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Southwest Sciences will develop a novel fire detection technology based on optical spectroscopy, using diode lasers and fiber optics. Rapid, quantitative detection of part per million concentrations (or better) of multiple gases, including carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen chloride, and a fiber optical distribution network permits one laser to be used for at least 800 di ...

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American health care is in the midst of momentous change. Quality improvement principles are being used increasingly to enhance productivity and efficiency of health care delivery and to help contain costs. In producing patient outcomes and resource utilization measures, it is vital to control appropriately for case mix (i.e., differences in patients due, e.g., to illness severity) in the predicti ...

The near-field scanning optical microscope can supply information on the shape and electrical properties of surfaces with nanometer resolution. The quantitative interpretation of images is difficult because of the difficulty of electromagnetic field solutions in the near-field limit. We propose to supply software to aid in this analysis. The finite-element programs generate two and three-dimension ...

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will explore the use of a fuzzy logic based expert system in a closed loop control system for nitrate removal (denitrification) from large aquaculture systems. Nitrate is naturally generated by the bio-mass in any aquatic system. Current techniques for the control of nitrate levels are almost exclusively based on water exchange. For large ...

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We will develop technology, termed a Ruggedized Wind Measurement System (RWMS), to measure directly extreme winds with high space and time resolution, focusing on the winds that occur beneath hurricanes at land fall. This development effort will include design, fabrication of two prototype RWMS units, and a series of proof-of-concept demonstrations in strong mountain-induced downslope and severe t ...

The purpose of the VMIS is to allow manufacturers the luxury of testing and perfecting manufacturing plans long before a single machine tool is turned on and resources are committed. The VMIS will allow the user to select an available machine tool and an available inspection device, specify a proposed inspection plan and a dimensional analysis procedure, and then build and inspect hundreds (or ev ...

We propose to characterize the early stage of consolidation of non-spherical powders to further the development of process models to enable simulation of powder metallurgy manufacturing for the consumer market, especially the automotive industry. Typically, spherical powders with a narrow size distribution are used for aerospace applications, while low-cost powders with irregular shapes and a wide ...