PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

How often are unauthorized immigrant workers trafficked and abused?

2014-04-22
(Press-News.org) Los Angeles, CA (April 22, 2014) Labor trafficking – or recruiting a person for labor through force, fraud, or coercion for involuntary servitude, debt bondage, or even slavery – has been a difficult problem to track among undocumented migrant workers. With unique access to a "hidden population" from one of America's largest Spanish-speaking immigrant destinations, a recent study finds that more than 30% of undocumented migrant laborers in this area are victims of labor trafficking and 55% are victims of other labor abuses.

In this study, published in the May issue of The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, researchers Sheldon X. Zhang, Michael W. Spiller, Brian Karl Finch and Yang Qin used recent advances in sampling methodology to survey 826 migrant workers in San Diego County. The researchers found that trafficking violations and labor abuse were more commonly inflicted by employers in the work place than by smugglers during transportation and that janitorial and construction workers reported the most violations and abuse.

"One shouldn't be surprised by the findings from the study. While we are all striving for a better life, we as a society should become more conscientious about improving the working conditions of those whom we have come to depend on for our living standard," commented the study authors.

The researchers also found that illegal status is likely the most significant factor contributing to vulnerability to trafficking violations.

"Labor trafficking and other forms of gross exploitation are happening in the U.S. and always to those who have the least," the researchers concluded. "The challenge is to figure out what to do about them."

INFORMATION: Find out more by reading the full article "Conflict and Agency among Sex Workers and Pimps: A Closer Look at Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking," available free for a limited time here: http://ann.sagepub.com/content/653/1/65.full.pdf+html

This new study is part of a special issue from The ANNALS titled "Human Trafficking: Recent Empirical Research," edited by Ronald Weitzer and Sheldon X. Zhang.

Since 1889, The American Academy of Political and Social Science has served as a forum for the free exchange of ideas among the well informed and intellectually curious. In this era of specialization, few scholarly periodicals cover the scope of societies and politics like The ANNALS. Each volume is guest edited by outstanding scholars and experts in the topics studied and presents more than 200 pages of timely, in-depth research on a significant topic of concern. http://ann.sagepub.com/ Impact Factor: .856, ranked 32/92 in Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary and 59/157 in Political Science

SAGE is a leading international publisher of journals, books, and electronic media for academic, educational, and professional markets. Since 1965, SAGE has helped inform and educate a global community of scholars, practitioners, researchers, and students spanning a wide range of subject areas including business, humanities, social sciences, and science, technology, and medicine. An independent company, SAGE has principal offices in Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC. http://www.sagepublications.com


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

New tool helps doctors better predict, prevent deadly respiratory failure

New tool helps doctors better predict, prevent deadly respiratory failure
2014-04-22
A new prediction tool can help doctors better identify patients who are at highest risk for respiratory failure after surgery and therefore prevent the often deadly condition, suggest data from a large multi-center study published in the May issue of Anesthesiology. Affecting nearly 200,000 Americans a year, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a sudden failure of the lungs caused by a number of issues ranging from smoke inhalation to pneumonia or blood infection. High-risk patients can develop ARDS after surgery. ARDS is difficult to treat once it develops and ...

Minnesota projects offer hope and practical help to communities facing more extreme storms

2014-04-22
Recent projects in two Minnesota cities demonstrate how communities can protect themselves from worsening storms. These projects continue a ten year program in New England and the Midwest providing practical and affordable plans tailored to local conditions. "Our goal is to help communities begin the steps to protect themselves," said program co-leader Latham Stack, of Syntectic International, Portland, OR. "It's important because storms have already worsened. We help communities move beyond feeling paralyzed from the lack of local information and the sense that the problem ...

False-positive mammogram anxiety has limited impact on women's well-being

2014-04-22
(Lebanon, NH, 4/22/14). Dartmouth researchers have found that the anxiety experienced with a false-positive mammogram is temporary and does not negatively impact a woman's overall well-being. Their findings are reported in "Consequences of False-Positive Screening Mammograms," which was published online in the April 21, 2014 JAMA Internal Medicine Anywhere from 40 to 60 percent of women who undergo routine screening mammography during a ten-year period will experience a false-positive mammogram. Such mammograms require additional testing, sometimes involving a biopsy, ...

Cannabis chemistry: How scientists test pot for potency and safety (video)

Cannabis chemistry: How scientists test pot for potency and safety (video)
2014-04-22
WASHINGTON, April 22, 2014 — Marijuana is in the headlines as more and more states legalize it for medicinal use or decriminalize it entirely. In the American Chemical Society's (ACS') newest Reactions video, we explain the chemistry behind marijuana's high, and investigate what scientists are doing to ensure that legalized weed won't send users on a bad trip. The video is available at http://youtu.be/4ukdUDCE56c Subscribe to the series at Reactions YouTube, and follow us on Twitter @ACSreactions to be the first to see our latest videos. INFORMATION: The American ...

Researchers identify a mechanism linking bariatric surgery to health benefits

Researchers identify a mechanism linking bariatric surgery to health benefits
2014-04-22
Bariatric surgery has positive effects not only on weight loss but also on diabetes and heart disease. Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy and University of Cincinnati have shown that the health benefits are not caused by a reduction in the stomach size but by increased levels of bile acids in the blood. These findings, reported in Nature, indicate that bile acids could be a new target for treating obesity and diabetes. Previous research from the Sahlgrenska Academy has demonstrated that obesity surgery is the only effective treatment for obesity and obesity-related ...

NeuroPhage discovers GAIM-changing molecules to combat Alzheimer's and related diseases

NeuroPhage discovers GAIM-changing molecules to combat Alzheimers and related diseases
2014-04-22
Cambridge, MA, April 22, 2014 – Researchers from NeuroPhage Pharmaceuticals, Inc. have engineered a series of molecules with the potential to treat most neurodegenerative diseases that are characterized by misfolded proteins, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases. These molecules are based on what the Company calls a general amyloid interaction motif, or GAIM, which recognizes a characteristic common to many toxic, misfolded proteins, not just one type of misfolded protein. This approach provides NeuroPhage with an array of therapeutic targets, so that ...

Sleep disorder linked to brain disease

2014-04-22
Researchers at the University of Toronto say a sleep disorder that causes people to act out their dreams is the best current predictor of brain diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. "Rapid-eye-movement sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) is not just a precursor but also a critical warning sign of neurodegeneration that can lead to brain disease," says associate professor and lead author Dr. John Peever. In fact, as many as 80 to 90 per cent of people with RBD will develop a brain disease." As the name suggests, the disturbance occurs during the rapid-eye-movement (REM) ...

Mysteries of a nearby planetary system's dynamics now are solved

Mysteries of a nearby planetary systems dynamics now are solved
2014-04-22
Mysteries of one of the most fascinating nearby planetary systems now have been solved, report authors of a scientific paper to be published by the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society in its early online edition on 22 April 2014. The study, which presents the first viable model for the planetary system orbiting one the first stars discovered to have planets -- the star named 55 Cancri -- was led by Penn State University graduate student Benjamin Nelson in collaboration with faculty at the Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds at Penn State and ...

Protein expression gets the heart pumping

2014-04-22
HOUSTON – (April 22, 2014) – Most people think the development of the heart only happens in the womb, however the days and weeks following birth are full of cellular changes that play a role in the structure and function of the heart. Using mouse models, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have now been able to categorize the alternative splicing (the process in which genes code proteins, determining their role) that takes place during these changes and what mechanisms they affect. The findings, which appear in Nature Communications, also helped to identify a ...

First brain images of African infants enable research into cognitive effects of nutrition

First brain images of African infants enable research into cognitive effects of nutrition
2014-04-22
Brain activity of babies in developing countries could be monitored from birth to reveal the first signs of cognitive dysfunction, using a new technique piloted by a London-based university collaboration. The cognitive function of infants can be visualised and tracked more quickly, more accurately and more cheaply using the method, called functional near infra-red spectroscopy (fNIRS), compared to the behavioural assessments Western regions have relied upon for decades. Professor Clare Elwell, Professor of Medical Physics at University College London (UCL), said: "Brain ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Malnutrition in children rises when economy drops

New model enables the study of how protein complex influences mitochondrial function

Device study offers hopes for spinal cord injuries

How urea forms spontaneously

Mayo Clinic’s AI tool identifies 9 dementia types, including Alzheimer’s, with one scan

Gene therapy improves blood flow in the brain in patients with sickle cell disease

Building breast tissue in the lab to better understand lactation

How gut bacteria change after exposure to pesticides

Timepoint at which developing B-cells become cancerous impacts leukemia treatment

Roberto Morandotti wins prestigious IEEE Photonics Society Quantum Electronics Award 

New urine-based tumor DNA test may help personalize bladder cancer treatment

How a faulty transport protein in the brain can trigger severe epilepsy

Study reveals uneven land sinking across New Orleans, raising flood-risk concerns

Researchers uncover novel mechanism for regulating ribosome biogenesis during brain development

RNA codon expansion via programmable pseudouridine editing and decoding

Post-diagnosis emergency department presentation and demographic factors in malignant skin cancers

A new genetic tuner for embryo development

Insurance churn and the COVID-19 pandemic

Postpartum Medicaid use in birthing parents and access to financed care

Manufacturing chemicals via orthogonal strategy, making full use of waste plastic resources in real life

Study overturns long-held belief about shape of fish schools

Precision oncology Organ Chip platform accurately and actionably predicts chemotherapy responses of patients suffering from esophageal adenocarcinoma

Verify the therapeutic effect of effective components of lycium barbarum on hepatocellular carcinoma based on molecular docking

Early intervention changes trajectory for depressed preschoolers

HonorHealth Research Institute presents ‘monumental’ increase in survivability for patients suffering ultra-low blood pressure

Mitochondrial dynamics in breast cancer metastasis: From metabolic drivers to therapeutic targets

Removing out-of-pocket fee improves access to 3D mammography

Does reducing exposure to image and video content on messaging apps reduce the impact of misinformation? Yes and no

A global microbiome preservation effort enters its growth phase

New credit card-sized TB test could close the diagnostic gap in HIV hotspots

[Press-News.org] How often are unauthorized immigrant workers trafficked and abused?