Award Data

The recent emergence of the Silicon Drift detector (SDD), for use in energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry (EDS), has made possible x-ray event streams with count rates as high as 1-10 Mcps. A problem with existing digital signal processing, as applied to SDDs, is the significant presence of coincidence peaks above the x-ray background. These coincidence peaks occur with amplitudes comparable to lo ...

Shelter enclosures for military working dogs in the event of a CB attack is a technology gap identified by the Joint Requirements Office. Important parameters to consider in the design of protective enclosures include low weight and size to minimize transport requirements; rapid setup; and accommodation of canine physiological and psychological comfort needs while providing protection against CB ...

Forest insect pests cause significant economic and ecological damage every year. Dramatically increased pest activity in recent years suggests that changing climate conditions will inflate the uncertainty associated with pest risk assessments. Advances in forest pest risk analysis methodology are needed to allow managers to better explore the consequences and value of alternative management scenar ...

THE PHYSIOLOGICAL-THERMODYNAMIC BASIS FOR HYBRID VIGOR (YIELD HETEROSIS) IN CORN AND OTHER CROPS IS NOT PRESENTLY KNOWN. THUS, DEVELOPMENT AND SELECTION OF INBRED LINES FOR HYBRID VIGOR RELIES ON GENERAL KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HETEROTIC GROUPS, NUMEROUS CROSSES, AND EXTENSIVE FIELD TESTS TO ACHIEVE THE INDUSTRY AVERAGE OF 1 TO 2 BU/ACRE/YR INCREASE IN YIELD. EACH COMMERCIAL HYBRID MAY COST FROM $1.2 TO $ ...

This is an SBIR Phase II proposal to develop a tactile refreshable computer display prototype (TRCD) that will support multiple tactile alphabets (e.g. ELIA, braille, and Roman), multiple lines of text, and graphics to benefit the more than 1.8 million blind Americans. Commercially available TRCDs are expensive (~$12,000, or $19 per actuator), provide only one line of text (with 640 actuators) and ...

THE U.S. POULTRY INDUSTRY ADMINISTERS ABOUT 21 BILLION DOSE UNITS OF VACCINES YEARLY. THESE VACCINATIONS ARE GIVEN TO TO DAY-OLD BIRDS FOR SEVERAL VIRAL AND BACTERIAL DISEASES, AND SUBSEQUENT VACCINATIONS TO GROWING AND ADULT CHICKENS ANAND TURKEYS. ADDITIONALLY, 170 MILLION TURKEY EMBRYOS R RECEIVE ANTIBIOTIC TREATMENT. THE WORLDWIDE POULTRY DRUG VACCINE MARKET REPRESENTS OVER $500 MILLION PR YEA ...

RT Solutions, LLC (RTS) has built a unique process-controlled "state-of-the-art" earthworm composting facility that process and transforms large volumes of dairy manures into a user friendly and unique plant production product with established horticultural consumers. This environmentally friendly technology known as vermicomposting uses earthworms in an engineered system to consistently produce a ...

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE DENSITY OF POTATOES AND COOKINGQUALITY HAS BEEN KNOWN FOR A LONG TIME. THE MOST DENSE POTATOES HAVE THE MOST TASTE AND THE HIGHEST DRY MATTER CONTENT. DENSITY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN POTATOES OF VARIOUS QUALITIES ARE SMALL AND UNTIL TO-DATE THERE IS NO COMMERCIALMETHOD FOR THEIR SORTING. IT IS PROPOSED FOR DENSITY SORTING POTATOES INTO SEVERAL DENSITY GROUPS TO USE DRY MET ...