Death of the Challenge to Lethal Injection - Missouri\u27s Protocol Deemed Constitutional Yet Again

Lethal injection is currently the predominant form of execution nationwide. Most proponents of this method cite the convenience and the humanity of this procedure over past methods of execution. However, lethal injections are fraught with problems such as the specificity and safety of the written procedures themselves, implementation of such procedures, and whether lethal injection and executions in general are constitutional. Most often, prisoners file constitutional challenges to lethal injections under the Eighth Amendment, which prevents imposing cruel and unusual punishment on an American citizen. One of the more recent cases in Missouri cited such a challenge to the implementation of Missouri\u27s lethal injection guidelines. Missouri revised its guidelines in 2006, under a court order to include more specificity and to solidify the process in writing to guarantee uniformity in application of the protocol. Despite the fact that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ultimately upheld the constitutionality of Missouri\u27s new procedure, prisoners continue to challenge its legality in hopes of someday bringing a fruitful claim. Aside from the constitutional questions, lethal injection raises a host of other concerns, most notably the ethical dilemma of including medical personnel on the execution team. The interpretation of these statutes and society\u27s perception of the circumstances surrounding the death penalty and lethal injections remain to be seen as courts continue to examine these issues

Stability of Rock Slopes along Raidah Escarpment Road, Asir Area, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The Raidah Escarpment road is located north west of Abha city, Asir region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This escarpment road represents an important corridor in the area which connects different villages and tourist resorts with each other. The total length of this road section is about 9 km which passes through a highly mountainous area. The road also passes through areas of different geological hazards (rock, debris flow, soil, and weathered zones). The different environmental factors (e.g. intensive rainy summer), variable geological and structural elements (weak rocks, slide debris weak soils, shear zones, and faults) difficult road characteristics (narrow roads with tight horizontal andvertical curvature) and various human activities in the area make the road susceptible to frequent slope failures (rockfalls, rock sliding, debris flow, soil slides, and raveling) from time to time. This paper deals with the evaluation of the stability of the rock cuts along the Raidah escarpment road using two methods including a structural controlled method and a raveling type method. Raidah escarpment rock cuts have been classified into sixty nine stations which were investigated and subsequently rated. Results of this study indicated that: (1) Based on the structiural control mode of failures, it was found that 12 stations are potentially unstable due to planar, wedge, and toppling failures, and out of them five stations have a major impact on the road in the event of failure, including stations 11, 17, 20, 31, and 40. (2) According to the Modified Colorado Rockfall hazard rating system, it was found that 13, 12, 13, 17, and 49 stations are of high, high to moderate, moderate, moderate to low, and low hazard. On the other hand, it was found that 13, 11, 11, and 69 stations have a high, high to moderate, moderate, and low impact on the road in the case of failure. (3) According to the field simulation tests it was found that 6 stations potentially show highly problems from rolling and bouncing rocks. However, out of these sites it was found that only 4 stations have a high impact on the road due to rolling and bouncing. (4) the areas that are impacted by the debris flows have been mapped and determined. Finally, different recommendations and remediation methods have been discussed to minimise the impact of problimatic sites

Benthic phosphorus cycling within the Eurasian marginal sea ice zone

The Arctic Ocean region is currently undergoing dramatic changes, which will likely alter the nutrient cycles that underpin Arctic marine ecosystems. Phosphate is a key limiting nutrient for marine life but gaps in our understanding of the Arctic phosphorus (P) cycle persist. In this study, we investigate the benthic burial and recycling of phosphorus using sediments and pore waters from the Eurasian Arctic margin, including the Barents Sea slope and the Yermak Plateau. Our results highlight that P is generally lost from sediments with depth during organic matter respiration. On the Yermak Plateau, remobilization of P results in a diffusive flux of P to the seafloor of between 96 and 261 µmol m−2 yr−1. On the Barents Sea slope, diffusive fluxes of P are much larger (1736–2449 µmol m−2 yr−1), but these fluxes are into near-surface sediments rather than to the bottom waters. The difference in cycling on the Barents Sea slope is controlled by higher fluxes of fresh organic matter and active iron cycling. As changes in primary productivity, ocean circulation and glacial melt continue, benthic P cycling is likely to be altered with implications for P imported into the Arctic Ocean Basin

Temporal LiDAR Scanning in Quantifying Cumulative Rockfall Volume and Hazard Assessment: A Case Study at Southwestern Saudi Arabia

Rockfalls and unstable slopes pose a serious threat to people and property along roads/highways in the southwestern mountainous regions of Saudi Arabia. In this study, the application of terrestrial light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology was applied aiming to propose a strategy to analyze and accurately depict the detection of rockfall changes, calculation of rockfall volume, and evaluate rockfall hazards along the Habs Road, Jazan Region, Saudi Arabia. A series of temporal LiDAR scans were acquired at three selected sites. Our results show that these three sites have different degrees of hazard due to their geological differences. The mean volume loss of sites A1, A2, and A3 is 327.1, 424.4, and 3.7 L, respectively. Statistical analysis confirms the significance of the influence of site type on rockfall volume, with a probability value of \u3c 0.0105. The rockfall volume and change detection values are then correlated with precipitation, which is a triggering factor. The study also reveals that the use of terrestrial LiDAR could reduce time and effort, increase accessibility, and produce effective solutions. LiDAR could be an indispensable tool for disaster risk assessment, response and recovery process

Effect of Food Distribution on Northern Bobwhite Resource Selection

Supplemental feeding is a common management tactic used to increase survival and reproduction of northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus; hereafter, bobwhite). Different supplemental feeding methods alter the distribution of resources across a landscape in unique ways and may influence the space use and resource selection of target species differently. Predators may concentrate their movements near fed sites, and different distributions of supplemental feed may encourage bobwhite to concentrate their movements closer to feed than other areas, thereby altering the potential for predator-prey interactions near feed. We used radio-tracked locations and movements in areas with stationary feeders (“feeder fed”) and nonsupplementally fed (“unfed”; study 1, year 1) or nonstationary “broadcast fed” (study 2, year 2) areas to compare resource selection within a Bayesian framework. Second- and third-order resource selection functions indicated bobwhite were more likely to occur in proximity to feeders and feedlines when available, but bobwhite resource selection was more strongly affected by feeders. These results demonstrate that different distributions of food resources can affect prey resource selection, potentially altering the probability of overlap between nontarget predator and target prey species. Managers of bobwhite populations should broadcast feed instead of using feeders to avoid concentrations of bobwhites, which may lead to reduced survival

Maximum sinking velocities of suspended particulate matter in a coastal transition zone

Marine coastal ecosystem functioning is crucially linked to the transport and fate of suspended particulate matter (SPM). Transport of SPM is controlled by, amongst other factors, sinking velocity ws. Since the ws of cohesive SPM aggregates varies significantly with size and composition of the mineral and organic origin, ws exhibits large spatial variability along gradients of turbulence, SPM concentration (SPMC) and SPM composition. In this study, we retrieved ws for the German Bight, North Sea, by combining measured vertical turbidity profiles with simulation results for turbulent eddy diffusivity. We analyzed ws with respect to modeled prevailing dissipation rates ϵ and found that mean ws were significantly enhanced around log10(ϵ (m2 s−3)) ≈ −5.5. This ϵ region is typically found at water depths of approximately 15 to 20 m along cross-shore transects. Across this zone, SPMC declines towards the offshore waters and a change in particle composition occurs. This characterizes a transition zone with potentially enhanced vertical fluxes. Our findings contribute to the conceptual understanding of nutrient cycling in the coastal region which is as follows. Previous studies identified an estuarine circulation. Its residual landward-oriented bottom currents are loaded with SPM, particularly within the transition zone. This retains and traps fine sediments and particulate-bound nutrients in coastal waters where organic components of SPM become remineralized. Residual surface currents transport dissolved nutrients offshore, where they are again consumed by phytoplankton. Algae excrete extracellular polymeric substances which are known to mediate mineral aggregation and thus sedimentation. This probably takes place particularly in the transition zone and completes the coastal nutrient cycle. The efficiency of the transition zone for retention is thus suggested as an important mechanism that underlies the often observed nutrient gradients towards the coast.BMBF/PACEBMBF/FKZ 030634ABMBF/FKZ 03F0667AHelmholtz Society/PACESNiedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur (MWK)Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Umwelt und Klimaschutz (MUK)Coastal Observing System for Northern and Arctic Seas (COSYNA

A Flood Risk Management Program of Wadi Baysh Dam on the Downstream Area: An Integration of Hydrologic and Hydraulic Models, Jizan Region, KSA

For public safety, especially for people who dwell in the valley that is located downstream of a dam site, as well as the protection of economic and environmental resources, risk management programs are urgently required all over the world. Despite the high safety standards of dams because of improved engineering and excellent construction in recent times, a zero-risk guarantee is not possible, and accidents can happen, triggered by natural hazards, human actions, or just because the dam is aging. In addition to that is the impact of potential climate change, which may not have been taken into account in the original design. A flood risk management program, which is essential for protecting downstream dam areas, is required. Part of this program is to prepare an inundation map to simulate the impact of dam failure on the downstream areas. The Baysh dam has crucial importance both to protect the downstream areas against flooding, to provide drinking water to cities in the surrounding areas, and to use the excess water for irrigation of the agricultural areas located downstream of the dam. Recently, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) was affected by extraordinary rainstorm events causing many problems in many different areas. One of these events happened along the basin of the Baysh dam, which raised the alarm to the decision makers and to the public to take suitable action before dam failure occurs. The current study deals with a flood risk analysis of Wadi Baysh using an integration of hydrologic and hydraulic models. A detailed field investigation of the dam site and the downstream areas down to the Red Sea coast has been undertaken. Three scenarios were applied to check the dam and the reservoir functionality; the first scenario at 100-and 200-year return period rainfall events, the second scenario according to the Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP), and the third scenario if the dam fails. Our findings indicated that the Baysh dam and reservoir at 100-and 200-year rainfall events are adequate, however, at the PMP the water will spill out from the spillway at ~8900 m3/s causing flooding to the downstream areas; thus, a well-designed channel along the downstream wadi portion up to the Red Sea coast is required. However, at dam failure, the inundation model indicated that a vast area of the section downstream of the dam will be utterly devastated, causing a significant loss of lives and destruction of urban areas and agricultural lands. Eventually, an effective warning system and flood hazard management system are imperative