CRII: OAC: A Computational Framework for Studying Transport Phenomena in Complex Networks: From Biological Towards Sustainable and Resilient Engineering Networks

运输网络在生命系统中无处不在，从植物叶片中的静脉到我们身体中的网络：处理空气流动的呼吸系统，通过血液循环携带营养物质的循环系统，以及传输电脉冲的神经和脑细胞网络。由于生物网络是运输基本资源（血液、氧气、水和营养物质）所必需的，因此它们对健康和生存至关重要。因此，显然有必要探索这些网络的基本原理，以更好地预测它们在意外条件下的行为，以防止潜在的故障。探索生物流动的潜在机制不仅将推进生物运输网络的当前知识状态，而且可以为解决离散微积分，图论和优化中的复杂问题提供特殊的机会。反过来，这将导致对维持人类生命至关重要的工程运输网络的改进，使其更耐用，运行效率更高，从大规模的网络，如交通系统、灌溉和供水系统、电网到小规模的网络，如燃料电池、太阳能电池或人造器官。在这个项目中开发的计算框架将提高我们对生物血管网络的认识，这可以为许多工程运输网络（如供水和排水网络）提供优化的生物灵感解决方案，通过使用纳米粒子治疗心血管疾病和更有效的药物输送。由于本项目中开发的叶脉网络模型对植物的生长性能至关重要，因此研究结果还可以提高生态系统的生产力，并将在农业中得到应用。因此，这个研究项目与美国国家科学基金会促进科学进步和促进国家健康、繁荣和福利的使命是一致的。这项工作结合了多学科研究合作，通过吸引本科生（包括代表性不足的学生）参与研究，并将生物学和工程学纳入K至12年级学生的外展项目，将对教育、外展和多样性做出重大贡献。经过数十亿年的自然选择，大自然进化出了复杂的拓扑结构来解决各种各样的问题。这种拓扑结构的一个显著类别是在许多运输资源的生物系统中的分支异质结构，如叶脉网络，植物的根和轴系统，以及动物和人类的心血管系统。这种分支结构的进化和功能不仅对生物体的生存和适应性至关重要，而且还启发了科学家和工程师改进许多工程流网络的性能，如燃料电池、太阳能电池和合成器官。该项目的总体目标是1)开发一个强大而高效的计算框架来研究复杂生物网络中的传输现象，2)应用该框架来研究优化生物网络中的质量和传热的自然规则，以及3)评估生物启发原则设计可持续和弹性工程网络的可行性。所提出的框架将使变革性模型的发展成为可能，这些模型不仅提高了我们对高度异质生物网络中潜在生物物理现象的认识，而且还为许多工程应用提供了应用生物灵感解决方案的新机会。所提出的研究将产生一个高效和强大的框架，使：(1)对复杂生物传输网络的性能及其对生存至关重要的生物物理特征和功能的基本理解，(2)对高度异质生物网络中的多物理场耦合传输现象的理解，(3)评估网络对破坏和变化通量的弹性，并了解生物系统用于优化成本和性能的潜在机制和原则，以及(4)评估生物机制作为从微观到宏观规模的实际工程问题的生物灵感解决方案的可行性和可扩展性。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Transport networks are found everywhere in living systems, from the veins in the leaves of plants to the networks in our bodies: the respiratory system that handles the flow of air, the circulatory system that carries nutrients through blood circulation, and the networks of nerves and brain cells that transport electrical impulses. Because biological networks are necessary for transporting essential resources (blood, oxygen, water, and nutrients), they are critical for health and survival. Therefore, there is a clear need to explore the fundamental principles of these networks to better predict how they will behave under unexpected conditions in order to prevent potential failures. Exploring the underlying mechanisms of biological flow will not only advance the current state of knowledge of biological transport networks but can provide exceptional opportunities to solve complex problems in discrete calculus, graph theory, and optimization. This would, in turn, lead to improvements in engineering transport networks that are critical for maintaining human life in ways that will make them more durable and operate with greater efficiency, from networks that are large in scale, such as traffic systems, irrigation and water delivery systems, and power grids to networks that are small in scale such as fuel cells, solar cells, or artificial organs. The computational framework developed in this project will advance our knowledge of biological vascular networks, which can lead to optimized bioinspired solutions for many engineering transport networks such as water distribution and drainage networks to the treatment of cardiovascular diseases and more efficient drug delivery through the use of nanoparticles. Since the developed models for leaf venation networks in this project are critical to plant performance, the results can also enhance productivity of ecosystems and will have applications in agriculture. As such, this research project aligns with NSF’s mission to promote the progress of science and to advance national health, prosperity and welfare. This work incorporates multidisciplinary research collaborations that will make a significant contribution to education, outreach, and diversity by engaging undergraduate students, including underrepresented students, in research and incorporation of biology and engineering in outreach programs for K through 12 students.zOver billions of years of natural selection, nature has evolved complex topologies to solve a wide range of problems. A conspicuous class of such topologies are the ramified heterogeneous structures in numerous biological systems that transport resources, such as leaf venation networks, the root and axis system of plants, and the cardiovascular system of animals and humans. The evolution and function of such branched structures is not only critical for an organism’s survival and fitness but has also inspired scientists and engineers to improve the performance of many engineering flow networks such as fuel cells, solar cells and synthetic organs. The overall aim of this project is to 1) develop a robust and efficient computational framework to study transport phenomena in complex biological networks, 2) apply the framework to study the rules of nature that optimize mass and heat transfer in biological networks, and 3) assess the feasibility of bioinspired principles to design sustainable and resilient engineering networks. The proposed framework will enable the development of transformative models that not only advance our knowledge about underlying biophysical phenomena in highly heterogeneous biological networks but also provide new opportunities to apply bioinspired solutions for many engineering applications. The proposed research will result in a highly efficient and robust framework that enables (1) a fundamental understanding of the performance of complex biological transport networks and their biophysical characteristics and functions which are essential for survival, (2) an understanding of multiphysics coupled transport phenomena in highly heterogeneous biological networks, (3) an assessment of the resilience of networks to damage and varying fluxes and an understanding the underlying mechanisms and principles used by biological systems for optimization of cost and performance, and (4) assessment of the feasibility and scalability of the biological mechanisms as bioinspired solutions for practical engineering problems that range from micro to macro in scale.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.