Capital Jurors in an Era of Death Penalty Decline

The state of public opinion regarding the death penalty has not experienced such flux since the late 1960s. Death sentences and executions have reached their lowest annual numbers since the early 1970s and today, the public appears fairly evenly split in its views on the death penalty. In this Essay, we explore, first, whether these changes in public opinion mean that fewer people will be qualified to serve on death penalty trials as jurors, and second, whether potential jurors are affected by changes in the practice of the death penalty. We conducted surveys of persons reporting for jury duty at the Superior Court of Orange County, California. What we found was surprising. Surveys of jurors in decades past suggested ten to twenty percent of jury-eligible individuals would be excludable due to their substantial doubts about the death penalty. Despite Orange County’s status as a redoubt of death sentencing, we find that 35% or more of jurors reporting for jury service were excludable as having such substantial doubts about the death penalty that it would “substantially impair” their ability to perform their role as jurors. Indeed, large numbers went further: roughly a quarter said they would be reluctant to find a person guilty of capital murder knowing the death penalty was a possibility. A final question asked whether the fact that executions have not been conducted in California for a decade impacts whether jurors would be favorable towards the death penalty. We found that, across all types of attitudes towards the death penalty, that fact made jurors less inclined to sentence a person to death. Rare punishments may seem more arbitrary, even to those who find them morally acceptable. We conclude by describing how this research can be useful for scholars, litigators, and judges concerned with selection of jurors in death penalty cases, and we discuss why, as social and legal practices change, more study of public attitudes towards punishment is needed

Capital Jurors in an Era of Death Penalty Decline

The state of public opinion regarding the death penalty has not experienced such flux since the late 1960s. Death sentences and executions have reached their lowest annual numbers since the early 1970s and today, the public appears fairly evenly split in its views on the death penalty. In this Essay, we explore, first, whether these changes in public opinion mean that fewer people will be qualified to serve on death penalty trials as jurors, and second, whether potential jurors are affected by changes in the practice of the death penalty. We conducted surveys of persons reporting for jury duty at the Superior Court of Orange County, California. What we found was surprising. Surveys of jurors in decades past suggested ten to twenty percent of jury-eligible individuals would be excludable due to their substantial doubts about the death penalty. Despite Orange County’s status as a redoubt of death sentencing, we find that 35% or more of jurors reporting for jury service were excludable as having such substantial doubts about the death penalty that it would “substantially impair” their ability to perform their role as jurors. Indeed, large numbers went further: roughly a quarter said they would be reluctant to find a person guilty of capital murder knowing the death penalty was a possibility. A final question asked whether the fact that executions have not been conducted in California for a decade impacts whether jurors would be favorable towards the death penalty. We found that, across all types of attitudes towards the death penalty, that fact made jurors less inclined to sentence a person to death. Rare punishments may seem more arbitrary, even to those who find them morally acceptable. We conclude by describing how this research can be useful for scholars, litigators, and judges concerned with selection of jurors in death penalty cases, and we discuss why, as social and legal practices change, more study of public attitudes towards punishment is needed

Induced Hypothermia During Resuscitation from Hemorrhagic Shock Attenuates Microvascular Inflammation in the Rat Mesenteric Microcirculation

Introduction: Hemorrhagic shock is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in trauma patients. Microvascular inflammation occurs during resuscitation following hemorrhagic shock, and is a major cause of multiple organ dysfunction and late mortality. Hypothermia has traditionally been associated with poor outcomes in trauma patients, but pre-clinical evidence suggests that hypothermia may have some benefit in selected patients. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of induced hypothermia on microvascular inflammation during resuscitation from hemorrhagic shock. Methods: Intravital microscopy was used to visualize mesenteric venules of anesthetized rats in real time to evaluate leukocyte adherence per 100 μm venule length and mast cell degranulation. An optical Doppler velocimeter was used to measure centerline red blood cell velocity in order to calculate shear rate. Measurements were obtained at a baseline control period in all animals. Animals then were divided into normotensive or hypotensive groups. Animals in the shock group underwent mean arterial blood pressure reduction to 40-45 mmHg for 1 hour via blood withdrawal. During the first two hours of resuscitation, body temperature of the hypothermic group was maintained at 32-34°C, while the normothermic group was maintained between 36-38°C. The hypothermic group was then rewarmed for the final two hours of resuscitation. Results: Leukocyte adherence was significantly lower after 2 hours in hypothermic resuscitation (n=5) compared with normothermic resuscitation (n=6): (3.4±0.8 vs 8.3±1.3, p=0.011). Upon rewarming, leukocyte adherence was not significantly different between hypothermic and normothermic shock groups: (5.4±1.1 vs 9.5±1.6, p=0.081). No significant elevation was observed in normotensive normothermic (n=3) or hypothermic animals (n=4). Shear rate decreased significantly from the control period after normothermic resuscitation (p<0.05), with no other groups having significant changes. Mast cell degranulation was significantly decreased in the hypothermic (1.02±0.04) vs normothermic (1.22±0.07) shock groups (p=0.038) after the experiment compared to the control measures; no significant degranulation occurred in normotensive animals. Conclusions: Hypothermia during resuscitation attenuates microvascular inflammation in rat mesentery following hemorrhagic shock. Further study is needed to determine the underlying mechanisms of hypothermia in reducing microvascular inflammation during resuscitation, defining optimal degree of hypothermia, and the timing of this innovative therapy

An evaluation of de-embedding techniques for TSVs

One of the most important aspects of modern electronic designs is device measurement and characterization. Without device measurement and characterization, the functionality of end designs cannot be guaranteed. At the silicon level (on-wafer), extracting the electrical performance of devices and structures has grown increasingly more complex with the continual shrink of feature sizes. Compared to the overall measurement setup (VNA, cables, probes, interposers, etc.), the ultra small size of on-wafer structures leads to their electrical performance being easily overshadowed by other, larger fixtures. Thus, many scientists and engineers have worked to devise ever more accurate calibration and de-embedding techniques for measurement setups. This thesis explores current state-of-the-art de-embedding techniques for both silicon transmission lines and general devices under test (DUTs). A complete evaluation is performed on several techniques, leading to a best choice selection for use in de-embedding through-silicon-vias (TSVs). During the evaluation a more intuitive approach (utilizing scattering parameters) is taken to verify the accuracy of the various de-embedding techniques. Attempts at formulating new de-embedding techniques are also explored --Abstract, page iii

Mirroring to Build Trust in Digital Assistants

We describe experiments towards building a conversational digital assistant that considers the preferred conversational style of the user. In particular, these experiments are designed to measure whether users prefer and trust an assistant whose conversational style matches their own. To this end we conducted a user study where subjects interacted with a digital assistant that responded in a way that either matched their conversational style, or did not. Using self-reported personality attributes and subjects' feedback on the interactions, we built models that can reliably predict a user's preferred conversational style.Comment: Preprin

Domestic Violence and Abuse in the Healthcare Setting

Introduction and Background: Domestic violence and abuse (DVA) is a growing global concern that affects patients encountered by nurses. DVA is defined as anything that is used to establish and maintain control over another person. The occurrence of DVA has ongoing negative consequences for patients related to their safety, especially if nurses are not properly trained to detect and control the situation. Purpose Statement: For all registered nurses, does ongoing training opportunities and implemented universal screening processes on DVA, as compared to inadequate training and generalized screening processes, lead to effectively detecting DVA and providing better emotional, physical, and safety interventions for patients? Literature Review: The process of our literature review included the use of searching the ETSU library scholarly database and comparing our findings from twenty different peer-reviewed research articles. In the search methods used, we chose to look at multiple studies that researched DVA globally. Findings: The major findings of our research as a team included: communication barriers that exist for patients who are victims of DVA, establishing rapport to build better trust with patients, the necessity of standardized screening tools to assess for DVA, the incorporation of the entire healthcare team to create a more supportive network that includes on-call domestic violence advisors, and continuing education for nurses. Conclusions: Key takeaways that were found in our research included eliminating communication barriers with patients, using developed tools to strategically screen for domestic violence and abuse, and the importance of ongoing DVA training for nurses