Exploring the Relationship between Critical Consciousness and Intent to Persist in Immigrant Latina/o College Students

abstract: The purpose of this investigation was to develop a testable integrative social cognitive model of critical consciousness (Freire, 1973) that explains the relationship between critical consciousness and intent to persist in college among underserved students, such as undocumented immigrants known as DREAMers. Three constructs based on theory (i.e., critical reflection, critical action, and political efficacy) as well as a new one (i.e., political outcome expectations) were conceptualized and tested through a framework inspired by Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994; Lent & Brown, 2013). A total of 638 college students participated in this study and reflected a spectrum of disadvantage and educational attainment, which included 120 DREAMers, 124 Latina/o students, 117 non-Latina/o minorities, and 277 non-Latina/o Whites. Goodness of fit tests showed support for the adequacy of using the new model with this diverse sample of students. Tests of structural invariance indicated that 10 relational paths in the model were invariant across student cultural groups, while 7 paths were differentiated. Most of the differences involved DREAMers and non-Latina/o White students. For DREAMers, critical action was positively related to intent to persist, while that relationship was negative for non-Latina/o Whites with legal status. Findings provide support to the structure of critical consciousness across cultural groups, highlight the key role that students’ supporters (i.e., important people in their life) play in their sociopolitical engagement and intent to persist, and suggest that political outcome expectations are related to higher persistence intention across all students.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Counseling Psychology 201

Unveiling connectivity patterns of categories in complex systems: an application to human needs in urban places

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of mathematical sociology on 06/09/2016, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0022250X.2016.1219855We present a methodology based on weighted networks and dependence coefficients aimed at revealing connectivity patterns between categories. As a case study, it is applied to an urban place and at two spatial levels—neighborhood and square—where categories correspond to human needs. Our results show that diverse spatial levels present different and nontrivial patterns of need emergence. A numerical model indicates that these patterns depend on the probability distribution of weights. We suggest that this way of analyzing the connectivity of categories (human needs in our case study) in social and ecological systems can be used to define new strategies to cope with complex processes, such as those related to transition management and governance, urban-making, and integrated planning.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

CMOS analog map decoder for (8,4) hamming code

Journal ArticleAbstract-Design and test results for a fully integrated translinear tail-biting MAP error-control decoder are presented. Decoder designs have been reported for various applications which make use of analog computation, mostly for Viterbi-style decoders. MAP decoders are more complex, and are necessary components of powerful iterative decoding systems such as Turbo codes. Analog circuits may require less area and power than digital implementations in high-speed iterative applications. Our (8, 4) Hamming decoder, implemented in an AMI 0.5- m process, is the first functioning CMOS analog MAP decoder. While designed to operate in subthreshold, the decoder also functions above threshold with a small performance penalty. The chip has been tested at bit rates up to 2 Mb/s, and simulations indicate a top speed of about 10 Mb/s in strong inversion. The decoder circuit size is 0.82 mm2, and typical power consumption is 1 mW at 1 Mb/s

Evolutionary robotics and neuroscience

No description supplie

A Genome-Wide Analysis of Promoter-Mediated Phenotypic Noise in Escherichia coli

Gene expression is subject to random perturbations that lead to fluctuations in the rate of protein production. As a consequence, for any given protein, genetically identical organisms living in a constant environment will contain different amounts of that particular protein, resulting in different phenotypes. This phenomenon is known as “phenotypic noise.” In bacterial systems, previous studies have shown that, for specific genes, both transcriptional and translational processes affect phenotypic noise. Here, we focus on how the promoter regions of genes affect noise and ask whether levels of promoter-mediated noise are correlated with genes' functional attributes, using data for over 60% of all promoters in Escherichia coli. We find that essential genes and genes with a high degree of evolutionary conservation have promoters that confer low levels of noise. We also find that the level of noise cannot be attributed to the evolutionary time that different genes have spent in the genome of E. coli. In contrast to previous results in eukaryotes, we find no association between promoter-mediated noise and gene expression plasticity. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that, in bacteria, natural selection can act to reduce gene expression noise and that some of this noise is controlled through the sequence of the promoter region alon

Dynamic Properties of the New Neoclassical Synthesis Model of Business Cycle

Linear and Hodrick-Prescott detrending methods do not provide a good approximation of the business cycle when output contains a unit root. I use the multivariate Beveridge-Nelson decomposition to document the main patterns of US postwar business cycle when output and some other variables are assumed to be integrated I(1) processes. I show that the business cycle identified in this way displays some important differences with those obtained from the preceding methods. I then evaluate the ability of various dynamic general equilibrium (DGE) models to replicate the main aspects of this business cycle. Among competing models, I find that the best specification involves an economy hit simultaneously by both technological and monetary shocks, in a context of price stickiness and limited (but not sufficient) accommodation by the monetary authorities. Hence, the data favor the model advocated by the New-Neoclassical Synthesis rather than its purely classical (RBC type) or purely Keynesian counterparts.