Can Armed Drones Halt the Trend of Increasing Police Militarization?

Following presidential declarations of “war” on drugs and terror, domestic law enforcement agencies were saddled with difficult and dangerous new duties. They responded to the danger by becoming more dangerous themselves; increasingly adopting the training, tactics, and equipment of the United States military. This “militarization” of domestic police officers has, predictably, led to a breakdown in community policing, almost one thousand fatal shootings by police officers per year, and growing rifts between law enforcement agencies and the communities they are sworn to protect. In this essay, I examine whether police drones armed with non-deadly force might, perhaps paradoxically, help to curb police militarization and reduce the risk of direct, armed confrontation between civilians and police officers. I argue that while there are some drawbacks with the use of armed drones, their unique ability to keep police officers out of harm’s way, thereby negating the legal justification for the use of deadly force, would halt the need for further police militarization and dramatically reduce the number of fatal police shootings

Can Armed Drones Halt the Trend of Increasing Police Militarization?

Following presidential declarations of “war” on drugs and terror, domestic law enforcement agencies were saddled with difficult and dangerous new duties. They responded to the danger by becoming more dangerous themselves; increasingly adopting the training, tactics, and equipment of the United States military. This “militarization” of domestic police officers has, predictably, led to a breakdown in community policing, almost one thousand fatal shootings by police officers per year, and growing rifts between law enforcement agencies and the communities they are sworn to protect. In this essay, I examine whether police drones armed with non-deadly force might, perhaps paradoxically, help to curb police militarization and reduce the risk of direct, armed confrontation between civilians and police officers. I argue that while there are some drawbacks with the use of armed drones, their unique ability to keep police officers out of harm’s way, thereby negating the legal justification for the use of deadly force, would halt the need for further police militarization and dramatically reduce the number of fatal police shootings

Can Armed Drones Halt the Trend of Increasing Police Militarization?

Following presidential declarations of “war” on drugs and terror, domestic law enforcement agencies were saddled with difficult and dangerous new duties. They responded to the danger by becoming more dangerous themselves; increasingly adopting the training, tactics, and equipment of the United States military. This “militarization” of domestic police officers has, predictably, led to a breakdown in community policing, almost one thousand fatal shootings by police officers per year, and growing rifts between law enforcement agencies and the communities they are sworn to protect. In this essay, I examine whether police drones armed with non-deadly force might, perhaps paradoxically, help to curb police militarization and reduce the risk of direct, armed confrontation between civilians and police officers. I argue that while there are some drawbacks with the use of armed drones, their unique ability to keep police officers out of harm’s way, thereby negating the legal justification for the use of deadly force, would halt the need for further police militarization and dramatically reduce the number of fatal police shootings

Potential effects of climate change on Australian estuaries and fish utilising estuaries: a review

Estuaries are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change because changes in climatic and hydrologic variables that influence freshwater and marine systems will also affect estuaries. We review potential impacts of climate change on Australian estuaries and their fish. Geographic differences are likely because southern Australian climates are predicted to become warmer and drier, whereas northern regions may see increased precipitation. Environmental factors, including salinity gradients, suspended sediment, dissolved oxygen and nutrient concentrations, will be influenced by changing freshwater input and other climate variables. Potential impacts will vary depending on the geomorphology of the estuary and the level of build-up of sand bars across estuarine entrances. Changes to estuarine fish assemblages will depend on associated changes to salinity and estuarine-mouth morphology. Marine migrants may be severely affected by closure of estuarine mouths, depending on whether species 'must' use estuarine habitat and the level of migratory v. resident individuals. Depending on how fish in coastal waters locate estuaries, there may be reduced cues associated with estuarine mouths, particularly in southern Australia, potentially influencing abundance. In summary, climate change is expected to have major consequences for Australian estuaries and associated fish, although the nature of impacts will show significant regional variation

Stock identification of wahoo (Acanthocybium solandri) in the Pacific and Indian Oceans using morphometrics and parasites

The wahoo (Acanthocybium solandri) is an increasingly important by-product species of tropical pelagic fisheries worldwide. However, specific management of the species is currently hindered by a dearth of information on basic biology and stock structure. This study examined the stock structure of wahoo using morphometric characters and parasite fauna from fish collected in three regions of the western Pacific, and one region in each of the eastern Pacific and eastern Indian Oceans. Similar morphometric measurements and parasite abundance of wahoo collected off eastern Australia suggest they may form part of a single phenotypic stock in the western Pacific Ocean. Morphometric measurements and parasite fauna were significantly different among wahoo from the western Pacific and eastern Pacific Oceans, suggesting multiple discrete phenotypic stocks despite genetic homogeneity. Assessing fish from a range of regions throughout the Pacific Ocean may help discriminate stock boundaries in this region. Future research using complementary techniques, such as otolith microchemistry and genetic microsatellites, may improve our understanding of the global stock structure of wahoo to suitably inform regional fishery management organizations

Mammalian mitochondrial DNA replication intermediates are essentially duplex but contain extensive tracts of RNA/DNA hybrid.

Item does not contain fulltextWe demonstrate, using transmission electron microscopy and immunopurification with an antibody specific for RNA/DNA hybrid, that intact mitochondrial DNA replication intermediates are essentially duplex throughout their length but contain extensive RNA tracts on one strand. However, the extent of preservation of RNA in such molecules is highly dependent on the preparative method used. These findings strongly support the strand-coupled model of mitochondrial DNA replication involving RNA incorporation throughout the lagging strand

Human Heart Mitochondrial DNA Is Organized in Complex Catenated Networks Containing Abundant Four-way Junctions and Replication Forks*

Analysis of human heart mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) by electron microscopy and agarose gel electrophoresis revealed a complete absence of the θ-type replication intermediates seen abundantly in mtDNA from all other tissues. Instead only Y- and X-junctional forms were detected after restriction digestion. Uncut heart mtDNA was organized in tangled complexes of up to 20 or more genome equivalents, which could be resolved to genomic monomers, dimers, and linear fragments by treatment with the decatenating enzyme topoisomerase IV plus the cruciform-cutting T7 endonuclease I. Human and mouse brain also contained a population of such mtDNA forms, which were absent, however, from mouse, rabbit, or pig heart. Overexpression in transgenic mice of two proteins involved in mtDNA replication, namely human mitochondrial transcription factor A or the mouse Twinkle DNA helicase, generated abundant four-way junctions in mtDNA of heart, brain, and skeletal muscle. The organization of mtDNA of human heart as well as of mouse and human brain in complex junctional networks replicating via a presumed non-θ mechanism is unprecedented in mammals