Perceived Competence and Agreeableness Predict Positive Behaviors Toward Mexican Immigrants: Less Acculturated Hispanics are More Welcoming of Immigrants

The resettlement of immigrants who have fled their countries because of dire consequences at home and better opportunities elsewhere, has given rise to a range of prejudices toward them in their host countries. We examined prejudices and discrimination toward immigrants, specifically Mexican immigrants, as a function of their perceived competence and warmth within the context of the Stereotype Content Model. We also examined perceiver’s agreeableness, openness to experience, attitudes and acculturation level, and their links with prejudices toward immigrants. We found that an immigrant’s competence elicited strong and more positive feelings and responses than warmth. More competent immigrants were more likely to be liked and welcomed. Of the Big Five variables, Agreeableness was strongly linked with positive sentiments and actions toward immigrants. However, Attitudes toward immigrants showed the strongest correlations with the criterion variables, of how individuals will feel and intend to behave toward immigrants. Finally, acculturation within Latinos correlated negatively with positive feelings and actions toward immigrants. More acculturated Latinos were less welcoming of immigrants. The findings serve to inform policymakers of the varied prejudices held of immigrants and the types of discrimination they are likely to face in order to help them implement humane policy options

Corridor MPC for Multi-Agent Inspection of Orbiting Structures

In this work, we propose an extension of the previously introduced Corridor Model Predictive Control scheme for high-order and distributed systems, with an application for on-orbit inspection. To this end, we leverage high order control barrier function (HOCBF) constraints as a suitable control approach to maintain each agent in the formation within a safe corridor from its reference trajectory. The recursive feasibility of the designed MPC scheme is tested numerically, while suitable modifications of the classical HOCBF constraint definition are introduced such that safety is guaranteed both in sampled and continuous time. The designed controller is validated through computer simulation in a realistic inspection scenario of the International Space Station.Comment: Paper accepted at Conference on Decision and Control 2023 (CDC

Anderson Localization Of Composite Excitations In Disordered Optomechanical Arrays

Optomechanical (OMA) arrays are a promising future platform for studies of transport, many-body dynamics, quantum control and topological effects in systems of coupled photon and phonon modes. We introduce disordered OMA arrays, focusing on features of Anderson localization of hybrid photon-phonon excitations. It turns out that these represent a unique disordered system, where basic parameters can be easily controlled by varying the frequency and the amplitude of an external laser field. We show that the two-species setting leads to a non-trivial frequency dependence of the localization length for intermediate laser intensities. This could serve as a convincing evidence of localization in a non-equilibrium dissipative situation. © 2017 IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.19

Comportamento sísmico da igreja do Mosteiro dos Jerónimos

Para avaliar o comportamento sísmico da Igreja do Mosteiro dos Jerónimos tendo em vista o diagnóstico das suas capacidades e vulnerabilidades estruturais bem como a avaliação da segurança sísmica para cenários de diferente perigosidade, foram realizadas um conjunto de análises numéricas estáticas e dinâmicas, admitindo comportamento não linear material e geométrico, cujos resultados se apresentam. A investigação numérica é antecedida pela caracterização (quantitativa e qualitativa) da construção e pela caracterização da acção sísmica com base em estudos de casualidade e em modelos sismológicos. A realização das análises dinâmicas não lineares, no domínio do tempo, é efectuada para acções sísmicas correspondentes a cenários com 475, 975 e 5000 anos de período de retorno e visa caracterizar o desempenho sísmico da Igreja, nomeadamente das potenciais vulnerabilidades identificadas. Para ao efeito, realiza-se previamente, um conjunto de análises estáticas, lineares e não lineares, e análises dinâmicas modais. As análises dinâmicas modais e as análises estáticas, sob a acção das cargas verticais permanentes, são utilizadas para a calibração/validação do modelo numérico. As análises estáticas lineares equivalentes à acção sísmica são utilizadas para uma estimativa prévia da exigência sísmica (incluindo a localização potencial das incidências não lineares) e das vulnerabilidades virtuais associadas. As análises estáticas não lineares (do tipo “pushover”) são utilizadas para estimar a capacidade da construção sob acções horizontais e para identificar os potenciais mecanismos de colapso. De acordo com os resultados das análises dinâmicas realizadas, para os cenários sísmicos com 475 e 975 anos de período de retorno, a Igreja ficará sob importantes estados de tensão e de fendilhação não sendo expectável a sua ruína parcial ou global. Para os cenários de perigosidade sísmica mais severos, correspondentes a 5000 anos de período de retorno, identificou-se uma potencial incidência de danos nos pilares da nave da Igreja cuja ruína conduz ao colapso da abóbada da nave

Ayudando a otros a usar los medios sociales:: Estereotipos de edad al estimar el éxito del alumno

Social networking sites (SNS) include online products such as Facebook that allow users to build and maintain large interpersonal Inter net networks. Older adult users have dramatically increased (Duggan & Smith, 2014). This investigation examined how 212 university undergraduate Facebook users estimated success with helping others use Facebook when learner’s age (20, 40, 60 year olds.) and type of acquaintance (friend or kin) was manipulated in hypothetical scenarios. In these scenarios, a person is identified as KW, described as being a college student much like the participant. KW has 20, 40 or 60 year -old acquaintances, a friend or a ki n at each age, all wanting KW’s help learning about social media. This was the only information provided. Qualities and strengths of these interpersonal relationships were not examined. Results from repeated measures 2x3 ANOVA showed a significant main eff ect for age, but no effect for acquaintance type. Results showed no significant interaction. Although the age demographic above 50 years is the fastest growing SNS group, results showed possible age stereotyping among youth when they assist older adults le arning to use SNS. This age effect may be lessened as older adults become more skillful social media users. These findings are limited because of the sample demographics and a lack of identifying qualities of participants’ attributions about the hypothetic al friends or relatives. Future research using multiple items per condition might be able to further elucidate how the type of associations between helper and learner, close or distant, positive or negative, would influence outcomes

Seismic safety assessment of the church of Monastery of Jerónimos, Portugal

Preservation of historical constructions with high cultural heritage value is an actual theme in modern societies as these constructions play an important role in the industry of tourism and culture, and consequently in the economy and in the image of countries and self-esteem of people. The seismic hazard of Portugal and, due to its vicinity, of the Mediterranean basin puts under potential risk of damage and collapse a high number of historical constructions, namely most of the old masonry constructions, particularly vulnerable to seismic actions. The seismic behaviour of the Church of Monastery of Jerónimos, Portugal, is discussed here with a numerical simulation, using artificial seismic acceleration time histories in agreement with three seismic hazard scenarios for 475, 975 and 5000 years return periods, allowing to assess its seismic safety

Occurrence and removal of pharmaceuticals in wastewater treatment plants at the Spanish Mediterranean area of Valencia

A survey on the presence of pharmaceuticals in urban wastewater of a Spanish Mediterranean area (Castellon province) was carried out. The scope of the study included a wide variety of pharmaceuticals belonging to different therapeutical classes. For this purpose, 112 samples, including influent and effluent wastewater, from different conventional wastewater treatment plants were collected. Two monitoring programmes were carried out along several seasons. The first was in June 2008 and January 2009, and the second in April and October 2009. During the first monitoring, the occurrence of 20 analytes in 84 urban wastewater samples (influent and effluent) was studied. The selection of these pharmaceuticals was mainly based on consumption. From these, 17 compounds were detected in the samples, with analgesics and anti-inflammatories, cholesterol lowering statin drugs and lipid regulators being the most frequently detected groups. 4-Aminoantipyrine, bezafibrate, diclofenac, gemfibrozil, ketoprofen, naproxen and venlafaxine were the compounds most frequently found. In the highlight of these results, the number of analytes was increased up to around 50. A lot of antibiotic compounds were added to the target list as they were considered “priority pharmaceuticals” due to their more potential hazardous effects in the aquatic environment. Data obtained during the second monitoring programme (spring and autumn) corroborated the results from the first one (summer and winter). Analgesics and anti-inflammatories, lipid regulators together with quinolone and macrolide antibiotics were the most abundant pharmaceuticals. Similar median concentrations were found over the year and seasonal variation was not clearly observed. The removal efficiency of pharmaceuticals in the wastewater treatment plants was roughly evaluated. Our results indicated that elimination of most of the selected compounds occurred during the treatment process of influent wastewater, although it was incomplete