Award Data

XMCO HAS IDENTIFIED AN OPPORTUNITY TO CONDUCT RESEARCH TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF DEVELOPING A COUNTY AGENT ADVISOR SYSTEM (CAAS). THIS INNOVATIVE CONCEPT WOULD INVESTIGATE THE APPLICATION OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TECHNOLOGY, SPECIFICALLY HYPERMEDIA TECHNOLOGY WITH EMBEDDEDEXPERT SYSTEMS, TO THE ENVIRONMENT AND REQUIREMENTS OF COUNTY AGENTS. THIS MEETS A USDA NEED FOR INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY ...

THE UNCERTAINTY IN MEASURING NEUTRON DOSE EQUIVALENT RATES RESULTS IN UNCERTAINTY IN ASSIGNMENT OF THE PROPER DOSE TO OCCUPATIONAL RECORDS AND CAN RESULT IN IMPROPER IMPLEMENTATION OF CONTROLS TO LIMIT THE EXPOSURE. A NOVEL PORTABLE NEUTRON SPECTROMETER IS PROPOSED WHICH WILL REDUCE THE UNCERTAINTY OF SUCH MEASUREMENTS TO LESS THAN 20%. MANYCOMPONENTS OF THIS DEVICE ARE COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE. SYS ...

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NITROGEN IS A LIMITED MINERAL NUTRIENT IN MANY AGRONOMIC SYSTEMS. LEGUMINOUS CROPS SUCH AS SOYBEAN AND ALFALFA USE BOTH SOIL NITROGEN AND, WHEN SUITABLE STRAINS OF THE NITROGEN-FIXING MICROSYMBIONTS BRADYRHIZOBIUM AND RHIZOBIUM ARE AVAILABLE, ATMOSPHERIC NITROGEN. IT HAS BEEN ESTIMATED THAT THE 50 MILLION HECARES OF CULTIVATED GRAIN AND FORAGE LEGUMES IN THE UNITED STATES OBTAINED MORE THAN 6 MILL ...

PREDICTING THE RATE OF SOIL WATER MOVEMENT AND THE IMPACT OFAGRI-CHEMICALS ON WATER RESOURCES IS VITALLY IMPORTANT TO MANAGING AGRICULTURE, FOR OPTIMIZING PRODUCTIVITY AND MINIMIZING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT. SOPHISTICATED MODELS FOR MAKING SUCH PREDICTIONS ARE AVAILABLE, BUT DATA ON SOIL HYDRAULIC PROPERTIES ARE DIFFICULT AND OFTEN EXPENSIVE TO OBTAIN. IN FACT, AT DEPTHS BELOW THE ROOT ZONE THERE IS ...

MRC PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A SAFETY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR (PI) OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC (EM) PROTECTION STATUS OF A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT (NPP). WE BELIEVE THAT SUCH A PI IS NEEDED BECAUSE: (1) EM ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION IS ON THE INCREASE,(2) ADDITIONAL EM THREATS MUST BE EVALUATED, AND (3) DISRUPTION OF NPP OPERATIONS BY EM EFFECTS CAN AND MUST BE AVOIDED. PREVIOUS STUDIES HAVE ADDRESSED THE ISSUE OF E ...

A NEED EXISTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A LOW COST, RAPID IDENTIFICATION/MONITORING TEST KIT FOR POTENTIAL PATHOGENS IN FOOD PRODUCTS. A MAJOR INNOVATION WOULD INCREASE THE SCREENING OF DISEASE ORGANISMS WHILE MONITORING POTENTIAL PATHOGENS IN FOOD. THE PROPOSED RAPID EIA-BASED DIAGNOSTIC TEST KIT IS LIGHT-WEIGHT, EASY TO USE, ECONOMICAL AND CAN BEADAPTED TO A VARIETY OF SITUATIONS AND SPECIMENS. THI ...

WE PROPOSE TO ASSESS THE FEASIBILITY OF AN AUTOMATED MEANS OF DETERMINING WHEN TO INSEMINATE DAIRY CATTLE IN ORDER TO IMPROVE REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE. POOR REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE IS THE MOST COSTLY MANAGEMENT PROBLEM DAIRY PRODUCERS FACE, AND FAILURE TO DETERMINE THE PROPER TIME TO ARTIFICIALLY INSEMINATE DAIRY CATTLE IS THE MAJOR CAUSE OF POOR REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE. IN THE PROPOSED EFFORT W ...

Cooling and drying of feed pellets are the most important operations in the feed manufacturing industry. These operations are carried out simultaneously, in a single machine, by passing ambient air through a moving bed of pellets. However, simultaneous control of both these processes is very difficult. Overdrying of pellets is a common problem that costs several million dollars to feed processi ...

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