Award Data

Lead in household paint and dust is a serious health hazard, as low-level lead exposure can result in a number of adverse health effects, especially in children. Onsite and real-time detection and quantification of lead in paint/dust are very important to homeowners and certified lead-based paint removal professionals. Toward this end, both field-portable equipment (such as X-ray fluorescenc ...

Particulate emissions are one of the main air quality concerns in poultry farms and other animal feeding operations (AFO) and especially are significant in poultry AFOs. It can cause health damage to the AFO worker, become a nuisance to the neighborhoods, and result in violations of the Clean Air Act. This Phase I study focuses on an innovative particulate control technology utili ...

Polymer composites are used widely for automotive body panels to save weight, increase fuel efficiency, and eliminate corrosion. Unlike metals, however, structural polymers are not conductive electrically; thus, they are not amenable to the industry standard technique of electrostatic spray painting (ESP). Current methods for adapting polymers to ESP pose serious environmental and ec ...

Landfills and waterways are inundated with tons of nondegradable plastics derived from petrochemicals. An unusual polysaccharide has been identified that can be extruded as a biodegradable plastic. Unique properties allow it to replace certain petroleum-based plastics at the same price as other bioplastics. To gain quick acceptance, details of the process developed during the Phase I project will ...

The objectives of this Phase I project are to demonstrate the production of potentially very low-cost nano/metastructured thermal spray powders using recycled scrap tools or very low-cost ceramic powders and to demonstrate superior materials properties of the metastructured coating when applied using thermal spray. The result would be a new class of very low-cost, nanostructured cement coatings th ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A long term goal is to improve the quality of magnetic resonance (MR) examinations of the human brain. Specifically, transmit/receive dual-tuned phosphorous-proton (31P-1H) head coil arrays capable of simultaneous operation will be developed to permit high-resolution proton MR imaging, proton MR spectroscopy and proton decoupled phosphorous spectroscopy in one ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A long term goal is to improve the quality of magnetic resonance (MR) examinations of the fetus. Specifically, custom radio-frequency (RF) Fetal Coil Arrays will be developed to permit high-resolution examination of the central nervous system (brain, spine) and major organs (heart, lungs) of the fetus irrespective of its orientation and the pregnant mother (abd ...

Polymer composites are widely used for automotive body panels to save weight, increase fuel efficiency, and eliminate corrosion. However, unlike metals, structural polymers are not electrically conductive; thus, they are not amenable to the industry standard technique of electrostatic spray painting (ESP). Current methods for adapting polymers to ESP pose serious environmental and economic chall ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Chronic, neuropathic pain is one of the most important unmet medical needs in the United States, affecting tens to hundreds of millions of people nationwide at some time during their lives. Novel therapeutic approaches are desperately needed. The brain peptides neurotensin (NT) and its fully active derivative NT[8- 13] have been shown to exhibit considerable, l ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The emergence of technologies enabling isolation of adult stem cells has allowed evaluation of cell therapeutics for central nervous system disorders with a path for clinical development. Much promise has been shown using stem cells in acute disease models such as stroke or hypoxic injury to the brain, and as well to chronic degenerative diseases such as Park ...