The Impact of Ethnicity, Immigration Status, and Socioeconomic Status on Juror Decision Making

The purpose of this research was to examine how ethnicity, immigration status, and socioeconomic status (SES) may contribute to juror bias. A total of 320 Euro-American venire persons were as- signed to 1 of 8 criminal court trial transcript conditions that varied defendant ethnicity (Mexican or Canadian), immigrant status (undocumented or documented), and SES (low or high). Dependent measures were verdict, sentencing, culpability, and trait attributions. Results indicated that the low-SES undocumented Mexican defendant was found guilty more often, given a more severe sentence, thought to be more culpable, and rated lower on a number of trait measures compared with all other conditions. Subtle bias theories, such as aversive racism, appear to best explain the biases in juror decisions

The Impact of Ethnicity, Immigration Status, and Socioeconomic Status on Juror Decision Making

The purpose of this research was to examine how ethnicity, immigration status, and socioeconomic status (SES) may contribute to juror bias. A total of 320 Euro-American venire persons were as- signed to 1 of 8 criminal court trial transcript conditions that varied defendant ethnicity (Mexican or Canadian), immigrant status (undocumented or documented), and SES (low or high). Dependent measures were verdict, sentencing, culpability, and trait attributions. Results indicated that the low-SES undocumented Mexican defendant was found guilty more often, given a more severe sentence, thought to be more culpable, and rated lower on a number of trait measures compared with all other conditions. Subtle bias theories, such as aversive racism, appear to best explain the biases in juror decisions

Dynamic stretching is effective as static stretching at increasing flexibility

This study examined the effect of dynamic and static (standard) stretching on hamstring flexibility. Twenty-five female volleyball players were randomly assigned to dynamic (n = 12) and standard (n = 13) stretching groups. The experimental group trained with repetitive dynamic stretching exercises, while the standard modality group trained with static stretching exercises. The stretching interventions were equivalent in the time at stretch and were performed three days a week for four weeks. Both stretching groups showed significant improvements (P < .001) in range of motion (ROM) during the intervention. However, no difference in gains in the range of motion between stretching groups was observed. It was concluded that both dynamic stretching and standard stretching are effective at increasing ROM

Developing a patient-centered outcome measure for complementary and alternative medicine therapies II: Refining content validity through cognitive interviews

BACKGROUND: Available measures of patient-reported outcomes for complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) inadequately capture the range of patient-reported treatment effects. The Self-Assessment of Change questionnaire was developed to measure multi-dimensional shifts in well-being for CAM users. With content derived from patient narratives, items were subsequently focused through interviews on a new cohort of participants. Here we present the development of the final version in which the content and format is refined through cognitive interviews. METHODS: We conducted cognitive interviews across five iterations of questionnaire refinement with a culturally diverse sample of 28 CAM users. In each iteration, participant critiques were used to revise the questionnaire, which was then re-tested in subsequent rounds of cognitive interviews. Following all five iterations, transcripts of cognitive interviews were systematically coded and analyzed to examine participants' understanding of the format and content of the final questionnaire. Based on this data, we established summary descriptions and selected exemplar quotations for each word pair on the final questionnaire. RESULTS: The final version of the Self-Assessment of Change questionnaire (SAC) includes 16 word pairs, nine of which remained unchanged from the original draft. Participants consistently said that these stable word pairs represented opposite ends of the same domain of experience and the meanings of these terms were stable across the participant pool. Five pairs underwent revision and two word pairs were added. Four word pairs were eliminated for redundancy or because participants did not agree on the meaning of the terms. Cognitive interviews indicate that participants understood the format of the questionnaire and considered each word pair to represent opposite poles of a shared domain of experience. CONCLUSIONS: We have placed lay language and direct experience at the center of questionnaire revision and refinement. In so doing, we provide an innovative model for the development of truly patient-centered outcome measures. Although this instrument was designed and tested in a CAM-specific population, it may be useful in assessing multi-dimensional shifts in well-being across a broader patient population

Technology Interventions to Curb Obesity: A Systematic Review of the Current Literature

Abstract Obesity is a public health crisis that has reached epidemic proportions. Although intensive behavioral interventions can produce clinically significant weight loss, their cost to implement, coupled with resource limitations, pose significant barriers to scalability. To overcome these challenges, researchers have made attempts to shift intervention content to the Internet and other mobile devices. This article systematically reviews the recent literature examining technology-supported interventions for weight loss and maintenance among overweight and obese adults. Thirteen studies were identified that satisfied our inclusion criteria (12 weight loss trials, 1 weight maintenance trial). Our findings suggest that technology interventions may be efficacious at producing weight loss. However, several studies are limited by methodologic shortcomings. There are insufficient data to evaluate their efficacy for weight maintenance. Further research is needed that employs state-ofthe-art methodology, with careful attention being paid to adherence and fidelity to intervention protocols

Successful Transition of the Military Service Member to Civilian Life

Graduating high school and entering college, the workforce, or the military may all be understood as examples of major life transitions. Such transitions may be experienced in different ways, may be easy or difficult, and may or may not be successful. One life transition infrequently studied is the military-to-civilian transition that service members experience. The current study focused on the transition period service members experience upon reentry to civilian life after they have separated from the service. A successful transition was assessed in two ways: the ease to which the service member adjusted to civilian life and their satisfaction with life immediately after discharge from the military. This study incorporates both positive and negative effects of serving on the service members’ perception of the ease and success of their transition to civilian life and their satisfaction with life. Personality traits were assessed to determine if individual differences also predicted success during the transition period and satisfaction with life. Participants were 595 United States military service members who had separated from the service less than 10 years prior to the time of data collection. The results of the current study indicate that positively experienced deployments, positive discharge training experience, more frequent contact with other veterans, the kind (positive or negative) of situation returned to, and post-traumatic stress symptoms significantly predicted service members perceived ease of adjustment to and satisfaction with civilian life. Extraversion and negative emotionality similarly predicted these same outcomes. No significant gender differences were observed. These findings suggest a potential avenue future researchers and policy makers might take to better help service members adjust to civilian life. One avenue may be to create an intervention of a standardized discharge training experience all service members receive when separating from the service. This training should treat adjustment back into civilian life as multifaceted and involve the service member and those individuals who make up their social support system

Are Cavernous Sinus Hemangiomas and Cavernous Malformations Different Entities?

Cavernous hemangiomas that occur within the cavernous sinus (CS) are different from cerebral cavernous malformations (CMs) clinically, on imaging studies, and in their response to treatment. Moreover, CMs are true vascular malformations, whereas hemangiomas are benign vascular tumors. Because of these differences, the authors suggest that these two entities be analyzed and grouped separately. Unfortunately, despite these differences, much confusion exists in the literature as to the nature, behavior, and classification of these two distinct lesions. This confusion is exacerbated by subtle histological differences and the inconsistent use of nomenclature. The authors use the term \ cavernous malformation\ to refer to intraaxial lesions only; they prefer to use the term \ cavernous sinus hemangioma\ to refer to extraaxial, intradural hemangiomas of the CS

Technology Interventions to Curb Obesity: A Systematic Review of the Current Literature

Obesity is a public health crisis that has reached epidemic proportions. Although intensive behavioral interventions can produce clinically significant weight loss, their cost to implement, coupled with resource limitations, pose significant barriers to scalability. To overcome these challenges, researchers have made attempts to shift intervention content to the Internet and other mobile devices. This article systematically reviews the recent literature examining technology-supported interventions for weight loss and maintenance among overweight and obese adults. Thirteen studies were identified that satisfied our inclusion criteria (12 weight loss trials, 1 weight maintenance trial). Our findings suggest that technology interventions may be efficacious at producing weight loss. However, several studies are limited by methodologic shortcomings. There are insufficient data to evaluate their efficacy for weight maintenance. Further research is needed that employs state-of-the-art methodology, with careful attention being paid to adherence and fidelity to intervention protocols