Award Data

The USDA recognizes the need for improved instrumentation to monitor atmospheric ammonia which is a major environmental concern and a health hazard. Ammonia is a public health concern at high levels, as can be found in animal feed lots. At low levels, ammonia is a source of particulates which are not only a human health problem but also affect visibility and global climate. It has been estimated t ...

The invasion of woody vegetation into native plant communities is a growing problem on many of the Nation's rangelands, resulting in the loss of pastureland and the need to make alterations in livestock management. The Loess Hills of Western Iowa have been severely impacted by ERC and other encroaching woody vegetation, resulting in the loss of native prairie and a threat to the economic and socia ...

The Universal Trail Assessment Process (UTAP) and TrailWare, software for UTAP data, were developed to obtain objective trail information. Over 700 people within Federal, State, local and non-profit agencies have been UTAP trained throughout the US. Requiring 9 to 15 person hours per mile of trail is the primary factor that limits the use of UTAP. Over 85% of rural land managers consider objective ...

People with mobility impairments are excluded from trails, shared-use paths, parks and other public areas where barriers are erected to prevent access by motorized trail vehicles (MTVs). To ensure the safety of trail users and the integrity of the natural environment, many recreation and/or transportation trails prohibit the use of motorized vehicles. Gates and other barriers are erected at all tr ...

Ethylene is a plant hormone that is involved in regulating various aspects of plant growth and development such as seed dormancy, seedling growth, root and stem thickening, promotion of flowering, and promotion of fruit ripening and spoilage. Measurement of ethylene is important for developing a basic understanding of these processes, as well as for utilization in advanced agricultural practices. ...

Egg breakage and cracking is a major economical problem for the US poultry industry which can affect up to 10% of the eggs produced. The resulting approximately 500 million dollars in lost revenue to producers is a cost ultimately borne by consumers. To minimize damaged eggs, producers have attempted to increase calcium in the ration but have had limited success because the hen's ability to utiliz ...

In line with the DOT's desire to encourage the development of a wireless brake shoe force measurement system, Mide will use its extensive experience on loadcell design, energy power-harvesting and wireless data transmission to develop an accurate system for the self-powered, wireless measurement of brake shoe forces on Railroad freight cars. Piezo or coil/magnet proof mass devices will harvest vi ...

The ability to produce high levels of therapeutic proteins at low costs could result in improved health care for large numbers of individuals. NERP seeks to create a new biopharmaceutical protein production platform that will have significant advantages by lowering the costs of production and of purification for therapeutic proteins. NERP is considering two potential therapeutic protein targets fo ...

Physical Sciences Inc (PSI) is working with the NYSEARCH suborganization of the Northeast Gas Association (NGA) to develop the Proactive Infrasonic Gas Pipeline Evaluation Network (PIGPEN) system to detect and warn of third-party damage before it occurs. PIGPEN uses low frequency seismic/acoustic (0.1 to 100 Hz) sensor technology to proactively detect and warn of unauthorized activity near the un ...

Commercially available grain dryers currently available consume 1800 to 3000 Btu of energy to evaporate one pound of water out of the grain whereas the theoretical requirement is 1100 Btu. For both environmental and economic reasons it would be very beneficial if one can design and produce a grain dryer with dramatically improved efficiencies. We are exploring possible methods to achieve this goal ...