Influences of Nationality and National Identification on Perceived Dangerousness of COVID-19 Variants and Perceived Effectiveness of COVID-19 Vaccines:A Study of UK and Portuguese Samples

During the COVID-19 pandemic, both variants of the virus that causes the disease and vaccines developed to combat it have been identified with nationalities. Both social identity theory and identity process theory would predict that this would initiate intergroup differentiation processes aimed at optimizing ingroup value and personal identity enhancement. Our study examined whether people’s nationality and level of national identification influence their perception of dangerousness of variants and effectiveness of vaccines. We compared data collected by online survey in March 2021 from the UK (which was associated with both a variant and a vaccine) and Portugal (which was associated with neither). The Portuguese rated variants overall as more dangerous than did the UK sample. The Chinese variant was rated by both samples as the least dangerous and the UK sample rated the British variant as less dangerous than did the Portuguese. Higher national identification in the UK sample was associated with differentiating more between the British variant and the South African variant and differentiating it less from the Chinese variant. The UK sample rated the effectiveness of the British vaccine higher than did the Portuguese. They also evaluated it as more effective than the American, Chinese and Indian vaccines. In both samples, higher national identification was associated with lower ratings of effectiveness for vaccines originating in China or India. Our study suggests that identity processes associated with national identification do influence perceptions of vaccines and variants. This has significant practice and policy implications. Social representations of variants and vaccines in nationalistic terms can have complex and unexpected consequences

Conectividad ecológica en parques naturales de montaña mediterránea. Revisión normativa y propuesta metodológica

La comunicación tiene como objetivo exponer las posibilidades que para la aplicación del principio de conectividad ecológica presenta la Ley 42/2007 de 13 de diciembre del Patrimonio Natural y la Biodiversidad en el contexto de los parques naturales y espacios de la Red Natura 2000 localizados en la montaña media mediterránea. Para ello, se parte del alcance de éstos y de su relación con sus áreas de influencia socieconómica (desarticulación de la relación ager-saltus); se analiza el tratamiento de que es objeto la conectividad en dicha ley; se propone la aplicación del análisis de los usos del suelo como instrumento para: a) identificar cartográficamente los usos del suelo que facilitan dicha conectividad; b) fortalecer los beneficios para la población de las áreas de influencia mediante la consideración de los servicios ecosistémicos; c) proponer unas figuras de gestión similares a la de los parques regionales franceses, por considerarlos más afines a las características socioterritoriales de estas áreas de montaña mediterránea.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

High-order methods for systems of fractional ordinary differential equations and their application to time-fractional diffusion equations

Taking into account the regularity properties of the solutions of fractional differential equations, we develop a numerical method which is able to deal, with the same accuracy, with both smooth and nonsmooth solutions of systems of fractional ordinary differential equations of the Caputo-type. We provide the error analysis of the numerical method and we illustrate its feasibility and accuracy through some numerical examples. Finally, we solve the time-fractional diffusion equation using a combination of the method of lines and the newly developed hybrid method.L.L. Ferras would like to thank FCT - Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia, I.P. (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) for financial support through the scholarship SFRH/BPD/100353/2014 and Project UID-MAT-00013/2013. M.L. Morgado aknowledges the financial support of FCT, through the Project UID/Multi/04621/2019 of CEMAT/IST-ID, Center for Computational and Stochastic Mathematics, Instituto Superior Tecnico, University of Lisbon. This work was also partially supported by FCT through the Project UID/MAT/00297/2019 (Centro de Matematica e Aplicacoes)

What Do Older People Think That Others Think of Them, and Does It Matter? The Role of Meta-Perceptions and Social Norms in the Prediction of Perceived Age Discrimination

Psychological theories of aging highlight the importance of social context. However, very little research has distinguished empirically between older people’s perception of how others in their social context perceive them (personal meta-perceptions) and the shared perceptions in society (societal meta-perceptions). Drawing on theories of intergroup relations and stereotyping and using a multilevel perspective, this article examines how well older people’s perceptions of age discrimination (PAD) are predicted by (a) older people’s personal meta-perceptions, (b) societal meta-perceptions, and (c) social norms of intolerance toward age prejudice. Aging meta-perceptions are differentiated into the cognitive and affective components of ageism. Multilevel analyses of data from the European Social Survey (N over 70 years of age 8,123, 29 countries; European Social Survey (ESS) Round 4 Data, 2008) confirmed that older people’s personal meta-perceptions of negative age stereotypes and specific intergroup emotions (pity, envy, contempt) are associated with higher PAD. However, at the societal-level, only paternalistic meta-perceptions were consistently associated with greater PAD. The results show that a few meta-perceptions operate only as a psychological phenomenon in explaining PAD, some carry consonant, and others carry contrasting effects at the societal-level of analysis. This evidence extends previous research on aging meta-perceptions by showing that both the content of meta-perceptions and the level of analysis at which they are assessed make distinct contributions to PAD. Moreover, social norms of intolerance of age prejudice have a larger statistical effect than societal meta-perceptions. Social interventions would benefit from considering these differential findings

Development of pitanga nectar with different sweeteners by sensory analysis: ideal pulp dilution, ideal sweetness, and sweetness equivalence

The objective of this study was to develop pitanga nectar formulations in which sucrose was replaced with different sweeteners. Consumer tests were conducted with 50 fruit juice consumers, and a just-about-right scale was used to determine the ideal pulp dilution and ideal sweetness with sucrose. Furthermore, the adequate concentrations of six sweeteners were determined to obtain the equivalent sweetness of sucrose using relative to these concentrations the magnitude estimation model with 19 selected assessors. The ideal dilution test resulted in 25% pulp, and the ideal sweetness test, 10% sucrose. Sweetener concentrations to replace sucrose were 0.0160%, 0.0541%, 0.1000%, 0.0999%, 0.0017%, and 0.0360%, respectively, for sucralose, aspartame, stevia 40% rebaudioside A, stevia 95% rebaudioside A, neotame, and a 2:1 cyclamate/saccharin blend. These results can be used to prepare pitanga nectar with different sweeteners and obtain the same sweetness intensity in less caloric products than that of nectar prepared with sucrose341174180CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQSem informaçã

O ensino das expressões idiomáticas em língua espanhola e suas equivalências em língua portuguesa

Quando aprendemos uma língua não podemos nos esquecer de que aprendemos também a maneira de ver o mundo e os costumes da sociedade que a fala, ou seja, a sua visão de mundo manifestada através das escolhas linguísticas. Daí que os mal-entendidos dos alunos de Espanhol como Língua Estrangeiras (E/LE) são, muitas vezes, resultado do desconhecimento tanto dos fatos linguísticos como dos culturais. As expressões idiomáticas, além de serem um ponto de partida de possíveis aulas, traduzem a cultura, pois sua origem normalmente é popular e ancestral. Neste artigo, discutimos sua importância para desenvolver a competência comunicativa dos aprendizes e também  apresentamos  estratégias com o objetivo de ensiná-las

Utilización de imágenes procedentes de vehículos aéreos no tripulados para la identificación de cubiertas vegetales arvenses en zonas de cultivos de olivar. Estudio de caso: la Sierra de las Nieves (Málaga)

En la reforma de 2003, la Política Agraria Común (PAC) estableció con arreglo al artículo 93 (Regl. (UE) Nº 1306/2013) una serie de normas de condicionalidad entre las que se encuentran las Buenas Condiciones Agrarias y Medioambientales (BCAM). En concreto, para este trabajo se atienden a aquellas que tiene especial relación con el suelo y la reserva de carbono (BCAM 4, 5 Y 6). La aplicación prolongada de determinados sistemas de manejo del suelo en la mayoría de las explotaciones de olivar ha dado lugar a fuertes procesos erosivos que están contribuyendo al progresivo agotamiento del suelo. Esto es especialmente significativo en los entornos de clima mediterráneo áridos o semiáridos. Tal es el caso en el área de estudio, dónde trabajos previos han demostrado la relación inversamente proporcional entre el mantenimiento de las cubiertas vegetales arvenses y el grado de erosión del suelo. El objetivo de este trabajo es explorar la aplicabilidad de las imágenes de alta resolución obtenidas por VANT (vehículo aéreo no tripulado) para detectar el cubrimiento del suelo por cubiertas vegetales arvenses en estas zonas a escala de parcela. Con esta finalidad se ha utilizado un procedimiento de categorización de las imágenes basado métodos de clasificación digital. Se espera que los resultados permitan verificar la capacidad de las imágenes suministradas por estos dispositivos para la detección del cubrimiento del suelo en dichas zonas con procesos de clasificación de la imagen y, con ello, verificar que se puedan realizar propuestas metodológicas válidas en base a ellas.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Registros da dimensão simbólica e patrimonial na área central de Juazeiro do Norte/CE

Este artigo analisa o patrimônio edificado da área central de Juazeiro do Norte/CE. Para tal, foi definida uma área de estudo denominada como Núcleo Simbólico (NS). Essa área compreende a fração urbana na qual se iniciou o processo de ocupação do município, e apresenta um pequeno, mas significativo, acervo fortemente relacionado às dimensões simbólicas, místicas e religiosas que marcam sua identidade cultural. Seu patrimônio edificado encontra-se em estados distintos de valoração e conservação, enquanto as ações governamentais seguem priorizando os atrativos predominantemente turísticos. Isto torna ainda mais relevante registros e ações que visem contribuir para o reconhecimento e conservação do seu patrimônio material