Southern Methodist University

SCALE UP (SUSTAINABILITY, CAPACITY, AND LEARNING ENGAGEMENT) FOR FRACTION FACE OFF

SMU CARES HIGHER ED EMERGENCY FUNDING #2

RESEARCH AT THE ENERGY FRONTIER AT SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY

SMU CARES HIGHER ED EMERGENCY FUNDING

SCALABILITY, CAPACITY, AND LEARNING ENGAGEMENT (SCALE) FOR FRACTION FACE-OFF TO ACCELERATING MATHEMATICS LEARNING OF STUDENTS EXPERIENCING MATHEMATICS DIFFICULTY

"STEMPREP PROJECT," DATED 9 JULY 2015 (THE GRANTEES TECHNICAL PROPOSAL) IS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE. AWARDEE SIGNATURE NOT REQUIRED ON THIS AGREEME

HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS

"STEMPREP PROJECT," DATED 30 APR 2014 (THE GRANTEES TECHNICAL PROPOSAL) IS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE. AWARDEE SIGNATURE NOT REQUIRED ON THIS AGREEME

TAS::89 0331::TAS RECOVERY RECOVERY ACT: GEOTHERMAL DATA AGGREGATION: SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION INTO THE NATIONAL GEOTHERMAL DATA SYSTEM

NATIONAL STEM TEACHER CORPS PILOT PROGRAM: ELEVATING K-8 SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING TEACHING IN TEXAS -?THIS NATIONAL STEM TEACHER CORPS PILOT PROGRAM REGIONAL ALLIANCE PROJECT, ELEVATING K-8 SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING TEACHING IN TEXAS, AIMS TO RECOGNIZE OUTSTANDING STEM EDUCATORS IN HIGH-NEED SCHOOLS THAT ADVANCE EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE IN THE SOUTHERN REGION. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO SERVE THE NATIONAL INTEREST BY ENHANCING THE QUALITY OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING INTEGRATION AMONG K-8 TEACHERS IN TEXAS, LEADING TO IMPROVED STUDENT LEARNING IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING. WITHIN THE UNITED STATES, SCIENCE EDUCATION STANDARDS HAVE SHIFTED TOWARD THE INTEGRATION OF ENGINEERING ACROSS ALL GRADE LEVELS. HOWEVER, ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHERS RARELY RECEIVE FORMAL PREPARATION IN ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE INTEGRATION. THERE IS A CRITICAL NEED FOR PROFESSIONAL LEARNING FOR TEXAS TEACHERS OF GRADES K-8 TO SUPPORT THEIR EFFECTIVE INTEGRATION OF ENGINEERING IN SCIENCE INSTRUCTION. TO ADDRESS THIS NEED, THIS PROJECT WILL RECRUIT 20 EXPERT TEACHERS TO BE MEMBERS OF THE TEXAS STEM TEACHER CORPS. THESE TEACHERS WILL PARTICIPATE IN PROFESSIONAL LEARNING SESSIONS, FACILITATE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR OTHER TEXAS TEACHERS, PRESENT AT NATIONAL CONFERENCES, AND COMPLETE A CAPSTONE PROJECT TO ADVANCE THEIR PROFESSIONAL GOALS. THESE EFFORTS WILL IMPROVE THEIR TEACHING PRACTICES, PROVIDE THEM WITH NEW LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES, AND ELEVATE THE STEM TEACHING PROFESSION WITHIN THE STATE OF TEXAS. IN ADDITION, THE PROJECT WILL EXTEND PROFESSIONAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES TO 80 NON-CORPS TEACHERS. THESE TEACHERS WILL BE SUPPORTED BY THE PROJECT TEAM AND TEXAS STEM TEACHER CORPS MEMBERS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF THEIR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING INTEGRATION. WITH BOTH ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHERS, APPROXIMATELY 12,000 STUDENTS WILL EXPERIENCE IMMEDIATE BENEFITS AS THEIR TEACHERS PARTICIPATE IN PROJECT ACTIVITIES, PLUS COUNTLESS ADDITIONAL STUDENTS WHO WILL BENEFIT IN THE COMING YEARS. THIS PROJECT WILL ADDRESS THREE GOALS: (1) ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING INTEGRATION AMONG K-8 TEACHERS IN TEXAS; (2) ELEVATE TEXAS STEM TEACHER CORPS MEMBERS PROFESSIONALLY; (3) ADVANCE UNDERSTANDING OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING INTEGRATION, STEM TEACHER LEADERSHIP, AND STEM TEACHER AGENCY AND RETENTION. THE PROJECT WILL UTILIZE A LONGITUDINAL RESEARCH DESIGN TO ANSWER THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS: (1) HOW DO ENGINEERING INTEGRATION PEDAGOGICAL CONTENT KNOWLEDGE AND TEACHING PRACTICES CHANGE AMONG K-8 TEACHERS PARTICIPATING IN TEXAS STEM TEACHER CORPS PROFESSIONAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES?; (2) HOW DO EXPERT K-8 STEM TEACHERS DEVELOP EXPERTISE IN FACILITATING PROFESSIONAL LEARNING FOR OTHER TEACHERS?; (3) HOW DOES THE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING EXPERIENCE RELATE TO THEIR INTENT TO REMAIN IN TEACHING? DATA SOURCES INCLUDE PRE- AND POST-SURVEYS, CLASSROOM OBSERVATIONS, FOCUS GROUPS, INTERVIEWS, PROFESSIONAL LEARNING ARTIFACTS, AND STUDENT ASSESSMENTS AND WORK ARTIFACTS. THESE FINDINGS CAN HELP INFORM PROFESSIONAL LEARNING DESIGN FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING INTEGRATION AS WELL AS THE DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHER LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES. IN ADDITION, THE PROJECT WILL IDENTIFY POTENTIAL IMPROVEMENTS IN STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES RELATED TO THEIR PRACTICES, KNOWLEDGE, AND INTEREST IN ENGINEERING. WORK FROM THIS PROJECT WILL BE DISSEMINATED THROUGH CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS, AND LEARNING MATERIALS WILL BE AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE ONLINE. AN EXTERNAL EVALUATOR WILL PROVIDE FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE FEEDBACK ABOUT THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE PROJECT IS MEETING ITS GOALS. THIS REGIONAL ALLIANCE PROJECT IS SUPPORTED THROUGH THE NATIONAL STEM TEACHER CORPS PILOT PROGRAM. THE NSF NATIONAL STEM TEACHER CORPS PILOT PROGRAM SUPPORTS OUTSTANDING STEM EDUCATORS IN HIGH-NEED SCHOOLS THAT ADVANCE EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE IN OUR NATION?S PREK-12 CLASSROOMS. 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.

INFLATION REDUCTION ACT (IRA) – FIELD DEMONSTRATION OF ADVANCED AUTONOMOUS SOLAR POWERED HYDRAULIC JACK TO MITIGATE METHANE EMISSION FROM OIL AND GAS WELLHEADS THE PROJECT OBJECTIVE IS TO FIELD TEST AN ADVANCED RIGLESS SOLAR JACK SYSTEM (ROD JACK) FOR MITIGATING METHANE FROM COMPROMISED MARGINAL WELLS.

LOCOMOTION WITH LOADS: PRACTICAL TECHNIQUES FOR PREDICTING PERFORMANCE OUTCOMES.

THE DALLAS ASTHMA BRAIN AND COGNITION STUDY (DALLAS ABC STUDY)

EXAMINING THE EFFICACY OF FRIENDS ON THE BLOCK: AN INTENSIVE EARLY LITERACY INTERVENTION FOR ELEMENTARY STUDENTS WITH INTELLECTUAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY (PROJECT INTENSITY)

MEASURING EARLY MATHEMATICAL REASONING SKILLS: DEVELOPING TESTS OF NUMERIC RELATIONAL REASONING AND SPATIAL REASONING

HIGH TECH EYES

SIGNALING PATHWAYS REGULATING NEURONAL SURVIVAL

THE RESEARCH AIMS TO USE A CYBER AUTONOMY RANGE TO PERFORM SOFTWARE, MODELS, DATA, AND DEVELOPMENT OF METHODOLOGIES THAT INCORPORATE RELEVANT SECURITY SYSTEMS, FACILITIES, AND INFRASTRUCTURE NECESSARY TO PERFORM CYBER VULNERABILITY

SEEING THE WORLD THROUGH A MATHEMATICAL LENS: A PLACE-BASED MOBILE APP FOR CREATING MATH WALKS

HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

RTG: MODELING AND COMPUTATIONS FOR COMPLEX SYSTEMS AT SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY

EXERCISE INTERVENTION FOR SMOKING

AMPLIFYING DIVERSE VOICES IN STEM EDUCATION -NUMEROUS STUDIES HAVE FOUND THAT RACIALLY MARGINALIZED STUDENTS IN STEM AND OTHER DISCIPLINES TEND TO EXHIBIT QUANTIFIABLY BETTER OUTCOMES WHEN AT LEAST SOME OF THEIR INSTRUCTORS ARE RACIALLY MARGINALIZED SCHOLARS. HOWEVER, THERE IS INSUFFICIENT RESEARCH ON HOW AND WHY THIS PHENOMENON OCCURS. SEVERAL COMPETING EXPLANATIONS HAVE BEEN PROPOSED, BUT TO DATE THERE IS LITTLE CAUSAL EVIDENCE TO ESTABLISH WHICH EXPLANATION(S) ARE CORRECT, IN PART BECAUSE OF FUNDAMENTAL METHODOLOGICAL CHALLENGES. THE AMPLIFYING DIVERSE VOICES IN STEM EDUCATION (ADVISE) PROJECT WILL USE A CLUSTER RANDOMIZED EXPERIMENT ACROSS FOUR HSIS AND FIVE PWIS TO TEST THE CAUSAL EFFECTS OF BRINGING RACIALLY MARGINALIZED GUEST LECTURERS INTO COLLEGE STEM COURSES. THE OVERARCHING GOAL OF THIS COLLABORATIVE PROJECT IS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND AND COMPARE INDIVIDUAL- AND GROUP-LEVEL PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL PROCESSES SUCH AS STUDENT BELONGING, STEREOTYPE THREAT, CLASSROOM CLIMATE, AND INSTRUCTOR PEDAGOGY, AND HOW GUEST LECTURES MAY AFFECT THESE PROCESSES IN WAYS THAT CAN PROMOTE EQUITABLE AND EFFECTIVE STEM EDUCATION. OUTCOMES, MEDIATORS, AND MODERATORS WILL BE MEASURED USING REPEATED-MEASURES SURVEYS AND FERPA-COMPLIANT INSTITUTIONAL DATA ON STUDENT COURSE GRADES AND PERSISTENCE IN STEM MAJORS. INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL PROJECT EVALUATION WILL USE A COLLECTIVE IMPACT MODEL TO ENSURE EFFECTIVE, EQUITY-FOCUSED STEM EDUCATION RESEARCH. FINDINGS WILL BE DISSEMINATED THROUGH ACADEMIC PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS AS WELL AS REPORTS AND PUBLICATIONS FOR POLICYMAKER AND PRACTITIONER AUDIENCES IN HIGHER EDUCATION AND STEM FIELDS. BEYOND BASIC SCIENCE CONTRIBUTIONS TO SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY AND APPLIED SCIENCE CONTRIBUTIONS TO HIGHER EDUCATION AND STEM EDUCATION, BROADER IMPACTS ARE EXPECTED TO INCLUDE IMPROVED EXPERIENCES AND OUTCOMES FOR THOUSANDS OF COLLEGE STEM STUDENTS, PROFESSIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR HUNDREDS OF EARLY-CAREER STEM SCHOLARS, AND DIVERSIFIED PROFESSIONAL NETWORKS FOR CURRENT STEM FACULTY. THIS COLLABORATIVE PROJECT IS FUNDED BY THE EDU RACIAL EQUITY IN STEM EDUCATION ACTIVITY, WHICH IS SUPPORTED BY THE DIRECTORATE FOR STEM EDUCATION (EDU). THIS ACTIVITY SUPPORTS RESEARCH AND PRACTICE PROJECTS THAT INVESTIGATE HOW CONSIDERATIONS OF RACIAL EQUITY FACTOR INTO THE IMPROVEMENT OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE. AWARDED PROJECTS SEEK TO CENTER THE VOICES, KNOWLEDGE, AND EXPERIENCES OF THE INDIVIDUALS, COMMUNITIES, AND INSTITUTIONS MOST IMPACTED BY SYSTEMIC INEQUITIES WITHIN THE STEM ENTERPRISE. PROGRAMS ACROSS EDU CONTRIBUTE FUNDS TO THE RACIAL EQUITY ACTIVITY IN RECOGNITION OF THE ALIGNMENT OF ITS PROJECTS WITH THE COLLECTIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT THRUSTS OF THE FOUR DIVISIONS OF THE DIRECTORATE. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: FRAMEWORKS: FRAMEWORK FOR ADVANCED (MULTI)LINEAR INFRASTRUCTURE IN ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE (FAMLIES) -DISCOVERY IN SCIENCE, MACHINE LEARNING, AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) INVARIABLY EMPLOYS COMPUTATIONS WITH MATRICES AND THEIR HIGHER-DIMENSIONAL EXTENSIONS, TENSORS. EXAMPLES INCLUDE THE DESIGN OF NEW ANTIBIOTICS OR CANCER DRUGS, THE DEVELOPMENT OF QUANTUM COMPUTERS WHICH CAN RAPIDLY SOLVE EVEN THE HARDER PROBLEMS IN CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS, OR THE CONSTRUCTION OF NOVEL ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ARCHITECTURES WHICH CAN WORK MORE EFFECTIVELY ALONGSIDE HUMAN RESEARCHERS WHILE REDUCING ENERGY AND HARDWARE COSTS. THESE OPERATIONS TYPICALLY DEMAND A MAJOR PART OF THE COMPUTATIONAL RESOURCES, NECESSITATING THE USE OF FAST COMPUTERS AND HIGH-PERFORMANCE SOFTWARE. CONVENIENCE AND FLEXIBILITY ARE ALSO OF GREAT IMPORTANCE, AS CUTTING-EDGE APPLICATIONS OFTEN REQUIRE NEW FUNCTIONALITY AND RAPID DEVELOPMENT. THE PROJECT INVESTIGATES AND DELIVERS A NEW, ADAPTABLE FRAMEWORK FOR A BROAD CLASS OF MATRIX AND TENSOR COMPUTATIONS, TARGETING THE ENTIRE HIGH-PERFORMANCE HARDWARE STACK WHILE VERTICALLY INTEGRATING THE SOFTWARE LAYERS. THIS SUPPORTS INNOVATION IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING AND THE APPLICATION OF ADVANCED MODELS TO REAL-WORLD PROBLEMS. THE SOFTWARE IS AVAILABLE UNDER OPEN-SOURCE LICENSE. IT IS DESIGNED TO CONVENIENTLY SUPPORT EXISTING AND FUTURE COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS, WHILE REDUCING BARRIERS TO ENTRY AND FACILITATING THE TRAINING OF THE NEXT GENERATION OF COMPUTATIONAL AND DATA SCIENTISTS. DENSE LINEAR ALGEBRA SOFTWARE LIBRARIES, DEVELOPED OVER THE PAST FOUR DECADES, HAVE HAD AN ARGUABLY UNPARALLELED IMPACT ON SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING AND, MORE RECENTLY, MACHINE LEARNING, DATA SCIENCE, AND AI. WHILE MUCH INNOVATION HAS HAPPENED OVER THIS TIME, THE FUNDAMENTAL APPROACH AND EXPORTED INTERFACES HAVE CHANGED LITTLE. THE FRAMEWORK FOR ADVANCED (MULTI)LINEAR INFRASTRUCTURE IN ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE (FAMLIES) PROJECT LEVERAGES HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL PRIOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, SPONSORED BY THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION AND INDUSTRY, TO DEVELOP, DESIGN, AND DEPLOY A NEW, VERTICALLY INTEGRATED DENSE MATRIX AND TENSOR SOFTWARE STACK. THE LIBRARY TARGETS THE ENTIRE HARDWARE STACK, INCLUDING SINGLE AND MULTI-CORE, GPU-ACCELERATED, AND MASSIVELY PARALLEL COMPUTE ENVIRONMENTS. IT IS SIMULTANEOUSLY BACKWARD COMPATIBLE VIA ITS SUPPORT OF WIDELY USED INTERFACES AND FORWARD COMPATIBLE BECAUSE IT IS A FRAMEWORK FOR SYNTHESIZING NEW FUNCTIONALITY. THE EFFORT BUILDS ON DECADES OF EXPERIENCE BY THE RESEARCH TEAM TURNING FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH ON THE SYSTEMATIC DERIVATION OF ALGORITHMS INTO PRACTICAL SOFTWARE FOR THESE DOMAINS. THIS PROJECT IMPLEMENTS KEY LINEAR ALGEBRA AND TENSOR OPERATIONS, HIGHLIGHTING THE FLEXIBILITY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THE NEW FRAMEWORK. THE SOFTWARE IS SHARED VIA GITHUB, ALLOWING CONTRIBUTION FROM AND DISSEMINATION TO THE BROADER COMMUNITY. 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.

OPTIMIZATION OF ATYPICAL ANTIMYCOBACTERIAL CARBAPENEM ANTIBIOTICS - ABSTRACT MYCOBACTERIAL INFECTIONS, BROADLY INCLUDING MYCOBACTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS (MTB), AND THOSE CAUSED BY NONTUBERCULOUS MYCOBACTERIA (NTM) LIKE THE FAST-GROWING MYCOBACTERIUM ABSCESSUS (MAB), AS WELL AS THE SLOW- GROWING MYCOBACTERIUM AVIUM COMPLEX (MAC), REPRESENT SOME OF THE MOST CLINICALLY CHALLENGING AND DEADLY INFECTIONS OF THE 21ST CENTURY. TREATMENTS TYPICALLY INVOLVE REGIMENS OF MULTIPLE ANTIBIOTICS THAT ARE ADMINISTERED FOR LENGTHY PERIODS OF TIME, AND POOR OUTCOMES ARE COMMON. -LACTAM ANTIBIOTICS HAVE NOT TRADITIONALLY BEEN A PART OF THESE TREATMENT REGIMENS, DUE TO -LACTAMASE MEDIATED RESISTANCE, AND BECAUSE SOME CLASSES OF - LACTAMS LACK ANTIMYCOBACTERIAL ACTIVITY. SIGNIFICANTLY, FOR PEPTIDOGLYCAN CROSSLINKING, MYCOBACTERIAL SPECIES PRIMARILY USE AN ALTERNATE L,D-TRANSPEPTIDASE (LDT) IN PLACE OF THE CANONICAL D,D-TRANSPEPTIDASE (DDT) (OR PENICILLIN BINDING PROTEIN, PBP), THE LATTER OF WHICH IS THE PRIMARY TARGET OF TYPICALLY ADMINISTERED -LACTAMS. LDTS AND DDTS ARE NONHOMOLOGOUS PROTEINS WHICH, IN PART, EXPLAINS THE APPARENT INEFFECTIVENESS OF THIS DRUG CLASS AGAINST MYCOBACTERIAL SPECIES. THIS APPLICATION INVOLVES DESIGN AND SYNTHESIS OF CARBAPENEM ANTIBIOTICS WITH SUBSTANTIAL AND UNUSUAL (ATYPICAL) STRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS, IN CONTRAST TO EXISTING AGENTS WHICH DIFFER ONLY AT THE C2 POSITION. PREVIOUSLY, WE HAVE DEMONSTRATED THAT THESE SCAFFOLD MODIFICATIONS CAN IMPROVE ACTIVITY AGAINST GRAM- NEGATIVE PATHOGENS, MINIMIZE EFFLUX, AND IMPROVE RESISTANCE TO -LACTAMASE-MEDIATED HYDROLYSIS. PRELIMINARY STUDIES FOR THIS PROJECT YIELDED AN ATYPICAL CARBAPENEM WITH SUPERIOR POTENCY COMPARED TO COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE CARBAPENEMS AGAINST DIVERSE MTB AND MAB CLINICAL ISOLATES. UNLIKE MEROPENEM, THIS NEW ATYPICAL CARBAPENEM MAINTAINED ITS POTENCY AGAINST RESISTANT MYCOBACTERIAL PATHOGENS IN THE ABSENCE OF A COMBINATION -LACTAMASE INHIBITOR, DISPLAYING UP TO 20-FOLD IMPROVEMENTS OVER MEROPENEM IN ACTIVITY AGAINST THESE RESISTANT STRAINS. ITS EXCELLENT,BROAD SPECTRUM ANTIMYCOBACTERIAL POTENCY (MICS < 1 G/ML) WAS NOT DIMINISHED BY CARBAPENEMASE PRODUCING MYCOBACTERIAL SPECIES NOR WAS ACTIVITY FURTHER IMPROVED BY COMBINATION WITH -LACTAMASE INHIBITORS THUS INDICATING -LACTAMASE STABILITY. ACTIVITY WAS ALSO ASSESSED AGAINST A DIVERSE PANEL OF NONMYCOBACTERIAL SPECIES INDICATING THE NEW ANTIBIOTIC IS BEGINNING TO DEMONSTRATE SELECTIVITY FOR THE MYCOBACTERIA GENUS OVER OTHER GRAM-NEGATIVE AND GRAM-POSITIVE SPECIES. WE NOW PLAN TO DEVELOP THIS INITIAL DISCOVERY INTO AN ORALLY BIOAVAILABLE CLINICALLY USEFUL ANTIMYCOBACTERIAL AGENT AND TO FURTHER IMPROVE THE ANTIMYCOBACTERIAL POTENCY AND SPECIFICITY OF THIS UNIQUE ATYPICAL CARBAPENEM. STABILITY TO CARBAPENEMASES WILL BE AN ASSET IN AN ORALLY BIOAVAILABLE AGENT SINCE MANY CARBAPENEMASE INHIBITORS (E.G. AVIBACTAM) ARE NOT ORALLY BIOAVAILABLE. THE SCIENTIFIC OPERATIONS ARE GUIDED BY A HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEAM INCLUDING SYNTHESIS, MICROBIOLOGY, BIOCHEMISTRY, AND STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY. A THOROUGH AND RIGOROUS ARRAY OF ANALYSES, INCLUDING NUMEROUS IN VITRO AND IN VIVO PK EVALUATIONS, WILL GUIDE DEVELOPMENT.

SMU UPWARD BOUND CLASSIC 1

STEPPING UP TECHNOLOGY IMPLEMENTATION

NEUROPHOTONIC RESEARCH CENTER: A FOCUSED COLLABORATION DEVELOPING A COMPLETE NEUROPHOTONIC

SMU UPWARD BOUND CLASSIC 1

UPWARD BOUND PROGRAM

CREATION OF THE PARALLEL COMPUTING CENTER AT SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MANUFACTURING RESEARCH CENTER

BIOMARKERS OF SUDEP RISK BASED ON BRAIN-HEART-LUNGS NETWORK DYNAMICS - THE LONG-TERM GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO IDENTIFY SUDEP RISK BIOMARKERS AND THE BRAIN-HEART-LUNGS PATHWAYS MEDIATING SUDEP PATHOPHYSIOLOGY. PEOPLE WITH EPILEPSY ARE 16 TIMES MORE LIKELY THAN THE GENERAL POPULATION TO DIE SUDDENLY FOR UNKNOWN PATHOLOGICAL REASONS; THESE DEATHS ARE CLASSIFIED AS SUDEP AND REPRESENT THE LEADING CAUSE OF EPILEPSY-RELATED MORTALITY. PREDICTIVE SUDEP RISK BIOMARKERS STILL DO NOT EXIST AND THE EXACT MECHANISMS AND PATHWAYS INVOLVED ARE POORLY UNDERSTOOD. OVERCOMING THESE BARRIERS WOULD ENABLE ACCURATE PATIENT RISK STRATIFICATION AND MONITORING, AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF EFFECTIVE PREVENTIVE STRATEGIES. IN THIS WORK, WE PROPOSE TO EMPLOY A NEW MULTIDISCIPLINARY BIOENGINEERING SYSTEMS APPROACH (TERMED “INTER-ORGAN DIRECTED CONNECTIVITY ANALYSIS”) TO IDENTIFY THE TYPE AND NATURE OF DIRECTIONAL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE BRAIN (ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY), HEART (ELECTROCARDIOGRAPHY), AND LUNGS (PLETHYSMOGRAPHY) THAT UNDERLIE SUSCEPTIBILITY TO SUDEP AND THAT COULD BE UTILIZED AS RELIABLE BIOMARKERS OF SUDEP RISK, BEGINNING WITH EXAMINATION OF KCNA1 GLOBAL KNOCKOUT (KO) MICE IN AIM 1. WE WILL MEASURE HOW THESE DYNAMICS CHANGE OVER TIME WHEN SEIZURES OCCUR AND AS THE TIME TO SUDEP APPROACHES. KCNA1 GLOBAL KO MICE, WHICH LACK KV1.1 CHANNELS, ARE ONE OF THE BEST CHARACTERIZED GENETIC CHANNELOPATHY MODELS OF SUDEP, EXHIBITING ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF SUDEP OBSERVED IN PATIENTS. IN AIM 2, WE WILL EMPLOY BRAIN- AND HEART-SPECIFIC KCNA1 CONDITIONAL KO (CKO) MODELS AND PHARMACOLOGY TO BEGIN TO IDENTIFY THE UNDERLYING BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF THE OBSERVED IMPAIRMENT OF DYNAMICS IN THE DIRECTIONAL CONNECTIVITIES BETWEEN BRAIN, HEART AND LUNGS. IN AIM 3, WE WILL THEN EXAMINE A DIFFERENT MODEL OF SUDEP DUE TO SODIUM CHANNELOPATHY, THE SCN8AN1768D MOUSE, WHICH CARRIES A GAIN-OF-FUNCTION MUTATION IN NAV1.6 CHANNELS, TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE SAME PATTERNS OF ABNORMAL BRAIN-HEART- LUNG CONNECTIVITY CAN BE GENERALIZED ACROSS MODELS. WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT OUR ANALYSES WILL REVEAL PATHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONAL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE BRAIN, HEART, AND LUNGS THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH SUDEP SUSCEPTIBILITY IN MICE. SUCH PATTERNS OF FAULTY BRAIN-HEART-LUNG CONNECTIVITY HAVE TRANSLATIONAL POTENTIAL AS NEW AND MORE RELIABLE BIOMARKERS FOR MONITORING SUDEP RISK AND DISEASE PROGRESSION IN EPILEPSY PATIENTS, WHILE ALSO SHEDDING LIGHT ON POTENTIAL PATHOPHYSIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS. EVALUATION OF BRAIN-HEART-LUNGS CONNECTIVITY ACROSS TWO ACCEPTED MOUSE MODELS OF SUDEP IN THIS PROPOSAL WILL LAY THE FOUNDATION FOR FUTURE CLINICAL APPLICATION OF THIS BIOENGINEERING TECHNIQUE IN EPILEPSY PATIENTS WITH THE HOPE OF PROVIDING INDIVIDUALIZED SUDEP RISK ASSESSMENT THAT CAN BE USED TO AID PREVENTATIVE STRATEGIES.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

SPECIAL EDUCATION RESEARCH PROGRAM

RESPIRATORY MECHANISMS OF EPILEPSY WITH HIGH RISK OF SUDEP

NEW ABSTRACTIONS AND RANDOMIZED ALGORITHMS FOR MULTISCALE STOCHASTIC OPTIMIZATION

UPWARD BOUND

INTEGRATING HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTION, MACHINE LEARNING, GAME DESIGN, AND EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT IN A STEM+C CURRICULUM

SMU UPWARD BOUND CLASSIC 2

RADIATION BACKGROUND CHARACTERIZATION FOR ENHANCED ANOMALY DETECTION

SPECIAL EDUCATION RESEARCH PROGRAM

EDUCATION RESEARCH PROGRAM

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

PEROXIREDOXINS, IMMUNE SIGNALING AND AGING.

THE HIV/AIDS PREVENTION, TREATMENT, AND CARE FOR COTE D'IVOIRE'S MINISTRY OF DEFENSE

BEETROOT JUICE SUPPLEMENT FOR BOOSTING MUCOSAL IMMUNITY ? THE NO COLD STUDY - SUMMARY RESPIRATORY TRACT INFECTIONS CAUSE A CONSIDERABLE BURDEN TO HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS AND SOCIETIES AS A WHOLE, WHICH HAS BEEN EXASPERATED BY COVID-19. AVAILABLE PREVENTATIVE TREATMENTS FOR RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS AND THE COMMON COLD HAVE REMAINED UNSATISFACTORY AND ARE OFTEN NOT ADHERED TO. PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS, SUCH AS STRESS, INCREASE RISK FOR RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS AND THE COMMON COLD. A POSSIBLE MECHANISM FOR THIS RELATIONSHIP COULD BE REDUCED LEVELS OF NITRIC OXIDE (NO), WHICH SERVE AS A FIRST-LINE DEFENSE MECHANISM. NO IS REDUCED DURING PERIODS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS, SUCH AS ACADEMIC FINALS IN STUDENTS. BOOSTING LEVELS OF NO DURING PERIODS OF STRESS MAY PROVIDE A PREVENTION STRATEGY FOR RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS, ESPECIALLY IN POPULATIONS WITH HIGH TRANSMISSION RISK. OUR PILOT DATA SUGGESTS THAT BEETROOT JUICE ELEVATES THE FRACTION OF EXHALED NO (FENO) AND ATTENUATES COLD SYMPTOMS DURING STRESSFUL FINAL EXAMS. THE CURRENT STUDY PROPOSES A THREE-ARM, DOUBLE-BLINDED, AND PLACEBO-CONTROLLED TRIAL DESIGN (CONDITIONS: ONE DAILY ACTIVE DOSE AND ONE DAILY PLACEBO DOSE, TWO DAILY ACTIVE DOSES, TWO DAILY PLACEBO DOSES, WITH 50 PARTICIPANTS IN EACH CONDITION, TOTAL N=150), WITH STUDENTS UNDER FINAL EXAMINATION STRESS, TO EXAMINE THE USEFULNESS OF BEETROOT JUICE IN ELEVATING AIRWAY NO MEASURED BY FENO AND THEREBY REDUCING RESPIRATORY VIRAL INFECTIONS TESTED BY VIRAL POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION. THE CURRENT STUDY WILL 1) DEMONSTRATE THAT A 7-DAY TRIAL OF DAILY BEETROOT JUICE OR DE-NITRATED PLACEBO BEETROOT JUICE IS FEASIBLE LOGISTICALLY AND WITH ACCEPTABLE ADHERENCE DURING A PERIOD OF REAL-LIFE STRESS, 2) GENERATE INITIAL EVIDENCE FOR THE CAPACITY OF BEETROOT JUICE TO INCREASE ELEVATIONS IN FENO, WHICH CORRELATES WITH REDUCTIONS IN INFECTION USING RESPIRATORY VIRAL PANEL, (BIOLOGICAL SIGNATURE), 3) EXAMINE DOSAGE EFFECTS, IN THAT TWO DAILY ACTIVE DOSES OF BEETROOT JUICE ARE LIKELY MORE POTENT THAN ONE DAILY DOSE OR PLACEBO IN ELEVATING FENO. THE TRIAL WILL USE A WELL-CONTROLLED PARADIGM OF A NATURALISTIC STRESS TO DEMONSTRATE THAT AIRWAY NO PRODUCTION IS THE CRITICAL TARGET MECHANISM UNDERLYING THE BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF DIETARY NITRATE SUPPLEMENTATION ON RESPIRATORY TRACT INFECTION AND COMMON COLD SYMPTOMS. TWO UNIVERSITY SITES WILL RECRUIT PARTICIPANTS AND THEIR FINDINGS AND EXPERIENCE IN TEAM INTEGRATION WILL PREPARE A REGULAR-SIZE TWO-ARM, DOUBLE-BLIND RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED CLINICAL TRIAL OF BEETROOT JUICE EFFECTS ON RESPIRATORY INFECTION, WHICH WILL INCLUDE ADDITIONAL RECRUITMENT SITES ACROSS THE SOUTHWESTERN US.

AMERICA’S FIRST PRINCIPLES: EXPLORING THE DECLARATION, THE WAR, AND THE CONSTITUTION

DECIPHER THE ORGANIZATION OF A MULTILAYERED CELLULAR QUALITY CONTROL NETWORK - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT IN MANY TYPES OF HUMAN DISEASES, PATHOGENESIS CAN BE ATTRIBUTED TO IMPAIRED STRUCTURE OR FUNCTION OF BIOMACROMOLECULES, INCLUDING BIOMOLECULES, MACROMOLECULAR COMPLEXES, AND ORGANELLES. IN EUKARYOTIC CELLS, MECHANISMS OF MAINTAINING THEIR INTEGRITY AT THE MOLECULAR/CELLULAR LEVEL IS KNOWN AS QUALITY CONTROL PATHWAYS, WHICH MONITOR AND REPAIR DAMAGE TO BIOLOGICAL ENTITIES. INTERFERENCE OF THE QUALITY CONTROL PATHWAYS HAS BEEN LINKED TO THE PATHOGENESIS AND PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF A WIDE SPECTRUM OF HUMAN DISEASES. INTRIGUINGLY, PATHOLOGICAL HALLMARKS CAUSED BY QUALITY CONTROL DEFECTS, SUCH AS AGGREGATION OF DEFECTIVE PROTEINS AND DAMAGED ORGANELLES, OFTEN CO-OCCUR IN MANY HUMAN DISEASES, SUGGESTING THAT DIFFERENT QUALITY CONTROL PATHWAYS MAY INTERACT AND ASSEMBLE A NETWORK IN RESPONSE TO DIVERSE TYPE OF CELLULAR STRESS. HOWEVER, WHETHER AND HOW THEY INTERACT REMAINS A MYSTERY. THE AMBIGUITY IN OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE MECHANISMS BY WHICH THEY INTERACT HAS SIGNIFICANTLY LIMITED OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE ROLE OF QUALITY CONTROL PATHWAYS IN PATHOGENESIS, AS WELL AS OUR OPTIONS FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY MITIGATING BOTH PATHOLOGICAL ABNORMALITIES IN DISEASE INTERVENTIONS. MY LONG-TERM GOAL IS TO UNDERSTAND THE BIOLOGY OF DIFFERENT QUALITY CONTROL SYSTEMS, HOW THEY COOPERATE TO MAINTAIN CELL/TISSUE INTEGRITY, AND HOW THEIR DEFICIENCIES CONTRIBUTE TO THE PATHOGENESIS OF HUMAN DISEASES. CURRENTLY, MOST RESEARCH FOCUSES ON THE ROLE OF A SINGLE QUALITY CONTROL SYSTEM, AND LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT HOW DIFFERENT SYSTEMS COOPERATE WITH EACH OTHER. MY PREVIOUS WORK HAS DEMONSTRATED THAT WHEN FACED WITH MITOCHONDRIAL STRESS, RQC (RIBOSOME-ASSOCIATED PROTEIN QUALITY CONTROL) TARGETS THE TRANSLATIONAL ARREST OF A SPECIFIC GROUP OF MITOCHONDRIAL PROTEINS ENCODED BY THE NUCLEAR GENOME. RQC GENERATES CTES (CARBOXYL-TERMINUS EXTENSIONS) ON NASCENT PEPTIDE CHAINS IN A 40S/MRNA TEMPLATE-INDEPENDENT MANNER. CTE-MODIFIED MITOCHONDRIAL PROTEINS SEVERELY IMPAIR MITOCHONDRIAL FUNCTION, POTENTIALLY LINKING RQC TO MQC (MITOCHONDRIAL QUALITY CONTROL). I HAVE FURTHER ADOPTED NEW METHODOLOGIES TO ASSESS THE EFFICIENCY OF DIFFERENT QUALITY CONTROL SYSTEMS AND DEVELOPED NOVEL ANIMAL MODELS THAT PAVE THE WAY FOR ANALYZING THE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN QUALITY CONTROL PATHWAYS. IN UNPUBLISHED WORK, WE FOUND EVIDENCE THAT SPLIT RIBOSOMAL SUBUNITS FROM STALLED TRANSLATION MACHINERY HAVE UNIQUE AND CRITICAL ROLES IN LINKING DIFFERENT LEVELS OF QUALITY CONTROLS PATHWAYS, AND IN COORDINATION WITH OTHER CELLULAR SIGNALING PATHWAYS. FOR THE NEXT 5-YEAR PERIOD, MY LAB WILL FOCUS ON DISSECTING THEIR MOLECULAR BASIS. THE QUESTIONS WE ASK ARE, WHAT SIGNALING PATHWAYS CONNECT AND REGULATE, OR CAN BE CONNECTED AND REGULATED BY STALLED/DISSOCIATED RIBOSOMAL SUBUNITS, DURING STRESS RESPONSE. THE ANSWER TO THESE QUESTIONS WILL FILL GAPS IN OUR KNOWLEDGE OF A FUNDAMENTAL BIOLOGICAL CONCEPT, NAMELY HOW CELLS MOBILIZE DIFFERENT QUALITY CONTROL PATHWAYS IN RESPONSE TO VARIOUS STRESSES. THEY WILL ALSO GAIN INSIGHTS INTO HOW DYSREGULATION OF QUALITY CONTROL MECHANISMS SIMULTANEOUSLY CONTRIBUTES TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF CO-OCCURRING PATHOLOGICAL FEATURES IN DISEASE PATHOGENESIS.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

UPWARD BOUND MATH SCIENCE SOAR

PROJECT LAUNCH

PROJECT LIFT

HI-TECH EYES: ACTIVE ILLUMINATION AND UNCONSTRAINED IRIS RECOGNITION

UPWARD BOUND MATH SCIENCE STEM

TARGETING CO2 LEVELS IN BREATHING TRAINING FOR ASTHMA

PROJECT GROW

EXPLORING COLLABORATIVE EMBODIMENT FOR LEARNING (EXCEL): UNDERSTANDING GEOMETRY THROUGH MULTIPLE MODALITIES

SMU UPWARD BOUND CLASSIC 3

MULTIMODAL LABEL-FREE NANOSENSOR FOR SINGLE VIRUS CHARACTERIZATION AND CONTENT ANALYSIS - PROJECT SUMMARY RECENTLY VIRUS PARTICLES HAVE GAINED IMMENSE ATTENTION FOR THEIR POTENTIAL AS TRANSFORMATIVE THERAPEUTIC CARRIERS. FOR EXAMPLE, THE FDA-APPROVED BIOLOGIC LUXTURNA IS AN ADENO-ASSOCIATED VIRUS (AAV) USED TO CARRY GENETIC MATERIALS TO TREAT HEREDITARY BLINDNESS. IN DRUG DELIVERY, QUALITY CONTROL IS VERY IMPORTANT AND THE PERCENTAGE OF EMPTY AND PART-FILLED CAPSIDS IN SUCH A SAMPLE NEEDS TO BE DETERMINED ACCURATELY TO AVOID POSSIBLE CATASTROPHIC EFFECTS OF OVERDOSING. WHILE THERE ARE EXISTING TECHNIQUES LIKE ELISA AND QPCR THAT ARE USED FOR THIS PURPOSE, BLIND STUDIES HAVE SHOWN ALARMINGLY HIGH INTRA-SAMPLE STANDARD DEVIATIONS. WE PROPOSE A SIMPLER YET MORE EFFECTIVE TECHNIQUE TO DISCRIMINATE AAVS DEPENDING ON THEIR CARGO CONTENT – A PLASMONIC NANOPORE SENSOR WITH AUTOMATED RECAPTURE CAPABILITY FOR ELECTRICAL SENSING, ALIGNED TO OPERATE IN TANDEM WITH AN OPTICAL TRAPPING SYSTEM. VIRUSES ARE SOFT NANOPARTICLES AND THE DEFORMABILITY OF AAV CAPSIDS DEPENDS ON THEIR CARGO CONTENT. WE WILL IMPLEMENT OUR BIMODAL VIRUS CHARACTERIZATION PLATFORM THROUGH OUR THREE SPECIFIC AIMS: (1A) CHARACTERIZE DEFORMATION DYNAMICS OF SINGLE AAVS DURING TRANSLOCATIONS THROUGH SOLID-STATE NANOPORES; (1B) RECAPTURE EACH VIRUS AFTER TRANSLOCATION AND AUTOMATE A RECAPTURE PROTOCOL; (2) CAPTURE SINGLE AAVS BY SELF-INDUCED BACK-ACTION (SIBA) ACTUATED NANOPORE ELECTROPHORESIS (SANE) OPTICAL TRAPPING IN TANDEM WITH ELECTRICAL RECAPTURING; (3) ACHIEVE ROBUST CLASSIFICATION OF AAVS BASED ON THEIR CARGO LOAD BY APPLYING MACHINE LEARNING TO OPTICAL-ELECTRICAL SIGNALS THAT DEPEND ON VIRUS DEFORAMABILITY DURING EXPERIMENTS. FIRST, WE WILL TRACK THE VOLTAGE-INDUCED DEFORMABILITY OF THREE AAV SAMPLES OF DIFFERENT CARGO CONTENTS: FILLED WITH SSDNA (AAVSSDNA), DSDNA (AAVDSDNA), AND EMPTY CAPSIDS (AAVEMPTY) THROUGH A RANGE OF VOLTAGES. EACH TYPE OF AAV IS EXPECTED TO INDUCE A UNIQUE AND REPRODUCIBLE CHANGE IN RELATIVE TRANSLOCATION CURRENT VERSUS APPLIED VOLTAGE. A NARROW VOLTAGE RANGE THAT SHOWS THE BEST DISCRIMINATION WILL BE APPLIED ON DIFFERENT PERCENTAGE MIXTURES OF AAVSSDNA+AAVEMPTY AND AAVDSDNA+AAVEMPTY. CONDITIONS WILL BE OPTIMIZED TO GET THE BEST DISCRIMINATION BETWEEN CARGO-FILLED AAVS AND THE EMPTY/PART-FILLED CAPSID POPULATIONS. ONCE THIS STEP IS SUCCESSFUL, WE WILL INCORPORATE SINGLE/MULTIPLE RECAPTURE CAPABILITY TO THE PLATFORM TO GAIN STATISTICALLY SOUND DATA PER AAV PARTICLE. NEXT, A GOLD DOUBLE NANOHOLE STRUCTURE WILL BE FABRICATED ON TOP OF THE NANOPORE TO OPTICALLY TRAP AAVS BY SIBA FORCE, WHICH WILL FURTHER DEFORM AAVS AND SLOW DOWN THEIR TRANSLOCATION. IMPORTANTLY, OPTICAL-ELECTRICAL TANDEM SENSING WILL ALLOW CHARACTERIZATION OF SINGLE AAV SIZE DEFORMATIONS DECOUPLED FROM CHARGE EFFECTS. FOR AUTOMATIC CLASSIFICATION OF VIRUSES, WE WILL DEVELOP A PROBABILISTIC (BAYESIAN) MACHINE LEARNING MODEL WITH MULTIPLE DATA SEGMENTS FROM OPTICAL-ELECTRICAL SIGNALS OF SINGLE AAVS FOR VERY HIGH ACCURACY PREDICTIONS. THE PROPOSED MACHINE LEANRING ASSISTED ELECTRICAL- OPTICAL SENSING WILL DETECT THE FRACTION OF VIRAL PARTICLES (E.G., THE AAVDSDNA FRACTION) FROM A COMPLEX AAV MIXTURE WHILE USING ONLY PICO- TO NANO-MOLAR CONCENTRATIONS, IN CONTRAST TO CURRENT ANALYTICAL ULTRACENRIFUGATION TECHNOLOGIES THAT USE UP SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF AN AAV PREPARATION IN THE QUALITY ASSURANCE STEP.

TAS::89 0227::TAS RECOVERY; NEW-EARLY CAREER; RECOVERY ACT - INTEGRATED ANALYSIS OF PARTICLE INTERACTIONS AT HARDON COLLIDERS; PI - PAVEL NADOLSKY

GAS HYDRATE DYNAMICS ON THE ALASKAN BEAUFORT CONTINENTAL SLOPE: MODELING AND FIELD CHARACTERIZATION

USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO PERSONALIZE MATHEMATICS INSTRUCTION TO STUDENTS INTERESTS -THIS DEVELOPING AND TESTING INNOVATIONS PROJECT AIMS TO EXPLORE THE IMPACTS AND OPPORTUNITIES THAT EMERGE WHEN USING GENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (GENAI) TO CONSTRUCT PERSONALIZED ALGEBRA PROBLEMS FOR 7TH GRADE STUDENTS. MIDDLE SCHOOL ALGEBRA IS TARGETED BECAUSE RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT ALGEBRA COURSES CAN BE A MAJOR BARRIER TO FUTURE ENGAGEMENT WITH SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATH (STEM) AND INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) CAREERS. THE PROJECT BUILDS ON PRIOR WORK THAT ESTABLISHED THAT PERSONALIZED ALGEBRA INTERVENTIONS THAT CONNECT MATH TO STUDENTS? INTEREST IN AREAS LIKE SPORTS OR VIDEO GAMES COULD INCREASE BOTH CORE ALGEBRAIC KNOWLEDGE AND STEM CAREER INTEREST FOR STUDENTS WITH LOW ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT. ALGEBRA PERFORMANCE IS GATEKEEPER TO FURTHER SUCCESSFUL STEM STUDY AND CAREERS, MAKING IT AN IDEAL TARGET FOR INCREASING THE NUMBER AND DIVERSITY OF LEARNERS WHO PURSUE STEM STUDY AND ROLES IN THE STEM WORKFORCE. FURTHER, THIS PROJECT WILL GAIN A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW TO EMPLOY AI TO SUPPORT TEACHERS, DEVELOPING NEW MODELS FOR HOW TO MAKE TEACHING MORE EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE WHILE STILL PRESERVING THE TEACHERS' AGENCY. THIS PROJECT IS FUNDED BY THE INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY EXPERIENCES FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS (ITEST) PROGRAM, WHICH SUPPORTS PROJECTS THAT BUILD UNDERSTANDINGS OF PRACTICES, PROGRAM ELEMENTS, CONTEXTS AND PROCESSES CONTRIBUTING TO INCREASING STUDENTS' KNOWLEDGE AND INTEREST IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) AND INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) CAREERS. THE PROJECT HAS IDENTIFIED TWO DISTINCT GENAI-ENABLED PERSONALIZATION STRATEGIES TO EXPLORE: A ?GREATER DEPTH? APPROACH THAT TRAINS THE AI TO GENERATE NEW PERSONALIZED PROBLEMS THAT ARE MEANINGFUL TO STUDENT EXPERIENCES WITH THEIR INTEREST AREAS, VERSUS A ?SMALLER GRAIN SIZE? APPROACH THAT USES AI TO MODIFY THE PRESENTATION OF EXISTING PROBLEMS TO MORE SUPERFICIALLY REFLECT STUDENT INTEREST AREAS BUT BE EASILY SCALABLE BY TEACHERS. THESE STRATEGIES LIKELY HAVE DIFFERENT AFFORDANCES FOR BOTH STUDENTS AND TEACHERS, WHICH WILL BE INVESTIGATED BY THE RESEARCH. SPECIFICALLY, THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS WILL INVESTIGATE THE IMPACT OF AI-GENERATED WORD PROBLEMS (WITH AND WITHOUT AI-GENERATED IMAGES) ON STUDENT MATH PERFORMANCE, STUDY THE TRADEOFFS FOR BOTH STUDENTS AND TEACHERS FOR THE TWO DIFFERENT GENAI PERSONALIZATION STRATEGIES, INVESTIGATE CHANGES IN HOW TEACHERS UNDERSTAND STUDENT INTERESTS AND POSING MATH STORY PROBLEMS AS A RESULT OF USING GENAI, AND INVESTIGATE HOW TEACHERS CAN USE PROMPT ENGINEERING TO PRODUCE PERSONALIZED PROBLEMS. THE PROJECT WILL USE PARTICIPATORY APPROACHES TO ENGAGE TEACHERS IN ITERATIVE CYCLES OF DESIGN, INCREASING THE LIKELIHOOD THAT THE APPROACH WILL DRAW UPON LEARNERS? FUNDS OF KNOWLEDGE. THE INTELLECTUAL MERIT OF THIS PROPOSAL LIES IN ITS EXPLORATION OF EMPLOYING GENAI TO SCALE UP PERSONALIZATION IN MATHEMATICS ? IT WILL DOCUMENT THE OPPORTUNITIES, CONSTRAINTS, AND BARRIERS INVOLVED IN USING THIS TECHNOLOGY FOR BOTH TEACHERS AND STUDENTS. IT WILL ALSO ADD TO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPACT OF PERSONALIZATION ON STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN MATHEMATICS. GIVEN THE FACT THAT ALGEBRA OFTEN FUNCTIONS AS A GATEKEEPER TO MORE ADVANCED STEM COURSES, THE POTENTIAL BROADER IMPACTS OF THIS PROJECT ARE LARGE ? ANY IMPROVEMENTS IN LEARNER ENGAGEMENT IN MATHEMATICS CAN HAVE LASTING BENEFITS FOR LEARNERS? STEM TRAJECTORIES, AND ONLINE LEARNING PLATFORMS WHERE GENAI CAN BE LEVERAGED ARE WIDELY-USED IN MATHEMATICS. THE CURRICULUM AND MODELS DEVELOPED BY THIS PROJECT WILL BE MADE FREELY AVAILABLE AND IMPLEMENTABLE VIA THE ASSISTMENTS PLATFORM, THUS SCALING UP THE REACH OF THIS WORK TO TENS OF THOUSANDS OF LEARNERS ACROSS THE UNITED 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

SMU UPWARD BOUND CLASSIC 2

NEUROCARDIAC MECHANISMS OF EPILEPSY WITH HIGH RISK OF SUDEP

SAFE-NET: AN INTEGRATED CONNECTED VEHICLE AND COMPUTING PLATFORM FOR PUBLIC SAFETY APPLICATIONS

SMU UBMS STEM PROJECT

SMU UBMS SOAR PROJECT

SMU UPWARD BOUND CLASSIC 3

MUSTANG MCNAIR SCHOLARS PROGRAM

UPWARD BOUND

PROTEIN:PROTEIN INTERACTION NETWORKS IN THE CIRCADIAN CLOCK

TALENT SEARCH PROGRAM

UPWARD BOUND

RONALD E. MCNAIR POSTBACCALAUREATE ACHIEVEMENT PROGRAM

LANDSLIDES ARE THE DOWNSLOPE MOVEMENT OF SOIL AND/OR ROCK UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF GRAVITY WHICH IS AN IMPORTANT GEOMORPHIC PROCESS SCULPTING THE LANDSCAPES BY TRANSPORTING LARGE VOLUMES OF SEDIMENT FROM SLOPES TO CATCHMENTS THROUGH THE FLUVIAL SYSTEM. ANNUALLY LANDSLIDES COST $3.5 BILLION (IN 2005) AND RESULT IN 25 50 CASUALTIES NATIONWIDE. THE MOUNTAINOUS NORTHWESTERN US IS PARTICULARLY PRONE DUE TO HEAVY RAINFALL IN WINTER WHICH RESULTS IN HUNDREDS OF LANDSLIDES AND THE EXPENSE OF FEDERAL AND STATE BUDGETS FOR FIXING RAILWAYS HIGHWAYS AND DAMS. THERE EXISTS AN OBVIOUS LINKAGE BETWEEN TWO DISTINCT GEOHAZARDS (PRECIPITATION AND LANDSLIDES) BUT WHILE THE ANALYSIS OF THESE TWO HAZARDS HAS BEEN THEORETICALLY APPROACHED IT HAS BEEN RATHER FRAGMENTED IN PRACTICE AND HAS LACKED A FULL INTEGRATION OF ALL THE ASSOCIATED DATA. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO CHARACTERIZE THE MAJOR HYDROLOGY-DRIVEN LANDSLIDES IN THE NORTHWESTERN US (WASHINGTON OREGON) AT A LARGE SCALE WITH HIGH RESOLUTION AND ACCURACY USING RADAR REMOTE SENSING TECHNIQUES THE ADVANCED INSAR (INTERFEROMETRIC SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR) METHOD TRMM (TROPICAL RAINFALL MEASURING MISSION) PRECIPITATION PRODUCT AND SMAP (SOIL MOISTURE ACTIVE PASSIVE) SOIL MOISTURE. IN OUR STUDY WE WILL BRING THESE FRAGMENTED OBSERVATIONS AND MEASUREMENTS TO A SINGLE FRAMEWORK FOR THE MODELING (E.G. LANDSLIDE AND DEBRIS-FLOW DYNAMICS) OF RAPIDLY ACCELERATING AND SLOWMOVING LANDSLIDES. INSAR TIME-SERIES DISPLACEMENT WITH DENSE SCATTERERS ON THE SLOPE WILL GIVE AN INDICATION OF LANDSLIDE SUSCEPTIBILITY AND HELP CHARACTERIZE THE SLIDE-BODY VOLUME AND BASAL SLIP SURFACE BASED ON GEOMECHANICAL MODELING. PRECIPITATION AND SOIL MOISTURE SENSED FROM SPACE WILL CONTRIBUTE TO CREATING HYDROGEOLOGIC MODELS WITH SOIL PROPERTIES AND TOPOGRAPHIC FEATURES. THESE CRUCIAL PARAMETERS WILL BE PLUGGED INTO STATE-OF-ART LANDSLIDE DYNAMICS MODELS AND THE TRIGGERS THAT CONTROLLED THE INITIAL SLOPE FAILURE THROUGH SLOPE STABILITY ANALYSIS AND ITERATIVE NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS CAN BE IDENTIFIED. THIS STUDY WILL HELP PROVIDE A MORE COMPLETE KNOWLEDGE FOR UNDERSTANDING THE MECHANISMS AND DYNAMICS OF PREVIOUS LANDSLIDES MITIGATING POTENTIAL AND FUTURE LANDSLIDES AND IMPROVING THE CURRENT TECHNIQUES FOR COUPLING OBSERVATION AND MODELING. OUR PROPOSAL RESPONDS DIRECTLY TO THE FOCUS FIELDS OF THIS NASA IDS SOLICITATION THROUGH EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EXTREME PRECIPITATION (HYDROLOGY HAZARD) AND LANDSLIDES (SOLID EARTH HAZARD). OUR PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL ENHANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING ABOUT THE INTER-RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TOPOGRAPHIC AND GEOLOGIC SETTINGS HYDROLOGIC FORCES LANDSLIDE MECHANISMS AND KINEMATICS INFERRED FROM TIME-SERIES MEASUREMENTS AND LANDSLIDE MODELING ON A REGIONAL SCALE.

CAREER: TOWARDS SECOND GENERATION DARK MATTER EXPERIMENTS

UPWARD BOUND PROGRAM

TALENT SEARCH PROGRAM

TALENT SEARCH PROGRAM

A ROLE FOR THE COMPLEMENT SYSTEM IN SEIZURE INDUCED NEURONAL AND DENDRITIC INJURY

TALENT SEARCH PROGRAM

SUPERCDMS SNOLAB PRE-OPERATIONS

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS GRANT IS TO PROTOTYPE A SMART AND RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE (SRI) TOOLKIT TO SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS THAT MAXIMIZE RESILIENCE IN UNDERSERVED URBAN NEIGHBORHOODS. ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE RESEARCHERS WILL CREATE HOUSEHOLD- AND NEIGHBORHOOD-SCALE INFRASTRUCTURE AND RESILIENCE ASSESSMENTS AND COLLECT DATA AND INFORMATION ON THE IMPACTS OF CHRONIC DISINVESTMENT AND NATURAL HAZARDS, COMMUNITY NEEDS, AND PRIORITIES FOR IMPROVING INFRASTRUCTURE. THE RESEARCHERS WILL DEVELOP MACHINE LEARNING AND STATISTICAL MODELS AND TOOLS ON NEIGHBORHOOD INFRASTRUCTURE NETWORKS AND THE IMPACTS OF INFRASTRUCTURE DEFICIENCIES ON RESILIENCE AND IMPLEMENT THE DATA AND MODELS IN THE SRI DECISION DASHBOARD TO SUPPORT SMART DECISION-MAKING BY GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, NONPROFITS, CONSULTANTS, AND DEVELOPERS. THE RESEARCHERS WILL ALSO DEVELOP, IMPLEMENT, AND ASSESS WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS FOR PLANNING, DESIGNING, AND MANAGING SRI INFRASTRUCTURE AND SMART TECHNOLOGIES. EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE IMPROVEMENTS SHOULD INCREASE EFFICIENCIES AND COST SAVINGS THROUGH RAPID IDENTIFICATION OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE AND HIGH-IMPACT NEIGHBORHOOD INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS. THE EXPECTED OUTCOMES INCLUDE NEW HOUSEHOLD- AND NEIGHBORHOOD-SCALE INFRASTRUCTURE AND RESILIENCE ASSESSMENT METHODS, COMPLETED EXPERIENCE SAMPLING, INTERVIEW, AND FOCUS GROUP STUDY IN CASE STUDY NEIGHBORHOODS, MACHINE LEARNING AND STATISTICAL MODELS OF NEIGHBORHOOD INFRASTRUCTURE AND RESILIENCE RELATIONSHIPS, SRI DECISION DASHBOARD, AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: THE PROJECT CAN IMPROVE NEIGHBORHOOD AND HOUSEHOLD RESILIENCE THROUGH INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS THAT MEET RESIDENTS? NEEDS AND REDUCE VULNERABILITIES. IT CAN ALSO PREPARE THE WORKFORCE AND INCREASE INTEREST IN SRI AND STEM CAREERS FROM STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN PROJECT RESEARCH. SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT PLANS TO SUBAWARD FUNDS TO DALLAS COLLEGE TO CONDUCT A TASK ON DEVELOP, IMPLEMENT, AND ASSESS WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS FOR PLANNING, DESIGNING, AND MANAGING SRI INFRASTRUCTURE AND SMART TECHNOLOGIES OF THIS RESEARCH PROJECT.

UPWARD BOUND MATH & SCIENCE

PANORAMA: AN INTERPRETABLE CONTEXT-AWARE AI FRAMEWORK FOR INTEGRATED REAL-TIME INTERSECTION DETECTION AND SIGNAL OPTIMIZATION

DIVERSITY SUPPLEMENT TO R00 AG056667, COUPLES' INTERACTIONS AND INFLAMMATORY RESPONSES: THE CONTEXT-DEPENDENT ROLE OF AGE

USING GENERATIVE AI TO CREATE ILLUSTRATIVE DIAGRAMS TO SUPPORT MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM-SOLVING -FINDING WAYS TO MAKE SCHOOL MATH INSTRUCTION MORE EFFECTIVE AND RELEVANT IS IMPORTANT FOR SUPPORTING STUDENT PATHWAYS IN STEM (SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS). MATHEMATICAL TASKS THAT DESCRIBE REAL LIFE SITUATIONS REPRESENT AN AREA OF STRUGGLE FOR MANY K-12 STUDENTS. THIS PROJECT USES A NOVEL APPROACH WHERE FREE, HIGH-QUALITY ILLUSTRATIVE DIAGRAMS ARE AUTOMATICALLY GENERATED FOR MATH PROBLEMS USING RECENT ADVANCES IN GENERATIVE AI. ILLUSTRATIVE DIAGRAMS ARE IMAGES THAT ARE VISUALLY COMPELLING AND ARTISTIC, WHILE ALSO CONTAINING MATHEMATICAL INFORMATION SUCH AS ACCURATE MEASUREMENTS OF GEOMETRIC FIGURES OR THE PRECISE NUMBER OF OBJECTS IN A COLLECTION. SUCH IMAGES HAVE TYPICALLY BEEN COSTLY AND TIME-CONSUMING TO PRODUCE; HOWEVER, IN THIS PROJECT, THEY WILL BE CREATED IN A FREE AND SCALABLE WAY USING CUTTING-EDGE AI APPROACHES. THE RESEARCH WILL INVOLVE INTERVIEWING MATH TEACHERS AND OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE DEVELOPERS (WHO PRODUCE FREE CURRICULUM MATERIALS) ABOUT THEIR NEEDS AND PILOTING METHODS FOR DEVELOPING AI-ENHANCED ILLUSTRATIVE DIAGRAMS IN COLLABORATION WITH THESE STAKEHOLDERS. AN EXPERIMENT WILL THEN BE CONDUCTED USING THE ASSISTMENTS ONLINE HOMEWORK PLATFORM TO EXAMINE THE EFFECT OF AI-GENERATED ILLUSTRATIVE DIAGRAMS ON MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS' MATHEMATICAL LEARNING. USING EFFECTIVE MATH VISUALS DURING INSTRUCTION IS AN IMPORTANT WAY TO IMPACT STUDENTS' INTEREST AND PERFORMANCE. THE TECHNICAL APPROACH USED IN THIS PROJECT INVOLVES CONTROLNETS, WHICH ALLOW FOR RICH ILLUSTRATIVE FEATURES TO BE LAYERED OVER MATHEMATICAL DIAGRAMS THAT ARE RENDERED BY GENERATIVE AI FROM NATURAL LANGUAGE PROMPTS. CONTROLNETS CAN GENERATE IMAGES THAT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE TO CREATE THROUGH TRADITIONAL PROMPTING, AND LEARNING MORE ABOUT HOW TO APPLY THEM IN CONTEXTS WHERE IMAGE COMPOSITION AND SPATIAL POSITIONING AND MEASUREMENTS NEED TO BE PRECISE WILL HAVE FAR-REACHING IMPLICATIONS ACROSS MANY USE CASES IN IMAGE GENERATION. THE EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH QUESTIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS: (1) WHAT NEEDS DO TEACHERS AND OPEN EDUCATION RESOURCE DEVELOPERS EXPRESS RELATED TO MATHEMATICS VISUALS IN THEIR CURRICULUM MATERIALS? (2) WHAT PRACTICES DO TEACHERS AND DEVELOPERS ENGAGE IN WHEN GENERATING THEIR OWN MATH VISUALS, WITH AND WITHOUT AI? (3) HOW DOES THE PRESENCE OF AI-GENERATED ILLUSTRATIVE DIAGRAMS AFFECT MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS' INTEREST, PERFORMANCE, AND LEARNING? THIS PROJECT WILL ADVANCE COMPUTER SCIENCE, AS CONTROLNETS ARE A NEW APPROACH AND THERE IS LIMITED RESEARCH ON HOW THEY CAN BE LEVERAGED. THE COMPUTER SCIENCE RESEARCH QUESTIONS ARE: (1) WHICH TYPES OF CONTROLNET PRE-PROCESSING MODELS WORK BEST FOR DIFFERENT IMAGE TYPES? (2) HOW CAN CONTROLNETS BE IMPLEMENTED TO PRESERVE KEY PROPERTIES OF MATHEMATICAL DIAGRAMS? (3) HOW CAN THE PROCESS FOR USING CONTROLNETS TO GENERATE ILLUSTRATIVE DIAGRAMS BE OPTIMIZED, AND WHAT IS THE ROLE OF AUTONOMOUS AI AGENTS? THIS PROJECT IS FUNDED BY THE RESEARCH ON INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES FOR ENHANCED LEARNING (RITEL) PROGRAM THAT SUPPORTS EARLY-STAGE EXPLORATORY RESEARCH IN EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

DEVELOPING COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS FOR MODEL-BASED ORAL READING FLUENCY ASSESSMENTS

LEARNING THROUGH GAMING: VR AND AR CAN ADDRESS COVID-19 LEARNING LOSS FOR UNDERSERVED STUDENTS IN DISD AND THE WEST DALLAS STEM SCHOOL

PERPETRATION OF PARTNER VIOLENCE AMONG ADOLESCENTS FROM VIOLENT HOMES

TAS::57 3600:: TAS "STEM WORKFORCE PIPELINE"

UPWARD BOUND MATH & SCIENCE

GLUTATHIONE, OXIDATIVE STRESS, AND AGING

LABOR AND SEX TRAFFICKING CONTINUES TO BE ON THE AGENDAS OF FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES. REPORTS AND LAWS STATE THE NEED FOR MORE AND HIGHER-QUALITY HUMAN TRAFFICKING DATA. HUMAN TRAFFICKING EFFORTS BY STAKEHOLDERS, INCLUDING THE GOVERNMENT, LAW ENFORCEMENT, SERVICE PROVIDERS, LAWYERS, NONPROFIT AGENCIES, AND RESEARCHERS, CALL FOR RELIABLE DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS. SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY’S (SMU) HUMAN TRAFFICKING PROJECT (“PROJECT”) DIRECTLY ADDRESSES THE DEFICIENCIES IN DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS AND IN THE COLLABORATION OF EXPERTISE NEEDED TO ENSURE DATA EFFICACY AND COMPLETE EFFECTIVE HUMAN TRAFFICKING RESEARCH. THE PROJECT WILL CONSTRUCT THE SMU HUMAN TRAFFICKING DATA WAREHOUSE (“DATA WAREHOUSE”), CREATE A HUMAN COMPUTATIONAL-MACHINE LEARNING GAME TO SCRAPE AND COMPLETE HUMAN TRAFFICKING DATASETS, AND CONSULT WITH STAKEHOLDERS WHO OWN DATASETS, ARE INTERESTED IN COLLECTING DATA, AND HAVE THE NEED FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING DATA FOR ANTI-HUMAN TRAFFICKING RESEARCH AND WORK. RESEARCH WILL DETERMINE THE LINK BETWEEN ECONOMICS AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING, THE COST OF DOING NOTHING ABOUT HUMAN TRAFFICKING, THE SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL PATTERNS IN HUMAN TRAFFICKING DATA AND DISPARITIES IN OUTCOMES, AND HOW TO EXTRACT AND COMPLETE HUMAN TRAFFICKING DATASETS USING THE INTEGRATION OF HUMAN-IN-THE-LOOP MACHINE LEARNING VIA HUMAN COMPUTATION GAMING. THE DATA WAREHOUSE PROVIDES FOR THE SECURE COLLECTION, STORAGE, CLEANING, AND FILLING IN THE GAPS OF THE WIDE VARIETY OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING DATA TYPES AND SOURCES. THE DATA WAREHOUSE WILL BE AVAILABLE TO STAKEHOLDERS WITH EXISTING SOURCES OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING DATA AS WELL AS ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS INVOLVED IN ANTI-TRAFFICKING WORK WHO ARE INTERESTED IN COLLECTING DATA. NEW METHODS WILL BE USED INVOLVING HUMAN COMPUTATION GAMING AND MACHINE LEARNING TO SCRAPE AND CLEAN UP DATA FROM ADDITIONAL SOURCES THAT CAN BE OVERLAPPED WITH EXISTING DATA SOURCES TO CREATE MORE ROBUST DATA. DURING THE COURSE OF THE PROJECT, PLANS WILL BE FORMULATED ON HOW TO BEST USE DATA VISUALIZATION TO PRESENT DATA FOR DISSEMINATION IN A FORMAT AND METHOD THAT PRACTITIONERS, POLICY MAKERS, AND RESEARCHERS CAN EASILY ACCESS, UNDERSTAND, AND USE. SMU’S UNIQUE COLLABORATIVE SETTING ALLOWS ECONOMICS, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, GAMING, PUBLIC POLICY, LAW, EDUCATION, THEOLOGY, AND OTHER DISCIPLINES TO COME TOGETHER TO SOLVE WORLD PROBLEMS. SMU CONTAINS VAST RESOURCES, SUCH THE EXPERTISE OF SMU GUILDHALL, THE TOP COMPUTER GAMING SCHOOL, THE SUPER COMPUTER MANEFRAME, SMU’S RESEARCH CENTERS, DEPARTMENTS, AND LIBRARIES, AN INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH GROUP, AND A LAW SCHOOL. THIS PROJECT WILL INVEST IN BUILDING EXPERTISE TO DRIVE EFFECTIVE RESEARCH, POLICY MAKING, AND PRACTICE. THIS IS DONE THROUGH THE CREATION OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH TEAMS MADE UP OF EXPERTS WITHIN AND EXTERNAL TO SMU. WE ALSO PROVIDE FUNDING FOR POSTDOCTORAL, GRADUATE, AND UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH IN ORDER TO TRAIN NEW HUMAN TRAFFICKING RESEARCHERS. COMPETITION BY RIVAL ORGANIZATIONS AND PARTNERSHIP FOR LIMITED FUNDING IS A MAJOR PROBLEM IN THE ANTI-TRAFFICKING SPACE. SMU WORKS AS AN INDEPENDENT AGENCY TO COORDINATE GOVERNMENT AND NONGOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS, PRACTITIONERS, AND RESEARCHERS TO COME TOGETHER TO SOLVE ISSUES RELATED TO HUMAN TRAFFICKING. WE WILL PROVIDE EXPERTISE AND RESOURCES TO TASK FORCES, COALITIONS, AND AGENCIES IN THE U.S. AND ABROAD. THE PROJECT DIRECTLY ADDRESSES THE GOALS OF THE BYRNE DISCRETIONARY GRANTS PROGRAM BY COLLECTING RELEVANT DATA AND CONDUCTING RESEARCH THAT WILL WORK TO IMPROVE THE FUNCTIONING OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM, BY ADDRESSING THE HUMAN TRAFFICKING OF JUVENILES, AND BY ASSISTING ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS THAT WORK TO IMPROVE THE LIVES OF VICTIMS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING. THE PROJECT TARGETS ONE OF THE MAIN GOALS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TO PROVIDE DATA, ANALYSIS, CONSULTATION, AND COLLABORATION THAT LEADS TO THE PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF THE CRIME OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND THE JUST PUNISHMENT FOR THOSE GUILTY OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING. “NCA/NCF”

II-NEW: MULTI-DIMENSIONAL DRONE COMMUNICATION INFRASTRUCTURE

A COMMUNITY-FOCUSED PATHWAY FOR MATHEMATICS TEACHER PREPARATION

STEPPINGSTONES OF TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION

UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHP BETWEEN SOUTHEREN METHODIST UNIVERSITY AND THE DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY OF SHAEED BENAZIR WOMEN UNIVERSITY.

NATIONAL BEST PRACTICE STANDARDS ARE UNEQUIVOCAL. FULFILLING THE SIXTH AMENDMENT PROMISE MADE IN GIDEON VS. WAINWRIGHT REQUIRES DEFENSE DELIVERY SYSTEMS THAT PROMPTLY PROVIDE COUNSEL TO ANY ARRESTED PERSON TOO POOR TO RETAIN THEIR OWN ATTORNEY. YET, JURISDICTIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY ROUTINELY FAIL TO PROVIDE INDIGENT ARRESTED PEOPLE WITH COUNSEL. EXPERTS POSIT THAT THESE PROBLEMS MAY BE MOST SERIOUS IN AD HOC SYSTEMS FOR DELIVERING INDIGENT DEFENSE, USUALLY RUN BY LOCAL JUDGES WHO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT THEIR OWN STRATEGIES FOR PROVIDING APPOINTED COUNSEL. DO MORE STRUCTURED DEFENSE DELIVERY SYSTEMSSUCH AS STAFFED PUBLIC DEFENDER OFFICES (DEFENDER OFFICES) AND MANAGED ASSIGNED COUNSEL PROGRAMS (MACS)DO A BETTER JOB AT PROVIDING ELIGIBLE PEOPLE WITH APPOINTED COUNSEL? TO EXPLORE THIS RESEARCH QUESTION, THE DEASON CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM CENTER WILL COLLECT QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE DATA ON INDIGENT DEFENSE SERVICES IN FIVE JURISDICTIONS THAT RECENTLY CREATED A PUBLIC DEFENDER OFFICE OR A MAC. THESE DIVERSE STUDY SITES SPAN FOUR STATES AND INCLUDE RURAL, SUBURBAN, AND URBAN LEGAL SYSTEMS. EACH SITE HAS AGREED TO PROVIDE THE CENTER WITH COMPREHENSIVE ACCESS TO ITS DATA FROM BEFORE AND AFTER THE CREATION OF THESE NEW STRUCTURES FOR INDIGENT DEFENSE DELIVERY. THE CENTERS MIXED-METHOD EMPIRICAL ANALYSES WILL EXAMINE THREE SPECIFIC ISSUES. FIRST, ARE AD HOC DEFENSE DELIVERY SYSTEMS MORE OR LESS LIKELY PROVIDE INDIGENT PEOPLE WITH COUNSEL THAN STRUCTURED DEFENSE DELIVERY SYSTEMS SUCH AS DEFENDER OFFICES AND MACS? SECOND, DOES REPLACING AN AD HOC SYSTEM WITH A STRUCTURED SYSTEM IMPACT CASE OUTCOMES, BOTH FOR INDIGENT DEFENDANTS AND ALL OTHER CRIMINAL DEFENDANTS IN THE LOCAL LEGAL SYSTEM? AND THIRD, ARE THE CHANGES ASSOCIATED WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF STRUCTURED DEFENSE DELIVERY SYSTEMS EQUALLY DISTRIBUTED ACROSS DEFENDANTS WITH DIFFERENT DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS? THE RESULTING STUDY WILL INTEGRATE QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF CHANGES IN POLICY, PRACTICE, AND PROCEDURE IN EACH SITE WITH DIFFERENCE-IN-DIFFERENCE STATISTICAL COMPARISONS THAT QUANTIFY IMPACTS OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE ON APPOINTED COUNSEL REPRESENTATION RATES AND DEFENDANTS OUTCOMES IN COURT. DRAWING ON THE CENTERS RESEARCH-FOR-REFORM MODEL, THIS STUDY WILL GENERATE ACTIONABLE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLICYMAKERS AND INDIGENT DEFENSE LEADERS. CA/NCF

PROBING HIDDEN CONFORMATIONAL SPACE AND DYNAMICAL STATES OF CIRCADIAN CLOCK PROTEINS THROUGH RIGID RESIDUE SCAN AND MACHINE LEARNING

DE NOVO ESTABLISHMENT OF POLYCOMB-GROUP-MEDIATED REPRESSION

RONALD E. MCNAIR POSTBACCALAUREATE ACHIEVEMENT

THE SMU SUPERCDMS PROGRAM

PRACTICAL TENSOR HYPERCONTRACTION COUPLED CLUSTER METHODS FOR EXCITED STATE DYNAMICS

MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF P53 DEPENDENT LONGEVITY REGULATION

CHEMICAL PROBES FOR IMAGING REACTIVE SULFUR, OXYGEN, AND NITROGEN SPECIES IN LIVING CELLS AND CLINICAL SAMPLES

OPTIMIZATION-BASE TECHNIQUES FOR DESIGNING OPTICAL NETWORKS

FISCAL YEAR 2023 CONSOLIDATED INNOVATIVE NUCLEAR RESEARCH - UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS-SAN ANTONIO

IBSS: GLOBAL URBANIZATION AND HOUSING AFFORDABILITY: POVERTY, PROPERTY, AND THE CITY

IN VITRO TESTING OF P-GLYCOPROTEIN INHIBITORS IDENTIFIED FROM IN SILICO DATABASE

CAREER: TENSOR FACTORIZATION METHODS FOR HIGH-LEVEL ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE THEORY -WITH SUPPORT FROM THE CHEMICAL THEORY, MODELS AND COMPUTATIONAL METHODS PROGRAM IN THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY, DEVIN MATTHEWS OF SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY WILL ENDEAVOR TO ADVANCE THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMPLEX QUANTUM CHEMICAL COUPLE CLUSTER METHODS TO ENABLE PRACTITIONERS OF THEORY TO MODEL WITH VERY HIGH ACCURACY MUCH LARGER MOLECULAR SYSTEMS THAN HAS BEEN POSSIBLE HERETOFORE. NOVEL STATE-OF-THE-ART ALGORITHMS AND GPU (GRAPHICS PROCESSING UNIT)-IMPLEMENTATIONS WILL ENABLE THESE HIGH-ACCURACY PREDICTIONS OF PARAMETERS SUCH AS MOLECULAR HEATS OF FORMATION, REACTION BARRIER HEIGHTS, BOND DISSOCIATION, IONIZATION, AND ELECTRON ATTACHMENT ENERGIES. THESE DEVELOPMENTS WILL HAVE A WIDESPREAD IMPACT ON CHEMICAL MODELLING AND RELIABLE BENCHMARKS, E.G. THROUGH HIERARCHICAL REACTION MODELS AND THE ACTIVE THERMOCHEMICAL TABLES. THE NEW ?MODEL CHEMISTRY? DEVELOPED BY DR. MATTHEWS AND HIS GROUP HAS THE POTENTIAL TO IMPACT A WIDE RANGE OF PROBLEMS, INCLUDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL RENEWABLE FUELS, A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF OUR EFFECTS ON THE ATMOSPHERE AND OUR ENVIRONMENT, AND THE FORMATION OF COMPLEX BIOLOGICAL MOLECULES IN SPACE AND OTHER HARSH ENVIRONMENTS WHICH LED TO THE ORIGINS OF LIFE. THE MATTHEWS GROUP WILL ALSO ENDEAVOR TO IMPROVE AWARENESS OF AND DIVERSITY IN THEORETICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY BY DIRECTLY INVOLVING UNDERGRADUATES AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH AND INCORPORATING COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY INTO THE UNDERGRADUATE PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CURRICULUM. THE MATTHEWS GROUP WILL ALSO IMPLEMENT AN INTERACTIVE ?KNOWLEDGE WEB? SPANNING DIVERSE TOPICS IN QUANTUM CHEMISTRY AND RELATED FIELDS. THIS ?WIKIPEDIA FOR QUANTUM CHEMISTRY? WILL HELP TO IMPROVE AND ACCELERATE TRAINING OF GRADUATE STUDENTS IN THE FIELD AS WELL AS INTERESTED NON-SCIENTISTS. DR. MATTHEWS AND HIS GROUP WILL BE WORKING ON ENABLING HIGHLY ACCURATE COUPLED CLUSTER CALCULATIONS ON LARGER MOLECULES BY DEVELOPING REDUCED-SCALING APPROXIMATIONS OF CCSDT (COUPLED CLUSTER SINGLE-DOUBLE-TRIPLE) THEORY METHODS AND CCSDT(Q), AS WELL AS ANALYTIC GRADIENTS THEREOF. GRAPH-BASED TECHNIQUES AND KNOWLEDGE-BASED ALGORITHMIC SEARCH THROUGH THE DESIGN-BY-TRANSFORMATION METHODOLOGY WILL BE USED TO PRODUCE OPTIMAL WORKING EQUATIONS, AND A HIGH-QUALITY IMPLEMENTATION WILL BE PRODUCED BY UTILIZING AUTOMATED CODE GENERATION THAT TARGETS HIGH-LEVEL TENSOR CONTRACTION INTERFACES FOR CPUS (CENTRAL PROCESSING UNITS) AND POTENTIALLY GPUS. TO THIS WILL BE ADDED FURTHER OPTIMIZATIONS SUCH AS COARSE-GRAINED PARALLELISM, BLOCKING, AND LOOP FUSION. THE EFFICACY OF THIS IMPLEMENTATION IN TERMS OF COMPUTATIONAL EFFICIENCY, SCALING, ABSOLUTE AND RELATIVE ERROR CHARACTERISTICS, AND ERROR CANCELLATION WILL BE LEVERAGED TO CREATE A NEW MODEL CHEMISTRY SUITABLE FOR ACCURATE THERMOCHEMISTRY (AT THE ~1KJ/MOL SCALE) OF MOLECULES WITH AS MANY AS 12 FIRST- OR SECOND-ROW ATOMS. THE MATTHEWS GROUP WILL DEVELOPING THIS NEW PROTOCOL TO STUDY SUBSTITUTED CRIEGEE INTERMEDIATES AND POSSIBLE WATER-CATALYSIS OF CRIEGEE DECOMPOSITION AS WELL AS OXYGENATED FUEL COMBUSTION INTERMEDIATES RELEVANT TO RENEWABLE FUEL DEVELOPMENT. DR. MATTHEWS?S GROUP WILL ALSO WORK TO ACHIEVE A MORE DIVERSE STUDENT BASE IN THEORETICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY BY DIRECTLY INVOLVING UNDERGRADUATES AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FROM DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS IN CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH AND INCORPORATING COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY INTO THE UNDERGRADUATE PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CURRICULUM. 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.

CAREER: EMPLOYING LIGAND EXCHANGE REACTIONS INVOLVING HYPERVALENT COMPOUNDS OF IODINE AND OTHER MAIN-GROUP ELEMENTS IN THE SYNTHESIS OF DYNAMIC AND F

INTEGRATING ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES IN PLANT CIRCADIAN AND PHOTOPERIODIC TIMING.

NRI: SMALL: ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING OF SOFT ROBOT COMPONENTS WITH EMBEDDED ACTUATION AND SENSING

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CSSI: FRAMEWORK: DATA: CLOWDER OPEN SOURCE CUSTOMIZABLE RESEARCH DATA MANAGEMENT, PLUS-PLUS

GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM (GRFP)

INVESTIGATION OF A NOVEL PRESSURIZED SAND DAMPER FOR SUSTAINABLE SEISMIC AND WIND PROTECTION OF BUILDINGS

CAREER: SOLID-STATE AND MATERIALS CHEMISTRY APPLICABLE TO TITANEAN MODEL PLANETARY ICES

THE SUPERCDMS RESEARCH PROGRAM AT SMU

CAREER: TRIGGERED ENERGY TRANSFER CHEMILUMINESCENCE FOR IN VIVO IMAGING

TODAY'S SCHOLARS, TOMORROW'S LEADERS: IDENTIFYING AND DEVELOPING ENGINEERS AS LEADERS

CSI KIDS SUMMER CAMPS: LEARNING THE TECHNOLOGY BEHIND CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION

CAREER: NEW STRATEGY TO OUTSMART ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE: MASTERING EVOLUTION OF BETA-LACTAMASES CATALYTIC MECHANISM THROUGH REACTION PATHWAYS ALIGNMENT, SIMULATION, AND ANALYSIS

BRITE RELAUNCH: COMPACT NETWORK FLOWS FOR CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERING -NETWORKS ARE UBIQUITOUS. EVERY DAY OUR SOCIETY RELIES ON NETWORKS FOR ENERGY, TRANSPORTATION, AND COMMUNICATION. THE DESIGN AND OPERATION OF NETWORKS IS A MAJOR CONCERN THAT CUTS ACROSS MANY ENGINEERING DISCIPLINES. THIS BOOSTING RESEARCH IDEAS FOR TRANSFORMATIVE AND EQUITABLE ADVANCES IN ENGINEERING (BRITE) RELAUNCH AWARD LEVERAGES A NEW PARADIGM FOR THE MATHEMATICAL MODELING OF NETWORK FLOW TO ENABLE (1) THE DEVELOPMENT OF FASTER AND MORE SCALABLE ALGORITHMS FOR SOLVING LARGE, COMPLEX ROUTING PROBLEMS IN TRANSPORTATION AND (2) THE DESIGN OF RESILIENT TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORKS THAT HAVE THE ABILITY TO CONTINUE TO PROVIDE A HIGH LEVEL OF SERVICE EVEN WHEN CRITICAL COMPONENTS ARE DAMAGED. IF SUCCESSFUL, THIS PROJECT WILL SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE OUR ABILITY TO DESIGN AND OPERATE CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE NETWORKS FOR LOGISTICS AND COMMUNICATIONS. UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANTS FROM HISTORICALLY UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS IN ENGINEERING WILL BE RECRUITED TO WORK ON A COMPLEMENTARY ACTIVITY DESIGNED TO DEMONSTRATE OUTCOMES OF THE PROJECT TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC AND TO PROMOTE OPERATIONS ENGINEERING TO PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS WHO MIGHT OTHERWISE NOT BE AWARE OF THE FIELD. THE RESEARCH ASSISTANTS WILL INTERACT WITH A DIVERSE COMMUNITY OF STUDENTS AND VOLUNTEERS WHO ARE CURRENTLY ENGAGED WITH THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR IN A SIMILAR ACTIVITY. THE NEW PARADIGM SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCES THE NUMBER OF VARIABLES AND CONSTRAINTS IN INTEGER PROGRAMMING MODELS FOR NETWORK OPTIMIZATION PROBLEMS COMPARED TO THE STANDARD NODE-ARC REPRESENTATION. THIS IN TURN CAN LEAD TO FASTER SOLUTION ALGORITHMS. THE GOALS OF THE PROJECT ARE TO USE THE PARADIGM TO DEVELOP (1) EXACT ALGORITHMS FOR INHERENTLY DIFFICULT NETWORK OPTIMIZATION PROBLEMS THAT FIND PROVABLY OPTIMAL SOLUTIONS IN LESS TIME THAN EXISTING METHODS, AND (2) HEURISTICS THAT QUICKLY FIND SOLUTIONS THAT ARE HIGH-QUALITY, BUT NOT NECESSARILY OPTIMAL. SOLUTION METHODOLOGY WILL INCLUDE CUTTING PLANES DERIVED SPECIFICALLY FOR THE NEW FORMULATIONS AND THE PROJECT WILL TEST A HYPOTHESIS THAT THE STRUCTURE OF THE NEW MODEL ALLOWS FOR A SPECIALIZED IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SIMPLEX METHOD. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RESEARCH ON INTEGRATED STEM SELF-EFFICACY: A STUDY OF ELEMENTARY PRESERVICE TEACHERS INCLUDING NOYCE SCHOLARS -THIS PROJECT AIMS TO SERVE THE NATIONAL NEED OF SUPPORTING THE DEVELOPMENT AND RETENTION OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE ELEMENTARY (K-6) STEM TEACHERS. ELEMENTARY TEACHERS ARE OFTEN UNCOMFORTABLE TEACHING SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS, AND ENGINEERING AS INDEPENDENT SUBJECTS, AND STEM INTEGRATION POSES NEW CHALLENGES. PREVIOUS RESEARCH HAS EXPLORED LINKS BETWEEN CONFIDENCE (OR SELF-EFFICACY), TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS, AND TEACHER RETENTION, BUT SELF-EFFICACY FOR TEACHING INTEGRATED STEM (ISTEM) IS LARGELY UNEXPLORED. THIS PROJECT WILL INCLUDE APPROXIMATELY 700 TEACHERS WHO EXPERIENCED TEN DIFFERENT TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAMS. IT AIMS TO IDENTIFY PROGRAMMATIC FEATURES THAT SUPPORT EARLY CAREER ELEMENTARY TEACHERS? SELF-EFFICACY IN TEACHING INTEGRATED STEM WITHIN HIGH-NEED SCHOOL DISTRICTS. IT WILL EXAMINE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG SELF-EFFICACY, ISTEM TEACHING EFFECTIVENESS, AND TEACHER RETENTION. THE FINDINGS THAT RESULT FROM THIS PROJECT HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO INFORM THE DESIGN OF TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS AND MAY CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF MORE HIGHLY QUALIFIED ELEMENTARY STEM TEACHERS. THIS PROJECT AT SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA - LINCOLN, TOWSON UNIVERSITY, AND INDIANA UNIVERSITY SOUTHEAST INCLUDES PARTNERSHIPS WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS - BOSTON, SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY, ALCORN STATE UNIVERSITY, BRIDGEWATER STATE UNIVERSITY, MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY, AND UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND. PROJECT GOALS INCLUDE TO: (1) TRACK CHANGES IN PROSPECTIVE ELEMENTARY TEACHERS? INTEGRATED STEM TEACHING SELF-EFFICACY AS THEY SHIFT FROM TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAMS TO TEACHING POSITIONS; (2) IDENTIFY AND DESCRIBE KEY ELEMENTS OF TEACHER EDUCATION THAT SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTEGRATED STEM TEACHING SELF-EFFICACY AMONG EARLY-CAREER TEACHERS; (3) IDENTIFY THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG INTEGRATED STEM TEACHING SELF-EFFICACY, TEACHING EFFECTIVENESS, AND TEACHER RETENTION; AND (4) BUILD AND SUPPORT A COMMUNITY OF ELEMENTARY TEACHERS FOCUSED ON IMPROVING THEIR STEM TEACHING. GROUNDED IN SELF-EFFICACY THEORY, THIS PROJECT WILL USE A SEQUENTIAL EXPLANATORY MIXED METHODS DESIGN AND INCLUDE UNDERGRADUATES, MASTER?S STUDENTS, AND CURRENT TEACHERS WHO ARE WITHIN THEIR FIRST FIVE YEARS OF TEACHING. THE PROJECT?S LONGITUDINAL DESIGN, INNOVATIVE FOCUS ON INTEGRATED STEM TEACHING SELF-EFFICACY AND EFFECTIVENESS, AND INVESTIGATION OF LINKS BETWEEN INTEGRATED STEM TEACHING SELF-EFFICACY AND TEACHER RETENTION REFLECT ITS INTELLECTUAL MERIT. RESEARCH FINDINGS WILL BE PUBLISHED IN RESEARCH AND PRACTITIONER JOURNALS AND SHARED WIDELY AT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES TO IMPACT RESEARCHERS, ADMINISTRATORS, AND EDUCATORS BEYOND THE IMMEDIATE SCOPE OF THIS PROJECT. THIS TRACK 4: NOYCE RESEARCH PROJECT IS SUPPORTED THROUGH THE ROBERT NOYCE TEACHER SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM (NOYCE). THE NOYCE PROGRAM SUPPORTS TALENTED STEM UNDERGRADUATE MAJORS AND PROFESSIONALS TO BECOME EFFECTIVE K-12 STEM TEACHERS AND EXPERIENCED, EXEMPLARY K-12 TEACHERS TO BECOME STEM MASTER TEACHERS IN HIGH-NEED SCHOOL DISTRICTS. IT ALSO SUPPORTS RESEARCH ON THE EFFECTIVENESS AND RETENTION OF K-12 STEM TEACHERS IN HIGH-NEED SCHOOL DISTRICTS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

CRI/II-NEW: DALLAS-AREA TESTBED FOR CONTEXT-AWARE COGNITIVE RESEARCH (DART-CARS)

LAND SUBSIDENCE, KNOWN TO HAVE OCCURRED IN MANY AREAS THROUGHOUT THE GULF COAST, HAS CAUSED EXTENSIVE DAMAGES TO BUILDINGS AND INFRASTRUCTURE AND INC

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: SOLID EARTH RESPONSE OF THE PATAGONIA ANDES TO POST-LITTLE ICE AGE GLACIAL RETREAT

CAREER: STRUCTURAL ESTIMATION AND OPTIMIZATION FOR PARTIALLY OBSERVABLE MARKOV DECISION PROCESSES AND MARKOV GAMES -THIS FACULTY EARLY CAREER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM (CAREER) GRANT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE NATION'S ECONOMIC PROSPERITY BY DEVELOPING ANALYTICAL METHODS TO ENHANCE SECURITY AND RISK MANAGEMENT OF SUPPLY CHAINS. AS A PARTICULAR USE CASE, THE PROJECT WILL FOCUS ON SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD SUPPLY CHAIN OPERATIONS. THE US IS THE SECOND LARGEST CONSUMER OF SEAFOOD IN THE WORLD, AND FISHERIES AGENCIES ARE SEEKING SUBSTANTIAL REFORMS IN MANAGEMENT PRACTICES TO BETTER MANAGE FISHERY POPULATION DYNAMICS. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES HINGES UPON FISH STOCK ASSESSMENT WHICH IS SUBJECT TO MANY SOURCES OF UNCERTAINTIES AND NOISY INFORMATION, AND IS FURTHER COMPOUNDED BY ILLEGAL, UNREPORTED AND UNREGULATED (IUU) FISHING, WHICH STEALS NATURAL RESOURCES, THREATENS OCEAN ECOSYSTEMS AND SEAFOOD SUPPLY, AND UNDERMINES PORT AND MARITIME SECURITY. THIS AWARD SUPPORTS DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW FRAMEWORK, ANALYTICS, AND ALGORITHMS THAT CAN LEARN PREFERENCES AND BEHAVIOR OF FISHERMEN AND FISHING ADVERSARIES FROM IMPERFECT DATA, IDENTIFY WAYS TO MODULATE THEIR BEHAVIOR, AND SEARCH FOR EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE OPERATIONS AND TO COMBAT IUU FISHING. THE EDUCATIONAL PLAN WILL UTILIZE SIMILAR METHODS TO ELICIT STUDENTS' NEEDS AND PREFERENCES FROM OBSERVABLE DATA AND TO DESIGN EFFECTIVE EDUCATION STRATEGIES THAT PROMOTE INCLUSION, EQUITY, DIVERSITY, AND ACCESSIBILITY. THE RESEARCH WILL BE INFORMED THROUGH COLLABORATION WITH THE US COAST GUARD ACADEMY AND THE NORTH CAROLINA DIVISION OF MARINE FISHERIES. IN ADDITION, TUTORIALS AND WORKSHOPS ON DATA ANALYTICS INVOLVING BOTH STUDENTS AND SUPPLY CHAIN PRACTITIONERS WILL PROVIDE IMPORTANT RECRUITMENT AND OUTREACH OPPORTUNITIES. THIS RESEARCH WILL INVESTIGATE A METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK COMPRISING STRUCTURAL ESTIMATION, OPTIMIZATION, AND INTEGRATED ANALYSIS FOR DYNAMIC DECISION MAKING UNDER IMPERFECT INFORMATION. THE CURRENT LITERATURE ON LEARNING AND OPTIMIZING DYNAMIC DECISIONS MAINLY ASSUMES THAT THE SYSTEM IS PERFECTLY OBSERVABLE. WHILE THERE IS AN EXTENSIVE LITERATURE ON THE ANALYSIS AND OPTIMIZATION FOR PARTIALLY OBSERVABLE MARKOV DECISION PROCESSES (POMDPS), THIS PROJECT WILL FOCUS ON THE INVERSE ESTIMATION OF THE PRIMITIVES OF A POMDP MODEL BASED UPON OBSERVABLE HISTORIES, AN UNDERSTUDIED AREA. BOTH OPTIMIZATION AND INVERSE ESTIMATION FOR MULTI-PARTY DECISION PROCESSES ARE ALSO CONSIDERED THROUGH PARTIALLY OBSERVABLE MARKOV GAMES (POMGS). THIS RESEARCH ADDRESS A KNOWLEDGE GAP BY DEVELOPING (I) NEW ESTIMATION METHODS TO LEARN MODEL PARAMETERS OF POMDPS AND POMGS FROM THEIR CORRESPONDING DATA TRAJECTORIES; (II) EFFICIENT SOLUTION PROCEDURES FOR LEADER-FOLLOWER POMGS WITH IMPRECISE REWARD; AND (III) AN INTEGRATED METHODOLOGY OF ESTIMATION-OPTIMIZATION-ANALYSIS BASED ON POMDPS AND POMGS TO IMPROVE AN AGENT'S PERFORMANCE BY LEARNING, TARGETED MODULATING, AND ADAPTING TO OTHER AGENTS' DECISION BEHAVIORS. THE METHODOLOGIES WILL BE APPLIED TO IMPROVE FISH STOCK REBUILDING EFFORTS, SUPPORT DEFENSE AGENCIES IN COMBATING IUU FISHING, AND IDENTIFY BEST PRACTICES OF COURSE DELIVERY STRATEGIES IN EDUCATION. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

NEW OPPORTUNITIES WITH WEAK GRAVITATIONAL LENSING -COSMOLOGICAL SURVEYS WILL MAP THE SKY WITH UNPRECEDENTED PRECISION, CREATING NEW OPPORTUNITIES TO UNDERSTAND THE CONTENTS AND EVOLUTION OF THE UNIVERSE. GRAVITATIONAL LENSING, THE BENDING OF LIGHT BY COSMIC STRUCTURE, LEAVES CHARACTERISTIC IMPRINTS IN OUR COSMIC MAPS. TECHNIQUES TO MEASURE AND UTILIZE THE EFFECTS OF GRAVITATIONAL LENSING HAVE BECOME INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT TO MAXIMIZE THE SCIENTIFIC RETURN OF MODERN COSMOLOGICAL SURVEYS. A TEAM OF SCIENTISTS AT SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY (SMU) AND ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY (ASU) WILL BUILD ON THESE TECHNIQUES IN TWO DISTINCT WAYS. FIRST, METHODS USED TO SEARCH FOR GRAVITATIONAL LENSING WILL BE EXTENDED TO SEARCH FOR GRAVITATIONAL WAVES, THE RIPPLES IN SPACETIME PRODUCED BY VIOLENT COSMIC EVENTS LIKE COLLISIONS OF BLACK HOLES. ADDITIONALLY, A NEW TECHNIQUE FOR MEASURING THE EFFECTS OF GRAVITATIONAL LENSING OF THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND (CMB) WILL YIELD NEW INSIGHTS TO THE DISTRIBUTION, AND POTENTIALLY THE MAKEUP, OF THE MYSTERIOUS DARK MATTER THAT PERVADES THE UNIVERSE. AS PART OF THIS PROJECT, THE TEAM WILL LAUNCH A NEW ASTRONOMY-ORIENTED OUTREACH PROGRAM AT SMU AND WILL DEVELOP A SERIES OF INTERACTIVE PEDAGOGICAL DIAGRAMS FOR ASTROPHYSICS AND COSMOLOGY EDUCATION, WHICH WILL BE USED IN ASU ONLINE COURSES. THIS PROJECT WILL DEMONSTRATE THAT A STRAIGHTFORWARD ADAPTATION OF LENSING RECONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES ENABLES SEARCHES FOR A STOCHASTIC GRAVITATIONAL WAVE BACKGROUND ACROSS A WIDE RANGE OF FREQUENCIES. THE TEAM WILL SHOW HOW THIS TECHNIQUE CAN BE APPLIED TO CMB OR OPTICAL OR LINE INTENSITY MAPPING DATA AT A RANGE OF WAVELENGTHS AND WILL APPLY THIS METHOD TO PLANCK DATA. A SECOND FOCUS OF THIS PROJECT IS TO EXTEND A NEWLY DEVELOPED SMALL-SCALE CMB LENSING ESTIMATOR THAT DOES NOT RELY ON MAP-LEVEL RECONSTRUCTION. THE TEAM WILL APPLY THIS ESTIMATOR TO OBSERVATIONAL, UTILIZING CMB MAPS FROM PLANCK AND THE ATACAMA COSMOLOGY TELESCOPE TO PROVIDE INSIGHTS INTO AN AS-YET UNMEASURED REGIME OF CMB LENSING. 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.

GAANN

WE PROPOSE TO STUDY VOLCANIC AND TECTONIC DEFORMATION IN THE CENTRAL-EASTERN ALEUTIANS USING ADVANCED INTERFEROMETRIC SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR (INSAR

GRADUATE ASSISTANCE IN AREAS OF NATIONAL NEED - GRADUATE ASSISTANCE IN AREAS OF NATIONAL NEED

PURPOSE: BRING TOGETHER PUBLIC, PRIVATE, AND ACADEMIC PARTNERS INTO COLLABORATIVE REGIONAL CONSORTIA (?TECH HUB?) THAT BUILDS ON THEIR REGION?S ASSETS AND POTENTIAL. STRENGTHEN THE HUB REGION?S CAPACITY TO DELIVER CRITICAL TECHNOLOGIES AND TO ENSURE THEY ARE MANUFACTURED AND DELIVERED HERE IN THE UNITED STATES AS OUTLINED IN THE TECH HUB?S PHASE 2 IMPLEMENTATION PLAN. ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: --ENSURING CLEAR AND EFFECTIVE GOVERNANCE AND LEADERSHIP OF THE CONSORTIUM THROUGH THE APPOINTMENT OF A REGIONAL INNOVATION OFFICER --PURSUING ADDITIONAL FUNDING, ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT, AND BENEFITS OF DESIGNATION THAT ADVANCE THE HUB?S PLAN TO COMMERCIALIZE TECHNOLOGIES CRITICAL TO NATIONAL SECURITY --PARTICIPATING IN THE EDA TECH HUBS COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE --ESTABLISHING DATA COLLECTION AND METRICS TRACKING SYSTEMS TO REPORT ON PERFORMANCE MEASURES AND PROGRAM OUTCOMES --EDUCATING PRIVATE INDUSTRY, LOCAL INSTITUTIONS, AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS ABOUT REGIONAL ASSETS, WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT NEEDS, AND OTHER OPPORTUNITIES TO DEVELOP GLOBALLY COMPETITIVE BUSINESSES WITHIN THEIR HUB?S SELECTED CRITICAL TECHNOLOGY AREA --MAINTAINING COHESION ACROSS THE CONSORTIA AS EDA AWAITS FURTHER TECH HUBS APPROPRIATIONS EXPECTED OUTCOMES: --FULFILLING INVESTMENT AND POLICY COMMITMENTS IDENTIFIED IN THE PHASE 2 APPLICATION --ATTRACTING NEW PARTNERS AND CAPITAL PROVIDERS COMMITTED TO SUSTAINING THE CONSORTIA?S MOMENTUM --DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRY-SUPPORTING INFRASTRUCTURE WITHIN THE REGION TO SUPPORT THE GROWTH AND MODERNIZATION OF U.S. MANUFACTURING AND IMPROVE COMMERCIALIZATION AND DOMESTIC PRODUCTION OF INNOVATIVE RESEARCH.

1,2-DIOXETANES FOR QUANTITATIVE CHEMILUMINESCENCE IMAGING -WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE CHEMICAL STRUCTURE, DYNAMICS, AND MECHANISMS B (CSDM-B) PROGRAM IN THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY, PROFESSOR ALEXANDER R. LIPPERT OF SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY IS STUDYING THE FUNDAMENTAL STRUCTURES AND MECHANISMS OF CHEMILUMINESCENT MOLECULES FOR USE IN QUANTITATIVE CHEMILUMINESCENCE IMAGING TECHNIQUES. CHEMILUMINESCENCE IS THE LIGHT OBSERVED IN FIREFLIES AND GLOWSTICKS AND IS SOMETIMES REFERRED TO AS COLD LIGHT GENERATED DURING A CHEMICAL REACTION. IMAGING IN CELLS AND MAMMALS USING CHEMILUMINESCENCE OFFERS SIGNIFICANT ADVANTAGES INCLUDING LOW-COST, HIGH SENSITIVITY, LOW PHOTOTOXICITY, AND THE ABILITY TO IMAGE IN DEEPER TISSUE. THIS EMERGING TECHNIQUE FOR MOLECULAR IMAGING IS LIMITED, HOWEVER, BY A LACK OF METHODS FOR PRECISE QUANTITATIVE IMAGING OF ANALYTES AND OPTIMAL MICROSCOPY INSTRUMENTATION. THE PROPOSED STUDY WILL ADVANCE THE FIELD OF CHEMILUMINESCENCE SENSING BY PROGRESSING FROM ROUGH RELATIVE MEASUREMENTS TO PRECISE QUANTITATIVE IMAGING OF A DIVERSE SET OF ANALYTES. THIS PROJECT WILL ALSO SERVE TO ENHANCE PARTICIPATION OF UNDER-REPRESENTED STUDENTS IN STEM. IN COLLABORATION WITH A LOCAL HBCU PRAIRIE VIEW A&M UNIVERSITY, THE PI WILL RECRUIT AND CO-MENTOR UNDER-REPRESENTED STUDENTS TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS RESEARCH AND RECEIVE LONG-TERM MENTORSHIP. THE THREE SPECIFIC AIMS OF THE PROJECT ARE: (1) DEVELOP NEAR-INFRARED (NIR) AND SHORT-WAVE INFRARED (SWIR) RATIOMETRIC CHEMILUMINESCENT PROBES FOR QUANTITATIVE IMAGING; (2) DEVELOP KINETICS-BASED CHEMILUMINESCENCE PROBES FOR QUANTITATIVE IMAGING; (3) DEVELOP CHEMILUMINESCENCE MICROSCOPY FOR QUANTITATIVE IMAGING. THE PROPOSED WORK AIMS TO GAIN MECHANISTIC UNDERSTANDING TO DEVELOP INNOVATIVE MOLECULES, INSTRUMENTATION, AND METHODS FOR QUANTITATIVE CHEMILUMINESCENCE IMAGING OF O2, PH, METALS, REACTIVE SPECIES, AND ENZYMES IN CELLS AND ANIMALS, THEREBY ADVANCING FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF CHEMILUMINESCENCE AND BROADLY ENABLING BIOLOGICAL STUDIES. CHEMILUMINESCENT MOLECULES WITH NIR AND SWIR RATIOMETRIC EMISSION WILL PROVIDE BETTER QUANTIFICATION AND THE ABILITY TO IMAGE IN DEEPER TISSUE. THE KINETICS OF THE CHEMILUMINESCENT REACTIONS AND REACTIONS OF PROBES WITH ANALYTES WILL BE SOLVED IN DETAIL AND METHODS WILL BE DEVELOPED TO ADVANCE THIS UNDERSTANDING IN THE CONTEXT OF CHEMILUMINESCENCE MICROSCOPY. NEW TYPES OF CHEMILUMINESCENCE MICROSCOPES WILL BE DEVELOPED WITH OPTICAL COMPONENTS THAT MAXIMIZE LIGHT GATHERING ABILITY AND MINIMIZE PHOTON LOSS. FINALLY, THE TRANSLATION OF NOVEL MOLECULES AND MECHANISTIC UNDERSTANDING INTO METHODS FOR CELLULAR AND WHOLE ANIMAL IMAGING WILL UNLOCK A NEW FIELD OF HIGH SENSITIVITY, LOW PHOTOTOXICITY, AND DEEP TISSUE QUANTITATIVE CHEMILUMINESCENCE IMAGING. 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.

COASTAL SEES COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: INTEGRATION OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND PERCEPTION INTO A RISK-BASED MICROBIAL WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT APPROACH

PROJECT TITLE: JOINT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF NISAR REMOTE SENSING CAPABILITIES FOR ALASKA LANDSLIDE RESEARCHPROJECT PERIOD: 10 1 2026 9 30 2030 AWARD PURPOSE (AVOID ACRONYMS OR FEDERAL OR AGENCY-SPECIFIC TERMINOLOGY)IDENTIFYING AND MONITORING LARGE, SLOW-MOVING LANDSLIDES IS A CRITICAL OBJECTIVE FOR THE USGS LANDSLIDE HAZARD PROGRAM (LHP). THIS REQUIRES DETECTING MOVING LANDSLIDES, TRACKING THEIR MOVEMENT OVER TIME, OBSERVING CHANGES IN SPEED AND LOCATION, AND DEFINING HAZARD THRESHOLDS BASED ON MOVEMENT RATES. IN ALASKA, REMOTE TERRAIN AND HARSH WEATHER MAKE DIRECT ACCESS DIFFICULT, SO REMOTE SENSING METHODS MUST BE DEVELOPED. THEREFORE, RESEARCH INTO INNOVATIVE REMOTE SENSING TECHNIQUES IS NEEDED TO DISCOVER NEW LANDSLIDES, MEASURE PAST AND FUTURE GROUND DEFORMATION, AND SUPPORT REGIONAL HAZARD ASSESSMENT, RISK REDUCTION AND EARLY WARNING. ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED (DO NOT INCLUDE LINKS)SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY (SMU), WILL CONDUCT STATE OF THE ART RESEARCH USING SATELLITE RADAR DATA TO IMPROVE EXISTING METHODS AND DEVELOP NEW METHODS FOR DETECTING AND MONITORING LANDSLIDES IN ALASKA. SPECIFICALLY, SMU WILL UTILIZE SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR (SAR) DATA FROM THE NEW NISAR SATELLITE, COMBINED WITH OTHER EXISTING SATELLITE DATA, TO DETECT NEW LANDSLIDES, IMPROVE DATA AT KNOWN LANDSLIDES, AND DEVELOP AUTOMATED WORKFLOWS FOR LANDSLIDE MONITORING. REMOTE SENSING TECHNIQUES AND SOFTWARE SYSTEMS DEVELOPED THROUGH THIS PROPOSED AGREEMENT WILL DIRECTLY CONTRIBUTE TO THE USGS ABILITY TO (1) CONDUCT REGIONAL ASSESSMENTS OF LANDSLIDE HAZARDS, AND (2) DEVELOP LANDSLIDE EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS. DELIVERABLES AND EXPECTED OUTCOMESO EXPAND PERSISTENT SCATTERER (PS) AND DISTRIBUTED SCATTERER (DS) INSAR TIME-SERIES PROCESSING TO CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ALASKA. RESULTING DEFORMATION MAPS WILL HELP USGS IDENTIFY MOVING LANDSLIDES AND INTEGRATE WITH SOUTHERN ALASKA DATA TO CREATE A STATEWIDE INVENTORY. THE EXPANDED DEFORMATION SURVEY WILL BE DELIVERED WITHIN YEAR 1.O USE NISAR SATELLITE DATA TO DETECT NEW LANDSLIDES AND REFINE DISPLACEMENT MAPS AT KNOWN SITES USING PS INSAR AND DS INSAR. NISAR S WAVELENGTH IS IDEAL FOR VEGETATED AND SNOWY TERRAIN, GREATLY IMPROVING LANDSLIDE DEFORMATION MEASUREMENTS AND HAZARD CHARACTERIZATION. PRODUCTS WILL BE DELIVERED THROUGHOUT YEARS 14 AS DATA BECOME AVAILABLE.O COMBINE SENTINEL-1 AND NISAR DATA TO CONSTRUCT 3D TIME-SERIES DISPLACEMENTS FOR HIGH-PRIORITY LANDSLIDES, ENABLING PROACTIVE HAZARD MANAGEMENT AND PUBLIC SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS. THIS WILL BE COMPLETED IN YEARS 23.O APPLY A MULTI-METHOD APPROACH AT HIGH-PRIORITY SITES USING SAR TECHNIQUES (PIXEL OFFSET TRACKING, PS DS INSAR, DEEP-LEARNING OFFSET TRACKING) AND MULTI-SOURCE SATELLITE DATA (SAR AND OPTICAL) TO PRODUCE HIGH-QUALITY RESULTS FOR UNDERSTANDING LANDSLIDE BEHAVIOR AND PROTECTING LIFE AND PROPERTY. COMPLETION BY YEAR 3.O DEVELOP AN AUTOMATED WORKFLOW TO DETECT AND MONITOR LANDSLIDES USING NISAR DATA, DEFINING OPTIMAL PROCESSING STRATEGIES FOR SUBARCTIC REGIONS. COMPLETION BY THE END OF YEAR 4. INTENDED BENEFICIARY(IES)THE INTENDED BENEFICIARIES INCLUDE STATE AND FEDERAL AGENCIES, ENGINEERING FIRMS, AND ACADEMIC RESEARCHERS WHO RELY ON LANDSLIDE HAZARD ASSESSMENTS FOR INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING, EMERGENCY RESPONSE, AND SCIENTIFIC STUDY. RESIDENTS IN ALASKA ALSO DIRECTLY BENEFIT FROM IMPROVED LANDSLIDE PREPAREDNESS AND RISK MITIGATION. SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES, IF KNOWN OR SPECIFIED AT THE TIME OF AWARDN A

FOXP1 AS A THERAPEUTIC TARGET FOR HUNTINGTON'S DISEASE

THE LOCAL MODE ANALYSIS - DECODING CHEMICAL INFORMATION FROM VIBRATIONAL SPECTROSCOPY DATA

JOINT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF REMOTE SENSING CAPABILITIES FOR LANDSLIDE RESEARCH

MRI CONSORTIUM: DEVELOPMENT OF WIRELESS NETWORKING TESTBED AND EMULATOR (WINETESTER)

MRI CONSORTIUM: DEVELOPMENT OF INSTRUMENTATION FOR MEASURING THE DEPENDABILITY AND QUALITY OF CLOUD COMPUTING SYSTEMS

OPTIMIZATION-BASED TECHNIQUES FOR DESIGNING WIRELESS LOCAL AREA NETWORKS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: AUREOCHROMES-LIGHT SIGNALING IN THE SEA -PHOTOSYNTHETIC ORGANISMS RELY ON LIGHT NOT ONLY TO FIX CO2, BUT THEY ALSO USE LIGHT INFORMATION TO LEARN ABOUT THEIR ENVIRONMENT. THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY HAS A BROAD UNDERSTANDING OF LIGHT-REGULATED RESPONSES IN ORGANISMS LIVING ON LAND. THERE, BLUE AND RED LIGHT SENSING PROTEINS HELP LAND PLANTS DETERMINE INFORMATION SUCH AS THE PRESENCE OF NEIGHBOR COMPETITION OR THE TIME OF DAY. HOWEVER, ABOUT 71% OF THE EARTH SURFACE IS WATER, AND AQUATIC ENVIRONMENTS ARE STRONGLY ENRICHED IN BLUE LIGHT AND DEPRIVED OF RED LIGHT. HOW PHOTOSYNTHETIC ORGANISMS LIVING IN FRESHWATER OR MARINE ENVIRONMENTS HARNESS LIGHT QUALITY AND QUANTITY INFORMATION IS AN OPEN QUESTION. AS PART OF THIS PROJECT THE PIS WILL INVESTIGATE THE FUNCTION OF A GROUP OF BLUE LIGHT SENSING PROTEINS CALLED AUREOCHROMES, WHICH ARE WIDELY DISTRIBUTED IN MARINE ALGAE. THIS PROJECT WILL ALSO TRAIN UNDERGRADUATE/GRADUATE STUDENTS AND POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATES ACROSS DISCIPLINES (PHOTOCHEMISTRY, BIOCHEMISTRY, CELL/MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, MATHEMATICAL MODELING) AND PROVIDE VISUALIZATION TOOLS TO TEACH THE USE OF MATH IN INTRODUCTORY CHEMISTRY AND BIOLOGY. SCHOOL TEACHERS ARE AT THE FRONTLINE OF IMPROVING PUBLIC SCIENTIFIC LITERACY AND THIS PROJECT WILL CONTINUE PREVIOUSLY FUNDED WORK TO TRAIN PRESERVICE EDUCATORS ON SCIENCE PRACTICES AND TEACHING, AND IDENTIFY HOW THESE PRESERVICE TEACHERS LEARN, WHY THEY LEARN, AND TO INVESTIGATE IF THEIR WAY OF THINKING CHANGES DURING THE RESEARCH AND TEACHING TRAINING. USING THE UNICELLULAR MICROALGA NANNOCHLOROPSIS OCEANICA, THE PIS WILL INVESTIGATE THE HYPOTHESIS THAT PHOTOCHEMICAL KINETICS, EXPRESSION PATTERNS AND PROTEIN-PROTEIN INTERACTION NETWORKS OF PROTEIN PHOTORECEPTORS SHAPE THE DYNAMICS OF LIGHT RESPONSES AND THEREFORE THE ORGANISM?S RESPONSE TO CHANGING LIGHT FLUENCIES. TO ACHIEVE THIS GLOBAL UNDERSTANDING OF AUREOCHROME SIGNALING, THE RESEARCHERS WILL DEVELOP EXPLICIT MATHEMATICAL MODELS OF AUREOCHROME SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION, WHERE THEY WILL EXPERIMENTALLY DETERMINE KINETIC TERMS REGULATING THE PHOTOCHEMISTRY OF THESE LOV DOMAIN PHOTORECEPTORS, THEIR COMPETITIVE DIMERIZATION, EXPRESSION AND DEGRADATION RATES, AND DNA BINDING CAPACITY. COMBINED, THIS PROJECT WILL EXAMINE HOW THESE FACTORS INFLUENCE TRANSCRIPTIONAL ACTIVITY AND IMPACT CELL PHYSIOLOGY. IN THIS MANNER, THIS WORK WILL ENABLE THE CONSTRUCTION OF A COMPLETE MODEL OF BLUE-LIGHT REGULATION OF N. OCEANICA THAT INTEGRATES LOCAL PHOTOCHEMISTRY WITH ORGANISM?S PHYSIOLOGY IN A PREDICTIVE, AND FALSIFIABLE MODEL. 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.

NETS: SMALL: CHANNEL RECOGNITION FOR OPTIMIZED LINKS AND NETWORKS (CROLA)

CSI CAMPS-FOR-A-DAY A MOBILE PROGRAM FOR INTRODUCING MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS/TEACHERS TO THE TECHNOLOGY BEHIND CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION

IRES: SOCIALLY AND ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE ENGINEERING FOR ENHANCING LIVELIHOODS WITHIN MINING COMMUNITIES -THIS INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR STUDENTS (IRES) PROJECT PROVIDES U.S. STUDENTS FROM SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY (SMU) AND COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES (CSM) THE OPPORTUNITY TO PERFORM CUTTING EDGE RESEARCH IN COLLABORATION WITH FACULTY AND STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY NACIONAL OF COLOMBIA- MEDELLIN CAMPUS (UNAL-MEDELLIN). THE AIM OF THE PROJECT IS TO PROVIDE INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR STUDENTS, WITH THE GOAL OF DEVELOPING STUDENTS AND FUTURE ENGINEERING LEADERS WITH DIVERSE, GLOBALLY ENGAGES SKILLS THROUGH LINKING INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH WITH EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. STUDENT RESEARCHERS AND THEIR FACULTY MENTORS WILL COMBINE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING WITH COMMUNITY-BASED PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH (CBPR) TO DEVELOP RESEARCH THAT PROMOTES SOCIALLY JUST AND ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE MINING LIVELIHOODS. THIS WORK DIRECTLY SUPPORTS THE NSF?S MISSION, CATALYZING INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING RESEARCH AT THE SOCIO-TECHNICAL FRONTIER WHILE ALSO MERGING IDEAS, APPROACHES AND TECHNOLOGIES FROM DIVERSE FIELDS TO STIMULATE DISCOVERY AND INNOVATION. REGARDING STUDENTS, IMPACTS ARE DESIGNED TO INSPIRE AND TRAIN THE NEXT GENERATION OF U.S. SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS TO (1) COLLABORATE AMONG DIVERSE COHORTS INCLUDING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AND PARTNERS (2) WORK ON TECHNICAL AND NON-TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF THE PROJECT (3) GROW LEADERSHIP SKILLS AND RESEARCH INTERESTS AND (4) BUILD PROFESSIONAL NETWORKS AND CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE. IRES RECRUITMENT WILL FOCUS ON PROVIDING RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES TO STUDENTS WHO HAVE NOT HAD SIMILAR EXPERIENCES, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON RECRUITING AND ENGAGING UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS IN STEM. RESEARCH TRANSLATION ACTIVITIES ARE DESIGNED TO FACILITATE THE DISTRIBUTION OF RESEARCH BROADLY. THE CONNECTION TO MULTIPLE CLASSROOM EXPERIENCES WILL FURTHER INSTITUTIONALIZE INTERNATIONAL STEM EDUCATION. THIS PROJECT EXPLORES EMERGING TOPICS IN THE PREVENTION, REMEDIATION, AND RESTORATION OF ENVIRONMENTS WHERE MINING IS A KEY LIVELIHOOD ACTIVITY, PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES TO WORK AT THE INTERSECTION OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING THEORIES OF PARTICIPATORY DESIGN, IMPLEMENTATION, AND EVALUATION. WHILE MANY RESEARCH-BASED TECHNICAL INTERVENTIONS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED, ALMOST NONE HAVE ACHIEVED LONG-TERM USE BECAUSE THEY ARE ? OR BELIEVED BY MINERS TO BE ? INEFFICIENT, UNECONOMICAL, OR IMPRACTICAL. THIS WORK BREAKS THIS CYCLE BY CO-DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING TECHNOLOGIES AND PROCESSES AS SOCIO-TECHNICAL SYSTEMS WITH MINERS AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES. SECONDLY, EXISTING RESEARCH ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL DIMENSIONS OF MINING LIVELIHOODS MAINLY FOCUSES ON POLLUTION PREVENTION AND HUMAN EXPOSURE, WITH LITTLE ATTENTION GIVEN TO REUSE AND REMEDIATION, INCLUDING THE ACTIVITIES MINERS ARE ALREADY UNDERTAKING IN THIS AREA OR THE ROLE THEY COULD PLAY CO-DESIGNING WITH ENGINEERING FACULTY AND STUDENTS. THE PROJECT DRAWS ON THE COLLABORATION OF COMMUNITIES, SCIENTISTS, AND ENGINEERS TO COLLABORATE IN THE DESIGN AND TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS THAT ARE GROUNDED IN THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF THE PROJECT SITES. THIS APPROACH WILL ADVANCE SOCIAL SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING THEORIES OF PARTICIPATORY DESIGN, IMPLEMENTATION, AND EVALUATION OF ENGINEERED SYSTEMS BY EXAMINING THE INTEGRATION OF LOCAL KNOWLEDGE INTO SUCH EFFORTS. THE UNIQUE STRUCTURE OF THIS PROGRAM WILL ALLOW STUDENTS TO BRIDGE KNOWLEDGE GAPS IN NEW WAYS AND RECEIVE TRAINING ONLY ENABLED BY THIS IRES PARTNERSHIP. 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.

CAREER: LEVERAGING SIMULTANEOUS ACCESS TO MULTIPLE FREQUENCY BANDS IN MULTIHOP WIRELESS NETWORKS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: HARNESSING STUDENT REFLECTIONS WITH AI-DRIVEN PERSONALIZATION IN LARGE STEM LECTURES -THIS PROJECT AIMS TO ADVANCE STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND ACHIEVEMENT IN HIGH-ENROLLMENT STEM COURSES BY SUBSTANTIVELY IMPROVING AND EVALUATING COURSEMIRROR, A MOBILE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT THAT DELIVERS REAL-TIME, AI-GUIDED REFLECTION SUPPORT. POWERED BY STATE-OF-THE-ART NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING, COURSEMIRROR PROMPTS LEARNERS TO REFLECT ON WHAT INTERESTS OR CONFUSES THEM, PROVIDES IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK THAT SPURS DEEPER THINKING, AND COMPILES CLASS-WIDE INSIGHTS FOR INSTRUCTORS. PARTNERING WITH UNIVERSITIES AND COMMUNITY COLLEGES, THE PROJECT REACHES HUNDREDS OF STUDENTS EACH SEMESTER AND EQUIPS FACULTY WITH SCALABLE, EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICES THAT REQUIRE NO EXTRA GRADING. BY EXPANDING ACCESS TO EFFECTIVE STUDY STRATEGIES AND INFORMING NATIONAL PRIORITIES IN AI-ENABLED EDUCATION, THE GOAL IS TO HAVE BROAD BENEFITS FOR RETENTION AND WORKFORCE READINESS IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING. GUIDED BY THE REFLECTION-INFORMED LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION MODEL AND A SELF-REGULATED LEARNING (SRL) THEORY OF CHANGE, THE RESEARCH PURSUES THREE INTEGRATED AIMS. FIRST, ADAPTIVE PROMPTS, MOTIVATIONAL NUDGES, AND AUTOMATED REFLECTION SUMMARIES ARE ENGINEERED AND OPTIMIZED THROUGH ITERATIVE USABILITY AND FEASIBILITY TESTS. SECOND, THE EFFECTS OF THESE FEATURES ON MOTIVATION, EMOTION, SRL PROCESSES, AND COURSE PERFORMANCE ARE EXPLORED THROUGH FIELD EXPERIMENTS ACROSS MULTIPLE INTRODUCTORY COURSES AT MULTIPLE INSTITUTIONS. THIRD, MULTIMODAL DATA, INCLUDING MOTIVATED STRATEGIES FOR LEARNING QUESTIONNAIRE SUBSCALES, FINE-GRAINED APP LOGS, MICRO-ANALYTIC INTERVIEWS, AND GRADED ASSESSMENTS, ARE ANALYZED WITH MULTILEVEL MODELS AND STRUCTURAL-EQUATION MEDIATION TESTS TO DETERMINE WHETHER SRL GAINS EXPLAIN ACHIEVEMENT IMPROVEMENTS. THE MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH BRIDGES NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING, HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION, AND LEARNING SCIENCES, YIELDING TRANSFERABLE DESIGN PRINCIPLES FOR AI-ENABLED EDUCATIONAL TOOLS AND AIMS TO OPEN NEW RESEARCH DIRECTIONS AT THE INTERSECTION OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND STEM LEARNING. THIS PROJECT IS FUNDED BY THE RESEARCH ON INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES FOR ENHANCED LEARNING (RITEL) PROGRAM THAT SUPPORTS EARLY-STAGE EXPLORATORY RESEARCH IN EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

GENERATIVE AI-POWERED EXPLORATION OF PROTEIN DYNAMICS AND NON-DETERMINISTIC CHEMICAL KINETICS - PROJECT SUMMARY OVERVIEW. THE PI’S LAB FOCUSES ON UNCOVERING THE DYNAMIC MECHANISMS UNDERLYING PROTEIN FUNCTIONS THROUGH ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL SIMULATIONS AND THEORETICAL MODELING, EMPLOYING MOLECULAR MECHANICS (MM), QUANTUM MECHANICS (QM), AND THEIR COMBINED APPROACHES (QM/MM). THE GROUP'S RESEARCH HAS CONCENTRATED ON THREE MAJOR THEMES. PROTEIN ALLOSTERY: SIGNIFICANT ADVANCES HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED IN BOTH METHODOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION STUDIES OF KEY ALLOSTERIC PROTEINS, INCLUDING THE LIGHT-OXYGEN-VOLTAGE-SENSING (LOV) DOMAIN AND SEVERE ACUTE RESPIRATORY SYNDROME CORONAVIRUS 2 (SARS-COV-2). ADDITIONALLY, THE GROUP HAS CREATED TWO USER- FRIENDLY PUBLIC COMPUTATIONAL SERVERS TO SERVE THE BROADER RESEARCH COMMUNITY. EVOLUTION OF ENZYME CATALYSIS: THE PI’S LAB HAS PIONEERED INNOVATIVE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS THAT INTEGRATE MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUES WITH CATALYTIC REACTION PATHWAYS DERIVED FROM HYBRID QM/MM CALCULATIONS, ENHANCING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF ENZYME EVOLUTION AND CATALYTIC MECHANISMS. FUNDAMENTAL CHEMICAL MECHANISM STUDIES: THE PI HAS A LONGSTANDING INTEREST IN THE MECHANISMS UNDERLYING CHEMICAL TRANSITIONS, PARTICULARLY FOCUSING ON THEIR CHARACTERIZATION AS RARE EVENTS. THROUGH EXTENSIVE COMPUTATIONAL INVESTIGATIONS AND INNOVATIVE METHODOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS, THE PI'S LABORATORY HAS EXPLORED A BROAD SPECTRUM OF CHEMICAL PROCESSES IN DETAIL. GOALS OF NEXT FIVE YEARS. OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, OUR RESEARCH WILL ADVANCE COMPUTATIONAL MODELING ACROSS MULTIPLE CUTTING-EDGE DOMAINS, INTEGRATING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND ADVANCED THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS TO ADDRESS COMPLEX BIOCHEMICAL AND PHOTOCHEMICAL PHENOMENA. WE AIM TO ESTABLISH TRANSFORMER-BASED CONDITIONAL DIFFUSION MODELS TO PREDICT PROTEIN DYNAMICS, CREATING AN AUTOMATED, SCALABLE ALTERNATIVE TO TRADITIONAL MOLECULAR DYNAMICS SIMULATIONS. CONCURRENTLY, WE WILL EXPAND OUR GENERATIVE AI APPROACHES TO DISSECT CATALYTIC MECHANISMS OF Β-LACTAMASE ENZYMES, SYSTEMATICALLY MAPPING THE CATALYTIC LANDSCAPES OF SERINE-BASED AND METALLO-Β-LACTAMASES. BY INCORPORATING PROTEIN CONFORMATIONAL DYNAMICS INTO THESE CATALYTIC MODELS, WE AIM TO ELUCIDATE ENZYME REGULATION AND EVOLUTION, ENHANCING UNDERSTANDING OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE MECHANISMS. ADDITIONALLY, WE WILL DEVELOP COMPREHENSIVE STOCHASTIC DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION (SDE) MODELS USING ITÔ CALCULUS TO CHARACTERIZE THE STOCHASTIC MOLECULAR BEHAVIORS UNDERLYING MECHANICALLY ACTIVATED PHOTOCHEMISTRY (MAPC). INTEGRATING SPECIALIZED MODELS FOR CHEMILUMINESCENCE AND MECHANOCHEMICAL ACTIVATION INTO A UNIFIED MAPC FRAMEWORK, WE AIM TO SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCE PREDICTIVE SIMULATION CAPABILITIES IN THIS INTERDISCIPLINARY AREA. COLLECTIVELY, THESE EFFORTS WILL PRODUCE ROBUST THEORETICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS THAT DEEPEN FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING AND ENABLE INNOVATIVE APPLICATIONS ACROSS BIOPHYSICS AND BIOCHEMISTRY. OVERALL VISION. UNDERSTANDING THE DYNAMIC BEHAVIOR OF PROTEINS IS CENTRAL TO DECODING THE MECHANISMS UNDERPINNING PROTEIN FUNCTION, ENZYMATIC CATALYSIS, AND STRUCTURE-FUNCTION RELATIONSHIPS. IT REMAINS COMPUTATIONALLY PROHIBITIVE FOR SIMULATING BIOPHYSICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL PROCESSES AT FUNCTIONALLY RELEVANT TIMESCALES, WHICH OFTEN SPAN SECONDS TO MINUTES—FAR BEYOND THE MILLISECOND RANGE ACHIEVABLE BY CURRENT TECHNOLOGIES. CHEMICAL PROCESSES AT THE MOLECULAR LEVEL ARE INHERENTLY NON-DETERMINISTIC STOCHASTIC PROCESSES, GOVERNED BY PROBABILISTIC EVENTS AND RANDOM MOLECULAR FLUCTUATIONS RATHER THAN FIXED, REPRODUCIBLE TRAJECTORIES. THE PI HAS BEEN DEVELOPING A LONG-TERM VISION TO ADVANCE BIOMOLECULAR MODELING BY SHIFTING FROM TRADITIONAL MD SIMULATIONS AND REACTION PATHWAY CALCULATION FOR ENZYME CATALYSIS MECHANISM TOWARD AI-DRIVEN, PREDICTIVE MODELS CAPABLE OF GENERATING PROTEIN DYNAMICS, ENZYME CATALYTIC MECHANISMS, AND STOCHASTIC BIOCHEMICAL BEHAVIORS. BY COMBINING GENERATIVE AI, MOLECULAR SIMULATIONS, AND STOCHASTIC MODELING, THIS RESEARCH ADDRESSES CRITICAL LIMITATIONS IN SCALING BIOMOLECULAR DYNAMICS STUDIES. IT PROMISES T

THE STATOR SUBUNITS OF THE ATP SYNTHASE

SEIMO-ACOUSTI CHARACTERIZATION OF ROCKET MOTORS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: SIMULATION AND ANALYSIS OF TURBULENT JET NOISE USING ARBITRARY-ORDER HERMITE METHODS

BICYCLIC BETA-LACTAM ANTIBIOTICS AS POOR SUBSTRATES FOR METALLO-BETA-LACTAMASES

THE ROLE OF HYDROGEN GAS IN HEALTH AND DISEASE - ABERRANT REDOX-SENSITIVE REACTIONS AND ACCUMULATION OF OXIDATIVE DAMAGE CAN IMPAIR BODY FUNCTIONS, CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF VARIOUS PATHOLOGIES AND ACCELERATE AGING. ALTHOUGH ANTIOXIDANT SUBSTANCES HAVE LONG BEEN RECOGNIZED AS A MEASURE OF ALLEVIATING OXIDATIVE STRESS AND RESTORING REDOX BALANCE, THE ARSENAL OF EFFECTIVE MEANS OF PREVENTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF VARIOUS DISEASES AND PREMATURE AGING IS STILL LIMITED. THERE IS AN EMERGING FIELD THAT UTILIZES MOLECULAR HYDROGEN (H2) AS A SCAVENGER OF FREE RADICALS AND REACTIVE OXYGEN SPECIES (ROS). AMONG THE REMARKABLE CHARACTERISTICS OF H2 IS ITS ABILITY TO COUNTERACT HARMFUL EFFECTS OF HYDROXYL RADICAL AND PEROXYNITRITE WITHOUT AFFECTING ACTIVITY OF FUNCTIONALLY IMPORTANT ROS, SUCH AS HYDROGEN PEROXIDE AND NITRIC OXIDE. THE BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF H2 HAVE BEEN DOCUMENTED IN NUMEROUS CLINICAL STUDIES AND STUDIES ON ANIMAL MODELS AND CELL CULTURES. HOWEVER, THE ESTABLISHED SCAVENGING ACTIVITY OF H2 TOWARDS FREE RADICALS CAN ONLY PARTIALLY EXPLAIN THE BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF H2, BECAUSE THE EFFECTS ARE ACHIEVED AT VERY LOW CONCENTRATIONS OF H2. GIVEN THE RATE OF H2 DIFFUSION, SUCH LOW CONCENTRATIONS MAY NOT BE SUFFICIENT TO SCAVENGE CONTINUOUSLY GENERATED FREE RADICALS. RECENT DATA SUGGEST THAT MOLECULAR H2 CAN ALSO ACT AS A SIGNALING MOLECULE AND INDUCE DEFENSE RESPONSES. HOWEVER, THE EXACT TARGETS AND MECHANISM(S) BY WHICH H2 EXERTS THESE EFFECTS ARE UNKNOWN, NOR IS IT KNOWN WHETHER THE REGULATION OF SIGNALING PATHWAYS IS PERFORMED DIRECTLY BY H2 OR WHETHER THERE IS AN INTERMEDIATE TRIGGER(S) OR CATALYST(S) SENSITIVE TO MODIFICATIONS BY H2. USING DROSOPHILA, WE RECENTLY DEMONSTRATED THE ABILITY OF ORALLY ADMINISTERED H2 TO NEGATE THE SEVERE PHYSIOLOGICAL DEFECTS IN MUTANTS WITH IMPAIRED REDOX AND MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION CAUSED BY KNOCK-DOWN OF THE REDOX-SENSING AND REGULATING ENZYMES, PEROXIREDOXINS (PRX). THE MOST NOTICEABLE EFFECT OF HYDROGEN WAS ON THE LOCOMOTOR ABILITY OF MITOCHONDRIAL PRX MUTANTS. WE ALSO FOUND THAT UNDEREXPRESSION OF MITOCHONDRIAL PRXS BY A MOTOR NEURON-SPECIFIC DRIVER WAS CRITICAL FOR THE LIFE SPAN OF THE FLIES, SUGGESTING THAT H2 MAY BE PARTICULARLY BENEFICIAL FOR MAINTAINING PROPER MOTOR NEURONAL AND/OR NEUROMUSCULAR FUNCTION AND LONGEVITY BY MODULATING THE REDOX-SENSITIVE PATHWAYS IN THESE TISSUES. THUS THE EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH WILL BE I) TO CHARACTERIZE THE STATE OF REDOX AND OXIDATIVE DAMAGE IN FLIES WITH REDUCED LEVELS OF MITOCHONDRIAL PEROXIREDOXINS USING A BATTERY OF BIOCHEMICAL TESTS TO ELUCIDATE THE SPARING EFFECTS OF H2 ON REDOX CRISIS; AND II) TO STUDY THE EFFECTS OF HYDROGEN IN DROSOPHILA MODEL OF AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS DISEASE, ASSOCIATED WITH MOTOR NEURON DYSFUNCTION.

ANTIBIOTICS DESIGNED TO COUNTER RESISTANT 21ST CENTURY PATHOGENS

FAST, MULTISCALE ALGORITHMS FOR WAVE PROPAGATION IN HETEROGENEOUS ENVIRONMENTS

ROLES OF P53-REGULATED PRO-SURVIVAL SIGNALS IN CARCINOGENESIS BY HTLV-1 AND HIGH-RISK SUBTYPE HPVS - THE HUMAN T-CELL LEUKEMIA VIRUS TYPE-1 (HTLV-1) IS A DELTA ONCORETROVIRUS THAT INFECTS AND TRANSFORMS CD4+ T-CELLS AND CAUSES ADULT T-CELL LEUKEMIA/LYMPHOMA (ATLL), AN AGGRESSIVE HEMATOLOGICAL MALIGNANCY THAT IS GENERALLY RESISTANT TO CONVENTIONAL ANTICANCER THERAPIES. THE 3' END OF THE HTLV-1 GENOME ENCODES SEVERAL REGULATORY PROTEINS (I.E., TAX, REX, HBZ, P8I, P12I, P13II, AND P30II) FROM A HIGHLY- CONSERVED NUCLEOTIDE SEQUENCE, KNOWN AS PX, WHICH IS RETAINED IN THE MAJORITY OF ATLL CLINICAL ISOLATES. FOR NEARLY FOUR DECADES, THE HTLV-1 HAS BEEN EXTENSIVELY STUDIED AS A GENERAL INFORMATIVE MODEL FOR VIRAL CARCINOGENESIS; HOWEVER, TO DATE, NONE OF ITS PRODUCTS HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO CONTAIN STRUCTURAL OR FUNCTIONAL SIMILARITIES TO OTHER ONCOGENIC VIRUSES BEYOND THE PRIMATE T-CELL LYMPHOTROPIC VIRUS (PTLV) FAMILY. MY LABORATORY HAS IDENTIFIED A CORE STRUCTURAL DOMAIN WITHIN THE HTLV-1 P30II PROTEIN WITH HOMOLOGY TO THE E6 ONCOPROTEINS OF HIGH-RISK SUBTYPE HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUSES (HRHPVS). BOTH HTLV-1 P30II AND HPV E6 COOPERATE WITH THE CELLULAR ONCOPROTEIN, C-MYC, AND PREVENT P53-DEPENDENT APOPTOSIS BY INHIBITING TIP60-MEDIATED ACETYLATION OF THE P53 PROTEIN ON LYSINE RESIDUE K120. INTRIGUINGLY, P53 IS RARELY MUTATED IN HTLV-1+ ATLL AND HPV+ CERVICAL CANCER CLINICAL ISOLATES –ALTHOUGH E6 DEGRADES THE P53 PROTEIN AND SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCES ITS EXPRESSION THROUGH INTERACTIONS WITH THE UBIQUITIN LIGASE, E6AP. OUR PRELIMINARY STUDIES HAVE DEMONSTRATED THAT THE HTLV-1 P30II AND HPV16/18 E6 VIRAL ONCOPROTEINS INDUCE THE EXPRESSION AND MITOCHONDRIAL LOCALIZATION OF THE TP53-INDUCED GLYCOLYSIS AND APOPTOSIS REGULATOR (TIGAR) AND P53-INDUCIBLE RIBONUCLEOTIDE REDUCTASE (P53R2). PRIMARY PATIENT-DERIVED ATLL AND HPV+ CERVICAL CARCINOMA SAMPLES CONTAIN ELEVATED LEVELS OF TIGAR AND P53R2 THAT CORRELATE WITH ONCOGENIC C-MYC EXPRESSION. WE HAVE FURTHER SHOWN THAT LENTIVIRAL-SIRNA-KNOCKDOWN OF TIGAR INHIBITS IN VIVO TUMORIGENESIS AND METASTATIC DISEASE PROGRESSION IN XENOGRAFT MODELS OF HTLV-1-INDUCED T-CELL LYMPHOMA AND HPV-INDUCED SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA. BASED UPON THESE FINDINGS, WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT THE UNRELATED HTLV-1 AND HIGH-RISK SUBTYPE HPVS MAY HAVE EVOLVED SIMILAR STRATEGIES TO DEREGULATE HOST ONCOGENIC AND PRO-SURVIVAL SIGNALING PATHWAYS BY TARGETING P53 FUNCTIONS. THE FOLLOWING SPECIFIC AIMS ARE PROPOSED FOR THIS R15 AREA PROJECT: 1) TO ELUCIDATE THE MOLECULAR MECHANISMS BY WHICH THE HTLV-1 P30II AND HIGH-RISK HPV E6 ONCOPROTEINS MODULATE P53-REGULATED PRO-SURVIVAL SIGNALS, 2) TO DETERMINE HOW TIGAR AND P53R2 CONTRIBUTE TO THE COOPERATION BETWEEN HTLV-1 P30II OR HRHPV E6 ONCOPROTEINS AND CELLULAR ONCOGENES, AND 3) TO ELUCIDATE THE ROLES OF THESE P53-REGULATED PRO-SURVIVAL SIGNALS IN HTLV-1 AND HPV-INDUCED TUMORIGENESIS IN VIVO. THE PROPOSED STUDIES WILL YIELD VALUABLE NEW INSIGHT INTO THE EVOLUTIONARY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HTLV-1 AND OTHER CANCER-INDUCING VIRUSES AND ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE ROLES OF P53-REGULATED PRO-SURVIVAL SIGNALS IN VIRAL CARCINOGENESIS.

PEROXIREDOXIN 6 AND ALZHEIMER'S

NORMALIZING GENE EXPRESSION DATA FROM FORMALIN-FIXED PARAFFIN-EMBEDDED SAMPLES

COORDINATE REGULATION OF P53 AND C-MYC IN AN HTLV-1 MODEL OF CARCINOGENESIS

EDUCATION RESEARCH AND STATISTICAL METHODOLOGIES

FRAMEWORKS, ALGORITHMS AND SCALABLE TECHNOLOGIES FOR MATHEMATICS (FASTMATH) SCIDAC INSTITUTE

COORDINATE REGULATION OF P53 AND C-MYC IN HTLV-1 AND HPV-INDUCED CARCINOGENESIS

HIGH ENERGY NEUTRINO PHYSICS WITH NOVA

BEYOND MASS CALIBRATION: A GALAXY--HALO CONNECTION APPROACH FOR OPTICAL CLUSTER COSMOLOGY -GALAXY CLUSTERS ARE POWERFUL PROBES OF THE LARGE-SCALE STRUCTURE OF THE UNIVERSE AND ITS EVOLUTION OVER TIME. NEW ASTRONOMICAL SURVEYS, LIKE THE DARK ENERGY SURVEY (DES), CONTAIN HIGH-QUALITY IMAGES OF THOUSANDS OF CLUSTERS AND SURROUNDING VICINITY. DESPITE THIS WEALTH OF DATA, THE STUDY OF CLUSTERS IS LIMITED BY THE DIFFICULTY IN CONVERTING OBSERVED QUANTITIES, LIKE THE NUMBER OF GALAXIES IN A CLUSTER OR THE GRAVITATIONAL LENSING OF LIGHT FROM BACKGROUND GALAXIES, INTO ACCURATE ESTIMATES OF THE CLUSTER?S MASS. IN THIS PROJECT, A TEAM OF SCIENTISTS FROM SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY (SMU) ARE DEVELOPING A FRAMEWORK TO SIMULATE OBSERVED GALAXIES, CLUSTERS, AND THEIR GRAVITATIONAL LENSING SIGNALS SELF-CONSISTENTLY. THE TEAM WILL COMPARE THEIR SIMULATED UNIVERSES DIRECTLY WITH DES OBSERVATIONS TO INFER THE EVOLUTION OF COSMIC STRUCTURE. THIS APPROACH CAN PROVIDE A NEW PARADIGM FOR FUTURE ANALYSES OF GALAXY CLUSTERS FOR THE PURPOSE OF STUDYING COSMOLOGY. AS PART OF THIS PROJECT, THE TEAM WILL ALSO LEAD THE EFFORT OF THE SMU QUARKNET CENTER, WHICH IS A NETWORK OF PHYSICISTS AND HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS IN THE DALLAS-FORT WORTH METROPLEX AND BELONGS TO THE NATIONWIDE QUARKNET NETWORK. THE TEAM IS ORGANIZING YEARLY SUMMER WORKSHOPS FOR HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS AND WILL PROVIDE TEACHERS AND THEIR STUDENTS WITH EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS RELATED TO THE LARGE-SCALE STRUCTURE OF THE UNIVERSE AND COSMOLOGY. GALAXY CLUSTERS OBSERVED BY OPTICAL SURVEYS ARE ONE OF THE MOST SENSITIVE PROBES OF THE AMPLITUDE OF DENSITY FLUCTUATIONS (SIGMA_8). CURRENT OPTICAL CLUSTER COSMOLOGY ANALYSES ARE LIMITED BY LINE-OF-SIGHT PROJECTION, WHICH AFFECTS CLUSTER FINDING AND THE LENSING SIGNAL, LEADING TO BIASED ESTIMATES OF CLUSTER MASS AND COSMOLOGICAL PARAMETERS. IN THIS PROJECT, THE TEAM AIMS TO OVERCOME THESE SYSTEMATICS BY MODELING OBSERVED CLUSTERS, GALAXIES, AND LENSING SELF-CONSISTENTLY. THIS APPROACH WILL CONSOLIDATE THE SIGMA_8 MEASUREMENTS FROM LATE-UNIVERSE PROBES. THE TEAM WILL BUILD SIMULATION-BASED MODELS TO DIRECTLY PREDICT OBSERVED CLUSTERS, GALAXIES, AND LENSING, FACILITATING FULL CROSS-CORRELATION ANALYSES. THE MODELING APPROACH INVOLVES PLACING GALAXIES WITHIN HALOS IN N-BODY SIMULATIONS USING A HALO OCCUPATION DISTRIBUTION (HOD) APPROACH, AND THEN SIMULATING THE CLUSTER-FINDING PROCESS, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT DISTANCE UNCERTAINTIES. THE TEAM WILL APPLY THIS MODEL TO FINAL DATA FROM THE DARK ENERGY SURVEY (DES) TO SELF-CALIBRATE THE HOD PARAMETERS, MAXIMIZING THE CONSTRAINING POWER OF THE CROSS-CORRELATION BETWEEN CLUSTERS, GALAXIES, AND LENSING. 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.

TAKECARE: A VIDEO BYSTANDER PROGRAM TO PREVENT SEXUAL VIOLENCE ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES

THEORETICAL RESEARCH IN PARTICLE PHYSICS AT SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY

ACQUISITION OF AN SEM WITH QUANTITATIVE X-RAY DETECTORS TO RESEARCH GEOLOGY-CLIMATE-BIOLOGY CONNECTIONS

EFFICIENT NUMERICAL METHODS FOR STOCHASTIC MODELING OF OPTICAL ABSORPTION IN SOLAR CELLS

TOPOLOGY-BASED TUMOR ANALYSIS FOR MEDICAL IMAGES - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT TUMOR SHAPES AND PATTERNS HAVE BEEN USED AS IMPORTANT MARKERS FOR CANCER DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN MEDICAL IMAGING TECHNOLOGY HAVE ENABLED A MORE DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF TUMOR REGIONS IN HIGH RESOLUTION. HOWEVER, EXISTING STUDIES HAVE DESCRIBED THE SHAPE OF TUMORS IN A LIMITED SCOPE. THERE IS A SCIENTIFIC NEED TO ENHANCE UNDERSTANDING OF TUMOR METASTASIS USING MEDICAL IMAGES AND PROVIDE A NEW INSIGHT FOR MEDICAL DECISION-MAKING. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO DEVELOP TOPOLOGICAL TUMOR SHAPE REPRESENTATIONS FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF MEDI- CAL IMAGES AND PROVIDE MODEL-BASED APPROACHES BASED ON THE TOPOLOGICAL IMAGE FEATURES. OUR PRELIMINARY RESULTS SUGGEST THAT TOPOLOGICAL FEATURES OF MEDICAL IMAGES CAPTURE SHAPES AND PATTERNS OF TUMOR REGIONS AND PREDICT PROG- NOSIS AND SURVIVAL AFTER CONTROLLING KEY CLINICAL PARAMETERS. THE PROPOSED PROJECT WILL FURTHER DEVELOP TOPOLOGY-BASED TUMOR ANALYSIS METHODS FOR PATHOLOGY AND RADIOGRAPHIC IMAGES AND PROVIDE TOOLS TO AID MEDICAL DECISION-MAKING. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED BY THREE AIMS: (1) DEVELOP METHODOLOGIES TO PAIR SPATIAL AND SHAPE INFORMATION OF TUMORS AND INVESTIGATE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN GENOMIC CHARACTERISTICS AND TOPOLOGICAL FEATURES FOR THREE-DIMENSIONAL GLIOMAS OF RADIOGRAPHIC IMAGES; (2) DEVELOP TOPOLOGICAL TUMOR SHAPE ANALYSIS METHODS THAT ANALYZE SHAPES AND INTERACTIONS OF MULTIPLE CELL-TYPE REGIONS AND EXTRACT IMAGE SIZE-INVARIANT SHAPE REPRESENTA- TIONS FOR TWO-DIMENSIONAL LUNG ADENOCARCINOMA PATHOLOGY IMAGES; AND (3) PROVIDE AN ACCESSIBLE RESOURCE TO THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY BY OFFERING USER-FRIENDLY SOFTWARE AND EDUCATION. OUR APPLICATIONS USING LUNG ADENOCARCINOMA PATHOLOGICAL IMAGES AND MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING OF PRIMARY GLIOMAS IMAGES WILL PROVIDE PROGNOSTIC INFORMATION BEYOND STANDARD CLINICAL FACTORS AND SERVE AS STRONG EVIDENCE FOR CLINICAL USAGE OF TOPOLOGICAL TUMOR SHAPE ANALYSIS. THIS PROPOSAL WILL ALSO ALLOW STUDENTS FROM VARIOUS BACKGROUNDS AT SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY TO EXPERIENCE A BROAD SPECTRUM OF MEDICAL RESEARCH, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO GENOMIC AND CELLULAR PROCESSES INVOLVED IN TUMORS, SURVIVAL MODELING, TOPOLOGICAL DATA ANALYSIS, AND DEEP LEARNING IN MEDICAL IMAGING WHILE WORKING WITH COLLABORATIVE RESEARCHERS FROM REGIONAL INSTITUTIONS.

IMPACT OF CLINICAL MUTATIONS ON SUBUNIT INTERACTIONS IN COMPLEX I

POSITIVE AFFECT, FUTURE THINKING, AND PLANNING: TESTING BRIEF INTERVENTION COMPONENTS TO OPTIMIZE A NOVEL INTERVENTION TO PROMOTE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY - PROJECT SUMMARY INSUFFICIENT LEVELS OF REGULAR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY (< 150 MINUTES/WEEK OF MODERATE-TO-VIGOROUS PHYSICAL ACTIVITY [MVPA]) ARE ASSOCIATED WITH VARIOUS HEALTH RISKS, INCLUDING INCREASED RISK OF BREAST, COLON, AND ENDOMETRIAL CANCERS. NEARLY 50% OF ADULTS IN THE US REPORT INSUFFICIENT LEVELS OF REGULAR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY (PA), AND 26.6% REPORT NO REGULAR PA AT ALL. MOST CURRENT PA INTERVENTIONS ARE RESOURCE INTENSIVE (I.E., COST TO IMPLEMENT, PARTICI- PANT TIME AND BURDEN) OR “BLACK BOXES” WHERE THE ACTIVE INTERVENTION COMPONENTS ARE UNCLEAR, CREATING CRITICAL BARRIERS TO SCALABILITY AND DISSEMINATION AND LIMITING THEIR IMPACT ON POPULATION HEALTH AND CANCER PREVENTION. NOVEL INTERVENTION STRATEGIES TO INCREASE REGULAR PA NEED TO BE BOTH EFFECTIVE AND SCALABLE. DELIVERING PA INTER- VENTIONS VIA TECHNOLOGY-BASED PLATFORMS CAN ADDRESS SCALABILITY AND DISSEMINATION BARRIERS BY MINIMIZING COST AND RESOURCE DEMANDS; HOWEVER, CURRENT TECHNOLOGY-BASED PA INTERVENTIONS ALSO HAVE THE SAME “BLACK BOX” PROBLEM AS OTHER INTERVENTIONS. THREE BRIEF INTERVENTION TECHNIQUES ARE PROMISING CANDIDATE COMPONENTS TO CONSIDER IN DEVELOPING AND OPTIMIZING A NOVEL PA INTERVENTION TO ADDRESS EXISTING BARRIERS TO SCALABILITY AND DISSEMINATION: POSITIVE AFFECTIVE IMAGERY (PAI), EPISODIC FUTURE THINKING (EFT), AND ACTION PLANNING (AP). OPTI- MAL COMPONENT DOSAGE IS ALSO IMPORTANT FOR OPTIMIZING AN INTERVENTION. GUIDED BY THE MULTIPHASE OPTIMIZATION STRATEGY (MOST) FRAMEWORK, WE WILL DEVELOP AUDIO-RECORDED PAI, EFT, AND AP COMPONENTS AND ENROLL INSUFFI- CIENTLY ACTIVE (I.E., < 150 MINUTES/WEEK OF MVPA) ADULTS (N=192) IN A 6-WEEK FACTORIAL INTERVENTION TO TEST DIFFER- ENT COMPONENT COMBINATIONS, DIFFERENT DOSES, AND THEIR PUTATIVE MECHANISMS TO OPTIMIZE A NOVEL, SCALABLE IN- TERVENTION TO PROMOTE PA. IN AIM 1, WE WILL IDENTIFY THE OPTIMAL COMBINATION OF COMPONENTS FOR MEETING WEEKLY PA MINUTE GUIDELINES BY TESTING THE INDEPENDENT AND INTERACTIVE EFFECTS OF THE COMPONENTS ON WEEKLY PA MINUTES DURING THE 6-WEEK INTERVENTION. IN AIM 2, WE WILL DETERMINE THE MECHANISMS OF EACH INTERVENTION COM- PONENT BY TESTING THE EXTENT TO WHICH (A) EACH COMPONENT CHANGES ITS PUTATIVE MECHANISM, AND (B) WITHIN-PER- SON CHANGES IN EACH MECHANISM ARE ASSOCIATED WITH WEEKLY PA MINUTES. THE RESEARCH WILL RESULT IN AN OPTI- MIZED, AUDIO-RECORDED PA INTERVENTION THAT IS EFFECTIVE AND SCALABLE AND WILL POSITION OUR INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM TO CONDUCT A FUTURE RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL (RCT) FOCUSED ON REFINEMENT AND EVALUATION. THESE OUTCOMES WILL ACCELERATE PROGRESS TOWARD DEVELOPING AN INTERVENTION TO PROMOTE PA THAT HAS POTENTIAL FOR IMMEDIATE AND BROAD IMPACT ON POPULATION HEALTH AND CANCER PREVENTION.

GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

PERSONALIZING MATHEMATICS TO MAXIMIZE RELEVANCE AND SKILL FOR TOMORROW'S STEM WORKFORCE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: A SEMICONDUCTOR CURRICULUM AND LEARNING FRAMEWORK FOR HIGH-SCHOOLERS USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, GAME MODULES, AND HANDS-ON EXPERIENCES -SEMICONDUCTORS ARE ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES, ENABLING ADVANCES IN IMPORTANT APPLICATIONS AND SYSTEMS SUCH AS COMMUNICATION, HEALTHCARE, AND NATIONAL SECURITY. IN ORDER TO SUSTAIN THE U.S.'S GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS IN THE SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY, THERE IS A GROWING DEMAND FOR A SKILLED SEMICONDUCTOR WORKFORCE. HIGH-SCHOOLERS ARE AMONG THE MOST FREQUENT USERS OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES. HOWEVER, MANY DO NOT KNOW HOW THESE DEVICES ARE DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED. TO ADDRESS THE KNOWLEDGE GAPS AND WORKFORCE NEEDS EQUITABLY, THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP A SEMICONDUCTOR CURRICULUM WITH HIGH-SCHOOL-AGED STUDENTS FROM DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS, AND WITH PARTNERS IN HIGHER EDUCATION, K-12, AND INDUSTRIES, ENHANCED WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) AND OTHER INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES. GAME-BASED SEMICONDUCTOR MODULES WILL BE CREATED FOR STUDENTS TO PLAY AND LEARN WITH PEERS CHOOSING CULTURALLY DIVERSE AVATARS. THESE LEARNING MODULES WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE TO A WIDE RANGE OF STUDENTS THROUGH THE PROJECT COLLABORATOR STEMULI, A GAME-BASED LEARNING COMPANY. IN ADDITION, APPROXIMATELY 50 STUDENTS EACH SUMMER (YEARS 2-4) WILL BE ENGAGED IN IN-PERSON WORKSHOPS HOSTED IN MAINE AND TEXAS. THROUGH THESE WORKSHOPS, STUDENTS WILL BE ENGAGED IN HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES AND FIELD TRIPS TO SEMICONDUCTOR COMPANIES WHERE THEY WILL CONNECT THEIR GAME-BASED LEARNING WITH INDUSTRY EXPERIENCES. BASED ON STUDENTS' FEEDBACK, THE WORKSHOP AND GAME CURRICULUM WILL BE DESIGNED AND IMPROVED ITERATIVELY. THIS DEVELOPING AND TESTING INNOVATIONS (DTI) PROJECT AIMS TO HELP HIGH-SCHOOL STUDENTS DEVELOP SKILLS AND CAREER INTERESTS IN THE SEMICONDUCTOR FIELDS THROUGH AN INNOVATIVE GAME-BASED LEARNING PLATFORM, HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES, AND INDUSTRY FIELD TRIPS. THE OVERARCHING RESEARCH QUESTION IS: TO WHAT EXTENT DO THE DESIGNS AND INTEGRATION OF AI EDUCATOR(A GENERATIVE AI TOOL FOR EDUCATION), GAME-BASED LEARNING, AND HANDS-ON EXPERIENCES PROVIDE EQUITABLE ACCESS AND STRENGTHEN STUDENTS? ENGAGEMENTS, AWARENESS, INTERESTS, AND KNOWLEDGE IN STEM CAREERS? THE AI EDUCATOR WILL PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH SUGGESTIONS, ASSISTANCE, AND ADDITIONAL STUDY MATERIALS ABOUT THE SUBJECT MATTER. THE AI COMPONENT WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR TUNING THE OUTPUT CONTENT BASED ON THE STUDENT?S INTERESTS, HOBBIES, AND PREFERENCES TO MAKE THE EXPERIENCE MORE RELATABLE. DATA COLLECTION WILL INCLUDE STUDENTS? ATTITUDES, GAME ACTIVITIES, AND HANDS-ON LEARNING OUTCOMES. DESIGN-BASED RESEARCH METHODS WILL BE USED INCORPORATING THE NASA TASK LOAD INDEX, T-TEST, INTERVIEWS, AND SURVEYS TO UNDERSTAND STUDENTS? LEARNING AND EFFICACY OF THE GAME AND WORKSHOP CURRICULUM. THE TECHNOLOGY, PEDAGOGY, AND CONTENT KNOWLEDGE (TPACK) FRAMEWORK WILL BE USED AND REFINED THROUGHOUT THE AI AND GAME TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATIONS INTO THE SEMICONDUCTOR CURRICULUM AND EDUCATION PATHWAYS. THE PROJECT WILL BE DESIGNED WITH A FOCUS ON EQUITY, ACCESSIBILITY, ENGAGEMENT, AND COLLABORATION, CATERING TO STUDENTS FROM DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS. THIS PROJECT IS CO-FUNDED BY THE INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY EXPERIENCES FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS (ITEST) PROGRAM, WHICH SUPPORTS PROJECTS THAT BUILD UNDERSTANDINGS OF PRACTICES, PROGRAM ELEMENTS, CONTEXTS AND PROCESSES CONTRIBUTING TO INCREASING STUDENTS' KNOWLEDGE AND INTEREST IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) AND INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) CAREERS. THIS PROJECT IS ALSO CO-FUNDED BY THE ADVANCING INFORMAL STEM LEARNING (AISL) PROGRAM AND THE DISCOVERY RESEARCH PREK-12 (DRK-12) 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

REU SITE: ADVANCING DATA SCIENCE IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST -THIS REU SITE TRAINS COLLEGE STUDENTS IN DATA SCIENCE METHODS AND TOOLS. THE OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAM ARE TO: 1) EQUIP STUDENTS WITH EXPERTISE IN DATA SCIENCE METHODS AND TOOLS, 2) INCREASE INTEREST IN DATA SCIENCE, AND 3) INCREASE THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS PURSUING GRADUATE STUDIES IN A DATA SCIENCE OR QUANTITATIVE SOCIAL SCIENCE FIELDS. STUDENTS WORK WITH UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS ON A MULTIDISCIPLINARY SET OF RESEARCH PROJECTS OF SOCIETAL IMPORTANCE. THEY WILL GET HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE WITH COMPUTER TOOLS AND DATA FROM SOURCES LIKE MAPS, SURVEYS, AND PUBLIC RECORDS. THEY WILL ALSO LEARN VARIOUS DATA SCIENCE METHODS INCLUDING CAUSAL MODELING, SIMULATION, GEOCODING OF ADDRESSES, MAP VISUALIZATIONS, MACHINE LEARNING, AND WEB SCRAPING. THIS REU SITE ALSO INCLUDES WORKSHOPS TO HELP STUDENTS BUILD CONFIDENCE, LEARN ABOUT CAREERS, AND SHARE THEIR RESEARCH FINDINGS. THIS PROGRAM IS COMMITTED TO CULTIVATING THE NEXT GENERATION OF DATA SCIENTISTS THROUGH RIGOROUS TRAINING AND APPLIED RESEARCH. THE PROGRAM BEGINS WITH A TWO-WEEK DATA SCIENCE BOOT CAMP, WHERE STUDENTS LEARN COMPUTER PROGRAMMING, STATISTICS, MAPPING, AND RESPONSIBLE RESEARCH PRACTICES. AFTER THIS TRAINING, STUDENTS JOIN RESEARCH TEAMS TO INVESTIGATE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS USING LARGE DATASETS. ALL STUDENTS WILL CONTRIBUTE TO APPLIED RESEARCH WITH SOCIETAL IMPACT. STUDENTS WILL BE PREPARED TO ENGAGE WITH GENERATIVE AI AND LARGE LANGUAGE MODELS, APPLY AI METHODS TO SOCIETAL CHALLENGES, AND CONFRONT EMERGING FRONTIERS IN BIOMEDICAL DATA SCIENCE. THIS PROGRAM PREPARES THE NEXT GENERATION OF DATA SCIENTISTS BY PROVIDING THE ANALYTICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL TRAINING NECESSARY TO ADDRESS COMPLEX, EMERGING SOCIETAL CHALLENGES. 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.

ISOFORM-SPECIFIC EFFECTS OF MECP2 ISOFORMS ON NEURONAL VIABILITY

CAREER: RECONFIGURABLE COMMUNICATION INTERFACE USING ULTRA-LOW-POWER TECHNIQUE FOR FUTURE HETEROGENEOUS MOBILE DEVICES

ELUCIDATION OF REACTION MECHANISM WITH THE UNIFIED REACTION VALLEY APPROACH: PART III HOMOGENEOUS CATALYSIS AND BEYOND

CAREER: ENHANCING QUALITY THROUGH PROBABILISTIC ON-CHIP TEST

HIGH SENSITIVITY, MICRO-SCALE SENSORS FOR LOCAL PRESSURE MEASUREMENTS IN FLUID FLOWS

THE TEXOMA SEMICONDUCTOR TECH HUB, LED BY SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY, SEEKS TO UNIFY EXISTING AND PLANNED SEMICONDUCTOR SUPPLY CHAIN INFRASTRUCTURE BY ENHANCING REGIONAL COLLABORATION THROUGH WORKFORCE EXPANSION. LEVERAGING ITS CENTRAL LOCATION AND ROBUST TRANSPORTATION NETWORK, THIS TECH HUB OFFERS A SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING MODEL THAT GEOGRAPHICALLY CONSOLIDATES THE SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING SUPPLY CHAIN FROM BARE WAFERS TO PRODUCTS. BY DEPLOYING A GEOGRAPHICALLY-DISTRIBUTED FABLET MODEL BUILDING TARGETED, ACCESSIBLE LABS FOR ELECTRONIC DESIGN, SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING, PACKAGING, AND TESTING, THE TEXOMA SEMICONDUCTOR TECH HUB WILL FOSTER A CONSOLIDATED SEMICONDUCTOR INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM WITH SUPPLY CHAIN RESILIENCE.

A RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF PRE-K CLASSROOM PRACTICES

ROBUST HIGH-ORDER METHODS FOR WAVE EQUATIONS IN THE TIME DOMAIN

AN ONLINE BYSTANDER INTERVENTION TO PREVENT TEEN RELATIONSHIP VIOLENCE

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF LOW-POWER GIGABIT TRANSCEIVERS WITH SEU TOLERANCE FOR LHC UPGRADE

ANALYSIS OF FIRE SUPPRESSION AND INCREASING ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABILITY ON WILDFIRE INTENSITY

WE WILL QUANTIFY THE IMPACTS OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES ON THE STABILITY OF THE SOLID-EARTH THROUGH NUMERICAL POROELASTIC MODELING AND SIMULATION OF THE STRESS/ PRESSURE DISTRIBUTION IN THE ROCK/SOIL COLUMNS AND THE RESULTING SURFACE SUBSIDENCE/UPLIFT.

SHF: SMALL: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: HARVESTING WASTED TIME AND EXISTING CIRCUITRY FOR EFFICIENT FIELD TESTING

ROBUST AND EFFICIENT NUMERICAL METHODS FOR WAVE EQUATIONS IN THE TIME DOMAIN: NONLINEAR AND MULTISCALE PROBLEMS -THE PROJECT AIMS TO DEVELOP FAST AND RELIABLE ALGORITHMS FOR SIMULATING WAVES, CAPABLE OF EXPLOITING CURRENT AND FUTURE COMPUTING TECHNOLOGY AND OF TREATING A WIDE RANGE OF MATHEMATICAL MODELS OF PHYSICAL SYSTEMS. WAVE PHENOMENA ARE IMPORTANT IN ALMOST ALL AREAS OF THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING. THEY ARE CENTRAL TO SENSING AND IMAGING APPLICATIONS, TO THE MODELING OF POTENTIAL NATURAL DISASTERS SUCH AS EARTHQUAKES, AND TO HUMANITY'S QUEST TO UNDERSTAND THE UNIVERSE. IN THE LONGER TERM, THE ALGORITHMS DEVELOPED WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO SOFTWARE TO PROMOTE THEIR BROAD USE. BESIDES CONTRIBUTIONS TO BASIC TOOLS FOR SOLVING COMPREHENSIVE MODELS OF WAVE PHYSICS, THE PROJECT WILL RESULT IN THE TRAINING OF THREE GRADUATE STUDENTS IN COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE, SUPPORTED IN PART AS FUNDED RESEARCH ASSISTANTS, AND IN THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSDISCIPLINARY PROGRAMS IN RESEARCH AND EDUCATION WHICH INVOLVE COMPUTATION AS AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT. THE MAIN CHALLENGES TO COMPUTATIONAL TECHNIQUE POSED BY PROBLEMS IN WAVE THEORY ARE ROOTED IN THE MULTIPLE TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL SCALES WHICH TYPICALLY OCCUR. THE FUNDAMENTAL FACT THAT A WAVE PROPAGATES OVER MANY WAVELENGTHS WITHOUT SIGNIFICANT ATTENUATION LEADS TO THE REQUIREMENT THAT NUMERICAL METHODS MUST HAVE MINIMAL DISPERSION AND DISSIPATION ERRORS AND THAT THE COMPUTATIONAL DOMAIN MUST BE LIMITED USING ACCURATE APPROXIMATE RADIATION BOUNDARY CONDITIONS. IN ADDITION, THE WAVES MAY INTERACT WITH COMPLEX GEOMETRICAL OBJECTS WITH THEIR OWN INHERENT LENGTH SCALES. THE PROJECT WILL ADDRESS ALL OF THESE ISSUES. BUILDING ON PREVIOUS SUCCESS IN DEVELOPING OPTIMAL RATIONAL APPROXIMATIONS TO RADIATION BOUNDARY CONDITIONS FOR LINEAR HYPERBOLIC PROBLEMS IN UNIFORM MEDIA, REDUCED ORDER MODELING ALGORITHMS WILL BE USED TO CONSTRUCT EFFECTIVE METHODS FOR PROBLEMS WITH COULOMB POTENTIALS, IN PERIODIC MEDIA, IN MULTISCALE MEDIA, AND FOR SCHRODINGER-TYPE EQUATIONS. THE INVESTIGATOR WILL IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF THEIR DISCRETIZATION METHODS, WHICH ARE ROBUST, DUE TO ENERGY STABILITY, HAVE ARBITRARY CONVERGENCE ORDERS FOR SMOOTH SOLUTIONS, AND ARE CAPABLE OF TREATING GENERAL SECOND-ORDER HYPERBOLIC SYSTEMS ARISING FROM ACTION PRINCIPLES. SPECIFICALLY, THE RESEARCH WILL DEVELOP HIGHER ORDER LOCAL TIME-STEPPING SCHEMES TO MORE EFFICIENTLY TREAT LOCALLY REFINED AND HYBRID MESHES AND WILL EXERCISE THEIR METHODS ON INTERESTING PHYSICAL PROBLEMS, INCLUDING GRAVITATIONAL AND TOPOLOGICAL WAVES. 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.

DECOMPOSITION-BASED STOCHASTIC PROGRAMMING MODELS AND ALGORITHMS FOR DISCRETE-EVENT DYNAMIC SYSTEMS

POSITION SENSITIVE P-MER FREQUENCY CLUSTERING WITH APPLICATIONS TO CLASSIFICATION

NANOPORE FORCE SPECTROSCOPY AND SORTING OF VESICLES AT NANOSCALE

PIONEERING MILLIMETER-WAVELENGTH LINE INTENSITY MAPPING SURVEYS FOR LARGE-SCALE COSMOLOGY

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: TERRESTRIAL LATE PERMIAN TO EARLY TRIASSIC EARTH SYSTEMS IN NE PANGEA: INSIGHTS INTO THE TEMPO, EFFECTS, AND CAUSES OF THE END-PERMIAN MASS EXTINCTION

UNS: ROBUST SUPERHYDROPHOBIC SURFACES FOR ENHANCED PROPULSIVE PERFORMANCE AND MANEUVERABILITY AT INTERMEDIATE REYNOLDS NUMBER

DYNAMIC BLOOD PRESSURE CONTROL AND ORTHOSTATIC TOLERANCE IN INDIVIDUALS WITH MS A