Expanding food democracy: a perspective from the United States

Food democracy can be a tool to combat capitalist hegemony in the food system and increase citizen’s knowledge about alternatives to obtaining food from concentrated food businesses. But for food democracy to further democratic goals, it needs to help create these alternatives as transformational spaces, seek genuine inclusion of underprivileged people in food system governance, and ensure that public forums for deliberation about the food system are active and respected by public institutions

Testing and Results of Vacuum Swing Adsorption Units for Spacesuit Carbon Dioxide and Humidity Control

A principal concern for extravehicular activity (EVA) spacesuits is the capability to control carbon dioxide (CO2) and humidity (H2O) for the crewmember. The release of CO2 in a confined or unventilated area is dangerous for human health and leads to asphyxiation; therefore, CO2 and H2O control become leading factors in the design and development of the spacesuit. An amine-based CO2 and H2O vapor sorbent for use in pressure-swing regenerable beds has been developed by Hamilton Sundstrand. The application of solidamine materials with vacuum swing adsorption technology has shown the capacity to concurrently manage CO2 and H2O levels through a fully regenerative cycle eliminating mission constraints imposed with nonregenerative technologies. Two prototype solid amine-based systems, known as rapid cycle amine (RCA), were designed to continuously remove CO2 and H2O vapor from a flowing ventilation stream through the use of a two-bed amine based, vacuum-swing adsorption system. The Engineering and Science Contract Group (ESCG) RCA implements radial flow paths, whereas the Hamilton Sundstrand RCA was designed with linear flow paths. Testing was performed in a sea-level pressure environment and a reduced-pressure environment with simulated human metabolic loads in a closed-loop configuration. This paper presents the experimental results of laboratory testing for a full-size and a sub-scale test article. The testing described here characterized and evaluated the performance of each RCA unit at the required Portable Life Support Subsystem (PLSS) operating conditions. The test points simulated a range of crewmember metabolic rates. The experimental results demonstrated the ability of each RCA unit to sufficiently remove CO2 and H2O from a closed loop ambient or sub-ambient atmosphere

Cumbre de Sistemas Alimentarios de la ONU 2021: Desmantelando la democracia y restableciendo el control corporativo de los sistemas alimentarios

Este artículo analiza el desarrollo y la organización de la Cumbre de Sistemas Alimentarios de las Naciones Unidas (UNFSS), que está siendo convocada por el Secretario General de la ONU, António Guterres, a finales de 2021. Aunque pocas personas discutirán que los sistemas alimentarios globales necesitan transformación, ha quedado claro que la Cumbre es, en cambio, un esfuerzo de una poderosa alianza de corporaciones multinacionales, organizaciones filantrópicas y países orientados a la exportación para subvertir las instituciones multilaterales de gobernanza alimentaria y capturar la narrativa global de la “transformación de los sistemas alimentarios”. Este artículo sitúa la próxima Cumbre en el contexto de cumbres mundiales sobre la alimentación anteriores y analiza las preocupaciones expresadas por muchos miembros de la sociedad civil. Explica cómo la estructura y las formas actuales de reclutamiento de participantes y compromiso público carecen de transparencia y rendición de cuentas básicas, no logran abordar conflictos de intereses significativos e ignorar los derechos humanos. A medida que la pandemia de COVID-19 ilumina las vulnerabilidades estructurales del modelo neoliberal de los sistemas alimentarios y las consecuencias del cambio climático para la producción de alimentos, ahora más que nunca se necesita un compromiso de alto nivel con los sistemas alimentarios equitativos y sostenibles. Sin embargo, los autores sugieren que el UNFSS, en cambio, parece seguir una trayectoria en la que los esfuerzos para gobernar los sistemas alimentarios globales en el interés público han sido subvertidos para mantener el colonialismo y formas corporativas de control

Cumbre de Sistemas Alimentarios de la ONU 2021: Desmantelando la democracia y restableciendo el control corporativo de los sistemas alimentarios

Este artículo analiza el desarrollo y la organización de la Cumbre de Sistemas Alimentarios de las Naciones Unidas (UNFSS), que está siendo convocada por el Secretario General de la ONU, António Guterres, a finales de 2021. Aunque pocas personas discutirán que los sistemas alimentarios globales necesitan transformación, ha quedado claro que la Cumbre es, en cambio, un esfuerzo de una poderosa alianza de corporaciones multinacionales, organizaciones filantrópicas y países orientados a la exportación para subvertir las instituciones multilaterales de gobernanza alimentaria y capturar la narrativa global de la “transformación de los sistemas alimentarios”. Este artículo sitúa la próxima Cumbre en el contexto de cumbres mundiales sobre la alimentación anteriores y analiza las preocupaciones expresadas por muchos miembros de la sociedad civil. Explica cómo la estructura y las formas actuales de reclutamiento de participantes y compromiso público carecen de transparencia y rendición de cuentas básicas, no logran abordar conflictos de intereses significativos e ignorar los derechos humanos. A medida que la pandemia de COVID-19 ilumina las vulnerabilidades estructurales del modelo neoliberal de los sistemas alimentarios y las consecuencias del cambio climático para la producción de alimentos, ahora más que nunca se necesita un compromiso de alto nivel con los sistemas alimentarios equitativos y sostenibles. Sin embargo, los autores sugieren que el UNFSS, en cambio, parece seguir una trayectoria en la que los esfuerzos para gobernar los sistemas alimentarios globales en el interés público han sido subvertidos para mantener el colonialismo y formas corporativas de control

Cumbre de Sistemas Alimentarios de la ONU 2021: Desmantelando la democracia y restableciendo el control corporativo de los sistemas alimentarios

Este artículo analiza el desarrollo y la organización de la Cumbre de Sistemas Alimentarios de las Naciones Unidas (UNFSS), que está siendo convocada por el Secretario General de la ONU, António Guterres, a finales de 2021. Aunque pocas personas discutirán que los sistemas alimentarios globales necesitan transformación, ha quedado claro que la Cumbre es, en cambio, un esfuerzo de una poderosa alianza de corporaciones multinacionales, organizaciones filantrópicas y países orientados a la exportación para subvertir las instituciones multilaterales de gobernanza alimentaria y capturar la narrativa global de la “transformación de los sistemas alimentarios”. Este artículo sitúa la próxima Cumbre en el contexto de cumbres mundiales sobre la alimentación anteriores y analiza las preocupaciones expresadas por muchos miembros de la sociedad civil. Explica cómo la estructura y las formas actuales de reclutamiento de participantes y compromiso público carecen de transparencia y rendición de cuentas básicas, no logran abordar conflictos de intereses significativos e ignorar los derechos humanos. A medida que la pandemia de COVID-19 ilumina las vulnerabilidades estructurales del modelo neoliberal de los sistemas alimentarios y las consecuencias del cambio climático para la producción de alimentos, ahora más que nunca se necesita un compromiso de alto nivel con los sistemas alimentarios equitativos y sostenibles. Sin embargo, los autores sugieren que el UNFSS, en cambio, parece seguir una trayectoria en la que los esfuerzos para gobernar los sistemas alimentarios globales en el interés público han sido subvertidos para mantener el colonialismo y formas corporativas de control

Towards an equity competency model for sustainable food systems education programs

Addressing social inequities has been recognized as foundational to transforming food systems. Activists and scholars have critiqued food movements as lacking an orientation towards addressing issues of social justice. To address issues of inequity, sustainable food systems education (SFSE) programs will have to increase students’ equity-related capabilities. Our first objective in this paper is to determine the extent to which SFSE programs in the USA and Canada address equity. We identified 108 programs and reviewed their public facing documents for an explicit focus on equity. We found that roughly 80% of universities with SFSE programs do not provide evidence that they explicitly include equity in their curricula. Our second objective is to propose an equity competency model based on literature from multiple fields and perspectives. This entails dimensions related to knowledge of self; knowledge of others and one’s interactions with them; knowledge of systems of oppression and inequities; and the drive to embrace and create strategies and tactics for dismantling racism and other forms of inequity. Integrating our equity competency model into SFSE curricula can support the development of future professionals capable of dismantling inequity in the food system. We understand that to integrate an equity competency in our curricula will require commitment to build will and skill not only of our students, but our faculty, and entire university communities

scMRI Reveals Large-Scale Brain Network Abnormalities in Autism

Autism is a complex neurological condition characterized by childhood onset of dysfunction in multiple cognitive domains including socio-emotional function, speech and language, and processing of internally versus externally directed stimuli. Although gross brain anatomic differences in autism are well established, recent studies investigating regional differences in brain structure and function have yielded divergent and seemingly contradictory results. How regional abnormalities relate to the autistic phenotype remains unclear. We hypothesized that autism exhibits distinct perturbations in network-level brain architecture, and that cognitive dysfunction may be reflected by abnormal network structure. Network-level anatomic abnormalities in autism have not been previously described. We used structural covariance MRI to investigate network-level differences in gray matter structure within two large-scale networks strongly implicated in autism, the salience network and the default mode network, in autistic subjects and age-, gender-, and IQ-matched controls. We report specific perturbations in brain network architecture in the salience and default-mode networks consistent with clinical manifestations of autism. Extent and distribution of the salience network, involved in social-emotional regulation of environmental stimuli, is restricted in autism. In contrast, posterior elements of the default mode network have increased spatial distribution, suggesting a ‘posteriorization’ of this network. These findings are consistent with a network-based model of autism, and suggest a unifying interpretation of previous work. Moreover, we provide evidence of specific abnormalities in brain network architecture underlying autism that are quantifiable using standard clinical MRI

The clustering of galaxies in the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey : baryon acoustic oscillations in the Data Releases 10 and 11 Galaxy samples

We present a one per cent measurement of the cosmic distance scale from the detections of the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) in the clustering of galaxies from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, which is part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III. Our results come from the Data Release 11 (DR11) sample, containing nearly one million galaxies and covering approximately 8500 square degrees and the redshift range 0.2 < z < 0.7. We also compare these results with those from the publicly released DR9 and DR10 samples. Assuming a concordance Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) cosmological model, the DR11 sample covers a volume of 13 Gpc3 and is the largest region of the Universe ever surveyed at this density. We measure the correlation function and power spectrum, including density-field reconstruction of the BAO feature. The acoustic features are detected at a significance of over 7σ in both the correlation function and power spectrum. Fitting for the position of the acoustic features measures the distance relative to the sound horizon at the drag epoch, rd, which has a value of rd,fid = 149.28 Mpc in our fiducial cosmology. We find DV = (1264 ± 25 Mpc)(rd/rd,fid) at z = 0.32 and DV = (2056 ± 20 Mpc)(rd/rd,fid) at z = 0.57. At 1.0 per cent, this latter measure is the most precise distance constraint ever obtained from a galaxy survey. Separating the clustering along and transverse to the line of sight yields measurements at z = 0.57 of DA = (1421 ± 20 Mpc)(rd/rd,fid) and H = (96.8 ± 3.4 km s−1 Mpc−1)(rd,fid/rd). Our measurements of the distance scale are in good agreement with previous BAO measurements and with the predictions from cosmic microwave background data for a spatially flat CDM model with a cosmological constant.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

The clustering of galaxies in the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: Baryon Acoustic Oscillations in the Data Release 9 Spectroscopic Galaxy Sample

We present measurements of galaxy clustering from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), which is part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III). These use the Data Release 9 (DR9) CMASS sample, which contains 264,283 massive galaxies covering 3275 square degrees with an effective redshift z=0.57 and redshift range 0.43 < z < 0.7. Assuming a concordance Lambda-CDM cosmological model, this sample covers an effective volume of 2.2 Gpc^3, and represents the largest sample of the Universe ever surveyed at this density, n = 3 x 10^-4 h^-3 Mpc^3. We measure the angle-averaged galaxy correlation function and power spectrum, including density-field reconstruction of the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) feature. The acoustic features are detected at a significance of 5\sigma in both the correlation function and power spectrum. Combining with the SDSS-II Luminous Red Galaxy Sample, the detection significance increases to 6.7\sigma. Fitting for the position of the acoustic features measures the distance to z=0.57 relative to the sound horizon DV /rs = 13.67 +/- 0.22 at z=0.57. Assuming a fiducial sound horizon of 153.19 Mpc, which matches cosmic microwave background constraints, this corresponds to a distance DV(z=0.57) = 2094 +/- 34 Mpc. At 1.7 per cent, this is the most precise distance constraint ever obtained from a galaxy survey. We place this result alongside previous BAO measurements in a cosmological distance ladder and find excellent agreement with the current supernova measurements. We use these distance measurements to constrain various cosmological models, finding continuing support for a flat Universe with a cosmological constant.Comment: 33 page

The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey of SDSS-III

The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) is designed to measure the scale of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) in the clustering of matter over a larger volume than the combined efforts of all previous spectroscopic surveys of large scale structure. BOSS uses 1.5 million luminous galaxies as faint as i=19.9 over 10,000 square degrees to measure BAO to redshifts z<0.7. Observations of neutral hydrogen in the Lyman alpha forest in more than 150,000 quasar spectra (g<22) will constrain BAO over the redshift range 2.15<z<3.5. Early results from BOSS include the first detection of the large-scale three-dimensional clustering of the Lyman alpha forest and a strong detection from the Data Release 9 data set of the BAO in the clustering of massive galaxies at an effective redshift z = 0.57. We project that BOSS will yield measurements of the angular diameter distance D_A to an accuracy of 1.0% at redshifts z=0.3 and z=0.57 and measurements of H(z) to 1.8% and 1.7% at the same redshifts. Forecasts for Lyman alpha forest constraints predict a measurement of an overall dilation factor that scales the highly degenerate D_A(z) and H^{-1}(z) parameters to an accuracy of 1.9% at z~2.5 when the survey is complete. Here, we provide an overview of the selection of spectroscopic targets, planning of observations, and analysis of data and data quality of BOSS.Comment: 49 pages, 16 figures, accepted by A