Award Data

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 ...

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project investigates the rapid detection ofstaphylococcal contaminated foods. Staphylococcal food poisoning continues to be a major publichealth concern being the second leading cause of bacterial food poisoning in the United States. Thebacteria secrete staphylococcal enterotoxins and as little as 0.1¿g of SEA can produce the clinicalfeature of st ...

Many crop residues, feed byproducts, forages and other biomass have little or no nutritional value asanimal feed. Lignin in these materials is the most significant factor that limits the availability ofstructural carbohydrate (i.e., cellulose and hemicellulose) to microbial flora of ruminant animals.Many chemical treatment methods have been investigated and most result in the production ofundesir ...

The energy from the sun is the overall engine that drives our climate. Widespread concern over thedepletion of the stratospheric ozone layer, and the effect that this may have on UV-B irradiance levelsat the surface of the Earth, has highlighted the need for improved technology for precisely measuringsolar ultraviolet radiation. Instruments deployed in the field require frequent calibration to e ...

The demand for natural flavors is increasing both in America and Europe. This project will optimizean innovative technique to recover benzaldehyde (natural cherry flavor) from cherry pit hydrolyzate.The concept is based on the hydrolysis of crushed cherry pits, adsorption of benzaldehyde fromhydrolyzate passed through an adsorption bed, and recovery of the benzaldehyde by regenerating theadsorbe ...

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 ...

The proposed product to be developed will be an inexpensive system to monitor activities ofpersons who must, or who prefer to live alone, and to alert a responsible individual on a timelybasis of potential medical emergency situations which are indicated based on this activity or lackof activity. An expert system will monitor the activity levels as well as simple user inputs suchas codes for ever ...

Semi-automated analysis of citrus grove data from remotely-sensed devices can reduce groundsurveying for appraisal, crop recording, yield analysis, and grove management. Although theygenerally start with the same aerial infrared imagery for their data collection, grove managers andindependent appraisers each have their own independent requirements for data analysis. By making theanalysis of this ...

In the U.S., there are more than 135,000 captive deer and elk on 2,000 ranches in 42 states. Someranchers have used deer to replace or supplement traditional livestock. Primary products of deer aremeat and velvet antler, and the industry is growing. We propose to assist the industry and regulatoryagencies using molecular genetics. Ranchers want genetic tests to help establish breeding programs ...

Marek's disease vaccines are the most widely used vaccines in the poultry industry. Since there are nosustainable cell lines suitable for propagating Marek's disease virus (MDV), the MDV vaccine industryuses primary chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEF) for production of vaccine virus. CEFs constitute asignificant proportion of the total cost of MDV vaccine production. Therefore, a significant reduc ...