Award Data

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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IN THE UNITED STATES, AGRICULTURE ACCOUNTS FOR OVER 80 PERCENT OF THE TOTAL ANNUAL WATER CONSUMPTION. GROWING METROPOLITAN AREAS ARE PLACING NEW DEMANDS ON EXISTING WATERRESOURCES, REQUIRING THAT AGRICULTURAL IRRIGATION SYSTEMS BEAS EFFICIENT AS POSSIBLE. TO HELP OPTIMIZE THE FLOW DELIVERY OF IRRIGATION SYSTEMS, A COST-EFFECTIVE, ACCURATE FLOW-MEASURING SLUICE GATE FOR CANALSIDE TURNOUT METERING A ...

Past applications of wood fibers in cement-based materials have been limited to the specialty market of thin cement panels. Synthetic fibers have recently gained tremendous popularity as secondary reinforcement in conventional concrete for shrinkage crack control. Concrete reinforcing fibers should provide high levels of slenderness ratio, elastic modulus, tensile and bond strengths, and finenes ...

There is a need for a simple, cost-effective procedure for making accurate estimates of crop residue in agricultural fields. The objectives of this Phase I effort is to conduct the research required to design a light-weight, affordable hand-held spectral radiometer and associated spectral algorithm for quickly making field estimates of percent crop residue cover. The specific tasks that will be ...

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THE CONTRACTOR SHALL DEVELOP A FUZZY SET METHODOLOGY FOR UNCERTAINTY ANALYSIS IN PROBABILISTIC SEISMIC SAFETY ASSESSMENT OF NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS. FUZZY SET LOGIC WILL BEUSED FOR COLLECTING, QUANTIFYING AND PROPAGATING SUBJECTIVE,ENGINEERING JUDGEMENT USED IN THE UNCERTAINTY ANALYSIS. IN PHASE I, FEASIBILITY OF THE PROPOSED APPROACH WILL BE DEMONSTRATED BY APPLYING IT TO SELECTED PARTS OF A PROBABI ...

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