Trust in government increased during the Covid-19 pandemic in Australia and New Zealand

Using an online panel, we surveyed a representative sample of 500 each in Australia and New Zealand during July 2020, in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. We find trust in government has increased dramatically, with around 80% of respondents agreeing government was generally trustworthy. Around three quarters agreed management of the pandemic had increased their trust in government. Over 85% of respondents have confidence that public health scientists work in the public interest. Testing four hypotheses, we find that income and education predict trust in government and confidence in public health scientists, as does voting for the political party in government. Trust in government and confidence in public health scientists strongly predict Covid-19 phone application use, largely through convincing people the App is beneficial. Trust in government then is both an outcome and antecedent of government effectiveness. Building trust is important for governments implementing difficult policy responses during a crisis.     

The influence of implicit theories and offender characteristics on judgements of sexual offenders: a moderated mediation analysis

The psychological factors underpinning responses to sexual offenders are beginning to receive increased empirical scrutiny. One such factor is offender representativeness, which refers to the extent to which a given offender example matches a stereotype of those who are typically labelled as “sexual offenders”. Using a sample of 252 community members, we examined the role of implicit theories about sexual offenders (ie whether sexual offending is seen as fixed or malleable) in mediating the relationship between affective responses to sexual offenders and policy outcome judgements. We found support for this mediating effect, although this was eliminated when participants were presented with a “non-representative” offender vignette. We argue that the relationship between affective responses and policy judgements is contingent on the activation of a sexual offender stereotype, and that this link can be disrupted via the increased presentation of non-stereotypical case examples. Implications for public debate and professional practice are discussed.     

THE IMPACT OF THE SPORT OF BICYCLE RIDING ON SAFETY LAW

On Wednesday, a gentleman, who stated he came from Thornhill in Dunfries, was placed at the Gorbels public bar, charged with riding along the pavement on a velocipede to the obstruction of the passage, and with having, by so doing, thrown over a child. … The child who was thrown down had not sustained any injury, and under the circumstances, the offender was only fined 5 shillings. Glasgow Argus, June 9, 1842- arguably the first court decision applying safety law to the bicycle.     

Sudden death due to thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura

This case studies the clinical, laboratory, and pathologic findings observed in thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). Although TTP is a well-recognized syndrome, it is frequently undetected antemortem and represents a rare cause of sudden death. We recently were involved in a case of TTP in which an 18-year-old woman with no previous history died suddenly. The case was referred to our office for consultation because of a recent history of methamphetamine abuse. We report herewith our approach to the diagnostic workup of TTP and review relevant literature.     

A soft-tissue calcification: differential diagnosis and pathogenesis

An autopsy of a 72-year-old white male revealed a 30.5 x 5.1 cm vertically aligned heterotopic ossification just deep to a 30.5 cm midline abdominal scar. The ossified mass was determined to be a heterotopic ossification or myostitis ossificans (MO) traumatica resulting from an abdominal surgical incision during life. While, MO traumatica is relatively common accounting for roughly 60-75% of patients with soft-tissue ossification, heterotopic ossification of abdominal incisions are relatively rare and thus infrequently reported. This article details the manifestation of this relatively large heterotopic bone and provides a comprehensive review of the literature and pathogenesis of this unusual ossification. A review of the English literature from 1920 to the present produced only a handful of articles for a total of 185 reported cases. All had bone formed within vertical incisions, usually within 1 year of surgery, and 89% were males. Knowledge of this phenomenon and the variable size at presentation is useful to both the autopsy pathologist and the anthropologist in generating a diagnosis for abnormal calcifications.     

Children’s Susceptibility to Misidentifying a Familiar Bystander From a Lineup: When Younger is Better

Children from 5 to 12 years of age (N=779) were shown a videotape where a preschool teacher has money stolen from her wallet. Children were shown a lineup, and for children in the bystander condition, the lineup contained a familiar bystander without the thief. Children in the control condition viewed the same lineup but they had not seen the bystander in the videotape. Among the 11–12-year olds, participants in the bystander condition were significantly more likely than control participants to misidentify the familiar bystander. This effect was not found in children from 5 to 10 years of age. When children in the control condition were shown a lineup that contained the thief without the bystander, the 11–12-year olds were significantly more likely than the younger children to correctly identify the thief. These findings demonstrate that age can both increase and decrease the accuracy of children’s lineup identification accuracy depending on the task at hand and the content of a lineup.     

Cor triatriatum sinistrum: a rare congenital cardiac anomaly presenting in an adult with chronic atrial fibrillation

Cor triatriatum is a rare congenital cardiac anomaly in which the left atrium is divided into proximal (dorsal or upper) and distal (ventral or lower) chambers by a fibromuscular septum. The upper chamber receives the pulmonary veins and the lower chamber contains the atrial appendage and the mitral valve. The 2 chambers communicate through a defect in the membrane. Cor triatriatum is often associated with other congenital cardiac anomalies. Most frequently, the upper chamber communicates with the right atrium through a patent foramen ovale or atrial septal defect, and the clinical symptoms simulate anomalous pulmonary venous return. Less commonly, the foramen ovale communicates with the distal chamber and the clinical features mimic mitral stenosis. When cor triatriatum is the only abnormality, the clinical findings are also similar to mitral stenosis with development of pulmonary hypertension and subsequent right ventricular hypertrophy and atrial enlargement. The diagnosis is usually made in infancy or childhood, and the lack of treatment results in death in 75% of patients.We report the case of a woman who presented much later in life. The patient was a 57-year-old female with a clinical history of chronic atrial fibrillation who presented to the emergency department because of a "funny sensation" in her chest, though she denied chest pain, nausea, vomiting, or diaphoresis. EKG revealed atrial fibrillation with a rapid ventricular response and a tachycardic rate of 157. She had a therapeutic level of digoxin, and cardiac enzymes were normal. The patient was admitted and placed on Cardizem drip. Serial EKGs remained normal and heart rate control was achieved. On hospital day 2, the patient became dyspneic and cyanotic. She went into cardiac arrest and died.Autopsy revealed cardiomegaly (610 g) with 4-chamber dilatation. A septum divided the left atrium into 2 chambers. The defect in the dividing membrane measured 1 cm in diameter. No other congenital defects were noted. The large size of the defect in the membrane likely accounted for the late onset of symptoms that allowed this patient to survive into adulthood without previous diagnosis or surgical intervention (which is usually required in childhood).     

Sentencer and offender factors as sources of discrimination in magistrates' penalties for drinking drivers

This study examined the contributions of sentencer and case (legal and extralegal) factors to magistrates' sentences for 678 drink-drivers at 2 courts. Qualitative codings of magistrates' sentencing orientations were incorporated with case factors in a multivariate statistical model of differences in fines and disqualifications. Discriminations in penalties were related to offenders' legally relevant prior offenses and blood alcohol concentrations, and extralegal variables of offender age, gender and employment status. Men were treated more harshly than women, and young offenders more harshly than all other offenders except those over 56 years. Unemployed offenders were fined less, but disqualified for longer than offenders in the workforce. Magistrates' orientations and court interacted with offense categories to produce further differences related to blood alcohol concentration and recidivism. Sentencers responded to offender characteristics but also relied on their own mental images of stereotypic drink-drivers and their individualized sentencing orientations to exercise their discretionary powers. Results are discussed in relation to issues of warranted or justifiable discriminations and the just distribution of penalties.