Award Data

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The ability to culture human embryonic stem cells generated a great deal of excitement about their vast potential for treating a variety of human diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, neurological, retinal and skin disorders to name a few. Unlike adult stem cells, embryonic stem cells have indefinite growth potential and the potential to develop into any t ...

Recent materials development together with an improving understanding of organic transistors has enabled solution-processed materials that show good performance, with high transparency in the visible range. In this program, leveraging on our extensive experience in organic material development and large scale organic material deposition by solution based processing, AGILTRON and Stanford Universit ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goal of this project is to design and build cameras that can efficiently detect and image isotopes that have gamma rays with energies that are typically beyond those effectively accessible with conventional cameras. There are no nuclear medicine clinical cameras, today, that combine high efficiency with the ability to image high-energy gamma rays. ...

Static organization charts and standard processes define roles, methods, and authority in useful ways for common missions. But these same, rigid structures force the organization to behave inefficiently, often ineffectively on problems in new domains, problems requiring new coordination methods and ad hoc teams. What is needed to facilitate rapid formation of effective human networks is a system ...

Decades of exponential advancement in computer capabilities have transformed the world, from toddlers’ playthings to the technologies of war and peace. Some further advances are constrained by the limits of von Neumann machines; in particular, they do not learn well. Aptima proposes to conduct a feasibility study to design “UBER-HEB,” a non-von Neumann hierarchical universal learning system. ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Over 60,000 prosthetic grafts, which are comprised of either polyethylene terephthalate (polyester) or expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE), are implanted in the United States each year. Medium (6-8mm) and small (l t5mm) internal diameter (I.D.) prosthetic arterial grafts continue to have unacceptably high failure rates when used in the clinical setting. T ...

Reasoning under uncertainty is a critical capability for systems that support intelligent decision making in defense applications. Probability theory is a sound, widely accepted basis for reasoning under uncertainty. The environments in which decisions are made are rich and complex. Logical languages are powerful and expressive, providing the capability for making general statements and describing ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Our aim is to develop an inexpensive and portable nanotechnology-based immunosensor and instrument platform for rapid detection of presence or exposure to bioterror agents in air, water, contaminated surfaces, forensic samples, food and body fluids through identification of protein toxins and microorganisms. The proposed approach employs single or multiple coni ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The wound repair process in skin is initiated immediately after an injury and induces a cascade of events including inflammation, proliferation, and scar production/tissue remodeling. One of the common complications of wound healing is excessive scarring, leading to undesirable changes in skin mechanical function, as well as cosmetic disfiguration. The adverse ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The death rate due to respiratory disease has increased nearly 20% in the United States since 1979, surpassing virtually all other types of disease. Adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) alone afflicts approximately 150,000 patients every year with a mortality rate between 30 and 70%. Current treatment is limited to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECM ...