Reflections on Capital Punishment

Authored by the Executive Director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions, this powerful article reviews the many different arguments against the death penalty and uses a multitude of case discussions to show how the death penalty works, not in theory, but in practice. Some of these arguments include: the death penalty does not have a demonstrable deterrent effect; it costs more to maintain the system than to imprison murderers for life; many wrongfully condemned defendants have been saved by the serendipitous discovery of evidence not available during trial; innocent persons have been executed; the death penalty has been applied in a freakish manner and not pain-free; and time and geography often is the deciding factor in capital and non-capital cases. The Article uses the case discussions to conclude that the death penalty is more objectionable today than ever before

Biosecurity and Yield Improvement Technologies Are Strategic Complements in the Fight against Food Insecurity

The delivery of food security via continued crop yield improvement alone is not an effective food security strategy, and must be supported by pre- and post-border biosecurity policies to guard against perverse outcomes. In the wake of the green revolution, yield gains have been in steady decline, while post-harvest crop losses have increased as a result of insufficiently resourced and uncoordinated efforts to control spoilage throughout global transport and storage networks. This paper focuses on the role that biosecurity is set to play in future food security by preventing both pre- and post-harvest losses, thereby protecting crop yield. We model biosecurity as a food security technology that may complement conventional yield improvement policies if the gains in global farm profits are sufficient to offset the costs of implementation and maintenance. Using phytosanitary measures that slow global spread of the Ug99 strain of wheat stem rust as an example of pre-border biosecurity risk mitigation and combining it with post-border surveillance and invasive alien species control efforts, we estimate global farm profitability may be improved by over US$4.5 billion per annum

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Reflections on Capital Punishment

Authored by the Executive Director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions, this powerful article reviews the many different arguments against the death penalty and uses a multitude of case discussions to show how the death penalty works, not in theory, but in practice. Some of these arguments include: the death penalty does not have a demonstrable deterrent effect; it costs more to maintain the system than to imprison murderers for life; many wrongfully condemned defendants have been saved by the serendipitous discovery of evidence not available during trial; innocent persons have been executed; the death penalty has been applied in a freakish manner and not pain-free; and time and geography often is the deciding factor in capital and non-capital cases. The Article uses the case discussions to conclude that the death penalty is more objectionable today than ever before