Award Data

Opportunity: Guayule, a US native plant, is the only alternate rubber crop with an established, mechanized, agronomic system. Problem: Low rubber yields and lack of effective resin and bagasse coproduct valorization, have prevented widespread adoption by American farmers and processors. Rubber is only made when the cytoplasmic monomer pool (isopentenyl-pyrophosphate; IPP) is larger than that requi ...

The US Navy, industry and the scientific community is using and developing a variety of AUVs, underwater sensors, and other systems that can be easily deployed and operated with minimal maintenance or recurring costs. A primary hindrance to the long-term implementation of these systems is the availability of in situ energy. The concepts presented herein focus on the harvesting of methane from seep ...

Methods for interconversion between cell types (cellular reprogramming) are currently discovered through resource intensive trial and error. Experiments may test a multitude of transcription factors to identify correct combinations that influence cell fate. In addition, reprogramming approaches commonly use stem cell intermediates such as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are generated ...

New pathogens, both naturally occurring and adversary-engineered, are increasingly likely to emerge and represent a significant and growing risk to global health and security. These new threats often have limited genetic similarity to prior known pathogens and cannot be identified through standard genetic tests. The application of machine learning algorithms to phenotypic tests to predict pathogen ...

The objective of this proposal is to examine the feasibility of defining and measuring key dimensions of an urban system to include its essential functions and networks, and whether they can be modelled in a computational framework for assessing robustness and resilience of DUTs (and their tipping points) under conditions of volatility and stress. This proposal will conduct a comprehensive review ...

Traumatic injuries account for 30% of all life years lost in the US and is the leading cause of death for people under 46 years of age. Uncontrolled bleeding or hemorrhage constitute 30-40% of trauma related deaths and are considered to be a major cause o

This proposal is in response to the Defense Health Agency 2017 Phase I SBIR topic 17B-005.The approach is the use of a membrane oxygen pump using newly developed nano-thickness membranes with all the layers less than 1 micron total.Nanometer thickness membranes enable more oxygen output per surface area at temperatures of 300-600 C than current state-of-the -art 600-800 C membranes that are 50-300 ...

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I effort will demonstrate the feasibility of using piezoelectric fibers to detect shock waves from underwater explosions (UNDEX) and sensing physiological measures such as heart and respiratory rates on warfighters. Piezoelectric fibers will be characterized for their ability so sense different amplitudes and frequencies of shock and vibration. ...

Combat casualty handoffs are critical communication moments during which responsibility for the patient and important casualty information is transferred between providers. The nature of these handoffs requires specialized training, for which no standardized framework currently exists. The proposed effort aims to develop a capability, compatible with current DoD systems, that provides caregivers w ...

There is an urgent need to bypass or cross the blood brain barrier (BBB) to deliver drugs for TBI treatment. This project aims to develop targted intranasally delivered, magnetically propulsed, and targted nanoparticles for traumatic brain injury (TBI). In Phase I, we will demonstrate the design, fabrication, and in vitro characterization of proposed drug laden magnetic nanoparticles as well as co ...