Award Data

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 ...

Modern control theory offers mathematically rigorous and powerful solutions to many dynamic systems. Its limitations are that the classes of dynamic systems covered by the theory are limited to linear systems or certain well-structured nonlinear systems, and the adaptation of the controllers are often slow if the controller parameters are far away from their desired values. On the other hand, the ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A high percentage of the ~ 470,000 children born prematurely each year in the US require intravenous feeding after birth because they do not tolerate oral feeding. This is accomplished with a total parenteral nutrition (TPN) solution, which is prepared from component solutions: small and large volume parenterals (SVPs and LVPs). Aluminum (Al) is a common conta ...

The combination of X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) with x-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) provides unique diagnostic analysis of both the structure and chemical composition of complex heterogeneous materials. The penetration of X-rays make this method ideal for studying and optimizing material properties under realistic, real time reaction conditions with simultaneous analysis of r ...

NOVA Scientific proposes the development of efficient position sensitive detectors capable of time-tagging epithermal energy neutrons with high accuracy and efficiency. These devices will be able to perform energy-resolved imaging at the pulsed neutron sources and detect every neutron with spatial resolution of & lt; 60 m and timing resolution & lt; 1 s for thermal neutrons and & lt;100 ns for epi ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Speech is a complex motor behavior often disrupted by neurological dysfunction. Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the main disorders disrupting speech. Recently, deep brain stimulation (DBS) has proven to be effective for motor problems in patients with PD and other movement disorders. However, the effects of DBS on speech have not been consistently positive ...

Window materials are an essential component of some advanced propulsion concepts which require high pressures, high temperatures, low energy losses, and low weights. Window materials must possess a combination of properties such as high mechanical strength, high melting point, high transparency, low density, and good resistance to the operating environment. CeraNova proposes the development of f ...

The development of radiation detection materials would benefit with greater access to computational models that relate physical traits seen in manufacture with complex energy transitions occurring in the material that control operating performance. However, the HPC requirements behind these models remain beyond the reach of most businesses involved in this small yet vital field impacting National ...

DESCRIPTION provided by applicant Cancer is the second leading cause of death after heart disease in the US Chemotherapy is a mainstay of treatment after surgical removal of tumors but the balance of clinical benefit versus disabling or life threatening side effects is often uncertain Genotyping of cancers to identify mutated oncogenes has enabled an era of targeted therapy Drugs targeting ...

Improved cameras and unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) have led to an explosion in the amount of airborne imagery and video collected by Air Force assets, but there are not enough trained personnel to analyze this imagery in real time. Thus, targets of opportunity and threats go undetected until the chance to act on them has passed. Automatic target detection could alleviate the burden on analysts and ...