High Performance Computional and Graphical Work Environment for the Applied Math Group at UNC at Chapel Hill

主要研究人员为不同的物理和生物系统开发理论，建模和计算。该奖项的仪器提供了模型模拟数据和实验数据之间的关键双向联系。来自计算机模拟的数值数据库由图形环境处理，并转化为实验可测量的预测。示例包括：将纳米复合材料过程的动力学模拟转换成模拟实时光散射数据的图像;将墨西哥湾流中混合的动力学系统预测与从海洋浮标收集的拉格朗日卫星数据相匹配;将生物流体层中的运输和混合与肺细胞培养物医学实验的体外数据相比较;并且对信号传导途径的随机模型预测进行成像并与单细胞测量进行比较。数学理论以及对物理和生物现象的模拟现在能够进行预测，可以与最先进的物理仪器相媲美。这两种调查模式之间的直接联系是拟议研究的重点。通过现代计算机硬件技术和先进的数学软件，生物学、材料设计和环境的数学建模能力成为可能。研究人员为各种应用开发数学和计算，包括调节细胞功能的生化网络，执行重要哺乳动物肺功能的复杂流体，通过大西洋湾流等电流增强的海洋运输和混合，以及通过纳米复合材料技术实现的高性能材料特性。图形界面的直接影响是在虚拟仿真和实验室数据之间建立直接桥梁。图像处理接口将两个数据库转换为一个通用的图形环境，以便相互直接比较，并从每种查询模式中获得新的见解。社会影响在于对特定应用的基本理解和预测工具，包括生物学中的细胞间变异性，下一代材料的设计和优化，对渔业和全球气候预测至关重要的洋流混合和运输，以及进入哺乳动物肺部途径的病原体的捕获和补救。

The Principal Investigators develop theory, modeling and computation for diverse physical and biological systems. A critical two-way link between model simulation data and experimental data is afforded by the instrumentation of this award. Numerical databases from computer simulations are handled by the graphical environment and translated into experimentally measurable predictions. Examples include: kinetic simulations of nano-composite materials processes are converted into images that simulate real-time light scattering data; dynamical systems predictions of mixing in the Gulf Stream are matched with Lagrangian satellite data collected from ocean buoys; transport and mixing in bio-fluid layers are compared with in vitro data from medical experiments on lung cell cultures; and, stochastic model predictions of signaling pathways are imaged and compared with single cell measurements. Mathematical theory and simulations of physical and biological phenomena are now capable of predictions that rival the most advanced physical instrumentation available. The direct link between these two modes of inquiry is the focus of the proposed research. The mathematical modeling capability in biology, materials design, and the environment is made possible through modern computer hardware technology and advanced mathematical software. The investigators develop mathematics and computation for diverse applications, including biochemical networks which regulate cell function, complex fluids which perform vital mammalian lung function, ocean transport and mixing enhanced by currents such as the Atlantic Gulf Stream, and high-performance material properties achieved by nano-composite technology. The immediate impact of the graphical interface is to establish a direct bridge between virtual simulations and laboratory data. An image processing interface converts both databases into a common graphics environment, for direct comparison with one another and for new insights from each mode of inquiry. The societal impact lies in fundamental understanding and predictive tools for the specific applications, including cell-to-cell variability in biology, design and optimization of next generation materials, mixing and transport across ocean currents which are vital for fisheries and global climate predictions, and the trapping and remediation of pathogens entering mammalian lung pathways.