Ethically aware IT design for emergency response:from co-design to ELSI co-design

The latest EU funding framework, ‘Horizon 2020’, has moved consideration of ethical and societal implications of technology development to the fore. Yet, there is little guidance on how to do such research in practice, let alone how to innovate in ethically and socially sound ways. This paper addresses these issues in the context of a large scale EU funded project developing system of system innovations in IT supported emergency response. Building on collaborative design and a range of other approaches, the paper argues that just like ‘usability’, ethics cannot be invented or decided by experts, but has to be the product of engagement with the technology by directly or indirectly implicated publics. Facilitating such publics is a central element of what we call ‘ELSI Co-Design’. The paper outlines the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of this approach

The Volunteer Income Tax Preparer\u27s Toolkit: Showing Clients Why Tax Time Is the Right Time to Save

The Volunteer Income Tax Preparer\u27s Toolkit: Showing Clients Why Tax Time Is the Right Time to Sav

The Same Old Story

Illustration of people below trees near fence with sun in background; Calendar days in backgroundhttps://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/cht-sheet-music/11191/thumbnail.jp

Designing for ethical innovation:a case study on ELSI co-design in emergency

The ever more pervasive ‘informationalization’ of crisis management and response brings both unprecedented opportunities and challenges. Recent years have seen the emergence of attention to ethical, legal and social issues (ELSI) in the field of Information and Communication Technology. However, disclosing (and addressing) ELSI issues in design is still a challenge because they are inherently relational, arising from interactions between people, the material and design of the artifact, and the context. In this article, we discuss approaches for addressing such ‘deeper’ and ‘wider’ political implications, values and ethical, legal and social implications that arise between practices, people and technology. Based on a case study from the BRIDGE project, which has provided the opportunity for deep engagement with these issues through the concrete exploration and experimentation with technologically augmented practices of emergency response, we present insights from our interdisciplinary work aiming to make design and innovation projects ELSI-aware. Crucially, we have seen in our study a need for a shift from privacy by design towards designing for privacy, collaboration, trust, accessibility, ownership, transparency etc., acknowledging that these are emergent practices that we cannot control by design, but rather that we can help to design for—calling for approaches that allow to make ELSI issues explicit and addressable in design-time

Health Literacy and Patient Reported Outcomes in Orthopaedic Surgery Patients

Background: Health literacy may be an important factor in patient health outcomes, however, prior research has primarily focused on primary care patients with research in orthopaedic specific populations lacking. Questions/purposes: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between health literacy and patient reported outcomes in an orthopaedic patient population. Patients and Methods: 183 patients \u3e18 years of age who presented to our institution’s sports orthopaedic surgery clinic with shoulder or knee complaints were analyzed. The primary outcomes were physical function recorded using Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) physical function and Single Assessment Numerical Evaluation (SANE) scores. Health literacy was determined utilizing Health LiTT, a self-administered multimedia touchscreen test based on item response theory that provides a numerical score of 0-100 with a score \u3e50 suggestive of health literacy. In addition, demographic data including age, race, gender, highest level of education, injury location, and surgery status were collected. Results: Bivariate analysis revealed that low health literacy (Health LiTT score Conclusions: Our data showed that PROMIS scores are less reliant on health literacy and more dependent on age, employment status, having surgery and low education level achieved. Adaptations to clinical practice may be necessary to better guide these select populations and improve patient-reported physical function. Furthermore, PROMIS measures can be administered successfully to patients regardless of health literacy. Level of Evidence: Level I

Bostonia

Founded in 1900, Bostonia magazine is Boston University's main alumni publication, which covers alumni and student life, as well as university activities, events, and programs

Maturation of West Nile virus modulates sensitivity to antibody-mediated neutralization

West Nile virions incorporate 180 envelope (E) proteins that orchestrate the process of virus entry and are the primary target of neutralizing antibodies. The E proteins of newly synthesized West Nile virus (WNV) are organized into trimeric spikes composed of pre-membrane (prM) and E protein heterodimers. During egress, immature virions undergo a protease-mediated cleavage of prM that results in a reorganization of E protein into the pseudo-icosahedral arrangement characteristic of mature virions. While cleavage of prM is a required step in the virus life cycle, complete maturation is not required for infectivity and infectious virions may be heterogeneous with respect to the extent of prM cleavage. In this study, we demonstrate that virion maturation impacts the sensitivity of WNV to antibody-mediated neutralization. Complete maturation results in a significant reduction in sensitivity to neutralization by antibodies specific for poorly accessible epitopes that comprise a major component of the human antibody response following WNV infection or vaccination. This reduction in neutralization sensitivity reflects a decrease in the accessibility of epitopes on virions to levels that fall below a threshold required for neutralization. Thus, in addition to a role in facilitating viral entry, changes in E protein arrangement associated with maturation modulate neutralization sensitivity and introduce an additional layer of complexity into humoral immunity against WNV

Healthcare Professional and Patient Perceptions of Changes in Colorectal Cancer Care Delivery During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Impact on Health Inequalities

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way in which people were diagnosed and treated for cancer. We explored healthcare professional and patient perceptions of the main changes to colorectal cancer delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic and how they impacted on socioeconomic inequalities in care. METHODS: In 2020, using a qualitative approach, we interviewed patients (n = 15) who accessed primary care with colorectal cancer symptoms and were referred for further investigations. In 2021, we interviewed a wide range of healthcare professionals (n = 30) across the cancer care pathway and gathered national and local documents/guidelines regarding changes in colorectal cancer care. RESULTS: Changes with the potential to exacerbate inequalities in care, included: the move to remote consultations; changes in symptomatic triage, new COVID testing procedures/ways to access healthcare, changes in visitor policies and treatment (e.g., shorter course radiotherapy). Changes that improved patient access/convenience or the diagnostic process have the potential to reduce inequalities in care. DISCUSSION: Changes in healthcare delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic have the ongoing potential to exacerbate existing health inequalities due to changes in how patients are triaged, changes to diagnostic and disease management processes, reduced social support available to patients and potential over-reliance on digital first approaches. We provide several recommendations to help mitigate these harms, whilst harnessing the gains

Seabasing and joint expeditionary logistics

Student Integrated ProjectIncludes supplementary material. Executive Summary and Presentation.Recent conflicts such as Operation Desert Shield/Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom highlight the logistics difficulties the United States faces by relying on foreign access and infrastructure and large supply stockpiles ashore to support expeditionary operations. The Navy's transformational vision for the future, Sea Power 21, involves Seabasing as a way to address these difficulties by projecting and sustaining joint forces globally from the sea. This study analyzes logistics flow to, within and from a Sea Base to an objective, and the architectures and systems needed to rapidly deploy and sustain a brigade-size force. Utilizing the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS), this study incorporates a systems engineering framework to examine current systems, programs of record and proposed systems out to the year 2025. Several capability gaps that hamper a brigade-size force from seizing the initiative anywhere in the world within a 10-day period point to a need for dedicated lift assets, such as high-speed surface ships or lighter-than-air ships, to facilitate the rapid formation of the Sea Base. Additionally, the study identifies the need for large-payload/high-speed or load-once/direct-to- objective connector capabilities to minimize the number of at-sea transfers required to employ such a force from the Sea Base in 10 hrs. With these gaps addressed, the Joint Expeditionary Brigade is supportable from the Sea Base.http://archive.org/details/seabasingndjoint109456918N