Offshore Oil Leasing: Trump Administration’s Environmentally Dangerous Energy Policy

The Trump administration’s Executive orders on Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth (“Energy Independence Order”) and Implementing an America-First Offshore Energy Strategy (“Offshore Energy Order”) set the stage to open over 90% of the continental shelf to offshore oil drilling from 2019–2024. The Offshore Energy Order ignores the statutory requirements of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (“OCSLA”) and the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) to balance energy exploration with safeguards for marine life and the environment. We analyze the lack of express authority in OCSLA for the President to rescind its protective designations, in comparison to other laws that grant such authority. This Article discusses the traditional administrative processes for assessing environmental concerns with lease proposals, and contrasts those with the Trump administration’s proposals for streamlining the process. We examine the volatility of oil prices and the impact of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) on the viability of offshore leasing. While most mayors, governors, and senators of affected states oppose further offshore drilling, the Trump administration’s proposals ignore these stakeholders. This Article emphasizes the importance of minimizing environmental risks of offshore oil exploration and drilling, including threats to marine mammals and the fishing industry, as well as climate change implications of expanding fossil fuel exploration and use. More safety oversight is needed (including a reversal of the Trump administration’s discontinuance of the Methane Waste Rule, the Well Control Rule, and third-party audits of oil well blowout preventers). This Article concludes with the recommendation that it is imprudent to expand offshore drilling when conservation for future generations and protection of the environment is a more prudent course

What is the best nonsurgical therapy for pelvic organ prolapse?

Q. What is the best nonsurgical therapy for pelvic organ prolapse? Evidence-based answer: Pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) and pessaries are equally effective in treating symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse (POP). PFMT transiently improves patient satisfaction and reduces urinary incontinence more than pessaries do (strength of recommendation [SOR]: B, a randomized controlled trial [RCT]). PFMT moderately improves prolapse symptoms and severity, especially following 6 months of supervised intervention (SOR: B, a systematic review of randomized trials with some methodologic flaws). Two pessaries (ring with support and Gellhorn) reduce symptoms in as many as 60% of patients (SOR: B, a systematic review of randomized trials). Untreated postmenopausal women with mild grades of uterine prolapse are unlikely to develop more severe prolapse; 25% to 50% improve spontaneously (SOR: C, a prospective cohort study with methodologic flaws)

Designing an Empathetic Chatbot and Exploring the Impact of Medium in its Experience and Adoption

Grounded in the user experience driven innovation (UXDI) framework (Djamasbi and Strong, 2019), we developed an empathetic chatbot, ERIN, to help college students find resources about sensitive issues such as mental health and Title IX. This extended abstract: 1) Reports ERIN’s UX driven iterative design process, 2) investigates possible influence of medium on ERIN’s user experience, and 3) explores UX factors impacting adoption behavior

Is diagnosis enough to guide interventions in mental health? Using case formulation in clinical practice

While diagnosis has traditionally been viewed as an essential concept in medicine, particularly when selecting treatments, we suggest that the use of diagnosis alone may be limited, particularly within mental health. The concept of clinical case formulation advocates for collaboratively working with patients to identify idiosyncratic aspects of their presentation and select interventions on this basis. Identifying individualized contributing factors, and how these could influence the person\u27s presentation, in addition to attending to personal strengths, may allow the clinician a deeper understanding of a patient, result in a more personalized treatment approach, and potentially provide a better clinical outcome.<br /

“Experimental Populations” Outside Historical Range Proposal: Will It Get the Frog Out of Hot Water?

72 pagesTo address the impact of climate change on habitats of endangered and threatened species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing a 2022 rule change to allow “experimental populations” to be introduced into habitat outside the species’ historical range. For essential experimental populations, habitat could be designated beyond current or historical range where “little to no habitat remains within the historical range of a species or where formerly suitable habitat . . . is undergoing, irreversible decline or change, rendering it unable to support one or more life history stages for the species.” A statutory prerequisite (under Endangered Species Act (ESA) section 10(j)) to designation of critical habitat for an experimental population is that “such population is essential to the continued existence of an endangered species or a threatened species.” The ESA defines “critical habitat” but does not separately define “habitat.” Designation of “critical habitat” has been complicated by the Weyerhaeuser v. FWS decision, in which the Supreme Court concluded that “critical habitat” must first be “habitat.

Examining the Evidence Base for Forensic Case Formulation: An Integrative Review of Recent Research

In the past decade, forensic case formulation (FCF) has become a key activity in many forensic services. However, the evidence base for FCF remains limited. This integrative review aimed to identify and evaluate all FCF research conducted since the lack of understanding within this field was highlighted by several academics in 2011. A rigorous literature search led to the identification of 14 studies fitting the inclusion criteria. Studies were critically evaluated and synthesised to create a summary of the recent research, to identify remaining gaps in our understanding, and to create an agenda for future research

A continued role for signalling functions in the early evolution of feathers

Persons and Currie (2015) argued against either flight, thermoregulation, or signalling as a functional benefit driving the earliest evolution of feathers; rather, they favoured simple feathers having an initial tactile sensory function, which changed to a thermoregulatory function as density increased. Here, we explore the relative merits of early simple feathers that may have originated as tactile sensors progressing instead towards a signalling, rather than (or in addition to), a thermoregulatory function. We suggest that signalling could act in concert with a sensory function more naturally than could thermoregulation. As such, the dismissal of a possible signalling function and the presumption that an initial sensory function led directly to a thermoregulatory function (implicit in the title “bristles before down”) are premature.PostprintPeer reviewe

The OscSNS White Paper

There exists a need to address and resolve the growing evidence for short-baseline neutrino oscillations and the possible existence of sterile neutrinos. Such non-standard particles require a mass of $\sim 1$ eV/c$^2$, far above the mass scale associated with active neutrinos, and were first invoked to explain the LSND $\bar \nu_\mu \rightarrow \bar \nu_e$ appearance signal. More recently, the MiniBooNE experiment has reported a $2.8 \sigma$ excess of events in antineutrino mode consistent with neutrino oscillations and with the LSND antineutrino appearance signal. MiniBooNE also observed a $3.4 \sigma$ excess of events in their neutrino mode data. Lower than expected neutrino-induced event rates using calibrated radioactive sources and nuclear reactors can also be explained by the existence of sterile neutrinos. Fits to the world's neutrino and antineutrino data are consistent with sterile neutrinos at this $\sim 1$ eV/c$^2$ mass scale, although there is some tension between measurements from disappearance and appearance experiments. In addition to resolving this potential major extension of the Standard Model, the existence of sterile neutrinos will impact design and planning for all future neutrino experiments. It should be an extremely high priority to conclusively establish if such unexpected light sterile neutrinos exist. The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, built to usher in a new era in neutron research, provides a unique opportunity for US science to perform a definitive world-class search for sterile neutrinos.Comment: This white paper is submitted as part of the SNOWMASS planning proces