Avoiding the perfect storm of juror contempt

Concern over juror contempt and improper conduct is one of the factors that prompted the Law Commission’s early review of Contempt of Court. This article argues that any reform of the law of contempt in relation to juries and jury trials should be based on rigorous and reliable empirical evidence, not anecdotal evidence, exceptional cases or untested assumptions about juries. It reports the first findings of recent research conducted with juries at Crown Courts examining juror understanding of contempt, awareness of recent prosecutions of jurors, willingness to report improper conduct, as well desire for deliberation guidance and written judicial directions. Based on empirical evidence, this article argues for a three-pronged approach to minimising juror contempt in the new media age. It also argues that calls for the removal or relaxation of s.8 of the Contempt of Court Act are misguided and based on a myth that the current law prevents detailed jury research

Ethnicity and the Fairness of Jury Trials in England and Wales 2006-2014

Government statistics show that members of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups are disproportionately stopped and searched, arrested, charged and in prison. However, until the 2010 study Are Juries Fair? there was no reliable evidence to say whether BAME defendants were also disproportionately convicted by juries in England and Wales. The 2010 study provided the first large-scale quantitative analysis of all jury verdicts in the Crown Court over an 18-month period in 2006-2008, and found that, contrary to popular belief, BAME defendants were not more likely than White defendants to be convicted by juries in England and Wales. This article provides a substantially updated and expanded analysis of ethnicity and jury trials in England and Wales, covering all jury verdicts against all defendants in the Crown Court over an eight-year period from 2006-2014 and comprising a dataset of over three million charges and almost 400,000 jury verdicts. It finds that BAME defendants are disproportionately charged with offences tried in the Crown Court and BAME defendants plead not guilty to these charges consistently more often than White defendants and are therefore over-represented amongst defendants facing a jury verdict. However, BAME defendants are not disproportionately convicted by juries in England and Wales. For offences that make up over three-quarters of all jury verdicts, jury conviction rates were either similar for White and BAME defendants or White defendants were convicted substantially more often than BAME defendants. There has also not been any substantial change in the overall jury conviction rates for BAME (or White) defendants over the eight-year period. This new and more extensive analysis confirms one of the most important indications of the 2010 study: that one stage in the criminal justice process in England and Wales where members of BAME groups appear not to be treated disproportionately is when a jury reaches a verdict by deliberation

Global oceanic emission of ammonia: constraints from seawater and atmospheric observations

Current global inventories of ammonia emissions identify the ocean as the largest natural source. This source depends on seawater pH, temperature, and the concentration of total seawater ammonia (NHx(sw)), which reflects a balance between remineralization of organic matter, uptake by plankton, and nitrification. Here we compare [NHx(sw)] from two global ocean biogeochemical models (BEC and COBALT) against extensive ocean observations. Simulated [NHx(sw)] are generally biased high. Improved simulation can be achieved in COBALT by increasing the plankton affinity for NHx within observed ranges. The resulting global ocean emissions is 2.5 TgN a−1, much lower than current literature values (7–23 TgN a−1), including the widely used Global Emissions InitiAtive (GEIA) inventory (8 TgN a−1). Such a weak ocean source implies that continental sources contribute more than half of atmospheric NHx over most of the ocean in the Northern Hemisphere. Ammonia emitted from oceanic sources is insufficient to neutralize sulfate aerosol acidity, consistent with observations. There is evidence over the Equatorial Pacific for a missing source of atmospheric ammonia that could be due to photolysis of marine organic nitrogen at the ocean surface or in the atmosphere. Accommodating this possible missing source yields a global ocean emission of ammonia in the range 2–5 TgN a−1, comparable in magnitude to other natural sources from open fires and soils

Measurement of Permanent Electric Dipole Moments of Charged Hadrons in Storage Rings

Permanent Electric Dipole Moments (EDMs) of elementary particles violate two fundamental symmetries: time reversal invariance (T) and parity (P). Assuming the CPT theorem this implies CP-violation. The CP-violation of the Standard Model is orders of magnitude too small to be observed experimentally in EDMs in the foreseeable future. It is also way too small to explain the asymmetry in abundance of matter and anti-matter in our universe. Hence, other mechanisms of CP violation outside the realm of the Standard Model are searched for and could result in measurable EDMs. Up to now most of the EDM measurements were done with neutral particles. With new techniques it is now possible to perform dedicated EDM experiments with charged hadrons at storage rings where polarized particles are exposed to an electric field. If an EDM exists the spin vector will experience a torque resulting in change of the original spin direction which can be determined with the help of a polarimeter. Although the principle of the measurement is simple, the smallness of the expected effect makes this a challenging experiment requiring new developments in various experimental areas. Complementary efforts to measure EDMs of proton, deuteron and light nuclei are pursued at Brookhaven National Laboratory and at Forschungszentrum Juelich with an ultimate goal to reach a sensitivity of 10^{-29} e cm.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Molecular diversity and population structure at the Cytochrome P450 3A5 gene in Africa.

Cytochrome P450 3A5 (CYP3A5) is an enzyme involved in the metabolism of many therapeutic drugs. CYP3A5 expression levels vary between individuals and populations, and this contributes to adverse clinical outcomes. Variable expression is largely attributed to four alleles, CYP3A5*1 (expresser allele); CYP3A5*3 (rs776746), CYP3A5*6 (rs10264272) and CYP3A5*7 (rs41303343) (low/non-expresser alleles). Little is known about CYP3A5 variability in Africa, a region with considerable genetic diversity. Here we used a multi-disciplinary approach to characterize CYP3A5 variation in geographically and ethnically diverse populations from in and around Africa, and infer the evolutionary processes that have shaped patterns of diversity in this gene. We genotyped 2538 individuals from 36 diverse populations in and around Africa for common low/non-expresser CYP3A5 alleles, and re-sequenced the CYP3A5 gene in five Ethiopian ethnic groups. We estimated the ages of low/non-expresser CYP3A5 alleles using a linked microsatellite and assuming a step-wise mutation model of evolution. Finally, we examined a hypothesis that CYP3A5 is important in salt retention adaptation by performing correlations with ecological data relating to aridity for the present day, 10,000 and 50,000 years ago

Synergy of stereo cloud top height and ORAC optimal estimation cloud retrieval: evaluation and application to AATSR

In this paper we evaluate the retrievals of cloud top height when stereo derived heights are combined with the radiometric cloud top heights retrieved from the ORAC (Optimal Retrieval of Aerosol and Cloud) algorithm. This is performed in a mathematically rigorous way using the ORAC optimal estimation retrieval framework, which includes the facility to use independent a priori information. Key to the use of a priori information is a characterisation of their associated uncertainty. This paper demonstrates the improvements that are possible using this approach and also considers their impact on the microphysical cloud parameters retrieved. The AATSR instrument has two views and three thermal channels so is well placed to demonstrate the synergy of the two techniques. The stereo retrieval is able to improve the accuracy of the retrieved cloud top height when compared to collocated Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO), particularly in the presence of boundary layer inversions and high clouds. The impact on the microphysical properties of the cloud such as optical depth and effective radius was evaluated and found to be very small with the biggest differences occurring over bright land surfaces and for high clouds. Overall the cost of the retrievals increased indicating a poorer radiative fit of radiances to the cloud model, which currently uses a single layer cloud model. Best results and improved fit to the radiances may be obtained in the future if a multi-layer model is used

'If it's a medical issue I would have covered it by now': learning about fibromyalgia through the hidden curriculum: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND: Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a long-term condition that affects between 1 and 5% of the general population and lies within the spectrum of medically unexplained symptoms (MUS). FMS can be difficult to diagnose and is usually done so as a diagnosis of exclusion. There is continuing debate regarding its legitimacy excluding other causes of symptoms. It is known that the diagnosis and management of MUS, including FMS, receives little attention in medical curricula and attitudes towards patients with FMS amongst medical professionals and trainees can be negative. The purpose of this study was to investigate how attitudes and perspectives of undergraduate medical students towards FMS are acquired during their training. METHODS: Qualitative interviews with 21 medical students were conducted to explore their views on FMS, encounters with patients with FMS, and where learning about FMS occurs. Participants were recruited from two English medical schools and the study was approved by two University Ethics committees. Interviews were digitally recorded with consent and data analysed thematically, using principles of constant comparison. RESULTS: The data were organised within three themes: i) FMS is a complex, poorly understood condition; ii) multiple sources for learning about FMS; and iii) consequences of negative attitudes for patients with FMS. CONCLUSION: Undergraduate medical students have limited understanding of, and are sceptical over the existence of FMS. These attitudes are influenced by the 'hidden curriculum' and witnessing attitudes and actions of their clinical teachers. Students interpret a lack of formal curriculum teaching around FMS to mean that it is not serious and hence a low priority. Encountering a patient, friend or family member with FMS can increase knowledge and lead to altered perceptions of the condition. Teaching and learning about FMS needs to be consistent to improve knowledge and attitudes of clinicians. Undergraduate students should be exposed to patients with FMS so that they better understand patients with FMS

Pathogen burden, inflammation, proliferation and apoptosis in human in-stent restenosis - Tissue characteristics compared to primary atherosclerosis

Pathogenic events leading to in-stent restenosis (ISR) are still incompletely understood. Among others, inflammation, immune reactions, deregulated cell death and growth have been suggested. Therefore, atherectomy probes from 21 patients with symptomatic ISR were analyzed by immunohistochemistry for pathogen burden and compared to primary target lesions from 20 stable angina patients. While cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus, Epstein-Barr virus and Helicobacter pylori were not found in ISR, acute and/or persistent chlamydial infection were present in 6/21 of these lesions (29%). Expression of human heat shock protein 60 was found in 8/21 of probes (38%). Indicated by distinct signals of CD68, CD40 and CRP, inflammation was present in 5/21 (24%), 3/21 (14%) and 2/21 (10%) of ISR cases. Cell density of ISR was significantly higher than that of primary lesions ( 977 +/- 315 vs. 431 +/- 148 cells/mm(2); p < 0.001). There was no replicating cell as shown by Ki67 or PCNA. TUNEL+ cells indicating apoptosis were seen in 6/21 of ISR specimens (29%). Quantitative analysis revealed lower expression levels for each intimal determinant in ISR compared to primary atheroma (all p < 0.05). In summary, human ISR at the time of clinical presentation is characterized by low frequency of pathogen burden and inflammation, but pronounced hypercellularity, low apoptosis and absence of proliferation. Copyright (C) 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel

PENGARUH PAJAK TANGGUHAN DAN TAX BOOK RATIO TERHADAP KINERJA PERUSAHAAN (Studi kasus pada Perusahan Pertambangan Subsektor Batubara yang terdaftar di BEI Tahun 2012-2016)

ABSTRAK KInerja Perusahaan dilakukan dengan Pemanfaatan Sumberdaya yang ada dalam dalam hasil yang digambarkan dan ditujukan melalui alat analisis keuangan sebagai pengukur tingkat keberhasilan dalam memperoleh laba dan menunjukan prospek di masa yang akan datang. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui seberapa besar pengaruh pajak tangguhan dan tax to Book ratio terhadap Kinerja perusahaan. Model penelitian yang digunakan adalah analisis deskriptif dan assosiatif. Populasi dari penelitian ini adalah perusahaan manufaktur subsektor otomotif dan konsumen yang terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia periode 2012-2016 berjumlah 13 perusahaan. Metode penelitian sampel menggunakan teknik purposive sampling dengan total sampel 6 perusahaan yang memenuhi kriteria. Analisis data dilakukakn dengan menggunakan regresi linier berganda. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa Kinerja perusahaan yang dilaksanakan oleh perusahaan manufaktur subsektor Batubara periode 2012-2016 memiliki rata-rata sebesar 0,100. Secara parsial pajak tangguhan berpengaruh terhadap Kinerja perusahaan dengan kontribusi pengaruh sebesar 9,3%. Sedangkan tax to Book ratiosecara parsial berpengaruh terhadap Kinerja perusahaan dengan kontribusi pengaruh sebesar 24,9%. Secara simultan pajak tangguhan dan tax to Book ratio berpengaruh terhadap Kinerja perusahaan dengan kontribusi 34,2 % pada perusahaan manufaktur subsektor Batubara yang terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia periode 2012-2016. Kata kunci: Pajak tangguhan, Tax to Book ratio dan Kinerja Perusahaan