This work proposes a holistic quantitative snow avalanche risk assessment that evaluates, at reasonable computational costs and for various types of buildings, the impact of forest cover changes on the probability distribution of runout distances, impact pressures and subsequent risk estimates. A typical case study of the French Alps shows that, from a completely deforested to a completely forested path, avalanche risk for a building located downslope decreases by 53–99%, depending on how forest cover is accounted for in avalanche statistical–dynamical modeling. Local forest cover data inferred from old maps and photographs further demonstrates that a 20–60% risk reduction actually occurred between 1825 and 2017 at the site because of the afforestation dynamics, with significant modulations according to the considered building technology. These results (1) assert the protective role of forests against snow avalanches, (2) highlight the potential of combining nature-based solutions with traditional structural measures to reduce risk to acceptable levels at reasonable costs, (3) suggest a significant decrease in risk to settlements in areas that encountered similar forest cover changes and (4) open the door to the quantification of long-term avalanche risk changes as a function of changes of all its hazard, vulnerability and exposure drivers in various mountain context.

Debris-covered glaciers respond to atmospheric conditions in different ways from debris-free glaciers, due to the presence of debris at the surface during the ablation season and at the snow/ice interface during the accumulation season. Understanding the response of debris-covered glaciers to a variety of meteorological conditions in a physically sound manner is essential to quantify meltwater discharge and to predict their response to climate change. To tackle this issue, we developed the Crocus-DEB model as an adaptation of the detailed snowpack model Crocus, to simulate the energy and mass balance of debris-covered glaciers, including periods when debris is covered by snow. Crocus-DEB was evaluated with data gathered during a field experiment using artificial debris covering the snowpack at Col de Porte, France, with very good results in terms of conductive heat flux, both at the surface and at the interface between the debris and the underlying dense snow taken as a surrogate for ice, with and without snow overlying the debris. The model was also evaluated using field data from the debris-covered glacier Changri Nup, Nepal, Himalaya. This paper introduces the design of the model, its performance and its ability to explore relationships between model parameters, meteorological conditions and the critical debris thickness.

Evaluation of how accurately snowpack models can capture hydrological processes in firn is critical to determining how well they will simulate future glacier mass-balance changes. Here we compare simulations using the Crocus snowpack model with the evolving firn stratigraphy recorded in 14 cores drilled at four elevations in the accumulation zone of Devon Ice Cap, Canada, during the 2004–12 period of rapid summer warming. Simulations were forced with a combination of surface observations and reanalysis data. Simulations resulted in positive model bias in near-surface density, and negative bias in density at depth compared to observations. Results point to the importance of incorporating heterogeneous percolation in firn in order to improve the representation of meltwater flow, better reproduce observed firn density and temperature profile evolution, and improve simulations of glacier mass balance during periods of climate warming.

The discovery of the molecular structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and the science of molecular biology have profoundly changed medicine’s diagnostic capability and promise to transform the therapeutic realm. When some genetic disorders are diagnosed, physicians can intervene for prevention or treatment. While the basic structure of DNA is the same for all human beings, no two individuals, other than identical twins (or cloned individuals), have the same DNA sequence. This discovery has had important repercussions in the criminal justice system, where DNA can serve as an identification tool.

At the crossroads of these different uses of DNA, there are great concerns about potential misuses of genetic information. Preventing disease, curing illness, and convicting criminals are all seen as worthwhile uses of the technology, but concerns of potential misuse in medicine or in the criminal justice system are not unfounded. A 1998 American Medical Association (AMA) study showed that 68 percent of patients had fears that their genetic test results would be used against them by their employers or insurers. Others, pointing to racial profiling, have suggested that we may now face genetic profiling.

The incidence and quantities of dimethyltryptamine and O-methyl-bufotenine were studied in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients suffering acute schizophrenic illnesses and in surgical and neurological control groups. Some schizophrenic patients have higher levels of both amines than do controls, though the differences in distribution did not reach statistical significance in the sample studied. The gas-chromatographic technique used is sensitive at the low picogram level.