Award Data

Nerve agents exert their toxic effect by binding to and inactivating enzyme acetylcholinesterase, a key enzymatic regulator of cholinergic neurotransmission. The binding becomes irreversible after a varying amount of time with nerve agents and this aging process limits the treatment window of oxime reactivators. To enhance the current antidote treatment of nerve agent autoinjectors, a pyridostigmi ...

DNA microarray technology, in combination with statistical and predictive modeling tools, could be used to evaluate thousands of genes against distinct gene expression patterns induced by chemical/biological agents to provide early identification and speed therapeutic intervention. The overall objective of this Phase II effort is to leverage existing public domain resources and commercial tools t ...

NanoCeramr filtration media has been developed for purification of water. The active component is a nano alumina fiber only 2 nanometers in diameter. When dispersed with microglass fibers as part of a non-woven fibrous filter it is capable of retaining sub-micron and nanosize particles smaller than virus while maintaining a high flux. Such media has a dirt holding capacity tens of times greater ...

Defense against chemical weapons is a critical DoD requirement. An effective defense requires the development of a combination of unique clothing systems that provide a physical barrier to toxic vapors, liquids, and aerosols, as well as a system to detect chemical threats. Protective clothing and detection systems currently exist, but ideally the detection equipment should be miniaturized and inte ...

Surfaces and enclosed spaces (such as vehicle crew compartments) that are contaminated with chemical warfare (CW) or biological warfare (BW) agents must be rapidly decontaminated to allow continued operations. Unfortunately, all of the current decon technologies have significant disadvantages, such as excessive weight, bulk, cost and complexity, limited storage stability, and a need for hazardous ...

Effective collective protection fabrics must have a reliable closure system. During our Phase I Work Plan, Sigma-K began developing a Hermetic Textile Closure Hardware (HATCH) system. The HATCH combines both a magnetic and geometric self locking mechanism that will provide a hermetic seal when closed. Our current Phase I successes include developing self closing samples that can provide a hermetic ...

To properly measure (and understand) the performance of a standoff detector, properties of the challenge cloud must be known. Meteorological models, such as HPAC and VLSTRACK, have proven to be reasonably good tools for predicting cloud properties. However, a problem with these tools is that they deliver ensemble averages and may not describe a specific cloud to the detail required. The Dugway ...