Courtroom Observation and Applied Litigation Research: A Case History of Jury Decision Making

Quantitative research has dominated applied litigation research, but it seems to lack the flexibility needed to link pretrial research to ongoing courtroom events. Participant observation is a methodology which seems more suitable for studying the dynamic environment of a trial. A 6-day civil trial is used to evaluate participant observation reports against pretrial survey analysis and trial simulations. The objective is to show how different methodological approaches converge in the frame of reference which reflects the actual verdict reached in trial

Refugee Law and Policy: A Comparative and International Approach

The fourth edition of Refugee Law and Policy, which includes all legal developments through mid-2010, provides a thoughtful scholarly analysis of refugee law, and related protections such as those available under the Convention against Torture. The book is rooted in an international law perspective, enhanced by a comparative approach. Starting with ancient precursors to asylum, the casebook portrays refugee law as dynamic across time and cultural contexts. This edition of the casebook has incorporated substantial new materials on the cutting edge area of social group claims, and their relevance to claims for protection based on gender-persecution and LGBT status. It includes an extensive discussion of the concept of “social visibility” which has become one of the most controversial interpretive issues in U.S. refugee law. Although Refugee Law and Policy is directed to students of U.S. law, it draws on the legislation, jurisprudence and guidelines of other Refugee Convention and Protocol signatories, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The casebook is up to date on developments to harmonize refugee policy within the European Union, and includes discussion of relevant E.U. directives. In its treatment of both U.S. and global trends, Refugee Law and Policy examines and contrasts some of the most controversial contemporary issues in refugee law, such as the denial of access to the territory of the country of asylum, through use of expedited removal and similar “accelerated” procedures, the increased use of detention, and the ongoing debate over gender-based claims for protection. Refugee Law and Policy also compares current trends in refugee law to parallel trends in human rights and humanitarian and international criminal law, with special reference to the work of the International Criminal Tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and the International Criminal Court. The materials Musalo, Moore and Boswell present in the book are more fully examined through the extensive use of notes and comments, which also serve to highlight essential themes and concepts of the text and to make them more accessible to the reader. Since the casebook addresses both substance and procedure, with a focus on practice as well as theory, it is an excellent text not only for students, but for practitioners and those in government agencies as well.https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/law_facbookdisplay/1036/thumbnail.jp

Residential Proximity And Its Impact On College Students’ Body Mass Index

Objective. The purpose of this study was to examine if environmental accessibility to healthy resources was associated with college students’ corresponding health behaviors and body mass index (BMI). This study looked at college students’ proximity and distance to environmental influence, such as fitness centers and fast food restaurants in relation to their physical activity (PA), fruit and vegetable consumption (FVC), and BMI. Methods. A sample of 156 college students from a mid-western university completed the cross-sectional survey on proximity to campus-related environmental resources. Student addresses were used to calculate accessibility to healthy environmental resources, including proximity to the university recreational facility and local grocery store. Physical activity was calculated into metabolic equivalents (METs) and dietary behavior included measures of daily fruit and vegetable consumption and weekly fast food meals. Analysis. Linear regression was used to estimate differences in participants’ multiple health behavior and BMI based on proximity to certain environmental resources.Results. Of the 156 students who participated in the current study, 79% were female and 87% were White, Non-Hispanic, with a mean age of 20.13±1.91. No associations between behaviors and BMI were detected. Proximity to the campus recreational facility significantly predicted lower BMI (p=0.01); and distance to the community grocery store was associated with increased BMI (p=0.01). Conclusion. Findings suggested associations between proximity to environmental resources and participants’ BMI; however, this influence occurred outside the measured health behaviors. Longitudinal examinations are needed to determine the potential impact of resource proximity on changes in participants’ health behavior and BMI overtime.

Effectiveness of LISTEN on Loneliness, Neuroimmunological Stress Response, Psychosocial Functioning, Quality of Life, and Physical Health Measures of Chronic Illness

Objectives: Loneliness is a biopsychosocial determinant of health and contributes to physical and psychological chronic illnesses, functional decline, and mortality in older adults. This paper presents the results of the first randomized trial of LISTEN, which is anew cognitive behavioral intervention for loneliness, on loneliness, neuroimmunological stress response, psychosocial functioning, quality of life, and measures of physical health. Methods: The effectiveness of LISTEN was evaluated in a sample population comprising 27lonely, chronically ill, older adults living in Appalachia. Participants were randomized intoLISTEN or educational attention control groups. Outcome measures included salivary cortisol and DHEA, interleukin-6, interleukin-2, depressive symptoms, loneliness, perceived social support, functional ability, quality of life, fasting glucose, blood pressure, and body mass index. Results: At 12 weeks after the last intervention session, participants of the LISTEN group reported reduced loneliness (p¼0.03), enhanced overall social support(p¼0.05), and decreased systolic blood pressure (p¼0.02). The attention control group reported decreased functional ability (p¼0.10) and reduced quality of life (p¼0.13). Conclusions: LISTEN can effectively diminish loneliness and decrease the systolic blood pressure in community-dwelling, chronically ill, older adults. Results indicate that this population, if left with untreated loneliness, may experience functional impairment over a period as short as 4 months. Further studies on LISTEN are needed with larger samples, in varied populations, and over longer periods of time to assess the long-term effects of diminishing loneliness in multiple chronic condition

Application of Large-Scale Parentage Analysis for Investigating Natal Dispersal in Highly Vagile Vertebrates: A Case Study of American Black Bears (\u3ci\u3eUrsus americanus\u3c/i\u3e)

Understanding the factors that affect dispersal is a fundamental question in ecology and conservation biology, particularly as populations are faced with increasing anthropogenic impacts. Here we collected georeferenced genetic samples (n=2,540) from three generations of black bears (Ursus americanus) harvested in a large (47,739 km2), geographically isolated population and used parentage analysis to identify mother-offspring dyads (n=337). We quantified the effects of sex, age, habitat type and suitability, and local harvest density at the natal and settlement sites on the probability of natal dispersal, and on dispersal distances. Dispersal was male-biased (76% of males dispersed) but a small proportion (21%) of females also dispersed, and female dispersal distances (mean ± SE = 48.9±7.7 km) were comparable to male dispersal distances (59.0±3.2 km). Dispersal probabilities and dispersal distances were greatest for bears in areas with high habitat suitability and low harvest density. The inverse relationship between dispersal and harvest density in black bears suggests that 1) intensive harvest promotes restricted dispersal, or 2) high black bear population density decreases the propensity to disperse. Multigenerational genetic data collected over large landscape scales can be a powerful means of characterizing dispersal patterns and causal associations with demographic and landscape features in wild populations of elusive and wide-ranging species

Proceed with caution: The need to raise the publication bar for microplastics research

This is an Accepted Manuscript. Embargo until December 12 2022.Plastic is a ubiquitous contaminant of the Anthropocene. The highly diverse nature of microplastic pollution means it is not a single contaminant, but a suite of chemicals that include a range of polymers, particle sizes, colors, morphologies, and associated contaminants. Microplastics research has rapidly expanded in recent years and has led to an overwhelming consideration in the peer-reviewed literature. While there have been multiple calls for standardization and harmonization of the research methods used to study microplastics in the environment, the complexities of this emerging field have led to an exploration of many methods and tools. While different research questions require different methods, making standardization often impractical, it remains import to harmonize the outputs of these various methodologies. We argue here that in addition to harmonized methods and quality assurance practices, journals, editors and reviewers must also be more proactive in ensuring that scientific papers have clear, repeatable methods, and contribute to a constructive and factual discourse on plastic pollution. This includes carefully considering the quality of the manuscript submissions and how they fit into the larger field of research. While comparability and reproducibility is critical in all fields, we argue that this is of utmost importance in microplastics research as policy around plastic pollution is being developed in real time alongside this evolving scientific field, necessitating the need for rigorous examination of the science being published.acceptedVersio