Reasons for the Disappearing Jury Trial: Perspectives from Attorneys and Judges

The article discusses the results of a national survey of U.S. attorneys and judges on the possible reasons behind the disappearing jury trials in the country and the potential system effects on the decline of jury trials

Applying Sex Offender Registry Laws to Juvenile Offenders: Biases against Adolescents from Stigmatized Groups

The need to protect children from dangerous sex offenders has led to policies that require juvenile sex offenders to register on public online registries. It is important to determine the implications of these laws for the wellbeing of child victims and also for juvenile offenders on these registries. Is the application of these laws—designed for adult offenders—to juveniles appropriate, necessary, and supported by public sentiment? The chapter reviews current sex offender registration policies and psychological research addressing whether the assumptions underlying these laws are supported by research, public sentiment toward these laws, factors that might drive biases against stigmatized youth (e.g., gay youth, African Americans) in public support for these laws, and underlying psychological motivation for supporting these laws (i.e., punitive versus utilitarian management of threat goals). Finally, the chapter draws from the reviewed research to discuss implications for juvenile sex offender policy and child wellbein

Psychological mechanisms underlying support for juvenile sex offender registry laws: Prototypes, moral outrage, and perceived threat

We investigated whether and how a juvenile’s history of experiencing sexual abuse affects public perceptions of juvenile sex offenders in a series of 5 studies. When asked about juvenile sex offenders in an abstract manner (Studies 1 and 2), the more participants (community members and undergraduates) believed that a history of being sexually abused as a child causes later sexually abusive behavior, the less likely they were to support sex offender registration for juveniles. Yet when participants considered specific sexual offenses, a juvenile’s history of sexual abuse was not considered to be a mitigating factor. This was true when participants considered a severe sexual offense (forced rape; Study 3 and Study 4) and a case involving less severe sexual offenses (i.e., statutory rape), when a juvenile’s history of sexual abuse backfired and was used as an aggravating factor, increasing support for registering the offender (Study 3 and Study 5). Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed

The Influence of a Juvenile’s Abuse History on Support for Sex Offender Registration

We investigated whether and how a juvenile’s history of experiencing sexual abuse affects public perceptions of juvenile sex offenders in a series of 5 studies. When asked about juvenile sex offenders in an abstract manner (Studies 1 and 2), the more participants (community members and undergraduates) believed that a history of being sexually abused as a child causes later sexually abusive behavior, the less likely they were to support sex offender registration for juveniles. Yet when participants considered specific sexual offenses, a juvenile’s history of sexual abuse was not considered to be a mitigating factor. This was true when participants considered a severe sexual offense (forced rape; Study 3 and Study 4) and a case involving less severe sexual offenses (i.e., statutory rape), when a juvenile’s history of sexual abuse backfired and was used as an aggravating factor, increasing support for registering th

GWAS on longitudinal growth traits reveals different genetic factors influencing infant, child, and adult BMI

Early childhood growth patterns are associated with adult health, yet the genetic factors and the developmental stages involved are not fully understood. Here, we combine genome-wide association studies with modeling of longitudinal growth traits to study the genetics of infant and child growth, followed by functional, pathway, genetic correlation, risk score, and colocalization analyses to determine how developmental timings, molecular pathways, and genetic determinants of these traits overlap with those of adult health. We found a robust overlap between the genetics of child and adult body mass index (BMI), with variants associated with adult BMI acting as early as 4 to 6 years old. However, we demonstrated a completely distinct genetic makeup for peak BMI during infancy, influenced by variation at the LEPR/LEPROT locus. These findings suggest that different genetic factors control infant and child BMI. In light of the obesity epidemic, these findings are important to inform the timing and targets of prevention strategies

COVID-19 reopening strategies at the county level in the face of uncertainty: Multiple Models for Outbreak Decision Support

Policymakers make decisions about COVID-19 management in the face of considerable uncertainty. We convened multiple modeling teams to evaluate reopening strategies for a mid- sized county in the United States, in a novel process designed to fully express scientific uncertainty while reducing linguistic uncertainty and cognitive biases. For the scenarios considered, the consensus from 17 distinct models was that a second outbreak will occur within 6 months of reopening, unless schools and non-essential workplaces remain closed. Up to half the population could be infected with full workplace reopening; non-essential business closures reduced median cumulative infections by 82%. Intermediate reopening interventions identified no win-win situations; there was a trade-off between public health outcomes and duration of workplace closures. Aggregate results captured twice the uncertainty of individual models, providing a more complete expression of risk for decision-making purposes.Integrative Biolog

The risk of stroke recurrence in patients with atrial fibrillation and reduced ejection fraction

Abstract Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) and congestive heart failure often coexist due to their shared risk factors leading to potential worse outcome, particularly cerebrovascular events. The aims of this study were to calculate the rates of ischemic and severe bleeding events in ischemic stroke patients having both AF and reduced ejection fraction (rEF) (⩽40%), compared to ischemic stroke patients with AF but without rEF. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis that drew data from prospective studies. The primary outcome was the composite of either ischemic (stroke or systemic embolism), or hemorrhagic events (symptomatic intracranial bleeding and severe extracranial bleeding). Results: The cohort for this analysis comprised 3477 patients with ischemic stroke and AF, of which, 643 (18.3%) had also rEF. After a mean follow-up of 7.5 ± 9.1 months, 375 (10.8%) patients had 382 recorded outcome events, for an annual rate of 18.0%. While the number of primary outcome events in patients with rEF was 86 (13.4%), compared to 289 (10.2%) for the patients without rEF; on multivariable analysis rEF was not associated with the primary outcome (OR 1.25; 95% CI 0.84–1.88). At the end of follow-up, 321 (49.9%) patients with rEF were deceased or disabled (mRS ⩾3), compared with 1145 (40.4%) of those without rEF; on multivariable analysis, rEF was correlated with mortality or disability (OR 1.35; 95% CI 1.03–1.77). Conclusions: In patients with ischemic stroke and AF, the presence of rEF was not associated with the composite outcome of ischemic or hemorrhagic events over short-term follow-up but was associated with increased mortality or disability