Search

Repertoires of state-making and regime maintenance include the capture, control, and use of animals for activities ranging from landmine detection by rats to military incursions and border patrols on horseback. However, marine animals have been less amenable to efforts to fix or uphold states due to their disregard for territorial boundaries, thus prompting states to adopt different approaches. Through what means, then, do states incorporate marine animals into their resource and territorial claims? This research takes up this question through an examination of how the tourism industry in Ulsan, South Korea narrates its history of whaling and the geopolitical effects of this historiography. Ulsan is a former whaling hub and is now a centre of domestic whaling tourism. Building on resource nationalism and tourism geopolitics literature, we analyse the politics of Ulsan’s whale tourism through a combination of in-depth interviews, archival document analysis, and site observation. Our analysis reveals three interlinked sets of politics concerning the Bangudae Petroglyphs, Korean autonomy, and whales themselves. Korean state and non-state actors marshal prehistoric and historical whaling records in Ulsan to underscore cultural linkages and historical continuity between past and present-day Korean whaling practices. However, these nationalistic and territorialised descriptions of Korea’s relations with whales omit the highly consequential history of Japanese colonial whaling and its ongoing vestiges in postcolonial Korea. We find that the Korean government selectively mobilises ‘facts’ about the Bangudae Petroglyphs and Korean gray whales to support their whale resource claims within the International Whaling Commission. Moreover, whale tourism plays a crucial role in materially and discursively refining human-whale relations to bolster the state and city’s geopolitical positioning of whale resources and marine territory within the global whale governance landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intelligent unmanned clusters have played a crucial role in military reconnaissance, disaster rescue, border patrol, and other domains. Nevertheless, due to factors such as multipath propagation, electromagnetic interference, and frequency band congestion in high dynamic scenarios, unmanned cluster networks experience frequent topology changes and severe spectrum limitations, which hinder the provision of connected, elastic and autonomous network support for data interaction among unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) nodes. To address the conflict between the demand for reliable data transmission and the limited network resources, this paper proposes an AODV routing protocol based on node energy consumption and mobility optimization (AODV-EM) from the perspective of network routing protocols. This protocol introduces two routing metrics: node energy based on node degree balancing and relative node mobility, to comprehensively account for both the balance of network node load and the stability of network links. The experimental results demonstrate that the AODV-EM protocol exhibits better performance compared to traditional AODV protocol in unmanned cluster networks with dense node distribution and high mobility, which not only improves the efficiency of data transmission, but also ensures the reliability and stability of data transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We share the results of interviews and participant observations conducted in South Texas in spring of 2020 and summer of 2021 to understand how local authorities manage the issue of migrant deaths. Drawing on fifty-seven interviews and observations of local stakeholders from law enforcement and first responders to nonprofit organizations, United States Border Patrol (USBP) agents, and others, three experiences emerged. First, USBP both capacitates and limits local ability to respond to migrant deaths. Second, local jurisdictions feel a sense of impotence as a consequence of overwhelming migrant decedent caseloads, often leading to what we have termed an occupational paralysis. Third, failing to recognize migrant deaths as a regional phenomenon throughout South Texas hinders interior counties from receiving needed support. In our discussion we reflect on the experiences our interlocutors shared with us and the degree to which long-standing U.S. prevention through deterrence policy has configured the Texas–Mexico border into a necropolitical landscape, in the sense that U.S. Southwestern border enforcement, infrastructure, and the environment itself have a spatial arrangement that relegates migrant lives "outside the normal state of law" (Mbembe, 13), and funnels them toward death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We studied the population size, demography, seasonal ecology, and movements of Arizona Mud Turtles (Kinosternon stejnegeri) in 2 earthen stock tanks on the U.S.-Mexico international border in Pima County, Arizona. Using closed-population models within year, we estimated the population in the "West Tank" to number 50 individuals (95% CI 42 to 65) in 2011 and 74 individuals (95% CI 62 to 96) in 2019. Using open-population models to fit capture-recapture data from 2011, 2018, and 2019, we estimated the population in the West Tank in 2018 to be 63 turtles. We estimated that 35 (95% CI 24 to 72) of 41 turtles (84.6%) captured in 2011 were still surviving in the West Tank in 2019, yielding an average annual survivorship rate of 0.98. The overall size-class distribution changed significantly from 2011 to 2019, with a shift from juvenile age classes to larger adults. In 2011, twenty-three out of 41 turtles (56.1%) were smaller than 90 mm carapace length (SCL). By 2019, only 5 out of 53 turtles (9.4%) were smaller than 90 mm SCL. Conversely in 2011, only 1 out of 41 turtles (2.4%) was larger than 170 mm SCL, while in 2019, 7 out of 53 turtles (13.2%) were larger than 170 mm SCL, suggesting that the mean age of the population increased during this time. Arizona Mud Turtles that were radio-tracked in at least 2 full years (2017 and 2018) had home range axes ranging from 59 to 782 m (average axis = 357.5 m, median axis = 241.0 m). Turtles tracked in both years traveled minimum overland distances of 33 to 533 m from their tank-of-capture origin to either an upland activity area or to another tank (average max distance = 261 m, median max distance = 185 m). Three turtles of 11 tracked in both years (2M, 1F; 27.3%) spent portions of the summer and fall on the Mexico side of the border fence. Two turtles crossed in both years and one in only one year. Most aquatic locations (97.2%) were in anthropogenic tanks. We found that 62.7% of overwintering locations were in burrows of banner-tailed kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spectabilis). Eight of 11 turtles (72.7%) used 12 distinct Dipodomys burrow complexes. One of the 12 overwintering burrow complexes was destroyed by a U.S. Border Patrol construction yard following the completion of this study. Though apparently stable in recent decades, this significant population on protected federal land appears to be small and vulnerable to development in the vicinity of the U.S.-Mexico border. This work is the first major spatial ecology study of K. stejnegeri and provides valuable information on the ecology and movements of this poorly studied species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to examine the co-productions of security and emerging technologies in the two contexts of forensic genetics and forensic facial identification. These surfacing co-productions, deemed here as 'forensic biosecurity', are evolving rapidly in both theoretical and practical terms. Definitions and conceptualisations of security are contingent and multiple, impacting forensic biological techniques and innovations in both predictable and unpredictable ways. The military, counter-terrorism, law enforcement, immigration, customs, border patrol, mass disasters, cold case reviews, health, defence, private security, and biometric applications are just a few of the many security environments where forensic biological techniques are applied. The continual development of variations in forensic genetics and facial identification renders a futher blurring of traditional evidence with that of intelligence. Drawing in particular from Joly's (in: S. Hilgartner, C. Miller, and R. Hagendijk (eds) Science and democracy: Making knowledge and making power in the biosciences and beyond, Taylor and Francis, London, 2015) work on emerging technologies, forensic biosecurity is analysed from a science and technology studies (STS) perspective. An emerging technology in the initial stages is thought to be highly flexible with the potential impacts on society and criminal justice being possibly difficult to predict. Once the science and/or technology has become entrenched and mainstream, it may be difficult to change. The enthusiasm portrayed by law enforcement and security agencies regarding emerging technologies, shows that it is important to remain somewhat cautious about the proliferation of these techniques. While such science and technologies appear to be effective and innovative in the present, it is difficult to accurately forecast or predict the future consequences of such innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accessing data on encrypted devices might seem like something out of a hacker or spy movie, but for law enforcement, it’s a very real challenge. The issue is of relevance [...]

In addition to guarding national frontiers, some border patrol officers also escort illegal immigrants abroad. This article analyses this work from an interest in officers' (moral) experiences and how these relate to the circumstances in which they work, such as occupational culture, policy and procedures. Therefore, the notions of dirty work and moral injury are used as conceptual frameworks, and 14 Dutch escort officers were interviewed about their experiences. This article adds to dirty work analyses by developing an understanding of how workers' experiences relate to both formal and moral legitimacies and a possible tension between the two. In addition, it extends the literature on moral injury by describing context-dependent forms of impact that escape clinical diagnoses. Theoretically, this article shows that the occupational resources that are elsewhere seen as tools for navigating 'necessary evils' can in fact hide the impact of this kind of work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we seek to establish a causal connection between border-enforcement actions or policies and metrics that might be used to measure relevant outcomes at the border. Applying quasi-experimental methods, we investigate the impact of surveillance technology on levels of U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions of unlawful border-crossers between ports of entry along the southwest border. Our analysis offers insights into some of the effects of surveillance technology and serves as a demonstration of concept for the usefulness of such statistical methods. The most robust finding is that deploying one type of technology – integrated fixed towers (IFTs) – is associated with decreased apprehension levels in the zones of deployment. Although we emphasize ambiguity in the meaning of the results and the uncertainty in statistical inference with relatively small numbers of deployments, we conclude that there is strong evidence that some migrants were deterred from crossing surveilled areas of the border. The results are more inconclusive for other surveillance assets, but there are suggestions that some may elevate apprehension levels, pointing to a boost to the U.S. Border Patrol’s situational awareness. Statistical methods both hold promise and have limitations for the study of the impact of border-enforcement measures beyond the analysis in this study. Although these methods cannot, on their own, yield clear answers in every case, they do have the potential to help policymakers understand and anticipate the impact and effectiveness of different border-enforcement measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Executive Summary: The United States is no stranger to migration across its borders. In 2020, its Southwestern border saw a drastic increase in apprehensions by the Border Patrol. While imperfect and an undercount of the true number of migration events, apprehension data is often used as a proxy to understand migration patterns. The rise in migration was coupled with an increased but unknown number of deaths along migration routes. This article focuses on the New Mexico portion of the El Paso Border Patrol Sector and the increased migrant caseload at New Mexico's Office of the Medical Investigator (OMI) over the last few years. To the best of our knowledge, this article is the first academic study to examine migrant deaths in detail in southern New Mexico. We begin by contextualizing the changing pattern of migrant deaths in New Mexico within the broader framework of border policing strategies that have intentionally pushed migration routes to remote areas. We describe the work of the OMI, highlighting its very recent initiatives to track migrant deaths in its database. We then discuss the changes seen by the OMI in its migrant caseload from fiscal year (FY) 2009 to 2023, with the most drastic increase in cases occurring from 2022 to 2023. For instance, the data indicate that most of the identified migrants that have died in New Mexico were recovered in June and July (45 percent), crossed through Doña Ana County (66 percent), were male (60 percent), and among those identified, were from Mexico (65 percent) and between 20 and 39 years of age (69 percent). Of the 248 cases of migrant deaths, 87 percent have been identified. The most common causes of death were undetermined (46 percent) and environmental exposure (41 percent). We then explore the effects of changing governmental policies and state initiatives to curb/reduce migration in the US on OMI's increased caseload. We discuss the impact that the rapid shift in migration deaths is having on the OMI and how OMI is working to respond and adjust to the dynamic situation. This work highlights the collateral damage of border security measures, underscored by the increasing number of deaths and challenges faced by the OMI. We consider the need for new and amended policies aimed at mitigating the humanitarian crisis that continues to unfold, emphasizing the need for the humane treatment of migrants. Finally, we suggest allocating resources to death investigating agencies. These resources would provide essential support to find, identify, and repatriate migrants, improve agencies' abilities to collaborate with governmental agencies and programs such as Border Patrol's Missing Migrant Program, and improve our understanding of the circumstances along the Southwestern border. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Executive Summary: In this article, we present a qualitative analysis of the events surrounding death or disappearance in autopsy and missing person reports from the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner (PCOME) in Arizona to highlight how interactions between border enforcement personnel and migrants can be deadly. We reviewed PCOME records of undocumented border crosser deaths between 2000 and 2023 and observed three main types of deadly U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) practices: reckless motor vehicle pursuits, aggressive strategies used to detain individuals who are on foot, and the use of lethal force. Our findings reveal that these tactics, which we argue constitute forms of "excessive use of force," represent significant yet overlooked factors contributing to migrant death and disappearance in southern Arizona. We make the following policy recommendations: 1. Immediate measures to prevent the loss of life (A). The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should mandate a ban on border enforcement methods that provoke fear, panic, or confusion. (B). DHS should take measures to substantially reduce the use of high-speed motor vehicle pursuits by USBP and other immigration enforcement officials. (C). DHS should ensure that USBP officers are compliant with Department of Justice (DOJ) standards on use of deadly force, in particular the policy that "Deadly force may not be used solely to prevent the escape of a fleeing suspect." 2. Investigate Border Fatalities Involving Border Enforcement Officers (A). We call on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct an official review of all medical examiner and coroner records along the U.S.-Mexico border for fatality cases in which border enforcement personnel were involved in any way in the circumstances surrounding death. (B). We encourage the formation of civilian review boards in border regions to review medical examiner and coroner records of migrant fatalities involving immigration officials as well as immigration officials' apprehension strategies immediately preceding fatal encounters with migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Executive Summary: For the past 25 years, the Border Patrol has tracked migrant deaths along the US-Mexico border. For nearly the same amount of time, it has also faced criticisms that it failed to capture the true number of migrant deaths in its tally. This article focuses on these undercounting criticisms and asks two questions: (1) How many documented migrant death cases are left out of Border Patrol's official data? And (2) what factors lead to the Border Patrol's migrant death undercounting? In particular, the article focuses on three South Texas counties: Brooks County, Kenedy County, and Maverick County. To answer the research questions, this article relies on comparative data analysis. In particular, it compares two person-level datasets: the Border Patrol's dataset on migrant deaths from 2009 to 2017 and county-level records from the Brooks County Sheriff's Office, the Kenedy County Sheriff's Office, and Maverick County Justices of the Peace over the same period. It then attempts to match each county-level record to a recorded death in the Border Patrol's dataset. Using this process, the article quantifies migrant death undercounting in South Texas, highlights geographic and temporal trends, and tracks the uncounted cases' specific characteristics. From 2009 to 2017, this comparative data analysis confirmed that the Border Patrol was undercounting migrant deaths across the three South Texas counties. Specifically, the article finds that the Border Patrol failed to include 139 cases, which totaled 19 percent of the counties' 749 recorded migrant deaths during the study period. This undercounting ranged from 16 percent in Brooks County to 24 percent in Maverick County and 29 percent in Kenedy County, with fluctuating rates over time. The uncounted cases also had specific characteristics. In particular, they were more likely to be skeletal remains, lack an identification, and be discovered by an external entity. These characteristics highlight the various factors behind the Border Patrol's undercounting, such as issues with the Border Patrol's migrant death definition, inconsistent data collection from external entities, and the agency's low prioritization of migrant death tracking. To address and remedy the Border Patrol's migrant death undercounting requires tackling each underlying factor. First and foremost, this article recommends that the Border Patrol fully train its agents on the agency's migrant death definition and ensure consistent and standardized outreach to external entities. Further, it recommends that the Border Patrol improve its migrant death count's accuracy through additional operational changes. These proposed changes include making "accurate migrant death counts" an official objective for the Border Patrol's Missing Migrant Program, prioritizing a two-way information-sharing process with county-level officials, retroactively including missed migrant deaths in the official count, and publishing more detailed person-level data on migrant deaths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Electric Machines & Control / Dianji Yu Kongzhi Xuebao is the property of Electric Machines & Control and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Canada has been increasing allocation to the Provincial Nominee Program in the immigration target total. Regionalisation of immigration has been an ongoing transformation of migration management since the 1990s, making the immigration policy domain progressively fragmented. Adopting a policy diffusion framework, I examine 30 regional immigration streams designed to attract and retain international students. Competing for the best, provinces distinguish and privilege certain student groups, creating a diverse policy landscape, yet simultaneously, many provincial policies resemble each other, creating common student immigration scenarios. I argue that in competition for talent, provinces (a) create very similar streams and, while aspiring to differentiate, (b) impose more restrictions than the federal programs. With the shift in authority, provinces gained the freedom to not only design custom migration policies but also to deviate from the original purpose of provincial programs—to complement, not compete!—with the federal ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are vehicles with 4 propellers, capable of taking off and landing vertically (VTOL) and hovering in the air. In recent years, developments in hardware, software, battery, sensor and camera technologies have facilitated the production processes of quadcopters and led to diversified usage areas. Quadcopters are used in many different areas such as fighting natural disasters, combating terrorism, border patrol, surveillance, search and rescue and cargo transportation. Quadcopters need to be fast and able to make aggressive maneuvers, when performing these tasks. In this study, nonlinear modelling of the quadcopter was carried out and a robust backstepping controller was designed, which allows the quadcopter to make harsh maneuvers. The quadcopter has been tested under triangular, sinusoidal and sawtooth maneuvers. A 10% parameter uncertainty was also implemented to the mass (m) and inertial moments (Ix, Iy and Iz) of the quadcopter during aggressive maneuver tracking. The backstepping controller proposed in the study was compared with classical PID and Lyapunov-based control methods. A comprehensive robustness examination was realized by obtaining time response of all controllers, while performing harsh maneuvers. Thus, the superiority of backstepping control under aggressive maneuvers has been shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the case of Higgins v. Kentucky Sports Radio LLC (2020), John Higgins was officiating an Elite Eight March Madness game in 2017, where the University of Kentucky (UK) was facing the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). After UK lost the game, Kentucky fans were upset and blamed Higgins for the loss. Two of these fans included Matthew Jones and Drew Franklin, a host and writer for Kentucky Sports Radio, respectively. Following the loss, Jones and Franklin criticized Higgins and his roofing business through their radio station. His business was bombarded with calls, death threats, and negative reviews. Higgins sought damages in excess of $75,000 from Kentucky Sports Radio for inflicting harm through their commentary. The purpose of this law review is to examine the rights of sports officials and fans, summarize the case facts and court decisions, and determine how the ruling impacts sports officials broadly., Introduction Sports officials have been around for centuries. The first emergence of sports officiating was at the ancient Olympic Games in 776 BC. The sports official position was a highly [...]

Recent scholarship has highlighted that, for many foreign nationals, Western European prisons function as 'places of crimmigration' where non-citizens are over-represented, often excluded from rehabilitation efforts, sometimes held in segregated prisons, and where it is common for incarceration to lead to deportation. However, this literature has mainly focused on north-western European countries and has neglected countries on the EU's southern border, where different dynamics may be at work. This research aims to provide a broader understanding of how border control shapes imprisonment in Western European prisons by including Spain, a Southern European country, in the picture. To this end, this article examines prison regulations on foreign inmates and original statistics on their release and expulsion from prison. In doing so, this paper demonstrates that the aims of border control have permeated Spanish prisons, making imprisonment into an exclusionary punishment for certain non-citizens and introducing a new role for prison staff. The findings of this study also indicate that expulsions are used selectively on a small proportion of incarcerated noncitizens. This result is consistent with previous research suggesting a discrepancy between crimmigration discourse and practice, while also revealing the existence of hierarchies of belonging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]