The Costs of Judging Judges by the Numbers

This essay discredits current empirical models that are designed to “judge” or rank appellate judges, and then assesses the harms of propagating such models. First, the essay builds on the discussion of empirical models by arguing that (1) the judicial virtues that the legal empiricists set out to measure have little bearing on what actually makes for a good judge; and (2) even if they did, the empiricists’ chosen variables have not measured those virtues accurately. The essay then concludes that by generating unreliable claims about the relative quality of judges, these studies mislead both decision-makers and the public, degrade discussions of judging, and could, if taken seriously, detrimentally alter the behavior of judges themselves

Decision aids for randomised controlled trials : a qualitative exploration of stakeholders' views

Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions. Funding: This work was supported by personal fellowship award (to KG) from the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Governments Health and Social Care Directorates, grant number [PDF/09/01]. The Health Services Research Unit is supported by a core grant from the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Foodborne disease outbreaks in Australia 2001-2009

BACKGROUND: Analysis of surveillance data from foodborne disease outbreaks can help identify high-risk aetiological agents, food vehicles and settings. This information may help prevent future illness by informing the development of public health policy

Prospects for measuring coherent neutrino-nucleus elastic scattering at a stopped-pion neutrino source

Rates of coherent neutrino-nucleus elastic scattering at a high-intensity stopped-pion neutrino source in various detector materials (relevant for novel low-threshold detectors) are calculated. Sensitivity of a coherent neutrino-nucleus elastic scattering experiment to new physics is also explored.Comment: 9 pages, 14 figures; minor modifications for publicatio

Mule deer movements, survival, and use of contaminated areas at Rocky Flats, Colorado

Department Head: Robert Sewell Cook.Includes bibliographical references (pages 55-58).Rocky Mountain mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus) reside on plutonium contaminated land that surrounds the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Facility, Colorado. Concern exists over the potential for deer to transport radionuclides away from Rocky Flats. Deer may potentially transport radionuclides through excretion of contaminated forage and soil away from the ingestion site, or by retention of radionuclides in tissues or the hide. To assess their potential to transport radionulcides and to determine annual movement patterns, deer were radio-located throughout the year. Rocky Flats deer were year-round residents, seldom moved farther than 0.05 km from the buffer zone boundaries. At least 9 male yearlings left Rocky Flats, and yearlings are, therefore, the most likely age class for radionuclide transport. Based on annual movement patterns I observed, the potential for does and fawns to transport radionuclides off-site appears to be very low, although more data are needed to better assess movement patterns of yearlings. Two areas in the buffer zone contain detectable levels of radionuclides and are accessible to deer. I compared deer use to availability in these areas during winter and summer 1991. During winter, 45.3% and 52.0% of radio-collared does and fawns showed preference (P ≤ 0.027) for these 2 areas over non-contaminated areas. During summer, 39.0% and 36.7% of deer preferred (P ≤ 0.027) each area to non-contaminated areas. I also collected tissue samples from 7 vehicle-killed deer that were known to inhabit the buffer zone and submitted them for radionuclide analysis. All tissues had plutonium activities below detection limits. Again, transport of radionuclides appears to be very low, but because of small sample size, any conclusion regarding plutonium transport is premature. The deer population size was estimated from a helicopter survey during summer 1990, and from a ground survey during winter 1991. Population estimates were 161 (95% confidence interval 136-220) during summer, and 199 (95% confidence interval 198-207) during winter. Winter 1991 buck:doe ratio was 35:100, and fawn:doe ratio was 90:100. Annual adult doe survival rates were 0.792 ± 0.083 (SE) in 1990 (n = 24), and 0.857 ± 0.059 (SE) in 1991 (n = 35), and were not statistically different (P = 0.19). Winter survival rate for female fawns was 0.895 ± 0.043 (SE) (n=19), and male fawn survival rate for the same time period was 0.950 ± 0.046 (SE) (n=21), and did not differ statistically (P = 0.51). The major cause of mortality among radio-collared deer was collisions with vehicles (47.8%), and predation (21.8%). Accidents and unknown causes comprised the remainder of mortalities (30.4%)

Determining information for inclusion in a decision-support intervention for clinical trial participation : A modified Delphi approach

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