Negative assimilation:how immigrants experience economic mobility in Japan

This paper examines the economic mobility of foreign migrants in Japan. In a country that is largely regarded as homogeneous and closed to outsiders, how and to what extent do immigrants achieve economic success? A survey conducted by the authors revealed that the conventional assimilationist perspective does not fully explain immigrants’ economic success in Japan. Migrants from the West experience what Chiswick and Miller (2011) refer to as “negative assimilation.” That is, their earnings decline over time in Japan. While negative assimilation was not clearly observed among immigrants from neighboring Asian countries, wages among them did not increase with the length of their stay in Japan. For both groups, the skills they brought from abroad were found to be largely accountable for their economic success, while locally specific human capital, such as education acquired in the host society, did not contribute to their earnings.

Triangulation mobility of auto-theft offenders

This research paper presents an examination of the journey to and from crime for autotheft offenders in the UK. For 852 offences, ‘wheel’ distances are calculated for triangles formed by offenders’ home location, theft location, and vehicle disposal location. The study demonstrates typical isosceles mobility triangles; distances travelled to and from home locations are roughly equal, whereas distances between theft and disposal points were shorter. Distances travelled by offenders under 17 years old and offences involving drug and drink were shown to be shorter than comparison groups. Prolifi c offenders tend to travel further, although there is signifi cant variation in this subgroup. Explanations and implications are discussed.

Effect of mobility on violence in a bi-communal population

We develop a multi-agent based model to simulate a population which comprises of two ethnic groups and a peacekeeping force. We investigate the effects of different strategies for civilian movement to the resulting violence in this bi-communal population. Specifically, we compare and contrast random and race-based migration strategies. Race-based migration leads the formation of clusters. Previous work in this area has shown that same-race clustering instigates violent behavior in otherwise passive segments of the population. Our findings confirm this. Furthermore, we show that in settings where only one of the two races adopts race-based migration it is a winning strategy especially in violently predisposed populations. On the other hand, in relatively peaceful settings clustering is a restricting factor which causes the race that adopts it to drift into annihilation. Finally, we show that when race-based migration is adopted as a strategy by both ethnic groups it results in peaceful co-existence even in the most violently predisposed populations.

Ability assessment and job structure measures in occupational mobility

Recent and potential changes in technology have resulted in the anticipation of increases in the frequency of job changes. This has led manpower policy makers to investigate the feasibility of incorporating the employment skills of job groups in the general prediction of future job learning and performance with a view to the establishment of "job families" within which transfer might be considered reciprocally high. A structured job analysis instrument (the Position Analysis Questionnaire) is evaluated in terms of two distinct sets of scores; job dimensions and synthetically established attribute/trait profiles. Studies demonstrate that estimates of a job's structure/dimensions and requisite human attributes can be reliably established. Three alternative techniques of statistically assembling profiles of the requisite human attributes for jobs are found to have differential levels of reliability and differential degrees of validity in their estimation of the "actual" ability requirements of jobs. The utility of these two sets of job descriptors to serve as representations of the cognitive structure similarity of job groups is investigated in a study which simulates a job transfer situation. The central role of the index of similarity used to assess the relationship between "target" and "present" job is demonstrated. The relative extents to which job structure similarity and job attribute similariity are associated with positive transfer are investigated. The studies demonstrate that the dimensions of jobs, and more fruitfully their requisite human attributes can serve as bases to predict job transfer learning and performance. The nature of the index of similarity used to optimally formulate predictions of transfer is such that networks of jobs might be establishable to which current job incumbents could be expected to transfer positively. The derivation of "job families" with anticipated reciprocal transfer consequences is considered to be less appropriate.

Migration and mobility of new Polish migrants in England:narratives of lived experience

This thesis sets out to understand the act of migrating in a period of growing movement of people. It captures the subjective experience of individual migrants, as narrated in the migration stories of 32 “new” Polish migrants in the West Midlands region of England. Since the enlargement of the European Union in 2004, over half a million Poles have arrived and registered to work in the UK, constituting one of the largest migration movements in contemporary Britain and Europe. This influx of predominantly young migrants opened up public and academic debates regarding the social relations between the Polish migrants and the host society, their duration of stay, and the impact on the economy and social services. While a substantial amount of research has now been undertaken on this migration, this thesis highlights some of the significant features of migration to Britain and Europe today, namely its dynamic, fluid, complex and varied character. Through four themes of lived experience of migration, migration and mobility, gender, and return migration, this thesis uncovers and explores the phenomenon of post-2004 EU migration from the perspective of migrants themselves. Migrant stories in this thesis are linked with experiences and meanings of migration, but also migrants’ emotions, perceptions, views and opinions. By exploring individual journeys of migration and deliberating over the determinants and consequences of migration, this thesis asks how the processes of migration and mobility come into play in the everyday lives of migrant people, and how this impacts on questions of identity, home, belonging, gender, as well as return.

Impact of soft contact lens edge design and mid-peripheral lens shape on the epithelium and its indentation with lens mobility

Purpose. To evaluate the influence of soft contact lens midperipheral shape profile and edge design on the apparent epithelial thickness and indentation of the ocular surface with lens movement. Methods. Four soft contact lens designs comprising of two different plano midperipheral shape profiles and two edge designs (chiseled and knife edge) of silicone-hydrogel material were examined in 26 subjects aged 24.7 ± 4.6 years, each worn bilaterally in randomized order. Lens movement was imaged enface on insertion, at 2 and 4 hours with a high-speed, high-resolution camera simultaneous to the cross-section of the edge of the contact lens interaction with the ocular surface captured using optical coherence tomography (OCT) nasally, temporally, and inferiorly. Optical imaging distortions were individually corrected for by imaging the apparent distortion of a glass slide surface by the removed lens. Results. Apparent epithelial thickness varied with edge position (P < 0.001). When distortion was corrected for, epithelial indentation decreased with time after insertion (P = 0.010), changed after a blink (P < 0.001), and varied with position on the lens edge (P < 0.001), with the latter being affected by midperipheral lens shape profile and edge design. Horizontal and vertical lens movement did not change with time postinsertion. Vertical motion was affected by midperipheral lens shape profile (P < 0.001) and edge design (P < 0.001). Lens movement was associated with physiologic epithelium thickness for lens midperipheral shape profile and edge designs. Conclusions. Dynamic OCT coupled with high-resolution video demonstrated that soft contact lens movement and image-corrected ocular surface indentation were influenced by both lens edge design and midperipheral lens shape profiles. © 2013 The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc.

Mobility of NMDA autoreceptors but not postsynaptic receptors at glutamate synapses in the rat entorhinal cortex

NMDA receptors (NMDAr) are known to undergo recycling and lateral diffusion in postsynaptic spines and dendrites. However, NMDAr are also present as autoreceptors on glutamate terminals, where they act to facilitate glutamate release, but it is not known whether these receptors are also mobile. We have used functional pharmacological approaches to examine whether NMDA receptors at excitatory synapses in the rat entorhinal cortex are mobile at either postsynaptic sites or in presynaptic terminals. When NMDAr-mediated evoked EPSCs (eEPSCs) were blocked by MK-801, they showed no evidence of recovery when the irreversible blocker was removed, suggesting that postsynaptic NMDAr were relatively stably anchored at these synapses. However, using frequency-dependent facilitation of AMPA receptor (AMPAr)-mediated eEPSCs as a reporter of presynaptic NMDAr activity, we found that when facilitation was blocked with MK-801 there was a rapid (similar to 30-40 min) anomalous recovery upon removal of the antagonist. This was not observed when global NMDAr blockade was induced by combined perfusion with MK-801 and NMDA. Anomalous recovery was accompanied by an increase in frequency of spontaneous EPSCs, and a variable increase in frequency-facilitation. Following recovery from blockade of presynaptic NMDAr with a competitive antagonist, frequency-dependent facilitation of AMPAr-mediated eEPSCs was also transiently enhanced. Finally, an increase in frequency of miniature EPSCs induced by NMDA was succeeded by a persistent decrease. Our data provide the first evidence for mobility of NMDAr in the presynaptic terminals, and may point to a role of this process in activity-dependent control of glutamate release.

What can higher education contribute to improving social mobility in the UK?

At a time when the UK may slowly be emerging out of what, for many in higher education, has been a period of ‘unprecedented change’ (Universities UK, 2012) in which institutions have found themselves having to balance increases in student expectations and demands against decreases in funding and resources, this special edition focuses on an issue that is becoming ever-more important – that of the relationship between social mobility and higher education. Drawing upon the findings of the Higher Education Academy’s March 2013 Conference: What can higher education contribute to improving social mobility in the UK?, the six papers gathered here give between them a clear indication of the proactive and synergetic manner in which the sector is responding to the resource and funding challenges which it currently faces.

The role of transport and mobility in the health of older people

The world's population is ageing. Older people are healthier and more active than previous generations. Living in a hypermobile world, people want to stay connected to dispersed communities as they age. Staying connected to communities and social networks enables older people to contribute and connect with society and is associated with positive mental and physical health, facilitating independence and physical activity while reducing social isolation. Changes in physiology and cognition associated with later life mean longer journeys may have to be curtailed. A shift in focus is needed to fully explore older people, transport and health; a need to be multidisciplinary in approach and to embrace social sciences and arts and humanities. A need to embrace different types of mobilities is needed for a full understanding of ageing, transport and health, moving from literal or corporeal through virtual and potential to imaginative mobility, taking into account aspirations and emotions. Mobility in later life is more than a means of getting to destinations and includes more affective or emotive associations. Cycling and walking are facilitated not just by improving safety but through social and cultural norms. Car driving can be continued safely in later life if people make appropriate and informed decisions about when and how to stop driving; stringent testing of driver ability and skill has as yet had little effect on safety. Bus use facilitates physical activity and keeps people connected but there are concerns for the future viability of buses. The future of transport may be more community led and involve more sharing of transport modes.

Spatio-temporal techniques for user identification by means of GPS mobility data

One of the greatest concerns related to the popularity of GPS-enabled devices and applications is the increasing availability of the personal location information generated by them and shared with application and service providers. Moreover, people tend to have regular routines and be characterized by a set of “significant places”, thus making it possible to identify a user from his/her mobility data. In this paper we present a series of techniques for identifying individuals from their GPS movements. More specifically, we study the uniqueness of GPS information for three popular datasets, and we provide a detailed analysis of the discriminatory power of speed, direction and distance of travel. Most importantly, we present a simple yet effective technique for the identification of users from location information that are not included in the original dataset used for training, thus raising important privacy concerns for the management of location datasets.

Engaging autobiography:mobility trauma and international relations

This article outlines the possibilities of autobiographical stories to criticize status quo iterations of International Relations (IR). The article draws on the personal experiences of the author’s deportation order issued by the United Kingdom’s Home Office and its associated Border Agency (UKBA) to challenge the accepted assumptions of a cosmopolitan worldview as it relates to orderly international institutional design. It highlights the possibilities of trauma when border management and personal mobility collide. It suggests that mobility trauma ensues when the expectations of human mobility, outlined in Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, infringe the state’s role as security provider. It begins in part one with a challenge to the traditional role and understanding of international borders that sustain order within the international. It examines the unacknowledged role that human vulnerability plays within IR and institutional design while frankly engaging with human vulnerability and trauma in the second section. This section details the experiences of the author when her mobility rights were curtailed and the ensuing identity crisis prompted by such events. The final section investigates the ideas of critical cosmopolitan scholarship demanding that such discourses acknowledge and work through the possibility of failed agency when the demands of state security supersede individual mobility rights. It turns to the possibility of traumatic iterations of IR in order to probe such possibilities. The article suggests, in its conclusion, the possibility of storytelling and psychoanalysis to endorse unorthodox agency, and the possibility of a dynamic international institutional design, that challenges the status quo iterations of IR.

Seeking out the untold stories of mobility

Postedonteh blog RelationsInternational by Laura Sjoberg, an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Florida.

Effect of spatial inhomogeneity of charge carrier mobility on current-voltage characteristics in organic field-effect transistors

A semi-quantitative model is put forward elucidating the role of spatial inhomogeneity of charge carrier mobility in organic field-effect transistors. The model, based on electrostatic arguments, allows estimating the effective thickness of the conducting channel and its changes in function of source-drain and gate voltages. Local mobility gradients in the direction perpendicular to the insulator/semiconductor interface translate into voltage dependences of the average carrier mobility in the channel, resulting in positive or negative deviations of current-voltage characteristics from their expected shapes. The proposed effect supplements those described in the literature, i.e., density-dependent mobility of charge carriers, short-channel effects, and contribution of contact resistance.

Directional mobility of debt ratings

In this paper we describe a method to decompose a well-known measure of debt ratings mobility into it's directional components. We show, using sovereign debt ratings as an example, that this directional decomposition allows us to better understand the underlying characteristics of debt ratings migration and, for the case of the data set used, that the standard Markov chain model is not homogeneous in either the time or cross-sectional dimensions. We find that the directional decomposition also allows us to sign the change in quality of debt over time and across sub-groups of the population.