Claremont Mckenna College

THE OPEN ACADEMY: PROMOTING CIVIL DISCOURSE ON CAMPUS

EMERGENCY RELIEF SUPPORT THROUGH SECTION 18004(A)(1) OF THE CARES ACT.

EMERGENCY RELIEF SUPPORT THROUGH SECTION 18004(A)(1) OF THE CARES ACT.

EQUIPMENT: MRI CONSORTIUM: TRACK 1 ACQUISITION OF A HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING CLUSTER FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AT THE CLAREMONT COLLEGES -THIS MRI AWARD WILL ENABLE CLAREMONT MCKENNA COLLEGE (CMC) AND HARVEY MUDD COLLEGE (CMC) TO ACQUIRE A HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING (HPC) CLUSTER. BOTH CMC AND HMC ARE PRIMARILY UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTIONS THAT PLACE A STRONG EMPHASIS ON THE ENGAGEMENT OF STUDENTS IN RESEARCH. THIS HPC CLUSTER WILL BE USED BY FACULTY AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS TO PERFORM RESEARCH IN A DIVERSE SET OF DISCIPLINES SPANNING THE NATURAL SCIENCES, MATHEMATICS, AND ECONOMICS. THESE RESEARCH EXPERIENCES WILL BE TRANSFORMATIVE FOR THE STUDENTS BY TRAINING THEM IN STATE-OF-THE-ART COMPUTATIONAL TECHNIQUES THAT ARE WIDELY EMPLOYED IN BOTH ACADEMIA AND INDUSTRY. THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS WILL ORGANIZE AN ANNUAL MULTIDISCIPLINARY HPC RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM, ENHANCE EXISTING COURSES INVOLVING COMPUTATION, AND ENABLE THE PARTICIPATION OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FROM UNDERREPRESENTED BACKGROUNDS IN SUMMER RESEARCH. THE JOINT CMC-HMC HPC CLUSTER WILL CONTAIN A BALANCED MIX OF CPU AND GPU RESOURCES, AS WELL AS LARGE-MEMORY NODES, THAT WILL SUPPORT THE RESEARCH PROGRAMS OF TEN FACULTY MEMBERS AT THE TWO COLLEGES. THE HETEROGENEOUS HARDWARE CONFIGURATION OF THE HPC CLUSTER WILL ALLOW THESE FACULTY TO DEVELOP AND EMPLOY A VARIETY OF COMPUTATIONAL MODELS IN DISCIPLINES RANGING FROM THE NATURAL SCIENCES TO MATHEMATICS TO ECONOMICS. EXAMPLES OF THE RESEARCH PROJECTS THAT WILL BE FURTHERED BY THIS CLUSTER INCLUDE THE DEVELOPMENT OF EFFECTIVE THERMODYNAMIC THEORIES AND EFFICIENT SIMULATIONS TO STUDY SOLVENT-SOLUTE INTERACTIONS, FAST ULTRA-SENSITIVE ALGORITHMS AND SPACE-EFFICIENT REPRESENTATIONS FOR HOMOLOGY DETECTION IN LARGE MICROBIOME DATASETS, MATHEMATICAL MODELS FOR OPINION DYNAMICS USING NON-CONVEX OPTIMIZATION METHODS, AND MACHINE LEARNING AND SIMULATION TECHNIQUES FOR CONSTRUCTING ECONOMETRIC MODELS TO ASSESS THE STABILITY OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS. COLLECTIVELY, THESE PROJECTS WILL ADVANCE KNOWLEDGE IN BOTH APPLIED AND THEORETICAL AREAS OF MULTIPLE DISCIPLINES, PROVIDE NEW MODELS AND SOFTWARE TOOLS FOR THEIR RESPECTIVE SCHOLARLY COMMUNITIES, AND TRAIN AND ENGAGE A NEW GENERATION OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE. 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.

CAREER: TARGETED GENOME ELIMINATION BY A SELFISH B CHROMOSOME IN THE JEWEL WASP NASONIA VITRIPENNIS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: LEVEL II PREPARING UNDERGRADUATES FOR RESEARCH IN STEM-RELATED FIELDS USING ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY (PURSUE)

CAREER: THERMAL STRESS AND INTERTIDAL ZONATION: THE NEGLECTED ROLE OF FOOD SUPPLY

CAREER: STABILIZING ACCESSIBILITY OF PRIOR KNOWLEDGE ACROSS THE LIFESPAN

MINIMAL MODELS OF SENSORY PERCEPTION

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: THE CILIATE GENOMICS CONSORTIUM MODEL FOR SUSTAINABLE TEACHING-RESEARCH INTEGRATION

CAREER:INVESTIGATING HETEROCHROMATIN ASSEMBLY THROUGH HISTONE DEACETYLASES

MRI:ACQUISITION OF A 500 MHZ NMR TO SUPPORT TEACHING AND RESEARCH WITH UNDERGRADUATES

RUI: INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE ROLE OF THE CHD1 ATPASE IN CHROMOSOME STRUCTURE IN DROSOPHILA

RUI: CHROMATIN DYNAMICS AND TRANSCRIPTION IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

IIBR INFORMATICS: MIXTURE MODEL ALGORITHMS FOR INFERRING COVARIANCE STRUCTURES AND MICROBIAL ASSOCIATIONS FROM MICROBIOME DATA -MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES ARE FOUND ALMOST EVERYWHERE ON EARTH AND THEY PLAY IMPORTANT FUNCTIONAL ROLES IN THE ENVIRONMENTS THAT THEY ARE FOUND IN. MICROBES IN A COMMUNITY INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER AS THEY COMPETE FOR THE FOOD AND ENERGY RESOURCES AVAILABLE IN THEIR ENVIRONMENT. THESE DIRECT AND INDIRECT INTERACTIONS BETWEEN MICROBES, TERMED MICROBIAL ASSOCIATIONS, PLAY A LARGE ROLE IN DETERMINING THE STRUCTURE, ORGANIZATION, AND FUNCTION OF THE COMMUNITY. THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES THE COMPUTATIONAL CHALLENGE OF INFERRING MICROBIAL ASSOCIATIONS FROM MICROBIOME DATA GENERATED USING HIGH-THROUGHPUT DNA SEQUENCING TECHNOLOGIES. THE NOVEL COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS AND RESOURCES DEVELOPED BY THIS PROJECT WILL ENABLE THE ADVANCEMENT OF KNOWLEDGE IN SEVERAL DISCIPLINES, INCLUDING ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES, MEDICINE, AND HUMAN HEALTH SCIENCE. THIS PROJECT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO UNDERSTANDING THE RULES OF LIFE FOR MICROBIAL ECOSYSTEMS, AND IT WILL FURTHER OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPORTANT ROLES THAT MICROBES PLAY IN BIOGEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES IN THE ENVIRONMENT AND IN THE PROGRESSION OF MICROBE-ASSOCIATED DISEASES. THIS PROJECT WILL PROVIDE INTERDISCIPLINARY TRAINING FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON TRAINING UNDER-REPRESENTED GROUPS (INCLUDING WOMEN AND MINORITIES). THIS PROJECT WILL ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO ENABLING AN INCREASED LEVEL OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN STEM AREAS THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN EDUCATION MODULE THAT WILL INTRODUCE HIGH-SCHOOL TEACHERS, VIA WORKSHOPS, TO INTRODUCTORY TOPICS IN GENOMICS AND BIOINFORMATICS. MICROBIAL ASSOCIATIONS CAN BE INFERRED FROM THE UNDERLYING COVARIANCE STRUCTURE THAT IS DETERMINED FROM MICROBIAL TAXA ABUNDANCES. THESE ABUNDANCES ARE OFTEN ESTIMATED FROM DNA SEQUENCE DATA. HOWEVER, SEQUENCE DATA ARE COMPOSITIONAL IN NATURE, IN THE SENSE THAT THEY ONLY PROVIDE RELATIVE ABUNDANCE INFORMATION FOR TAXA, AND THIS POSES CHALLENGES WHEN DETERMINING MICROBIAL ASSOCIATIONS. FURTHERMORE, ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN GROUPS OF MICROBIAL TAXA ARE NOT ALWAYS FIXED, AND THEY CAN CHANGE WHEN FACTORS SUCH AS RESOURCE AVAILABILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS VARY. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP NOVEL COMPUTATIONAL METHODS TO DETERMINE THE NUMBER OF COVARIANCE STRUCTURES IN LARGE MICROBIOME DATASETS AND TO RECONSTRUCT THE SETS OF MICROBIAL ASSOCIATIONS. THESE METHODS WILL BE ABLE TO CAPTURE BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE MICROBIAL ASSOCIATIONS FROM SEQUENCE DATA WHILE DEALING WITH THE CHALLENGES POSED BY THE COMPOSITIONAL NATURE OF SEQUENCE DATA. THE OVERALL APPROACH IS BASED ON A MIXTURE MODEL FRAMEWORK INCORPORATING COMPONENT DISTRIBUTIONS THAT MODEL MICROBIAL ABUNDANCE DATA. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP VARIATIONAL APPROXIMATION ALGORITHMS TO DETERMINE THE NUMBER OF COVARIANCE STRUCTURES IN A GIVEN MICROBIOME DATASET, FAST NUMERICAL OPTIMIZATION ALGORITHMS TO ESTIMATE THE PARAMETERS OF THE MIXTURE MODEL, AND AN INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK TO INCORPORATE METADATA IN THE ANALYSIS. THE ALGORITHMS WILL ALSO ENABLE THE RECONSTRUCTION OF SPARSE MODELS, THUS HANDLING THE SCENARIO WHEN THE NUMBER OF MICROBIAL ASSOCIATIONS IN THE COMMUNITY IS SMALL. THE APPLICATION OF THESE ALGORITHMS TO ANALYZE LARGE MICROBIOME DATASETS WILL GENERATE NEW INSIGHTS INTO MICROBIAL ECOLOGY OF THREE DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS (HUMAN, OCEAN, AND SOIL). THIS ANALYSIS WILL INCLUDE AN ELUCIDATION OF MICROBIAL ASSOCIATIONS AT THE STRAIN LEVEL, THE STRUCTURES OF THE UNDERLYING MICROBIAL NETWORKS, AND THE IDENTITIES OF THE KEY TAXA IN THESE ENVIRONMENTS. THE RESULTS OF THE PROJECT CAN BE FOUND AT HTTPS://GITHUB.COM/SYOOSEPH/YOOSEPHLAB/TREE/MASTER/MIXTUREMICROBIALNETWORKS. 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.

NOVEL FUNCTIONS OF LAMMER-RELATED KINASES IN GENE EXPRESSION

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DISSOCIATING PERCEPTUAL AND MOTOR CORRELATES OF EEG MU-ALPHA AND BETA OSCILLATIONS IN EMOTIONAL ACTION SIMULATION

CAREER: DEVELOPMENT OF DNA POLYMERASES CAPABLE OF HIGH FIDELITY MODIFIED DNA SYNTHESIS

ADAPTING CBT FOR CHINESE AMERICANS

RUI NOISE DELAYS AND DEVELOPMENT OF EXPERTISE

MCA PILOT PUI: PROXY-MODEL COMPARISON USING CARBON ISOTOPES FROM ANNUALLY BANDED MARINE CALCIFIERS AND OCEAN CIRCULATION INVERSE MODELS TO EVALUATE COASTAL CARBON CYCLE PROCESSES -THE OCEAN IS A LARGE SINK OF ANTHROPOGENIC CARBON FROM THE ATMOSPHERE. THUS, CALCULATING THE MOVEMENT OF CARBON INTO THE OCEANS IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND FUTURE ATMOSPHERIC CARBON DIOXIDE CONCENTRATIONS. OCEAN CLIMATE MODELS ARE A POWERFUL TOOL TO UNDERSTAND THE PROCESSES THAT CONTROL CARBON CYCLING. HOWEVER, LARGE DISCREPANCIES EXIST AMONG DATA ESTIMATES AND AN OCEAN CIRCULATION INVERSE MODEL (OCIM) THAT MODELS CARBON ISOTOPES IN THE OCEAN. THIS PROJECT WILL USE DATA OBTAINED FROM PROXY ARCHIVES TO PERFORM A MODEL-PROXY DATA COMPARISON AS AN INDEPENDENT TEST OF THE MODEL-SIMULATED CARBON ISOTOPES. THE RESEARCH WOULD PROVIDE THE FIRST PROXY DATA ? MODEL OUTPUT COMPARISON OF CARBON ISOTOPE RECORDS FROM MARINE CARBONATES AND SIMULATIONS FROM OCIMS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND CARBON CYCLING IN THE COASTAL REGIONS OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC AND NORTH PACIFIC OCEANS. THE COMPARISON WOULD ADDRESS OFFSETS AND TIMING DIFFERENCES DUE TO PROXY ARCHIVE AND MODEL BIASES RELATED TO SEASONALITY, AIR-SEA GAS EXCHANGE, PROXY ARCHIVE CHRONOLOGICAL UNCERTAINTY, AND BROADER ENVIRONMENTAL/CLIMATIC PROCESSES NOT CONSTRAINED IN THE MODEL. THIS PROJECT WILL ANALYZE DISCREPANCIES BETWEEN MODEL OUTPUT AND PROXY DATA TO BETTER CONSTRAIN THE CARBON CYCLING PROCESSES CRITICAL TO UNDERSTANDING THE REMOVAL OF ANTHROPOGENIC CARBON DIOXIDE FROM THE ATMOSPHERE AND INTO THE OCEANS. THUS, THIS WORK WILL CONTRIBUTE TO SOCIETALLY RELEVANT UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROCESSES THAT MITIGATE ONGOING CLIMATE CHANGE. THE PROJECT WILL SUPPORT A MID-CAREER RESEARCHER AT A PRIMARY UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTION. AT THE INTERFACE OF SOCIETALLY RELEVANT CLIMATE SCIENCE AND NUMERICAL MODELING, THIS PROJECT WILL TRAIN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS THROUGH RESEARCH EXPERIENCES AND WILL INCORPORATE CONTENT INTO THE CURRICULUM OF THE NEW SCIENCE DEPARTMENT, THUS PROVIDING AN INVESTMENT IN WORKFORCE CAPABILITIES THAT WILL EXTEND BEYOND THE PROJECT DURATION. 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.

III: SMALL: RUI: FINDING BEST REPRESENTATIVE PHYLOGENETIC TREE RECONCILIATIONS -THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP NEW TECHNIQUES AND SOFTWARE TOOLS TO AID BIOLOGISTS IN STUDYING THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN GROUPS SUCH AS PARASITES AND THEIR HOST ORGANISMS. THESE METHODS AND TOOLS WILL ALLOW LIFE SCIENTISTS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE ORIGINS OF VIRAL AND BACTERIAL DISEASES, PARASITES THAT ATTACK CROPS, AND OTHER PAIRS OF CO-EVOLVING GROUPS. THE PROJECT WILL INVOLVE THE DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF NEW ALGORITHMS, SYSTEMATIC VALIDATION OF THESE ALGORITHMS ON LARGE BIOLOGICAL DATASETS, AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SOFTWARE TOOL THAT WILL BE BROADLY DISSEMINATED. THIS WORK WILL BE CONDUCTED AT AN UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGE AND WILL PREPARE APPROXIMATELY 25 STUDENTS TO ENGAGE IN RESEARCH. THE WORK WILL ALSO RESULT IN TEACHING MATERIALS AND OUTREACH ACTIVITIES FOR HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE STUDENTS. THE WORK UNDER THIS AWARD WILL EXPLORE THE PROBLEM OF RECONCILING PAIRS OF PHYLOGENETIC TREES REPRESENTING TAXA SUCH AS HOSTS AND PARASITES OR GENES AND SPECIES. GIVEN A PAIR OF PHYLOGENETIC TREES AND THE ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN THEIR LEAVES, MAXIMUM PARSIMONY RECONCILIATION SEEKS TO MAP ONE TREE (E.G., THE PARASITE TREE) ONTO THE OTHER (E.G., THE HOST SPECIES TREE) TO MINIMIZE THE NUMBER OF BIOLOGICAL EVENTS REQUIRED TO EXPLAIN THEIR DISCORDANCE. IN GENERAL, THE NUMBER OF SUCH MAXIMUM PARSIMONY RECONCILIATIONS CAN GROW EXPONENTIALLY WITH THE SIZE OF THE TREES. CONSEQUENTLY, IT CAN BE DIFFICULT OR IMPOSSIBLE TO IDENTIFY ONE, OR A SMALL NUMBER, OF BEST REPRESENTATIVE RECONCILIATIONS. THIS WORK WILL DEVELOP EFFICIENT ALGORITHMS TO FIND BEST REPRESENTATIVE RECONCILIATIONS IN ORDER TO MAKE MORE ROBUST CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THE EVOLUTIONARY HISTORIES OF THE PAIRS OF TAXA. THESE ALGORITHMS WILL BE IMPLEMENTED IN A NEW SOFTWARE TOOL FOR LIFE SCIENCE RESEARCHERS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

CAREER: RANDOM SAMPLING OF STRUCTURES ON GRAPHS -WHEN ANALYZING LARGE SYSTEMS THAT HAVE AN ENORMOUS NUMBER OF POSSIBILITIES, STUDYING COLLECTIONS OF RANDOMLY SELECTED PIECES CAN PROVIDE AN EFFECTIVE WAY TO UNDERSTAND LIKELY PROPERTIES OR BEHAVIORS OF THE ENTIRE SYSTEM. RANDOM SAMPLING CAN BE APPLIED TO POLLING, ESTIMATING QUANTITIES IN PHYSICAL SYSTEMS, DETECTING GERRYMANDERING, AND MORE. HOWEVER, IT IS CHALLENGING TO DO RANDOM SAMPLING IN A WAY THAT IS BOTH FAST AND ACCURATE. THIS PROJECT WILL STUDY THE FUNDAMENTAL MATHEMATICS BEHIND METHODS FOR RANDOM SAMPLING, INCLUDING INTRODUCING NEW SAMPLING METHODS, DEVELOPING NEW TOOLS TO ANALYZE EXISTING SAMPLING METHODS, AND FINDING PROBLEMS AMENABLE TO THE NEW APPROACHES THE INVESTIGATOR DEVELOPS. ONE GOAL IS TO IMPROVE METHODS USED TO QUANTIFY AND DETECT GERRYMANDERING, MAKING THOSE METHODS BOTH FASTER AND MORE RELIABLE. PART OF THE AWARD WILL SUPPORT A SUMMER PROGRAM WHERE STUDENTS LEARN ABOUT MATH, COMPUTER SCIENCE, AND DATA SCIENCE MOTIVATED BY PROBLEMS RELATED TO DEMOCRACY. THIS PROJECT CONSIDERS RANDOM SAMPLING OF STRUCTURES ON GRAPHS, SUCH AS SPIN CONFIGURATIONS ON THE VERTICES OF A GRAPH OR PARTITIONS OF A GRAPH INTO CONNECTED PIECES. IN ONE DIRECTION, THE INVESTIGATOR WILL CONSIDER PIROGOV-SINAI THEORY (PST), AN APPROACH FROM STATISTICAL PHYSICS THAT COULD HELP ADVANCE THE STATE-OF-THE-ART IN SAMPLING/COUNTING ALGORITHMS FOR SPIN SYSTEMS AND MORE. SPECIFIC QUESTIONS INCLUDE ADAPTING PST FROM INFINITE TO FINITE SETTINGS; USING PST AND THE ADDITIONAL PROBABILISTIC INFORMATION IT CONVEYS TO DEVELOP NEW MARKOV CHAIN SAMPLING ALGORITHMS; AND EXPLORING OTHER STATISTICAL PHYSICS IDEAS THAT CAN LEAD TO ALGORITHMIC BREAKTHROUGHS. IN ANOTHER DIRECTION, TREE-BASED METHODS HAVE EMERGED AS A PROMISING WAY TO SAMPLE CONNECTED GRAPH PARTITIONS, BUT EXISTING ALGORITHMS REMAIN INSUFFICIENT FOR FAST, PROVABLY ACCURATE SAMPLING IN GENERAL SETTINGS. WORK ON THIS PROJECT WILL ADDRESS THIS GAP, BUILDING ON INSIGHTS FROM A RECENT BREAKTHROUGH RESULT. THIS IS CLOSELY TIED TO BROADER QUESTIONS ABOUT THE COMBINATORIAL AND PROBABILISTIC STRUCTURE OF RANDOM TREES AND RANDOM WALKS, MARKOV CHAIN MIXING UNDER NON-LOCAL CONSTRAINTS, AND DUALITY IN NON-PLANAR GRAPHS. AS POLITICAL DISTRICTING PLANS CAN BE VIEWED AS CONNECTED BALANCED PARTITIONS OF POPULATION-WEIGHTED GRAPHS (AND RANDOM SAMPLING ALGORITHMS ARE WIDELY USED TO DETECT GERRYMANDERING, UNDERSTAND POSSIBLE PLANS, AND ADVOCATE FOR VOTING RIGHTS, INCLUDING IN COURT), ADVANCES IN EFFICIENTLY GENERATING THESE STRUCTURES HAVE BROAD IMPLICATIONS FOR POLITICAL SCIENCE AND IMPORTANT SOCIETAL IMPACT. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

RUI: ANALYSIS OF THE ROLE OF CHD1 IN CHROMATIN STRUCTURE AND TRANSCRIPTION

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RUI: DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF A METHOD USING CORALLINE ALGAE TO RECONSTRUCT PAST CHANGES IN PH AND IMPACTS ON CALCIFIC

BRC-BIO: TRADE-OFFS IN LOCOMOTOR PERFORMANCE: COMPARING HOPPERS AND JUMPERS IN VARIABLE ENVIRONMENTS -THE WAY AN ORGANISM NAVIGATES AN ENVIRONMENT OR HABITAT CAN BE INFLUENCED BY AN INDIVIDUAL?S PHYSIOLOGY AND THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF ITS ENVIRONMENT. MORE SPECIFICALLY, THE SUBSTRATE AN ORGANISM INTERACTS WITH CAN POSE VARIOUS CHALLENGES DURING LOCOMOTOR MOVEMENTS THAT CAN IMPACT PERFORMANCE. ADAPTATIONS IN MOVEMENT REQUIRE A DYNAMIC INTERPLAY BETWEEN AN ORGANISMS? NERVOUS SYSTEM, ANATOMY, AND MUSCLE PHYSIOLOGY, WHICH TOGETHER DRIVE WHOLE-BODY MOVEMENTS. HOWEVER, THE PHYSIOLOGICAL STRATEGIES THAT ONE ANIMAL USES MAY NOT BE IDEALLY SUITED FOR A DIFFERENT HABITAT OR SUBSTRATE TYPE. THIS RESEARCH AIMS TO UNDERSTAND HOW SPECIALIZED WAYS OF MOVEMENT, MORE SPECIFICALLY, HOW HOPPING AND JUMPING MAY CONSTRAIN HOW AN ORGANISM RESPONDS TO INSTANTANEOUS CHANGES IN THE ENVIRONMENT. FROGS AND TOADS PROVIDE A UNIQUE MODEL TO UNDERSTAND VARIATION IN MOVEMENT STRATEGIES. THIS PROJECT WILL INVESTIGATE WHOLE-BODY MOVEMENT AND NERVOUS SYSTEM CONTROL OF MUSCLE RECRUITMENT IN RESPONSE TO CHANGES IN SUBSTRATE STIFFNESS. IN ADDITION, THE PROJECT WILL INVESTIGATE THE MECHANICS AND ORGANIZATION OF TENDON TISSUE TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE ROLE OF TENDON STIFFNESS IN SPECIALIZED FORMS OF MOVEMENT. SUCH UNIQUE ADAPTATIONS IN MUSCLE AND TENDON PHYSIOLOGY CAN INFORM THE IMPACTS OF CHANGING ENVIRONMENTS ACROSS HABITATS ON LOCOMOTION, AS WELL AS DESIGN PARAMETERS IN ENGINEERED SYSTEMS DEALING WITH ENVIRONMENTAL DISTURBANCE. THE BROADER IMPACTS OF THIS RESEARCH WILL INCREASE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES AND MENTORSHIP OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS HISTORICALLY UNDERREPRESENTED IN STEM, AS WELL AS ENABLE THE DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOP-BASED TRAININGS AND RESOURCES TO INCREASE ACCESS TO STEM RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES ACROSS THE HOME INSTITUTION. THROUGHOUT HISTORY THE EMERGENCE OF NEW MODES OF LOCOMOTION HAS PLAYED A CRUCIAL ROLE IN AN ANIMAL?S ABILITY TO NAVIGATE NEW HABITATS. FOR EXAMPLE, BEHAVIORAL TRANSITIONS BETWEEN MICROHABITATS MAY RESULT IN MORE SUBTLE SHIFTS IN AN ANIMAL?S LOCOMOTOR STRATEGY. IN SOME CASES, THE LOCOMOTOR SYSTEM MAY BE FLEXIBLE ENOUGH TO ACCOMMODATE CHANGES IN THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE ENVIRONMENT. THE PROPOSED WORK AIMS TO UNDERSTAND HOW SPECIALIZED WAYS OF MOVEMENT HAVE UNIQUELY CONSTRAINED MOTOR CONTROL STRATEGIES AND MUSCLE-TENDON PROPERTIES. TO ADDRESS THIS, THE FIRST AIM WILL QUANTIFY AND COMPARE INTERSPECIFIC KINEMATIC VARIATION BETWEEN THE LONG DISTANCE, ENDURANCE HOPPING OF CANE TOADS, AND THE FAST, POWERFUL JUMPS OF CUBAN TREE FROGS, IN RESPONSE TO ENVIRONMENTAL PERTURBATIONS IN SUBSTRATE STIFFNESS. THE SECOND AIM MEASURES IN VIVO HINDLIMB MUSCLE LENGTH AND MOTOR PATTERNS IN RESPONSE TO SUBSTRATE STIFFNESS TO CHARACTERIZE THE MOTOR CONTROL MECHANISMS USED BY LONG DISTANCE ENDURANCE HOPPERS. THE THIRD AIM SEEKS TO CHARACTERIZE TENDON ULTRASTRUCTURE BY QUANTIFYING COLLAGEN FIBRIL ORGANIZATION USING TECHNIQUES IN TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY AND SERIAL BLOCK-FACE SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY. LASTLY, TENDON MATERIAL PROPERTIES WILL BE QUANTIFIED USING IN VITRO TENDON TISSUE STRESS AND STRAIN TESTS TO DETERMINE THE ROLE OF TISSUE STIFFNESS ACROSS SPECIES SPECIALIZED FOR DIFFERING MODES OF LOCOMOTION AND POWER OUTPUT. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL ADVANCE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW SPECIALIZATION IN DIFFERENT LOCOMOTOR MODES CAN PROVIDE ROBUST BENEFITS OR LIMITATIONS AT VARIOUS LEVELS OF PHYSIOLOGICAL ORGANIZATION. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

RUI: PURE AND APPLIED KNOT THEORY: SKEINS, HYPERBOLIC VOLUMES, AND BIOPOLYMERS -KNOT THEORY IS THE MATHEMATICAL STUDY OF ENTANGLEMENT OF LOOPS UP TO CONTINUOUS DEFORMATION. ONE CAN CREATE A KNOT BY TAKING AN ENTANGLED STRING AND CONNECTING THE ENDPOINTS, AND TWO KNOTS ARE EQUIVALENT IF ONE CAN CONTINUOUSLY DEFORM ONE TO THE OTHER, FOR EXAMPLE BY BENDING, STRETCHING, AND PASSING STRANDS INSIDE AND THROUGH OTHERS, BUT WITHOUT CUTTING OR BREAKING THE STRING IN ANY WAY. THIS PROJECT CONSIDERS BOTH THEORETICAL PROBLEMS AND APPLICATIONS OF MATHEMATICAL KNOT THEORY. ONE GROUP OF PROBLEMS STUDIES A FAMILY OF INVARIANTS OF KNOTS RELATED TO QUANTUM FIELD THEORY FROM PHYSICS. MORE SPECIFICALLY, THE PROJECT SEEKS TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE QUANTUM INVARIANT OF A KNOT DETECTS GEOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF THE KNOT AND THE 3-DIMENSIONAL SPACES THAT CAN BE ASSOCIATED WITH IT. THE MATHEMATICAL TECHNIQUES FROM THIS RESEARCH HAS POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS TO MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS AND THEORETICAL TOPOLOGICAL QUANTUM COMPUTING. ANOTHER GROUP OF PROBLEMS CONCERNS APPLICATIONS TO THE STUDY OF KNOTTED PROTEINS AND OTHER BIOPOLYMERS, SOME OF WHICH ARE KNOWN TO BE ASSOCIATED TO VARIOUS DISEASES. THE PROJECT USES KNOT THEORY TECHNIQUES TO DEVELOP A MODEL THAT CAN BE USED TO QUANTIFY AND TO RELATE LOCAL TOPOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY WITH BIOPHYSICAL PROCESSES. THE MODEL CAN ALSO BE USED TO POTENTIALLY DESIGN SYNTHETIC BIOPOLYMERS WITH SPECIAL BIOPHYSICAL PROPERTIES. THE PROJECT INCLUDES A NUMBER OF RESEARCH PROBLEMS SUITABLE FOR COLLABORATION WITH UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS, AS WELL AS OUTREACH AND DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES THAT SEEK TO INCREASE INTEREST IN MATHEMATICS MORE GENERALLY. THE PI HAS SUCCESSFULLY INVOLVED UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN SIMILAR RESEARCH IN THE PAST AND WILL CONTINUE TO ADVISE AND ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO CONTINUE CAREERS IN MATHEMATICS AND RELATED AREAS. THE RESEARCH IS SPLIT INTO THREE PARTS, TWO SEEK TO CONNECT QUANTUM TOPOLOGY WITH HYPERBOLIC GEOMETRY AND ONE APPLIES KNOT THEORY TO MOLECULAR BIOLOGY. ONE PROJECT CONCERNS A VERSION OF THE VOLUME CONJECTURE BASED THE THEORY OF THE KAUFFMAN BRACKET SKEIN ALGEBRA FROM QUANTUM TOPOLOGY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO THE TEICHMULLER SPACE OF A SURFACE FROM HYPERBOLIC GEOMETRY. A SECOND PROJECT STUDIES ALGEBRAIC AND GEOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF A GENERALIZATION OF THE KAUFFMAN BRACKET ALGEBRA WHICH IS RELATED TO THE DECORATED TEICHMULLER SPACE OF A SURFACE WITH PUNCTURES. A THIRD PROJECT INVOLVES A COLLABORATION WITH A BIOPHYSICIST TO STUDY LOCAL ENTANGLEMENTS THAT ARE HELD TIGHTLY IN PLACE BY MOLECULAR FORCES IN BIOPOLYMERS. THE PROPOSED KNOT-THEORETIC MODEL WOULD GIVE A DESCRIPTION OF SUCH LOCAL ENTANGLEMENTS, ALLOWING ONE TO QUANTIFY AND MEASURE CHANGES IN THE LOCAL TOPOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY OF BIOPOLYMERS IN EXPERIMENTS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

MRI: ACQUISITION OF AN INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA-OPTICAL EMISSION SPECTROMETER FOR RESEARCH AND UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH TRAINING

RUI: INTERACTING EFFECTS OF CLIMATE AND INVASIVE HERBIVORES ON ISLAND PLANT POPULATIONS AND COMMUNITIES: SANTA ROSA ISLAND AS A MODEL SYSTEM

CAREER: PRACTICAL COMPRESSIVE SIGNAL PROCESSING

COLLABORATIVE PROPOSAL: PREPARING UNDERGRADUATES FOR RESEARCH IN STEM-RELATED FIELDS USING ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY (PURSUE)

LEAPS-MPS: EMPIRICAL BAYES EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS TECHNIQUES FOR HYBRIDIZING OBSERVATIONAL AND EXPERIMENTAL DATA -WHEN EVALUATING THE EFFICACY OF A HEALTH INTERVENTION, RESEARCHERS MAY HAVE ACCESS TO TWO DISTINCT TYPES OF DATA: OBSERVATIONAL DATA FROM SOURCES SUCH AS ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS OR INSURANCE CLAIMS DATABASES, AND EXPERIMENTAL DATA FROM RANDOMIZED TRIALS. OBSERVATIONAL DATA ARE USEFUL FOR THEIR SCOPE AND REPRESENTATIVENESS, BUT THE INDIVIDUALS WHO RECEIVE THE INTERVENTION MAY FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFER FROM THOSE WHO DO NOT, MAKING CAUSAL ESTIMATION DIFFICULT. IN CONTRAST, EXPERIMENTAL DATA USE RANDOM TREATMENT ASSIGNMENT TO FACILITATE ACCURATE CAUSAL EFFECT ESTIMATION, BUT SUCH EXPERIMENTS ARE OFTEN COSTLY AND TIME-CONSUMING TO CONDUCT. HENCE, REGULATORY AGENCIES AND STATISTICIANS HAVE ADVOCATED FOR METHODOLOGIES THAT INTEGRATE OBSERVATIONAL DATA WITH RANDOMIZED TRIALS. DESPITE INCREASED RESEARCH ATTENTION, THERE IS LITTLE CONSENSUS ON HOW TO EFFECTIVELY COMBINE THESE TWO DATA TYPES FOR MANY COMMON STATISTICAL PROCEDURES. THIS PROPOSAL AIMS TO DEVELOP EVIDENCE-SYNTHESIS TECHNIQUES TO ENHANCE CAUSAL EFFECT ESTIMATION AND INFERENCE AND TO DESIGN MORE EFFICIENT EXPERIMENTS. THE PRIMARY TOOLKIT FOR THIS RESEARCH WILL BE EMPIRICAL BAYES PROCEDURES, A FLEXIBLE PARADIGM FOR WEIGHTING BETWEEN COMPETING ESTIMATORS. THE GOAL IS TO ENABLE PRACTITIONERS TO ESTIMATE CAUSAL EFFECTS MORE EFFICIENTLY IN DIVERSE SETTINGS. THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR HAS IDENTIFIED THREE CAUSAL ESTIMATION TASKS WHERE CURRENT DATA-INTEGRATION METHODS CAN BE IMPROVED: 1) AVERAGE TREATMENT EFFECT (ATE) ESTIMATION; 2) MODELING OF FLEXIBLE FUNCTIONAL ESTIMANDS, SUCH AS DOSE-RESPONSE CURVES AND CONDITIONAL AVERAGE TREATMENT EFFECT (CATE) FUNCTIONS; AND 3) THE INCORPORATION OF MULTIPLE DATASETS OF EACH TYPE. ADDITIONALLY, THIS PROPOSAL INCLUDES PROJECTS TO NARROW CONFIDENCE INTERVALS BY INCORPORATING OBSERVATIONAL DATA AND TO DESIGN MORE EFFICIENT AND ADAPTIVE RANDOMIZED TRIALS THAT EXPLICITLY COMPLEMENT EXISTING OBSERVATIONAL DATA. TO DEMONSTRATE THEIR EFFICACY AND UTILITY IN PRACTICAL SETTINGS, METHODS DEVELOPED UNDER THIS PROPOSAL WILL BE DEPLOYED ON TWO DATASETS: THE WOMEN?S HEALTH INITIATIVE, A STUDY OF THE HEALTH EFFECTS OF HORMONE THERAPY THAT INCLUDES OBSERVATIONAL AND EXPERIMENTAL COMPONENTS; AND AN AIR QUALITY AND MEDICARE INSURANCE CLAIMS DATABASE MAINTAINED BY THE NATIONAL STUDIES ON AIR POLLUTION AND HEALTH GROUP. 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.

RUI: GEOMETRIC OPTIMIZATION INVOLVING PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS -OPTIMAL GEOMETRIC DESIGN PROVIDES A VAST NUMBER OF INTERESTING AND CHALLENGING MATHEMATICAL PROBLEMS. ONE OF THE FAMOUS PROBLEMS GOES BACK TO 18TH CENTURY. J.-L. LAGRANGE FORMULATED THE PROBLEM TO MAXIMIZE THE CRITICAL LOAD OF A ROD OF VARIABLE CROSS-SECTIONAL AREA WITH GIVEN LENGTH AND VOLUME. ANOTHER FAMOUS CLASSIC EXAMPLE IS THAT L. RAYLEIGH CONJECTURED THAT THE DISK SHOULD MINIMIZE THE FUNDAMENTAL FREQUENCY OF A MEMBRANE AMONG ALL SHAPES OF EQUAL AREA, MORE THAN A CENTURY AGO. OTHER RECENT APPLICATIONS INCLUDE MECHANICAL VIBRATION, DESIGN OF OPTICAL RESONATOR, PHOTONIC CRYSTAL WAVEGUIDES, DETERMINATION OF FAVORABLE AND UNFAVORABLE REGIONS IN POPULATION DYNAMICS, SOAP FILMS AND MINIMAL SURFACES, DRUG DESIGN, AND IMAGE SEGMENTATION. NUMERICAL APPROACHES FOR THESE KINDS OF PROBLEMS REQUIRE BOTH FORWARD SOLVERS AND OPTIMIZATION SOLVERS. THE FORWARD SOLVERS ARE NUMERICAL APPROACHES TO SOLVE PROBLEMS ON A GIVEN SETTING OF GEOMETRIC PARAMETERS OR DOMAIN. THE OPTIMIZATION SOLVERS AIM TO FIND THE OPTIMAL GEOMETRIC DESIGN, WHICH MAXIMIZES THE DESIGN OBJECTIVE. IN THIS PROPOSAL, THE AIM IS TO STUDY GEOMETRIC OPTIMIZATION OF P-LAPLACIAN POISSON?S EQUATIONS, LAPLACE BELTRAMI OPERATOR, STEKLOV PROBLEMS, AND THEIR APPLICATIONS IN OPTIMAL RADIOTHERAPY DESIGN AND FREE BOUNDARY MINIMAL SURFACES. THE FORWARD SOLVERS ARE BASED ON FINITE ELEMENT METHODS AND METHODS OF PARTICULAR SOLUTIONS WHILE THE OPTIMIZATION SOLVERS ARE BASED ON REARRANGEMENT METHODS, SHAPE DERIVATIVES, AND SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS OF CONFORMAL FACTOR, CONFORMAL CLASSES, AND METRICS. THE PI WILL STUDY A WIDE CLASS OF PROBLEMS ARISING FROM MANY APPLICATIONS INCLUDING (1) OPTIMIZATION OF TOTAL DISPLACEMENT, (2) CONVERGENCE RATE STUDY OF REARRANGEMENT METHODS FOR OPTIMIZATION PROBLEMS, (3) OPTIMAL RADIOTHERAPY DESIGN, (4) MAXIMIZING CONFORMAL AND TOPOLOGICAL LAPLACE-BELTRAMI EIGENVALUES ON CLOSED MANIFOLDS, AND (5) EXTREMAL STEKLOV EIGENVALUE PROBLEMS AND FREE BOUNDARY MINIMAL SURFACES. THE PROJECT WILL ADVANCE THE DEVELOPMENT OF OPTIMIZATION SOLVERS BASED ON REARRANGEMENT METHODS, SHAPE DERIVATIVES, AND SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS AND PROVIDE TOOLS TO SOLVE AFOREMENTIONED APPLICATIONS. ALSO, THE OBTAINED RESULTS WILL BE INTEGRATED TO DEVELOP NEW CURRICULUMS ON NUMERICAL ANALYSIS AND PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS AT CLAREMONT MCKENNA COLLEGE. THE PI WILL SUPERVISE BOTH UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS. IN ADDITION, THE PI WILL ORGANIZE APPLIED MATH SEMINARS, WORKING GROUP SEMINARS, AND A SERIES OF MINISYMPOSIUM AT COMING AIMS, ICIAM, SIAM, AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES TO ENGAGE INTERESTED SCIENTISTS, INCLUDING THOSE FROM UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS. THE PI AND HER STUDENTS WILL ALSO OUTREACH TO K-12 STUDENTS VIA GATEWAY TO EXPLORING MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES (GEMS) PROGRAM AT CLAREMONT. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A LEICA TCS SPE CONFOCAL MICROSCOPE FOR A SHARED FACILITY TO ADVANCE UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH AND TEACHING IN THE W.M. KECK SCIENC

RUI: KNOTS IN THREE-DIMENSIONAL MANIFOLDS: QUANTUM TOPOLOGY, HYPERBOLIC GEOMETRY, AND APPLICATIONS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: AGGRESSION AS BIOLOGICAL ADAPTATION: INVESTIGATING DEVELOPMENT IN STRESSFUL CONTEXTS

CLOSEST POINT METHODS FOR EIGENVALUE PROBLEMS FROM INHOMOGENEOUS STRUCTURES

RUI: CATALYST SYSTEMS TO EFFECT ASYMMETRIC INDUCTION IN THE HYDROAMINATION OF OLEFINS

SELF-ASSEMBLING NANOSTRUCTURES OF DEFINED SIZE

RUI: THE DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF GOLD(I) CATALYSTS FOR ASYMMETRIC ORGANIC TRANSFORMATIONS

CRII: AF: RUI: MARKOV CHAINS AND RANDOM SAMPLING ON GRAPHS

RAPID: THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND CHANGES IN THE STRESS RESPONSE: IDENTIFYING RISK AND RESILIENCE IN ADULTS AND CHILDREN

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RUI: NEURAL MECHANISMS FOR A COOPERATIVE BEHAVIOR

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DISCOVERING ENZYMATIC PATHWAYS TO BREAK CARBON FLUORINE BONDS IN PERFLUORINATED CARBOXYLIC ACIDS -PFAS IS A GROUP OF CHEMICALS THAT ARE COSTLY TO REMOVE FROM THE ENVIRONMENT. THEY DO NOT BREAK DOWN NATURALLY IN SOIL AND WATER BECAUSE OF THE STRONG CARBON-FLUORINE BONDS. THIS PROJECT WILL TAKE A NEW APPROACH TOWARD REMEDIATING PFAS BY ENGINEERING SPECIAL ENZYMES THAT CAN DEGRADE THESE STABLE CHEMICAL BONDS. IF SUCCESSFUL, THE OUTCOMES OF THE PROJECT COULD UNLOCK EXCITING TECHNOLOGIES FOR CARBON-FLUORINE BOND DESTRUCTION, SAVING MONEY AND PROTECTING HUMAN HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT. LONG-TERM APPLICATION OF THE ENZYMES COULD BREAK DOWN FLUORINATED CHEMICALS IN SOIL, DRINKING WATER, GROUNDWATER, BIOSOLIDS PRODUCED FROM WASTEWATER SLUDGE, AND INDUSTRIAL WASTE STREAMS. UNDERGRADUATES WILL GAIN EXPERIENCE AS PART OF THE RESEARCH TEAM. FLUORINATED ORGANICS, LIKE PERFLUOROALKYL CARBOXYLIC ACIDS (PFCAS), ARE COMMON INDUSTRIAL ADDITIVES WHICH PERSIST IN THE ENVIRONMENT AND HAVE LIMITED, EXPENSIVE, AND ENERGY-INTENSIVE DESTRUCTION TECHNOLOGIES. SO FAR, EFFORTS TO DEGRADE PFCAS ENZYMATICALLY HAVE STALLED, DUE TO STRONG C-F BONDS AND A LACK OF EVOLUTIONARY PRESSURE TO REWARD THEIR DESTRUCTION. AS A RESULT, PFCAS AND OTHER PER- AND POLYFLUOROALKYL SUBSTANCES (PFAS) ARE INCREASINGLY CONTAMINATING ENVIRONMENTAL MEDIA AND REQUIRE REMOVAL. THEREFORE, THERE IS A CRITICAL NEED FOR NEW TECHNIQUES TO IDENTIFY AND ENHANCE ENZYMATIC DEFLUORINATION MECHANISMS. THIS PROJECT ADOPTS A NEW APPROACH TO DISCOVER AND IMPROVE ENZYMATIC DEFLUORINATION, POSITING THAT PROPER EVOLUTIONARY INCENTIVE AND HIGH-THROUGHPUT SCREENING TECHNIQUES CAN CREATE AND DISCOVER BIOCATALYSTS THAT DEGRADE PERFLUORINATED CARBON CHAINS. THE NEW APPROACH USES A GENETIC CIRCUIT THAT LINKS SURVIVAL WITH DEFLUORINATION TO ENGINEER DEFLUORINASES TO DEGRADE NEW SUBSTRATES. DI- AND TRI-FLUOROACETATE WILL BE TARGETED INITIALLY AND LATER THE SUBSTRATE SCOPE WILL BE EXPANDED TO INCLUDE PFCAS. THE RESEARCH WILL ADVANCE FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE ABOUT ENZYMATIC DEFLUORINATION BY UNCOVERING BENEFICIAL MUTATIONS IN CATALYTIC PROTEINS AT THE AMINO ACID LEVEL, AND, THEREBY, TUNABLE MECHANISMS TO ENHANCE THE DESIRED REACTIONS. IF SUCCESSFUL, THE PROJECT WILL ENABLE ENZYMATIC DEFLUORINATION OF A PERFLUORINATED CARBON WITH MECHANISTIC RESOLUTION FOR THE FIRST TIME. PUTATIVE DEFLUORINATING ENZYMES, IDENTIFIED IN BULK DEFLUORINATING BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS, WILL BE EXPRESSED AND CHARACTERIZED FOR ACTIVITY TOWARDS MULTIPLE SUBSTRATES. THE SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THIS PROJECT WOULD ESTABLISH NEW PATHWAYS FOR DEFLUORINATION OF PERFLUORINATED CARBON CHAINS, OPENING THE DOOR FOR FURTHER ENZYMATIC DEFLUORINATION RESEARCH AND SUSTAINABLE WATER TREATMENT OPTIONS. FINALLY, THROUGH A DEDICATED LABORATORY EXCHANGE, UNDERGRADUATES FROM A PRIMARILY UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTION (PUI) WILL ENGAGE IN RESEARCH TRAINING AND MENTORING TO GAIN EXPERIENCE AT A UNIVERSITY WITH VERY HIGH RESEARCH ACTIVITY (R1), AND A GRADUATE STUDENT WILL OVERSEE STUDENT RESEARCHERS AT THE PUI, GAINING EXPERIENCE IN UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION AND MENTORING. 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.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: COMPUTATIONAL METHODS FOR EXTREMAL EIGENVALUE PROBLEMS WITH GEOMETRIC CONSTRAINTS -IN A VARIETY OF REAL-WORLD APPLICATIONS, EIGENVALUES OF LINEAR PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL OPERATORS DESCRIBE PHYSICAL PHENOMENA OF INTEREST, E.G., LIGHT PROPAGATION, MECHANICAL VIBRATIONS, AND LIQUID SLOSHING. IT IS OF PRACTICAL AND FUNDAMENTAL INTEREST TO STUDY THE DEPENDENCE OF AN EIGENVALUE ON A CONTROL VARIABLE, SUCH AS THE MATERIAL COEFFICIENT OR THE DOMAIN SHAPE, AND TO ENGINEER/DESIGN/OPTIMIZE CONTROL VARIABLES TO ENHANCE RELEVANT SPECTRAL PROPERTIES. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP AND ANALYZE NEW COMPUTATIONAL METHODS FOR SOLVING EXTREMAL EIGENVALUE PROBLEMS, ESPECIALLY INVOLVING CHALLENGING GEOMETRIC CONSTRAINTS. THE RESEARCH ACTIVITIES WILL ADVANCE DISCOVERY AND UNDERSTANDING IN COMPUTATIONAL MATHEMATICS AND MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS, AS WELL AS MORE GENERAL AREAS OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING THROUGH APPLICATIONS. EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES ARE INTEGRATED WITH RESEARCH ACTIVITIES IN FOUR SPECIFIC WAYS: (I) TRAINING OF STUDENTS (INCLUDING K-12, UNDERGRADUATE, AND GRADUATE STUDENTS ACROSS DIFFERENT SCHOOLS) AND JUNIOR RESEARCHERS AT DIFFERENT LEVELS, (II) ENCOURAGING PARTICIPATION OF RESEARCHERS IN THE AREA (III) DISSEMINATION AND SHARING OF RESEARCH RESULTS PUBLICLY, AND (IV) ORGANIZATION OF INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOPS ON PROPOSED RESEARCH TOPICS. DUE TO THE COLLABORATIVE NATURE OF THIS PROPOSAL, STUDENTS WILL ENGAGE IN ACTIVITIES ACROSS R1 AND PRIMARILY UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTIONS. THE AIM OF THIS PROJECT IS TO TACKLE TWO CANONICAL EXTREMAL EIGENVALUE PROBLEMS FROM THE MATHEMATICAL AND ENGINEERING COMMUNITIES: (1) STUDY THE STEKLOV EIGENVALUE PROBLEM ON A COMPACT RIEMANNIAN SURFACE WITH BOUNDARY AND SEEK TO MAXIMIZE OF AN EIGENVALUE OVER THE CLASS OF SMOOTH METRICS; (2) ADDRESS A KEY CHALLENGE IN THE DESIGN OF TOPOLOGICAL PHOTONIC CRYSTALS (TPCS): FIND MATERIALS THAT HAVE LARGE SHARED SPECTRAL BANDGAPS WHERE THE ADJACENT DISPERSION SURFACES HAVE PRESCRIBED TOPOLOGICAL INVARIANTS (E.G., THE CHERN NUMBER, A TOPOLOGICAL INVARIANT OBTAINED FROM BERRY CURVATURE). A TECHNICAL CHALLENGE IN THESE PROBLEMS IS TO HANDLE GEOMETRIC CONSTRAINTS - EITHER STEMMING FROM TOPOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS ON RIEMANNIAN SURFACES OR TOPOLOGICAL INVARIANTS OF DISPERSION SURFACES. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH ACTIVITIES WILL DEVELOP ANALYTICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS TO TACKLE THIS CHALLENGE. 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.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: AEROSOL FORMATION FROM AGRICULTURAL VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: A NEW TWIST ON MUSCLE CONTRACTION

IMPROVED MONTE CARLO METHODS FOR HIGH DIMENSIONAL SUMS AND INTEGRALS

CAREER: PERFECT SAMPLING TECHNIQUES FOR HIGH DIMENSIONAL INTEGRATION

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: USING MULTI-PROXY PALEO DATA TO CONSTRAIN NATURAL AND ANTHROPOGENIC HYDROGRAPHIC VARIABILITY IN THE GULF OF MAINE SYSTEM OVER THE LAST 250 YEARS -THE GULF OF MAINE IS LOCATED IN THE NORTHWESTERN ATLANTIC OCEAN. ITS WATERS SERVE AS HOME TO THE ECONOMICALLY IMPORTANT ATLANTIC COD AND SHELLFISH INDUSTRY. BUT RECENT CHANGES TO THIS ENVIRONMENT POSE A THREAT TO THE ECOSYSTEM AND THE COMMERCIAL FISHING INDUSTRY. HOWEVER, ONLY A FEW LONG-TERM RECORDS OF THE ENVIRONMENT EXIST IN THIS AREA MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO TELL EXACTLY WHEN THESE CHANGES STARTED AND HOW MUCH IS RELATED TO HUMAN ACTIVITIES. IN THIS PROJECT, A TEAM OF RESEARCHERS FROM THREE UNIVERSITIES WILL CONSTRUCT A 250-YEAR HISTORY OF THE REGIONAL ENVIRONMENT BY MEASURING YEARLY GROWTH BANDS IN LOCAL CLAMS AND ALGAE. CHEMICAL FINGERPRINTS IN THESE GROWTH BANDS WILL BE USED TO DETERMINE THE WATER TEMPERATURE, SALINITY, BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTIVITY AND PH CONDITIONS. THIS ALLOW SCIENTISTS TO STUDY HOW NATURAL CHANGES HAVE AFFECTED THE ENVIRONMENT AND COMPARE THESE TO CHANGES CAUSED BY GREENHOUSE GLOBAL WARMING. THIS INFORMATION WILL INFORM POLICY DECISIONS OF THE NEWLY-FORMED MAINE CLIMATE COUNCIL ON HOW TO BETTER MANAGE THIS AREA. THE PROPOSED WORK WILL ALSO SUPPORT TRAINING FOR EARLY CAREER SCIENTISTS, BROADEN PARTICIPATION IN SCIENCE PROGRAMS, AND SUPPORT UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES. SPECIFICALLY, THE TEAM WILL USE A MULTI-PRONGED APPROACH USING GEOCHEMICAL PROXIES IN TWO TYPES OF HIGH-RESOLUTION MARINE CLIMATE ARCHIVES (CLAMS AND CRUSTOSE CORALLINE ALGAE) TO RECONSTRUCT PAST CHANGES IN OCEANOGRAPHIC CONDITIONS, INCLUDING NEAR SURFACE SEAWATER TEMPERATURES, SALINITY, AND PH IN THE GULF OF MAINE THROUGH THE LAST 250 YEARS. GEOCHEMICAL FINGERPRINTS (OR PROXIES) PRESERVED IN THE ANNUAL GROWTH BANDS OF CLAM SHELLS AND SKELETONS OF LONG-LIVED MARINE CALCIFIERS HAVE BEEN USED EXTENSIVELY AS ARCHIVES OF PAST OCEAN CONDITIONS. DISCRETE CALCIUM CARBONATE LAYERS CAN BE SAMPLED FROM THE GROWTH BANDS OF CLAMS AND CRUSTOSE CORALLINE ALGAE FOR GEOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS, GENERATING PROXY ARCHIVE RECORDS. THESE RECONSTRUCTIONS OF PAST ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS FILL DATA GAPS PRIOR TO INSTRUMENTAL RECORDS. HENCE, THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL POTENTIALLY YIELD SEVERAL MULTI-CENTENNIAL, ANNUALLY-RESOLVED, ABSOLUTELY-DATED DATASETS OF OCEANOGRAPHIC VARIABILITY IN THE NORTHWESTERN ATLANTIC, INCLUDING THE GULF OF MAINE, PRIOR TO THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, WHICH WILL BE USED TO EVALUATE THE ROLE OF ATLANTIC MERIDIONAL OVERTURNING CIRCULATION, AND OTHER CLIMATE FORCINGS, ON OBSERVED CHANGES. BY COMBINING NEW DATA DERIVED FROM TRADITIONAL AND NOVEL PROXIES WITH EXISTING HYDROGRAPHIC RECORDS, THE RELATIVE CONTRIBUTIONS OF SOURCE WATERS INTO THE GULF OF MAINE THROUGH TIME WILL BE CHARACTERIZED TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE DRIVERS OF VARIABILITY WITHIN THE GULF OF MAINE. UNDERSTANDING PAST OCEANOGRAPHIC VARIABILITY IN THE GULF OF MAINE IS THEREFORE CRITICAL FOR PREDICTING THE LIKELY EXTENT AND MAGNITUDE OF FUTURE CHANGE, AND FOR PLANNING TO SAFEGUARD ECOSYSTEMS AND FISHERIES. RESULTS WILL BE WIDELY DISSEMINATED TO SCIENCE AND NON-SCIENCE AUDIENCES THROUGH PUBLICATIONS, CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS, MENTORING PROGRAMS, COURSEWORK, AND OUTREACH ACTIVITIES AT AREA SCHOOLS, MUSEUMS, AND SCIENCE CENTERS. 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.

NUMERICAL SPECTRAL STUDY OF ELLIPTIC OPERATORS

VIRTUAL TERRITORIES: WAR AND THE STATE IN A DIGITAL AGE [THIS PROJECT EXPLORES HOW DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES OF WARFARE ARE RESHAPING THE SOVEREIGN STATE. HISTORICALLY, STATES EMERGED OUT OF INSTITUTIONAL CHANGES DRIVEN IN LARGE PART BY MILITARY COMPETITION. TODAY, HOWEVER, THE TECHNOLOGIES OF WAR?MORE THAN WAR ITSELF?ARE DRIVING STATE TRANSFORMATION. THE RESULTING BOOK WILL APPLY HUMANISTIC AND SOCIAL-SCIENCE METHODS TO EXAMINE THREE INTERSECTIONS BETWEEN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, WARFARE, AND STATEHOOD TODAY: PLANNING WARS IN THE VIRTUAL DOMAIN OF CYBERSECURITY, FIGHTING WARS REMOTELY THROUGH DRONES, AND NEGOTIATING RESOLUTIONS TO CONFLICTS THROUGH DIGITAL MAPPING. ALL THREE CASES REVEAL HOW REPRESENTATIONS? CONCEPTUAL, LINGUISTIC, AND VISUAL?ARE AN IMPORTANT BUT LARGELY OVERLOOKED ELEMENT IN THE POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES OF TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE. KEY REPRESENTATIONS ARE RESHAPING HOW TERRITORIAL BORDERS FUNCTION, HOW NEW FORMS OF INTERSTATE VIOLENCE ARE DEPLOYED, AND HOW STATES SEEK TO GOVERN NEW DOMAINS SUCH AS THE INTERNET.]

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: REACTIONS AND FATE OF AMINES IN THE ATMOSPHERE EMITTED FROM ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATIONS

LTREB: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: LONG-TERM CHANGES IN PEATLAND C FLUXES AND THE INTERACTIVE ROLE OF ALTERED HYDROLOGY, VEGETATION, AND REDOX SUPPLY IN A CHANGING CLIMATE -GLOBALLY IMPORTANT CARBON (C) STORES IN NORTHERN (BOREAL) PEATLANDS ARE VULNERABLE TO CHANGES IN ALTERED PRECIPITATION AND RUNOFF PATTERNS, GROUNDWATER INPUTS, AND CHANGES IN THE EXTENT OF FROZEN GROUND IN HIGH LATITUDES (CALLED ?PERMAFROST?, OR THE ?CRYOSPHERE?). THESE CHANGES CAN AFFECT THE EXTENT OF BOREAL WETLANDS AS WELL AS THEIR ABILITY TO SEQUESTER AND TRANSFORM C AND OTHER NUTRIENTS. IN 2005, THE ALASKA PEATLAND EXPERIMENT (APEX) WAS CREATED TO EXAMINE THE ROLE OF CHANGING SOIL CLIMATE AND VEGETATION ON PEATLAND C CYCLING. OVER THE PAST FIFTEEN YEARS, CORE DATA HAS BEEN COLLECTED ON SOIL MOISTURE AND TEMPERATURE, PLANT COMPOSITION AND AMOUNT, AND THE FLUXES OF IMPORTANT ATMOSPHERIC GASES EMITTED (AS METHANE AND CARBON DIOXIDE) FROM WATER TABLE TREATMENTS THAT SIMULATE FLOODS AND DROUGHTS. A KEY RESULT FROM THIS GROUP'S PRIOR INVESTIGATIONS WAS THAT C EMISSIONS FROM THIS EXPERIMENTAL SITE APPEARED TO BE HIGH, REGARDLESS OF WATER TABLE POSITION, REVEALING THAT INTERACTIONS AMONG CHANGES IN PLANT SPECIES COMPOSITION IN RESPONSE TO THE TREATMENTS WERE STRONGLY CONTROLLING THE ABILITY OF THIS ECOSYSTEM TO RETAIN C. THIS IS A FIVE-YEAR RENEWAL OF A LONG-TERM RESEARCH IN ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGY (LTREB) PROJECT, DEB-1354370. THE STUDY IS EXAMINING THE INTERACTIONS AMONG CHANGES IN HYDROLOGY, PLANT SPECIES COMPOSITION AND CHANGES IN CLIMATE (PARTICULARLY FLOODING AND DROUGHT) IN CONTROLLING C STORAGE IN THIS PEATLAND COMPLEX; THIS WORK IS NECESSARY FOR UNDERSTANDING THE CONSEQUENCES OF AN ALTERED CLIMATE FOR C CYCLE PROCESSES. UNDERGRADUATES, GRADUATE STUDENTS AND POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCHERS WILL ALL BE TRAINED AND IN FIELD AND LABORATORY TECHNIQUES. RESULTS FROM THE RESEARCH WILL ALSO BE INCORPORATED INTO NEW HIGH SCHOOL CURRICULA FOR USE IN THE FOSTERING SCIENCE SUMMER CAMP. THE CURRENT VIEW OF PEATLAND CARBON CYCLING IS THAT THE MAJORITY OF SOIL CARBON MINERALIZATION OCCURS IN THE RELATIVELY SHALLOW AERATED PEAT LAYER ABOVE THE WATER TABLE (ACROTELM), AND THAT DEEPER PEAT CARBON OCCURRING IN ANOXIC LAYERS (CATOTELM) UNDERGOES MINIMAL DECOMPOSITION. AS SUCH, THE POSITION OF THE WATER TABLE (AND THE ASSOCIATED THICKNESS OF THE ACROTELM) IS USED AS A PREDICTOR OF OVERALL DECOMPOSITION RATES AND LONG-TERM PEAT ACCUMULATION RATES. HOWEVER, FINDINGS FROM THIS TEAM'S FIFTEEN-YEAR MANIPULATION OF WATER TABLE POSITION IN AN ALASKAN FEN (ALASKA PEATLAND EXPERIMENT, APEX) CHALLENGE THIS VIEW, AND IN PARTICULAR SUGGEST THAT CARBON MINERALIZATION IN SATURATED PEAT IS FASTER THAN PREVIOUSLY EXPECTED, LEADING TO HIGH FLUXES OF ANAEROBIC CO2 PRODUCTION. PRIOR ANALYSES INDICATED NO SIGNIFICANT EFFECT OF WATER TABLE POSITION ON ECOSYSTEM RESPIRATION, BUT IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THIS RESULT WAS DUE AT LEAST PARTIALLY TO CHANGES IN VEGETATION THAT HAVE OCCURRED BOTH UNDER LOWER (DRIER) AND HIGHER (WETTER) WATER TABLE POSITIONS. THE INITIAL EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN COULD NOT DISENTANGLE THE EFFECTS OF CHANGES IN VEGETATION FROM HYDROLOGY ON PEAT REDOX AND C FLUXES. AS SUCH, UNDERSTANDING THE INTERACTIVE EFFECTS OF ALTERED HYDROLOGY AND VEGETATION ON ANAEROBIC DECOMPOSITION PROCESSES, AND HOW THIS GOVERNS THE TURNOVER OF DEEP SOIL C POOLS IN PEATLANDS, WAS THE PRIME OBJECTIVE OF THE FIRST PHASE OF LTREB FUNDING. RESULTS DURING THAT INITIAL LTREB FUNDING PERIOD SHOWED THAT SEDGE AND EQUISETUM (HORSETAIL) RHIZOSPHERES INDEED HAD OXIDIZING EFFECTS ON PEAT AND DISSOLVED ORGANIC MATTER. HOWEVER, PERSISTENT FLOODING OVER THIS PERIOD OF RESEARCH HAS PRESENTED KEY GAPS IN MECHANISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF CONTROLS ON TRACE GAS PRODUCTION IN THIS SYSTEM, AND REVEALED THAT PLANT COMMUNITY STRUCTURE AND THE DOMINANCE OF ALGAE LIKELY HAVE UNIQUE CONTROLS ON SOIL REDOX PROCESSES AND C FLUXES. FLOODING HISTORY ALSO EXERTED STRONG CONTROL OVER THE RELATIVE ACTIVITY OF ALGAE VS. HETEROTROPHIC MICROORGANISMS, DEPENDING ON CHANGES IN C SUBSTRATES FROM DIFFERENT PLANTS. EXACTLY HOW CHANGES IN PLANT COMMUNITY INTERACT WITH ALTERED WATER TABLES IN GOVERNING THE SUPPLY OF ELECTRON DONORS AND ACCEPTORS, AND HOW THIS CONTROLS ANAEROBIC METABOLISM IN LOW- AND HIGH-WATER TABLE YEARS, ARE KEY QUESTIONS THIS COLLABORATIVE TEAM WILL EXAMINE IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS. 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.

EAGER: SEDIMENTOLOGYAND TEPHROCHRONOLOGY OF CAVES IN THE MELINAU KARST SARAWAK MALAYSIA

RUI: SKEINS ON SURFACES

VIRTUAL TAXILA: A WEB-ACCESSIBLE, MULTI-USER VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT (MUVE) OF AN ANCIENT INDIAN CITY

FULBRIGHT-HAYS - FACULTY RESEARCH ABROAD

INCREASING SCIENCE GRADUATES THROUGH INTERDISCIPINARY TEACHING AND RESEARCH

"TOMBSTONE" TRANSLATION PROJECT

GRANTS-R1-CAAXX-UNIV. OF CLAREMONT MCKENNA

COLLABORATIVE: SI2-CHE: DEVELOPMENT AND DEPLOYMENT OF CHEMICAL SOFTWARE FOR ADVANCED POTENTIAL ENERGY SURFACES

II-A-1: EARLY TO MID-LIFE PREDICTORS OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

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