Initiation and stagnation of room temperature grain coarsening in cyclically strained gold films

Despite the large number of experiments demonstrating that grains in a metallic material can grow at room temperature due to applied mechanical load, the mechanisms and the driving forces responsible for mechanically induced grain coarsening are still not understood. Here we present a systematic study of room temperature grain coarsening induced by cyclic strain in thin polymer-supported gold films. By means of detailed electron backscatter diffraction analysis we were able to capture both the growth of individual grains and the evolution of the whole microstructure on the basis of statistical data over thousands of grains. The experimental data are reported for three film thicknesses with slightly different microstructures and three different amplitudes of cyclic mechanical loading. Although different kinds of grain size evolution with increasing cycle number are observed depending on film thickness and strain amplitude, a single model based on a thermodynamic driving force is shown to be capable to explain initiation and stagnation of grain coarsening in all cases. The main implication of the model is that the grains having lower individual yield stress are coarsening preferentially. Besides, it is demonstrated that the existence of local shear stresses imposed on a grain boundary is not a necessary requirement for room-temperature grain coarsening

Sovereignty, Protection and the Limits to Regional Refugee Status Determination Arrangements

This case note explores the recent Australian High Court decision of Plaintiff M70/2011 v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, which declared a proposed regional refugee status determination arrangement between Australia and Malaysia to be unlawful under Australian law. While the decision was determined by the specific statutory construction of Australian's migration legislation, it nonetheless draws attention to the legal character of what constitutes 'protection' under international refugee law and suggests the necessary legal and factual conditions that must exist in a 'third country' in order for any transfer of refugee processing and recognition procedures to be seen to satisfy Convention obligations. It thus represents a significant judicial challenge to the contemporary trend pursued by wealthy industrialised nations in the Global North towards erecting barriers for accessing domestic asylum regimes and adopting policies that in effect outsource and extraterritorialise asylum processing under the guise of 'burden sharing' or regional 'harmonisation'. This case note reads the decision as a particular re-articulation of sovereign authority, borders, belonging and place-making

Accusing 'Europe': Articulations of Migrant Justice and a Popular International Law

This chapter examines a recent civil society initiative, Tribunal 12, as an internationalised articulation of migrant justice.1 Tribunal 12 was held in Stockholm in May 2012, and sought to put ‘Europe’ on trial for the systematic violations of the rights and dignity of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants. By adopting a legal and aesthetical framework, the initiative aimed to draw attention to the increased global securitisation of borders, criminalisation of unauthorised migrants and systemic exploitation of undocumented people in Europe. It also intended to generate support for migrant struggles within Europe by highlighting the morally unjust and harmful effects of European border practices. Although the Tribunal differed significantly from earlier international peoples’ tribunals in that it did not hear any witness testimonies from migrants themselves, I nonetheless locate Tribunal 12 within a legacy of peoples’ tribunals and their entanglement with international law and institutions

Friendship Workshop as an intervention model to promote empathy: A program review

The purpose of this study was to research if the Friendship Workshop, a classroom intervention program, would enhance the empathy development in 68 students within four kindergarten/Grade 1 classes. The quasi-experimental quantitative approach incorporated a pre/post assessment design using the Empathy Quotient (EQ) to assess parent/guardian and teachers’ perspectives of their children and students, respectively. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the results to determine if the Friendship Workshops intervention’s efficacy strengthened the students’ empathy after the children experienced it for 6 months. The data review indicated that 81% and 60% of the students demonstrated an increase in empathy from the teacher and parent/guardian perspective, respectively. In addition, further review of the responses for students who demonstrated a decrease in empathy based upon the EQ scores rendered insight that over half of the students showed an increase in four specific statements suggesting improvement in some elements of empathy despite the decreased overall score. Recommendations for further research, and potential professional development for teacher preparation programs, school leaders, and experienced teachers are provided, given the overall potential of the Friendship Workshop approach on empathy development and the focus on emotional vocabulary development, emotional recognition, and emotion regulation. There is a potential for increased empathy to impact implicit bias, thus prejudice development; therefore, further merit should be granted to the prospective impact of the Friendship Workshop approach within classroom environments