Award Data

With the United States dependence on foreign oil imports, new renewable sources of fuel compatible with combustion engines must be found. A source of this new biofuel could be the jojoba plant which is native to the desert Southwest. This is a plant which grows on non-arable desert lands which do not presently support food production in the United States. The use of this feedstock as a fuel would ...

THE U.S. PORK INDUSTRY IS CURRENTLY OPERATING WITH RELATIVELY INEFFECIENT FEED CONVERSION RATIOS OF 3.4 TO 3.5 DURING THE GROWER-FINISHER STAGES, AND IS TRYING TO MEET CONSUMER DEMANDS FOR LEANER PRODUCT WHILE FACING STIFF PRICE COMPETITION FROM THE POULTRY INDUSTRY. THE PORK INDUSTRY WILL NEED TO IMPROVE PRODUCTION EFFICIENCIES TO REMAIN PROFITABLE WHILE MAINTAINING OR INCREASING MARKET SHARE AT ...

PRODUCTION, TRANSPORT, AND APPLICATION OF PESTICIDES AND PESTICIDE CONCENTRATES OFTEN RESULT IN SOIL CONTAMINATION. SORPTION TO SOIL PARTICULATE MATTER AND TOXICITY TO MICROORGANISMS FURTHER RESULT IN THE EVIRONMENTAL PERSISTENCE OF THESE COMPOUNDS; THUS, THE SOILS ARE NOT READILY REMEDIATED BY TYPICAL SOLID PHASE BIOTREATMENT (E.G. LAND FARMING). NO CURRENTLY EXISTING BIOREMEDIATION STRATEGIES AR ...

Frothed foams will be prepared and applied in place as low cost mulches for weed control in small plot specialty crop operations. Foam mixes will be formulated from degradable natural polymers including gelatins and starches. Fillers will be common cellulosic mulch ingredients such as crushed seed hulls and corncobs. A conventional portable spray tank modified with an impeller blade will mechan ...

A NEED EXISTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A LOW COST, RAPID IDENTIFICATION/MONITORING TEST KIT FOR POTENTIAL PATHOGENS IN FOOD PRODUCTS. A MAJOR INNOVATION WOULD INCREASE THE SCREENING OF DISEASE ORGANISMS WHILE MONITORING POTENTIAL PATHOGENS IN FOOD. THE PROPOSED RAPID EIA-BASED DIAGNOSTIC TEST KIT IS LIGHT-WEIGHT, EASY TO USE, ECONOMICAL AND CAN BEADAPTED TO A VARIETY OF SITUATIONS AND SPECIMENS. THI ...

WE PROPOSE TO ASSESS THE FEASIBILITY OF AN AUTOMATED MEANS OF DETERMINING WHEN TO INSEMINATE DAIRY CATTLE IN ORDER TO IMPROVE REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE. POOR REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE IS THE MOST COSTLY MANAGEMENT PROBLEM DAIRY PRODUCERS FACE, AND FAILURE TO DETERMINE THE PROPER TIME TO ARTIFICIALLY INSEMINATE DAIRY CATTLE IS THE MAJOR CAUSE OF POOR REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE. IN THE PROPOSED EFFORT W ...

So many Americans are overweight that the condition has been declared a serious public health problem and is burdening our health care systems. Obesity increases the risk of diabetes, heart attack, stroke, cancer, arthritis, sleep apnea and other diseases. Researchers are making progress to find and control the behavioral and biochemical factors that drive weight gain and their progress points to ...

NITROGEN IS A LIMITED MINERAL NUTRIENT IN MANY AGRONOMIC SYSTEMS. LEGUMINOUS CROPS SUCH AS SOYBEAN AND ALFALFA USE BOTH SOIL NITROGEN AND, WHEN SUITABLE STRAINS OF THE NITROGEN-FIXING MICROSYMBIONTS BRADYRHIZOBIUM AND RHIZOBIUM ARE AVAILABLE, ATMOSPHERIC NITROGEN. IT HAS BEEN ESTIMATED THAT THE 50 MILLION HECARES OF CULTIVATED GRAIN AND FORAGE LEGUMES IN THE UNITED STATES OBTAINED MORE THAN 6 MILL ...

AN APPARATUS AND TECHNIQUE FOR HIGH-SPEED DRYING OF A NEW STRUCTURAL MATERIAL, KNOWN AS SPACEBOARD, WILL BE DEVELOPED. SPACEBOARD IS A NOVEL STRUCTURAL BOARD COMPOSED OF PULPED WOOD FIBER. THE SPACEBOARD CONCEPT WAS INVENTED AT THE FOREST PRODUCTS LABORATORY SEVERAL YEARS AGO. THE BOARDS ARE PRODUCED BY PRESSING FIBER AGAINST COMPRESSIBLE RUBBER MOLDS TO FORM A STRUCTURE HAVING A SMOOTH FACE, BACK ...

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