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In search of security: the migration conundrum and the need for a global response
No full textSecurity is simultaneously the foremost concern for citizens in destination countries, who feel threatened by migrants and refugees and call on their leaders to regain control by erecting barriers and closing borders, and also the driving force behind migratory flows. There is a protracted inability to move from a crisis management situation to a sustainable global governance of migration. Is the EU’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum a historic agreement or a broken deal?. There is a need to go beyond the lump of labor fallacy and emphasize the net contribution of migration through enhanced integration and social cohesion
Kids’ environment and health cohort: database protocol
No full textIntroduction Environmental exposures are known to affect the health and well-being of populations throughout the life course. Children are particularly susceptible to environmental impacts on educational and health outcomes as they spend more time in their local environments compared to adults. In England, no national, longitudinal dataset linking information about the physical and social environment in and around homes and schools to children’s health and education outcomes currently exists. This limits our understanding of how environments might impact the health and well-being of children as they grow up. Objective To establish the Kids’ Environment and Health Cohort, a research-ready, de-identified and annually updated national birth cohort of all children born in England from 2006 onwards. Methods The Kids’ Environment and Health Cohort will link birth and mortality records, health and educational attainment datasets, to maternal health (up to 12 months prior to their child’s birth), and environmental data for all children born in England from 2006 – approximately 11 million children at first build. A subset of children born between 2010 and 2012, and between 2020 and 2022 will be linked to their mothers’ 2011 or 2021 Census records, respectively. The cohort database will be held in, and accessed via, a trusted research environment (TRE) at the Office for National Statistics (ONS). All geographical identifiers in the cohort, allowing for linkage to further environmental data, will be securely held by the ONS, separately to the main cohort, and will be encrypted before being shared with researchers. Conclusion The Kids’ Environment and Health Cohort will, for the first time, link administrative health and education data to longitudinal environmental exposures for children at national level in England. It will serve as a data resource to support research about the health and well-being of children via improved home and school environments
Assessing human trafficking and cybercrime intersections through survivor narratives
No full textThis study examines how cybercriminals exploit deceptive recruitment tactics and digital platforms to entrap and exploit victims in human trafficking within the cybercrime context. It employs Migration and Transnationalism perspectives to elucidate the intersection of human trafficking and cybercrime operations in Cambodia. Using thematic analysis of victim testimonies, we identify six main themes: (1) Deception and Recruitment, (2) Manipulation and Control, (3) Exploitation and Forced Labor, (4) Trading and Movement, (5) Scamming Methods, and (6) Escape and Rescue. While the following analysis explores the victim’s first-hand experiences within these themes, it also reflects the accounts of other victims referenced in his story. Human traffickers enticed victims with fraudulent job offers and misleading promises, compelling them to pay significant recruitment fees. After recruitment, they manipulated victims through tactics such as visa deception and bribery at immigration to ensure compliance and control. They subjected victims to harsh working conditions, enforcing extended hours, unrealistic targets, and physical punishments for underperformance. Strict security measures and trading between companies and compounds further complicated escape efforts. Criminals trained victims to forge identities and exploit targets via social media, effectively turning them into online fraudsters. However, some managed to escape with assistance from NGOs, highlighting the vital role of organizational support in rescue operations. We highlight the need for targeted interventions and support for victims of such complex cybercrime enterprises
Demand-side constraints on European solidarity for energy sanctions: experimental evidence from seven EU countries
No full textThe Russian invasion of Ukraine is testing bonds of energy solidarity in Europe as domestic and territorial conflicts can undermine unity and swift political action. To examine the magnitude of these divisions on the demand side, we use a factorial survey experiment in seven EU countries. On the one hand, the external security threat should push European unity further. On the other hand, the asymmetry of the crisis could fuel both between-country divisions, given differences in energy dependence and geopolitical context, and within-country divisions, across political groups, reducing the potential for common policy. Our results show that while there is a wide consensus on energy sanctions between countries (except Hungary), within countries there is a greater potential for conflict along identarian, partisan, and economic lines
Global cancer burden attributable to excess body weight, 1990 to 2021, decomposed by population size, aging, and epidemiological change
No full textObjective: The objective of this study was to estimate cancer burden attributable to excess body weight (EBW) and identify its main source. Methods: We obtained relative risks from meta-analyses, cancer and population data from the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2021, and BMI prevalence data from the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC). We calculated the incidence of 11 cancers attributable to high BMI from 1990 to 2021, analyzed trends using joinpoint regression, and assessed cohort effects with the age-period-cohort model. Decomposition analysis was conducted by cancer-specific risk factors and by population size, aging, and epidemiological changes. Results: The incidence of 11 EBW-related cancers has increased from 1990 to 2021. Later-born cohorts and older age groups had higher cancer incidence rates. High BMI was the top contributor to changes in cancer burden (15.96% of all disability-adjusted life years [DALYs]), particularly in high Sociodemographic Index (SDI) regions. Colorectal, esophageal, and liver cancer had the highest burden due to high BMI (1,349,622; 1,284,385; and 944,616 DALYs, respectively). Epidemiological changes in BMI contributed to the rising DALY burden, ranging from 7.88% for postmenopausal breast cancer to 49.20% for liver cancer. Conclusions: The rising prevalence of EBW contributed to the global cancer burden, showing a significant birth cohort effect. High BMI was the top contributing factor to obesity-related cancers, surpassing other epidemiological risk factors. (Figure presented.)
A mathematical introduction to general relativity
No full textThe book aims to give a mathematical presentation of the theory of general relativity (that is, spacetime-geometry-based gravitation theory) to advanced undergraduate mathematics students. Mathematicians will find spacetime physics presented in the definition-theorem-proof format familiar to them. The given precise mathematical definitions of physical notions help avoiding pitfalls, especially in the context of spacetime physics describing phenomena that are counter-intuitive to everyday experiences. In the first part, the differential geometry of smooth manifolds, which is needed to present the spacetime-based gravitation theory, is developed from scratch. Here, many of the illustrating examples are the Lorentzian manifolds which later serve as spacetime models. This has the twofold purpose of making the physics forthcoming in the second part relatable, and the mathematics learnt in the first part less dry. The book uses the modern coordinate-free language of semi-Riemannian geometry. Nevertheless, to familiarise the reader with the useful tool of coordinates for computations, and to bridge the gap with the physics literature, the link to coordinates is made through exercises, and via frequent remarks on how the two languages are related. In the second part, the focus is on physics, covering essential material of the 20th century spacetime-based view of gravity: energy-momentum tensor field of matter, field equation, spacetime examples, Newtonian approximation, geodesics, tests of the theory, black holes, and cosmological models of the universe. Prior knowledge of differential geometry or physics is not assumed. The book is intended for self-study, and the solutions to all the 283 exercises are included. The second edition corrects errors from the first edition, and includes 60 new exercises, 10 new remarks, 29 new figures, some of which cover auxiliary topics that were omitted in the first edition
Universities and the contested creation of the elite
No full textFor centuries universities have been a locus of elite creation. In the Middle Ages, university‐trained elites were leaders of the Church, served in secular lords' administrations and staffed the judiciary. Over time, their scope has expanded to include leadership in governments, corporations, and civil society more broadly. Universities play two roles in the creation of the elite: selection and education. Both of these have historically been the subject of intense contestation, with the outcomes shaping a range of political and economic outcomes. In this piece, I synthesize work on educational institutions' creation of the elite, discussing both historical and contemporary cases of contestation of this process and their outcomes. I close with a discussion of the implications for our understanding of university‐based protest movements
Generalized disruption: society, work, and property rights in the age of AI
No full textDisruptive innovations are understood as those that threaten incumbent firms. When it comes to Artificial Intelligence (AI), however, its broad applicability means that disruption will not just stop at product markets; the technology has the potential for generalized disruption across multiple domains. This chapter begins by exploring two domains that have received some attention already. First, the socio-political sphere, with implications for civil rights and privacy. Second, labor markets, with implications for adjustment policies and workplace regulation. We then identify a new domain that has heretofore been overlooked: the disruption of property rights over contestable inputs. The resources that many AI applications rely on—online content for generative AI or urban space for autonomous vehicles — are becoming valuable and contested inputs, as property rights are often ill established. Conflict over these resources is expected going forward; clearer property rights and usage frameworks will thus have to be established via litigation and regulation. These multiple domains of disruption can interact with one another, generating both opportunities and challenges for academics and policymakers
Two decades of tax-benefit reforms in Ecuador: how much have they contributed to poverty and inequality reduction?
No full textThe aim of this paper is to analyze the contribution of tax-benefit reforms to changes in income poverty and inequality in Ecuador from 2003 to 2022. For this, we use decomposition methods based on counterfactual distributions obtained using tax-benefit microsimulations which allow quantifying the relative contribution of policy reforms to changes in income poverty and inequality, compared to other contributors, including demographic characteristics and changes in the market income distribution. The focus is on changes over five subperiods, namely 2003–08, 2008–14, 2014–2019, 2019–20 and 2020–22. Our results show that tax-benefit reforms introduced between 2003 and 2020 contributed to the reduction of poverty and inequality in Ecuador, reinforcing the positive contribution of changes in market income and other population factors in all subperiods between 2003 and 2014, and mitigating the negative contribution of such factors between 2014 and 2020. Over the last period of analysis (2020–22), the post-pandemic economic recovery was broadly due to an improvement of market income with an almost nil contribution of tax-benefit reforms