILL ALSO BE USED TO SIMULATE THE TRANSPORT OF RING CURRENT ELECTRONS IONS AND<1 MEV RADIATION BELT ELECTRONS. [2] USE A GUIDING-CENTER TEST PARTICLE CODE TO SIMULATE TRANSPORT OF HIGHLY AND ULTRA-RELATIVISTIC ELECTRONS THAT RARELY AFFECT THE GLOBAL ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELD CONFIGURATION. [3] COMPARE OBSERVATIONS WITH SIMULATIONS AND CAREFULLY COMPARE BETWEEN THE TWO SIMULATION MODELS EACH OTHER TO VALIDATE AND QUANTIFY THE LIMITATIONS OF EACH MODEL.

ADVANCED INFORMATION MODELS AND SOFTWARE TOOLS FOR SMART MANUFACTURING AND MODEL BASED DESIGN

BOTH STANDING AND PROPAGATING SLOW-MODE WAVES HAVE BEEN OBSERVED IN CORONAL LOOPS WITH EUV AND X-RAY OBSERVATIONS. OFTEN, THE EXCITATION OF THESE WAV

CRITICAL EARLY DKIST SCIENCE: FINE STRUCTURE IN UNI-POLAR MAGNETIC FIELDS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ELUCIDATING THE COMPOSITION OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM'S MOST PRIMITIVE MATERIALS - COMPREHENSIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF A HALLEY-TYPE COMET -RADIO/SUBMILLIMETER SPECTROSCOPY IS A SENSITIVE PROBE OF THE GASES PRESENT IN COMETARY ATMOSPHERES (COMAE), INCLUDING MOLECULES NOT READILY DETECTED AT OTHER WAVELENGTHS. SUCH OBSERVATIONS PROVIDE A UNIQUE WINDOW INTO THE COMPOSITION OF OUR PLANET-FORMING DISK. THIS COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PROJECT WILL FOCUS ON ANALYZING OBSERVATIONS OF THE HALLEY-TYPE COMET 12P/PONS-BROOKS (ONE OF THE MOST ACTIVE COMETS OF THE LAST DECADE), USING THE ATACAMA LARGE MILLIMETER/SUBMILLIMETER ARRAY (ALMA). THE RESULTING DATA WILL REPRESENT A MAJOR ADVANCE IN SENSITIVITY AND MOLECULAR COVERAGE, INCLUDING SPECTRAL/SPATIAL MAPS OF AT LEAST 26 DIFFERENT MOLECULES. THE PROJECT WILL PROVIDE POSTDOCTORAL TRAINING IN COMETARY SCIENCE AND ASTROCHEMICAL MODELING, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON SUPPORT FOR POSTDOC PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND SCIENTIFIC GROWTH. THE PROJECT WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE UNRIVALED SENSITIVITY AND RESOLUTION OF ALMA DATA, IMPLEMENTING UPDATED RADIATIVE TRANSFER MODELS TO PRODUCE: (1) NUCLEUS (AND COMA) MIXING RATIOS AND PRODUCTION SCALE LENGTHS FOR > 26 DIFFERENT MOLECULAR SPECIES; (2) SPATIAL MAPS FOR MULTIPLE GASES, INCLUDING ORGANIC MOLECULES, S-BEARING SPECIES AND MOLECULES OF POSSIBLE PRE-BIOTIC RELEVANCE; (3) ISOTOPIC RATIOS IN KEY COSMOGONIC INDICATORS (D/H, 14N/15N) TO PROBE THE HISTORY OF COMETARY MATTER; (4) COMA PHYSICAL PROPERTIES, INCLUDING TEMPERATURE, DENSITY, VELOCITY STRUCTURE AND JET MORPHOLOGIES, TO TEST OUR UNDERSTANDING OF COMETARY OUTFLOWS. COMA GAS SOURCES AND EXTENDED SPATIAL DISTRIBUTIONS WILL BE ANALYZED USING NUMERICAL (HYDRODYNAMIC) MODELS INCORPORATING GAS-PHASE PHOTOCHEMISTRY AND ICY GRAIN SUBLIMATION. ESTABLISHING THE INVENTORY OF MOLECULES IN COMETARY ICES WILL PROVIDE IMPROVED CONSTRAINTS ON INITIAL CONDITIONS FOR ORIGIN-OF-LIFE STUDIES. 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.

WE PROPOSE TO CARRY OUT DATA ANALYSIS OF THE HINODE/EIS SPECTROSCOPIC DATA OF SOLAR ACTIVITY IN THE LOWER CORONA. WE WILL USE THE DATA TO STUDY IMPOR

THE RADIOMETRIC CALIBRATION OF CASSINI COMPOSITE INFRARED SPECTROMETER (CIRS) SPECTRA

MODELING OF SPACE WEATHER FROM THE SUN THROUGH THE HELIOSPHERE TO THE EARTH'S MAGNETOSPHERE AND IONO

MECHANISM OF ATP-DRIVEN DNA PACKAGING IN BACTERIOPHAGE T4

COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF 3D MAGNETOSPHERE-IONOSPHERIC CURRENT SYSTEM THROUGH THE MODELING, OBSERVATIONS, AND APPLICATIONS: AURORAL ELECTROJET INDICES FOR THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE

INVESTIGATORS AT CUA WILL WORK CLOSELY WITH SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS AT NASA/GSFC TO FURTHER DEVELOP, DESIGN, BUILD, AND TEST NEW TYPES OF INFRA-RED

A SUBLIME 3D MODEL FOR NON-LTE EMISSION FROM COMETARY AND ICY MOON ATMOSPHERES

TITLE: "HARNESSING AIA DIFFRACTION PATTERNS TO UNDERSTAND ENERGY RELEASE IN SOLAR FLARE FOOTPOINTS" IN THE "STANDARD FLARE MODEL" ENERGY FROM ACCELER

CORONAL-MASS-EJECTION-DRIVEN SHOCKS AND SUSTAINED GAMMA-RAY EMISSION EVENTS

WE PROPOSE A CONTINUED EFFORT TO PARTICIPATE AND COOPERATE WITH THE NASA/ GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER TO DEVELOP A SERIES OF FAR INFRARED-SPECTROMETE

ENHANCING STUDENT HELP-SEEKING BEHAVIOR AND REINFORCING PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS IN ONLINE MATHEMATICS LEARNING

GEM: DETERMINATION OF THE TRUE IONOSPHERIC CURRENTS AND CONDUCTANCES FROM COMBINED GROUND- AND SPACE-BASED OBSERVATIONS

MEASURING THE VELOCITY OF TERRESTRIAL OBJECTS IN THE EARTH'S MAGNETIC FIELD USING THE LORENTZ FORCE LAW

PROPOSED STUDY CONTINUES RESEARCH CONDUCTED UNDER THE GRANTS "CONSIDERATIN OF THE EFFECTS OF NON-LOCAL THERMAL EQUILIBRIUM ON PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES",

HADRON STRUCTURE THROUGH EXCLUSIVE REACTIONS

ENGINEERING A PACKAGING NANOMOTOR FOR DELIVERY OF RNA AND OTHER MOLECULES

REU SITE: PHYSICS RESEARCH IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL -THIS AWARD SUPPORTS THE RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR UNDERGRADUATES (REU) SITE IN PHYSICS AT THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA (CUA). THE REU SITE WILL HOST EIGHT UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS PER YEAR, WHO WILL SPEND TEN WEEKS DURING THE SUMMER ENGAGED IN RESEARCH TOPICS IN PHYSICS, MATHEMATICS, AND ENGINEERING. THE MAIN GOAL OF OUR PROGRAM IS TO REACH OUT TO AND ENGAGE YOUNG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS - WHO WOULD OTHERWISE NOT HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY - IN CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH AT THE EXCITING INTERFACE BETWEEN BASIC RESEARCH IN NUCLEAR AND PARTICLE PHYSICS AND APPLIED SCIENCE LEVERAGING CUTTING-EDGE ALGORITHMIC ADVANCEMENTS. THROUGH GUIDED MENTORSHIP BY FACULTY MEMBERS AND INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER UNDERGRADUATES, GRADUATE STUDENTS, AND POSTDOCS, UNDERGRADUATES WILL GAIN HANDS-ON LABORATORY EXPERIENCE AND PRACTICAL PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS IN THE CONTEXT OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH BY PARTICIPATING IN REAL-LIFE PHYSICS RESEARCH. THE PROGRAM OFFERS SEMINARS ON A WIDE VARIETY OF SUBJECTS, E.G., SKILL DEVELOPMENT, LEARNING REINFORCEMENT, AND THE PATH TO BECOMING A RESEARCHER INCLUDING GRADUATE SCHOOL AND CAREERS IN ACADEMIA AND BEYOND, AND AIMS TO RECRUIT EDUCATE, AND RETAIN THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS. SOPHISTICATED DETECTORS AND INSTRUMENTS USING NUCLEAR PHYSICS PRINCIPLES ARE ALL AROUND US AND USED IN EVERYDAY LIFE INCLUDING MRIS (PROTON SPIN) IN MEDICAL APPLICATIONS AND GAMMA RAY DETECTORS IN OIL WELL LOGGING. INSTRUMENTATION INITIATIVES THUS PROVIDE A UNIQUE EDUCATION AND TRAINING ENVIRONMENT FOR ATTRACTING UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS INTO THE FIELD. THIS REU PROGRAM INCLUDES ADVANCED NUCLEAR PHYSICS DETECTOR DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION THAT OFFER UNDERGRADUATES MEANINGFUL ENGAGEMENT IN STATE-OF-THE-ART RESEARCH PROJECTS THAT CAN BE APPROACHED AND EXPLORED IN A SHORT PERIOD. RESEARCH TOPICS INCLUDE NUCLEAR AND PARTICLE PHYSICS EXPERIMENTS, DATA ANALYSES, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR DETECTOR DESIGN, INVESTIGATING PARTICLE IDENTIFICATION AND NOVEL FOCUSING LENSES FOR PARTICLE DETECTORS, AND DETECTOR CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS THAT ARE CARRIED OUT ON CAMPUS. CUA HAS A UNIQUE POSITION BECAUSE OF ITS PROXIMITY TO AND COLLABORATIONS WITH FLAGSHIP NATIONAL LABORATORIES AND STRONG EXPERTISE IN MATERIALS. THE REU PROGRAM WILL BUILD ON CUA'S DEMONSTRATED EXPERIENCE OF THE MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL INVOLVEMENT OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN CUTTING EDGE RESEARCH PROJECTS, INCLUDING SOME THAT HAVE LED TO THE SUCCESSFUL CONSTRUCTION OF DETECTORS. STUDENTS WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE ORAL PRESENTATIONS AND PARTICIPATE IN A POSTER SESSION ON THE FINAL DAY OF THE PROGRAM, AND FUNDING WILL BE PROVIDED TO ALL STUDENTS TO SUBSEQUENTLY PRESENT THEIR WORK AT A RELEVANT NATIONAL OR REGIONAL CONFERENCE. 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.

NEURAL MECHANISMS OF PEDIATRIC BIPOLAR DISORDER: THE IMPACT OF COMORBID ANXIETY

CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICANTHE RADIOMETERIC CALIBR ATION OF CASSINI COMPOSITE INF

WE PROPOSE TO USE DATA FROM THE INTERFACE REGION IMAGING SPECTROGRAPH (IRIS) THE SOLAR DYNAMICS OBSERVATORY (SDO) AND OTHER SOURCES TO MEASURE THE PROPERTIES OF SMALL-SCALE ERUPTIVE EVENTS IN PARTICULAR THEIR RELATION TO THE MAGNETIC FIELD STRUCTURE AND THE PHOTOSPHERIC FLOW FIELD WHICH PROVIDES IMPORTANT CONSTRAINTS ON ERUPTIVE EVENT MODELLING. SCIENCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: LARGE SCALE ERUPTIVE PHENOMENA LIKE FLARES AND CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS ARE SOME THE MOST STUDIED TOPICS IN SOLAR PHYSICS DUE TO THEIR ROLE IN THE RELEASE OF ENERGY MASS AND MAGNETIC FIELD WHICH CAN IMPACT EARTH ENVIRONMENT. AMONG THE SMALL-SCALE TYPES OF ERUPTIONS CORONAL JETS EMANATING FROM CORONAL BRIGHT POINTS (CBPS) HAVE RECEIVED MOST OF THE ATTENTION IN RECENT YEARS (E.G. MUGLACH&YOUNG 2014). ONE OF THE SMALLEST KINDS OF ERUPTIVE EVENTS ON THE SUN ARE TRANSITION REGION EXPLOSIVE EVENTS (EES) WITH SPATIAL SCALES OF ONLY ABOUT 1" - 2". A RECENT CASE STUDY HAS SHOWN HOW EES END UP AT THE INTERSECTION OF THE SUPERGRANULAR BOUNDARIES (ATTIE ET AL. 2016) WHICH EMPHASIZES THE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE MAGNETIC FIELD EVOLUTION AND THE PHOTOSPHERIC FLOWS ALL OVER THE QUIET SUN. ALL OF THESE PHENOMENA PROVIDE STRONG EVIDENCE FOR MAGNETIC RECONNECTION OCCURRING IN THE SUN'S ATMOSPHERE. TO UNDERSTAND THEM AND CONSTRAIN MODELS IT IS CRITICAL TO PROPERLY CHARACTERIZE THEM TO DETERMINE THE MAGNETIC EVOLUTION THAT LEADS TO THESE PHENOMENA AND RELATE THEM TO THE MAGNETIC STRUCTURE WHERE THEY OCCUR THE MAGNETIC NETWORK. WE PROPOSE TO USE DATA FROM IRIS AND SDO TO INVESTIGATE THESE SMALL-SCALE ERUPTIVE EVENTS. WE WILL ADDRESS THE FOLLOWING SPECIFIC QUESTIONS: WHERE ARE THESE EVENTS LOCATED (NETWORK CENTER OR BOUNDARY)? WHAT IS THE MAGNETIC FIELD EVOLUTION DURING EES AND JETS? HOW IS THE MAGNETIC FIELD EVOLUTION CONNECTED TO THE PHOTOSPHERIC PLASMA FLOWS? CAN WE USE THESE RESULTS TO SUPPORT SPECIFIC NUMERICAL MODELS FOR SMALL-SCALE ERUPTIVE EVENTS? NASA MISSION DATA TO BE USED IN THIS INVESTIGATION: PRIMARILY IRIS AND SDO/HMI AND AIA COMPLEMENTED BY HINODE/SOT WHEN AVAILABLE THE DATA ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY CONSISTS OF THE FOLLOWING STEPS USING WELL-DEVELOPED COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS AVAILABLE TO THE TEAM: - APPLYING THE EE IDENTIFICATION METHOD USED IN MUGLACH (2008) MODIFIED FOR IRIS SPECTRA AND CATEGORIZE EES ACCORDING TO THE SOLAR REGION (QUIET SUN CORONAL HOLE ACTIVE REGION). - PRODUCE EVENT LIST OF CORONAL HOLE BRIGHT POINTS WHICH COVER THEIR COMPLETE LIFE CYCLE. - COALIGN IRIS AND SDO DATA AND APPLY FEATURE TRACKING TO SDO HMI MAGNETOGRAMS TO OBTAIN THE EVOLUTION OF THE MAGNETIC FIELD FOR BOTH EES AND CBP. - USE LOCAL CORRELATION TRACKING AND BALLTRACKING TO CALCULATE THE FLOW FIELD FROM HMI WHITE LIGHT IMAGES AND DETERMINE EE AND CBP LOCATIONS WITHIN THE PHOTOSPHERIC FLOW PATTERN. - USE THE MAGNETIC BALLTRACKING ALGORITHM (ATTIE ET AL. 2016) TO RELATE THE DISPLACEMENT OF THE MAGNETIC FLUX PATCHES WITH RESPECT TO THE FLOW PATTERN. RELEVANCE: THE SCIENTIFIC GOALS OF SDO AND IRIS ARE TO IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE FOLLOWING SCIENCE QUESTIONS (AMONG OTHERS): - HOW IS MAGNETIC FLUX SYNTHESIZED CONCENTRATED AND DISPERSED ACROSS THE SOLAR SURFACE? - HOW DOES MAGNETIC RECONNECTION ON SMALL SCALES REORGANIZE THE LARGE-SCALE FIELD TOPOLOGY AND CURRENT SYSTEMS? - HOW DO MAGNETIC FLUX AND MATTER RISE THROUGH THE LOWER ATMOSPHERE AND WHAT ROLE DO FLUX EMERGENCE AND SURFACE FLOWS PLAY IN SOLAR ERUPTIVE EVENTS? THIS INVESTIGATION ADDRESSES TWO OF THE FOUR HIGH-LEVEL SCIENCE GOALS OF THE HELIOPHYSICS DECADAL SURVEY: 1.DETERMINE THE ORIGINS OF THE SUN'S ACTIVITY AND PREDICT THE VARIATIONS IN THE SPACE ENVIRONMENT. 4.DISCOVER AND CHARACTERIZE FUNDAMENTAL PROCESSES THAT OCCUR BOTH WITHIN THE HELIOSPHERE AND THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSE.

THE LARGE-SCALE ELECTRIC FIELD IN THE INNER MAGNETOSPHERE IS A KEY DRIVER OF MANY PROCESSES AND DYNAMICS OF MAGNETOSPHERIC PLASMA.

EXPERIMENTAL DETERMINATION AND CONSTITUTIVE MODELING OF TIME EFFECTS IN SAND

SEIJI YASHIRO / CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY OF AMERICACORONAL MASS EJECTIONS AND RELATED PHENOMENATHIS IS

CUA/IACS WILL CONDUCT APPLIED INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH FOR THE FALCON (FLEET FOR ATMOSPHERE LINKING COMMERCIAL OBSERVATIONS WITH NASA) LIDAR MISSION A NASA EARTH SCIENCE DIVISION SPACEBORNE ATMOSPHERIC LIDAR THAT WILL DELIVER VERTICAL PROFILE

LITTORAL ZONE ACOUSTIC PROPAGATION

FACTORIZATION AND QUARK IMAGING IN EXCLUSIVE REACTIONS

TRACE CONSTITUENTS ARE KEY ELEMENTS THAT HAVE TO BE STUDIED TO DETERMINE PHOTOCHEMISTRY AND DYNAMICS OF A PLANETARY ATMOSPHERE, ITS THERMAL BALANCE,

ROBOT THERAPY FOR REHABILITATION OF HAND MOVEMENT AFTER STROKE

DETERMINING MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF DAMAGE AND REPAIR IN AN ORAL MUCOSA CHIP - 7. PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT ORAL MUCOSITIS IS A PAINFUL, TREATMENT-MODIFYING SIDE EFFECT OF CANCER THERAPY THAT AFFECTS ROUGHLY 50% OF CANCER PATIENTS ANNUALLY IN THE UNITED STATES. CURRENTLY, THE ONLY FDA-APPROVED DRUG TO TREAT ORAL MUCOSITIS, PALIFERMIN, IS USED IN ONLY ABOUT 4% OF CLINICAL CASES. THE LONG-TERM OBJECTIVES OF THIS PROJECT ARE TO ELUCIDATE MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF DAMAGE INITIATION IN MUCOSITIS, INCLUDING PRO-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES, AND THE TIMING OF CELL- SPECIFIC EVENTS, AND ALSO TO FACILITATE THE DISCOVERY AND TRANSLATION OF NEW ANTI-MUCOSITIS DRUG CANDIDATES. THESE DISCOVERIES WILL BE ACHIEVED BY EXPERIMENTS ON A NOVEL MUCOSA CHIP PLATFORM REPRESENTING THE EPITHELIAL AND SUBEPITHELIAL LAYERS OF THE ORAL MUCOSA. THIS PROJECT IS EXPECTED TO DIRECTLY SUPPORT HIGH-THROUGHPUT ON-CHIP TESTING OF SINGLE AND COMBINATION ORAL MUCOSITIS THERAPIES AND ALSO A FUTURE, PERSONALIZED MEDICINE APPROACH FOR TREATING ORAL MUCOSITIS IN CANCER PATIENTS, USING INFORMATION FROM THE PATIENTS’ OWN CELLS AND SALIVA. THIS PROPOSAL AIMS TO (1) DETERMINE THE EFFECTS OF CISPLATIN AND 5-FLUOROURACIL TREATMENTS MIRRORING THE PRE-CLINICAL AND CLINICAL ADMINISTRATION SCHEDULE OF THREE SEPARATE INFUSIONS, WITH EVALUATIONS OF CELL LAYER MORPHOLOGY, REACTIVE OXYGEN, PRO-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES, CELL PROLIFERATION, AND CELL DEATH. EFFECTS OF FRACTIONATED RADIOTHERAPY WILL ALSO BE EVALUATED ON THE CHIP, EXTENDING PREVIOUS FINDINGS THAT USED SINGLE-DOSE THERAPY. A SECOND AIM (2) WILL DETERMINE SINGLE AND SYNERGISTIC EFFECTS OF PUTATIVE ANTI-MUCOSITIS DRUGS: A SUPEROXIDE DISMUTASE MIMETIC, A DEFENSIN-MIMETIC, AND TWO INTERLEUKIN INHIBITORS. THESE REAGENTS ARE APPLIED CLINICALLY VIA INTRAVENOUS INFUSION OR BY TOPICAL RINSE, RESPECTIVELY, SO THEY WILL BE APPLIED TO BOTH PERIPHERAL CHANNELS OF THE MUCOSA CHIP, WITH THE SAME CELL AND MOLECULAR ENDPOINTS. ACHIEVEMENT OF AIMS 1 AND 2 WILL INVOLVE PERFORMING MICROSCOPY ASSAYS, ELISAS, ANTIBODY ARRAYS, FLUORESCENCE WELLPLATE AND IMAGING ASSAYS, AND RNA SEQUENCING. SPECIFIC MOLECULAR ENDPOINTS WILL INCLUDE ACTIVATION, EXPRESSION AND NUCLEAR TRANSLOCATION OF TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS NRF-2 AND NF-ΚB; EXPRESSION OF NUMEROUS PRO-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES INCLUDING TNF-Α, IL-1 Α,Β, IL-2, -3, -6, AND -13, AMONG OTHERS; AND INTRACELLULAR PLUS LIVE-CELL REACTIVE OXYGEN SPECIES ASSAYS. DOSE-RESPONSE STUDIES WILL BE CONDUCTED FOR CHEMOTHERAPY AND ANTI-MUCOSITIS AGENTS APPLIED SINGLY BEFORE COMBINATION TREATMENTS ON THE MUCOSA CHIP. THE HEALTH-RELATEDNESS OF THIS PROPOSAL LIES IN DIRECTLY IMPACTING ORAL HEALTH AND SUPPORTING DEVELOPMENT OF PRECISION MEDICINE APPROACHES THROUGH KNOWLEDGE OF ORAL MUCOSITIS AND THE EFFECTS OF TREATMENTS IN VITRO. THE PROPOSED SYSTEMS COULD TEST NOVEL ANTI-MUCOSITIS DRUG CANDIDATES IN PARALLEL WITH PRE-CLINICAL TESTS. SUCH KNOWLEDGE WOULD POTENTIALLY LEAD TO MORE SUCCESSES AT THE LEVEL OF CLINICAL TRIALS TARGETING ORAL MUCOSITIS INTERVENTIONS. THIS APPROACH IS PARTICULARLY EFFECTIVE AS ANTI-MUCOSITIS DRUGS WITH POOR PERFORMANCE OR WITH UNACCEPTABLE SIDE EFFECTS CAN BE IDENTIFIED AND ABANDONED BEFORE COSTLY PRE-CLINICAL AND CLINICAL TRIALS.

THE SOLAR CORONAL LIGHT AS SEEN DURING AN ECLIPSE (SEE FIGURE 1) CONSISTS OF LIGHT FROM THE PHOTOSPHERE SCATTERED OFF THE FREE ELECTRONS (K-CORONA)

KINETICS OF RADICAL-RADICAL REACTIONS IN COMBUSTION CHEMISTRY

SPIN OBSERVABLES IN HADRON SPECTROSCOPY

I/UCRC FOR BROADBAND WIRELESS ACCESS AND APPLICATIONS CENTER SITE AT THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA

A DISCRETE METHOD FOR ALLOCATION OF FLOAT ALONG THE CRITICAL PATH IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECT SCHEDULES

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: MULTI-INPUT MULTI-OUTPUT (MIMO) AWARE COOPERATIVE DYNAMIC SPECTRUM ACCESS

THE PROPOSED MISSION WILL PERFORM GROUNDBREAKING DISCOVERY SCIENCE MEASURING A FUNDAMENTAL PROPERTY OF EARTH FOR THE FIRST TIME: THE STRENGTH OF THE AMBIPOLAR ELECTRIC FIELD GENERATED BY ITS IONOSPHERE. THE PROPOSED ANALYSIS WILL PERFORM FUNDAMENTAL

THERMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION USING MESOSCALE-RESOLVING WHOLE ATMOSPHERE MODEL AND SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS -RESIDUAL CIRCULATION FORMS THE GLOBAL-SCALE BASIS FOR DETERMINING THE OBSERVED MERIDIONAL AND VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION OF COMPOSITION AND TEMPERATURE IN THE EARTH?S MIDDLE AND UPPER ATMOSPHERE. AMONG THE WELL-KNOWN SUMMER-TO-WINTER MESOSPHERIC AND THERMOSPHERIC CIRCULATIONS, OBSERVED TRACER DISTRIBUTION SUGGESTS THE EXISTENCE OF A REVERSED RESIDUAL CIRCULATION IN THE LOWER THERMOSPHERE. HOWEVER, VERY LITTLE WORK HAS BEEN DONE TO THOROUGHLY INVESTIGATE THE DYNAMICS DRIVING THE LOWER-THERMOSPHERIC WINTER-TO-SUMMER CIRCULATION. THIS RESEARCH WILL CONDUCT A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF THE LOWER-THERMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION BY UTILIZING A MESOSCALE-RESOLVING WHOLE ATMOSPHERE MODEL. THE RESEARCH AIMS TO INCREASE UNDERSTANDING OF MULTI-SCALE PROCESSES IN THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE AND IMPROVE THE REPRESENTATION OF COMPOSITIONS AND PLASMA DENSITY IN MODELS, WITH TRANSFORMATIVE ASPECTS THAT COULD CONTRIBUTE TO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF MULTI-STEP VERTICAL COUPLING MECHANISMS. A GRADUATE STUDENT WILL PARTICIPATE AND BE SUPPORTED BY THIS PROJECT, AND THE WORK WILL BE PART OF THE DOCTORAL THESIS. THIS PROJECT WILL UTILIZE THE HIGH-RESOLUTION WHOLE ATMOSPHERE COMMUNITY CLIMATE MODEL EXTENDED (HIGH-RES WACCM-X) IN SYSTEM FOR INTEGRATED MODELING OF THE ATMOSPHERE (SIMA) FRAMEWORK, WHICH CAN CAPTURE MULTI-SCALE INTERACTIONS AMONG PROCESSES FROM GLOBAL SCALES TO MESOSCALE. THE PROJECT HAS TWO OBJECTIVES. THE FIRST OBJECTIVE IS TO EXAMINE THE PHYSICAL PROCESSES DRIVING THE RESIDUAL CIRCULATION IN THE THERMOSPHERE. MODEL-RESOLVED WAVE MOMENTUM FORCING, INCLUDING PLANETARY WAVES, TIDES, AND GRAVITY WAVES, IS THE PRIMARY FOCUS OF THIS INVESTIGATION. THE SECOND OBJECTIVE IS TO INVESTIGATE HOW THE CIRCULATION AFFECTS THE THERMOSPHERIC COMPOSITIONAL STRUCTURE DURING GEOMAGNETICALLY QUIET TIMES. A FORCE TERM ANALYSIS WILL BE PERFORMED TO EXAMINE THE UNDERLYING MECHANISMS RESPONSIBLE FOR DRIVING THE SEASONAL AND LATITUDINAL VARIATION OF O/N2 IN THE THERMOSPHERE. UTILIZING THE MESO-SCALE RESOLVING WHOLE ATMOSPHERE MODEL ENABLES A DETAILED EXAMINATION OF HOW MULTI-SCALE PHYSICAL PROCESSES AND INTERACTIONS IMPACT THERMOSPHERIC COMPOSITIONS. 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.

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF STRESS ROTATION EFFECTS IN CROSS-ANISOTROPIC SAND

DESPITE THE SUN BEING COMPOSED ALMOST ENTIRELY OF HYDROGEN THE LITERATURE DISCUSSING THE BEHAVIOR OF THE MOST PROMINENT HYDROGEN LINES AND CONTINUA DURING SOLAR FLARES IS VERY SPARSE. MANY IRRADIANCE INSTRUMENTS HAVE LACKED THE DUTY CYCLES REQUIRED

INVESTIGATING THE CHEMICAL AND DYNAMICAL COMPLEXITY OF TITAN'S UPPER ATMOSPHERE -TITAN, SATURN?S LARGEST MOON, IS CONSIDERED A POSSIBLE ANALOGUE FOR STUDYING THE PROCESSES OCCURRING ON PRIMITIVE, EARTH-LIKE PLANETS. TITAN HAS A THICK ATMOSPHERE, RICH IN CARBON, NITROGEN AND ORGANIC COMPOUNDS. THE UNPRECEDENTED SPATIAL RESOLUTION AND SENSITIVITY OF THE ATACAMA LARGE MILLIMETER/SUBMILLIMETER ARRAY (ALMA) ENABLES THE ENTIRE EARTH-FACING HEMISPHERE OF TITAN TO BE MAPPED IN ONLY MINUTES. THIS RESEARCH TEAM WILL ELUCIDATE TITAN?S HIGH-ALTITUDE ATMOSPHERIC PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY, TO IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE KEY PROCESSES RESPONSIBLE FOR SHAPING THE ATMOSPHERES OF SLOWLY ROTATING EARTH-LIKE PLANETS THROUGHOUT THE GALAXY. THEY WILL PROMOTE THE UPTAKE OF SCIENCE CAREERS BY UNDER-REPRESENTED MINORITIES VIA THE INTERN PROGRAM FOR UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN ASTROPHYSICS (IPUMA). UNDERGRADUATES WILL BE RECRUITED TO PARTICIPATE IN A PAID 10-WEEK INTERNSHIP WHERE THEY WILL CONDUCT INDEPENDENT RESEARCH BY PARTICIPATING IN IMAGING AND ANALYSIS OF ALMA DATA ON SOLAR SYSTEM BODIES. THE RECENT DISCOVERY OF A STRONGLY TIME-VARIABLE THERMOSPHERIC JET PRESENTS A MAJOR CHALLENGE FOR THEORIES REGARDING TITAN?S HIGH-ALTITUDE ATMOSPHERIC PHYSICS. THIS PROJECT WILL USE ALMA ARCHIVAL DATA TO PRODUCE ACCURATE ZONAL WIND FIELDS FOR TITAN'S MIDDLE/UPPER ATMOSPHERE (IN THE ALTITUDE RANGE 200-1000 KM), AS A FUNCTION OF LATITUDE AND TIME BETWEEN 2012-2016. BY FOCUSING ON SPECIES THAT EMIT AT HIGH-ALTITUDES (HC3N, HCN AND HNC), THE PROJECT FOCUSES ON THE LITTLE-STUDIED REGION BETWEEN 500?1000 KM THAT WAS INACCESSIBLE TO CASSINI CIRS LIMB-SOUNDING STUDIES. BY COMPARING THE OBSERVATIONS TO OUTPUT FROM STATE-OF-THE-ART GENERAL CIRCULATION MODELS, THE PROJECT WILL INVESTIGATE THE ORIGIN OF TITAN'S MYSTERIOUS THERMOSPHERIC JET AND STUDY THE IMPORTANCE OF ATMOSPHERIC WAVES IN THE HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL TRANSPORT OF ANGULAR MOMENTUM. BY EXPLOITING THE WEALTH OF AVAILABLE ALMA ARCHIVAL DATA, THE TEAM WILL PERFORM AN EXHAUSTIVE, DEEP SEARCH FOR NEW, COMPLEX ORGANIC MOLECULES ON TITAN, TO HELP ELUCIDATE THE STEPS TOWARDS BIOLOGICALLY RELEVANT COMPOUNDS IN PRIMITIVE, C AND N-RICH (EXO-) PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES. 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.

SOLAR FLARE ENERGY BUDGETS FROM ONSET TO CESSATION.

MARS ODYSSEY 2001 GAMMA-RAY SPECTROMETERORBITER WHICH IS PART OF NASA'S MARS SURVEYOR PROGRAM. THE GRS HAS BEEN MAPPING THE ELEMENTAL COMPOSITION O

OUR CURRENT PAST PROGRAM WHICH ENDS IN APRIL 2010 HAS ALREADY INVOLVED TWO OBSERVING SESSIONS FOR MA

INTERFACE REGION IMAGING SPECTROGRAPH (IRIS) DATA PROVIDES US AN UNPRECEDENTED PERSPECTIVE ON THE STRUCTURE OF THE CHROMOSPHERE. THE NOVELTY OF THIS DATASET PRESENTS RESEARCHERS WITH A PROBLEM OF CONTEXT MUCH OF WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE CHROMOSPHERE HAS BEEN DERIVED FROM SPECTRAL LINES THAT ARE ACCESSIBLE TO GROUND-BASED OBSERVATORIES. TO TRULY UNLOCK THE DIAGNOSTIC CAPABILITIES OF IRIS A DIRECT AND COMPREHENSIVE COMPARISON BETWEEN THE MG II DOUBLET AND THESE OPTICAL CHROMOSPHERIC LINES MUST BE UNDERTAKEN. WE PLAN TO CONDUCT A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON THE AFFECTS OF ACOUSTIC SHOCK PROPAGATION IN THE MAGNETIC CHROMOSPHERE USING JOINT OBSERVATIONS WITH IRIS AND THE SWEDISH SOLAR TELESCOPE CRISP IMAGING SPECTROPOLARIMETER (SST/CRISP) THAT INCLUDE COSPATIAL AND SIMULTANEOUS OBSERVATIONS IN H ALPHA CA II 8542A AND MG II H OVER VARIED MAGNETIC STRUCTURE. ACOUSTIC SHOCKS WERE ONE OF THE FIRST SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS TO THE HEATING PROBLEM FOR STELLAR ATMOSPHERES. SHOCKS ARE EASILY IDENTIFIED AS SAWTOOTH PATTERNS (A BLUE SHIFTED TO RED SHIFTED TEMPORAL DIMMING OVER 100 TO 200 SECONDS) IN CHROMOSPHERIC SPECTRAL PROFILES. SHOCKS CLEARLY PLAY A FORMATIVE ROLE IN THE NON MAGNETIC CHROMOSPHERE BUT THERE ARE MANY UNKNOWNS IN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW ACOUSTIC EVENTS ARE INCORPORATED WITH A MYRIAD OF DISSIPATIVE EFFECTS AVAILABLE TO HEAT THE CHROMOSPHERE IN THE PRESENCE OF STRONG MAGNETIC FIELDS INCLUDING RECONNECTION AND MHD TURBULENCE. WE PROPOSE TO MEASURE THE NET THERMODYNAMIC IMPACT OF SHOCKS IN MAGNETIC REGIONS THROUGH THE DERIVATION OF TWO QUANTITIES: THE SHOCK OCCURRENCE RATE AND THE PLASMA CONDITIONS AT THE SHOCK FRONT. THE SHOCK OCCURRENCE RATE AND ITS VARIATION WITH MAGNETIC STRUCTURE (WHICH THEORY SUGGESTS IS SIGNIFICANT) WILL BE EXTRACTED FROM OUR OBSERVATIONAL DATASETS VIA THE PARAMETERIZATION AND AUTOMATED DETECTION OF THE SHOCK-AFFECTED SPECTRAL LINE PROFILES. THE THERMAL PROPERTIES OF THE SHOCK FRONT WILL BE DERIVED THROUGH A COMPARISON OF SYNTHESIZED NON LTE SPECTRAL PROFILES (GENERATED USING THE BIFROST SIMULATION) WITH BOTH THE PLASMA CONDITIONS OF THE MODEL AND OUR OBSERVED SPECTRA. OUR STUDY WILL SIMULTANEOUSLY ADVANCE THE DIAGNOSTIC CAPABILITIES OF THE IRIS DATASET PROVIDE ENERGY CONSTRAINTS ON THIS FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICAL PROCESS AND ALLOW US TO HONE IN ON THE PHYSICAL SHORTCOMINGS IN THE STATE OF THE ART BIFROST SIMULATION.

THE ROSES FUNDING OPPORTUNITY GOALS ARE:EXECUTE A BALANCED SCIENCE PROGRAM BASED ON DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC GUIDANCE FROM THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE ADMINISTRATION PRIORITIES AND DIRECTION FROM CONGRESS. PARTICIPATE

WAVE DIAGNOSTIC & MODELS OF CORONAL ACTIVE REGIONS

OUR TEAM PROPOSES TO ANALYZE THE DYNAMICS AND EVOLUTION OF CIRCUMSOLAR DUST RINGS IN THE INNER SOLAR SYSTEM FROM MERCURY TO JUPITER.

THE ORIGIN OF PREBIOTIC MOLECULES ON THE YOUNG EARTH (INCLUDING WATER AND PRE-BIOTIC ORGANICS) HOLDS FUNDAMENTAL IMPORTANCE FOR THE EMERGENCE OF LIFE

THIS PROPOSAL AND BUDGET REQUEST IS FOR THE SUPPORT A POSTDOC RESEARCH ASSISTANT MR. THANH NGUYEN FOR PERFORMING RESEARCH IN THE WFIRST PROJECT FOR A PERIOD OF I YEAR TO BE EXTENDED DEPENDING ON HIS PERFORMANCE. MR. NGUYEN WILL BE ASSIGNED TO SUPPORT THE WFIRST LEAD SCIENTIST (DR. LADDAWAN) IN PROVIDING THE ENGINEERING SUPPORT FOR TESTING AND CHARACTERIZATION OF FOCAL PLANE ARRAY DETECTORS FOR THE WFIRST PL'OJECT. MT . NGUYEN WLLL PERFORM HIS 1 ESEARCH UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE CUA PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR DR. NEHMETALLAH AND IN CLOSE PARTNERSHIP WITH NASA SCIENTISTS. WFIRST THE WIDE FIELD INFRARED SURVEY TELESCOPE IS A NASA OBSERVATORY DESIGNED TO SETTLE ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS IN THE AREAS OF DARK ENERGY EXOPLANETS AND INFRARED ASTROPHYSICS. THE TELESCOPE HAS A PRIMARY MIRROR THAT IS 2.4 METE1 S IN DIAMETER (7.9 FEET) AND IS THE SAME SIZE AS THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE'S PRIMARY MIRROR. WFIRST WILL HAVE TWO INSTL'UMENTS THE WIDE FIELD INSTRUMENT AND THE CORONAGRAPH INSTN1MENT. THE WIDE FIELD INSTRUMENT WILL HAVE A FIELD OF VIEW THAT IS I 00 TIMES GREATER THAN THE HUBBLE INFRARED INSTRUMENT CAPTURING MORE OF THE SKY WITH LESS OBSERVING TIME. AS THE PRIMARY INSTRUMENT THE WIDE FIELD INSTRNMENT WILI MEASURE LIGHT FROM A BILLION GALAXIES OVER TL1E COURSE OF THE MISSION LIFETIME. IT WILL PERFO1M A MICROLENSING SURVEY OF THE INNET MILKY WAY TO FIND ~2 600 EXOPLANETS. THE CORONAGRAPH INSTRUMENT WILL PERFORM HIGH CONTRAST IMAGING AND SPECTROSCOPY OF DOZENS OF INDIVIDUAL NEARBY EXOPLANETS. WFIRST IS DESIGNED FORA 6 YEAR MISSION AND WILL LAUNCH ON AN EELV OUT OF CAPE CANAVERAL. FIG I SHOWS A TYPICAL DESIGN OF THE WFIRST.

GENERIC GLASS SCINTILLATOR R&D FOR EIC CALORIMETERS

THIS PROPOSAL AND BUDGET REQUEST IS TO PROVIDE SUPPORT ON THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF SPACE EXPLORATION SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR (SESAR) CURRENTLY IN DEVELOPMENT AT THE NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER (GSFC). THE SUPPOTI WILL BE PROVIDE BY CU'S