Non-Refoulement: The Search for a Consistent Interpretation of Article 33

The international community rose to the challenge of addressing mass migration with the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951 Convention). The 1951 Convention established several important concepts as binding international law, including the requirements for refugee classification and the principle of non-refoulement. The duty of non-refoulement prohibits state-parties from expelling or returning a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers or territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. According to the definition in Article 33, non-refoulement is applicable only where there is an affirmative classification of refugee status as articulated in Article 1. The 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol are currently the guiding instruments on refugee law, and the 1951 Convention provides a minimum foundation for the rights of refugees. Even though the 1951 Convention clearly outlines non-refoulement as an obligation of the 133 state signatories, the international debate focuses on the correct interpretation and scope of the principle in practice. A restrictive reading of Article 33 suggests that non-refoulement has narrow application to only those refugees who have already entered the territory of a receiving state. Opponents to the restrictive reading of Article 33, however, maintain the duty of non-refoulement is limited only by the affirmative classification of refugee status--the 1951 Convention imposes no other restrictions or requirements for persons seeking asylum

Decoherence induced by a phase-damping reservoir

A phase damping reservoir composed by $N$-bosons coupled to a system of interest through a cross-Kerr interaction is proposed and its effects on quantum superpo sitions are investigated. By means of analytical calculations we show that: i-) the reservoir induces a Gaussian decay of quantum coherences, and ii-) the inher ent incommensurate character of the spectral distribution yields irreversibility . A state-independent decoherence time and a master equation are both derived an alytically. These results, which have been extended for the thermodynamic limit, show that nondissipative decoherence can be suitably contemplated within the EI D approach. Finally, it is shown that the same mechanism yielding decoherence ar e also responsible for inducing dynamical disentanglement.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

Computation of energy exchanges by combining information theory and a key thermodynamic relation: Physical applications

Abstract By considering a simple thermodynamic system, in thermal equilibrium at a temperature T and in the presence of an external parameter A , we focus our attention on the particular thermodynamic (macroscopic) relation d U = T d S + δ W . Using standard axioms from information theory and the fact that the microscopic energy levels depend upon the external parameter A , we show that all usual results of statistical mechanics for reversible processes follow straightforwardly, without invoking the Maximum Entropy principle. For the simple system considered herein, two distinct forms of heat contributions appear naturally in the Clausius definition of entropy, T d S = δ Q ( T ) + δ Q ( A ) = C A ( T ) d T + C T ( A ) d A . We give a special attention to the amount of heat δ Q ( A ) = C T ( A ) d A , associated with an infinitesimal variation d A at fixed temperature, for which a "generalized heat capacity", C T ( A ) = T ( ∂ S / ∂ A ) T , may be defined. The usefulness of these results is illustrated by considering some simple thermodynamic cycles

A Pilot Study of Gender Differences in Sexual Arousal of Patients With OCD: The Moderator Roles of Attachment and Contamination Symptoms

Sexual arousal is often impaired in patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). However, little is known about the factors related to this impairment: no study focused on the role of gender-based effects of attachment styles and contamination symptoms. The Dual Control Model assumes three processes driving sexual arousal: sexual excitation (SE), sexual inhibition (SI) due to threat of performance failure, and SI due to threat of performance consequences (e.g., getting contaminated with sexually transmitted diseases). In a group of OCD patients, we hypothesized that (a) women report lower SE and higher SI thanmen; (b) patients with insecure (both anxious and avoidant) attachment styles show lower SE and higher SI; (c) attachment styles moderate the relation between gender and sexual arousal (respectively, for women, higher attachment anxiety, and for men higher attachment avoidance were related to impaired sexual arousal (higher SE and SI) controlling for OCD severity); and (d) contamination symptoms moderate the relation between gender and sexual impairment (women with contamination symptoms show impaired sexual arousal). Seventy-two OCD patients (37.50% women) completed the Obsessive–Compulsive Inventory-Revised, Attachment Styles Questionnaire and Sexual Inhibition/Sexual Excitation Scales. In contrast with our hypotheses, women reported higher SE and lower SI due to threat of performance consequences than men. Patients with higher attachment avoidance (discomfort with intimacy) but also confidence in self and others had higher SE. Women with attachment avoidance (i.e., discomfort with intimacy) had lower SE, while women with attachment anxiety (i.e., preoccupations with relationships) had higher SI due to negative performance consequences. Women with contamination symptoms had higher SI due to performance failure but lower SI due to performance consequences. The present preliminary findings suggest that sexual arousal impairment should be evaluated during the assessment of OCD patients, and gender-based effects of attachment styles and contamination symptoms should be considered during personalized treatment planning

A design methodology for an innovative racing mini motorcycle frame

Sports equipment design is a young and evolving engineering discipline focused on the best simultaneous optimization of user and product as a system. In motorsports, in particular, the final performance during a race depends on many parameters related to the vehicle, circuit, weather, and tyres and the personal feelings of every single driver. Top teams in high-tech categories can invest huge amounts of money in developing simulators, but such economic commitment is not sustainable for all those teams that operate in minor but very popular categories, such as karts or mini-motorcycles. In these fields, the most common design approach is trial and error on physical prototypes. Such an approach leads to high costs, long optimization times, poor innovation, and inefficient management of the design knowledge. The present paper proposes a driver centred methodology for the design of an innovative mini racing motorcycle frame. It consists of two main phases: the drivers’ feelings translation into engineering requirements and constraints, and the exploration of the design solution space. Expected effects of the application of the proposed methodology are an overall increase in the degree of innovation, time compression, and cost reduction during the development process, with a significant impact on the competitiveness of small racing teams in minor categories

Pre-impact fall detection: optimal sensor positioning based on a machine learning paradigm

The aim of this study was to identify the best subset of body segments that provides for a rapid and reliable detection of the transition from steady walking to a slipping event. Fifteen healthy young subjects managed unexpected perturbations during walking. Whole-body 3D kinematics was recorded and a machine learning algorithm was developed to detect perturbation events. In particular, the linear acceleration of all the body segments was parsed by Independent Component Analysis and a Neural Network was used to classify walking from unexpected perturbations. The Mean Detection Time (MDT) was 3516123 ms with an Accuracy of 95.4%. The procedure was repeated with data related to different subsets of all body segments whose variability appeared strongly influenced by the perturbation-induced dynamic modifications. Accordingly, feet and hands accounted for most data information and the performance of the algorithm were slightly reduced using their combination. Results support the hypothesis that, in the framework of the proposed approach, the information conveyed by all the body segments is redundant to achieve effective fall detection, and suitable performance can be obtained by simply observing the kinematics of upper and lower distal extremities. Future studies are required to assess the extent to which such results can be reproduced in older adults and in different experimental conditions

The artificial retina processor for track reconstruction at the LHC crossing rate

We present results of an R&D study for a specialized processor capable of precisely reconstructing, in pixel detectors, hundreds of charged-particle tracks from high-energy collisions at 40 MHz rate. We apply a highly parallel pattern-recognition algorithm, inspired by studies of the processing of visual images by the brain as it happens in nature, and describe in detail an efficient hardware implementation in high-speed, high-bandwidth FPGA devices. This is the first detailed demonstration of reconstruction of offline-quality tracks at 40 MHz and makes the device suitable for processing Large Hadron Collider events at the full crossing frequency.Comment: 4th draft of WIT proceedings modified according to JINST referee's comments. 10 pages, 6 figures, 2 table

Assessment of U.S. Cap-and-Trade Proposals

The MIT Emissions Prediction and Policy Analysis model is applied to synthetic policies that match key attributes of a set of cap-and-trade proposals being considered by the U.S. Congress in spring 2007. The bills fall into two groups: one specifies emissions reductions of 50% to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050; the other establishes a tightening target for emissions intensity and stipulates a time-path for a "safety valve" limit on the emission price that approximately stabilizes U.S. emissions at the 2008 level. Initial period prices are estimated between $7 and$50 per ton CO2-e with these prices rising by a factor of four by 2050. Welfare costs vary from near zero to less than 0.5% at the start, rising in the most stringent case to near 2% in 2050. If allowances were auctioned these proposals could produce revenue between $100 billion and$500 billion per year depending on the case. Outcomes from U.S. policies depend on mitigation effort abroads, and simulations are provided to illuminate terms-of-trade effects that influence the emissions prices and welfare effects, and even the environmental effectiveness, of U.S. actions. Sensitivity tests also are provided of several of key design features. Finally, the U.S. proposals, and the assumptions about effort elsewhere, are extended to 2100 to allow exploration of the potential role of these bills in the longer-term challenge of reducing climate change risk. Simulations show that the 50% to 80% targets are consistent with global goals of atmospheric stabilization at 450 to 550 ppmv CO2 but only if other nations, including the developing countries, follow suit.