Author: WeWorldMedia-admin

Eastern Tennessee Communities Awarded $2 Million for Helene Costs

Published: 7 May 2025
Categories: FEMA News

RSS feed source: Federal Emergency Management Agency

The state of Tennessee and FEMA have awarded nearly $2 million for emergency and permanent work to repair bridges, restore utilities, remove debris and take measures to protect 14 Eastern Tennessee counties affected by Tropical Storm Helene.

The major presidential declaration designated Carter, Claiborne, Cocke, Grainger, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Hawkins, Jefferson, Johnson, Sevier, Sullivan, Unicoi and Washington counties for FEMA Public Assistance, a program that helps communities as they respond to declared disasters or emergencies. 

In Cocke County, the City of Newport cleared more than 4,726 cubic yards of sand, soil and mud from streets and sidewalks after the storm. The city also contracted to have 4,156 cubic yards of vegetative debris and 570 cubic yards of mud, soil and sand removed from the public rights-of-way. 

FEMA’s share for this project is $83,731; the nonfederal share is $27,910.

The Public Assistance program reimburses communities for emergency work to save lives and protect property; remove debris; and repair roads, bridges, public buildings, utilities and parks. Because this is a cost-sharing program, FEMA reimburses state applicants 75% of eligible costs. The remaining 25% represents nonfederal funds.

Below is a list of community projects, the total dollars awarded, and the category of Public Assistance funding:

Carter County: First Utility District $4,966 for emergency protective measures.

Hawkins County: Emergency Communications District $4,632 for emergency protective measures.

Johnson County: $624,640 for Morefield Bridge repairs; $617,344 for Furnace Creek Bridge

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Using machine learning to speed up discovery for drug delivery and disease treatment

Published: 7 May 2025
Categories: National Science Foundation

RSS feed source: Federal Emergency Management Agency

A new computational tool developed with support from the U.S. National Science Foundation could greatly speed up determining the 3D structure of RNAs, a critical step in developing new RNA-based drugs, identifying drug-binding sites and using RNAs in other biotechnology and biomedicine applications.

The tool, NuFold, leverages state-of-the-art machine learning techniques to predict the structure of a wide variety of RNA molecules from their sequences. This new capability will allow researchers to visualize what a given RNA structure could look like based on its sequence and identify its potential use in drug delivery, disease treatment and other applications.  The research leading to NuFold was published in Nature Communications.

RNAs are critical biological molecules — encoding information, like DNA, and performing cellular functions, like proteins — but relatively few RNA structures have been determined through experimentation thus far, which severely limits understanding of their functions. For example, RNAs in the NSF-funded Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics Protein Data Bank (RCSB PDB) represent only about 3% of total entries. Experimentally determining RNA structures is often time-consuming and costly. By providing a path to reliably predicting RNA structure from sequence, NuFold could greatly expedite the discovery of RNA function and enable quicker development of RNA-based therapeutics and technologies.

Credit: Daisuke Kihara, Purdue University. Figure taken from the Nufold

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Well completions per location more than double in Lower 48 states as technology advances

Published: 7 May 2025
Categories: US Energy Information Administration

RSS feed source: Federal Emergency Management Agency

In-brief analysis

May 7, 2025

Data source: FracFocus
Note: To calculate the number of wells completed per location, we grouped wells within a 50-foot radius into single locations. We then identified wells completed by their completion start and end dates, counting concurrent completions when their completion periods overlapped.

We estimate that the average number of wells completed simultaneously at the same location in the Lower 48 states has more than doubled, increasing from 1.5 wells in December 2014 to more than 3.0 wells in June 2024. By completing multiple wells at once rather than sequentially, operators can accelerate their production timeline and reduce their cost per well. The increasing number of simultaneous completions reflects significant technological advances in hydraulic fracturing operations, particularly in equipment capabilities and operational strategies.

Using data from FracFocus to estimate simultaneous

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Postdoctoral Researcher, Sustainable Materials and Smart Textiles

Published: 7 May 2025
Categories: Eng Jobs Academic Keys

RSS feed source: Federal Emergency Management Agency

Aalto University is where science and art meet technology and business. We shape a sustainable future by making research breakthroughs in and across our disciplines, sparking the game changers of tomorrow and creating novel solutions to major global challenges. Our community is made up of 13 000 students, 400 professors, and more than 4 500 other faculty and staff working on our dynamic campus in Espoo, Greater Helsinki, Finland. Diversity is part of who we are, and we actively work to ensure our community’s diversity and inclusiveness. This is why we warmly encourage qualified candidates from all backgrounds to join our community.

The School of Chemical Engineering is one of the six schools of Aalto University. It combines natural sciences and engineering in a unique way.

We are now looking for a

Postdoctoral Researcher in Sustainable Materials and Smart Textiles

We are seeking a

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