Tolerance Uncovered: How Frequency of News Exposure and Contact Affects Tolerance of Groups

Tolerance of opposing viewpoints is a critical aspect of a functioning democracy. Past research on tolerance has made substantial progress in recent years, but we are left without a comprehensive understanding of the extent to which more frequent exposure to positively or negatively framed coverage affects tolerance of out-groups, and to what extent these effects may be enhanced or moderated by different types of contact with a member of said out-group. Using a mixed methods approach that relies on both quantitative (laboratory experiments) and qualitative (interviews and content analysis) methods my dissertation research contributes to our understanding of the of effects of media and contact on tolerance of groups. Using Muslim-Americans as a case study, I begin with detailed content analysis of 40 news articles related to the 2010 controversy over a proposed Mosque in Temecula, CA. I find the overwhelming majority of these articles framed the proposed Mosque construction in a negative way. Fear of extremist activity, Islam as a domestic threat, and Islamization of America were common themes. I follow my content analysis with interviews of Temecula residents who were either for or against mosque construction. Among the opposition, I find similar themes to my content analysis related to fear of Islam and Muslims. The majority of supporters argued that media played an important role in creating opposition to the proposed Mosque. My qualitative work provides context for three original experiments that I use to argue and demonstrate that positive media exposure leads to significant increases in tolerance, and that these effects increase with multiple positive media exposure. I also show that exposure to multiple negative news stories leads to reductions in tolerance greater than a single story alone. I further demonstrate that contact is an effective means of increasing tolerant judgements. I first use self-reported measures of contact to illustrate the effects of contact alone and its interaction with different types (positive or negative) and amounts (frequency) of media. I find that high levels of contact moderate the effects of negative media, including exposure to multiple negative frames. I also find that contact enhances the effects of positive media exposure. To better develop the causal relationship between contact and tolerance, I then devise and conduct a novel original experiment where contact is randomly assigned in the context of exposure to two negative or a single positive news article. I find that contact alone leads to significant increases in tolerance and that these effects are enhanced by positive media and washed out by negative media. Together, my dissertation demonstrates that the formation of tolerant judgments is a multi-factorial process, the interactions of these factors are important, and each factor (i.e. media, contact, and frequency) should be considered to operate on a continuum

Spatio-Temporal Context in Agent-Based Meeting Scheduling

Meeting scheduling is a common task for organizations of all sizes. It involves searching for a time and place when and where all the participants can meet. However, scheduling a meeting is generally difficult in that it attempts to satisfy the preferences of all participants. Negotiation tends to be an iterative and time consuming task. Proxy agents can handle the negotiation on behalf of the individuals without sacrificing their privacy or overlooking their preferences. This thesis examines the implications of formalizing meeting scheduling as a spatiotemporal negotiation problem. The “Children in the Rectangular Forest” (CRF) canonical model is applied to meeting scheduling. By formalizing meeting scheduling within the CRF model, a generalized problem emerges that establishes a clear relationship with other spatiotemporal distributed scheduling problems. The thesis also examines the implications of the proposed formalization to meeting scheduling negotiations. A protocol for meeting location selection is presented and evaluated using simulations

SOLITARY WAVE SOLUTIONS FOR SPACE-TIME FRACTIONAL COUPLED INTEGRABLE DISPERSIONLESS SYSTEM VIA GENERALIZED KUDRYASHOV METHOD

In this article, space-time fractional coupled integrable dispersionless system is considered, and we use fractional derivative in the sense of modified Riemann-Liouville. The fractional system has reduced to an ordinary differential system by fractional transformation and the generalized Kudryashov method is applied to obtain exact solutions. We also testify performance as well as precision of the applied method by means of numerical tests for obtaining solutions. The obtained results have been graphically presented to show the properties of the solutions

Exploring Aspects Of Design And Safety Of Children Playgrounds In Malaysia

Taman permainan merupakan sebuah tempat untuk kanak-kanak membina pengalaman serta memperoleh keseronokan bermain di persekitaran luar. Ia dapat membantu meningkatkan kompetensi fizikal dan pengurusan emosi kanak-kanak A playground is a place to give children some excitement of outdoor playfulness and provides essential childhood experiences. It helps in developing their physical and emotional competencie

SOLVING BURGER’S AND COUPLED BURGER’S EQUATIONS WITH CAPUTO-FABRIZIO FRACTIONAL OPERATOR

In this paper, we apply Daftardar-Jafari method (DJM) to obtain approximate solutions of the nonlinear Burgers (NBE) and coupled nonlinear Burger’s equations (CNBEs) with Caputo-Fabrizio fractional operator (CFFO). The efficiency of the considered method is illustrated by some examples. Graphical results are utilized and discussed quantitatively to illustrate the solution. The results reveal that the suggested algorithm is very effective and simple and can be applied for other problems in sciences and engineering

Spatial Modeling of STH Diseases Vulnerability Based on Remote Sensmg and GIS in Pagatan, Tanati Bumbu

The objectives of this study are: to apply of the remote sensing ability and GIS to obtained, to identify the environmental characteristics based on the spatial pattern in relation to the vulnerability of Soil Transmitted Helminth (STH) infections, to analyze of the environmental factors as the spatial phenomena of STH infections, and to know the accuracy of the worldview-1 image to determine the vulnerability of environmental factors in relation to the STH infections2. This study used remote sensing applications (Worldview-1 images) as the primary data source to obtain the vulnerability factors of physical environmental in relation to the STH infection, and GIS to analyze, based on the spatial pattern with spatial modeling. This study is the descriptive and analytical of types and using cross sectional study design. Pagatan City was selected as the study area because it is the endemic of STH infections which has the highest prevalence rate in South Kalimantan, namely: the prevalence rate of 72.6% (2009), and whereas the national rate of 30.35% (2004). Results of this study shows that remote sensing technique integrated with GIS could be use to study the spatial pattern of STH infections with a good accuracy. Characteristics of physical environmental factors which influence of STH infection in the study area based on the parameters of: the quality of settlement, the quality of behavior people, and the quality of the sanitations. The settlement quality factors i.e. the density of houses, the pattern of houses. The quality of behavior people factors i.e. the quality of knowledge, the quality of action. The quality of sanitation facility factors i.e. well, latrine, sewerage and trash box. This information indicates that, the applying of remote sensing data (worldview-1 map) and GIS applications that it provides a cost­effective approach for designing and monitoring programs at realistic scale, so it can be reference to eradicate of STH infection based on the physical environmental factors aspects. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk: menerapkan kemampuan Penginderaan Jauh dan SIG untuk memperoleh dan menganalisis kerentanan lingkungan sebagai fenomena Penyakit Sai! Transmitted Helminth (STH), mengetahui karakteristik lingkungan berdasarkan pola spasialnya yang berkaitan dengan kerentanan penyakit STH, dan mengetahui akurasi citra Warldview-1 di dalam menentukan kerentanan penyakit STH. Penelitian ini bersifat deskriptif analitik, dengan menggunakan rancangan data potong lintang. Kota Pagatan dipilih sebagai lokasi penelitian, karena merupakan daerah endemis Penyakit STH dengan angka prevalensi tertinggi di Kalimantan Selatan, yaitu 72,6% (2009), sedangkan angka prevalensi nasional 30,35% (2004). Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa teknik Penginderaan Jauh (citra Warldview-1) dengan integrasi oleh SIG dapat digunakan untuk kajian pola spasial kerentanan Penyakit STH dengan ketelitian yang cukup baik. Faktor-faktor lingkungan fisik yang mempengaruhi kerentanan penyakit STH di daerah penelitian berdasarkan pada parameter: kualitas pemukiman, kualitas perilaku, dan kualitas sanitasi lingkungan. Kualitas pemukiman didasarkan oleh faktor kepadatan dan keteraturan rumah mukim, parameter kualitas perilaku penduduk didasarkan oleh faktor kualitas pengetahuan dan tindakan, dan parameter kualitas fasilitas sanitasi didasarkan oleh kualitas dari faktor-faktor: sumur, jamban, saluran limbah rumah tangga, dan tempat sampah. Dengan informasi ini, mengindikasikan bahwa penerapan aplikasi data Penginderaan Jauh (Warldview-1) dengan SIG dapat memberikan suatu nilai yang positif untuk program perencanan dan pemantauan dalam skala yang realistis, dan dapat menjadi salah satu acuan pada pemberantasan Penyakit STH berdasarkan aspek lingkungan fisik

HYPERBOLIC TYPE SOLUTIONS FOR THE COUPLE BOITI-LEON-PEMPINELLI SYSTEM

In this paper, the (1/G')-expansion method is used to solve the coupled Boiti-Leon-Pempinelli (CBLP) system. The proposed method was used to construct hyperbolic type solutions of the nonlinear evolution equations. To asses the applicability and effectiveness of this method, some nonlinear evolution equations have been investigated in this study. It is shown that with the help of symbolic computation, the (1/G')-expansion method provides a powerful and straightforward mathematical tool for solving nonlinear partial differential equations