A Lion in the Path? The Influence of International Law on the Immigration Policy of the United States

This article explores the place of international law in the immigration policy process in four settings: (1) the tentative and ultimately failed efforts of the executive and the judiciary to keep Congress within the bounds of internationally law-abiding conduct with respect to Chinese exclusion; (2) the almost complete disregard by Congress and the executive of international norms concerning health-related travel restrictions relating to HIV/AIDS; (3) Congressional inaction in the face of executive and judicial hypocrisy toward fundamental principles of refugee law in relation to interdiction of asylum-seekers; and (4) the emergence of a perverse canon presuming the abrogation of uncodified customary norms in cases involving temporary refuge for victims of armed conflict and arbitrary detention of excludable aliens. This article does not treat these four subjects exhaustively. Instead, it poses the question of the proper respect immigration policymakers should pay to the United States\u27 pre-existing international obligations and examines how this respect has varied over time and among the branches

A comparison of contingent valuation and choice modelling: estimating the environmental values of Catalonian forests

In this study, welfare measures estimated using two different stated choice methods, the contingent valuation method (CVM) and choice modelling (CM), are compared. The application involves the estimation of non-market values from alternative afforestation programs in the northeast of Spain. The two techniques are found to yield equivalent estimates of welfare change for identical afforestation programs when the fully specified utility functions are used as the basis for the calculations. When elements of the utility functions – for instance the alternative specific constants and the sociodemographic variables - are omitted from the value estimation procedure, significant differences do occur between estimates derived using the two valuation techniques

The economics of labour managed firms

This thesis argues that Western theories of labour-management, which are predominantly neoclassical, do not capture the major economic forces operating at both firm and macro levels. Consequently the conclusions derived from the theory are often incorrect and also lead to erroneous policy prescriptions, both for the cooperative working within capitalism, and for the labour-managed economy. The thesis opens with a summary of neoclassical theories of the labour-managed firm, and theories of cooperative failure. The validity of these theories are tested using evidence drawn from the C.P.F. cooperatives and a sample of similar capitalist firms over the period 1950-79. The evidence lends very little support to the theories. The following chapters describe the actual experience of the cooperatives and capitalist firms over the thirty years, and concludes that the major differences between the C.P.F. cooperatives and capitalist firms are missing from neoclassical models. The final section of the thesis considers macro economic theories of the Labour=managed economy. It is argued that the failure of neoclassical analysists to present convincing macro economic theories of labour management is because of the rift between conventional micro and macro economics. The introduction of labour management is a change at the firm level, i.e. micro economic level which, using conventional economic theory, cannot be traced through to the macro economic level. As an alternative, Sraffa's analysis of a capitalist economy is adapted to labour management. This allows an analysis of how changes at the firm level effect macro economic conditions. The results derived from the application of a Neo-Ricardian model are found to be very different from those produced by neoclassical analysis. In the final chapter it is noted that existing empirical studies of Yugoslavia which claim to provide evidence of the behaviour predicted by neoclassical models do not provide conclusive evidence. The conclusion contrasts the policy prescriptions derived from neoclassical analysis of labour management, with recommendations derived from the alternative analysis presented in this thesis

Public Health and Nursing: A Natural Partnership

The health of individuals occurs within the context of their environment and the other individuals they interact with in the communities they live in, work in and visit. Promoting the health of the public requires multiple strategies aimed at improving the environment, the health knowledge of groups and individuals, maintaining adequate food and water, and reducing the spread of disease. Many disciplines are needed to meet these goals, but the largest segment of the professional health work force required to meet these needs is nursing. Historically, nursing leaders in public health such as Florence Nightingale and Lillian Wald made significant inroads related to serious health issues because they were nurses. Today across the globe, nurses provide the key components of public health interventions including well baby care, health education, screening and immunization clinics, disaster management and emergency preparedness. With the growing nursing shortage in acute care settings, the brain drain of nurses from certain areas of the world, the shrinking public dollars for preventive health care, the nursing workforce needed to continue to provide these essential health care services is threatened. It is essential to put the spot light on nursing’s role in public health with the hopes of attracting more public funds and more nurses to provide these essential services

Construction and evaluation of group tests in reading for grades one, two, and three.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Self-reported physical health among the aged in Wuhan, China

It has long been recognized that cross-cultural differences in health and illness reflect not only genuine variation in the incidence and prevalence of morbidity, disability, and mortality, but also the social processes by which these data were generated. These processes may be far removed from the biological reality. The conceptualization and measurement of physical health, therefore, can benefit, from adopting a comparative perspective. This paper aims to extend the generalizability of a three-dimensional model of self-reported physical health among the aged to China. Data came from a probability sample of approximately 2,700 urban and rural Chinese, aged 60 or older, living in the Wuhan area. The model, which consists of chronic illness, functional status, and self-rated health as three interrelated dimensions, was previously evaluated empirically using national data on the aged gathered in the U.S. and Japan. The model, which was found to apply equally well to the American and Japanese aged, also fit the Chinese data well. However, results also indicated cross-national differences (1) in the effects of age and sex on the prevalence of chronic disease and disability and (2) in the effects of education on disability and self-rated health.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/42994/1/10823_2004_Article_BF00971527.pd

An assessment of the screening method to evaluate vaccine effectiveness: the case of 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in the United States.

The screening method, which employs readily available data, is an inexpensive and quick means of estimating vaccine effectiveness (VE). We compared estimates of effectiveness of heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) against invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) using the screening and case-control methods. Cases were children aged 19-35 months with pneumococcus isolated from normally sterile sites residing in Active Bacterial Core surveillance areas in the United States. Case-control VE was estimated for 2001-2004 by comparing the odds of vaccination among cases and community controls. Screening-method VE for 2001-2009 was estimated by comparing the proportion of cases vaccinated to National Immunization Survey-derived coverage among the general population. To evaluate the plausibility of screening-method VE findings, we estimated attack rates among vaccinated and unvaccinated persons. We identified 1,154 children with IPD. Annual population PCV7 coverage with ≥1 dose increased from 38% to 97%. Case-control VE for ≥1 dose was estimated as 75% against all-serotype IPD (annual range: 35-83%) and 91% for PCV7-type IPD (annual range: 65-100%). By the screening method, the overall VE was 86% for ≥1 dose (annual range: -240-70%) against all-serotype IPD and 94% (annual range: 62-97%) against PCV7-type IPD. As cases of PCV7-type IPD declined during 2001-2005, estimated attack rates for all-serotype IPD among vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals became less consistent than what would be expected with the estimated effectiveness of PCV7. The screening method yields estimates of VE that are highly dependent on the time period during which it is used and the choice of outcome. The method should be used cautiously to evaluate VE of PCVs

Biomechanical modelling of the pelvic system: improving the accuracy of the location of neoplasms in MRI-TRUS fusion prostate biopsy

Background An accurate knowledge of the relocation of prostate neoplasms during biopsy is of great importance to reduce the number of false negative results. Prostate neoplasms are visible in magnetic resonance images (MRI) but it is difficult for the practitioner to locate them at the time of performing a transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) guided biopsy. In this study, we present a new methodology, based on simulation, that predicts both prostate deformation and lesion migration during the biopsy. Methods A three-dimensional (3-D) anatomy model of the pelvic region, based on medical images, is constructed. A finite element (FE) numerical simulation of the organs motion and deformation as a result of the pressure exerted by the TRUS probe is carried out using the Code-Aster open-source computer software. Initial positions of potential prostate lesions prior to biopsy are taken into consideration and the final location of each lesion is targeted in the FE simulation output. Results Our 3-D FE simulations show that the effect of the pressure exerted by the TRUS probe is twofold as the prostate experiences both a motion and a deformation of its original shape. We targeted the relocation of five small prostate lesions when the TRUS probe exerts a force of 30 N on the rectum inner wall. The distance travelled by these lesions ranged between 5.6 and 13.9 mm. Conclusions Our new methodology can help to predict the location of neoplasms during a prostate biopsy but further studies are needed to validate our results. Moreover, the new methodology is completely developed on open-source software, which means that its implementation would be affordable to all healthcare providers