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Sleep curtailment and circadian misalignment disrupt energy sensing and eating behaviors, which can contribute to weight gain and obesity-related comorbidities. Herein, we review the effects of experimental manipulations of sleep duration and circadian alignment on circulating concentrations of appetite hormones, specifically leptin and ghrelin. Further, we focus on sex differences in hormonal and behavioral responses related to food intake. The studies reviewed suggest potential sex-specific effects of sleep curtailment on key hormones involved in the gut-brain axis, presumably leading to downstream effects on neural processes involved in food seeking and consumption behaviors. However, there is insufficient evidence to declare any sex-specific effects of circadian misalignment on appetite regulation. More research is needed to elucidate the complex sex-specific relationships between sleep, circadian rhythms, energy homeostasis, and appetite regulating mechanisms. Greater knowledge of these mechanisms would aid in the development of targeted methods to mitigate risk for obesity and related metabolic diseases.

Background and Purpose:Early brain injury may be a more significant contributor to poor outcome after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) than vasospasm and delayed cerebral ischemia. However, studying this process has been hampered by lack of a means of quantifying the spectrum of injury. Global cerebral edema (GCE) is the most widely accepted manifestation of early brain injury but is currently assessed only through subjective, qualitative or semi-quantitative means. Selective sulcal volume (SSV), the CSF volume above the lateral ventricles, has been proposed as a quantitative biomarker of GCE, but is time-consuming to measure manually. Here we implement an automated algorithm to extract SSV and evaluate the age-dependent relationship of reduced SSV on early outcomes after aSAH.Methods:We selected all adults with aSAH admitted to a single institution with imaging within 72 hours of ictus. Scans were assessed for qualitative presence of GCE. SSV was automatically segmented from serial CTs using a deep learning-based approach. Early SSV was the lowest SSV from all early scans. Modified Rankin Scale score of 4 to 6 at hospital discharge was classified as a poor outcome.Results:Two hundred forty-four patients with aSAH were included. Sixty-five (27%) had GCE on admission while 24 developed it subsequently within 72 hours. Median SSV on admission was 10.7 mL but frequently decreased, with minimum early SSV being 3.0 mL (interquartile range, 0.3–11.9). Early SSV below 5 mL was highly predictive of qualitative GCE (area under receiver-operating-characteristic curve, 0.90). Reduced early SSV was an independent predictor of poor outcome, with a stronger effect in younger patients.Conclusions:Automated assessment of SSV provides an objective biomarker of GCE that can be leveraged to quantify early brain injury and dissect its impact on outcomes after aSAH. Such quantitative analysis suggests that GCE may be more impactful to younger patients with SAH.

Objective: Current treatment for borderline personality disorder (BPD) involves psychological and pharmacological interventions. However, neuromodulation techniques such as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) may positively affect BPD symptomatology. The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical and neuropsychological effects of rTMS on the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) in BPD patients. Methods: Fourteen patients with BPD were randomized into two groups (active vs. sham) for 15 sessions of rTMS on the DMPFC. Clinical effects were measured using the Borderline Symptoms List (BSL), Clinical Global Impression Scale for BPD (CGI-BPD), Borderline Evaluation of Severity over Time (BEST), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS), and Barratt’s Impulsiveness Scale (BIS). Neuropsychological effects were determined by a Stop-Signal Task (SST), the Wisconsin Card-Sorting Test (WCST), and the Iowa Gambling Test (IGT). Results: Within-group comparison showed significant differences (p < 0.05) in CGI-BPD (total score and six of nine psychopathologic domains), BEST, HDRS, HARS, and IGT scores for active modality. Conclusion: The 5 Hz-DMPFC rTMS technique was well tolerated and lessened the severity of BPD symptomatology, especially abandonment, affective issues, interpersonal relationships, suicidal behavior, anger, and paranoid ideation. Cognitive improvement was seen in decision-making. Additional studies are needed to fully evaluate the effects of rTMS on BPD symptomatology. Clinical Trial Registration: NCT03832777.

Delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) has been associated with numerous pathophysiological sequelae, including large artery vasospasm and microvascular thrombosis. The focus of this review is to provide an overview of experimental animal model studies and human autopsy studies that explore the temporal-spatial characterization and mechanism of microvascular platelet aggregation and thrombosis following SAH, as well as to critically assess experimental studies and clinical trials highlighting preventative therapeutic options against this highly morbid pathophysiological process. Upon review of the literature, we discovered that microvascular platelet aggregation and thrombosis occur after experimental SAH across multiple species and SAH induction techniques in a similar time frame to other components of DCI, occurring in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus across both hemispheres. We discuss the relationship of these findings to human autopsy studies. In the final section of this review, we highlight the important therapeutic options for targeting microvascular platelet aggregation and thrombosis, and emphasize why therapeutic targeting of this neurovascular pathology may improve patient care. We encourage ongoing research into the pathophysiology of SAH and DCI, especially in regard to microvascular platelet aggregation and thrombosis and the translation to randomized clinical trials.

Introduction Depression is one of the leading causes of disability in the world, and a disease that contributes greatly to the global burden of disease. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has proven to be a well-tolerated, effective treatment for depression. The present study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of an rTMS treatment scheme with a fewer number of sessions per week. Methods In total 91 adult university students with major depressive disorder (MDD). This was a double-blind, randomized clinical trial in which 15 sessions of rTMS were given to each one of two treatment groups made up of adults with active MDD. One treatment group received two sessions per week, the other received five. The study protocol included their respective sham rTMS groups. The patients who received active rTMS also participated in a follow-up procedure that consisted of two sessions of active rTMS per month for three more months. Results Measurements by the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD) showed that the groups which received active rTMS had higher percentages of antidepressant response at 96 and 95.5% for five and two sessions/week, respectively, compared to the sham rTMS groups: 27.3 and 4.5% for five and two sessions/week, respectively. Observations at the end of the 3-month follow-up phase showed that the improvements in HAMD scores were maintained in both groups. Conclusion This study contributes to demonstrating that rTMS with a more practical schedule of two sessions/week is an effective antidepressant treatment that could be considered the first choice for managing symptoms of depression.

Background Many therapies designed to prevent delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) and improve neurological outcome in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) have failed, likely because of targeting only one element of what has proven to be a multifactorial disease. We previously demonstrated that initiating hypoxic conditioning before SAH (hypoxic preconditioning) provides powerful protection against DCI. Here, we expanded upon these findings to determine whether hypoxic conditioning delivered at clinically relevant time points after SAH (hypoxic postconditioning) provides similarly robust DCI protection. Methods and Results In this study, we found that hypoxic postconditioning (8% O 2 for 2 hours) initiated 3 hours after SAH provides strong protection against cerebral vasospasm, microvessel thrombi, and neurological deficits. By pharmacologic and genetic inhibition of SIRT1 (sirtuin 1) using EX527 and global Sirt1 −/− mice, respectively, we demonstrated that this multifaceted DCI protection is SIRT1 mediated. Moreover, genetic overexpression of SIRT1 using Sirt1‐Tg mice, mimicked the DCI protection afforded by hypoxic postconditioning. Finally, we found that post‐SAH administration of resveratrol attenuated cerebral vasospasm, microvessel thrombi, and neurological deficits, and did so in a SIRT1‐dependent fashion. Conclusions The present study indicates that hypoxic postconditioning provides powerful DCI protection when initiated at clinically relevant time points, and that pharmacologic augmentation of SIRT1 activity after SAH can mimic this beneficial effect. We conclude that conditioning‐based therapies administered after SAH hold translational promise for patients with SAH and warrant further investigation.

It is generally assumed that prior convictions provide a useful proxy for the offender’s risk of committing further crimes, and as a general proposition that assumption is well supported by research. But as this chapter shows, there is much less research on how well particular prior record formulas predict recidivism risk. This chapter identifies the elements of guidelines criminal history scores that appear to be designed to measure risk, reviews the limited research assessing the accuracy of criminal history scores and score components as predictors of subsequent offending, and examines the closeness of fit between predicted increases in risk, as the criminal history score rises, and the increments in sentence severity that are prescribed by grid-based guidelines systems. The chapter also argues against the use of rigid prior record enhancement formulas, and in favor of giving judges power to adjust sentences to take into account case-specific variations in recidivism risk.

If prior record enhancements are justified as a way to manage offender risk, policymakers need to consider other, non-record risk factors that may improve risk-prediction accuracy. This chapter examines the limited extent to which guidelines systems have incorporated such factors—usually as a ground for departure or other adjustment after the recommended sentence has been determined based on current offense and prior record. The chapter summarizes the offense factors and non-criminal-history offender factors, such as the offender’s current age and criminal thinking patterns, that criminological research has found to be good predictors of the risk of re-offending, and that are often included in widely used risk assessment instruments such as the Salient Factor Score, CSRA, and LSI-R. Very few of these non-record risk factors have been given a formal role in guidelines sentencing. The chapter argues that judges should be allowed to consider some of these factors, especially older age.

Background and purpose Vasospasm and delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) contribute significantly to the morbidity/mortality associated with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). While considerable research effort has focused on preventing or reversing vasospasm, SAH-induced brain injury occurs in response to a multitude of concomitantly acting pathophysiologic mechanisms. In this regard, the pleiotropic epigenetic responses to conditioning-based therapeutics may provide an ideal SAH therapeutic strategy. We previously documented the ability of hypoxic preconditioning (PC) to attenuate vasospasm and neurological deficits after SAH, in a manner that depends on the activity of endothelial nitric oxide synthase. The present study was undertaken to elucidate whether the NAD-dependent protein deacetylase sirtuin isoform SIRT1 is an upstream mediator of hypoxic PC-induced protection, and to assess the efficacy of the SIRT1-activating polyphenol Resveratrol as a pharmacologic preconditioning therapy. Methods Wild-type C57BL/6J mice were utilized in the study and subjected to normoxia or hypoxic PC. Surgical procedures included induction of SAH via endovascular perforation or sham surgery. Multiple endpoints were assessed including cerebral vasospasm, neurobehavioral deficits, SIRT1 expression via quantitative real-time PCR for mRNA, and western blot for protein quantification. Pharmacological agents utilized in the study include EX-527 (SIRT1 inhibitor), and Resveratrol (SIRT1 activator). Results Hypoxic PC leads to rapid and sustained increase in cerebral SIRT1 mRNA and protein expression. SIRT1 inhibition blocks the protective effects of hypoxic PC on vasospasm and neurological deficits. Resveratrol pretreatment dose-dependently abrogates vasospasm and attenuates neurological deficits following SAH – beneficial effects that were similarly blocked by pharmacologic inhibition of SIRT1. Conclusion SIRT1 mediates hypoxic preconditioning-induced protection against neurovascular dysfunction after SAH. Resveratrol mimics this neurovascular protection, at least in part, via SIRT1. Activation of SIRT1 is a promising, novel, pleiotropic therapeutic strategy to combat DCI after SAH.

Sentencing policies routinely assign harsher sentences on repeat offenders, yet we know little about public attitudes toward recidivist sentencing premiums – beyond the predictable finding that people are more punitive when the offender is a recidivist. This article summarizes findings from a survey which explored public attitudes to prior record sentencing enhancements. The research addressed public reaction to two key inquiries (1) whether older priors should carry less weight at new sentencing hearings; and (2) whether juvenile priors should be counted at adult sentencing hearings. Many guidelines count all prior convictions forever, and juvenile priors are almost always included in the offender’s criminal history score. Are these practices consistent with community views? Results indicate that in contrast to current practice in the U.S. guidelines jurisdictions, the public significantly discounts older priors, and favor disregarding at least some juvenile priors. The policy consequences for sentencing commissions are discussed.

Background We describe a rare case of a sphenoid sinus myxoma that was resected via an endoscopic endonasal skull base approach. We review the literature regarding these rare tumors of the paranasal sinuses. Case Description A 72-year-old woman was diagnosed with an incidental sphenoid sinus tumor and left sphenoid wing meningioma during a workup for left-sided proptosis and diplopia. Biopsies of the sphenoid wing and sphenoid sinus tumors were obtained. After undergoing surgical resection of the meningioma, the patient then underwent definitive resection of the sphenoid sinus myxoma via endoscopic endonasal skull base approach. Postoperative imaging demonstrated a gross total resection. The patient suffered postoperative thromboembolic complications due to underlying hypercoagulable state but made a complete recovery and returned to her neurologic baseline. There has been no evidence of recurrent myxoma in the sphenoid sinus 24 months after surgery. Discussion Myxomas are benign tumors derived from primitive mesenchyme. Myxomas very rarely present in the paranasal or skull base location. Complete surgical resection is the primary treatment for these tumors. The endoscopic endonasal approach is an effective technique for resecting various benign and more aggressive extradural skull base tumors. Conclusions Myxomas of the sphenoid sinus are rare. The endoscopic endonasal skull base approach is an effective and minimal access technique for resection of this rare tumor of the sphenoid sinus.

The Cutting Circle is an international research initiative by fashion designers/patternmakers and educators Timo Rissanen, Julian Roberts and Holly McQuillan. By exploring alternative methods of making clothes and patterns, we have employed 'risky' design practice, research and teaching to develop zero waste fashion and subtraction cutting. The project manifested as an intensive two-week practice-based research event, where via a series of collaborative collisions, experiments and design intersections, we asked the following three questions. What costs/benefits can we identify to aid the development of a sustainable fashion industry through risk taking at the intersection of our design practices? What new knowledge arises in risky collaborative design practice? And how can this new knowledge be best communicated to foster an environment of risk-taking within the traditionally risk adverse fashion industry? This paper primarily discusses our responses to the first two questions and related issues raised. It covers how experimenting with each other's design practice and practicing in each other's creative space as we both designed and made, enable the free transfer of ideas and cross-pollination, thus expanding our ability to identify links, gaps and opportunities. The Cutting Circle project has developed experimental practices with emphasis on the fusion of aesthetics, patternmaking, craft and socially invigorating design.

Crime victims and victims' advocates have for many years called for greater input into the criminal process, and in particular at the stage of sentencing. Today, victims in almost all common law countries have the opportunity to participate in the sentencing process, usually by providing information about the impact of the crime. This impact evidence is placed before a sentencing court in the form of a victim impact statement (VIS) or victim personal statement (VPS) as it is known in England and Wales. This article reviews findings from the last few years of data from the Witness and Victim Experience Survey (WAVES) which was conducted by the Ministry of Justice. We review findings from the last administrations of the survey. In the most recent administration of the survey (2009-2010), less than half (43%) of victims recalled being offered a statement. Over the most recent three-year period (2007-2010), a comparable percentage (42%) of the victims recalled being offered the opportunity to make a VPS; almost half (45%) explicitly responded that they had not been given an opportunity to make a VPS. In addition, significant variation emerged across local justice areas. The percentage of victims reporting having been offered a VPS varied from a low of 29 per cent in London to a high of 63 per cent in Northumbria - a range of 34 per cent. These and other findings suggest that the VPS scheme is being inconsistently implemented across the country. © The Author(s) 2012.

Public opinion surveys have long documented public criticism of ‘lenient’ sentencers. There are two principal perceptions contributing to negative attitudes: a lack of community input and the view that sentencers determine sentence according to their own views. This study embeds an experimental design within a representative survey of respondents in England and Wales (n = 1,004), supplemented by laboratory-based work (n = 230) and focus groups. Results demonstrated that the public is ill-informed about both the magistracy and the sentencing guidelines. In addition, providing information about sentencing changed public attitudes to sentencing and reduced public punitiveness. Respondents were less critical of disposals and less punitive in their own sentence recommendations when they had been given context about the structure of sentencing.

A considerable body of scholarship has explored the jury as a legal institution but community reaction to the institution and function of the jury has not, to date, been the subject of a review. The present article fills this void by addressing a number of important questions about public attitudes to the jury. The focus is upon public attitudes to the criminal jury in England and Wales, although limited comparisons are made with public opinion in other jurisdictions. The results demonstrate widespread support for, and confidence in, the criminal jury, both in this country and in other common law jurisdictions. The research record also demonstrates strong public opposition to proposals to restrict the right to trial by jury. There is some evidence, however, that support for the right to trial by jury may decline in the context of offenders charged with terrorism‐related offences.

Objectives. We used recent data to reexamine whether the exclusion of adults from households with no telephone or only wireless phones may bias estimates derived from health-related telephone surveys. Methods. We calculated the difference between estimates for the full population of adults and estimates for adults with landline phones; data were from the 2007 National Health Interview Survey. Results. When data from landline telephone surveys were weighted to match demographic characteristics of the full population, bias was generally less than 2 percentage points (range = 0.1–2.4). However, among young adults and low-income adults, we found greater bias (range = 1.7–5.9) for estimates of health insurance, smoking, binge drinking, influenza vaccination, and having a usual place for care. Conclusions. From 2004 to 2007, the potential for noncoverage bias increased. Bias can be reduced through weighting adjustments. Therefore, telephone surveys limited to landline households may still be appropriate for health surveys of all adults and for surveys of subpopulations regarding health status. However, for some behavioral risk factors and health care service use indicators, caution is warranted when using landline surveys to draw inferences about young or low-income adults.

This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Political Geography. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2009.10.007

The proportion of adults with only wireless telephones is growing rapidly. Using 2006 data from the National Center for Health Statistics' National Health Interview Survey, this article is among the first to reveal that noncoverage of this population can result in nonnegligible bias for traditional random-digit-dial landline telephone surveys that do not call wireless telephone numbers. In 2006 in the United States, 17 percent of low-income adults with household income below 200 percent of the federal poverty thresholds, 25 percent of young adults aged 18-29 years, and 32 percent of low-income young adults lived in households with only wireless telephones. Within each of these three subgroups, we compared wireless-only adults and adults with landline telephones on demographic characteristics and 13 key indicators of health status, health behaviors, health care service use, and health care access. Even after statistical adjustments that account for demographic differences between adults living in households with and without landlines, telephone sur- veys of landlines will underestimate the prevalence of health behaviors, such as binge drinking, smoking, and HIV testing. Obesity may be over- estimated and physical activity may be underestimated for low-income young adults. No significant bias is predicted for other measures of health status and health insurance coverage. Sample weighting procedures that incorporate adjustments for multiple demographic characteristics are nec- essary to help attenuate coverage bias in traditional telephone surveys, but may not be sufficient for behavioral risk factor surveys of low-income and young adults.

The literature on sentencing for murder falls into four categories. First, ‘black letter’ law sets out how the courts should punish convicted murderers and what should happen to them after conviction. Second, empirical research sheds light on the way that the sentencing provisions for murder determine the number of years served in custody prior to release on life licence. Third, a number of studies have documented what the public know or believe about sentencing for murder as well as how the public think murder ought to be punished (e.g., Mitchell and Roberts, 2012). Public opinion research is relevant to the sentencing for murder since public views are often employed to justify retention of a mandatory sentence (see Mitchell and Roberts, 2012). Fourth, there is a wealth of academic commentary advocating sentencing reform (e.g., House of Lords Select Committee, 1989; Committee on the Penalty for Homicide, 1993; Morris and Blom-Cooper, 2011; Mitchell and Roberts, 2013).

Much of the scholarship on legitimacy and criminal justice has focused on the ways that perceptions of legitimacy are shaped by contact with criminal justice professionals, notably the police. This chapter explores the relationship between the nature of the sentencing regime and public perceptions of penal legitimacy, or what we refer to as “empirical legitimacy ” (see Hinsch, Political legitimation without morality, (pp. 39–52). London: Springer, 2008). Part I explores public attitudes to sentencing and the reasons why the public in many countries may perceive their sentencing system to lack legitimacy. Part II explores ways of enhancing public perceptions of sentencing legitimacy. This includes the outline of what a “high legitimacy” sentencing regime would look like. In order to be perceived as legitimate, a sentencing regime needs to contain certain essential features. It must be (and must be perceived to be): (a) clear and transparent; (b) consistent in application and therefore predictable; (c) sensitive to the input of all relevant parties; (d) grounded in sound principles. Finally, we argue that the sentencing system must be communicated to the public in an understandable fashion in order to avoid erroneous expectations. The mere existence of sound sentencing principles is insufficient to ensure a high degree of empirical legitimacy.

This article presents findings from a survey that systematically explores public opinion, youth crime and justice in England and Wales. Particular emphasis was placed upon public reaction to restorative sentencing. The survey uncovered a number of misperceptions about youth crime. Few respondents rated youth courts as doing a good job, and most thought that sentences imposed on young offenders are too lenient. A considerable gap existed between the sentences that respondents wanted to see imposed on young offenders and the sentences that they assumed would be imposed. Generally speaking, expected sentences were less harsh than favoured punishments. When respondents were asked to impose sentence in case scenarios, there was significantly less support for custody as a sanction when the young offender had made some restorative steps such as writing a letter of apology and promising to make compensation to the victim. When asked about alternatives to imprisonment, significant proportions of respondents found alternatives to be satisfactory substitutes for imprisonment, a result consistent with research in other jurisdictions.

This article reviews public opinion research relating to imprisonment. Thefocus is upon British attitudes, but wherever possible we place findings from this countryin an international context. Most members of the public report little familiarity with theprison system – few people report having had any direct contact with a penal institution.A common finding around the world is that most people believe that prison conditions arequite easy; this belief helps to explain low public levels of confidence in the prison system.Despite these trends, the public does not wish to make prison life harsher merely for thepurpose of punishment. People want and expect prisoners to improve their lives whileinside, although there is widespread scepticism that rehabilitation is possible in today’sprisons. Although the traffic of people in and out of the prison gates today is large,nevertheless the prison is a silent world still shrouded in mystery. (Blom-Cooper1976, p.72) Despite the efforts of legislators to counter the problem, prison popula-tions are stable or rising in most western jurisdictions (see below). Oneexplanation for this state of affairs is the apparently strong public supportfor imprisonment as a sanction. Judges and magistrates feel underpressure to respond to public pressure on this issue (see Hough, Jacobsonand Millie 2003). However, relatively little is known about public viewsregarding imprisonment, as the emphasis in the public opinion literaturehas been upon sentencing rather than the nature of custody per se.Weknow that when asked to sentence offenders convicted of serious crimes ofviolence, most people support the imposition of a term of custody. It isequally clear from several reviews that the public believes the sentencingprocess is too lenient (for example, Cullen, Fisher and Applegate 2000;Roberts and Stalans 1997; Roberts 1992) and also that people in differentcountries underestimate the severity of current court practices (forexample, Roberts and Hough 2005; Roberts 1998; Mattinson and

Within the past decade, restorative justice has emerged as a truly global phenomenon. Although retributive justice has dominated the penal landscape, more recently, restorative principles at sentencing have attracted increased attention. Restorative sentencing emphasizes the importance of compensation and reconciliation between victims and offenders and pays less attention to establishing proportionality between the seriousness of the offense and the severity of the sentence imposed. Although voluminous (and proliferating), the scholarly literature on restorative justice has to date neglected one critical issue: public opinion with respect to this justice paradigm. Public opinion researchers too, have generally overlooked this topic. The goal of this paper is to determine which elements of the new paradigm generate public approval, and which features are likely to encounter or provoke public opposition, drawing upon related international research published in English over the past 20 years (1982–2002). The review reveals widespread support for “restorative” sentencing options, such as community service, compensation, and restitution, particularly when applied to young offenders. However, it also seems clear that public support for these alternatives to punitive sentencing options declines as the seriousness of the offence increases, suggesting strong public adherence to the retributive principle of proportionality in sentencing.

Surveys conducted over the past twenty years in several English-speaking countries reveal that most members of the public subscribe to a number of misperceptions about juvenile crime and justice. Regardless of actual trends, significant majorities believe youth crime to be increasing, and most people have quite negative views of youth courts. The public display considerable ambivalence with respect to juvenile justice. While strong majorities favor punishing violent juveniles with the same severity as adults, there has always been considerable support for rehabilitation. There is a clear consensus among scholars that public concern about youth crime, particularly violent crime, has been a driving force behind reforms that facilitated the transfer of accused juveniles to adult criminal court and made penalties harsher for offenders sentenced in youth court.

Sweeping changes have recently been made to punishment practices in many western nations. A number of these have reflected punitive, penal populism. The purpose of this essay is to examine recent reforms in New Zealand which reflect a philosophy of “bifurcation” with respect to the punishment of offenders. Harsher treatment is introduced with respect to the more serious forms of offending, while at the same time other elements of the Sentencing Act represent a more rational and moderate approach to sentencing reform. The Sentencing Act 2002 introduces a number of changes to the sentencing process in New Zealand. This article reviews some of the more important elements of the Act, beginning with the legislated statement of the purposes and principles of sentencing. The statutory purposes include the goals of rehabilitation, deterrence and incapacitation that have been cited in similar statements in other jurisdictions. The author explores the significance of various components of the Sentencing Act in light of experience in other jurisdictions such as Canada and England and Wales. In a number of areas the New Zealand statute offers a superior alternative to statutory language adopted in other countries.

All Western nations have passed mandatory sentencing legislation that removes or greatly curtails judicial discretion. These mandatory sentencing laws have proliferated in recent years with predictable consequences for prison populations. A response to public demand for more severe sentencing is one of the justifications for mandatory sentences of imprisonment. In addition, politicians use mandatory sentencing legislation to enhance their standing in the eyes of the public. Politicians appear to assume that the public is strongly supportive of these laws, though scientifically valid surveys are never cited to support these assumptions. This article reviews the international findings from surveys that reveal that the public is deeply divided about mandatory sentencing. Part of the reason for this is that there is more support for proportional sentencing than for utilitarian goals, such as deterrence or incapacitation. In addition, survey data suggest that the electoral advantage of promoting these laws has been considerably overstated.

Contributors Introduction: Exploring the Normative Significance of Public Opinion for State Punishment, Jesper Ryberg and Julian V. Roberts Chapter 1: Penal Theory, Moral Intuitions, and Public Opinion, Jesper Ryberg Chapter 2: Proportionality Theory and Popular Opinion, Matt Matravers Chapter 3: The Proper Role of Community in Determining Criminal Liability and Punishment, Paul H. Robinson Chapter 4: Proportionality in Sentencing: The Need to Factor in Community Experience, Not Public Opinion, Mirko Bagaric Chapter 5: Penal Theory and Popular Opinion: The Deficiencies of Direct Engagement, Jan W. de Keijser Chapter 6: Why Should We Care What the Public Thinks? A Critical Assessment of the Claims of Popular Punishment, Frej K. Thomsen Chapter 7: Public Opinion and Democratic Control of Sentencing Policy, Christopher Bennett Chapter 8: Criminal Prosecutors: Experts or Elected Officials?, Richard L. Lippke Chapter 9: Stakeholder Sentencing, Thom Brooks Chapter 10: Repellent Institutions and the Absentee Public: Grounding Opinion in Responsibility for Punishment, Albert W. Dzur Chapter 11: Clarifying the Significance of Public Opinion for Sentencing Policy and Practice, Julian V. Roberts Notes Bibliography Index

Objective: One justification for a statutory ban on physical punishment is that passage of such legislation changes public attitudes towards the use of this form of parental discipline. The experience in Sweden is often cited as an example of legislation which changed public opinion. The aim of this brief article is to review the public opinion findings in Sweden in order to evaluate in greater detail the impact of changing the law. Method: A search was conducted to generate all published and publicly-available quantitative surveys of the public in Sweden and elsewhere. Results: The results of time-series analysis of the data are clear. The 1979 legal reform in Sweden did not reduce the level of public support for parental use of corporal punishment as a means of disciplining children. Support for physical punishment began declining years before the reform was passed and the decline was in no way accelerated by the law reform. Changes in public opinion may have generated the legal reform, but the reverse is not true. Data from other jurisdictions also support the view that there is no relationship between the status of the law and the nature of public views with regard to corporal punishment. This result is consistent with analyses of the effects of legal reforms in other areas. Conclusions: The Swedish ban on corporal punishment did not affect public attitudes. Changing public views requires other initiatives.

Research on public opinion over the past three decades has consistently established that the British public are critical of sentencers, and that this criticism exists independent of crime trends and even dramatic changes in criminal justice policies. This finding points to the possibilities that the findings are an artefact of the approach used by these surveys or that public opinion is formed in ignorance of actual practice. The 1996 British Crime Survey (BCS) contained a section of questions designed to test these hypotheses. Respondents were asked a series of questions about their knowledge of, as well as attitudes towards, sentencing practice and sentencers. Results indicate that judges received significantly more negative evaluations than any other group of criminal justice professionals. The public systematically under-estimate the severity of sentencing patterns, and this is significantly related to attitudes to sentencers. When asked to provide a sentence in a specific case of burglary, members of the public favoured sentences that were on balance little different from, and if anything more lenient than, current sentencing practice. Discussion focuses on the policy implications of these findings, as well as their relation to research in other jurisdictions.

This article seeks to link electoral behavior and borderland ethnic minority patterns. Results of the November 1993 mayoral election in Trieste, and the March 1994 and April 1996 national elections in Italy are studied in reference to the distribution of the Slovene minority in Northeastern Italy, specifically in the eastern part of the Region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia adjoining the boundary with Slovenia. The history of this borderland is rampant with conflict and territorial sovereignty changes. Recent events – the end of the Cold War, the breakup of Yugoslavia and independence of Slovenia, and the collapse of the Italian political party system – have served both to ease traditional tensions but also to exacerbate ethnic relations between Italians and the Slovene minority. The impact of Italian electoral reform and political party reformulation on the region is examined. Specifically, Mayor Illy's election in the city of Trieste in 1993 and voting patterns in the borderland Goriziano district of the Italian Senate for both the 1994 and 1996 elections are studied in some detail. The article concludes that while electoral campaigns and election results are marked with ethnic confrontation and contrasts, evidence suggests that, despite continuing nationalist tendencies, greater understanding and cooperation between Italians and Slovenes are emerging.

Rape reform legislation in Canada was designed to change: 1) the way sexual assault cases were processed by the criminal justice system and 2) public opinion about crimes of sexual aggression. This article reports findings from a representative survey of the Canadian public and an experimental analysis of the effects of the legislation on public knowledge and attitudes. Results from the nation-wide survey indicated that most people are unaware of the semantic shift (from the old language of rape and indecent assault to the new crimes of sexual assault). However, there is awareness of the substantive legal changes introduced by the rape reform legislation (such as the fact that husbands are no longer immune from criminal changes involving their wives). It is clear that rape reform legislation has affected public knowledge of statutory reforms regarding crimes of sexual aggression. Results from the experimental component of this research show that the new sexual assault label has not achieved one of the important goals, namely of changing public perceptions of the nature of crimes of sexual aggression. Indeed, one negative effect predicted by feminist writers seems to have emerged: sentencing decisions made by the public for the offense of rape were less severe when the incident was described as a sexual assault.

Determining the factors which make a difference between a custodial sentence and a community penalty is one of the most challenging decisions for sentencers. Little research to date has explored the nature of public reaction to mitigating factors and the circumstances which may justify imposition of a community penalty even though the custodial threshold has been crossed. This article reports findings from a representative survey of the British public. Respondents were asked a series of questions designed to explore public reaction to sentencing cases at the custodial threshold. Public opinion polls suggest that the public respond punitively at sentencing, and have little sympathy for mitigating factors relating to the offender. In a series of questions, using experimental manipulations, respondents demonstrated considerable flexibility when sentencing cases near the custodial threshold. Significant support emerged for a wide range of mitigating factors at sentencing. The strength of public support for custody as a sanction was also explored by providing respondents who had imposed a term of imprisonment a possible alternative community penalty. Significant proportions of respondents found the alternative acceptable, even for relatively serious offences. © The Author(s) 2011.

The research we have reviewed has been generally favourable to the Victim Personal Statements (VPS) scheme. Although only a minority of victims submit a statement, of those who do, most of those who do appear to benefit from the experience, and express a desire to submit a statement in the future. At the same time, VPS do not seem to make sentencing harsher across the board, and their use is generally supported by legal professionals. Judges and magistrates in different jurisdictions report finding victim impact statements useful in determining sentence.

Opinion polls in Canada, the United States, Great Britain, Australia, and elsewhere suggest that most members of the public would like their criminal courts to be harsher. Does media coverage of criminal sentencing contribute to a preference for harsher sentencing? Most people derive their information about sentencing from the news media and content analyses of news stories in Canada and the United States demonstrate that crimes of violence and sentences of imprisonment are overrepresented. Moreover, the news media provide little systematic information about the sentencing process or its underlying principles. This article reports the results of three studies examining the effects of media coverage on public opinion about sentencing. Subjects who read actual newspaper stories about sentencing that appeared in Canadian newspapers rated most reported sentences as too lenient. However, the specific account they read influenced their leniency judgments. Furthermore, in one experiment, participants assigned to read a newspaper account of a sentencing decision supported harsher sentences than participants who read a summary of actual court documents from the sentencing hearing.

Objectives. We sought to determine whether the exclusion of adults without landline telephones may bias estimates derived from health-related telephone surveys. Methods. We took data from the 2004 and 2005 National Health Interview Survey and used logistic regression to compare the odds of behavioral risk factors and health care service use for adults with landline telephones to those for adults with only wireless telephones and adults without any telephone service. Results. When interviewed, 7.2% of adults, including those who did and did not have wireless telephones, did not have landline telephones. Relative to adults with landline telephones, adults without landline telephones had greater odds of smoking and being uninsured, and they had lower odds of having diabetes, having a usual place for medical care, and having received an influenza vaccination in the past year. Conclusions. As people substitute wireless telephones for landline telephones, the percentage of adults without landline telephones has increased significantly but is still low, which minimizes the bias resulting from their exclusion from telephone surveys. Bias greater than 1 percentage point is expected only for estimates of health insurance, smoking, binge drinking, having a usual place for care, and receiving an influenza vaccination.

Although there is now an extensive literature on public attitudes towards sentencing, and alternatives to traditional imprisonment, most of this research focuses on alternative sanctions other than community custody: far less is known about public reaction to terms of imprisonment served at home. One reason for this is the relative novelty of this sanction in many jurisdictions. Researchers have explored public reaction to some elements of community custody, such as home detention, electronic monitoring, and curfews; this work sheds light on public opinion regarding community custody, and will be examined here. As well, researchers in Canada have surveyed the public with respect to the community custody sentence, with interesting results. After discussing public reaction to alternative sanctions in general terms, this chapter explores the extent of public knowledge, and nature of public opinion regarding community custody. The research findings suggest that if community custody is properly conceived, and fully explained to the community, it is seen as a satisfactory substitute for institutional imprisonment for a wide range of offences. Public support for community custody seems to increase as the conditions imposed on the offender become more restrictive. However, for the present at least, the public appear to draw the line at using this sanction for the most serious personal injury offences. For these crimes, the public continue to regard penal sequestration as the only appropriate criminal justice response.

Within the specialty of Accident and Emergency (A & E) nursing, triage is a term meaning to classify or sort patients according to their need for care (Blythin 1988). Burgess (1992) views this process as a means of prioritizing patients in order, so that the more seriously ill or injured are seen first (Table 1). Triage performance is measured in the author's department by computer. This technological source is used to record the patient's arrival time and the time at which the patient is triaged. Technology is defined by the Oxford Dictionary (1996) as ‘the study of mechanical arts and science, their application in industry'. This paper explores the impact of this technology and the related issues on the A & E triage nurse, and will focus on issues related to the Patients' Charter (1991), resource implications, safety and staff training. In conclusion, the quality of a patient's total care, in which the author participated, is discussed with reference to the related issues and implications for future practice.

BACKGROUND Body mass index is used to measure obesity in individuals and to monitor trends in population obesity. Some observers use self-reported height and weight to assess body mass index; others use measured parameters. This paper reports on a study to compare body mass index when calculated from self-reported and measured heights and weights. METHODS A randomized postal questionnaire survey and follow-up clinical measurement study were carried out in a geographically defined population in the rural South West of England; subjects were 6000 residents of Somerset health district aged 16-64 years selected from the Family Health Services Authority register. RESULTS The response rate for the postal questionnaire was 57.6 per cent. A total of 73.3 per cent of responders agreed to clinical measurements; 84 per cent of measured volunteers had over-reported their height and 74 per cent under-reported their weight. The difference between body mass indices based on self-reported and measured values of height and weight is highly statistically significant for the whole population and for most age-sex and body mass groups. CONCLUSIONS Self-reported heights and weights are unreliable and if used for monitoring health targets should be treated with caution.

Background Monitoring health targets is often undertaken using questionnaire surveys of lifestyle risk factors. Non-response bias is recognized but rarely quantified. Methods Following a questionnaire survey on a random sample of 6009 residents of Somerset with a response rate of 57.6 per cent, a telephone survey was undertaken on a random sample of 400 non-responders. A small number of the more important questions from the questionnaire were put to the non-responders over the phone. Results Fifty-nine per cent of the sample were contacted and agreed to participate. Statistically significant differences between responders and non-responders to the original questionnaire were detected for current smoking, hazardous alcohol consumption and lack of moderate or vigorous activity. Conclusions Lifestyle questionnaire surveys need to include an assessment of the non-response bias.

EDITOR,—Body mass index, calculated from a subject's height and weight, is widely used to indicate obesity.1 Although the index is acknowledged as an adequate summary of obesity, the thresholds for categorising underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obesity have varied. In the past, different thresholds were accepted for men and women, with women broadly requiring a lower body mass index for inclusion in each category.2 Underweight was indicated in a man by a body mass index of