It didn’t take long for two world-renowned scientific institutions to reach the conclusion that Oklahoma is doing things right to encourage innovative commercial enterprises. It took even less time to cite state policy as the model for the rest of the nation to follow.

The Oklahoma Technology Commercialization Center “has made substantial progress in its two years of existence,” wrote Walt Plosila of Battelle Memorial Institute and Michael Crowley of the National Science Foundation after they reviewed the organization.

“It should be noted that all states have struggled with creation of commercialization models, but Oklahoma seems to have moved further ahead faster than any other state in design and implementation of a model that is targeted and effective. “Oklahoma has emerged as a national model of technology commercialization approaches in a relatively short time.”

Plosila, vice president for public technology management at Battelle and Crowley, manager of the Small Business Innovation Research program at the National Science Foundation, reviewed the center early this month. The results have just been released, much to the delight of those who pushed for such a center.

“When we started designing the tech center three years ago, we hoped it would be held up as a model by people like Dr. Plosila and Dr. Crowley for other states to follow,” said Cheryl Choumbakos, director of technology development and marketing for the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce. “We felt that it would happen, but we never dreamed that it would be this quick.” Plans for the commercialization center were developed in 1998 by the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology, which then solicited bids from commercial entities that could run the center. The Oklahoma Technology Development Corp., which has the chamber as one of its partners, submitted the winning bid.

Randy Goldsmith, at that time president of the Oklahoma Alliance for Manufacturing Excellence, was tapped as the center’s first president, working under the aegis of OCAST. He still is in that role.

“At OCAST, we were firmly of the view that the tech center was doing an excellent job pursuing its mission,” said Robert G. McCampbell, board chairman of the state technology agency. “It was gratifying to see the National Science Foundation and Battelle Memorial Institute come to the same conclusion.

“Oklahoma has the ability to be an even more significant player in the high-tech economy. The tech center is performing a vital role in enhancing Oklahoma’s competitiveness in this area.”

The tech center supports basic and applied research in the state by helping technology transfer from laboratories to the business community.

It also provides seed capital for innovative firms and products. From there, the center helps foster Oklahoma’s manufacturing sector through enhanced competitiveness in national and international markets.

The center has done all these things well because it is market- driven by industry and responds to client needs, the report said.

“The tech center is well-respected, enjoys widespread support among all its constituencies and has seized its opportunities wisely to make substantial movement forward in accomplishing its goals,” according to the report.

With four commercial directors in place in different parts of Oklahoma, the center is “playing an important and generally neglected role in positioning Oklahoma entrepreneurs to grow viable enterprises,” the report said.

The tech center simultaneously addresses the issues of technology, markets, capital and people. “By bringing the responsibility for these functions together in one organization, entrepreneurs can secure more comprehensive, integrated support.”

Beyond the tech center, the report said OCAST made good moves early on by establishing the center outside government and insisting on a business model. “OCAST is securing very talented individuals that could not be replicated in the public sector in terms of salary.

“And, OCAST, properly in our opinion, is giving the necessary flexibility to (the tech center) to respond to the varying needs of entrepreneurial clients.”

Goldsmith, said McCampbell, has done a “remarkable job in the two years the tech center has been in existence.”

“Randy Goldsmith’s outstanding leadership of the tech center has been a key factor in its success,” McCampbell said. “OCAST is pleased that our investment of state dollars in the tech center has resulted in (it) performing so well for so many Oklahoman’s

“Oklahomans should be proud that we have a tech center, which is not only doing an outstanding job of fulfilling its technology commercialization mission, but is recognized as a national leader in the area.”

Contract Further Validates Company’s High-Growth Business Model and Provides Model for Global Deployment of Cutting-Edge Threat Detection Product

HERNDON, Va. — Guardian Technologies International, Inc. (OTCBB:GDTI), innovators of groundbreaking threat detection technology with critical and immediate applications for the homeland security and healthcare markets, has received the first commercial contract for the Company’s cutting-edge threat detection PinPoint(TM) product. The order was made by the National Bodyguard Association of Russia (NAST), a high-profile, nationwide security organization charged with securing key Russian interests.

The milestone commercial order is a major validation of Guardian’s high-growth business model. The Company is now officially commercializing its PinPoint threat detection product for airport security checkpoints and other key government facilities.

“We could not be more pleased to announce that Guardian has successfully turned a cutting-edge threat detection technology into a revenue generating product line,” said Michael Trudnak, Chief Executive Officer of Guardian Technologies International. “Not only is it an honor to be providing products to NAST, we believe the introduction of PinPoint in Russia will serve as model for deployment across the global market.”

Guardian Technologies, through its Russian agents and partners, has accelerated business development activities to market the advantages of PinPoint throughout Russia and is receiving great acceptance for multiple market applications. Not only will PinPoint be used for aviation security but also for facility security applications “We have purchased PinPoint after exhaustive testing and performance benchmarking by NAST,” said Dmitry Fonareff. “We see immediate applications for the Russian security industry. We believe that we can promote PinPoint throughout the Russian Federation with tremendous success.”

NAST was established in Moscow in December of 1995 by former officers of the KGB 9th Directorate. Dmitry Fonareff is a founding member and currently serves as the firm’s President. NAST is the sole organization working to establish and control a professional approach to security in Russia. Since 2004, the association has been an official supporter for “Edinaya Rossia”–the main political party of Russia.

The Russian marketplace represents an immediately addressable opportunity for airports in Russia in excess of a $50 million, with much larger market opportunities for other key infrastructure locations. Russia is the second largest market for Guardian and will be the first market in the world to deploy the threat detection capabilities of PinPoint.

Guardian’s PinPoint platform and product suite is protected by a robust patent portfolio. The Company is developing new technologies and plans to acquire complimentary technologies to accelerate their high-growth business model.

About Guardian Technologies International

The impact of Guardian’s industry-first computer aided detection technologies are immediate and profound for helping to eliminate human error in both the Homeland Security and the Medical Industry sectors. The Company’s software solutions can be seamlessly installed to compliment existing imaging devices, such as baggage scanners and medical MRI, to scan the contents of any image and immediately identify items of interest not easily discernable by the human eye.

* Airport Security: Guardian’s technology compliments and enhances current-generation baggage x-ray scanners with the ability to automatically and effectively detect, locate, and identify explosives and other types of threats.

* Disease Identification: Existing medical imaging devices used in Computer Aided Detection (CAD) are further improved with Guardian’s auto-diagnostic ability to detect anomalous tissue (e.g., tumors) and other potential disease states or conditions.

* Technology-Independence: Because Guardian’s technologies utilize and process the actual image output generated by the original imaging systems, virtually any existing or future imaging device can be upgraded with Guardian’s products, delivering an instant, multi-billion dollar potential customer base with no competition.

Guardian’s technology and product development partnerships include a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRDA) with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security- Science and Technology Directorate. The Company’s platform and product suite is protected by a robust patent portfolio. They are also ramping up new technologies and plan to acquire complimentary technologies to accelerate the Company’s high-growth business model.

Modeling language enables automation of the entire product development cycle.

Adaptive Modeling Language (AML), developed by TechnoSoft, Inc., is the underlying language of an object-oriented, multidisciplinary, knowledge-based engineering framework. TechnoSoft is a leading provider of object-oriented modeling and simulation technology used for commercial and defense applications. AML offers an advanced modeling paradigm with an open architecture, enabling the automation of the entire product development cycle, integrating product configuration, design, analysis, visualization, production planning, inspection, and cost estimation. The AML framework is truly adaptive. Its successful history includes a wide variety of defense and commercial applications including aerospace, automotive, and capital equipment.

TechnoSoft has worked with the Vehicle Analysis Branch (VAB) at NASA LaRC on the development of the Collaborative Hypersonic Airbreathing Vehicle Environment (CoHAVE) built using AML. The collaborative enterprise environment of CoHAVE and its criteria-management environment are applicable to the design of NASA, military, and private commercial vehicles. CoHAVE is applicable to the Reusable Space Transportation System’s product area for evaluating the architectures of the Space Transportation Architecture Studies and Second Generation RLV Studies. Elements of this architecture include enhanced Shuttle, Reusable Two Stage to Orbit, and Venture Star (an SSTO design). Complementary to these delivery vehicles are Orbital Transfer Vehicles, Crew Transfer and Crew-Cargo Transfer Vehicles, and the Reusable First Stage Booster for Space Shuttle Upgrades. CoHAVE is platform independent and enables multiple users to collaborate across geographically-distributed, heterogeneous workstations. CoHAVE provides a comprehensive environment that facilitates the performance of concurrent engineering of hypersonic airbreathing vehicles at a level not currently available.

Recently, CoHAVE has been extended to incorporate models for other applications such as re-entry vehicles. Since the environment now includes vehicles other than traditional hypersonic airbreathing vehicles, the name has morphed into the Advanced Vehicle Integration and Synthesis Environment (AdVISE).

This work was done by Adel Chemaly of TechnoSoft, Inc. under a NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract monitored by Langley Research Center. For further information, contact:

Mr. Adel Chemaly

TechnoSoft, Inc.

11180 Reed Hartman Hwy.

Cincinnati, OH 45242

Phone No.: (513) 985-9877

E-mail: adel.chemaly@technosoft.com

Web site: www.technosofl.com.

Refer to SBIR-0012, volume and number of this NASA Tech Briefs issue, and the page number.

TechnoSoft, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio

Intended for general commercial clean air ventilation, axial exhaust Model AE and axial supply Model AS are available in 7 sizes from 10-24 in. propeller diameters. Units offer capacities up to 6,000 cfm and up to 1.0 in. w.g. of static pressure. Both spun aluminum, direct-drive fans are AMCA certified for sound and air performance and UL listed.Greenheck offers a new eight-page catalog that highlights its Series A propeller hooded roof fans. Model AE (Axial Exhaust) and Model AS (Axial Supply) spun aluminum direct drive fans are designed to be an economical and reliable solution for low pressure/low volume applications, most typically general commercial clean air ventilation. AMCA certified for sound and air performance and UL listed, the fans are available in seven fan sizes from 10 inch to 24 inch propeller diameters with performance capacities up to 6,000 CFM (10,200m[sup.3]/hr) and up to 1.0 in. wg (250 Pa) of static pressure. The catalog includes detailed supply and performance dimensions, standard construction features, and typical specifications.

Greenheck is the worldwide leader in manufacturing and distributing air movement and control equipment.

For more information about Greenheck products, visit www.greenheck.com or contact Greenheck, P.O. Box 410, Schofield, Wl 54476-0410, (715) 359-6171, FAX (715) 355-2399.

Three NIST researchers received the Automatic Radio Frequency Techniques Group (ARFTG) Best Paper Award at the 55th ARFTG Conference held this past June. They were given this award for their paper “Equivalent Circuit Models for Coaxial OSLT Standards,” which they presented at the 54th ARFTG Conference last December.Their paper provided an analysis of the common equivalent circuit models used to describe coaxial vector network analyzer (VNA) standards. Such models are used in commercial instruments but have never been described fully or tested in the open literature. The authors developed a model based on general network analysis techniques and compared it to the calibration of a commercial instrument. Verification-device data corrected using their methods agreed well with data corrected by a commercial VNA. By uncovering the basic equations of equivalent circuit descriptions, this work revealed the limitations users face when trying to adopt the common coaxial descriptions to lossy on-wafer standards. This p aper also provided in one place all the equations necessary to performOpen-Short-Load-Thru calibrations for any standards, given either direct measurements or appropriate models for the transmission-line parameters and reflection coefficients

Thirty-one batch- or continuous-flow milk pasteurizers used on commercial dairy and custom calf-feeding operations were surveyed. One sample of raw waste milk (RWM) immediately prior to onfarm pasteurization and one sample of pasteurized waste milk (PWM) immediately after on-farm pasteurization from daily waste milk pools were evaluated. The RWM and PWM samples were evaluated for nutrient composition, microbiological profile, alkaline phosphatase activity, and antibiotic residues. Percentages of fat (2.79 to 4.70), protein (2.89 to 5.10), and lactose (3.78 to 4.80) in PWM were highly variable between operations, resulting in a wide range of metabolizable energy (4.75 to 6.61 Mcal/ kg) contents in PWM. Thirteen percent (n = 4) of on-farm pasteurizers did not denature alkaline phosphatase, indicating incomplete pasteurization. On-farm pasteurization of waste milk reduced (P

ABSTRACT The greenshell mussel Perna canaliculus is the most important species in aquaculture in New Zealand. Mussel energetics and growth rates are subject to the natural variability in phytoplankton biomass and species composition and thus understanding the influence of food type on assimilation efficiency is fundamental to the prediction of mussel production and planning farm management. In this study pulse-chase feeding techniques were used to assess the effect of diet on assimilation efficiencies for nine phytoplankton species including three diatoms Chaetoceros calcitrans, Skeletonema costatum and Thalassiosira sp., and three flagellates Eutreptiella sp., Pyramimonas sp. and Isochrysis galbana, and three dinoflagellates Akashiwo sanguineum, Alexandrium minutum and Gymnodinium catenatum. Assimilation efficiency varied with algal species, but it was significantly higher when mussels were fed dinoflagellates (84.5%) compared with diatoms (61.7%) and flagellates (77.9%). Assimilation efficiency of dinoflagellates and flagellates increased with gut passage time, whereas with a diatom diet, a negative correlation was evident. This finding has implications in understanding and predicting growth rates of mussels (and hence commercial yield) in tandem with natural variability in phytoplankton species composition.

Increasing numbers of Marines and sailors rely on gaming as a training medium

In The Loop

Serious games place users at the center of battlespace scenarios.

* The popular game “Doom” was adapted as “Marine Doom” for use by Marine Corps fire teams.

* “Tactical Iraqi” is a highly successful Arabic language game.

* “24 Blue,” with a virtual mockup of USS Harry S. Truman, is designed to teach sailors how to direct planes around a carrier.

* Games are low cost and attractive to young sailors and Marines - making them a training medium “that can’t be ignored.” In the computer game “DARWARS Ambush!,” Marines drive across the Iraqi desert in a Humvee, leading a convoy toward a distant village. The game is a multiplayer challenge, with players assuming the rules of driver, gunner and enemy combatants.

Along the way, the Marines contend with hazards including rocket-propelled grenades, improvised explosive devices and angry rebels. Oh, and if they aren’t careful, they could be felled by snipers.

“DARWARS Ambush!” may not sound like much fun. But this PC-based game, produced through the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and based on the commercially successful game “Operation Flashpoint,” has its fans: thousands of Marines and soldiers who played it before deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan.

“DARWARS Ambush!” is a “serious game,” combining the visuals and excitement of a commercial game with the mental challenge, real-life scenarios and learning goals of a military simulation exercise.
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“Never again did I want someone to ride blindly into a town in Iraq,” said Ralph Chatham, creator of the DARWARS technology program at DARPA and manager of DARPA’s tactical language program games.

Serious games are not intended to take the place of field training or classroom education. Instead, game developers and military officials hope they will fill a training niche, providing an additional outlet to prepare military personnel for their jobs.

These developers and industry officials, as well as government and military personnel, met in Arlington, Va., in October to explore the applicability and future of such games. The third annual Serious Games Summit allowed producers and users to further define the role of games in public service training and education.

“Gaming is different than modeling and simulation because game developers have really put humans in the loop. If there’s no human, there’s no game,” said Brian Williams, a new media developer at the Institute of Defense Analyses’ Joint Advanced Warfighting Program.

Games and war have gone hand-in-hand since the dawn of warfare. From chess to sand-table exercises, military planners have used games to train, plot and map out strategies and tactics. In the 1980s, these games moved into the mainstream digital realm. “Harpoon,” a popular naval strategy game used by Navy personnel and civilian players, began as a paper puzzle before making the leap to digital in 1989.

In 1996, Marines from the Corps’ Modeling and Simulation Management Office in Quantico, Va., adapted the commercial game “Doom” for use by a four-person fire team, called “Marine Doom.” The first-person shooter game changed the face of the enemy from Martian monster to human. With more realistic training scenarios, Marines were willing to play it at home and in their barracks.

In 2002, the U.S. Army, facing record-low recruitment numbers, launched “America’s Army” on the web. This downloadable, multiplayer, first-person shooter game allows players to “experience” life in the Army of One. To date, more than 3 million users have signed up - at least to play on the Internet as online soldiers.

These early successes have prompted the services to consider integrating game technology with traditional simulations to give simulations broader appeal and enhance learning. At the same time, the services see games as a money-saving educational tool, providing realistic work-ups before military personnel commit troops to training or combat.

Successful serious games aim to combine a commercial game’s artistry, complexity and “fun” with a valuable learning experience. [See story, page 21]

“With our game, we believe we are creating something that is radically better than state-of-the-art [language] training, which still rests on hours and hours of boring classwork instruction,” said Lewis Johnson, whose company, Tactical Language Training, created an Arabic Ianguage training game called “Tactical Iraqi” for DARPA.

As a serious game, “Tactical Iraqi” has enjoyed tremendous success. Eight hundred copies have been delivered to Special Operations Command in Tampa, Fla. Marine officers who attend Expeditionary Warfare School in Quantico, Va., use it and receive copies to take home.

The game also is being used at the Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif., and at Marine Expeditionary Forces at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and Camp Pendleton, Calif.

The early years are seen as a crucial period for the survival of ventures and yet only a limited number of studies have focused on successful new ventures when studying capital structure. Furthermore, only a few studies have included longitudinal data, tracking ventures over time, or have elaborated on the difference between short-term and long-term debt ratios when studying capital structure. In this paper, hypotheses are developed, based on capital structure theories and literature on new venture financing, and are tested on longitudinal empirical data. Results of multivariate analysis, through structural equation modeling, reveals that: (1) asset structure assists in explaining the variance in capital structure; (2) explained variance in dependent variables is decreasing for each of the four years studied; and (3) multi-group analysis reveals that the determinants influence short-term and long-term debt differently in the first four years of venture existence. Implications of this study suggest that determinants of capital structure in new ventures require theorizing of its own and demand special attention in entrepreneurial policy-making.

Three updates from Analytical Graphics, Inc. (AGI) create a suite of commercial off-the-shelf software tools for the GPS space, control, and user segments. Users can model a satellite’s performance (orbital mechanics, maneuvers, and subsystems), antenna capabilities (beam forming and null steering), receiver-tracking performance (complete URE and UEE performance and advanced threat modeling), and the geolocation of space-based and terrestrial transmitters.TK 8 provides product consolidation and full integration of AGI’s 3D visualization. Enhanced capabilities include enterprise sharing of STK data, managing geospatial layers on the 3D globe, and terrain analysis. Navigation Tool Kit (NavTK) has undergone comprehensive validation and modifications and is currently in use at the U.S. Air Force’s Second Space Operations Squadron GPS Operations Center. The Orbit Determination Tool Kit (ODTK) supports high-accuracy operations by processing GPS phase and pseudorange measurements with attitude profiles. This suite enables analysis of individual aspects T 2006 Questex Media Group, Inc.