Here and abroad, there is an urgent need for systematic strategies for recovering critical lifelines once disasters strike. Northeastern University researchers have drawn on network science to develop a computerized tool for guiding stakeholders in the recovery of large-scale infrastructure systems, which can be extended to water-distribution systems, power grids, communication networks, and even natural ecological systems.
Multistate outbreaks cause more than half of all deaths in foodborne disease outbreaks according to a new report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The report highlights the need for food industries to play a larger role in improving food safety by following best practices for growing, processing, and shipping foods.
Scientists from the California NanoSystems Institute have developed a nanoparticle delivery system for the antibiotic moxifloxacin. This system vastly improves the drug's effectiveness against pneumonic tularemia, a type of pneumonia caused by inhalation of the bacterium Francisella tularensis, which has been designated a top-tier bioterrorism agent by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has awarded a $7.6 million grant to a collaborative group of scientists in the University of Pittsburgh Center for Vaccine Research for groundbreaking work that could lead to countermeasures against bioterrorism attacks. The latest DOD-funded project seeks to accelerate the development of drugs and vaccines against alphaviruses.
The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), after reviewing updated earthquake hazard information from all U.S. nuclear power plants, has concluded the plants can, where appropriate, complete in-depth analyses of their updated earthquake risk earlier than originally planned. In other cases, the NRC has concluded reactors no longer need to submit an in-depth analysis.
The Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) service is part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), which provides an additional dissemination path for alert and warning messages. Research areas include improving the geo-targeting capabilities of mobile alerts, warnings, and understanding, as well as improving public response to WEAs.
The U.S. Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) issued the "Community Resilience Planning Guide for Buildings and Infrastructure Systems" to help U.S. communities better withstand and rebound from the shocks of severe weather, earthquakes, and other hazards.
As part of the Assessment of Environmental Detection (AED) leg for Project JUPITR (Joint U.S. Forces in Korea Portal and Integrated Threat Recognition), members of an Army chemical-biological research team from the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) set up biological sensors for an operational demonstration at a U.S. military installation in Osan, Republic of Korea.
Old Dominion University and the Public Contracting Institute are offering a Symposium on the Acquisition, Procurement, and Contract Management Workforce. The symposium provides best practices and lessons learned, which can be applied immediately to an organization's and program's acquisition, procurement, and contract management workforce.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and FAA Administrator Michael Huerta announced the creation of a task force to develop recommendations for a registration process for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). The task force will be composed of 25 to 30 diverse representatives from the UAS and manned aviation industries, the federal government, and other stakeholders.
