The Syrian refugee crisis: a comparison of responses by Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States

The conflict in Syria between the government of Bashar al-Assad and various other forces, which started in the spring of 2011, continues to cause displacement within the country and across the region. By the end of 2014, an estimated 7.6 million people were internally displaced and 3.7 million Syrians had fled the country since the conflict began (OCHA 2014; UNHCR 2015a). The refugee situation caused by the Syrian conflict is dire, and it has placed enormous strain on neighboring countries. Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, and Turkey host massive numbers of Syrian refugees, and Syrians have been seeking protection beyond these countries in increasing numbers since 2011. This paper looks at the burdens and costs of the Syrian refugee crisis and considers how they have, or have not, been shared by the international community at large, and in particular by Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It also considers to what degree Syrians have been able to find protection in states outside the region. Germany and Sweden, by the end of 2014, had provided protection to the largest number of Syrian refugees outside the region. Although Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States differ in the level of protection provided to Syrians, all four states have increased protection to Syrians via resettlement and asylum (and in the case of the US temporary protected status) since 2012. Despite this, the degree of protection provided by the four states is modest in relation to that provided by neighboring countries to Syria, and far more could be done. This paper also argues that the international community as a whole has not sufficiently contributed toward alleviating the burden caused by the Syrian refugee influx, in terms of both financial assistance and refugee resettlement. The paper puts forward two general recommendations to reduce the strain on neighboring countries: increase the level of burden sharing by the international community as a whole and more evenly distribute the burden among industrialized states in Europe, North America, and the Asia Pacific. In terms of enhancing the level of protection for Syrians in countries beyond the region, it proposes three recommendations for states: namely, increase refugee resettlement, facilitate family reunification and other forms of legal admission, and allow refugees to seek protection through embassies in the region

A Close Look at ADEA Mixed-Motives Claims and Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc.

In Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court held that a plaintiff bringing a claim for disparate treatment under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) could not shift the burden of persuasion to the defendant, even after the plaintiff had established that age was a motivating factor in the defendant’s adverse employment decision. Prior to Gross, ADEA plaintiffs had two available frameworks to prove claims for intentional age discrimination: the three-prong McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green framework that creates an inference of discrimination using a prima facie case, and the burden-shifting, “mixed-motives” analysis laid out in Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, which the Gross Court rejected for ADEA plaintiffs. This Note urges Congress to intervene and amend the ADEA to be consistent with the burden-shifting framework codified in § 107 of the Civil Rights Act of 1991. This Note explores the purposes behind the ADEA, including its relationship with Title VII, and looks at Supreme Court cases that shaped the analysis of disparate treatment discrimination claims prior to Gross. This Note explores the majority and dissenting opinions in Gross and how subsequent courts have treated ADEA cases in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision. Ultimately, this Note concludes that Gross does not necessarily alter the McDonnell Douglas framework for ADEA plaintiffs, but that Congress should step in and amend the ADEA so that plaintiffs may bring mixed-motives claims. If Congress were to amend the ADEA in this way, the causation standards under Title VII and the ADEA would be identical and the ADEA’s goals of deterring discrimination and compensating victims would be fulfilled

Factors Influencing Largemouth Bass Recruitment: Implications for the Illinois Management and Stocking Program

Annual Progress Report issued August 2002; NOTE: Two different reports numbered 02/06 were issued from the CAE.Report issued on: August 2002INHS Technical Report prepared for Division of Fisheries Illinois Department of Natural Resource

Energetics, Predation, and Ration Affect Size-dependent Growth and Mortality of Fish during Winter

Winter temperatures may reduce energy costs for ectotherms. However, variable mid-temperate and low-latitude winters may interact with scaling of size, metabolism, and energy reserves to cause energy deficits and require trade-offs between foraging and predation. A dynamic optimization model explored how ration, fall fat, and both non- and size-selective predation influenced foraging (i.e., fast or forage) and energy allocation (i.e., length or fat) decisions that maximize winter survival of age-0 largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides). During a mid-latitude (38° N) winter, a pond experiment in which age-0 fish occurred with or without adult conspecific predators tested a subset of the model. In the model without predators, winter foraging occurred, with small size only reducing survival when low ration and low fall fat caused small fish to exhaust reserves. With predation, all sizes foraged to maintain mass and fat reserves when ration was sufficiently high, with small fish also growing in length. When modeled predation was nonselective, size-dependent mortality varied in complex ways. In contrast, size-selective predators consistently reduced survival of small fish. Generally consistent with the model, fish in ponds without predators gained mass and energy content, while those with predators only maintained these parameters. All small individuals grew more than large counterparts in length. Mortality in ponds never depended on size but was ~20% higher with predators. Energy deficits often demand active foraging during mid-temperate winters, with predation rather than energy depletion influencing size-dependent survival

A transformation-based approach to testing concurrent programs using UML activity diagrams

UML activity diagrams are widely used to model concurrent interaction among multiple objects. In this paper, we propose a transformation-based approach to generating scenario-oriented test cases for applications modeled by UML activity diagrams. Using a set of transformation rules, the proposed approach first transforms a UML activity diagram specification into an intermediate representation, from which it then constructs test scenarios with respect to the given concurrency coverage criteria. The approach then finally derives a set of test cases for the constructed test scenarios. The approach resolves the difficulties associated with fork and join concurrency in the UML activity diagram, and enables control over the number of the resulting test cases. We further implemented a tool to automate the proposed approach, and studied its feasibility and effectiveness using a case study. Experimental results show that the approach can generate test cases on demand to satisfy a given concurrency coverage criterion, and can detect up to 76.5% of seeded faults when a weak coverage criterion is used. With the approach, testers can not only schedule the software test process earlier, but can also better allocate the testing resources for testing concurrent applications

Experiments on the effectiveness of dataflow- and controlflow-based test adequacy criteria

This paper reports an experimental study investigating the effectiveness of two code-based test adequacy criteria for identifying sets of test cases that detect faults. The alledges and all-D Us (modified all-uses) coverage criteria were applied to 130 faulty program versions derived from seven moderate size base programs by seeding realistic faults. We generated several thousand test sets for each faulty program and examined the relationship between fault detection and coverage. Within the limited domain of our experiments, test sets achieving coverage levels over 90?Zo usually showed sigrdjlcantly better fault detection than randomly chosen test sets of the same size. In addition, sigrd$cant improvements in the effectiveness of coverage-based tests usually occurred as coverage increased from 90 % to 100Yo. Howeve ~ the results also indicate that 100?Zo code coverage alone is not a reliable indicator of the effectiveness of a test set. We also found that tests based respectively on controljlow and dataflow criteria are frequently complementary in their effectiveness

Recommendations for myeloid-derived suppressor cell nomenclature and characterization standards

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) have emerged as major regulators of immune responses in cancer and other pathological conditions. In recent years, ample evidence supports key contributions of MDSC to tumour progression through both immune-mediated mechanisms and those not directly associated with immune suppression. MDSC are the subject of intensive research with >500 papers published in 2015 alone. However, the phenotypic, morphological and functional heterogeneity of these cells generates confusion in investigation and analysis of their roles in inflammatory responses. The purpose of this communication is to suggest characterization standards in the burgeoning field of MDSC research

Neurology

Contains reports on four research projects.U. S. Public Health Service (B-3055-4)U. S. Public Health Service (B-3090-4)U. S. Public Health Service (MH-06175-02)U.S. Navy (Office of Naval Research (Nonr-1841 (70))U. S. Air Force (AF49(638)-1313

Disease and Habitat Change as Factors Associated with Mourning Dove Population Decline

The western mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) population has been declining since 1966. Data collected in 1951-52, in Fillmore, Utah, provided us a baseline for comparison with our study in the same area. Our approach was to determine whether a local population decline had occurred since the original data were collected, assess if trichomoniasis has impacted the local population, determine if changes in habitat structure affect foraging site selection, quantify changes in habitat, identify which habitats doves preferred, ascertain whether doves had responded to habitat change by changing food habits, and assess if changes in habitat were responsible in part for the local population decline. We found that population counts declined 72% and 82% from 1952 to 1992 and 1993, respectively. We determined that trichomoniasis was not an factor. in the decline. We observed that doves preferred foraging habitat characterized by a short and open structure and will not forage in the taller, denser vegetation that now dominates the study area. The most dramatic change in habitat was an 82% decline of land in winter wheat production. In 1951-52 and 1992-93, doves consumed wheat in greater frequency and volume than any other food item. Habitats selected for foraging were wheat fields following harvest, feedpens, hay storage yards, and weedy patches. Of these habitats, area in wheat fields and number of feedpens had changed extensively. The decline in wheat availability, either at harvested fields or feedpens, appears to have contributed to the local population decline. We used regression analysis to test the statewide relationship between the decline in the mourning dove population index, area in winter wheat production, and the number of farms with cattle and obtained significant results (R2 = .42, P = 0.001)

Identification and Assessment of Lameness in Sows Through the Utilization of NUtrack AND GAITFour Systems

Lameness is a financial concern for producers and a welfare concern for the animals. Utilizing both the GAITFour and NUtrack systems, gilts’ natural tendencies and gait were analyzed to better understand the onset of lameness and what indicators can be identified in a commercial setting. Beginning at 20 weeks of age, video on replacement gilts was collected for 9 consecutive days and processed using the NUtrack System to identify individual gilts’ distance travelled (m), avg speed (m/s), angle rotated (degrees), and time standing (s), sitting (s), eating (s), and laying (s). NUtrack is a deep learning-based multi-object tracking system that has been shown to achieve greater than 92.5% precision and recall when tracking the long-term location and identity of individual pigs in group-housed settings. At the start of evaluation under the NUtrack system, gilts were walked across a pressure sensing mat (GAITFour system) to evaluate the gait metrics of Step Length (cm), Stride Length (cm), Swing Percent of Cycle, Swing Time (sec), Stance Percent of Cycle, Stance Time (sec), Total Scaled Pressure (TSP), GAITFOURDog Lameness Score (GLS), Total Pressure Index (TPI), and Step/Stride ratio. A total of 3,150 replacement gilts were analyzed utilizing the data derived from NUtrack with 1,379 gilts culled based on structural unsoundness as determined by an experienced herdsman. A subset totaling 2,634 gilts were analyzed utilizing the data derived from GAITFour with 1,199 being culled primarily based on structural unsoundness as determined by an experienced herdsman. Heritability estimates were done on novel objective measurements that can be utilized for gilt selection for increased sow longevity. For the NUtrack system, heritabilities are 0.14±0.0069, 0.14±0.0074, 0.31±0.0418, 0.35±0.0425, 0.32±0.0420, 0.30±0.0409, 0.21±0.0359, 0.22±0.0370, and 0.23±0.0372 for angle, average speed, distance, eat, lie lateral, lie sternal, lie total, sit, and stand respectively. Average speed (p\u3c0.001) and time standing (p\u3c0.01) were significantly associated with gilt retention. For the GAITFour system, heritability estimates ranged from 0.03 to 0.36. Step length of both the left and right front legs (p\u3c0.001), stride length of both the left and right front legs (p\u3c0.01), stance time of the right front leg (p\u3c0.05), total scaled pressure of the right hind leg (p\u3c0.05), step/stride ratio of both the left and right front legs (p\u3c0.001), and step/stride ratio of the left hind leg (p\u3c0.05) were all found to be significantly associated with gilt retention. As a result of this project, we aim to increase the selection of sound replacement females in order to decrease the progression of lameness. Advisor: Benny E. Mot