Award Data

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are severe neurodevelopmental disabilities characterized by deficits in social and communication skills and the presence of restrictive, repetitive behaviors. For the 80 percent of individuals with ASDs who speak, prosody—the rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech—is among the most noticeable and chronic impairments. Prosodic speech deficits impede social int ...

The goal of this Phase 1 project is to identify changes in residual limb volume in amputees and to warn the user when these changes may lead to potential problems. One cause of residual limb pain in amputees is improper prosthetic socket fit, causing a range of mild to unbearable pressures. Residual limbs can change shape over long timeframes which can change the interface between the socket and s ...

The goal of this project is to provide real-time monitoring and data logging to help both the patient and clinician determine if and when a scoliosis brace is being worn effectively. Despite widespread use of bracing for treatment of scoliosis, its efficacy remains unproven. Studies have indicated that user compliance is a large factor in the efficacy of scoliosis brace treatment. Two factors comp ...

There is a growing demand for power electronics that can operate under the high temperature and high power conditions that will be encountered in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs). As the coolant temperature used to dissipate heat from electronics increases, the operation of power semiconductor devices becomes severely limited in order that the safe operating temperature limit of the semiconductors ...

Measuring the radiative forcing of aerosols is currently the focus of the Department of Energy Atmospheric Sciences Program. Aerosol particles affect the radiative balance of the earth directly, by scattering and absorbing solar and terrestrial radiation, and indirectly, by acting as cloud condensation nuclei. It is now recognized that the atmospheric loading of aerosols generated through human ...

To quantify emissions of greenhouse gases in field settings, high precision and fast response trace gas measurements are needed. High precision and fast response allow measurements of emissions by means of correlation with wind fluctuations (eddy correlation method). While such instruments exist for single or even multiple trace gases, there is not yet available a single compact instrument that ...

Realizing a practical mode lock fiber oscillator with both high repetition rate and high pulse energy has been a very challenge work of the ultrafast fiber laser for more than twenty years. Although many mode lock fiber laser structures have been attempted since the 1990 & apos;s, none has fully met commercial requirements for ultra-short high power fiber laser. In this SBIR program, Agiltron will ...

Microchannel Plate event multipliers capable of operation at cryogenic temperatures are currently not commercially available from any supplier. The proposed development of cryogenic-compatible MCPs will enable photon/electron/ion/alpha detection with high spatial resolution and sub-nanosecond event timing at cryogenic temperatures with very low background rates. All existing MCPs are manufacture ...

The capability to efficiently separate aromatic hydrocarbons from aliphatic hydrocarbons is desirable for a wide variety of petrochemical processes. Liquid-liquid extraction is most commonly used to separate aromatics from aliphatics, but the existing process is complex, energy intensive, and costly. A composite membrane with high aromatics selectivity and permeability will be developed in the p ...

Oil extraction generates an estimated 2.4 billion gallons/day of produced water, which is brought to the surface together with oil and contains contaminants such as oil, drilling additives, metal ions and particulates which must be treated before reuse or disposal. Membrane separation, specifically ultrafiltration (UF), is a promising method for treating produced water streams efficientl ...