Ensuring an Impartial Jury in the Age of Social Media

The explosive growth of social networking has placed enormous pressure on one of the most fundamental of American institutions—the impartial jury. Through social networking services like Facebook and Twitter, jurors have committed significant and often high-profile acts of misconduct. Just recently, the Arkansas Supreme Court reversed a death sentence because a juror Tweeted about the case during deliberations. In light of the significant risks to a fair trial that arise when jurors communicate through social media during trial, judges must be vigilant in monitoring for potential outside influences and in deterring misconduct. In this Article, we present informal survey data from actual jurors on their use of social networking during trial. We discuss the rise of web-based social networks like Facebook and Twitter, and the concerns that arise when jurors communicate about a case through social media before returning a verdict. After surveying how courts have responded to jurors’ social media use, we describe the results of the informal survey. The results support a growing consensus in the legal profession that courts should frequently, as a matter of course, instruct jurors not to use social media to communicate about trial. Although others have stressed the importance of jury instructions in this area, we hope that the informal survey data will further the dialogue by providing an important perspective—that of actual jurors

More From the #Jury Box: The Latest on Juries and Social Media

This Article presents the results of a survey of jurors in federal and state court on their use of social media during their jury service. We began surveying federal jurors in 2011 and reported preliminary results in 2012; since then, we have surveyed several hundred more jurors, including state jurors, for a more complete picture of juror attitudes toward social media. Our results support the growing consensus that jury instructions are the most effective tool to mitigate the risk of juror misconduct through social media. We conclude with a set of recommended best practices for using a social-media instruction

More From the #Jury Box: The Latest on Juries and Social Media

This Article presents the results of a survey of jurors in federal and state court on their use of social media during their jury service. We began surveying federal jurors in 2011 and reported preliminary results in 2012; since then, we have surveyed several hundred more jurors, including state jurors, for a more complete picture of juror attitudes toward social media. Our results support the growing consensus that jury instructions are the most effective tool to mitigate the risk of juror misconduct through social media. We conclude with a set of recommended best practices for using a social-media instruction

Identification and differential regional expression of KOR-3/ORL-1 gene splice variants in mouse brain

AbstractKOR-3, also known as ORL-1, is a member of the opioid receptor family, encoding the murine receptor for orphanin FQ/nociceptin. In the current studies we have identified five different splice variants of KOR-3 in mouse brain, three of which have not been previously reported. In addition to variants with a 15 bp deletion at the 3′-end of the first coding exon (KOR-3d) and an 81 bp insertion between the second and third coding exons (KOR-3e), three new variants with insertions of 34 (KOR-3a), 98 (KOR-3b), and 139 bp (KOR-3c) between the first and second coding exons have been obtained. The expression of the three variants in mouse brain varies markedly among brain regions with a distribution which is quite distinct from KOR-3 itself. Of greatest interest was the presence of high levels of KOR-3a in the striatum, a region with no demonstrable KOR-3, and in the cortex. KOR-3c was seen in the periaqueductal gray and hypothalamus, regions where KOR-3 predominated. The brainstem had similar levels of KOR-3, KOR-3a, and KOR-3d. In contrast, KOR-3d was most prominent in the cerebellum. KOR-3b levels were very low throughout

The Effect of Supplemental Medical and Prescription Drug Coverage on Health Care Spending for Medicare Beneficiaries with Cancer

AbstractObjectivesTo examine whether patients with newly diagnosed cancer respond differently to supplemental coverage than the general Medicare population.MethodsA cohort of newly diagnosed cancer patients (n = 1,799) from the 1997-2007 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey and a noncancer cohort (n = 9,726) were identified and matched by panel year. Two-year total medical care spending was estimated by using generalized linear models with gamma distribution and log link—including endogeneity-corrected models. Interactions between cancer and type of insurance allowed testing for differential effects of a cancer diagnosis.ResultsThe cancer cohort spent an adjusted $15,605 more over 2 years than did the noncancer comparison group. Relative to those without supplemental coverage, beneficiaries with employer-sponsored insurance, other private with prescription drug coverage, and public coverage had significantly higher total spending ($3,510, $2,823, and$4,065, respectively, for main models). For beneficiaries with cancer, supplemental insurance effects were similar in magnitude yet negative, suggesting little net effect of supplemental insurance for cancer patients. The endogeneity-corrected models produced implausibly large main effects of supplemental insurance, but the Cancer × Insurance interactions were similar in both models.ConclusionsMedicare beneficiaries with cancer are less responsive to the presence and type of supplemental insurance than are beneficiaries without cancer. Proposed restrictions on the availability of supplemental insurance intended to reduce Medicare spending would be unlikely to limit expenditures by beneficiaries with cancer, but would shift the financial burden to those beneficiaries. Policymakers should consider welfare effects associated with coverage restrictions

Simulations of the Alternating Access Mechanism of the Sodium Symporter Mhp1

AbstractSodium coupled cotransporters of the five-helix inverted repeat (5HIR) superfamily use an alternating access mechanism to transport a myriad of small molecules across the cell membrane. One of the primary steps in this mechanism is the conformational transition from a state poised to bind extracellular substrates to a state that is competent to deliver substrate to the cytoplasm. Here, we construct a coarse-grained model of the 5HIR benzylhydantoin transporter Mhp1 that incorporates experimental structures of the outward- and inward-open states to investigate the mechanism of this conformational change. Using the weighted ensemble path-sampling method, we rigorously sample the outward- to inward-facing transition path ensemble. The transition path ensemble reveals a heterogeneous set of pathways connecting the two states and identifies two modes of transport: one consistent with a strict alternating access mechanism and another where decoupling of the inner and outer gates causes the transient formation of a continuous permeation pathway through the transporter. We also show that the conformational switch between the outward- and inward-open states results from rigid body motions of the hash motif relative to the substrate bundle, supporting the rocking bundle hypothesis. Finally, our methodology provides the groundwork for more chemically detailed investigations of the alternating mechanism

Shallow Ultraviolet Transits of WD 1145+017

WD 1145+017 is a unique white dwarf system that has a heavily polluted atmosphere, an infrared excess from a dust disk, numerous broad absorption lines from circumstellar gas, and changing transit features, likely from fragments of an actively disintegrating asteroid. Here, we present results from a large photometric and spectroscopic campaign with Hubble, Keck , VLT, Spitzer, and many other smaller telescopes from 2015 to 2018. Somewhat surprisingly, but consistent with previous observations in the u' band, the UV transit depths are always shallower than those in the optical. We develop a model that can quantitatively explain the observed "bluing" and the main findings are: I. the transiting objects, circumstellar gas, and white dwarf are all aligned along our line of sight; II. the transiting object is blocking a larger fraction of the circumstellar gas than of the white dwarf itself. Because most circumstellar lines are concentrated in the UV, the UV flux appears to be less blocked compared to the optical during a transit, leading to a shallower UV transit. This scenario is further supported by the strong anti-correlation between optical transit depth and circumstellar line strength. We have yet to detect any wavelength-dependent transits caused by the transiting material around WD 1145+017.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, 6 tables, ApJ, in pres

First Phase 1 Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Randomized Rectal Microbicide Trial Using UC781 Gel with a Novel Index of Ex Vivo Efficacy

Objectives: Successful control of the HIV/AIDS pandemic requires reduction of HIV-1 transmission at sexually-exposed mucosae. No prevention studies of the higher-risk rectal compartment exist. We report the first-in-field Phase 1 trial of a rectally-applied, vaginally-formulated microbicide gel with the RT-inhibitor UC781 measuring clinical and mucosal safety, acceptability and plasma drug levels. A first-in-Phase 1 assessment of preliminary pharmacodynamics was included by measuring changes in ex vivo HIV-1 suppression in rectal biopsy tissue after exposure to product in vivo. Methods: HIV-1 seronegative, sexually-abstinent men and women (N = 36) were randomized in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial comparing UC781 gel at two concentrations (0.1%, 0.25%) with placebo gel (1:1:1). Baseline, single-dose exposure and a separate, 7-day at-home dosing were assessed. Safety and acceptability were primary endpoints. Changes in colorectal mucosal markers and UC781 plasma drug levels were secondary endpoints; ex vivo biopsy infectibility was an ancillary endpoint. Results: All 36 subjects enrolled completed the 7-14 week trial (100% retention) including 3 flexible sigmoidoscopies, each with 28 biopsies (14 at 10 cm; 14 at 30 cm). There were 81 Grade 1 adverse events (AEs) and 8 Grade 2; no Grade 3, 4 or procedure-related AEs were reported. Acceptability was high, including likelihood of future use. No changes in mucosal immunoinflammatory markers were identified. Plasma levels of UC781 were not detected. Ex vivo infection of biopsies using two titers of HIV-1 BaL showed marked suppression of p24 in tissues exposed in vivo to 0.25% UC781; strong trends of suppression were seen with the lower 0.1% UC781 concentration. Conclusions: Single and 7-day topical rectal exposure to both concentrations of UC781 were safe with no significant AEs, high acceptability, no detected plasma drug levels and no significant mucosal changes. Ex vivo biopsy infections demonstrated marked suppression of HIV infectibility, identifying a potential early biomarker of efficacy. (Registered at ClinicalTrials.gov; #NCT00408538). © 2011 Anton et al