What Can We Learn from Vulnerability Theory?

Martha Albertson Fineman frames philosophies of justice, freedom, equality, and human nature alongside original insights about the role of vulnerability and institutions in people’s lives to argue for increased government intervention. The conglomeration of these ideas form vulnerability theory, an emerging legal theory providing a loose framework for evaluating and creating public policy. The following article can be broken down into two parts. The first part defines vulnerability theory by identifying, evaluating, and discussing the interaction among the five major components of vulnerability theory: the rejection of the liberal subject in favor of a vulnerable subject, the universality and constancy of vulnerability, the role institutions play in mitigating vulnerability, the movement from formal equality to substantive equality, and the call for increased government intervention. The second part evaluates Nina Kohn’s criticism of vulnerability theory to help determine three important insights, or features, of the theory. First, with some slight adjusting, it helps establish a new, more desirable “post-identity approach” as a goal for public policy; second, it provides a compelling narrative for expanding the role of government; and third, it directs policymakers’ attention toward a potentially promising new method for achieving a more substantive equality

Autobed: A Web-Controlled Robotic Bed

We (the Healthcare Robotics Lab at Georgia Tech) have developed an additional module for an Invacare fully electric hospital bed (Model 5410IVC) so that the bed can be controlled from a web-based interface. This module can be easily plugged between the hand control and the Invacare bed, without having to modify any existing hardware on the bed. We call a bed so modified an 'Autobed.' With this feature, users who are unable to operate the standard bed controls, but can access a web browser, are able to position the bed by themselves without having to rely on a caregiver (for example, patients with quadriplegia). This page describes how to make the Autobed module using relatively inexpensive, commercially available hardware. This document is a representation of the content provided at http://hsi.gatech.edu/hrl/project_autobed_v2.shtml as of February 15th, 2016, and is intended to create a lasting, citable, and archival copy of this material, which details the design and instructions for building the 'Autobed' device

Delivering More Than Food: Understanding and Operationalizing Racial Equity in Food Hubs

This report is a look at a how U.S.-based food hubs understand engagement in racial equity work. The sample of food hubs interviewed for this report are diverse in their structures, leadership, and missions. Through interviews with food hub managers and other roles, we identify common facilitators and inhibitors to food hubs engaging in racial equity work. After presenting the major themes of our findings, we provide an analysis of those findings through multiple frames. We offer takeaways in the form of identifying deeper questions for food hubs, funders, and researchers about how to meaningfully support racial equity within the food system. We also offer specifics of how to operationalize some of our findings by providing a few examples of food hubs/food system organizations that have taken clear action toward achieving racial equity goals.

Real-Time PCR assay for detection and differentiation of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli from clinical samples

Timely accurate diagnosis of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infections is important. We evaluated a laboratory-developed real-time PCR (LD-PCR) assay targeting stx(1), stx(2), and rfbE(O157) with 2,386 qualifying stool samples submitted to the microbiology laboratory of a tertiary care pediatric center between July 2011 and December 2013. Broth cultures of PCR-positive samples were tested for Shiga toxins by enzyme immunoassay (EIA) (ImmunoCard STAT! enterohemorrhagic E. coli [EHEC]; Meridian Bioscience) and cultured in attempts to recover both O157 and non-O157 STEC. E. coli O157 and non-O157 STEC were detected in 35 and 18 cases, respectively. Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) occurred in 12 patients (10 infected with STEC O157, one infected with STEC O125ac, and one with PCR evidence of STEC but no resulting isolate). Among the 59 PCR-positive STEC specimens from 53 patients, only 29 (54.7%) of the associated specimens were toxin positive by EIA. LD-PCR differentiated STEC O157 from non-O157 using rfbE(O157), and LD-PCR results prompted successful recovery of E. coli O157 (n = 25) and non-O157 STEC (n = 8) isolates, although the primary cultures and toxin assays were frequently negative. A rapid “mega”-multiplex PCR (FilmArray gastrointestinal panel; BioFire Diagnostics) was used retrospectively, and results correlated with LD-PCR findings in 25 (89%) of the 28 sorbitol-MacConkey agar culture-negative STEC cases. These findings demonstrate that PCR is more sensitive than EIA and/or culture and distinguishes between O157 and non-O157 STEC in clinical samples and that E. coli O157:H7 remains the predominant cause of HUS in our institution. PCR is highly recommended for rapid diagnosis of pediatric STEC infections

Parker Solar Probe Imaging of the Night Side of Venus

We present images of Venus from the Wide-Field Imager for Parker Solar Probe (WISPR) telescope on board the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) spacecraft, obtained during PSP's third and fourth flybys of Venus on 2020 July 11 and 2021 February 20, respectively. Thermal emission from the surface is observed on the night side, representing the shortest wavelength observations of this emission ever, the first detection of the Venusian surface by an optical telescope observing below 0.8 μm. Consistent with previous observations at 1 μm, the cooler highland areas are fainter than the surrounding lowlands. The irradiances measured by WISPR are consistent with model predictions assuming a surface temperature of T = 735 K. In addition to the thermal emission, the WISPR images also show bright nightglow emission at the limb, and we compare the WISPR intensities with previous spectroscopic measurements of the molecular oxygen nightglow lines from Venus Express

Host-linked soil viral ecology along a permafrost thaw gradient

Climate change threatens to release abundant carbon that is sequestered at high latitudes, but the constraints on microbial metabolisms that mediate the release of methane and carbon dioxide are poorly understood1,2,3,4,5,6,7. The role of viruses, which are known to affect microbial dynamics, metabolism and biogeochemistry in the oceans8,9,10, remains largely unexplored in soil. Here, we aimed to investigate how viruses influence microbial ecology and carbon metabolism in peatland soils along a permafrost thaw gradient in Sweden. We recovered 1,907 viral populations (genomes and large genome fragments) from 197 bulk soil and size-fractionated metagenomes, 58% of which were detected in metatranscriptomes and presumed to be active. In silico predictions linked 35% of the viruses to microbial host populations, highlighting likely viral predators of key carbon-cycling microorganisms, including methanogens and methanotrophs. Lineage-specific virus/host ratios varied, suggesting that viral infection dynamics may differentially impact microbial responses to a changing climate. Virus-encoded glycoside hydrolases, including an endomannanase with confirmed functional activity, indicated that viruses influence complex carbon degradation and that viral abundances were significant predictors of methane dynamics. These findings suggest that viruses may impact ecosystem function in climate-critical, terrestrial habitats and identify multiple potential viral contributions to soil carbon cycling

Science drivers and requirements for an Advanced Technology Large Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST): Implications for technology development and synergies with other future facilities

The Advanced Technology Large-Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST) is a concept for an 8-meter to 16-meter UVOIR space observatory for launch in the 2025-2030 era. ATLAST will allow astronomers to answer fundamental questions at the forefront of modern astronphysics, including "Is there life elsewhere in the Galaxy?" We present a range of science drivers that define the main performance requirements for ATLAST (8 to 16 milliarcsec angular resolution, diffraction limited imaging at 0.5 {\mu}m wavelength, minimum collecting area of 45 square meters, high sensitivity to light wavelengths from 0.1 {\mu}m to 2.4 {\mu}m, high stability in wavefront sensing and control). We will also discuss the synergy between ATLAST and other anticipated future facilities (e.g., TMT, EELT, ALMA) and the priorities for technology development that will enable the construction for a cost that is comparable to current generation observatory-class space missions.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, to appear in "Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2010: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave," edited by Jacobus M. Oschmann Jr., Mark C. Clampin, Howard A. MacEwen, Proc. of SPIE, Vol. 7731, 77312