CAREER: Nonlinear Control for Single Molecule Tracking

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。本学院早期职业发展（Career）项目的研究目标是为跟踪单个纳米尺度粒子和同时跟踪多个粒子建立严格的理论和实验基础。纳米级粒子的测量通常依赖于点状传感器，如共聚焦显微镜的焦点、磁力显微镜的尖端或近场扫描光学显微镜的探针。该方法以非线性跟踪控制规律为中心，从分析和设计非线性跟踪控制规律到在扫描共聚焦显微镜上的实现，以及利用自由扩散的荧光纳米粒子对该方法进行实验研究。如果成功，这项研究的结果将使纳米尺度系统中丰富的动态现象的研究成为可能，从而促进各种领域的进步，包括分子生物学、医学和神经生物学。一个应用实例是研究细菌细胞转录过程中核糖核酸（RNA）的动力学。对这一过程的更深入了解对痢疾、霍乱和结核病等细菌感染引起的疾病的诊断和治疗方案的发展具有重要的实际应用价值。该项目将涉及本科生和研究生的跨学科研究，范围从系统和控制理论的严格数学到分子生物学的成像和检测方法。10-12年级的大学预科学生将参与基于纳米技术的科学模块，这些模块是由项目研究和高中教师合作开发的。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The research objective of this Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) project is to establish a rigorous theoretical and experimental foundation for tracking single nanometer-scale particles and for tracking multiple particles simultaneously. Measurement of nanometer-scale particles often relies on a point-like sensor such as the focal point of a confocal microscope, the tip of a magnetic force microscope, or the probe of a near-field scanning optical microscope. The research approach centers on a nonlinear tracking control law and proceeds from analysis and design of the law to implementation on a scanning confocal microscope and experimental study of the approach using freely diffusing fluorescent nanoparticles.If successful, the results of this research will enable the study of a wealth of dynamic phenomena in nanometer-scale systems, thereby facilitating advances in a wide variety of fields, including molecular biology, medicine, and neurobiology. An example application is the study of the dynamics of ribonucleic acid (RNA) during the transcription process in bacterial cells. A deeper understanding of this process has important practical applications for the development of diagnostic and treatment options for diseases caused by bacterial infections such as dysentery, cholera, and tuberculosis. The project will involve undergraduate and graduate students in interdisciplinary research, ranging from the rigorous mathematics of systems and control theory to imaging and detection methods in molecular biology. Pre-university students in grades 10-12 will be engaged through nanotechnology-based science modules motivated by the project research and developed in collaboration with high school teachers.