Award Data

This project addresses two problems of environmental and economic importance to New Mexico.The first problem is the value-added utilization of pecan shells, and agricultural waste from oneof New Mexico's most important crops. The second problem is the need to remove metal andorganic contaminants of environmental concern from wastewater produced by some of NewMexico's economically important indust ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

A major constraint to the continued development of the hybrid striped bass industry is the seasonally limited supply of fingerlings. The availability of gravid brood animals is extremely limited outside the normal spawning season and production of fingerlings in earthen ponds is poor after pond temperatures exceed 25 degrees Celsius. A great deal of recent research is directed towards developmen ...