Confronting root causes: forced labour in global supply chains

Excerpt It is by now widely recognised that effectively tackling forced labour in the global economy means addressing its ‘root causes’. Policymakers, business leaders and civil society organisations all routinely call for interventions that do so. Yet what exactly are these root causes? And how do they operate? The two most commonly given answers are ‘poverty’ and ‘globalisation’. Although each may be foundational to forced labour, both terms are typically used in nebulous, catch-all ways that serve more as excuses than explanations. Both encompass and obscure a web of decisions and processes that maintain an unjust status quo, while being used as euphemisms for deeper socio-economic structures that lie at the core of the capitalist global economy. The question thus becomes: exactly which aspects of poverty and globalisation are responsible for the endemic labour exploitation frequently described with the terms forced labour, human trafficking or modern slavery? Which global economic processes ensure a constant and low-cost supply of highly exploitable and coerced workers? And which dynamics trigger a demand among businesses for their exploitation, making it possible for them to profit from it? This 12-part report is an attempt to answer these questions in a rigorous yet accessible way. With it, we hope to provide policymakers, journalists, scholars and activists with a road map for understanding the political economy of forced labour in today’s “global value chain world”

Proteogenomic analysis of Epibacterium mobile BBCC367, a relevant marine bacterium isolated from the South Pacific Ocean

Epibacterium mobile BBCC367 is a marine bacterium that is common in coastal areas. It belongs to the Roseobacter clade, a widespread group in pelagic marine ecosystems. Species of the Roseobacter clade are regularly used as models to understand the evolution and physiological adaptability of generalist bacteria. E. mobile BBCC367 comprises two chromosomes and two plasmids. We used gel-free shotgun proteomics to assess its protein expression under 16 different conditions, including stress factors such as elevated temperature, nutrient limitation, high metal concentration, and UVB exposure. Comparison of the different conditions allowed us not only to retrieve almost 70% of the predicted proteins, but also to define three main protein assemblages: 584 essential core proteins, 2,144 facultative accessory proteins and 355 specific unique proteins. While the core proteome mainly exhibited proteins involved in essential functions to sustain life such as DNA, amino acids, carbohydrates, cofactors, vitamins and lipids metabolisms, the accessory and unique proteomes revealed a more specific adaptation with the expression of stress-related proteins, such as DNA repair proteins (accessory proteome), transcription regulators and a significant predominance of transporters (unique proteome). Our study provides insights into how E. mobile BBCC367 adapts to environmental changes and copes with diverse stresses

Choreography, controversy and child sex abuse: Theoretical reflections on a cultural criminological analysis of dance in a pop music video

This article was inspired by the controversy over claims of ‘pedophilia!!!!’ undertones and the ‘triggering’ of memories of childhood sexual abuse in some viewers by the dance performance featured in the music video for Sia’s ‘Elastic Heart’ (2015). The case is presented for acknowledging the hidden and/or overlooked presence of dance in social scientific theory and cultural studies and how these can enhance and advance cultural criminological research. Examples of how these insights have been used within other disciplinary frameworks to analyse and address child sex crime and sexual trauma are provided, and the argument is made that popular cultural texts such as dance in pop music videos should be regarded as significant in analysing and tracing public perceptions and epistemologies of crimes such as child sex abuse

The Effects of Ox66TM Supplementation on Ventilatory Threshold Performance Measures

Ox66TM claims to be the only solid form of oxygen known to be in existence. It is an aluminum hydroxide clathrate that can trap oxygen molecules within its structure and when digested the oxygen molecules can be absorbed into the portal bloodstream. It has previously been implemented in clinical settings to reduce hypoxia related medical conditions. However, it is currently unknown whether Ox66TM has an effect on performance measures at or near the ventilatory threshold during high intensity exercise. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ergogenic impact of acute Ox66TM ingestion on submaximal aerobic performance measures and ventilatory threshold during exercise testing using Bruce protocol. METHODS: 36 college age participants (20 males and 16 females) were recruited to complete this study. Participants attended three testing sessions. During the first session, baseline measurements were acquired and participants were familiarized with the testing procedures. During the second and third tests participants were randomized to receive either a placebo or the Ox66TM supplement. Heart rate, ventilatory threshold, respiratory exchange ratio and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were recorded throughout each test. RESULTS: Overall there were no consistent differences between the placebo and Ox66TM conditions for all participants combined. However, when men and women were evaluated separately, there were a few significant differences. Under the Ox66TM condition men had a slightly higher VO2 (p=0.045) and higher heart rate (p=0.046) at ventilatory threshold. Women had a slightly lower RPE (p=0.047) at ventilatory threshold with the Ox66TM supplement. CONCLUSION: Ox66TM supplementation resulted in small improvements in a few submaximal aerobic performance measures. Although these results are statistically significant, it is unlikely that Ox66TM supplementation actually causes ergogenic performance benefits

Impact of Investor's Varying Risk Aversion on the Dynamics of Asset Price Fluctuations

While the investors' responses to price changes and their price forecasts are well accepted major factors contributing to large price fluctuations in financial markets, our study shows that investors' heterogeneous and dynamic risk aversion (DRA) preferences may play a more critical role in the dynamics of asset price fluctuations. We propose and study a model of an artificial stock market consisting of heterogeneous agents with DRA, and we find that DRA is the main driving force for excess price fluctuations and the associated volatility clustering. We employ a popular power utility function, $U(c,\gamma)=\frac{c^{1-\gamma}-1}{1-\gamma}$ with agent specific and time-dependent risk aversion index, $\gamma_i(t)$, and we derive an approximate formula for the demand function and aggregate price setting equation. The dynamics of each agent's risk aversion index, $\gamma_i(t)$ (i=1,2,...,N), is modeled by a bounded random walk with a constant variance $\delta^2$. We show numerically that our model reproduces most of the ``stylized'' facts observed in the real data, suggesting that dynamic risk aversion is a key mechanism for the emergence of these stylized facts.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figure

Emerging properties of financial time series in the “Game of Life”

We explore the spatial complexity of Conway’s “Game of Life,” a prototypical cellular automaton by means of a geometrical procedure generating a two-dimensional random walk from a bidimensional lattice with periodical boundaries. The one-dimensional projection of this process is analyzed and it turns out that some of its statistical properties resemble the so-called stylized facts observed in financial time series. The scope and meaning of this result are discussed from the viewpoint of complex systems. In particular, we stress how the supposed peculiarities of financial time series are, often, overrated in their importance

Strategies used as spectroscopy of financial markets reveal new stylized facts

We propose a new set of stylized facts quantifying the structure of financial markets. The key idea is to study the combined structure of both investment strategies and prices in order to open a qualitatively new level of understanding of financial and economic markets. We study the detailed order flow on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange of China for the whole year of 2003. This enormous dataset allows us to compare (i) a closed national market (A-shares) with an international market (B-shares), (ii) individuals and institutions and (iii) real investors to random strategies with respect to timing that share otherwise all other characteristics. We find that more trading results in smaller net return due to trading frictions. We unveiled quantitative power laws with non-trivial exponents, that quantify the deterioration of performance with frequency and with holding period of the strategies used by investors. Random strategies are found to perform much better than real ones, both for winners and losers. Surprising large arbitrage opportunities exist, especially when using zero-intelligence strategies. This is a diagnostic of possible inefficiencies of these financial markets.Comment: 13 pages including 5 figures and 1 tabl

Microscopic understanding of heavy-tailed return distributions in an agent-based model

The distribution of returns in financial time series exhibits heavy tails. In empirical studies, it has been found that gaps between the orders in the order book lead to large price shifts and thereby to these heavy tails. We set up an agent based model to study this issue and, in particular, how the gaps in the order book emerge. The trading mechanism in our model is based on a double-auction order book, which is used on nearly all stock exchanges. In situations where the order book is densely occupied with limit orders we do not observe fat-tailed distributions. As soon as less liquidity is available, a gap structure forms which leads to return distributions with heavy tails. We show that return distributions with heavy tails are an order-book effect if the available liquidity is constrained. This is largely independent of the specific trading strategies

Feasibility and impact of providing feedback to vaccinating medical clinics: evaluating a public health intervention

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Vaccine coverage (VC) at a given age is a widely-used indicator for measuring the performance of vaccination programs. However, there is increasing data suggesting that measuring delays in administering vaccines complements the measure of VC. Providing feedback to vaccinators is recognized as an effective strategy for improving vaccine coverage, but its implementation has not been widely documented in Canada. The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of providing personalized feedback to vaccinators and its impact on vaccination delays (VD).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In April and May 2008, a one-hour personalized feedback session was provided to health professionals in vaccinating medical clinics in the Quebec City region. VD for vaccines administered at two and twelve months of age were presented. Data from the regional vaccination registry were analysed for participating clinics. Two 12-month periods before and after the intervention were compared, namely from April 1^st, 2007 to March 31^st, 2008 and from June 1^st, 2008 to May 31^st, 2009.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Ten medical clinics out of the twelve approached (83%), representing more than 2500 vaccinated children, participated in the project. Preparing and conducting the feedback involved 20 hours of work and expenses of $1000 per clinic. Based on a delay of one month, 94% of first doses of DTaP-Polio-Hib and 77% of meningococcal vaccine doses respected the vaccination schedule both before and after the intervention. Following the feedback, respect of the vaccination schedule increased for vaccines planned at 12 months for the four clinics that had modified their vaccination practices related to multiple injections (depending on the clinic, VD decreased by 24.4%, 32.0%, 40.2% and 44.6% respectively, p < 0.001 for all comparisons).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The present study shows that it is feasible to provide personalized feedback to vaccinating clinics. While it may have encouraged positive changes in practice concerning multiple injections, this intervention on its own did not impact vaccination delays of the clinics visited. It is possible that feedback integrated into other types of effective interventions and sustained over time may have more impact on VD.</p

Mutations in two global regulators lower individual mortality in Escherichia coli

There has been considerable investigation into the survival of bacterial cells under stress conditions, but little is known about the causes of mortality in the absence of exogenous stress. That there is a basal frequency of cell death in such populations may reflect that it is either impossible to avoid all lethal events, or alternatively, that it is too costly. Here, through a genetic screen in the model organism Escherichia coli, we identify two mutants with lower frequencies of mortality: rssB and fliA. Intriguingly, these two genes both affect the levels of different sigma factors within the cell. The rssB mutant displays enhanced resistance to multiple external stresses, possibly indicating that the cell gains its increased vitality through elevated resistance to spontaneous, endogenous stresses. The loss of fliA does not result in elevated stress resistance; rather, its survival is apparently due to a decreased physical stress linked to the insertion of the flagellum through the membrane and energy saved through the loss of the motor proteins. The identification of these two mutants implies that reducing mortality is not impossible; rather, due to its cost, it is subject to trade-offs with other traits that contribute to the competitive success of the organism