Out of Options: The Obstructions Hindering Victims of Non-State Actor Violence Under Current Asylum Law

Each year tens of thousands of immigrants head to the United States’ shores in the hope of achieving their version of the “American Dream.” This dream is now more elusive than it has ever been due to the Trump Administration’s attempts to limit legal migration by, to an extent, removing certain avenues of entry. Specifically, the Trump Administration severely hindered the ability of victims of domestic and gang violence to apply for one of the few forms of relief afforded to them: asylum. This note analyzes how decisions such as former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ opinion in Matter of A-B- have drastically affected the landscape of asylum law in the United States, and ultimately argues that the best way to combat these restrictions, and ensure that those fleeing certain violence and potential death from non-state actors are afforded enough protection, is to have Congress amend the Immigration and Nationality Act’s definition of a refugee

Honesty, social presence, and self-service in retail

Retail self-service checkouts (SCOs) can benefit consumers and retailers, providing control and autonomy to shoppers independent from staff. Recent research indicates that the lack of presence of staff may provide the opportunity for consumers to behave dishonestly. This study examined whether a social presence in the form of visual, humanlike SCO interface agents had an effect on dishonest user behaviour. Using a simulated SCO scenario, participants experienced various dilemmas in which they could financially benefit themselves undeservedly. We hypothesised that a humanlike social presence integrated within the checkout screen would receive more attention and result in fewer instances of dishonesty compared to a less humanlike agent. Our hypotheses were partially supported by the results. We conclude that companies adopting self-service technology may consider the implementation of social presence to support ethical consumer behaviour, but that more research is required to explore the mixed findings in the current study

Open ocean carbon monoxide photo-production

Sunlight-initiated photolysis of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) is the dominant source of carbon monoxide (CO) in the open-ocean. A modelling study was conducted to constrain this source. Spectral solar irradiance was obtained from two models (GCSOLAR and SMARTS2). Water-column CDOM and total light absorption were modelled using spectra collected along a Meridional transect of the Atlantic ocean using a 200-cm pathlength liquid waveguide UV-visible spectrophotometer. Apparent quantum yields for the production of CO (AQYCO) from CDOM were obtained from a parameterisation describing the relationship between CDOM light absorption coefficient and AQYCO and the CDOM spectra collected. The sensitivity of predicted rates to variations in model parameters (solar irradiance, cloud cover, surface-water reflectance, CDOM and whole water light absorbance, and AQYCO was assessed. The model\u27s best estimate of open-ocean CO photoproduction was 47 +/- 7 Tg CO-C yr-1, with lower and upper limits of 38 and 84 Tg CO-C yr-1, as indicated by sensitivity analysis considering variations in AQYs, CDOM absorbance, and spectral irradiance. These results represent significant constraint of open-ocean CO photoproduction at the lower limit of previous estimates. Based on these results, and their extrapolation to total photochemical organic carbon mineralisation, we recommend a downsizing of the role of photochemistry in the open-ocean carbon cycle. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

An adaptive embedded mesh procedure for leading-edge vortex flows

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/76634/1/AIAA-1989-80-667.pd

Positive effects of modernization on later life

Early gerontological theories (e.g., role theory, subculture theory, disengagement theory, activity theory and modernization theory) on the study of the elderly used to concentrate on the discussion of the effects of various kinds of social change on individuals\u27 later life adaptation. Modernization has conventionally been perceived as a bad dream for most elderly people. It is the modernization which deskills them, devalues their experiences, take away their authority, ... and finally leaves them in misery. The validity and applicability of this simple relationship between modernization and the misery of later life as a result of the decline of social status have been challenged by more recent comparative studies on a number of developing and non-western developed societies. There are also growing evidences in both developed and developing societies showing that the quality of life is improving rather than deteriorating. This paper, by presenting some of the findings of the author\u27s survey of 198 elderly people and 245 younger adults in Hong Kong, tries to demonstrate the possibility of the existence of some positive effects of modernization on later life. This paper also tries to highlight the conceptual and methodological biases of the traditional elderly research on which the negative association between modernization and the social status of the elderly is based

Gender differences in retirement planning : some observations on the case of Hong Kong

Despite the importance of retirement planning to the maintenance of social and economic well-being in later life (Monk, 1985; Dorfman, 1989, Maule, Cliff, and Taylor, 1996) and in spite of the fact that retirement planning has received increased attention from western gerontology researchers, it is as yet largely missing from the agenda of elderly research in Hong Kong. This paper presents an attempt to introduce some local insights into the subject