Psychological Impact of Negotiating Two Cultures: Latino Coping and Self-Esteem

Among 96 Latino adults, active coping accounted for variance in global self-esteem beyond that of biculturalism and sociodemographic indicators. The findings highlight the importance of accounting for the way Latino adults approach negotiating multiple cultural contexts. Extending acculturation research to integrate competence-based formulations provides comprehensive information regarding cultural adaptation. Entre una muestra de 96 adultos Latinos, el afrontamiento activo dio cuenta de la varianza en autoestima global más allá de los indicadores de biculturalismo y sociodemográficos. Los hallazgos destacan la importancia de buscar una explicación a la forma en que los adultos Latinos enfocan la negociación de múltiples contextos culturales. Extender el ámbito de la investigación sobre aculturación para integrar las formulaciones basadas en competencia proporciona una información exhaustiva sobre la adaptación cultural

Modeling Kepler Transit Light Curves as False Positives: Rejection of Blend Scenarios for Kepler-9, and Validation of Kepler-9 d, A Super-earth-size Planet in a Multiple System

Light curves from the Kepler Mission contain valuable information on the nature of the phenomena producing the transit-like signals. To assist in exploring the possibility that they are due to an astrophysical false positive, we describe a procedure (BLENDER) to model the photometry in terms of a "blend" rather than a planet orbiting a star. A blend may consist of a background or foreground eclipsing binary (or star-planet pair) whose eclipses are attenuated by the light of the candidate and possibly other stars within the photometric aperture. We apply BLENDER to the case of Kepler-9 (KIC 3323887), a target harboring two previously confirmed Saturn-size planets (Kepler-9 b and Kepler-9 c) showing transit timing variations, and an additional shallower signal with a 1.59 day period suggesting the presence of a super-Earth-size planet. Using BLENDER together with constraints from other follow-up observations we are able to rule out all blends for the two deeper signals and provide independent validation of their planetary nature. For the shallower signal, we rule out a large fraction of the false positives that might mimic the transits. The false alarm rate for remaining blends depends in part (and inversely) on the unknown frequency of small-size planets. Based on several realistic estimates of this frequency, we conclude with very high confidence that this small signal is due to a super-Earth-size planet (Kepler-9 d) in a multiple system, rather than a false positive. The radius is determined to be 1.64^(+0.19)_(–0.14) R_⊕, and current spectroscopic observations are as yet insufficient to establish its mass

America's Hispanic Children: Gaining Ground, Looking Forward

The purpose of the study was to "widen the lens" by highlighting the positive trends among Hispanic youth. More young Latino children are enrolling in center-based care programs which are more likely to be of a higher educational quality than home-based care and other alternatives. Other highlights include Latino students posting solid gains on national assessments in key subject areas, more Latinos than ever before earning a high school diploma, and a record number of Hispanics enrolling in two- or four-year colleges. A greater sense of responsibility among Latino youth was also revealed in the study, indicated by falling teen pregnancy rates -- declines have been greater in the last four years for Latinas than other ethnic groups -- and a decrease in smoking and binge drinking habits among high school seniors. Latino teens' use of technology is also promising. While less likely to own a cell phone than their peers, they are avid users of smartphones and tablets. The Pew Research Center Hispanic Trends Project reported Hispanics are the only group to see poverty rates decline and incomes increase, but despite these gains, Hispanics have the largest number of people living in poverty when compared with other minority groups. "Nearly one-third of Latino children live below the poverty line, and a roughly equal share, while not poor by official definition, has family incomes just adequate to meet basic needs," the Child Trends study states

Communicating Resilience: A Discursive Leadership Perspective

In this essay we challenge whether current conceptions of optimism, hope, and resilience are complete enough to account for the complexity and nuance of developing and maintaining these in practice. For example, a quick perusal of popular outlets (e.g., Forbes, Harvard Business Review) reveals advice to managers urging them to “be optimistic,” or “be happy” so that these types of emotions or feelings can spread to the workplace. One even finds simple advice and steps to follow on how to foster these types of things in the workplace (McKee; Tjan). We argue that this common perspective focuses narrowly on individuals and does not account for the complexity of resilience. Consequently, it denies the role of context, culture, and interactions as ways people develop shared meaning and reality. To fill this gap in our understanding, we take a social constructionist perspective to understand resilience. In other words, we foreground communication as the primary building block to sharing meaning and creating our worlds. In so doing, we veer away from the traditional focus on the individual and instead emphasise the social and cultural elements that shape how meaning is shared by peoples in various contexts (Fairhurst, Considering Context). Drawing on a communication, discourse-centered perspective we explore hope and optimism as concepts commonly associated with resilience in a work context. At work, leaders play a vital role in communicating ways that foster resilience in the face of organisational issues and events (e.g., environmental crises, downsizing). Following this lead, discursive leadership offers a framework that positions leadership as co-created and as the management of meaning through framing (Fairhurst, Power of Framing). Thus, we propose that a discursive leadership orientation can contribute to the communicative construction of resilience that moves away from individual perspectives to an emphasis on the social. From a discursive perspective, leadership is defined as a process of meaning management; attribution given by followers or observers; process-focused rather than leader-focused; and as shifting and distributed among several organizational members (Fairhurst Power of Framing). By switching from the individual focus and concentrating on social and cultural systems, discursive leadership is able to study concepts related to subjectivity, cultures, and identities as it relates to meaning. Our aim is to offer leaders an alternative perspective on resilience at the individual and group level by explaining how a discursive orientation to leadership can contribute to the communicative construction of resilience. We argue that a social constructionist approach provides a perspective that can unravel the multiple layers that make up hope, optimism, and resilience. We begin with a peek into the social scientific perspective that is so commonplace in media and popular portrayals of these constructs. Then, we explain the social constructionist perspective that grounds our framework, drawing on discursive leadership. Next, we present an alternative model of resilience, one that takes resilience as communicatively constructed and socially created. We believe this more robust perspective can help individuals, groups, and cultures be more resilient in the face of challenges

Milkshake Prices, International Reserves, and the Mexican Peso

Menu prices from 13 international restaurant franchises that operate in both El Paso and Ciudad Juarez are utilized to examine the behavior over time of the peso/dollar exchange rate. Parametric and non-parametric tests indicate that the price ratio alone provides a biased estimator of the exchange rate. In addition to the multi-product price ratio, the empirical analysis also incorporates interst rate prity and balance of payment variables. The combination of unique microeconomic sample data with national macroeconomic variables illustrates one manner in which border economies provide information regarding the interplay of financial markets between Mexico and the United States