The Effects of Misrepresentation (2020-2021)

This example of a research inquiry investigates issues of representation in the comic, Black Panther. Cobo writes: “In the 1960s, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduced T’Challa, famously known as the Black Panther. He was the first black superhero to be introduced in the Marvel Universe and into popular American comics. The world that Black Panther lived in is very advanced and breaks the stereotype of the view that many Americans have on Africa. However, that is only one stereotype that it has worked against. There have been many other stereotypes that writers use in T’Challa’s storyline that can be detrimental to making progress against racism. When creating black characters, many times they were not able to amount to the status that white characters have because of the lack of representation. Many authors have written about this topic trying to analyze why misrepresentation keeps happening and how it can be fixed. Through analysis and research, it is clear that there is still a long way to go in order for minorities to be properly portrayed in the media.”https://digitalcommons.cortland.edu/rhetdragonsresearchinquiry/1003/thumbnail.jp

Identities, selection, and contributions in a public-goods game

The notions of one's social identity and group membership have recently become topics for economic theory and experiments, and recent research has shown the importance of identity in a wide array of economic environments. But predictions are unclear when there is some trade-off between one's identity (e.g., race, gender, handedness) and potential monetary considerations. We conduct a public-goods experiment in which we permit endogenous group-formation. In a 2x2 design, we vary whether people participate in a team-building exercise and whether some people receive an endowment twice as much as others receive. We find that when both identity and financial considerations are present, high-endowment participants are strongly attracted to each other, with one's word-task-group affiliation eclipsed by the opportunity to earn more. Nevertheless, the team-building exercise greatly increases the level of contribution whether or not one is linked to people from one's team-building exercise

Endogenous Sanctioning Institutions and Migration Patterns: Experimental Evidence

We experimentally analyze the effect of the endogenous choice of sanctioning institutions on cooperation and migration patterns across societies. In our experiment, subjects are allocated to one of two groups, are endowed with group-specific preferences,and play a public goods game for 30 periods. Each period, subjects can move between groups and, at fixed intervals, can vote on whether to implement formal (centralized) sanctioning institutions in their group. We compare this environment to one in which only one group is exogenously endowed with sanctioning institutions. We find that subjects' ability to vote on institutions leads to (i) a more efficient partition of subjects between groups, (ii) a lower migration rate, (iii) an increase in overall payoffs, and (iv) a decrease in both inter- and intra-groups (payoff) inequality. Over time, subjects tend to vote for sanctioning institutions and contribute to the public good

Inequality aversion among Spanish gypsies: an experimental approach [Aversión a la desigualdad entre gitanos Españoles: un enfoque experimental]

This paper presents a first attempt to measure inequality aversion among gypsies. We conducted an experiment among adult gypsies living at slums outside Vallecas (Madrid). To analyze this variable we use the mechanism provided by Kroll & Davidovitz (2003) among 38 voluntary participants. Results indicate that: i) 52.6% of the individuals are inequality averse; ii) there is a positive relationship between inequality aversion and some features of the population such as individual religious practice, marital status, family size, position in the hierarchy of the family or club association and, iii) neither wealth, nor participation in voluntary activities affect inequality aversion

Structure and dynamics of penumbral filaments

High-resolution observations of sunspots have revealed the existence of dark cores inside the bright filaments of the penumbra. Here we present the stationary solution of the heat transfer equation in a stratified penumbra consisting of nearly horizontal magnetic flux tubes embedded in a stronger and more vertical field. The tubes and the external medium are in horizontal mechanical equilibrium. This model produces bright filaments with dark cores as a consequence of the higher density of the plasma inside the flux tube, which shifts the surface of optical depth unity toward higher (cooler) layers. Our results suggest that the surplus brightness of the penumbra is a natural consequence of the Evershed flow, and that magnetic flux tubes about 250 km in diameter can explain the morphology of sunspot penumbra.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, conference proceedings: SEA, 2008, Santander, Spai

Fluxtube model atmospheres and Stokes V zero-crossing wavelengths

First results of the inversion of Stokes I and V profiles from plage regions near disk center are presented. Both low and high spatial resolution spectra of FeI 6301.5 and FeI 6302.5 A obtained with the Advanced Stokes Polarimeter (ASP) have been considered for analysis. The thin flux tube approximation, implemented in an LTE inversion code based on response functions, is used to describe unresolved magnetic elements. The code allows the simultaneous and consistent inference of all atmospheric quantities determining the radiative transfer with the sole assumption of hydrostatic equilibrium. By considering velocity gradients within the tubes we are able to match the full ASP Stokes profiles. The magnetic atmospheres derived from the inversion are characterized by the absence of significant motions in high layers and strong velocity gradients in deeper layers. These are essential to reproduce the asymmetries of the observed profiles. Our scenario predicts a shift of the Stokes V zero-crossing wavelengths which is indeed present in observations made with the Fourier Transform Spectrometer.Comment: To appear in ApJ Letters (1997) (in press

Evaluación del lavado gástrico como herramienta para el análisis de la dieta en trucha común

Se ha estudiado la eficacia del método de extracción del contenido estomacal mediante el procedimiento de lavado estomacal a través de una bomba diseñada a partir del modelo original de Seaburg (1957). La efectividad del método no esta relacionada con el tamaño del pez, sino más bien con las propias características morfológicas de las presas, el estado de repleción del estómago y el grado de digestión del alimento. Así, la efectividad del método está inversamente relacionada con el estado de repleción. Además, presas de gran tamaño y que presentan estructuras rígidas como los Aeshnidae y los Tricópteros con estuches son más difíciles de expulsar. No obstante, las diferencias observadas en la efectividad de expulsión entre presas con las mismas características se deben al diferente grado de digestión de las mismas. Aún así, la efectividad media del método es elevada y superior al 80 %. Se trata pues de una metodología relativamente sencilla y eficaz, por lo que su uso es adecuado para la obtención de muestras de contenido estomacal en juveniles y adultos de trucha común.The efficacy of the method of extracting stomach content, by means of the procedure of stomach washing through a pump, based on Seaburg's original model (1957), has been studied. The effectiveness of the method is not related to the size of the fish, but rather to the prey's own morphological characteristics, the degree of repletion of the stomach and the extent of digestion of the food. Thus, the effectiveness of the method is inversely related to the degree of repletion. Furthermore, bigger prey having rigid structures, such as Aeshnidae and Caddisflies with cases are more difficult to expel. However, the observed differences in the effectiveness of expulsion between preys with similar characteristics are due to the extent of their digestion. Nevertheless, the average effectiveness of the method is high and in excess of 80 %. It is therefore a relatively simple and effective methodology and the reason why its use is appropriate for obtaining stomach content samples in young and adult brown trout

Descripción de la larva de Micrasema servatum (Navás, 1918) (Trichoptera, Brachycentridae)

The larva of Micrasema servatum (Navás, 1918), an endemic species of the Iberian Peninsula, is described for the first time and compared with those known of other Iberian species. The most important diagnostic features are illustrated and some taxonomic, zoogeographical and ecological notes are presented. Larva of M. servatum is, for the moment, the only known European species of the genus with four mesonotal sclerites and a case made of vegetal fragments in combination.La larva de Micrasema servatum (Navás, 1918), una especie endémica de la Península Ibérica, se describe por vez primera comparándola con el resto de las especies ibéricas del género. Se ilustran sus caracteres diagnósticos más importantes y se realizan algunas observaciones taxonómicas, zoogeográficas y ecológicas. Por el momento, M. servatum es la única especie europea de este género cuya larva combina la presencia de cuatro escleritos mesonotales con la construcción de un estuche de naturaleza vegetal