Field experiments examining trust in law: Interviewer effects on participants with lower educational backgrounds

An important prerequisite for democratic societies to function smoothly is that citizens put trust in the law and as such trust the judges in their country. Therefore, whether various participants actually trust the law is an important topic in many different studies. The current paper notes that insights into trust in law among lower educated participants is relatively lacking. We further note that there is a possibility that levels of trust in law may vary in important ways among participants with lower educational backgrounds as a function of who is conducting the research. Three field experiments tested this assumption. Results of all three experiments show that, when completing questionnaires given to participants by interviewers presenting themselves as coming from law schools, participants with lower educational backgrounds indicated that they hold higher levels of trust in their country’s judges than when the same interviewers presented themselves as coming from regional community colleges. Taken together, these findings indicate a robust phenomenon overlooked thus far in the literature, namely that trust in the judiciary can vary systematically among citizens with lower educational backgrounds as a function of interviewer affiliation. Implications on how to understand this phenomenon are discussed

Pesticide risk assessment and management in a globally changing world—report from a European interdisciplinary workshop

[Departement_IRSTEA]Eaux [TR1_IRSTEA]BELCA [Axe_IRSTEA]DTAM-QT2-ADAPTATION [TR2_IRSTEA]ARCEAU [TR2_IRSTEA]DTAMGlobal climate change will affect worldwide agriculture in many ways. The anticipated or already occurring changes raise concerns about the sustainability of production and the ability of agriculture to feed human populations. This appeals to sustainable agriculture providing ecosystem services more efficiently than today, and accordingly to substantial evolutions of pesticide risk assessment (RA) and risk management (RM). The RA/RM issues were discussed by two European research networks in a 2011 workshop. The RA-RM-monitoring conceptual cycle tends to be virtual, with poor connections between certain steps. The design of more comprehensive emissions scenarios could improve the accuracy of predicted runoff transport, while the microcosm/mesocosm approach could help establish causal relationships between fate / exposure and populations / communities. Combined with ecological modelling, effects can be extrapolated to higher spatial and temporal scales. Risk management of diffuse sources should be designed simultaneously at the watershed and individual plot scales. Monitoring is key to assessing the effectiveness of risk reduction measures reduce and evaluate the overall quality of the aquatic compartment. More flexible monitoring strategies clearly linked to RM decisions are therefore needed. Although some technical questions remain, it is time to apply passive samplers more routinely. A set of research and development needs covering the whole RA/RM cycle is listed in conclusion

Case Study 2: Seed Treatment

General information and use pattern Function: Insecticide seed treatment Mode of action: Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitor Type and composition of formulation: Cereal seed treatment with colored dye. Nominal concentration on seed is 1000 mg a.i./kg. Crop and pest: Control of wheat bulb fly in autumn/winter-sown cereals Application: Treated seed is drilled to a depth of approximately 2.5 cm at a sowing rate of approximately 180 kg seed/ha. Soil type, seedbed, and climatic conditions may influence the proportion of seeds left on the soil surface. The label is explicit about procedures to minimize seed left on the soil surface and collection and disposal of spillages

Adrenal Function in females with low plasma HDL-C due to mutations in ABCA1 and LCAT

Adrenal steroidogenesis is essential for human survival and depends on the availability of the precursor cholesterol. Male subjects with low plasma levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol are characterized by decreased adrenal function. Whether this is also the case in female subjects with low plasma HDL-C levels is unresolved to date. 15 female ATP binding cassette transporter AI (ABCAI) and 14 female lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) were included in the study. HDL-C levels were 38% and 41% lower in ABCA1 and LCAT mutation carriers compared to controls, respectively. Urinary steroid excretion of 17-ketogenic steroids or 17-hydroxy corticosteroids did not differ between 15 female ABCA1 mutation carriers (p = 0.27 vs 0.30 respectively) and 30 matched normolipidemic controls or between 14 female LCAT mutation carriers and 28 matched normolipidemic controls (p = 0.10 and 0.14, respectively). Cosyntropin testing in an unselected subgroup of 8 ABCA1 mutation carriers and 3 LCAT mutation carriers did not reveal differences between carriers and controls. Adrenal function in females with molecularly defined low HDL-C levels is not different from controls. The discrepancy with the finding of impaired steroidogenesis in males with molecularly defined low HDL-C levels underscores the importance of gender specific analyses in cholesterol-related researc

High density lipoprotein as a source of cholesterol for adrenal steroidogenesis:A study in individuals with low plasma HDL-C

Few studies have addressed the delivery of lipoprotein-derived cholesterol to the adrenals for steroid production in humans. While there is evidence against a role for low-density lipoprotein (LDL), it is unresolved whether high density lipoprotein (HDL) contributes to adrenal steroidogenesis. To study this, steroid hormone profiles in urine were assessed in male subjects suffering from functional mutations in ATP binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) (n = 24), lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) (n = 40), as well as in 11 subjects with low HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) without ABCA1/LCAT mutations. HDL-C levels were 39% lower in the ABCA1, LCAT, and low HDL-C groups compared with controls (all P <0.001). In all groups with low HDL-C levels, urinary excretion of 17-ketogenic steroids was reduced by 33%, 27%, and 32% compared with controls (all P <0.04). In seven carriers of either type of mutation, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) stimulation did not reveal differences from normolipidemic controls. In conclusion, this study shows that basal but not stimulated corticosteroid metabolism is attenuated in subjects with low HDL-C, irrespective of its molecular origin. These findings lend support to a role for HDL as a cholesterol donor for basal adrenal steroidogenesis in humans

24-hour urinary steroid excretion in male <i>ABCA1</i> and <i>LCAT</i> mutation carriers compared to age-matched female controls.

<p>Data are presented as mean ± SD. P values for student’s t-test.</p

Characteristics of female ATP-binding cassette transporter 1 <i>(ABCA1</i>) and Lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (<i>LCAT</i>) mutation carriers and matched female controls.

<p>Values are means ± SD unless otherwise indicated. Triglycerides are median with interquartile range. P for Student’s T-test. Triglycerides were logtransformed prior to T-test.</p>#<p>P for χ² test. No t-test was performed for history of coronary artery disease since referral bias was present. Partial overlap exists between the two control cohorts.</p

Urinary steroid metabolites in female <i>ABCA1</i> and <i>LCAT</i> mutation carriers compared to age-matched female controls.

<p>Data are presented as mean ± SD. P values for student’s t-test.</p