Furman University Foundation Inc

BUILDING SCIENTIFIC SELF-IDENTITY AND SENSE OF BELONGING IN PREPARING ACADEMICALLY TALENTED, LOW-INCOME STUDENTS FOR SUCCESSFUL STEM CAREERS -THIS PROJECT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE CRITICAL NATIONAL DEMAND FOR WELL-EDUCATED SCIENTISTS, MATHEMATICIANS, ENGINEERS, AND TECHNICIANS BY SUPPORTING THE RETENTION AND GRADUATION OF HIGH-ACHIEVING, LOW-INCOME STUDENTS AT FURMAN UNIVERSITY. OVER ITS 5-YEAR DURATION, THE PROJECT WILL FUND SCHOLARSHIPS TO 27 UNIQUE FULL-TIME STUDENTS PURSUING BACHELOR?S DEGREES IN BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY, COMPUTER SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS AND/OR NEUROSCIENCE. SCHOLARS WILL ENGAGE IN A DIVERSE ARRAY OF EVIDENCE-BASED AND LOCALLY-DEVELOPED INTERVENTIONS, INCLUDING AN 8-DAY SUMMER BRIDGE EXPERIENCE, A COHORT-BASED ADVISING PROGRAM WITH WEEKLY MEETINGS OVER THE FIRST TWO YEARS, A 3RD/4TH YEAR PROGRAM FOCUSED ON CAREER READINESS AND JOB PLACEMENT, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH AND INTERNSHIPS. DESPITE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, MANY LOW-INCOME STUDENTS MAY EXPERIENCE A DIMINISHED SENSE OF BELONGING BOTH ACADEMICALLY AND SOCIALLY AMONG PEERS. EVIDENCE OF BEST PRACTICES FOR STEM INTERVENTIONS FOR UNDER-RESOURCED PARTICIPANTS WILL BE ESTABLISHED THROUGH VALIDATING PROJECT PROGRAMMING, INCLUDING STANDARDIZED MEASURES OF ACADEMIC SUCCESS, STEM IDENTITY, COMMUNITY BELONGING, RESILIENCY, AND INDICATORS OF A LIFE OF PURPOSE AND MEANING. THE BROADER IMPACTS OF THIS PROJECT WILL INCLUDE DISSEMINATION OF IMPORTANT DATA FROM THESE INTERVENTIONS AIMED AT PROVIDING SIGNIFICANT, TRANSFERABLE MODELS FOR IDENTIFYING, DEVELOPING, AND GRADUATING UNDER-RESOURCED, ACADEMICALLY TALENTED, LOW-INCOME STUDENTS. THE PROPOSED INTERVENTIONS WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE GROWING BODY OF EVIDENCE ON SUCCESSFUL PRACTICES, RESULTING IN ENHANCED OUTCOMES FOR ALL STEM MAJORS. THE OVERALL GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO INCREASE STEM DEGREE COMPLETION OF LOW-INCOME, HIGH-ACHIEVING UNDERGRADUATES WITH DEMONSTRATED FINANCIAL NEED. THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVES FOCUS ON FIRST-YEAR RETENTION, EARLY MAJOR DECLARATION, 4-YEAR GRADUATION RATES AND STEM PLACEMENT. BUILDING UPON PRIOR INTERVENTIONS, THE SCOPE OF THIS PROJECT INCLUDES STUDENTS MAJORING IN COMPUTER SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS AND AIMS TO ADDRESS THE NEED FOR AN ENLARGED EMPLOYMENT POOL IN FIELDS ENGAGING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, ?BIG DATA, CYBERSECURITY, DATA SCIENCE, STATISTICS, AND DATA ANALYTICS. RECENT SCHOLARSHIP SUGGESTS A LINK BETWEEN VALIDATION, VALUES AFFIRMATION ACTIVITIES, AND SENSE OF BELONGING AMONG LOW-INCOME STUDENTS. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH DESIGN SEEKS TO CONTRIBUTE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT SENSE OF BELONGING AMONG HIGH NEED PARTICIPANTS SUPPORTED BY THE S-STEM FUNDING. FOUR PROGRAM INTERVENTIONS WILL BE EVALUATED AS TREATMENTS, SEEKING TO ESTIMATE THE ASSOCIATED EFFECTS ON SENSE OF BELONGING AND IDENTITY IN STEM, EDUCATIONAL SELF-EFFICACY, CAMPUS AND ACADEMIC ENGAGEMENT, AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE. THE SCOPE OF THE EVALUATION DESIGN WILL INCLUDE BOTH PROCESS (FORMATIVE) AND OUTCOME (SUMMATIVE) ASSESSMENT GUIDED BY A LOGIC MODEL THAT OUTLINES THE RESOURCES AVAILABLE, ACTIVITIES AND OUTPUTS PLANNED, OUTCOMES ANTICIPATED, AND VISION FOR THE PROGRAM?S IMPACT. IN ADDITION TO PUBLICATION IN STEM EDUCATIONAL JOURNALS, THE COLLECTIVE OUTPUTS, OUTCOMES, AND BEST PRACTICES EMANATING FROM THIS PROJECT WILL BE DISSEMINATED THROUGH NATIONAL CONFERENCES IN WHICH THIS HOST INSTITUTION REGULARLY CONTRIBUTES, INCLUDING VENUES SUCH AS THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES TRANSFORMING STEM CONFERENCES, COUNCIL ON UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FORUMS, NSF S-STEM AND NIH IDEA NATIONAL CONFERENCES. EQUALLY MEANINGFUL WILL BE THE DISSEMINATION OF SCHOLARS? RESEARCH ACHIEVEMENTS THROUGH PRESENTATIONS AT REGIONAL AND NATIONAL MEETINGS THAT FOCUS ON SPECIFIC DISCIPLINES, AND/OR WHICH INCORPORATE A FOCUS ON UNDERREPRESENTATION SPECIFICALLY. 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.

THE PROPOSED EXPERIMENTS WOULD CONTRIBUTE SIGNIFICANTLY TO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF PREBIOTIC CHEMISTRY AND SOLVE LONG STANDING CHALLENGES IN THE FIELD. FOR EXAMPLE 1) THE GENERATION OF ALPHA-KETO ACIDS FROM GLYOXYLATE-ACTIVATED CARBOXYLIC ACIDS IN AIM I WOULD BE THE FIRST DEMONSTRATION OF AN AUTOCATALYTIC PATHWAY WITHIN A PRODUCTIVE AND SUSTAINABLE PREBIOTIC CHEMICAL SYSTEM. THE DISCOVERY OF A PRODUCTIVE AUTOCATALYTIC CHEMICAL SYSTEM HAS BEEN A GOAL OF THE FIELD OF PREBIOTIC CHEMISTRY FOR HALF A CENTURY AND THE IDENTIFICATION OF ONE THAT PROVIDES THE PRIMARY SOURCE MATERIAL FOR AN ALPHA-KETO ACID PROTOMETABOLISM WOULD HAVE A SUBSTANTIAL EFFECT ON CURRENT THINKING ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF METABOLISM. 2) THE PROPOSED SYNTHESIS OF ALPHA-KETO ACIDS FROM CARBOXYLIC ACIDS IN AIM II WOULD BE THE FIRST DEMONSTRATION OF A PREBIOTICALLY PLAUSIBLE REDUCTIVE CARBOXYLATION. THIS REACTION TYPE UNDERPINS MULTIPLE FUNDAMENTAL ANABOLIC PATHWAYS IN MODERN BIOLOGY AND THE DISCOVERY OF A PREBIOTIC ANALOG WOULD SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACT OUR UNDERSTANDING OF ITS EVOLUTIONARY ORIGINS. 3) THE IDENTIFICATION OF A REACTION PATHWAY THAT CONVERTS A DEAD-END PRODUCT (AS SOME IN THE FIELD HAVE CONSIDERED DIKETOPIPERAZINES) TO READILY AVAILABLE ALPHA-KETO ACID SOURCES IN AIM III WOULD GREATLY INCREASE THE PLAUSIBILITY OF HYPOTHESIZED PROTOMETABOLIC PATHWAYS BASED ON THESE BUILDING BLOCKS. 4) THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE ACTIVATION AND OXIDATIVE PATHWAYS FROM ALPHA-AMINO AND ALPHA-HYDROXY ACIDS WOULD NATURALLY LEAD TO THE EMERGENCE OF TRANSAMINATION PATHWAYS REFLECTIVE OF WHAT IS OBSERVED IN BIOLOGY. 5) THE POSSIBILITY OF SYNTHESIZING PURINES STARTING FROM HYDANTOINS (WHICH ARE EASILY ACCESSED FROM ALPHAAMINO AND ALPHA-KETO ACIDS) WILL COMPLEMENT THE DEMONSTRATED PYRIMIDINE SYNTHESIS FROM HYDANTOINS AND PRESENTS A NOVEL PARADIGM OF ACCESSING NUCLEOBASES THAT CAN BECOME PART OF A REPLICATING SYSTEM WITH POTENTIAL FEEDBACK OPPORTUNITIES. THE DEMONSTRATION OF SUSTAINABLE PREBIOTIC SOURCES OF ALPHA-KETO ACIDS AND THE EXPLORATION OF THEIR REACTION LANDSCAPES OFFERS AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE (FORM)ALDEHYDE-BASED CHEMISTRIES THAT HAVE DOMINATED ORIGINS OF LIFE ENDEAVORS AND SUGGESTS THAT A DEMONSTRATION OF A TRANSITION FROM PREBIOTIC TO PLAUSIBLE EARLY BIOTIC PROTOMETABOLIC SYSTEMS MAY FINALLY BECOME EXPERIMENTALLY TRACTABLE. THUS THE RESEARCH PARADIGM BASED ON ALPHA-KETO ACIDS IS DIRECTLY RELEVANT TO EXOBIOLOGY IN "DETERMINING WHAT CHEMICAL SYSTEMS COULD HAVE SERVED AS PRECURSORS OF METABOLIC AND REPLICATING SYSTEMS ON EARTH AND ELSEWHERE INCLUDING ALTERNATIVES TO THE CURRENT DNARNA- PROTEIN BASIS FOR LIFE" AND COULD ADD A NEW DIMENSION TO THE STRATEGIES OF NASA-ASTROBIOLOGY IN ITS ENDEAVOR TO STUDY THE ORIGIN EVOLUTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE.

SCHOLARSHIPS AND SCIENCE OPPORTUNITIES, ACTIVITIES, AND RESEARCH TO SUPPORT UNDERGRADUATE STEM STUDENT SUCCESS

RUI: MECHANISMS OF MEMORY CONSOLIDATION IN OFFLINE WAKEFULNESS -WHY DO WE REMEMBER SOME THINGS, BUT FORGET OTHERS? NEW MEMORIES ARE FRAGILE, AND HAVE TO BE STRENGTHENED AND REORGANIZED IN ORDER TO LAST. IT IS KNOWN THAT MEMORIES ARE STRENGTHENED AT THE END OF THE DAY DURING SLEEP. HOWEVER, THE EARLY STAGES OF THIS PROCESS OF MEMORY STRENGTHENING, CALLED ?CONSOLIDATION?, MIGHT HAPPEN VERY QUICKLY, DURING SECONDS-LONG PERIODS WHEN WE ZONE OUT, RELAX AND REST DURING OUR DAILY LIVES. THIS PROJECT INVESTIGATES PRECISELY HOW THESE WAKING ZONE-OUT PERIODS ARE ABLE TO IMPROVE MEMORY. WHEN WE SLEEP AFTER LEARNING, NEW MEMORIES ARE REPEATEDLY REACTIVATED IN THE BRAIN, INCREMENTALLY STRENGTHENING MEMORY TRACES OVER TIME. THE RESEARCH IN THIS PROJECT TESTS WHETHER THIS SAME PROCESS OF MEMORY REACTIVATION AND STRENGTHENING EXPLAINS HOW SHORT ZONE-OUT PERIODS ARE ABLE TO IMPROVE MEMORY DURING WAKEFULNESS. IT IS POSSIBLE TO MEASURE THIS PROCESS BY USING EEG (ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY), A NON-INVASIVE BRAIN IMAGING TECHNIQUE, COMBINED WITH MEASURES OF PUPIL SIZE, THOUGHT AND BEHAVIOR. THE PROJECT HAS TWO MAIN GOALS: FIRST, THE PROJECT INVESTIGATES WHETHER MEMORIES ARE REACTIVATED AND STRENGTHENED DURING SECONDS-LONG PERIODS OF WAKING REST, IN A SIMILAR WAY IN WHICH THEY ARE REACTIVATED AND CONSOLIDATED DURING SLEEP. SECOND, THE RESEARCH IN THIS PROJECT EXPLORES HOW MEMORY CONSOLIDATION DURING WAKING REST WORKS TOGETHER SYNERGISTICALLY WITH SLEEP TO IMPROVE MEMORY. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO TEST THE WORKING HYPOTHESIS THAT REST AND SLEEP ACT IN SEQUENCE, WITH SLEEP BEING REQUIRED TO FULLY CONSOLIDATE AND STRENGTHEN AN INITIAL MEMORY BOOST THAT HAPPENS DURING WAKEFULNESS. THIS RESEARCH HOPES TO DEEPEN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF MEMORY AND WAYS TO ENHANCE IT. BEYOND ITS SCIENTIFIC GOALS, THIS PROJECT ALSO STRENGTHENS SCIENCE AND STEM TRAINING BY PROVIDING HIGH-IMPACT RESEARCH TRAINING FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AND UNDERGRADUATES, INCLUDING MEMBERS OF UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITY GROUPS. THIS PROJECT IS JOINTLY FUNDED BY THE COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE PROGRAM, AND THE ESTABLISHED PROGRAM TO STIMULATE COMPETITIVE RESEARCH (EPSCOR). THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

RUI: THERMODYNAMICS OF NUCLEATION: PATHWAYS TO ATMOSPHERIC AEROSOLS -THE ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICAL SCIENCES PROGRAM IN THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY SUPPORTS PROFESSOR GEORGE SHIELDS AT FURMAN UNIVERSITY, GREENVILLE, SC, AND HIS STUDENTS WILL WORK ON A COMPUTATIONAL STUDY TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE ENERGETICS OF MOLECULAR CLUSTERS IN THE ATMOSPHERE WHICH CAN SUBSEQUENTLY FORM PARTICLES THAT ARE INVOLVED IN CLOUD FORMATION. UNDERSTANDING THE BEGINNING STAGES OF CLOUD FORMATION IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE SOME CLOUDS REFLECT SUNLIGHT BACK INTO SPACE AND HELP COOL THE EARTH. PROFESSOR SHIELDS WILL WORK WITH 12 UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS FOR 10 WEEKS DURING THE SUMMERS OF 2025-2027. THE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WILL TAKE PART IN A THREE-WEEK PROGRAM AT THE START OF THE SUMMER THAT COMBINES THE BEGINNING STAGES OF RESEARCH WITH MODULES TAUGHT BY THE FACULTY ON VARIOUS ACTIVITIES ESSENTIAL FOR THE RESEARCH ENTERPRISE. THEY ALSO TAKE PART IN A PATHWAY PROGRAM, WHICH PREPARES THEM FOR GRADUATE SCHOOL OR INDUSTRIAL CAREERS. IN ADDITION, A POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATE WILL LEARN HOW TO MENTOR UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH STUDENTS AND WORK CLOSELY WITH THE PI THROUGHOUT THIS PROJECT. IN THIS PROJECT THE RESEARCHERS WILL OPTIMIZE THEIR PROCESSES FOR CALCULATING HIGHLY ACCURATE GIBBS FREE ENERGY CHANGES FOR THE FORMATION OF PRENUCLEATION CLUSTERS FROM ACIDS, BASES, AND OTHER MOLECULES THAT ARE PRESENT IN THE ATMOSPHERE. RESULTS WILL BE USED TO ESTABLISH PROBABLE PATHWAYS FOR FORMATION OF PRENUCLEATION CLUSTERS USING THE GIBBS FREE ENERGY VALUES AND A RANGE OF INITIAL ATMOSPHERIC CONCENTRATIONS FOR EACH OF THE MONOMERS. THE TWO ACIDS BELIEVED TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR MOST PARTICLE FORMATION OVER LAND AND OCEAN, SULFURIC AND METHANESULFONIC ACIDS, WILL BE DIRECTLY COMPARED TO GAIN INSIGHT ON THESE PROCESSES. THE RESEARCHERS WILL ALSO COMPARE THE ANIONIC SYSTEMS SULFATE AND BISULFATE INTERACTIONS WITH WATER, TO COMPARE THEIR CALCULATED ENERGIES WITH THE VALUES IN EXISTING DATABASE. CATION SYSTEMS WILL ALSO BE EXPLORED SO AS TO COMPARE EXPERIMENTAL WORK USING MASS SPECTROMETRY WITH THE THEORETICAL RESULTS. THE SYNERGY BETWEEN EXPERIMENT AND COMPUTATION WILL REVEAL MUCH ABOUT THE PROCESS OF FORMATION OF PRENUCLEATION COMPLEXES. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

REU SITE: A PUI UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ACCELERATOR AT FURMAN UNIVERSITY -THIS RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR UNDERGRADUATES (REU) SITE AWARD TO FURMAN UNIVERSITY, LOCATED IN GREENVILLE, SC, SUPPORTS THE TRAINING OF 10 STUDENTS FOR 10 WEEKS DURING THE SUMMERS OF 2024-2026. IN THIS PROGRAM, FUNDED BY THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY, PARTICIPANTS PURSUE COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS, WITH A FOCUS ON PROVIDING UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES IN ALL BRANCHES OF CHEMISTRY FOR STUDENTS EARLY IN THEIR STUDIES. IN ADDITION, FURMAN?S RESEARCH ACCELERATOR MODEL WILL HELP DEVELOP MORE ROBUST UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PROGRAMS AT PRIMARILY UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTIONS (PUIS) ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST. PARTICIPANTS TAKE PART IN A THREE-WEEK PROGRAM THAT COMBINES THE BEGINNING STAGES OF RESEARCH WITH MODULES TAUGHT BY THE FACULTY ON VARIOUS ACTIVITIES ESSENTIAL FOR THE RESEARCH ENTERPRISE. THEY ALSO TAKE PART IN A PATHWAY PROGRAM, WHICH PREPARES THEM FOR GRADUATE SCHOOL OR INDUSTRIAL CAREERS. THE STUDENTS UNDERTAKE INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS ENCOMPASSING ALL FIELDS OF CHEMISTRY. THESE PROJECTS INCLUDE ORGANIC SYNTHESIS OF NATURAL PRODUCTS, NANOMATERIAL SYNTHESIS AND MATERIALS CHARACTERIZATION, INORGANIC SYNTHESIS, COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY DIRECTED TOWARDS BASIC PROBLEMS IN PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY, UNDERSTANDING THE CHEMISTRY OF THE ORIGINS OF LIFE, DEVELOPING PHOTOCATALYSTS FOR CONVERTING LIGHT INTO ELECTRICITY OR FUELS, BIOCHEMISTRY OF FUNGAL PATHOGENS AND PROTEIN-DNA BINDING, ELECTRON PARAMAGNETIC RESONANCE AND OPTICAL ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY, UNDERSTANDING THE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF DNA-BOUND SLIVER CLUSTERS, INVESTIGATING THE DEGRADATION OF HERBICIDES, AND DEVELOPING AND APPLYING MASS SPECTROMETRY INSTRUMENTATION TO SOLVE CLINICAL, BIOLOGICAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS. TO INCREASE DIVERSITY IN THE STEM PIPELINE, THE REU PROGRAM INCORPORATES VISITING TEAMS OF STUDENTS AND FACULTY FROM SMALL COLLEGES, HBCUS, AND TECHNICAL COLLEGES, THUS SERVING AS A FACILITATOR AND INCUBATOR, A PLACE WHERE VISITING FACULTY CAN BUILD RESEARCH PROGRAMS THAT WILL AMPLIFY THE REU PROGRAM BEYOND THE BORDERS OF FURMAN. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

THE CADHERIN DESMOGLEIN-2 CONTROLS CELL SPREADING AND EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX GENE EXPRESSION. - PROJECT SUMMARY THE DESMOSOME CELL-CELL ADHESION COMPLEX PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE MAINTENANCE OF TISSUE STRUCTURE AND INTEGRITY IN RESPONSE TO MECHANICAL STRESS. IN ADDITION TO THIS CENTRAL ADHESIVE ROLE, DESMOSOMAL PROTEINS ALSO COORDINATE MULTIPLE PROCESSES SUCH AS PROLIFERATION, APOPTOSIS, DIFFERENTIATION AND CELL MIGRATION. PRIOR STUDIES SHOW THAT DESMOSOMAL CADHERINS, THE PROTEINS RESPONSIBLE FOR MEDIATING THE EXTRACELLULAR ATTACHMENT BETWEEN CELLS, CAN HAVE BOTH PRO- AND ANTI-MIGRATORY FUNCTIONS, INDICATING THAT THEIR INFLUENCE ON MIGRATION IS MORE COMPLEX THAN A SIMPLE CONSEQUENCE OF DEFECTIVE CELL-CELL ATTACHMENT. OUR RECENT WORK HAS SHOWN THAT LOSS OF THE CADHERIN DESMOGLEIN-2 (DSG2) TRIGGERS INCREASED ACTIVATION OF THE RAP1 GTPASE, LEADING TO ENHANCED CELL SPREADING ON EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX (ECM) PROTEINS (SUCH AS FIBRONECTIN AND COLLAGEN). AS THESE EXPERIMENTS WERE PERFORMED ON SINGLY SPREADING CELLS, WE HAVE IDENTIFIED A NOVEL CELL-AUTONOMOUS, CELL-CELL ADHESION INDEPENDENT ROLE FOR DSG2 IN THE REGULATION OF CELL SPREADING. NEVERTHELESS, THE SIGNALING MECHANISMS VIA WHICH DSG2 REGULATES RAP1 ACTIVITY REMAIN UNKNOWN. OUR PRELIMINARY DATA ALSO SHOWS THAT LOCALIZATION OF THE RAP1 ACTIVATOR PDZ-GEF2 IS DRAMATICALLY ALTERED IN DSG2 KNOCKOUT CELLS, AND THAT KNOCKDOWN OF THE DESMOSOMAL PROTEIN DESMOPLAKIN (DSP) CAN RESCUE BOTH THE ENHANCED SPREADING AND MIS-LOCALIZATION OF PDZ-GEF2 SEEN IN THESE CELLS. FURTHER, WE HAVE OBTAINED EVIDENCE THAT LOSS OF DSG2 INCREASES ECM GENE EXPRESSION VIA DEREGULATED SRC AND NF-KB SIGNALING. IN THIS PROPOSAL, WE WILL TEST THE CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS THAT DSG2 ORCHESTRATES CELL-MATRIX ADHESION AND SPREADING THROUGH CONTROL OF BOTH INSIDE-OUT SIGNALING (VIA RAP1 GEFS) AND OUTSIDE-IN SIGNALING (VIA ECM GENE EXPRESSION). IN AIM 1, WE WILL INVESTIGATE WHETHER BINDING OF PDZ-GEF2 TO DSG2 OR DSP REDUCES ITS ACTIVITY, THEREBY INDUCING INSIDE-OUT CONTROL OF CELL SPREADING VIA INHIBITION OF RAP1 SIGNALING. IN AIM 2, WE WILL EXPLORE A ROLE FOR NF-KB AND SRC SIGNALING IN DSG2-DEPENDENT ECM GENE EXPRESSION, AND WHETHER THIS PROMOTES OUTSIDE-IN CONTROL OF CELL-MATRIX SPREADING AND MIGRATION. FINALLY, IN AIM 3, WE WILL EXPLORE THE HYPOTHESIS THAT THE ABILITY OF DSG2 TO REGULATE CELL MIGRATION IS INDEPENDENT OF ITS EXTRACELLULAR DOMAINS AND/OR LOCALIZATION TO THE CELL MEMBRANE. THE SCIENTIFIC IMPACT OF THESE DATA WILL BE TO PRODUCE A COMPREHENSIVE PICTURE OF THE MOLECULAR MECHANISMS BY WHICH THE DESMOSOMAL CADHERIN DSG2 COORDINATES BOTH INSIDE-OUT AND OUTSIDE-IN SIGNALING TO CONTROL CELL-MATRIX ADHESION, SPREADING AND MIGRATION, FUNCTIONS CRITICAL FOR BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES SUCH AS TISSUE MORPHOGENESIS, WOUND HEALING AND RE- EPITHELIALIZATION. THE TRAINING IMPACT OF THESE DATA WILL BE TO PROVIDE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AT FURMAN UNIVERSITY (A PRIMARILY UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTION) WITH FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS IN THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD, FOSTER THEIR DESIRE TO TACKLE IMPORTANT BIOLOGICAL PROBLEMS AND PURSUE A CAREER IN THE BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES.

SEX DIFFERENCES IN HEDONIC FEEDING: THE ROLE OF THE GUT MICROBIOME - PROJECT SUMMARY OBESITY IS AN EPIDEMIC IN OUR COUNTRY AND IT IS BECOMING A GLOBAL PROBLEM. OBESITY AFFECTS MORE WOMEN THAN MEN; IN FACT, THERE ARE CURRENTLY AT LEAST 100 MILLION MORE WOMEN WITH OBESITY THAN MEN, GLOBALLY. THERE ARE MULTIPLE PROPOSED CAUSES FOR RISING OBESITY RATES, PARTICULARLY, INCREASED ACCESS TO CALORIE-DENSE, HIGHLY PALATABLE FOODS AND DECREASED ENERGY EXPENDITURE. HEDONIC FEEDING, FOOD INTAKE REGARDLESS OF PHYSIOLOGICAL HUNGER AND DRIVEN BY PLEASURE AND PALATABILITY, IS NOT THE SOLE CULPRIT FOR THE OBESITY EPIDEMIC, BUT IT IS CERTAINLY A MAJOR CONTRIBUTING FACTOR. FURTHERMORE, THERE ARE SEX DIFFERENCES IN HEDONIC FEEDING THAT COULD SUPPORT THE OBSERVED SEX DIFFERENCES IN OBESITY. WHILE PREVIOUS RESEARCH HAS DETERMINED OVERLAP BETWEEN HEDONIC FEEDING AND DRUG ADDICTION, THERE IS LESS KNOWN ABOUT THE ROLE OF INPUTS SUCH AS SENSATION AND GASTROINTESTINAL PHYSIOLOGY ON HEDONIC FEEDING. A MAJOR GAP IN THIS FIELD IS UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF THE GUT MICROBIOME IN HEDONIC FEEDING. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO CHARACTERIZE SEX DIFFERENCES IN THE GUT MICROBIOME AND THEIR IMPACT ON HEDONIC FEEDING. WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT INCREASED CONSUMPTION OF HIGH FAT, PALATABLE FOODS BY FEMALES COMPARED TO MALES OCCURS BECAUSE OF A CONSERVED NETWORK DRIVEN BY REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS FOR FEMALES. WE FURTHER HYPOTHESIZE THAT PART OF THIS NETWORK INCLUDES THE GUT MICROBIOME. EXPECTED OUTCOME AND IMPACT: THIS PROJECT WILL PRODUCE A CHARACTERIZATION OF FECAL MICROBIOME DIVERSITY, COMPOSITION, AND SHORT CHAIN FATTY ACID PRODUCTION IN MALE AND FEMALE RATS, AT DIFFERENT TIME POINTS, AND RELATED TO HEDONIC FEEDING AS DETERMINED BY A SINGLE-SESSION BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS TECHNIQUE WITH A HIGH FAT, PALATABLE REWARD. OUR AIMS ARE TO: 1) DETERMINE HOW THE GUT MICROBIOME IMPACTS SEX DIFFERENCES IN HEDONIC FEEDING. A) DOES DISRUPTION OF THE GUT MICROBIOME DURING ADULTHOOD INCREASE HEDONIC FEEDING IN FEMALE RATS MORE THAN MALE RATS? B) DOES DISRUPTION OF THE GUT MICROBIOME IN EARLY LIFE INFLUENCE SEX DIFFERENCES IN HEDONIC FEEDING DURING ADULTHOOD? C) DOES TRANSPLANTATION OF GUT MICROBIOTA FROM A MALE RAT DECREASE HEDONIC FEEDING IN FEMALE RATS? DOES TRANSPLANTATION OF GUT MICROBIOTA FROM A FEMALE RAT INCREASE HEDONIC FEEDING IN MALE RATS? 2) DETERMINE HOW PREGNANCY AND POST-PREGNANCY IMPACTS HEDONIC FEEDING. A) DOES PREGNANCY INCREASE HEDONIC FEEDING IN FEMALE RATS? B) DOES A PREVIOUS PREGNANCY INCREASE PALATABLE FOOD SEEKING IN FEMALE RATS? THIS PROPOSED WORK IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF SEX DIFFERENCES IN OBESITY COULD INFORM PERSONALIZED INTERVENTIONS. THIS WORK SPECIFICALLY INFORMS GUT MICROBIOME-BASED INTERVENTIONS.

MRI: TRACK 1 ACQUISITION OF A TURNKEY TRANSIENT ABSORPTION SPECTROMETER FOR UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH AND TRAINING -THIS AWARD IS FUNDED BY THE MAJOR RESEARCH INSTRUMENTATION PROGRAM AND THE CHEMISTRY RESEARCH INSTRUMENTATION PROGRAM. PROFESSOR LAUREN JAROCHA FROM FURMAN UNIVERSITY AND PROFESSORS PIN LYU AND CHRISTIAN KERPAL FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA ? ASHEVILLE, ON BEHALF OF NINE INVESTIGATORS AT BOTH INSTITUTIONS, ARE ACQUIRING A TURNKEY, SUB-NANOSECOND TRANSIENT ABSORPTION SPECTROMETER. TRANSIENT ABSORPTION (TA) IS A PUMP-PROBE FORM OF SPECTROSCOPY, WHERE A SAMPLE IS EXCITED WITH A PULSED LASER, THEN THE NEW CHEMICAL SPECIES PRODUCED ARE INVESTIGATED USING A PROBE LIGHT SOURCE. THIS EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUE IS AN ESSENTIAL TOOL FOR PHOTOCHEMISTS, SPECTROSCOPISTS, AND MOLECULAR PHYSICISTS FOR FOLLOWING REACTION PROGRESS IN REAL TIME. IT WILL BE USED TO DEVELOP NEW TYPES OF CATALYSIS, ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS, SOLAR ENERGY CAPTURE, MOLECULAR SENSORS, BIOLOGICAL IMAGING, AND LIGHT-BASED REMEDIATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS. THE INSTRUMENT WILL ENHANCE THE EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES AT TWO PRIMARILY UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTIONS, ALLOWING UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS TO DEVELOP RELEVANT AND IMPORTANT SKILLS THAT LEAD TO SUCCESS IN THEIR FUTURE CAREERS. THE TA SPECTROMETER WILL SUPPORT RESEARCH PROJECTS THAT ARE VARIED, BUT ALL UTILIZE THE INSTRUMENT?S CAPABILITIES TO IDENTIFY EXCITED STATE SPECIES AND FOLLOW MOLECULAR DYNAMICS IN REAL TIME. IN THE CASE OF PROFESSOR JAROCHA?S AND PROFESSOR KERPAL?S RESEARCH, THE INSTRUMENT WILL BE USED TO HELP ESTABLISH THE FUNDAMENTAL STRUCTURAL, DYNAMIC, AND KINETIC PROPERTIES OF RADICAL PAIRS THAT ALLOW THEM TO ACT AS EFFICIENT, QUANTUM-BASED MOLECULAR SENSORS. PROOF OF PRINCIPLE EXPERIMENTS THAT A RADICAL PAIR CAN FUNCTION AS A MOLECULAR COMPASS COMES FROM MEASUREMENT OF AN ORIENTATION-DEPENDENT RESPONSE TO EARTH STRENGTH FIELDS IN RADICALS FORMED ON A CAROTENOID-PORPHYRIN-FULLERENE TRIAD. THE SUB-NANOSECOND TIME RESOLUTION OF THIS INSTRUMENT WILL ENABLE THE STUDY OF SIMILAR MAGNETICALLY SENSITIVE REACTIONS IN A TIME-REGIME THAT HAS NOT BEEN WELL CHARACTERIZED. THIS WILL ALLOW A MORE COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF THE MECHANISMS BY WHICH MAGNETIC FIELDS CAN ALTER REACTION RATES OR PRODUCT YIELDS AND WILL HELP IN THE DESIGN OF NOVEL MATERIALS THAT BEHAVE AS MOLECULAR SENSORS FOR USE IN FUTURE DEVICES. PROFESSOR LYU?S RESEARCH IS FOCUSED ON TRANSFORMING SOLAR ENERGY INTO STORABLE FUELS, LEVERAGING THE INSTRUMENT TO DEVELOP NOVEL NANOMATERIALS FOR PHOTOCATALYSIS. THE LYU LAB IS PURSUING A JANUS STRATEGY TO DESIGN THE METAL-SEMICONDUCTOR HYBRID STRUCTURE, WITH THE IDEA THAT THIS STRUCTURE SHOULD INCREASE THE LIFETIME OF PHOTOEXCITED ELECTRONS PRODUCED BY UV OR VISIBLE LIGHT DUE TO THE LARGER INTERFACE FOR ELECTRON INJECTION AND THE LARGER METAL ELECTRON RESERVOIR. WITH A LONGER LIFETIME, PHOTOEXCITED ELECTRONS SHOULD HAVE A HIGHER PROBABILITY OF PARTICIPATING IN REDUCTION REACTIONS, THUS IMPROVING PHOTOCATALYTIC ACTIVITY. ADDITIONALLY, THE SPECTROMETER WILL SUPPORT RESEARCH FOCUSED ON INFORMED DESIGN OF FIRST-ROW, D0 TRANSITION METAL CATALYSTS; DEVELOPMENT OF NEW SENSORS BASED ON BIOTEMPLATED METAL NANOPARTICLES; SYNTHESIS OF NATURAL PRODUCTS THAT ACT AS ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS; EXPLORATION OF NEW POLYMORPHS OF TITANIUM DIOXIDE AS CATALYSTS FOR THE DEGRADATION OF VOLATILE ORGANIC POLLUTANTS; IMPROVEMENT OF DEVICE EFFICIENCY IN ORGANIC SOLAR CELLS BASED ON GREEN SOLVENT PROCESSING POLYMERS; AND DEVELOPMENT OF FLUORESCENT BIOSENSORS BASED ON HYBRID POLYMER LIPOSOME-QUANTUM DOT NANOMATERIALS. ALL RESEARCH IS PRIMARILY CONDUCTED BY UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS. THEREFORE, ACCESS TO AND TRAINING ON THIS INSTRUMENT SUPPORTS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A DIVERSE STEM WORKFORCE PREPARED TO SOLVE PROBLEMS OF SERIOUS SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

RUI: EXTENDED METAL ATOM CHAIN COMPLEXES OF FE AND CO SUPPORTED BY A C3 SYMMETRIC, SCAFFOLDED LIGAND PLATFORM -WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS PROGRAM IN THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY, GARY GUILLET OF FURMAN UNIVERSITY AND JEFFERSON E. BATES OF APPALACHIAN STATE UNIVERSITY WILL STUDY NEW CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS CONTAINING ONE DIMENSIONAL CHAINS OF THREE METAL ATOMS, SUCH AS IRON AND COBALT, WHERE THE METAL ATOMS FORM BONDS WITH EACH OTHER DUE TO THEIR PROXIMITY. THIS STUDY WILL PRODUCE NEW MOLECULES THAT CONTROL THE ENVIRONMENT AROUND THE CHAIN OF METAL ATOMS THEREFORE INFLUENCING THE METAL-METAL INTERACTIONS. THESE COMPOUNDS WILL SHED LIGHT ON HOW EXACTLY METAL ATOMS INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER AND IF THE PROPERTIES, SUCH AS THE MAGNETISM, OF THE INDIVIDUAL METALS CAN BE PREDICTABLY CONTROLLED. TO ACCOMPLISH THESE GOALS, THE GUILLET TEAM WILL DESIGN AND SYNTHESIZE A SERIES OF NEW COMPOUNDS SUPPORTED WITH COMPUTATIONAL MODELING PERFORMED BY COLLABORATOR JEFFERSON BATES. STUDENTS IN THE GUILLET GROUP WILL GAIN HANDS-ON TRAINING IN A LABORATORY SETTING WHILE LEARNING PROPER CHEMICAL SAFETY, AND HOW TO SYNTHESIZE AND CHARACTERIZE CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS USING ADVANCED INSTRUMENTATION. STUDENTS WORKING IN THE BATES GROUP WILL GAIN EXPERIENCE UTILIZING COMPUTERS TO PREDICT THE PROPERTIES OF NEW COMPOUNDS AND HOW TO COMPARE THOSE PREDICTIONS WITH THE EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREABLES OBTAINED IN THE GUILLET GROUP. THE UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE AT BOTH FURMAN AND APPALACHIAN STATE IS OFTEN A CRUCIAL TIME WHEN STUDENTS TRULY GET TO KNOW WHAT A FUTURE WORKING IN A SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) FIELD ENTAILS. THE STUDENTS FROM BOTH THE GUILLET AND BATES GROUPS WILL GAIN PERTINENT TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE FOR THEIR FIELDS OF INTEREST AND ARE WILL BE BETTER PREPARED TO PURSUE A FUTURE CAREER IN CHEMICAL SCIENCES. THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW EXTENDED METAL ATOM CHAIN (EMAC) COMPLEXES OF IRON AND COBALT IS IMPORTANT FOR UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF METAL-METAL BONDING IN VARYING COORDINATION GEOMETRIES AND THE FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THESE INTERESTING SYSTEMS. BY CONTROLLING THE LIGAND FRAMEWORK AROUND THE CENTRAL TRIMETALLIC CORE IT MAY BE POSSIBLE TO RATIONALLY DESIGN EMACS WITH VARIOUS HIGH-SPIN GROUND STATE ELECTRONIC CONFIGURATIONS FACILITATED BY SMALL INTERMETALLIC DISTANCES. PAST SYNTHETIC STRATEGIES USED THREE STERICALLY ENCUMBERING BRIDGING LIGANDS, SUCH AS 2,6-BIS(TRIMETHYLSILYLAMINO)PYRIDINE, TO SURROUND AND STABILIZE THE TRIMETALLIC CORE. HOWEVER, EFFORTS TO SYNTHESIZE A BROAD ARRAY OF HIGH SPIN TRIMETALLIC EMACS HAVE BEEN HAMPERED BY THE LACK OF STABILITY OF THE ISOLATED COMPLEXES SINCE LOW COORDINATION NUMBER ENVIRONMENTS ARE NEEDED TO ENGENDER HIGH SPIN. THIS PROPOSAL TESTS THE HYPOTHESIS THAT LIGANDS BUILT UPON A C3-SYMMETRIC SCAFFOLD THAT INCORPORATES ALL THE DONOR ATOMS WILL BE BETTER ABLE TO SUPPORT TRIMETALLIC EMACS OF FE AND CO AND THAT THESE COMPLEXES WILL HAVE INCREASED STABILITY. UTILIZING SIMPLE AMINATION REACTIONS, 2,6-DIBROMOPYRIDINE WILL BE FUNCTIONALIZED WITH A PRIMARY AMINE AND IN A SECOND AMINATION REACTION ATTACHED TO A SCAFFOLDING MOLECULE. LITHIATION AND TRANSMETALLATION STEPS WILL FORM TRIMETALLIC EMACS OF FE AND CO. IN COMBINATION WITH EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENTS, THE NATURE OF THESE METAL-METAL BONDS WILL BE EXPLORED THROUGH THE USE OF COMPUTATIONAL METHODS FROM DENSITY FUNCTIONAL THEORY AND MULTICONFIGURATIONAL WAVEFUNCTION THEORIES. AN EXPANDED LIBRARY OF MORE STABLE EMACS WILL HELP TO BUILD INCREASED UNDERSTANDING OF MULTIPLE DIRECT METAL-METAL BONDS AND THE FACTORS THAT LEAD TO HIGH-SPIN MAGNETIC GROUND STATES. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

RUI: EXPLORING SYNTHESIS, TAILORING STRUCTURE, EVALUATING PROPERTIES, AND ENABLING PATTERNING OF SURFACE-ANCHORED FRAMEWORK ASSEMBLIES

EQUIPMENT: MRI: TRACK 1 ACQUISITION OF EXPANSION OF THE MOLECULAR EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CONSORTIUM IN UNDERGRADUATE COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY (MERCURY) -THE INSTRUMENT IS A HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTER (HPC) WHICH ADDS TO THE HPC RESEARCH CONSORTIUM IN UNDERGRADUATE COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY (MERCURY) RESOURCES, AND ENABLES 13 MORE RESEARCH GROUPS TO BENEFIT, EXPANDING THE CONSORTIUM TO 47 COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTS AND PHYSICISTS AT 41 DIFFERENT INSTITUTIONS. THE OBJECTIVE IS TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS PARTICIPATING AND BENEFITING FROM THIS STIMULATING AND HIGHLY PRODUCTIVE ENVIRONMENT. THE PROJECTS UTILIZE THE TOOLS OF COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY TO SOLVE SIGNIFICANT RESEARCH PROBLEMS AND BUILD ON THE PROGRESS AND MOMENTUM OF THE ORIGINAL MRI GRANT, AWARDED IN 2001, WHICH ALLOWED THE CONSORTIUM TO PURCHASE AN HPC AND ASSISTED IN FORMALLY ESTABLISHING RIGOROUS, ACCESSIBLE RESEARCH PROGRAMS AT MEMBER INSTITUTIONS. THE CONSORTIUM FACULTY HAVE RESEARCH PROGRAMS IN COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY, SPANNING THE FIELDS OF BIOCHEMISTRY, BIOLOGICAL, BIOINORGANIC, BIOPHYSICAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, INORGANIC, MATERIALS, MACHINE LEARNING, NANOPARTICLES, PHYSICAL, PHYSICAL ORGANIC, PHOTOCHEMISTRY, POLYMERS, AND SOLVATION EFFECTS. PROJECTS UTILIZING HPC RESOURCES INCLUDE FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH AIMED AT DESIGNING BETTER SOLID STATE BATTERIES, DEVELOPING BETTER THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS, UNDERSTANDING HOW NON-COVALENT INTERACTIONS IMPACT MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY, UNDERSTANDING THE BIOMECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF BACTERIAL FILAMENTS, LEARNING HOW INTRINSICALLY DISORDERED PROTEINS INFLUENCE MORE STRUCTURED PROTEINS AND DNA, UNDERSTANDING THE FUNCTIONAL DETERMINANTS OF ROTAVIRUS PATHOLOGY, EXPLAINING REACTION DYNAMICS OCCURRING WITHIN HIGH ENERGY TANDEM MASS SPECTROMETRY, DEVELOPING BETTER ANCHORING GROUPS FOR DYE-SENSITIZED SOLAR CELLS, UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF MOLECULAR CROWDING ON ENZYME INHIBITION, AND OTHERS. THIS PROJECT IS JOINTLY FUNDED BY THE MAJOR RESEARCH INSTRUMENTATION PROGRAM AND THE ESTABLISHED PROGRAM TO STIMULATE COMPETITIVE RESEARCH (EPSCOR). 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.

IMPACT OF SOLUTE CARRIERS ON RUTHENIUM COMPLEX SENSITIVITY IN YEAST - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT SOLUTE CARRIERS, WHICH INCLUDE MEMBERS OF THE MAJOR FACILITATOR SUPERFAMILY (MFS), COMPRISE A LARGE AND UNDERSTUDIED GROUP OF PROTEINS WITH ROLES IN DIVERSE BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES, INCLUDING METAL TRANSPORT AND STRESS RESISTANCE. USING SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE AS A MODEL ORGANISM, OUR PREVIOUS STUDIES SHOWED THAT THE CLINICALLY PROMISING ANTICANCER RUTHENIUM COMPLEX KP1019 INDUCES EXPRESSION OF THE EVOLUTIONARILY CONSERVED MFS PROTEIN TPO1. HOWEVER, THE MECHANISMS DRIVING THIS INDUCTION ARE UNKNOWN. GIVEN THAT TPO1, LIKE MANY OTHER MFS PROTEINS, EFFLUXES A DIVERSE RANGE OF TOXINS FROM CELLS, THE KP1019 RESISTANCE OF YEAST LACKING TPO1 IS COUNTERINTUITIVE. POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS FOR THIS SURPRISING PHENOTYPE INCLUDE COMPENSATORY ACTIVATION OF OTHER DRUG TRANSPORTERS OR PERTURBATION OF POLYAMINE HOMEOSTASIS, WHICH IS KNOWN TO BE REGULATED BY TPO1. TO ADVANCE OUR LONG-TERM GOAL OF DETERMINING HOW SOLUTE CARRIERS, INCLUDING THEIR REGULATION, MODULATE KP1019 TOLERANCE, WE WILL PURSUE THREE SPECIFIC AIMS FOCUSED ON IDENTIFYING THE UPSTREAM REGULATORS AND DOWNSTREAM EFFECTORS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN KP1019 AND TPO1. SPECIFICALLY, WE PROPOSE TO 1) DETERMINE THE MECHANISM(S) AND PHYSIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF TPO1 INDUCTION BY KP1019, 2) CHARACTERIZE THE KP1019 RESISTANCE CAUSED BY DELETION OF TPO1, AND 3) DISCOVER NOVEL MODULATORS OF KP1019 RESISTANCE/SENSITIVITY. DELETION OF TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR GENES IMPLICATED IN OUR PREVIOUS STUDIES WILL ENABLE IDENTIFICATION THE REGULATOR(S) RESPONSIBLE FOR DRUG-DEPENDENT INDUCTION OF KP1019. TRANSCRIPTOMIC ANALYSES WILL INFORM HYPOTHESIS-DRIVEN EXPERIMENTS AIMED AT DETERMINING THE ROLES OF COMPENSATORY ACTIVATION OF DRUG EFFLUX AND POLYAMINE HOMEOSTASIS IN THE KP1019 RESISTANCE OF YEAST LACKING TPO1. A QUANTITATIVE PHENOMIC SCREEN OF THE YEAST DELETION COLLECTION WILL AID IN DISCOVERING NEW MODULATORS OF KP1019 TOLERANCE, ENABLING ESTABLISHMENT OF GENETIC MARKERS THAT PREDICT PATIENT RESPONSE TO ANTICANCER RUTHENIUM COMPLEXES. FURTHERMORE, THIS PROJECT WILL ENHANCE THE RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE AT FURMAN UNIVERSITY, CREATING NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNDERGRADUATES TO ENGAGE WITH HIGH THROUGHPUT TECHNIQUES PAIRED WITH HYPOTHESIS-DRIVEN EXPERIMENTS, A COMBINATION THAT WILL INCREASE THEIR LIKELIHOOD OF PURSUING CAREERS IN THE BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES.

EAGER: ILLUMINATING THE CONSEQUENCES OF MEMBRANE ASSOCIATION ON QUANTUM-BASED MAGNETOSENSING -THE PROPOSED PROJECT IS AIMING TO UNDERSTAND THE ROLES OF MAGNETORECEPTION IN THE BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS. MAGNETORECEPTION IS A BIOLOGICAL SENSE EMPLOYED BY MIGRATORY BIRDS TO NAVIGATE ON A GLOBAL SCALE. IT HAS BEEN PROPOSED THAT THE PRIMARY DETECTOR IS A SPECIALIZED OCULAR PHOTORECEPTOR THAT PLAYS HOST TO MAGNETICALLY SENSITIVE PHOTOCHEMICAL REACTIONS HAVING RADICAL PAIRS AS FLEETING INTERMEDIATES. A RADICAL PAIR IS A SHORT-LIVED REACTION INTERMEDIATE COMPRISING TWO RADICALS (RADICAL IS AN ATOM, MOLECULE, OR ION THAT HAS UNPAIRED VALENCE ELECTRONS OR AN OPEN ELECTRON SHELL) FORMED IN TANDEM WHOSE UNPAIRED ELECTRON SPINS MAY BE EITHER ANTIPARALLEL (A SINGLET STATE) OR PARALLEL (A TRIPLET STATE). QUANTUM INTERACTION OF UNPAIRED SPINS CAN GENERATE MAGNETIC FIELD EFFECTS ? A DIFFERENCE IN PRODUCT YIELD OR REACTION RATE AS A FUNCTION OF THE FIELD STRENGTH. THE OPEN QUESTION IS WHETHER THIS MECHANISM IS THE FOUNDATION OF AVIAN MAGNETORECEPTION. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED WORK IS TO DEVELOP METHODOLOGY TO MEASURE MAGNETIC FIELD EFFECTS ON CHEMICAL REACTIONS OCCURRING IN THE PHOTORECEPTOR MOLECULES. THE PI IS PARTNERED WITH THE OSHER LIFELONG LEARNING INSTITUTE (OLLI), A LEARNING COMMUNITY FOR SENIOR LEARNERS, TO OFFER CLASSES ON QUANTUM MECHANICS AND QUANTUM BIOLOGY. OLLI OFFERS 150 COURSES AND 40 ADDITIONAL EVENTS PER YEAR THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO NEARLY 2600 MEMBERS. THE CO-PI WILL PRESENT ON MAGNETISM AND CHEMICAL SENSING AT THE WESTERN REGION EDUCATION SERVICE ALLIANCE?S STEM ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM, A BIANNUAL EVENT THAT ENGAGES ELEMENTARY, MIDDLE, AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FROM 18 SCHOOL SYSTEMS ACROSS EIGHT COUNTIES IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA. THESE ACTIVITIES LEAD TO DISSEMINATION OF RESEARCH RESULTS TO THE PUBLIC ACROSS A WIDE RANGE OF AGES AND BACKGROUNDS, WITH THE GOAL OF INCREASING SCIENTIFIC LITERACY AND ENGAGEMENT IN THE LOCAL COMMUNITY. THE LONG-TERM GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO PROVIDE EVIDENCE THAT AVIAN MAGNETORECEPTION IS A QUANTUM PHENOMENON. TO ACT AS A DIRECTIONAL SENSOR, CRYPTOCHROME PROTEINS (CHEMISTRY OF CRYPTOCHROME, A BLUE-LIGHT PHOTORECEPTOR PROTEIN FOUND IN THE AVIAN RETINA, ARE SPECULATED TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR MAGNETIC SENSING) MUST BE ORIENTED. FOR RADICAL PAIRS FORMED IN CRYPTOCHROME TO ACT AS A MAGNETORECEPTOR, THEY MUST DEMONSTRATE SENSITIVITY TO EXTERNAL FIELDS, INCLUDING THOSE AS WEAK AS THE EARTH?S NATURAL FIELD OF 50-100 ?T, AND THAT SENSITIVITY MUST HAVE A DIRECTION DEPENDENCE. FURTHERMORE, IN VITRO STUDIES SUGGEST THAT INCREASING VISCOSITY LEADS TO AN INCREASE IN MAGNETIC SENSITIVITY. LIPID MEMBRANE ASSOCIATION IS A PROMISING WAY TO ACHIEVE BOTH REQUIREMENTS. THE MAIN OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED WORK IS TO DEVELOP AN EVANESCENT-WAVE CAVITY ENHANCED SPECTROMETER TO MEASURE MAGNETIC FIELD EFFECTS ON CHEMICAL REACTIONS OCCURRING BETWEEN MEMBRANE-BOUND MOLECULES. THE CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS IS THAT MEMBRANE ASSOCIATION TRANSFORMS A RADICAL PAIR MAGNETOSENSOR INTO A MOLECULAR COMPASS THAT CAN SENSE EARTH STRENGTH FIELDS. IF SUCCESSFUL, THE PROJECT WILL ALLOW THE FIELD TO DEMONSTRATE ANISOTROPIC MAGNETIC FIELD EFFECTS ON BIOMOLECULES ? INCLUDING CRYPTOCHROME. FROM AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE, UNDERSTANDING THE MECHANISM OF AVIAN NAVIGATION IS IMPORTANT TO PROTECT MIGRATORY BIRDS. BEYOND THAT, IF THE QUANTUM ORIGIN OF THIS PHENOMENON PROVES CORRECT, THE PRINCIPLES OF ITS OPERATION CAN INFORM THE DESIGN OF NAVIGATIONAL DEVICES AS ALTERNATIVES TO SATELLITE-BASED GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEMS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

MCA PILOT PUI: LEVERAGING MACHINE LEARNING TO BETTER UNDERSTAND BIODIVERSITY PATTERNS MEASURED THROUGH PASSIVE ACOUSTIC SAMPLING -NEW TECHNOLOGIES ARE INCREASING THE AMOUNT OF DATA AVAILABLE THAT MEASURES AND MONITORS BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS, HELPING TO ANSWER LONG-STANDING QUESTIONS IN BIOLOGY AND OPENING NEW RESEARCH DIRECTIONS. FOR EXAMPLE, ACOUSTIC DATA COLLECTED ACROSS A RANGE OF ECOSYSTEM TYPES CAN BE USED TO ADDRESS QUESTIONS IN ANIMAL COMMUNICATION, THE ROLE OF HUMAN NOISE IN SOUNDSCAPES, AND POPULATION DYNAMICS. HOWEVER, THESE DATA OFTEN REQUIRE NEW SKILLS TO PROCESS AND UNDERSTAND. THIS MID-CAREER ADVANCEMENT PROJECT WILL PARTNER THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR WITH A LEADER IN THE BIOACOUSTICS ANALYSIS FIELD TO LEVERAGE NEW MACHINE LEARNING TOOLS TO ADDRESS THESE QUESTIONS. CONVERSELY, THE RICH ACOUSTIC DATA BEING PROCESSED WILL ALSO BE USED TO VALIDATE AND IMPROVE THE MACHINE LEARNING TOOLS. BROADER IMPACTS OF THE RESEARCH WILL INCLUDE INCREASING THE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS TRAINED TO USE NEXT-GENERATION ANALYTICAL TOOLS LIKE MACHINE LEARNING FOR ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH, VIA RESEARCH-BASED COURSEWORK, UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXPERIENCES, AND WORKSHOPS AT PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCES. THE RESEARCH WILL BE SHARED VIA TRADITIONAL SCHOLARLY OUTPUTS AS WELL AS A UNIQUE PERCUSSION PRODUCTION FOR DIVERSE AUDIENCES. ULTIMATELY, THIS PROJECT WILL FACILITATE ALIGNMENT OF MULTIPLE LINES OF RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP FOR THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR, SHAPING A CLEAR TRAJECTORY OF INCREASINGLY IMPACTFUL RESEARCH. THIS PROJECT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO ADVANCEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF PASSIVE ACOUSTIC SAMPLING AND MACHINE LEARNING TO ADDRESS FUNDAMENTAL BIOLOGICAL QUESTIONS. THIS RESEARCH WILL USE A RICH ACOUSTIC DATASET FROM DIVERSE ECOSYSTEMS INCLUDING FORESTS, FARMLAND, AND URBAN ENVIRONMENTS. THE PROJECT WILL ADVANCE, WITH IMPROVED ANALYSES AND PRECISE CLASSIFICATION OF SOUNDS AND NOISE, THREE LINES OF INQUIRY: 1) HOW NOISE AFFECTS BIRD VOCALIZATIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS, BUT WITH INCREASED CONSISTENCY IN MEASURING BIRD SONGS AS COMPARED TO PAST RESEARCH; 2) QUANTIFICATION OF ACOUSTIC INDICES AS PROXIES FOR BIODIVERSITY, AND IN PARTICULAR HOW TO DEFINE AND FILTER ANTHROPHONY; AND 3) HOW OCCUPANCY MODELING FOR CONSERVATION APPLICATIONS CAN BE IMPROVED BY PASSIVE ACOUSTIC SAMPLING. THIS PROJECT WILL ALSO TRAIN THE NEXT GENERATION OF STUDENTS AND RESEARCHERS IN MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUES FOR BIODIVERSITY RESEARCH VIA CURRICULUM ADVANCEMENT AND WORKSHOPS. THIS PROJECT IS JOINTLY FUNDED BY THE POPULATION AND COMMUNITY ECOLOGY CLUSTER IN THE DIVISION OF ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGY, AND THE ESTABLISHED PROGRAM TO STIMULATE COMPETITIVE RESEARCH (EPSCOR) PROGRAM. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

RUI: NANOSCALE DNA-SILVER CLUSTER CATALYSTS -WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE MACROMOLECULAR, SUPRAMOLECULAR AND NANOCHEMISTRY PROGRAM IN THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY, PROFESSOR JEFFREY PETTY OF FURMAN UNIVERSITY IS DEVELOPING HIERARCHAL NANOPARTICLES THAT CATALYZE CHEMICAL REACTIONS. NANOMETER-SIZED GOLD PARTICLES WILL BE PLATFORMS FOR ASSEMBLING AND ORGANIZING A DENSE ARRAY OF DNA. IN TURN, THESE APPENDED STRANDS OF DNA WILL ENCAPSULATE AND SHIELD SILVER NANOCLUSTERS TO YIELD NANOSCALE CONJUGATES THAT SURVIVE IN HARSH AQUEOUS AND BIOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENTS. WHILE DNA-CLUSTER CONJUGATES ARE DISTINGUISHED BY THEIR STRONG FLUORESCENCE, THE PROPOSED STUDIES WILL INVESTIGATE THEIR CATALYTIC ACTIVITY. ALKYNE-AZIDE CYCLOADDITIONS ARE WIDELY USED IN NANOSCIENCE BECAUSE THEY ARE EFFICIENT AND RAPID, AND THESE REACTIONS HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO BE CATALYZED BY DNA BOUND SILVER CLUSTERS. IN THIS PROJECT, DNA-SILVER CLUSTER CONJUGATES WILL BE ASSEMBLED USING GOLD NANOPARTICLES TO FORM HIERARCHAL CONSTRUCTS THAT WILL BE POTENT CATALYSTS FOR ALKYNE-AZIDE CLICK CYCLOADDITIONS. THE PROPOSED STUDIES WILL COMPREHENSIVELY EDUCATE YOUNG SCIENTISTS THROUGH INTERDISCIPLINARY CHEMISTRY RESEARCH COUPLED WITH COMMUNITY OUTREACH. UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WILL STUDY A MULTIFACETED SCIENTIFIC PROBLEM THAT BRIDGES NANOSCIENCE, PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY, AND BIOCHEMISTRY. UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WILL DEVELOP THE NEEDED EXPERTISE FOR NANOMATERIAL CHARACTERIZATION BY USING A DIVERSE SUITE OF SPECTROSCOPIC, CHROMATOGRAPHIC, AND MASS SPECTROMETRY TOOLS, WHILE FURTHERING THEIR EDUCATION THROUGH EXTERNAL COLLABORATIONS. THUS, THIS RESEARCH WILL DEVELOP YOUNG SCIENTISTS TO PERFORM INDEPENDENT RESEARCH EARLY IN THEIR CAREERS AND TO CONTRIBUTE THEIR KNOWLEDGE TO THEIR BROADER COMMUNITY. WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE MACROMOLECULAR, SUPRAMOLECULAR AND NANOCHEMISTRY PROGRAM IN THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY, PROFESSOR JEFFREY PETTY OF FURMAN UNIVERSITY IS EXPLOITING MULTIFUNCTIONAL DNA LIGANDS TO SYNTHESIZE A MULTIVALENT NANOPARTICLE CATALYST. THREE SPECIFIC AIMS WILL BE PURSUED. FIRST, POLYDENTATE DNA LIGANDS WILL SECURE AN ATOMICALLY-PRECISE, FLUORESCENT SILVER CLUSTER, AND THE DNA HOST WILL BE SITE-SPECIFICALLY MODIFIED BY ENZYMATICALLY EXCISING DNA NUCLEOBASES AND BY SUBSTITUTING NONCANONICAL NUCLEOBASES. UNDERLYING THESE STUDIES IS A FUNDAMENTAL FEATURE OF SILVER CLUSTERS ? THEY COMMUNICATE CHANGES IN THEIR DNA ENVIRONMENT THROUGH THEIR STEADY-STATE AND TIME-RESOLVED SPECTRA. SECOND, A DENSE ARRAY OF THESE CLUSTER-TAGGED DNA STRANDS WILL BE ASSEMBLED AROUND A GOLD NANOPARTICLE. THE RESULTING SPHERICAL NUCLEIC ACIDS WILL TANGENTIALLY DIRECT A DENSE LAYER OF OLIGONUCLEOTIDES TO THE SURROUNDING SOLUTION, THEREBY FACILITATING CATALYSIS. THIRD, THE ACTIVITY OF THESE IMMOBILIZED CATALYSTS WILL BE ASSESSED VIA KINETIC MEASUREMENTS USING ELECTROSPRAY IONIZATION MASS SPECTROMETRY. THESE RESULTS WILL BE COMPARED WITH THE SPECTRA OF THE SILVER CLUSTER CATALYSTS TO UNDERSTAND HOW CHANGES IN THE DNA BINDING SITE CORRELATE WITH CATALYTIC ACTIVITY. THESE HIERARCHICAL NANOSCALE CATALYSTS WILL OFFER NEW WAYS TO MODULATE CATALYSIS BY AN EMBEDDED SILVER CLUSTER THROUGH TARGETED CHANGES IN THEIR DNA HOST. THE PROJECTED OUTCOME IS TO DEVELOP A NEW CLASS OF ATOMICALLY-PRECISE CLUSTER CATALYSTS WHOSE ACTIVITY CAN BE SPECIFICALLY TUNED BY TARGETED CHANGES IN THE DNA HOSTS. 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.

LEAPS-MPS: FUNCTIONAL IDENTITIES, NILPOTENT RINGS, AND GARSIDE SHADOWS -THE STUDY OF ALGEBRAS AND LIE THEORY IS A FUNDAMENTAL BRANCH OF MATHEMATICS THAT CENTERS AROUND THE EXPLORATION OF SYMMETRIES AND TOUCHES ON MANY ASPECTS OF STEM RESEARCH, INCLUDING GEOMETRY, TOPOLOGY, DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS, COMPLEX ANALYSIS, GROUP AND RING THEORY, NUMBER THEORY, AND NUMEROUS ASPECTS OF PHYSICS. THIS PI WILL FOCUS ON NILPOTENT ALGEBRAS AND A FAMILY OF ABSTRACT ALGEBRAIC STRUCTURES KNOWN AS COXETER GROUPS. THE PI WILL ALSO INTEGRATE THE RESEARCH PROGRAM WITH RESEARCH AND TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WITH AN EMPHASIS ON INCREASING THE PARTICIPATION OF STUDENTS FROM TRADITIONALLY UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS IN THE MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES. THE PROJECT WILL APPLY FUNCTIONAL IDENTITY THEORY TO THE STUDY OF NILPOTENT RINGS AND ALGEBRAS, AN APPROACH THAT WAS SUCCESSFUL IN THE CASE OF GENERAL ALGEBRAS AND LIE THEORY AND LED TO SOLVING HERSTEIN'S LONG-STANDING OPEN QUESTIONS CONCERNING LIE AND JORDAN STRUCTURES OF ASSOCIATIVE RINGS. THE PI WILL EXAMINE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NILPOTENT ALGEBRAS AND COXETER GROUPS BY INVESTIGATING A RELATIVELY NEW STRUCTURE CALLED GARSIDE SHADOWS. WHILE IT IS KNOWN THAT EVERY COXETER GROUP CONTAINS A GARSIDE SHADOW, THERE IS STILL MUCH LEFT TO DETERMINE REGARDING HOW THESE STRUCTURES RELATE TO THE PROPERTIES OF THE GROUPS AND THEIR ASSOCIATED ALGEBRAS. THIS PROJECT IS JOINTLY FUNDED BY THE LAUNCHING EARLY-CAREER ACADEMIC PATHWAYS (LEAPS) PROGRAM AND THE ESTABLISHED PROGRAM TO STIMULATE COMPETITIVE RESEARCH (EPSCOR). THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

THE EFFICACY OF A COMPUTING-CONCEPTS VIDEO LIBRARY FOR STUDENTS AND PEER TUTORS IN MULTIDISCIPLINARY CONTEXTS -THIS PROJECT AIMS TO SERVE THE NATIONAL INTEREST BY PREPARING STUDENTS IN NON-COMPUTING MAJORS TO USE COMPUTATIONAL TECHNIQUES IN THEIR ACADEMIC WORK AND FUTURE CAREERS. INCREASINGLY, STUDENTS IN ALL DISCIPLINES MUST LEARN TO USE COMPUTING TECHNOLOGY. TO MEET THE INCREASED NEED FOR STUDENTS TO USE COMPUTATIONAL METHODS ACROSS ALL FIELDS, NON-COMPUTING COURSES COMMONLY INTEGRATE COMPUTATIONAL COMPONENTS INTO THEIR CURRICULA. HOWEVER, MANY NON-COMPUTING FACULTY ARE NOT PREPARED TO TEACH THE COMPUTING CONCEPTS THAT UNDERLIE THE COMPUTATIONAL TECHNIQUES THAT THEIR STUDENTS MUST MASTER. THIS PROJECT WILL SUPPORT NON-COMPUTING FACULTY WHO ARE TEACHING COMPUTING CONCEPTS BY DEVELOPING A CURATED SET OF VIDEOS THAT PROVIDES THE CONTENT NEEDED FOR STUDENTS TO LEARN BASIC COMPUTING CONCEPTS. THE INFUSION OF FOUNDATIONAL COMPUTING CONCEPTS INTO NON-COMPUTING COURSES WILL INCREASE BOTH THE NUMBER AND DIVERSITY OF STUDENTS WHO ARE PREPARED TO UTILIZE COMPUTATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES WHEN THEY ENTER THE WORKFORCE. THIS PROJECT?S GOALS ARE TO (1) EXPAND AND STRENGTHEN THE OCCTIVE VIDEO LIBRARY (ONLINE COMPUTING-CONCEPTS TOOLKIT OF INTERDISCIPLINARY VIDEOS FOR EDUCATION), DESIGNED TO INTRODUCE FOUNDATIONAL COMPUTING CONCEPTS IN NON-CS COURSES, (2) BROADLY DISSEMINATE OCCTIVE FOR USE BY NON-CS FACULTY AND PEER TUTORS, AND (3) ASSESS THE IMPACT OF OCCTIVE USE ON STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND PEER TUTORS. THE EXPANSION AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE OCCTIVE LIBRARY WILL BE INFORMED BY BEST PRACTICES IN INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO DESIGN. THE VIDEOS WILL BE SUPPLEMENTED WITH SAMPLE TEACHING MATERIAL AND OTHER SUPPORT MATERIALS THAT AID FACULTY ADOPTION. FACULTY, WHO WILL BE RECRUITED FROM A WIDE RANGE OF DISCIPLINES AND INSTITUTIONS, WILL BE TRAINED TO INTEGRATE OCCTIVE INTO THEIR COURSES THROUGH IN PERSON AND VIRTUAL WORKSHOPS. THE EFFICACY OF THE OCCTIVE LIBRARY WILL BE MEASURED BY ASSESSING STUDENTS? COMPREHENSION OF COMPUTING CONCEPTS, FACULTY?S ADOPTION OF MATERIALS IN THEIR CLASSES, AND PEER TUTOR EXPERIENCES. THE NSF IUSE: EDU PROGRAM SUPPORTS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS TO IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF STEM EDUCATION FOR ALL STUDENTS. THROUGH THE ENGAGED STUDENT LEARNING TRACK, THE PROGRAM SUPPORTS THE CREATION, EXPLORATION, AND IMPLEMENTATION OF PROMISING PRACTICES AND TOOLS. 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.

DALEA FOLIOSA IS A FEDERALLY ENDANGERED PERENNIAL PLANT THAT EXHIBITS UNEXPECTEDLY LOW LEVELS OF GENETIC DIVERSITY OVER A HIGHLY FRAGMENTED GEOGRAPHIC RANGE. THE RECOVERY CRITERIA FOR RECLASSIFICATION AND DELISTING REQUIRE A MINIMUM NUMBER OF HIGH VIABILITY POPULATIONS IN EACH OF THREE GEOGRAPHIC AREAS (ALABAMA, ILLINOIS, AND TENNESSEE) THAT PERSIST OVER A MINIMUM OF 10 CONSECUTIVE YEARS, AND NONE OF THESE CRITERIA HAVE BEEN MET. BASED ON PREVIOUS GENETIC WORK, COUPLED WITH RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE MOST RECENT 5-YR REVIEW, I RECOMMEND ADDITIONAL WORK TO CAPTURE 1) PREVIOUSLY UNSAMPLED OCCURRENCES, 2) OCCURRENCES THAT HAVE NOT BEEN SAMPLED WITHIN THE LAST FIVE YEARS, AND 3) GREATER GENETIC RESOLUTION THAN PRIOR WORK. TO DO THIS, I WILL: DEVELOP UP TO 40 MICROSATELLITE LOCI USING A GENOTYPE-BY-SEQUENCING APPROACH SAMPLE 13 POPULATIONS FROM ACROSS THE RANGE THAT WERE NOT PREVIOUSLY INCLUDED IN GENETIC ANALYSES RESAMPLE 27 POPULATIONS FROM ACROSS THE RANGE THAT HAVE NOT BEEN SAMPLED WITHIN THE LAST FIVE YEARS GENOTYPE ALL 40 POPULATIONS FOR THE PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED LOCI AND USE THESE RESULTS TO DEFINE POPULATIONS FOR THE PURPOSES OF MANAGEMENT AND POTENTIAL TRANSLOCATION EXPERIMENTS. SAMPLING OF POPULATIONS WILL CONSIST OF COLLECTING A SINGLE LEAF FROM EACH OF UP TO 24 INDIVIDUAL PLANTS IN EACH POPULATION AND PLACING THE LEAF IN SILICA GEL DESICCANT UNTIL LAB WORK IS TO BE COMPLETED. NO WHOLE PLANTS, FLOWERS, OR FRUITS WILL BE TAKEN OR DESTROYED DURING THIS WORK. THIS PROJECT WILL TAKE PLACE OVER A TWO-YEAR PERIOD IN ILLINOIS, TENNESSEE, AND ALABAMA, AND WILL NOT IMPACT OTHER LISTED SPECIES. THE RESULTS OF THIS WORK WILL BE SUMMARIZED IN A REPORT PROVIDED TO THE SPECIES LEAD (CATHY POLLACK) AS WELL AS TO ALL OTHER COOPERATING AGENCIES. I ANTICIPATE AT LEAST ONE, PEER-REVIEWED MANUSCRIPT FOR PUBLICATION IN A SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL, AND ONE OR MORE TALKS TO BE PRESENTED AT REGIONAL OR NATIONAL SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS. ADDITIONALLY, I WOULD PRESENT THIS WORK TO ANY SPECIES WORKING GROUPS OR OTHER INTERESTED STAKEHOLDERS AS REQUESTED.

CAROLINA DYNAMICS SYMPOSIUM

IN SAGITTARIA FASCICULATA, ESTIMATING POPULATION AND COLONY SIZE IS A PRIORITY 2 RECOVERY TASK THE SPECIES ISKNOWN TO REPRODUCE BOTH SEXUALLY BY SEED AND ASEXUALLY BY CLONAL EXPANSION THE IMPORTANCE OF CLONALITY WITHINAND AMONG POPULATIONS HAS NOT YET BEEN DOCUMENTED BASELINE INFORMATION ON CLONAL STRUCTURE IS KEY TO DETERMININGTHE NUMBER OF GENETICALLY UNIQUE INDIVIDUALS PRESENT WITHIN AND AMONG COLONIES ADDITIONALLY, GENETIC INFORMATIONWILL PROVIDE AN ASSESSMENT OF HOW CONNECTED COLONIES WITHIN POPULATIONS ARE, AS WELL AS HOW CONNECTED POPULATIONSARE TO EACH OTHER FOR THIS WORK, I PROPOSE THE USE OF HIGH THROUGHPUT SEQUENCING OF MICROSATELLITE LOCI TOGENERATE HIGH RESOLUTION GENETIC PROFILES FOR APPROXIMATELY HALF OF THE EXTANT COLONIES 18 ACROSS ALL 11POPULATIONS