Florida Institute Of Technology Inc

HIGHER EDUCATION EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND - INSTITUTIONAL PORTION OF CARES ACT FUNDS

FLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY APPLICATION FOR DIRECT-TO-STUDENT PORTION OF THE H.E.E.R.F. OF THE CARES ACT.

ULI PROVIDES THE OPPORTUNITY FOR UNIVERSITY TEAMS TO EXERCISE TECHNICAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN PROPOSING UNIQUE TECHNICAL CHALLENGES DEFINING INTERDISCIPLINARY SOLUTIONS ESTABLISHING PEER REVIEW MECHANISMS AND APPLYING INNOVATIVE TEAMING STRATEGIES TO STRENGTHEN THE RESEARCH IMPACT.

EXPERIMENTAL HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS RESEARCH

HEALTH CARE AND OTHER FACILITIES

PURPOSE: TO ACCELERATE THE EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF ENGINEERING STUDENTS SKILLED IN CYBER RESILIENCY AND DESIGN RESILIENCE ENGINEERING (CYBER INFORMED ENGINEERING) FOR INDUSTRY AND GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS. THE FOCUS IS ON OBTAINING COMPUTATIONAL RESOURCES NEEDED TO FURTHER INTEGRATE ADVANCED HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING (HPC) AND AI TECHNOLOGIES IN VARIOUS ASPECTS OF AEROSPACE AND DEFENSE INDUSTRIES, FROM DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING TO OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE APPROPRIATED FUNDS WILL BE UTILIZED TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO INDUSTRY STANDARD COMPUTERS AND EQUIPMENT BY ADDING 40 HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING NODES (HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE) SUPPORTING CURRICULUM, RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND PRACTICAL APPLICATION TO IMPROVE ASSURED PRODUCT ENGINEERING AND THE USABILITY OF AI, CYBERSECURITY AND RELATED PROCESSES AND TECHNOLOGIES.EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THIS PROJECT WILL (1) MODERNIZE ACADEMIC CURRICULUM AND SUPPORT APPLIED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT TO IMPROVE ASSURED PRODUCT ENGINEERING AND THE USABILITY OF AI, CYBERSECURITY AND RELATED PROCESSES AND TECHNOLOGIES, AND (2) HARNESS THE POWER OF CUTTING-EDGE HPC AND AI TECHNOLOGIES TO ADDRESS CRITICAL CHALLENGES FACED BY AEROSPACE AND DEFENSE INDUSTRIES THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS THAT ENHANCE CYBERSECURITY, IMPROVE RESILIENCE, AND DRIVE INNOVATION.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: THIS PROJECT WILL ULTIMATELY ASSIST INDUSTRY, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE AEROSPACE AND DEFENSE INDUSTRY AND ORGANIZATIONS IN CENTRAL FLORIDA, BY THE INFUSION OF CYBERSECURITY TECHNOLOGY, DESIGN RESILIENCY AND DIGITAL ENGINEERING INTO CURRICULUM AND APPLIED RESEARCH. THE TAXPAYER BENEFIT WILL BE REALIZED IN THE SUPPORT OF TALENT AND TECHNOLOGIES REQUIRED FOR DOMESTIC INDUSTRY TO GROW AND MAINTAIN A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN AN INCREASINGLY HOSTILE INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENT.SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

LARGE SCALE SEAWATER FACILITY FOR DEVELOPMENT OF HULLBUG

EXPANSION REQUEST FOR ADVANCED NONTOXIC ANTI-FOULING COATINGS RESEARCH TEST SITE FACILITY

TAS::97 0400::TAS A SYSTEMS BEHAVIOR APPROACH TO INTEGRATED MOVING TARGET C2 WITH RESILIENCE RESPONSE.

BIOLOGICALLY INSPIRED SECURITY INFRASTRUCTURE FOR TACTICAL ENVIRONMENTS

EMERGENCY FINANDIAL AID GRANTS FOR STUDENTS AFFECTED BY COVAD-19 UNDER THE CORONAVIRUS AID, RELIEF, AND ECONOMIC SECURITY (CARES) ACT.

INSTITUTIONAL PORTION OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND UNDER THE CORONAVIRUS AID, RELIEF, AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY (CARES) ACT.

ADVANCED NON-TOXIC ANTIFOULING COATINGS REASRCH, TEST SITE FACILITY

INSTEP II: EXPANSION OF THE INTEGRATE SCIENCE TEACHING ENHANCEMENT PARTNERSHIP

EMERGENCY FINANCIAL AID GRANTS FOR STUDENTS AFFECTED BY COVID-19 UNDER THE CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE AND RELIEF SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT. 2021.

WBC MODERNIZATION INITIATIVE

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF HADRON COLLISIONS AT THE HIGHEST CENTER OF MASS ENERGIES

BUILDING CONSTUCTION

PHASED ANTENNA-COUPLED DETECTOR ARRAYS FOR THZ AND IR IMAGING

CELL CYCLE ASSEMBLY OF NUCLEOPROTEIN COMPLEXES

GRADUATE PSYCHOLOGY EDUCATION PROGRAMS

BIOCHEMICAL PATHWAYS OF 12-HETE AND 12-KETE METABOLISM

THE SOURCE OF WARM PLASMA CLOAK DUE TO ION HEATING BY EMIC WAVES

GRADUATE PSYCHOLOGY EDUCATION PROGRAMS

DESIGN AND OPS CONSIDERATIONS FOR HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT OCCUPANT SAFETY

THIS PROJECT IS PROPOSED BY FLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (FIT) LEVERAGING IDAHO NATIONAL LABORATORY'S (INL) FACILITIES OF BIOMASS PREPROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES. THE OVERARCHING GOAL IS TO UPGRADE HIGH-ASH BIOMASS INTO LOW-ASH, MASS AND ENERGY DENSE, AND PELLETIZED BIOREFINERY FEEDSTOCKS. THE GOAL WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED VIA SYSTEMATIC EXPERIMENTS AT SEMI-BATCH SCALE TO CONTINUOUS SCALE AND A DETAILED TECHNOECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF A FULL-SCALE UNIT.HIGH-ASH BIOMASS WILL BE COLLECTED FROM INL'S PROVEN AIR CLASSIFICATION (AC) TECHNOLOGY. MILD HYDROTHERMAL PREPROCESSING (MHP) WILL BE PERFORMED ON THIS HIGH-ASH FRACTION (HAF) BIOMASS REJECT FROM AC TO REDUCE STRUCTURAL INORGANICS. MHP USES SUBCRITICAL WATER, WHICH REACTS WITH BIOMASS AND LEACHES INORGANICS DUE TO ITS UNIQUE THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES. HYDROCHAR, THE RESULTED LOW ASH BIOMASS FROM MHP, ALSO HAS BINDING ABILITY, WHICH WILL BE EXPLORED TO PELLETIZE LOW-ASH FRACTION OF AC TECHNOLOGY IN SINGLE-PRESS PELLET PRESS (AT FIT) AND PELLET MILL (AT INL). FINALLY, A DETAILED TECHNOECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF INTEGRATED AC, MHP, AND PELLETIZATION PROCESSES WILL BE PERFORMED WITH INL'S GUIDANCE.BY THE END OF THIS PROJECT, WE WILL HAVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF (A) HOW TO REMOVE STRUCTURAL INORGANICS USING MHP TECHNOLOGY, (B) THE PELLETIZATION PROPERTIES OF HYDROCHAR AND OPTIMUM CONDITION FOR BIOMASS PALLETIZATION USING MHP HYDROCHAR, AND (C) ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY OF THE HIGH-ASH BIOMASS PREPROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES. MHP IS A UNIQUE PREPROCESSING TECHNOLOGY THAT HAS TRANSFORMATIVE POTENTIALS TO IMPROVE BIOREFINERY FEEDSTOCK LOGISTICS ECONOMICS, THEREFORE, THIS PROJECT ALIGNS WELL WITH THE SCOPE OF PROGRAM AREA A1414 BIOENERGY AND BIOBASED PRODUCT FEEDSTOCK LOGISTICS.

EXPLORATIONS: ADVANCED MANUFACTURING AND MICROELECTRONICS TO EMPOWER YOUTH AGING OUT OF FOSTER CARE -THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES THE CRITICAL CHALLENGE OF EQUIPPING FOSTER YOUTH AGING OUT OF THE SYSTEM WITH VITAL TECHNICAL SKILLS AND CAREER GUIDANCE TO ENHANCE THEIR INDEPENDENCE AND ECONOMIC STABILITY. BY INTEGRATING ADVANCED MANUFACTURING AND MICROELECTRONICS TRAINING INTO THEIR EDUCATION, THE PROJECT AIMS TO PROVIDE THESE YOUNG INDIVIDUALS WITH ACCESS TO HIGH-DEMAND SKILLS AND CAREER OPPORTUNITIES. THE INITIATIVE STANDS TO SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACT REGIONAL AND NATIONAL WELFARE BY PREPARING A VULNERABLE DEMOGRAPHIC FOR SUBSTANTIVE ROLES IN THE TECH-DRIVEN ECONOMY, THEREBY PROMOTING SOCIETAL PROGRESS AND INCLUSIVITY. THE EFFORT WILL ALSO FOSTER DIVERSITY IN STEM FIELDS, ALIGNING WITH NATIONAL INTERESTS IN BUILDING A COMPETENT, DIVERSE WORKFORCE THAT MIRRORS THE BROADER SOCIETY. THE PROJECT WILL UTILIZE A STRUCTURED PROGRAM AT THE FLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY'S CENTER FOR ADVANCED MANUFACTURING AND INNOVATIVE DESIGN TO INTRODUCE FOSTER YOUTH TO ADVANCED MANUFACTURING AND MICROELECTRONICS. OVER THREE YEARS, 25 PARTICIPANTS EACH YEAR WILL ENGAGE IN HANDS-ON LEARNING EXPERIENCES, INCLUDING WORKSHOPS, MENTORSHIP PROGRAMS, AND CAREER PLANNING SESSIONS. THESE ACTIVITIES ARE DESIGNED TO DEVELOP HARD AND SOFT SKILLS, PREPARING PARTICIPANTS FOR EMPLOYMENT OR FURTHER EDUCATION IN STEM FIELDS. METHODOLOGICALLY, THE PROJECT EMPLOYS A COMBINATION OF EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING, PEER MENTORING, AND PROFESSIONAL NETWORKING TO ACHIEVE ITS OBJECTIVES. EXPECTED OUTCOMES INCLUDE HIGH RATES OF SUCCESSFUL JOB PLACEMENTS AND FURTHER EDUCATIONAL PURSUITS AMONG PARTICIPANTS, DIRECTLY CONTRIBUTING TO THEIR PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL EMPOWERMENT AND THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE NATIONAL WORKFORCE IN STEM. 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.

LARGE SCALE SEAWATER FACILITY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHIP HULL GROOMING

SPACE COAST RESCUE (RESILIENCE SOLUTIONS FOR CLIMATE, URBANIZATION, AND ENVIRONMENT)

ADVANCED NONTOXIC ANTI-FOULING COATINGS RESEARCH, TEST SITE FACILITY

ENANTIOSELECTIVE CATALYTIC CHLOROSILANE REACTIONS

ADVANCED NON-TOXIC ANTIFOULING COATINGS RESEARCH, TEST SITE FACILITY

DETERMINING THE RADIATION LEVEL OF GALACTIC COSMIC RAYS AND SOLAR ENERGETIC PARTICLES IN THE HELIOSPHERIC MAGNETIC FIELD BASED ON MAGNETOGRAM MEASUREMENTS OF THE SOLAR PHOTOSPHERE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CLIMATE CHANGE AND PREDATORY INVASION OF THE ANTARCTIC BENTHOS

3D PRINTED BIOMIMETIC BIOGLASS-GRADIENT MATRICES FOR ACL RECONSTRUCTION

IMPACT OF QUANTUM PROCESSES IN REACTIVE OXYGEN SPECIES MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR REDOX BIOLOGY -A MAJOR CHALLENGE IN MODERN SCIENCE IS UNDERSTANDING HOW TINY MOLECULAR EVENTS SHAPE THE COMPLEX BEHAVIOR OF ENTIRE LIVING CELLS. BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN THE MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR WORLDS REMAINS A CENTRAL GOAL IN UNDERSTANDING HOW BIOLOGY WORKS ACROSS SCALES. THIS RESEARCH EXPLORES WHETHER FUNDAMENTAL QUANTUM CHARACTERISTICS OF ELECTRONS CAN GUIDE IMPORTANT BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES, INCLUDING METABOLISM AND CELLULAR BALANCE. ELECTRONS CARRY A QUANTUM PROPERTY KNOWN AS SPIN, AND DURING SPECIFIC BIOCHEMICAL REACTIONS, TWO ELECTRONS CAN BECOME LINKED IN A QUANTUM STATE CALLED A RADICAL PAIR. THIS PROJECT INVESTIGATES HOW CERTAIN ENZYMES IN CELLS MAY USE THESE RADICAL PAIRS TO INFLUENCE THE PRODUCTION OF REACTIVE OXYGEN SPECIES (ROS), HIGHLY ACTIVE MOLECULES INVOLVED IN METABOLISM, SIGNALING, AND CELLULAR STRESS RESPONSES. BY COMBINING ADVANCED MAGNETIC RESONANCE TECHNIQUES, HIGH-RESOLUTION MICROSCOPY, MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, AND CUTTING-EDGE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI), THE PROJECT SEEKS TO OBSERVE AND ANALYZE HOW THESE QUANTUM PROCESSES OPERATE INSIDE LIVING CELLS. THIS RESEARCH COULD LEAD TO A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW CELLS MANAGE ENERGY AND STRESS, KEY FACTORS IN HEALTH, AGING, AND DISEASE, AND MAY INSPIRE FUTURE TECHNOLOGIES THAT MONITOR BIOLOGICAL OUTCOMES THROUGH QUANTUM-BASED SENSING. THIS PROJECT WILL ALSO ADVANCE EDUCATION BY OFFERING A GRADUATE COURSE THAT INTEGRATES QUANTUM FUNDAMENTALS ACROSS DISCIPLINES, PREPARING STUDENTS FOR CUTTING-EDGE STEM CAREERS. ADDITIONALLY, WE WILL EXPAND OUTREACH THROUGH A SUMMER PROGRAM INTRODUCING LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO QUANTUM CONCEPTS, AI, AND HANDS-ON MAKING, AS PART OF FLORIDA TECH?S CRAFT CENTER, WHICH FOSTERS INTERDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION AND COMPUTATIONAL EXPERTISE ACROSS CAMPUS. THIS RESEARCH AIMS TO UNCOVER HOW SPIN-DEPENDENT RADICAL PAIRS IN FLAVOENZYMES REGULATE ROS PRODUCTION AT THE MOLECULAR LEVEL, WITH DOWNSTREAM EFFECTS ON CELLULAR REDOX BIOLOGY. THE PROJECT WILL PURSUE THIS GOAL THROUGH THREE KEY AIMS: (1) MANIPULATING QUANTUM PROCESSES IN A RECOMBINANT FLAVIN ENZYME MODEL TO INFLUENCE ROS PRODUCT YIELDS, (2) MEASURING ROS PRODUCTION AND CELL BEHAVIOR UNDER QUANTUM-ACTIVE CONDITIONS, AND (3) APPLYING AI AND MACHINE LEARNING TO OPTIMIZE EXPERIMENTAL CONTROL AND DATA ANALYSIS. TOGETHER, THIS WORK DEFINES A COMPREHENSIVE AND INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH THAT BRIDGES QUANTUM SPIN CHEMISTRY, CELL BIOLOGY, AND AI TO REVEAL HOW QUANTUM PROCESSES DRIVE OXIDATIVE SIGNALING IN LIVING SYSTEMS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

DESPITE ITS SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN THE GLOBAL CLIMATE, THE MARITIME CONTINENT (MC) REMAINS SOMEWHAT OF AN ENIGMA DUE TO A LACK OF PHYSICAL UNDERSTANDING AND MODEL PERFORMANCE. THE MC CONNECTS THE INDIAN AND PACIFIC OCEANS, AND TROPICS AND EXTRATROPICS THROUGH TELECONNECTIONS. IT ALSO ACTS AS A PREDICTABILITY BARRIER FOR SUBSEASONAL-TO-SEASONAL (S2S) PREDICTION OF PRECIPITATION THAT DEPENDS ON MANY INTERACTING PROCESSES INCLUDING THE LAND-ATMOSPHERE INTERACTIONS, WHICH ARE CONTROLLED THROUGH SOIL MOISTURE, TOPOGRAPHY, AND DIURNAL CYCLE OF INSOLATION, AMONG OTHERS. MANY OF THESE PROCESSES, HOWEVER, ARE POORLY UNDERSTOOD AND INADEQUATELY REPRESENTED IN WEATHER AND CLIMATE MODELS. IN THIS WORK, WE PROPOSE: (I) TO DESCRIBE THE OBSERVED RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE S2S PRECIPITATION AND OTHER PARAMETERS SUCH AS SOIL MOISTURE, TOPOGRAPHY, AND DIURNAL CYCLE OF INSOLATION; (II) TO EXPLORE THE RELATIVE CONTRIBUTION OF SOIL MOISTURE, TOPOGRAPHY, AND DIURNAL CYCLE OF INSOLATION; (III) TO INVESTIGATE THE

DEVELOPMENT OF A STEM EDUCATION PROGRAM IN SUPPORT OF NAVAL FLIGHT TEST ENGINEERING

CAREER: TOWARD UNDERSTANDING SOLAR WIND TURBULENCE IN THE INNER HELIOSPHERE

EDUCATIONAL APPROACHES AND CURRICULUM TO ENGAGE AND EDUCATE A MORE DIVERSE CYBERSECURITY WORKFORCE

INSPIRING STUDENTS TO PURSUE U.S. NAVY STEM CAREERS THROUGH EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

RESEARCH TO FURTHER ENHANCE HYDROLYSIS BY COMBINING ELECTRONICALLY MODULATED CATALYSIS

CHANGES IN HIGH MOUNTAIN ASIA (HMA) WATER RESOURCES AFFECT THE LIVELIHOOD OF MORE THAN A BILLION OF PEOPLE AND HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE BIODIVERSITY OF THE UNIQUE ECOSYSTEMS OF THE REGION.

THERMAL STRESS AND DIFFERENTIAL RECOVERY OF CORAL REEFS

TRUST DYNAMICS IN HETEROGENOUS HUMAN-AGENT TEAMS: APPLYING MULTI LEVEL AND UNOBTRUSIVE PERSPECTIVES

DEVELOPMENT OF LIGHT TRIGGERED MOLECULAR TOOLS CRITICAL FOR UNDERSTANDING THE BRAIN'S NETWORK

PROBING THE BASIC PHYSICS OF ECTRAGALACTIC JETSRELATIVISTIC JETS APPEAR TO BE A UBIQUITOUS RESULT OF

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF HADRON COLLISIONS AT THE HIGHEST CENTER-OF-MASS ENERGIES

IDENTIFYING CORAL REEF 'BRIGHT SPOTS' FROM THE GLOBAL 2015-2017 THERMAL-STRESS EVENT

THE THERAPEUTIC WORKPLACE INTERVENTION IN COMMUNITY SETTINGS.

GROWING THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE PIPELINE FOR CAREERS IN CIVIL, CHEMICAL, AND OCEAN ENGINEERING THROUGH THE FITS-STEM PROGRAM

CHARACTERIZATION OF UPWARD LEADERS AND THE ATTACHMENT PROCESS IN DOWNWARD CLOUD-TO-GROUND LIGHTNING

ADJUSTMENT OF WESTERN PACIFIC OCEAN CORAL REEFS TO SEA-LEVEL RISE AND OCEAN WARMING

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CLIMATE CHANGE, MESOSCALE OCEANOGRAPHY, AND THE DYNAMICS OF EASTERN PACIFIC CORAL REEFS

ADVANCED NON-TOXIC ANTIFOULING COATINGS RESEARCH TEST SITE FACILITY

TRANSPARENT AF / FR COATINGS PROGRAM: CANDIDATE FIELD TESTING AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF ACTIVE SOLUTIONS

PREDICTION OF SOLAR ENERGETIC PARTICLE RADIATION TIMING AND DOSAGE USING PHYSICS-GUIDED MACHINE LEARNING ALGORITHMS WITH REMOTE OBSERVATIONS OF THE SOLAR PHOTOSPHERE CORONA AND INTERPLANETARY MEDIUM

INVESTIGATING THE RADIAL EVOLUTION OF THE SCALING PROPERTIES OF INTERMITTENCY IN THE SOLAR WIND

WE INVESTIGATE SEP PROPAGATION IN REALISTIC 3D INTERPLANETARY AND CORONAL MAGNETIC FIELDS. IT IS THE FIRST LINE OF INVESTIGATION FOR THE DETERMINATIO

GOALS: FIRST WE PROPOSE TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECTS OF PC 4-5 WAVES (2-22 MHZ) ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTROMAGNETIC ION CYCLOTRON (EMIC 0.1-5 HZ) WAVES IN THE EARTH'S INNER MAGNETOSPHERE. WE WILL STUDY BOTH THE EFFECT OF EMIC WAVE GROWTH RATE MODULATION BY COMPRESSIONAL PC 4-5 WAVES AND THE NONLINEAR CASCADE OF ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY FROM THE PC 4-5 FREQUENCY RANGE INTO THE FREQUENCY RANGE OF EMIC WAVE GENERATION. SECOND WE PROPOSE TO STUDY THE EFFECTS OF EMIC WAVES ON RELATIVISTIC ELECTRON PRECIPITATION IN THE EARTH'S RADIATION BELTS (RBS). BACKGROUND: EMIC WAVES ARE CONSIDERED TO BE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CAUSES FOR RELATIVISTIC ELECTRON PRECIPITATION FROM THE EARTH'S RBS. CURRENTLY HOWEVER UNDERSTANDING OF EMIC WAVE DEVELOPMENT AND EVOLUTION IN EARTH'S MAGNETOSPHERE IS FAR FROM BEING COMPLETE AND THERE IS NO RELIABLE PHYSICS-BASED MODEL OF EMIC WAVES THAT CAN BE USED IN A REALISTIC MODELING OF RELATIVISTIC ELECTRONS. THE HE-BAND OF EMIC WAVES IS THE DOMINANT BAND OBSERVED IN THE INNER MAGNETOSPHERE AND WAVES ARE USUALLY QUASI-FIELD-ALIGNED THERE. TO BE OBSERVED AS QUASI-FIELD-ALIGNED WAVES SHOULD GROW UP TO AN OBSERVABLE LEVEL DURING ONE PASS THROUGH THE NEAR EQUATORIAL UNSTABLE REGION BECAUSE EVEN IF WAVES RETURN TO THE EQUATOR AFTER REFLECTION FROM THE "BI-ION LATITUDES" (THE LATITUDES WHERE WAVE FREQUENCY MATCHES THE LOCAL O-HE BI-ION FREQUENCY) THEY USUALLY HAVE OBLIQUE NORMALS AND CANNOT BE RE-AMPLIFIED DUE TO THE QUASIFIELD- ALIGNED ION CYCLOTRON INSTABILITY. THE THERMAL BACKGROUND LEVEL FOR EMIC WAVES HOWEVER IS LOW AND WAVES CANNOT REACH AN OBSERVABLE LEVEL DURING ONE PASS IF THEY GROW FROM THIS LEVEL. ONE OF THE POSSIBILITIES TO OVERCOME THIS DRAWBACK IS TO INCREASE THE EMIC WAVE GROWTH RATE COMPARED TO ITS NOMINAL VALUES BY MODULATING THE MAGNETIC FIELD AND/OR PLASMA DENSITY BY COMPRESSIONAL PC 4-5 WAVES. EMIC WAVES HOWEVER ARE OFTEN OBSERVED WHEN THE AMPLITUDES OF COMPRESSIONAL PC 4-5 ARE SMALL. THE OTHER POSSIBILITY IS TO INVOKE SOME NONLINEAR MECHANISM THAT CAN SUPPLY AN ELECTROMAGNETIC SEED FLUCTUATING ENERGY WHICH SUBSTANTIALLY EXCEEDS THE THERMAL BACKGROUND LEVEL IN THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN OF EMIC WAVE GENERATION. AN MHD WAVE-WAVE INTERACTION GENERATES AN ENERGY CASCADE IN THE REGION OF LARGER WAVE NUMBERS AND SO CAN SERVE AS A NEEDED MECHANISM. OUR PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF THE VAN ALLEN PROBES AND POLAR SPACECRAFT DATA ACROSS THE PC 1-5 WAVE BANDS SHOWS THAT A NONLINEAR ENERGY CASCADE FROM THE PC 4-5 FREQUENCY RANGE INTO THE FREQUENCY RANGE OF EMIC WAVES IS OBSERVED AND ABLE TO SUPPLY THE NEEDED LEVEL OF NONTHERMAL FLUCTUATIONS THAT GUARANTEES GROWTH OF EMIC WAVES DURING ONE PASS THROUGH THE NEAR EQUATORIAL REGION IF AN ION CYCLOTRON INSTABILITY TAKES PLACE THERE. METHODOLOGY: TO ACHIEVE THE FIRST GOAL WE WILL COMBINE THE ANALYSIS OF VAN ALLEN PROBES DATA ACROSS THE PC 1-5 BANDS WITH THE CAPABILITIES OF TWO GLOBAL MODELS THE LYON-FEDDER-MOBARRY MHD MODEL OF THE MAGNETOSPHERE AND OUR MODEL OF RING CURRENT (RC) IONS AND EMIC WAVES . TO ACHIEVE OUR SECOND GOAL WE WILL USE THE COMPREHENSIVE INNER MAGNETOSPHERE-IONOSPHERE GLOBAL MODEL OF RELATIVISTIC ELECTRONS THE GLOBAL RC-EMIC WAVE MODEL AND ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIVISTIC ELECTRON FLUXES AND EMIC WAVES OBSERVED BY VAN ALLEN PROBES. DATA: WE WILL USE DATA FROM TWO VAN ALLEN PROBES: 1) EMFISIS FOR MAGNETIC FIELD AND ELECTRON NUMBER DENSITY ESTIMATED FROM THE UPPER HYBRID FREQUENCY 2) EFW FOR ELECTRON NUMBER DENSITY ESTIMATED FROM SPACECRAFT POTENTIAL 3) ECT/HOPE FOR DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS OF ENERGETIC IONS AND ION COMPOSITION AND 4) ECT/MAGEIS AND ECT/REPT FOR FLUXES OF RELATIVISTIC ELECTRONS. RELEVANCE: THIS PROPOSAL IS RELEVANT TO THE DECADAL SURVEY GOALS "2. DETERMINE THE DYNAMICS AND COUPLING OF EARTH'S MAGNETOSPHERE IONOSPHERE AND ATMOSPHERE AND THEIR RESPONSE TO SOLAR AND TERRESTRIAL INPUTS" AND "4. DISCOVER AND CHARACTERIZE FUNDAMENTAL PROCESSES THAT OCCUR BOTH WITHIN THE HELIOSPHERE AND THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSE."

NANODIAMOND QUANTUM SENSING IN REDOX CELL BIOLOGY BY HYPERSPECTRAL MICROSCOPY - PROJECT SUMMARY OXIDATIVE STRESS CAUSED BY DYSREGULATED REACTIVE OXYGEN SPECIES (ROS) PLAYS A CRITICAL ROLE IN NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES, CANCER, AND AGING. DESPITE ITS IMPORTANCE, THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN ROS BENEFICIAL SIGNALING AND HARMFUL OXIDATIVE STRESS REMAINS POORLY DEFINED, IN PART DUE TO LIMITED TOOLS FOR PRECISE, REAL- TIME MEASUREMENT OF REDOX DYNAMICS IN LIVE CELLS. CLARIFYING HOW CELLS RESPOND TO DIFFERENT ROS LEVELS IS ESSENTIAL TO UNDERSTANDING REDOX REGULATION AND DEVELOPING STRATEGIES TO MITIGATE OXIDATIVE DAMAGE. A BETTER GRASP OF THESE MECHANISMS COULD IMPACT DIVERSE FIELDS INCLUDING NEUROSCIENCE, CANCER BIOLOGY, AND METABOLIC DISEASE. THE USSELMAN LAB AT FLORIDA TECH BRINGS A UNIQUE COMBINATION OF REDOX BIOLOGY, HYPERSPECTRAL IMAGING, AND QUANTUM SENSING EXPERTISE. AS A TEACHING-INTENSIVE INSTITUTION, WE ALSO ENGAGE UNDERGRADUATES DIRECTLY IN HANDS-ON RESEARCH, BUILDING THE NEXT GENERATION OF STEM LEADERS THROUGH IMMERSIVE, HIGH-IMPACT TRAINING. WE WILL ENGINEER CHEMOGENETIC SYSTEMS USING D-AMINO ACID OXIDASE (DAAO) TO GENERATE H₂O₂ WITH SPATIAL AND DOSE CONTROL IN MAMMALIAN CELLS. REDOX DYNAMICS WILL BE QUANTIFIED USING RATIOMETRIC BIOSENSORS, SEAHORSE METABOLIC ASSAYS, AND A NOVEL OPTICALLY DETECTED MAGNETIC RESONANCE MICROSCOPY (ODMRM) PLATFORM WITH NANODIAMOND QUANTUM SENSORS. THESE TOOLS WILL ALLOW US TO DEFINE OXIDATIVE THRESHOLDS, MEASURE MITOCHONDRIAL RESPONSES, AND TRACK REAL-TIME REDOX CHANGES WITH SUBCELLULAR RESOLUTION. THIS MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH OFFERS A POWERFUL FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING REDOX ADAPTATION AND STRESS, WITH BROAD IMPLICATIONS FOR HUMAN HEALTH.

21-HGIO21_2-0052 ON THE ORIGIN OF ENERGETICALLY-DOMINANT SUNWARD-PROPAGATING ALFVEN WAVES IN THE SOLAR WIND

DEVELOP ADVANCED MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUES THAT ARE CAPABLE OF EXPLOITING HETEROGENEOUS AND LOWER-FIDELITY, CYBER PHYSICAL SIGNALS.

DESCRIPTION:THIS AGREEMENT PROVIDES FUNDING IN THE AMOUNT OF $499,998 TO THE FLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY TO SUPPORT THE UNIVERSITY'S PROJECT TO ADDRESS MODIFIED BIOCHAR TECHNOLOGY FOR SIMULTANEOUS RED TIDE MITIGATION, NUTRIENT REDUCTION, AND CARBON SEQUESTRATION. ACTIVITIES:THE ACTIVITIES INCLUDE SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MODIFIED BIOCHAR, TOXIN AND ALGAE REMOVAL CHARACTERISTICS BY BIOCHAR, AND CELL AND TOXIN REMOVAL EFFICIENCIES FOR OPTIMUM CLAY BIOCHAR RATIOS. SUBRECIPIENT:SUBAWARD WOULD GO TO MOTE TO PERFORM COLUMN AND MESOCOSM STUDY AND TOXIN ANALYSIS.OUTCOMES:THE ANTICIPATED DELIVERABLES ARE PERFORMANCE AND FINAL REPORTS AND A SAMPLING PORT SYSTEM TO ALLOW WATER SAMPLES TO BE COLLECTED AT MULTIPLE DEPTHS WITHOUT DISTURBING THE WATER COLUMN, PROVIDING FOR MEASUREMENTS OF CELL ABUNDANCE, PHOTO PHYSIOLOGY, BTX AND WATER QUALITY VARIABLES OVER TIME. THE EXPECTED OUTCOMES CONSIST OF UNDERSTANDING LOADINGS NECESSARY TO ACHIEVE SUFFICIENT REMOVAL OF CELLS AND TOXINS FOR SUCCESSFUL MITIGATION. DIRECT BENEFICIARIES ARE STATE OF FLORIDA CITIZENS AND RESIDENTS.

SCIENCE OBJECTIVES. THE MAIN OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO CONDUCT A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USING A LARGE SET OF SIMULTANEOUS MEASUREMENTS OF FIELD AND PLASMA DATA TO ESTABLISH A DETAILED COMPARISON OF THE SCALING PROPERTIES OF SOLAR WIND TURBULENCE WITH THE MOST RECENT ADVANCES IN INCOMPRESSIBLE MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS (MHD) TURBULENCE THEORY AND SIMULATIONS. WE AIM TO ACCOMPLISH THE FOLLOWING SCIENTIFIC GOALS: 1) INVESTIGATE THE EXISTENCE OF SCALING LAWS FOR THE ALIGNMENT ANGLE BETWEEN VELOCITY AND MAGNETIC FIELD FLUCTUATIONS ALSO KNOWN AS SCALE-DEPENDENT DYNAMIC ALIGNMENT (SDDA) 2) INVESTIGATE THE POSSIBLE THREE DIMENSIONAL NATURE OF THE SDDA 3) INVESTIGATE THE ROLE OF THE CROSS-HELICITY RESIDUAL ENERGY AND THE COMPRESSIBILITY ON THE SCALING OF DYNAMICAL ALIGNMENT. ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN MHD TURBULENCE THEORY IS THAT THE EXISTENCE OF SDDA FOR INSTANCE BETWEEN VELOCITY AND MAGNETIC AND/OR ELSASSER FIELDS CAN LEAD TO A SCALE-DEPENDENT DEPLETION OF THE NONLINEAR INTERACTIONS BETWEEN TURBULENT FLUCTUATIONS WHICH IN TURN AFFECTS THE SHAPE OF THE TURBULENCE SPECTRUM AND THE TURBULENCE ANISOTROPY. THE MOST PROMISING PHENOMENOLOGICAL MODELS OF INCOMPRESSIBLE MHD TURBULENCE HAVE IN COMMON GOLDREICH AND SRIDHAR S ASSUMPTION OF CRITICAL BALANCE I.E. THAT THE TIME SCALE ASSOCIATED WITH LINEAR WAVE PROPAGATION IS COMPARABLE WITH THE NONLINEAR CASCADE TIME. BROADLY SPEAKING THESE MODELS CAN BE GROUPED INTO THOSE THAT INCLUDE SDDA IN THE CRITICAL BALANCE CONDITION AND THOSE THAT DO NOT RESULTING IN DIFFERENT PREDICTIONS FOR THE SCALING PROPERTIES OF TURBULENCE SPECTRA SDDA AND TURBULENCE ANISOTROPY. ALTHOUGH SEVERAL NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS TO DATE HAVE SHOWN STRONG EVIDENCE FOR THE EXISTENCE OF A SDDA LARGELY CONSISTENT WITH THEORETICAL PREDICTIONS FOR THE MEASURED ENERGY SPECTRUM CONCLUSIVE OBSERVATIONAL EVIDENCE OF SDDA IS LACKING. ONLY A FEW STUDIES HAVE ATTEMPTED TO MEASURE THE SDDA WITH RESPECT TO THE LENGTH-SCALE OF SOLAR WIND FLUCTUATIONS. HOWEVER THESE PREVIOUS STUDIES DID NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE POSSIBLE EFFECT OF THE SAMPLING DIRECTION IN THE DERIVATION OF THE SCALING OF THE SDDA. ALSO THERE WAS NO ATTEMPT TO INVESTIGATE HOW OTHER PROPERTIES OF THE SOLAR WIND PLASMA SUCH AS CROSS-HELICITY RESIDUAL ENERGY AND COMPRESSIBILITY MAY AFFECT THE SCALING OF THE SDDA. METHODOLOGY. TO STATISTICALLY INVESTIGATE THE SCALING PROPERTIES OF SOLAR WIND TURBULENCE WE WILL USE ANALYSIS OF FIELD AND PLASMA DATA FROM WIND AND ACE SPACECRAFT. 1) TO INVESTIGATE THE SCALING OF THE DYNAMICAL ANGLE BETWEEN MAGNETIC AND VELOCITY FLUCTUATIONS WE WILL FIRST IMPLEMENT A WAVELET TRANSFORMATION FOR THE MAGNETIC FIELD DATA IN ORDER TO ESTIMATE THE LOCAL MEAN MAGNETIC FIELD. IN OUR ANALYSIS WE WILL ESTIMATE THE SDDA TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE SAMPLING ANGLE OF THE SOLAR WIND FLUCTUATIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE LOCAL MEAN MAGNETIC FIELD. THEN WE IMPLEMENT TAYLOR HYPOTHESIS TO CONNECT THE FREQUENCY OF THE MEASURED FLUCTUATIONS TO THEIR LENGTH-SCALE. 2) TO INVESTIGATE THE THREE DIMENSIONAL NATURE OF THE SDDA WE ANALYZE THE FLUCTUATIONS SAMPLED PARALLEL AND PERPENDICULAR TO THE MAGNETIC FIELD. WE WILL ALSO ANALYZE THE SDDA WITH RESPECT TO THE TWO DIMENSIONAL PERPENDICULAR (WITH RESPECT TO THE LOCAL MEAN MAGNETIC FIELD) DIRECTIONS ONE IN THE DIRECTION OF THE ALIGNMENT AND THE OTHER PERPENDICULAR TO THE ALIGNMENT. 3) WE WILL ALSO RE-INVESTIGATE THE SDDA WITH RESPECT TO THE CROSS HELICITY RESIDUAL ENERGY AND THE COMPRESSIBILITY TO INVESTIGATE THEIR EFFECT ON THE SCALING OF THE DYNAMICAL ALIGNMENT. THIS PROJECT DIRECTLY ADDRESSES ONE OF THE GOALS OF WIND AND CLUSTER MISSIONS E.G. "TO INVESTIGATE BASIC PLASMA PROCESSES OCCURRING IN THE NEAR-EARTH SOLAR WIND" AND ONE OF THE FOUR HIGH-LEVEL SCIENCE GOALS OF THE HELIOPHYSICS DECADAL SURVEY E.G. DISCOVER AND CHARACTERIZE FUNDAMENTAL PROCESSES THAT OCCUR BOTH WITHIN THE HELIOSPHERE AND THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSE.

EQUIPMENT: MRI: TRACK 1 ACQUISITION OF A CRYO-ENABLED SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATION AT THE FLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND PARTNERS. -THIS NSF MRI TRACK 1 AWARD WILL PERMIT THE FLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY TO PURCHASE A NEW CRYO ENABLED SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE (CRYO-SEM). LEVERAGING THE ADVANCES IN IMAGING PROVIDED BY THIS INSTRUMENT WILL BROADLY IMPACT A VARIETY OF AREAS OF RESEARCH, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO: (I) SPACE BIOLOGY, (II) DRUG DELIVERY, (III) TISSUE ENGINEERING, (IV) MARINE BIOFOULING AND CORROSION, AND (V) THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW THERMAL-RESISTANT COATINGS. DISCOVERIES IN THESE AREAS AND OTHERS WILL DELIVER IMPROVED MATERIALS AND APPROACHES TO REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS, NEW SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE APPROACHES, REFINED MODELS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN BIOLOGY, MITIGATIONS TO THREATS TO PUBLIC HEALTH, AND ADVANCES IN TISSUE ENGINEERING AND NANOSENSOR TECHNOLOGY. THIS INSTRUMENT WILL SUPPORT BOTH RESEARCH AND EDUCATION AT THE UNDERGRADUATE, GRADUATE, AND PROFESSIONAL LEVELS ACROSS MULTIPLE DISCIPLINES IN THE COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE. THE UTILITY OF THIS INSTRUMENT WILL BE EXPANDED BEYOND THE FLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND THE PARTNER INSTITUTIONS (ECKERD COLLEGE, WINSTON-SALEM UNIVERSITY, AND EASTERN FLORIDA STATE COLLEGE); THEREBY POSITIVELY IMPACTING EDUCATION AND RESEARCH ACROSS THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES. REMOTE OPERATION OF THE INSTRUMENT BY USERS AT PARTNER INSTITUTIONS, ALONG WITH HYBRID TRAININGS (IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL), WILL FURTHER ENHANCE THE USER EXPERIENCE AND THE EDUCATIONAL AND TRAINING OUTCOMES FOR STUDENTS AT THESE SITES. ULTIMATELY, THE ENHANCEMENTS IN IMAGE ACQUISITION, SAMPLE PREPARATION, AND IMAGE ANALYSIS AFFORDED BY THIS INSTRUMENT WILL PROVIDE NEW RESEARCH QUESTIONS AS WELL AS SOLUTIONS TO ALL THE INSTRUMENT?S USERS AND BEYOND. THIS NEW CRYO-SEM WILL ADVANCE RESEARCH AT FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY AND THE PARTNER INSTITUTIONS IN AREAS WHERE LOW VACUUM AND CRYO-MODES ARE NECESSARY TO PROPERLY CHARACTERIZE THE MATERIALS AND MINIMIZE PROCESSING ARTIFACTS. THESE MAJOR AREAS INCLUDE: SPACE BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY, BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING AND SCIENCES, AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING. FOR EXAMPLE, THE BIOWEATHERING AND FERTILIZATION OF MARTIAN REGOLITH SIMULANTS BY CYANOBACTERIA WILL BE INVESTIGATED IN SUPPORT OF A FUTURE HUMAN SETTLEMENT ON THE RED PLANET. THE MICROSTRUCTURE OF NATIVE TISSUES, TISSUE ENGINEERING SCAFFOLDS INCLUDING HYDROGELS, AND DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEMS WILL BE CHARACTERIZED IN CRYOMODE TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THEIR FIBROUS AND POROUS STRUCTURES THAT CAN IMPACT FUTURE CLINICAL USE. HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS IN COASTAL WATERWAYS AS WELL AS BIOFOULING CONSORTIA ON NEW MATERIALS WILL ALSO BE INVESTIGATED TO LIMIT DAMAGE TO MARINE SPECIES WHILE COMBATTING CLIMATE CHANGE. OVERALL, THIS NEW CRYO-SEM WILL ALLOW TRAINING AND ACCESS FOR UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS AS WELL AS FACULTY AND OTHER PROFESSIONALS FROM A VARIETY OF BACKGROUNDS AND RESEARCH DISCIPLINES. RESEARCH DISCOVERIES MADE AND DEVELOPED IN THE CENTER WILL BE DISSEMINATED THROUGH PUBLICATIONS AND BROADLY INTEGRATED INTO THE COURSE CURRICULA. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

THE MAIN SCIENCE QUESTION THAT WE AIM TO ANSWER USING PSP OBSERVATIONS IS WHAT IS THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN TURBULENCE AND THE BACKGROUND SOLAR WIND?

PROJECT 20: GENERAL AVIATION RUNWAY INCURSIONS

JUPITER IMPACT MODELING

OBJECTIVES: POWER-LAW SPECTRUM IS THE MOST COMMON SPECTRUM OF ENERGETIC PARTICLES. HOWEVER WE OFTEN SEE THAT SOLAR ENERGETIC PARTICLES EXHIBIT POWER-LAW SPECTRA WITH TWO OR SOMETIMES MORE DIFFERENT SPECTRAL SLOPES IN DIFFERENT ENERGY BANDS. THOSE WITH TWO DIFFERENT POWER-LAW SLOPES ARE CALLED DOUBLE POWER-LAW SPECTRUM. RECENTLY THE OBSERVATION ATTRACTS A GREAT DEAL OF INTEREST IN THE HELIOSPHERIC PHYSICS COMMUNITY. WHILE THE SINGLE POWER-LAW SPECTRUM HAS A STRONG THEORETICAL FOUNDATION THERE IS NO CLEAR EXPLANATION FOR THE DOUBLE POWER-LAW SPECTRUM. SOME PUBLICATIONS ATTRIBUTE IT TO A MECHANISM OF PARTICLE ACCELERATION IN A SHOCK ENVIRONMENT BUT A FEW OTHERS SUGGEST IT IS DUE TO PARTICLE PROPAGATION FROM A REMOTE SOURCE IN THE CORONA TO 1 AU. THE GOAL OF THIS PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO IDENTIFY WHAT MECHANISMS AND CONDITIONS PRODUCE THE DOUBLE POWER-LAW SPECTRUM OBSERVED BY SPACECRAFT IN INTERPLANETARY SPACE. THE RESULT WILL LEAD TO A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE PHYSICS OF PARTICLE ACCELERATION AND TRANSPORT IN THE CORONAL AND HELIOSPHERIC MAGNETIC FIELDS WHICH IS CRUCIAL TO DEVELOPING TOOLS FOR SPACE WEATHER FORECAST AND RADIATION HAZARD MITIGATION. DATA SOURCE AND METHODOLOGY: OUR PROPOSED WORK BUILDS ON MEASUREMENTS MADE BY NASA MISSIONS I.E. ACE STEREO WIND ULYSSES IMP-8 AND HELIOS. WE USE ALL ENERGETIC PARTICLE MEASUREMENTS ON THESE MISSIONS (ULEIS SIS LET SIT HISCALE COSPIN AND SO ON). TO AID OUR ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION WE ALSO USE PLASMA AND MAGNETIC FIELD DATA. ENERGETIC PARTICLE FLUX MEASUREMENTS BY THESE MISSIONS WILL BE BUILT INTO ENERGY SPECTRA USING VARIOUS SCHEMES. A LARGE NUMBER OF EVENTS WITH A DOUBLE POWER-LAW EVENTINTEGRATED SPECTRUM WILL BE SELECTED. WE WILL ANALYZE THE DETAILED PROPERTIES OF SOLAR ENERGETIC PARTICLES INCLUDING THEIR SPECTRUM SLOPES AND BREAK ENERGY. IN THIS NEW ANALYSIS WE WILL DISSECT SEP EVENTS INTO DIFFERENT PHASES: RISING PEAK AND DECAY (RESERVOIR) TO STUDY HOW THE DOUBLE POWER-LAW SPECTRUM EVOLVES IN TIME. WE WILL SELECT EVENTS SIMULTANEOUSLY OBSERVED BY MULTIPLE SPACECRAFT LOCATED AT DIFFERENT LONGITUDES LATITUDES AND RADIAL DISTANCES. RADIAL DEPENDENCE WILL ALSO BE STUDIED STATISTICALLY USING SINGLE-SPACECRAFT MEASUREMENTS. IN THIS WAY PROPERTIES OF THE DOUBLE POWER-LAW SPECTRUM AND THEIR DEPENDENCE ON LOCATION MAGNETIC CONNECTIVITY PARTICLE SPECIES OTHER PARAMETERS ARE THOROUGHLY ANALYZED FOR THE PURPOSE OF DETERMINING THE FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS PRODUCING THE PHENOMENON. COMPARISONS OF THE OBSERVATIONAL RESULTS WITH MODEL CALCULATIONS WILL FURTHER HELP US SOLIDIFY OUR CONCLUSION. RELEVANCE: THE SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVE MATCHES THE GOALS OF HSO MISSIONS: DISCOVER THE MECHANISMS AND SITES OF ENERGETIC PARTICLE ACCELERATION IN THE LOW CORONA AND THE INTERPLANETARY MEDIUM AND THEIR SUBSEQUENT TRANSPORT IN HELIOSPHERIC MAGNETIC FIELDS ALL OF WHICH ARE PROCESSES FUNDAMENTAL TO THE HELIOSPHERIC PHYSICS. IT ADDRESSES TWO (1&4) OF THE FOUR HIGH-LEVEL SCIENCE GOALS FROM THE HELIOPHYSICS DECADAL SURVEY.

INVESTIGATING THE SPACE TIME CORRELATION OF SOLAR WIND TURBULENCE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CLIMATE CHANGE AND PREDATORY INVASION OF THE ANTARCTIC MARINE ENVIRONMENT

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: PRE-COLUMBIAN HUMAN IMPACTS ON AMAZONIAN ECOSYSTEMS

INCREASING CLINICAL ACCESS BY REDUCING SCAN TIME OF DYNAMIC NUCLEAR CARDIAC IMAGING WITH SUPERIOR DIAGNOSIS - NIH PROJECT SUMMARY (30 LINES MAX) THE PROPOSED PROGRAM AIMS TO IMPROVE THE DIAGNOSIS AND PROGNOSIS OF CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE (CAD) AT CLINICS BY MAKING DYNAMIC NUCLEAR IMAGING ACCESSIBLE TO A WIDE POPULATION. THIS PROTOCOL, CURRENTLY AVAILABLE PRIMARILY AT SELECT RESEARCH FACILITIES, HAS LONG BEEN KNOWN TO BE SUPERIOR FOR QUANTITATIVE CARDIAC PERFUSION IMAGING. YET, DYNAMIC NUCLEAR IMAGING HAS ALMOST NO PENETRATION IN CLINICAL DIAGNOSTICS. THE REASON IS A COMBINATION OF SEVERAL TECHNICAL CHALLENGES, THE MOST NOTICEABLE ONE BEING ITS UNREASONABLY LONG SCANNING TIME. OUR PRINCIPAL HYPOTHESIS IS THAT THE UNIQUE DIAGNOSTIC PARAMETERS LIKE MYOCARDIAL BLOOD FLOW AND CORONARY FLOW RESERVE CAN BE OBTAINED BY DYNAMIC IMAGING ACQUISITION OVER A MUCH SHORTER SCAN TIME THAN WHAT IS BEING PRACTICED TODAY. REDUCING THE SCAN TIME WILL REMOVE THE PRIMARY IMPEDIMENT OF TRANSLATING DYNAMIC NUCLEAR IMAGING TO THE CLINIC. OUR OBJECTIVE WILL BE ACHIEVED WITH INNOVATIVE ALGORITHM DEVELOPMENT FOR THE TWO NUCLEAR IMAGING MODALITIES: SINGLE PHOTON EMISSION COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY (SPECT) AND POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY (PET). PREVIOUSLY WE HAVE DEVELOPED CUTTING-EDGE ALGORITHMS BASED ON A NOVEL MATHEMATICAL TOOL CALLED NON-NEGATIVE MATRIX FACTORIZATION (NMF) FOR BOTH OF THESE MODALITIES. IN THIS PROJECT, WE WILL ADVANCE THESE ALGORITHMS SIGNIFICANTLY TOWARD OUR OBJECTIVE, WHILE ALSO IMPROVING THE ACCURACY OF ESTIMATING DIAGNOSTICALLY VALUABLE INFORMATION. FOR THIS PURPOSE, WE WILL DEVELOP ADDITIONAL HIGH-LEVEL MATHEMATICAL COMPONENTS LIKE TOPOLOGY-BASED ANALYSIS OF 1D TIME-SERIES DATA AND ANATOMICAL SHAPES OF ORGANS TO GUIDE THE SOLUTION IN THE DATA ANALYSIS. WE WILL VALIDATE OUR RESULTS WITH REALISTIC NUMERICAL PHANTOMS AND CLINICAL DATA WITH THE RADIOTRACER 13NH3 IN PET AND 99TC-TETROFOSMIN IN SPECT. ANONYMIZED RETROSPECTIVE DATA WILL BE AVAILABLE FROM OUR COLLABORATORS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO (UCSF). THE SUCCESS OF OUR PROJECT WILL BRING THE APPLICATION OF DYNAMIC CARDIAC NUCLEAR IMAGING CLOSER TO CLINICAL UTILIZATION BY PROVING ITS QUANTITATIVE CAPABILITY TO BE DIAGNOSTICALLY MORE USEFUL THAN THE CURRENTLY PRACTICED STATIC IMAGING, AND THUS, WILL ADD MORE VALUE TO THE DIAGNOSIS OF CAD, SAVING LIVES AND COST. IN ADDITION TO DEVELOPING THE NEW IMAGE PROCESSING APPROACH. WE WILL WORK ON AUTOMATING THE DYNAMIC DATA ANALYSIS, AS CURRENTLY, THE NEED FOR MANUAL INTERVENTION IS A SIGNIFICANT SOURCE OF SUBJECTIVITY AND COST. THE PROJECT TEAM WILL INCLUDE EXPERIENCED MEDICAL PHYSICS RESEARCHERS AND DYNAMIC SPECT IMAGING PIONEERS AS CO-INVESTIGATORS, A MEDICAL IMAGING DATA ANALYST AS A PAID CONSULTANT, AND A NUCLEAR MEDICINE PHYSICIAN AND A NUCLEAR CARDIOLOGIST AS SUPPORTING PERSONNEL. THE PROJECT WILL INCLUDE A VITAL STUDENT TRAINING COMPONENT WITH COLLABORATION FROM THE UCSF. IF SUCCESSFUL, OUR APPROACH WILL BE APPLIED IN LARGER SCALE STUDIES FOR CLINICAL VALIDATION AT UCSF, USING ADDITIONAL IMAGING AGENTS FOR MYOCARDIAL PERFUSION IMAGING. THE RESULT OF OUR WORK WILL ENCOURAGE PATIENTS AND PHYSICIANS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF DYNAMIC CARDIAC NUCLEAR IMAGING, WHICH WILL ADD MORE VALUE TO THE DIAGNOSIS OF CAD, SAVING LIVES, AND REDUCING COST.

WBC - FLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, INC. (MELBOURNE)

USING ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT FOR IMPROVED ANTIFOULING PERFORMANCE ON SHIP HULLS & NICHE AREAS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH BELMONT FORUM: VULNERABILITY OF POPULATIONS UNDER EXTREME SCENARIOS

CAREER: EMPIRICAL DESIGN AND PRECIPITATION HARDENING PATHWAYS IN HIGH-TEMPERATURE HIGH-ENTROPY SHAPE MEMORY ALLOYS -NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY HIGH-ENTROPY ALLOYS (HEAS) ARE MULTI-ELEMENT, NEAR-EQUAL COMPOSITION ALLOYS PURSUED FOR PROPERTY COMBINATIONS NOT TYPICAL OF CONVENTIONAL ALLOYS. A SUBSET OF THESE ALLOYS UNDERGOES A SOLID-STATE PHASE TRANSFORMATION AND THEREFORE SHOWS ?SHAPE MEMORY? RESPONSE, WHICH IS A TERM USED TO INDICATE RECOVERY OF A PRESET SHAPE AFTER DEFORMATION. HIGH-ENTROPY SHAPE MEMORY ALLOYS (HE-SMAS) ARE OF PARTICULAR INTEREST AS THEY HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO OFFER GREATER STRENGTH AND DURABILITY THAN CURRENT SYSTEMS WHILE OPERATING AT HIGHER TEMPERATURES WHILE ALSO EXHIBITING THE SHAPE MEMORY RESPONSE UNDER SPECIFIC CONDITIONS. THIS PROJECT IS COMBINING MACHINE LEARNING, PRACTICAL DESIGN RULES, AND ITERATIVE LABORATORY TESTS TO IDENTIFY CANDIDATE HE-SMA COMPOSITIONS FOR HIGH-TEMPERATURE ENVIRONMENTS. THE RESULTING ALLOYS ARE BEING PROCESSED FURTHER TO TAILOR MICROSTRUCTURE AND FORM SPECIFIC MICROSTRUCTURAL PARTICLES THAT ENHANCE SHAPE MEMORY RESPONSE AND STABILITY. THIS STUDY IS ALSO EXAMINING HOW PARTICLE FORMATION AFFECTS THE HIGHLY SENSITIVE COMPOSITIONAL BALANCE IN THESE ALLOY SYSTEMS. THE BROADER IMPACTS OF THIS PROJECT INCLUDE: HANDS-ON TRAINING FOR GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN MODERN MICROSCOPY, MECHANICAL TESTING, AND DATA-DRIVEN MATERIALS DESIGN; NEW COURSE MODULES WHICH ARE BRINGING MACHINE LEARNING INTO SMART MATERIALS EDUCATION; AND OUTREACH TO HIGH SCHOOLS VIA CLASSROOM VISITS, LAB TOURS, AND SUMMER INTERNSHIPS THAT ARE ENGAGING THE NEXT GENERATION OF ENGINEERS. BY ADVANCING FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF STRUCTURE-PROPERTY RELATIONSHIPS AND INTEGRATING DATA SCIENCE INTO ALLOY DESIGN, THIS WORK IS PROMOTING THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE AND SUPPORTING THE NATIONAL INTEREST CONSISTENT WITH NSF'S MISSION. TECHNICAL SUMMARY THIS RESEARCH PROJECT IS DESIGNING HIGH-TEMPERATURE, HIGH-ENTROPY SHAPE MEMORY ALLOYS (HE-SMAS) BY USING NITI AS A BASE COMPOSITION AND SUBSTITUTING ELEMENTS ON THE NI AND TI SUBLATTICES. BECAUSE THE TRANSFORMATION TEMPERATURES AND THERMOMECHANICAL RESPONSES ARE HIGHLY SENSITIVE TO THE RATIO OF NI-LIKE TO TI-LIKE ELEMENTS, THE PROJECT IS DEVELOPING AN ALLOY DESIGN FRAMEWORK THAT IS COMBINING EMPIRICALLY DERIVED TRANSFORMATION RULES AND USING MACHINE LEARNING TO IDENTIFY NEAR-PSEUDO-EQUIATOMIC NICUTIHFZR COMPOSITIONS THAT BALANCE NI-LIKE (NI, CU) AND TI-LIKE (TI, HF, ZR) ELEMENTS WHILE EXHIBITING MARTENSITIC TRANSFORMATION AT ELEVATED TEMPERATURES. A CRITICAL, YET INSUFFICIENTLY UNDERSTOOD, FACTOR IN THESE SYSTEMS IS PRECIPITATION HARDENING, PARTICULARLY THE FORMATION OF NI-RICH INTERMETALLIC PHASES THAT CAN DISRUPT COMPOSITIONAL BALANCE AND ALTER TRANSFORMATION TEMPERATURES, TRANSFORMATION PATHWAYS, AND SHAPE RECOVERY PERFORMANCE. THIS STUDY IS EXAMINING PRECIPITATION THROUGH SYSTEMATIC AGING AND INVESTIGATION OF STRESS-ASSISTED VARIANT SELECTION AND PRECIPITATE ALIGNMENT IN HE-SMA COMPOSITIONS, WHERE LATTICE DISTORTION AND LOCAL CHEMICAL INHOMOGENEITY INFLUENCE MICROSTRUCTURAL EVOLUTION AND FUNCTIONAL RESPONSE. THERMOMECHANICAL TESTING IS BEING USED TO QUANTIFY TRANSFORMATION TEMPERATURES, HYSTERESIS, RECOVERABLE STRAIN, AND CYCLIC STABILITY, WHILE ELECTRON MICROSCOPY AND DIFFRACTION EXPERIMENTS ARE RESOLVING PRECIPITATE CHEMISTRY, SIZE, AND ORIENTATION RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN THE MATRIX. TECHNICALLY, THIS PROJECT IS DELIVERING QUANTITATIVE LINKAGES AMONG COMPOSITION, PRECIPITATION STATE, AND FUNCTIONAL PROPERTIES WHILE GENERATING DATA IN A CURRENTLY DATA-SCARCE COMPOSITIONAL REGIME. MOREOVER, THE RESEARCH PROJECT IS ACTIVELY DEVELOPING GUIDELINES FOR COMPOSITION SELECTION AND MICROSTRUCTURE CONTROL VIA TARGETED PRECIPITATION THEREBY ENABLING RELIABLE SHAPE RECOVERY AT ELEVATED TEMPERATURES. BY EXPANDING THE MATERIALS TOOLBOX FOR HIGH-TEMPERATURE ACTUATION AND RESILIENCE, THIS WORK IS PROMOTING THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE, WITH POTENTIAL BENEFITS FOR AEROSPACE, ENERGY, AND INDUSTRIAL SYSTEMS THAT MUST OPERATE RELIABLY AT HIGH TEMPERATURES. EDUCATIONALLY, THE BROADER IMPACTS OF THIS PROJECT INCLUDE: HANDS-ON TRAINING FOR GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN MODERN MICROSCOPY, MECHANICAL TESTING, AND DATA-DRIVEN MATERIALS DESIGN; NEW COURSE MODULES WHICH ARE BRINGING MACHINE LEARNING INTO SMART MATERIALS EDUCATION; AND OUTREACH TO HIGH SCHOOLS VIA CLASSROOM VISITS, LAB TOURS, AND SUMMER INTERNSHIPS THAT ARE ENGAGING THE NEXT GENERATION OF ENGINEERS. BY ADVANCING FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF STRUCTURE-PROPERTY RELATIONSHIPS AND INTEGRATING DATA SCIENCE INTO ALLOY DESIGN, THIS WORK IS PROMOTING THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE AND SUPPORTING THE NATIONAL INTEREST CONSISTENT WITH NSF'S MISSION. 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.

IDENTIFYING THE GENETIC DETERMINANTS OF INSECTICIDE RESPONSE VARIATION TO ADVANCE HUMAN RISK ASSESSMENT - PROJECT SUMMARY VECTOR-BORNE DISEASES SUCH AS MALARIA CAUSE APPROXIMATELY 700,000 DEATHS EACH YEAR. TO SUPPORT INSECT VECTOR CONTROL, PYRETHROID INSECTICIDES ARE WIDELY DEPLOYED. HOWEVER, THE RISE OF RESISTANCE HAS REDUCED THEIR EFFECTIVENESS, PROMPTING THE USE OF COMBINATION TREATMENTS THAT PAIR PYRETHROIDS WITH CHLORFENAPYR—AN INSECTICIDE WITH A DISTINCT MODE OF ACTION. EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT SPECIFIC PYRETHROID RESISTANCE ALLELES CAN MODULATE RESPONSES TO CHLORFENAPYR, POTENTIALLY DRIVING SYNERGISTIC EFFECTS WHEN THE TWO INSECTICIDES ARE COMBINED. THIS INTERACTION RAISES CONCERN THAT SIMILAR OR NOVEL GENE-BY-TREATMENT INTERACTIONS COULD ALSO INFLUENCE HUMAN RESPONSES, COMPLICATING CHEMICAL RISK ASSESSMENT FOR GENETICALLY DIVERSE HUMAN POPULATIONS. THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO INTEGRATE LOW-COST, HIGH-THROUGHPUT QUANTITATIVE GENETICS IN C. ELEGANS WITH HUMAN CELL CULTURE TO INVESTIGATE THE GENES AND MOLECULAR PATHWAYS THAT INFLUENCE RESPONSES TO INSECTICIDES ALONE AND IN COMBINATION. THE RATIONALE FOR THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS THAT IDENTIFYING THE CONSERVED GENES AND MOLECULAR PATHWAYS THAT HARBOR NATURAL VARIANTS INFLUENCING RESPONSES TO COMBINED INSECTICIDE EXPOSURE CAN HELP INFORM RISK ASSESSMENT FOR HUMANS. IN AIM 1, WE WILL MAP QUANTITATIVE TRAIT LOCI (QTL) THAT INFLUENCE RESPONSES TO CHLORFENAPYR AND FOUR PYRETHROIDS, BOTH INDIVIDUALLY AND IN COMBINATION, USING WILD STRAINS AND RECOMBINANT INBRED LINES OF C. ELEGANS. IN AIM 2, WE WILL IDENTIFY SPECIFIC GENES AND VARIANTS WITHIN QTL THAT CAUSE DIFFERENCES IN INSECTICIDE RESPONSES USING EXPERIMENTAL CROSSES AND CRISPR/CAS9 GENOME-EDITING. IN AIM 3, WE WILL PROFILE TRANSCRIPTOMIC RESPONSES TO INSECTICIDES IN C. ELEGANS STRAINS WITH CAUSAL EDITS AND IN HUMAN HEK293 AND HEPG2 CELLS TO IDENTIFY CONSERVED PATHWAYS ASSOCIATED WITH RESPONSES TO COMBINED INSECTICIDE EXPOSURE. THE INNOVATION OF THIS PROPOSAL STEMS FROM THE INTEGRATION OF HIGH-THROUGHPUT QUANTITATIVE GENETICS IN C. ELEGANS WITH CROSS-SPECIES COMPARATIVE TRANSCRIPTOMICS. THIS APPROACH HAS NEVER BEEN USED TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECTS OF NATURAL VARIATION ON COMBINED INSECTICIDE SUSCEPTIBILITY. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE IT WILL UNCOVER MOLECULAR MECHANISMS UNDERLYING NATURAL VARIATION IN SUSCEPTIBILITY TO COMBINED PYRETHROID AND CHLORFENAPYR EXPOSURES, AND IDENTIFY CANDIDATE GENES THAT MAY HARBOR SUSCEPTIBILITY ALLELES RELEVANT TO HUMAN POPULATIONS. IMPORTANTLY, THIS PROPOSAL ALIGNS WITH THE OBJECTIVES OF THE AREA R15 MECHANISM BY (1) INCREASING UNDERGRADUATE INVOLVEMENT IN TOXICOLOGY AND GENETICS RESEARCH, AND (2) STRENGTHENING THE RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE AT THE FLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY.

DEVELOPMENT OF LIGHT TRIGGERED MOLECULAR TOOLS CRITICAL FOR UNDERSTANDING THE BRAIN'S NETWORK - DEVELOPMENT OF LIGHT TRIGGERED MOLECULAR TOOLS CRITICAL FOR UNDERSTANDING THE BRAIN’S NETWORK PI: NASRI NESNAS, PHD PROJECT SUMMARY BRAIN DISORDERS, SUCH AS DEMENTIA, EPILEPSY, AND DEPRESSION, CONTINUE TO BE A MAJOR CHALLENGE IN MEDICINE. THIS IS NOT SURPRISING CONSIDERING THE ENORMOUS COMPLEXITY OF THE BRAIN’S NETWORK OF NEURONS. AN AVERAGE HUMAN BRAIN INCORPORATES NEARLY 86 BILLION NEURONS INTERTWINED WITH AS MANY AS 10,000 SYNAPTIC CONNECTIONS. SUCH COMPLEXITY IS FAR MORE COLOSSAL THAN ANY COMPUTER PROCESSOR OR EVEN THE ENTIRE WORLDS’ ROAD MAPS. THEREFORE, BRAIN-MAPPING EFFORTS HAVE BECOME OF APPARENT URGENCY TO ENABLE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THIS COMPLEX MAZE. MAKING SUBSTANTIAL ADVANCES IN THIS AREA CERTAINLY REQUIRES COLLABORATION OF MULTIPLE DISCIPLINES. LIGHT RESPONSIVE MOLECULAR TOOLS HAVE BECOME INDISPENSIBLE TO NEUROSCIENTISTS AS THEY PROVIDE MEANS TO MANIPULATE SPECIFIC NEURONAL CONNECTIONS WITH PRECISE TIMING. WE ESTABLISHED COLLABORATIONS WITH SEVERAL NEUROSCIENTISTS, INCLUDING ATTILA LOSONCZY OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY TO DESIGN AND USE THESE CRITICAL TOOLS. THEY ARE INVESTIGATING THE ROLE OF CALCIUM IONS IN LEARNING AND MEMORY. WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP MOLECULAR TOOLS THAT CAN PRECISELY MODULATE THE CONCENTRATION OF CALCIUM IONS USING PHOTO SWITCHABLE CHELATING SYSTEMS. PHOTOCLEAVABLE PROTECTING GROUPS, ALSO KNOWN AS CAGES, ENABLE THE RELEASE OF ACTIVE AGONISTS WITH LIGHT. THE PRINCIPAL ADVANTAGE OF THIS TECHNIQUE IS THE UNPARALLELED PRECISION OF ACTIVATION IN LOCATION AS WELL AS TIMING, OTHERWISE REFERRED TO AS SPATIO-TEMPORAL CONTROL. WE HAVE PREPARED SEVERAL OF THESE CAGES, AND WE AIM TO DESIGN MORE EFFICIENT ONES THAT CAN ALSO RESPOND IN VISIBLE AND NEAR IR WAVELENGTHS TO AVOID PHOTO TOXICITIES ASSOCIATED WITH UV LIGHT TRADITIONALLY USED. TAMOXIFEN HAS BEEN USED AS A LIGAND FOR INDUCING GENE EXPRESSION IN CRE-ER LOX SYSTEMS. WE PROPOSE TO PREPARE CAGED TAMOXIFEN TO ENABLE OUR COLLABORATOR TO USE PRECISE TEMPORAL CONTROL OF GENE EXPRESSION IN HIPPOCAMPAL CELLS. PREPARATION OF EFFECTIVE PHOTOACTIVE MOLECULAR TOOLS WILL DIRECTLY BENEFIT THE LARGER NEUROSCIENCE COMMUNITY IN STUDYING THE BRAIN WITH THE LEVEL OF DETAIL ESSENTIAL TO TREATING ELUSIVE BRAIN DISORDERS. I WILL CONTINUE TO ACTIVELY ENGAGE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN THESE ENDEAVORS, AND PARTICULARLY EMPHASIZE THE DIVERSITY OF EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL BACKGROUNDS OF THE MEMBERS IN MY RESEARCH LAB. I HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL AT MAINTAINING A LARGER PERCENTAGE OF FEMALE STUDENTS THAN OUR UNIVERSITY’S AVERAGE AND I WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO AS WELL AS ENCOURAGING MINORITY STUDENTS TO ENGAGE IN RESEARCH.

AN INVESTIGATION OF COSMIC RAY MODULATION AND ACCELERATION IN THE GLOBAL HELIOSPHERE\NTHE GOAL OF TH

DUAL ROLE OF HSP70 IN DIABETES-INDUCED VASCULAR DYSFUNCTION - DUAL ROLE OF HSP70 IN DIABETES-INDUCED VASCULAR DYSFUNCTION R15 – APPLICANT KENIA NUNES PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT VASCULAR DAMAGE, A SIGNIFICANT HEALTH PROBLEM, IS LINKED TO HYPERGLYCEMIA, A KEY COMPONENT OF BOTH TYPES OF DIABETES. THE RATIONALE FOR THIS STUDY IS THAT INCREASED GLUCOSE LEVELS CHRONOLOGICALLY ASSOCIATE WITH HIGHER LEVELS OF CIRCULATING HEAT-SHOCK PROTEIN 70 (HSP70), AN INTRIGUING MOLECULAR CHAPERONE THAT CO-EXISTS IN DIFFERENT CELL COMPARTMENTS AND EXERTS ANTAGONISTIC ACTIONS. THERE IS A WELL-KNOWN CROSSTALK BETWEEN HSP70 AND CA2+, BUT NOT IN SMOOTH MUSCLE. ONLY RECENTLY, MY LAB SHOWED THAT A FUNCTIONAL IHSP70 IS REQUIRED FOR ADEQUATE VASCULAR REACTIVITY UNDER PHYSIOLOGICAL CONDITIONS, AS IT IMPACTS CA2+ HANDLING MECHANISMS. IN DIABETES, THERE IS AN INCREASE IN THE LEVELS OF EHSP70, WHICH IS ASSOCIATED WITH OXIDATIVE STRESS AND LOW-GRADE INFLAMMATION. THUS, IT IS REASONABLE TO ARGUE THAT HSP70 COULD DETERMINE THE OUTCOME OF VASCULAR DAMAGE IN THIS DISEASE. STILL, IT IS UNKNOWN IF IHSP70 AFFECTS VASCULAR CA2+ SIGNALING UNDER HYPERGLYCEMIC CONDITIONS AND IF EHSP70 CONTRIBUTES TO VASCULAR FUNCTIONAL AND STRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS IN DIABETES. THE CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS OF THIS PROJECT, FORMULATED BASED ON THE LITERATURE AND MY ROBUST PRELIMINARY DATA, IS THAT HSP70 PLAYS A DUAL ROLE IN DIABETES-INDUCED VASCULAR DYSFUNCTION. THIS STUDY IS INNOVATIVE BECAUSE IT WILL INDEPENDENTLY INVESTIGATE THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN IHSP70 AND CA2+ HANDLING MECHANISMS LEADING TO FUNCTIONAL AND STRUCTURAL CHANGES UNDER HYPERGLYCEMIA AND BY SELECTIVELY TARGETING EHSP70 IN A MURINE MODEL OF TYPE 2 DIABETES TO PREVENT THESE CHANGES. I WILL COMBINE A SET OF WELL-ESTABLISHED IN VITRO, EX VIVO, AND IN VIVO APPROACHES, BY USING STATE-OF-ART TECHNIQUES SUCH AS ATOMIC FORCE MICROCOPY AND ULTRASONOGRAPHY (PULSE WAVE VELOCITY) TO ALLOW OBSERVATIONS AT MACRO, MICRO AND NANO SCALE. ALSO, SEX PLAYS A CRUCIAL ROLE IN DETERMINING THE TISSUE RATE OF PRODUCTION OF HSP70; THEREFORE, WE WILL USE MALE AND FEMALE ANIMALS. THE EXPERIMENTS OUTLINED IN THIS STUDY WILL ADDRESS EACH SPECIFIC AIM EFFICIENTLY BY UTILIZING THE STRENGTHS OF MY LABORATORY. MOREOVER, NETWORK BETWEEN BIOLOGY AND ENGINEERING WILL BE STABLISHED BY COLLABORATION WITH A SENIOR PROFESSOR IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING. THE PI HAS EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE IN THE FIELD AND WILL CLOSELY SUPERVISE THE STUDENTS. THE OUTCOME OF THIS RESEARCH HAS AN ENORMOUS POTENTIAL TO UNCOVER TARGET MECHANISMS TO MANAGE DIABETIC VASCULOPATHIES WHILE CREATING A MULTIDISCIPLINARY ENVIRONMENT OFFERING EXTENSIVE RESEARCH TRAINING TO UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS. OUR FINDINGS WILL HAVE A BROADER IMPACT BY OPENING NEW RESEARCH AVENUES FOR OTHER DISEASED STATES ASSOCIATED WITH VASCULAR STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL CHANGES.

**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** THIS PROJECTIS PROFORMEDBY FLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (FIT), OHIO UNIVERSITY (OHIO), AND UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO (UB). THE OVERARCHING GOAL IS TO DEVELOP BIOMASS-DERIVED BIOSORBENTS CAPABLE CONTROLLING AND PREVENTING EUTROPHICATION. THE GOAL WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED VIA A COMBINATION OF SYSTEMATIC EXPERIMENTS AT BATCH-SCALE TO CONTINUOUS COLUMN-SCALE, MACHINE LEARNING METHODS AND MOLECULAR SIMULATIONS.IN THIS PROJECT, BIOSORBENTS WILL BE SYNTHESIZED BY HYDROTHERMAL CARBONIZATION (HTC) AND THERMAL ACTIVATION OF MODEL COMPOUND (CELLULOSE) AND REAL BIOMASS (CORN STOVER). HTC CONDITIONS WILL BE VARIED TO MAXIMIZE THE CONCENTRATION OF FUNCTIONAL GROUPS ON BIOSORBENTS, AND THERMAL ACTIVATION WILL BE PERFORMED TO INCREASE THE OVERALL SURFACE AREA. ADSORPTION ISOTHERMS OF NUTRIENTS AND MICROCYSTIN WILL BE GENERATED FROM BATCH EXPERIMENTS, WHICH WILL BE MODELED USING MACHINE LEARNING METHODS TO ENABLE PREDICTION OF KINETICS OF BIOMASSES OF DIFFERENT COMPOSITIONS AND AT DIFFERENT HTC CONDITIONS.MOLECULAR SIMULATIONS WILL BE PERFORMED TO STUDY THE ADSORPTION OF NUTRIENTS AND MICROCYSTIN. MODEL BIOFILMS WILL BE FORMED AND CHARACTERIZED AND THEIR EFFECT ON ADSORPTION WILL BE STUDIED USING CONTINUOUS FLOW THROUGH EXPERIMENTS AND MECHANISTIC MODELING. ADDITIONALLY, WORK-LIFE OF THE BIOSORBENT WILL BE EVALUATED BY APPLYING THERMAL REGENERATION. FINALLY, A TECHNOECONOMIC ASSESSMENT (TEA) WILL BE PERFORMED TO DETERMINE THE ECONOMIC VIABILITY OF THE PROJECT.BY THE END OF THIS PROJECT, WE WILL HAVE BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF (A) HOW TO SYNTHESIZE BIOSORBENTS FOR NUTRIENT AND MICROCYSTIN ADSORPTION, (B) THE MECHANISMS UNDERLYING MICROCYSTIN BIOSORPTION, (C) THE EFFECTS OF NATURALLY OCCURRING BIOFILMS ON ADSORPTION BEHAVIOR IN A CONTINUOUS OPERATION, AND (D) THE PROCESS ECONOMICS INVOLVED IN BIOSORBENTS SYNTHESIS. BY DEVELOPING BIOSORBENTS FROM BIOMASS AND UTILIZING THEM TO PREVENT AND CONTROL EUTROPHICATION, THIS PROJECT ALIGNS WELL WITH THE SCOPE OF PROGRAM AREA A1531: BIOPROCESSING AND BIOENGINEERING.

WOMEN S BUSINESS OWNERSHIP ASSISTANCE (RENEWAL)

REGULATORY MECHANISMS LINKING HSF1 PROTEIN LEVELS AND HSF1 PROTEIN ACTIVITY TO THE ALTERNATIVE SPLICING FACTOR SF3B1

NEURAL NETWORKS FOR ORPHAN AFTERGLOW PARAMETER ESTIMATION OF RUBIN & ROMAN DATA

RUNAWAY DISCHARGES AND THEIR ROLES IN ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES

WOMEN'S BUSINESS OWNERSHIP ASSISTANCE - CARES ACT

WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORK (WSN) SYSTEM AND LIDAR EXPERIMENTS FOR THE CHARACTERIZATION OF STRONG WIND LOADS ON NON-STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS AND NEAR-SURFACE WIND PROFILES

EXPERIMENTAL HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS RESEARCH

EXPLORING THE LAND-SEA BREEZE CIRCULATION AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH MOIST STATIC ENERGY USING TWP ARM OBSERVATIONS

CAREER: THE PLASMOCHEMISTRY AND PHOTOCHEMISTRY OF THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE INDUCED BY TRANSIENT LUMINOUS EVENTS

INVESTIGATING THE TIMING AND CONSEQUENCES OF PLEISTOCENE MEGAFAUNAL POPULATION COLLAPSE IN THE NEOTROPICS

A MODULE OF PARTICLE ACCELERATION FOR THE CALCULATION OF ENA EMISSIONS: CRUCIAL CONTRIBUTION BY IBEX

A NOVEL, LOW-COST, MACHINE LEARNING BASED AND WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY FOR MONITORING HEART FAILURE PARAMETERS - HEART FAILURE (HF) IS A LEADING CAUSE OF MORTALITY, WITH A LOW FIVE-YEAR SURVIVAL RATE, OFTEN REQUIRING FREQUENT HOSPITALIZATIONS. REMOTE CARDIAC MONITORING HAS IMPROVED HF MANAGEMENT, YET A CRUCIAL GAP REMAINS IN MONITORING THE HEART'S PUMPING FUNCTION, SPECIFICALLY LEFT VENTRICULAR FUNCTION (LVF) PARAMETERS SUCH AS LEFT VENTRICULAR EJECTION FRACTION (LVEF), STROKE VOLUME (SV), AND CARDIAC OUTPUT (CO), WHICH ARE VITAL FOR UNDERSTANDING HF'S UNDERLYING PATHOPHYSIOLOGY. OUR LONG-TERM OBJECTIVE IS TO ADDRESS THIS GAP BY DEVELOPING A COST-EFFECTIVE, NON-INVASIVE, MACHINE LEARNING BASED AND WEARABLE SOLUTION FOR THE CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT OF LVF PARAMETERS. WE BASE OUR APPROACH ON THE MEASUREMENT OF 3D PRECORDIAL VIBRATIONS, WHICH CORRELATE WITH MYOCARDIAL MOVEMENTS. OUR CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS, WHICH WAS FORMULATED BASED ON PREVIOUS STUDIES AND PRELIMINARY DATA, IS THAT THE PRECORDIAL VIBRATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH CARDIAC MOVEMENTS CONTAIN FEATURES CLOSELY LINKED TO LV HEMODYNAMIC CHANGES. PRECISE EXTRACTION OF THESE FEATURES ALLOWS US TO MONITOR LVF PARAMETERS THROUGH A WEARABLE, LOW-COST APPROACH. THIS STRATEGY INVOLVES PLACING ACCELEROMETERS AND GYROSCOPES ON THE PRECORDIAL REGION TO ACHIEVE NON-INVASIVE AND COMPACT MONITORING. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED BY THREE SPECIFIC AIMS: AIM 1 FOCUSES ON FURTHER INVESTIGATING THE CORRELATIONS BETWEEN PRECORDIAL VIBRATIONS AND LVF MEASURES BY EMPLOYING CARDIAC IMAGE PROCESSING AND COMPUTATIONAL MODELING. THE GOAL IS TO IDENTIFY OPTIMAL SENSOR PLACEMENTS AND FEATURE EXTRACTION METHODS FOR PRECISE ESTIMATION OF LV FUNCTION PARAMETERS. AIM 2 INVOLVES EVALUATING THE FEASIBILITY OF USING PRECORDIAL VIBRATIONS TO ACCURATELY ESTIMATE LV FUNCTION MEASURES IN HUMAN SUBJECTS. TO ENSURE EFFECTIVE FEATURE EXTRACTION, WE WILL OPTIMIZE SENSOR PLACEMENTS AND FEATURE SELECTION AND EMPLOY CUTTING-EDGE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) TECHNIQUES TO ACCURATELY ESTIMATE LVF PARAMETERS. THIS AIM ALSO EXAMINES THE APPLICABILITY OF OUR METHOD IN PATIENTS WITH VARYING PRECORDIAL VIBRATIONS. AIM 3 IS DEDICATED TO IMPROVING OUR TECHNOLOGY TO MONITOR SUBTLE RESPIRATORY-RELATED CHANGES IN LVF, PARTICULARLY STROKE VOLUME VARIATION (SVV), BY CAPTURING RESPIRATORY-RELATED FEATURE CHANGES IN PRECORDIAL VIBRATIONS, WHICH IS CRUCIAL FOR ASSESSING FLUID RESPONSIVENESS IN PATIENTS. THIS INNOVATIVE APPROACH, WHICH COMBINES IMAGE PROCESSING, PATIENT DATA-DRIVEN COMPUTATIONAL MODELING, AND MACHINE LEARNING WITH WEARABLE SENSING FOR THE FIRST TIME, HAS THE POTENTIAL TO ENHANCE THE LIVES OF HEART FAILURE PATIENTS BY REDUCING HEALTHCARE COSTS AND IMPROVING THEIR PROGNOSIS AND QUALITY OF LIFE. THIS CONTRIBUTION WILL BE SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE OF ITS ABILITY TO ENABLE CONTINUOUS MONITORING OF LV FUNCTION PARAMETERS FROM A REMOTE SETTING. MOREOVER, THIS PROPOSAL AIMS TO SUBSTANTIALLY BROADEN STUDENT ENGAGEMENT WITH BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH AT THE FLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, WHILE ENHANCING THE UNIVERSITY'S RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE, RENDERING IT AN IDEAL CANDIDATE FOR AN R15 AREA GRANT.

REVERSIBLE METASTABLE-STATE PHOTOACIDS

CAREER: MICRO AND NANO METHODS TO REVEAL CELL SENSITIVITIES TO LOCAL STIFFNESS

ACTIVATION OF SMALL MOLECULES AND C-H AND C-F BONDS USING LOW-COORDINATE CATIONIC GROUP 13 COMPOUNDS

ASSESSING THE EFFECTS OF HUMAN ACTIVITY ON THE COMPOSITION OF TROPICAL FORESTS -THIS PROJECT EXAMINES HUMAN IMPACTS ON RAIN FOREST ECOSYSTEMS. NOTED FOR THEIR BIODIVERSITY, THE BOTANICAL COMPOSITION OF RAIN FORESTS HAS POTENTIALLY BEEN SHAPED DURING EXTENDED PERIODS OF HUMAN OCCUPATION BY THE PLANTING, CUTTING, AND BURNING OF PLANTS. AN ALTERNATIVE POSSIBILITY IS THAT HUMAN ACTIVITY AFFECTS THE COMPOSITION OF RAIN FORESTS ON SHORTER TIME SCALES, INCLUDING RECENT PERIODS OF INTENSIVE EXPLOITATION OF FORESTS FOR RUBBER AND OTHER PRODUCTS. THIS STUDY EXAMINES THESE ALTERNATIVES THOUGH A COMBINATION OF RESEARCH METHODS THAT INCLUDES THE ANALYSIS OF SEDIMENT CORES FROM TROPICAL LAKES, DOCUMENTATION OF VEGETATION IN FORESTED LOCATIONS, AND SURVEYS OF LOCAL RESIDENTS TO DETERMINE VARIATION IN THE USES OF LOCAL PLANTS. THIS COMBINATION OF METHODS FACILITATES ANALYSIS OF CHANGE IN FOREST COMPOSITION OVER TIME, ALLOWING THE RESEARCHERS TO INFER WHEN CHANGES OCCURRED AND THE EXTENT TO WHICH HUMAN ACTIVITY RESULTED IN CURRENT PATTERNS. THE RESEARCHERS ALSO COLLABORATE WITH LOCAL ECOTOURISM ORGANIZATIONS TO PROMOTE GREATER AWARENESS OF HUMAN IMPACTS ON FORESTED ENVIRONMENTS. THE PROJECT ALSO CONTRIBUTES TO THE MENTORSHIP AND TRAINING OF MULTIPLE STUDENTS IN ECOLOGICAL FIELD METHODS AND DATA ANALYSIS. THE EXTENT TO WHICH HUMAN ACTIVITY HAS MODIFIED TROPICAL RAIN FORESTS HAS BEEN A LONGSTANDING QUESTION AMONG GEOGRAPHERS. TO MAKE INFERENCES ABOUT HUMAN IMPACTS ON FORESTS, THE RESEARCHERS EXAMINE LAKE SEDIMENTS, WHICH ACCUMULATE OVER THOUSANDS OF YEARS. THE ANALYSIS OF POLLENS AND PLANT PARTS THAT HAVE FOSSILIZED IN THESE SEDIMENTS PROVIDES INSIGHTS INTO FLUCTUATIONS IN BOTANICAL DIVERSITY OVER TIME. THE RESEARCHERS COMBINE THESE FINDINGS WITH DATA ON LOCAL ETHNOBIOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE, WHICH PERMITS RETROSPECTIVE INSIGHTS INTO THE WAYS THAT PAST HUMAN INHABITANTS MAY HAVE CURATED THE FOREST IN BENEFICIAL WAYS. THE HISTORICAL TRAJECTORY OF TROPICAL FORESTS IS RELEVANT TO CLIMATE PROJECTIONS GIVEN EVIDENCE THAT NEWER FORESTS ABSORB ATMOSPHERIC CARBON AT RELATIVELY GREATER RATES. ASCERTAINING THE EXTENT TO WHICH FORESTS HAVE BEEN MODIFIED ON DIFFERENT TIMESCALES ALSO PROVIDES INSIGHTS INTO THE RESILIENCE OF FORESTS TO HUMAN ACTIVITY, INCLUDING PRESENT IMPACTS ON THE ECOSYSTEMS. THE PROJECT ALSO CONTRIBUTES TO CONSERVATION IN TROPICAL SETTINGS VIA PARTNERSHIPS WITH ECOTOURISM ORGANIZATIONS THAT SUPPORT CONSERVATION EFFORTS. THE TRAINING OF GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS CONTRIBUTES TO THE GOALS OF BROADENING PARTICIPATION IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. 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 HIGH PERFORMANCE GPU/CPU CLUSTER FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING