Award Data

Use of a new noninvasive test for the accurate early detection of preeclampsia is proposed as a tool to screen women during early stages of pregnancy. Preeclampsia affects 10% of the 4 million pregnancies in the U.S. each year and is the leading cause of maternal and neonatal medical complications and death. There is currently no means of detecting preeclampsia prior to onset of clinical symptoms ...

We propose to combine QmagiQ's strained layer superlattice (SLS) sensor technology with MIT Lincoln Laboratory's novel digital pixel readout integrated circuit (DROIC) to realize an advanced longwave infrared digital focal plane array (DFPA) with high quantum efficiency, dynamic range, and operating temperature. In Phase I, we developed the basic SLS DFPA and demonstrated its extraordina ...

DESCRIPTION (Applicant's Abstract): The investigators have developed a plasmid vector that expresses the normal human alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) gene in human respiratory epithelium when delivered as a plasmid-cationic liposome complex. In subjects with inherited AAT deficiency, they showed that liposome mediated transfer of the normal AAT gene to the nasal respiratory epi ...

DESCRIPTION: The physical activity of a free-living elderly individual is often assessed using continuous heart rate monitoring. A limitation of such a measure is that it provides little or no insight into the body segments used, types of movements, or even activities involved. Such kinematic information would be of considerable benefit to improving current intervention and r ...

Marous, James R. An Eye Bank Endothelial Cell Counter Abstract Procurement of donor corneal tissue for transplant use is an important social service undertaken by largely underfunded eye banks. Tissue is not only harvested, but must be screened for a myriad of issues that may make the tissue unsuitable for transplant or pose a health risk to the tissue recipient. Donor tissue may be rejected for ...

Pulsed electric field (PEF) disinfection is becoming well known as a possible means for the control of microorganisms in fluids. Although this technique has been shown to be effective against a wide variety of microorganisms, its widespread application is impeded by the high specific energy input (kWh/L) required. Conversely, the proposed enhanced PEF process promises a significant reduction in th ...

Generally, it is accepted that for plastics recycling to be economically viable in the long term, recycled resins must be competitive with virgin resins. To compete with virgin material, new applications must be made available for recycled resins. Such applications will require that the recycled resin be of a high purity level. Thus, many processors are requiring ever-tightening contamination limi ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The prevalence of untreated moderate to severe pain may be as high as 25 percent in the United States. In order to measure the effectiveness of treatment, outcome measures of a patient's perceptions have become increasingly important in hospital and health settings. Questionnaires are the only vehicle presently used to assess ...

Electronic waste (e-waste) is one of the most rapidly growing waste problems worldwide. Improper handling of e-waste results in vast amounts of toxic waste being sent to landfill and leaching into the water supply. Due to these concerns, e-waste recycling is a rapidly growing industry. Unfortunately, most current e-waste recycling processes rely on either manual hand sorting or differential densit ...

Diode-Pumped Alkali Laser Systems (DPALS) require a uniform, steady, flowing mixture of helium and rubidium vapor at elevated pressure and temperature. Significant challenges exist because rubidium is a very reactive material. In response, our team is developing a contamination-free, all-metal, hermetic, circulation system based on gas-bearing turbomachines. Specific benefits include low mass, ...