Award Data

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): ModelTalker is a text-to-speech synthesis (TTS) system intended to be of particular interest to potential Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device users. Most present AAC devices use TTS software that derives from rule-based formant synthesis algorithms developed in the 1970s, but modern concatenative synthesis systems (of which ModelTalker is an ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This project will demonstrate a prototype microcontact printing aligner for use in ophthalmic tissue engineering. The performance of the microcontact printing aligner will be refined and validated by experiments conducted in collaboration with the Stanford Ophthalmic Tissue Engineering Laboratory. Functioning much like traditional rubber-stamping methods, micro ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We propose to develop novel soluble sensing materials that can be used in homogenous fluorescence assays for the detection of Yersinia pestis antigens and antibodies. Y. pestis is the etiological cause of plague and a potential biowarfare agent. The sensing materials are solutions of functionalized liposomes that become fluorescent when they bind selectively t ...

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II Project proposes to develop a method to detect Cryptosporidium parvum oocyst in water using a novel sensing coating deposited on filters. C. parvum has been responsible for a number of outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis, including the outbreak in Milwaukee in 1993 that affected 400,000 people. Crytosporidiosis is characterized by abdominal pain ...

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II Project proposes to develop a method to detect Cryptosporidium parvum oocyst in water using a novel sensing coating deposited on filters. C. parvum has been responsible for a number of outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis, including the outbreak in Milwaukee in 1993 that affected 400,000 people. Crytosporidiosis is characterized by abdominal pain ...

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase 1 project plans to use halophytic plants for the bioremediation of coal bed methane (CBM) discharge water. CBM discharge is widely viewed as an environmental liability. Indiscriminant surface discharge causes salination of soils. The drilling companies are therefore in urgent need for an acceptable discharge process. The hypothesis for the proposed wor ...

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: What can be done to ensure a high level of water quality for wildlife, agriculture, and humans around the world? More and more wells, whether they are for water, oil and gas, or coal-bed methane, are deeper than ever and are at risk from surface pollution and inter-aquifer mixing. Cement, long known as the only alternative, has been shown to have serious drawbacks. This prop ...

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Composites today are based on petroleum-based polymers and energy intensive fiber glass. Our dependency on petroleum results in carbon dioxide emissions, which can be harmful to the environment. The purpose of this project is to prepare and test specific resins from natural oils for their compatibility with natural fibers, and the properties necessary for structural applicat ...

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I proposes to explore the feasibility of creating a low-cost gas sensor highly specific to trace levels of HCN and SO2. The project consists of two parallel efforts; one to create a nanostructured substrate that selectively binds HCN and SO2, and another to create a low-cost, species-specific Raman spectrometer. Together, both technologies for ...

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) affects a wide range of agriculturally important animals. The economic impact of an outbreak of VSV can be quite large due to its effect on animals, but more importantly, because at early stages of the disease, it is nearly indistinguishable from foot and mouth disease virus (FMD). Reliable detection of VSV is complicated by the existence of ...