Award Data

PROJECT SUMMARY Cardiac valve repair or replacement is indicated when progression of degenerative disease or bacterial infection of the native valve results in valvular dysfunction, thereby impacting cardiac output. Both procedures require the use of a woven or knitted polyester material with an internal reinforcement (Teflon, silicone or metal) to either stabilize the native valve (annuloplasty r ...

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 ...

TIAX will build, characterize and abuse test lithium-ion cells employing LiCoPO4 cathodes and control metal-oxide based cathodes (such as LiCoO2 ) opposite graphite anodes. In Phase I, TIAX will perform overcharge and external short circuit tests to the specification of the UL1642 standard and will also perform nail penetration tests on both types of cells. In the option program TIAX will perfor ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): An estimated 5.4 million Americans had Alzheimer's disease in 2012 and a 50% increase in this number is expected by 2030. The majority of these patients (70%) will live at home where they receive 75% of their care frominformal caregivers, unpaid individuals such as family members, friends, and neighbors. These caregivers provide valuable services, often a ...

A critical element of our global military dominance is the overwhelming capabilities afforded by the US military space segment. Successful space operations are dependent upon accurate and actionable space situational awareness (SSA), a concept that goes beyond simple cataloging of the location and orbit of objects in space to include the ability to identify and discriminate natural and man-made ph ...

Although great strides have been made in the development of simulators for training technical and teamwork skills, much less progress has been made with regard to skill assessment. Typically, performance is measured using a rating scale with anchors ranging from"low"to"high."Such methods are too coarse to provide an accurate assessment of individual or team performance. What is needed are unobtrus ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We propose to develop a compact, cost-effective Traveling Wave Tube (TWT) amplifier at 263 GHz with 50 W of peak power, 5 W of continuous wave power and 5% instantaneous bandwidth for application in Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) enhanced solid-state and solution-state NMR and Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. With DNP, the inherently smal ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A Compact Soft X-Ray Microbeam Facility for Small Laboratories: Radiation due natural and manmade sources is ubiquitous; research into its effects -- both harmful and beneficial -- is a major component of the mission of the NIH and related health agencies. Radiobiological microbeams are facilities able to deliver precise radiation insults to individual cells (o ...

In this STTR, OASIS Inc, with partners the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Applied Physics Laboratory University of Washington (APL-UW) proposes to develop an innovative, interactive submarine acoustic counter detect TDA for use by the Submarine Mission Planners, within the AN/BYG-1. Communicating the environmental and tactical uncertainty is of primary importance when present ...

Through this effort, the team of Materials Systems Inc. (MSI) and Sonic Tech, Inc. (STI) will develop a non-destructive evaluation technique for detection of voids and defects underneath Aluminum Matting-2. The MSI scanning concept fully utilizes its expertise in the design and development of piezocomposite transducer arrays, combined with STI's experience in acoustic system development and s ...