Award Data

COMMERCIAL CATFISH PRODUCTION IS SIGNIFICANTLY IMPAIRED BY INFECTIOUS DISEASES, A MAJOR CAUSE OF ECONOMIC LOSSES TO THE CATFISH PRODUCER. ONE OF THE MOST DETRIMENTAL OF THESE INFECTIOUS DISEASES IS ENTERIC SEPTICEMIA OF CATFISH (ESC) CAUSED BY EDWARDSIELLA ICTALURI. IN 1987, APPROXIMATELY $4 MILLION WORTH OF FISH IN MISSISSIPPI ALONE DIED FROM ESC. PROMPT TREATMENT OF INFECTED FISH INCREASES THE C ...

ALTHOUGH AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGY IS FINDING WIDESPREAD USE IN MANY INDUSTRIES, THE FOOD INDUSTRY IS ONLY JUST BEGINNING TOINTRODUCE SUCH TECHNOLOGY IN PRODUCTION FACILITIES. IN PARTICULAR, THERE IS A NEED TO INCREASE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS IN A NUMBER OF AREAS INCLUDING NEW SENSORS AND MONITORING SYSTEMS, ROBOTIC TECHNIQUES, AND APPLICATIONS OF VISION SYSTEM FOR PRODUCT EVALUATION AT INTER ...

WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP A SIMPLE TO USE, QUANTITATIVE DEVICE TO ACCURATELY MEASURE SOIL WATER CONTENT WITH SUFFICIENT RESOLUTION TO DEFINE WETTING FRONTS DUE TO RAIN EVENTS IN DEPTH PROFILES. THIS GEOPHYSICAL TOOL SENSES CHANGE IN THE ELECTROMAGNETIC ENVIRONMENT, SPECIFICALLY THE DIELECTRIC CONSTANT OF THE SOIL, WHICH IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO SOIL WATER CONTENT. THE SOIL WATER CONTENT PROFILING DEVICE ...

TWO APPROACHES WILL BE EXAMINED TO SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE THESENSITIVITY OF LAUNDRY MONITORS TO DETECT AND SPECIFY LOCATION OF HOT PARTICLES ON LAUNDERED GARMENTS. THESE PROPOSED TECNIQUES HAVE HIGH POTENTIAL FOR DETECTING BOTH LOW ENERGY BETA AND ALPHA PARTICLE RADIATION AS WELL AS IMPROVING SENSITIVITY BY REDUCING BACKGROUND COUNT RATE.

The use of sub-therapeutic concentrations of anti-microbial agents in animal feed has contributed to theproductivity of the U.S. meat and dairy industries by preventing infectious diseases, by decreasing theamount of feed required and by increasing the rate of animal weight gain. However, failure to observerecommended practices of drug withdrawal can result in concentrations of antibiotic residue ...

The ready-to-assemble (RTA) construction system is a new method for assembling wood structuresbuilt from the following engineered wood products: parallel strand lumber (PSL), laminated strandlumber (LSL), and laminated veneer lumber (LVL). The RTA system is designed for rapid assemblyby small crews of unskilled labor using common hand tools. The design of the RTA systemincorporates engineered w ...

Equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) is a retrovirus that causes a chronic infection in horses. In theabsence of a vaccine, the control of this disease depends on the diagnosis and elimination of infectedhorses. Currently approved diagnostic procedures utilize agar gel diffusion (AGID), or enzyme-linkedimmunosorbant (ELISA) methodologies to detect antibodies against the virus in horse sera as e ...

Phase I research proved the feasibility of EnerTech's Slurry Carbonization technology for economically producing clean and marketable fuels from high-moisture agricultural residues and wastes, especially animal manures. The Slury Carbonization technology effectively transformed low-grade animal residues, through a moderate temperature and pressure carbonization process, into a uniform and especial ...

Alaskan Commercial agriculture presents many challenges including extreme weatherconditions, isolation from cost-effective distribution, and availability of plants suitable forcommercial application. Clearing requirements for agricultural tracts resulted in a loss of topsoil.Using commercial chemical fertilizers further depletes soils resulting in greater increasing soiladditive requirements. Th ...

Water quality and soil erosion are high priority issues for U.S. agriculture. In more humid areas of theU.S., vegetation filter strips have proven to be an effective method of reducing erosion and improvingwater quality. Filter strips are less effective in the West due to sparser vegetation and more variablerainfall. In addition, establishment of vegetation is more difficult in many western wat ...