Empathic humanitarianism: Understanding the motivations behind humanitarian work with migrants at the US–Mexico border

Executive Summary The growing numbers of vulnerable migrants seeking shelter and refuge in the United States and Europe are finding increased racism and xenophobia as well as renewed efforts by humanitarian volunteers to offer them aid, sanctuary, and protection. This article sets forth a typology to better understand the motivations of volunteers working to help migrants in need of humanitarian assistance. Why do people go out of their way to offer humanitarian aid to someone they do not know and, in some cases, they will never meet? What are the drivers of altruistic behavior of humanitarian volunteers in the face of rising injustice, nationalism, and xenophobia? In answer to these questions, we offer a typology centered on empathic concern, differentiating secular/faith-based motivations, and deontological/moral-virtue motivations, with particular behaviors in each of the four resulting categories: the Missionary Type, the Good Samaritan Type, the Do Gooder Type, and the Activist Type. We also suggest four additional self-centered (non-altruistic, or not-other-centered) types (Militant, Crusader, Martyr, and Humanitarian Tourist). The nuances offered by this typology can help organizations working with migrants and refugees better understand and channel the enthusiasm of their volunteers and better meet the needs of the vulnerable populations they serve. This is especially important at a time when migration is being criminalized and when humanitarian aid is deemed unpatriotic, if not outright illegal. In the face of increased nationalistic and xenophobic messages surrounding migration, we need to articulate the altruistic humanitarian motivations of volunteers in the context of migration aid. Our typology may also be used to understand altruistic behaviors in other contexts such as disaster relief, community organization and activism, international adoptions, or organ donations to strangers, among others, in which altruistic empathic concern can be an important motivation driving people to act for the well-being of distant others

Exploitation of an olive oil industry by-product: olive pomace as a source of food aroma compounds

Italy is the second largest producer in the world of olive oil, preceded only by Spain. Although olive oil can be considered as a “green gold” all over the world, the treatment of its by-products is a critical aspect to cope with. Indeed, the polluting character of such by-product together with its high costs for an effective disposal strongly penalize the olive oil industry. In particular, 50 % of oil production costs depend on its waste disposal. In this context, the aim of this work was to evaluate a potential exploitation of olive pomace as a feedstock for the production of flavours of interest for the food industry

Isotopic Composition of Fragments in Nuclear Multifragmentation

The isotope yields of fragments, produced in the decay of the quasiprojectile in Au+Au peripheral collisions at 35 MeV/nucleon and those coming from the disassembly of the unique source formed in Xe+Cu central reactions at 30 MeV/nucleon, were measured. We show that the relative yields of neutron-rich isotopes increase with the excitation energy in multifragmentation reaction. In the framework of the statistical multifragmentation model which fairly well reproduces the experimental observables, this behaviour can be explained by increasing N/Z ratio of hot primary fragments, that corresponds to the statistical evolution of the decay mechanism with the excitation energy: from a compound-like decay to complete multifragmentation.Comment: 10 pages. 4 Postscript figures. Submitted to Physical Review C, Rapid Communicatio

Equivalent-voltage approach for modeling low-frequency dispersive effects in microwave FETs

In this paper, a simple and efficient approach for the modeling of low-frequency dispersive phenomena in FETs is proposed. The method is based on the definition of a virtual, nondispersive associated device controlled by equivalent port voltages and it is justified on the basis of a physically-consistent, charge-controlled description of the device. Dispersive effects in FETs are accounted for by means of an intuitive circuit solution in the framework of any existing nonlinear dynamic model. The new equivalent-voltage model is identified on the basis of conventional measurements carried out under static and small signal dynamic operating conditions. Nonlinear experimental tests confirm the validity of the proposed approach

Push-push X band GaInP/GaAs VCO with a fully monolithic microstrip resonator

In this paper the design of a VCO using GaInP/GaAs HBT technology is presented. The VCO is designed to be a part of a PDH point to point radio system. To achieve low phase noise performances GaInP/GaAs HBT technology and push-push topology have been chosen. The MMIC includes predistorters to emphasize the second harmonic, f/sub 0//2 prescalers for PLL locking and buffer amplifiers. A fully monolithic microstrip resonator is coupled with integrated varactors to achieve the specified tuning bandwidth. Phase noise, bandwidth and power measurements will also be presente

Flavonoids uptake and their effect on cell cycle of human colon adenocarcinoma cells (Caco2).

Green tea, mainly through its constituents epigallocatechin gallate, epigallocatechin, epicatechin gallate and epicatechin, has demonstrated anticarcinogenic activity in several animal models, including those for skin, lung and gastro-intestinal tract cancer, although less is known about colorectal cancer. Quercetin, the major flavonoid present in vegetables and fruit, exerts potential anticarcinogenic effects in animal models and cell cultures, but less is known about quercetin glucosides. The objectives of this study were to investigate (i) the antioxidant activity of the phenolic compounds epicatechin, epigallocatechin gallate, gallic acid and quercetin-3-glucoside; (ii) the cytotoxicity of different concentrations of epicatechin, epigallocatechin gallate, and gallic acid; (iii) the cellular uptake of epicatechin, epigallocatechin gallate, gallic acid and quercetin-3-glucoside and (iv) their effect on the cell cycle. Human colon adenocarcinoma cells were used as experimental model. The results of this study indicate that all dietary flavonoids studied (epicatechin, epigallocatechin gallate, gallic acid and quercetin-3-glucoside) show a significant antioxidant effect in a chemical model system, but only epigallocatechin gallate or gallic acid are able to interfere with the cell cycle in Caco2 cell lines. These data suggest that the antioxidant activity of flavonoids is not related to the inhibition of cellular growth. From a structural point of view, the galloyl moiety appears to be required for both the antioxidant and the antiproliferative effects. comCopyright 2002 Cancer Research U