Award Data

Purpose: Braille is the primary medium of written communication for persons who are blind. Prior research shows that Braille literacy strongly correlates with stronger reading habits and the pursuit of higher education, whereas Braille illiteracy negatively impacts students' academic performance and ability to navigate the everyday world. A recent report found that there has been a dramatic declin ...

In Phase I we developed a machine learning method for predicting match score errors in iris imagery to determine the quality of the image. We now propose to develop a flexible and configurable tool for creating, refining, and applying such a match score predictor to any image quality assessment problem where a training signal can be identified. The tool will enable users to supply ground truth for ...

Individual differences in vulnerability to sleep loss and fatigue from extended work hours and night work are a substantial problem in transportation policy making, work schedule development, fatigue risk management strategies, and prediction of performance impairment in real-world operations (Van Dongen et al. 2003; Mollicone et al. 2010). Our group was the first to document the considerable magn ...

Prescient Weather process five integrated Phase II tasks to increase the value of the NOAA Climate Forecast System and to assist the private sector in managing weather and climate risk and opportunity: The Phase II tasks are: (1) Develop an optimal WCS seasonal multi-model ensemble by calibrating and combining the NWS CFSv2, the ECMWF SFSv4, and the new National Multi-Model Ensemble (NMME) to cre ...

An orifice element is commonly used in liquid rocket engine test facilities to provide a large reduction in pressure over a very small distance in the piping system. Orifice elements are used in propellant lines, feed systems, plume suppression systems and steam ejector trains. While the orifice as a device is largely effective in stepping down pressure, it is also susceptible to a wake-vortex ty ...

Navy aircraft employ components that are contoured for aerodynamic performance and made of composite sandwich structures for high strength-to-weight ratio. Many of these components presently use honeycomb cores surrounded by thin high strength face sheets. While honeycomb is used extensively, it can be difficult to form to contoured shapes, must be spliced to reinforce high stress locations, provi ...

This project builds on patterns derived from natural antimicrobial peptide sequences to develop novel compounds with better systemic activity, lower cytotoxicity and broader spectrum activity against multidrug resistant (MDR) pathogens. In Phase I and the

The proposed SBIR Phase II program will lead to the validation of a state-of-the-art Large Eddy Simulation (LES) model, coupled with a Ffowcs-Williams-Hawkings (FW-H) farfield acoustic solver, for supporting the development of advanced engine concepts, including innovative flow control strategies for attenuation of their jet noise emissions. During Phase I, the LES/FW-H model was validated against ...

TRS proposes to develop a simple-to-use, launch capable, ultrasound transducer that is capable of producing the necessary bandwidth to accurately determine in vivo bone characteristics that correlate to loss of strength in astronauts in long-duration space flights (microgravity). The transducer will be capable of measuring backscatter, attenuation, reflectivity and other ultrasound parameters of ...

Given the extended duration of future missions and the isolated, extreme, and confined environments, there is the possibility that stress-related behavioral conditions and mental disorders (DSM-IV-TR) will develop. The overarching goal of this project is to deliver an integrated system that will track physiological signals (heart rate and heart rate variability) and behavioral signals (sleep wake ...