Socio-economic factors, cultural values, national personality and antibiotics use: A cross-cultural study among European countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaygısız, Ümmügülsüm; Lajunen, Timo; Gaygısız, Esma

There are considerable cross-national differences in public attitudes towards antibiotics use, use of prescribed antibiotics, and self-medication with antibiotics even within Europe. This study was aimed at investigating the relationships between socio-economic factors, cultural values, national personality characteristics and the antibiotic use in Europe. Data included scores from 27 European countries (14 countries for personality analysis). Correlations between socio-economic variables (Gross National Income per capita, governance quality, life expectancy, mean years of schooling, number of physicians), Hofstede's cultural value dimensions (power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation, indulgence), national personality characteristic (extraversion, neuroticism, social desirability) and antibiotic use were calculated and three regression models were constructed. Governance quality (r=-.51), mean years of schooling (r=-.61), power distance (r=.59), masculinity (r=.53), and neuroticism (r=.73) correlated with antibiotic use. The highest amount of variance in antibiotic use was accounted by the cultural values (65%) followed by socio-economic factors (63%) and personality factors (55%). Results show that socio-economic factors, cultural values and national personality characteristics explain cross-national differences in antibiotic use in Europe. In particular, governance quality, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity and neuroticism were important factors explaining antibiotics use. The findings underline the importance of socio-economic and cultural context in health care and in planning public health interventions. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Assessment of the factors with significant influence on safety culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farcasiu, M.; Nitoi, M.

2013-01-01

In this paper, a qualitative and a quantitative evaluation of the factors with significant impact on safety culture were performed. These techniques were established and applied in accordance with IAEA standards. In order to show the applicability and opportunity of the methodology a specific case study was prepared: safety culture evaluation for INR Pitesti. The qualitative evaluation was performed using specific developed questionnaires. Through analysis of the completed questionnaires was established the development stage of safety culture at INR. The quantitative evaluation was performed using a guide to rate the influence factors. For each factor was identified the influence (negative or positive) and ranking score was estimated using scoring criteria. The results have emphasized safety culture stages. The paper demonstrates the fact that using both quantitative and qualitative assessment techniques, a practical value of the safety culture concept is given. (authors)

Host DNA synthesis-suppressing factor in culture fluid of tissue cultures infected with measles virus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Minagawa, T.; Nakaya, C.; Iida, H.

1974-01-01

Host DNA synthesis is suppressed by the culture fluid of cell cultures infected with measles virus. This activity in the culture fluid is initiated somewhat later than the growth of infectious virus. Ninety percent of host DNA synthesis in HeLa cells is inhibited by culture fluid of 3-day-old cell cultures of Vero or HeLa cells infected with measles virus. This suppressing activity is not a property of the virion, but is due to nonvirion-associated componentnent which shows none of the activities of measles virus such as hemagglutination, hemolysis, or cell fusion nor does it have the antigenicity of measles virus as tested by complement-fixation or hemagglutination-inhibiting antibody blocking tests. Neutralization of the activity of this component is not attained with the pooled sera of convalescent measles patients. This component has molecular weights of about 45,000, 20,000, and 3,000 and appears to be a heat-stable protein. The production of host DNA suppressing factor (DSF) is blocked by cycloheximide. Neither uv-inactivated nor antiserum-neutralized measles virus produce DSF. Furthermore, such activity of nonvirion-associated component is not detected in the culture fluid of cultures infected with other RNA viruses such as poliovirus, vesicular stomatitis virus, or Sindbis virus. (auth)

Cultural Humility and Hospital Safety Culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Hook, Joshua N; Boan, David; Davis, Don E; Aten, Jamie D; Ruiz, John M; Maryon, Thomas

2016-12-01

Hospital safety culture is an integral part of providing high quality care for patients, as well as promoting a safe and healthy environment for healthcare workers. In this article, we explore the extent to which cultural humility, which involves openness to cultural diverse individuals and groups, is related to hospital safety culture. A sample of 2011 hospital employees from four hospitals completed measures of organizational cultural humility and hospital safety culture. Higher perceptions of organizational cultural humility were associated with higher levels of general perceptions of hospital safety, as well as more positive ratings on non-punitive response to error (i.e., mistakes of staff are not held against them), handoffs and transitions, and organizational learning. The cultural humility of one's organization may be an important factor to help improve hospital safety culture. We conclude by discussing potential directions for future research.

FROM CULTURAL IMPOTENCE TO CULTURAL AMPUTATION

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Вячеслав Владимирович Суханов

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Cultural space of any state is formed by a population that is within its borders. In this article, the author introduces a new cultural definitions «cultural impotence» and «cultural amputation», justifying their use, both in terms of population of the Russian Federation and the European Union and America. The article analyzes the state of society and the cultural factors that influence the development of society in Russia, there are options to bring the country out of a deep cultural crisis. Also established a close relationship between the domestic policy of the state and development of culture.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12731/2218-7405-2013-2-1

Factors Contribute to Safety Culture in the Manufacturing Industry in Malaysia

OpenAIRE

Ong Choon Hee

2014-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to explain the role of safety culture in the manufacturing industry in Malaysia and identify factors contribute to safety culture. It is suggested in this study that leadership support, management commitment and safety management system are important factors that contribute to safety culture. This study also provides theoretical implications to guide future research and offers practical implications to the managers in the development of safety culture. Given that ...

Japanese customer service culture and driving factors behind it

OpenAIRE

Perolainen, Emma

2014-01-01

The subject of the thesis was Japanese customer service culture and the driving factors behind it. Fons Trompenaars’ and Geert Hofstedes culture studies were handled as the main part of the theoretical part of the thesis, which of only the applicable factors were introduced. The applicable factors were Trompenaars’ universal-ism/particularism, individualism/communitarianism, neutral/emotional, specific/diffuse and attitudes to environment and Hofstede’s individualism/collectivism, masculinity...

Cultural factors and the international space station

OpenAIRE

Ritsher, Jennifer Boyd

2005-01-01

The American and Russian/Soviet space programs independently uncovered psychosocial risks inherent in long-duration space missions. Now that these two countries are working together on the International Space Station (ISS), American-Russian cultural differences pose an additional set of risk factors. These may echo cultural differences that have been observed in the general population of the two countries and in space analogue settings, but little is known about how relevant these are to the ...

An exploration study to find important factors influencing on multi-dimensional organizational culture

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Naser Azad

2013-08-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an empirical investigation to find important factors influencing multi-dimensional organizational culture. The proposed study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale consists of 21 questions, distributes it among 300 people who worked for different business units and collects 283 filled ones. Cronbach alpha is calculated as 0.799. In addition, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy and Approx. Chi-Square are 0.821 and 1395.74, respectively. The study has implemented principal component analysis and the results have indicated that there were four factors influencing organizational culture including, diversity in culture, connection based culture, integrated culture and structure of culture. In terms of diversity in culture, sensitivity to quality data and cultural flexibility are the most influential sub-factors while connection based marketing and relational satisfaction are two important sub-factors associated with diversity in culture. The study discusses other issues.

Legal culture as a factor of social stability

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M M Akulich

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The article examines legal culture as a factor of stability in developing societies referring to the concepts of culture proposed by P.A. Sorokin, L.N. Kogan, M.T. Iovchuk and other famous sociologists. The authors state that in the modern sociological literature legal culture is studied mainly from the theoretical rather than empirical standpoint: the sociology has accumulated a lot of data on the legal culture, although its study in the context of agreements and conflicts, stability and destructiveness is not enough. Legal culture should be regarded as a regulator and stabilizer of social interactions and relationships in both specific countries and the global space. Thus, identifying regional and global aspects of legal culture has become an important theoretical problem of the sociological studies nowadays as well as considering legal culture in relation to moral, economic and political values and priorities. The authors argue that it is not possible to build a state of law and civil society without raising the level of legal culture, and present the results of the sociological study of the legal culture in the south of the Tyumen region conducted in 2013. This survey revealed an average level of following the law in 55% of the local population, although 90% consider themselves law-abiding citizens. At the same time, 46% believe in the possibility to manipulate the law, and 60% approve the principle of equity of the law. The authors conclude that the identified average level of legal culture among the local population is an indicator of a quite stable and successful development of the region under study.

Socio-Cultural Factors and Intention towards Sustainable Entrepreneurship

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Wei-Loon KOE

2014-05-01

Full Text Available In order to rectify environmental degradation, government has encouraged sustainable management among businesses. In addition, researchers have also suggested a new breed of study called “sustainable entrepreneurship”, which links sustainability management to entrepreneurial activities. However, the participation of entrepreneurial firms in sustainability management is still far from satisfactory. Past studies also have found that SMEs are less active in sustainabilty initiatives and many issues related to the intention of firms for sustainability entrepreneurship is still unanswered. Therefore, this study was carried out to examine the influence of socio-cultural factors on intention towards sustainable entrepreneurship among SMEs. A total of 404 SMEs in Malaysia were surveyed by using questionnaire. Based on the statistical analyses performed, this study found that three socio-cultural factors, namely time orientation, sustainability orientation and social norm significantly influenced intention towards sustainable entrepreneurship among SMEs. Thus, in order to develop true sustainable entrepreneurs in the country, the effects of non-economic factors such as socio-cultural factors should not be underestimated. Lastly, some recommendations for future researchers have also been put forth in this paper.

Adult caregiving among American Indians: the role of cultural factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Goins, R Turner; Spencer, S Melinda; McGuire, Lisa C; Goldberg, Jack; Wen, Yang; Henderson, Jeffrey A

2011-06-01

With a sample of American Indian adults, we estimated the prevalence of adult caregiving, assessed the demographic and cultural profile of caregivers, and examined the association between cultural factors and being a caregiver. This is the first such study conducted with American Indians. Data came from a cross-sectional study of 5,207 American Indian adults residing on 2 closely related Lakota Sioux reservations in the Northern Plains and one American Indian community in the Southwest. Cultural factors included measures of cultural identity and traditional healing practices. Seventeen percent of our sample reported being caregivers. In both the Northern Plains and Southwest, caregiving was positively correlated with younger age, being a woman, larger household size, attending and participating in Native events, and endorsement of traditional healing practices. In both regions, attendance and participation in Native events and engagement in traditional healing practices were associated with increased odds of caregiving after adjusting for covariates. Only in the Northern Plains did we find that speaking some Native language at home was associated with increased odds of being a caregiver. Examination of interaction terms indicated some sex differences in the association between cultural factors and caregiving in the Northern Plains but not in the Southwest. Our findings indicate that greater cultural identity and engagement in traditional healing practices are related to caregiving in American Indian populations. Caregiving research, intervention efforts, and caregiving programs and services in Native communities should pay special attention to the dynamics of culture and caregiving.

Foreign Policy and The Cultural Factor : A Research and Education Agenda

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dr. P. Ester; Pieter van Nispen tot Pannerden

2013-01-01

In this introduction we have outlined the vital importance of the role of culture (i.e.: the cultural factor) in the field of international relations, foreign policy, and diplomacy and the professional need for cultural competence among its practitioners.

Malchish-Kibalchish: cultural factors in a clinical case.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsivinsky, Vladimir

2016-09-01

In this paper, a Jungian understanding of cultural factors influencing individual analysis is illustrated with the case of a patient suffering from panic attacks. The analysis revealed that, in addition to the patient's personal background, the collectivistic attitudes of the Soviet culture, which had a moulding effect on the patient in his childhood and obstructed his individuation, should be taken into account. The concepts of the totalitarian object and the Russian cultural complex encompassing a grandiosity pole and an inferiority pole are used to explore the patient's condition, and the crucial role of creating mutual language with the patient is outlined. © 2016, The Society of Analytical Psychology.

Childhood obesity : medical, cultural and psychological factors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Radhakishun, N.N.E.

2014-01-01

The aim of this thesis was to examine medical, cultural and psychological factors of childhood obesity in a multi-ethnic cohort. Medical factors Several associations between weight measured and hormones were determined in obese children between 6 and 18 years. Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) was

Childhood obesity: medical, cultural and psychological factors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Radhakishun, N.N.E.

2014-01-01

The aim of this thesis was to examine medical, cultural and psychological factors of childhood obesity in a multi-ethnic cohort. Medical factors Several associations between weight measured and hormones were determined in obese children between 6 and 18 years. Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH)

Relevant principal factors affecting the reproducibility of insect primary culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Ogata, Norichika; Iwabuchi, Kikuo

2017-06-01

The primary culture of insect cells often suffers from problems with poor reproducibility in the quality of the final cell preparations. The cellular composition of the explants (cell number and cell types), surgical methods (surgical duration and surgical isolation), and physiological and genetic differences between donors may be critical factors affecting the reproducibility of culture. However, little is known about where biological variation (interindividual differences between donors) ends and technical variation (variance in replication of culture conditions) begins. In this study, we cultured larval fat bodies from the Japanese rhinoceros beetle, Allomyrina dichotoma, and evaluated, using linear mixed models, the effect of interindividual variation between donors on the reproducibility of the culture. We also performed transcriptome analysis of the hemocyte-like cells mainly seen in the cultures using RNA sequencing and ultrastructural analyses of hemocytes using a transmission electron microscope, revealing that the cultured cells have many characteristics of insect hemocytes.

Cross-cultural training as critical factor of cultural intelligence in the hospitality industry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kotsaga, Effrosyni

2015-01-01

This study analyses cultural awareness in the workplace. It is important for employees to be cultural aware because they may have to interact with people from other countries. Cultural Intelligence (CQ) examines individuals' abilities to interact with people with different cultural backgrounds.

Culture Analysis: The Interaction of Organizational and National Culture

OpenAIRE

Marina Arnoldovna Makarchenko

2015-01-01

The article is devoted to the interaction between organizational culture factors. A comparative analysis of the Russian and Argentine companies culture using different methods shows the impact of the national mentality in organizational culture. The thesis is the need to introduce the term "regional culture" in relation to modern Russia.

Vulnerability factors in OCD symptoms: cross-cultural comparisons between Turkish and Canadian samples.

Science.gov (United States)

Yorulmaz, Orçun; Gençöz, Tülin; Woody, Sheila

2010-01-01

Recent findings have suggested some potential psychological vulnerability factors for development of obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms, including cognitive factors of appraisal and thought control, religiosity, self-esteem and personality characteristics such as neuroticism. Studies demonstrating these associations usually come from Western cultures, but there may be cultural differences relevant to these vulnerability factors and OC symptoms. The present study examined the relationship between putative vulnerability factors and OC symptoms by comparing non-clinical samples from Turkey and Canada, two countries with quite different cultural characteristics. The findings revealed some common correlates such as neuroticism and certain types of metacognition, including appraisals of responsibility/threat estimation and perfectionism/need for certainty, as well as thought-action fusion. However, culture-specific factors were also indicated in the type of thought control participants used. For OC disorder symptoms, Turkish participants were more likely to utilize worry and thought suppression, while Canadian participants tended to use self-punishment more frequently. The association with common factors supports the cross-cultural validity of some factors, whereas unique factors suggest cultural features that may be operative in cognitive processes relevant to OC symptoms.

Can cultural differences lead to accidents? Team cultural differences and sociotechnical system operations.

Science.gov (United States)

Strauch, Barry

2010-04-01

I discuss cultural factors and how they may influence sociotechnical system operations. Investigations of several major transportation accidents suggest that cultural factors may have played a role in the causes of the accidents. However, research has not fully addressed how cultural factors can influence sociotechnical systems. I review literature on cultural differences in general and cultural factors in sociotechnical systems and discuss how these differences can affect team performance in sociotechnical systems. Cultural differences have been observed in social and interpersonal dimensions and in cognitive and perceptual styles; these differences can affect multioperator team performance. Cultural factors may account for team errors in sociotechnical systems, most likely during high-workload, high-stress operational phases. However, much of the research on cultural factors has methodological and interpretive shortcomings that limit their applicability to sociotechnical systems. Although some research has been conducted on the role of cultural differences on team performance in sociotechnical system operations, considerable work remains to be done before the effects of these differences can be fully understood. I propose a model that illustrates how culture can interact with sociotechnical system operations and suggest avenues of future research. Given methodological challenges in measuring cultural differences and team performance in sociotechnical system operations, research in these systems should use a variety of methodologies to better understand how culture can affect multioperator team performance in these systems.

Differences between culture & non-culture confirmed invasive meningococci with a focus on factor H-binding protein distribution.

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, Stephen A; Lekshmi, Aiswarya; Lucidarme, Jay; Hao, Li; Tsao, How; Lee-Jones, Lisa; Jansen, Kathrin U; Newbold, Lynne S; Anderson, Annaliesa S; Borrow, Ray

2016-07-01

To compare the distribution of capsular groups and factor H-binding protein (fHBP) variants among meningococcal isolates and non-culture clinical specimens and to assess the representativeness of group B isolates amongst group B cases as a whole. A PCR sequencing assay was used to characterise fHBP from non-culture cases confirmed from January 2011 to December 2013. These were compared to genotypic data derived from whole genome analysis of isolates received during the same period. Group W and Y strains were more common among isolates than non-culture strains. The distribution of fHBP variants among group B non-culture cases generally reflected that seen in the corresponding isolates. Nonetheless, the non-culture subset contained a greater proportion of fHBP variant 15/B44, associated with the ST-269 cluster sublineage. Differences in capsular group and fHBP distribution among culture and non-culture cases may be indicative of variation in strain viability, diagnostic practice, disease severity and/or clinical presentation. Future analyses combining clinical case information with laboratory data may help to further explore these differences. Group B isolates provide a good representation of group B disease in E&W and, therefore, can reliably be used in fHBP strain coverage predictions of recently-licensed vaccines. Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Human Factors and Safety Culture in Maritime Safety (revised

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Heinz Peter Berg

2013-09-01

Full Text Available As in every industry at risk, the human and organizational factors constitute the main stakes for maritime safety. Furthermore, several events at sea have been used to develop appropriate risk models. The investigation on maritime accidents is, nowadays, a very important tool to identify the problems related to human factor and can support accident prevention and the improvement of maritime safety. Part of this investigation should in future also be near misses. Operation of ships is full of regulations, instructions and guidelines also addressing human factors and safety culture to enhance safety. However, even though the roots of a safety culture have been established, there are still serious barriers to the breakthrough of the safety management. One of the most common deficiencies in the case of maritime transport is the respective monitoring and documentation usually lacking of adequacy and excellence. Nonetheless, the maritime area can be exemplified from other industries where activities are ongoing to foster and enhance safety culture.

Impact of cultural factors on enterprise resource planning

OpenAIRE

HATİPOĞLU, Cemalettin

2017-01-01

Abstract. Organizational culture can also be evaluated as an application stage for the processes and fixations that occur with communication. The lack of cooperation at the desired level may lead to a decrease in effectiveness, especially at the points where teamwork is required, and to a slower implementation. This is one of the most important factors especially for the common purpose and goal setting and for the generations of the application schedules to be generic. The expected cultural c...

Economic and Cultural Factors Affecting University Excellence

Science.gov (United States)

Jabnoun, Naceur

2009-01-01

Purpose: The ranking of top universities in the world has generated increased interest in the factors that enhance university performance. The purpose of this paper is to identify economic and cultural factors that affect the number of top ranking universities in each country. Design/methodology/approach: This paper first identifies the number of…

Factor analysis of processes of corporate culture formation at industrial enterprises of Ukraine

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Illiashenko Sergii

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Authors have analyzed and synthesized the features of formation and development of the corporate culture at industrial enterprises of Ukraine and on this basis developed recommendations for application in the management of strategic development. During the research authors used the following general scientific methods: at research of patterns of interaction national culture, corporate culture and the culture of the individual authors used logical generalization method; for determining factors influencing corporate culture formation with the level of occurrence authors used factor analysis; for trend analysis of the corporate culture development at appropriate levels authors used comparative method. Results of the analysis showed that macro- and microfactors are external and mezofaktors (adaptability of business and corporate governance, corporate ethics, corporate social responsibility and personnel policies, corporate finance are internal for an enterprise. Authors have identified areas for each of the factors, itemized obstacles to the establishment and development of corporate culture at Ukrainian industrial enterprises and proposed recommendations for these processes management.

Factors associated with sputum culture conversion in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis

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Greta Musteikienė

Full Text Available Objective: The aim of this study was to determine what factors are associated with sputum culture conversion after 1 month of tuberculosis (TB treatment. Materials and methods: A total of 52 patients with new drug susceptible pulmonary TB were included in the study. Patients completed St. George respiratory questionnaire (SGRQ, they were asked about smoking, alcohol use, living conditions and education. Body mass index (BMI measurements, laboratory tests (C reactive protein [CRP], vitamin D, albumin were performed, and chest X-ray was done. After 1 month of treatment sputum culture was repeated. Results: Culture conversion after 1 month of treatment was found in 38.5% cases. None of investigated social factors appeared to have an effect on conversion, but worse overall health status (as reported in SGRQ and longer duration of tobacco smoking were detected in the “no conversion” group. Concentrations of albumin, CRP, X-ray score and the time it took Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture to grow also differed. Patients who scored 30 or more on SGRQ were more than 7 times as likely to have no conversion. However, the most important factor predicting sputum culture conversion was sputum smear grade at the beginning of treatment: patients with grade of 2+ or more had more than 20-fold higher relative risk for no conversion. Using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, we also developed a risk score for no conversion. Conclusions: The most important factors in predicting sputum culture conversion after 1 month of treatment were grades of acid-fast bacilli in sputum smears at time of diagnosis and scores of SGRQ. Keywords: Smoking, Smear grade, St. George respiratory questionnaire, Tuberculosis, Culture conversion

Cultural factors influencing safety need to be addressed in design and operation of technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Meshkati, N

1996-10-01

Cultural factors which influence aviation safety in aircraft design, air traffic control, and human factors training are examined. Analysis of the Avianca Flight 052 crash in New York in January, 1990, demonstrates the catastrosphic effects cultural factors can play. Cultural factors include attitude toward work and technology, organizational hierarchy, religion, and population stereotyping.

Cultural Attitudes as WTP Determinants: A Revised Cultural Worldview Scale

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Andy S. Choi

2016-06-01

Full Text Available There has been little attention paid to the systematic measurement issue of general attitudes toward human-culture relationships. This paper applied the Cultural Worldview (CW scale that was developed by Choi et al. in 2007 (published in the Journal of Cultural Economics, and investigated its dimensionality and relationship with willingness to pay (WTP for cultural heritage protection through a sequential integration between latent variables and valuation models. A case study of 997 Korean respondents was employed to examine conservation values of cultural heritage sites using discrete choice models. Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that this scale can be used either as a single second-order factor or four correlated factors. A more parsimonious version of the CW scale with twelve items is endorsed in this paper and the results also confirm that it is valid for use with non-Western nations. The findings support a significant attitude–WTP relationship; there was a significant role of the CW scale that reveals unobserved factors in valuation models.

Cultural factors influencing Japanese nurses' assertive communication. Part 1: Collectivism.

Science.gov (United States)

Omura, Mieko; Stone, Teresa E; Levett-Jones, Tracy

2018-02-06

Culture influences the way health-care professionals communicate with each other and their ability to relate to colleagues in an assertive manner. Cultural barriers can also make it difficult for nurses to speak up even when they have concerns about patient safety. An understanding of the potential impact of cultural factors is therefore needed when developing assertiveness communication training programs. This paper presents the findings from a study that explored Japanese nurses' perceptions of how culture and values impact assertive communication in health care. Semistructured interviews with 23 registered nurses were undertaken, and data were analyzed using directed content analysis. Two major themes were identified: collectivism and hierarchy/power. In the present study, we discuss the cultural values related to collectivism that included four categories of "wa" (harmony), "uchi to soto" (inside and outside), implicit communication/ambiguity, and "nemawashi" (groundwork). The findings highlight the impact of culture on nurses' assertive communication behaviors and can be used to inform the design of culturally-appropriate assertiveness communication training programs for Japanese nurses working both within their own country or internationally. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

From cultural traditions to cumulative culture: parameterizing the differences between human and nonhuman culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Kempe, Marius; Lycett, Stephen J; Mesoudi, Alex

2014-10-21

Diverse species exhibit cultural traditions, i.e. population-specific profiles of socially learned traits, from songbird dialects to primate tool-use behaviours. However, only humans appear to possess cumulative culture, in which cultural traits increase in complexity over successive generations. Theoretically, it is currently unclear what factors give rise to these phenomena, and consequently why cultural traditions are found in several species but cumulative culture in only one. Here, we address this by constructing and analysing cultural evolutionary models of both phenomena that replicate empirically attestable levels of cultural variation and complexity in chimpanzees and humans. In our model of cultural traditions (Model 1), we find that realistic cultural variation between populations can be maintained even when individuals in different populations invent the same traits and migration between populations is frequent, and under a range of levels of social learning accuracy. This lends support to claims that putative cultural traditions are indeed cultural (rather than genetic) in origin, and suggests that cultural traditions should be widespread in species capable of social learning. Our model of cumulative culture (Model 2) indicates that both the accuracy of social learning and the number of cultural demonstrators interact to determine the complexity of a trait that can be maintained in a population. Combining these models (Model 3) creates two qualitatively distinct regimes in which there are either a few, simple traits, or many, complex traits. We suggest that these regimes correspond to nonhuman and human cultures, respectively. The rarity of cumulative culture in nature may result from this interaction between social learning accuracy and number of demonstrators. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fluctuating levels of reprogramming factor expression in cultured ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Although human undifferentiated keratinocytes (HUKs) can be reprogrammed to become induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) with high efficiency and rapid kinetics by transducing reprogramming factors (RFs), the endogenous expression of reprogramming factors in cultured HUKs is not clear at different stages. In this ...

National Culture Influence over the Organizational Culture in Romania

OpenAIRE

Carataº Maria Alina; Spãtariu Elena Cerasela

2012-01-01

The present paper aims highlighting the characteristics of the organisational culture concept in Romania. In the first part of the paper, we have presented the importance of organizational culture theory through a literature review; we described the factors that have an impact on it. In the second part, we developed ideas about the national culture of Romania, the national frame and how this affects the organizational culture, and we presented its peculiarities.

Economic impact of cultural tourism

OpenAIRE

Zadel, Zrinka; Bogdan, Sinisa

2013-01-01

The subject of analysis in the paper is economic impact of cultural tourism and identification of the main factors which directly affect cultural tourism revenues. Most countries do not have a statistical system of monitoring and analysing individual factors of cultural tourism such as the number of arrivals of cultural tourists and consumption of cultural tourists. Therefore, it is hard to assess the economic impact of cultural tourism. In cultural tourism, cultural assets are prepared and p...

Studying the Relationship between Individual and Organizational Factors and Nurses' Perception of Patient Safety Culture

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Farahnaz Abdolahzadeh

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Safety culture is considered as an important factor in improving patient safety. Therefore, identifying individual and organizational factors affecting safety culture is crucial. This study was carried out to determine individual and organizational factors associated with nurses' perception of patient safety culture. Methods: The present descriptive study included 940 nurses working in four training hospitals affiliated with Urmia University of Medical Sciences (Iran. Data was collected through the self-report questionnaire of patient safety culture. Descriptive (number, percent, mean, and standard deviation and inferential (t-test and analysis of variance statistics were used to analyze the data in SPSS. Results: Nurses' perception of patient safety culture was significantly correlated with marital status, workplace, and overtime hours. Conclusion: The results of this study revealed that some individual and organizational factors can impact on nurses' perception of patient safety culture. Nursing authorities should thus pay more attention to factors which promote patient safety culture and ultimately the safety of provided services.

Latino cultural values as protective factors against sexual risks among adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Mindy; Malcolm, Lydia R; Diaz-Albertini, Kristine; Klinoff, Vera A; Leeder, Elisa; Barrientos, Sohani; Kibler, Jeffrey L

2014-12-01

The study objective was to examine the associations between cultural values and sexual risk factors among Latino youth. A sample of 226 Latino adolescents ages 13-16 completed a survey on cultural and sexual variables. Results indicate higher levels of Latino cultural orientation were related to greater sexual self-efficacy and fewer sexual partners for female adolescents and greater condom use self-efficacy for both males and females. Greater endorsement of simpatia (belief in interpersonal relationship harmony) was associated with sexual abstinence and greater sexual self-efficacy for all adolescents, and with being older at sexual debut for females. Stronger endorsement of respeto (respect towards parents and other authority figures) was correlated with a lower intention to have sex during secondary school and greater condom use self-efficacy. American cultural orientation was associated with less condom use. Our findings indicate Latino cultural values may serve as protective factors against sexual risk behaviors among Latino youth. Copyright © 2014 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cross-cultural awareness

OpenAIRE

БУРЯК Н.Ю.

2016-01-01

The article deals with the importance of cultural awareness for businesspeople when they go abroad. It also gives some cultural advice and factors which are thought to be the most important in creating a culture.

Social Cultural Factors Influencing Women's Participation in Sports ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Social Cultural Factors Influencing Women's Participation in Sports as Perceived by Female Students of the University of Ilorin. ... sports competition while mass media should organize enlightenment programmes that will mitigate the ...

Congruence between Culturally Competent Treatment and Cultural Needs of Older Latinos

Science.gov (United States)

Costantino, Giuseppe; Malgady, Robert G.; Primavera, Louis H.

2009-01-01

This study investigated a new 2-factor construct, termed "cultural congruence", which is related to cultural competence in the delivery of mental health services to ethnic minority clients. Cultural congruence was defined as the distance between the cultural competence characteristics of the health care organization and the clients' perception of…

Requirements to amend the main influence factors on the safety culture after fukushima accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farcasiu, M.; Nitoi, M.

2015-01-01

The paper presents a general model that provides a framework for the safety culture assessment, creating the possibility to identify factors that can significantly influence the safety culture. The main safety culture influence factors (SCIF) used by model are the following: regulatory environment, organizational environment, worker characteristics, socio-political environment, national culture, organization history, business and technological characteristics. After the analysis of the deficiencies and weaknesses of SCIFc in evolution of the Fukushima accident, some issues that may become necessities and requirements to change and improve both the safety culture and safety of the nuclear installations were highlighted. For each influence factor were identified some requirements to amend. The results will emphasize the necesity of the human - technology - organization system assessment. Hence it was demonstrated that the safety culture results from the interaction of individuals with technology and with the organization. (authors)

Socio-cultural factors impacting male involvement in the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Socio-cultural factors impacting male involvement in the management of infertile couples at the Kenyatta National Hospital. ... that may influence male participation in the management of the infertile couples attending the KNH Infertility Clinic.

On Managing Cultural Integration and Cultural Change Processes in Mergers and Acquisitions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bijlsma-Frankema, K.M.

2001-01-01

This article discusses success factors of cultural integration and cultural change processes in mergers and acquisitions. The focus of the project is on the effects of frictions between structure and cultures, and frictions between different cultures, on the functioning of the organisation. The

Cultural diversity among nursing students: reanalysis of the cultural awareness scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Rew, Lynn; Becker, Heather; Chontichachalalauk, Jiraporn; Lee, H Y

2014-02-01

Nurses are educated to provide culturally competent care. Cultural competence begins with cultural awareness, a concept previously measured with the Cultural Awareness Scale (CAS). The purpose of this study was to reanalyze the CAS to determine construct validity and differences in cultural awareness among students of varying educational levels and experiences. The sample consisted of 150 nursing students (92% female, 33.6% racial minorities). Confirmatory factor analysis yielded three factors (CFI = 0.868, TLI = 0.854, RMSEA = 0.065, and SRMR = 0.086). Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.70 to 0.89. There were significant differences among educational levels, with lower division BSN students generally scoring higher than upper division and master's of science in nursing students. Students who had taken courses on cultural diversity or global health generally outscored those who had not taken such courses. Findings support the validity of the CAS and its applicability to research studies of cultural awareness in nursing. Copyright 2014, SLACK Incorporated.

Peritoneal fluid culture

Science.gov (United States)

Culture - peritoneal fluid ... sent to the laboratory for Gram stain and culture. The sample is checked to see if bacteria ... The peritoneal fluid culture may be negative, even if you have ... diagnosis of peritonitis is based on other factors, in addition ...

Traditional Values, Socio-Cultural Factors and Human Resource ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... Values, Socio-Cultural Factors and Human Resource Management Practices in ... Ghanaian worker in general and the HR manager in particular is influenced ... face -to-face interview methods were used to obtain information for the study.

Cross-cultural organizational behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Gelfand, Michele J; Erez, Miriam; Aycan, Zeynep

2007-01-01

This article reviews research on cross-cultural organizational behavior (OB). After a brief review of the history of cross-cultural OB, we review research on work motivation, or the factors that energize, direct, and sustain effort across cultures. We next consider the relationship between the individual and the organization, and review research on culture and organizational commitment, psychological contracts, justice, citizenship behavior, and person-environment fit. Thereafter, we consider how individuals manage their interdependence in organizations, and review research on culture and negotiation and disputing, teams, and leadership, followed by research on managing across borders and expatriation. The review shows that developmentally, cross-cultural research in OB is coming of age. Yet we also highlight critical challenges for future research, including moving beyond values to explain cultural differences, attending to levels of analysis issues, incorporating social and organizational context factors into cross-cultural research, taking indigenous perspectives seriously, and moving beyond intracultural comparisons to understand the dynamics of cross-cultural interfaces.

Risk analysis-based food safety policy: scientific factors versus socio-cultural factors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rosa, P.; Knapen, van F.; Brom, F.W.A.

2008-01-01

The purpose of this article is to illustrate the importance of socio-cultural factors in risk management and the need to incorporate these factors in a standard, internationally recognized (wto) framework. This was achieved by analysing the relevance of these factors in 3 cases
The purpose of

Cultural influences on personality.

Science.gov (United States)

Triandis, Harry C; Suh, Eunkook M

2002-01-01

Ecologies shape cultures; cultures influence the development of personalities. There are both universal and culture-specific aspects of variation in personality. Some culture-specific aspects correspond to cultural syndromes such as complexity, tightness, individualism, and collectivism. A large body of literature suggests that the Big Five personality factors emerge in various cultures. However, caution is required in arguing for such universality, because most studies have not included emic (culture-specific) traits and have not studied samples that are extremely different in culture from Western samples.

Culture and Social Relationship as Factors of Affecting Communicative Non-verbal Behaviors

Science.gov (United States)

Akhter Lipi, Afia; Nakano, Yukiko; Rehm, Mathias

The goal of this paper is to link a bridge between social relationship and cultural variation to predict conversants' non-verbal behaviors. This idea serves as a basis of establishing a parameter based socio-cultural model, which determines non-verbal expressive parameters that specify the shapes of agent's nonverbal behaviors in HAI. As the first step, a comparative corpus analysis is done for two cultures in two specific social relationships. Next, by integrating the cultural and social parameters factors with the empirical data from corpus analysis, we establish a model that predicts posture. The predictions from our model successfully demonstrate that both cultural background and social relationship moderate communicative non-verbal behaviors.

Cultural Factors relevant to Korean Americans in Health Research: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Cha-Nam; Keller, Colleen; Sim, Jeongha

2018-04-01

To eliminate health disparities in the United States, identifying cultural contexts salient to the target populations in an intervention study is critical; however, little research has been conducted on the identification of cultural contexts among Korean Americans who have significant risk factors for chronic diseases. This systematic review identifies critical cultural contexts central to the literature discussed in health research on Korean Americans. We examined 14 research reports of 801 potentially eligible articles published between 2000 and 2016 and analyzed their contribution to cultural contexts among Korean Americans based on the PEN-3 model. This review highlights how cultural contexts impact health and health behaviors of Korean Americans, and may contribute to health disparities in the United States. The key cultural contexts highlighted in this review include social support/social network, family, gender role expectations, and a holistic view of health and illness. These cultural contexts should be incorporated in designing culturally relevant, effective, and sustainable health interventions for Korean Americans, which will contribute to eliminating health disparities for this ethnic group who experience great obstacles to healthcare access and healthy behaviors.

Impact on Organizational Climate trough Organizational Culture factors. Case Study of Latvia and Lithuania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juris Iljins

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose of the article: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of organizational culture on organizational climate in process of change. For solving this problem, it is necessary to identify the main factors of organizational culture in the change process. After exploring the impact of organizational culture on organizational climate through distinguished culture’s factors, article examines how changes can be processed in different cultural environments. Methodology: The research design is based on Yin (1994 methodology and consists of two main stages: data analysis and validation for case study and case study’s methodology according to Yin (1994 (four steps: design the case, conduct the case, analyse the case evidence and develop conclusions. In the first stage an expert evaluation method was used to investigate the significance of organizational culture factors’ impact on organizational climate. Different factors of organizational climate were explored in the paper. To affirm the results triangulation method was applied. To verify the results of the research mathematical calculations and case study were used. Within the research the most significant factors were stressed. During the second stage, the case study was carried out to validate the research results in specific companies. Comparison between medium-size companies was made. It is important, that in case Latvian company (A capital holders are Latvian entrepreneurs and capital holders of Lithuanian company (B are international. Scientific aim: To distinguish organizational culture’s factors that have an impact on organizational climate’s change. Findings: The results of the research confirmed that during the period of changes organizational culture has an impact on organizational climate through specific factors. Theoretical model how change organizational culture impacts organizational climate is developed. Research showed that stability, job satisfaction, team

Arabian, Asian, western: a cross-cultural comparison of aircraft accidents from human factor perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Wardi, Yousuf

2017-09-01

Rates of aviation accident differ in different regions; and national culture has been implicated as a factor. This invites a discussion about the role of national culture in aviation accidents. This study makes a cross-cultural comparison between Oman, Taiwan and the USA. A cross-cultural comparison was acquired using data from three studies, including this study, by applying the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) framework. The Taiwan study presented 523 mishaps with 1762 occurrences of human error obtained from the Republic of China Air Force. The study from the USA carried out for commercial aviation had 119 accidents with 245 instances of human error. This study carried out in Oman had a total of 40 aircraft accidents with 129 incidences. Variations were found between Oman, Taiwan and the USA at the levels of organisational influence and unsafe supervision. Seven HFACS categories showed significant differences between the three countries (p culture can have an impact on aviation safety. This study revealed that national culture plays a role in aircraft accidents related to human factors that cannot be disregarded.

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF CULTURAL TOURISM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zrinka Zadel

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The subject of analysis in the paper is economic impact of cultural tourism and identification of the main factors which directly affect cultural tourism revenues. Most countries do not have a statistical system of monitoring and analysing individual factors of cultural tourism such as the number of arrivals of cultural tourists and consumption of cultural tourists. Therefore, it is hard to assess the economic impact of cultural tourism. In cultural tourism, cultural assets are prepared and placed on the tourist market, i.e. cultural resources are transformed into cultural tourism products. The main objective is fulfilling tourists' needs, and achieving positive effects which includes economic effects. Identification of the economic impact of cultural tourism is important because cultural resources have an inestimable value for the local community. Tourism valorisation should be used in order to achieve the necessary maximum effects with minimum negative impacts which tourism may leave on cultural resources. The objective of the paper is to identify the economic contribution of cultural tourism in the Republic of Croatia and to propose a model of identification of economic impact of cultural tourism.

Factors influencing the contamination rate of human organ-cultured corneas.

Science.gov (United States)

Röck, Daniel; Wude, Johanna; Bartz-Schmidt, Karl U; Yoeruek, Efdal; Thaler, Sebastian; Röck, Tobias

2017-12-01

To assess the influence of donor, environment and storage factors on the contamination rate of organ-cultured corneas, to consider the microbiological species causing corneal contamination and to investigate the corresponding sensitivities. Data from 1340 consecutive donor corneas were analysed retrospectively. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the influence of different factors on the contamination rate of organ-cultured corneas for transplantation. The mean annual contamination rate was 1.8 ± 0.4% (range: 1.3-2.1%); 50% contaminations were of fungal origin with exclusively Candida species, and 50% contaminations were of bacterial origin with Staphylococcus species being predominant. The cause of donor death including infection and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome increased the risk of bacterial or fungal contamination during organ culture (p = 0.007 and p = 0.014, respectively). Differentiating between septic and aseptic donors showed an increased risk of contamination for septic donors (p = 0.0020). Mean monthly temperature including warmer months increased the risk of contamination significantly (p = 0.0031). Sex, donor age, death to enucleation, death to corneoscleral disc excision and storage time did not increase the risk of contamination significantly. The genesis of microbial contamination in organ-cultured donor corneas seems to be multifactorial. The main source of fungal or bacterial contamination could be resident species from the skin flora. The rate of microbial contamination in organ-cultured donor corneas seems to be dependent on the cause of donor death and mean monthly temperature. © 2017 Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Socio-Cultural Factors Influencing Consent For Research In Nigeria ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Socio-Cultural Factors Influencing Consent For Research In Nigeria: Lessons ... for Health Research Ethics in enforcing researchers' compliance with ethical standards in ... Genuine respect for human dignity requires deeper understanding of ...

Cultural Robotics: The Culture of Robotics and Robotics in Culture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hooman Samani

2013-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we have investigated the concept of “Cultural Robotics” with regard to the evolution of social into cultural robots in the 21st Century. By defining the concept of culture, the potential development of a culture between humans and robots is explored. Based on the cultural values of the robotics developers, and the learning ability of current robots, cultural attributes in this regard are in the process of being formed, which would define the new concept of cultural robotics. According to the importance of the embodiment of robots in the sense of presence, the influence of robots in communication culture is anticipated. The sustainability of robotics culture based on diversity for cultural communities for various acceptance modalities is explored in order to anticipate the creation of different attributes of culture between robots and humans in the future.

CULTURAL PHENOMENA AND PROCESSES IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY – DETERMINANTS OF CULTURAL POLICIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ANDREEA MIHAELA NITA

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Cultural phenomena and processes in the contemporary society, influenced by the social development models and by the fact that the constitutive elements of the culture have become the decisive factors of social change, are the determinants of the cultural policies. They are centered on the active process of cultural globalization that emphasizes besides the assimilation of the European principles, also the preservation of the cultural dialog without identity loss. Contemporary culture cannot be appreciated unless we know the main processes and phenomena that lately have generated impressive changes in the area of technology and means of communication. Due to these transformations we witness a change of the cultural paradigms, a mutation of values.

Factors limiting deceased organ donation: focus groups' perspective from culturally diverse community.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, L P

2010-06-01

In-depth understanding of cultural and religious factors limiting organ donation of three ethnic populations (Malay, Chinese, and Indian) in Southeast Asia is lacking. Identification of factors limiting organ donation among these three ethnic groups will provide insights into culturally appropriate strategies to promote acceptance of organ donation in a multiethnic Asian community. A total of 17 focus group discussions (105 participants) were conducted between September and December 2008. Participants were members of the general public aged 18 to 60 years, recruited through convenient sampling around the Klang Valley area of Malaysia. Although the majority had favorable attitudes toward deceased organ donation and transplantation, a diversity of myths and misinformation were unearthed from the discussions across the ethnic groups. These include perceived religious prohibition, cultural myths and misperceptions, fear of disfigurement, fear of surgery, distrust of the medical system, and family disapproval. Culture and religious beliefs played important prohibitive roles among those opposed to organ donations. There were distinctive ethnic differences in cultural and religious concerns regarding organ donation. Less-educated and rural groups appeared to have more misconceptions than the well-educated and the urban groups. Our findings may assist organ donation and transplantation organizations to reach diverse sociodemographic and ethnic communities with culture-specific information about organ donation. The involvement of community and religious leaders is critical in organ donation requests.

Modeling Cultural Factors in Collaboration and Negotiation

Science.gov (United States)

2014-04-25

users of individualistic cultures (e.g. the US) would not be influenced as much by their friends in their twitting behavior as users of collectivist ...advanced experiment (Georgila and Traum, 2011c) we learn policies for three cultural norms ( individualists , collectivists , and altruists...Canadians were less likely to request for help but overall received more help compared to individuals from collectivistic cultures . 8. Honor and

Boosting Culture

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2011-01-01

Culture makes up an indispensable part of our lives, just like material comfort. It is thought of as an important source of a nation’s vitality and creativity, and constitutes a key factor uniting the nation,while making it distinctive from other countries. It is also said culture is a productiv

Culture and Happiness.

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, Dezhu; Ng, Yew-Kwang; Lian, Yujun

Culture is an important factor affecting happiness. This paper examines the predictive power of cultural factors on the cross-country differences in happiness and explores how different dimensions of cultural indices differ in their effects on happiness. Our empirical results show that the global leadership and organizational behavior effectiveness nine culture indices are all significantly related with happiness. Out of these nine indices, power distance (PDI) and gender egalitarianism (GEI) play the most important and stable role in determining subjective well-being (SWB). We further examine the relative importance of the various variables in contributing to the R-squared of the regression. The results show that PDI is the most important, accounting for 50 % of the contributions to R-squared of all variables, or equalling the combined contributions of income, population density and four other traditional variables. The contribution of GEI is 37.1 %, also well surpassing other variables. Our results remain robust even taking account of the different data for culture and SWB.

Cultural Issues in Anxiety Disorders: Some Particularities of the Iranian Culture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Azadeh Malekian

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Anxiety disorders occur in all human societies; yet there are cross- cultural variations in the symptomatology, prevalence, the etiologically contributing bio-psycho-social factors and the social responses to the symptoms and their management. Iran has a heterogeneous population with numerous subcultures bounded closely to each other through the common history, language, Old Persian culture and the similarities in their impressing experiences as a nation. In the format of a narrative review article, here we intend to induce a minimal insight into a few areas of particularity of anxiety disorders in Iranian culture. We will focus on the examples of socio-cultural factors affecting the source of distress, help-seeking behaviors, symptom presentation and treatment of these disorders in Iran.

Teaching Culturally Diverse Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Correa, Vivian; Tulbert, Beth

1991-01-01

Characteristics of culturally diverse students are discussed in terms of language, culture, and socioeconomic factors. Meeting the educational needs of culturally diverse students can involve interactive teaming of professionals; parent involvement; and providing appropriate services, assessment, curriculum, and instruction. (JDD)

Cultural Robotics: The Culture of Robotics and Robotics in Culture

OpenAIRE

Hooman Samani; Elham Saadatian; Natalie Pang; Doros Polydorou; Owen Noel Newton Fernando; Ryohei Nakatsu; Jeffrey Tzu Kwan Valino Koh

2013-01-01

In this paper, we have investigated the concept of “Cultural Robotics” with regard to the evolution of social into cultural robots in the 21st Century. By defining the concept of culture, the potential development of a culture between humans and robots is explored. Based on the cultural values of the robotics developers, and the learning ability of current robots, cultural attributes in this regard are in the process of being formed, which would define the new concept of cultural robotics. Ac...

Do cultural factors predict mammography behaviour among Korean immigrants in the USA?

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Hanju; Kim, Jiyun; Han, Hae-Ra

2009-12-01

This paper is a report of a study of the correlates of mammogram use among Korean American women. Despite the increasing incidence of and mortality from breast cancer, Asian women in the United States of America report consistently low rates of mammography screening. A number of health beliefs and sociodemographic characteristics have been associated with mammogram participation among these women. However, studies systematically investigating cultural factors in relation to mammogram experience have been scarce. We measured screening-related health beliefs, modesty and use of Eastern medicine in 100 Korean American women in 2006. Hierarchical logistic regression was used to examine the unique contribution of the study variables, after accounting for sociodemographic characteristics. Only 51% reported past mammogram use. Korean American women who had previously had mammograms were statistically significantly older and had higher perceived benefit scores than those who had not. Perceived benefits (odds ratio = 6.3, 95% confidence interval = 2.12, 18.76) and breast cancer susceptibility (odds ratio = 3.18, 95% confidence interval = 1.06, 9.59) were statistically significant correlates of mammography experience, whereas cultural factors did not correlate. Post hoc analysis showed that for women with some or good English skills, cultural factors statistically significantly correlated with health beliefs and breast cancer knowledge (P culturally tailored interventions of more targeted outreach and healthcare system navigation assistance for promoting mammography screening in Korean American women. Further research is needed to unravel the interplay between acculturation, cultural factors and health beliefs related to cancer screening behaviours of Korean American women.

The role of engineering judgement, safety culture, and organizational factors in risk assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muzumdar, Ajit; Professor, Visiting

1996-01-01

This paper reviews the role of engineering judgement, safety culture, and organizational factors in risk assessment by examining the reasons for human-based error. The need for more emphasis on producing engineers with good engineering judgement is described. The progress in quantifying the role of safety culture and organizational factors in risk assessment studies is summarized

Interventions to provide culturally-appropriate maternity care services: factors affecting implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Eleri; Lattof, Samantha R; Coast, Ernestina

2017-08-31

The World Health Organization recently made a recommendation supporting 'culturally-appropriate' maternity care services to improve maternal and newborn health. This recommendation results, in part, from a systematic review we conducted, which showed that interventions to provide culturally-appropriate maternity care have largely improved women's use of skilled maternity care. Factors relating to the implementation of these interventions can have implications for their success. This paper examines stakeholders' perspectives and experiences of these interventions, and facilitators and barriers to implementation; and concludes with how they relate to the effects of the interventions on care-seeking outcomes. We based our analysis on 15 papers included in the systematic review. To extract, collate and organise data on the context and conditions from each paper, we adapted the SURE (Supporting the Use of Research Evidence) framework that lists categories of factors that could influence implementation. We considered information from the background and discussion sections of papers included in the systematic review, as well as cost data and qualitative data when included. Women's and other stakeholders' perspectives on the interventions were generally positive. Four key themes emerged in our analysis of facilitators and barriers to implementation. Firstly, interventions must consider broader economic, geographical and social factors that affect ethnic minority groups' access to services, alongside providing culturally-appropriate care. Secondly, community participation is important in understanding problems with existing services and potential solutions from the community perspective, and in the development and implementation of interventions. Thirdly, respectful, person-centred care should be at the core of these interventions. Finally, cohesiveness is essential between the culturally-appropriate service and other health care providers encountered by women and their

Safeguards Culture: Analogies from Safety Culture and Security Culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naito, K.

2013-01-01

The terminology of 'safeguards culture' has been used loosely by safeguards experts as an essential element for establishing an organizational environment of stakeholders for the effective and efficient implementation of international safeguards. However, unlike the other two triplet brothers/ sisters of 3S's (Safety, Security, Safeguards), there is no formally established definition of safeguards culture. In the case of safety culture, INSAG (the International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group) has extensively dealt with its concept, elaborating its definition and key characteristics, and published its report, INSAG-4, as the IAEA Safety Series 75. On the other hand, security culture has also been defined by AdSec (the Advisory Group on Nuclear Security). In this paper, a provisional definition of safeguards culture is made on the analogies of safety culture and security culture, and an effort is made to describe essential elements of safeguards culture. It is proposed for SAGSI (the Standing Advisory Group on Safeguards Implementation) to formally consider the definition of safeguards culture and its characteristics. The paper is followed by the slides of the presentation. (author)

Some factors affecting the in vitro culture of banana

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zadi, T.A.N.; Khan, N.H.; Rehman, Z.U.

2006-01-01

Factors affecting in vitro regeneration of shoots in shoot tip explant cultures of banana cultivar 'Basrai', such as solid and liquid media, growth regulators, vitamins, and antioxidants were studied. Three-quarters strength of MS liquid medium supplemented with 17.75 micro m 6-benzyladenine (BA), 11.42 micro M indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and 205 micro M adenine sulphate induced the formation of mean number of 12.3 shoots, with the mean length of 3.0 cm, after three weeks of culture. Maximum shoot multiplication (14.33) occurred in liquid medium containing 22.19 micro M BA. Addition of 2.0% activated charcoal (AC) to the liquid medium improved quality of the regenerated plants with expanded and glossy leaves, though the number of shoots was reduced (13.66). Profuse formation of roots was characteristically induced by AC. Addition of citric acid (CA) to the medium caused decline in morphogenetic expression of the cultures. (author)

The Relationship of Workplace Culture With Nursing-Sensitive Organizational Factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Hahtela, Nina; McCormack, Brendan; Paavilainen, Eija; Slater, Paul; Helminen, Mika; Suominen, Tarja

2015-01-01

The aim of this study is to explore the relations of workplace culture on nursing-sensitive organizational factors. The need for standardized and valid measures for nursing-sensitive organizational outcomes has already been recognized in the literature. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey of 21 inpatient acute care units in 9 organizations at the municipal primary healthcare level was conducted. Participants included licensed practical nurses, registered nurses, and nurse managers. Workplace culture, especially the overarching factor of stress, correlated with the use of supplemental nursing staff and patients' length of stay. It is essential to find and test workplace-sensitive indicators so that managers will have a wider range of methods to plan and evaluate nursing outcomes.

Cross-cultural aspects of anxiety disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Hofmann, Stefan G; Hinton, Devon E

2014-06-01

A person's cultural background influences the experience and expression of emotions. In reviewing the recent literature on cross-cultural aspects of anxiety disorders, we identified some culturally related ethnopsychology/ethnophysiology factors (the culture's conceptualizations of how the mind and body function) and contextual factors that influence anxiety disorders. Ethnopsychology/ethnophysiology factors include the person's ideas about the mental and bodily processes (and their interaction), whereas contextual factors are associated with the social norms and rules that may contribute to anxiety, including individualism vs. collectivism and self-construals. From the perspective of ethnopsychology/ethnophysiology and contextual factors, we will discuss "khyâl cap" ("wind attacks"), taijin kyofusho, and ataques de nervios, three prominent examples of culture-specific expressions of anxiety disorders that have all been included in the DSM-5 list of cultural concepts of distress.

Cross-Cultural Approach of Postpartum Depression: Manifestation, Practices Applied, Risk Factors and Therapeutic Interventions.

Science.gov (United States)

Evagorou, Olympia; Arvaniti, Aikaterini; Samakouri, Maria

2016-03-01

It is a well known fact that postpartum depression (PPD) is a global phenomenon that women may experience, regardless of cultural identity and beliefs. This literature review presents the cultural beliefs and postnatal practices around the world, in each continent and people's origins, looking through the extent to which they contribute positively or negatively to the onset of the disease. 106 articles were used in this research, through a systematic electronic search of Pubmed (Medline) and Scopus. Comparison is also made between the prevalence, the risk factors and the different ways of appearance of the disease around the world and among immigrants. Finally, the initiatives and interventions made so far by the governments and institutions with a view to prevent and address this global problem are presented. The results showed (a) that different cultures share the same risk factors towards the disease (b) significant differences in the prevalence of the disease among both Western and non Western cultures and between the cultures themselves (c) more tendencies for somatization of depressive symptoms in non-Western cultures, (d) different postnatal practices between cultures, which are not always effective (e) the more non-West a culture is, the less interventions concern on mental health; the same phenomenon is observed on populations burdened by immigration. The beliefs held by culture should be taken seriously in detecting of PPD, as well as the assessment of the needs of women who have recently given birth.

Organizational culture modeling

OpenAIRE

Valentina Mihaela GHINEA; Constantin BRĂTIANU

2012-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual analysis of organizational culture modeling in the framework of system dynamics. Tom Peters and Robert Waterman demonstrated through their seminal research that organizational culture constitutes one of the most important key success factors in any company trying to achieve excellence in its business. Organizational culture is a strong nonlinear integrator of the organizational intellectual capital acting especially on the emotional knowled...

CULTURAL DUE DILIGENCE IN M&A. IMPORTANCE OF SOFT RISKS FACTORS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iulian Walter

2017-07-01

Full Text Available During the last decades, the corporate world has witnessed a significant rise in the number of cross border mergers and acquisitions (M&As. In cross border M&As, not only different corporate cultures collide, but also different professional and national cultures. The purpose of Cultural Due Diligence (CDD is to get a coherent image of the intercultural challenges of the M&A in order to be aware of the intercultural risks and opportunities. This article aims to reveal the perception of managers involved in the pre-M&A stage on the soft risks factors that need to be investigated during CDD. This study proposes an appraisal of the most important intercultural issues that need to be considered in M&A. Our contribution to the intercultural aspects of M&A literature consists in improving the current understanding of Cultural Due Diligence content.

CULTURAL DUE DILIGENCE IN M&A. IMPORTANCE OF SOFT RISKS FACTORS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iulian Warter

2017-06-01

Full Text Available During the last decades, the corporate world has witnessed a significant rise in the number of cross border mergers and acquisitions (M&As. In cross border M&As, not only different corporate cultures collide, but also different professional and national cultures. The purpose of Cultural Due Diligence (CDD is to get a coherent image of the intercultural challenges of the M&A in order to be aware of the intercultural risks and opportunities. This article aims to reveal the perception of managers involved in the pre-M&A stage on the soft risks factors that need to be investigated during CDD. This study proposes an appraisal of the most important intercultural issues that need to be considered in M&A. Our contribution to the intercultural aspects of M&A literature consists in improving the current understanding of Cultural Due Diligence content.

Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) Control of Secreted Factors for Blood Stem Cell Culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Caldwell, Julia; Wang, Weijia; Zandstra, Peter W

2015-01-01

Clinical use of umbilical cord blood has typically been limited by the need to expand hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPC) ex vivo. This expansion is challenging due to the accumulation of secreted signaling factors in the culture that have a negative regulatory effect on HSPC output. Strategies for global regulation of these factors through dilution have been developed, but do not accommodate the dynamic nature or inherent variability of hematopoietic cell culture. We have developed a mathematical model to simulate the impact of feedback control on in vitro hematopoiesis, and used it to design a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control algorithm. This algorithm was implemented with a fed-batch bioreactor to regulate the concentrations of secreted factors. Controlling the concentration of a key target factor, TGF-β1, through dilution limited the negative effect it had on HSPCs, and allowed global control of other similarly-produced inhibitory endogenous factors. The PID control algorithm effectively maintained the target soluble factor at the target concentration. We show that feedback controlled dilution is predicted to be a more cost effective dilution strategy compared to other open-loop strategies, and can enhance HSPC expansion in short term culture. This study demonstrates the utility of secreted factor process control strategies to optimize stem cell culture systems, and motivates the development of multi-analyte protein sensors to automate the manufacturing of cell therapies.

Cultural Factors in the Flow of International News: A Review of the Literature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sakurai Takuya

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper offers a review of the literature of international news flow, and surveys how the previous studies have attempted to capture “cultural factors” influencing the flow. The factors are grouped into four types of variables: language, former colonial tie, ethnicity, and geographical proximity. This paper argues that cultural factors cannot be significant without economic interests in the era of post-Cold War, that the structure of international news is imbalanced because a few powerful countries dominate the international news market, and that international news reduces cultural varieties to the singular international realities disseminated by the media of such countries.

Moving Towards Culturally Competent Health Systems: Organizational and Market Factors

Science.gov (United States)

Weech-Maldonado, Robert; Elliott, Marc; Pradhan, Rohit; Schiller, Cameron; Dreachslin, Janice; Hays, Ron D.

2012-01-01

Cultural competency has been proposed as an organizational strategy to address racial/ethnic disparities in the health care system; disparities are a long-standing policy challenge whose relevance is only increasing with the increasing population diversity of the US and across the world. Using an integrative conceptual framework based on the resource dependency and institutional theories, we examine the relationship between organizational and market factors and hospitals’ degree of cultural competency. Our sample consists of 119 hospitals located in the state of California (US) and is constructed using the following datasets for the year 2006: Cultural Competency Assessment Tool of Hospitals (CCATH) Survey, California’s Office of Statewide Health Planning & Development’s Hospital Inpatient Discharges and Annual Hospital Financial Data, American Hospital Association’s Annual Survey, and the Area Resource File. The dependent variable consists of the degree of hospital cultural competency, as assessed by the CCATH overall score. Organizational variables include ownership status, teaching hospital, payer mix, size, system membership, financial performance, and the proportion of inpatient racial/ethnic minorities. Market characteristics included hospital competition, the proportion of racial/ethnic minorities in the area, metropolitan area, and per capita income. Regression analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between the CCATH overall score and organizational and market variables. Our results show that hospitals which are not-for-profit, serve a more diverse inpatient population, and are located in more competitive and affluent markets exhibit a higher degree of cultural competency. Our results underscore the importance of both institutional and competitive market pressures in guiding hospital behavior. For instance, while not-for-profit may adopt innovative/progressive policies like cultural competency simply as a function of their organizational

Moving towards culturally competent health systems: organizational and market factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Weech-Maldonado, Robert; Elliott, Marc N; Pradhan, Rohit; Schiller, Cameron; Dreachslin, Janice; Hays, Ron D

2012-09-01

Cultural competency has been proposed as an organizational strategy to address racial/ethnic disparities in the healthcare system; disparities are a long-standing policy challenge whose relevance is only increasing with the increasing population diversity of the US and across the world. Using an integrative conceptual framework based on the resource dependency and institutional theories, we examine the relationship between organizational and market factors and hospitals' degree of cultural competency. Our sample consists of 119 hospitals located in the state of California (US) and is constructed using the following datasets for the year 2006: Cultural Competency Assessment Tool of Hospitals (CCATH) Survey, California's Office of Statewide Health Planning & Development's Hospital Inpatient Discharges and Annual Hospital Financial Data, American Hospital Association's Annual Survey, and the Area Resource File. The dependent variable consists of the degree of hospital cultural competency, as assessed by the CCATH overall score. Organizational variables include ownership status, teaching hospital, payer mix, size, system membership, financial performance, and the proportion of inpatient racial/ethnic minorities. Market characteristics included hospital competition, the proportion of racial/ethnic minorities in the area, metropolitan area, and per capita income. Regression analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between the CCATH overall score and organizational and market variables. Our results show that hospitals which are not-for-profit, serve a more diverse inpatient population, and are located in more competitive and affluent markets exhibit a higher degree of cultural competency. Our results underscore the importance of both institutional and competitive market pressures in guiding hospital behavior. For instance, while not-for-profit may adopt innovative/progressive policies like cultural competency simply as a function of their organizational goals

Cultural Aspects of Suicide

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hari D. Maharajh

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Undefined cultural factors cannot be dismissed and significantly contribute to the worldwide incidence of death by suicide. Culture is an all embracing term and defines the relationship of an individual to his environment. This study seeks to investigate the effect of culture on suicide both regionally and internationally. Culture-bound syndrome with suicidal behaviours specific to a particular culture or geographical region are discussed. Opinions are divided as to the status of religious martyrs. The law itself is silent on many aspects of suicidal behaviour and despite decriminalization of suicide as self-murder, the latter remains on the statutes of many developing countries. The Caribbean region is of concern due to its steady rise in mean suicide rate, especially in Trinidad and Tobago where socio-cultural factors are instrumental in influencing suicidal behaviour. These include transgenerational cultural conflicts, psycho-social problems, media exposure, unemployment, social distress, religion and family structure. The methods used are attributed to accessibility and lethality. Ingestion of poisonous substances is most popular followed by hanging. The gender differences seen with regard to suicidality can also be attributed to gender related psychopathology and psychosocial differences in help-seeking behaviour. These are influenced by the cultural environment to which the individual is exposed. Culture provides coping strategies to individuals; as civilization advances many of these coping mechanisms are lost unclothing the genetic predisposition of vulnerable groups. In the management of suicidal behaviour, a system of therapeutic re-culturation is needed with an emphasis on relevant culture- based therapies.

Imaging-guided percutaneous needle biopsy for infectious spondylitis: Factors affecting culture positivity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sung, Si Yoon; Kwon, Jong Won [Dept. of Radiology and Center for Imaging Science, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2015-11-15

To evaluate the variable factors affecting the results of percutaneous needle biopsies for infectious spondylitis. In all, 249 patients who underwent both MRI and percutaneous needle biopsies due to a suspicion of infectious spondylitis were evaluated with respect to the following factors: the usage of antibiotics before the procedure, the location of the biopsy, the guiding equipment used, the experience level of the operators, and the number of biopsies performed. The positivity of culture in cases of treated with antibiotics (16.3%) before the biopsy was lower than in the untreated cases (30.5%) (p = 0.004). Biopsies performed at the abscess (43.5%) and with fluoroscopic guidance (27.8%) showed higher culture positivity as well. The experience level of the operators and the number of biopsies had no effect on culture positivity. The usage of antibiotics before the biopsy, the biopsy's location, and the guiding equipment used affect the culture positivity, while the experience levels of the operators and the number of biopsies do not have an effect.

Imaging-guided percutaneous needle biopsy for infectious spondylitis: Factors affecting culture positivity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sung, Si Yoon; Kwon, Jong Won

2015-01-01

To evaluate the variable factors affecting the results of percutaneous needle biopsies for infectious spondylitis. In all, 249 patients who underwent both MRI and percutaneous needle biopsies due to a suspicion of infectious spondylitis were evaluated with respect to the following factors: the usage of antibiotics before the procedure, the location of the biopsy, the guiding equipment used, the experience level of the operators, and the number of biopsies performed. The positivity of culture in cases of treated with antibiotics (16.3%) before the biopsy was lower than in the untreated cases (30.5%) (p = 0.004). Biopsies performed at the abscess (43.5%) and with fluoroscopic guidance (27.8%) showed higher culture positivity as well. The experience level of the operators and the number of biopsies had no effect on culture positivity. The usage of antibiotics before the biopsy, the biopsy's location, and the guiding equipment used affect the culture positivity, while the experience levels of the operators and the number of biopsies do not have an effect

SOME PSYCHO CULTURAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL FACTORS AS ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

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This study sought to find out the extent to which some psycho cultural and ... psycho cultural and physiological variables (gender, age, traditional beliefs about ..... (Ed.) Confronting the AIDS Epidemic, ... Counselling Psychology, 6 (1): 39-57.

Cultural Assessments and Campaign Planning

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Gordon, James

2004-01-01

.... Cultural assessment is a detailed analysis of factors that influence cultural behavior and a summary of the characteristics of the culture of a given population in relation to proposed military operations...

COMPETENCIA CULTURAL E INTELIGENCIA CULTURAL. APORTES A LA MEDIACIÓN CULTURAL DOCENTE CULTURAL (COMPETENCE AND CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE. CONTRIBUTIONS TO CULTURAL MEDIATION FOR TEACHERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D'Antoni Maurizia

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Resumen:El ensayo nace como parte de una investigación mayor que se publicará sobre la inserción profesional docente en la Universidad de Costa Rica. Su finalidad en la investigación en curso es la de explorar los aportes de los estudios sobre competencia cultural e inteligencia cultural, para identificar planteamientos teóricos que fortalezcan nuevos espacios para la mediación cultural docente en la Universidad. Se concluye que el concepto de competencia cultural representa un aporte importante, si se revisa la idea de cultura que subyace y se le transforma en “competencia intercultural”. Luego, se define mediación cultural, evidenciándose la importancia de la nueva figura profesional en el contexto actual, los ámbitos de acción donde se ha empleado y se manifiesta la necesidad de promover mediadores y mediadoras culturales en Costa Rica también.Abstract: The essay comes as part of a larger investigation to be published about teachers’ professional integration at the University of Costa Rica. His purpose in the ongoing investigation is to explore the contributions of studies on cultural competency and cultural understanding, to identify new theoretical approaches and strengthen new cultural spaces for teaching mediation at the University. We conclude that the concept of cultural competence represents an important contribution, if we review the underlying idea of culture and it is transformed into "intercultural competence". The definition of cultural mediation points to the importance of the new professional figure in the current context, evidencing the areas of action where it has been used and showing the need to promote cultural mediators in Costa Rica as well.

Organizational Culture as a Factor Leaning Knowledge Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Waldemar Walczak

2009-07-01

Full Text Available The article discusses subject of the organizational culture and understanding the strong role it plays in organizations from the point of view in regard to the human capital management. Basically, culture is comprised of the assumptions, values, norms and tangible signs (artifacts of organization members and their behaviors. It encourages employees to identify their goals with company goals, promotes knowledge sharing lead to increased competencies and teams effectiveness. The most significant thesis of the article says that organizational culture plays an important role in the process of knowledge management. Main conceptions of corporate culture as understanding, meaning, the most important aspects indicated changes which should be stimulated by transformation of organizational culture and ways of shaping, were shown.

Measuring Learning and Development in Cross-Cultural Competence

Science.gov (United States)

2012-09-01

Relativism . .......................................................................................................... 13 Cultural Acuity...Factor Cronbach’s α Number of items Cultural Interest 0.73 6 Cultural Relativism 0.80 10 Cultural Acuity 0.70 8 Relationship Orientation 0.71 7...The factors were labeled as Cultural Interest (CI), Cultural Relativism (CR), Cultural Acuity (CA), Relationship Orientation (RO), and Interpersonal

Factors Influencing Suicide Behaviours in Immigrant and Ethno-Cultural Minority Groups: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Lai, Daniel W L; Li, Lun; Daoust, Gabrielle D

2017-06-01

This paper reviews recent literature on factors influencing suicide behaviours, including thoughts, plans, and attempts, in immigrant and ethno-cultural minority groups, to inform a more comprehensive understanding of suicide behaviours in increasingly culturally diverse populations. Thirty-three studies published between 2002 and 2013 were identified through digital databases searches and included in this review. Analysis of study findings focused on impacts of ethno-cultural identity and acculturation, other cultural and immigration influences, and family and community supports on suicide behaviours. Policy, practice, and research recommendations are identified, to inform relevant suicide prevention efforts and enhance mental health supports for immigrant and ethno-cultural minority populations.

Socio-cultural factors of formation of musical preferences of Ukrainian students

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L. M. Nesterenko

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The impact of social and cultural factors on the musical preferences of students in Ukraine has been analysed in the article. The following factors have been selected: the type of society and social change in the polical fields of economy, culture, technology, students, musical paradigm. The urgency of the analysis of the genesis, development and change of musical preferences of students has been proven, the necessity to study the influence of sociocultural factors on the formation of musical preferences in modern society has been grounded. This allowed characterising the musical preferences as a socio-cultural phenomenon that present signs and society, and culture of the society. It has been found that the development of technology, such as the invention and use of the gramophone, phonograph, cinema, radio, television, and later a tape recorder, computer, Internet, mobile communications and the latest gadgets, has enhanced the formation of musical preferences.It has contributed meeting the needs and inquiries of students, which are studying musical art, the use of individual trajectories of formation of formal and informal musical preferences. Formal preferences are associated with the activities of social institutions and social organizations. In this context, the musical preferences and those recommended “from above” have been considered to be two different ways of formation of musical preferences in a totalitarian society. The variety of musical preferences has been determined. State-formed musical preferences have been identified and characterized by a second method of forming a musical preferences, which is based on the perception of diversity and is not approved by the musical culture of the individually selected samples, “from below” groups, which are defined as individual and personal, or informal, musical preferences. The musical preferences of students, related to situations of social changes that have occurred in the spheres

CULTURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP STRATEGIES IN IRAN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fateme Tohidy Ardahaey

2010-11-01

Full Text Available This article initially deals with the concepts of entrepreneurship, cultural entrepreneurship and its importance in the field of culture. Then, identifying the factors of cultural entrepreneurshipstrategies, it offers some models for assessing cultural entrepreneurship strategies and benchmarking it. Afterwards, it tries to reform and standardize the presented model through questioning experts and elite of the profession. It is concluded that there is a significant difference between the mean ranks of the implementation factors of the entrepreneurship strategy which is detailed through the work.

ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT CULTURE

OpenAIRE

Tudor Hobeanu; Loredana Vacarescu Hobeanu

2010-01-01

Communication reveals the importance of organizational culture and management culture supported by the remarkable results in economic and social level of organization. Their functions are presented and specific ways of expression levels of organizational culture and ways of adapting to the requirements of the organization's management culture.

Defining safety culture and the nexus between safety goals and safety culture. 3. A Methodology for Identifying Deficiencies in Safety Culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Apostolakis, George; Weil, Rick

2001-01-01

At present, the drivers of performance problems at nuclear power plants (NPPs) are organizational in nature. Organizational deficiencies and other 'latent' conditions cause human errors, resulting in incidents that impact the performance of NPPs. Therefore, the human reliability community, regulators, and others concerned with NPP safety express the view that safety culture and organizational factors play an important role in plant safety. However, we have yet to identify one complete set of organizational factors, establish links between deficient safety culture and performance, or develop adequate tools to measure safety culture. This paper will contribute to the resolution of these issues. Safety culture is not a single factor but rather is a collection of several distinct factors. This paper asserts that in order to pro-actively manage safety culture at NPPs, leading indicators and appropriate measurements must be identified and developed. Central to this effort are the identification of the distinct factors comprising safety culture and the relationships between those factors and performance. We have identified several factors important to safety culture. We have developed a methodology that is a combination of traditional root-cause analysis and theories of human error, most notably Reason's theory of accident causation. In addition to this methodology's usefulness in identifying deficiencies in safety culture, it could also be used as a starting point to identify leading indicators of deteriorating safety performance. We have identified six organizational factors as being important: communication, formalization, goal prioritization, problem identification, roles and responsibilities, and technical knowledge. In addition, we have found that certain organizational factors, although pervasive throughout the organization, have a much greater influence on the successful outcome of particular tasks of work processes, rather than being equally important to all

Use of polyethyleneimine polymer in cell culture as attachment factor and lipofection enhancer

OpenAIRE

Vancha, Ajith R; Govindaraju, Suman; Parsa, Kishore VL; Jasti, Madhuri; González-García, Maribel; Ballestero, Rafael P

2004-01-01

Abstract Background Several cell lines and primary cultures benefit from the use of positively charged extracellular matrix proteins or polymers that enhance their ability to attach to culture plates. Polyethyleneimine is a positively charged polymer that has gained recent attention as a transfection reagent. A less known use of this cationic polymer as an attachment factor was explored with several cell lines. Results Polyethyleneimine compared favorably to traditional attachment factors suc...

Cultural commons and cultural evolution

OpenAIRE

Bravo, Giangiacomo

2010-01-01

Culture evolves following a process that is akin to biological evolution, although with some significant differences. At the same time culture has often a collective good value for human groups. This paper studies culture in an evolutionary perspective, with a focus on the implications of group definition for the coexistence of different cultures. A model of cultural evolution is presented where agents interacts in an artificial environment. The belonging to a specific memetic group is a majo...

The Role of Cultural Factors on Dating Aggression and Delinquency Among Latino Youth.

Science.gov (United States)

Cuevas, Carlos A; Sabina, Chiara; Fahlberg, Anjuli; Espinola, Maria

2018-02-01

There is limited research comparatively evaluating delinquency and dating aggression among Latino youth. This analysis examines the rates and cultural correlates associated with delinquency and dating aggression among Latino youth using data from the Dating Violence Among Latino Adolescents study. The study surveyed 1,525 Latino adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 years about past-year dating aggression perpetration and delinquency. Dating aggression perpetration and delinquency rates and relative risk ratios are presented. Logistic regression analyses examined the role of cultural factors on the perpetration of dating aggression and delinquent behaviors. Results showed that cultural factors had differential influence on dating aggression versus delinquency. Specifically, victimization, acculturation, and familial support were associated with dating aggression whereas only victimization and familial support were associated with delinquency. The results provide guidance for intervention and prevention efforts with Latino youth, particularly on the need for cultural consideration and the supportive role family can play in addressing these behaviors.

Warrior culture, spirituality, and prayer.

Science.gov (United States)

Malmin, Mark

2013-09-01

Research has shown an increase in suicides by military veterans and law enforcement officers in the United States. Etiologic research elucidates warrior culture and subculture as contributing factors of this pathology. This paper examines the idiosyncratic nature and influence of warrior culture and subculture and offers recommendations to promote culture change. Faith-based spirituality and prayer are examined as adjunct modalities for stress management and emotional healing. Further research is recommended to assess the associated hidden cost factors and long-term financial impact of warrior culture on society.

[Factors associated with the strength of organizational culture in a Beninese hospital].

Science.gov (United States)

Sopoh, Ghislain Emmanuel; Kouckodila Nzingoula, Michael Florian; Sossa Jérôme, Charles; Hessou Ahahanzo-Glèlè, Yolaine; Damienne Agueh, Victoire; Tinoaga Ouédraogo, Laurent; Makoutodé, Michel

Organizational culture, a frequently ignored concept, affects job satisfaction and productivity in organizations. To determine the factors associated with the strength of organizational culture (OC) in Mono / Couffo regional hospital in Lokossa in Benin. This cross-sectional and analytical study involved 121 workers of Mono/Couffo hospital in March 2015. Data on the strength of OC was collected using a questionnaire based on the validated tool proposed by Cameron and Quinn (2006). Logistic regression was performed to explore the nature of the relationship between the independent variables and OC using Odds ratios. 62% of the surveyed subjects had a positive perception of organizational culture. This perception was statistically associated with managerial factors (moral support of workers and type of relationship with the executive staff). The risk of perceiving a low strength of OC was sixfold higher OR = 3.78, 95% CI (1.08 - 13.22) among subjects who felt they did not have moral support from executive staff than in those who perceived this moral support. The risk of perceiving a weak OC was higher among subjects who considered relations with the staff to be uncordial [OR = 14.32, 95% CI (4.35 - 47.11)] compared to those who considered these relations to be cordial. Human resource management factors were more closely associated with the strength of organizational culture. Hospital managers should pay more attention to these factors in their hospitals to promote better institutional performance.

Culture-lovers and Culture-leavers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Frank Huysmans; Andries van den Broek; Jos de Haan

2005-01-01

Who are the people in the Netherlands with an active interest in cultural heritage and the performing arts, and who prefer to leave these forms of culture alone? Have the size and composition of the groups of 'culture-lovers' and 'culture-leavers' changed since the end of the 1970s? These are the

Cultural factors related to the maintenance of health behaviours in Algonquin women with a history of gestational diabetes.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaudreau, S; Michaud, C

2012-06-01

Though the cultural factors that may contribute to the diabetes epidemic in First Nations are frequently discussed, little is known about the factors that may help prevent it. In this ethnonursing study, we explore the cultural factors that help maintain health behaviours in Algonquin women who had received a diagnosis of gestational diabetes 2 to 10 years before this study. The data were collected in two Algonquin communities through semi-structured interviews with key informants (n = 7) and general informants (n = 8) and through cultural immersion, with detailed observations being recorded into logbooks. The cultural factors that are likely to affect the prevention of diabetes are the importance of family and social ties, the possibility of preserving cultural values, the opportunity to learn behaviours through educational resources adapted to needs and culture, the chance of saving money through better diet and access to blood sugar data as a means of control. In the long term, these cultural factors could influence health behaviours and thus help prevent type 2 diabetes.

SURVEYS OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND SAFETY CULTURE IN NUCLEAR POWER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

BROWN, B.S.

2000-01-01

The results of a survey of organizational culture at a nuclear power plant are summarized and compared with those of a similar survey which has been described in the literature on high-reliability organizations. A general-purpose cultural inventory showed a profile of organizational style similar to that reported in the literature; the factor structure for the styles was also similar to that of the plant previously described. A specialized scale designed to measure safety culture did not distinguish among groups within the organization that would be expected to differ

Conditioning Factors of an Organizational Learning Culture

Science.gov (United States)

Rebelo, Teresa Manuela; Gomes, Adelino Duarte

2011-01-01

Purpose: The aim of this study is to assess the relationship between some variables (organizational structure, organizational dimension and age, human resource characteristics, the external environment, strategy and quality) and organizational learning culture and evaluate the way they interact with this kind of culture.…

What is culture in «cultural economy»? Defining culture to create measurable models in cultural economy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aníbal Monasterio Astobiza

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The idea of culture is somewhat vague and ambiguous for the formal goals of economics. The aim of this paper is to define the notion of culture better so as to help build economic explanations based on culture and therefore to measure its impact in every activity or beliefs associated with culture. To define culture according to the canonical evolutionary definition, it is any kind of ritualised behaviour that becomes meaningful for a group and that remains more or less constant and is transmitted down through the generations. Economic institutions are founded, implicitly or explicitly, on a worldview of how humans function; culture is an essential part of understanding us as humans, making it necessary to describe what we understand by culture correctly. In this paper we review the literature on evolutionary anthropology and psychology dealing with the concept of culture to warn that economic modelling ignores intangible benefits of culture rendering economics unable to measure certain cultural items in the digital consumer society.

Cultural factors affecting urban Mexican male homosexual behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Carrier, J M

1976-03-01

Some aspects of the mestizoized urban culture in Mexico are linked to male homosexuality in support of the theory that cultural factors play an important role in the kind of life styles and sex practices of males involved in homosexual behavior. The following factors are considered relevant: the sharp dichotomization of gender roles, dual categorization of females as good or bad, separate social networks maintained by males before and after marriage, proportion of unmarried males, and distribution of income. One result of the sharp dichotomization of male and female gender roles is the widely held belief that effeminate males generally prefer to play the female role rather than the male. Effeminacy and homosexuality are also linked by the belief that as a result of this role preference effeminate males are sexually interested only in masculine males with whom they play the passive sex role. The participation of masculine males in homosexual encounters is related in part to a relatively high level of sexual awareness in combination with the lack of stigmatization of the insertor sex role and in part to the restraints placed on alternative sexual outlets by available income and/or marital status. Males involved in homosexual behavior in Mexico operate in a sociocultural environment which gives rise to expectations that they should play either the insertee or insertor sex role but not both and that they should obtain ultimate sexual satisfaction with anal intercourse rather than fellatio. In spite of cultural imperatives, however, individual preferences stemming from other variables such as personality needs, sexual gratification, desires of wanted partners, and amount of involvement may override the imperatives with resulting variations in sexual behavior patterns.

Quality Culture Development in the Industrial Enterprise

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Renata Baravska

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This article examines the theoretical viewpoint of quality culture, its formation in industrial plants. Here is discussed cultural ap-proach to quality. It is determined that quality based on a cultural perspective is implemented not only by using tools and methods, but it is the result of cultural factors – exactly the company's values and practices. The values that affect a successful quality culture's integration into entire company's activity are overviewed. This article presents the study of key factors influencing the quality culture's development and it is proposed a conceptual model. The conclusions of performed empirical studies confirm that leadership and company's culture are of paramount im-portance and are the main success factors in developing of the quality culture in the company. The connection between leader-ship and empowerment certifies that each company itself is re-sponsible for the formation of the quality culture.

The influence of culture as a marketing factor on costumer's behavior

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Đelošević Ivana

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The social factor that has the widest impact on customer's behavior is culture. The aim of this work is that through the elements and dimensions of culture explains habits, customs and tendencies of people in consumption .According to the broad and pervasive nature of culture, its study requires a thorough examination of the character of the entire society, including elements such as language, laws, customs, religion, art, technology, business partners, products and other elements that give the society a distinctive taste. Understanding the similarities and differences among costumers is very important for multinational tenderer. If there is a greater similarity between the costumers they will use similar strategies but if the beliefs and customs are different, then each country uses individual marketing strategy. In international marketing error may occur if the promotional message of a company presents in a language that is not understandable to customers in a given country and which means something completely different and unacceptable by customers. Differences in cultural values can be described in various dimensions - individualism, masculinity, power distance, avoidance of uncertainty and long-term orientation. Market segments in developing countries offer great opportunities but the creation of values in those segments means that the nuances of the culture must be understood.

Feminine leadership and organisational culture

OpenAIRE

Paul Marinescu; Sorin George Toma; Andreea Seseanu

2014-01-01

People in general, leaders especially, are influenced by the organisational culture and the other way around. Organisational culture represents a determining factor regarding the display of leadership, since these two processes create each other, adding value and consistency to one another. Moreover, organisational culture can be created and developed in a fluctuant business environment, in which the external factors influence its progress. The development of society has incessantly been emph...

Protocol for culturing low density pure rat hippocampal neurons supported by mature mixed neuron cultures.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Qian; Ke, Yini; Luo, Jianhong; Tang, Yang

2017-02-01

primary hippocampal neuron cultures allow for subcellular morphological dissection, easy access to drug treatment and electrophysiology analysis of individual neurons, and is therefore an ideal model for the study of neuron physiology. While neuron and glia mixed cultures are relatively easy to prepare, pure neurons are particular hard to culture at low densities which are suitable for morphology studies. This may be due to a lack of neurotrophic factors such as brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin-3 (NT3) and Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF). In this study we used a two step protocol in which neuron-glia mixed cultures were initially prepared for maturation to support the growth of young neurons plated at very low densities. Our protocol showed that neurotrophic support resulted in physiologically functional hippocampal neurons with larger cell body, increased neurite length and decreased branching and complexity compared to cultures prepared using a conventional method. Our protocol provides a novel way to culture highly uniformed hippocampal neurons for acquiring high quality, neuron based data. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Culture and psychiatric diagnosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis-Fernández, Roberto; Aggarwal, Neil Krishan

2013-01-01

Since the publication of DSM-IV in 1994, neurobiologists and anthropologists have criticized the rigidity of its diagnostic criteria that appear to exclude whole classes of alternate illness presentations, as well as the lack of attention in contemporary psychiatric nosology to the role of contextual factors in the emergence and characteristics of psychopathology. Experts in culture and mental health have responded to these criticisms by revising the very process of diagnosis for DSM-5. Specifically, the DSM-5 Cultural Issues Subgroup has recommended that concepts of culture be included more prominently in several areas: an introductory chapter on Cultural Aspects of Psychiatric Diagnosis - composed of a conceptual introduction, a revised Outline for Cultural Formulation, a Cultural Formulation Interview that operationalizes this Outline, and a glossary on cultural concepts of distress - as well as material directly related to culture that is incorporated into the description of each disorder. This chapter surveys these recommendations to demonstrate how culture and context interact with psychiatric diagnosis at multiple levels. A greater appreciation of the interplay between culture, context, and biology can help clinicians improve diagnostic and treatment planning. Copyright © 2013 APA*

The Cultural Socialization Scale: Assessing Family and Peer Socialization toward Heritage and Mainstream Cultures

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yijie; Benner, Aprile D.; Kim, Su Yeong

2015-01-01

In a culturally diverse society, youth learn about multiple cultures from a variety of sources, yet the existing assessment of cultural socialization has been limited to parents' efforts to teach youth about their heritage culture. The current study adapted and extended an existing cultural socialization measure (Umaña-Taylor & Fine, 2004) to assess four types of socialization practices encountered specifically during adolescence: cultural socialization by families and peers toward both one's heritage culture and the mainstream culture. In a pilot study, we developed the cultural socialization scale based on retrospective reports from 208 young adults, maximizing young adults' ability to reason and reflect their adolescent experiences with various socialization practices. In the primary study, we examined the psychometric properties of the scale using reports from 252 adolescents. Cultural socialization occurred from both socialization agents toward both cultures. Our cultural socialization scale demonstrated stable factor structures and high reliabilities. We observed strong factorial invariance across the four subscales (six items). MIMIC models also demonstrated invariance for each subscale across adolescents' demographic characteristics (i.e., gender, race/ethnicity, nativity, SES, language of assessment). The implications of the cultural socialization scale are discussed. PMID:25961139

Cultural factors influencing dietary and fluid restriction behaviour: perceptions of older Chinese patients with heart failure.

Science.gov (United States)

Rong, Xiaoshan; Peng, Youqing; Yu, Hai-Ping; Li, Dan

2017-03-01

To explore the cultural factors related to dietary and fluid restriction behaviours among older Chinese patients. Excess dietary sodium and fluid intake are risk factors contributing to the worsening and rehospitalisation for heart failure in older patients. Managing the complex fluid and diet requirements of heart failure patients is challenging and is made more complicated by cultural variations in self-management behaviours in response to a health threat. Qualitative study using semi-structured in interviews and framework analysis. The design of this study is qualitative descriptive. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 15 heart failure patients. Data were analysed through content analysis. Seven cultural themes emerged from the qualitative data: the values placed on health and illness, customary way of life, preference for folk care and the Chinese healthcare system, and factors related to kinship and social ties, religion, economics and education. Dietary change and management in response to illness, including heart failure, is closely related to individuals' cultural background. Healthcare providers should have a good understanding of cultural aspects that can influence patients' conformity to medical recommendations. Heart failure patients need support that considers their cultural needs. Healthcare providers must have a good understanding of the experiences of people from diverse cultural backgrounds. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Integrating social factors into cross-cultural medical education.

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Alexander R; Betancourt, Joseph R; Carrillo, J Emilio

2002-03-01

The field of cross-cultural medical education has blossomed in an environment of increasing diversity and increasing awareness of the effect of race and ethnicity on health outcomes. However, there is still no standardized approach to teaching doctors in training how best to care for diverse patient populations. As standards are developed, it is crucial to realize that medical educators cannot teach about culture in a vacuum. Caring for patients of diverse cultural backgrounds is inextricably linked to caring for patients of diverse social backgrounds. In this article, the authors discuss the importance of social issues in caring for patients of all cultures, and propose a practical, patient-based approach to social analysis covering four major domains--(1) social stress and support networks, (2) change in environment, (3) life control, and (4) literacy. By emphasizing and expanding the role of the social history in cross-cultural medical education, faculty can better train medical students, residents, and other health care providers to care for socioculturally diverse patient populations.

Human factors in safety assessment. Safety culture assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Li; Deng Zhiliang; Wang Yiqun; Huang Weigang

1996-01-01

This paper analyses the present conditions and problems in enterprises safety assessment, and introduces the characteristics and effects of safety culture. The authors think that safety culture must be used as a 'soul' to form the pattern of modern safety management. Furthermore, they propose that the human safety and synthetic safety management assessment in a system should be changed into safety culture assessment. Finally, the assessment indicators are discussed

Culture and resource management: factors affecting forests

Science.gov (United States)

Marjorie C. Falanruw

1992-01-01

Efforts to manage Pacific Island forest resources are more likely to succeed if they are based on an understanding of the cultural framework of land use activities. This paper explores the relationship between agricultural systems, population density, culture, and use of forest resources on the islands of Yap. Agricultural intensification is related to population...

Effect of different stress factors on IL-6 and leptin expression in HELA cell cultures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chu Zhenwei; Yang Tao; Wang Luhuan; Hao Xiuhua; Yan Guangtao

2009-01-01

Objective: To study the effect of three stress factors high glucose (HG), lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) on the expression of culture supernatant IL-6 (IL-6) and leptin contents of HELA cell line. Methods: HELA cell culture models of severe inflammatory response syndrome were prepared with cultures treated with 50 mmol/L glucose (HG), 4 μg/ ml LPS and 100 μmol/L H 2 O 2 respectively and supernatant contents of IL-6 and leptin were measured with RIA at 1h, 6h and 24h. Results: Generally speaking, the culture supernatant contents of IL-6 gradually increased and leptin contents gradually decreased with significant differences from those in cultures not treated with either stress factor at 6h and 12h (P<0.05). Conclusion: Leptin as a possible anti-inflammatory cytokine might plays an important protective role in severe inflammatory response. (authors)

Do Social and Cultural Factors Perpetuate Gender Based Violence ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Gender based violence in Malawi exist at a level that requires special acknowledgement. A survey was conducted to assess how social and cultural factors affect gender-based violence in Malawi. The study revealed that both men and women are victims of gender based violence although women bare the brunt of the ...

Cultural Factors as Co-Determinants of Participation in River Basin Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bert Enserink

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Finding a place for public participation in the policies and practices of European river basin management planning is a challenge for the authorities in the participating countries and territories. Understanding the relation between national culture, the historical and political differences in the respective countries, and their practical experience with participation is considered important to support the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive. Knowledge and understanding of this relation is important to provide a context and basis from which new participatory practices can be designed and experiences evaluated and to identify conditions necessary for social learning. Within the context of the HarmoniCOP project, such a study was undertaken in the form of a National Approach and Background study, which examined and evaluated both historical and recent experiences that exist across Europe in relation to public participation and water management as it is today. We draw upon the findings of the HarmoniCOP national reports to identify common features and cultural differences. We depart from the traditional ideational concept of culture as a long-lasting system of perceptions, beliefs, norms, and values to provide a detailed discussion of the practices in four countries. We demonstrate that culture is just one of the factors that explain the differences in national approaches to public participation and argue that culture perceived as a more dynamic, integrated, adaptive socio-cultural system in which groups of actors create new frames, norms, and routines is a more promising road for further research.

The Role of Culture Theory in Cross-Cultural Training: A Multimethod Study of Culture-Specific, Culture-General, and Culture Theory-Based Assimilators.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhawuk, Dharm P. S.

1998-01-01

In a multimethod evaluation of cross-cultural training tools involving 102 exchange students at a midwestern university, a theory-based individualism and collectivism assimilator tool had significant advantages over culture-specific and culture-general assimilators and a control condition. Results support theory-based culture assimilators. (SLD)

Environmental factors and teenagers' personalities: The role of personal and familial Socio-Cultural Level.

Science.gov (United States)

Menardo, Elisa; Balboni, Giulia; Cubelli, Roberto

2017-05-15

Environmental (e.g., socio-cultural context), individual (e.g., genetic makeup), and interpersonal (e.g., caregiver-children relationships) factors can play a crucial role in shaping the development of the teenagers' personality. In this study, we focused on the Socio-Cultural Level that designates the set of preferences, knowledge, and behaviors that characterize an individual's way of life and depend on his or her cultural, social, and economic resources. We studied the relationship between Socio-Cultural Level (personal, maternal, and paternal) and Big Five personality traits of 191 teenagers living in the same geographical area. Results showed that Socioeconomic Status (i.e., parental education level and occupational prestige), which is the only dimension generally measured in investigations on Socio-Cultural Level, was not related with personality. In contrast, Cultural Capital and Social Capital were associated with different personality traits. Personal Cultural Capital was related to Openness to experience of boys and girls and to Extraversion of girls; personal Social Capital was related to Extraversion of girls, Emotional stability of boys, and Agreeableness of both boys and girls; maternal Cultural Capital was associated with Openness to experience of daughters. Overall, the personality of teenagers was more related to their own Cultural and Social Capital than to the Cultural and Social Capital of their parents. Moreover, the relationship between Cultural Capital and Social Capital of boys/girls and of fathers/mothers was moderate in strength. It seems that parents influence the development of personality of their teenagers indirectly, their Socio-Cultural Level shaping the Socio-Cultural Level of their sons and daughters. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Insulin growth factors regulate the mitotic cycle in cultured rat sympathetic neuroblasts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

DiCicco-Bloom, E.; Black, I.B.

1988-01-01

While neuronal mitosis is uniquely restricted to early development, the underlying regulation remains to be defined. The authors have now developed a dissociated, embryonic sympathetic neuron culture system that uses fully defined medium in which cells enter the mitotic cycle. The cultured cells expressed two neuronal traits, tyrosine hydroxylase and the neuron-specific 160-kDa neurofilament subunit protein, but were devoid of glial fibrillary acidic protein, a marker for non-myelin-forming Schwann cells in ganglia. Approximately one-third of the tyrosine hydroxylase-positive cells synthesized DNA in culture, specifically incorporating [ 3 H]thymidine into their nuclei. They used this system to define factors regulating the mitotic cycle in sympathetic neuroblasts. Members of the insulin family of growth factors, including insulin and insulin-like growth factors I and II, regulated DNA synthesis in the presumptive neuroblasts. Insulin more than doubled the proportion of tyrosine hydroxylase-positive cells entering the mitotic cycle, as indicated by autoradiography of [ 3 H]thymidine incorporation into nuclei. Scintillation spectrometry was an even more sensitive index of DNA synthesis. In contrast, the trophic protein nerve growth factor exhibited no mitogenic effect, suggesting that the mitogenic action of insulin growth factors is highly specific. The observations are discussed in the context of the detection of insulin growth factors and receptors in the developing brain

Cultural factors in a mobile phone adoption and usage model

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Van Biljon, J

2008-01-01

Full Text Available . Although the feature driven and usability focus carry value, it is not the full picture. There is also an alternative or wider perspective: mobile phone use is influenced by demographic, social, cultural, and contextual factors that complicate...

Validation of the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument

Science.gov (United States)

Heritage, Brody; Pollock, Clare; Roberts, Lynne

2014-01-01

Organizational culture is a commonly studied area in industrial/organizational psychology due to its important role in workplace behaviour, cognitions, and outcomes. Jung et al.'s [1] review of the psychometric properties of organizational culture measurement instruments noted many instruments have limited validation data despite frequent use in both theoretical and applied situations. The Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) has had conflicting data regarding its psychometric properties, particularly regarding its factor structure. Our study examined the factor structure and criterion validity of the OCAI using robust analysis methods on data gathered from 328 (females = 226, males = 102) Australian employees. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a four factor structure of the OCAI for both ideal and current organizational culture perspectives. Current organizational culture data demonstrated expected reciprocally-opposed relationships between three of the four OCAI factors and the outcome variable of job satisfaction but ideal culture data did not, thus indicating possible weak criterion validity when the OCAI is used to assess ideal culture. Based on the mixed evidence regarding the measure's properties, further examination of the factor structure and broad validity of the measure is encouraged. PMID:24667839

Validation of the organizational culture assessment instrument.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brody Heritage

Full Text Available Organizational culture is a commonly studied area in industrial/organizational psychology due to its important role in workplace behaviour, cognitions, and outcomes. Jung et al.'s [1] review of the psychometric properties of organizational culture measurement instruments noted many instruments have limited validation data despite frequent use in both theoretical and applied situations. The Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI has had conflicting data regarding its psychometric properties, particularly regarding its factor structure. Our study examined the factor structure and criterion validity of the OCAI using robust analysis methods on data gathered from 328 (females = 226, males = 102 Australian employees. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a four factor structure of the OCAI for both ideal and current organizational culture perspectives. Current organizational culture data demonstrated expected reciprocally-opposed relationships between three of the four OCAI factors and the outcome variable of job satisfaction but ideal culture data did not, thus indicating possible weak criterion validity when the OCAI is used to assess ideal culture. Based on the mixed evidence regarding the measure's properties, further examination of the factor structure and broad validity of the measure is encouraged.

Cultural Analysis - towards cross-cultural understanding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gullestrup, Hans

The book considers intercultural understanding and co-action, partly by means of general insight into concept of culture and the dimensions which bring about cultural differences, and partly as a methodology to analyse a certain culture - whether one's own or others'. This leads towards an unders......The book considers intercultural understanding and co-action, partly by means of general insight into concept of culture and the dimensions which bring about cultural differences, and partly as a methodology to analyse a certain culture - whether one's own or others'. This leads towards...... a theoretical/abstract proposal for cultural understanding. The second part presents a theoretical/abstract proposal for under-standing intercultural plurality and complexity. The third part provides an empirical model for the analysis of intercultural co-action. Finally, the fourth part present and discusses...

Hispanic Culture and Relational Cultural Theory

Science.gov (United States)

Ruiz, Elizabeth

2005-01-01

Traditional personality theories do not consider the impact of culture on personality development. Yet, to provide culturally relevant services to the increasing Hispanic population in the U.S., more culturally relevant theories must be identified. This paper presents Relational Cultural Theory (RCT) as an alternative model to understanding…

Cultural Competence and the Operational Commander: Moving Beyond Cultural Awareness into Culture-Centric Warfare

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Karcanes, James A

2007-01-01

.... Understanding the different levels of cultural awareness -- cultural consideration, cultural understanding, and cultural competence -- will help usher in a new focus on culture-centric warfare...

Cultural and biological factors modulate spatial biases over development.

Science.gov (United States)

Girelli, Luisa; Marinelli, Chiara Valeria; Grossi, Giuseppe; Arduino, Lisa S

2017-11-01

Increasing evidence supports the contribution of both biological and cultural factors to visuospatial processing. The present study adds to the literature by exploring the interplay of perceptual and linguistic mechanisms in determining visuospatial asymmetries in adults (Experiment 1) and children (Experiment 2). In particular, pre-schoolers (3 and 5 year-olds), school-aged children (8 year-old), and adult participants were required to bisect different types of stimuli, that is, lines, words, and figure strings. In accordance with the literature, results yielded a leftward bias for lines and words and a rightward bias for figure strings, in adult participants. More critically, different biases were found for lines, words, and figure strings in children as a function of age, reflecting the impact of both cultural and biological factors on the processing of different visuospatial materials. Specifically, an adult-like pattern of results emerged only in the older group of children (8 year-old), but not in pre-schoolers. Results are discussed in terms of literacy, reading habits exposure, and biological maturation.

A study on the effective social–cultural factors on women’s addiction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Parvaneh Bayati

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Objective: The aim of this study is to explain about the effective social–cultural factor on the drug–addicted women. In other word, we try to answer this question, which of the social–cultural factor are effective to drugs. Method: Different and new approach of this paper is study together on the effective social–cultural factors on the drug–addicted women. Results: Hypothesis has resulted from six dominant theoretical perspectives. these hypothesizes are based on Agnew’s general stain theory, sutherland’s learning theory, Kohen’s Delinquent subcultural, show and Mckay’s ecological theory, Hir schi’s social control theory, Independent variables included women information, family disintegrated, availability of drugs, addiction of family member, peer groups, parents observation, marriage women position, training parents, training spouse and training addicted women. Conclusion: This is a survey research. The data collected by questionnaire and interview. The sample size was 100 people from drug– addicted women of chitgar camp. Having gathered the data spss soft wares are used for data processing according to deceptive and inferential statistic like person and spearman. the result show that women information, family disintegrated, availability of drug, addiction of family member, training women and training parents as affective factors on women’s addiction.

Material, behavioural, cultural and psychosocial factors in the explanation of socioeconomic inequalities in oral health.

Science.gov (United States)

Duijster, Denise; Oude Groeniger, Joost; van der Heijden, Geert J M G; van Lenthe, Frank J

2017-12-19

This study aimed to assess the contribution of material, behavioural, cultural and psychosocial factors in the explanation of socioeconomic inequalities (education and income) in oral health of Dutch adults. Cross-sectional data from participants (25-75 years of age) of the fifth wave of the GLOBE cohort were used (n = 2812). Questionnaires were used to obtain data on material factors (e.g. financial difficulties), behavioural factors (e.g. smoking), cultural factors (e.g. cultural activities) and psychosocial factors (e.g. psychological distress). Oral health outcomes were self-reported number of teeth and self-rated oral health (SROH). Mediation analysis, using multivariable negative binomial regression and logistic regression, was performed. Education level and income showed a graded positive relationship with both oral health outcomes. Adding material, behavioural, cultural and psychosocial factors substantially reduced the rate ratio for the number of teeth of the lowest education group from 0.79 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.75-0.83) to 0.92 (95% CI: 0.87-0.97) and of the lowest income group from 0.80 (95% CI: 0.73-0.88) to 1.04 (95% CI: 0.96-1.14). Inclusion of all factors also substantially reduced the odds ratio for poor SROH of the lowest education group from 1.61 (95% CI: 1.28-2.03) to 1.12 (95% CI: 0.85-1.48) and of the lowest income groups from 3.18 (95% CI: 2.13-4.74) to 1.48 (95% CI: 0.90-2.45). In general, behavioural factors contributed most to the explanation of socioeconomic inequalities in adult oral health, followed by material factors. The contribution of cultural and psychosocial factors was relatively moderate. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association.

A Cross-Cultural Study of Role Perceptions.

Science.gov (United States)

Triandis, Harry C.; And Others

Survey responses from 1,620 subjects in the United States, Greece, India, Peru, and Taiwan provide information on cross-cultural role perceptions. Study data reveal (1) the principal factors accounting for the variance in role perception in each culture, (2) those factors that are the same in all cultures, (3) the equivalent factor scores that…

The Absence of Culture?

OpenAIRE

Norberg, Magnus; Jomer, Mikael

2007-01-01

This thesis attempts to investigate if national culture still is a factor to consider for large multinational organizations when choosing a supplier, or if the global business environment due to globalization has become so standardized and homogenous that the influence of national culture differences has diminished. Existing academic literature is divided regarding this matter; some studies indicate that the influence of national culture on business relations is subtle while other argues that...

Behavioral, Attitudinal, and Cultural Factors Influencing Interagency Information Sharing

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-01

Conflict ( Prosocial Behavior ) Cognitive Processes - Shared Team Mental Models, Transactive Memory Action Processes - Team Coordination...information sharing behaviors after the experiment unfolded. To explore this further, an independent sample t -test was conducted, where the difference in...U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Report 1944 Behavioral , Attitudinal, and Cultural Factors

Selected cultural factors associated with physical activity among Latino women.

Science.gov (United States)

Jurkowski, Janine M; Mosquera, Margarita; Ramos, Blanca

2010-01-01

In the United States, Latinos are the largest ethnic group after non-Hispanic whites. Latinos currently represent 15% of the U.S. population and their numbers are growing in nontraditional areas. Latino women (Latinas) disproportionately experience chronic disease risk factors and report low levels of leisure time physical activity. This study examined cultural factors associated with leisure time physical activity among Latinas living in a new Latino destination in northeastern New York. Community-based participatory research, a collaborative approach in which community members are equitably and actively involved in the research process, was employed for this study. The Latina Health Survey was administered in Spanish and English to 289 Latina adults through snowball sampling. Women reported that their national origin was predominantly Puerto Rican (58.7%) or Dominican (18.2%). Only 6.6% of women met American College of Sports Medicine's physical activity recommendations of exercising 5 days a week; 25% participated in physical activity two or more times per week. Acculturation and religious service attendance at least once a week was positively associated and fast food consumption one or more times a week was negatively associated with physical activity. This study implicates the need for physical activity promotion efforts among Latinas who are culturally responsive and that address fast food consumption. In addition to acculturation, other, more specific cultural factors need to be examined to understand physical activity correlates among Latinas. Research among Latinas living in new Latino destinations is important for understanding behavior and tailoring health interventions among Latinos living in nontraditional areas. Copyright 2010 Jacobs Institute of Women

CULTURAL AND LEGAL FACTORS OF OPTIMIZATION OF THE IDEOLOGY OF STATE-BUILDING IN UKRAINE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. V. Krasnokutskyi

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The Purpose is to investigate the legal cultural phenomenon in the riches of the contours of its essence, raising the level of this phenomenon as part of the system of determinants of the optimization of ideology of state-building in modern Ukraine. Methodology. The study is based on the principles of materialist dialectics and the principles of historicism, social determinism, complexity. The scientific novelty. The cultural and legal factors of optimization of the ideology of state-building are conceptually considered for the first time in modern Ukraine; three methodological points that should be targeted in the definition of «legal culture» are outlined; the definition of legal culture is improved; a working template program of improvement and increase of the level of legal culture in contemporary Ukrainian society is developed; four key conceptual areas of the program are outlined. Conclusions. Legal culture can be defined as a separate category to mark the legal system which was historically formed and the institutions of a state-organized society that are correlated with it, and also the legal knowledge and motives, forms, techniques and methods of legal activities, values, estimates with the necessity inherent to every people, class, nation, community groups, to the individual person at a certain stage of their development. Rise of the level of legal awareness is one of the leading systematic factors, cultural and code keys to optimizing the development of state-building ideology in the conditions of today's Ukraine. The program for the improvement and enhancement of legal culture in contemporary Ukrainian society is composed of four major conceptual areas: the growth of basic legal literacy; the rise of their legal awareness; the increase of theoretical justification of the existing legal reality, the prospects for its future development, the increase of the efficiency of the legal theory; progressive formation of legal ideology.

Culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Timothy B; Rodríguez, Melanie Domenech; Bernal, Guillermo

2011-02-01

This article summarizes the definitions, means, and research of adapting psychotherapy to clients' cultural backgrounds. We begin by reviewing the prevailing definitions of cultural adaptation and providing a clinical example. We present an original meta-analysis of 65 experimental and quasi-experimental studies involving 8,620 participants. The omnibus effect size of d = .46 indicates that treatments specifically adapted for clients of color were moderately more effective with that clientele than traditional treatments. The most effective treatments tended to be those with greater numbers of cultural adaptations. Mental health services targeted to a specific cultural group were several times more effective than those provided to clients from a variety of cultural backgrounds. We recommend a series of research-supported therapeutic practices that account for clients' culture, with culture-specific treatments being more effective than generally culture-sensitive treatments. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A Cultural Sexuality or a Sexual Culture?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vandermeersch, Patrick

1990-01-01

P. Vandermeersch, A Cultural Sexuality or a Sexual Culture? In: F. VAN DE VIJVER & G. HUTSCHEMAEKERS (ed.), The Investigation of Culture. Current Issues in Cultural Psychology, Tilburg, Tilburg University Press, 1990, 43-58.

Contextualising culture and social cognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Vogeley, Kai; Roepstorff, Andreas

2009-12-01

Cognitive neurosciencists have recently begun to study self-consiousness and intersubjectivity but have not yet taken into account adequately the influence of culture on these phenomena. Here, we argue against the naïve inclusion of 'culture' as an additional independent factor that can be empirically addressed adequately merely by considering mother tongue or nationality. Instead, we propose that culture needs to be considered as a dynamical system of individuals; that culture is in continous dialectic interaction and exchange with the individuals that constitute it; and that cultural classifications feed back into social practices and identity processes, hence exhibiting a 'looping effect'. These proposals have important implications for the development of cultural neuroscience.

National Identity as a Factor of Inter-Cultural Communication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elizaveta A. Volkova

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the definition and origin of the notions «mentality (identity» and «national mentality (identity» focusing on their complex essence. The article names factors that affect the formation of national identity, at the same time pointing out the aspect of human life that the identity itself affects. The notion «national identity» is revealed via its vocabulary definitions. National identity is analyzed as a factor of inter-cultural communication, its role and importance in this communication are also analyzed. One of the objectives of the research is signing out the limits of the concepts «national identity» and «inter-cultural communication» and revealing the conditions of their interaction and mutual dependence. National identity is a complex notion, which complexity lies within the combination of mental and emotional, spiritual elements. This factor adds extra difficulty into understanding, as well as investigating the notion of national identity. Thus it is not rarely ignored in linguistics, international communication, even in teaching languages. However, nowadays, when globalization makes international contacts and communication widely accessible, many people meet unexpected difficulties that derive from ignoring national identity factor. That is why recently it is getting more and more obvious that taking national identity into consideration can be one of the main keys to successful communication at all levels.

Growth inhibitory factors in bovine faeces impairs detection of Salmonella Dublin by conventional culture procedure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Baggesen, Dorte Lau; Nielsen, L.R.; Sørensen, Gitte

2007-01-01

Aims: To analyse the relative importance of different biological and technical factors on the analytical sensitivity of conventional culture methods for detection of Salmonella Dublin in cattle faeces. Methods and Results: Faeces samples collected from six adult bovines from different salmonella...... novobiocin, followed by combinations of culture media (three types) and selective media (two types). The sensitivity of each combination and sources of variation in detection were determined by a generalized linear mixed model using a split-plot design. Conclusions: Biological factors, such as faecal origin...... and S. Dublin strain influenced the sensitivity more than technical factors. Overall, the modified semisolid Rappaport Vassiliadis (MSRV)-culture medium had the most reliable detection capability, whereas detection with selenite cystine broth and Mueller Kauffman tetrathionate broth combinations varied...

Student reflections on learning cross-cultural skills through a 'cultural competence' OSCE.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Elizabeth; Green, Alexander R

2007-05-01

Medical schools use OSCEs (objective structured clinical examinations) to assess students' clinical knowledge and skills, but the use of OSCEs in the teaching and assessment of cross-cultural care has not been well described. To examine medical students' reflections on a cultural competence OSCE station as an educational experience. Students at Harvard Medical School in Boston completed a 'cultural competence' OSCE station (about a patient with uncontrolled hypertension and medication non-adherence). Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of twenty-two second year medical students, which were recorded, transcribed, and analysed. Students' reflections on what they learned as the essence of the case encompassed three categories: (1) eliciting the patient's perspective on their illness; (2) examining how and why patients take their medications and inquiring about alternative therapies; and (3) exploring the range of social and cultural factors associated with medication non-adherence. A cultural competence OSCE station that focuses on eliciting patients' perspectives and exploring medication non-adherence can serve as a unique and valuable teaching tool. The cultural competence OSCE station may be one pedagogic method for incorporating cross-cultural care into medical school curricula.

Culture éducative, culture méthodologique et apprenants d'une langue-culture lointaine

OpenAIRE

サガズ, ミシェル; Sagaz, Michel

2016-01-01

It has long been recognized that we cannot separate culture and language (cultural and linguistic dimensions) when speaking of teaching and learning foreign languages. But, in this context, it seems that the notion of culture is related, exclusively or largely, to the culture which is linked to the language being studied by students (arts, popular culture, everyday life culture, etc.). This article highlights the fact that other aspects of culture should be taken into account in the intercult...

Culture as an Influencing Factor in Adolescent Grief and Bereavement

Science.gov (United States)

Lopez, Sandra A.

2011-01-01

Culture is a complex and important consideration in the process of helping others. In clinical practice, we must view the individual within the context of their culture in order for assessment or treatment to be effective. Further, to overlook or negate culture, a practitioner may possibly operate from faulty cultural assumptions or…

Physiology of in vitro culture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Jesús Cañal

2001-01-01

Full Text Available The culture procedures described up to the eighties, did not made any mention to the environmental control of in vitro plant development. However, growth rate, development and many of the physiologic-morphologic features of the in vitro grown plants are influenced by the culture vessel. The increasing knowledge about the environmental control of culture vessels under sterile conditions, is helping to change micorpropagation procedures. The in vitro environment with lower rate ventilation, brings about low flow rates of matter and energy, with minimum variations of temperature, high relative humidity and large daily changes of the concentration of CO2 inside the culture vessel. The type of culture vessel (size, shape, fabric and closing system can influence the evolution of the atmosphere along the time of culture. Although submitted to different stresses factors plant can be grown in vitro, but plants can be faulty in their anatomy, morphology and physiology. As a consequence, these plants shown a phenotype unable to survive to ex vitro conditions. Different strategies can be used to control the atmosphere along the different phases of micropropagation, in heterotrophic, mixotrophic or autotrophic cultures. The election of the best strategy will be based on different factors as species, number of transplantes required, or quality-price relationship. enviromental control, tissue culture, micropropagation Keywords: in vitro enviromental, characteristic physiology,

Music, culture and identity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ilir Ramadani

2017-03-01

Full Text Available At the time of globalization it is difficult to pretend avoiding music culture and identity from political, cultural and social developments. Thus, it is impossible for the music to be unshakable and to represent national identity by not taking and giving nothing to culture. The dynamics of life and the rapid development of technology make it impossible for the culture to remain unaffected in terms of sharing experiences social experiences. Culture represents our current course, both in terms of politics, also in the social and human aspects. Through the technology it is possible for our children to be equal with children of all other countries, to exchange information and to connect directly with all countries of the world. Musical education is one of the main factors of cultural development and preservation of national identity. Identity consists of everything we posses and reflect. We are those who distinguish from each other and have a common denominator compared to other nations.

TRADITIONAL PHYSICAL CULTURE OF BELARUSIANS

OpenAIRE

Shamak, Ales

2017-01-01

Relevance. The study of the history of physical culture makes it possible to reveal the laws of its development, the relationship with socio-political and economic factors. The aim of the research is to substantiate the essence, types and structure of the traditional physical culture of Belarusians. Results of the Research. Traditional physical culture has been the main type of physical culture of the Belarusian people for about a thousand years. It is regarded as the activity of the society ...

Culture in action

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Murakami, Kyoko

2012-01-01

overview of the development of discourse analysis and discursive psychology and highlight key philosophical foundations and theoretical assumptions on which discursive psychology and practice of discourse analysis are based. As the examples of discourse analysis, I will demonstrate how culture can......The overall aim of this chapter is to discuss an approach to studying culture by drawing on the project of remembering and reconciliation from a discursive psychology perspective. I demonstrate discourse analysis from research using a case of the Anglo-Japanese reconciliation. I provide a brief...... be studied as a topic of members' concern. In this view, culture is not a matter of the researcher's concern to handle as a causal factor or independent variable. Discursive psychologists study culture as a resource for the participants. Finally, I will discuss the implication of the discursive approach...

Reconceptualizing Cultural Globalization: Connecting the “Cultural Global” and the “Cultural Local”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephen Magu

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Scholars generally are in agreement that the pace of globalization is rapidly accelerating. Globalization’s impact, beyond the socio-economic and political discourses, is affecting conceptions of culture and cultural studies, and changing and restructuring spaces, global, national and personal interactions and relationships. The “texts” and artifacts borne of culture—activities, events and our conception thereof are a mechanism for the propagation of culture. Simultaneously Westernization/Americanization impacts local cultures through consumerism, which obfuscates local traditions, knowledge and experiences. This research argues that culture is a dynamic, adaptive concept and practice, “borrowing” liberally from ideological and technological innovations of other cultures and integrating these borrowed aspects into the construction and modification of culture across spatial and geographical divides to ensure particular cultures’ survival. The research shows that the local affects the global, and vice versa. It selects local communication “texts” to show that cultures are not “victims” of globalization or the proliferation of mass media. Cultures actively adopt and integrate globalization’s technological artifacts. Globalization’s positive effects are dynamic and span cultural interactions and permeate structures of authority at personal, national and global levels.

The role of cross-cultural factors in long-duration international space missions: lessons from the SFINCSS-99 study.

Science.gov (United States)

Tomi, Leena M; Rossokha, Katherine; Hosein, Janette

2002-01-01

The role of cross-cultural factors in long-duration international space missions was examined during an isolation study that simulated many of the conditions aboard the International Space Station. Interactions involving two heterogeneous crews and one homogeneous crew staying in isolation from 110 to 240 days were studied. Data consisted of post-isolation interviews with crewmembers, ground support personnel and management, observational data, and public statements by crewmembers. Data was analyzed using the techniques of linguistic anthropology and ethnography. Sub-cultural (organizational and professional) differences played a larger role than national differences in causing misunderstandings in this study. Conversely, some misunderstandings and conflicts were escalated by participants falsely assuming cultural differences or similarities. Comparison between the two heterogeneous crews showed the importance of training, personality factors, and commander and language skills in preventing and alleviating cultural misunderstandings. The study revealed a number of ways that cultural differences, real as well as assumed, can play a role and interact with other, non-cultural, factors in causing and/or precipitating conflict situations. It is postulated that such difficulties can be avoided by selecting culturally adaptive crewmembers and by cross-cultural and language training. Also the crew composition and role of commander were found to be important in mitigating conflict situations. c2002 Lister Science.

Experimental Methodology used by Cell Cultures Laboratory from INRMFB to assess the therapeutic effect of natural factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Munteanu Constantin

2010-11-01

Full Text Available The experimental study design on cell cultures allows the direct biological evaluation at the cellular level, of the therapeutic effect that natural factors can play over the organism.Techniques for obtaining cell cultures requires a complex and laborious task that starts from live tissue sampling, continuous with isolation of cells and their preparation for sowing a culture plate. This preparation involves mechanical and enzymatic action from the researcher on biological material. Derived cell cultures are monitored morphologically by high-performance inverted biological microscope, with video camera for image acquisition. In the final stage, the cells are scraped, and through biochemical and molecular techniques, the therapeutic efficiency hypothesis of the investigated natural factor is verified experimentally. The cell cultures can be crioconservated in special containers with liquid nitrogen.

Psychosocial and Cultural Factors Influencing Expectations of Menarche: A Study on Chinese Premenarcheal Teenage Girls

Science.gov (United States)

Yeung, Dannii Y. L.; Tang, Catherine So-kum; Lee, Antoinette

2005-01-01

This study explored how psychosocial and cultural factors influenced expectations of menarche among 476 Chinese premenarcheal teenage girls. Results showed that participants' expectations of menarche were largely negative and heavily influenced by cultural beliefs about menstruation. Findings of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that…

Academic Culture and Campus Culture of Universities

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Xi; Tian, Xianghong

2012-01-01

Academic culture of universities mainly consists of academic outlooks, academic spirits, academic ethics and academic environments. Campus culture in a university is characterized by individuality, academic feature, opening, leading, variety and creativity. The academic culture enhances the construction of campus culture. The campus culture…

A study on relationship between cultural intelligence and cross-cultural adjustment in tour management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahdi Karroubi

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of cultural intelligence (CQ and emotional intelligence (EI on a tour leader’s adjustment in a different cultural environment. Data were collected from 330 outgoing tour leaders in Tehran, Iran. The construct validity was confirmed by using confirmatory factor analysis. The data were analyzed using correlation analysis and path analysis to test the effect of CQ on cross-cultural adjustment, and the moderating effect of EI on the relationship between CQ and cross-cultural adjustment. The results showed that CQ had a positive effect on cross-cultural adjustment. In addition, we found that CQ had a positive effect on EI. The findings of the research showed that emotional intelligence in not significantly the mediator variable. Emotional intelligence has a positive and significant effect on cross-cultural adjustment. The findings of this study contribute to the body of knowledge in the field of CQ and cross-cultural research, and it provides practical implications for individuals seeking to improve their cross-cultural effectiveness, enhancing their cultural intelligence and emotional intelligence, specifically in tourism industry.

Evaluation and optimization of hepatocyte culture media factors by design of experiments (DoE) methodology.

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Jia; Mandenius, Carl-Fredrik; Lübberstedt, Marc; Urbaniak, Thomas; Nüssler, Andreas K N; Knobeloch, Daniel; Gerlach, Jörg C; Zeilinger, Katrin

2008-07-01

Optimization of cell culture media based on statistical experimental design methodology is a widely used approach for improving cultivation conditions. We applied this methodology to refine the composition of an established culture medium for growth of a human hepatoma cell line, C3A. A selection of growth factors and nutrient supplements were systematically screened according to standard design of experiments (DoE) procedures. The results of the screening indicated that the medium additives hepatocyte growth factor, oncostatin M, and fibroblast growth factor 4 significantly influenced the metabolic activities of the C3A cell line. Surface response methodology revealed that the optimum levels for these factors were 30 ng/ml for hepatocyte growth factor and 35 ng/ml for oncostatin M. Additional experiments on primary human hepatocyte cultures showed high variance in metabolic activities between cells from different individuals, making determination of optimal levels of factors more difficult. Still, it was possible to conclude that hepatocyte growth factor, epidermal growth factor, and oncostatin M had decisive effects on the metabolic functions of primary human hepatocytes.

Education-Related Factors in Cultural Intelligence Development: A Colombian Study

Science.gov (United States)

Robledo-Ardila, Cristina; Aguilar-Barrientos, Sara; Román-Calderón, Juan Pablo

2016-01-01

This article reports the results of a study inquiring about the role of education-related factors in the development of cultural intelligence. Five hundred fifty-seven students of a Colombian international business (IB) undergraduate program participated in the study. The psychometric properties of the measures were assessed by conducting…

School Culture Development in China

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yu, Kai; Du, Xiangyun; Duan, Xiaoju

. In general, they showed a positive attitude toward the school culture improvement initiatives, reported satisfaction about their current school culture and held confidence in the direction their school culture is heading. The study demonstrated that certain factors, such as school geographical location...... distribution of educational resources (both financial and leadership), common understanding, agreed-upon goals, and efficient communication between principals and teachers....

Cultural Capital: A Concept Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Ohashi, Yuki; Taguchi, Atsuko; Omori, Junko; Ozaki, Akiko

2017-07-01

Harnessing community assets may help public health nurses address health inequalities. Cultural factor is one such asset, which is assumed to be capital in a community. Cultural capital is a key concept for understanding the causes of public health issues. This paper provided an in-depth analysis of "cultural capital" as a concept. Rodgers' evolutionary methodology was used for concept analysis. Forty-two studies published in English between 1998 and 2015 were retrieved from MEDLINE by searching for "cultural capital" in the title field. Antecedents of cultural capital included "educational environment," "belongingness in one's social group," "existing health/social inequalities," and "daily behavior." Cultural capital's identified attributes were "social cultivation," "reproductive rubric," "practical knowledge," and "autogenic ability." Cultural capital's consequences were "improving productivity," "reducing health/social inequality," and "enhancing well-being." Cultural capital is defined as capital characterized by cultivation, rubric, knowledge, and ability. These aspects of cultural capital are typically autogenic, and accumulate and reproduce through lifelong community membership. Cultural capital reduces inequality and ultimately enhances the well-being of individuals and the community through bonding, bridging, and linking economic and social capital. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

New Product Development, R&D, and Culture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brem, Alexander; Kürzdörfer, Tamara

2016-01-01

Recent developments in the global economy indicate that new product development (NPD) activities are not limited to any single country; rather, they have spread across nations and cultures. This study aims to increase the understanding of NPD through an intercultural analysis by comparing...... innovation processes in Germany and China. Our study relates NPD and Hofstede's cultural dimensions by identifying culture-based patterns of similarities and differences between German and Chinese practices related to strategic, organisational, and operational factors. The research subjects are five...... international companies with research and development sites of the same business section in Germany and China. The findings reveal both culture-dependent and culture-independent factors. Most of the strategic and organisational factors in the two countries are relatively similar because of site...

Personality Profiles of Cultures: Aggregate Personality Traits

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

McCrae, R.R.; Terracciano, A.; Leibovich, N.B.; Schmidt, V.; Shakespeare-Finch, J.; Neubauer, A.; De Fruyt, F.; Munyae, M.; Flores-Mendoza, C.; Dahourou, D.; Ayearst, L. E.; Trobst, K.K.; Alcalay, L.; Simonetti, F.; Bratko, D.; Marušic´, I.; Hřebíčková, Martina; Mortensen, L.K.; Jensen, H.H.; Allik, J.; Realo, A.; Sineshaw, T.; Rolland, J-P.; Petot, J.M.; Camart, N.; Angleitner, A.; Ostendorf, F.; Yik, M.; Jónsson, F. H.; Pramila, V.S.; Halim, M. S.; Jaya, A.; Shahriar Shahidi, S.; Barbaranelli, C.; Shimonaka, Y.; Gakuin, B.; Nakazato, K.; Abdel Khalek, A. M.; Alansari, B. M.; Khoury, B.; Mastor, K.A.; Falzon, R.; Lauri, M.A.; Borg Cunen, M.A.; Scicluna Calleja, S.; Diaz-Loving, R.; Ghayur, M. A.; Fischer, R.; Oluyinka Ojedokun, A.; Prentice, G.; McRorie, M.; Wang, L.; Reátegui, N.; Brunner-Sciarra, M.; del Pilar, G.E.H.; Sekowski, A.; Klinkosz, W.; Pedroso de Lima, M.; Porrata, J.; Martin, T.A.; Ficková, E.; Adamovová, L.; Rus, V.R.; Podobnik, N.; Zupancic, A.; Ahn, H.; Ahn, Ch.; Avia, M. D.; Sánchez-Bernardos, M.L.; Ruch, W.; Rossier, J.; Chittcharat, N.; Gülgöz, S.; Nansubuga, F.; Smith, P.B.; Matsumoto, D.; Diener, E.; Beer, A.; Humrichouse, J.; Budzinski, L.; Oishi, S.; Knežević, G.; Djuric Jocic, D.

2005-01-01

Roč. 89, č. 3 (2005), s. 407-425 ISSN 0022-3514 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA406/01/1507 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z70250504 Keywords : personality * five-factor model * cross - cultural * culture-level analyses * culture profiles Subject RIV: AN - Psychology Impact factor: 4.211, year: 2005

Universal and culture-specific factors in the recognition and performance of musical affect expressions.

Science.gov (United States)

Laukka, Petri; Eerola, Tuomas; Thingujam, Nutankumar S; Yamasaki, Teruo; Beller, Grégory

2013-06-01

We present a cross-cultural study on the performance and perception of affective expression in music. Professional bowed-string musicians from different musical traditions (Swedish folk music, Hindustani classical music, Japanese traditional music, and Western classical music) were instructed to perform short pieces of music to convey 11 emotions and related states to listeners. All musical stimuli were judged by Swedish, Indian, and Japanese participants in a balanced design, and a variety of acoustic and musical cues were extracted. Results first showed that the musicians' expressive intentions could be recognized with accuracy above chance both within and across musical cultures, but communication was, in general, more accurate for culturally familiar versus unfamiliar music, and for basic emotions versus nonbasic affective states. We further used a lens-model approach to describe the relations between the strategies that musicians use to convey various expressions and listeners' perceptions of the affective content of the music. Many acoustic and musical cues were similarly correlated with both the musicians' expressive intentions and the listeners' affective judgments across musical cultures, but the match between musicians' and listeners' uses of cues was better in within-cultural versus cross-cultural conditions. We conclude that affective expression in music may depend on a combination of universal and culture-specific factors.

Identifying Socio-Cultural Factors That Impact the Use of Open Educational Resources in Local Public Administrations

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Julia Stoffregen

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The goal of this paper is to define relevant barriers to the exchange of Open Educational Resources in local public administrations. Building upon a cultural model, eleven experts were interviewed and asked to evaluate several factors, such as openness in discourse, learning at the workplace, and superior support, among others. The result is a set of socio-cultural factors that shape the use of Open Educational Resources in public administrations. Significant factors are, in this respect, the independent choice of learning resources, the spirit of the platform, the range of available formats and access to technologies. Practitioners use these factors to elaborate on the readiness of public administrations towards the use of open e-Learning systems. To academic debates on culture in e-Learning, the results provide an alternative model that is contextualized to meet the demands of public sector contexts. Overall, the paper contributes to the lack of research about open e-Learning systems in the public sector, as well as regarding culture in the management of learning and knowledge exchange.

High level of expression of recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor in transgenic rice cell suspension culture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shin, Yun-Ji; Hong, Shin-Young; Kwon, Tae-Ho

2003-01-01

Recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (hGM-CSF) has been previously produced in tobacco cell suspension cultures. However, the amount of hGM-CSF accumulated in the culture medium dropped quickly from its maximum of 150 microg/L at 5 d after incubation. To overcome...... of recombinant hGM-CSF in transgenic rice cell suspension culture and protease activity of this culture medium was low compared to that of tobacco culture system....

Environmental Culture and the Factors Affecting It (Case Study: The Citizens of Shiraz City

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Zahra Hemmati

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In recent years, the environmental crisis is considered as one of the major challenges that human is faced. Many scientists have proposed technological solutions to reduce or prevent environmental crises, however, some of them have suggested the necessity of new relation and interaction between nature and human, and also, the need for a new environmental culture. This study aims to explore the environmental culture and its influencing factors in Shiraz city. Research was conducted by using survey method, cluster sampling and questionnaire. In total, 402 completed questionnaires were collected and analyzed. Research findings indicate that environmental culture had positive and significant relationship with opportunities and facilities offered, feeling efficiency and environmental education. However, environmental culture had no significant relationship with environmental knowledge and social norms. Also, multivariate regression results show that opportunities and facilities offered and feeling efficiency are significant with environmental culture.

Organotypic Cultures of Intervertebral Disc Cells: Responses to Growth Factors and Signaling Pathways Involved

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Harris Pratsinis

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Intervertebral disc (IVD degeneration is strongly associated with low back pain, a major cause of disability worldwide. An in-depth understanding of IVD cell physiology is required for the design of novel regenerative therapies. Accordingly, aim of this work was the study of IVD cell responses to mitogenic growth factors in a three-dimensional (3D organotypic milieu, comprising characteristic molecules of IVD’s extracellular matrix. In particular, annulus fibrosus (AF cells were cultured inside collagen type-I gels, while nucleus pulposus (NP cells in chondroitin sulfate A (CSA supplemented collagen gels, and the effects of Platelet-Derived Growth Factor (PDGF, basic Fibroblast Growth Factor (bFGF, and Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I (IGF-I were assessed. All three growth factors stimulated DNA synthesis in both AF and NP 3D cell cultures, with potencies similar to those observed previously in monolayers. CSA supplementation inhibited basal DNA synthesis rates, without affecting the response to growth factors. ERK and Akt were found to be phosphorylated following growth factor stimulation. Blockade of these two signaling pathways using pharmacologic inhibitors significantly, though not completely, inhibited growth factor-induced DNA synthesis. The proposed culture systems may prove useful for further in vitro studies aiming at future interventions for IVD regeneration.

Should We Teach Culture along with English?

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

黄一帆

2009-01-01

Language is an important carrier of culture while culture is embodied by language.These two factors correlate with each other closely.The question"Should we teach culture Mong with English"is what we are focused on here.This essay attempts to define the notion of culture,to explore the relationship between language and culture,and to aim at leading to the conclusion that we should teach culture Mong with language in the EFL classroom.

Assessment of critical success factors of TQM culture in hospitality sector in Kosovo

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Bujar Pira

2017-02-01

Full Text Available This paper attemts to ilustrate how the managers and the staff of a 5 star hotel in Kosovo define quality. Furthermore, it explores the number of critical success factors related to TQM culture and how they are applied in the hotel operations. Different theories related to the quality in the field of service provision, more particular in hospitality or hotel sector and the introduction of the TQM culture in the same sector. A conceptual framework based on existing theories and literature is developed which is than confirms through the research findings and analysis. The findings suggest that most features associated with TQM, like critical success factors assessed throughout the research (leadership, customer focus, training, communication, teams and staff empowerment can produce an advantage for the 5 star hotel operations that will affect the quality of service. Furthermore, it confirms that some of the TQM aspects are applied and can be applied in 5 star hotel operations in Kosovo. The issue is whether these aspects are understood as TQM principles and whether their added value is embraced in the day-to-day running of the hotel. The outcomes imply that, indeed, the TQM culture is present in the The Hotel, a 5 star hotel in Kosovo. Some of the critical success factors are directly linked to TQM and some less and it also provides suggestions for improvement where needed, especially related to specific tools that are integral parts of the TQM culture.

The effect of cultural interaction on cumulative cultural evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakahashi, Wataru

2014-07-07

Cultural transmission and cultural evolution are important for animals, especially for humans. I developed a new analytical model of cultural evolution, in which each newborn learns cultural traits from multiple individuals (exemplars) in parental generation, individually explores around learned cultural traits, judges the utility of known cultural traits, and adopts a mature cultural trait. Cultural evolutionary speed increases when individuals explore a wider range of cultural traits, accurately judge the skill level of cultural traits (strong direct bias), do not strongly conform to the population mean, increase the exploration range according to the variety of socially learned cultural traits (condition dependent exploration), and make smaller errors in social learning. Number of exemplars, population size, similarity of cultural traits between exemplars, and one-to-many transmission have little effect on cultural evolutionary speed. I also investigated how cultural interaction between two populations with different mean skill levels affects their cultural evolution. A population sometimes increases in skill level more if it encounters a less skilled population than if it does not encounter anyone. A less skilled population sometimes exceeds a more skilled population in skill level by cultural interaction between both populations. The appropriateness of this analytical method is confirmed by individual-based simulations. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Opposite cytokine synthesis by fibroblasts in contact co-culture with osteosarcoma cells compared with transwell co-cultures.

Science.gov (United States)

David, Manu S; Kelly, Elizabeth; Zoellner, Hans

2013-04-01

We recently reported exchange of membrane and cytoplasm during contact co-culture between human Gingival Fibroblasts (h-GF) and SAOS-2 osteosarcoma cells, a process we termed 'cellular sipping' to reflect the manner in which cells become morphologically diverse through uptake of material from the opposing cell type, independent of genetic change. Cellular sipping is increased by Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α), and we here show for the first time altered cytokine synthesis in contact co-culture supporting cellular sipping compared with co-culture where h-GF and SAOS-2 were separated in transwells. SAOS-2 had often undetectably low cytokine levels, while Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor (G-CSF) and Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor (GM-CSF) were secreted primarily by TNF-α stimulated h-GF and basic Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) was prominent in h-GF lysates (p cultures permitting cellular sipping had lower IL-6, G-CSF and GM-CSF levels, as well as higher lysate FGF levels compared with TNF-α treated h-GF alone (p cultures in transwells, with increased IL-6, G-CSF and GM-CSF levels (p cultures where cellular sipping occurs, potentially contributing to tumor inflammatory responses. Crown Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Factors affecting performance and productivity of nurses: professional attitude, organisational justice, organisational culture and mobbing.

Science.gov (United States)

Terzioglu, Fusun; Temel, Safiye; Uslu Sahan, Fatma

2016-09-01

To identify relationships among variables affecting nurses' performance and productivity, namely professional attitudes, organisational culture, organisational justice and exposure to mobbing. The determination of the factors affecting performance and productivity is important for providing efficient nursing services. These factors have been investigated in the literature independently, but the relationship among them has not been clearly identified. This cross-sectional questionnaire study included 772 nurses working in a University Hospital accredited by Joint Commission International. The professional attitude score of the nurses was high (4.35 ± 0.63). However, their organisational justice (2.22 ± 1.26) and organisational culture (2.47 ± 0.71) scores were low. Nurses were subjected to mobbing at a high level (0.82 ± 0.78). As the organisational justice increased, the organisational culture increased and the mobbing decreased. As the organisation culture decreased, the mobbing increased. There was a positive correlation between organisation culture and organisational justice of the nurses and a negative correlation with mobbing. The results of the study are essential for improving nurses' performance and productivity. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Objective and character of safety culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aastrand, K.

2005-01-01

The main topics of the lecture include: (1) concepts of safety culture introduced in INSAG-4, (2) stages of development of safety culture, (3) general practises to develop organizational effectiveness as a means of implementing and improving safety culture, (4) specific practises to develop safety culture applying to all stages of a nuclear installation's life cycle, (5) suggestions on assessing the progress of development of safety culture in an organization and on evaluating the influence of major environmental and internal organizational factors on that culture, and (6) guidance on the detection of incipient weaknesses in safety culture that may be of particular interest to regulators and those responsible for self-assessment in organization

Cross-cultural dimensions : organisational culture in Philip Morris, Lietuva

OpenAIRE

Grundey, Dainora

2008-01-01

Business globalization raised the new priorities for cross-cultural management theory and practice. The goal of this article is according to cross-cultural management and organizational culture theories to propose a new model of organizational culture with cross-cultural dimensions. The objectives of the paper are as follows: a) to disclose the essence of cross-cultural management and organizational culture; b) to carry out the empirical research of organizational culture in a selected Lithua...

Game-Changing Innovations: How Culture Can Change the Parameters of Its Own Evolution and Induce Abrupt Cultural Shifts

Science.gov (United States)

2016-01-01

One of the most puzzling features of the prehistoric record of hominid stone tools is its apparent punctuation: it consists of abrupt bursts of dramatic change that separate long periods of largely unchanging technology. Within each such period, small punctuated cultural modifications take place. Punctuation on multiple timescales and magnitudes is also found in cultural trajectories from historical times. To explain these sharp cultural bursts, researchers invoke such external factors as sudden environmental change, rapid cognitive or morphological change in the hominids that created the tools, or replacement of one species or population by another. Here we propose a dynamic model of cultural evolution that accommodates empirical observations: without invoking external factors, it gives rise to a pattern of rare, dramatic cultural bursts, interspersed by more frequent, smaller, punctuated cultural modifications. Our model includes interdependent innovation processes that occur at different rates. It also incorporates a realistic aspect of cultural evolution: cultural innovations, such as those that increase food availability or that affect cultural transmission, can change the parameters that affect cultural evolution, thereby altering the population’s cultural dynamics and steady state. This steady state can be regarded as a cultural carrying capacity. These parameter-changing cultural innovations occur very rarely, but whenever one occurs, it triggers a dramatic shift towards a new cultural steady state. The smaller and more frequent punctuated cultural changes, on the other hand, are brought about by innovations that spur the invention of further, related, technology, and which occur regardless of whether the population is near its cultural steady state. Our model suggests that common interpretations of cultural shifts as evidence of biological change, for example the appearance of behaviorally modern humans, may be unwarranted. PMID:28036346

Cultural Centre, Destination Cultural Offer and Visitor Satisfaction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benxiang Zeng

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to establish the link between tourists’ perceptions on cultural offers and their overall satisfaction, and explore the implication of this link for sustainable tourist destination management. Assessing online customers’ reviews, this study identifies a positive correlation between visitors’ perspectives and experiences at the on-site cultural centre and visitors’ destination satisfaction. It suggests that the on-site cultural centre plays a critical role in building up visitors’ perception on cultural attributes of the destination, and its impact on visitor satisfaction is a double-edged sword. Visitors’ positive perspectives on the cultural centre enhance visitors’ experiences and contribute to their destination satisfaction; however, not only does a negative perspective on their cultural and spiritual experience compromise visitors’ satisfaction, but also subsequent negative online reviews damage the destination image and discourage visitor return/visit. The findings help destination management organisations to better understand visitors’ preference for cultural centres and therefore to improve visitors’ cultural experience. This paper appeals for further study of on-site cultural centres’ role in forming destination cultural attributes, and of social media’s potential in enriching cultural experience.

Professional culture brokers: Nursing faculty perceptions of nursing culture and their role in student formation.

Science.gov (United States)

Strouse, Susan M; Nickerson, Carolyn J

2016-05-01

Socialization, or formation of students to the professional nurse role, is an expectation of nursing education. This process is complex and challenging for students, who continue to experience culture shock moving from academe to practice settings. Viewing formation as enculturation is one way to address culture shock. Nursing faculty are key figures in this process, yet their views are not known. This focused ethnography study explored nursing faculty's perceptions about the culture of nursing and how they bring students into that culture. Data collected at two accredited, undergraduate pre-licensure baccalaureate nursing programs were analyzed using Leininger's four phases of data analysis. Four themes emerged: 1. The culture of nursing is multifaceted, multivalent and at times contradictory 2. Many factors interact and have influence on the culture of nursing 3. Navigating the subcultures (academia, service and organizational culture) is challenging for faculty, and 4. Nursing faculty believe that the right conditions facilitate the enculturation of students. Nursing faculty believe nursing has a professional culture and they bring students into that culture. Viewing the faculty role in enculturation to professional nursing as a culture broker can facilitate the process for students and mitigate the culture shock new graduate nurses experience. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cultural Understanding Through Cross-Cultural Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Briere, Jean-Francois

1986-01-01

A college course used an explicit intercultural approach and collective research activities to compare French and American cultures and to examine the reasons for cultural attitudes and culture conflict. Class assignments dealt with contrastive analyses of American and French institutions like advertising, cinema, feminism, etc. (MSE)

Cultural similarity, cultural competence, and nurse workforce diversity.

Science.gov (United States)

McGinnis, Sandra L; Brush, Barbara L; Moore, Jean

2010-11-01

Proponents of health workforce diversity argue that increasing the number of minority health care providers will enhance cultural similarity between patients and providers as well as the health system's capacity to provide culturally competent care. Measuring cultural similarity has been difficult, however, given that current benchmarks of workforce diversity categorize health workers by major racial/ethnic classifications rather than by cultural measures. This study examined the use of national racial/ethnic categories in both patient and registered nurse (RN) populations and found them to be a poor indicator of cultural similarity. Rather, we found that cultural similarity between RN and patient populations needs to be established at the level of local labor markets and broadened to include other cultural parameters such as country of origin, primary language, and self-identified ancestry. Only then can the relationship between cultural similarity and cultural competence be accurately determined and its outcomes measured.

Career development in cross-cultural environment

OpenAIRE

Balčiūnaitienė, Asta; Barvydienė, Violeta; Petkevičiūtė, Nijolė

2013-01-01

The aim of this paper is to discuss the peculiarities of career development and cultural competence in crosscultural environment. The idea of career development in a cross-cultural environment is usually linked to personal, communication skills, social and cultural issues. Understanding of the concept of peculiarities of career development and cross-cultural communication competence is of crucial significance in a multicultural environment. The main factors of career development in cross-cult...

Microfluidic perfusion culture of human induced pluripotent stem cells under fully defined culture conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshimitsu, Ryosuke; Hattori, Koji; Sugiura, Shinji; Kondo, Yuki; Yamada, Rotaro; Tachikawa, Saoko; Satoh, Taku; Kurisaki, Akira; Ohnuma, Kiyoshi; Asashima, Makoto; Kanamori, Toshiyuki

2014-05-01

Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) are a promising cell source for drug screening. For this application, self-renewal or differentiation of the cells is required, and undefined factors in the culture conditions are not desirable. Microfluidic perfusion culture allows the production of small volume cultures with precisely controlled microenvironments, and is applicable to high-throughput cellular environment screening. Here, we developed a microfluidic perfusion culture system for hiPSCs that uses a microchamber array chip under defined extracellular matrix (ECM) and culture medium conditions. By screening various ECMs we determined that fibronectin and laminin are appropriate for microfluidic devices made out of the most popular material, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). We found that the growth rate of hiPSCs under pressure-driven perfusion culture conditions was higher than under static culture conditions in the microchamber array. We applied our new system to self-renewal and differentiation cultures of hiPSCs, and immunocytochemical analysis showed that the state of the hiPSCs was successfully controlled. The effects of three antitumor drugs on hiPSCs were comparable between microchamber array and 96-well plates. We believe that our system will be a platform technology for future large-scale screening of fully defined conditions for differentiation cultures on integrated microfluidic devices. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Food-related lifestyles: Cross-cultural validity and intra-cultural stability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Scholderer, Joachim; Brunsø, Karen; Bredahl, Lone

in terms of factor pattern, factor loadings, factor covariances and factor variances. In the second factor part of the analysis, replication samples from France (N1 = 1000, N2 = 1000), Germany (N1 = 1000, N2 = 1042), and the UK (N1 = 1000, N2 = 1000) are examined for intra-cultural stability using the same...

Designing Cross-Cultural Orientation Programs for Business.

Science.gov (United States)

Ogden, John D.

A 1-day orientation workshop for business clients from other cultures is described. Factors in program design that relate to the specific cultural group addressed are discussed, and include such considerations as culture-specific versus culture-general content, professional focus, and the learning style to which the participants are accustomed.…

A typology of organisational cultures.

Science.gov (United States)

Westrum, R

2004-12-01

There is wide belief that organisational culture shapes many aspects of performance, including safety. Yet proof of this relationship in a medical context is hard to find. In contrast to human factors, whose contributions are many and notable, culture's impact remains a common-sense, rather than a scientific, concept. The objectives of this paper are to show that organisational culture bears a predictive relationship with safety and that particular kinds of organisational culture improve safety, and to develop a typology predictive of safety performance. Because information flow is both influential and also indicative of other aspects of culture, it can be used to predict how organisations or parts of them will behave when signs of trouble arise. From case studies and some systematic research it appears that information culture is indeed associated with error reporting and with performance, including safety. Yet this relationship between culture and safety requires more exploration before the connection can be considered definitive.

Cultural buffering as a protective factor against electronic cigarette use among Hispanic emergency department patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Lam, Chun Nok; Goldenson, Nicholas I; Burner, Elizabeth; Unger, Jennifer B

2016-12-01

Hispanics in the U.S. historically use tobacco at lower rates than other racial and ethnic groups. Cultural buffering, the process by which aspects of traditional Hispanic culture delay the adoption of unhealthy behaviors, is believed to be a protective factor against tobacco use. Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are a new tobacco product that have not been extensively studied, and it is unknown if cultural factors that protect against tobacco use will buffer against e-cigarette use among the Hispanic population. This cross-sectional study was conducted at the emergency department (ED) in a safety-net hospital in 2014. Patients visiting the ED participated in a survey assessing demographics and substance use. Cultural buffering was operationalized as participants' primary language spoken at home. Multivariate logistic regression and generalized estimating equations examined the association between Hispanic cultural buffering and e-cigarette ever-use. Of the 1476 Hispanic ED patients (age: 46.6M±14.5SD, 49.3% male), 7.6% reported e-cigarette ever-use and 11.1% reported current combustible cigarette use. In adjusted models, Spanish speakers were half as likely to report e-cigarette ever-use (O.R.: 0.54, 95% C.I.: 0.34-0.84, p=0.007), compared with English speakers. Combustible cigarette use remained the most significant factor associated with e-cigarette ever-use (O.R.: 9.28, 95% C.I.:7.44-11.56, pcigarette ever-use at higher rates than Spanish speakers (28.2% vs. 5.9%, pcigarette ever-use, especially in higher-income neighborhoods. These results support research on culturally-sensitive prevention programs for new and emerging tobacco products in Hispanic communities. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Time as a cultural factor and its socioeconomic importance: State of the art and future research lines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramon Cladellas

2009-04-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is analyzing the economic concept of time based on historical and cultural factors. The manuscript presents the historical evolution of the concept of time, highlighting its conceptualization since ancient times until now. Subsequently, the paper analyzes the economic value of time down through the history of no-time (leisure time and its cultural contextualization (occidental culture/linear conception vs. oriental culture/cyclical conception. Finally, the contemporary state of the concepts of time and money, and suggests the need to establish a new culture of time, which should be taught from an early age.

Cultural neuroscience and psychopathology: prospects for cultural psychiatry.

Science.gov (United States)

Choudhury, Suparna; Kirmayer, Laurence J

2009-01-01

There is a long tradition that seeks to understand the impact of culture on the causes, form, treatment, and outcome of psychiatric disorders. An early, colonialist literature attributed cultural characteristics and variations in psychopathology and behavior to deficiencies in the brains of colonized peoples. Contemporary research in social and cultural neuroscience holds the promise of moving beyond these invidious comparisons to a more sophisticated understanding of cultural variations in brain function relevant to psychiatry. To achieve this, however, we need better models of the nature of psychopathology and of culture itself. Culture is not simply a set of traits or characteristics shared by people with a common geographic, historical, or ethnic background. Current anthropology understands culture as fluid, flexible systems of discourse, institutions, and practices, which individuals actively use for self-fashioning and social positioning. Globalization introduces new cultural dynamics and demands that we rethink culture in relation to a wider domain of evolving identities, knowledge, and practice. Psychopathology is not reducible to brain dysfunction in either its causes, mechanisms, or expression. In addition to neuropsychiatric disorders, the problems that people bring to psychiatrists may result from disorders in cognition, the personal and social meanings of experience, and the dynamics of interpersonal interactions or social systems and institutions. The shifting meanings of culture and psychopathology have implications for efforts to apply cultural neuroscience to psychiatry. We consider how cultural neuroscience can refine use of culture and its role in psychopathology using the example of adolescent aggression as a symptom of conduct disorder.

Bestseller and Blockbuster Culture. Introduction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agger, Gunhild

2013-01-01

In cultural communication, the bestseller concept has become a ubiquitous factor – often unnoticed, but ever present. The corresponding concept in feature films is the blockbustster. Introduction to the whole volume.......In cultural communication, the bestseller concept has become a ubiquitous factor – often unnoticed, but ever present. The corresponding concept in feature films is the blockbustster. Introduction to the whole volume....

Identifying Socio-Cultural Factors That Impact the Use of Open Educational Resources in Local Public Administrations

OpenAIRE

Julia Stoffregen; Jan M. Pawlowski; Eric Ras; Snezana Scepanovic; Dragica Zugic

2016-01-01

The goal of this paper is to define relevant barriers to the exchange of Open Educational Resources in local public administrations. Building upon a cultural model, eleven experts were interviewed and asked to evaluate several factors, such as openness in discourse, learning at the workplace, and superior support, among others. The result is a set of socio-cultural factors that shape the use of Open Educational Resources in public administrations. Significant factors are, in...

Post-Materialism as a Cultural Factor Influencing Entrepreneurial Activity across Nations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

L.M. Uhlaner (Lorraine); A.R. Thurik (Roy); J. Hutjes

2002-01-01

textabstractThe study of the determinants of entrepreneurship at the country level has been dominated by economic influences. The relative stability of differences in levels of entrepreneurship across coun-tries suggests that other forces such as certain institutional and/or cultural factors are

Cross-Cultural Impression Management: A Cultural Knowledge Audit Model

Science.gov (United States)

Spong, Abigail; Kamau, Caroline

2012-01-01

Purpose: Many people moving into a new culture for work or study do so without prior cross-cultural training, yet successful cultural adaptation has important ramifications. The purpose of this paper is to focus on cross-cultural impression management as an element of cultural adaptation. Does cultural adaptation begin by paying strong attention…

Socio-Economic and Cultural Factors in Maternal Mortality in Nigeria ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The issue of maternal mortality has been very topical due to recent focus on sustainable development and because of the fact that maternal mortality is very high in many developing countries. In Nigeria, maternal mortality is very high and one of the highest in the world. There are cultural and social factors that exacerbate ...

Dehistoricized Cultural Identity and Cultural Othering

Science.gov (United States)

Weiguo, Qu

2013-01-01

The assumption that each culture has its own distinctive identity has been generally accepted in the discussion of cultural identities. Quite often identity formation is not perceived as a dynamic and interactive ongoing process that engages other cultures and involves change in its responses to different challenges at different times. I will…

What Is so "Cultural" About Cultural Entrepreneurship

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Staffan Albinsson

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The term “cultural entrepreneurship” has been increasingly used during the new millennium, mirroring the rapidly growing importance of the “quaternary sector of the economy,” i.e. knowledge-based industries, including culture. Exploration of the literature in which the term “cultural entrepreneurship” is used does not bring a solid, clear-cut, and unambiguous understanding of its definition or meaning. The aim of this paper is to present various uses of the concept and to bring about some clarity in how the concept can be understood. Two overarching uses of the cultural entrepreneurship concept have been found: 1. the anthropologist’s and institutional economist’s use, which indicates the dynamic development of intangible cultural features such as symbols, myths, languages, beliefs, values, norms, rituals, and attitudes in and between societies, and 2. the arts development use, which indicates the dynamic development of cultural services, tangible goods, and individual or collective career promotion. Most authors use a cultural entrepreneurship concept without defining it. Authors could apply more precise definitions by using a quadruple bottom-line framework to position themselves in the nexus of financial, social, artistic, and cultural perspectives.

Cross-cultural variation of speech-accompanying gesture : a review

OpenAIRE

Kita, Sotaro

2009-01-01

This article reviews the literature on cross-cultural variation of gestures. Four factors governing the variation were identified. The first factor is the culture-specific convention for form-meaning associations. This factor is involved in well-known cross-cultural differences in emblem gestures (e.g., the OK-sign), as well as pointing gestures. The second factor is culture-specific spatial cognition. Representational gestures (i.e., iconic and deictic gestures) that express spatial contents...

Cultural tourism and tourism cultures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ooi, Can-Seng

Presenting a comprehensive and dynamic understanding of cultural tourism, this volume examines cultural mediators and how they help tourists appreciate foreign cultures. It also shows how tourism experiences are strategically crafted by mediators, the complexity of the mediation process, and how...... various products are mediated differently. A number of different products are investigated, including destination brand identities, "living" cultures and everyday life, art and history. The author illustrates his arguments by comparing the tourism strategies of Copenhagen and Singapore, and demonstrates...... how tourism is an agent for social change. The author also offers an original and refreshing way of understanding tourist behaviour through the concept of the "versatile tourist". The book's empirical cases and dialogic framework provide new and deep insights into tourism activities. In his...

Patient Safety Culture Survey in Pediatric Complex Care Settings: A Factor Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Hessels, Amanda J; Murray, Meghan; Cohen, Bevin; Larson, Elaine L

2017-04-19

Children with complex medical needs are increasing in number and demanding the services of pediatric long-term care facilities (pLTC), which require a focus on patient safety culture (PSC). However, no tool to measure PSC has been tested in this unique hybrid acute care-residential setting. The objective of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Nursing Home Survey on Patient Safety Culture tool slightly modified for use in the pLTC setting. Factor analyses were performed on data collected from 239 staff at 3 pLTC in 2012. Items were screened by principal axis factoring, and the original structure was tested using confirmatory factor analysis. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to identify the best model fit for the pLTC data, and factor reliability was assessed by Cronbach alpha. The extracted, rotated factor solution suggested items in 4 (staffing, nonpunitive response to mistakes, communication openness, and organizational learning) of the original 12 dimensions may not be a good fit for this population. Nevertheless, in the pLTC setting, both the original and the modified factor solutions demonstrated similar reliabilities to the published consistencies of the survey when tested in adult nursing homes and the items factored nearly identically as theorized. This study demonstrates that the Nursing Home Survey on Patient Safety Culture with minimal modification may be an appropriate instrument to measure PSC in pLTC settings. Additional psychometric testing is recommended to further validate the use of this instrument in this setting, including examining the relationship to safety outcomes. Increased use will yield data for benchmarking purposes across these specialized settings to inform frontline workers and organizational leaders of areas of strength and opportunity for improvement.

Plant-based culture media: Efficiently support culturing rhizobacteria and correctly mirror their in-situ diversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Youssef, Hanan H; Hamza, Mervat A; Fayez, Mohamed; Mourad, Elhussein F; Saleh, Mohamed Y; Sarhan, Mohamed S; Suker, Ragab M; Eltahlawy, Asmaa A; Nemr, Rahma A; El-Tahan, Mahmod; Ruppel, Silke; Hegazi, Nabil A

2016-03-01

Our previous publications and the data presented here provide evidences on the ability of plant-based culture media to optimize the cultivability of rhizobacteria and to support their recovery from plant-soil environments. Compared to the tested chemically-synthetic culture media (e.g. nutrient agar and N-deficient combined-carbon sources media), slurry homogenates, crude saps, juices and powders of cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) and succulent plants (Aloe vera and Aloe arborescens) were rich enough to support growth of rhizobacteria. Representative isolates of Enterobacter spp., Klebsiella spp., Bacillus spp. and Azospirillum spp. exhibited good growth on agar plates of such plant-based culture media. Cell growth and biomass production in liquid batch cultures were comparable to those reported with the synthetic culture media. In addition, the tested plant-based culture media efficiently recovered populations of rhizobacteria associated to plant roots. Culturable populations of >10(6)-10(8) cfu g(-1) were recovered from the ecto- and endo-rhizospheres of tested host plants. More than 100 endophytic culture-dependent isolates were secured and subjected to morphophysiological identification. Factor and cluster analyses indicated the unique community structure, on species, genera, class and phyla levels, of the culturable population recovered with plant-based culture media, being distinct from that obtained with the chemically-synthetic culture media. Proteobacteria were the dominant (78.8%) on plant-based agar culture medium compared to only 31% on nutrient agar, while Firmicutes prevailed on nutrient agar (69%) compared to the plant-based agar culture media (18.2%). Bacteroidetes, represented by Chryseobacterium indologenes, was only reported (3%) among the culturable rhizobacteria community of the plant-based agar culture medium.

Managerial factor of ethnic minority cultural space: changes (1990 – 2000 – years

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. M. Pekarchuk

2014-09-01

Full Text Available On the basis of archival, statistical materials, analytical inputs predecessors considered the place and role of management factor in the development of cultural space Ethnic minorities during 1990 - 2000 - ies. Nonfiction includes problems of participation of public authorities in the cultural renaissance of ethnic minorities in part addresses the issue of directions, principles, nature management decisions involving relevant administrative instruments regarding implementation in practice of the basics of cultural - artistic policy. Importance designated problem caused primarily by the need to have a clear understanding of the mechanisms of decision independent state problems of interethnic relations, promoting the principles of many cultural, ethnic and national tolerance and harmony. Fundamental approaches to the creation of prerequisites cooperation executive authorities and representative bodies of national - cultural society, the maintenance of ethnic and cultural needs of ethnic groups in Ukraine. We considered the prospect of continuity and management activities in the direction of improving the principles of such support. Considerable attention is paid to the current management mechanism (mosaic bodies involved in financing, material support, investment projects. At first, in the historiography on the basis of specific methodological tools to analyze conformity issued by the President of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers, Ministry departments strategic objectives - development of social and cultural environment Ethnic minorities of Ukraine. Particular attention is given to explaining the problems of social - political participation of ethnic minorities, ethnic consolidation of the principles of conservation of space. Stressed that the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine actively promoted satisfaction ethno-cultural needs of ethnic groups, the revival of their customs and traditions. A significant part of the articl is devoted to clarify

Cultured human foreskin fibroblasts produce a factor that stimulates their growth with properties similar to basic fibroblast growth factor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Story, M.T.

1989-01-01

To determine if fibroblasts could be a source of fibroblast growth factor (FGF) in tissue, cells were initiated in culture from newborn human foreskin. Fibroblast cell lysates promoted radiolabeled thymidine uptake by cultured quiescent fibroblasts. Seventy-nine percent of the growth-promoting activity of lysates was recovered from heparin-Sepharose. The heparin-binding growth factor reacted on immunoblots with antiserum to human placenta-derived basic FGF and competed with iodinated basic FGF for binding to antiserum to (1-24)bFGF synthetic peptide. To confirm that fibroblasts were the source of the growth factor, cell lysates were prepared from cells incubated with radiolabeled methionine. Heparin affinity purified material was immunoprecipitated with basic FGF antiserum and electrophoresed. Radiolabeled material was detected on gel autoradiographs in the same molecular weight region as authentic iodinated basic FGF. The findings are consistant with the notion that cultured fibroblasts express basic FGF. As these cells also respond to the mitogen, it is possible that the regulation of their growth is under autocrine control. Fibroblasts may be an important source of the growth factor in tissue

The Teaching Methods of Cultural Factors in The Classroom

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Jia Mengyang

2014-01-01

Culture knowledge plays an important role in linguistic proficiency and currently most teaching activities are stil happened inthe traditionalclassroom. So this paper introducedsome ofthe practicalteachingmethods ofChinese culture inthe Chinese language classroom.

Impact on quality culture of total quality management practices factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Faihan Mosaad Saud Alotaibi

2014-09-01

Full Text Available This study investigated total quality management practices and quality culture of Saudi Arabian contractors. Improving the quality can be achieved through implementation of total quality management although studies and researches work regarding this improvement is still lacking. A quantitative approach using the survey method was employed. With assistance from the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, survey questionnaires were distributed to selected contractors in Saudi Arabia. The collected data were analysed using correlation, and multiple regression analyses. The key findings were the confirmation of significant relationships between all total quality management practices and quality culture and a positive relationship between quality management practices and quality culture. Furthermore, total quality management practices were found to be able to explain 68.1% of the variance in quality culture, while quality culture explained 12.5% of the variance in competitiveness. Quality culture was found to only partially mediate the relationship between total quality management practices and competitiveness.

Cross Culture Communication——in Our Daily Life

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

宋君; 陈忱

2007-01-01

Since the late 1960s,culture has been considered tighter with communication.Culture IS based on the community of communication.Communication involves people and their environment.Thus culture is an important factor in communication.Today with modem economic and technological development,intercultural communication is mole important than ever before. When people from different cultural background communicate with each other,their social stereotype pattern of behavior, their habits of language and thought differ from one another,because these are the possible factors that affect intercultural communications.Culture norms also change,culture may be transferred as signs but we have to study and understand the above carefially.

Trichostatin A, a critical factor in maintaining the functional differentiation of primary cultured rat hepatocytes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Henkens, Tom; Papeleu, Peggy; Elaut, Greetje; Vinken, Mathieu; Rogiers, Vera; Vanhaecke, Tamara

2007-01-01

Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDI) have been shown to increase differentiation-related gene expression in several tumor-derived cell lines by hyperacetylating core histones. Effects of HDI on primary cultured cells, however, have hardly been investigated. In the present study, the ability of trichostatin A (TSA), a prototype hydroxamate HDI, to counteract the loss of liver-specific functions in primary rat hepatocyte cultures has been investigated. Upon exposure to TSA, it was found that the cell viability of the cultured hepatocytes and their albumin secretion as a function of culture time were increased. TSA-treated hepatocytes also better maintained cytochrome P450 (CYP)-mediated phase I biotransformation capacity, whereas the activity of phase II glutathione S-transferases (GST) was not affected. Western blot and qRT-PCR analysis of CYP1A1, CYP2B1 and CYP3A11 protein and mRNA levels, respectively, further revealed that TSA acts at the transcriptional level. In addition, protein expression levels of the liver-enriched transcription factors (LETFs) hepatic nuclear factor 4 alpha (HNF4α) and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein alpha (C/EBPα) were accordingly increased by TSA throughout culture time. In conclusion, these findings indicate that TSA plays a major role in the preservation of the differentiated hepatic phenotype in culture. It is suggested that the effects of TSA on CYP gene expression are mediated via controlling the expression of LETFs

Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Culture, Conflict, and Negotiation

Science.gov (United States)

2009-08-28

negotiator cognition: Judgement accuracy and negotiation processes in individualistic and collectivistic cultures ", Organizational Behavior and Human...2004, Adair, Okumura, and Brett, 2001). Communication sequences are also affected by culture . Negotiators from collectivistic cultures use more... individualistic cultures (Adail and Brett, 2005; Adair, Okumura, and Brett, 2001). Research in DB/psychology has increasingly examined situational factors that

Examining Cultural Intelligence and Cross-Cultural Negotiation Effectiveness

Science.gov (United States)

Groves, Kevin S.; Feyerherm, Ann; Gu, Minhua

2015-01-01

International negotiation failures are often linked to deficiencies in negotiator cross-cultural capabilities, including limited understanding of the cultures engaged in the transaction, an inability to communicate with persons from different cultural backgrounds, and limited behavioral flexibility to adapt to culturally unfamiliar contexts.…

Culture-specific delusions. Sense and nonsense in cultural context.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaines, A D

1995-06-01

It can be said that a definition of delusions requires the invocation of cultural understandings, standards of acceptability, as well as conceptions of reality and the forces that animate it. For these reasons, the determination of delusional or normative ideation can only be effected properly within particular cultural contexts. The cross-cultural record suggests that it is difficult to separate the delusional from the cultural; a belief that is patterened and culturally specific is, by definition a cultural, not a delusional belief. One must rely upon particular, relevant local cultural understandings to ascertain when the bounds of culture have been transgressed and meaning has given way to unshareable nonsense.

Culture suédoise, culture d’entreprise, culture populaire

OpenAIRE

Merle, Anthony

2013-01-01

Plus qu’un commerce, IKEA est un phénomène culturel à trois dimensions, à la fois image (construite ?) de la culture suédoise, modèle (prétendu ?) d’une certaine culture d’entreprise, et marque imprégnant largement la culture populaire. Par sa communication et sa politique, le groupe IKEA se présente comme vendeur d’un Ailleurs, à savoir celui de son origine suédoise. À partir du cas IKEA, cet article a pour objectif d’interroger le rôle de la distance cognitive (Ici/Ailleurs) pour comprendre...

Organizational culture

OpenAIRE

Schein, Edgar H.

1988-01-01

Cultural orientations of an organization can be its greatest strength, providing the basis for problem solving, cooperation, and communication. Culture, however, can also inhibit needed changes. Cultural changes typically happen slowly – but without cultural change, many other organizational changes are doomed to fail. The dominant culture of an organization is a major contributor to its success. But, of course, no organizational culture is purely one type or another. And the existence of sec...

Calcitriol enhances fat synthesis factors and calpain activity in co-cultured cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Hyuck; Myung, Kyuho

2014-08-01

We have conducted an in vitro experiment to determine whether calcitriol can act as a fat synthesizer and/or meat tenderizer when skeletal muscle cells, adipose tissue, and macrophages are co-cultured. When co-cultured, pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) expression increased, whereas decreased anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-10 and IL-15) expression decreased in both C2C12 and 3T3-L1 cells. Calcitriol increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in the media. While adiponectin gene expression decreased, leptin, resistin, CCAAT-enhancer-binding protein-beta (C/EBP-β), and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-γ) gene expression was significantly (P cultured with two different cell types. Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) protein levels were also stimulated in the C2C12 and 3T3-L1 cells, but arginase l was attenuated by calcitriol. Cacitriol highly amplified (P = 0.008) µ-calpain gene expression in co-cultured C2C12 cells. The results showed an overall increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines and a decrease in anti-inflammatory cytokines of C2C12 and 3T3-L1 cells with calcitriol in co-culture systems. µ-Calpain protein was also augmented in differentiated C2C12 cells with calcitriol. These findings suggest that calcitriol can be used as not only fat synthesizer, but meat tenderizer, in meat-producing animals. © 2014 International Federation for Cell Biology.

Cultural tourism is in context of mass culture

OpenAIRE

Гарбар, Г. А.

2014-01-01

Philosophic analysis of tourist activity within mass culture is carried out in the thesis. Cultural tourism within mass culture is more than orientation on cultural values, it is the understanding of peculiar cultural values within the context of generally accepted ones, confirmation of tourist activity peculiarities.Having reviewed tourism as a coherent system, the facts about impact of tourism on the society development are determined, potential development zones are identified, which are a...

Organizational factors, organizational culture, job satisfaction and entrepreneurial orientation in public administration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Konstantinos M. Karyotakis

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The present paper outlines the critical role and influence of organizational culture and job satisfaction on the relationship between organizational factors and entrepreneurial orientation (EO in the public sector through generating the theoretical framework. Upon examining these terms, a model that reflects their mutual relationships has been suggested. The amalgam of internal work environment, work discretion and rewards/recognition in combination with the appropriate degree of organizational boundaries, such as formalization, centralization, technology routines and connectedness, are crucial for fostering organizational culture and job satisfaction that lead to EO through innovativeness, proactiveness and risk taking.

Cultural Factors in Systems Design Decision Making and Action

CERN Document Server

Proctor, Robert W; Yih, Yuehwern

2011-01-01

This book brings together an interdisciplinary group of experts to provide increased understanding of the ways in which cultural differences may influence decision making and action. It brings together current knowledge about decision processes, culture and cognition, design of products and interfaces for human interaction with machines and organizational processes culled from a wide variety of sources and puts them into one comprehensive resource. It examines how to design systems used by individuals from different cultures and accommodate the varied backgrounds that affect the users' decisio

Isolation and culture of adult mouse vestibular nucleus neurons

Science.gov (United States)

Him, Aydın; Altuntaş, Serap; Öztürk, Gürkan; Erdoğan, Ender; Cengiz, Nureddin

2017-12-19

Background/aim: Isolated cell cultures are widely used to study neuronal properties due to their advantages. Although embryonic animals are preferred for culturing, their morphological or electrophysiological properties may not reflect adult neurons, which may be important in neurodegenerative diseases. This paper aims to develop a method for preparing isolated cell cultures of medial vestibular nucleus (MVN) from adult mice and describe its morphological and electrophysiological properties.Materials and methods: Vestibular nucleus neurons were mechanically and enzymatically isolated and cultured using a defined medium with known growth factors. Cell survival was measured with propidium iodide, and electrophysiological properties were investigated with current-clamp recording.Results: Vestibular neurons grew neurites in cultures, gaining adult-like morphological properties, and stayed viable for 3 days in culture. Adding bovine calf serum, nerve growth factor, or insulin-like growth factor into the culture medium enhanced neuronal viability. Current-clamp recording of the cultured neurons revealed tonic and phasic-type neurons with similar input resistance, resting membrane potential, action potential amplitude, and duration. Conclusion: Vestibular neurons from adult mice can be cultured, and regenerate axons in a medium containing appropriate growth factors. Culturing adult vestibular neurons provides a new method to study age-related pathologies of the vestibular system.

Avenues of Influence: Cross-Cultural Implications

Science.gov (United States)

2014-04-01

focused on comparisons between individualistic and collectivistic cultures . Furthermore, given the differential emphasis toward group factors in...either individualistic or collectivistic cultures , social influence tactics involving group social elements may be a good starting point for exploring...in Two Cultures : The Differential Influence of Social Proof and Commitment/Consistency on collectivists and Individualists . Personality and Social

Citizenship and cultural diversity in agenda of cultural policies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patricia Silva Dorneles

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This is a discussion paper which aims to contribute to the systematization of studies, concepts and practices on cultural policies which have been developed in previous years in Brazil and are orienting cultural actions and public programs in the country, also influencing the Occupational Therapy. Citizenship and Cultural Diversity are concepts under construction and are part of the of the agenda of cultural policies and as well as the reflections and practices of various occupational therapists who are acting in a constant dialogue with the cultural area by means of the formation in cultural management, cultural mapping, programs and grant projects aimed to promote inventive identities, traditional communities, native populations, urban mobility, and cultural networks and exchange initiatives, among others. The article presents the process of this conceptual construction and the constitution of experiences aiming the democratization of the culture in the history of Brazilian cultural public policies, over which are being discussed approach paths and possibilities for Occupational Therapy.

Cultural hegemony? Educators' perspectives on facilitating cross-cultural dialogue.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaidi, Zareen; Verstegen, Daniëlle; Vyas, Rashmi; Hamed, Omayma; Dornan, Tim; Morahan, Page

2016-01-01

We live in an age when education is being internationalized. This can confront students with 'cultural hegemony' that can result from the unequal distribution of power and privilege in global society. The name that is given to awareness of social inequality is 'critical consciousness'. Cross-cultural dialogue provides an opportunity for learners to develop critical consciousness to counter cultural hegemony. The purpose of this research was to understand how learners engage with cross-cultural dialogue, so we can help them do so more effectively in the future. The setting for this research was an online discussion in an international health professions educator fellowship program. We introduced scenarios with cultural references to study the reaction of participants to cultural conversation cues. We used an inductive thematic analysis to explore power and hegemony issues. Participants reflected that personally they were more likely to take part in cross-cultural discussions if they recognized the context discussed or had prior exposure to educational settings with cultural diversity. They identified barriers as lack of skills in facilitating cross-cultural discussions and fear of offending others. They suggested deliberately introducing cultural issues throughout the curriculum. Our results indicate that developing critical consciousness and cross-cultural competency will require instructional design to identify longitudinal opportunities to bring up cross-cultural issues, and training facilitators to foster cross-cultural discussions by asking clarifying questions and navigating crucial/sensitive conversations.

Influences of external factors on the energy conversion and productivity of Scenedesmus sp. in mass culture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wesselius, J.C.

1973-01-01

Experiments about the influence of external factors on the energy conversion in mass cultures of Scenedesmus are described in this thesis. Several types of culture vessels were used in the laboratory as well as in the open. Demonstration models of Miele washing

In what way do Nepalese cultural factors affect adherence to antiretroviral treatment in Nepal?

OpenAIRE

Wasti, Sharada Prasad; Randall, Julian; Simkhada, Padam; Van Teijlingen, Edwin

2011-01-01

Individuals’ self administration of medication is an essential component of disease management because incorrect and incomplete medication can result in increased morbidity, mortality and healthcare costs and also spreads drug resistance. Its impact is necessarily wider than just\\ud medical and includes the cultural and managerial considerations which govern success in medical interventions. This review paper is aimed at how Nepalese cultural factors (beliefs, religious practices, customs and...

Safeguards Culture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Frazar, Sarah L.; Mladineo, Stephen V.

2012-07-01

The concepts of nuclear safety and security culture are well established; however, a common understanding of safeguards culture is not internationally recognized. Supported by the National Nuclear Security Administration, the authors prepared this report, an analysis of the concept of safeguards culture, and gauged its value to the safeguards community. The authors explored distinctions between safeguards culture, safeguards compliance, and safeguards performance, and evaluated synergies and differences between safeguards culture and safety/security culture. The report concludes with suggested next steps.

Culture related to road traffic safety: a comparison of eight countries using two conceptualizations of culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Nordfjærn, Trond; Şimşekoğlu, Özlem; Rundmo, Torbjorn

2014-01-01

The majority of previous cross-country studies of human factors relevant to traffic safety have not operationalized and measured culture. Also studies in this vein have mostly been carried out in Europe and the United States. The aim of the study was to examine country cluster differences, based on the Culture's Consequences framework, in road traffic risk perception, attitudes towards traffic safety and driver behaviour in samples from Norway, Russia, India, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, Turkey and Iran. An additional aim was to examine cluster differences in road traffic culture as symbol use and to investigate whether this theoretical cultural framework predicts risk perception, attitudes towards traffic safety and driver behaviour in the country clusters. The sample consisted of a total of 2418 individuals who were obtained by convenience sampling in the different countries. The countries segmented into four Culture's Consequences clusters; Norway, Russia and India, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Near East countries. The findings showed that Norwegians reported overall safer attitudes towards traffic safety and driver behaviour than the remaining country clusters. Individuals in Africa reported the highest risk perception. The countries also differed substantially in road traffic culture as symbol use. Contrary to established cultural theory, prediction models revealed that cultural factors were stronger predictors of driver behaviour than of risk perception. Also, the social cognitive risk constructs (i.e. risk perception and attitudes) solely explained variance in driver behaviour in the Norwegian and Russia/India clusters. Previous empirical efforts, which aimed to demonstrate that culture is important for the risk perception criterion, may have focused on a criterion variable that is not strongly related to driver behaviour. Furthermore, countermeasures aimed to influence social cognition may have stronger applicability in countries with a more individualistic western

Cultural hegemony? Educators’ perspectives on facilitating cross-cultural dialogue

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zareen Zaidi

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Background: We live in an age when education is being internationalized. This can confront students with ‘cultural hegemony’ that can result from the unequal distribution of power and privilege in global society. The name that is given to awareness of social inequality is ‘critical consciousness’. Cross-cultural dialogue provides an opportunity for learners to develop critical consciousness to counter cultural hegemony. The purpose of this research was to understand how learners engage with cross-cultural dialogue, so we can help them do so more effectively in the future. Method: The setting for this research was an online discussion in an international health professions educator fellowship program. We introduced scenarios with cultural references to study the reaction of participants to cultural conversation cues. We used an inductive thematic analysis to explore power and hegemony issues. Results: Participants reflected that personally they were more likely to take part in cross-cultural discussions if they recognized the context discussed or had prior exposure to educational settings with cultural diversity. They identified barriers as lack of skills in facilitating cross-cultural discussions and fear of offending others. They suggested deliberately introducing cultural issues throughout the curriculum. Conclusion: Our results indicate that developing critical consciousness and cross-cultural competency will require instructional design to identify longitudinal opportunities to bring up cross-cultural issues, and training facilitators to foster cross-cultural discussions by asking clarifying questions and navigating crucial/sensitive conversations.

Cultural hegemony? Educators’ perspectives on facilitating cross-cultural dialogue

Science.gov (United States)

Zaidi, Zareen; Verstegen, Daniëlle; Vyas, Rashmi; Hamed, Omayma; Dornan, Tim; Morahan, Page

2016-01-01

Background We live in an age when education is being internationalized. This can confront students with ‘cultural hegemony’ that can result from the unequal distribution of power and privilege in global society. The name that is given to awareness of social inequality is ‘critical consciousness’. Cross-cultural dialogue provides an opportunity for learners to develop critical consciousness to counter cultural hegemony. The purpose of this research was to understand how learners engage with cross-cultural dialogue, so we can help them do so more effectively in the future. Method The setting for this research was an online discussion in an international health professions educator fellowship program. We introduced scenarios with cultural references to study the reaction of participants to cultural conversation cues. We used an inductive thematic analysis to explore power and hegemony issues. Results Participants reflected that personally they were more likely to take part in cross-cultural discussions if they recognized the context discussed or had prior exposure to educational settings with cultural diversity. They identified barriers as lack of skills in facilitating cross-cultural discussions and fear of offending others. They suggested deliberately introducing cultural issues throughout the curriculum. Conclusion Our results indicate that developing critical consciousness and cross-cultural competency will require instructional design to identify longitudinal opportunities to bring up cross-cultural issues, and training facilitators to foster cross-cultural discussions by asking clarifying questions and navigating crucial/sensitive conversations. PMID:27890048

Cultural factors affecting the differential performance of Israeli and Palestinian children on the Loewenstein Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Josman, Naomi; Abdallah, Taisir M; Engel-Yeger, Batya

2010-01-01

Cognitive performance is essential for children's functioning and may also predict school readiness. The suitability of Western standardized assessments for cognitive performance among children from different cultures needs to be elaborated. This study referred to the existence of differences in cognitive performance between and within children from the middle-east-Israeli and Palestinian on the Loewenstein Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment (LOTCA), by elucidating cultural effects on the construct validity of the LOTCA using factor analysis. Participants included 101 Israeli and 125 Palestinian children from kindergarten, first and second grade who underwent the LOTCA. Factor analysis revealed four factors underlying items on the LOTCA, explaining the differences found between Israeli and Palestinian children in most of LOTCA subtests. Culture may affect the construct validity of the LOTCA and may explain the difference in performance between both cultural groups. LOTCA's validity as well as the validity of other instruments on which norms and decisions regarding the child's development and performance are made should be further evaluated among children from different cultural backgrounds. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling of socio-cultural constructs among chamorro and non-chamorro micronesian betel nut chewers.

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, Kelle L; Liu, Min; Herzog, Thaddeus A

2017-07-05

Betel nut chewing is embedded within the cultures of South Asia, and Southeast Asia, and the Western Pacific. The determinants of betel nut consumption are complex. Ongoing consumption of betel nut is affected by cultural, social, and drug-specific effects (i.e. dependence). This study's first objective was to assess the psychometric properties (i.e. reliability and validity) of the socio-cultural constructs in a survey developed for betel nut chewers. The study's second objective was to investigate the influence of socio-cultural variables on betel nut chewing behaviors among Chamorro and non-Chamorro Micronesians in Guam. The current study was a secondary analysis of a larger study (N = 600; n = 375 chewers and n = 225 former chewers) that examined socio-cultural factors that influence why chewers chew betel nut, along with assessing chewing behaviors, perceptions of risks, probability of changing behaviors, and methods that could be used to reduce use or quit. The socio-cultural constructs of the survey were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The socio-cultural factors were a sufficient fit with data and the instrument is reliable and valid, as indicated by various model fit indices (χ 2 (13) = 18.49 with p = .14, TLI = .99, CFI = 1.00, SRMR = .02, RMSEA = .03 with 90% CIs [.00,.07]). Cronbach's alpha, the sign and magnitude of the factor loadings, the inter-factor correlations, and the large proportion of variance extracted for each factor, all indicate that the instrument is reliable and valid. Additionally, multivariate analyses showed that socio-cultural reasons were important contributing or chewing betel nut. Participants cited chewing because their friends and family members chewed, the behavior is embedded within their culture, and it would be considered rude and disrespectful to not chew. Based on the findings, this study provides important implications pertaining to

CULTURE, CULTURE LEARNING AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES: TOWARDS A PEDAGOGICAL FRAMEWORK

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mike Levy

2007-02-01

Full Text Available This paper seeks to improve approaches to the learning and teaching of culture using new technologies by relating the key qualities and dimensions of the culture concept to elements within a pedagogical framework. In Part One, five facets of the culture concept are developed: culture as elemental; culture as relative; culture as group membership; culture as contested; and culture as individual (variable and multiple. Each perspective aims to provide a focus for thinking about culture, and thereby to provide a valid and useful point of departure for thinking about the practice of culture learning and teaching with new technologies. The referenced literature draws from a broad range of disciplines and definitions of culture. In Part Two, five projects are chosen to represent relevant technologies currently in use for culture learning: e-mail, chat, a discussion forum and a Web-based project. Each project is used to illustrate facets of the culture concept discussed in Part One with a view to identifying key elements within a pedagogical framework that can help us respond effectively to the challenge of culture learning and teaching utilising new technologies. Thus the goal is to align fundamental qualities of the culture concept with specific pedagogical designs, tasks and technologies.

A biocompatible micro cell culture chamber (mu CCC) for the culturing and on-line monitoring of eukaryote cells

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stangegaard, Michael; Petronis, Sarunas; Jørgensen, Anders Michael

2006-01-01

culture chip compared to cell culture flasks. The cell culture chip could without further modification support cell growth of two other cell lines. Light coming from the microscope lamp during optical recordings of the cells was the only external factor identified, that could have a negative effect...... on cell survival. Low grade light exposure was however compatible with optical recordings as well as cell viability. These results strongly indicate that a cell culture chip could be constructed that allowed for on-line optical recording of cellular events without affecting the cell culturing condition...

A biocompatible micro cell culture chamber (microCCC) for the culturing and on-line monitoring of eukaryote cells

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stangegaard, Michael; Petronis, Sarunas; Jørgensen, A M

2006-01-01

culture chip compared to cell culture flasks. The cell culture chip could without further modification support cell growth of two other cell lines. Light coming from the microscope lamp during optical recordings of the cells was the only external factor identified, that could have a negative effect...... on cell survival. Low grade light exposure was however compatible with optical recordings as well as cell viability. These results strongly indicate that a cell culture chip could be constructed that allowed for on-line optical recording of cellular events without affecting the cell culturing condition...

Cultural Competence and the Operational Commander: Moving Beyond Cultural Awareness into Culture-Centric Warfare

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Karcanes, James A

2007-01-01

The term "cultural awareness" serves as the new favorite Department of Defense buzzword but fails in its definition to adequately articulate the complexity of culture and the high level of cultural...

Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor in combination with insulin-like growth factor 1 and basic fibroblast growth factor promote in vitro culture of goat spermatogonial stem cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Bahadorani, M; Hosseini, S M; Abedi, P; Abbasi, H; Nasr-Esfahani, M H

2015-01-01

Growth factors are increasingly considered as important regulators of spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs). This study investigated the effects of various growth factors (GDNF, IGF1, bFGF, EGF and GFRalpha-1) on purification and colonization of undifferentiated goat SSCs under in vitro and in vivo conditions. Irrespective of the culture condition used, the first signs of developing colonies were observed from day 4 of culture onwards. The number of colonies developed in GDNF + IGF1 + bFGF culture condition was significantly higher than the other groups (p culture condition was significantly higher than the other groups (p cells (vimentin, alpha-inhibin and α-SMA) and spermatogonial cells (PLZF, THY 1, VASA, alpha-1 integrin, bet-1 integrin and DBA) revealed that both cell types existed in developing colonies, irrespective of the culture condition used. Even though, the relative abundance of VASA, FGFR3, OCT4, PLZF, BCL6B and THY1 transcription factors in GDNF + IGF1 + bFGF treatment group was significantly higher than the other groups (p culture condition could colonize within the seminiferous tubules of the germ-cell depleted recipient mice following xenotransplantation. Obtained results demonstrated that combination of GDNF with IGF1 and bFGF promote in vitro culture of goat SSCs while precludes uncontrolled proliferation of somatic cells.

Cross-Cultural Effects of Cannabis Use Disorder: Evidence to Support a Cultural Neuroscience Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Prashad, Shikha; Milligan, Amber L; Cousijn, Janna; Filbey, Francesca M

2017-06-01

Cannabis use disorders (CUDs) are prevalent worldwide. Current epidemiological studies underscore differences in behaviors that contribute to cannabis use across cultures that can be leveraged towards prevention and treatment of CUDs. This review proposes a framework for understanding the effects of cross-cultural differences on psychological, neural, and genomic processes underlying CUDs that has the potential to inform global policies and impact global public health. We found that cultural factors may influence (1) the willingness to acknowledge CUD-related symptoms among populations of different countries, and (2) neural responses related to the sense of self, perception, emotion, and attention. These findings leverage the potential effects of culture on neural mechanisms underlying CUDs. As the number of individuals seeking treatment for CUDs increases globally, it is imperative to incorporate cultural considerations to better understand and serve differing populations and develop more targeted treatment strategies and interventions.

Comparative usefulness of inflammatory markers to indicate bacterial infection-analyzed according to blood culture results and related clinical factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Nishikawa, Hirokazu; Shirano, Michinori; Kasamatsu, Yu; Morimura, Ayumi; Iida, Ko; Kishi, Tomomi; Goto, Tetsushi; Okamoto, Saki; Ehara, Eiji

2016-01-01

To assess relationships of inflammatory markers and 2 related clinical factors with blood culture results, we retrospectively investigated inpatients' blood culture and blood chemistry findings that were recorded from January to December 2014 using electronic medical records and analyzed the data of 852 subjects (426 culture-positive and 426 culture-negative). Results suggested that the risk of positive blood culture statistically increased as inflammatory marker levels and the number of related factors increased. Concerning the effectiveness of inflammatory markers, when the outcome definition was also changed for C-reactive protein (CRP), the odds ratio had a similar value, whereas when the outcome definition of blood culture positivity was used for procalcitonin (PCT), the greatest effectiveness of that was detected. Therefore, the current results suggest that PCT is more useful than CRP as an auxiliary indication of bacterial infection. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cultural Journalism and Cultural Critique in a changing Media Landscape

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nørgaard Kristensen, Nete; From, Unni

2015-01-01

This special issue addresses a topic of journalism studies that has previously been somewhat neglected but which has gained increasing scholarly attention since the mid-2000s: the coverage and evaluation of art and culture, or what we term “cultural journalism and cultural critique.......” In this introduction, we highlight three issues that serve to frame the study of cultural journalism and cultural critique more generally and the eight articles of this special issue more specifically: (1) the constant challenge of demarcating cultural journalism and cultural critique, including the interrelations...... of “journalism” and “critique”; (2) the dialectic of globalisation’s cultural homogenisation, on the one hand, and the specificity of local/national cultures, on the other; and (3) the digital media landscape seen in terms of the need to rethink, perhaps even redefine cultural journalism and cultural critique...

Culture, Personality, Health, and Family Dynamics: Cultural Competence in the Selection of Culturally Sensitive Treatments

Science.gov (United States)

Sperry, Len

2010-01-01

Cultural sensitivity and cultural competence in the selection of culturally sensitive treatments is a requisite for effective counseling practice in working with diverse clients and their families, particularly when clients present with health issues or medical problems. Described here is a strategy for selecting culturally sensitive treatments…

Political science factor in information culture

OpenAIRE

Baranov G.

2017-01-01

The value of political science in information culture of society reveals; the main indicators of the public status of political science are investigated; the main functions of political science in the activity of actors of society are characterised.

Organizational Culture as a Factor Leaning Knowledge Management

OpenAIRE

Waldemar Walczak

2009-01-01

The article discusses subject of the organizational culture and understanding the strong role it plays in organizations from the point of view in regard to the human capital management. Basically, culture is comprised of the assumptions, values, norms and tangible signs (artifacts) of organization members and their behaviors. It encourages employees to identify their goals with company goals, promotes knowledge sharing lead to increased competencies and teams effectiveness. The most significa...

Reassessing the utility of routine urine culture with urodynamics: UTI incidence and risk factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Snow-Lisy, Devon C; Halline, Christopher; Johnson, Emilie K; Diaz-Saldano, Dawn; Meyer, Theresa; Yerkes, Elizabeth B

2017-08-01

There is no consensus regarding use of periprocedural antibiotics or routine urine cultures during urodynamics study (UDS) in children. At our hospital, we historically have obtained urine cultures during UDS. However, even with positive cultures, few patients require treatment. Most are successfully managed with increased hydration and frequent bladder emptying. To evaluate clinical characteristics, antibiotic treatment, and outcomes in patients undergoing UDS to identify (1) risk factors for urinary tract infection (UTI) after UDS, and (2) patients who may benefit from routine urine culture. Retrospective review of 769 patients who underwent 1057 UDS between January 2013 and January 2015. Positive urine culture was defined as ≥10 4 colony forming units/ml. Afebrile UTI was defined as new symptoms within 7 days. Febrile UTI was new symptoms with fever (≥38.5 °C). Fisher's exact test was used for comparative analyses. Nearly all patients had a urine culture taken immediately prior to UDS (94%, 993/1057). Patients on clean intermittent catheterization (CIC) were more likely to be on pre-UDS antibiotics, 22.8% (106/464) vs. 17.9% of those not on CIC (106/593) (p = 0.04). Of patients who had a urine culture, it was positive in 40% (402/993) with more positive cultures in patients on CIC vs. not (72.0%, 316/439 vs. 15.5%, 86/554, p UTI included clinical UTI within 30 days before UDS, immunosuppression, overnight Foley catheter use, febrile UTI as indication, and symptoms on day of procedure (Table). Fifteen patients (1.4%, 95% confidence interval 0.7-2.1%) developed a clinical/possible post-UDS UTI, of which 40% (6/15) were febrile, with one requiring hospitalization. Of patients with post-UDS UTIs, 33% (5/15) had negative cultures at the time of UDS. If urine cultures were obtained selectively based on our study findings, 78% of pre-UDS urine cultures could be eliminated, while "missing" clinically relevant cultures in only 0.4% (4/1057). Study limitations

Effects of basic fibroblast growth factor and insulin-like growth factor on cultured cartilage cells from skate Raja porasa

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Tingjun; Jin, Lingyun; Wang, Xiaofeng

2003-12-01

Effects of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) on cartilage cells from proboscis of skate, Raja porasa Günther, were investigated in this study. The cartilage cells were cultured in 20% FBS-supplemented MEM medium at 24°C. Twelve hours after culture initiation, the cartilage cells were treated with bFGF and IGF-II at different concentration combinations. It was found that 20 ng/ml of bFGF or 80 ng/ml of IGF-II was enough to have obvious stimulating effect on the growth and division of skate cartilage cells. Test of bFGF and IGF-II together, revealed that 20 ng/ml of bFGF and 80 ng/ml of IGF-II together had the best stimulating effect on the growth and division of skate cartilage cells. The cartilage cells cultured could form a monolayer at day 7.

Cultured Trash, Not Trash Culture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taufiqurrohman Taufiqurrohman

2017-09-01

Full Text Available As civilized creature, human actually can manage trash as well as possible although it is often stereotyped as a vain thing. This article gives the proof that trash can be cultured as well so that a society can take benefits from the existence of it. This article parses ways of orderly managing it at schools, in this case two schools in Jepara. The results say that trash can be cultured by having an organization to manage the Trash Bank at schools and to train students to classify and recycle trash then take advantage of it by selling the collected and the recycled trash. It makes trash have good transformation of values, repelling against the prior stereotype. Finally, by taking example from Trash Bank management at schools, human can have so cultured trash that they would not be trapped by trash culture.

Cross-cultural medical education: can patient-centered cultural competency training be effective in non-Western countries?

Science.gov (United States)

Ho, Ming-Jung; Yao, Grace; Lee, Keng-Lin; Beach, Mary Catherine; Green, Alexander R

2008-01-01

No evidence addresses the effectiveness of patient-centered cultural competence training in non-Western settings. To examine whether a patient-centered cultural competency curriculum improves medical students' skills in eliciting the patients' perspective and exploring illness-related social factors. Fifty-seven medical students in Taiwan were randomly assigned to either the control (n = 27) or one of two intervention groups: basic (n = 15) and extensive (n = 15). Both intervention groups received two 2-hour patient-centered cultural competency workshops. In addition, the extensive intervention group received a 2-hour practice session. The control group received no training. At the end of the clerkship, all students were evaluated with an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). Students in the extensive intervention group scored significantly higher than the basic intervention and control groups in eliciting the patient's perspective (F = 18.38, p social factors (F = 6.66, p = 0.003, eta(2) = 0.20). Patient-centered cultural competency training can produce improvement in medical students' cross-cultural communication skills in non-Western settings, especially when adequate practice is provided.

Cultural Cleavage and Criminal Justice.

Science.gov (United States)

Scheingold, Stuart A.

1978-01-01

Reviews major theories of criminal justice, proposes an alternative analytic framework which focuses on cultural factors, applies this framework to several cases, and discusses implications of a cultural perspective for rule of law values. Journal available from Office of Publication, Department of Political Science, University of Florida,…

Chinese culture and fertility decline.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, C; Jia, S

1992-01-01

Coale has suggested that cultural factors exert a significant influence on fertility reduction; countries in the "Chinese cultural circle" would be the first to show fertility decline. In China, the view was that traditional Chinese culture contributed to increased population. This paper examines the nature of the relationship between Chinese culture and fertility. Attention was directed to a comparison of fertility rates of developing countries with strong Chinese cultural influence and of fertility within different regions of China. Discussion was followed by an explanation of the theoretical impact of Chinese culture on fertility and direct and indirect beliefs and practices that might either enhance or hinder fertility decline. Emigration to neighboring countries occurred after the Qing dynasty. Fertility after the 1950s declined markedly in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, and mainland China: all countries within the Chinese cultural circle. Other countries within the Chinese circle which have higher fertility, yet lower fertility than other non-Chinese cultural countries, are Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. Within China, regions with similar fertility patterns are identified as coastal regions, central plains, and mountainous and plateau regions. The Han ethnic group has lower fertility than that of ethnic minorities; regions with large Han populations have lower fertility. Overseas Chinese in East Asian countries also tend to have lower fertility than their host populations. Chinese culture consisted of the assimilation of other cultures over 5000 years. Fertility decline was dependent on the population's desire to limit reproduction, favorable social mechanisms, and availability of contraception: all factors related to economic development. Chinese culture affects fertility reduction by affecting reproductive views and social mechanisms directly, and indirectly through economics. Confucianism emphasizes collectivism, self

Cultural entrepreneurship

NARCIS (Netherlands)

A. Klamer (Arjo)

2011-01-01

textabstractCultural entrepreneurship is a new character in the cultural sector. This paper characterizes the cultural entrepreneur paying homage to the hermeneutic approach of Don Lavoie and others. The challenge is to render the "cultural" meaningful. An invention is the highlighting of the

Analyzing Spatial Factors in Crime-inducing Culture in Chaloos

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Hossein Omidi Noghlehbari

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Feelings of security in urban areas are one of the qualitative criteria of living space. With the rise in urbanization and increasing abnormal urban behavior, especially offenses, this issue has become of great importance. This study aims to identify and analyze the effects of spatial factors on crime-inducing culture in affluent and non-affluent neighborhoods of Chaloos. The method used in this study is analytical-descriptive and it is practical in terms of objective. In order to study and understand the status of physical-spatial structures of affluent and non-affluent neighborhoods in Chaloos, we used field study method. Data were collected through interview, notes taking and questionnaire. The results indicate that in affluent neighborhoods, all criteria components of spatial differences are above the mean (Mean=3, but in non-affluent neighborhoods, all components are lower than the mean. In addition, there is a significant relationship between criteria components of spatial differences and the formation of crime-inducing culture (except the diagnosis component in the affluent and non-affluent neighborhoods.

An All-Recombinant Protein-Based Culture System Specifically Identifies Hematopoietic Stem Cell Maintenance Factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aki Ieyasu

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs are considered one of the most promising therapeutic targets for the treatment of various blood disorders. However, due to difficulties in establishing stable maintenance and expansion of HSCs in vitro, their insufficient supply is a major constraint to transplantation studies. To solve these problems we have developed a fully defined, all-recombinant protein-based culture system. Through this system, we have identified hemopexin (HPX and interleukin-1α as responsible for HSC maintenance in vitro. Subsequent molecular analysis revealed that HPX reduces intracellular reactive oxygen species levels within cultured HSCs. Furthermore, bone marrow immunostaining and 3D immunohistochemistry revealed that HPX is expressed in non-myelinating Schwann cells, known HSC niche constituents. These results highlight the utility of this fully defined all-recombinant protein-based culture system for reproducible in vitro HSC culture and its potential to contribute to the identification of factors responsible for in vitro maintenance, expansion, and differentiation of stem cell populations.

Growth-supporting activity for Legionella pneumophila in tap water cultures and implication of hartmannellid amoebae as growth factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Wadowsky, R M; Butler, L J; Cook, M K; Verma, S M; Paul, M A; Fields, B S; Keleti, G; Sykora, J L; Yee, R B

1988-11-01

Photosynthetic cyanobacteria, heterotrophic bacteria, free-living amoebae, and ciliated protozoa may support growth of Legionella pneumophila. Studies were done with two tap water cultures (WS1 and WS2) containing L. pneumophila and associated microbiota to characterize growth-supporting activity and assess the relative importance of the microbiota in supporting multiplication of L. pneumophila. The water cultures were incubated in the dark at 35 degrees C. The growth-supporting factor(s) was separated from each culture by filtration through 1-micron-pore-size membrane filters. The retentate was then suspended in sterile tap water. Multiplication of L. pneumophila occurred when both the retentate suspension and the filtrate from either culture were inoculated into sterile tap water. L. pneumophila did not multiply in tap water inoculated with only the filtrate, even though filtration did not reduce the concentration of L. pneumophila or heterotrophic bacteria in either culture. Growth-supporting activity of the retentate suspension from WS1 was inactivated at 60 degrees C but unaffected at 0, 25, and 45 degrees C after 30-min incubations. Filtration experiments indicated that the growth-supporting factor(s) in WS1 was 2 to 5 micron in diameter. Ciliated protozoa were not detected in either culture. Hartmannellid amoebae were conclusively demonstrated in WS2 but not in WS1. L. pneumophila multiplied in tap water inoculated with the amoebae (10(3)/ml) and the 1-micron filtrate of WS2. No multiplication occurred in tap water inoculated with the filtrate only. Growth-supporting activity for L. pneumophila may be present in plumbing systems; hartmannellid amoebae appear to be important determinants of multiplication of L. pneumophila in some tap water cultures.

Playing up and playing down cultural identity: Introducing cultural influence and cultural variability.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferguson, Gail M; Nguyen, Jacqueline; Iturbide, Maria I

2017-01-01

Cultural variability (CV) is introduced as an overlooked dimension of cultural identity development pertaining to emphasizing and de-emphasizing the influence of a single cultural identity (i.e., cultural influence [CI]) on daily interactions and behaviors. The Cultural IDentity Influence Measure (CIDIM) is introduced as a novel measure of CI and CV, and hypothesis-driven validation is conducted in two samples along with exploration of associations between CV and well-being. A multicultural sample of 242 emerging adults participated in a daily diary study (Mage = 19.95 years, SDage = 1.40) by completing up to eight daily online surveys containing the CIDIM, criterion measures (ethnic identity, other group orientation, ethnic identity salience and daily variability in salience, social desirability), and measures of personal and interpersonal well-being. A second validation sample (n = 245) completed a 1-time survey with the CIDIM and a subset of criterion measures. Results using both samples show evidence of CI and CV and demonstrate the validity, reliability, and domain-sensitivity of the CIDIM. Further, CV made unique and positive contributions to predicting interaction quality after accounting for ethnic salience and variability in ethnic salience. An analytic approach utilizing standard deviations produced near-identical results to multilevel modeling and is recommended for parsimony. Ethnic minority and majority individuals make daily adjustments to play up and play down the influence of cultural identity on their social interactions and behaviors, and these adjustments predict interpersonal well-being. Cultural influence and cultural variability contribute to our emerging understanding of cultural identity as dynamic and agentic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Migration, cultural bereavement and cultural identity

OpenAIRE

BHUGRA, DINESH; BECKER, MATTHEW A

2005-01-01

Migration has contributed to the richness in diversity of cultures, ethnicities and races in developed countries. Individuals who migrate experience multiple stresses that can impact their mental well being, including the loss of cultural norms, religious customs, and social support systems, adjustment to a new culture and changes in identity and concept of self. Indeed, the rates of mental illness are increased in some migrant groups. Mental health practitioners need to be ...

Changes in responsiveness of rat tracheal epithelial cells to growth factors during preneoplastic transformation in cell culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomassen, D.G.

1988-01-01

Preneoplastic rat tracheal epithelial (RTE) cell lines require fewer growth factors for clonal proliferation in culture than normal cells. Serum-free media missing various combinations of growth factors (e.g., cholera toxin, serum albumin, epidermal growth factor, hydrocortisone) required for proliferation of normal, but not preneoplastic, RTE cells can be used to select for carcinogen-induced preneoplastic variants having an increased proliferative potential in culture. These results suggest that reductions in growth factor requirements are primary events in the carcinogenic process. (author)

Managing Culture--Making Culture Work for You

Science.gov (United States)

National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), 2006

2006-01-01

An understanding of culture in organisations can offer insights into individual and group behaviour, and leadership. It can help to explain not just what happens in an organisation, but why it happens. However, many people are concerned not just with understanding culture, and hence organisational life. They see culture as something to be…

Types of cross-cultural studies in cross-cultural psychology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van de Vijver, F.J.R.; Lonner, W.J.; Dinnel, D.L.; Hayes, S.A.; Sattler, D.N.

2003-01-01

From a methodological perspective cross-cultural studies in psychology differ in three dimensions. First, cross-cultural psychological studies can be exploratory or test specific hypotheses. Second, some cross-cultural studies compare countries or ethnic groups while other cross-cultural studies

Continuous culture apparatus and methodology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conway, H.L.

1975-01-01

At present, we are investigating the sorption of potentially toxic trace elements by phytoplankton under controlled laboratory conditions. Continuous culture techniques were used to study the mechanism of the sorption of the trace elements by unialgal diatom populations and the factors influencing this sorption. Continuous culture methodology has been used extensively to study bacterial kinetics. It is an excellent technique for obtaining a known physiological state of phytoplankton populations. An automated method for the synthesis of continuous culture medium for use in these experiments is described

Safety culture development at Daya Bay NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Shanming

2001-01-01

From view on Organization Behavior theory, the concept, development and affecting factors of safety culture are introduced. The focuses are on the establishment, development and management practice for safety culture at Daya Bay NPP. A strong safety culture, also demonstrated, has contributed greatly to improving performance at Daya Bay

Diet and Blood Pressure Control in Chinese Canadians: Cultural Considerations.

Science.gov (United States)

Zou, Ping

2017-04-01

Hypertension is highly prevalent in Chinese Canadians and diet has been identified as an important modifiable risk factor for hypertension. The current anti-hypertensive dietary recommendations in hypertension care guidelines lack examination of cultural factors, are not culturally sensitive to ethnic populations, and cannot be translated to Chinese Canadian populations without cultural considerations. Guided by Leininger's Sunrise Model of culture care theory, this paper investigates how cultural factors impact Chinese Canadians' dietary practice. It is proposed that English language proficiency, health literacy, traditional Chinese diet, migration and acculturation, and Traditional Chinese Medicine influence Chinese Canadians' dietary practices. A culturally congruent nursing intervention should be established and tailored according to related cultural factors to facilitate Chinese Canadians' blood pressure control. In addition, further study is needed to test the model adapted from Sunrise Model and understand its mechanism.

Cross-Cultural Effects of Cannabis Use Disorder: Evidence to Support a Cultural Neuroscience Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Prashad, Shikha; Milligan, Amber L.; Cousijn, Janna; Filbey, Francesca M.

2017-01-01

Purpose of review Cannabis use disorders (CUDs) are prevalent worldwide. Current epidemiological studies underscore differences in behaviors that contribute to cannabis use across cultures that can be leveraged towards prevention and treatment of CUDs. This review proposes a framework for understanding the effects of cross-cultural differences on psychological, neural, and genomic processes underlying CUDs that has the potential to inform global policies and impact global public health. Recent findings We found that cultural factors may influence (1) the willingness to acknowledge CUD-related symptoms among populations of different countries, and (2) neural responses related to the sense of self, perception, emotion, and attention. These findings leverage the potential effects of culture on neural mechanisms underlying CUDs. Summary As the number of individuals seeking treatment for CUDs increases globally, it is imperative to incorporate cultural considerations to better understand and serve differing populations and develop more targeted treatment strategies and interventions. PMID:29062679

Incorporating Hofstede’ National Culture in Human Factor Analysis and Classification System (HFACS: Cases of Indonesian Aviation Safety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pratama Gradiyan Budi

2018-01-01

Full Text Available National culture plays an important role in the application of ergonomics and safety. This research examined role of national culture in accident analysis of Indonesian aviation using framework of Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS. 53 Indonesian aviation accidents during year of 2001-2012 were analyzed using the HFACS framework by authors and were validated to 14 air-transport experts in Indonesia. National culture is viewed with Hofstede’ lens of national culture. Result shows that high collectivistic, low uncertainty avoidance, high power distance, and masculinity dimension which are characteristics of Indonesian culture, play an important role in Indonesian aviation accident and should be incorporated within HFACS. Result is discussed in relation with HFACS and Indonesian aviation accident analysis.

Cultural values and cross-cultural video consumption on YouTube

Science.gov (United States)

Macy, Michael

2017-01-01

Video-sharing social media like YouTube provide access to diverse cultural products from all over the world, making it possible to test theories that the Web facilitates global cultural convergence. Drawing on a daily listing of YouTube’s most popular videos across 58 countries, we investigate the consumption of popular videos in countries that differ in cultural values, language, gross domestic product, and Internet penetration rate. Although online social media facilitate global access to cultural products, we find this technological capability does not result in universal cultural convergence. Instead, consumption of popular videos in culturally different countries appears to be constrained by cultural values. Cross-cultural convergence is more advanced in cosmopolitan countries with cultural values that favor individualism and power inequality. PMID:28531228

Cultural values and cross-cultural video consumption on YouTube.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Minsu; Park, Jaram; Baek, Young Min; Macy, Michael

2017-01-01

Video-sharing social media like YouTube provide access to diverse cultural products from all over the world, making it possible to test theories that the Web facilitates global cultural convergence. Drawing on a daily listing of YouTube's most popular videos across 58 countries, we investigate the consumption of popular videos in countries that differ in cultural values, language, gross domestic product, and Internet penetration rate. Although online social media facilitate global access to cultural products, we find this technological capability does not result in universal cultural convergence. Instead, consumption of popular videos in culturally different countries appears to be constrained by cultural values. Cross-cultural convergence is more advanced in cosmopolitan countries with cultural values that favor individualism and power inequality.

Cultural values and cross-cultural video consumption on YouTube.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Minsu Park

Full Text Available Video-sharing social media like YouTube provide access to diverse cultural products from all over the world, making it possible to test theories that the Web facilitates global cultural convergence. Drawing on a daily listing of YouTube's most popular videos across 58 countries, we investigate the consumption of popular videos in countries that differ in cultural values, language, gross domestic product, and Internet penetration rate. Although online social media facilitate global access to cultural products, we find this technological capability does not result in universal cultural convergence. Instead, consumption of popular videos in culturally different countries appears to be constrained by cultural values. Cross-cultural convergence is more advanced in cosmopolitan countries with cultural values that favor individualism and power inequality.

Psychometric structure of the Chinese Multiethnic Adolescent Cultural Identity Questionnaire.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Fa-Wen; Wang, Pei; Li, Li-Ju

2014-12-01

In this study, we used the Chinese Multiethnic Adolescent Cultural Identity Questionnaire (CMACIQ) and collected valid data from 1,036 participants to systematically examine the mental model of cultural identity in Chinese multiethnic adolescents. Exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were performed on the data to discover the factor structure and dimensions of cultural identity. The psychometric properties of the scale were rigorously validated in 2,744 new multiethnic participants from 5 native ethnic groups in Yunnan province in China. The results indicated that CMACIQ had reasonable metric properties and good fit indices. The hierarchical model of cultural identity consisted of 2 second-order factors, Ethnic Cultural Identity and Mainstream Cultural Identity in School. The first higher order factor was composed of preference for ethnic things, ethnic acceptance, religious belief, and ethnic convention, while the second comprised 2 first-order factors, Social Norms and Dominant Culture. The potential application and limitations of CMACIQ are discussed. (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Blood culture bottles are superior to conventional media for vitreous culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Thariya, Patsuda; Yospaiboon, Yosanan; Sinawat, Suthasinee; Sanguansak, Thuss; Bhoomibunchoo, Chavakij; Laovirojjanakul, Wipada

2016-08-01

To compare blood culture bottles and conventional media for the vitreous culture in patients with clinically suspected infectious endophthalmitis. Retrospective comparative study at KKU Eye Center, Khon Kaen University. There were 342 patients with clinically suspected infectious endophthalmitis participated in the study. The vitreous specimens were inoculated in both blood culture bottles and on conventional culture media (blood agar, MacConkey agar, chocolate agar, Sabouraud dextrose agar and thioglycolate broth). The number of positive culture yields in both blood culture bottles and conventional media. Positive culture yields in both methods were found in 151 eyes (49.5%). There were 136 of 151 eyes (90.1%) with positive culture in blood culture bottles, whereas 99 of 151 eyes (65.6%) yielded positive cultures in conventional media. These findings were different with a statistical significance (P culture bottles and conventional media improved the yield. Blood culture bottles are superior to conventional media for vitreous culture in clinically suspected infectious endophthalmitis. Vitreous culture using blood culture bottles should be recommended as the primary method for microbiological diagnosis. A combination of both methods further improves the positive culture yield. © 2016 Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists.

Biological and socio-cultural factors during the school years predicting women’s lifetime educational attainment

Science.gov (United States)

Hendrick, C. Emily; Cohen, Alison K.; Deardorff, Julianna

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND Lifetime educational attainment is an important predictor of health and well-being for women in the United States. In the current study, we examine the roles of socio-cultural factors in youth and an understudied biological life event, pubertal timing, in predicting women’s lifetime educational attainment. METHODS Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort (N = 3889), we conducted sequential multivariate linear regression analyses to investigate the influences of macro-level and family-level socio-cultural contextual factors in youth (region of country, urbanicity, race/ethnicity, year of birth, household composition, mother’s education, mother’s age at first birth) and early menarche, a marker of early pubertal development, on women’s educational attainment after age 24. RESULTS Pubertal timing and all socio-cultural factors in youth, other than year of birth, predicted women’s lifetime educational attainment in bivariate models. Family factors had the strongest associations. When family factors were added to multivariate models, geographic region in youth and pubertal timing were no longer significant. CONCLUSION Our findings provide additional evidence that family factors should be considered when developing comprehensive and inclusive interventions in childhood and adolescence to promote lifetime educational attainment among girls. PMID:26830508

Darwinism and the cultural evolution of sports.

Science.gov (United States)

De Block, Andreas; Dewitte, Siegfried

2009-01-01

This article outlines a Darwinian approach to sports that takes into account its profoundly cultural character and thereby overcomes the traditional nature-culture dichotomies in the sociology of sport. We argue that there are good reasons to view sports as culturally evolved signaling systems that serve a function similar to (biological) courtship rituals in other animals. Our approach combines the insights of evolutionary psychology, which states that biological adaptations determine the boundaries for the types of sport that are possible, and pure cultural theories, which describe the mechanism of cultural evolution without referring to sport's biological bases. Several biological and cultural factors may moderate the direct effect that signaling value has on a sport's viability or popularity. Social learning underlies many aspects of the cultural control of sports, and sports have evolved new cultural functions more-or-less unrelated to mate choice as cultural evolution itself became important in humans.

MARKETING CULTURAL

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Claudia Gómez Ramírez

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Este artículo analiza la definición de "Marketing" Cultural y la adaptación y beneficios del "marketing" tradicional respecto al conjunto de manifestaciones artísticas de las diversas industrias involucradas en el sector cultural o artístico; asimismo, se desagregan los conceptos básicos que lo componen como factor de éxito en dichas empresas. Se hace uso de la exposición de casos específicos para ilustrar la articulación de estos dos conceptos aparentemente contrapuestos, cultura y "marketing", y registra algunas reflexiones para que el lector se involucre en la construcción del concepto aquí presentado.

Family Counseling: Cultural Sensitivity, Relativism, and the Cultural Defense.

Science.gov (United States)

May, Kathleen M.

1998-01-01

Cultural sensitivity, cultural relativism, and the cultural defense are defined and described. Each concept is addressed in terms of its relationship to couple and family counseling. The role of counselor must be broadened and deepened to include the role of cultural broker. (Author/EMK)

Culture Representation in Human Reliability Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

David Gertman; Julie Marble; Steven Novack

2006-12-01

Understanding human-system response is critical to being able to plan and predict mission success in the modern battlespace. Commonly, human reliability analysis has been used to predict failures of human performance in complex, critical systems. However, most human reliability methods fail to take culture into account. This paper takes an easily understood state of the art human reliability analysis method and extends that method to account for the influence of culture, including acceptance of new technology, upon performance. The cultural parameters used to modify the human reliability analysis were determined from two standard industry approaches to cultural assessment: Hofstede’s (1991) cultural factors and Davis’ (1989) technology acceptance model (TAM). The result is called the Culture Adjustment Method (CAM). An example is presented that (1) reviews human reliability assessment with and without cultural attributes for a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system attack, (2) demonstrates how country specific information can be used to increase the realism of HRA modeling, and (3) discusses the differences in human error probability estimates arising from cultural differences.

Industrial cultures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Lauge Baungaard

1996-01-01

The chapter deals with different paradigms andtheories of cultural development. The problem toexplain change and methods to analyse developmentin different cultures are presented and discussed.......The chapter deals with different paradigms andtheories of cultural development. The problem toexplain change and methods to analyse developmentin different cultures are presented and discussed....

Beyond cultural values? Cultural leadership ideals and entrepreneurship

OpenAIRE

Stephan, Ute; Pathak, Saurav

2016-01-01

This paper offers a fresh perspective on national culture and entrepreneurship research. It explores the role of Culturally-endorsed implicit Leadership Theories (CLTs) – i.e., the cultural expectations about outstanding, ideal leadership – on individual entrepreneurship. Developing arguments based on culture-entrepreneurship fit, we predict that charismatic and self-protective CLTs positively affect entrepreneurship. They provide a context that enables entrepreneurs to be co-operative in ord...

Background ELF magnetic fields in incubators: a factor of importance in cell culture work.

Science.gov (United States)

Mild, Kjell Hansson; Wilén, Jonna; Mattsson, Mats-Olof; Simko, Myrtill

2009-07-01

Extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields in cell culture incubators have been measured. Values of the order of tens of muT were found which is in sharp contrast to the values found in our normal environment (0.05-0.1microT). There are numerous examples of biological effects found after exposure to MF at these levels, such as changes in gene expression, blocked cell differentiation, inhibition of the effect of tamoxifen, effects on chick embryo development, etc. We therefore recommend that people working with cell culture incubators check for the background magnetic field and take this into account in performing their experiments, since this could be an unrecognised factor of importance contributing to the variability in the results from work with cell cultures.

Effects of transforming growth factor-beta on long-term human cord blood monocyte cultures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Orcel, P.; Bielakoff, J.; De Vernejoul, M.C.

1990-01-01

Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) modulates growth and differentiation in many cell types and is abundant in bone matrix. We recently showed that human cord blood monocytes cultured in the presence of 1,25(OH)2D3 acquire some features of osteoclast precursors. Since TGF-beta has been shown to influence bone resorption in organ culture, we have studied the effect of TGF-beta (1-1,000 pg/ml) on cord blood monocyte cultures. These cells were cultured on plastic substrate during 3 weeks in the presence of 20% horse serum and 10(-9) M 1,25(OH)2D3. TGF-beta, from a concentration of 10 pg/ml in the culture medium, decreased in a dose dependent manner the formation of multinucleated cells. At a concentration of TGF-beta of 1 ng/ml, the multinucleated cells were reduced to 2.1% +/- 0.3%, compared to 19.3% +/- 1.5% in control cultures. TGF-beta inhibited in a dose-dependent manner the proliferation of cord blood monocytes as assessed by 3H-thymidine incorporation at 7 and 14 days of culture. The fusion index was also decreased by 3 weeks of treatment with TGF-beta. Indomethacin did not reverse the inhibitory effects of TGF-beta. The expression of the osteoclastic phenotype was assessed using two different antibodies: 23C6, a monoclonal antibody directed against the vitronectin receptor, which is highly expressed by osteoclasts but not by adult monocytes, and an antibody to HLA-DR, which is not present on osteoclast. TGF-beta decreased the expression of HLA-DR and increased in a dose-dependent manner the proportion of 23C6-labeled cells; these results suggest that TGF-beta could modulate a differentiation effect to the osteoclastic phenotype. However, when cord blood monocytes were cultured on devitalized rat calvariae prelabeled with 45Ca, TGF-beta did not induce any 45Ca release from bone cultured with monocytes

Articulating cultures: socio-cultural experiences of black female ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Articulating cultures: socio-cultural experiences of black female immigrant students in South African schools 1. ... Gender and Behaviour ... and worrisome issue is that of the erosion of the social and cultural mores of Black3 immigrant students.

Regulatory Expectations for Safety Culture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jung, Su Jin; Oh, Jang Jin; Choi, Young Sung [Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-05-15

The oversight of licensee's safety culture becomes an important issue that attracts great public and political concerns recently in Korea. Beginning from the intended violation of rules, a series of corruptions, documents forgery and disclosure of wrong-doings made the public think that the whole mindset of nuclear workers has been inadequate. Thus, they are demanding that safety culture shall be improved and that regulatory body shall play more roles and responsibilities for the improvements and oversight for them. This paper introduces, as an effort of regulatory side, recent changes in the role of regulators in safety culture, regulatory expectations on the desired status of licensee's safety culture, the pilot inspection program for safety culture and research activity for the development of oversight system. After the Fukushima accident in Japan 2011, many critics has searched for cultural factors that caused the unacceptable negligence pervaded in Japan nuclear society and the renewed emphasis has been placed on rebuilding safety culture by operators, regulators, and relevant institutions globally. Significant progress has been made in how to approach safety culture and led to a new perspective different from the existing normative assessment method both in operators and regulatory side. Regulatory expectations and oversight of them are based on such a new holistic concept for human, organizational and cultural elements to maintain and strengthen the integrity of defense in depth and consequently nuclear safety.

Regulatory Expectations for Safety Culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, Su Jin; Oh, Jang Jin; Choi, Young Sung

2014-01-01

The oversight of licensee's safety culture becomes an important issue that attracts great public and political concerns recently in Korea. Beginning from the intended violation of rules, a series of corruptions, documents forgery and disclosure of wrong-doings made the public think that the whole mindset of nuclear workers has been inadequate. Thus, they are demanding that safety culture shall be improved and that regulatory body shall play more roles and responsibilities for the improvements and oversight for them. This paper introduces, as an effort of regulatory side, recent changes in the role of regulators in safety culture, regulatory expectations on the desired status of licensee's safety culture, the pilot inspection program for safety culture and research activity for the development of oversight system. After the Fukushima accident in Japan 2011, many critics has searched for cultural factors that caused the unacceptable negligence pervaded in Japan nuclear society and the renewed emphasis has been placed on rebuilding safety culture by operators, regulators, and relevant institutions globally. Significant progress has been made in how to approach safety culture and led to a new perspective different from the existing normative assessment method both in operators and regulatory side. Regulatory expectations and oversight of them are based on such a new holistic concept for human, organizational and cultural elements to maintain and strengthen the integrity of defense in depth and consequently nuclear safety

Factors affecting the gene expression of in vitro cultured human preimplantation embryos

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mantikou, E.; Jonker, M. J.; Wong, K. M.; van Montfoort, A. P. A.; de Jong, M.; Breit, T. M.; Repping, S.; Mastenbroek, S.

2016-01-01

What is the relative effect of common environmental and biological factors on transcriptome changes during human preimplantation development? Developmental stage and maternal age had a larger effect on the global gene expression profile of human preimplantation embryos than the culture medium or

Cross-cultural Human-Machine-Systems: selected aspects of a cross-cultural system engineering; Interkulturelle Mensch-Maschine-Systeme: ausgewaehlte Aspekte einer interkulturellen Systemgestaltung

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roese, K. [Technische Univ. Kaiserslautern (Germany). AG Nutzergerechte Produktentwicklung

2006-07-01

Cross-cultural Human-Machine-Systems are one key factor for success in the global market era. Nowadays the machine producer have to offer their products worldwide. With the export to other nations they have to consider on the user behaviour in these other cultures. The analysis of cross-cultural user requirements and their integration into the product development process is a real chance to cape with these challenge. This paper describe two aspects of cross-cultural user aspects. It gives an impression of the complex and sometimes unknown cultural influencing factors and their impact on Human-Machine-System-Engineering. (orig.)

Occupation, well-being, and culture: Theory and cultural humility.

Science.gov (United States)

Hammell, Karen R Whalley

2013-10-01

The Canadian Model of Occupational Performance and Engagement depicts individuals embedded within cultural environments that afford occupational possibilities. Culture pertains not solely to ethnicity or race but to any dimension of diversity, including class, gender, sexual orientation, and ability. This paper highlights specific dimensions of cultural diversity and their relationships to occupational engagement and well-being. Cultural variations constitute the basis for a socially constructed hierarchy of traits that significantly determine occupational opportunities and impact mental health and well-being. Cultural humility is an approach to redressing power imbalances in client-therapist relationships by incorporating critical self-evaluation and recognizing that cultural differences lie not within clients but within client-therapist relationships. It is proposed that theoretical relevance would be enhanced if culturally diverse perspectives were incorporated into theories of occupation. Cultural humility is advocated as an approach to theoretical development and in efforts to counter professional Eurocentrism, ethnocentrism, and intellectual colonialism.

Nuclear safety culture based on the organizational and individual culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Jingxi; Ren Ou

2005-01-01

The nuclear safety culture is used increasingly and developed by countries that have nu- clear plants all over the world, since the term 'safety culture' was first introduced by IAEA in 1986. Enterprises culture reflects many terms in an enterprise, such as management level and staff quality. The safety culture is the center in a nuclear enterprises culture, and relates directly to the safety and outstanding achievement of operation. This paper discusses the nuclear safety culture from the viewpoints of the organizational and individual cultures. (authors)

Digital culture as a converging paradigm for technology and culture: Challenges for the culture sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aleksandra Uzelac

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Digital culture is a new and complex concept. Digital advances are increasingly interacting with the world of culture and the arts, leading to a convergence of technologies, media and information and shaping communication modes. The new possibilities offered by the digital technologies -namely, global connectivity and the emergence of new networks- challenge our traditional understanding of culture and make it necessary for us to take on the board the concept of a digital culture. This article views digital culture as a new social system that determines experiences and opportunities for the citizens of today. Digital technologies and the networked environment have introduced new practices, opportunities and threats, and the culture sector needs to find appropriate ways for operating in this new reality.

Exploring the 'cultural' in cultural competencies in Pacific mental health.

Science.gov (United States)

Samu, Kathleen Seataoai; Suaalii-Sauni, Tamasailau

2009-02-01

Cultural competency is about the ability of individuals and systems to respond respectfully and effectively to the cultural needs of peoples of all cultures. Its general attributes include knowledge, attitudes, skills and professional judgment. In Pacific mental health, 'the cultural' is generally understood to be ethnic culture. Accordingly, Pacific cultural competencies assume ethnic specific markers. In mental health Pacific cultural competencies has seen a blending of cultural and clinical beliefs and practices. This paper provides an overview of five key theme areas arising from Auckland-based ethnic-specific Pacific workshop data: language, family, tapu relationships, skills and organisation policy. Workshop participants comprised of Pacific mental health providers, Pacific consumers, family members of Pacific consumers and members of the Pacific community members. This paper purports that identifying the perceptions of different Pacific groups on ethnic-specific elements of cultural competencies are necessary to build and strengthen the capacity and capability of mental health services to provide culturally relevant services.

On Tea Bowl from Jianzhan to Tenmoku: Material Culture and Intangible Culture in Cultural Diffusion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jianping Guan

2014-12-01

Full Text Available According to precise and scientific literature that recorded, Chinese tea culture has a documented history of more than 1700 years. During which period, Yuan Dynasty was considered a crucial turning-point with great changes. The current tea culture in China is an adoption and innovation of Ming and Qing dynasty, especially in the form of processing technology. For those elements inherited from Tang and Song dynasties, however, they were more directly adopted systematically by Japan. Ever since powdered tea culture from Song dynasty was accepted in Japan, Jianzhan, the tea bowl that gained renowned reputation in the Song tea culture was also introduced and became tenmoku (tianmu after localization. As the transformation of Chinese tea culture ended in Japan, Japanese tea culture of wabi-cha was shaped after the tenmoku’s obvious decline in value. Jianzhan’s prosper, and tenmoku’s emergence and transition, all proved a definitive impact from intangible culture.

Bridging Culture On-Line: Strategies for Teaching Cultural Sensitivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Wendler, M. Cecilia; Struthers, Roxanne

2002-01-01

An online cross-cultural health course for nurses sought to provide access to cultural experiences by culturally congruent use of a minority visiting scholar and required participation in cultural enrichment activities. Course and faculty evaluations were designed to be appropriate for the asynchronous environment. (Contains 25 references.) (SK)

Direct induction of chondrogenic cells from human dermal fibroblast culture by defined factors.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hidetatsu Outani

Full Text Available The repair of large cartilage defects with hyaline cartilage continues to be a challenging clinical issue. We recently reported that the forced expression of two reprogramming factors (c-Myc and Klf4 and one chondrogenic factor (SOX9 can induce chondrogenic cells from mouse dermal fibroblast culture without going through a pluripotent state. We here generated induced chondrogenic (iChon cells from human dermal fibroblast (HDF culture with the same factors. We developed a chondrocyte-specific COL11A2 promoter/enhancer lentiviral reporter vector to select iChon cells. The human iChon cells expressed marker genes for chondrocytes but not fibroblasts, and were derived from non-chondrogenic COL11A2-negative cells. The human iChon cells formed cartilage but not tumors in nude mice. This approach could lead to the preparation of cartilage directly from skin in human, without going through pluripotent stem cells.

Assessment of cultivation factors that affect biomass and geraniol production in transgenic tobacco cell suspension cultures.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nikolay Vasilev

Full Text Available A large-scale statistical experimental design was used to determine essential cultivation parameters that affect biomass accumulation and geraniol production in transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv. Samsun NN cell suspension cultures. The carbohydrate source played a major role in determining the geraniol yield and factors such as filling volume, inoculum size and light were less important. Sucrose, filling volume and inoculum size had a positive effect on geraniol yield by boosting growth of plant cell cultures whereas illumination of the cultures stimulated the geraniol biosynthesis. We also found that the carbohydrates sucrose and mannitol showed polarizing effects on biomass and geraniol accumulation. Factors such as shaking frequency, the presence of conditioned medium and solubilizers had minor influence on both plant cell growth and geraniol content. When cells were cultivated under the screened conditions for all the investigated factors, the cultures produced ∼ 5.2 mg/l geraniol after 12 days of cultivation in shaking flasks which is comparable to the yield obtained in microbial expression systems. Our data suggest that industrial experimental designs based on orthogonal arrays are suitable for the selection of initial cultivation parameters prior to the essential medium optimization steps. Such designs are particularly beneficial in the early optimization steps when many factors must be screened, increasing the statistical power of the experiments without increasing the demand on time and resources.

Culture: copying, compression, and conventionality.

Science.gov (United States)

Tamariz, Mónica; Kirby, Simon

2015-01-01

Through cultural transmission, repeated learning by new individuals transforms cultural information, which tends to become increasingly compressible (Kirby, Cornish, & Smith, ; Smith, Tamariz, & Kirby, ). Existing diffusion chain studies include in their design two processes that could be responsible for this tendency: learning (storing patterns in memory) and reproducing (producing the patterns again). This paper manipulates the presence of learning in a simple iterated drawing design experiment. We find that learning seems to be the causal factor behind the increase in compressibility observed in the transmitted information, while reproducing is a source of random heritable innovations. Only a theory invoking these two aspects of cultural learning will be able to explain human culture's fundamental balance between stability and innovation. Copyright © 2014 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Elder mistreatment, culture, and help-seeking: a cross-cultural comparison of older Chinese and Korean immigrants.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Yeon-Shim; Moon, Ailee; Gomez, Cynthia

2014-01-01

This study explored and compared the salient sociocultural characteristics that influenced elder mistreatment and help-seeking behaviors among older Chinese and Korean immigrants. Results from qualitative, in-depth focus groups with 30 participants revealed that elder mistreatment is a culturally laden construct, and core values of traditional culture and acculturation are significant contextual factors that profoundly affect the perceptions of elder abuse and receptivity of interventions. Older Korean participants, compared to their Chinese counterparts, demonstrated stronger influence of hierarchy and cultural beliefs in exclusive family ties and gender norms, and were less likely to disclose abuse. Implications for culturally based interventions are also discussed.

Cultural relativism and cultural diversity: implications for nursing practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, C

1997-09-01

This article examines the doctrine of cultural relativism in nursing practice. To introduce the issue, an overview of the intellectual history of cultural relativism is presented. The academic themes of the debate surrounding cultural relativism are illustrated with an example of the social controversy in France involving cultural relativism as used to defend the practice of female genital excision among immigrant communities. The dilemma faced by nursing in making cross-cultural judgments is then examined in the light of the academic and social debates. The article concludes with a theoretical resolution of the issue of cultural relativism for nursing practice that is based on hermeneutic philosophy.

Factors Affecting Time to Sputum Culture Conversion in Adults with Pulmonary Tuberculosis: A Historical Cohort Study without Censored Cases.

Science.gov (United States)

Kanda, Rie; Nagao, Taishi; Tho, Nguyen Van; Ogawa, Emiko; Murakami, Yoshitaka; Osawa, Makoto; Saika, Yoshinori; Doi, Kenji; Nakano, Yasutaka

2015-01-01

In patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), shortening the time to sputum culture conversion is desirable to reduce the likelihood of mycobacterial transmission. A persistent positive sputum culture after 2 months of treatment is reported to be associated with the presence of cavitation and the extent of disease on chest X-ray, high colony count, diabetes mellitus, and smoking. However, little is known about factors affecting the time to sputum culture conversion. This study was conducted to evaluate factors affecting the time to sputum culture conversion throughout the course of treatment in adults with pulmonary TB. This study was performed using a database of the medical records of patients with active pulmonary TB who were treated at Hirakata Kohsai Hospital in Hirakata City, Osaka, Japan, from October 2000 to October 2002. Cox proportional-hazards analysis was used to evaluate factors affecting the time to sputum culture conversion after adjusting for potential confounders. The data of 86 patients with pulmonary TB were analyzed. The median time to sputum culture conversion was 39 days, and the maximum time was 116 days. The Cox proportional-hazards analysis showed that a higher smear grading (HR, 0.40; 95%CI, 0.23-0.71) and a history of ever smoking (HR, 0.48; 95%CI, 0.25-0.94) were associated with delayed sputum culture conversion. High smear grading and smoking prolonged the time to sputum culture conversion in adults with pulmonary TB. To effectively control TB, measures to decrease the cigarette smoking rate should be implemented, in addition to early detection and timely anti-TB treatment.

ORIENTATION: KEY TO THE OODA LOOP – THE CULTURE FACTOR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Donald A. MACCUISH

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The late Colonel John Boyd developed what he called the OODA-Loop as both a learning and decision making model to help us better understand how we make decisions and learn. His OODA-Loop model consists of non-sequential elements: Observe – Orient – Decide – Action. He contended if one could cycle through these phases quicker and more accurately than one’s adversary you could then get inside your adversary’s OODA-Loop and “win”. The key to the OODA-Loop he noted is Orientation. He only drew one diagram of his OODA-Loop. Only in the Orientation phase did he elaborate component elements. These elements are: Cultural Traditions, Genetic Heritage, Analysis/Synthesis, New Information, and Previous Experience. All of these elements he contended are interconnected. Thus, the interaction of all these factors effects how we orient ourselves to the situation at hand. In this article I will share my view of the “Culture Factor” in Orientation.

Factors affecting walking activity of older people from culturally diverse groups: an Australian experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Bird, Stephen R; Radermacher, Harriet; Sims, Jane; Feldman, Susan; Browning, Colette; Thomas, Shane

2010-07-01

This study sought to investigate the walking habits of older people from diverse cultural backgrounds, and to identify the factors associated with their walking. Three hundred and thirty three people over the age of 60 years were recruited from seven culturally diverse groups from the Western suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. A survey questionnaire recording physical activity, and various factors related to activity, was interviewer-administered in the participants' preferred language. Data were analysed using Kruskal-Wallis, chi(2) and Mann-Whitney tests. Forty-seven percent of the participants walked at least 150 min per week, with no significant difference in prevalence between genders or cultural groups. Some cultural differences were found in relation to reasons and locations for walking, and women were more likely than men to report walking in the shopping mall, whilst men were more likely than women to report walking in the park and along walking trails. Those who attained >150 min of walking were more likely to report health and fitness as reasons for walking, to perceive their walking environment as more pleasurable, to use walking trails, and to consider their environment safe and to facilitate social interaction. This study indicates that the continued advocating of walking as a health promoting activity should be central to future campaigns to increase physical activity in this age group. The provision of locations that are accessible, safe, aesthetically pleasing, and encourage social engagement are likely to facilitate older people's participation in walking. For maximum effectiveness, however, strategies may benefit from being tailored to meet specific gender and cultural preferences. Copyright 2009 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

X-ray-induced production of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) by mouse spleen cells in culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Onoda, M.; Shinoda, M.; Tsuneoka, K.; Shikita, M.

1980-01-01

Spleen cells were collected from normal mice and cultured in a medium containing 20% calf serum. Addition of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the culture significantly increased the production of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and a maximum induction was attained in 5 days. Irradiation of the spleen cells with 300 to 3000 R x rays also enhanced the production of GM-CSF, but there was a latent period of about 5 days before the factor appeared in the culture medium. The observed difference between LPS and x rays in the timing of inducing GM-CSF production in the spleen cell culture was consistent with the difference observed in animals. These results suggest that different mechanisms of GM-CSF production operate in the spleen in response to either LPS or x rays

Safety culture in nuclear installations. Proceedings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carnino, A [ed.; International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna (Austria); Weimann, G [ed.; Oesterreichisches Forschungszentrum Seibersdorf GmbH (Austria)

1995-04-01

These proceedings of the International Topical Meeting on Safety Culture in Nuclear Installations held in Vienna, Austria from 24 to 28 April 1995 provide a wide forum of information exchange and discussions on the topic safety culture in nuclear power plants. Safety culture deals with human factors since it deals with attitudes, organization and management. It then means that it has a natural component in it which is linked to the national culture and education. There are about 95 contributions, some of them presented by title and abstract only. All of them are in the subject scope of INIS. (Botek).

Safety culture in nuclear installations. Proceedings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carnino, A.; Weimann, G.

1995-04-01

These proceedings of the International Topical Meeting on Safety Culture in Nuclear Installations held in Vienna, Austria from 24 to 28 April 1995 provide a wide forum of information exchange and discussions on the topic safety culture in nuclear power plants. Safety culture deals with human factors since it deals with attitudes, organization and management. It then means that it has a natural component in it which is linked to the national culture and education. There are about 95 contributions, some of them presented by title and abstract only. All of them are in the subject scope of INIS. (Botek)

Factors affecting the cultural competence of visiting nurses for rural multicultural family support in South Korea.

Science.gov (United States)

Suk, Min Hyun; Oh, Won-Oak; Im, YeoJin

2018-01-01

With the recent growth of multicultural families in the Korean society, the importance of the role of qualified visiting nurses in the delivery of culturally sensitive health care has grown dramatically. As the primary health care provider for multicultural families enrolled in public community-based health care centers, the cultural competence of visiting nurses is an essential qualification for the provision of quality health care for multicultural families, especially in rural areas. Cultural competence of visiting nurses is based on their cultural awareness and empathetic attitude toward multicultural families. This study aimed to examine the levels of cultural competence, empowerment, and empathy in visiting nurses, and to verify the factors that affect the cultural competence of visiting nurses working with rural multicultural families in South Korea. Employing a cross-sectional descriptive study design, data from 143 visiting nurses working in rural areas were obtained. Data collection took place between November 2011 and August 2012. The measurement tools included the modified Korean version of the Cultural Awareness Scale, the Text of Items Measuring Empowerment, and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index to measure the level of empathy of visiting nurses. Analyses included descriptive statistics, a t-test, an ANOVA, a Pearson correlation coefficient analysis, and a multiple linear regression analysis. The cultural competence score of the visiting nurses was 3.07 on a 5-point Likert scale (SD = 0.30). The multiple regression analysis revealed that the cultural competence of visiting nurses was significantly influenced by experience of cultural education, empathy, and scores on the meaning subscale of the empowerment tool (R 2  = 10.2%). Institutional support to enhance visiting nurses' empowerment by assuring the significance of their job and specific strategies to enhance their empathy would be helpful to improve the cultural competence of visiting

Cultural evolutionary theory: How culture evolves and why it matters.

Science.gov (United States)

Creanza, Nicole; Kolodny, Oren; Feldman, Marcus W

2017-07-24

Human cultural traits-behaviors, ideas, and technologies that can be learned from other individuals-can exhibit complex patterns of transmission and evolution, and researchers have developed theoretical models, both verbal and mathematical, to facilitate our understanding of these patterns. Many of the first quantitative models of cultural evolution were modified from existing concepts in theoretical population genetics because cultural evolution has many parallels with, as well as clear differences from, genetic evolution. Furthermore, cultural and genetic evolution can interact with one another and influence both transmission and selection. This interaction requires theoretical treatments of gene-culture coevolution and dual inheritance, in addition to purely cultural evolution. In addition, cultural evolutionary theory is a natural component of studies in demography, human ecology, and many other disciplines. Here, we review the core concepts in cultural evolutionary theory as they pertain to the extension of biology through culture, focusing on cultural evolutionary applications in population genetics, ecology, and demography. For each of these disciplines, we review the theoretical literature and highlight relevant empirical studies. We also discuss the societal implications of the study of cultural evolution and of the interactions of humans with one another and with their environment.

Cultures of Learning in Effective High Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Tichnor-Wagner, Ariel; Harrison, Christopher; Cohen-Vogel, Lora

2016-01-01

Purpose: Research indicates that a culture of learning is a key factor in building high schools that foster academic achievement in all students. Yet less is known about which elements of a culture of learning differentiate schools with higher levels of academic performance. To fill this gap, this comparative case study examined the cultures of…

Chinese Culture of Learning from Western Teachers’Viewpoint

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

邹旭

2014-01-01

While more and more teachers from Western culture teach in China, research on the different cultures of learning in China's teaching context and Western teachers’views on the Chinese culture of learning and teaching have been rarely conduct-ed. This essay discusses the implications of cultural differences of learning between China and the West, particularly Western teachers’viewpoint on Chinese culture of learning. The conclusion suggests that it is of great importance to be aware that culture is just one of many factors that determine individual learning, and teachers are supposed to avoid stereotyping and simplistic views with regard to culture of learning, though general trends and patterns may exist among a certain type of culture.

Rethinking In Vitro Embryo Culture: New Developments in Culture Platforms and Potential to Improve Assisted Reproductive Technologies1

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Gary D.; Takayama, Shuichi; Swain, Jason E.

2011-01-01

ABSTRACT The preponderance of research toward improving embryo development in vitro has focused on manipulation of the chemical soluble environment, including altering basic salt composition, energy substrate concentration, amino acid makeup, and the effect of various growth factors or addition or subtraction of other supplements. In contrast, relatively little work has been done examining the physical requirements of preimplantation embryos and the role culture platforms or devices can play in influencing embryo development within the laboratory. The goal of this review is not to reevaluate the soluble composition of past and current embryo culture media, but rather to consider how other controlled and precise factors such as time, space, mechanical interactions, gradient diffusions, cell movement, and surface interactions might influence embryo development. Novel culture platforms are being developed as a result of interdisciplinary collaborations between biologists and biomedical, material, chemical, and mechanical engineers. These approaches are looking beyond the soluble media composition and examining issues such as media volume and embryo spacing. Furthermore, methods that permit precise and regulated dynamic embryo culture with fluid flow and embryo movement are now available, and novel culture surfaces are being developed and tested. While several factors remain to be investigated to optimize the efficiency of embryo production, manipulation of the embryo culture microenvironment through novel devices and platforms may offer a pathway toward improving embryo development within the laboratory of the future. PMID:21998170

Cultural processes in psychotherapy for perinatal loss: Breaking the cultural taboo against perinatal grief.

Science.gov (United States)

Markin, Rayna D; Zilcha-Mano, Sigal

2018-03-01

This paper argues that there is a cultural taboo against the public recognition and expression of perinatal grief that hinders parents' ability to mourn and their psychological adjustment following a loss. It is proposed that this cultural taboo is recreated within the therapy relationship, as feelings of grief over a perinatal loss are minimized or avoided by the therapist and parent or patient. Importantly, it is suggested that if these cultural dynamics are recognized within the therapy relationship, then psychotherapy has the immense opportunity to break the taboo by validating the parent's loss as real and helping the parent to mourn within an empathic and affect-regulating relationship. Specifically, it is suggested that therapists break the cultural taboo against perinatal grief and help parents to mourn through: acknowledging and not pathologizing perinatal grief reactions, considering intrapsychic and cultural factors that impact a parent's response to loss, exploring cultural reenactments within the therapy relationship, empathizing with the parent's experience of loss and of having to grieve within a society that does not recognize perinatal loss, coregulating the parent's feelings of grief and loss, and helping patients to create personally meaningful mourning rituals. Lastly, the impact of within and between cultural differences and therapist attitudes on the therapy process is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Culture and Death: A multicultural perspective

OpenAIRE

Pentaris, Panagiotis

2011-01-01

The factor of culture plays a critical role on how people perceive and deal with death, dying and bereavement. Each culture is unique and holds different and authentic beliefs and customs. This literature review will provide information from different cultural backgrounds among the population of Hawaìi regarding death, dying and bereavement (beliefs, customs, rituals, expectations, processes, etc.). The information aims to provide social workers and other helping professionals with appropriat...

Modeling culture in intelligent virtual agents

OpenAIRE

Mascarenhas, S.; Degens, N.; Paiva, A.; Prada, R.; Hofstede, G.J.; Beulens, A.J.M.; Aylett, R.

2016-01-01

This work addresses the challenge of creating virtual agents that are able to portray culturally appropriate behavior when interacting with other agents or humans. Because culture influences how people perceive their social reality it is important to have agent models that explicitly consider social elements, such as existing relational factors. We addressed this necessity by integrating culture into a novel model for simulating human social behavior. With this model, we operationalized a par...

Making Safety Culture a Corporate Culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Svenningsson, J.

2016-01-01

Safety Culture is something that we have actively worked with in the nuclear industry for a long time. Formally, it has been on the agenda since the Chernobyl accident. However, the work with creating a safe organizational culture can of course be traced back even further in time. Over the years a lot has happened in how we are approaching the concept of safety culture and especially how we look upon the human being as a part of the system and how we as humans interact with the organization and technology. For an organization to have a culture that promotes safety it is essential to create an ownership of safety with all workers within the site. To create this ownership it is vital to have the undivided commitment of the management. It all starts with the fundamental values of the organization. These values must then be concluded in firm expectations of behaviors that apply to all workers and management. This could be referred to as expectation of a Professional Behavior that allows us to live up to the company values. At OKG nuclear power plant, a successful Business Improvement Program was recently carried out with intention to develop and contribute to the maturity of the organization in terms of safety. One of the sub-programs of the program was called Professional Behavior - With purpose of making safety into a corporate culture. At OKG, Safety culture is something that systematically been addressed and worked with since 2004. Even though the Safety Culture program could be considered to already have reached a certain level of maturity the Business Improvement program helped the organization to lay the foundation for further development by clarify expected behaviors that was firmly cemented in to the corporate values.

Creating Cultural Consumers: The Dynamics of Cultural Capital Acquisition

Science.gov (United States)

Kisida, Brian; Greene, Jay P.; Bowen, Daniel H.

2014-01-01

The theories of cultural reproduction and cultural mobility have largely shaped the study of the effects of cultural capital on academic outcomes. Missing in this debate has been a rigorous examination of how children actually acquire cultural capital when it is not provided by their families. Drawing on data from a large-scale experimental study…

Mediating production and consumption: cultural capital and 'cultural workers'.

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, David

2005-03-01

This paper examines recent debates about the role of what Bourdieu termed cultural intermediaries in the formation and reproduction of the relations of cultural capital. Workers in the cultural or creative industries were given a central place in Bourdieu's schema in the creation of hierarchies of value in the production and consumption of symbolic goods. Subsequent writers about the apparent emergence of a creative economy (Lash and Urry 1994; Featherstone 1991) have given workers involved in the production and distribution of cultural goods a pivotal place in the development of late or post-modernity. More recent work (Negus 2002; Nixon and du Gay 2002) has criticized the validity and coherence of the term as it has come to be understood and called for more rigour in its definition and use. This paper adds to this debate by considering the book trade as a space in which the gap between production and consumption of cultural goods is mediated. It suggests that cultural intermediaries, as cultural workers, are engaged in the reproduction of the cultural aspects of social class by 'shoring up' their insecure position in the relations of cultural capital, rather than simply being the taste leaders of a reflexive modernity.

Co-culture of human embryos with autologous cumulus cell clusters and its beneficial impact of secreted growth factors on preimplantation development as compared to standard embryo culture in assisted reproductive technologies (ART

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandros Vithoulkas

2017-12-01

Conclusion(s: The investigated factors, among other substances, may be causally connected to the beneficial effect observed on embryo development. Our findings suggest that co-culture with autologous cumulus cell clusters improves the outcome of embryo culture in IVF programs.

Cultural Influences on the Assessment of Children’s Pain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G Allen Finley

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Culture is commonly regarded as a factor in pain behaviour and experience, but the meaning of the term is often unclear. There is little evidence that pain perception is modified by cultural or ethnic factors, but pain expression by children and interpretation by caregivers may be affected by the culture of the patient or the caregiver. The present paper examines some of the research regarding cultural influences on children’s pain assessment, and addresses directions for future research. A focus on cultural influences should not distract clinicians from the need to be sensitive to individual beliefs and attitudes.

Forensic culture as epistemic culture: the sociology of forensic science.

Science.gov (United States)

Cole, Simon A

2013-03-01

This paper explores whether we can interpret the notion of 'forensic culture' as something akin to what Knorr-Cetina called an 'epistemic culture'. Can we speak of a 'forensic culture', and, if so, how is it similar to, or different from, other epistemic cultures that exist in what is conventionally called 'science'? This question has important policy implications given the National Academy Science's (NAS) recent identification of 'culture' as one of the problems at the root of what it identified as 'serious deficiencies' in U.S. forensic science and 'scientific culture' as an antidote to those problems. Finding the NAS's characterisation of 'scientific culture' overly general and naïve, this paper offers a preliminary exploration of what might be called a 'forensic culture'. Specifically, the paper explores the way in which few of the empirical findings accumulated by sociologists of science about research science seem to apply to forensic science. Instead, forensic science seems to have developed a distinct culture for which a sociological analysis will require new explanatory tools. Faithful sociological analysis of 'forensic culture' will be a necessary prerequisite for the kind of culture change prescribed by external reformist bodies like the NAS. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Culture Three Ways: Culture and Subcultures Within Countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Oyserman, Daphna

2017-01-03

Culture can be thought of as a set of everyday practices and a core theme-individualism, collectivism, or honor-as well as the capacity to understand each of these themes. In one's own culture, it is easy to fail to see that a cultural lens exists and instead to think that there is no lens at all, only reality. Hence, studying culture requires stepping out of it. There are two main methods to do so: The first involves using between-group comparisons to highlight differences and the second involves using experimental methods to test the consequences of disruption to implicit cultural frames. These methods highlight three ways that culture organizes experience: (a) It shields reflexive processing by making everyday life feel predictable, (b) it scaffolds which cognitive procedure (connect, separate, or order) will be the default in ambiguous situations, and (c) it facilitates situation-specific accessibility of alternate cognitive procedures. Modern societal social-demographic trends reduce predictability and increase collectivism and honor-based go-to cognitive procedures.

[Discussion on the cultural loss and return of modern acupuncture].

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Bing; Zhao, Jing-sheng; Gao, Shu-zhong

2009-08-01

The philosophical ontology analysis was used in this study to explore the self-factors related to the cultural loss of modern acupuncture, and to establish the theoretical constructs and the clinical model for the cultural return. It is indicated that the most important factors related to the cultural loss of modern acupuncture are the separation of technical characteristics and cultural connotations and the diversion of modern techniques away from classical acupuncture. An effective way of the cultural return is to build a harmonious theoretical and clinical model to develop acupuncture. Based on the foundation of acupuncture from its own culture roots, the traditional sense and cultural values should be enhanced to facilitate the cultural return of acupuncture in theory and clinical practice.

An agent-based evacuation model with social contagion mechanisms and cultural factors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Wal, C. Natalie; Formolo, Daniel; Bosse, Tibor

2017-01-01

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017. A fire incident at a transport hub can cost many lives. To save lives, effective crisis management and prevention measures need to be taken. In this project, the effect of cultural factors in managing and preventing emergencies in public transport systems

Within- and between-culture variation: individual differences and the cultural logics of honor, face, and dignity cultures.

Science.gov (United States)

Leung, Angela K-Y; Cohen, Dov

2011-03-01

The CuPS (Culture × Person × Situation) approach attempts to jointly consider culture and individual differences, without treating either as noise and without reducing one to the other. Culture is important because it helps define psychological situations and create meaningful clusters of behavior according to particular logics. Individual differences are important because individuals vary in the extent to which they endorse or reject a culture's ideals. Further, because different cultures are organized by different logics, individual differences mean something different in each. Central to these studies are concepts of honor-related violence and individual worth as being inalienable versus socially conferred. We illustrate our argument with 2 experiments involving participants from honor, face, and dignity cultures. The studies showed that the same "type" of person who was most helpful, honest, and likely to behave with integrity in one culture was the "type" of person least likely to do so in another culture. We discuss how CuPS can provide a rudimentary but integrated approach to understanding both within- and between-culture variation. (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved

Conflict cultures in organizations: how leaders shape conflict cultures and their organizational-level consequences.

Science.gov (United States)

Gelfand, Michele J; Leslie, Lisa M; Keller, Kirsten; de Dreu, Carsten

2012-11-01

Anecdotal evidence abounds that organizations have distinct conflict cultures, or socially shared norms for how conflict should be managed. However, research to date has largely focused on conflict management styles at the individual and small group level, and has yet to examine whether organizations create socially shared and normative ways to manage conflict. In a sample of leaders and members from 92 branches of a large bank, factor analysis and aggregation analyses show that 3 conflict cultures-collaborative, dominating, and avoidant-operate at the unit level of analysis. Building on Lewin, Lippitt, and White's (1939) classic work, we find that leaders' own conflict management behaviors are associated with distinct unit conflict cultures. The results also demonstrate that conflict cultures have implications for macro branch-level outcomes, including branch viability (i.e., cohesion, potency, and burnout) and branch performance (i.e., creativity and customer service). A conflict culture perspective moves beyond the individual level and provides new insight into the dynamics of conflict management in organizational contexts. (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

Culture phenomenon analysis on the forest tour activity of China

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Jiang Minjin

2006-01-01

This paper analyzes culture and forest culture, the intension of culture and forest culture, combines the understanding of the main cultural factor with the forest tour activity of China, analyzes the compatible phenomenon of Chinese forest culture and traditional culture, and explores culture of forest tourist site containing the meaning in forest tour. The author thinks the tour of forest culture which will be the important component of forest tour in forest culture,This paper puts forward simple questions existing in exploitation and advantage of forest tour culture, and proposes some countermeasures.

Driving Cultures: Cars, Young People and Cultural Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah Redshaw

2011-11-01

Full Text Available This article describes the Driving Cultures research, the cultural importance of the car and the psychological approaches central to research in the field of road safety and investigations of the over–representation of young people in crashes. The aim of the article is to outline driving as a cultural practice drawing on the experiences of young people as described in focus groups in order to show how cultural research can contribute to a social concern such as traffic injury and death.

Body dissatisfaction and socio-cultural factors in women with and without BED: their relation with eating psychopathology.

Science.gov (United States)

Bautista-Díaz, M L; Franco-Paredes, K; Mancilla-Díaz, J M; Alvarez-Rayón, G; López-Aguilar, X; Ocampo Téllez-Girón, T; Soto-González, Y

2012-06-01

The goal of the present study was to assess the role of body dissatisfaction and socio-cultural factors on eating psychopathology in women with Binge Eating Disorder (BED) and women without BED. Seventy obese women consecutively evaluated participated: 35 with BED and 35 without BED who attended for the first time in a weight loss program. All participants completed a battery of questionnaires, including: Body Shape Questionnaire, Questionnaire of Influences on the Aesthetic Body Shape Model, Questionnaire on Eating and Weight Patterns, Three Factor Eating Questionnaire, and they were interviewed with the Interview for the Diagnosis of Eating Disorder-IV. The Body Mass Index, Waist-to-Hip Ratio and Body Fat were calculated. The results showed that 21% of obese women who participated in a weight reduction program met BED criteria. The scores of body dissatisfaction, influences of socio-cultural factors and eating psychopathology were higher in women with BED compared with women without BED. In the same way, significantly stronger correlations were found among influences of socio-cultural factors, specifically, influence of advertisement, social relations and eating psychopathology in women with BED than women without BED. It is concluded that the high body dissatisfaction as well as stronger associations among influence of socio-cultural factors and eating psychopathology could play an important role in women with BED.

Cross-Cultural Knowledge Management

CERN Document Server

Giudice, Manlio Del; Peruta, Maria Rosaria Della

2012-01-01

Cross-cultural knowledge management, an elusive yet consequential phenomenon, is becoming an increasingly essential factor in organizational practice and policy in the era of globalization. In order to overcome culturally shaped blind spots in conducting research in different settings, this volume highlights how the structuring of roles, interests, and power among different organizational elements, such as teams, departments, and management hierarchies (each comprised of members from different intellectual and professional backgrounds), generates various paradoxes and tensions that bring into

Exploration of Food Culture in Kisumu: A Socio-Cultural Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fredrick Argwenge Odede

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Increasingly food culture in the context of socio-cultural dimension is becoming important for sustainable urban development. In the last four years food festivals have been held in Kisumu attracting several interests both from within and without the City. The Kisumu fish night event of 2013 marked the melting point of food culture in Kisumu. This paper thus explores the noble intention of integrating food culture in Kisumu as a socio-cultural capital for the advancement of City sustainable development agenda. To an agrarian society, life is about food from its production, the processing/preservation up to the consumption or the sharing. People connect to their cultural or ethnic background through similar food patterns.  People from different cultural backgrounds eat different foods leading to the question: Are Luos in Kisumu defined by their own food culture? This study further investigated the mode of production, and storage of food resources, examined food cuisines of the Luo community in Kisumu, and assessed the food habits, practices and beliefs associated with food cuisines, as well as, the nutritional and socio-cultural values of Luo cuisines. The research employed qualitative methods of data collection such as interviews, observation, focused group discussion and photography using purposive and snowball sampling technique. Content analysis was used to draw general universal statements in thematic areas with respect to the research objectives. The study revealed that Luo community in Kisumu has a food culture laced with rich cultural practices, rituals and societal norms that defines them as a distinct cultural identity but interacts with other cultural groups in the metropolitan city of Kisumu. Further, the study confirms that indeed food culture is vital for sustainable development of urban centre granted that Kisumu largely evolved as urban centre for exchange of goods for food.

Cultural Studies and Sociology of Culture in Germany: Relations and Interrelations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Udo Göttlich

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Over the last three decades, attitudes towards cultural studies in Germany have developed within contexts of contact and conflict with a variety of disciplines, e.g. ethnology, anthropology, sociology, as well as the sociology of culture, liter-ary studies and Kulturwissenschaft(en. On the one hand there is a strong academ-ic interest in how cultural studies perceives and analyzes media culture, popular culture and everyday life. On the other hand boundaries with humanities and so-cial science remain, which leads to criticism and conflicts with cultural studies and its achievements.I will discuss some of the problems concerning the perception and reception of cultural studies among representatives of Kulturwissenschaft(en and sociology of culture. Furthermore I will draw on the role of cultural studies in thematizing cul-tural change and conflicts, and its ability to do so in a way that shows the im-portance of culture and politics.

Film Cross-culture Research under the Perspective of Language and Culture

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

罗淞译

2015-01-01

Language as an important tool of cultural transmission, it can achieve the cross-culture development of film. With the strength of globalization, film cross-culture communication are increasing, and how to enhance the communication of film through language and culture and let more people enjoy the thought expressed in film is one of the most important content for cross-culture development of mant films. Different cultural backgrounds will produce large diversities in watching a same film, so it is helpful for the cross-culture development of film when making good use of culture and language, on the contrary, it will become a hindrance. This article do research on cross-culture development of film under the perspective of language and culture to find out the existing problems in present cross-culture development of film and put forward effective resolution strategy in order to promote certain reference for the internationalization of China’s film industry.

CORPORATE CULTURE AS A TOOL TO IMPROVE SAFETY CULTURE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erika SUJOVÁ

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The aim of the article is to explain interconnectivity between corporate culture and safety culture, which aim to utilize motivation to prevent work accidents and other unwanted events in an enterprise. The article deals with ways how to improve approaches to Occupational Health & Safety, OH&S, at work place through proper direction of corporate culture. It introduces internal and external determinants of corporate culture, which have a significant effect. The article introduces common features of corporate culture and safety culture as an element of the OH&S management system with emphasis on system effectiveness. The final portion of the article presents the hierarchy of needs model, which may serve as a basis motivating employees to follow safety and health rules at work place.

Competencia cultural e inteligencia cultural. Aportes a la mediación cultural docente

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maurizia D'Antoni

2011-01-01

Full Text Available El ensayo nace como parte de una investigación mayor que se publicará sobre la inserción profesional docente en la Universidad de Costa Rica. Su finalidad en la investigación en curso es la de explorar los aportes de los estudios sobre competencia cultural e inteligencia cultural, para identificar planteamientos teóricos que fortalezcan nuevos espacios para la mediación cultural docente en la Universidad. Se concluye que el concepto de competencia cultural representa un aporte importante, si se revisa la idea de cultura que subyace y se le transforma en "competencia intercultural". Luego, se define mediación cultural, evidenciándose la importancia de la nueva figura profesional en el contexto actual, los ámbitos de acción donde se ha empleado y se manifiesta la necesidad de promover mediadores y mediadoras culturales en Costa Rica también.

Socio-cultural and economic factors affecting food consumption patterns in the Arab countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Musaiger, A O

1993-04-01

Several factors have been found to determine the dietary habits of the people in the Arab world. Food consumption pattern has dramatically changed in some Arab countries as a result of sudden increase in income from oil revenue. It is believed that food subsidy policy has adversely affected the food habits in the Gulf states by encouraging the intake of fat, sugar, rice, wheat flour and meat. Socio-cultural factors such as religion, beliefs, food preferences, gender discrimination, education and women's employment all have a noticeable influence on food consumption patterns in this region. Mass media, especially televised food advertisements, play an important role in modifying the dietary habits. The migration movement, particularly that which was carried out during the 70s has a great impact on the food practices in many Arab countries. Comprehensive studies on social, cultural and economic factors associated with food consumption patterns in the Arab region are highly recommended.

Factors Affecting Time to Sputum Culture Conversion in Adults with Pulmonary Tuberculosis: A Historical Cohort Study without Censored Cases.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rie Kanda

Full Text Available In patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB, shortening the time to sputum culture conversion is desirable to reduce the likelihood of mycobacterial transmission. A persistent positive sputum culture after 2 months of treatment is reported to be associated with the presence of cavitation and the extent of disease on chest X-ray, high colony count, diabetes mellitus, and smoking. However, little is known about factors affecting the time to sputum culture conversion. This study was conducted to evaluate factors affecting the time to sputum culture conversion throughout the course of treatment in adults with pulmonary TB.This study was performed using a database of the medical records of patients with active pulmonary TB who were treated at Hirakata Kohsai Hospital in Hirakata City, Osaka, Japan, from October 2000 to October 2002. Cox proportional-hazards analysis was used to evaluate factors affecting the time to sputum culture conversion after adjusting for potential confounders.The data of 86 patients with pulmonary TB were analyzed. The median time to sputum culture conversion was 39 days, and the maximum time was 116 days. The Cox proportional-hazards analysis showed that a higher smear grading (HR, 0.40; 95%CI, 0.23-0.71 and a history of ever smoking (HR, 0.48; 95%CI, 0.25-0.94 were associated with delayed sputum culture conversion.High smear grading and smoking prolonged the time to sputum culture conversion in adults with pulmonary TB. To effectively control TB, measures to decrease the cigarette smoking rate should be implemented, in addition to early detection and timely anti-TB treatment.

Human nature, human culture: the case of cultural evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Lewens, Tim

2017-10-06

In recent years, far from arguing that evolutionary approaches to our own species permit us to describe the fundamental character of human nature, a prominent group of cultural evolutionary theorists has instead argued that the very idea of 'human nature' is one we should reject. It makes no sense, they argue, to speak of human nature in opposition to human culture. The very same sceptical arguments have also led some thinkers-usually from social anthropology-to dismiss the intimately related idea that we can talk of human culture in opposition to human nature. How, then, are we supposed to understand the cultural evolutionary project itself, whose proponents seem to deny the distinction between human nature and human culture, while simultaneously relying on a closely allied distinction between 'genetic' (or sometimes 'organic') evolution and 'cultural' evolution? This paper defends the cultural evolutionary project against the charge that, in refusing to endorse the concept of human nature, it has inadvertently sabotaged itself.

Peripartum Depression, Traditional Culture, and Israeli Society.

Science.gov (United States)

Dekel, Sharon; Stanger, Varda; Georgakopoulos, Emily R; Stuebe, Caren M; Dishy, Gabriella A

2016-08-01

Although it is known that culture affects psychopathology, the nature of the relationship between culture and peripartum depression (PPD) is not fully understood. Here we report on 2 cases of Israeli women who are affiliated with traditional cultural groups that emphasize reproduction but developed PPD after childbirth. The first woman is an ultra-Orthodox Israeli Jew and the second is an Israeli Arab. The 2 cases illustrate the effect of cultural beliefs and rituals on the conceptualization, treatment, and trajectory of PPD. The cases suggest a complex relationship between traditional cultures and PPD, including the possibility that cultural factors may have both adaptive and maladaptive consequences. Future qualitative and quantitative studies are needed to further clarify this relationship. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Factors controlling phenol content on Theobroma cacao callus culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quiñones-Galvez, Janet; HernándezTorre, Martha de la; Quirós Molina, Yemeys; Capdesuñer Ruiz, Yanelis; Trujillo Sánchez, Reinaldo

2016-01-01

Theobroma cacao L. is known in folk medicine as an antiseptic, diuretic and antiparasitic. Foods derived from this plant are rich in natural products of high added value, including phenolic compounds. As in vitro cultivation handle is an alternative source for the production of these metabolites. The present study was conducted to obtain phenolic compounds from callus culture with embryogenic structures. Culture conditions (agitation, light and glucose) were established to increase the concentration of phenols in calluses and elicitors to achieve the increase in callus and excretion into the culture area. The accumulation of phenolic compounds was favored with the additional supplement of glucose, growth in agitation and darkness. The addition of random hydroxylated cyclodextrins allowed the increase in the specific yield of phenols and biomass. (author)

Aging in culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Fung, Helene H

2013-06-01

This article reviews the empirical studies that test socioemotional aging across cultures. The review focuses on comparisons between Western (mostly North Americans and Germans) and Eastern cultures (mostly Chinese) in areas including age-related personality, social relationships, and cognition. Based on the review, I argue that aging is a meaning-making process. Individuals from each cultural context internalize cultural values with age. These internalized cultural values become goals that guide adult development. When individuals from different cultures each pursue their own goals with age, cultural differences in socioemotional aging occur.

Culture, cross-role consistency, and adjustment: testing trait and cultural psychology perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Church, A Timothy; Anderson-Harumi, Cheryl A; del Prado, Alicia M; Curtis, Guy J; Tanaka-Matsumi, Junko; Valdez Medina, José L; Mastor, Khairul A; White, Fiona A; Miramontes, Lilia A; Katigbak, Marcia S

2008-09-01

Trait and cultural psychology perspectives on cross-role consistency and its relation to adjustment were examined in 2 individualistic cultures, the United States (N=231) and Australia (N=195), and 4 collectivistic cultures, Mexico (N=199), the Philippines (N=195), Malaysia (N=217), and Japan (N=180). Cross-role consistency in trait ratings was evident in all cultures, supporting trait perspectives. Cultural comparisons of mean consistency provided support for cultural psychology perspectives as applied to East Asian cultures (i.e., Japan) but not collectivistic cultures more generally. Some but not all of the hypothesized predictors of consistency were supported across cultures. Cross-role consistency predicted aspects of adjustment in all cultures, but prediction was most reliable in the U.S. sample and weakest in the Japanese sample. Alternative constructs proposed by cultural psychologists--personality coherence, social appraisal, and relationship harmony--predicted adjustment in all cultures but were not, as hypothesized, better predictors of adjustment in collectivistic cultures than in individualistic cultures.

Considering the culture of disability in cultural competence education.

Science.gov (United States)

Eddey, Gary E; Robey, Kenneth L

2005-07-01

Cultural competence extends beyond understanding those values, beliefs, and needs that are associated with patients' age or gender or with their racial, ethnic, or religious backgrounds. People hold many simultaneous cultural associations, and each have implications for the care process. The "culture of disability" is a pan-ethnic culture for which a set of physician competencies are required to ensure appropriate, culturally sensitive care to persons with congenital or acquired disabilities. Such competencies include communicating with patients who have deficits in verbal communication and avoidance of infantilizing speech; understanding the values and needs of persons with disabilities; the ability to encourage self-advocacy skills of patients and families; acknowledging the core values of disability culture including the emphasis on interdependence rather than independence; and feeling comfortable with patients with complex disabilities. Medical schools have developed programs to increase students' exposure to persons with disabilities and it is suggested that such programs are most effective when they are the result of collaboration with community-based facilities or organizations that serve persons with disabilities in the natural environment. Combining lecture-based instruction and structured experiences with the opportunity for students to interact with patients in their natural environments may facilitate development of competencies with respect to patients with disabilities. The culture of disability should be included as one of the many cultures addressed in cultural competence initiatives in medical school and residency curricula.

The ecology of primate material culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Koops, Kathelijne; Visalberghi, Elisabetta; van Schaik, Carel P

2014-11-01

Tool use in extant primates may inform our understanding of the conditions that favoured the expansion of hominin technology and material culture. The 'method of exclusion' has, arguably, confirmed the presence of culture in wild animal populations by excluding ecological and genetic explanations for geographical variation in behaviour. However, this method neglects ecological influences on culture, which, ironically, may be critical for understanding technology and thus material culture. We review all the current evidence for the role of ecology in shaping material culture in three habitual tool-using non-human primates: chimpanzees, orangutans and capuchin monkeys. We show that environmental opportunity, rather than necessity, is the main driver. We argue that a better understanding of primate technology requires explicit investigation of the role of ecological conditions. We propose a model in which three sets of factors, namely environment, sociality and cognition, influence invention, transmission and retention of material culture. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Urine culture

Science.gov (United States)

Culture and sensitivity - urine ... when urinating. You also may have a urine culture after you have been treated for an infection. ... when bacteria or yeast are found in the culture. This likely means that you have a urinary ...

Cultural factors and social support related to breastfeeding among immigrant mothers in Taipei City, Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Tzu-Ling; Tai, Chen-Jei; Chu, Yu-Roo; Han, Kuo-Chiang; Lin, Kuan-Chia; Chien, Li-Yin

2011-02-01

The objectives of this study were to identify cultural factors (including acculturation and breastfeeding cultures in subjects' native countries and those in mainstream Taiwanese society) and social support related to breastfeeding among immigrant mothers in Taiwan. This study was a cross-sectional survey performed from October 2007 through January 2008. The study participants were 210 immigrant mothers living in Taipei City. The prevalence of exclusive and partial breastfeeding at 3 months postpartum was 59.0% and 14.3%, respectively. Logistic regression analysis revealed that breastfeeding experience among mothers-in-law and the perceived level of acceptance of breastfeeding in Taiwan were positively associated with breastfeeding at 3 months postpartum. Immigrant women with a higher level of household activity support were less likely to breastfeed. Immigrant mothers in Taiwan usually come from cultures with a higher acceptance level for breastfeeding; however, their breastfeeding practices are more likely to be influenced by the mainstream culture in Taiwan.

Analysis of safety culture components based on site interviews

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ueno, Akira; Nagano, Yuko; Matsuura, Shojiro

2002-01-01

Safety culture of an organization is influenced by many factors such as employee's moral, safety policy of top management and questioning attitude among site staff. First this paper analyzes key factors of safety culture on the basis of site interviews. Then the paper presents a safety culture composite model and its applicability in various contexts. (author)

Spatial Culture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reeh, Henrik

2012-01-01

Spatial Culture – A Humanities Perspective Abstract of introductory essay by Henrik Reeh Secured by alliances between socio-political development and cultural practices, a new field of humanistic studies in spatial culture has developed since the 1990s. To focus on links between urban culture...... and modern society is, however, an intellectual practice which has a much longer history. Already in the 1980s, the debate on the modern and the postmodern cited Paris and Los Angeles as spatio-cultural illustrations of these major philosophical concepts. Earlier, in the history of critical studies, the work...... Foucault considered a constitutive feature of 20th-century thinking and one that continues to occupy intellectual and cultural debates in the third millennium. A conceptual framework is, nevertheless, necessary, if the humanities are to adequa-tely address city and space – themes that have long been...

Macro-evolutionary studies of cultural diversity: a review of empirical studies of cultural transmission and cultural adaptation.

Science.gov (United States)

Mace, Ruth; Jordan, Fiona M

2011-02-12

A growing body of theoretical and empirical research has examined cultural transmission and adaptive cultural behaviour at the individual, within-group level. However, relatively few studies have tried to examine proximate transmission or test ultimate adaptive hypotheses about behavioural or cultural diversity at a between-societies macro-level. In both the history of anthropology and in present-day work, a common approach to examining adaptive behaviour at the macro-level has been through correlating various cultural traits with features of ecology. We discuss some difficulties with simple ecological associations, and then review cultural phylogenetic studies that have attempted to go beyond correlations to understand the underlying cultural evolutionary processes. We conclude with an example of a phylogenetically controlled approach to understanding proximate transmission pathways in Austronesian cultural diversity.

Differential modulation of growth and phenotypic expression of chondrocytes in sparse and confluent cultures by growth factors in cartilage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hiraki, Y.; Inoue, H.; Asada, A.; Suzuki, F.

1990-01-01

The growth-promoting actions of cartilage extracts (CE) on rabbit cultured chondrocytes were studied to assess the role of local acting growth factors in the generation and expansion of highly differentiated cells. In the present study, DNA synthesis and proteoglycan synthesis in the cultured chondrocytes were monitored by flow cytofluorometry and double-isotope autoradiography by using ( 3 H)thymidine and ( 35 S)sulfate. We report here that actions of the same set of growth factors extracted from cartilage evokes differential cellular responses depending upon cell density. Growth factors in the optimal dose of CE (2 micrograms/ml) or epidermal growth factor (EGF, 40 ng/ml) did not reveal such a cell density-dependent effect on cellular proliferation. However, growth factors in CE induced proteoglycan synthesis selectively in nonproliferating and expressing cells in confluent culture

Skin or nail culture

Science.gov (United States)

Mucosal culture; Culture - skin; Culture - mucosal; Nail culture; Culture - fingernail; Fingernail culture ... There, it is placed in a special dish (culture). It is then watched to see if bacteria, ...

Analysis of the Determinant Factors Development of Maintenance Culture in Malaysian Local Authorities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sani S.I.A.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Malaysia is a fast growing developing country and its vision is becoming a developed country with a first class infrastructure. Towards this vision, the assets and facilities were developed, owned or leased by public sector especially buildings, constructions and infrastructures to fulfill administrative and social needs as well as economic responsibilities to general public. In Malaysia, public asset and facilities is owned by three major levels of government, which are the federal government, state government and the local government also known as local authority. Between these three forms of government, Local Authorities hold a large number of facilities that place demands on resources. They have a responsibility to use and maintain a wide range of property assets including classified and heritage buildings, single purpose facilities and state of the art multipurpose facilities. Over the years, the local authorities in Malaysia currently have been soundly criticized by public caused poor maintenance culture. The assets especially public buildings and infrastructures are not maintained properly. Thus, developing the maintenance culture is essential to increase the awareness about maintenance activity on public facilities and assets in Malaysian Local Authorities. Regarding this scenario, the purpose of this study is to determine the determinant factors affecting development of maintenance culture identified based on the review of previous research. As a guide to achieve the research objective, a questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate the significance of ten determinant factors identified in the research study and their related affecting to development of maintenance culture in local authority as a respondent in this research. The collected data was then analyzed using quantitative approaches such as mean analysis, relative important index as well as others.

A Lexical Approach to Identifying Dimensions of Organizational Culture

Science.gov (United States)

Chapman, Derek S.; Reeves, Paige; Chapin, Michelle

2018-01-01

A comprehensive measure of organizational culture was developed using a lexical approach, a method typically employed within the study of personality. 1761 adjectives were narrowed down and factor analyzed, which resulted in the identification of a nine factor solution to organizational culture, including the dimensions of: Innovative, Dominant, Pace, Friendly, Prestigious, Trendy, Corporate Social Responsibility, Traditional, and Diverse. Comprised of 135 adjectives most frequently used in describing organizational culture by current employees of several hundred organizations, the Lexical Organizational Culture Scale (LOCS) was found to predict employee commitment, job satisfaction, job search behaviors, and subjective fit better than earlier scales of organizational culture. PMID:29922200

Bile culture

Science.gov (United States)

Culture - bile ... is placed in a special dish called a culture medium to see if bacteria, viruses, or fungi ... Chernecky CC, Berger BJ. Body fluid - anaerobic culture. In: ... . 6th ed. St Louis, MO: Elsevier Saunders; 2013:225-226. Kim AY, ...

A cultural congruence test for primary school students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bayanova L. F.

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The study presented in this article relies on the principles of the cultural-historical theory, which defines cultural impact as the main driving force behind psychological development. Based on the assumption that culture is a set of normative situations, the study identifies rules that are typical for primary school students in big Russian cities. These rules are grouped into what we refer to as factors of cultural compliance, which ultimately can be seen as indicators of pupils’ cultural congruence. In specifying the cultural congruence of primary school students, we take into account not only the rules of school life but also the whole range of stable rules for children 7- to 10-years-old. Researchers at the Psychology Institute of the Higher University of the Chinese Academy of Science (Wang, Zhu, & Shi, 2011 call such rules usual or contextually usual. We include rules that govern the behavior of children who have cultural differences, so in this article we are talking about the rules that are typical for children of this age in Russia. The goal of the study was to develop a test to diagnose the level of cultural congruence. The test was exposed to psychometric evaluation for validity, reliability, and discriminatory power. Factor analysis by means of varimax rotation provided for calibration of the rules by consolidating them into factors. These factors underpin the test and include the categories social interaction, academic competence, regulation, obedience, self-service, and self-control. In accordance with the principles employed in psychology, the factors confirm the construct validity of the test in relation to children’s development when they are between 7 and 10 years old. The study confirms that learning is the main activity at this age by introducing a factor that brings together rules inherent in normative situations in the education process. The social setting for psychological development, viewed as a specific

Quantitative analysis of organizational culture in occupational health research: a theory-based validation in 30 workplaces of the organizational culture profile instrument

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background This study advances a measurement approach for the study of organizational culture in population-based occupational health research, and tests how different organizational culture types are associated with psychological distress, depression, emotional exhaustion, and well-being. Methods Data were collected over a sample of 1,164 employees nested in 30 workplaces. Employees completed the 26-item OCP instrument. Psychological distress was measured with the General Health Questionnaire (12-item); depression with the Beck Depression Inventory (21-item); and emotional exhaustion with five items from the Maslach Burnout Inventory general survey. Exploratory factor analysis evaluated the dimensionality of the OCP scale. Multilevel regression models estimated workplace-level variations, and the contribution of organizational culture factors to mental health and well-being after controlling for gender, age, and living with a partner. Results Exploratory factor analysis of OCP items revealed four factors explaining about 75% of the variance, and supported the structure of the Competing Values Framework. Factors were labeled Group, Hierarchical, Rational and Developmental. Cronbach’s alphas were high (0.82-0.89). Multilevel regression analysis suggested that the four culture types varied significantly between workplaces, and correlated with mental health and well-being outcomes. The Group culture type best distinguished between workplaces and had the strongest associations with the outcomes. Conclusions This study provides strong support for the use of the OCP scale for measuring organizational culture in population-based occupational health research in a way that is consistent with the Competing Values Framework. The Group organizational culture needs to be considered as a relevant factor in occupational health studies. PMID:23642223

Quantitative analysis of organizational culture in occupational health research: a theory-based validation in 30 workplaces of the organizational culture profile instrument.

Science.gov (United States)

Marchand, Alain; Haines, Victor Y; Dextras-Gauthier, Julie

2013-05-04

This study advances a measurement approach for the study of organizational culture in population-based occupational health research, and tests how different organizational culture types are associated with psychological distress, depression, emotional exhaustion, and well-being. Data were collected over a sample of 1,164 employees nested in 30 workplaces. Employees completed the 26-item OCP instrument. Psychological distress was measured with the General Health Questionnaire (12-item); depression with the Beck Depression Inventory (21-item); and emotional exhaustion with five items from the Maslach Burnout Inventory general survey. Exploratory factor analysis evaluated the dimensionality of the OCP scale. Multilevel regression models estimated workplace-level variations, and the contribution of organizational culture factors to mental health and well-being after controlling for gender, age, and living with a partner. Exploratory factor analysis of OCP items revealed four factors explaining about 75% of the variance, and supported the structure of the Competing Values Framework. Factors were labeled Group, Hierarchical, Rational and Developmental. Cronbach's alphas were high (0.82-0.89). Multilevel regression analysis suggested that the four culture types varied significantly between workplaces, and correlated with mental health and well-being outcomes. The Group culture type best distinguished between workplaces and had the strongest associations with the outcomes. This study provides strong support for the use of the OCP scale for measuring organizational culture in population-based occupational health research in a way that is consistent with the Competing Values Framework. The Group organizational culture needs to be considered as a relevant factor in occupational health studies.

Effects of Forskolin on Trefoil factor 1 expression in cultured ventral mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Pia; Ducray, A D; Widmer, H R

2015-01-01

shown that TFF1 is expressed in developing and adult rat ventral mesencephalic tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactive (TH-ir) dopaminergic neurons. Here, we investigated the expression of TFF1 in rat ventral mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons (embryonic day 14) grown in culture for 5, 7 or 10days......, suggesting that Forskolin induced TFF1 expression through diverse signaling pathways. In conclusion, distinct populations of cultured dopaminergic neurons express TFF1, and their numbers can be increased by factors known to influence survival and differentiation of dopaminergic cells....... to neuronal cells, and the percentage of TH/TFF1 co-expressing cells was increased to the same extent in GDNF and Forskolin-treated cultures (4-fold) as compared to controls. Interestingly, the combination of GDNF and Forskolin resulted in a significantly increased co-expression (8-fold) of TH/TFF1, which...

Socio-Cultural Factors Associated with the Initiation of Opium Use in Darab, Iran

Science.gov (United States)

Jafari, Siavash; Movaghar, Afarin Rahimi; Craib, Kevin; Baharlou, Souzan; Mathias, Richard

2009-01-01

This study aimed to identify socio-cultural factors facilitating initiation of opium use among drug users in Darab, Iran. A qualitative study using in-depth interviews was conducted. The study began in June 2006 and included 76 drug users, aged 20-43, of whom 95% (72) were male, and 5% (4) were female. The five most common factors facilitating…

WORKPLACE MOTIVATION IN ROMANIA: WHAT ARE THE MAIN FACTORS AND THEIR CULTURAL BACKGROUND?

OpenAIRE

Lauren?iu HAUSER

2014-01-01

Workplace motivation strongly depends on local cultural values. But while there is a large number of studies that focus on the US-American and Western European background, the specifically Romanian factors still remain in the shadow. This text aims to explain the main factors that form the „typically Romanian” set of social employee needs and their origin.

Developing Cultural Awareness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

İsmail Fırat Altay

2005-04-01

Full Text Available This paper aims at emphasizing the issue of teaching of culture in foreign languageteaching. In this respect, the reasons of teaching culture in foreign language classes arefocused on initially. So, the justifications of teaching culture are considered and explainedand by the help of a dialogue. Right after this, ways of developing cultural awareness is takeninto account. At this step, types of courses to develop cultural awareness are dealt with.Developing cultural awareness in class is another aspect to handle. Besides, ways ofdeveloping cultural awareness outside the class are worked on. Whether there are dangers ofusing culture in foreign language class is explained in dangers and problems part. In theconclusion, ideas of the writer on the subject as final remarks are clarified.

An Analysis of the Factors Influencing the Political Culture of the Students of Parsabad Islamic Azad University

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Mohammadreza Hatami

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Political culture is one of the most important phenomena of social life in modem era, with an undeniable influence on the political conduct of the members of the society. It is also one of the main pillars and principles of the growth and development of society. Belief in political equality, trust, feeling of security, and national and ethnic loyalty, are among significant elements closely related to political culture and society development pattern. The present study aims to analyze the factors influencing the political culture of the students of Parsabad Islamic Azad University. The main question addressed in this study concerns the factors which influence the political culture of the students of Parsabad Islamic Azad University. The hypotheses of the study suggest that variables such as ethnicism, religiousness, political motivation, personality and socioeconomic status have a significant relationship with political culture. The survey methodology - correlation between variables - and interview, as the means for collecting data to answer the questions, are utilized in this study. Also the statistical method and the SPPS software are used to analyze the data. The results of the study indicate that none of the hypotheses of the research was confirmed except for the relationship between the political motivation and the political culture. This shows that the temporal and spatial condition of Parsabad and, consequently, that of the students are different from the temporal and spatial conditions of the theories presented in this study.

Cultural Diversity and the Changing Culture of Education

Science.gov (United States)

Nderu-Boddington, Eulalee

2008-01-01

The paper will examine the change in schools brought about by cultural diversity and examines the theories that surround the topic. I will evaluate and examine ways in which schools can accommodate cultural diversity. References will be made to cultural and social changes in our schools and how education is affected by such changes. The issue of…

Culture and Creativity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Michelsen, Anders Ib

INTRODUCTION The present publication deals with issues of imagination and creativity as a notion, philosophy – and social and cultural form, with point of departure in current debates on visual culture. Whereas these debates cover a large ground, spanning from media studies over design to cultural...... studies, they seldom reflect on the basic fact that visual culture in its present form indicates a huge collective creativity in some capacity, implicating the entire postwar era. From early focuses on the possible social and cultural roles of the image in the 1950s and 60s - e.g. in work of Roland...... and cognitive science. Thus visual culture points to an interesting inroad to - and a possible novel focus on - the image - pictorial representation - as an issue of cultural creativity. For one thing the current interest in visual culture goes along with a surge in concrete interest in culture and creativity...

Safety culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keen, L.J.

2003-01-01

Safety culture has become a topic of increasing interest for industry and regulators as issues are raised on safety problems around the world. The keys to safety culture are organizational effectiveness, effective communications, organizational learning, and a culture that encourages the identification and resolution of safety issues. The necessity of a strong safety culture places an onus on all of us to continually question whether the safety measures already in place are sufficient, and are being applied. (author)

Development of safety culture - A Chinese traditional cultural perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Weihong . E-mail zhouwh@lanps.com

2002-01-01

Living in a social community, the culture of an enterprise is certainly under the influence of that society. Safety culture of nuclear utilities is the core of the enterprise culture. As a formal expression as defined in INSAG 3 and 4 by IAEA, it as a matter of fact originated from the summing up of the experiences of western nuclear industry, particularly after such epoch-making accidents of Three Miles Island and Chernobyl. In view of the geographical culture theory, whether or not this conception of western industrial culture will be absorbed and assimilated by Chinese Nuclear Industry is a challenging issue. This is because, on the one hand, Nuclear Power is comparatively speaking a newly developing industry in China and, on the other hand, China has enjoyed an uninterrupted history of traditional culture over five thousand years. In other words, whether the new and alien values will conflict with or be constructively assimilated by our traditional mindset is a critical question to be answered in any development program of safety culture. (author)

Revisiting the IFN-γ release assay: Whole blood or PBMC cultures? - And other factors of influence

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hartmann, Sofie Bruun; Emnéus, Jenny; Wolff, Anders

2016-01-01

light on external factors that could influence the read out in terms of IFN-γ levels. It was found that optimal culture conditions varied between individual animals; when polyclonal activated, cells from whole blood cultures were most responsive, but when activated specifically, the optimal cell....... However, there is no consensus whether to use whole blood cultures or purified PBMCs for the assay, and both cell populations are being used and results compared. Therefore the aim of this study was to compare different culture settings using immune cells from previously vaccinated calves, and to shed...... concentration/population varied with whole blood, 10 × 106 cells/ml PBMC and 5 × 106 cells/ml PBMC being the highest performing conditions. A further investigation of the distribution of cell populations in PBMCs compared to whole blood was conducted, and a significant (p

Safety culture measurements results in the agricultural sector

OpenAIRE

Terjék, László

2013-01-01

The author examined the safety culture and in relation to that the safety and health-related human factors. The examination was conducted primarily in the agricultural sector. Safety culture is also a key factor in business life especially in productive sectors. Basically, it determines the general work safety and occupational hazard situations, which may have an impact on business, competitiveness, and efficiency, and also employee satisfaction.The concept of safety culture is new in the app...

CULTURAL TOURISM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dana POP

2016-07-01

Full Text Available In this paper we will try to analyse the cultural tourism. We will start by referring to the complex concepts of tourism and culture and to the synergies existing between them. We will define cultural tourism and present its appearance and evolution as well as its importance as a modern form of tourism. We will present the various types of cultural tourism with their characteristics and the specific features of cultural tourists according to their interests. We will also mention that there are advantages and disadvantages for any kind of tourism depending on the position – local communities, companies or tourists. For the future we will refer to the new partnership between UNWTO and UNESCO.

Adaptation and validation of the Inventory of Family Protective Factors for the Portuguese culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Augusto, Cláudia Cristina Vieira Carvalho de Oliveira Ferreira; Araújo, Beatriz Rodrigues; Rodrigues, Vítor Manuel Costa Pereira; de Figueiredo, Maria do Céu Aguiar Barbieri

2014-01-01

to adapt and validate the Inventory of Family Protective Factors (IFPF) for the Portuguese culture. This instrument assesses protective factors that contribute to family resilience. Studies addressing resilience are embedded within the salutogenic paradigm, i.e. it addresses protective factors of individuals or groups without underestimating risk factors or vulnerability. in order to assess the IFPF's linguistic and conceptual equivalence, the instrument was translated, retro-translated and the think-aloud protocol was used. We then verified the instrument's sensitiveness, reliability and validity of results to assess its psychometric characteristics. A factor analysis was performed of the principal components with varimax rotation of the scale's items and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was calculated for each dimension. A total of 85 families with disabled children, selected through simple random sampling, self-administered the instrument. the IFPF presents psychometric characteristics that are appropriate for the Portuguese population (Cronbach's alpha = .90). the IFPF was adapted and validated for the Portuguese culture and is an instrument to be used in studies intended to assess protective factors of family resilience.

Beyond the Melting Pot and Salad Bowl Views of Cultural Diversity: Advancing Cultural Diversity Education of Nutrition Educators.

Science.gov (United States)

Setiloane, Kelebogile Tsametse

2016-10-01

This article outlines how the melting pot and salad bowl views of cultural diversity have influenced the cultural training of nutrition educators and other health professionals. It explores how these views are changing in reaction to the changing demographics and health disparities seen in the US today and how the cultural training of nutrition educators has not kept up with these changing views. Suggestions for how this cultural education could be modified include placing a greater emphasis on both the cultural self-awareness of nutrition educators and the sociopolitical historical factors that influence the cultural orientation of nutrition educators and their clients. Copyright © 2016 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cultural humility: measuring openness to culturally diverse clients.

Science.gov (United States)

Hook, Joshua N; Davis, Don E; Owen, Jesse; Worthington, Everett L; Utsey, Shawn O

2013-07-01

Building on recent theory stressing multicultural orientation, as well as the development of virtues and dispositions associated with multicultural values, we introduce the construct of cultural humility, defined as having an interpersonal stance that is other-oriented rather than self-focused, characterized by respect and lack of superiority toward an individual's cultural background and experience. In 4 studies, we provide evidence for the estimated reliability and construct validity of a client-rated measure of a therapist's cultural humility, and we demonstrate that client perceptions of their therapist's cultural humility are positively associated with developing a strong working alliance. Furthermore, client perceptions of their therapist's cultural humility were positively associated with improvement in therapy, and this relationship was mediated by a strong working alliance. We consider implications for research, practice, and training. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Handling Culture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pieter van Nispen tot Pannerden

2011-01-01

The article indicates how companies may prepare for and deal with cultural differences. Because the research base is still rather limited an overall perspective may not be realised. After discussing definitions and concepts of culture, as well as values, cultural differences between states are

Organizational Culture and Safety

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Catherine A.

2003-01-01

'..only a fool perseveres in error.' Cicero. Humans will break the most advanced technological devices and override safety and security systems if they are given the latitude. Within the workplace, the operator may be just one of several factors in causing accidents or making risky decisions. Other variables considered for their involvement in the negative and often catastrophic outcomes include the organizational context and culture. Many organizations have constructed and implemented safety programs to be assimilated into their culture to assure employee commitment and understanding of the importance of everyday safety. The purpose of this paper is to examine literature on organizational safety cultures and programs that attempt to combat vulnerability, risk taking behavior and decisions and identify the role of training in attempting to mitigate unsafe acts.

[Time, cultures, and coexistence].

Science.gov (United States)

Elchardus, M; Glorieux, I; Scheys, M

1987-06-01

"In this essay, the authors try to illustrate the relevance of the sociology of time for the study of migration and inter-cultural relations. It is argued that by taking the time-dimension more explicitly into account, our insights in the dynamics of these relations can be [improved].... In connection with international migration processes, this relationship appears to be influenced by at least six different factors: 1) the sudden transition from a rural to an urban, industrial environment; 2) the perspective of the return to the homeland; 3) the confrontation with the culture of the host country and with other migrants' cultures; 4) the religious, ideological and political developments in the homeland; 5) the reactions of the host country and the problems these create; 6) the minority position of the migrants." (SUMMARY IN ENG) excerpt

Churnalism, Cultural (Inter)mediation and Sourcing in Cultural Journalism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristensen, Nete Nørgaard

2017-01-01

Taking a point of departure in theories about cultural (inter)mediation, this article provides a theoretical framework for explaining the pervasion of churnalism within the specialised beat of cultural journalism. Compared to other types of journalists, cultural journalists are “journalists...

Working with culture: culturally appropriate mental health care for Asian Americans.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Mijung; Chesla, Catherine A; Rehm, Roberta S; Chun, Kevin M

2011-11-01

The aim of this study is to describe how mental healthcare providers adapted their practice to meet the unique needs of Asian Americans. As the number of ethnic minorities and multicultural patients and families rapidly increases, cultural competency becomes an essential skill for all healthcare providers. The lack of knowledge about how healthcare providers grapple with diverse cultures and cultural competency limits the ability of others to deliver patient-centred care across cultural lines. Interpretive phenomenology guided the design and conduct of this study. Twenty mental healthcare providers who treated Asian Americans were recruited. Narrative data were collected through face-to-face, in-depth interviews between 2006 and 2007. Three characteristics of culturally appropriate care for Asian Americans were identified. Cultural brokering: providers addressed issues stemming from cultural differences via bicultural skills education. Asian American patients generally received broader education than current literature recommended. Supporting families in transition: providers assisted Asian American families during transition from and to professional care. Using cultural knowledge to enhance competent care: providers' knowledge of Asian culture and flexible attitudes affected the care that they provided. Culturally competent providers were able to identify cultural issues that were relevant to the specific situation, and incorporated cultural solutions into the care provided. Culturally appropriate care is nuanced and context specific. Thus, more sophisticated and broader conceptualizations are necessary to prepare nurses for such complex practice. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Beyond Culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Barron, Daniel D.

1993-01-01

Discusses the lack of literature relating to cultural differences and school library media programs and reviews the book "Beyond Culture" by Edward T. Hall. Highlights include the population/environment crisis, cultural literacy, the use of technology, and Marshall McLuhan's idea of the global village. (LRW)

Bio-Culturalism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grodal, Torben Kragh

2007-01-01

The article argues on the basis of analyses of successful films for children that not only cultural determinants but also innate determinats are important, and that film studies should combine cultural studies with cognitive theory, evolutionary theory and neuroscience, an approach that is called...... Bio-culturalism....

The operation of strategic culture in the Russian campaign of the 1994-1996 Chechen war : culture and Clausewitz

OpenAIRE

Pender, Lachlan James

2017-01-01

Strategic culture literature identifies political and military cultures’ important, enduring influence over an actor’s strategic behaviour. However, it has not provided an understanding of how these factors relate to an actor’s unique social dynamics, and how, in tandem, national identity, political culture and military culture interact during a conflict to influence an actor’s strategic behaviour. To address this gap in the literature, this dissertation examines strategic culture’s influence...

Cultural Capital and the Consumption of Cultural Goods: Strategies Used for Status Consumption Among New Middle Class Brazilian Women.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucivânia Filomeno Ponte

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Holt (1998 investigated the application of  the concept of consumption of cultural products as a means of acquiring status by conducting research in the United States and Turkey (Üstüner & Holt, 2010. This present research was based on this latest study and aimed to study the relationship between the consumption of cultural products and the consumption of status among Brazilian women in the new middle class. It was concluded that the cultural capital acts as a determining factor in the consumption of status, being converted in tastes and consumption practices. The consumption of cultural products is critical to the building of the status strategies, however, the cultural products used may vary according to the greater or lesser cultural capital of the interviewees.

Perceived cultural importance and actual self-importance of values in cultural identification.

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, Ching; Chiu, Chi-yue; Tam, Kim-pong; Lee, Sau-lai; Lau, Ivy Yee-man; Peng, Siqing

2007-02-01

Cross-cultural psychologists assume that core cultural values define to a large extent what a culture is. Typically, core values are identified through an actual self-importance approach, in which core values are those that members of the culture as a group strongly endorse. In this article, the authors propose a perceived cultural importance approach to identifying core values, in which core values are values that members of the culture as a group generally believe to be important in the culture. In 5 studies, the authors examine the utility of the perceived cultural importance approach. Results consistently showed that, compared with values of high actual self-importance, values of high perceived cultural importance play a more important role in cultural identification. These findings have important implications for conceptualizing and measuring cultures. ((c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved).

Planning Smalltalk Behavior with Cultural Influences for Multiagent Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Endrass, Birgit; Rehm, Matthias; André, Elisabeth

2011-01-01

There are several factors that influence communicative behavior, such as gender, personality or culture. As virtual agents interact in a more and more human-like manner, their behavior should be dependent on social factors as well. Culture is a phenomenon that affects one’s behavior without one...... realizing it. Behavior is thus sometimes perceived as inappropriate because there is no awareness of the cultural gap. Thus, we think cultural background should also influence the communication behavior of virtual agents. Behavioral differences are sometimes easy to recognize by humans but still hard...

School Culture and Physical Activity: A Systematic Review

Science.gov (United States)

Rickwood, Greg

2013-01-01

This review examines literature on aspects of school culture and students' physical activity participation. The following questions were addressed: (1) what aspects of school culture have been examined in relation to physical activity, (2) what is the weight of evidence concerning the relationships between school culture factors and physical…

Influencing Factors for Developing Managerial Behaviours That Encourage a Work-Family Culture in the University Context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

María Dolores Álvarez-Pérez

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This article develops and tests a theoretical model to find out which factors influence the behaviour of supervisors in terms of promoting a work-family culture. This model explains to what extent the factors studied are relevant to encourage deans to promote this type of culture at Spanish universities. The hypotheses were tested using linear regression analysis. Data were obtained through a questionnaire to deans. The results yield five key factors: (1 the personal work-family conflict of managers; (2 the transformational leadership style of managers; (3 the identification with subordinates in need of work-family cares; (4 the perceived institutional support; and (5 the perceived support from other supervisors in the centre. The findings have practical implications for human resources management (HRM practices. Human resources management practices such as (a providing deans and other supervisors with training about the importance of work-family programs; (b promoting deans’ training in order to develop transformational leadership skills; or (c increasing institutional support can be useful when implementing a work-family culture in Spanish universities.

Errata: Fokker, a clash of culture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heerkens, Johannes M.G.; Ulijn, Jan

2000-01-01

What role do cultural play in the survival of companies that face existential problems? We try to provide some answers by looking at the decline of the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. In 1996 this company went bankrupt and among the causes of this event cultural factors rank high, at least at

Measuring patient safety culture in Taiwan using the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC).

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, I-Chi; Li, Hung-Hui

2010-06-07

Patient safety is a critical component to the quality of health care. As health care organizations endeavour to improve their quality of care, there is a growing recognition of the importance of establishing a culture of patient safety. In this research, the authors use the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) questionnaire to assess the culture of patient safety in Taiwan and attempt to provide an explanation for some of the phenomena that are unique in Taiwan. The authors used HSOPSC to measure the 12 dimensions of the patient safety culture from 42 hospitals in Taiwan. The survey received 788 respondents including physicians, nurses, and non-clinical staff. This study used SPSS 15.0 for Windows and Amos 7 software tools to perform the statistical analysis on the survey data, including descriptive statistics and confirmatory factor analysis of the structural equation model. The overall average positive response rate for the 12 patient safety culture dimensions of the HSOPSC survey was 64%, slightly higher than the average positive response rate for the AHRQ data (61%). The results showed that hospital staff in Taiwan feel positively toward patient safety culture in their organization. The dimension that received the highest positive response rate was "Teamwork within units", similar to the results reported in the US. The dimension with the lowest percentage of positive responses was "Staffing". Statistical analysis showed discrepancies between Taiwan and the US in three dimensions, including "Feedback and communication about error", "Communication openness", and "Frequency of event reporting". The HSOPSC measurement provides evidence for assessing patient safety culture in Taiwan. The results show that in general, hospital staffs in Taiwan feel positively toward patient safety culture within their organization. The existence of discrepancies between the US data and the Taiwanese data suggest that cultural uniqueness should be taken into

Culture-sensitive psychotraumatology

Science.gov (United States)

Schnyder, Ulrich; Bryant, Richard A.; Ehlers, Anke; Foa, Edna B.; Hasan, Aram; Mwiti, Gladys; Kristensen, Christian H.; Neuner, Frank; Oe, Misari; Yule, William

2016-01-01

Background Although there is some evidence of the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) construct's cross cultural validity, trauma-related disorders may vary across cultures, and the same may be true for treatments that address such conditions. Experienced therapists tailor psychotherapy to each patient's particular situation, to the nature of the patient's psychopathology, to the stage of therapy, and so on. In addition, culture-sensitive psychotherapists try to understand how culture enhances the meaning of their patient's life history, the cultural components of their illness and help-seeking behaviors, as well as their expectations with regard to treatment. We cannot take for granted that all treatment-seeking trauma survivors speak our language or share our cultural values. Therefore, we need to increase our cultural competencies. Methods The authors of this article are clinicians and/or researchers from across the globe, working with trauma survivors in various settings. Each author focused on one or more specific cultural aspects of working with trauma survivors and highlighted the following aspects. Results As a result of culture-specific individual and collective meanings linked to trauma and trauma-related disorders survivors may be exposed to (self-)stigma in the aftermath of trauma. Patients who are reluctant to talk about their traumatic experiences may instead be willing to write or use other ways of accessing the painful memories such as drawing. In other cultures, community and family cohesion are crucial elements of recovery. While awareness of culture-specific aspects is important, we also need to beware of premature cultural stereotyping. When disseminating empirically supported psychotherapies for PTSD across cultures, a number of additional challenges need to be taken into account: many low and middle income countries have very limited resources available and suffer from a poor health infrastructure. Conclusions In summary, culture

The Influence Of Organizational Culture On Management Information System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arlis Dewi Kuraesin

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This article aims to know the culture of the organization and management accounting information system based on existing theories. The management information system is a collection of sub-systems which are interconnected with each other to work together in harmony to achieve one goal of process data into information needed by management in decision making. An important factor influencing the use of information systems is Cultural Organization. Management Information system success is influenced by several factors one of which is the organizations culture. Organizational culture has a very strong influence on the overall organizational and individual behavior due to the information system is a major component of the organization are influenced substantially by organizational culture.

Creating a Culture by Governance: Issues in Managing Culture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ma. Victoria T. Herrera

2001-12-01

Full Text Available The management of culture involves a network of agencies, institutions and entities both from the public and private sectors. This is part of a collective process by which objects acwuire cultural significance. We create images of our nations, tell stories, and construct experiences for other people through exhibitions, festivals and other cultural activities. Our role is never neutral and it is important to recognize this power and the implications of our actions.In the Philippines, government has taken an active role in the production and management of culture. In spite of the relatively small percentage of funding spent on culture and the arts, it has extended support through various institutions and agencies that, at present, comprise a complex network. Through their respective programs, government has defined paths of cultural production-- from the larger policy framework for organizations to specific commemorative programs. Given this range of involvement, how has the state empowered people and organizations shape culture? What strategies has it taken to extend to support the production and distribution of culture?This paper focuses on two case studies that represent strategies the state has taken in cultural management. At a macro level, the changes the Cultural Center of the Philippines underwent reflect shifting policies and priorities. As products of changing political administrations, this institution went through a re-orientation of its mission. This came with an abrupt expansion in scale but without the necessary resources to support the CCP's new programs. At a micro level, the second evaluates the refurbished Rizal Shrine, Fort Santiago, one of the major projects of the now defunct National Centennial Commission. This underscores the need for a more transparent decision-making process, prioritizing the interest of the museum's public and not just that of the specialists who control the production of knowledge.

Culture of health of a person as a part of physical culture

OpenAIRE

A.P. Khalajtsan

2014-01-01

Purpose: to determine the general concepts of the theory and methods of physical education. On the basis of their form defining the components of physical culture and personality reflect the place of culture health of individuals among these components. Material: processed more than 40 references. Results: a definition of generalizing concepts of "culture", "health", "physical culture", "culture of health" formulated defining components of physical culture personality: health culture personal...

Media and Culture-building

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Reza Dehshiri

2010-01-01

Full Text Available First of all, the present study would explain 6-layer dimensions of culture –including beliefs, values, and norms (as the core of culture, and symbols, rituals, and customs, technologies, skills, and innovations (as the culture surface. Then, applying communication theories besides exploring the concept of “culture-building” involving culture-admission (affecting both core and surface of culture and culture-orientation (affecting culture’s surface; it would analyze the cultural affects media has in thoughts, normalizing, symbolizing, socialization, modeling, and innovation. The assessed hypothesis emphasizes that in the core of culture, media play an educational and stabilizing role in culture-admission process, while in the surface of culture –the culture-orientation process- they could transform behaviors and social models.

Avatar Culture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Koda, Tomoko; Ishida, Toru; Rehm, Matthias

2009-01-01

and Western designers. The goals of the study were: (1) to investigate cultural differences in avatar expression evaluation and apply findings from psychological studies of human facial expression recognition, (2) to identify expressions and design features that cause cultural differences in avatar facial...... expression interpretation. The results of our study confirmed that (1) there are cultural differences in interpreting avatars’ facial expressions, and the psychological theory that suggests physical proximity affects facial expression recognition accuracy is also applicable to avatar facial expressions, (2......Avatars are increasingly used to express our emotions in our online communications. Such avatars are used based on the assumption that avatar expressions are interpreted universally among all cultures. This paper investigated cross-cultural evaluations of avatar expressions designed by Japanese...

“What Cultural Policies?” Explicit and Implicit Cultural Policies in Lebanon

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Nadia von Maltzahn

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Cultural policies define a vision for culture, and provide frameworks for institutional practice to translate this vision on the ground. A 1981 study on Lebanese cultural policy reached the conclusion that one cannot speak of cultural policies in Lebanon if one refers to state laws, regulations and plans. However, if cultural policy was understood as the method of a state to give its citizens the space to develop themselves in a way that they could create culture, one could certainly speak of cultural policies in Lebanon (Abou Rizk. In cultural policy research, there is a distinction between explicit and implicit cultural policy (Ahearne. In this article, the concept of explicit and implicit cultural policy is applied to the case of Lebanon. The two terms are extended so that the former does not only include cultural policies designatedas such by the state, but also those created by civil society actors, and that the latter does not only include political strategies, but also practices that in the end determine cultural policies. Drawing on empirical research conducted in the context of a larger study on the role of cultural institutions in the public sphere, the power struggles between different actors involved in cultural policy making cultural policy defined in the Lebanese context, which in turn will be positioned within the regional context.

A literature review of safety culture.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cole, Kerstan Suzanne; Stevens-Adams, Susan Marie; Wenner, Caren A.

2013-03-01

Workplace safety has been historically neglected by organizations in order to enhance profitability. Over the past 30 years, safety concerns and attention to safety have increased due to a series of disastrous events occurring across many different industries (e.g., Chernobyl, Upper Big-Branch Mine, Davis-Besse etc.). Many organizations have focused on promoting a healthy safety culture as a way to understand past incidents, and to prevent future disasters. There is an extensive academic literature devoted to safety culture, and the Department of Energy has also published a significant number of documents related to safety culture. The purpose of the current endeavor was to conduct a review of the safety culture literature in order to understand definitions, methodologies, models, and successful interventions for improving safety culture. After reviewing the literature, we observed four emerging themes. First, it was apparent that although safety culture is a valuable construct, it has some inherent weaknesses. For example, there is no common definition of safety culture and no standard way for assessing the construct. Second, it is apparent that researchers know how to measure particular components of safety culture, with specific focus on individual and organizational factors. Such existing methodologies can be leveraged for future assessments. Third, based on the published literature, the relationship between safety culture and performance is tenuous at best. There are few empirical studies that examine the relationship between safety culture and safety performance metrics. Further, most of these studies do not include a description of the implementation of interventions to improve safety culture, or do not measure the effect of these interventions on safety culture or performance. Fourth, safety culture is best viewed as a dynamic, multi-faceted overall system composed of individual, engineered and organizational models. By addressing all three components of

The outcome of infected total knee arthroplasty: culture-positive versus culture-negative.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Young-Hoo; Park, Jang-Won; Kim, Jun-Shik; Kim, Dong-Jin

2015-10-01

We studied the outcome in culture-positive and culture-negative infected total knee arthroplasty (TKA). We retrospectively reviewed 140 patients with culture-positive and 102 patients with culture-negative infected TKAs. We determined the infection control rate and clinical outcome after repeated debridement, and repeated 2-stage TKA in the culture-positive and culture-negative groups. The mean follow-up was 9.3 years (range 5-14 years) in the culture-positive group and 10.6 years (5-22) in the culture-negative group. The overall infection control rate was 56 % in both groups after the first treatment. The overall infection control rate was 90 % in the culture-positive group and 95 % in the culture-negative group. A functional knee was obtained in 90 % in the culture-positive group and 95 % in the culture-negative group. The data suggest that treatment according to the types of infection in both culture-positive and culture-negative groups after TKA controlled infection and maintained functional TKA with a firm level of fixation for most patients. Repeated debridement and repeated two-stage exchange TKA further improved infection control rates after the initial treatment and increased the likelihood of maintaining a functional TKA.

Culture-sensitive psychotraumatology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ulrich Schnyder

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Background: Although there is some evidence of the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD construct's cross cultural validity, trauma-related disorders may vary across cultures, and the same may be true for treatments that address such conditions. Experienced therapists tailor psychotherapy to each patient's particular situation, to the nature of the patient's psychopathology, to the stage of therapy, and so on. In addition, culture-sensitive psychotherapists try to understand how culture enhances the meaning of their patient's life history, the cultural components of their illness and help-seeking behaviors, as well as their expectations with regard to treatment. We cannot take for granted that all treatment-seeking trauma survivors speak our language or share our cultural values. Therefore, we need to increase our cultural competencies. Methods: The authors of this article are clinicians and/or researchers from across the globe, working with trauma survivors in various settings. Each author focused on one or more specific cultural aspects of working with trauma survivors and highlighted the following aspects. Results: As a result of culture-specific individual and collective meanings linked to trauma and trauma-related disorders survivors may be exposed to (self-stigma in the aftermath of trauma. Patients who are reluctant to talk about their traumatic experiences may instead be willing to write or use other ways of accessing the painful memories such as drawing. In other cultures, community and family cohesion are crucial elements of recovery. While awareness of culture-specific aspects is important, we also need to beware of premature cultural stereotyping. When disseminating empirically supported psychotherapies for PTSD across cultures, a number of additional challenges need to be taken into account: many low and middle income countries have very limited resources available and suffer from a poor health infrastructure. Conclusions: In summary

Enhanced proliferation and progesterone production by porcine granulosa cells cultured with pseudorabies virus growth factor (PRGF).

Science.gov (United States)

Piekło, R; Gregoraszczuk, E L; Lesko, J; Golais, F; Stokłosowa, S

1999-03-01

The objective of this research was to study possible interactions of pseudorabies virus growth factor (PRGF) with ovarian tissue. Granulosa cells isolated from porcine ovaries were cultured as monolayers for 6 days in a control medium without PRGF and in medium supplemented with different doses of this agent. Increased population density and change towards more fibroblastic-like shape of cells cultured with 10(9) I.U PRGF was observed when compared with control culture. The cells divided significantly faster during 6 days of culture under the influence of 10(3), 10(4), 10(5), 10(6), 10(7), 10(8) and 10(9) I.U./ml of PRGF at a dose dependent manner. PRGF in a dose 10(9) I.U. added to cultured cells isolated from small and medium follicles did not influence progesterone secretion . An increase of progesterone secretion under the influence of PRGF in all investigated days of cultures was observed in cells isolated from large preovulatory follicles. The marked increase in progesterone content in PRGF treated culture in doses of 0.5x10(7), 0.5x10(8), 0.5x10(9) I.U. was observed during 4 and 6 days of culture. The rise of progesterone content was not connected with increased number of secretory cells, but with a stimulation of production per cell. PRGF exerted no visible effect on progesterone secretion by granulosa cells from small and medium follicles cultured for 6 days. The presented in vitro data provide evidence for a local action of PRGF in the follicle depending on the stage of follicular development and duration of exposure. Precise relevance of the interaction of PRGF with follicular development requires further study.

Exploring Culture : Exercises, Stories and Synthetic Cultures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hofstede, G.J.

2002-01-01

A unique training book containing over 100 culture awareness exercises, dialogues, stories incidents and simulations that bring to life Geert Hofstede's five dimensions of culture. These dimensions are: power distance, collectivism versus individualism, femininity versus masculinity, uncertainly

Microspore culture of Zantedeschia aethiopica : The role of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Various factors affecting microspore culture were studied in Zantedeschia aethiopica. Starting microspores at late-unicellular stage, NLN as culture medium and treatment of culture at 32°C for 2 days prior to incubation at 25°C, gave the best early sporophytic response. A comparison of different carbohydrates applied in ...