Research

Groundbreaking work and published results in peer reviewed journals across disciplines.

Title

Topic

  • ‘Advanced Deposition Methods for Mixed Metal Alloys and Hydroxides as High-Performance Catalysts for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction’

    “Alkaline water and anion-exchange membrane electrolyzers are considered leading solutions for the large-scale production of hydrogen due to their lower capital costs. In recent years, numerous hydrogen evolution electrocatalysts have been developed, primarily by alloying nickel with other transition metals. Despite these advancements, stability remains a challenge due to the low intrinsic corrosion resistance of these alloys. In this work, we present an advanced synthesis method that incorporates an amorphous copper hydroxide phase within a nickel–copper alloy using a pH-trap mechanism.” Find the paper and full list of authors in ACS Catalysis.

    Learn more

    ,
  • ‘Time-Warping Analysis for Biological Signals: Methodology and Application’

    “Any set of biological signals has variability, both in the temporal and spatial domains. To extract characteristic features of the ensemble, these spatiotemporal profiles are typically summarized by their mean and variance, often requiring prior padding or resampling of the data to equalize signal length. Such compression can conceal essential information in the signal. This work presents the method of time-warping, reformulated as elastic functional data analysis (EFDA), in an accessible way.” Find the paper and full list of authors in Scientific Reports.

    Learn more

  • ‘Higher-Order Connectomics of Human Brain Function Reveals Local Topological Signatures’

    “Traditional models of human brain activity often represent it as a network of pairwise interactions between brain regions. Going beyond this limitation, recent approaches have been proposed to infer higher-order interactions from temporal brain signals involving three or more regions. However, to this day it remains unclear whether methods based on inferred higher-order interactions outperform traditional pairwise ones for the analysis of fMRI data. To address this question, we conducted a comprehensive analysis using fMRI time series of 100 unrelated subjects from the Human Connectome Project.” Find the paper and full list of authors in Nature Communications.

    Learn more

  • ‘Human Mobility Is Well Described by Closed-Form Gravity-Like Models Learned Automatically from Data’

    “Modeling human mobility is critical to address questions in urban planning, sustainability, public health, and economic development. However, our understanding and ability to model flows between urban areas are still incomplete. … Here, we show that simple machine-learned, closed-form models of mobility can predict mobility flows as accurately as complex machine learning models, and extrapolate better.” Find the paper and full list of authors in Nature Communications.

    Learn more

    ,
  • ‘Data-Driven Techniques in Rheology: Developments, Challenges and Perspective’

    “With the rapid development and adoption of different data-driven techniques in rheology, this review aims to reflect on the advent and growth of these frameworks, survey the state-of-the-art methods relevant to rheological applications, and explore potential future directions. We classify different machine learning (ML) methodologies into data-centric and physics-informed frameworks.” Find the paper and full list of authors in Current Opinion in Colloid & Interface Science.

    Learn more

  • ‘Epitaxial Strain Tuning of Er3+ in Ferroelectric Thin Films’

    “ER3+ color centers are promising candidates for quantum science and technology due to their long electron and nuclear spin coherence times, as well as their desirable emission wavelength. By selecting host materials with suitable, controllable properties, we introduce new parameters that can be used to tailor the ER3+ emission spectrum.” Find the paper and full list of authors in the Journal of Applied Physics.

    Learn more

  • ‘Topological Data Analysis Based Characteristics of Electroencephalogram Signals in Children With Sleep Apnea’

    ,

    “This study aims to identify differences in the functional neural connectivity of the brain of paediatric patients with obstructive sleep apnea. Using EEG signals from 3673 paediatric patients, we grouped subjects into OSA or control groups based on sleep oxygen desaturation levels and apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), and applied topological data analysis (TDA) techniques. We evaluated our approach through statistical testing of TDA-based EEG features, which indicate fundamental differences in the functional neural connectivity of subjects with sleep apnea as compared to controls.” Find the paper and full list of authors in the Journal of Sleep Research.

    Learn more

  • ‘3D spatial distribution of Sost mRNA and sclerostin protein expression in response to in vivo tibia loading in female mice’

    ,

    “Bones adapt to external mechanical loads through a process known as mechanoadaptation. Osteocytes are the bone cells that sense the mechanical environment and initiate a biological response. Investigating the changes in osteocyte molecular expression following mechanical loading has been instrumental in characterizing the regulatory pathways involved in bone adaptation. … We used WISH-BONE (Whole-mount In Situ Histology of Bone) to investigate the spatial distribution of Sost-mRNA transcripts and its encoded protein, sclerostin, in 3D mouse tibia midshaft following in vivo tibia loading. Our findings showed a decrease in the percentage of Sost-positive osteocytes.” Find the paper and authors list in…

    Learn more

  • ‘Even More Is Required: Confronting the Teacher Pay Crisis in the United States’

    “Low and stagnant teacher pay has been a perennial issue in the United States public school system since the early decades of the nineteenth century. Women teachers, then as now, confronted the issue head-on by organizing together. … Nevertheless, we can draw two critical lessons from these women teachers and their petition. First, a broader understanding of historical context and gendered narratives about labor is necessary to confront the teacher pay crisis today. Second, sharing teachers’ stories from the past now can help shape policy debates on teacher pay, turning a crisis into a new vision for the teaching profession.”

    Learn more

    ,
  • ‘Climate Change as Class Struggle in America: Matthew Huber and the Challenges Confronting the Ecological Left’

    “In this article, I undertake an evaluation of Matthew Huber’s important book, Climate Change as Class War: Building Socialism on a Warming Planet. The book provides an opportunity for engaging in spirited debate and constructive discussions on how the Left should mobilize to combat the global climate crisis. As such, it is a clarion call for engaging the American working class in the climate struggle, an especially critical task given the results of the 2024 election. Huber is laser focused on capital’s pursuit of profit as the source of the climate crisis.”

    Learn more

    , ,
  • ‘Low dimensionality of Phenotypic Space as an Emergent Property of Coordinated Teams in Biological Regulatory Networks’

    “Cell-fate decisions involve coordinated genome-wide expression changes, typically leading to a limited number of phenotypes. Although often modeled as simple toggle switches, these rather simplistic representations often disregard the complexity of regulatory networks governing these changes. Here, we unravel design principles underlying complex cell decision-making networks in multiple contexts.” Find the paper and full list of authors in Cell Press.

    Learn more

    ,
  • ‘Interlayer Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interactions Induced via Nonlinear Phononics in Bilayer van der Waals Materials’

    “We theoretically study the impact of light-driven structural changes via nonlinear phononics on the magnetic order of untwisted bilayer van der Waals materials. We consider an illustrative example of the AA-stacked bilayer honeycomb lattice and show that high-intensity light in resonance with selected phonons induces large-amplitude phonon displacements that modify the magnetic Hamiltonian of the system. … We find that the structural changes in the strongly driven regime lower the symmetry relative to the equilibrium lattice and produce changes in the magnetic interactions between the local moments.” Find the paper and full list of authors in Physical Review B.

    Learn more

  • ‘Bundling Effect of Semiconductor-Enriched Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Networks’

    “Despite continual progress in creating semiconductor-enriched single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) networks, significant challenges still remain in achieving electronically homogeneous channels for field-effect transistors (FETs) due to persisting metallic percolation and uncontrollable nanotube bundling. To address this critical issue, we systematically explored the bundling effect of the SWCNTs on the electrical characteristics of SWCNT network-based FETs.” Find the paper and full list of authors in Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing.

    Learn more

  • ‘The Elasticity Of Caste In The Sikh Diaspora’

    “This article examines the transnational dimensions of caste and gender in the Punjabi Sikh diaspora of the Pacific Northwest. I explore how Jats (a landowning caste from Punjab, India) have positioned themselves at times as superior to Chamars (Punjabi Dalits or caste oppressed peoples) in the US-Canada borderland diaspora. Though Sikhism is a religion founded on anti-caste origins, the simultaneous repudiation of caste and celebration of Jat pride paradoxically illustrates structures of caste within the religion. The article unsettles the ways in which Jat men in the diaspora can be implicated in Jat pride and Jat cool.”

    Learn more

    ,
  • ‘Biochemical Characterization of Disease-Associated Variants of Human Ornithine Transcarbamylase’

    ,

    “Human ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency (OTCD) is the most common ureagenesis disorder in the world. OTCD is an X-linked genetic deficiency in which patients experience hyperammonemia to varying degrees depending on the severity of the genetic mutation. More than two-thirds of the known mutations are caused by single nucleotide substitutions. In this paper, partial order optimum likelihood (POOL), a machine learning method, is used to analyze single nucleotide substitutions in OTC with varying disease phenotypes and predicted catalytic efficiencies.” Find the paper and full list of authors in ACS Chemical Biology.

    Learn more

    ,
  • ‘The Microbiome’s Influence on the Neurobiology of Opioid Addiction and Brain Connectivity’

    ,

    “Opioids are the most effective and potent analgesics available for acute pain management. With no viable alternative for treating chronic or post operative pain, it is not surprising that over 10 million people misuse opioids. This study explores the developmental influence of the microbiome on resistance to opioid addictive behavior and functional connectivity.” Find the paper and full list of authors in Brain Research Bulletin.

    Learn more

    ,
  • ‘Antibiotic Pretreatment Inhibits White Band Disease Infection by Suppressing the Bacterial Pathobiome’

    “Diseases have caused unprecedent mortality in Caribbean coral communities. White band disease (WBD) has killed up to 95% of all endangered Caribbean Acroporids since it was first observed in 1979. … To better understand the disease etiology of WBD, we pretreated corals with antibiotics to determine how prophylactic use of antibiotics impacts the transmission of WBD in a replicated tank-based experiment. We found the prophylactic use of antibiotics led to significantly reduced infection rates in disease exposed corals with a 30-percentage point decrease in the infection rate.” Find the paper and full list of authors in Frontiers in Marine Science.

    Learn more

  • ‘Root of Unity Quantum Cluster Algebras and Discriminants’

    “We describe a connection between the subjects of cluster algebras, polynomial identity algebras, and discriminants. For this, we define the notion of root of unity quantum cluster algebras and prove that they are polynomial identity algebras. Inside each such algebra we construct a (large) canonical central subalgebra, which can be viewed as a far reaching generalization of the central subalgebras of big quantum groups constructed by De Concini, Kac, and Procesi and used in representation theory.” Find the paper and full list of authors in Journal of the London Mathematical Society.

    Learn more

  • ‘What Tackles Vehicle GHG Emissions in California: Regional Plan Adoption or Local Leadership?’

    “The California Senate Bill No. 375 (SB 375) serves as a model policy for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by integrating transportation and land-use planning through regional and local policies. The 18 California Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) are tasked with developing Sustainable Communities Strategies (SCS) to guide emissions reductions, often implemented locally through Climate Action Plans (CAPs). … This study examined 25 California cities using content analysis and regression modeling to explore whether independent local actions, supported by community engagement, activist strategies, and leadership are more effective than regional alignment in reducing vehicle trips.” Find the paper and authors list…

    Learn more

    ,
  • ‘Responses of Littorina spp. Intertidal Snails to Thermal Extremes Indicate Countergradient Variation in Fitness’

    “Global change models predict not only a steady increase in temperatures but also an increase in the occurrence of hot and cold extremes. Organisms’ responses to thermal extremes will depend on species-specific traits and the degree of within-species variation (among populations). … The evolution of population-specific responses, however, can be limited by gene flow that homogenises populations. Here, we investigate this relationship with a study of the survival of Littorina littorea, L. obtusata, and L. saxatilis—marine snails with varying dispersal potential—collected on either side of a known biogeographic break.” Find the paper and list of authors in Ecology and Evolution.

    Learn more

    ,
  • ‘Identifying Leverage Points for Sustainable Transitions in Urban–Rural Systems’

    ,

    “Socio-ecological systems are vital for integrated urban and rural environments. Causal loop diagrams (CLDs) help identify system connections and future planning and policy interventions. This article applies graph theory to the assessment of a CLD of the Food – Energy – Water nexus in integrated urban – rural regions, drawn within a participatory modeling effort with domain experts. We applied well-known measures and developed a new method that considers the loop-based structure of the system.” Find the paper and full list of authors in Environmental Science and Policy.

    Learn more

  • ‘A Phosphorylation Signal Activates Genome-Wide Transcriptional Control by BfmR’

    ,

    “The nosocomial pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii is a major threat to human health. The sensor kinase-response regulator system, BfmS-BfmR, is essential to multidrug resistance and virulence in the bacterium and represents a potential antimicrobial target. Important questions remain about how the system controls resistance and pathogenesis. Although BfmR knockout alters expression of >1000 genes, its direct regulon is undefined. Moreover, how phosphorylation controls the regulator is unclear. Here, we address these problems by combining mutagenesis, ChIP-seq, and in vitro phosphorylation to study the functions of phospho-BfmR.” Find the paper and full list of authors in Nucleic Acids Research.

    Learn more

  • ‘A Prospective Real-Time Transfer Learning Approach To Estimate Influenza Hospitalizations With Limited Data’

    “Accurate, real-time forecasts of influenza hospitalizations would facilitate prospective resource allocation and public health preparedness. State-of-the-art machine learning methods are a promising approach to produce such forecasts, but they require extensive historical data to be properly trained. Unfortunately, data on influenza hospitalizations, for the 50 states in the United States, are only available since the beginning of 2020. In addition, the data are far from perfect as they were under-reported for several months before health systems began consistently submitting their data. To address these issues, we propose a transfer learning approach.” Find the paper and list of authors in Epidemics.

    Learn more

    ,
  • ‘3D Spatial Distribution of Sost mRNA and Sclerostin Protein Expression in Response to In Vivo Tibia Loading in Female Mice’

    ,

    “Bones adapt to external mechanical loads through a process known as mechanoadaptation. Osteocytes are the bone cells that sense the mechanical environment and initiate a biological response. Investigating the changes in osteocyte molecular expression following mechanical loading has been instrumental in characterizing the regulatory pathways involved in bone adaptation. … In this study, we used WISH-BONE (Whole-mount In Situ Histology of Bone) to investigate the spatial distribution of Sost-mRNA transcripts and its encoded protein, sclerostin, in 3D mouse tibia midshaft following in vivo tibia loading.” Find the paper and full list of authors in Bone.

    Learn more

  • ‘Human Mobility Is Well Described by Closed-Form Gravity-Like Models Learned Automatically From Data’

    “Modeling human mobility is critical to address questions in urban planning, sustainability, public health, and economic development. … At one end of the modeling spectrum we have gravity models, which are easy to interpret but provide modestly accurate predictions of flows. At the other end, we have machine learning models, … which predict mobility more accurately than gravity models but do not provide clear insights on human behavior. Here, we show that simple machine-learned, closed-form models of mobility can predict mobility flows as accurately as complex machine learning models, and extrapolate better.” Find the paper and list of authors in…

    Learn more

  • ‘Interceptive Abilities in Autism Spectrum Sisorder: Comparing Naturalistic and Virtual Visuomotor Tasks’

    “A growing body of research reveals that autistic individuals exhibit motor coordination challenges. Multiple theoretical frameworks propose that the seemingly disparate features of autism may arise from a common underlying process: a diminished ability to make predictions. Sensorimotor skills, such as catching a ball, critically rely on predicting the ball’s trajectory as well as anticipatory coordination of the entire body. Here, we assessed four different naturalistic and virtual interception tasks with 31 neurotypical and 23 autistic children (ages 7–12).” Find the paper and full list of authors in Autism Research.

    Learn more

  • ‘Spontaneous Anthropocentric Language Use in University Students’ Explanations of Biological Concepts’

    “Previous research has shown that students employ intuitive thinking when understanding scientific concepts. Three types of intuitive thinking—essentialist, teleological, and anthropic thinking—are used in biology learning and can lead to misconceptions. … In this study, we examined how frequently undergraduate students across two U.S. universities (N = 807) used construal-consistent language (CCL) to explain in response to open-ended questions related to five core biology concepts (e.g., evolution), how CCL use differed by concept, and how this usage was related to misconceptions agreement.” Find the paper and full list of authors in LSE.

    Learn more

  • ‘Role of Ryanodine Receptor Cooperativity in Ca 2+ Wave-Mediated Triggered Activity in Cardiomyocytes’

    “Ca2+ waves are known to trigger delayed after-depolarizations that can cause malignant cardiac arrhythmias. However, modelling Ca2+ waves using physiologically realistic models has remained a major challenge. Existing models with low Ca 2+ sensitivity of ryanodine receptors(RyRs) necessitate large release currents, leading to an unrealistically large Ca2+ transient amplitude incompatible with the experimental observations. Consequently, current physiologically detailed models of delayed after-depolarizations resort to unrealistic cell architectures. … Here, we address these challenges by incorporatingRyR cooperativity into a physiologically detailed model with a realistic cell architecture.” Find the paper and full list of authors in The Journal of Physiology.

    Learn more

  • ‘Climate Effects on Belowground Tea Litter Decomposition Depend on Ecosystem and Organic Matter Types in Global Wetlands’

    “Patchy global data on belowground litter decomposition dynamics limit our capacity to discern the drivers of carbon preservation and storage across inland and coastal wetlands. We performed a global, multiyear study in over 180 wetlands across 28 countries and 8 macroclimates using standardized litter as measures of “recalcitrant” (rooibos tea) and “labile” (green tea) organic matter (OM) decomposition. … Our study highlights the potential for reduction in belowground OM in coastal and inland wetlands under increased warming.” Find the paper and full list of authors in Environmental Science & Technology.

    Learn more

  • Sun receives patent for energy-saving material

    “Electrical and computer engineering distinguished professor Nian Sun was awarded a patent for ‘Topological insulator/normal metal bilayers as spin hall materials for spin orbit torque devices, and methods of fabrication of same.'”

    Learn more