James Davis - US grants

The objective of this proposal is to carry out a comprehensive research program focussed on the study of the cerebrovascular disease and its sequelae. The projects inlcude a correlative clinical and radiological study of patients at risk for stroke, a pharmacokinetic study of antiplatelet drugs, a study of capillary proliferation in ischemic brain, a study of dopamine receptors, and a study of catecholamine release from adrenal medullary cells. There are several projects studying neuronal plasticity in the hippocampus, one of noradrenergic neurons, one of adrenergic and cholinergic receptors, one correlating recovery of spatial behavior after septal lesions, one studying the sequelae of kainic acid injection and one studying the role of enhaphalins and other neurotransmitters in the development of seizures after brain injury. A final group of projects focusses on neuronal function of the senory cortex after injury to primary afferent pathways, on cell-cell interactions, and on the membrane biochemistry of cultured neurons. The projects reflect a number of experimental approaches to understanding stroke and continues to emphasize understanding the biological basis of recovery of function after stroke.

Abstract Since l972, the General Social Survey (GSS) has provided yearly data on a representative sample of American's attitudes, behaviors, and socio-demographic characteristics. (The sole exceptions, due to budgetary constraints, were in l979 and l981.) These surveys provide data sets that are very widely used by social scientists, especially to examine recent trends in American society. Because the core of the GSS is a set of questions that is identically repeated each year, the survey provides a uniquely valuable source of trend data for the research community. The value of the GSS is also enhanced by the speed with which it is distributed to the research community. Each year's survey is pretested in the Winter, conducted in the Spring, and made available to universities around the country in the Fall. Thus, the data are available during the year in which the survey was conducted. In addition, its complete documentation and easy access have made the GSS very widely used in the training of young scientists. In addition to a core of replicated items, each year's GSS includes a unique module which either repeats portions of a classic study conducted 20 to 30 years previously and/or a module which addresses a topic of special interest to the research community. Recently included topics include batteries of questions pertaining to respondents' socio-political participation and their attitudes toward poverty. Current plans tentatively call for future modules on religion and family. The analyses of these special topics is greatly facilitated by the inclusion of the core items because they provide a wide range of attitudinal, behavioral and demographic variables to be related to the items in the module. Each year's GSS also includes a module that is developed by an international board of scientists. This international collaboration began in l980, and involved the principal investigators of the GSS and several social scientists from (ZUMA) in West Germany. They met to work on the design of a West German survey to be modeled after the GSS, and they agreed to include common modules on such topics as family life and job values in their respective countries' surveys. British and Australian scientists were next to join the international research group, and scientists from five other European nations are expected to join in the next few years. These collaborative activities are building a data set that will greatly promote systematic cross-national research on topics of mutual interest to social scientists of different nationalities. This award is for the first year of a five year cycle of the General Social Survey, to be conducted between l988 and l992.

The proposed work is a novel approach to designing automated control mechanisms that use not only plant sensors but also product quality to activate and adjust these control mechanisms. The overall objective is to develop an expert system framework based on the integration of computational strategies for these two tasks. The system will finally be tested on real industrial chemical process installations. Technological improvements and enhanced data collection methods have made chemical plants more operationally complex and have provided a large amount of information for a plant operator to interpret. Potential benefits exist in increasing the role of process control computers to aid the operator in diagnosing equipment failures, instrumentation problems and process abnormalities. Knowledge-based approaches can capture an important layer of human problem solving which is present in the operation of chemical plants. An expert system can potentially make available, at all times, a known level of knowledge and decision-making ability concerning the operation of the plant and therefore, can function as an intelligent consultant to the operator. The PIs plan to build upon previous experience in other areas (medicine and nuclear power plants) to develop a knowledge- based operator assist system that mirrors the human expert's approach to the problem. This includes modelling uncertainty, i.e. processing qualitative knowledge as well as quantitative algorithm development.

The objective of this proposal is to carry out a comprehensive research program focussed on the study of the cerebrovascular disease and its sequelae. The projects inlcude a correlative clinical and radiological study of patients at risk for stroke, a pharmacokinetic study of antiplatelet drugs, a study of capillary proliferation in ischemic brain, a study of dopamine receptors, and a study of catecholamine release from adrenal medullary cells. There are several projects studying neuronal plasticity in the hippocampus, one of noradrenergic neurons, one of adrenergic and cholinergic receptors, one correlating recovery of spatial behavior after septal lesions, one studying the sequelae of kainic acid injection and one studying the role of enhaphalins and other neurotransmitters in the development of seizures after brain injury. A final group of projects focusses on neuronal function of the senory cortex after injury to primary afferent pathways, on cell-cell interactions, and on the membrane biochemistry of cultured neurons. The projects reflect a number of experimental approaches to understanding stroke and continues to emphasize understanding the biological basis of recovery of function after stroke.

This project will make available recent developments in quantitative research on American society to undergraduate teachers. These developments are based in the creation of large data sets on American society, in the application of powerful statistical techniques to contingency table analysis, and in programming these techniques for micro-computers. In addition, instructional materials have been developed in the last few years which facilitate the undergraduate teachers' task of conveying this knowledge to undergraduates. The convergence of these developments will be the focus of an interdisciplinary program for enhancing undergraduate faculty skills. In each of three years, twenty faculty who teach primarily undergraduates in sociology, political science and American history will participate in an intensive, seven-day introductory workshop at Harvard University. The Workshop will be led by James A. Davis, who created the General Society Survey, contributed to the Development of contingency table analysis and development of contingency table analysis and developed the micro-computer programs which make these data and statistical techniques accessible to undergraduates. Participating faculty will cover the major substantive findings from the GSS and the National Election Study (NES), statistical techniques and computer programs which make these findings accessible at the undergraduate level, and also work with student exercises and data sets created by the staff of the workshop; that explore these recent developments on microcomputers. Following the initial Workshop, faculty participants will prepare their own instructional materials adapting these new developments to their individual teaching situations. Workshop participants will return within a year for a shorter Demonstration Workshop in which they discuss the instructional innovations they have made with other graduates of their workshop and up-date their knowledge about data and appropriate computer programs. Over the three years, it is expected that the Programs will have a significant impact on undergraduate teaching about American Society at the institutions represented. In addition to the NSF funds, participants' institutions will contribute about 10% in travel costs to the operation of the project.

This project involves the use of surgery theory to study symmetries of manifolds, with emphasis on finite groups of symmetries of the sphere. The project includes three parts. The first part is the interaction of the fundamental group and the homology of a manifold. The goal is to have a good understanding of the topology of a manifold with finite fundamental group, concentrating on the cases where the universal cover is particularly simple. The methods are surgery theory, representation theory, and quadratic forms. A second part of the project is the study of group actions on spheres. For example there are well-known actions on 3- dimensional algebraic varieties, and the connection of these actions with high dimensional surgery theory could lead to an interesting synthesis. The third part of the project is algebraic considerations in L-theory and Galois cohomology. The interaction between algebra and topology has been quite fruitful in the past.

This award will support collaborative research between Dr. James Davis of the U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California and Dr. T. David Waite of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization, Menai, New South Wales, Australia. The researchers will use laboratory and field approaches to investigate the principal processes governing the transport of solutes that undergo significant chemical reactions in the groundwater environment. Primary objectives of the research include a better understanding of 1) the rates of sorption processes and their inclusion in coupled transport models, and 2) the importance of complexation and oxidation-reduction reactions in the transport of solutes. Both Drs. Davis and Waite are qualified aquatic chemists. This research has the potential of making significant contributions in the area of assessing risks which arise from industrial, nuclear and municipal pollution of groundwater aquifers.

Support is requested in this application for the seventeenth Princeton Conference on Cerebrovascular Diseases. The conference will be held from March 16 to March 18, 1990 at the Washington Duke Inn on the campus of Duke University. The goal of the conference is to provide a forum for the presentation and discussion of excellent, "state-of-the-art" scientific work in cerebrovascular disease with the greatest promise of significant impact on future research. To accomplish this goal, the conference will be limited to about 100 participants chosen from among the leaders in the field and from scientists submitting abstracts of current work a few months before the conference begins. The conference format continues a tradition begun in 1982 which has proved very successful. The Princeton conferences are prestigious, productive, and unique in the field of cerebrovascular diseases. The resulting publications have led to wide dissemination of the information and discussion from the meeting. This seventeenth conference will be published as a supplement to the journal, stroke. The supplement will be a definitive statement of present knowledge and future directions in cerebrovascular disease. It should lead directly to improvements in the care of patients with stroke.

The Interactive Calculus Laboratory consists of a network of NeXT workstations running Mathematica. Students are learning calculus by experimenting symbolically and graphically with fundamental concepts, concentrating less on routine calculations, and thinking more about underlying principles and graphical realizations. The NeXT workstations facilitate the use of Mathematica by their simple user interface, their l5- MIPS speed, their high resolution screens, their ancillary software', and their networking features.

An experiment which uses the methodology gained from VLBI to try to improve determinations of the vertical from GPS will conducted. The experiment involves establishing a network of homogeneous GPS sites, with each GPS receiver being located at one of the VLBI sites participating in the low-elevation-angle VLBI "R&D" experiments. These experiments, and their predecessors, have been extremely useful in developing methods for improving the accuracy of vertical estimates from VLBI. By analyzing and comparing estimates obtained from both the GPS and the VLBI data sets, methods for obtaining the most accurate determinations of the vertical from GPS will be developed.

Transient forebrain ischemia occurs whenever blood flow to the brain stops for a period of time and then is restarted. In patients, transient forebrain ischemia occurs with cardiac arrest, drowning, or anesthetic accidents followed by successful resuscitation. Transient forebrain ischemia is associated with delayed and selective neuronal death in the CA/1 region of the hippocampus. While other brain regions may also show evidence of damage, the CA/1 regions seems particularly susceptible to transient ischemia. We have studied the regulation of CA/1 pyramidal cell death by glucocorticoids. We found that adrenalectomy even as late as 24 hours after a brief episode of ischemia results in significant protection of CA/1 neurons. Our preliminary data suggests that there is a post- ischemic surge in glucocorticoids which substantially contributes to the amount of CA/1 pyramidal cell death. The objectives of this proposal are the logical progression of these preliminary experiments. We will test the hypothesis that glucocorticoids affect the rate of CA/1 death rather than the absolute amount of damage by carefully examining the time course of CA/1 damage after various interventions which will either increase or decrease circulating glucocorticoid levels. We will then test the hypothesis that the glucocorticoid effects are independent of changes in brain temperature. Finally we will examine the hypothesis that ischemic cell death represents a form of programmed cell death. We will look for DNA fragmentation in the CA/1 pyramidal layer and examine the time course of glucocorticoid receptor translocation after transient ischemia. We will study the effect of protein synthesis inhibition on CA/1 damage. In these experiments, we will pay special attention to the timing of fragmentation, receptor translocation and the effects of protein synthesis inhibition. We will determine the effect of changes in brain temperature and plasma glucocorticoids on this timing. These experiments will extend our observations on the role of glucocorticoids in ischemic cell damage and should provide useful insights into the molecular basis of ischemic cell death. Ischemic cell death in CA/1 appears to be an important consequence of cardiac arrest in humans and may prove a useful model for studying the penumbra around focal cerebral infarction. Thus the experiments proposed here should provide a rationale for pharmacological interventions that might be used in combination with other agents to prevent brain damage in patient with cardiac arrest and stroke.

How much and what kinds of inequality should a society have? This is one of the most basic questions for comparative social stratification research. This project will collect data on social inequality from respondents to the 1991 General Social Survey (the major data collection supported in the field of sociology) as part of the International Social Science Program, a continuing annual program of cross-national collaboration . The 1992 social inequality module replicates and extends the 1987 social inequality module which was fielded in 10 countries. In 1992, data collection is expected in 20 countries. These data will form the basis of cross-national comparisons, cross-time comparisons, and intra- individual comparisons. The social inequality module measures beliefs and perceptions regarding social inequality in general and income differences in particular. It examines 1) factors people believe influence social mobility, such as parental background, education, personal qualities, and fixed personal attributes; 2) reasons for social inequality, such as a reward for occupations with greater responsibility or requiring more education, elite domination, and exploitation; 3) beliefs as to what people earn in selected occupations and what they should earn; 4) support for government measures to provide for social welfare and promote income levelling; 5) the degree of social conflict between classes and economic groups; 6) inter-generational changes in occupation, education, and standard of living; 7) what factors should determine wage differentials; and 8) whether a respondent would personally benefit from a measure to equalize income. The project will contribute high-quality data that will create an unprecedented opportunity in the study of social stratification for linking knowledge of employment contexts, asked as a part of the 1991 General Social Survey, with information about inequality. The data collection will also make a contribution in the context of the growing internationalization of sociological research.

The General Social Survey (GSS) and its allied surveys in the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) gather data on contemporary American society in order to monitor and explain trends and constants in attitudes, behaviors, and attributes and examine the structure and functioning of society in general as well as the role played by relevant sub-groups. These data are also used to compare the United States to other societies in order to place American society in comparative perspective and develop cross-national models of human society. Since 1982 the GSS has conducted 19 independent cross-section surveys of the adult household population of the United States and in 1982 and 1987 carried out oversamples of black Americans. By collaborating with distinguished social science institutions around the world, the GSS obtains comparable cross-national data that greatly enhance its scientific value at virtually no additional cost. ISSP currently has 18 participating nations. Each year 2,000 respondents from the United States are interviewed and about 20,000 respondents from other countries. The GSS has aptly been described as a "national resource" because it makes high quality data easily accessible to hundreds of social scientists who use the data annually for research papers and thousands who use the GSS in classrooms. The GSS is second only to the Census/CPS in its use among sociologists. This grant renews support for the GSS for five separate in-person cross-sections each with 1,500 cases using a biennial, split sample design in order to substantially reduce costs and still maintain the same scope of the GSS. In 1993 there will be a GSS with 1,500 cases, a core of 60 minutes, a 15 minute standard topical module on culture, and a 15 minute ISSP module on the environment. In 1994 two major innovations are introduced. First, the traditional core is substantially reduced to allow for the creation of mini-modules, i.e., a block of about 15 minutes devoted to some combination of small to medium size supplements. Second, the 3,000 case sample will consist of two parallel sub-samples of 1,500 cases each. The two-subsamples will both contain the identical core. The A sample will in addition contain a standard topical module, mini-modules, and an ISSP module on women, work and the family. The B sample will have a second topical module, mini-modules, and an ISSP module on the environment. The Board and PIs will extensively solicit proposals for the topical and mini-modules from the social science community. In 1996 the same design described in 1994 will be repeated. The GSS will play an extremely important role in providing data for social scientists to study the human dimensions of global environmental change. Information on the attitude of respondents to the environment in the United States and at least the 19 other countries now participating in ISSP will be collected in 1993 and 1994. A group of additional environmental items of interest to the European Community are to be developed by EC members of ISSP to supplement the ISSP environmental module. Starting in 1994 additional environmental items will be added to the core. These will be chosen from the ISSP module, the EC supplement and the extant literature.

9309405 Davis This research concerns the effectiveness of decision making by small groups such as committees and panels. Enhancing the productivity of groups often involves encouraging consensus, promoting discussion, publicizing member views, etc. The validity and efficiency of such measures have rarely been studied and unanticipated side-effects and not been considered. The empirical research in this project involves an orderly assessment of the influence of various procedural mechanisms and how they effect the final outcomes or decisions of the group. The decisions at issue will be ordinary judgments similar to those expected of citizens serving on a civil jury or schoolboard. Although the experimental results should assist in achieving of long-term goal of improving group efficiency and accuracy, a more basic research issue is how and why the various procedural mechanisms work as they do. A formal model is being developed to predict group consensus on quantitative judgments. The data from the experiments will be used to test the model and guide its further development. The model should provide additional insight into group decision processes and its enhancement. ***

This one-year award supports U.S.-Sweden-Norway cooperative research between James Davis of the Smithsonian's Astrophysics Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Bernt O. Ronnang of the Onsala Space Observatory, Chalmers University of Technology, Onsala, Sweden. The objective of the research is to take measurements of three-dimensional crustal motion at locations in Sweden and Norway (Fennoscandia). The estimates of crustal velocity will be used to determine viscosity of the Earth's mantle beneath Fennoscandia and to correct estimates of sea-level change associated with local vertical crustal motion. Knowledge of the mantle's viscosity is required for understanding mantle convection, the driving force of plate tectonic motion. The estimates of sea-level change for crustal motion is required for determining global sea-level change, an important gauge of global warming. Satellite surveying techniques are to be employed for estimating crustal velocity. The project takes advantage of complementary expertise of the U.S. and Swedish research groups and Swedish coordination with the Nordic Council funding agencies. The U.S. investigators have extensive experience in the processing of space geodetic data and using this data to estimate geophysical parameters. This is complemented by the Swedish group's knowledge of the region. They will plan the surveys, the site reconnaissance and coordinate the effort with the Nordic Council.

9318653 Davis This is the American portion of an international project to administer identical surveys in a number of nations, focusing on attitudes toward environmentalism and on women, work and the family. The International Social Survey Project (ISSP) will be carried out in the United States and twenty other countries: Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, and Sweden. In each nation, questionnaire interviews will be administered to scientifically drawn samples of the population, employing items selected by an international committee of experts. The module on women, work and the family will chart changing gender roles, challenges facing the family, the correlates of declining birth rates, and changes in women's labor force participation. The environment module measures attitudes and behaviors related to preservation of the ecology. %%% The data collected in the United States by these two survey modules will be enhanced by the fact that they will be connected to the General Social Survey (GSS), a major data base project supported by the National Science Foundation. In the past, more than two thousand five hundred scientific reports have been based on the GSS, and many researchers in several fields will use the ISSP data. Not only will the United States benefit from the scientific findings of the ISSP concerning significant policy issues, but the ISSP will enhance scientific cooperation with twenty other nations. ***

Technical abstract: The problems to be investigated include a study of dc Josephson junctions in superfluid helium 3 and their use in the development of the superfluid macroscopic quantum gyroscope, and a study of two dimensional superfluid helium three, including a search for third sound. A millikelvin scanning tunneling probe microscope will be built for study of quantization in nanostructures, atomic manipulation, and wavefunction characterization. Low temperature helium four atomic beam technology will be developed for atomic interference experiments. Non-technical abstract: Ultra-low temperature phenomena provide a variety of unusual opportunities for the development of extremely sensitive detectors of various physical phenomena. It is planned to study several such phenomena using very cold liquids such a helium three and helium four. One device called the "superfluid macroscopic quantum gyroscope" has the potential sensitivity to measure with extremely high precision the Earth's rotation pertaining to geophysics. and climate change. In another study a scanning tunneling microscope will be developed which can operate at ultra-low temperatures close to absolute zero. Such an apparatus would find use in the investigation of many novel phenomena in very small semiconductor structures.

This is a collaborative proposal with Dr. Julie Irwin of New York University (SBR 9510914). The PIs propose to test a new model (the social judgment scheme model) of group decision making. This model pertains to decisions concerning continuous variables such as money or other quantities. In the experiments to be performed by the PIs, the issues to be decided will include decisions about public hazards that inspire the feeling of dread. The PIs will manipulate a number of procedural aspects of mock panels or committees in order to ascertain the influence of these factors. Such factors will include the group decision rule (e.g., unanimity or majority), group size, accountability of the group to other constituencies, and framing.

This research is the American part of an ongoing project in 22 countries to collect comparable survey data on key social issues and processes. In the present study, a national sample of adult respondents will be asked their feelings about issues related to natiolal identity and their views of the role of government. Data on national identity will identify some of the subnational and supranational pressures that threaten the viability of states and test hypotheses about factors leading to order and stability. Data on the role of government will provide continuity with earlier studies and will allow the tracking of changes in the attitudes of citizens toward government. %%% Participation in the International Social Survey Program represents an important part of the leadership role that the United States plays in international social science. This research ensures the continuing availability of high quality cross-national data otherwise inaccessible to individual researchers. The data also make an important contribution to teaching by providing graduate students with materials for theses and undergraduates with experience in analyzing data.

CTS-9423965 G. Stephanopoulos CACHE Corporation ABSTRACT This project is to support travel for eight new faculty and eight graduate students to attend a conference entitled "Intelligent Systems in Process Engineering" to be held in Snowmass Colorado. This is an international conference which has individual as well as institutional representation from both Europe and the Far East. There is also a balance between industry and academia. The conference has nine identified themes, all of which impact on the usefulness of processing systems. The topics include: knowledge-based product and process design, knowledge and CAD in engineering Design and intelligent control as well as topics relating to industrial applications.

CDA 9529529 Jacobson, Douglas W. Davis, James A. Iowa State University Computer System Security Laboratory A research laboratory in computer system security is supported by this grant. The projects targeted for the laboratory collectively address the problems of denial of service and intrusion detection, two problems of increasing importance as the nation becomes dependent on the computer communication infrastructure. Research has identified several methods of attacks that can render a network unusable. Hardware obtained from this grant will facilitate the establishment of a laboratory with an isolated subnet, a network logic analyzer, and several UNIX-based workstations and personal computers. In this environment, the researchers have full control of all components so that network traffic can be closely monitored, and denial of service experiments can be safely and fully explored. The end goal of the collection of projects outlined in the proposal is to develop an insight into potential countermeasures for intrusion and denial of service attacks.

9526885 Davis The PIs propose to constrain mantle viscosity and ice history from data obtained from project BIFROST (Baseline Inferences of Fennoscandian Rebound Observations, Sea Level and Tectonics). GPS measurements from several permanent networks will be used to determine the three dimensional site velocity to constrain models for mantle viscosity and ice history. Inverse modeling methods will be used to map out allowed combinations of ice and earth models. ***

9727055 Davis The objective of this investigation is to make Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements of 3-dimensional crustal deformation in the northeastern U.S., combined with absolute gravity and tide gauge measurements, to infer the viscosity of the lower mantle and thus improve current models of glacial isostatic adjustment. This will allow the PIs to determine the relative roles of crustal motion and sea level rise in this region, and also develop an improved estimate of global mean sea level rise from the global tide gauge data set. They will install 6 new permanent GPS sites along the northeastern coast of the U.S., which will supplement the current sites in the Continuously Operating Reference System (CORS), which will also be evaluated for use in this investigation. A related objective of the investigation is to develop improved methods of GPS vertical positioning, including modeling vertical motions associated with pressure loading, tidal loading, etc. The PIs anticipate this investigation will result in an improved understanding of sea level change in the northeastern U.S., an improved model of glacial isostatic adjustment, and an improved estimate of global sea level change through the application of this model to the global tide gauge data. ***

9708251 Davis The Global Positioning System (GPS) is used by earth scientists for accurately recording strain in the Earth's crust in a wide range of applications that include the study of plate motions, intraplate deformation, pre-, syn- and post-seismic fault motions, pre-eruption volcanic activity, glacier flow, and sea level monitoring. In such applications, the positioning precision required is very demanding, usually on the order of a centimeter or less in the horizontal and vertical dimensions. The GPS receiver and antenna system is one of significant sources of error which, if better understood and corrected, could lead to significant improvement. This award provides funding for a team of experts at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, MIT, and the University NAVSTAR Consortium to develop algorithms to extract multipath effects from observed GPS signal-to-noise ratios, numerically model GPS antenna characteristics, and develop an on-site Multipath Calibration System for the purpose of reducing GPS errors below the centimeter level. ***

The General Social Survey (GSS) is a national data program for the social sciences that charts social indicators and provides scientific data for analysis by literally thousands of students and researchers. Since 1972 the GSS has conducted 19 independent cross-sectional surveys of the adult household population of the United States. In 1994 and 1996, the GSS employed a scientifically ambitious and cost-effective biennial double-sample design that essentially administered two surveys simultaneously in alternate years. This design will be continued under the present grant, with pairs of surveys in 1998 and 2000. The General Social Survey has three fundamental aims. First, it gathers and disseminates data on contemporary American Society. These data allow social scientists to monitor and explain trends and constants in attitudes, behaviors, and social attributes of individuals and families. They also permit scientists to examine the structure and functioning of society in general as well as the roles played by various sub-groups. Second, because other nations have emulated the GSS in their own surveys, the GSS permits social scientists to contrast the United States with other societies in order to place American society in comparative perspective and develop cross-national models of human society. Third, the GSS makes high quality data easily accessible to scholars, students, policy makers, and others with minimal cost and waiting. The GSS is divided into six components: 1) the replicating core of items, 2) topical modules, 3) cross-national modules, 4) mini-modules and supplements, 5) experiments in survey methodology, and 6) reinterviews and follow-up studies. The GSS is open to submissions of items from any of the social sciences, and a Board of Overseers, composed of expert survey methodologists and survey researchers, works with the principal investigators to select the most scientifically valuable items and modules for inclusion in each interview schedule. The General Social Su rvey is a primary source of data for many branches of social science, second only to the US census in frequency of use by sociologists. More than 3,000 publications and scientific reports have been based on the GSS, and articles employing the GSS continue to be published in central social-science journals at a rapid rate. Directly or indirectly, policy-makers rely upon the GSS as an unbiased source of information about the changing nature of American society. The present grant will continue this important scientific tradition into the twenty-first century. 23

9803713
Davis
The principal investigators, James F. Davis and Kent E. Orr, are
pursuing several problems in low and high dimensional geometric
topology and exploring connections between combinatorics and
topology. The problems in geometric topology include: cases of the
Borel/Novikov conjecture and applications of the conjecture to
manifolds with infinite fundamental group; the classical topological
knot slice problem, including geometrically interpreting old and newly
constructed knot slicing obstructions via Whitney tower constructions;
the problem of slicing knots in even dimensions and the underlying
homotopy obstructions; and better understanding the fundamental
problem of classifying topological four-manifolds within a homology
type. This project also is constructing the foundations of the theory
of oriented matroid bundles and their characteristic classes. This
requires deep interactions between two fields, topology and
combinatorics and will be a step towards the understanding of a new
category of manifolds, the combinatorial differential manifolds of
Gelfand-MacPherson.
All problems in geometric topology have their roots in the
understanding of manifolds. An n-dimensional manifold is a set of
points which is locally modeled on an n-dimensional linear space. For
instance, a surface is a locally 2-dimensional linear space.
Space-time is locally 4-dimensional, but its global properties are
harder to grasp. The principal problem of geometric topology is the
classification of manifolds. Two manifolds are the same if there is a
continuous function with a continuous inverse between the manifolds.
This formalizes the notion of rubber sheet topology often discussed in
popular science magazines. Another natural aspect of manifold theory
is the question of how manifolds can sit within other manifolds, i.e.,
knot theory. One pathway to understanding manifolds is through the
fundamental group and homology theory, which provides a transition from
geometry to algebra. Another pathway is to approximate geometry by
finite structures, which provides a transition from geometry to
combinatorics. The interaction of these fields of mathematics reveals
techniques and perspectives that would otherwise be invisible.
***

The Chemistry Department at the University of South Alabama is currently focusing on modernizing our upper level laboratory courses such that the experiments are more consistent with ongoing chemistry research. A primary consideration in this effort is the study of biological molecules and systems. We plan to use a computer interfaced potentiostat to introduce four new experiments that emphasize biological molecules or applications. The equipment will have a major impact upon the Instrumental Analysis, Inorganic Chemistry, and Physical Chemistry laboratories. There are relatively few electrochemistry experiments in our current laboratory curriculum and none that use modern methods to examine biological molecules. The potentiostat will be used to introduce upper level students to techniques such as cyclic voltammetry, pulse voltammetry, and spectroelectrochemistry by characterizing molecules such as epinephrine (adrenaline), amino acid complexes of copper, acetaminophen, and myoglobin. These electrochemistry experiments will interest and motivate students, as well as complement our established spectroscopy experiments.

DESCRIPTION: (Applicant's Description) The prevalence of tobacco use prevention public policies has increased dramatically in the past decade. However, very few businesses in rural communities comply with these public policies. A recent study revealed that 68% of tobacco outlets in rural communities in central Missouri do not comply with the state law banning tobacco sales to minors. Another study found that approximately 60% of businesses in rural communities in central Missouri do not comply with the state clean indoor air law. A survey in southeast Missouri revealed that more than 50% of police chiefs, city managers, and mayors are unaware that a state law exists restricting public smoking. This research study will evaluate the effectiveness of two different community organization models for advocating local compliance with federal and state tobacco use prevention policies (i.e., tobacco sales to minors and clean indoor air). A second component of the project will examine the effects of local compliance with tobacco use prevention policies on smoking rates among tenth grade students. Development of the two policy advocacy approaches has been guided by the locality development and social action models of community organization. The two models characterize the social and political contexts in which policy advocacy occurs and identify the intervention strategies that are needed to promote compliance with tobacco use prevention policies. A controlled study design will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the interventions. Forty rural communities will be randomly assigned to one of five groups (Intervention I - Locality Development for Tobacco Sales to Minors, Intervention II - Social Action for Tobacco Sales to Minors; Intervention III - Locality Development for Clean Indoor Air; Intervention IV - Social Action for Clean Indoor Air; or Control). Outcome measures will be assessed at baseline and after a three year intervention phase. The evaluation also will characterize changes in intermediate outcomes (i.e., coalition empowerment, local law enforcement, school tobacco use environment, and media coverage) that may explain the success or failure of community interventions.

9979855
Davis, James A.
Bergman, Clifford
Jacobson, Douglas W.
Russell, Steve F.
Wong, Johnny
Iowa State University

CISE Educational Innovation: Integrated Security Curricula Modules

This CISE Educational Innovation (EI) award supports the development of a set of instructional modules in computer security that is being integrated into undergraduate courses. The body of knowledge that is included ranges from programming to ethics and is being threaded through several undergraduate courses rather than into a single monolithic course in computer security. The project packages specific research efforts into small lessons, or modules, that can be easily integrated into a wide range of courses. Each module is accompanied by an assessment piece and dissemination is accomplished by collaboration through the Web and by distribution of CD-ROMs that contain interactive lessons. The PIs are recognized for their innovations in computer security education and the Information Systems Security Laboratory (of which the PIs are a part) at the institution that has been designated by the National Security Agency as one of their seven Centers of Excellence in Information Assurance Education. This project complements the research support of NSF in this important area of computer security.

9971502
Davis

This is a condensed matter physics project that investigates quantum phenomena in liquid helium. Surface waves usually cannot occur on the thin liquid films which are adsorbed on solid substrates because viscosity inhibits their motion. However, in the special case of thin superfluid 4He films, these surface waves can exist and are given the name "Third Sound". This laboratory recently observed similar surface waves in thin superfluid 3He films. The discovery of third sound in superfluid 3He creates several exciting new opportunities because 3He is an unconventional p-wave Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) superfluid. In some respects the complexities of the p-wave system are echoed in the more recently discovered d-wave high-Tc superconductors where the superconductivity may originate in a single 2-dimensional (2-d) atomic layer (CuO2). Thus, understanding of 2-d unconventional superconductors is both of fundamental and practical interest. Superfluid 3He, in very thin films, is an unconventional 2-d superfluid which will be investigated using third sound. Studies of quantum phase transitions are among the area of interest in this and related superconductor/superfluid research. The wide variety of experimental tools used in this research will provide an opportunity for training graduate students and post-docs in sophisticated research techniques. This experience will allow them to contribute to the nation's technological infrastructure.
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This is a condensed matter physics project that investigates quantum phenomena in liquid helium. Waves on the surface of a fluid provide a powerful tool for studying the fluid itself and the surrounding physical environment. For example, the decreasing speed of ocean waves as they approach the shore reveals the depth of the sea and the strength of gravity. Although gravity is a common restoring force, others exist, including the electrostatic force which causes a thin liquid film to adhere to a solid. Such forces are the basis for all adherence of liquid films to solids. Previous investigations of surface waves in helium have been restricted to the 4He isotope where the superfluid waves are said to propagate via so-called 'third sound'. However, this project is focuses on the recent discover of third sound in 3He. The quantum properties of 3He differ significantly from those of 4He and present a number of new research opportunities. The physics of the 3He surface is a close counterpart to a number of technologically important thin film systems including high-Tc superconductors and the 2-dimensional electron gas in MOSFET transistors. Third sound in 3He will be used as a tool to probe the fundamental quantum physic of thin liquid films. The wide variety of experimental tools used in this research will provide an opportunity for training graduate students and post-docs in sophisticated research techniques. This experience will allow them to contribute to the nation's technological infrastructure.

The investigators seek funding to continue a "National Data Program for the Social Sciences, " namely the General Social Survey (GSS). The GSS has been monitoring social change in the United States, examining sub-groups in society, and studying social processes since 1972. Over this period 23 cross-sectional surveys of the US adult household population have been completed, involving face-to-face interviews with approximately 41,000 respondents. Surveys seek to document fundamental social change in areas such as uses of technology, social and cultural capital, neighborhoods and communities, social networks and racial and gender attitudes. The GSS has six components, a replicated core set of questions, modules developed on topical subjects, cross-national modules, experiments and reinterview and follow-up studies. This grant will allow the GSS to continue these basic features and plans to conduct surveys in years 2002 and 2004.

Computer Science (31)
This project is developing a curriculum framework for undergraduate and graduate programs in Information Assurance. The framework includes: identification of broad areas of knowledge considered important for practicing professionals in information assurance, identification of key learning objectives for each of these areas, identification of a body of core knowledge and skills that all programs should contain, and a model curriculum including scope and sequence.

The framework's development is undertaken via a workshop of leading information assurance educators leading to a draft document which will then be widely distributed for comment and dissemination.

This program provides an opportunity for faculty from other universities to receive education in information assurance with the focus on being able to teach the core concepts to their students. The target audience is faculty members from 4 year colleges and universities who are teaching computer science, information systems, or related fields and have a working knowledge of computers. They participate in a summer workshop to help them integrate the material into their courses or to help them develop new courses. Participating faculty take two courses offered via distance education. They also receive support material to help them integrate the subject material into their existing courses. The delivery consists of video taped lectures and on-line support through chat-rooms, emails, and phone. Several of the courses offer a hands-on learning experience where the faculty perform experiments and use software systems remotely through the Internet.

This proposal expands the capacity of our current educational program already producing high quality graduates in information assurance primarily through 30 fellowships and a unique support infrastructure. The broad-based program includes faculty from computing, engineering, political science, mathematics and management information systems to provide students with a broad range of course opportunities and career foci. As well, faculty from the education and library colleges help to design courses and other activities to ensure student success and leadership skill development. The fellowship program includes both undergraduate and graduate students leading to increased numbers of information assurance professionals.

0118452
Stoltman

This award supports travel of eight US participants to the 2001 Conference of the Social Studies Education Consortium (SSEC) at Oxford University in the United Kingdom, June 30 -July 7, 2001 and their participation in pre- and post-conference project development workshops. The organizers are Joseph P. Stoltman and James E. Davis of Western Michigan University and Ashley Kent of the London Institute of Education and Andrew Convey of the University of Sheffield. The objective of the project is to engage "newly established" US and European scientist/researchers in international research collaboration on instruction in and learning of geography and science in the middle and secondary school years (grades 7 - 12). Participants will discuss specific research foci in pre- and post-conference workshop devoted to development of a research agenda and writing of proposals. Established scholars and researchers will serve as mentors and reviewers of the research proposals and designs. In addition each US participant will receive funds to initiate an international collaborative project.

Among the topics proposed for collaborative research in geography/science education are: differential performance between boys and girls; relationship between collaboration among teachers within schools and student performance; action agendas to promote instructional opportunities; comparison of integrated science approaches in teaching with other curricular and instruction approaches; and effects of parental participation in learning. The workshop will enhance understanding of European instruction in geography at comparable grade levels and take advantage of European advances and achievements in this area.

Davis
0125518


The investigators will undertake research to obtain the most accurate and geophysically rigorous determination of global sea-level change to date. To correct tide-gauge data for the effect of postglacial rebound, the investigators will use state-of-the art theory, Earth models, and observations. A new element of the proposed research will be the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) data to correct for vertical crustal motion. This study requires careful assessment of various GPS data sets that could potentially contribute to this study, because it is difficult to achieve the required level of accuracy in the vertical rate with GPS. Nevertheless, such accuracy, at least on a regional basis, is possible. A recent analysis of GPS and tide-gauge data from Scandinavia, for example, yields a regional value for Baltic sea-level rise of 2.1 +/- 0.3 mm/yr. The Baltic tide-gauge data set, although potentially a powerful contributor to studies of sea-level change, has never before been used in a global analysis due to its contamination by postglacial rebound. This research will enable quantification of the relative contributions to present-day sea level change of thermal expansion of the oceans and the ongoing melting of glaciers and ice sheets, knowledge that is crucial to our ability to understand the causes and the present state of climate change.

Reconstructing and modeling climate variations over the last 30,000 years or so is one of the most important goals of global climate change research. Only by determining how the global climate varied during this period can we begin to understand the factors that controlled climate change in the past, an understanding that is crucial if we are to interpret the climate changes of today. For example, such an understanding is crucial if we are to separate "natural" climate variations from anthropogenically induced ones, and to predict future climate change. In this project, the investigators will use Global Positioning System (GPS) data from regions previously covered by glaciers to measure the present-day crustal motions associated with postglacial rebound. Using these data, a refined model for the history of the ice cover will be determined. This refined history can be used to estimate parameters that govern the evolution of the climate.

Signals from Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites propagate through the atmosphere with a velocity determined by the refractivity of the air, which depends on temperature, pressure, and humidity. This award supports research based on the principle that the difference between the propagation delays from two GPS satellites measured at the same position on the ground depends on the difference in the integrated refractivity along the two ray paths. The propagation delays are calculated from the measured phases of the GPS signals and are subject to uncertainty because of clock errors, uncertainties in satellite range, and receiver noise. However, short-term fluctuations of the phase difference about averages over periods from a few seconds to minutes are largely free of these uncertainties and depend mainly on changes in the path-average refractivity. These fluctuations are caused by the variability of atmospheric structure and hence may be regarded as a measure of the irregularity, or turbulence. The objective of the work is to evaluate the feasibility of continuous, accurate, all-weather remote sensing of turbulence by monitoring GPS signals. It holds the potential of improving weather forecasts and alleviating aviation hazards through better understanding of the occurrence and distribution of turbulence.

0135457
Davis

This award provides two years of continued support for the NSF-funded component of the Basin and Range Geodetic Network (BARGEN). This component, known as the Northern Basin and Range network or "NBAR," includes 18 remote, continuously monitored GPS sites with ~100 km spacing, deployed in an east-west array near lat. 40 deg. N, spanning the diffusely deforming western boundary of the North American plate. Installed in 1996 and 1997, these sites benefit from drilled, braced monuments anchored in bedrock to a depth of 10m and a very dry climate. Daily position estimates in the horizontal exhibit root-mean-square scatter at the 1-2 mm level, and time series analysis and other statistical analyses of some 4.5 years of data indicate errors in horizontal velocity of less than 0.2 mm/yr at one standard deviation.

Continued operation of this network is urgent, because it represents an important prototype experiment for NSF's Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) initiative, which proposes the deployment of some 900 new sites of similar design across the deforming western margin of the North American plate. The NBAR sites are scheduled to be upgraded with new instruments as early as 2004 provided PBO is funded (now under consideration as part of NSF's FY 2003 budget). The NBAR sites will form the nucleus of PBO's 100-site "backbone" network and of proposed site clusters in the northern Basin and Range. Continuity of geodetic time series up to and through PBO implementation will provide the strongest possible basis for predicting its ultimate capability, and for assessing the merits of proposed strategies for site locations. An additional two years of data from the NBAR sites will bear significantly on three fundamental - and still controversial - questions: 1) the degree to which GPS time series are contaminated by low-frequency noise; 2) whether errors in vertical velocities will be low enough to provide geophysically meaningful signal; and 3) whether to expect agreement between geodetically determined velocities and geologically determined deformation rates. Additional data will also provide the clearest possible understanding of the capabilities and limitations of continuous GPS prior to PBO deployment.
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0207438
Bennett

The paradox of how horizontal contraction and extension can occur simultaneously in convergent mountain belts remains a fundamental and largely unresolved problem in continental dynamics. The Apennines represent one of the most accessible "type locality" areas of syn-convergent extension. Rollback - which describes the tendency of a subducting plate to retreat from the orogenic front - is commonly invoked as an explanation for syn-convergent extension, but this idea does not address how the retrograde motion of the subducting plate, which is a mantle-based process, causes horizontal extension in the overlying zone of crustal convergence, especially in light of the large accretionary fluxes typically associated with continental subduction.

The goal of the project (project RETREAT) is to develop a self-consistent dynamic model of syn-convergent extension, using the Northern Apennines as a natural laboratory. This part of the Apennine orogen has been the site of relatively steady orthogonal convergence and 2D (plane strain) orogenic deformation since ~30 Ma. GPS measurements indicate that convergence is presently active, and tomography indicates that the full length of subducted slab is still intact to depths of 250 km. Syn-convergent extension has been active since at least 15 Ma. The Northern Apennines are well studied, and all important features of the orogen are onland and thus directly accessible for detailed geological and geophysical research.

The specific objectives of project RETREAT are 1) to determine in detail the velocity field across the orogen, including deformation in the orogenic wedge, the motion of lithospheric plates, and the flow fields in the surrounding asthenospheric mantle, and 2) to use this kinematic information to develop and test specific dynamic models for deformation in the orogenic wedge and underlying mantle. The research techniques to be used include; geodesy, tectonic geomorphology, low-temperature thermochronometry, structural geology and tectonic syntheses, seismic studies, and geodynamic modeling.

The RETREAT project links together a broad multidisciplinary group with eleven PIs from six institutions, plus some 27 foreign collaborators in Italy, Switzerland, Canada, and France.
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Information security has become a critical concern of both government and industry, and numerous groups have independently called for more and better research and education efforts in computer security. During the first computer security education workshop (1997) attended by industry and government agencies, there was a clear call to action for universities to create programs in information security. In response to these demands, faculty members from several universities have been working to increase both education and research in the area of information assurance. This initiative proposes to build on the existing strengths of the faculty and universities involved by creating the Cyber Protection Center. The Center will be one of the first facilities dedicated to creating a simulated Internet for the purpose of researching, designing, and testing cyber defense mechanisms. The Laboratory will also be used to test key components of the critical infrastructure.

A one-year study of computer-assisted instruction in the third grade classroom at two urban schools is proposed. This project will use advanced technology to enhance mathematics and science instruction in elementary classrooms with computer activities that allow students to use the information problem-solving process. The Benjamin Banneker Project, named for a famous African American mathematician and scientist, involves the design and use of computer software that allows students the opportunity to engage in culturally relevant simulations, and an intelligent tutoring system will monitor their progress. The main objectives are to design and field-test culturally relevant computer simulations and to provide professional development to support computer usage in the classroom. To accomplish this goal, the Temple University PI/Co-PI team of mathematics, science, early childhood, and social policy teacher researchers will collaborate with software developers and elementary teachers to carry out this one-year project. During Phase I two engineers will design the software which will be pilot-tested with third graders. The software will provide students with grade-level specific simulations and intelligent tutoring. During Phase II the PI/Co-PI team will provide professional development activities for teachers participating in this study to help them learn how to use software to solve and integrate technology into culturally relevant lessons. The project will be conducted in two urban, predominantly African American, charter schools. In Phase III research (classroom observations) and project evaluation will occur to measure the effectiveness of the project. Findings will be reported to refereed journals and presented at conferences. This project has the potential to "hook" the interest of African American students by contextualizing mathematics and science computer tasks with the culture of the community.

This project would develop a module in economics for high school students. The module would be structured as 12 investigations on national economic performance, linked to various sets of economic education standards. Starting with well publicized economic indicators, such as the Gross Domestic Product or the Consumer Price Index, the module will investigate the meaning of these indicators, then get students to ask questions about the economy which may (or may not) be answered by an examination of these statistics. Materials will be developed to work best with an interactive instructional mode, as students play roles or engage in simulations about the behavior of the economy.

The project will be "teacher-driven:" the writing team will consist of three classroom teachers, three economics educators on the university level and an experienced curriculum writer. The materials will be pilot tested, revised, then field tested and published.

This is a 5-year continuing award. Intelligent machines capable of recognizing and analyzing human actions will play an important role in next generation human-computer interfaces. This research effort will address development of a computational vision framework for recognizing dynamic human movements. The goal is to model the perceptual dynamics associated with human activities to automatically identify various action categories and action efforts. The PI will examine a key-feature approach within a three-mode principal components framework to learn the expressive features needed for the model to produce results qualitatively similar to human judgments of the actions. Experiments will be conducted using motion capture and video data of multiple people performing common activities at different efforts. Results at each stage will be compared to perceptual experiments and alternative non-expressive methods. To demonstrate the approach, an automatic surveillance and monitoring application will be implemented. If successful the research should have broad impact on human-computer interaction in numerous domains as diverse as ergonomic evaluation, sports analysis, and computer animation. In conjunction with the research, the PI will create an educational plan that integrates topics on computer vision, human perception, human-computer interaction, and computer animation into a new cross-disciplinary curriculum that combines classroom discussions with practical laboratory experience, and which fosters undergraduate research-related opportunities.

This project creates a computer forensics course and supporting laboratory, which enables undergraduate and graduate students at Iowa State University to obtain knowledge and skills in this important area. Further, the laboratory supports graduate and faculty research and provide a test-bed facility in which new tools and forensic procedures can be tested. The information assurance faculty at Iowa State currently support about 12 regularly offered graduate courses in network and systems security, however we do not offer studies in forensics. The need for such a course and laboratory coupled with recent hires of faculty in this area, has motivated this proposal. All course materials, lab experiments, and lessons learned will be shared with faculty from any interested University.

Earth Links: Using Scientific Inquiry to Teach Geoscience and Mathematics
Leonard
0331154

This grant allows researchers at Temple University in Philadelphia two years to implement an program to teach geosciences and mathematics to teachers of inner city elementary grades. The program helps ten prospective elementary and middle grade teachers per year to implement a geoscience curriculum and to use it as a springboard to investigate Earth science problems. Preservice teachers at Temple University investigate Earth Systems with minority at-risk populations, implement the curriculum in 5th to 8th grades, take a field-based course, and are mentored over the course of the program.

Year one involves a field-test by student interns of the "Investigating Earth Systems" inquiry-based curriculum elements in out-of-school programs for minority populations. The students will then take this experience with them into local 5th to 8th grade classrooms during their student teaching experience. The preservice students are also required to take a field-based Earth sciences course during this period. During year two, these teachers will be followed through their own classroom implementation of the materials, and the project will be externally evaluated for effectiveness.

This grant exposes a subset of minority populations to a strongly community-based program in science, and provides an introduction to geosciences to both the school children and a set of strongly motivated young teachers.

ABSTRACT

This proposal seeks to advance security surveillance monitoring by introducing event-based reasoning. The team will use a formal event-discovery protocol to uncover event categories and the temporal structure of events. This results in an event template hierarchy. The event template hierarchy is supported by the enabling technologies of smart sensors, a reconfigurable network, and the use of persistent models for tracking. The result is an autonomous sensor network that can be effectively coupled to human operators in order to allow top-down control of the resources as well as the ability to modify the models for event and background activities. While the methodology is suitable for a wide variety of application domains, the work is grounded in a campus security and surveillance paradigm.

By integrating research from Cognitive Science, Geography, and Computer Science (Graphics, and Vision), the team can create a paradigmatic shift in the way that surveillance systems are viewed and developed. The data stream is no longer composed merely of video and perhaps some low-level alarms; the focus is now extended to include events. Data and information no longer move toward a usersitting in front of a wall of monitors. Event contexts, set by higher-level events as well as by operators-in-the-loop, direct and focus attention in order to detect differences from a dynamic model of background activity. The result is that the information is more meaningful, the surveillance systems more focused, and the cognitive skills of the operators more efficiently utilized. A prototype system will be made available for pertinent security personnel to train and test. The work will contribute to training methodologies of security personnel. Under the purview of broader impact, the proposed work strives to include under-represented and minority student groups through targeted training in the use of video technology. Finally if successful, event-based strategic surveillance networks can provide alternatives to racial profiling. The individuals are judged only by their actions as encoded in the event models.

This project will develop device quality superfluid 4He Josephson junctions. These are for study of the superfluid Josephson effect in 4He and also to allow new devices such as the superfluid DC-SQUID to be operable near 2 Kelvin. Relatively high temperature quantum nanofluidic devices would have significant potential for practical applications, such as superfluid quantum interference gyroscopes for geophysics, geodesy, gravitation and climate change studies. A second component of this project will be a search for persistent currents in the putative 'supersolid' phase of 4He. This is the last 'super' phase of matter (besides BEC and superfluids) that can exist. A clear demonstration of the ability of the 4He solid to maintain a persistent mass current is required in order to be sure that the recently reported phenomena in that system are due to supersolidity. Integration of research and education via training of graduate students and post-docs is central to the project. For example, students trained in this program will learn and develop sub 10nm e-beam lithographic development of nanofluidic circuits These skills will be of wide utility, not only for quantum nanofluidic studies but also for new nanofluidic systems for biophysics and medicine. A sophisticated web site will be available as part of outreach activities: http://people.ccmr.cornell.edu/~jcdavis/.

The 'Josephson Effect' is a macroscopic quantum phenomenon in which quantum effects can be measured by classical measurements such as mass transport. In this project we will develop superfluid 4He Josephson junctions. These will make new devices such as the superfluid quantum interference gyroscope, possible. Such devices have significant potential for practical applications such as for geophysics, geodesy, and climate change studies. In this project a search for persistent currents in a 'supersolid' phase of 4He will also be carried out. This is the last 'super' phase of matter. When a gas becomes dominated by macroscopic quantum physics it is known as Bose-Einstein condensate. In a liquid this situation is referred to as a 'superfluid' and for a crystalline solid it is called a 'supersolid'. This project will search for direct evidence that this supersolid phase is real.The integration of research and education via the training of graduate students and post-docs is central to the project. Two two students and a postdoc will pursue the research objectives learning, as they do, the techniques of nanofabrication, nanofluidics, cryogenics, ultra low temperature and ultra low noise engineering. A sophisticated web site will be developed and maintained as part of the project outreach activities: http://people.ccmr.cornell.edu/~jcdavis/.

SES-0452279
James Davis
Peter Marsden
Tom Smith
National Opinion Research Center

This project continues the National Data Program for the Social Sciences (NDPSS), more specifically the General Social Survey. The NDPSS is a social indicators, infrastructure, and data dissemination program. Its gather data that allows us to (1) monitor and explain trends, changes and constants in attitudes, behaviors, and attributes and examine the structure and functioning of society in general as well as the role of various sub-groups; (2) compare the United States to other societies, by developing cross-national models of human society; and (3) make high quality data easily accessible to scholars, students, and others with minimal cost and waiting. NDPSS data are collected through the General Social Survey (GSS) and its allied surveys in the International Social Survey Program (ISSP). The GSS is a regular, ongoing interview survey of U.S households conducted by the National Opinion Research Center. The mission of the GSS is to make timely high-quality scientifically relevant data available to social science researchers. Since 1972 the GSS (with NSF support) has conducted 25 in-person, cross-sectional surveys of the adult household population of the U S with approximately 44,000 respondents. GSS content is wide ranging with approximately 4,500 variables overall. There is broad base participation in the development of the GSS. Many prominent scholars help develop topical modules. For example, 74 researchers from 48 universities and research institutes have served on the GSS Board and 253 social scientists in a dozen disciplines from 147 institutions have participated in the design of the last 28 topical modules in the GSS.

The GSS has spurred cross-national research by inspiring other nations to develop data collection programs modeled on the GSS and by joining with the International Social Science Program (ISS). Since 1984 ISSP has grown to 39 nations. The GSSDIRS website is extremely popular with users, having over 4,000,000 visits in 2003. The ISSP website was visited over 203,000 times during the last 12 months. The user community includes researchers, college teachers, university students, business planners, media and public officials. Sociologists, political scientists, economists, statisticians, survey methodologists, anthropologists, geographers, biologists, engineers, psychologists, criminologist, legal scholars, medical/health researchers and business administration and management scholars use GSS data. This use of the GSS is widely documented in publications. The PIs have able to document over 8,500 uses of the GSS: approximately 4,862 journal articles, 1,664 books, 1,364 scholarly papers, 568 reports, and 188 dissertations and theses. Most users (82%) have been academics with college affiliations. Research usages reached 200 per annum in the late 1980s and 300 per annum in the early 1990s. Current use is now at over 600 per annum.

This renewal includes several enhancements, upgrades and innovations to the GSS. Specifically, it will 1) add contextual data to supplement individual-level information to place the individual in a social context; (2) expand our coverage of America's ethnic and cultural diversity by the development of Spanish versions of GSS instruments and conducting interviews in Spanish: (3) introduce a panel component to study change among individuals with a prospective panel; and (4) facilitate the collection of auxiliary data on other social units besides individuals and households.

Broader Impacts

The NDPSS has already had enormous impact beyond the boundaries of the survey itself. The GSS is held as the gold standard by which many other survey data collection activities are measured, and the ISSP program has led to innovations and developments in cross-cultural and cross-national research. The GSS thus serves as a model that is being emulated elsewhere, such as in the newly created European Social Survey program. The contributions of the GSS to the teaching of quantitative social science analysis are unprecedented. Its accessibility and ease of use has added value far beyond the original data collection efforts, and researchers in the social sciences continue to mine the data both old and new to advance knowledge and test theories. The GSS and ISSP program is part of the core infrastructure of social science research in the U.S.

ABSTRACT

PI: Panagiotis Christofides and James F. Davis
Institution: University of California - Los Angeles
Proposal Number: 0529295
Title: Sensor Malfunctions in Process Control: Analysis, Design and Applications

Intellectual merit. The chemical industry is a vital sector of the US economy. Increasingly faced with the requirements of safety and profitability, chemical process operation is relying extensively on automated control systems, involving a large number of sensors. The reliance on sensors, however, tends to increase vulnerability of the process to sensor malfunctions (e.g., sensor failure, intermittent sensor data losses, biased measurements, etc.,), leading to the failure of the control system and potentially causing a host of economic, environmental, and safety problems that can seriously degrade the operating efficiency of the process. Management of abnormal situations resulting from sensor malfunctions is a challenge in the chemical industry since abnormal situations account for $10 billion in annual lost revenue in the US alone. The objective of this project is to develop a general and practical framework for handling sensor malfunctions in feedback control of chemical processes by explicitly dealing with sensor data losses and failures in the control system design and implementation. Nonlinear and predictive control theory will be used to produce practically-implementable, feedback control systems that account explicitly for the occurrence of sensor faults and enforce the desired stability, performance and robustness specifications in the closed-loop system. Hybrid systems and control theory will subsequently be used to: a) model and analyze sensor failure situations, and b) construct novel supervisory control schemes that ensure the timely and coordinated response of the local control systems in the process, in a way that achieves fault recovery and minimizes performance deterioration. The motivation is provided by: a) the common occurrence of sensor malfunctions in chemical process operation, b) the abundance of complex dynamics in chemical processes due to process nonlinearities, model uncertainties and constraints, c) the lack of practical control strategies for nonlinear chemical processes that can deal explicitly and simultaneously with complex dynamics, sensor data losses and sensor failures, d) advances in communication and computation technologies, and e) the continuing need to improve chemical process operation, reduce product variability, improve energy efficiency and minimize environmental and safety hazards. Specifically, the research will focus on:
1. Analysis and design of control and estimation systems subject to sensor data losses; both the state and output feedback control problems will be studied.
2. Design of integrated fault-tolerant control and estimation systems subject to complete sensor failures; both the sensor fault-detection and identification problem and the problem of sensor fault-induced control reconfiguration will be studied.
3. Control of multiple interconnected units subject to sensor malfunctions.
4. Applications to chemical processes where control is critical in achieving the desired stability and performance objectives.
The research will also provide fundamental insight into the problems and limitations that sensor malfunctions cause on process control, develop practically-implementable control algorithms accounting explicitly for sensor malfunctions, address the integration of sensor fault-detection and reconfiguration methods with industrial decision support technologies, and illustrate the application of these methods to chemical processes.
Broader impact. These control methods for processes subject to sensor malfunctions are expected to significantly improve the operation and performance of chemical processes, increase process safety and reliability, and minimize the negative economic impact of failures on overall process operation. This research addresses the design of feedback control and estimation systems accounting explicitly for the occurrence of sensor faults and uniquely integrates controller design, sensor fault-detection and isolation, and decision support technologies and provides the potential for significant insight on the balance that can exist between these in practical implementation. The integration of the research into education would benefit educators teaching advanced-level classes in process control and operations. The development of software, short courses and workshops, and the collaboration with the members of an industrial consortium will be the means for transferring the results of this research into the industrial sector.

The Long-term Undergraduate Research Experience (LURE) model for the mathematical sciences is a collaboration between the mathematics faculty at Central Michigan University, Coppin State University, Olin College, and the University of Richmond. The LURE model emphasizes the early recruitment of undergraduates to mathematical research and the cultivation of interest in the mathematical sciences. It builds upon the success of the apprentice model often used in the physical and life sciences, wherein scientists routinely engage first- and second-year undergraduates in research and then continue to mentor these students until they are prepared to pursue graduate degrees. Specifically, LURE recruits students early in their undergraduate careers and pairs them with faculty who serve as mentors throughout a two-year research experience in the mathematical sciences. Through closely supervised research and independent study activities spanning two summers (ten weeks each) and two academic years, students experience all steps in a research project, from background reading to the professional presentation of results. This allows undergraduates to be involved with mathematics research experiences that are more sophisticated than possible with traditional single-summer research experiences.





LURE also provides support and training for faculty to mentor undergraduate research projects. Over the four years of the grant, LURE will engage a total of 80 undergraduates and 28 faculty from a diverse collection of institutions (a comprehensive university, a historically black university, a gender-balanced engineering college, a selective liberal arts college, and an all-women's college). The diversity of our collaboration increases the transferability of our model and findings to a wide range of institutions. LURE will proactively recruit women and minorities, with specific aspects of the program having been developed in consultation with literature on cultivating the success of underrepresented groups. We expect that the LURE program will increase the number of undergraduates electing mathematics courses beyond institutional requirements, the number of undergraduates and faculty members engaging in undergraduate research experiences, and the number of undergraduates feeling prepared to pursue graduate work. A yearly LURE conference will showcase the results of the teams at all participating institutions, serve as a dissemination outlet for the apprentice model applied to mathematics, and provide an opportunity for assessment, reflection, and programmatic improvements.

Nettles
OPP-0612609

The Principal Investigators request support for research to be carried out with a pilot field experiment in summer, 2006 at Helheim Glacier, East Greenland to obtain an understanding of the mechanisms by which glacial earthquakes are generated and their relation to glaciological and climatological processes. A new class of earthquakes occurring at glaciers in Alaska, Antarctica, and Greenland was identified in 2003 by Ekstrom. Teleseismic analysis indicates that these glacial earthquakes are the result of rapid sliding of the glacial ice over the glacier bed. Little is understood about the mechanism by which glacial earthquakes occur, but recent observations indicate a relationship with the hydrological cycle at glaciers and ice sheets. The number of earthquakes that occur on Greenland is strongly seasonally modulated, with the largest number of events occurring during the late summer months. A rapid increase in the number of earthquakes at outlet glaciers across Greenland since approximately 2000 suggests a link to large-scale climate change. This research consists of two parts: 1) a field deployment of Global Positioning System (GPS) stations on Helheim Glacier to obtain direct measurements of the displacement transients associated with glacial earthquakes, the logistical costs for which will be funded separately; and 2) integrated, interdisciplinary analysis of recorded GPS, seismic, and glaciological data using state-of-the-art techniques from each field to obtain an understanding of the mechanism by which glacial earthquakes occur. Seismic analyses will provide long-wavelength estimates of the earthquake source characteristics, while the geodetic observations will provide detailed information about the timing and pattern of deformation within the glacier. A combined analysis of these datasets will result in geophysically consistent models of the deformation process, which will then be studied in the context of glaciological observations of the background glacier behavior and time-varying melting rates to evaluate the hypothesis that surface melting is linked to the generation of glacial earthquakes.

Intellectual Merit. This research will lead to a greatly improved understanding of the processes controlling glacial earthquakes, a previously unknown geophysical phenomenon. It will also provide insight into modes of glacier deformation and possible connections between glacial earthquake activity and global climate change.

Broader Impacts. The results will be important for glaciologists and climatologists in addition to geodesists and seismologists. The understanding of glacial earthquakes developed as a result of this study will allow remote-sensing seismic data to be used as a glaciology tool and studies of global change, while also leading to improved knowledge of the response of the solid Earth to transient deformation events at or near the surface of the Earth.

Technical Abstract

Spectroscopic Imaging Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (SI-STM) allows the energy-resolved density-of-electronic-states (essentially the quantum wavefunctions of the electrons) to be imaged with atomic-resolution. This technique is a key tool for development of advanced magnetic/electronic materials: the impact on electron wavefunctions of impurity/dopant atoms, the crystal lattice, electron-electron interactions and external electric/magnetic fields, can all be determined directly at the atomic scale. But many of the most important and revealing phenomena in complex electronic/magnetic materials occur at very high magnetic fields. At Cornell University, we propose to develop the world's first very high magnetic field SI-STM facility - operating with atomic resolution in fields between 0 and 20 Tesla, with tip/sample temperature between 0.25K and 100K. It will then, for the first time, become possible to address crucial scientific challenges in atomic-scale electronic structure at high magnetic fields. These include, for example, quantum hall effects in graphene, field-induced superconductor-insulator transitions in cuprates, colossal magneto-resistance in manganites, possible electronic supersolid phases in cuprates, and field-induced quantum phase transitions in other transition metal oxides. This unprecedented system will operate as a user facility at Cornell, allowing wide access for nanoscale studies of complex electronic/magnetic materials in very high magnetic fields. Furthermore, as recommended by the National Academy, the National High Magnetic Field Lab (NHMF) in Tallahassee needs to achieve such capabilities. Upon completion of the Cornell system, the technology will be transferred NHMFL, bringing high field SI-STM into use for the widest scientific community.

Lay Abstract

Spectroscopic Imaging Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (SI-STM) is a new technique for imaging directly, the wavefunctions of electrons in complex electronic/magnetic materials. Such materials exhibit, for example, high temperature superconductivity, colossal magneto-resistance and giant thermoelectric power. They will be of profound technological relevance in the future. But many important and revealing phenomena of these complex electronic/magnetic materials occur at high magnetic fields where no SI-STM capabilities exist. To address this deficiency, we propose to develop of the world's first high magnetic field (20 Tesla) SI-STM system. It will operate as a visiting-user facility (also providing advanced training of students/ postdocs) for studies of nanoscale high-field electronic phenomena in a variety of complex electronic/magnetic materials. These will include graphene, cuprates, manganites, ruthenates and other transition metal oxides. Finally, upon completion, the design of the system will be transferred to the Nat. High Magnetic Field Lab. (NHMFL) at Tallahassee, bringing an unprecedented scientific instrument into general use for the widest scientific community at a national facility.

ABSTRACT

PI: James F. Davis
Institution: UCLA
Proposal Number: 0645024
Title: Workshop on Cyber Infrastructure in Chemical and Biological Systems: Impact and Directions

PROJECT SUMMARY

The objectives of the workshop are to (1) identify and exemplify major application impacts, directions and the potential for Cyber Infrastructure (CI) as it pertains to Chemical and Biological Systems, (2) identify and recommend research areas that aim toward the fulfillment of this potential, and (3) identify associated areas of needed emphasis with CI infrastructure, education and training, interdisciplinary development, and support and approaches to collaboration.

INTELLECTUAL MERIT

The workshop will encompass chemical and biological processes, systems biology, pharmaceuticals and metabolic engineering and involve energy, environmental, nano- and bioscience perspectives in the process context. The thematic area will be generally defined by industries, applications, processes and systems primarily characterized by chemical and biological transformations and material, energy and information flows.

The workshop will bring together research and industrial communities in chemical and biological systems involved in smart plant technologies, supply chain management, product and production design and optimization, process management and control, simulation and modeling and data analysis with the CI infrastructure planning and operational community. It will draw upon top talent from a diverse set of disciplinary areas as well as academic, laboratory, operations, and industrial viewpoints while maintaining the theme of "chemical and biological systems." The workshop anticipates research and practice leaders in simulation, multi-scale modeling, optimization, design, dynamics and control, sensing and interfaces, wide area data aggregation, large scale/wide area data management, analysis and visualization and network science.

BROAD IMPACT

The workshop will foster collaboration across several key dimensions of the CI and chemical and biological systems combination. These dimensions include technique and technical integration, academic and industry, infrastructure and application, current and future directions for CI, and current and future economic potential for CI. The workshop will look across a broad diversity of computation and networked-based technologies to make recommendations to NSF on future research directions and it will exemplify for the process and systems communities, the value of and their role in investing in CI and CI-enabled research.

ABSTRACT
Nettles
OPP-0713970
Davis
OPP-071

The Principal Investigators request support for an interdisciplinary, high-resolution study involving remote sensing and field investigations at two of Greenland's largest outlet glaciers. The study of the Helheim and Kangerdlugssuaq Glaciers will integrate seismological, glaciological, and geodetic observations to build an understanding of flow dynamics at major outlet glaciers, which represent a critical junction between the atmosphere, cryosphere, and hydrosphere. The project would be the first long-term occupation of an outlet glacier by a GPS receiver network, and would address questions of flow variation on earthquake to interannual time scales. Recent discoveries have made it clear that our understanding of the dynamics of flow at large outlet glaciers is limited and inadequate for understanding the ways in which the outlet glaciers, and the ice sheets they drain, respond to external forcings. The spectrum of timescales over which significant velocity variations in outlet glacier flow can occur appears to be much broader than previously believed, with significant variations occurring on timescales of 10s of seconds to several years. Analysis of glacial earthquakes suggests that significant volumes of ice may move at speeds 1000 times faster than their average annual velocities for periods of a minute or two and a doubling of average annual flow speeds over only a few years has been observed at some glaciers. Multiple observations now indicate that glacier flow behavior can respond quickly to environmental changes, including rapid climate change. It is not currently clear, however, what mechanisms or combination of mechanisms allow for, or drive, the temporal variations, nor is it clear how variations in flow behavior at different timescales are related to one another. Understanding the changes in force balance that control variations across the range of timescales from minutes to years requires observations at higher resolution in both space and time than are currently available, and achieving a comprehensive picture of the interactions between short- and long-timescale processes, and between external forcings and glacier flow behavior, requires the integration of data and expertise from several traditionally separate disciplines..

Intellectual Merit. The research will lead to a greatly improved understanding of the dynamics of flow at the large, fast-moving outlet glaciers that drain the Greenland ice sheet and of the temporal variability in their rates and modes of flow. It will provide insight into the processes controlling glacial earthquakes and possible connections between glacial-earthquake activity and global climate change.

Broader Impacts. Understanding the controls on flow configuration at major outlet glaciers, and the timescales over which they may respond to climatic forcing, is of great importance for proper modeling of systems affected by the transfer of fresh polar meltwater to the world's oceans. A better understanding of glacier and ice-sheet response to climate change will allow for improvements in modeling of the coupled ice ocean atmosphere system, and of its interactions with the solid Earth. The geodetic instrumentation and processing techniques developed under this proposal will benefit researchers in a variety of environments such as glacier and volcano monitoring involving rapid, large-scale motions and the risk of instrument loss.

Working in cooperation with the EarthScope education and outreach community, the pro-ject is researching, designing, and producing high production-quality interactive video ?chal-lenges? designed to engage and enlighten young people (primary target audience: middle school, ages 10?14) about EarthScope-related science, people, and projects. The interactive challenges are being developed for a generalized medium; the current effort includes testing for the effec-tiveness with the target audience of a wide range of media (from stand-alone kiosks to hand-held devices). Focus groups and on-site evaluations are being undertaken to measure and enhance the ability of the project to serve its learning goals, to wit: 1) Science: To make large numbers of young people more aware of basic geoscience concepts relevant to EarthScope, presented in an engaging and memorable way; 2) People: To present to young people the wide cross section of diverse jobs and talents within the EarthScope community; and 3) Projects: To raise awareness of the different components of EarthScope and the impact that they will have on local communities. The content to be created incorporates science education standards to enhance and support class-room work, and can become part of a meaningful visitor center, museum, or after-school experi-ence. The investigators are producing a single proof-of-concept EarthScope ?challenge,? with emphasis on front-end testing consisting of focus groups with students in the target population, in order to gather data on possible content and format for the challenges.

This is a proposal to provide travel funding for the conference ``Geometry, Topology, and their Interactions'' to be held in Morelia, Mexico during January 8-13, 2007. The focus of this conference is the classification of manifolds, including both topological and geometric aspects. The central rigidity conjecture is the Farrell-Jones Conjecture, which generalizes both the Novikov and Borel rigidity conjectures. The conference will bring together researchers who use geometric methods to study topological problems with researchers who use topological methods to study geometric problems. Examples of the former are high-dimensional topologists and examples of the latter are geometric group theorists. While the conference will have speakers in a wide variety of fields, two fields of research will be particularly strongly represented: (1) surgery theory, L- and K-theory, and high dimensional topology, and (2) geometric group theory.

Recent years have seen an increasing exchange of methods and techniques between topology, algebra and geometry. Furthermore, recent trends in research suggest that methods arising from geometric group theory will be key to the resolution of (special cases of) various classical problems in high dimensional topology. One of the key purposes of this conference is to bring together these two communities of mathematicians, in the hope of fostering new collaborations and further interactions.

This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) award supports a graduate training program at Cornell University in a highly interdisciplinary area of materials research that is central to advances in many areas of science and technology - the nanoscale control of surfaces and interfaces. This program provides doctoral students drawn from seven academic disciplines with hands-on, interdisciplinary training in the experimental and theoretical techniques necessary for forefront research at the nanoscale. The program is based on a dynamic, student-centric educational framework that transitions students from the coursework-based educational model typical of K-16 education to the self-directed learning necessary for professional R&D environments. As an integral part of their training, students perform interdisciplinary research on topics as diverse as the production of single molecule transistors, the design of non-volatile memory, the development of "plastic" electronics, and the fabrication of ultrasensitive chemical and biological sensors.
This program addresses the national workforce needs in materials research documented by a recent National Academies study. The study identified the field of nanomaterials - the focus of this traineeship - as the area of most rapid growth globally. By educating a new generation of nanomaterials researchers and performing fundamental research in this rapidly growing area, this program increases U.S. competitiveness. The program also addresses the underrepresentation of women and minorities in the field of materials through direct partnerships with two Historically Black Colleges/Universities, a substantial recruiting program and an extensive undergraduate research program. IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the interdisciplinary background, deep knowledge in a chosen discipline, and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries.

Public Abstract
0742764
James Davis
CACHE Corporation


A Virtual Organization to Coordinate a National R&D Agenda in Smart, Zero-Incident, Zero-Emission Manufacturing



Intellectual Merit. To facilitate the coordinated development of smart, zero-incident, zero-emission manufacturing, an Engineering Virtual Organization (EVO) will be established with a core group of engineers from industry, academia, and government, along with cyberinfrastructure (CI) practitioners from the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) and the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC). Launch of the EVO will involve the process systems engineering community at large; the FIATECH industry consortium, with 65 companies and universities; the ASM (Abnormal Situation Management) consortium, comprised of 14 companies and universities; and the CACHE (Computer Aids in Chemical Engineering) corporation, which includes 21 university and seven industry trustees, along with 150 member chemical engineering departments worldwide. SDSC and TACC, as TeraGrid sites, will identify relevant grid and, in particular, TeraGrid resources; help develop the CI requirements for smart manufacturing; and support a gateway through which the EVO will operate and do its work. Working as a virtual organization, this community will pursue a common objective of initiating and sustaining the development of a coordinated national research and development agenda and technical "roadmap" for smart, zero-incident, zero-emission manufacturing. The process for establishing this roadmap will build on the successful model of FIATECH, one of the EVO's contributing partners. By defining the end vision and constructing the roadmap, research and development activities to close the gaps between the future and current states can be identified.

Broader Impacts. The focused objective of this EVO builds on an NSF-sponsored workshop, "Cyberinfrastructure (CI) in Chemical and Biological Process Systems: Impact and Directions," held Sept. 25-26, 2006, where industry and academic experts collectively identified smart manufacturing as a grand-challenge problem of national importance. With an unusually strong collaboration between academia and key industry groups, this EVO is designed to build the critical-mass consensus that will spur additional future government and industry funding for the coordinated national agendas needed to address this national grand-challenge problem.

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Goal: This application requests an NIH-NIDA K23 mentored clinical researcher training grant for Dr. James Davis to conduct behavioral therapies development research. During the 5-year term of the grant, funding will be used to prepare Dr. Davis for a leadership role as a physician-researcher in the field of addiction medicine. Background: The contemporary population of smokers demonstrates treatment resistance related to high level nicotine dependence and affective comorbidities. Mindfulness training has been shown to increase attentional control and decrease negative affect and stress, effects that are particularly relevant to these sources of treatment resistance. Research: The proposed research is designed to further develop and test the new smoking intervention Mindfulness Based Smoking Cessation (MBSC) within stage-1 and stage-2 of the NIDA Behavioral Therapies Development Program. A feasibility study on mindfulness training in smokers is now complete and demonstrates promising results. Years 1 and 2 of the grant-funded period are allocated to stage-1 completion of intervention development through an intervention development study, a teacher training course, and through production of the MBSC course and training manuals. Year 3 and 4 are allocated for MBSC treatment efficacy testing through a randomized controlled trial. Year 5 is allocated to publication of results and to application for an R01 grant for research on mechanism and dissemination. Significance: Because the current US population of smokers has grown more resistant to available therapies, new techniques are needed that specifically address obstacles to treatment success such as negative affect and high nicotine dependence. Mindfulness training is a novel technique that appears to be promising in overcoming these treatment obstacles. Qualifications: Dr. Davis conducts addiction research under the mentorship of Dr. Timothy Baker at University of Wisconsin (UW) Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention. In October 2006, on completion of a research fellowship, Dr. Davis will be given a faculty appointment in the UW Department of Medicine. Proposed Training: This 5-year program is designed to develop knowledge and skills necessary for Dr. Davis to conduct high-level independent addiction research. The program incorporates mentored research with course work, ethics training, and national conferences. This grant will provide funding for Dr. Davis to develop a career as an independent addiction researcher. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]

Abstract
Acquiring Computer Graphics Models of Human Shape and Motion
James Davis, UC Santa Cruz


This research is developing algorithms to measure human body shape and motion to 1mm and 1deg accuracy without placing "fiducials" (i.e., markers) on the person's body. The major advances in this research over previous efforts to do accurate human motion tracking are replacing traditional cameras with high accuracy 3D shape measurement devices and utilizing a carefully constructed body model. Improved technology for the reliable and accurate measurement of human movement will ultimately enable new applications in ergonomics, smart spaces, fashion, surveillance, surgery, security, health, user interfaces, and art. The project uses two specific application areas for evaluation of the scientific goals: improving knowledge about the causes and remedies of athletic injuries through direct measurement of motion and archiving dance performances as an educational resource.

This research transforms human shape and motion tracking from a problem of optimization to a problem of human shape priors and real-time, 3D shape measurement. This requires 3D shape sensors which are accurate, work with moving subjects, and can support multiple simultaneous viewpoints. Existing structured light triangulation and time-of-flight sensors do not support these requirements; however, they do have complementary qualities and deficiencies. The investigators study two novel designs that combine these modalities to achieve the improved accuracy. The method requires a prior model consisting of a very detailed and accurate model of human surface shape as a function of pose and identity. This model is constructed initially from full body laser scans of a variety of people with different body types in a variety of different poses. When the highly accurate real-time 3D data measurement system has been fully developed, a much larger training data set will be captured. Improvements in data measurement and prior models will provide a better conditioned optimization space with fewer local minima, allowing for more robust and accurate estimation.

Determining the structure of the Earth's mantle is a fundamental problem of geophysical research. This information, especially the variation in density, provides important insight into the composition and dynamics of the Earth's deep interior. Seismological data have been used to construct models of the mantle, but the data conventionally used for such purpose (body and surface waves) are not sensitive to density variation. A global density model is typically obtained by making a strong assumption that seismic wave speed variations are linearly related to density variation. This assumption loosely translates to three-dimensional variations arising from a purely thermal origin. Results from recent studies, however, suggest that the density heterogeneity within the mantle is poorly correlated with shear-wave speed anomalies, especially in the lower mantle. In this project, we combine multidisciplinary data types to better-constrain properties of the Earth's mantle with a focus on density.

The modern, dense, global GPS sites will be used for the determination of Earth-tide amplitudes across the spectrum of tidal frequencies to yield site-dependent corrections to the (three-dimensional) Love numbers. Previous studies using other ground-based space geodetic systems indicate that the GPS network has great sensitivity to the Love numbers, in part due to the unique temporal spectrum of the tides. These Love numbers are usually calculated using a spherically symmetric Earth model.

The proposed research would explore an approach for combining global geodetic and seismic data to yield a new model for the mechanical structure of the Earth. Seismological data (normal mode splitting information) from previous studies, three-dimensional solid-Earth tidal amplitudes from a new geodetic solution using a global network of Global Positioning System (GPS) sites, and
the Earth's gravity field from satellite geodesy will be jointly inverted to obtain a three-dimensional model for the elastic parameters and density of the mantle. Each of these data types has different sensitivities and inherent resolution, and the combination will lead to a model with superior accuracy and resolution relative to the individual techniques.

Technical Description of Research

The addition of continuous GPS to traditional seismotectonics and geophysical imaging is revolutionizing our understanding of active tectonic systems, most notably in the forearc regions of subduction megathrusts. In virtually every example studied, interseismic 'slow slip events' (SSEs) occur over large patches of the subduction interface, with moment release in the M6 to M7 range. A decade of geodetic results from the Basin and Range Geodetic Network (BARGEN), situated in the intraplate, orogenic plateau setting of the Basin and Range province, has demonstrated similar behavior. A prototype of NSF's Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) known as the Basin and Range Geodetic Network (BARGEN) has documented subcontinental-scale variations in tectonic velocity that are unexpectedly large, coherent, and difficult to explain in the context of existing models of lithospheric dynamics. Our recent synthesis of these results and other geophysical data in the region have led to the development of the 'megadetachment hypothesis,' which explains the observed velocity variations as an SSE of extraordinary scale, caused by stick-slip behavior along the Moho rather than along a subduction interface. The objective of this project is to test this hypothesis by collecting and analyzing data from a 22-station subnetwork of BARGEN sites not incorporated into PBO, through 2010. This network is situated between PBO sites in eastern California and Arizona, Utah and northern Nevada. This project strongly leverages an existing infrastructural resource (a $1,000,000 continuous GPS network with time series back to 1999, previously supported by the Department of Energy) in a key region that will otherwise not be investigated. Our previous results predict the onset of a regional SSE in the 2008-2010 time frame, which should appear as a regional slowing of site velocities in Nevada relative to North America. We will analyze the GPS data, including (1) basic processing to generate time series and velocity fields, combining them with key PBO sites relevant to the megadetachment hypothesis; and (2) advanced processing and data interpretation of key subsets of the data.


Non-Technical Explanation

The theory of plate tectonics predicts the relative motions between the earth?s tectonic plates, through reconstruction of ancient magnetic stripes on the ocean floor generated by the process of sea-floor spreading over millions of years. Geodetic motions measured over the last two decades strongly confirm the theory. But the boundaries between plates, where most of the world's earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur, are not razor-thin faults that accommodate all of the interplate motion as predicted by plate theory. Instead, they are broad zones of complex deformation that in some cases are more than 1000 km wide. One of the most important recent discoveries bearing on the physics of these broad zones of deformation are 'slow slip events' (SSEs). In terms of energy release, these events are of similar size to damaging earthquakes. Unlike earthquakes, which occur over a matter of seconds, SSEs last from a few days up to several years, and thus are too slow to generate seismic waves detectable by seismometers. The discovery of SSEs was only possible through the advent of continuous GPS networks built across plate boundary deformation zones over the last decade, such as the Basin and Range Geodetic Network (BARGEN), which straddles the 1000 km-wide Pacific-North America plate boundary deformation zone. Given their importance to the overall deformation budget along plate boundaries, their mere existence is revolutionizing our physical understanding of plate boundaries, including the problem of the physics of earthquakes. Nearly all SSEs observed to date occurred along subduction megathrusts, the zone of contact between plates where one plate dives beneath another. The one exception is a large SSE imaged by BARGEN that began in 1999 and ended in 2005 in the Basin and Range province. The SSE was manifest by the slowing of tectonic velocity of GPS sites across Nevada by 1 mm/yr relative to their pre-1999 rates. Monitoring though 2010 will the test hypothesis that the Basin and Range SSEs are periodic. With the added benefit of some 80 GPS sites in the region sponsored by PBO, we will gain a much more detailed picture of the kinematics of these transient events.

Technical Abstract
This Materials World Network award by the Division of Materials Research supports a three-year experimental program to investigate how reducing the dimensionality of 3He leads to novel p-wave order parameters when this unconventionally paired superfluid is confined to a length comparable to the coherence length. In contrast to metallic systems, 3He has a spherical Fermi surface; yet anisotropic paired states emerge from the isotropic normal liquid. Confinement of 3He in small geometries is expected to modify this behavior. It has been theoretically predicted that confined superfluid 3He will exhibit broken translational symmetry en route to the destruction of superfluidity. Dimensional constraints might also promote the stability of competing phases that are not manifest in the bulk. The technology to fabricate confining geometries with well characterized surfaces that can be patterned to achieve specified roughness has been developed at Cornell University. The roughness will affect the resulting phases via their stability and response to disorder ? an important feature that has implications for the broader relevance of this work to Condensed Matter Physics. Patterning to introduce periodicity and test the robustness of emerging phases of confined 3He against periodicity is also planned. We will also construct and use high precision flow cells to examine flow of 4He, 3He doped 4He films and eventually superfluid 3He in nanoporous media. These demanding experiments, which require development of new techniques, provide a challenging environment where graduate and undergraduate students acquire skills (the ability to innovate, initiate, design and carry out) as well as become familiar with analytic and display tools to prepare them for careers in the Nation's scientific and technological infrastructure. The research program will be integrated with partner programs at Royal Holloway University of London and Manchester University. Graduate students will have the opportunity to work with their counterparts by spending a semester in the UK and by hosting counterparts at Cornell. The research program will also incorporate an undergraduate student throughout the award period.

Non-Technical Abstract
Helium (unlike all other elements) is inherently quantum-mechanical and does not solidify (unless compressed) even down to absolute zero temperature. It is one of the purest materials that can be prepared by any means, since at these temperatures, impurities simply freeze out during the procedures required to obtain the liquid state. Eventually 3He attains a highly ordered state: superfluidity, which is different from that attained in most superconductors and its sister isotope 4He. The magnetism of the superfluid atoms means that the atoms pair up together and undergo orbital motion exhibiting different phases. These behaviors are affected by confining 3He within precisely characterized geometries that effectively alter the dimensionality of the 3He. By carrying out precise measurements on these systems the research will add to our understanding of the role of confinement under less extreme conditions. The program will also prepare graduate students for an increasingly international scientific and technological environment by embedding them in (and allowing them to host students from) counterpart laboratories that use different techniques to probe the same systems. Besides adding to the understanding of quantum systems, this research provides a demanding experimental environment that educates and trains graduate and undergraduate students for successful careers in the Nation's scientific and technological infrastructure. In addition, this research program will also create a positive impact on future science and technology workforce by involving a science teacher in this research during summer.

CPS: Small: Design of Networked Control Systems for Chemical Processes

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).

The objective of the proposed research program is to develop, for the first time, the theory and methods needed for the design of networked control systems for chemical processes and demonstrate their application and effectiveness in the context of process systems of industrial importance.

The proposed approach to achieving this objective involves the development of a novel mathematical framework based on nonlinear asynchronous systems to model the sensor and actuator network behavior accounting explicitly for the effect of asynchronous and delayed measurements, network communication and actuation. Within the proposed asynchronous systems framework, novel control methods will be developed for the design of nonlinear networked control systems that improve closed-loop stability, performance and robustness. The controller design methods will be based on nonlinear and predictive control theory and will have provable closed-loop properties.

The development and implementation of networked control methods which take advantage of sensor and actuator networks is expected to significantly improve the operation and performance of chemical processes, increase process safety and reliability, and minimize the negative economic impact of process failures, thereby impacting directly the US economy. The integration of the research results into advanced-level classes in process control and the writing of a new book on ``Networked Process Control'' will benefit students and researchers in the field. The development of software, short courses and workshops and the on-going interaction of the PIs with an industrial consortium will be the means for transferring the results of this research into the industrial sector. Furthermore, the involvement of a diverse group of undergraduate and graduate students in the research will be pursued.

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).

The Temple Noyce Teacher Scholars (TNT) Phase 1 project, a collaboration of Temple University's (TU) College of Science and Technology and College of Education, is building on existing TU partnerships with the Pennsylvania Department of Education and three high-need, urban school districts - Chester-Upland, Harrisburg, and Philadelphia. Utilizing two model math and science teacher preparation programs, TNT is providing coordinated financial support, mentoring, and a shared learning community to 80 new and aspiring teachers at opposite ends of their careers - undergraduate math and science majors and mid-career and retired STEM professionals. The first program, TUteach, includes undergraduate math and science majors who are simultaneously pursuing secondary (7-12 grade) math or science teacher certification in an accelerated 4-year program. Noyce scholars, a total of 40 over the 5 years of the award, receive financial support to participate in TNT for 1 year, obligating them to teach in a high-need district for at least 2 years. The second, E=mc2, is a 1-year program that prepares mid-career and early retiree STEM professionals for teaching math or science in the middle grades (4-8). E=mc2 participants who receive Noyce stipends (a total of 40) are obligated to teach in one of the high-need, partner districts for 3 years. Both programs feature closely integrated course work and field-based teaching experiences in urban classrooms, and mentoring by experienced teachers. For TUteach participants, exposure to and practice in urban classrooms begins in the freshman year. The program is fostering communities of practice with face-to-face and on-line supports; the communities incorporate master teachers who facilitate school-based meetings and conduct formal observations of, and conferences with each new teacher. They in turn are supported by TUteach faculty mentors and E=mc2 mentor teachers.

Intellectual Merit. The TNT is preparing 80 high-quality, Pennsylvania-certified, middle-grades and secondary math and science teachers to teach rigorous math and science content through innovative, inquiry-driven approaches in urban school contexts. As it brings these new approaches to the training and support of new teachers, TNT is also heightening general awareness of the need for high-quality math and science teachers in high-poverty, high-minority, low-performing schools. Project evaluation is contributing to the larger knowledge base about replicable models for effective recruitment, development and retention of math and science teachers for urban schools.

Broader Impacts. Temple University, with its diverse faculty and student body, is one of the largest preparers of teachers in its region, and has an established reputation for developing innovative approaches. The broader impacts promise to be significant with respect to both the number and quality of teachers, particularly those from under-represented groups, who are trained in high-need subjects for high-need schools.

PROJECT ABSTRACT

This project will unite science education researchers and education policy researchers in the common task of exploring approaches for identifying, analyzing and addressing shared problems in order to catalyze research in the area of science education policy. The focus of the proposed conference will be on two major policy issues:
--Models of teacher preparation and their impact on policies regarding
teacher certification and professional development, and
--Articulating common standards--fewer, clearer, higher--for both generalist science education and career-oriented science education.
About 40 experienced, influential science educations researchers and education policy researchers will be invited to this conference, along with about 10 promising, new science education researchers. The conference will be organized not only to provide fruitful discussions about the science education policy research that exists, but to maximize opportunities to develop productive collaborations for the science education policy research that is needed.

Although science education research has been relatively effective in developing theories of science teaching, learning, and assessment and in studying how these theories play out in classrooms, the effects on science education is small in scale, and there has been little influence on policymaking. On the other hand, while general education policy research may address more directly the reform challenges faced by policymakers, schools, and school systems, such research rarely addresses issues of specific concern to science teaching and learning. This conference will bring together policy actors, policy analysts, scientists, and science educators. The discussion among these four expert groups should lead to collaborations that build the capacity for the improvement of science education through informed policy.

1027553
Christofides

Optimal operation and management of abnormal situations are major challenges in the process industries since, for example, abnormal situations account for at least $10 billion in annual lost revenue in the US alone. This realization has motivated significant research in the area of process control to ensure safe and efficient process operation. Traditionally, control systems rely on centralized control architectures utilizing dedicated, wired links to measurement sensors and control actuators to regulate appropriate process variables at desired values. While this paradigm to process control has been successful, when the number of the process state variables, manipulated inputs and measurements in a chemical plant becomes large - a common occurrence in modern plants -, the computational time needed for the solution of the centralized control problem may increase significantly and may impede the ability of centralized control systems (particularly when nonlinear constrained optimization-based control systems like model predictive control-MPC are used), to carry out real-time calculations within the limits set by process dynamics and operating conditions. One feasible alternative to overcome this problem is to utilize cooperative, distributed control architectures in which the manipulated inputs are computed by solving more than one control (optimization) problem in separate processors in a coordinated fashion. However, the rigorous design of cooperative, distributed control architectures for nonlinear processes is a challenging task that cannot be addressed with traditional process control methods dealing with the design of centralized control systems. To design cooperative, distributed control systems, key fundamental issues that need to be addressed include the design of the individual control systems and of their communication strategy so that they efficiently cooperate in achieving the closed-loop plant objectives, as well as the development of efficient strategies for fault detection, isolation and management.

Intellectual Merit

Motivated by the above considerations, the objective of this research program is to develop the theory and methods needed for the design and monitoring of cooperative, distributed control systems for large-scale nonlinear processes and demonstrate their application and effectiveness in the context of process systems of industrial importance. Rigorous methods and architectures will be developed for the design of cooperative, distributed control systems accounting explicitly for the effect of asynchronous and delayed measurements, and novel monitoring and reconfigurable fault-tolerant control strategies will be developed to deal with actuator/sensor/controller failures. Specifically, the research projects include:
1) Design of cooperative, distributed control systems for nonlinear processes using Lyapunov-based model predictive control techniques; control system architecture, model uncertainty and state estimation issues will be explicitly addressed,
2) Design of fault-detection and isolation systems for cooperative, distributed control systems,
3) Development of reconfigurable fault-tolerant control strategies accounting explicitly for stability, performance and robustness considerations, and
4) Applications to simulated and lab-scale process systems of importance to chemical and water industries.

Broader Impact

The development of cooperative, distributed control system design and monitoring methods for large-scale nonlinear processes is expected to significantly improve the operation and performance of chemical processes, increase process safety and reliability, and minimize the negative economic impact of process failures, thereby impacting directly the US economy. The integration of the research results into advanced-level classes in process control and operations and the writing of a new book on ?Fault-Tolerant Process Control? will benefit students and researchers in the field. The development of software, short courses and workshops and the on-going participation in the Abnormal Situation Management (ASM) Consortium will be the means for transferring the results of this research into the industrial sector. Furthermore, the involvement of a diverse group of undergraduate and graduate students in the research through participation in the Center for Engineering Education and Diversity (CEED) at UCLA, and outreach to the California State Polytechnic University in Pomona by offering summer internships to highly-qualified students, will be pursued. Finally, the research will benefit from and contribute to educational initiatives and innovations on the UCLA campus in the area of information technology directed by the co-PI.

With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program and the Chemistry Division, Alexandra C. Stenson and colleagues Norris W. Hoffman, James H. Davis and Scott A. Miller from University of South Alabama will acquire an ion trap mass spectrometer. The instrument will enhance research efforts: a) to make in-roads in the structural characterization of natural compounds of geo and marine chemical importance, b) to improve and enhance CO2 capture by ionic liquids, c) to develop expanded passenger- and cargo-screening capabilities for explosives, d) to determine the original use for ancient pottery through analysis of organic residues left behind, e) to improve current synthetic catalysts and develop new ones, f) to develop/lay the groundwork for new pharmaceutical scaffolds, g) to aid the regulation of insect lures and traps for agricultural use, and, h) to improve selectivity in common HPLC columns and/or enhance the predictability of this selectivity.

Mass spectrometers (MS) are used to identify the chemical composition of a sample by measuring the mass of the molecular constituents in the sample after they are ionized and detected by the mass spectrometer. The ion trap is a particular design for the mass analyzer that separates the ions for subsequent identification at the detector. Undergraduates in several departments at the University will be trained in this widely employed analysis technique as they use it in their research projects and in laboratory courses.

This collaborative research effort is integrating seismological, geodetic, and geological information from EarthScope to investigate hypotheses regarding the present-day structure and evolution of the Great Basin region of the western United States. Initial discoveries enabled by the EarthScope program and prototype studies in this region have led to new and potentially related hypotheses that echo prominent research themes in observational and theoretical dynamics of the continents and their margins: (1) the evolution and control of subducting slabs on the mantle flow field, (2) the stability of the lower lithosphere against convective loss, and (3) the nature and extent of subhorizontal decoupling horizons within the lithosphere. The primary motivation for the current is the need to reconcile recent geophysical, geodetic, and geological findings in the Great Basin region directly related to these themes. Beneath the central Great Basin, seismic imaging reveals a cylindrical mass of higher than average wavespeeds east of the actively subducting Juan de Fuca plate near the zone of weakest azimuthal anisotropy in the western United States, along with a swirl-like pattern of fast polarization directions. When considered with other regional geophysical and geologic patterns, hypotheses that may explain these observations include mantle flow around a lithospheric keel, toroidal flow driven by the sinking of the Juan de Fuca slab, mantle downwelling driven by a lithospheric drip, and a number of other possibilities. Recent geodetic data for the Great Basin reveal transient changes in geodetic velocities, which when considered with other local geologic patterns, are consistent with the hypothesis that an active decoupling horizon exists, perhaps localized along the Moho or some other deep decoupling zone beneath the Great Basin. Further, relative to a dynamic model that matches Quaternary rates and orientations of deformation, a time-averaged strain rate solution obtained from campaign and continuous GPS shows a contractional dilatation anomaly in the same vicinity as the geodetic and seismic anomalies.
The collocation of such a broad range of geophysical, geodetic, and geologic anomalies beneath the broadly extending Great Basin is unlikely to be coincidental, yet combined they defy conventional models of a classic extensional tectonic regime like the Great Basin. Understanding the relationship between these processes through a comprehensive series of hypothesis testing can transform our general insight of lithospheric dynamics. This project is focused on conducting a comprehensive suite of new investigations to test hypotheses focused on linkages between mantle flow, lithospheric decoupling, and lithospheric destabilization for the Great Basin region. This effort is utilizing new results developed through analyses of EarthScope USArray Transportable Array (TA), EarthScope Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO), and EarthScope Geology data. Specific datasets include seismic imaging (tomography, anisotropy, and receiver functions), continuous GPS, seismotectonics, and patterns of historic and late Quaternary seismic strain release in the upper crust. Results from these analyses will provide the required data for a series of new 3-D and 4-D numerical models developed within this project. This research is inherently integrative, and thus constitutes an important opportunity to combine results from different components of the EarthScope program for a tectonic setting that historically is among the best known and most enigmatic in the world.
From a broader impacts perspective, this project represents a new multidisciplinary effort combining four separate Earth science disciplines to draw recent EarthScope-enabled discoveries into a holistic view of Great Basin evolution. Data collected and analyzed for this project will be distributed publicly to the scientific community. The project is enabling the training of several young scientists in multidisciplinary research. The PIs are coordinating with the EarthScope National Office and IRIS to provide findings and discoveries from this project in several forms, including an IRIS Active Earth module that looks into the Basin and Range from the surface through the upper mantle and will serve as an illustration of how continental-scale tectonic forces shape present-day surface deformation and deeper dynamics.

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This proposal requests funding for a high accuracy, gravimetric analyzer which will be used as a key part of a larger mission to study and understand the gas-sorption behavior of two classes of ionic liquids: CO2-absorbing ionic liquids and anesthetic gas-absorbing ionic liquids. They are focusing on the design, synthesis and characterization of these classes of ionic liquids for gas absorption with the goal of eventually developing them into practical separation agents. The approach is to design these compounds using their expertise in thermodynamics and organic chemistry. They will use computational methods to screen a preliminary library of prospective compounds for high gas solubility, from which they will synthesize promising candidates. Once synthesized, these compounds will be characterized in terms of their equilibrium, kinetic and thermal properties of absorption for a variety of gases and vapors. These analyses, along with existing measurement capabilities, including thermal (DSC), density and viscosity measurements, will provide the necessary data to determine which compounds are good candidates for practical use.

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. Primary support for the subproject and the subproject's principal investigator may have been provided by other sources, including other NIH sources. The Total Cost listed for the subproject likely represents the estimated amount of Center infrastructure utilized by the subproject, not direct funding provided by the NCRR grant to the subproject or subproject staff. Since the beginning of RMATRIX the Research Design and Biostatistics function has focused on continuing support for ongoing studies, extending the range of investigators supported, offering courses and other educational opportunities, and building its functional capacity. To build capacity the function has recruited three Ph.D. biostatisticians who will be joining RMATRIX in the coming months. Dr. John Chen will be coming from Stonybrook in July to lead the biostatistics core. Projects ongoing at the start of RMATRIX have continued to receive support, and a wider range of investigators with new projects have received help upon request. The Research Design and Biostatistics function has provided assistance with seven research proposals submitted for federal funding. The function has performed data analysis for research studies related to all six of the RMATIX health initiative priorities. Investigators have received support from across the University of Hawaii: from the School of Medicine, the School of Nursing, the Office of Public Health, the Department of Human Nutrition, and the School of Pharmacy. The Research Design &Biostatistics function has supported the Multidisciplinary Research, Education, Training and Career development function by offering introductory and advanced biostatistics courses to students pursuing Master's and Ph.D. degrees in clinical research. Students also receive help with design and analysis issues related to their research projects. In addition, a new, non-degree course is being developed for a lay-audience on comparative effectiveness research. With increasing capacity the Research Design and Biostatistics function will expand its research support and educational activities in the future. Research Design and Biostatistic

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Introduction: This new class of Ionic Liquids (ILs) can potentially create a new, rapid means of separating biomolecules such as proteins that is faster than chromatography and other well established methods. This is also a major advance in that the new ILs should provide a platform to investigate enzyme catalyzed reactions in ionic liquids and should serve as model systems for cell membranes for thermodynamic and transport processes. The development of these new ILs could result in more environmentally benign and economical processes.

Intellectual Merit: Ionic liquids (ILs) are organic salts, which are liquids at temperatures below 100°C. They are a unique class of compounds that are essentially non-volatile and have highly tunable properties. As one might expect, ionic liquids typically exhibit the same solvent characteristics as polar molecular solvents, readily dissolving moderately-polar and polar solutes (like-dissolves-like) but often being poor solvents for non-polar compounds. This limits the applicability of ILs for chemical reactions and separations processes that involve non-polar compounds, including those of biological origin such as fatty acids and cholesterol. We have developed a new class of ILs that contains long alkyl chains, incorporated to impart non-polar-like solvent properties, which remain room temperature liquids. Typically, ILs with long alkyl chains remain solids at room temperature due to the enhanced interactions created by the long chains; however, our recent work has overcome this problem. We accomplished this by taking cues from biological systems, i.e. the manner in which certain organisms regulate membrane fluidity in colder temperatures by including unsaturation in the alkyl chains of phospholipids. Like these ionic liquids, phospholipids are charged species with long alkyl chains. In this work we propose to study the thermophysical behavior of these ILs as pure components and in binary mixtures with non-polar solutes to examine how they may be used in separations processes in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries.

Having demonstrated this phenomenon in a recent publication, we now propose to study the thermophysical properties of an expanded set of non-polar-like room temperature ionic liquids and to study the solvent and solution thermodynamic properties of the entire class of species. We hypothesize that incorporating these long non-polar alkyl chains, while maintaining low melting points, will result in ILs that can exhibit non-polar-like solvent properties and potentially have the capability to separate non-polar solutes based on the sizes and shapes of the non-polar domains present in the liquid. Such ionic liquids would open the door to new areas of research including more environmentally benign and economical processes involving non-polar molecules that are currently not possible due to solubility limitations. Additionally, we anticipate that these ionic liquids will provide a platform for researchers to investigate a broader class of enzyme catalyzed reactions in ionic liquids, and they may serve as excellent model systems for cell membranes for thermodynamic and transport processes. At the University of South Alabama, we have pioneered the development of several novel classes of ionic liquids including Brønsted acidic ILs and Lewis basic ILs that chemically capture CO2, which have been licensed for commercial production and sale. With the recently initiated collaboration between the departments of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering and Chemistry, we are well equipped to advance our research to the next level.

Broader Impacts:

As ILs are essentially non-volatile, as compared to volatile molecular solvents, technologies enabled by the development of these new species will result in more environmentally benign processes. Also, this work constitutes a new line of research at the University of South Alabama that stems from the collaboration between Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering and Chemistry and will enhance interdisciplinary efforts in this direction. Coupling the engineering component to the in-place expertise in synthesis will enable us to be more internationally competitive. Also, with these molecules sufficiently characterized, researchers around the world will have access to a novel and scientifically rich resource currently absent from the possibilities offered by ILs.

The undergraduate and graduate research students will be directly involved in conducting this research and will benefit from the cross-disciplinary training as they work as a unified team. The project will be incorporated into pedagogy as research activities are integrated into the undergraduate and graduate curricula. Because USA is an EPSCoR state institution serving many students in the greater Gulf Coast region from historically underrepresented groups, this project will allow those students who have not traditionally had access to this level of technological sophistication to actively participate in research. Additionally, the outreach effort (YouTube videos with downloadable classroom content) stemming from this work will help demonstrate the societal value of science and engineering to K-12 students, and motivate them to engage in careers in STEM related fields.

This Project establishes a live OpenFlow (OF) test bed on the UCLA campus, which researchers in different disciplines will use to run experiments requiring high volume data exchange, intense processing, and/or seamless mobility as a production level service on the campus network. UCLA will link the campus OF network to national OF fabrics via the regional CENIC OF network. This pilot deployment will support four key applications from the domains of eScience, GENI and smart transportation, health care, and manufacturing. The campus implementation support the above applications will consist of a 10Gbps OF-enabled hub switch connected to CENIC and multiple second-tier OF switches associated with the four projects.

Although software-defined networking (SDN) technologies are currently being widely discussed and are key elements in the GENI architecture, there is little operational or campus-level architectural experience with using them. The project will explore the issues associated with deploying SDNs and connecting them to real-time information sources. The work will rework current UCLA network engineering practice where extensive hardware reconfiguration is required to support the sophisticated processing and efficient storage of data by several of the research centers. Flexible reconfiguration is a new paradigm for campus networks. The PIs will report on their experience in technical papers. Travel budget is included for presentation of findings at the GENI Engineering Conferences.


Broader Impact:
This project will provide an opportunity to gain experience with architectural, deployment, administrative and operational issues of OpenFlow in campus networks and will disseminate the findings via GENI Engineering Conferences. The project will provide opportunities for undergraduate students to work with advanced networking technologies. Societal impacts outside of the campus will include the work on vehicular traffic monitoring, health monitoring for mobile patients and support for improved manufacturing practices.

This project examines various aspects of the topology of manifolds: their classification, their bundles, and their symmetries. The project will focus on six areas. The first is to give a systematic approach to topological equivariant rigidity, using tools from surgery theory, algebraic K-and L-theory, and the Farrell-Jones Conjecture. The second is to study characteristics classes of matroid bundles (defined by Anderson and Davis) and to apply them to combinatorial incidence geometry. The third area is to investigate a rigidity conjecture involving self-homotopy equivalences of 3-manifolds and its connections with high-dimensional topology. The fourth area is to give the the classification, up to homeomorphism, of manifolds having the homotopy type of the total space of certain torus bundles over lens spaces. This is an application of the Farrell-Jones Conjecture. The fifth area is to compute the L-groups of a free product of groups, and thereby solve the connected sum problem - when is a manifold which is homotopy equivalent to a connected sum itself a connected sum. The last area is to study the algebraic and point-set topology of actions of p-groups on the torus from the point of view of homotopical group actions and Smith theory.

Geometric topology is the study of manifolds. An n-dimensional manifold is a set of points locally modeled on n-dimensional Euclidean space. For instance, a 2-manifold is a surface and looks like a plane near each point. Many physical phenomenon are represented by manifolds, and as such, understanding the global structure of a manifold, and what possible manifolds exist, is fundamental to the sciences, as well as to mathematics. Manifold theory connects with most areas of mathematics, as well as with physical phenomena such as cosmology, string theory, and classical and quantum mechanics. To understand and classify manifold one uses a variety of tools including algebraic topology, bundle theory, and differential geometry.

Intellectual Merit: This symposium will convene researchers in education and the social sciences with practicing STEM professionals to review, explore, and respond to research on identity factors linked to minority male success in science and mathematics. The following topics will be addressed: (1) the impact of minority male gender identity on interest and engagement in science and mathematics, with particular interest in how conceptions of manhood and masculinity are relevant; (2) gender role socialization and implications for teaching and learning of science and mathematics content for minority men and boys; (3) institutional and organizational models and programs (e.g., school design, same-sex classroom) and pathways that influence minority men and boys' interest and entry into science and math majors and careers; and (4) shared interests and goals (e.g., evidence-based initiatives), and collaboration opportunities for researchers and STEM practitioners.

Broader Impacts: This symposium will serve as a catalyst for focusing on and developing a knowledge base around the educational opportunities and challenges of many minority men and boys. Manuscripts from the symposium will be distributed in a special issue of a major journal focusing on minority men and boys in math and science, as well as through an edited book with national distribution. The symposium will be a significant forum to inspire collaborations and networks among similarly interested researchers and STEM practitioners to potentially development future NSF research grant proposals.

Mantle viscosity plays a fundamental role in the long-term evolution of Earth, controlling cooling of its interior, convective flow in its mantle (which drives plate tectonics), and the stability of its rotation axis. Knowledge of mantle viscosity is also crucial for modeling the long-term changes in Earth?s shape known as Glacial Isostatic Adjustment, or postglacial rebound. These changes are associated with Earth?s glacial cycles, and accurate estimates of mantle viscosity appear to be key to resolving a number of ongoing debates in climate research. Our knowledge of the viscosity of the mantle, though, is highly uncertain, since Earth?s interior cannot be directly observed, but only probed indirectly through observations at its surface. Two of our most useful tools for this are seismology, which provides high-resolution information regarding important material boundaries in the interior of the Earth, and geodesy, which provides observations relating to postglacial rebound, such as crustal deformation, variations in sea-level and gravity, and changes in Earth?s spin axis.

The project will combine seismic models and geodetic observations to estimate parameters of an Earth model that includes composition, temperature, degree of melt, and other thermodynamic and compositional parameters. By using seismological models and geodetic observations simultaneously, the project can potentially take advantage of the best resolving power and sensitivities of both observational techniques to determine a model, unified in the sense of fitting both types of observations. The primary question to be addressed in this project is how feasible (in terms of capability for constraining multiple parameters of the Earth model) such an approach is. Along with state-of-the-art seismic and geodetic information, the project will employ recently developed methodology for calculating rheological properties across the broad spectrum of time scales relevant to geophysics, from seismic wave frequencies to strain rates associated with plate tectonics. This study will lead to preliminary three-dimensional models for mantle rheological parameters based on seismic models, and to consistent estimates of deformation, gravity, and sea level change associated with postglacial rebound; these will lead to an improved understanding of mantle convection and the impact of long-term climate change on the solid Earth.

1321470 (Davis). Smart Manufacturing (SM) is integrating network-based data and information that comprises the real-time understanding, reasoning, planning and management of all aspects of a manufacturing and supply chain enterprise. SM is facilitated through use of advanced sensor-based data analytics, modeling and simulation in real-time. SM is about game-changing potential to energize innovation, address productivity, achieve new and structurally different performance goals, and drive the competitive advantage of investments in plant assets. Unfortunately, a cost effective infrastructure to integrate real-time manufacturing intelligence and active management across the control systems of an entire production operation does not exist today. This is the ultimate aim of the Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition (SMLC). SMLC has been formed around a set of goals that no one company can accomplish alone. SMLC enables stakeholders in the smart manufacturing industry to form collaborative R & D, implementation and advocacy teams for development of the approaches, standards, platforms and shared infrastructure that facilitate the broad utilization of manufacturing intelligence. The SMLC is a non-profit organization committed to overcome barriers to the development and deployment of SM Systems through development of a shared infrastructure called the Smart Manufacturing Platform (SM Platform). SMLC activities are built around joint industry and university-driven development, application and scaling of a shared infrastructure that will achieve transformational economic-wide impact, manufacturing innovation and global competitiveness. SMLC supports the manufacturing industry through pursuing a comprehensive technology that no one company can undertake. Without a modern industrial infrastructure, adoption of SM systems is not economically viable. Process control and automation systems implemented in a piecemeal fashion will continue to limit innovation and capability. SMLC will build the business, interoperability and technology models, demonstrations, infrastructure, and project teams across multiple industry segments. Through the SM Platform, SMLC will help companies address manufacturing-related challenges across the automotive, food, military, materials, chemical, oil and gas, refining, pharmaceutical, information technology, process control and automation industries. SMLC also supports collaborative research, development and commercialization. Education and workforce training resources for smart manufacturing will be developed for universities, technology schools, and small and medium manufacturers.

The conference "Workshop on High Dimensional Topology" will be held at the University of Notre Dame on December 7 and 8, 2012. The core problem in high dimensional topology is the classification of manifolds through the technique of surgery theory. This involves techniques from a wide spectrum of mathematics, including algebra, algebraic topology, differential geometry, analysis, and geometric group theory. A key theme is topological rigidity, especially the Borel conjecture and related topics such as equivariant rigidity and the Farrell-Jones Conjecture.

The conference will feature cutting-edge lectures from mathematicians in the field. One of the talks in the conference will survey the work of Frank Connolly, one of the leading experts in the field. There have been several conferences recently in Europe on high dimensional topology, but a conspicuous lack of domestic conferences. The workshop will give the opportunity for professional mathematicians and graduate studies to discuss current developments.

The conference website can be found at
http://mypage.iu.edu/~qkhan/conference/

Industrial inspection, law enforcement, and museum preservation professionals all need to capture digital representations of real objects. These digital representations are later used for evidence and analysis that allows more efficient product manufacturing, faster criminal investigations, and preservation of priceless cultural objects. Existing cameras can capture a single view under a single lighting condition, and 3D scanners can capture the shape, but existing devices do not capture the surface reflectance properties.
In this proposal, the team has developed a method to capture photographs which allow the lighting to be interactively changed after they are captured. In addition, computation on the data can reveal details which are not visible to the naked eye.

A wide variety of sensors have been investigated in research labs and commercially. These include cameras that fundamentally measure light intensity, as well as depth sensors that fundamentally measure 3D object geometry. This proposal regards a related but different kind of sensor that fundamentally measures surface reflectance, how that surface reacts to light from different incident angles. This is important because the surface reflectance properties of an object may contain important information, even when the surface has no apparent detail when measured with a standard camera or depth sensor. In addition to surface reflectance, this new sensor can directly observe small changes in surface orientation which are below the noise threshold when measuring the surface shape with triangulation or time-of-flight based 3D depth sensors.

In this project, funded by the Chemical Structure, Dynamics and Mechanism B Program of the Chemistry Division, Professor James Davis and his students of the Department of Chemistry at the University of South Alabama will explore the synthesis, characterization, and properties of a new type of ionic liquids (liquid salts). The liquid salts to be investigated are expected to be highly resistant to heat and to retain their liquid character, without evaporation, decomposition, or flammability, for long periods of time. Salts of this type can, in principle, be used as substitutes for more traditional liquids in applications ranging from heat transfer fluids and high-performance lubricants to biomass processing and the synthesis of important electronic materials such as semiconductors. The project brings together elements of chemical synthesis as well as material science and engineering, and offers engaged students a broad opportunity for gaining experience from a spectrum of activities. Since the institution at which the research will take place serves a high proportion of individuals from groups underrepresented in the sciences and engineering, the present project will provide important opportunities to engage in the professional training of individuals from these communities.

Ionic liquids (ILs) are materials of considerable fundamental interest and growing practical utility. Because of their non-volatility, ionic liquids can be used in applications requiring high temperatures, such as in heat transfer, lubrication, or high-temperature materials synthesis. Although typical ILs have relatively high degrees of thermal stability, they are still incapable of being used for long durations at temperatures above 200 degrees Celsius. In the present project, ILs will be prepared using the tetraphenylphosphonium cation and derivatives thereof. Preliminary work has revealed that the former cation is stable to temperatures in excess of 300 degrees Celsius for days without decomposition or evaporation. Building on these findings, the mechanism by which thermal decomposition eventually does occur will be studied, and that knowledge will be harnessed to create salts of still higher thermal stability. In addition to creating new molten salts of high thermal stability, the use of these liquids in facilitating the rapid pyrolysis of biomass (for production of bio-oil) and in the thermal synthesis of electronically important materials such as ZnS and CdSe will be investigated.

The overarching aim of Project-2 is the completion of an observational study (n = 3000) designed to test the P50-developed adaptive pharmacotherapy algorithm within the ?Translational Smoking Cessation Program? (TSCP). During the past four years of P50 funding we have developed a pharmacotherapy ?Algorithm? that uses response to nicotine ?Test-Patch,? together with dependence testing, to allocate smokers to specific pharmacotherapies. Aim 1. The study will randomize 30 Duke University clinics participating in the Translational Smoking Cessation Program (TSCP) to Algorithm-based pharmacotherapy or Varenicline. After recruitment of 1500 (50%) subjects, the randomization status of clinics will be reversed (crossover design), allowing for control of both clinic effects and order effects. We hypothesize 1) that smokers treated in the TSCP with Algorithm-based pharmacotherapy vs. Varenicline will show significantly higher biochemically confirmed 12-week post-quit 30-day continuous abstinence (primary study outcome), and 2) that Algorithm-based pharmacotherapy compared to Varenicline will show significantly higher self-reported abstinence at 26- and 52-week post-quit. Aim 2. We hypothesize 1) that medication non-adherence will be significantly lower in Algorithm vs. Varenicline treatment group, 2) that these differences will be greatest among low-income subjects, and 3) that within the Patch Non-Responder Algorithm arms, abstinence rates will be higher among subjects opting for the High- vs. Low-Intensity Behavioral Intervention. Aim 3. We hypothesize 1) that a prospective economic analysis of Algorithm vs. Varenicline-based pharmacotherapy will show significant improvement in cost-benefit outcomes from the perspective of smokers, healthcare systems, insurance companies, and employers and 2) that of TSCP implementation and operations will show favorable cost- benefit outcomes for long-term operation.

PI: Davis, James F.
Proposal #: 1523237

In October 2014, the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) released the report of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP) 2.0 Committee entitled, "Advancing U.S. Advance Manufacturing". The report motivates next generation advanced manufacturing focusing on enabling innovation, securing the talent pipeline and improving the business climate for U.S. growth and competitiveness. The report further identifies and recommends the alignment of efforts and resources to address next generation advanced manufacturing IT infrastructure technologies critical to U.S. competitiveness, encompassing growth, dynamic performance, energy and material usage, environmental sustainability and zero incidents.

Advanced Sensing, Control and Platforms for Manufacturing (ASCPM) and Visualization, Informatics and Digital Manufacturing Technologies (VIDM) were established as comprehensive technology priorities. This workshop will emphasize the real-time sensing, control, platform and human systems models and cyber technologies, i.e. ASCPM, important to the actual manufacturing process and how these are mutually linked with digital design and manufacturing, i.e. VIDM. The workshop will bring together research and industrial experts from a cross section of continuous, batch, discrete and hybrid manufacturing structure interests who are also involved in the application of real-time enterprise smart and digital manufacturing technologies including real-time process management and control, simulation and modeling and data analysis and supply chain management, product and production design and optimization, An important objective is to understand how these interlinked cyber technologies are appropriately balanced and integrated for process and discrete product industry applications with a view toward next generation manufacturing technology trends. Invited speakers with expertise in advanced sensor, control, platform, automation and design systems across manufacturing structures will set the stage for a workshop that will develop priorities about the intersection of these technologies from research, development and delivery viewpoints. The workshop will focus on ASCPM and VIDM modeling, and summarize SM Platform integration and scaling of modeling and operational deployment to stimulate thinking within and across the areas of Smart and Manufacturing. The workshop will motivate next generation advanced manufacturing that focuses on enabling innovation, securing the talent pipeline and improving the business climate for U.S. growth and competitiveness through uncovering how these interlinked cyber technologies are appropriately balanced and integrated for process and discrete product industry applications.

Award: DMS 1615056, Principal Investigator: James F. Davis

Major branches of theoretical mathematics include topology, algebra, geometry, analysis, and combinatorics. This project weaves these various threads together. The major focus is the study of manifolds, which are sets of points locally modeled on Euclidean space. Sample manifolds in dimension 2 are given by a plane, the surface of a torus, and the surface of a sphere. However manifolds exist in all dimensions, and their consideration leads to a rich variety of examples and uses a rich variety of tools. This project focuses on manifolds which are analytically simple but topologically complex. The connection between the disparate fields mentioned above means that one can use topology as a oracle, producing interesting questions, examples, and research in other areas of theoretical mathematics. Manifold theory connects with most areas of mathematics, as well as physical phenomena such as cosmology, string theory, and classical and quantum mechanics.

The principal investigator proposes six projects. The first is the bordism of L2-acyclic manifolds. This connects with low-dimensional topology (knot concordance), with algebra (Hilberts 17th problem and the Witt group of function fields), with high-dimensional topology (a new form of surgery theory), and analysis (amenable groups and L2-betti numbers). The second gives a systematic approach to topological equivariant rigidity, using tools from surgery theory, stratified spaces, algebraic K-and L-theory, and the Farrell-Jones Conjecture. The third is to study and apply combinatorial characteristic classes based on oriented matroids. The fourth is the Nielsen Realization question, where progress in now possible due to the Farrell-Jones conjecture and the understanding of manifolds whose fundamental groups are infinite with torsion. The fifth is foundational work in algebraic L-theory, in particular the computation of the L-theory of the polynomial ring in n variables with integral coefficients and the group ring of a free product of groups. The sixth is to study Brieskorn manifolds produced by algebraic geometry, and, in turn, to use algebraic geometry to study these manifolds. These problems are all interrelated with each other; the basic theme being classification of manifolds, their bundles, and their symmetries.

This award provides partial support towards the travel of US-based early-career mathematicians to the "Summer School on Surgery and the Classification of Manifolds" held at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on July 18-22, 2016. This international event is sponsored by the Pacific Institute of Mathematical Sciences (PIMS) Collaborative Research Group (CRG) in Applied, Algebraic, and Geometric Topology. Manifolds are geometric objects that locally resemble flat space. For example, the surface of a doughnut is a two-dimensional manifold called a torus. The technique of surgery, which involves cutting and pasting pieces of manifolds, allows a transition from questions in geometry to quantifiable and easier questions in algebra. The technique of surgery is a central area of mathematics, but it is quite difficult to learn because it draws on many other areas. This summer school is an educational outreach program designed to make the techniques of surgery and manifold topology accessible to a wide range of graduate students and junior mathematicians. The program includes lectures by experts, mini-lectures by participants on background topics, and exercise sessions mentored by experts. Graduate students, junior faculty, women, minorities, and persons with disabilities are especially encouraged to participate and to apply for support.

Classification of manifolds is a central area of geometric topology and intersects with many other fields, including analysis, geometry, algebra, and group theory. This summer school aims to stimulate education and research in classification of manifolds and related areas of mathematics. Participants will have diverse mathematical backgrounds, with knowledge in geometric topology, algebraic topology, geometric group theory, differential geometry, and geometric functional analysis. Depending on interest, participants will have different take-aways from the summer school. A geometric topologist may learn about handle analysis and the specifics of the topology of manifolds. An algebraic topologist might learn about how classifying spaces, generalized (co)homology theories, and algebraic K-theory are used in practice. A geometer might learn about metrics of positive scalar curvature and tools for the topological classification of manifolds with geometric structure. A geometric group theorist might learn about applications of (co)homology of groups and large scale geometry. A geometric functional analyst would learn about a world parallel to that of C*-algebras and noncommutative geometry. The website of the summer school is http://www.pims.math.ca/scientific-event/160718-ssscm

PROJECT SUMMARY Candidate. My career goal is to improve the detection and management options for disseminated infectious diseases through investigation of host-microbe interactions. I plan to pursue this with a tenure-track appointment as junior faculty with significant protected time for basic research. In the short term, my goal is to broaden my skills as an investigator and build the foundation for my transition to independent research. The education aspects of this proposal center around experimental mycology and gene expression analysis, new skills which will enable me to improve our understanding of disseminated fungal infections from both host and pathogen perspectives. Research. Cryptococcal meningoencephalitis is a devastating disease most common in the immunocompromised, such as AIDS or transplant patients. The brain infection is very difficult to treat and can occur months or even years after the initial exposure?often an unnoticed pulmonary infection. Thus, the fungus is thought to exist in a quiescent state for long periods in healthy individuals, and while in this state does not appear to be susceptible to antifungal treatment. A better understanding of the quiescent state, how it is initiated and maintained, should provide us with better detection and management tools and give us the chance to manage this quiescent infection before it causes a deadly disease. The zebrafish larva as a model host allows direct monitoring of microbial pathogenesis in vivo. In contrast to findings in cell culture models, in the zebrafish we find that inoculated Cryptococcus can have multiple fates, including clearance, replication and dissemination, or quiescence within phagocytes. This quiescent state, which can last for as long as long as the larva is viable, is common after spore infection but rare when larvae are inoculated with the yeast form. I will use spore infection as a model for early quiescent infection. The proposed experiments are designed to define the features of the host response that allow for persistence, and to define the state of cryptococcal cells that induce this response. Career Development Plan. During the proposed research period, my primary goal will be to carry forward my previous work in innate immunity to cryptococcal infection while adding considerations of fungal biology to my approach to the disease. I will also obtain new training in gene expression analysis, biostatistics and fungal biology through mentoring, hands-on bench research and didactic learning. Along with this I plan to develop new skills in leadership, mentoring and management to enable my transition to independence. I plan to coordinate my research and training activities to build toward a successful R01 application in the fourth year of the award. Environment. I will be well supported in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The institution is replete with a scientific and medical faculty of diverse backgrounds and interests, and the infrastructure for computing, biotechnology, laboratory animal care and microscopy are excellent.

The Planning Grants for Engineering Research Centers competition was run as a pilot solicitation within the ERC program. Planning grants are not required as part of the full ERC competition, but intended to build capacity among teams to plan for convergent, center-scale engineering research.

As the current economic landscape stands, there are product designs and associated manufacturing processes that can only be completed with human involvement. If a path towards better integration of the human mind and machine to the emerging smart manufacturing network is properly envisioned, then the resultant new human-integrated manufacturing and control systems will improve productivity, quality, and most importantly employee satisfaction, increasing the adoptability and success of such smart systems. This planning grant explores research and development needs inspired by the symbiotic convergence of humans and machines in autonomous systems, and in particular how that relationship will require change in technical, educational, diversity and innovation issues in the coming decades. These questions have been initially motivated by considering "What is the role of the human in digitally intensive automated world?", particularly in the relationships between man and machine in industrial environments. These questions inform the future of human-automation interaction, and the answers are expected to be based in research converging across disciplines to considers issues of interconnectivity, emotion, teamwork, self-edification and the need to meet other higher-order human needs in human interaction with autonomous systems. This project will explore how humans exchange information with and interpret autonomous systems in functionally-engineered environments and the emergent behaviors that result, with the goal of clarifying challenges and enabling technology needs as the basis for a convergent research-based Engineering Research Center. The activities would specifically explore the concepts of interfaced systems of automated and human elements, with consideration of the symbiosis of man-machine interactions and interfaces, particularly at the interfaces that couple complex systems, the information that flows through them, and how such concepts apply to the future of work. The growth of digitally-intensive industrial automation environments and the needs of decision-makers to augment them and be augmented by them is an issue that is redefining the industrial landscape as we know it. The further interaction of emergent and intelligent system technologies motivates a rethinking of this system of systems, and how they interface and exchange information. There is great uncertainty about the roles machines and humans will play in the future, with people in some cases today displaying ignorance, apathy, or even derisiveness for being threatened by the digital environment expansion (particularly for manufacturing, where intelligent systems could displace wide economic activities that underlie people's place and perception). This planning grant will convene academic researchers, industrial leaders, workers, and education stakeholders to consider the above questions, and to envision the structure, governance, operation and activities of an NSF ERC that addresses the interfaces between the coupling of large networks of complex, nonlinear and uncertain cyberphysical systems in order to satisfy human needs.

The project will result in a better understanding of how higher-order human needs can be effectively considered in the design of synergistic human-automated manufacturing systems. Elucidation of the research challenges underlying: design-motivated manufacturing processes, information flow between humans and autonomous systems, and production control with consideration for human integration will be critical in order for society to rethink the incremental steps leading the current digital manufacturing evolution, in order to identify which concepts when properly understood will usher in a smarter, system-level revolution that embraces the relationship of people to the digital domain, and addresses the complex interfaces of such a system. This targeted movement in research frontiers embodies three of the NSF 10 Big Ideas: Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier, Harnessing Data for 21st Century, and Growing Convergent Research. A center-based concept is envisioned to focus on such convergent issues surrounding the integration of people and technologies in a smart manufacturing world; this is warranted as the research thrusts are heavily interdisciplinary; it is expected that collaborations will encompass social sciences (Psychology, Sociology), Learning Sciences, Life Sciences (Biology, Neurology), Engineering, Computing, and others.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

The Workshop on Aligning AI and U.S. Advanced Manufacturing Competitiveness will convene the advanced manufacturing research and practitioner communities, relevant companies, federal agencies and national laboratories and the Manufacturing USA Institutes and experts in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) applications, information technology, and computer science to comprehensively assess the role of AI in manufacturing competitiveness. The workshop, held under the auspices of the Subcommittee on Advanced Manufacturing and the Subcommittee on Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence of the National Science and Technology Council, seizes on a moment of opportunity that results from the converging effects of the accelerating digital transformation of the global manufacturing industry, major global competitiveness drivers for both advanced manufacturing and AI/ML, and the sustained impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on manufacturing supply chains. When taken together, there emerges a need to: accelerate a U.S. manufacturing consensus on resilient manufacturing as a priority, address how the digital transformation of manufacturing shapes and is shaped by that transformation, and focus national attention on AI/ML technologies in the context of the nation?s manufacturing priorities.

The workshop will be a professionally-managed, virtual teleconference that will emphasize the following manufacturing priorities related to digitalization: manufacturing ecosystem and supply chain restructuring, connectedness, visibility, interoperability, and agility in preparing for and responding to global and national disruptions; greater performance and precision in advanced process and machine operations as key assets in resilient manufacturing ecosystems; a safe and healthy, broadly-skilled, and data-savvy workforce that can be more flexibly deployed; and industry data flow and exchange, cyber opportunity, and national cyber and data security. The workshop will generate a cross-stakeholder consensus on what roles AI has and can have in improving U.S. manufacturing competitiveness and promoting collaboration by the advanced manufacturing and AI/ML research communities in formulating a national strategy that encompasses the workforce, technology and implementation.

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.

In this collaborative research, funded by the Chemical Structure, Dynamics & Mechanisms B Program of the Chemistry Division, James Davis of the Department of Chemistry at the University of South Alabama (USA) and Paul Trulove, Tyler Cosby, David P Durkin of the Chemistry Department of the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA) will prepare and characterize a new class of liquid salts (ionic liquids), that are unique in having boron-centered cations at their core. The primary goal of this research is to investigate how the structure and composition of these boron-based ionic liquids impact key physical and chemical properties. This is vital information in that ionic liquids have the potential to serve as superior electrolytes (key battery components), and, as such, could lead to significant improvements in electrical energy storage (e.g., batteries, capacitors), synthetic electrochemistry, and the recovery of metals from electronic waste. This project synergistically ties the synthesis efforts at USA with materials characterization at USNA in a dynamic cycle to drive optimized material performance. Furthermore, this collaborative effort at undergraduate-only research institutions provides the opportunity for significant involvement of undergraduate research scientists in cutting-edge science.

This project is expected to generate a library of structurally and compositionally novel ionic liquids based upon boronium cations paired with the triflimide anion [(CF3SO2)2N-]. The initial suite of compounds will consist of salts that include cyclic, bicyclic, and acylic boronium cations. These ionic liquids will then be characterized using a battery of physicochemical techniques which will interrogate their physical, spectroscopic, thermal, ionic, and electrochemical properties. A major emphasis of this portion of the proposed work will be to elucidate the influence of specific cation molecular structure changes on the ion dynamics. The information gleaned from these studies will then, in combination with computational evaluations, be used in a feedback loop to guide the synthesis of new cation variants in order to (a) validate (or refute) the apparent relationships, and (b) guide the design of new cations with optimized properties, especially ones that may be germane to the use of these salts as electrolytes in energy devices (i.e., batteries, capacitors) and as dual solvent-electrolytes for synthetic electrochemistry and/or for the electrowinning of metals.

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.

This proposal enables low-power edge computers, such as mobile phones, drones, and Internet-of-Things devices, to benefit society. Computer vision is the technology to automatically analyze images and videos. Computer vision on these devices can keep humans safe, for example by spotting dangers in a factory or at a construction site. This project addresses two challenges that hamper practical adoption of computer vision on edge devices. The first challenge is that current computer vision approaches require powerful computers, but these computers are too far away and have long response time. This project brings the computers to the places where data is acquired. The project makes computer vision more efficient, so that visual data can be analyzed by small edge devices like phones and drones. The second challenge is that building complex software for computer vision is difficult. This project provides software engineering support for emerging computer vision technologies. As a result of addressing these two challenges, computer vision on the edge can become feasible.

Bringing computer vision (CV) to devices on the network edge is an essential component of realizing NSF's goal of distributed cyberinfrastructure. This project makes CV on the edge feasible and enables scientific and engineering innovation through improved response time, reduced need for network coverage, and decreased storage costs. This project solves two critical challenges that hinder the transition of edge-based CV into practice. (1) This project makes CV more efficient and edge-friendly. Current CV techniques (e.g., deep neural networks) assume server-class resources (such as graphics processing units, gigabytes of memory); these resources are not available at the edge. This project reduces the resource requirements needed for CV. The methods consider alternative neural network architectures and eliminate redundancies while processing visual data. This project also develops CV-specific distribution techniques to enable edge devices to collaborate on large vision tasks. (2) This project provides software engineering support for CV technologies. Solving real-world CV problems requires engineering new CV applications, often by re-implementing research model architectures as components in new designs. This project develops a library of exemplary CV model implementations for low-power platforms. These exemplars can be used as high-quality components in new CV applications. The project identifies factors that promote and inhibit the reproducibility of CV models. This project also identifies engineering best practices by surveying and interviewing experts in low-power CV and by studying their errors.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

The Symposium on the Strategy for Resilient Manufacturing Ecosystems through AI is a series of three workshops that convenes the advanced manufacturing research and practitioner communities, relevant companies, federal agencies and national laboratories and the Manufacturing USA Institutes and experts in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) applications, information technology, and computer science to comprehensively assess the role of AI in manufacturing competitiveness. The workshop series, held under the auspices of the Subcommittee on Advanced Manufacturing and the Subcommittee on Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence of the National Science and Technology Council, seizes on an accelerating convergence of the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry and the increasing power of artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The two researched workshops build on a successfully completed first Workshop on Aligning AI and U.S. Advanced Manufacturing Competitiveness and build on the report of that workshop. They will be conducted using a professionally-managed, virtual teleconference that will emphasize the four strategic priorities identified in the first workshop: AI for the Factory Floor, AI for Industry-Wide Data Sharing, AI for Discovery of Capabilities and Solutions, and AI for Building Resilient Supply Chains. The second workshop will identify R&D recommendations for AI solutions in each strategic area and determine how they integrate into an adoption cycle and the third workshop will organize R&D and implementation priorities into a national strategy in the form of primary workstreams and critical elements for advancing the adoption of AI in Advanced Manufacturing and maximizing its value for U.S. industry.

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.