The Shackling of Incarcerated Pregnant Women: A Human Rights Violation Committed Regularly in the United States

The international human rights community has repeatedly expressed concern about the shackling of pregnant women deprived of their liberty in the United States. The federal government has adopted an anti-shackling policy and some states have passed laws or policies restricting shackling. Despite these positive developments, shackling of women prisoners continues to occur in violation of U.S. and international law.Shackling pregnant women increases the substantial medical risks of childbirth. Shackling of pregnant women is a harmful, painful, and demeaning practice that is rarely necessary to preserve safety. Most female prisoners are non-violent offenders, and women who are pregnant, in labor, or in postpartum recovery are especially low flight and safety risks.Both international law and U.S. constitutional law prohibit shackling during certain stages of pregnancy, childbirth, and post-partum recovery. Article 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (the "ICCPR") guarantees that persons deprived of their liberty be treated with dignity and respect. Article 7 prohibits torture, or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits cruel or unusual punishments, which some Federal courts have interpreted to prohibit the shackling of pregnant prisoners during childbirth.While the U.S. federal government has adopted an anti-shackling policy that applies to federal prisons and 24 states have adopted policies limiting (to varying degrees) shackling of pregnant prisoners, legislation enacted by state legislatures is preferable to the adoption of an administrative policy by the executive. Indeed, 18 state legislatures in the United States have in fact passed legislation restricting shackling, but many such laws contain broad exceptions or are not adequately implemented.We recommend that the UN Human Rights Committee (the "Committee") that monitors compliance with the ICCPR ask and encourage the United States to 1) enact a federal law banning the practice of shackling prisoners during pregnancy, covering, at a minimum, the third trimester, transport to medical facilities, labor, delivery and postpartum recovery, 2) take appropriate measures to ensure that those 32 states that do not have anti-shackling laws to enact comprehensive laws, including training of correctional officers, 3) to review existing state anti-shackling laws and policies to ensure that they are comprehensive and fully-implemented, and 4) to conduct an empirical study to determine the scope of shackling in U.S. prisons and to understand why the practice of shackling pregnant women persists

WOPR: A Dynamic Cybersecurity Detection and Response Framework

Malware authors develop software to exploit the flaws in any platform and application which suffers a vulnerability in its defenses, be it through unpatched known attack vectors or zero-day attacks for which there is no current solution. It is the responsibility of cybersecurity personnel to monitor, detect, respond to and protect against such incidents that could affect their organization. Unfortunately, the low number of skilled, available cybersecurity professionals in the job market means that many positions go unfilled and cybersecurity threats are unknowingly allowed to negatively affect many enterprises.The demand for a greater cybersecurity posture has led several organizations to de- velop automated threat analysis tools which can be operated by less-skilled infor- mation security analysts and response teams. However, the diverse needs and organizational factors of most businesses presents a challenge for a “one size fits all” cybersecurity solution. Organizations in different industries may not have the same regulatory and standards compliance concerns due to processing different forms and classifications of data. As a result, many common security solutions are ill equipped to accurately model cybersecurity threats as they relate to each unique organization.We propose WOPR, a framework for automated static and dynamic analysis of software to identify malware threats, classify the nature of those threats, and deliver an appropriate automated incident response. Additionally, WOPR provides the end user the ability to adjust threat models to fit the risks relevant to an organization, allowing for bespoke automated cybersecurity threat management. Finally, WOPR presents a departure from traditional signature-based detection found in anti-virus and intrusion detection systems through learning system-level behavior and matching system calls with malicious behavior

Voodoo Love

Voodoo Love is a music video for jazz saxophonist, Lance Ellis. Set at The Turning Point Lounge in New Orleans, as well as the countrysides of Madisonville and Bush, Louisiana, the video takes us into a world where classic Motown style meets the world of campy horror films. Voodoo Love is also the first local jazz video to be produced in high-definition video. It includes appearances by Lischelle Brown, Mardi Gras Indian Big Chief Alfred Doucette, blues player Big Al Carson and the singing trio Mahogany Blue. The video was authored to DVD and includes extras features on the making of the video, including an extended behind the scenes documentary

Development of low-fat sugar-free orange sherbet containing soy protein

Consumer interest in healthy eating and self-medication is not just a passing fad. Soy-based products have become increasingly popular and gradually moved into the mainstream market. Many consumers associate soy with a healthy consumption pattern. Development of frozen desserts that indulge consumers’ eating desire, yet provide potential health benefits, is a challenge. Product appraisal to identify specific sensory attributes driving product acceptance is vital to the introduction of this new product. This thesis research was designed to develop low-fat sugar-free orange sherbet products containing soy protein and to determine the consumer sensory profile driving product acceptance and purchase intent. Two consumer studies were performed to evaluate consumer sensory properties of orange sherbets containing soy protein. In study 1, twelve sherbets were formulated with soy protein, SP (3.25, 4.25, 5.25 or 6.25%) and maltodextrin, MD (10, 11, or 12%), and a control (0% SP and 12% MD). Each consumer (n=130) evaluated 3 (of 13) sherbet formulations for acceptability of appearance, color, flavor, sweetness, sourness, texture/mouthfeel, and overall liking using a 9-point hedonic scale. Overall acceptability (yes/no) and purchase intent (buy/not buy) were determined. Data were statistically analyzed. Study 2 was carried out in a similar manner with 140 consumers. Each consumer evaluated 4 (of 4) sherbets with four levels of soy protein concentrate (7.09, 7.05, 6.5, or 6.0g). In both studies there were significant differences (p\u3c0.05) in texture and overall liking among the sherbet formulations. For study 1, the highest rated acceptable product was the formulation containing 4.25% SP and 11% MD. For study 2 the formulation with 6.0 g soy protein per serving was most acceptable. Flavor, texture, and overall liking were identified as attributes critical to acceptance and purchase intent of the low-fat sugar-free sherbets containing soy protein. The information is useful for further product refinement

Finding A Voice: Exploring the Biographical Narratives of Adults with Selective Mutism

This research explores the lived experiences of adults with selective mutism using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Existing literature has typically positioned selective mutism as a disorder of childhood and as a result little is known about the difficulties faced by individuals who continue to experience the effects of selective mutism throughout adolescence and adulthood. This research seeks to gain an understanding of the phenomenology of selective mutism as a lived experience and to allow participant's voices to be heard. In-depth narrative interviews were conducted with six individuals who had continued to experience selective mutism throughout their adult life. Data from my own experience of suffering from SM were also included. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to identify five essential themes. These findings provide an insight into the embodied experience of selective mutism, the process of sense making in which individuals engage to negotiate their identities and the effects of social isolation. Furthermore this research explores the experiences of therapy and help seeking which were important topics within participant narratives. This research encourages a thoughtful reflection on the lives of those whose realities have been profoundly affected by selective mutism. This research and the exploratory nature of phenomenological inquiry will hopefully encourage further investigations into selective mutism as it exists beyond childhood

Solar Enablement Initiative in Australia: Report on Efficiently Identifying Critical Cases for Evaluating the Voltage Impact of Large PV Investment

The increasing quantity of PV generation connected to distribution networks is creating challenges in maintaining and controlling voltages in those distribution networks. Determining the maximum hosting capacity for new PV installations based on the historical data is an essential task for distribution networks. Analyzing all historical data in large distribution networks is impractical. Therefore, this paper focuses on how to time efficiently identify the critical cases for evaluating the voltage impacts of the new large PV applications in medium voltage (MV) distribution networks. A systematic approach is proposed to cluster medium voltage nodes based on electrical adjacency and time blocks. MV nodes are clustered along with the voltage magnitudes and time blocks. Critical cases of each cluster can be used for further power flow study. This method is scalable and can time efficiently identify cases for evaluating PV investment on medium voltage networks

Congress\u27s Anti-Removal Power

Statutory restrictions on presidential removal of agency leadership enable agencies to act independently from the White House. Yet since 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court has held two times that such restrictions are unconstitutional precisely because they prevent the President from controlling policymaking within the executive branch. Recognizing that a supermajority of the Justices now appears to reject or at least limit the principle from Humphrey’s Executor that Congress may prevent the President from removing agency officials based on policy disagreement, scholars increasingly predict that the Court will soon further weaken agency independence if not jettison it altogether. This Article challenges that conventional wisdom. True, the Court is skeptical of statutory restrictions on the President’s removal power. But statutory removal restrictions are not the only tools available to achieve agency independence. Instead, the Constitution provides Congress with what we dub the anti-removal power—the ability to discourage the White House from using its removal power. For example, because the Senate has plenary authority under the Appointments Clause to withhold its consent for executive branch nominees, there is no guarantee that the Senate will confirm a replacement if the President removes the incumbent for a poor reason. As Alexander Hamilton explained, the “silent operation” of that uncertainty often allows Congress to prevent removal in the first place. Similarly, James Madison acknowledged during the Decision of 1789 that although the Constitution (in his view) forbids statutory removal restrictions, Congress has means to make removal costly for the President, which should “excite serious reflections beforehand in the mind of any man who may fill the presidential chair.” Importantly, moreover, Congress can strengthen its anti-removal power by, among other things, enacting reason-giving requirements, raising cloture thresholds, and preventing presidential evasion of the Appointments Clause. Using history, real-world examples, and game theory, we demonstrate how Congress can create a level of agency independence without the use of statutory removal restrictions. We also explain why Congress’s anti-removal power has advantages over statutory removal restrictions, including a surer constitutional footing and enhanced accountability: Both the President and Congress face political consequences for how they exercise their removal and anti-removal powers. Finally, we offer Congress a path forward to restore some agency independence and limit judicial challenges to agency structures

Chapter 6 Living with landslides for Landslide Ecology

1. Human interactions with landslides have become more frequent and lethal as our populations expand into less stable terrain. This trend suggests that we must better understand what causes landslides and how to mitigate future damage. 2. Disturbances created by road construction, urban expansion, forestry, and agriculture are major contributors to anthropogenic landslides, and each has increased in frequency during the last several decades. 3. The field of landslide risk assessment is growing rapidly, and many new mapping and modeling tools are addressing how to predict landslide frequency and severity. Mitigation of landslide damage is also improving, particularly when new landslides follow patterns similar to previous ones. Despite a broad understanding oflandslide triggers and consequences, detailed predictions of specific events remain elusive, due to the stochastic nature of each landslide\u27s timing, pathway, and severity. 4. Biological tools are valuable additions to efforts to mitigate landslide damage. Biological protection of soil on slopes and restoration of species composition, food webs, and ecosystem processes ultimately must supplement technological approaches to achieve long-term slope stability because biological systems are generally more resilient than man-made structures