Crime and Punishment: An Empirical Study of the Effects of Racial Bias on Capital Sentencing Decisions

Racism has left an indelible stain on American history and remains a powerful social force that continues to shape crime and punishment in the contemporary United States. In this article, I discuss the socio-legal construction of race, explore how racism infected American culture, and trace the racist history of capital punishment from the Colonial Era to the present. After framing the death penalty in cultural and historical context, I report original empirical results from one of the largest studies (n = 3,284) of mock juror capital sentencing decisions published to date. My results show that mock jurors who self reported racial biases were 8.8% more likely to pass the death qualification and were 18.3% to 18.4% more likely to sentence a Black defendant to death than a White defendant with all other factors held constant. Death qualifying the mock jury increased the probability of empaneling one or more of these racially biased mock jurors by 8.4%. After reviewing these results in the context of previous research and Supreme Court jurisprudence, I argue that death qualifying a capital jury violates an African American defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury because the death qualification increases the likelihood of empaneling racially biased, partial jurors. Finally, I argue that voir dire fails to provide an adequate safeguard to this threat, argue that the right to inquire into juror racial biases during voir dire should apply more broadly, and make recommendations to improve current voir dire practices

Prevalence of and variables associated with silent myocardial ischemia on exercise thallium-201 stress testing

AbstractThe prevalence of silent myocardial ischemia was prospectively assessed in a group of 103 consecutive patients (mean age 59 ± 10 years, 79% male) undergoing symptom-limited exercise thallium-201 scintigraphy. Variables that best correlated with the occurance of patients ischemia by quantitative scintigraphic criteria were examined. Fifty-nine patients (57%) had no angina on exercise testing. A significantly greater persent of patients with silent ischemia than of patients with angina had a recent myocardial infarction (31% versus 7%, P < 0.01), had no prior angina (91% versus 64%, p < 0.01), had dyspnea as an exercise test end point (56% versus 35%, p < 0.05) and exhibited redistribution defects in the supply regions of the right and circumflex coronary arteries (50% versus 35%, p < 0.05). The group with exercise angina had more ST depression (64% versus 41%, p < 0.05) and more patients with four or more redistribution defects.However, there was no difference between the two groups with respect to mean total thallium-201 perfusion score, number of redistribution defects per patient, multivessel thallium redistribution pattern or extent of angiographic coronary artery disease. There was also no difference between the silent ischemia and angina groups with respect to antianginal drug, usage, prevalence of diabetes mellitus, exercise duration, peak exercise heart rate, peak work load, peak double (rate-pressure) product and percent of patients achieving ≥85% of maximal predicted heart rate for age.Thus, in this study group, there was a rather high prevalence rate of silent ischemia (57%) by exercise thallium-201 criteria. Patients with silent ischemia and those with exercise angina had comparable 1) exercise tolerance and hemodynamics, 2) extent of angiographic coronary artery disease, and 3) extent of exercise-induced hypoperfusion. Finally, more patients with recent infarction had silent ischemia than had exercise angina

Safety and commercial issues in fresh mushrooms and mushroom-based products sold at retail in Tuscany region

The compliance to European and National safety and labelling requirements relating to the sale of spontaneous and cultivated mushrooms and mushroom-based products in Tuscany was assessed. The evidence was collected by the Mycological Inspectorate of North-West Tuscany Local Health Authority during 90 inspections (from 2016 to 2020) at large-scale distribution stores, wholesalers, and restaurants in 10 cities belonging to 3 provinces, and on the labelling analysis of 98 commercial products collected at retail in 2021. Despite a substantial compliance of the inspected activities and products with the regulatory requirements, critical issues were highlighted: 1) EU legislative gap in the definition of specific measures for the safe sale of spontaneous mushrooms; 2) improper shelf storage temperatures of fresh-cut products; 3) incorrect condition of use on the labels of pre-packaged products; 4) lack of countryof-origin declaration in pre-packaged products. Furthermore, the labelling analysis highlighted that 18.4% and 15.3% of the products presented issues in the validity and correctness of the scientific names respect to national requirements in. A revision of the current EU legislation is needed to guarantee consumers safety, also considering the relevant number of poisoning cases related to false mycetisms (ingestion of edible mushrooms unproperly stored or used). Also, a specific revision and harmonization of the EU labelling of mushrooms would be desirable to protect consumers

A Left Atrial Appendage Closure Combined Procedure Review: past, present and future perspectives

Atrial fibrillation (AF) represents the most common cardiac arrhythmia worldwide; it poses a great burden in terms of quality of life reduction and yearly stroke risk. Left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) is a stroke prevention strategy that has been proven a viable alternative to anti-thrombotic regimens in non-valvular AF patients. LAAC can be performed as a stand-alone procedure or alongside a concomitant AF trans catheter ablation, in a procedure known as "Combined Procedure". Aim of this study is to summarize the scientific evidence backing this combined strategy

Acute Inflammation and Elevated Cardiac Markers in a Two-Month-Old Infant with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection Presenting with Cardiac Symptoms

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection in children mainly shows a milder course. In complicated cases, it is unknown whether inflammation is predictive of disease severity, as in adults. Moreover, cardiac involvement is anecdotally described. We report the case of a 2-month-old infant with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection presenting with fever, tachycardia and elevated interleukin-6, who was diagnosed with myocarditis and treated with immunoglobulins

Is raw better? A multiple DNA barcoding approach (full and mini) based on mitochondrial and nuclear markers reveals low rates of misdescription in sushi products sold on the Italian market

New dietary habits have favored an ever growing popularity of Eastern country cooking style and in particular of sushi. Even though the Reg. (EU) 1379/2013 does not apply to restaurants and caterers, the Reg. (EU) 1169/2011 establishes that all the information they provided to the final consumer have to meet the transparency requirements as regards the description of the ingredients used for the preparation of food. The present study aimed at performing a molecular based survey to identify the seafood species used in the sushi preparations at the retail level. A total of 185 samples were collected from sushi venues and supermarkets and DNA barcoding, followed by a pairwise divergence and Neighbor Joining clustering analysis, was applied in order to verify the information declared at purchase. Rather than to a proper training of Food Business Operators working at the catering level, the low mislabeling rate found in this study (3.4%) could be ascribed to the standardization of the products sold in ethnic restaurants. In fact, the common practice of proposing standardized menus always relying on the same species of fish could limit the risk of mislabeling occurrence

Is Less Always More? A Prospective Two-Centre Study Addressing Clinical Outcomes in Leadless versus Transvenous Single-Chamber Pacemaker Recipients

(1) Background: Leadless (LL) stimulation is perceived to lower surgical, vascular, and lead-related complications compared to transvenous (TV) pacemakers, yet controlled studies are lacking and real-life experience is non-conclusive. (2) Aim: To prospectively analyse survival and complication rates in leadless versus transvenous VVIR pacemakers. (3) Methods: Prospective analysis of mortality and complications in 344 consecutive VVIR TV and LL pacemaker recipients between June 2015 and May 2021. Indications for VVIR pacing were “slow” AF, atrio-ventricular block in AF or in sinus rhythm in bedridden cognitively impaired patients. LL indication was based on individualised clinical judgement. (4) Results: 72 patients received LL and 272 TV VVIR pacemakers. LL pacemaker indications included ongoing/expected chronic haemodialysis, superior venous access issues, active lifestyle with low pacing percentage expected, frailty causing high bleeding/infectious risk, previous valvular endocarditis, or device infection requiring extraction. No significant difference in the overall acute and long-term complication rate was observed between LL and TV cohorts, with greater mortality occurring in TV due to selection of older patients. (5) Conclusions: Given the low complication rate and life expectancy in this contemporary VVIR cohort, extending LL indications to all VVIR candidates is unlikely to provide clear-cut benefits. Considering the higher costs of LL technology, careful patient selection is mandatory for LL PMs to become advantageous, i.e., in the presence of vascular access issues, high bleeding/infectious risk, and long life expectancy, rendering lead-related issues and repeated surgery relevant in the long-term perspective

Arrhythmic Risk Stratification in Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is an heritable cardiomyopathy characterized by a predominantly arrhythmic presentation. It represents the leading cause of sudden cardiac death (SCD) among athletes and poses a significant morbidity treat in the general population. As a causative treatment for ARVC is still not available, the placement of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) represent the current cornerstone for SCD prevention in this setting. Thanks to international ARVC-dedicated efforts, significant steps have been achieved in recent years towards an individualized, patient-centered risk stratification approach. A novel risk calculator algorithm estimating the 5 year risk of arrhythmias of patients with ARVC have been introduced in clinical practice and subsequently validated. The purpose of this article is to summarize the body of evidence that has allowed the development of this tool and to discuss the best way to implement its use in the care of an individual patient

Novel risk calculator performance in athletes with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy

Background: Disease progression and ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) in arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) are correlated with physical exercise, and clinical detraining and avoidance of competitive sport practice are suggested for ARVC patients. An algorithm assessing primary arrhythmic risk in ARVC patients was recently developed by Cadrin-Tourigny et al. Data regarding its transferability to athletes are lacking. Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability of the Cadrin-Tourigny risk prediction algorithm in a cohort of athletes with ARVC and to describe the impact of clinical detraining on disease progression. Methods: All athletes undergoing clinical detraining after ARVC diagnosis at our institution were enrolled. Baseline and follow-up clinical characteristics and data on VA events occurring during follow-up were collected. The Cadrin-Tourigny algorithm was used to calculate the a priori predicted VA risk, which was compared with the observed outcomes. Results: Twenty-five athletes (age 36.1 \ub1 14.0 years; 80% male) with definite ARVC who were undergoing clinical detraining were enrolled. Over median (interquartile range) follow-up of 5.3 (3.2\u20136.6) years, a reduction in premature ventricular complex (PVC) burden (P = .001) was assessed, and 10 VA events (40%) were recorded. The a priori algorithm-predicted risk seemed to fit with the observed cohort arrhythmic risk [mean observed\u2013predicted risk difference over 5 years \u20130.85% (interquartile range \u20134.8% to +3.1%); P = .85]. At 1-year follow-up, 11 patients (44%) had an improved stress ECG response, and no significant changes in right ventricular ejection fraction were observed. Conclusion: Clinical detraining is associated with PVC burden reduction in athletes with ARVC. The novel risk prediction algorithm does not seem to require any correction for its application to ARVC athletes