The Relation between Parental Values and Parenting Behavior: A Test of the Kohn Hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Luster, Tom; And Others

1989-01-01

Used data on 65 mother-infant dyads to test Kohn's hypothesis concerning the relation between values and parenting behavior. Findings support Kohn's hypothesis that parents who value self-direction would emphasize supportive function of parenting and parents who value conformity would emphasize their obligations to impose restraints. (Author/NB)

Shifts in indigenous culture relate to forest tree diversity: a case study from the Tsimane’, Bolivian Amazon

Science.gov (United States)

Guèze, Maximilien; Luz, Ana Catarina; Paneque-Gálvez, Jaime; Macía, Manuel J.; Orta-Martínez, Martí; Pino, Joan; Reyes-García, Victoria

2015-01-01

Understanding how indigenous peoples’ management practices relate to biological diversity requires addressing contemporary changes in indigenous peoples’ way of life. This study explores the association between cultural change among a Bolivian Amazonian indigenous group, the Tsimane’, and tree diversity in forests surrounding their villages. We interviewed 86 informants in six villages about their level of attachment to traditional Tsimane’ values, our proxy for cultural change. We estimated tree diversity (Fisher’s Alpha index) by inventorying trees in 48 0.1-ha plots in old-growth forests distributed in the territory of the same villages. We used multivariate models to assess the relation between cultural change and alpha tree diversity. Cultural change was associated with alpha tree diversity and the relation showed an inverted U-shape, thus suggesting that tree alpha diversity peaked in villages undergoing intermediate cultural change. Although the results do not allow for testing the direction of the relation, we propose that cultural change relates to tree diversity through the changes in practices and behaviors that affect the traditional ecological knowledge of Tsimane’ communities; further research is needed to determine the causality. Our results also find support in the intermediate disturbance hypothesis, and suggest that indigenous management can be seen as an intermediate form of anthropogenic disturbance affecting forest communities in a subtle, non-destructive way. PMID:26097240

Shifts in indigenous culture relate to forest tree diversity: a case study from the Tsimane', Bolivian Amazon.

Science.gov (United States)

Guèze, Maximilien; Luz, Ana Catarina; Paneque-Gálvez, Jaime; Macía, Manuel J; Orta-Martínez, Martí; Pino, Joan; Reyes-García, Victoria

2015-06-01

Understanding how indigenous peoples' management practices relate to biological diversity requires addressing contemporary changes in indigenous peoples' way of life. This study explores the association between cultural change among a Bolivian Amazonian indigenous group, the Tsimane', and tree diversity in forests surrounding their villages. We interviewed 86 informants in six villages about their level of attachment to traditional Tsimane' values, our proxy for cultural change. We estimated tree diversity (Fisher's Alpha index) by inventorying trees in 48 0.1-ha plots in old-growth forests distributed in the territory of the same villages. We used multivariate models to assess the relation between cultural change and alpha tree diversity. Cultural change was associated with alpha tree diversity and the relation showed an inverted U-shape, thus suggesting that tree alpha diversity peaked in villages undergoing intermediate cultural change. Although the results do not allow for testing the direction of the relation, we propose that cultural change relates to tree diversity through the changes in practices and behaviors that affect the traditional ecological knowledge of Tsimane' communities; further research is needed to determine the causality. Our results also find support in the intermediate disturbance hypothesis, and suggest that indigenous management can be seen as an intermediate form of anthropogenic disturbance affecting forest communities in a subtle, non-destructive way.

Revisiting the hygiene hypothesis for allergy and asthma.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Andrew H

2015-10-01

The hygiene hypothesis, which describes the protective influence of microbial exposures in early life on the development of allergy and asthma, has continued its swell of academic interest, investigation, and evolution. This article is focused on studies published in the past 3 years that have furthered the substance and shape of hygiene theory, primarily as it relates to allergic airways and asthma. Recent investigations have furthered an overarching "microbiome hypothesis" to home features, medical practices, and cleanliness behaviors that are suspects in the hygiene effect. Relatively crude markers of the protective microbial environment have been supplanted by culture-independent microbiome science, distinguishing the characteristics of potentially protective microbiomes from pathologic features. Understanding how the microbiome is shaped and affects healthful versus harmful outcomes in the human host is relatively nascent. Good clues are emerging that give mechanistic substance to the theory and could help guide microbe-based therapeutics to fill the allergy and asthma management gap in prevention and disease modification. Copyright © 2015 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Fluorescence Microspectroscopy for Testing the Dimerization Hypothesis of BACE1 Protein in Cultured HEK293 Cells

Science.gov (United States)

Gardeen, Spencer; Johnson, Joseph L.; Heikal, Ahmed A.

2016-06-01

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that results from the formation of beta-amyloid plaques in the brain that trigger the known symptoms of memory loss in AD patients. The beta-amyloid plaques are formed by the proteolytic cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) by the proteases BACE1 and gamma-secretase. These enzyme-facilitated cleavages lead to the production of beta-amyloid fragments that aggregate to form plaques, which ultimately lead to neuronal cell death. Recent detergent protein extraction studies suggest that BACE1 protein forms a dimer that has significantly higher catalytic activity than its monomeric counterpart. In this contribution, we examine the dimerization hypothesis of BACE1 in cultured HEK293 cells using complementary fluorescence spectroscopy and microscopy methods. Cells were transfected with a BACE1-EGFP fusion protein construct and imaged using confocal, and differential interference contrast to monitor the localization and distribution of intracellular BACE1. Complementary fluorescence lifetime and anisotropy measurements enabled us to examine the conformational and environmental changes of BACE1 as a function of substrate binding. Using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, we also quantified the diffusion coefficient of BACE1-EGFP on the plasma membrane as a means to test the dimerization hypothesis as a fucntion of substrate-analog inhibitition. Our results represent an important first towards examining the substrate-mediated dimerization hypothesis of BACE1 in live cells.

Multiple sclerosis: a geographical hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Carlyle, I P

1997-12-01

Multiple sclerosis remains a rare neurological disease of unknown aetiology, with a unique distribution, both geographically and historically. Rare in equatorial regions, it becomes increasingly common in higher latitudes; historically, it was first clinically recognized in the early nineteenth century. A hypothesis, based on geographical reasoning, is here proposed: that the disease is the result of a specific vitamin deficiency. Different individuals suffer the deficiency in separate and often unique ways. Evidence to support the hypothesis exists in cultural considerations, in the global distribution of the disease, and in its historical prevalence.

Cultural shaping of neural responses: Feedback-related potentials vary with self-construal and face priming.

Science.gov (United States)

Hitokoto, Hidefumi; Glazer, James; Kitayama, Shinobu

2016-01-01

Previous work shows that when an image of a face is presented immediately prior to each trial of a speeded cognitive task (face-priming), the error-related negativity (ERN) is upregulated for Asians, but it is downregulated for Caucasians. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that images of "generalized other" vary cross-culturally such that they evoke anxiety for Asians, whereas they serve as safety cues for Caucasians. Here, we tested whether the cross-cultural variation in the face-priming effect would be observed in a gambling paradigm. Caucasian Americans, Asian Americans, and Asian sojourners were exposed to a brief flash of a schematic face during a gamble. For Asian Americans, face-priming resulted in significant increases of both negative-going deflection of ERP upon negative feedback (feedback-related negativity [FRN]) and positive-going deflection of ERP upon positive feedback (feedback-related positivity [FRP]). For Caucasian Americans, face-priming showed a significant reversal, decreasing both FRN and FRP. The cultural difference in the face-priming effect in FRN and FRP was partially mediated by interdependent self-construal. Curiously, Asian sojourners showed a pattern similar to the one for Caucasian Americans. Our findings suggest that culture shapes neural pathways in both systematic and highly dynamic fashion. © 2015 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Cultural Competence and Related Factors Among Taiwanese Nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Chin-Nu; Mastel-Smith, Beth; Alfred, Danita; Lin, Yu-Hua

2015-12-01

Taiwan is a multicultural and multiethnic society with a growing number of immigrants who have diverse ethnic, racial, and cultural needs. Although this diversity highlights the pressing need for culturally competent healthcare providers, cultural competence is a concept that is little understood and implemented only sporadically in Taiwan. This study investigates the cultural competence of Taiwanese nurses and the related factors of influence. An online self-report survey was used to collect data from 221 Taiwanese nurses from December 2012 through January 2013. Data from the demographic questionnaire, the Nurses' Cultural Competence Scale, and the Perceived Nurses' Cultural Competence Rating were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, independent sample t tests, and multiple regressions. The cultural competence of the participants was in the "low to moderate" range, with relatively higher mean scores for the subscales of cultural awareness and cultural sensitivity and relatively lower scores for the subscales of cultural knowledge and cultural skills. Participants generally perceived themselves as being "not culturally competent." Variables found to predict cultural competence included years of work experience, hours of continuing education related to cultural nursing care, and frequency of caring for clients from culturally and ethnically diverse backgrounds. Participating Taiwanese nurses rated their level of cultural competence as in the low-to-moderate range and self-perceived as being not culturally competent. These findings support the need to further expand and enhance cultural-competence-related continuing education and to address the topic of cultural care in the nursing curricula.

The Hypothesis-Driven Physical Examination.

Science.gov (United States)

Garibaldi, Brian T; Olson, Andrew P J

2018-05-01

The physical examination remains a vital part of the clinical encounter. However, physical examination skills have declined in recent years, in part because of decreased time at the bedside. Many clinicians question the relevance of physical examinations in the age of technology. A hypothesis-driven approach to teaching and practicing the physical examination emphasizes the performance of maneuvers that can alter the likelihood of disease. Likelihood ratios are diagnostic weights that allow clinicians to estimate the post-probability of disease. This hypothesis-driven approach to the physical examination increases its value and efficiency, while preserving its cultural role in the patient-physician relationship. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Explaining Differences in Subjective Well-Being Across 33 Nations Using Multilevel Models: Universal Personality, Cultural Relativity, and National Income.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Cecilia; Cheung, Mike W-L; Montasem, Alex

2016-02-01

This multinational study simultaneously tested three prominent hypotheses--universal disposition, cultural relativity, and livability--that explained differences in subjective well-being across nations. We performed multilevel structural equation modeling to examine the hypothesized relationships at both individual and cultural levels in 33 nations. Participants were 6,753 university students (2,215 men; 4,403 women; 135 did not specify), and the average age of the entire sample was 20.97 years (SD = 2.39). Both individual- and cultural-level analyses supported the universal disposition and cultural relativity hypotheses by revealing significant associations of subjective well-being with Extraversion, Neuroticism, and independent self-construal. In addition, interdependent self-construal was positively related to life satisfaction at the individual level only, whereas aggregated negative affect was positively linked with aggregate levels of Extraversion and interdependent self-construal at the cultural level only. Consistent with the livability hypothesis, gross national income (GNI) was related to aggregate levels of negative affect and life satisfaction. There was also a quadratic relationship between GNI and aggregated positive affect. Our findings reveal that universal disposition, cultural self-construal, and national income can elucidate differences in subjective well-being, but the multilevel analyses advance the literature by yielding new findings that cannot be identified in studies using individual-level analyses alone. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Is Information Ethics Culture-Relative?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brey, Philip A.E.; Zaphiris, P.; Ang, C.

2009-01-01

In this article, I examine whether information ethics is culture relative. If it is, different approaches to information ethics are required in different cultures and societies. This would have major implications for the current, predominantly Western approach to information ethics. If it is not,

The role of cultural diplomacy in international relations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Said Saddiki

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Cultural diplomacy, as a cornerstone of public diplomacy, plays an important role in today’s international relations, which are characterised by so-called culture shocks, and it should represent a decisive tool not only for transmitting culture and national values, but also for listening to what the cultures from the rest the world are saying to us. The main role of cultural diplomacy is to promote transnational dialogue between cultures and nations, especially between the West and the Muslim world. Cultural diplomacy, just like other new dimensions in diplomacy, is not exclusively controlled by nation-states, given that at present they are not the only actors on the international stage, since other non-state actors (civil society, NGOs, universities, academics, etc. are playing an important role in this field. The aim of this article is to analyse the role of culture in modern diplomacy and its impact on relations between peoples and nations. It also attempts to focus on the positive aspects of the influence of culture on contemporary international relations.

Struggling between two cultures: the religious and cultural identity of the Moroccan children community in Barcelona

OpenAIRE

Plocikiewicz, Magdalena

2011-01-01

The aim of that article is the religious and cultural identity and how it is formed in case of the children of immigrants from Morocco. The hypothesis is that the identity of that group is formed as the complex relation between the origin culture input and the secondary socialization within host society. In other words, their identity is a result of the combination of two, essentially different cultures the Moroccan and the Spanish/Catalan one. The goal is to provide a sociological understand...

Translation between cultures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henrique de Oliveira Lee

2016-05-01

Full Text Available This article will question the pertinence of understanding interculturality in terms of translation between cultures. I shall study this hypothesis in two ways : 1 / the cosmopolitan horizon, which the idea of translation may implicate ; 2 / the critique of the premises of unique origin and homogeneity of cultures which this hypothesis makes possible.

Agency versus Communion as Predictors of Self-esteem: Searching for the Role of Culture and Self-construal

OpenAIRE

Wojciszke Bogdan; Bialobrzeska Olga

2014-01-01

Two hypotheses concerning the relative importance of agentic versus communal traits as predictors of selfesteem were tested. The perspective hypothesis assumed that self-esteem is dominated by agency over communion because self-perceptions are formed from the agent (versus recipient) perspective. The culture hypothesis assumed that self-esteem is dominated by communal concerns in collectivistic cultures and by agentic concerns in individualistic cultures (echoed by individual differences in s...

Between Culture and Cultural Heritage: Curriculum Historical Preconditions as Constitutive for Cultural Relations--The Swedish Case

Science.gov (United States)

Brantefors, Lotta

2015-01-01

The aim here is to describe and discuss how different cultural meanings, offered in education, can contribute to unjust cultural relations such as othering and xenophobia. By analysing the cultural and discursive content in curricula using a (neo)pragmatic curriculum theory research method, dominating ideas, values and discourses between 1948 and…

Does state-level context matter for individuals' knowledge about abortion, legality and health? Challenging the 'red states v. blue states' hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Bessett, Danielle; Gerdts, Caitlin; Littman, Lisa L; Kavanaugh, Megan L; Norris, Alison

2015-01-01

Recently, the hypothesis that state-level political context influences individuals' cultural values--the 'red states v. blue states' hypothesis--has been invoked to explain the hyper-polarisation of politics in the USA. To test this hypothesis, we examined individuals' knowledge about abortion in relation to the political context of their current state of residence. Drawing from an internet-survey of 586 reproductive-age individuals in the USA, we assessed two types of abortion knowledge: health-related and legality. We found that state-level conservatism does not modify the existing relationships between individual predictors and each of the two types of abortion knowledge. Hence, our findings do not support the 'red states' versus 'blue states' hypothesis. Additionally, we find that knowledge about abortion's health effects in the USA is low: 7% of our sample thought abortion before 12 weeks gestation was illegal.

[Dilemma of null hypothesis in ecological hypothesis's experiment test.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Ji

2016-06-01

Experimental test is one of the major test methods of ecological hypothesis, though there are many arguments due to null hypothesis. Quinn and Dunham (1983) analyzed the hypothesis deduction model from Platt (1964) and thus stated that there is no null hypothesis in ecology that can be strictly tested by experiments. Fisher's falsificationism and Neyman-Pearson (N-P)'s non-decisivity inhibit statistical null hypothesis from being strictly tested. Moreover, since the null hypothesis H 0 (α=1, β=0) and alternative hypothesis H 1 '(α'=1, β'=0) in ecological progresses are diffe-rent from classic physics, the ecological null hypothesis can neither be strictly tested experimentally. These dilemmas of null hypothesis could be relieved via the reduction of P value, careful selection of null hypothesis, non-centralization of non-null hypothesis, and two-tailed test. However, the statistical null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) should not to be equivalent to the causality logistical test in ecological hypothesis. Hence, the findings and conclusions about methodological studies and experimental tests based on NHST are not always logically reliable.

Color categories: Evidence for the cultural relativity hypothesis

OpenAIRE

Roberson, Debi; Davidoff, Jules B.; Davies, Ian R. L.; Shapiro, Laura R.

2005-01-01

The question of whether language affects our categorization of perceptual continua is of particular interest for the domain of color where constraints on categorization have been proposed both within the visual system and in the visual environment. Recent research (Roberson, Davies, & Davidoff, 2000; Roberson et al., in press) found substantial evidence of cognitive color differences between different language communities, but concerns remained as to how representative might be a tiny, extrem...

Color Categories: Evidence for the Cultural Relativity Hypothesis

Science.gov (United States)

Roberson, D.; Davidoff, J.; Davies, I.R.L.; Shapiro, L.R.

2005-01-01

The question of whether language affects our categorization of perceptual continua is of particular interest for the domain of color where constraints on categorization have been proposed both within the visual system and in the visual environment. Recent research (Roberson, Davies, & Davidoff, 2000; Roberson et al., in press) found…

Income-related inequality in health and health-related behaviour: exploring the equalisation hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Vallejo-Torres, Laura; Hale, Daniel; Morris, Stephen; Viner, Russell M

2014-07-01

Previous studies have found the socioeconomic gradient in health among adolescents to be lower than that observed during childhood and adulthood. The aim of this study was to examine income-related inequalities in health and health-related behaviour across the lifespan in England to explore 'equalisation' in adolescence. We used five years of data (2006-2010) from the Health Survey for England to explore inequalities in six indicators: self-assessed general health, longstanding illness, limiting longstanding illness, psychosocial wellbeing, obesity and smoking status. We ran separate analyses by age/gender groups. Inequality was measured using concentration indices. Our findings for longstanding illnesses, psychosocial wellbeing and obesity were consistent with the equalisation hypothesis. For these indicators, the extent of income-related inequality was lower among late adolescents (16-19 years) and young adults (20-24 years) compared to children and young adolescents (under 15 years), mid- and late-adults (25-44 and 45-64 years) and the elderly (65+ years). The remaining indicators showed lower inequality among adolescents compared to adults, but higher inequality when compared with children. Our work shows that inequalities occur across the life-course but that for some health issues there may be a period of equalisation in late adolescence and early adulthood. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Hypothesis analysis methods, hypothesis analysis devices, and articles of manufacture

Science.gov (United States)

Sanfilippo, Antonio P [Richland, WA; Cowell, Andrew J [Kennewick, WA; Gregory, Michelle L [Richland, WA; Baddeley, Robert L [Richland, WA; Paulson, Patrick R [Pasco, WA; Tratz, Stephen C [Richland, WA; Hohimer, Ryan E [West Richland, WA

2012-03-20

Hypothesis analysis methods, hypothesis analysis devices, and articles of manufacture are described according to some aspects. In one aspect, a hypothesis analysis method includes providing a hypothesis, providing an indicator which at least one of supports and refutes the hypothesis, using the indicator, associating evidence with the hypothesis, weighting the association of the evidence with the hypothesis, and using the weighting, providing information regarding the accuracy of the hypothesis.

Psychology of group relations: cultural and social dimensions.

Science.gov (United States)

Berry, J W

2004-07-01

Cross-cultural psychology attempts to understand the development and expression of human behavior in relation to the cultural contexts in which it occurs. It adopts the perspective of "universalism," which assumes that all human beings share basic psychological processes, but which are then shaped by cultural influences. This perspective allows for the comparison of individuals from different cultures (based on the process commonality), but also accepts behavioral variability (based on the cultural shaping). In the case of behavior that takes place during interactions between individuals coming from two (or more) cultures, the task is more complex; we now need to understand at least two sets of culture-behavior phenomena, as well as a third set--those that arise at the intersection of their relationships. In cross-cultural psychology, we have adopted concepts and methods from sociology and political science to inform work on "ethnic relations," and from cultural anthropology we have been informed in our work on the process and outcomes of "acculturation." In the former domain are phenomena such as prejudice and discrimination; in the latter are the strategies people use when in daily contact with people from other cultures (such as assimilation, integration, separation, and marginalization). These phenomena take place in cultural contexts, which need to be understood in terms of the core dimensions of cultural difference (such as diversity, equality, and conformity). During prolonged and intimate contact between persons of different cultural backgrounds, all these psychological concepts and processes, and cultural influences need to be taken into account when selecting, training, and monitoring individuals during their intercultural interactions.

The relation between language, culture, and thought.

Science.gov (United States)

Imai, Mutsumi; Kanero, Junko; Masuda, Takahiko

2016-04-01

The relationship between culture, language, and thought has long been one of the most important topics for those who wish to understand the nature of human cognition. This issue has been investigated for decades across a broad range of research disciplines. However, there has been scant communication across these different disciplines, a situation largely arising through differences in research interests and discrepancies in the definitions of key terms such as 'culture,' 'language,' and 'thought.' This article reviews recent trends in research on the relation between language, culture and thought to capture how cognitive psychology and cultural psychology have defined 'language' and 'culture,' and how this issue was addressed within each research discipline. We then review recent research conducted in interdisciplinary perspectives, which directly compared the roles of culture and language. Finally, we highlight the importance of considering the complex interplay between culture and language to provide a comprehensive picture of how language and culture affect thought. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Cross-Cultural Examination of Semantic Relations.

Science.gov (United States)

Raybeck, Douglas; Herrmann, Douglas

1990-01-01

Reports on a cross-cultural investigation of semantic relations, including antonyms, synonyms, and class inclusion, among bilingual adult subjects in the United States, England, Italy, Greece, Yugoslavia, Pakistan, and Hong Kong. Found significant agreement across cultures, especially for antinomy. Results in general support theories of linguistic…

Cultivating cultural differences in aymmetric power relations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ybema, S.B.; Buyn, H.

2009-01-01

In this article we integrate findings from interviews and ethnographic case studies to explore issues of culture and identity in Japanese-Dutch work relations in two different contexts: Japanese firms in the Netherlands and Dutch firms in Japan. It is suggested that cultural identities do not carry

On "feeling right" in cultural contexts: how person-culture match affects self-esteem and subjective well-being.

Science.gov (United States)

Fulmer, C Ashley; Gelfand, Michele J; Kruglanski, Arie W; Kim-Prieto, Chu; Diener, Ed; Pierro, Antonio; Higgins, E Tory

2010-11-01

Whether one is in one's native culture or abroad, one's personality can differ markedly from the personalities of the majority, thus failing to match the "cultural norm." Our studies examined how the interaction of individual- and cultural-level personality affects people's self-esteem and well-being. We propose a person-culture match hypothesis that predicts that when a person's personality matches the prevalent personalities of other people in a culture, culture functions as an important amplifier of the positive effect of personality on self-esteem and subjective well-being at the individual level. Across two studies, using data from more than 7,000 individuals from 28 societies, multilevel random-coefficient analyses showed that when a relation between a given personality trait and well-being or self-esteem exists at the individual level, the relation is stronger in cultures characterized by high levels of that personality dimension. Results were replicated across extraversion, promotion focus, and locomotive regulatory mode. Our research has practical implications for the well-being of both cultural natives and migrants.

Advice on cultural policy matters: changing times for the Council for Culture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lelieveldt, Philomeen; Minnaert, Toine

The central question is the changing role of advisory councils in Dutch cultural policy and the subsequent change in discourse on culture and the arts within cultural policy. Our working hypothesis is that the role of the Council for Culture (Raad voor Cultuur), the formal advisory council, is

Culture shapes the evolution of cognition

OpenAIRE

Thompson, Bill; Kirby, Simon; Smith, Kenny

2016-01-01

A central debate in cognitive science concerns the nativist hypothesis: the proposal that universal human behaviors are underpinned by strong, domain-specific, innate constraints on cognition. We use a general model of the processes that shape human behavior—learning, culture, and biological evolution—to test the evolutionary plausibility of this hypothesis. A series of analyses shows that culture radically alters the relationship between natural selection and cognition. Culture facilitates r...

Whiplash and the compensation hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Spearing, Natalie M; Connelly, Luke B

2011-12-01

Review article. To explain why the evidence that compensation-related factors lead to worse health outcomes is not compelling, either in general, or in the specific case of whiplash. There is a common view that compensation-related factors lead to worse health outcomes ("the compensation hypothesis"), despite the presence of important, and unresolved sources of bias. The empirical evidence on this question has ramifications for the design of compensation schemes. Using studies on whiplash, this article outlines the methodological problems that impede attempts to confirm or refute the compensation hypothesis. Compensation studies are prone to measurement bias, reverse causation bias, and selection bias. Errors in measurement are largely due to the latent nature of whiplash injuries and health itself, a lack of clarity over the unit of measurement (specific factors, or "compensation"), and a lack of appreciation for the heterogeneous qualities of compensation-related factors and schemes. There has been a failure to acknowledge and empirically address reverse causation bias, or the likelihood that poor health influences the decision to pursue compensation: it is unclear if compensation is a cause or a consequence of poor health, or both. Finally, unresolved selection bias (and hence, confounding) is evident in longitudinal studies and natural experiments. In both cases, between-group differences have not been addressed convincingly. The nature of the relationship between compensation-related factors and health is unclear. Current approaches to testing the compensation hypothesis are prone to several important sources of bias, which compromise the validity of their results. Methods that explicitly test the hypothesis and establish whether or not a causal relationship exists between compensation factors and prolonged whiplash symptoms are needed in future studies.

Narcissistic disorder and the failure of symbolisation: a Relational Affective Hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Mizen, C S

2014-09-01

The psychoanalytic concept of narcissistic disorder is broader than that of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (DSM-5 [1]), underlying a range of Personality Disorders (PD) and their co-morbidities. Existing Mentalisation, Psychoanalytic and Cognitive models, fail to account fully for the emerging evidence of biological, developmental, relational and defensive contributions to narcissistic disorder, nor do they account for the common and variant features of co-morbidities namely Anorexia Nervosa, Somatisation, Substance Misuse and Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Alexithymia and concrete modes of relating are common findings in narcissistic disorder and these co-morbid conditions. Current models do not provide a comprehensive account, on the basis of neuro-scientific and developmental evidence, of how affective feelings come to be represented in words and the association between narcissistic disorders and failures of symbolisation. In this paper I propose an empirically based Relational Affective Hypothesis that narcissistic disorder and its comorbidities represent failures at specific points on a representational function pathway through which subcortical affect and visceral feeling in a relational context become the basis for abstraction and language. The elucidation of this pathway allows investigation of the contribution of biological, social and psychogenic factors in narcissistic disorders. It also brings a new understanding of the neurological underpinning of psychodynamic defences in narcissistic disorders. Research and novel treatment implications are briefly considered. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Four Pairs of Relations in Developing the Culture of Teachers’ Collaboration%教师合作文化建设应把握好四对关系

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

李法松; 陈修梅

2016-01-01

Developing the culture of teachers’ collaboration should be based on four pairs of well-settled relations including the relation between utilitarianism and ethical orientation, between individualism and collaborative culture, between similarity and difference and between temporary goals and final goals. This is the only way to avoid mistakes in formulating the hypothesis of col-laborative culture and realize the due value of developing the culture of teachers’ collaboration.%教师合作文化建设应该处理好功利主义与伦理取向、个人主义与合作文化、“同”与“异”以及过渡目标与终极目标这四对基本关系。唯有如此，合作文化假设才能走出误区，踏入正轨，实现教师合作文化建设的应然价值。

Is culture a determinant of financial development?

OpenAIRE

Dutta, Nabamita; Mukherjee, Deepraj

2011-01-01

The paper investigates the missing link in the literature – whether informal institutions, or what is known as culture, can affect the level of financial development for a country? Our hypothesis stresses that the cultural dimensions of a country can have an impact on its financial set up. We consider multiple dimensions of culture, identified in the literature by Tabellini, to test our hypothesis. As culture evolve in the form of greater trust, control and other traits, individuals’ attitude...

The Concept of Cultural Relativity in Moral Judgments Concerning Gender-Related Issues.

Science.gov (United States)

Boyd, D. R.; And Others

The comparative study was designed to determine whether cultural relativism and ethical reasoning develop in a hierarchical manner when applied to culturally different phenomena. The phenomena investigated were moral judgments concerning gender-related issues. Thirty-six first through sixth-grade students from two private schools and 130…

Cultural factors in collegiate eating disorder pathology: When family culture clashes with individual culture

OpenAIRE

Tomiyama, AJ; Mann, T

2008-01-01

The authors evaluated the validity of familial enmeshment (extreme proximity in family relationships) as a risk factor for eating disorders across cultural value orientations. They tested the hypothesis that although familial enmeshment may be a risk factor for eating disorder pathology for (1) participants of non-Asian descent or (2) culturally independent participants, enmeshment will not be a risk factor for (1) participants of Asian descent or (2) culturally interdependent participants. P...

Error probabilities in default Bayesian hypothesis testing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gu, Xin; Hoijtink, Herbert; Mulder, J,

2016-01-01

This paper investigates the classical type I and type II error probabilities of default Bayes factors for a Bayesian t test. Default Bayes factors quantify the relative evidence between the null hypothesis and the unrestricted alternative hypothesis without needing to specify prior distributions for

Could languages of the same language families reflect a similar culture?

OpenAIRE

Laumann, Christiane

2006-01-01

When learning two languages of the same language family, one will realize quickly that there are similarities. But how deep are language and culture related? For long time the hypothesis that languages are responsible for cultural development was held to be true, later the opposite was assumed, and today it is maybe somewhere in between. With the help of Geert Hofstede's dimensions, comparing cultures on a continuum of nonverbal aspects, a connection between linguistic and intercultural commu...

Trends in hypothesis testing and related variables in nursing research: a retrospective exploratory study.

Science.gov (United States)

Lash, Ayhan Aytekin; Plonczynski, Donna J; Sehdev, Amikar

2011-01-01

To compare the inclusion and the influences of selected variables on hypothesis testing during the 1980s and 1990s. In spite of the emphasis on conducting inquiry consistent with the tenets of logical positivism, there have been no studies investigating the frequency and patterns of hypothesis testing in nursing research The sample was obtained from the journal Nursing Research which was the research journal with the highest circulation during the study period under study. All quantitative studies published during the two decades including briefs and historical studies were included in the analyses A retrospective design was used to select the sample. Five years from the 1980s and 1990s each were randomly selected from the journal, Nursing Research. Of the 582 studies, 517 met inclusion criteria. Findings suggest that there has been a decline in the use of hypothesis testing in the last decades of the 20th century. Further research is needed to identify the factors that influence the conduction of research with hypothesis testing. Hypothesis testing in nursing research showed a steady decline from the 1980s to 1990s. Research purposes of explanation, and prediction/ control increased the likelihood of hypothesis testing. Hypothesis testing strengthens the quality of the quantitative studies, increases the generality of findings and provides dependable knowledge. This is particularly true for quantitative studies that aim to explore, explain and predict/control phenomena and/or test theories. The findings also have implications for doctoral programmes, research preparation of nurse-investigators, and theory testing.

Culture of Honour and Emotional Intelligence: Incompatible or related concepts?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Esther López-Zafra

2013-11-01

Full Text Available In this study we relate two concepts, Emotional Intelligence and Culture of Honour; in both cases the emotional aspect is very important and we believe they may have a role in couple relations. We propose that both concepts would relate in reverse, so that an individual with a high level of Emotional Intelligence would give less importance to the Culture of Honor and vice versa. A sample of 203 heterosexual couples completed a questionnaire. Our results show that the dimension Attention to emotions is associated with the culture of honor. Among our fi ndings we propose that the two concepts are related in some way and that congruency in the valuation of the Culture of Honor between the two partners will also deal with a level of Emotional Intelligence higher than in couples where there is not this congruence.

The Origin of the Year 2000 Date Problem: an alternative hypothesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard Kingsford

1999-05-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to identify the primary origin of the year 2000 date problem, in which many computer-based systems may fail because they cannot correctly interpret two-digit year dates which lie in and after the year 2000. The paper proposes a hypothesis within a cultural anthropological framework that the fundamental origin of the problem lay in a pre-existing, commonplace norm of Western culture - the pervasive use of two-digit year dates. This cultural practice set Western society on a collision course with the technology of the future. The cultural norm underpinned and influenced the actions taken within the IT industry from the 1960s onwards, which laid the physical foundation for the problem.

Clock hypothesis of relativity theory, maximal acceleration, and Mössbauer spectroscopy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Potzel, W., E-mail: wpotzel@ph.tum.de [Technische Universität München, Physik-Department E15 (Germany)

2016-12-15

Results obtained several years ago using the high-resolution 93.3 keV Mössbauer resonance in {sup 67}ZnO and β{sup ′}-brass have been reanalyzed with the notion that the clock hypothesis of Special Relativity Theory is not sufficient, but that a maximal acceleration a{sub m} exists and that an acceleration a contributes to the temperature dependence of the center shift by a term ±(1/2)(a/a{sub m}){sup 2}. The significance of the sign of this term is discussed in detail. For both substances a lower limit of a{sub m}>1.5⋅10{sup 21}m/s {sup 2} is inferred which is more than two orders of magnitude larger than - and thus excludes - the value a{sub m}=1⋅10{sup 19}m/s {sup 2} suggested by {sup 57}Fe rotor experiments.

The Cultural Discontinuity Hypothesis: A Critical Review of Literature

Science.gov (United States)

Conner, Timothy W., II

2013-01-01

Researchers that study cultural and psychological influences on learning and development have proposed that differences between the socialized practices of European Americans and those of particular racial and ethnic minority youth are, to some degree, potentially responsible for persistent Racial and ethnic minority youth underachievement in…

How culture gets embrained: Cultural differences in event-related potentials of social norm violations.

Science.gov (United States)

Mu, Yan; Kitayama, Shinobu; Han, Shihui; Gelfand, Michele J

2015-12-15

Humans are unique among all species in their ability to develop and enforce social norms, but there is wide variation in the strength of social norms across human societies. Despite this fundamental aspect of human nature, there has been surprisingly little research on how social norm violations are detected at the neurobiological level. Building on the emerging field of cultural neuroscience, we combine noninvasive electroencephalography (EEG) with a new social norm violation paradigm to examine the neural mechanisms underlying the detection of norm violations and how they vary across cultures. EEG recordings from Chinese and US participants (n = 50) showed consistent negative deflection of event-related potential around 400 ms (N400) over the central and parietal regions that served as a culture-general neural marker of detecting norm violations. The N400 at the frontal and temporal regions, however, was only observed among Chinese but not US participants, illustrating culture-specific neural substrates of the detection of norm violations. Further, the frontal N400 predicted a variety of behavioral and attitudinal measurements related to the strength of social norms that have been found at the national and state levels, including higher culture superiority and self-control but lower creativity. There were no cultural differences in the N400 induced by semantic violation, suggesting a unique cultural influence on social norm violation detection. In all, these findings provided the first evidence, to our knowledge, for the neurobiological foundations of social norm violation detection and its variation across cultures.

Integrated culture of silver kob Argyrosomus inodorus and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

South African abalone Haliotis midae farms utilise large volumes of seawater (c. 500–1 500 l s–1) and produce relatively dilute effluents that are potentially suitable for the integrated culture of other species. To test this hypothesis, a marine finfish, silver kob Argyrosomus inodorus, and a detritivorous polychaete, bloodworm ...

Perceived cultural distance and acculturation among exchange students in Russia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Suanet, I.; van de Vijver, F.J.R.

2009-01-01

The relations of perceived cultural distance, personality, acculturation orientations and outcomes were studied among exchange students (N = 187) in Russia who came from various countries in Asia, sub‐Saharan Africa, Latin America and the former Soviet Union. The hypothesis was supported that a

What Cultural Values Influence American Public Relations Practitioners?

Science.gov (United States)

Vasquez, Gabriel M.; Taylor, Maureen

1999-01-01

Examines the role of culture as a key variable in public relations research and practice. Finds (1) American practitioners continue to practice one-way models of public relations; and (2) public relations practitioners who have collectivistic values tend to practice two-way models of public relations. Discusses implications for theory and…

The Place of Culture in the Current International Relations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Constantin Frosin

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Culture and international relations easily appear to be mutually contradictory terms. To speak of "culture" is to invoke the creative capacities of human beings, to point, for example, to the constitutive role of values and visions, to the power of language and aesthetic expression, to communities great and small engaged in reconstructing normative aspirations and reshaping the possibilities for a decent way of life. To speak of "international relations," by contrast, is to draw upon an altogether bleaker account of the human condition, to refer to missiles and bombs, trade figures and debts, statesmanship and diplomacy, intrigue and force. It is to echo assertions about naked power and the sacrifice of cultural creativity and normative aspiration to the supposedly more enduring determinations of survival or supremacy. From the dark depths of international relations, the term culture takes on an aura of frivolity. It appears to refer to the idealistic and utopian, to the veneer of civilized decency that is always stripped away by the harsh realities of power politics and international conflict. This work aims at showing the contrary.

Investigating Culture-related Aspects of Behavior for Virtual Characters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Endrass, Birgit; André, Elisabeth; Rehm, Matthias

2013-01-01

In this paper, culture-related behaviors are investigated on several channels of communication for virtual characters. Prototypical behaviors were formalized in computational models based on a literature review as well as a corpus analysis, exemplifying the German and Japanese cultures. Therefore...

Geographic variation in chin shape challenges the universal facial attractiveness hypothesis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zaneta M Thayer

Full Text Available The universal facial attractiveness (UFA hypothesis proposes that some facial features are universally preferred because they are reliable signals of mate quality. The primary evidence for this hypothesis comes from cross-cultural studies of perceived attractiveness. However, these studies do not directly address patterns of morphological variation at the population level. An unanswered question is therefore: Are universally preferred facial phenotypes geographically invariant, as the UFA hypothesis implies? The purpose of our study is to evaluate this often overlooked aspect of the UFA hypothesis by examining patterns of geographic variation in chin shape. We collected symphyseal outlines from 180 recent human mandibles (90 male, 90 female representing nine geographic regions. Elliptical Fourier functions analysis was used to quantify chin shape, and principle components analysis was used to compute shape descriptors. In contrast to the expectations of the UFA hypothesis, we found significant geographic differences in male and female chin shape. These findings are consistent with region-specific sexual selection and/or random genetic drift, but not universal sexual selection. We recommend that future studies of facial attractiveness take into consideration patterns of morphological variation within and between diverse human populations.

Intercultural Interpretations: Making Public Relations Education Culturally Relevant

Science.gov (United States)

Chia, Joy

2009-01-01

Public relations educators delivering courses to international students find that each cohort of students interprets and understands public relations theory and its application to practice according to their respective cultures. The premise of this paper is to reflect on some of the interpretations and expectations of public relations students…

Hypothesis Designs for Three-Hypothesis Test Problems

OpenAIRE

Yan Li; Xiaolong Pu

2010-01-01

As a helpful guide for applications, the alternative hypotheses of the three-hypothesis test problems are designed under the required error probabilities and average sample number in this paper. The asymptotic formulas and the proposed numerical quadrature formulas are adopted, respectively, to obtain the hypothesis designs and the corresponding sequential test schemes under the Koopman-Darmois distributions. The example of the normal mean test shows that our methods are qu...

Language, Culture and the Neurobiology of Pain: A Theoretical Exploration

OpenAIRE

Horacio Fabrega

1989-01-01

Language and culture, as conceptualized in traditional anthropology, may have an important influence on pain and brain-behavior relations. The paradigm case for the influence of language and culture on perception and cognition is stipulated in the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis which has been applied to phenomena “external” to the individual. In this paper, the paradigm is applied to information the person retrieves from “inside” his body; namely, “noxious” stimuli which get registered in consciousne...

Life Origination Hydrate Hypothesis (LOH-Hypothesis

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Victor Ostrovskii

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The paper develops the Life Origination Hydrate Hypothesis (LOH-hypothesis, according to which living-matter simplest elements (LMSEs, which are N-bases, riboses, nucleosides, nucleotides, DNA- and RNA-like molecules, amino-acids, and proto-cells repeatedly originated on the basis of thermodynamically controlled, natural, and inevitable processes governed by universal physical and chemical laws from CH4, niters, and phosphates under the Earth's surface or seabed within the crystal cavities of the honeycomb methane-hydrate structure at low temperatures; the chemical processes passed slowly through all successive chemical steps in the direction that is determined by a gradual decrease in the Gibbs free energy of reacting systems. The hypothesis formulation method is based on the thermodynamic directedness of natural movement and consists ofan attempt to mentally backtrack on the progression of nature and thus reveal principal milestones alongits route. The changes in Gibbs free energy are estimated for different steps of the living-matter origination process; special attention is paid to the processes of proto-cell formation. Just the occurrence of the gas-hydrate periodic honeycomb matrix filled with LMSEs almost completely in its final state accounts for size limitation in the DNA functional groups and the nonrandom location of N-bases in the DNA chains. The slowness of the low-temperature chemical transformations and their “thermodynamic front” guide the gross process of living matter origination and its successive steps. It is shown that the hypothesis is thermodynamically justified and testable and that many observed natural phenomena count in its favor.

Adaptation hypothesis of biological efficiency of ionizing radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kudritskij, Yu.K.; Georgievskij, A.B.; Karpov, V.I.

1992-01-01

Adaptation hypothesis of biological efficiency of ionizing radiation is based on acknowledgement of invariance of fundamental laws and principles of biology related to unity of biota and media, evolution and adaptation for radiobiology. The basic arguments for adaptation hypothesis validity, its correspondence to the requirements imposed on scientific hypothes are presented

The atomic hypothesis: physical consequences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rivas, Martin

2008-01-01

The hypothesis that matter is made of some ultimate and indivisible objects, together with the restricted relativity principle, establishes a constraint on the kind of variables we are allowed to use for the variational description of elementary particles. We consider that the atomic hypothesis not only states the indivisibility of elementary particles, but also that these ultimate objects, if not annihilated, cannot be modified by any interaction so that all allowed states of an elementary particle are only kinematical modifications of any one of them. Therefore, an elementary particle cannot have excited states. In this way, the kinematical group of spacetime symmetries not only defines the symmetries of the system, but also the variables in terms of which the mathematical description of the elementary particles can be expressed in either the classical or the quantum mechanical description. When considering the interaction of two Dirac particles, the atomic hypothesis restricts the interaction Lagrangian to a kind of minimal coupling interaction

A hypothesis on the biological origins and social evolution of music and dance

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Tianyan eWang

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The origins of music and musical emotions is still an enigma, here I propose a comprehensive hypothesis on the origins and evolution of music, dance and speech from a biological and sociological perspective. I suggest that every pitch interval between neighboring notes in music represents corresponding movement pattern through interpreting the Doppler effect of sound, which not only provides a possible explanation to the transposition invariance of music, but also integrates music and dance into a common form—rhythmic movements. Accordingly, investigating the origins of music poses the question: why do humans appreciate rhythmic movements? I suggest that human appreciation of rhythmic movements and rhythmic events developed from the natural selection of organisms adapting to the internal and external rhythmic environments. The perception and production of, as well as synchronization with external and internal rhythms are so vital for an organism’s survival and reproduction, that animals have a rhythm-related reward and emotion (RRRE system. The RRRE system enables the appreciation of rhythmic movements and events, and is integral to the origination of music, dance and speech. The first type of rewards and emotions (rhythm-related rewards and emotions, RRREs are evoked by music and dance, and have biological and social functions, which in turn, promote the evolution of music, dance and speech. These functions also evoke a second type of rewards and emotions, which I name society-related rewards and emotions (SRREs. The neural circuits of RRREs and SRREs develop in species formation and personal growth, with congenital and acquired characteristics, respectively, namely music is the combination of nature and culture. This hypothesis provides probable selection pressures and outlines the evolution of music, dance and speech. The links between the Doppler effect and the RRREs and SRREs can be empirically tested, making the current hypothesis

A hypothesis on the biological origins and social evolution of music and dance.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Tianyan

2015-01-01

The origins of music and musical emotions is still an enigma, here I propose a comprehensive hypothesis on the origins and evolution of music, dance, and speech from a biological and sociological perspective. I suggest that every pitch interval between neighboring notes in music represents corresponding movement pattern through interpreting the Doppler effect of sound, which not only provides a possible explanation for the transposition invariance of music, but also integrates music and dance into a common form-rhythmic movements. Accordingly, investigating the origins of music poses the question: why do humans appreciate rhythmic movements? I suggest that human appreciation of rhythmic movements and rhythmic events developed from the natural selection of organisms adapting to the internal and external rhythmic environments. The perception and production of, as well as synchronization with external and internal rhythms are so vital for an organism's survival and reproduction, that animals have a rhythm-related reward and emotion (RRRE) system. The RRRE system enables the appreciation of rhythmic movements and events, and is integral to the origination of music, dance and speech. The first type of rewards and emotions (rhythm-related rewards and emotions, RRREs) are evoked by music and dance, and have biological and social functions, which in turn, promote the evolution of music, dance and speech. These functions also evoke a second type of rewards and emotions, which I name society-related rewards and emotions (SRREs). The neural circuits of RRREs and SRREs develop in species formation and personal growth, with congenital and acquired characteristics, respectively, namely music is the combination of nature and culture. This hypothesis provides probable selection pressures and outlines the evolution of music, dance, and speech. The links between the Doppler effect and the RRREs and SRREs can be empirically tested, making the current hypothesis scientifically

Language, Culture and the Neurobiology of Pain: A Theoretical Exploration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Horacio Fabrega

1989-01-01

Full Text Available Language and culture, as conceptualized in traditional anthropology, may have an important influence on pain and brain-behavior relations. The paradigm case for the influence of language and culture on perception and cognition is stipulated in the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis which has been applied to phenomena “external” to the individual. In this paper, the paradigm is applied to information the person retrieves from “inside” his body; namely, “noxious” stimuli which get registered in consciousness as pain.

Cultural relations between Hungary and Albania during the period of Humanism and Renaissance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhamet Mala

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Cultural Hungarian-Albanian relations during the Middle Ages are characterized by a relatively poor intensity. Actually, relations between these two countries are more intense in the political field and especially through the partnership between Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg and John Hunyadi. Regarding the origin, the Hungarian culture identity is rather distinct from the Albanian one. Lack of cultural contacts, among others, was conditioned also by the fact that these relations were held under war circumstances and their primary aim was the common defense from Ottoman attacks. Actually, the Albanian medieval culture remained a Mediterranean culture with elements of Byzantine influence in the continental and southern areas. Meanwhile, Hungary belonged to Central Europe, which, even though far away from Mediterranean cultural mainstream, sought to be influenced by this culture, namely by the Renaissance that emanated exactly in the Mediterranean region. It was Matthias Corvinus effort, regarding the cultural influence of the Mediterranean and Renaissance in Hungary but also the fact that Hungary possessed some of the most important towns of the Adriatic coast and particularly Ragusa. This city was the center where cultural relations between Albanian and Hungary started and became intensified in the religious, intellectual and human field.

Maintaining work-related personal ties following retirement

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cozijnsen, M.R.; Stevens, N.L.; van Tilburg, T.G.

2010-01-01

This study examines the consequences of retirement for the continuation of work-related personal ties. The hypothesis is that their inclusion in personal networks after retirement has become more likely because these relationships have become less role based in today's social-cultural context. Data

When message-frame fits salient cultural-frame, messages feel more persuasive

OpenAIRE

Uskul, Ayse K.; Oyserman, Daphna

2010-01-01

The present study examines the persuasive effects of tailored health messages comparing those tailored to match (versus not match) both chronic cultural frame and momentarily salient cultural frame. Evidence from two studies (Study 1: n = 72 European Americans; Study 2: n = 48 Asian Americans) supports the hypothesis that message persuasiveness increases when chronic cultural frame, health message tailoring and momentarily salient cultural frame all match. The hypothesis was tested using a me...

The direct perception hypothesis: perceiving the intention of another’s action hinders its precise imitation

Science.gov (United States)

Froese, Tom; Leavens, David A.

2014-01-01

We argue that imitation is a learning response to unintelligible actions, especially to social conventions. Various strands of evidence are converging on this conclusion, but further progress has been hampered by an outdated theory of perceptual experience. Comparative psychology continues to be premised on the doctrine that humans and non-human primates only perceive others’ physical “surface behavior,” while mental states are perceptually inaccessible. However, a growing consensus in social cognition research accepts the direct perception hypothesis: primarily we see what others aim to do; we do not infer it from their motions. Indeed, physical details are overlooked – unless the action is unintelligible. On this basis we hypothesize that apes’ propensity to copy the goal of an action, rather than its precise means, is largely dependent on its perceived intelligibility. Conversely, children copy means more often than adults and apes because, uniquely, much adult human behavior is completely unintelligible to unenculturated observers due to the pervasiveness of arbitrary social conventions, as exemplified by customs, rituals, and languages. We expect the propensity to imitate to be inversely correlated with the familiarity of cultural practices, as indexed by age and/or socio-cultural competence. The direct perception hypothesis thereby helps to parsimoniously explain the most important findings of imitation research, including children’s over-imitation and other species-typical and age-related variations. PMID:24600413

From mirror self-recognition to the looking-glass self: exploring the Justification Hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaffer, Leigh S

2005-01-01

In his Tree of Knowledge (ToK) System, Henriques (2003) posits that the human ego or "self" has evolved because human beings are the only animals that have had to justify their behavior to others. This essay provides evidence for this Justification Hypothesis (JH) from everyday life sociology, starting with the work of George Herbert Mead and Charles Horton Cooley, and focuses on research related to the concept of the "looking-glass self." Special emphasis is given to the pragmatics of speech acts, the presentation of self in interaction rituals, the accounts given by actors in justification of their actions, and the role of social norms and conformity in the large-scale justification systems commonly called "culture."

Language, Thought, and Culture: Views and Arguments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Keyvan Zahedi

2009-07-01

Full Text Available This study follows two aims: one to review some late views on the relations among language, thought, and culture; and the other, to offer a new strategy, in a novel model, based on last achievements in the minimalist approach. Studying views and arguments, three dichotomies are discussed: 1 the views which confirm the relation between culture and language in opposition to the views that deny this; 2 distinguishing the symmetry-procedural view and the transforming views of language; and 3 distinction among the social-communicational, and the biological-genetic motivations of language. The hypothesis for the novel strategy is that considering what the minimalist program has offered, especially from 2000 onwards, it is possible that language affects thought, while coding the and that culture affects language (which is called ethno-grammar . This is in addition to the biological-genetic base. From this point of view, language’s main function is neither to provide communication, nor to express thought, but to connect cognitive and socio-cultural terminals together.

A Psychological Exploration of Engagement in Geek Culture.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jessica McCain

Full Text Available Geek culture is a subculture of enthusiasts that is traditionally associated with obscure media (Japanese animation, science fiction, video games, etc.. However, geek culture is becoming increasingly mainstream; for example, in the past year alone, Dragon*Con, a major Geek convention in Atlanta, Georgia, attracted an attendance of over 57,000 members. The present article uses an individual differences approach to examine three theoretical accounts of geek culture. Seven studies (N = 2354 develop the Geek Culture Engagement Scale (GCES to quantify geek engagement and assess its relationships to theoretically relevant personality and individual differences variables. These studies present evidence that individuals may engage in geek culture in order to maintain narcissistic self-views (the great fantasy migration hypothesis, to fulfill belongingness needs (the belongingness hypothesis, and to satisfy needs for creative expression (the need for engagement hypothesis. Geek engagement is found to be associated with elevated grandiose narcissism, extraversion, openness to experience, depression, and subjective well-being across multiple samples. These data lay the groundwork for further exploration of geek culture as well as provide a foundation for examining other forms of subculture participation.

A Psychological Exploration of Engagement in Geek Culture.

Science.gov (United States)

McCain, Jessica; Gentile, Brittany; Campbell, W Keith

2015-01-01

Geek culture is a subculture of enthusiasts that is traditionally associated with obscure media (Japanese animation, science fiction, video games, etc.). However, geek culture is becoming increasingly mainstream; for example, in the past year alone, Dragon*Con, a major Geek convention in Atlanta, Georgia, attracted an attendance of over 57,000 members. The present article uses an individual differences approach to examine three theoretical accounts of geek culture. Seven studies (N = 2354) develop the Geek Culture Engagement Scale (GCES) to quantify geek engagement and assess its relationships to theoretically relevant personality and individual differences variables. These studies present evidence that individuals may engage in geek culture in order to maintain narcissistic self-views (the great fantasy migration hypothesis), to fulfill belongingness needs (the belongingness hypothesis), and to satisfy needs for creative expression (the need for engagement hypothesis). Geek engagement is found to be associated with elevated grandiose narcissism, extraversion, openness to experience, depression, and subjective well-being across multiple samples. These data lay the groundwork for further exploration of geek culture as well as provide a foundation for examining other forms of subculture participation.

A Psychological Exploration of Engagement in Geek Culture

Science.gov (United States)

McCain, Jessica; Gentile, Brittany; Campbell, W. Keith

2015-01-01

Geek culture is a subculture of enthusiasts that is traditionally associated with obscure media (Japanese animation, science fiction, video games, etc.). However, geek culture is becoming increasingly mainstream; for example, in the past year alone, Dragon*Con, a major Geek convention in Atlanta, Georgia, attracted an attendance of over 57,000 members. The present article uses an individual differences approach to examine three theoretical accounts of geek culture. Seven studies (N = 2354) develop the Geek Culture Engagement Scale (GCES) to quantify geek engagement and assess its relationships to theoretically relevant personality and individual differences variables. These studies present evidence that individuals may engage in geek culture in order to maintain narcissistic self-views (the great fantasy migration hypothesis), to fulfill belongingness needs (the belongingness hypothesis), and to satisfy needs for creative expression (the need for engagement hypothesis). Geek engagement is found to be associated with elevated grandiose narcissism, extraversion, openness to experience, depression, and subjective well-being across multiple samples. These data lay the groundwork for further exploration of geek culture as well as provide a foundation for examining other forms of subculture participation. PMID:26580564

Cross cultural differences in mood regulation: An empirical comparison of individualistic and collectivistic cultures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Luomala, Harri; Kumar, Rajesh; Worm, Verner

2004-01-01

This paper seeks to examine cross cultural differences in the ways people regulate their mood states with special emphasis put on the role of consumption. This issue is virtually unexplored in the extant literature. After briefly introducing the essence of mood regulation and culture we integrate...... these discussions in order to produce six research hypothesis for testing. These hypothesis concern the differences in the nature, perceived ease of initiating, and emotional outcomes of mood regulatory activities. The empirical evidence suggests that mood regulatory activities are less consumption oriented, have...... more socially based emotional consequences, and are more easily pursued and are more effective in collectivistic as opposed to individualistic cultures. The paper concludes by outlining the theoretical and managerial implications of the results and spelling out a few research suggestions....

Analysis of the sphere of health related physical culture in Palestine

OpenAIRE

Xадер, Самер

2015-01-01

Analysis of scientific literature dealing with health related physical culture status in Palestine has been made in order to determine the factors influencing fitness-technologies implementation. Historical, sociocultural, political, religious, economic conditions determining the current level and the prospects of health related physical culture development in Palestine have been determined.

Impact of Culture on Meat and Related Food Preferences in Akwa ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The effectiveness of meat and related food products marketing in Akwa Ibom State is conditioned by the specifics of culture. In this study, cultural effect on meat consumption is examined. A sample of 568 respondents were analysed with OLS regression. The results reveal that meat consumption and preferences for related ...

Use of supernovae light curves for testing the expansion hypothesis and other cosmological relations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rust, B.W.

1974-01-01

This thesis is primarily concerned with a test of the expansion hypothesis based on the relation Δt/sub obs/ = (1 + V/sub r//c)Δt/sub int/ where Δt/sub int/ is the time lapse characterizing some phenomenon in a distant galaxy, Δt/sub obs/ is the observed time lapse and V/sub r/ is the symbolic velocity of recession. If the red shift is a Doppler effect, the observed time lapse should be lengthened by the same factor as the wave length of the light. Many authors have suggested type I supernovae for such a test because of their great luminosity and the uniformity of their light curves, but apparently the test has heretofore never actually been performed. Thirty-six light curves were gathered from the literature and one (SN1971i) was measured. All of the light curves were reduced to a common (m/sub pg/) photometric system. The comparison time lapse, Δt/sub c/, was taken to be the time required for the brightness to fall from 0.5 m below peak to 2.5 m below peak. The straight line regression of Δt/sub c/ on V/sub r/ gives a correlation coefficient significant at the 93 percent level, and the simple static Euclidean hypothesis is rejected at that level. The regression line also deviates from the prediction of the classical expansion hypothesis. Better agreement was obtained using the chronogeometric theory of I. E. Segal ( []972 Astron. and Astrophys. 18, 143), but the scatter in the present data makes it impossible to distinguish between these alternate hypotheses at the 95 percent confidence level. The question of how many additional light curves would be needed to give definite tests is addressed. It is shown that at the present rate of supernova discoveries, only a few more years would be required to obtain the necessary data if light curves are systematically measured for the more distant supernovae. (Diss. Abstr. Int., B)

A test of the domain-specific acculturation strategy hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Matthew J; Yang, Minji; Lim, Robert H; Hui, Kayi; Choi, Na-Yeun; Fan, Xiaoyan; Lin, Li-Ling; Grome, Rebekah E; Farrell, Jerome A; Blackmon, Sha'kema

2013-01-01

Acculturation literature has evolved over the past several decades and has highlighted the dynamic ways in which individuals negotiate experiences in multiple cultural contexts. The present study extends this literature by testing M. J. Miller and R. H. Lim's (2010) domain-specific acculturation strategy hypothesis-that individuals might use different acculturation strategies (i.e., assimilated, bicultural, separated, and marginalized strategies; J. W. Berry, 2003) across behavioral and values domains-in 3 independent cluster analyses with Asian American participants. Present findings supported the domain-specific acculturation strategy hypothesis as 67% to 72% of participants from 3 independent samples using different strategies across behavioral and values domains. Consistent with theory, a number of acculturation strategy cluster group differences emerged across generational status, acculturative stress, mental health symptoms, and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. Study limitations and future directions for research are discussed.

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.

Corrigendum: Cultural Relativity in Perceiving Emotion From Vocalizations.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-12-01

Gendron, M., Roberson, D., van der Vyver, J. M., & Barrett, L. F. (2014). Cultural relativity in perceiving emotion from vocalizations. Psychological Science, 25, 911-920. (Original DOI: 10.1177/0956797613517239 ).

Major depression in China-to-US immigrants and US-born Chinese Americans: testing a hypothesis from culture-gene co-evolutionary theory of mental disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Tony Xing

2014-01-01

In this study, the culture-gene co-evolutionary theory of mental disorders was used to test the hypothesis that major depression was less prevalent in China-to-US immigrants who migrated to the US as adults than in US-born adult Chinese Americans. Data from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (CPES) were extracted for secondary data analyses on the rates of major depression disorder (MDD) and major depressive episode (MDE) in the two groups. Findings showed that for life time MDD, the rates for China-to-US immigrant and US-born Chinese were 5.3% and 7.9% for men and 8.5% and 33.1% for women. For 12-month MDD, the corresponding rates were 2.2% and 3.4% for men, and 4.7% and 12.6% for women. For life time MDE, the corresponding rates were 6.8% and 8.8% for men; for women the rates were 8.5% and 33.1%. For 12-month MDE, the rates were 2.2% and 4.4% for men; the rates were 4.7% and 12.6% for women. Controlling for age, education level, income, BMI, marital status, and income-to-needs ratio, China-to-US immigrant women remained less likely to have life time major depression than US-born Chinese American women. While the study has the strength of utilizing nationally representative datasets, the approach is limited as the data sources lack the capacity to investigate how the strength of connection with the collectivist culture might be related to major depression in the immigrant group. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Second language social networks and communication-related acculturative stress: The role of interconnectedness

OpenAIRE

Marina M Doucerain; Raheleh eShiri Varnaamkhaasti; Norman eSegalowitz; Norman eSegalowitz; Andrew G Ryder; Andrew G Ryder

2015-01-01

Although a substantial amount of cross-cultural psychology research has investigated acculturative stress in general, little attention has been devoted specifically to communication-related acculturative stress. In line with the view that cross-cultural adaptation and second language (L2) learning are social and interpersonal phenomena, the present study examines the hypothesis that migrants' L2 social network size and interconnectedness predict communication-related acculturative stress. The...

Culture as an explanation for substance-related problems: a cross-national study among French and Dutch adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Knibbe, Ronald Arnold; Joosten, Jan; Choquet, Marie; Derickx, Mieke; Morin, Delphine; Monshouwer, Karin

2007-02-01

Our main goal was to establish whether French and Dutch adolescents differ in rates of substance-related adverse events (e.g. fights, robbery), problems with peers or socializing agents even when controlling for pattern of substance use. For problems with peers and socializing agents due to alcohol we hypothesized that, because of stronger informal control of drinking in France, French adolescents are more likely to report problems with peers and socializing agents. For adverse events due to alcohol no difference was expected after controlling for consumption patterns. For drug-related problems, the hypothesis was that, due to the more restrictive drug policy in France, French adolescents are more likely to report problems with peers, socializing agents and adverse events. Comparable surveys based on samples of adolescent schoolchildren in France (n=9646) and the Netherlands (n=4291) were used. Data were analysed using multilevel logistic regression in which school, age and gender, indicators of substance use and country were used as predictors of substance-related problems. The outcomes show that French adolescents are more likely to report problems with peers and socializing agents due to alcohol even when consumption pattern is controlled for. For adverse events due to alcohol no difference was found between French and Dutch adolescents. For drug-related problems the expected differences were found; i.e. French adolescents are more likely to report problems with peers, socializing agents and adverse events even when controlling for pattern of drug use. It is concluded that there are culturally embedded differences in the rates of some types of problems due to alcohol or drug use. With respect to alcohol use, these differences are most likely due to culturally embedded differences in the informal social control of alcohol use. The differences in rates of drug-related problems are interpreted in the context of national differences in drug policy.

Second language social networks and communication-related acculturative stress: The role of interconnectedness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marina M Doucerain

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Although a substantial amount of cross-cultural psychology research has investigated acculturative stress in general, little attention has been devoted specifically to communication-related acculturative stress. In line with the view that cross-cultural adaptation and second language (L2 learning are social and interpersonal phenomena, the present study examines the hypothesis that migrants' L2 social network size and interconnectedness predict communication-related acculturative stress. The main idea underlying this hypothesis is that L2 social networks play an important role in fostering social and cultural aspects of communicative competence. Specifically, higher interconnectedness may reflect greater access to unmodified natural cultural representations and L2 communication practices, thus fostering communicative competence through observational learning. As such, structural aspects of migrants' L2 social networks may be protective against acculturative stress arising from chronic communication difficulties. Results from a study of first generation migrant students (N=100 support this idea by showing that both inclusiveness and density of the participants' L2 network account for unique variance in communication-related acculturative stress but not in general acculturative stress. These results support the idea that research on cross-cultural adaptation would benefit from disentangling the various facets of acculturative stress and that the structure of migrants' L2 network matters for language related outcomes. Finally, this study contributes to an emerging body of work that attempts to integrate cultural/cross-cultural research on acculturation and research on intercultural communication and second language learning.

When message-frame fits salient cultural-frame, messages feel more persuasive.

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Uskul, Ayse K; Oyserman, Daphna

2010-03-01

The present study examines the persuasive effects of tailored health messages comparing those tailored to match (versus not match) both chronic cultural frame and momentarily salient cultural frame. Evidence from two studies (Study 1: n = 72 European Americans; Study 2: n = 48 Asian Americans) supports the hypothesis that message persuasiveness increases when chronic cultural frame, health message tailoring and momentarily salient cultural frame all match. The hypothesis was tested using a message about health risks of caffeine consumption among individuals prescreened to be regular caffeine consumers. After being primed for individualism, European Americans who read a health message that focused on the personal self were more likely to accept the message-they found it more persuasive, believed they were more at risk and engaged in more message-congruent behaviour. These effects were also found among Asian Americans who were primed for collectivism and who read a health message that focused on relational obligations. The findings point to the importance of investigating the role of situational cues in persuasive effects of health messages and suggest that matching content to primed frame consistent with the chronic frame may be a way to know what to match messages to.

The Semantic Drift of Quotations in Blogspace: A Case Study in Short-Term Cultural Evolution.

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Lerique, Sébastien; Roth, Camille

2018-01-01

We present an empirical case study that connects psycholinguistics with the field of cultural evolution, in order to test for the existence of cultural attractors in the evolution of quotations. Such attractors have been proposed as a useful concept for understanding cultural evolution in relation with individual cognition, but their existence has been hard to test. We focus on the transformation of quotations when they are copied from blog to blog or media website: by coding words with a number of well-studied lexical features, we show that the way words are substituted in quotations is consistent (a) with the hypothesis of cultural attractors and (b) with known effects of the word features. In particular, words known to be harder to recall in lists have a higher tendency to be substituted, and words easier to recall are produced instead. Our results support the hypothesis that cultural attractors can result from the combination of individual cognitive biases in the interpretation and reproduction of representations. Copyright © 2017 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

THE FRACTAL MARKET HYPOTHESIS

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FELICIA RAMONA BIRAU

2012-05-01

Full Text Available In this article, the concept of capital market is analysed using Fractal Market Hypothesis which is a modern, complex and unconventional alternative to classical finance methods. Fractal Market Hypothesis is in sharp opposition to Efficient Market Hypothesis and it explores the application of chaos theory and fractal geometry to finance. Fractal Market Hypothesis is based on certain assumption. Thus, it is emphasized that investors did not react immediately to the information they receive and of course, the manner in which they interpret that information may be different. Also, Fractal Market Hypothesis refers to the way that liquidity and investment horizons influence the behaviour of financial investors.

Music Evolution in the Laboratory: Cultural Transmission Meets Neurophysiology

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Massimo Lumaca

2018-04-01

Full Text Available In recent years, there has been renewed interest in the biological and cultural evolution of music, and specifically in the role played by perceptual and cognitive factors in shaping core features of musical systems, such as melody, harmony, and rhythm. One proposal originates in the language sciences. It holds that aspects of musical systems evolve by adapting gradually, in the course of successive generations, to the structural and functional characteristics of the sensory and memory systems of learners and “users” of music. This hypothesis has found initial support in laboratory experiments on music transmission. In this article, we first review some of the most important theoretical and empirical contributions to the field of music evolution. Next, we identify a major current limitation of these studies, i.e., the lack of direct neural support for the hypothesis of cognitive adaptation. Finally, we discuss a recent experiment in which this issue was addressed by using event-related potentials (ERPs. We suggest that the introduction of neurophysiology in cultural transmission research may provide novel insights on the micro-evolutionary origins of forms of variation observed in cultural systems.

Music Evolution in the Laboratory: Cultural Transmission Meets Neurophysiology.

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Lumaca, Massimo; Ravignani, Andrea; Baggio, Giosuè

2018-01-01

In recent years, there has been renewed interest in the biological and cultural evolution of music, and specifically in the role played by perceptual and cognitive factors in shaping core features of musical systems, such as melody, harmony, and rhythm. One proposal originates in the language sciences. It holds that aspects of musical systems evolve by adapting gradually, in the course of successive generations, to the structural and functional characteristics of the sensory and memory systems of learners and "users" of music. This hypothesis has found initial support in laboratory experiments on music transmission. In this article, we first review some of the most important theoretical and empirical contributions to the field of music evolution. Next, we identify a major current limitation of these studies, i.e., the lack of direct neural support for the hypothesis of cognitive adaptation. Finally, we discuss a recent experiment in which this issue was addressed by using event-related potentials (ERPs). We suggest that the introduction of neurophysiology in cultural transmission research may provide novel insights on the micro-evolutionary origins of forms of variation observed in cultural systems.

THE FRACTAL MARKET HYPOTHESIS

OpenAIRE

FELICIA RAMONA BIRAU

2012-01-01

In this article, the concept of capital market is analysed using Fractal Market Hypothesis which is a modern, complex and unconventional alternative to classical finance methods. Fractal Market Hypothesis is in sharp opposition to Efficient Market Hypothesis and it explores the application of chaos theory and fractal geometry to finance. Fractal Market Hypothesis is based on certain assumption. Thus, it is emphasized that investors did not react immediately to the information they receive and...

A novel hypothesis splitting method implementation for multi-hypothesis filters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bayramoglu, Enis; Ravn, Ole; Andersen, Nils Axel

2013-01-01

The paper presents a multi-hypothesis filter library featuring a novel method for splitting Gaussians into ones with smaller variances. The library is written in C++ for high performance and the source code is open and free1. The multi-hypothesis filters commonly approximate the distribution tran...

CULTURAL ISSUES IN ECONOMICS

OpenAIRE

Maciej Meyer

2012-01-01

This article has been written with the purpose of attracting attention to the cultural issues, or rather lack of them, in economics. This topic has not been taken frequently into theoretical considerations due to some difficulties, although its practical implications are of great importance. The meaning of institutions which are a part of cultures has been given more coverage in the literature. The following hypothesis is proposed: culture is an important but underestimated component of the e...

Comparing Social Behaviour across Culture and Nations: The "What" and "Why" Questions

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Akande, Adebowale

2009-01-01

How is the cultural construct of individualism-collectivism related to self-esteem? This is a complex and challenging proposition. Self-esteem (i.e., a person's global, evaluative view of his/her self), has resisted unequivocal definition or clear operationalization. There is a substantial literature on self-esteem hypothesis which may be stated…

Physiopathological Hypothesis of Cellulite

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de Godoy, José Maria Pereira; de Godoy, Maria de Fátima Guerreiro

2009-01-01

A series of questions are asked concerning this condition including as regards to its name, the consensus about the histopathological findings, physiological hypothesis and treatment of the disease. We established a hypothesis for cellulite and confirmed that the clinical response is compatible with this hypothesis. Hence this novel approach brings a modern physiological concept with physiopathologic basis and clinical proof of the hypothesis. We emphasize that the choice of patient, correct diagnosis of cellulite and the technique employed are fundamental to success. PMID:19756187

Trade-offs in relative limb length among Peruvian children: extending the thrifty phenotype hypothesis to limb proportions.

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Emma Pomeroy

Full Text Available BACKGROUND AND METHODS: Both the concept of 'brain-sparing' growth and associations between relative lower limb length, childhood environment and adult disease risk are well established. Furthermore, tibia length is suggested to be particularly plastic under conditions of environmental stress. The mechanisms responsible are uncertain, but three hypotheses may be relevant. The 'thrifty phenotype' assumes that some components of growth are selectively sacrificed to preserve more critical outcomes, like the brain. The 'distal blood flow' hypothesis assumes that blood nutrients decline with distance from the heart, and hence may affect limbs in relation to basic body geometry. Temperature adaptation predicts a gradient of decreased size along the limbs reflecting decreasing tissue temperature/blood flow. We examined these questions by comparing the size of body segments among Peruvian children born and raised in differentially stressful environments. In a cross-sectional sample of children aged 6 months to 14 years (n = 447 we measured head circumference, head-trunk height, total upper and lower limb lengths, and zeugopod (ulna and tibia and autopod (hand and foot lengths. RESULTS: Highland children (exposed to greater stress had significantly shorter limbs and zeugopod and autopod elements than lowland children, while differences in head-trunk height were smaller. Zeugopod elements appeared most sensitive to environmental conditions, as they were relatively shorter among highland children than their respective autopod elements. DISCUSSION: The results suggest that functional traits (hand, foot, and head may be partially protected at the expense of the tibia and ulna. The results do not fit the predictions of the distal blood flow and temperature adaptation models as explanations for relative limb segment growth under stress conditions. Rather, our data support the extension of the thrifty phenotype hypothesis to limb growth, and suggest that

Antiaging therapy: a prospective hypothesis

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Shahidi Bonjar MR

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Mohammad Rashid Shahidi Bonjar,1 Leyla Shahidi Bonjar2 1School of Dentistry, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman Iran; 2Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Abstract: This hypothesis proposes a new prospective approach to slow the aging process in older humans. The hypothesis could lead to developing new treatments for age-related illnesses and help humans to live longer. This hypothesis has no previous documentation in scientific media and has no protocol. Scientists have presented evidence that systemic aging is influenced by peculiar molecules in the blood. Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, and Harvard University in Cambridge discovered elevated titer of aging-related molecules (ARMs in blood, which trigger cascade of aging process in mice; they also indicated that the process can be reduced or even reversed. By inhibiting the production of ARMs, they could reduce age-related cognitive and physical declines. The present hypothesis offers a new approach to translate these findings into medical treatment: extracorporeal adjustment of ARMs would lead to slower rates of aging. A prospective “antiaging blood filtration column” (AABFC is a nanotechnological device that would fulfill the central role in this approach. An AABFC would set a near-youth homeostatic titer of ARMs in the blood. In this regard, the AABFC immobilizes ARMs from the blood while blood passes through the column. The AABFC harbors antibodies against ARMs. ARM antibodies would be conjugated irreversibly to ARMs on contact surfaces of the reaction platforms inside the AABFC till near-youth homeostasis is attained. The treatment is performed with the aid of a blood-circulating pump. Similar to a renal dialysis machine, blood would circulate from the body to the AABFC and from there back to the body in a closed circuit until ARMs were sufficiently depleted from the blood. The

Cultural Factors in Collegiate Eating Disorder Pathology: When Family Culture Clashes with Individual Culture

Science.gov (United States)

Tomiyama, A. Janet; Mann, Traci

2008-01-01

Objective: The authors evaluated the validity of familial enmeshment (extreme proximity in family relationships) as a risk factor for eating disorders across cultural value orientations. They tested the hypothesis that although familial enmeshment may be a risk factor for eating disorder pathology for (1) participants of non-Asian descent or (2)…

Relation of Astronomy to other Sciences, Culture and Society

Science.gov (United States)

Harutyunian, H. A.; Mickaelian, A. M.; Farmanyan, S. V.

2015-07-01

The book contains the Proceedings of XIII Annual Meeting of the Armenian Astronomical Society "Relation of Astronomy to other Sciences, Culture and Society". It consists of 9 main sections: "Introductory", "Astronomy and Philosophy", "Astrobiology", "Space-Earth Connections", "Astrostatistics and Astroinformatics", "Astronomy and Culture, Astrolinguistics", "Archaeoastronomy", "Scientific Tourism and Scientific Journalism", and "Armenian Astronomy". The book may be interesting to astronomers, philosophers, biologists, culturologists, linguists, historians, archaeologists and to other specialists, as well as to students.

Emotional fit with culture: a predictor of individual differences in relational well-being.

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De Leersnyder, Jozefien; Mesquita, Batja; Kim, Heejung; Eom, Kimin; Choi, Hyewon

2014-04-01

There is increasing evidence for emotional fit in couples and groups, but also within cultures. In the current research, we investigated the consequences of emotional fit at the cultural level. Given that emotions reflect people's view on the world, and that shared views are associated with good social relationships, we expected that an individual's fit to the average cultural patterns of emotion would be associated with relational well-being. Using an implicit measure of cultural fit of emotions, we found across 3 different cultural contexts (United States, Belgium, and Korea) that (1) individuals' emotional fit is associated with their level of relational well-being, and that (2) the link between emotional fit and relational well-being is particularly strong when emotional fit is measured for situations pertaining to relationships (rather than for situations that are self-focused). Together, the current studies suggest that people may benefit from emotionally "fitting in" to their culture.

Cultural intelligence and work-related outcomes: A meta-analytic review

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schlaegel, Christopher; Richter, Nicole Franziska; Taras, Vas

2017-01-01

-cultural work context. Tests of the relative incremental validity show that CQ and its dimensions explain desirable work outcomes beyond the effect of personality traits and emotional intelligence. The results of commonality analysis reveal the unique and shared contribution of CQ dimensions in explaining......Over the last 15 years the research on cultural intelligence (CQ) has grown to a point that a quantitative synthesis of the existing empirical evidence on the relationship between CQ and work-related outcomes is needed to provide a foundation for future research in this direction. Based on 110...

The Marley hypothesis: denial of racism reflects ignorance of history.

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, Jessica C; Adams, Glenn; Salter, Phia S

2013-02-01

This study used a signal detection paradigm to explore the Marley hypothesis--that group differences in perception of racism reflect dominant-group denial of and ignorance about the extent of past racism. White American students from a midwestern university and Black American students from two historically Black universities completed surveys about their historical knowledge and perception of racism. Relative to Black participants, White participants perceived less racism in both isolated incidents and systemic manifestations of racism. They also performed worse on a measure of historical knowledge (i.e., they did not discriminate historical fact from fiction), and this group difference in historical knowledge mediated the differences in perception of racism. Racial identity relevance moderated group differences in perception of systemic manifestations of racism (but not isolated incidents), such that group differences were stronger among participants who scored higher on a measure of racial identity relevance. The results help illuminate the importance of epistemologies of ignorance: cultural-psychological tools that afford denial of and inaction about injustice.

The "Discouraged-Business-Major" Hypothesis: Policy Implications

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Marangos, John

2012-01-01

This paper uses a relatively large dataset of the stated academic major preferences of economics majors at a relatively large, not highly selective, public university in the USA to identify the "discouraged-business-majors" (DBMs). The DBM hypothesis addresses the phenomenon where students who are screened out of the business curriculum often…

Making sense of (exceptional) causal relations. A cross-cultural and cross-linguistic study.

Science.gov (United States)

Le Guen, Olivier; Samland, Jana; Friedrich, Thomas; Hanus, Daniel; Brown, Penelope

2015-01-01

In order to make sense of the world, humans tend to see causation almost everywhere. Although most causal relations may seem straightforward, they are not always construed in the same way cross-culturally. In this study, we investigate concepts of "chance," "coincidence," or "randomness" that refer to assumed relations between intention, action, and outcome in situations, and we ask how people from different cultures make sense of such non-law-like connections. Based on a framework proposed by Alicke (2000), we administered a task that aims to be a neutral tool for investigating causal construals cross-culturally and cross-linguistically. Members of four different cultural groups, rural Mayan Yucatec and Tseltal speakers from Mexico and urban students from Mexico and Germany, were presented with a set of scenarios involving various types of causal and non-causal relations and were asked to explain the described events. Three links varied as to whether they were present or not in the scenarios: Intention-to-Action, Action-to-Outcome, and Intention-to-Outcome. Our results show that causality is recognized in all four cultural groups. However, how causality and especially non-law-like relations are interpreted depends on the type of links, the cultural background and the language used. In all three groups, Action-to-Outcome is the decisive link for recognizing causality. Despite the fact that the two Mayan groups share similar cultural backgrounds, they display different ideologies regarding concepts of non-law-like relations. The data suggests that the concept of "chance" is not universal, but seems to be an explanation that only some cultural groups draw on to make sense of specific situations. Of particular importance is the existence of linguistic concepts in each language that trigger ideas of causality in the responses from each cultural group.

Making sense of (exceptional) causal relations. A cross-cultural and cross-linguistic study

Science.gov (United States)

Le Guen, Olivier; Samland, Jana; Friedrich, Thomas; Hanus, Daniel; Brown, Penelope

2015-01-01

In order to make sense of the world, humans tend to see causation almost everywhere. Although most causal relations may seem straightforward, they are not always construed in the same way cross-culturally. In this study, we investigate concepts of “chance,” “coincidence,” or “randomness” that refer to assumed relations between intention, action, and outcome in situations, and we ask how people from different cultures make sense of such non-law-like connections. Based on a framework proposed by Alicke (2000), we administered a task that aims to be a neutral tool for investigating causal construals cross-culturally and cross-linguistically. Members of four different cultural groups, rural Mayan Yucatec and Tseltal speakers from Mexico and urban students from Mexico and Germany, were presented with a set of scenarios involving various types of causal and non-causal relations and were asked to explain the described events. Three links varied as to whether they were present or not in the scenarios: Intention-to-Action, Action-to-Outcome, and Intention-to-Outcome. Our results show that causality is recognized in all four cultural groups. However, how causality and especially non-law-like relations are interpreted depends on the type of links, the cultural background and the language used. In all three groups, Action-to-Outcome is the decisive link for recognizing causality. Despite the fact that the two Mayan groups share similar cultural backgrounds, they display different ideologies regarding concepts of non-law-like relations. The data suggests that the concept of “chance” is not universal, but seems to be an explanation that only some cultural groups draw on to make sense of specific situations. Of particular importance is the existence of linguistic concepts in each language that trigger ideas of causality in the responses from each cultural group. PMID:26579028

Income Elasticity of Culture Expenses in Polish Provinces

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Suchecki Adam Mateusz

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Decentralisation of public finance in Poland was an important element of changes in the political system of the country. As a result, some tasks of the state were transferred to the local government level. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the budget expenses on cultural tasks incurred by local government units in Poland in the years 2003–2012 and outlines the legal frameworks of the local government financial management in Poland. Using a model based on the double logarithmic function, the author tests a hypothesis, according to which the broadly understood culture might be regarded as a necessity or luxury good, depending on the value of the coefficient of elasticity of the expenses on culture incurred by local government units in relation to the gross regional product.

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

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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.

Training on the DSM-5 Cultural Formulation Interview improves cultural competence in general psychiatry residents: A pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Mills, Stacia; Xiao, Anna Q; Wolitzky-Taylor, Kate; Lim, Russell; Lu, Francis G

2017-04-01

The objective of this study was to assess whether a 1-hour didactic session on the DSM-5 Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI) improves the cultural competence of general psychiatry residents. The main hypothesis was that teaching adult psychiatry residents a 1-hour session on the CFI would improve cultural competence. The exploratory hypothesis was that trainees with more experience in cultural diversity would have a greater increase in cultural competency scores. Psychiatry residents at a metropolitan, county hospital completed demographics and preintervention questionnaires, were exposed to a 1-hour session on the CFI, and were given a postintervention questionnaire. The questionnaire was an adapted version of the validated Cultural Competence Assessment Tool . Paired samples t tests compared pre- to posttest change. Hierarchical linear regression assessed whether pretraining characteristics predicted posttest scores. The mean change of total pre- and posttest scores was significant ( p = .002), as was the mean change in subscales Nonverbal Communications ( p < .001) and Cultural Knowledge ( p = .002). Demographic characteristics did not predict higher posttest scores (when covarying for pretest scores). Psychiatry residents' cultural competence scores improved irrespective of previous experience in cultural diversity. More research is needed to further explore the implications of the improved scores in clinical practice.

Cultural democratization and the politics of recognition: notes on the trajectory of the workers´ party (PT

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Paulo J. Krischke

2005-01-01

Full Text Available These research notes raise the hypothesis that the Worker´s Party (PT actively participates in the cultural democratization of the country - for instance, through its initiatives for the recognition of the citizen´s sociopolitical and cultural diversity. First, there is a need to distinguish between the policies of socioeconomic redistribution and those policies geared to sociopolitical and cultural recognition. Second, it is also necessary to focus on the relations between participatory policies and changes in the political culture. Such relations may show that the increasing support to democracy accompanies the recognition of pluralism and of the right to difference, among the youth, and in the locations administered by the PT during the last decade.

ON HEALTH PROTECTION AND HEALTH RELATED PHYSICAL CULTURE TRAININGS OF FIRST YEAR STUDENTS

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V.G. Fotynyuk

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose: to assess health protection and health related physical culture trainings of first year students. Material: in the research first year students (n=121; 86 boys and 35girls of age 16 - 19 years, participated. Results: components of students’ individual health were found. Situation with health related physical culture trainings, ensuring students’ sound health and optimal functional potentials of their organisms were determined. It was found that leading role shall be played by formation of health world vision values, knowledge about formation of practical skills in healthy life style. Motivation tendency for realization of intentions and practicing of health related physical culture trainings were found in students. Conclusions: the received results prove students’ tendency to pay insufficient attention to individual health. It was found that health related physical culture trainings require modern renewal of education’s content, forms and methods of physical education. The basis of such trainings shall be health related orientation.

Anger Elicitation in Tonga and Germany: The Impact of Culture on Cognitive Determinants of Emotions

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Bender, Andrea; Spada, Hans; Rothe-Wulf, Annelie; Traber, Simone; Rauss, Karsten

2012-01-01

The cognitive appraisal of an event is crucial for the elicitation and differentiation of emotions, and causal attributions are an integral part of this process. In an interdisciplinary project comparing Tonga and Germany, we examined how cultural differences in attribution tendencies affect emotion assessment and elicitation. Data on appraising causality and responsibility and on emotional responses were collected through questionnaires based on experimentally designed vignettes, and were related to culture-specific values, norms, and the prevailing self-concept. The experimental data support our hypothesis that – driven by culturally defined self-concepts and corresponding attribution tendencies – members of the two cultures cognitively appraise events in diverging manners and consequently differ in their emotional responses. Ascription of responsibility to self and/or circumstances, in line with a more interdependent self-concept, co-varies with higher ratings of shame, guilt, and sadness, whereas ascription of responsibility to others, in line with a less interdependent self-concept, co-varies with higher ratings of anger. These findings support the universal contingency hypothesis and help to explain cultural differences in this domain on a fine-grained level. PMID:23112780

Anger elicitation in Tonga and Germany: The impact of culture on cognitive determinants of emotions

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Andrea eBender

2012-10-01

Full Text Available The cognitive appraisal of an event is crucial for the elicitation and differentiation of emotions, and causal attributions are an integral part of this process. In an interdisciplinary project comparing Tonga and Germany, we examined how cultural differences in attribution tendencies affect emotion assessment and elicitation. Data on appraising causality and responsibility and on emotional responses were collected through questionnaires based on experimentally designed vignettes, and were related to culture-specific values, norms, and the prevailing self-concept. The experimental data support our hypothesis that—driven by culturally defined self-concepts and corresponding attribution tendencies—members of the two cultures cognitively appraise events in diverging manners and consequently differ in their emotional responses. Ascription of responsibility to self and/or circumstances, in line with a more interdependent self-concept, co-varies with higher ratings of shame, guilt and sadness, whereas ascription of responsibility to others, in line with a less interdependent self-concept, co-varies with higher ratings of anger. These findings support the universal contingency hypothesis and help to explain cultural differences in this domain on a fine-grained level.

Co-culture with infrapatellar fat pad differentially stimulates proteoglycan synthesis and accumulation in cartilage and meniscus tissues.

Science.gov (United States)

Nishimuta, James F; Bendernagel, Monica F; Levenston, Marc E

2017-09-01

Although osteoarthritis is widely viewed as a disease of the whole joint, relatively few studies have focused on interactions among joint tissues in joint homeostasis and degeneration. In particular, few studies have examined the effects of the infrapatellar fat pad (IFP) on cartilaginous tissues. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that co-culture with healthy IFP would induce degradation of cartilage and meniscus tissues. Bovine articular cartilage, meniscus, and IFP were cultured isolated or as cartilage-fat or meniscus-fat co-cultures for up to 14 days. Conditioned media were assayed for sulfated glycosaminoglycan (sGAG) content, nitrite content, and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activity, and explants were assayed for sGAG and DNA contents. Co-cultures exhibited increased cumulative sGAG release and sGAG release rates for both cartilage and meniscus, and the cartilage (but not meniscus) exhibited a substantial synergistic effect of co-culture (sGAG release in co-culture was significantly greater than the summed release from isolated cartilage and fat). Fat co-culture did not significantly alter the sGAG content of either cartilage or meniscus explants, indicating that IFP co-culture stimulated net sGAG production by cartilage. Nitrite release was increased relative to isolated tissue controls in co-cultured meniscus, but not the cartilage, with no synergistic effect of co-culture. Interestingly, MMP-2 production was decreased by co-culture for both cartilage and meniscus. This study demonstrates that healthy IFP may modulate joint homeostasis by stimulating sGAG production in cartilage. Counter to our hypothesis, healthy IFP did not promote degradation of either cartilage or meniscus tissues.

A Conceptual Culture Model for Design Science Research

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Thomas Richter

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of design science research (DSR in information systems is the user-centred creation of IT-artifacts with regard to specific social environments. For culture research in the field, which is necessary for a proper localization of IT-artifacts, models and research approaches from social sciences usually are adopted. Descriptive dimension-based culture models most commonly are applied for this purpose, which assume culture being a national phenomenon and tend to reduce it to basic values. Such models are useful for investigations in behavioural culture research because it aims to isolate, describe and explain culture-specific attitudes and characteristics within a selected society. In contrast, with the necessity to deduce concrete decisions for artifact-design, research results from DSR need to go beyond this aim. As hypothesis, this contribution generally questions the applicability of such generic culture dimensions’ models for DSR and focuses on their theoretical foundation, which goes back to Hofstede’s conceptual Onion Model of Culture. The herein applied literature-based analysis confirms the hypothesis. Consequently, an alternative conceptual culture model is being introduced and discussed as theoretical foundation for culture research in DSR.

Culture-related differences in default network activity during visuo-spatial judgments.

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Goh, Joshua O S; Hebrank, Andrew C; Sutton, Bradley P; Chee, Michael W L; Sim, Sam K Y; Park, Denise C

2013-02-01

Studies on culture-related differences in cognition have shown that Westerners attend more to object-related information, whereas East Asians attend more to contextual information. Neural correlates of these different culture-related visual processing styles have been reported in the ventral-visual and fronto-parietal regions. We conducted an fMRI study of East Asians and Westerners on a visuospatial judgment task that involved relative, contextual judgments, which are typically more challenging for Westerners. Participants judged the relative distances between a dot and a line in visual stimuli during task blocks and alternated finger presses during control blocks. Behaviorally, East Asians responded faster than Westerners, reflecting greater ease of the task for East Asians. In response to the greater task difficulty, Westerners showed greater neural engagement compared to East Asians in frontal, parietal, and occipital areas. Moreover, Westerners also showed greater suppression of the default network-a brain network that is suppressed under condition of high cognitive challenge. This study demonstrates for the first time that cultural differences in visual attention during a cognitive task are manifested both by differences in activation in fronto-parietal regions as well as suppression in default regions.

The religiosity as social value hypothesis: A multi-method replication and extension across 65 countries and three levels of spatial aggregation.

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Gebauer, Jochen E; Sedikides, Constantine; Schönbrodt, Felix D; Bleidorn, Wiebke; Rentfrow, Peter J; Potter, Jeff; Gosling, Samuel D

2017-09-01

Are religious people psychologically better or worse adjusted than their nonreligious counterparts? Hundreds of studies have reported a positive relation between religiosity and psychological adjustment. Recently, however, a comparatively small number of cross-cultural studies has questioned this staple of religiosity research. The latter studies find that religious adjustment benefits are restricted to religious cultures. Gebauer, Sedikides, and Neberich (2012) suggested the religiosity as social value hypothesis (RASV) as one explanation for those cross-cultural differences. RASV states that, in religious cultures, religiosity possesses much social value, and, as such, religious people will feel particularly good about themselves. In secular cultures, however, religiosity possesses limited social value, and, as such, religious people will feel less good about themselves, if at all. Yet, previous evidence has been inconclusive regarding RASV and regarding cross-cultural differences in religious adjustment benefits more generally. To clarify matters, we conducted 3 replication studies. We examined the relation between religiosity and self-esteem (the most direct and appropriate adjustment indicator, according to RASV) in a self-report study across 65 countries (N = 2,195,301), an informant-report study across 36 countries (N = 560,264), and another self-report study across 1,932 urban areas from 243 federal states in 18 countries (N = 1,188,536). Moreover, we scrutinized our results against 7, previously untested, alternative explanations. Our results fully and firmly replicated and extended prior evidence for cross-cultural differences in religious adjustment benefits. These cross-cultural differences were best explained by RASV. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Cross-Cultural Studies of Personality Traits and their Relevance to Psychiatry

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Terracciano, Antonio; McCrae, Robert R.

2009-01-01

Aims This article provides a brief review of recent cross-cultural research on personality traits at both individual and culture levels, highlighting the relevance of recent findings for psychiatry. Method In most cultures around the world, personality traits can be clearly summarized by the five broad dimensions of the Five-Factor Model (FFM), which makes it feasible to compare cultures on personality and psychopathology. Results Maturational patterns and sex differences in personality traits generally show cultural invariance, which generates the hypothesis that age of onset, clinical evolution, and sex differences in the prevalence of psychiatric disorders might follow similar universal patterns. The average personality profiles from 51 cultures show meaningful geographical distributions and associations with culture-level variables, but are clearly unrelated to national character stereotypes. Conclusions Aggregate personality scores can potentially be related to epidemiological data on psychiatric disorders, and dimensional personality models have implications for psychiatric diagnosis and treatment around the world. PMID:17128620

An Alternative Hypothesis for Special Relativity

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Eckardt H.

2009-04-01

Full Text Available An alternative theory being analogous to Einstein’s special theory of relativity is pre- sented. While Einstein based his theory on the relativity principle of motion and con- stancy of the velocity of light, this theory assumes an absolute frame of reference and a general length contraction. Both concepts are taken from general relativity and applied to an asymptotically flat space. This results in a transformation group being differ- ent from the Lorentz transformation and a Eucledian addition theorem of velocitites. The results are in accordance with experiments and long known discrepancies between special relativity and experimental findings are resolved as well as paradoxa being in- troduced by Einstein’s original theory. Physical facts being unintelligible before can be interpreted in the light of the alternative theory.

A cultural perspective on emotional experiences across the life span.

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Grossmann, Igor; Karasawa, Mayumi; Kan, Chiemi; Kitayama, Shinobu

2014-08-01

Past research suggests that older adults place a greater priority on goals of maintaining positive experiences and distancing from negative experiences. We hypothesized that these aging-related differences in emotional experiences are more pronounced in Western cultures that encourage linear approaches to well-being compared with Eastern cultures that encourage more dialectic approaches to well-being. We compared reports of positive and negative emotional experiences from random samples of Americans (a culture characterized by focus on positive and distancing from negative experiences) and Japanese (a culture characterized by its endorsement of dialectical experiences). In support of our hypothesis, older Americans reported significantly less negative emotions in unpleasant situations, relative to their younger counterparts. Furthermore, both trait-level negativity (i.e., rumination) and interpersonal negativity (i.e., recall of unpleasant relationships and intensity of an unpleasant interpersonal experience) were lower among older compared with younger Americans. In contrast, such aging-related effects were absent in the Japanese respondents. Even though older and younger Japanese reported the same amount of negative emotions in unpleasant situations, older Japanese also reported more positive emotions in the same unpleasant situations. Together, these findings highlight the role of culture for understanding how emotional experiences unfold across adulthood.

A large scale test of the gaming-enhancement hypothesis

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Andrew K. Przybylski

2016-11-01

Full Text Available A growing research literature suggests that regular electronic game play and game-based training programs may confer practically significant benefits to cognitive functioning. Most evidence supporting this idea, the gaming-enhancement hypothesis, has been collected in small-scale studies of university students and older adults. This research investigated the hypothesis in a general way with a large sample of 1,847 school-aged children. Our aim was to examine the relations between young people’s gaming experiences and an objective test of reasoning performance. Using a Bayesian hypothesis testing approach, evidence for the gaming-enhancement and null hypotheses were compared. Results provided no substantive evidence supporting the idea that having preference for or regularly playing commercially available games was positively associated with reasoning ability. Evidence ranged from equivocal to very strong in support for the null hypothesis over what was predicted. The discussion focuses on the value of Bayesian hypothesis testing for investigating electronic gaming effects, the importance of open science practices, and pre-registered designs to improve the quality of future work.

A large scale test of the gaming-enhancement hypothesis.

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Przybylski, Andrew K; Wang, John C

2016-01-01

A growing research literature suggests that regular electronic game play and game-based training programs may confer practically significant benefits to cognitive functioning. Most evidence supporting this idea, the gaming-enhancement hypothesis , has been collected in small-scale studies of university students and older adults. This research investigated the hypothesis in a general way with a large sample of 1,847 school-aged children. Our aim was to examine the relations between young people's gaming experiences and an objective test of reasoning performance. Using a Bayesian hypothesis testing approach, evidence for the gaming-enhancement and null hypotheses were compared. Results provided no substantive evidence supporting the idea that having preference for or regularly playing commercially available games was positively associated with reasoning ability. Evidence ranged from equivocal to very strong in support for the null hypothesis over what was predicted. The discussion focuses on the value of Bayesian hypothesis testing for investigating electronic gaming effects, the importance of open science practices, and pre-registered designs to improve the quality of future work.

Rugby versus Soccer in South Africa: Content Familiarity Contributes to Cross-Cultural Differences in Cognitive Test Scores

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Malda, Maike; van de Vijver, Fons J. R.; Temane, Q. Michael

2010-01-01

In this study, cross-cultural differences in cognitive test scores are hypothesized to depend on a test's cultural complexity (Cultural Complexity Hypothesis: CCH), here conceptualized as its content familiarity, rather than on its cognitive complexity (Spearman's Hypothesis: SH). The content familiarity of tests assessing short-term memory,…

[Working memory, phonological awareness and spelling hypothesis].

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Gindri, Gigiane; Keske-Soares, Márcia; Mota, Helena Bolli

2007-01-01

Working memory, phonological awareness and spelling hypothesis. To verify the relationship between working memory, phonological awareness and spelling hypothesis in pre-school children and first graders. Participants of this study were 90 students, belonging to state schools, who presented typical linguistic development. Forty students were preschoolers, with the average age of six and 50 students were first graders, with the average age of seven. Participants were submitted to an evaluation of the working memory abilities based on the Working Memory Model (Baddeley, 2000), involving phonological loop. Phonological loop was evaluated using the Auditory Sequential Test, subtest 5 of Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA), Brazilian version (Bogossian & Santos, 1977), and the Meaningless Words Memory Test (Kessler, 1997). Phonological awareness abilities were investigated using the Phonological Awareness: Instrument of Sequential Assessment (CONFIAS - Moojen et al., 2003), involving syllabic and phonemic awareness tasks. Writing was characterized according to Ferreiro & Teberosky (1999). Preschoolers presented the ability of repeating sequences of 4.80 digits and 4.30 syllables. Regarding phonological awareness, the performance in the syllabic level was of 19.68 and in the phonemic level was of 8.58. Most of the preschoolers demonstrated to have a pre-syllabic writing hypothesis. First graders repeated, in average, sequences of 5.06 digits and 4.56 syllables. These children presented a phonological awareness of 31.12 in the syllabic level and of 16.18 in the phonemic level, and demonstrated to have an alphabetic writing hypothesis. The performance of working memory, phonological awareness and spelling level are inter-related, as well as being related to chronological age, development and scholarity.

The Income Inequality Hypothesis Revisited : Assessing the Hypothesis Using Four Methodological Approaches

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kragten, N.; Rözer, J.

The income inequality hypothesis states that income inequality has a negative effect on individual’s health, partially because it reduces social trust. This article aims to critically assess the income inequality hypothesis by comparing several analytical strategies, namely OLS regression,

The Younger Dryas impact hypothesis: A requiem

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Pinter, Nicholas; Scott, Andrew C.; Daulton, Tyrone L.; Podoll, Andrew; Koeberl, Christian; Anderson, R. Scott; Ishman, Scott E.

2011-06-01

The Younger Dryas (YD) impact hypothesis is a recent theory that suggests that a cometary or meteoritic body or bodies hit and/or exploded over North America 12,900 years ago, causing the YD climate episode, extinction of Pleistocene megafauna, demise of the Clovis archeological culture, and a range of other effects. Since gaining widespread attention in 2007, substantial research has focused on testing the 12 main signatures presented as evidence of a catastrophic extraterrestrial event 12,900 years ago. Here we present a review of the impact hypothesis, including its evolution and current variants, and of efforts to test and corroborate the hypothesis. The physical evidence interpreted as signatures of an impact event can be separated into two groups. The first group consists of evidence that has been largely rejected by the scientific community and is no longer in widespread discussion, including: particle tracks in archeological chert; magnetic nodules in Pleistocene bones; impact origin of the Carolina Bays; and elevated concentrations of radioactivity, iridium, and fullerenes enriched in 3He. The second group consists of evidence that has been active in recent research and discussions: carbon spheres and elongates, magnetic grains and magnetic spherules, byproducts of catastrophic wildfire, and nanodiamonds. Over time, however, these signatures have also seen contrary evidence rather than support. Recent studies have shown that carbon spheres and elongates do not represent extraterrestrial carbon nor impact-induced megafires, but are indistinguishable from fungal sclerotia and arthropod fecal material that are a small but common component of many terrestrial deposits. Magnetic grains and spherules are heterogeneously distributed in sediments, but reported measurements of unique peaks in concentrations at the YD onset have yet to be reproduced. The magnetic grains are certainly just iron-rich detrital grains, whereas reported YD magnetic spherules are

Organizational culture and work-related attitudes among staff in assisted living.

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Sikorska-Simmons, Elzbieta

2006-02-01

In this study, the author examines the relationship between staff perceptions of organizational culture and their work-related attitudes in assisted living. Data were collected from 317 staff in 61 facilities using self-administered questionnaires. Staff who had more favorable perceptions of organizational culture reported greater job satisfaction, coworker satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Among the dimensions of organizational culture, perceptions of teamwork had the strongest influence on satisfaction with coworkers, and perceptions of organizational morale had the strongest influence on job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Those who want to improve staff attitudes should focus on creating organizational cultures that promote teamwork and high organizational morale.

Density Variations in Quartz As a Key for Deciphering Impact-Related Ultrasonic Sounding (Rajlich's Hypothesis)?

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Mestan, J.; Alvarez Polanco, E. I.

2014-12-01

Ultrasound is a form of mechanical energy with a frequency greater than ≈ 20 kHz (upper human hearing limit). It is used in many scientific as well as industrial fields. Most modern applications of ultrasound utilize sources which are either piezoelectric or magnetostrictive (Benwell et Bly 1987). A meteorite impact has been considered to be an ultrasound source during last years (Rajlich 2011). Rajlich (2014) is coming with a hypothesis that white planes made of microcavities in Bohemian quartz have their origin in an impact-related ultrasonic sounding. The Bohemian Massif has been considered to be one of the largest impact craters in whole of the world (Papagiannis et El-Baz 1988, Papagiannis 1989, Rajlich 2014). Rajlich's hypothesis implies a liquid behavior of quartz during the impact event. We state that then there have to exist planes of slightly higher density than their surroundings together with planes of microcavities. They should intersect each other without mutual influencing (as in a case of planes made of microcavities). Because physics of ultrasound during an impact event is a brand new and unknown field, we try to choose a simple way of its cognition. It is possible to take the sine wave and set 3 requirements. (1) There exist some surroundings of points of peak amplitudes. (2) These surroundings are of higher density (compression) or lower density (rarefaction) than the mean density of quartz. (3) The difference between the higher/lower and surrounding density is measurable. There was done an experimental study of Bohemian quartz using QCT bone densitometry at the Radiology Munich. Quartz with a size of ≈ 5 x 8 cm absorbed too much RTG radiation (kV 140, mAs 330), which made a picture of internal structure impossible. We propose another techniques and appeal to other scientists to face this challenge. If Bohemian quartz has a harmonically distributed density, we consider it to be a support for Rajlich's hypothesis. AcknowledgementsWe would like

Applying the Stress and ‘Strength’ Hypothesis to Black Women’s Breast Cancer Screening Delays

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Black, Angela Rose; Woods-Giscombé, Cheryl

2013-01-01

Associations between stress and breast cancer highlight stressful life events as barriers to breast cancer screening, increased stress due to a breast cancer scare or diagnosis, or the immunosuppressive properties of stress as a risk factor for breast cancer occurrence. Little is known, however, about how women’s reactions to stressful life events impact their breast health trajectory. In this study, we explore how reactions to stressors serve as a potential barrier to breast cancer screening among Black women. We apply a gender-specific, culturally responsive stress-process framework, the Stress and ‘Strength’ Hypothesis (“strength hypothesis”), to understand links between the ‘Strong Black Woman role’ role, Black women’s stress reactions and their observed screening delays. We conceptualize strength as a culturally prescribed coping style that conditions resilience, self-reliance and psychological hardiness as a survival response to race-related and gender-related stressors. Using qualitative methods, we investigate the potential for this coping mechanism to manifest as extraordinary caregiving, emotional suppression and self-care postponement. These manifestations may result in limited time for scheduling and attending screening appointments, lack of or delay in acknowledgement of breast health symptoms and low prioritization of breast care. Limitations and future directions are discussed. PMID:23129558

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

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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

Discrete causal theory emergent spacetime and the causal metric hypothesis

CERN Document Server

Dribus, Benjamin F

2017-01-01

This book evaluates and suggests potentially critical improvements to causal set theory, one of the best-motivated approaches to the outstanding problems of fundamental physics. Spacetime structure is of central importance to physics beyond general relativity and the standard model. The causal metric hypothesis treats causal relations as the basis of this structure. The book develops the consequences of this hypothesis under the assumption of a fundamental scale, with smooth spacetime geometry viewed as emergent. This approach resembles causal set theory, but differs in important ways; for example, the relative viewpoint, emphasizing relations between pairs of events, and relationships between pairs of histories, is central. The book culminates in a dynamical law for quantum spacetime, derived via generalized path summation.

Exacerbation of lupus erythematodes visceralis as a result of UV irradiation - a hypothesis

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Diezel, W; Meffert, H; Guenther, W; Huse, K; Soennichsen, N [Humboldt-Universitaet, Berlin (German Democratic Republic). Bereich Medizin (Charite)

1979-09-01

In the culture medium of human fibroblasts a proteolytic activity is evident after UV irradiation (290 - 320 nm). The effect of this proteolytic activity on human serum results in an electrophoretic mobility towards the anode of the C3 component of complement, which thus proves to be activated. In discussing recent and former results, a hypothesis on the exacerbation of lupus erythematodes visceralis is presented: UV irradiation causes peroxydation of lipids resulting in the release of proteolytic enzymes from lysosomal membranes and activation of the complemental system. Thus the reactivity of the immune system is increased and the disease becomes exacerbated. Further the following hypothetic aspects are discussed: porphyrins cause enhanced peroxydation of lipids, increased synthesis rate of porphyrins by drugs, decrease of lipid peroxydation by antioxidants, e.g. vitamin E, in relation to possible therapeutic effects.

Exacerbation of lupus erythematodes visceralis as a result of UV irradiation - a hypothesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diezel, W.; Meffert, H.; Guenther, W.; Huse, K.; Soennichsen, N.

1979-01-01

In the culture medium of human fibroblasts a proteolytic activity is evident after UV irradiation (290 - 320 nm). The effect of this proteolytic activity on human serum results in an electrophoretic mobility towards the anode of the C3 component of complement, which thus proves to be activated. In discussing recent and former results, a hypothesis on the exacerbation of lupus erythematodes visceralis is presented: UV irradiation causes peroxydation of lipids resulting in the release of proteolytic enzymes from lysosomal membranes and activation of the complemental system. Thus the reactivity of the immune system is increased and the disease becomes exacerbated. Further the following hypothetic aspects are discussed: porphyrins cause enhanced peroxydation of lipids, increased synthesis rate of porphyrins by drugs, decrease of lipid peroxydation by antioxidants, e.g. vitamin E, in relation to possible therapeutic effects

Cultural Relations in the «New Order»: Nazi Germany and Franco’s Spain

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Marició Janué i Miret

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The article analyzes the role that culture played in German-Spanish relations during National-Socialism. This is a relevant historiographical question for two main reasons. The first, that we still lack an overall approach on the cultural relations between the two countries in that period. The second, that when the national-socialists came to power in 1933, culture had already become for a long time an essential part of foreign politics of the most important European powers, and consequently also of Germany. The article explains the motivations for intensifying cultural relations for both countries. Its ultimate objective is to get a clearer idea about the affinities between Nazi Germany and the Francoist regime. We base the analysis in our own research in archives as well as in the already existing literature on partial aspects of the cultural relations between the two countries. We conclude that the tensions between the different political sectors which looked for hegemony inside the francoist regime were not the decisive factor to explain the variations in the intensity of the cultural relations between the two countries. The decisive element was the negative evolution of the Second World War for Germany. Finally, the research proves that the ideological coincidences between the two regimes and the level of fascistization of Franco’s dictatorship in its first stages should not be underestimated.

Teaching Culture: The Challenges and Opportunities of International Public Relations.

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George, Amiso M.

2003-01-01

Focuses on the challenges and opportunities for international public relations practice. Looks at current United States-Arab relations issues in international crisis communication. Discusses those issues, especially the role of culture and media. Proposes strategies including a case study that teachers can use to help students become effective…

Co-variation of tonality in the music and speech of different cultures.

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Shui' er Han

Full Text Available Whereas the use of discrete pitch intervals is characteristic of most musical traditions, the size of the intervals and the way in which they are used is culturally specific. Here we examine the hypothesis that these differences arise because of a link between the tonal characteristics of a culture's music and its speech. We tested this idea by comparing pitch intervals in the traditional music of three tone language cultures (Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese and three non-tone language cultures (American, French and German with pitch intervals between voiced speech segments. Changes in pitch direction occur more frequently and pitch intervals are larger in the music of tone compared to non-tone language cultures. More frequent changes in pitch direction and larger pitch intervals are also apparent in the speech of tone compared to non-tone language cultures. These observations suggest that the different tonal preferences apparent in music across cultures are closely related to the differences in the tonal characteristics of voiced speech.

Maximal Repetitions in Written Texts: Finite Energy Hypothesis vs. Strong Hilberg Conjecture

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Łukasz Dębowski

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The article discusses two mutually-incompatible hypotheses about the stochastic mechanism of the generation of texts in natural language, which could be related to entropy. The first hypothesis, the finite energy hypothesis, assumes that texts are generated by a process with exponentially-decaying probabilities. This hypothesis implies a logarithmic upper bound for maximal repetition, as a function of the text length. The second hypothesis, the strong Hilberg conjecture, assumes that the topological entropy grows as a power law. This hypothesis leads to a hyperlogarithmic lower bound for maximal repetition. By a study of 35 written texts in German, English and French, it is found that the hyperlogarithmic growth of maximal repetition holds for natural language. In this way, the finite energy hypothesis is rejected, and the strong Hilberg conjecture is partly corroborated.

Culture-Related Topic Selection in Small Talk Conversations across Germany and Japan

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Endrass, Birgit; Nakano, Yukiko; Lipi, Afia Akhter

2011-01-01

Small talk can be used in order to build a positive relationship towards a virtual character. However the choice of topics in a conversation can be dependent on social backgrounds such as culture. In this paper, we explore culture-related differences in small talk for the German and Japanese...... cultures. Based on findings from the literature and verified by a corpus analysis, we integrated prototypical German and Japanese small talk conversations into a multiagent system. In evaluation studies conducted in the two target cultures, we investigated whether participants prefer agent dialogs...

Counter cross-cultural priming and relative deprivation: The role of individualism-collectivism.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van den Bos, K.; van Veldhuizen, Tanja; Au, A.K.C.

2015-01-01

This paper uses cross-cultural comparisons and comparisons obtained by experimental manipulation to examine how cultural and contextual factors influence responses to personal and group relative deprivation. Two studies were conducted, one in an individualistic country (The Netherlands) and one in a

Introduction. Back to nurture: cross-cultural research as a paradigm for understanding bio-cultural dynamics of cognitive ageing.

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Luszcz, Mary

2006-01-01

One of the earliest and most persistent inquiries in developmental psychology is that of the relative contributions of nature and nurture to human ontogeny. One way of studying this distinction is by doing cross-cultural studies, in which culture provides a powerful way to operationalize the influence of nurture. The purpose is to provide some background to the emergence of the field of cross-cultural gerontological research, as a prelude to the special series of papers on cognitive ageing and culture from the laboratory of Park and Nisbett and their colleagues. A qualitative review of theoretical notions about cross-cultural differences provides an introduction and orientation to papers dealing with aspects of cognitive ageing, including picture naming specificity, source memory, use of categorical information in free recall, and perceptions of stereotypes of older and younger adults. Most of the research on cognitive ageing has focused on Western cultures and has assumed universality in the operation of the cognitive system. If culture makes a difference, a plausible hypothesis might be that, with ageing, any effects of culture on cognitive processes would become more apparent, due to older adults' increased exposure to their culture, and that these might be limited to the pragmatics of intelligence or crystallized abilities. The papers presented demonstrate that for some cognitive processes, i.e., source memory and free recall, cultural invariance, or universality of cognitive ageing, was observed. Further, stereotypes of both cultures shifted with advancing age from positive to increasingly negative views for mental and physical domains. A modest interaction of age and culture was observed in social and emotional domains, where stereotypes were relatively neutral, except for a small positive bias among the young Chinese participants for both older and younger adults. Marked cultural differences were seen in naming specificity and in the use of categories to

Second language social networks and communication-related acculturative stress: the role of interconnectedness.

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Doucerain, Marina M; Varnaamkhaasti, Raheleh S; Segalowitz, Norman; Ryder, Andrew G

2015-01-01

Although a substantial amount of cross-cultural psychology research has investigated acculturative stress in general, little attention has been devoted specifically to communication-related acculturative stress (CRAS). In line with the view that cross-cultural adaptation and second language (L2) learning are social and interpersonal phenomena, the present study examines the hypothesis that migrants' L2 social network size and interconnectedness predict CRAS. The main idea underlying this hypothesis is that L2 social networks play an important role in fostering social and cultural aspects of communicative competence. Specifically, higher interconnectedness may reflect greater access to unmodified natural cultural representations and L2 communication practices, thus fostering communicative competence through observational learning. As such, structural aspects of migrants' L2 social networks may be protective against acculturative stress arising from chronic communication difficulties. Results from a study of first generation migrant students (N = 100) support this idea by showing that both inclusiveness and density of the participants' L2 network account for unique variance in CRAS but not in general acculturative stress. These results support the idea that research on cross-cultural adaptation would benefit from disentangling the various facets of acculturative stress and that the structure of migrants' L2 network matters for language related outcomes. Finally, this study contributes to an emerging body of work that attempts to integrate cultural/cross-cultural research on acculturation and research on intercultural communication and second language learning.

Psychiatric diagnosis – is it universal or relative to culture?

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Canino, Glorisa; Alegría, Margarita

2009-01-01

Background There is little consensus on the extent to which psychiatric disorders or syndromes are universal or the extent to which they differ on their core definitions and constellation of symptoms as a result of cultural or contextual factors. This controversy continues due to the lack of biological markers, imprecise measurement and the lack of a gold standard for validating most psychiatric conditions. Method Empirical studies were used to present evidence in favor of or against a universalist or relativistic view of child psychiatric disorders using a model developed by Robins and Guze to determine the validity of psychiatric disorders. Results The prevalence of some of the most common specific disorders and syndromes as well as its risk and protective factors vary across cultures, yet comorbid patterns and response to treatments vary little across cultures. Cross-cultural longitudinal data on outcomes is equivocal. Conclusions The cross-cultural validity of child disorders may vary drastically depending on the disorder, but empirical evidence that attests for the cross-cultural validity of diagnostic criteria for each child disorder is lacking. There is a need for studies that investigate the extent to which gene–environment interactions are related to specific disorders across cultures. Clinicians are urged to consider culture and context in determining the way in which children’s psychopathology may be manifested independent of their views. Recommendations for the upcoming classificatory system are provided so that practical or theoretical considerations are addressed about how culture and ethnic issues affect the assessment or treatment of specific disorders in children. PMID:18333929

On the Keyhole Hypothesis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mikkelsen, Kaare B.; Kidmose, Preben; Hansen, Lars Kai

2017-01-01

simultaneously recorded scalp EEG. A cross-validation procedure was employed to ensure unbiased estimates. We present several pieces of evidence in support of the keyhole hypothesis: There is a high mutual information between data acquired at scalp electrodes and through the ear-EEG "keyhole," furthermore we......We propose and test the keyhole hypothesis that measurements from low dimensional EEG, such as ear-EEG reflect a broadly distributed set of neural processes. We formulate the keyhole hypothesis in information theoretical terms. The experimental investigation is based on legacy data consisting of 10...

Music evolution in the laboratory: Cultural transmission meets neurophysiology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lumaca, Massimo; Ravignani, Andrea; Baggio, G.

2018-01-01

In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in the biological and cultural origins of music, and specifically in the role played by perceptual and cognitive biases and constraints in shaping core features of musical systems, such as melody, harmony, and rhythm. One proposal originates...... of music transmission. In this paper, we first review some of the most important theoretical and empirical contributions to this area of research. Next, we identify one major current limitation of these studies: the lack of direct neural support for the hypothesis of cognitive adaptation. Finally, we...... discuss a recent experiment in which this issue was addressed using event-related brain potentials (ERPs). We argue that the introduction of neurophysiology in cultural transmission research may provide new insights on the micro-evolutionary origins of forms of variation observed in cultural systems....

Agency versus Communion as Predictors of Self-esteem: Searching for the Role of Culture and Self-construal

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Wojciszke Bogdan

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Two hypotheses concerning the relative importance of agentic versus communal traits as predictors of selfesteem were tested. The perspective hypothesis assumed that self-esteem is dominated by agency over communion because self-perceptions are formed from the agent (versus recipient perspective. The culture hypothesis assumed that self-esteem is dominated by communal concerns in collectivistic cultures and by agentic concerns in individualistic cultures (echoed by individual differences in self-construal. Study 1 involving three samples from collectivistic countries and three from individualistic ones found that self-esteem was better predicted from self-ratings of agentic than communal traits, with the exception of collectivistic women for whom the two predictors were equal. Study 2 primed the interdependent or independent self and found self-ratings of agency to be better predictors of self-esteem than self-ratings of communion, with the exception of interdependence priming,where the two predictors were equal in strength.

Approaches to informed consent for hypothesis-testing and hypothesis-generating clinical genomics research.

Science.gov (United States)

Facio, Flavia M; Sapp, Julie C; Linn, Amy; Biesecker, Leslie G

2012-10-10

Massively-parallel sequencing (MPS) technologies create challenges for informed consent of research participants given the enormous scale of the data and the wide range of potential results. We propose that the consent process in these studies be based on whether they use MPS to test a hypothesis or to generate hypotheses. To demonstrate the differences in these approaches to informed consent, we describe the consent processes for two MPS studies. The purpose of our hypothesis-testing study is to elucidate the etiology of rare phenotypes using MPS. The purpose of our hypothesis-generating study is to test the feasibility of using MPS to generate clinical hypotheses, and to approach the return of results as an experimental manipulation. Issues to consider in both designs include: volume and nature of the potential results, primary versus secondary results, return of individual results, duty to warn, length of interaction, target population, and privacy and confidentiality. The categorization of MPS studies as hypothesis-testing versus hypothesis-generating can help to clarify the issue of so-called incidental or secondary results for the consent process, and aid the communication of the research goals to study participants.

Evolution of Motor Control: From Reflexes and Motor Programs to the Equilibrium-Point Hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Latash, Mark L

2008-01-01

This brief review analyzes the evolution of motor control theories along two lines that emphasize active (motor programs) and reactive (reflexes) features of voluntary movements. It suggests that the only contemporary hypothesis that integrates both approaches in a fruitful way is the equilibrium-point hypothesis. Physical, physiological, and behavioral foundations of the EP-hypothesis are considered as well as relations between the EP-hypothesis and the recent developments of the notion of motor synergies. The paper ends with a brief review of the criticisms of the EP-hypothesis and challenges that the hypothesis faces at this time.

Competitive pressure and arousing television news: A cross-cultural study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hendriks Vettehen, P.G.J.; Zhou, S.H.; Kleemans, M.; d'Haenens, L.S.J.; Lin, T.T.C.

2012-01-01

In many scholarly writings about journalism, the idea can be found that competitive pressure urges journalists to make news more arousing. This hypothesis was tested in two cultural settings: the Western European culture and the Chinese-dominated culture. A total of 3028 TV news stories from seven

The Relation Between Valence and Arousal in Subjective Experience Varies With Personality and Culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuppens, Peter; Tuerlinckx, Francis; Yik, Michelle; Koval, Peter; Coosemans, Joachim; Zeng, Kevin J; Russell, James A

2017-08-01

While in general arousal increases with positive or negative valence (a so-called V-shaped relation), there are large differences among individuals in how these two fundamental dimensions of affect are related in people's experience. In two studies, we examined two possible sources of this variation: personality and culture. In Study 1, participants (Belgian university students) recalled a recent event that was characterized by high or low valence or arousal and reported on their feelings and their personality in terms of the Five-Factor Model. In Study 2, participants from Canada, China/Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, and Spain reported on their feelings in a thin slice of time and on their personality. In Study 1, we replicated the V-shape as characterizing the relation between valence and arousal, and identified personality correlates of experiencing particular valence-arousal combinations. In Study 2, we documented how the V-shaped relation varied as a function of Western versus Eastern cultural background and personality. The results showed that the steepness of the V-shaped relation between valence and arousal increases with Extraversion within cultures, and with a West-East distinction between cultures. Implications for the personality-emotion link and research on cultural differences in affect are discussed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

MOLIERE: Automatic Biomedical Hypothesis Generation System.

Science.gov (United States)

Sybrandt, Justin; Shtutman, Michael; Safro, Ilya

2017-08-01

Hypothesis generation is becoming a crucial time-saving technique which allows biomedical researchers to quickly discover implicit connections between important concepts. Typically, these systems operate on domain-specific fractions of public medical data. MOLIERE, in contrast, utilizes information from over 24.5 million documents. At the heart of our approach lies a multi-modal and multi-relational network of biomedical objects extracted from several heterogeneous datasets from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). These objects include but are not limited to scientific papers, keywords, genes, proteins, diseases, and diagnoses. We model hypotheses using Latent Dirichlet Allocation applied on abstracts found near shortest paths discovered within this network, and demonstrate the effectiveness of MOLIERE by performing hypothesis generation on historical data. Our network, implementation, and resulting data are all publicly available for the broad scientific community.

Chinese American immigrant parents' emotional expression in the family: Relations with parents' cultural orientations and children's emotion-related regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Stephen H; Zhou, Qing; Main, Alexandra; Lee, Erica H

2015-10-01

The present study examined 2 measures of Chinese American immigrant parents' emotional expression in the family context: self-reported emotional expressivity and observed emotional expression during a parent-child interaction task. Path analyses were conducted to examine the concurrent associations between measures of emotional expression and (a) parents' American and Chinese cultural orientations in language proficiency, media use, and social affiliation domains, and (b) parents' and teachers' ratings of children's emotion-related regulation. Results suggested that cultural orientations were primarily associated with parents' self-reported expressivity (rather than observed emotional expression), such that higher American orientations were generally associated with higher expressivity. Although parents' self-reported expressivity was only related to their own reports of children's regulation, parents' observed emotional expression was related to both parents' and teachers' reports of children's regulation. These results suggest that self-reported expressivity and observed emotional expression reflect different constructs and have differential relations to parents' cultural orientations and children's regulation. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Second language social networks and communication-related acculturative stress: the role of interconnectedness

OpenAIRE

Doucerain, Marina M.; Varnaamkhaasti, Raheleh S.; Segalowitz, Norman; Ryder, Andrew G.

2015-01-01

Although a substantial amount of cross-cultural psychology research has investigated acculturative stress in general, little attention has been devoted specifically to communication-related acculturative stress (CRAS). In line with the view that cross-cultural adaptation and second language (L2) learning are social and interpersonal phenomena, the present study examines the hypothesis that migrants’ L2 social network size and interconnectedness predict CRAS. The main idea underlying this hypo...

Research on the Influencing Mechanism of Traditional Cultural Values on Citizens’ Behavior Regarding the Reuse of Recycled Water

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kun Liu

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In order to explore the influence mechanism of traditional Chinese culture values on urban residents’ acceptance of the reuse of recycled water, this paper selects interdependent self-constructional indicators representing the dependency relation between people as the representative of traditional culture values. In this paper, interdependent self-constructional indicators are introduced based on a technology acceptance model (TAM, in order to establish a hypothesis model. Following this, the writer conducts a study that shows the influence on the acceptance of recycled water through the formation of interdependent self-construction. Finally, the influence mechanism of traditional cultural values on citizens’ behavior regarding the reuse of recycled water is determined. To start with, the writer verifies the reliability and validity of data from 584 samples, and then tests the goodness-of-fit between the sample data and the hypothesis model by AMOS21.0 (software. On this basis, the writer analyzes the direct and indirect influence through the hypothesis model and finds that the interdependent self-constructional intensity will accelerate the acceptance process of recycled water technology by positively influencing a change in the residents’ attitudes to recycled water. The conclusion shows that traditional Chinese cultural values have a certain influence on urban residents’ acceptance of the reuse of recycled water. Meanwhile, the writer clarifies the influence’s mechanism.

Cultural and Intellectual Openness Differentially Relate to Social Judgments of Potential Work Partners.

Science.gov (United States)

Porter, Caitlin M; Parrigon, Scott E; Woo, Sang Eun; Saef, Rachel M; Tay, Louis

2017-10-01

This study investigates the differential functioning of cultural and intellectual openness (the two aspects of Openness to Experience) in relation to social cognitive processes by examining how they influence people's perceptions and interpretations of social information when deciding to initiate working relationships. Using a policy-capturing design, 681 adult participants were asked to rate their similarity to and preference to work with potential work partners characterized by varying nationalities and levels of work-related competence. Multilevel moderated mediation was conducted to simultaneously evaluate whether the indirect effects of potential work partners' characteristics (i.e., nationalities and levels of work-related competence) on work partner preference through perceived similarity were moderated by cultural and intellectual openness. Perceived similarity mediated the relationships between work partner nationality and work-related competence and participants' work partner preferences. Furthermore, the negative indirect effect of work partner nationality on work partner preference via perceived similarity was attenuated by cultural openness, and the positive indirect effect of work partner work-related competence on work partner preference via perceived similarity was strengthened by intellectual openness. Cultural and intellectual openness may have distinct functions that influence how people perceive, evaluate, and appreciate social information when making social judgments. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Peritoneal fluid reduces angiogenesis-related microRNA expression in cell cultures of endometrial and endometriotic tissues from women with endometriosis.

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Aitana Braza-Boïls

Full Text Available UNLABELLED: Endometriosis, defined as the presence of endometrium outside the uterus, is one of the most frequent gynecological diseases. It has been suggested that modifications of both endometrial and peritoneal factors could be implicated in this disease. Endometriosis is a multifactorial disease in which angiogenesis and proteolysis are dysregulated. MicroRNAs (miRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that regulate the protein expression and may be the main regulators of angiogenesis. Our hypothesis is that peritoneal fluid from women with endometriosis could modify the expression of several miRNAs that regulate angiogenesis and proteolysis in the endometriosis development. The objective of this study has been to evaluate the influence of endometriotic peritoneal fluid on the expression of six miRNAs related to angiogenesis, as well as several angiogenic and proteolytic factors in endometrial and endometriotic cell cultures from women with endometriosis compared with women without endometriosis. METHODS: Endometrial and endometriotic cells were cultured and treated with endometriotic and control peritoneal fluid pools. We have studied the expression of six miRNAs (miR-16, -17-5p, -20a, -125a, -221, and -222 by RT-PCR and protein and mRNA levels of vascular endothelial growth factor-A, thrombospondin-1, urokinase plasminogen activator and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 by ELISA and qRT-PCR respectively. RESULTS: Control and endometriotic peritoneal fluid pools induced a significant reduction of all miRNAs levels in endometrial and endometriotic cell cultures. Moreover, both peritoneal fluids induced a significant increase in VEGF-A, uPA and PAI-1 protein levels in all cell cultures without significant increase in mRNA levels. Endometrial cell cultures from patients treated with endometriotic peritoneal fluid showed lower expression of miRNAs and higher expression of VEGF-A protein levels than cultures from controls. In conclusion , this "in vitro

Explaining brain size variation: from social to cultural brain.

Science.gov (United States)

van Schaik, Carel P; Isler, Karin; Burkart, Judith M

2012-05-01

Although the social brain hypothesis has found near-universal acceptance as the best explanation for the evolution of extensive variation in brain size among mammals, it faces two problems. First, it cannot account for grade shifts, where species or complete lineages have a very different brain size than expected based on their social organization. Second, it cannot account for the observation that species with high socio-cognitive abilities also excel in general cognition. These problems may be related. For birds and mammals, we propose to integrate the social brain hypothesis into a broader framework we call cultural intelligence, which stresses the importance of the high costs of brain tissue, general behavioral flexibility and the role of social learning in acquiring cognitive skills. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Teaching Culture as a Relational Process through a Multiliteracies-Based Global Simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Michelson, Kristen

2018-01-01

Recent scholarship in second and foreign language (FL) pedagogy has advocated for approaches to teaching culture that move beyond static notions of culture-as-fact, construed in terms of national traditions, towards relational approaches that foster strategies for interaction within discourse communities, where members embody and express a range…

Culture shapes the evolution of cognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Bill; Kirby, Simon; Smith, Kenny

2016-04-19

A central debate in cognitive science concerns the nativist hypothesis, the proposal that universal features of behavior reflect a biologically determined cognitive substrate: For example, linguistic nativism proposes a domain-specific faculty of language that strongly constrains which languages can be learned. An evolutionary stance appears to provide support for linguistic nativism, because coordinated constraints on variation may facilitate communication and therefore be adaptive. However, language, like many other human behaviors, is underpinned by social learning and cultural transmission alongside biological evolution. We set out two models of these interactions, which show how culture can facilitate rapid biological adaptation yet rule out strong nativization. The amplifying effects of culture can allow weak cognitive biases to have significant population-level consequences, radically increasing the evolvability of weak, defeasible inductive biases; however, the emergence of a strong cultural universal does not imply, nor lead to, nor require, strong innate constraints. From this we must conclude, on evolutionary grounds, that the strong nativist hypothesis for language is false. More generally, because such reciprocal interactions between cultural and biological evolution are not limited to language, nativist explanations for many behaviors should be reconsidered: Evolutionary reasoning shows how we can have cognitively driven behavioral universals and yet extreme plasticity at the level of the individual-if, and only if, we account for the human capacity to transmit knowledge culturally. Wherever culture is involved, weak cognitive biases rather than strong innate constraints should be the default assumption.

Proform-Antecedent Linking in Individuals with Agrammatic Aphasia: A Test of the Intervener Hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Engel, Samantha; Shapiro, Lewis P; Love, Tracy

2018-02-01

To evaluate processing and comprehension of pronouns and reflexives in individuals with agrammatic (Broca's) aphasia and age-matched control participants. Specifically, we evaluate processing and comprehension patterns in terms of a specific hypothesis -- the Intervener Hypothesis - that posits that the difficulty of individuals with agrammatic (Broca's) aphasia results from similarity-based interference caused by the presence of an intervening NP between two elements of a dependency chain. We used an eye tracking-while-listening paradigm to investigate real-time processing (Experiment 1) and a sentence-picture matching task to investigate final interpretive comprehension (Experiment 2) of sentences containing proforms in complement phrase and subject relative constructions. Individuals with agrammatic aphasia demonstrated a greater proportion of gazes to the correct referent of reflexives relative to pronouns and significantly greater comprehension accuracy of reflexives relative to pronouns. These results provide support for the Intervener Hypothesis, previous support for which comes from studies of Wh- questions and unaccusative verbs, and we argue that this account provides an explanation for the deficits of individuals with agrammatic aphasia across a growing set of sentence constructions. The current study extends this hypothesis beyond filler-gap dependencies to referential dependencies and allows us to refine the hypothesis in terms of the structural constraints that meet the description of the Intervener Hypothesis.

The Role of Cultural Power and Its Influence on Global Developments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gholamreza Mortazavi

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The study of the culture power in international politics is very complicated and difficult matter because it has been less explicitly used in the analyses and theorizing of cultural elements, hence the role of culture like political, security and economic factors, is not apparent in the theory of international relations. Many researchers have found that it is not possible to achieve the depth of the relations between nations only by relying on the pure political and economic factors. They prescribe to focus on cultural issues and special attention to the field of culture in order to achieve a realistic cognition of international relations. What doubles the importance of the issue, is the design of some new theories and new intellectual schools, and its effect on global politics. Including, the theory of the clash of civilizations, the dialogue of civilizations, cultural fluidity and postmodernist attitude towards the category of identity and culture, that each of them in some way recommends a particular action framework, according to its noetic framework. Hence, the fundamental question is that: What is the role of culture (soft power in foreign policy and what impact does it have on global changes and developments trend? In response to this, the hypothesis is raised in such a way (trying to produce, procure and persuade values, attitudes, and trends and common attitudes lead to achieve cultural power and, as a result, facilitate the achievement of the national goals and interests of the countries, and promote the foreign policy of the countries and, on the other hand, the use of cultural power, creates a culture of resistance in the field of global politics.

PEDAGIGOCAL TECHNIQUE OF BUILDING THE CULTURE OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS IN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN AT ART CLASSES

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Svetlana Vyacheslavovna Kahnovich

2013-10-01

Full Text Available The article looks at the pedagogical technique of building the culture of interpersonal relations in preschool children at the local and modular level. Interpersonal relations are viewed as the module and art classes as the local level. The research is timely as it can assist in studying the problem of moral development of preschool children by building the culture of interpersonal relations by artistic education means. The study presents novelty concluding from the survey of scientific literature. The process of building the culture of interpersonal relations in children has not been properly studied by preschool pedagogy. The task of the present study is to elaborate a pedagogical technique to build the culture of interpersonal relations between children at art classes. The article discusses ‘technological’ criteria (term by G.K. Selevko and presents interactive principles of the pedagogical technique. Group activities alongside with individual ones were viewed as organizational forms of art classes. Building the culture of interpersonal relations in preschool children at art classes is closely connected with the development of their personality, a child’s  consciousness, their motivational and conceptual spheres during their gradual moral development at various levels - emotional (attitude, axiological level, psychic (intentional cognitive processes, activity (artistic and interpersonal literacy. Graphic (projective methods were used to analyze age dynamics of ethical and moral development. The conclusion describes a set of pedagogical conditions for efficient building of the culture of interpersonal relations in children at art classes.  Goal. To elaborate a pedagogical technique for building the culture of interpersonal relations in preschool children at art classes. The technique can be applied at local and modular level.Methods and Methodology. The pedagogical technique is aimed at building the culture of interpersonal relations

Sexual selection on land snail shell ornamentation: a hypothesis that may explain shell diversity

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Schilthuizen Menno

2003-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Many groups of land snails show great interspecific diversity in shell ornamentation, which may include spines on the shell and flanges on the aperture. Such structures have been explained as camouflage or defence, but the possibility that they might be under sexual selection has not previously been explored. Presentation of the hypothesis The hypothesis that is presented consists of two parts. First, that shell ornamentation is the result of sexual selection. Second, that such sexual selection has caused the divergence in shell shape in different species. Testing the hypothesis The first part of the hypothesis may be tested by searching for sexual dimorphism in shell ornamentation in gonochoristic snails, by searching for increased variance in shell ornamentation relative to other shell traits, and by mate choice experiments using individuals with experimentally enhanced ornamentation. The second part of the hypothesis may be tested by comparing sister groups and correlating shell diversity with degree of polygamy. Implications of the hypothesis If the hypothesis were true, it would provide an explanation for the many cases of allopatric evolutionary radiation in snails, where shell diversity cannot be related to any niche differentiation or environmental differences.

Evolution of Motor Control: From Reflexes and Motor Programs to the Equilibrium-Point Hypothesis

OpenAIRE

Latash, Mark L.

2008-01-01

This brief review analyzes the evolution of motor control theories along two lines that emphasize active (motor programs) and reactive (reflexes) features of voluntary movements. It suggests that the only contemporary hypothesis that integrates both approaches in a fruitful way is the equilibrium-point hypothesis. Physical, physiological, and behavioral foundations of the EP-hypothesis are considered as well as relations between the EP-hypothesis and the recent developments of the notion of m...

Social Errors in Four Cultures: Evidence about Universal Forms of Social Relations.

Science.gov (United States)

Fiske, Alan Page

1993-01-01

To test the cross-cultural generality of relational-models theory, 4 studies with 70 adults examined social errors of substitution of persons for Bengali, Korean, Chinese, and Vai (Liberia and Sierra Leone) subjects. In all four cultures, people tend to substitute someone with whom they have the same basic relationship. (SLD)

Hypothesis in research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eudaldo Enrique Espinoza Freire

2018-01-01

Full Text Available It is intended with this work to have a material with the fundamental contents, which enable the university professor to formulate the hypothesis, for the development of an investigation, taking into account the problem to be solved. For its elaboration, the search of information in primary documents was carried out, such as thesis of degree and reports of research results, selected on the basis of its relevance with the analyzed subject, current and reliability, secondary documents, as scientific articles published in journals of recognized prestige, the selection was made with the same terms as in the previous documents. It presents a conceptualization of the updated hypothesis, its characterization and an analysis of the structure of the hypothesis in which the determination of the variables is deepened. The involvement of the university professor in the teaching-research process currently faces some difficulties, which are manifested, among other aspects, in an unstable balance between teaching and research, which leads to a separation between them.

Culture, Method, and the Content of Self-Concepts: Testing Trait, Individual-Self-Primacy, and Cultural Psychology Perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Del Prado, Alicia M; Church, A Timothy; Katigbak, Marcia S; Miramontes, Lilia G; Whitty, Monica; Curtis, Guy J; de Jesús Vargas-Flores, José; Ibáñez-Reyes, Joselina; Ortiz, Fernando A; Reyes, Jose Alberto S

2007-12-01

Three theoretical perspectives on cultural universals and differences in the content of self-concepts were tested in individualistic (United States, n = 178; Australia, n = 112) and collectivistic (Mexico, n = 157; Philippines, n = 138) cultures, using three methods of self-concept assessment. Support was found for both trait perspectives and the individual-self-primacy hypothesis. In contrast, support for cultural psychology hypotheses was limited because traits and other personal attributes were not more salient, or social attributes less salient, in individualistic cultures than collectivistic cultures. The salience of some aspects of self-concept depended on the method of assessment, calling into question conclusions based on monomethod studies.

Hypothesis testing in students: Sequences, stages, and instructional strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Moshman, David; Thompson, Pat A.

Six sequences in the development of hypothesis-testing conceptions are proposed, involving (a) interpretation of the hypothesis; (b) the distinction between using theories and testing theories; (c) the consideration of multiple possibilities; (d) the relation of theory and data; (e) the nature of verification and falsification; and (f) the relation of truth and falsity. An alternative account is then provided involving three global stages: concrete operations, formal operations, and a postformal metaconstructivestage. Relative advantages and difficulties of the stage and sequence conceptualizations are discussed. Finally, three families of teaching strategy are distinguished, which emphasize, respectively: (a) social transmission of knowledge; (b) carefully sequenced empirical experience by the student; and (c) self-regulated cognitive activity of the student. It is argued on the basis of Piaget's theory that the last of these plays a crucial role in the construction of such logical reasoning strategies as those involved in testing hypotheses.

[Safety culture: definition, models and design].

Science.gov (United States)

Pfaff, Holger; Hammer, Antje; Ernstmann, Nicole; Kowalski, Christoph; Ommen, Oliver

2009-01-01

Safety culture is a multi-dimensional phenomenon. Safety culture of a healthcare organization is high if it has a common stock in knowledge, values and symbols in regard to patients' safety. The article intends to define safety culture in the first step and, in the second step, demonstrate the effects of safety culture. We present the model of safety behaviour and show how safety culture can affect behaviour and produce safe behaviour. In the third step we will look at the causes of safety culture and present the safety-culture-model. The main hypothesis of this model is that the safety culture of a healthcare organization strongly depends on its communication culture and its social capital. Finally, we will investigate how the safety culture of a healthcare organization can be improved. Based on the safety culture model six measures to improve safety culture will be presented.

Is the Aluminum Hypothesis Dead?

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

The Aluminum Hypothesis, the idea that aluminum exposure is involved in the etiology of Alzheimer disease, dates back to a 1965 demonstration that aluminum causes neurofibrillary tangles in the brains of rabbits. Initially the focus of intensive research, the Aluminum Hypothesis has gradually been abandoned by most researchers. Yet, despite this current indifference, the Aluminum Hypothesis continues to attract the attention of a small group of scientists and aluminum continues to be viewed with concern by some of the public. This review article discusses reasons that mainstream science has largely abandoned the Aluminum Hypothesis and explores a possible reason for some in the general public continuing to view aluminum with mistrust. PMID:24806729

Men’s Perception of Raped Women: Test of the Sexually Transmitted Disease Hypothesis and the Cuckoldry Hypothesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prokop Pavol

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Rape is a recurrent adaptive problem of female humans and females of a number of non-human animals. Rape has various physiological and reproductive costs to the victim. The costs of rape are furthermore exaggerated by social rejection and blaming of a victim, particularly by men. The negative perception of raped women by men has received little attention from an evolutionary perspective. Across two independent studies, we investigated whether the risk of sexually transmitted diseases (the STD hypothesis, Hypothesis 1 or paternity uncertainty (the cuckoldry hypothesis, Hypothesis 2 influence the negative perception of raped women by men. Raped women received lower attractiveness score than non-raped women, especially in long-term mate attractiveness score. The perceived attractiveness of raped women was not influenced by the presence of experimentally manipulated STD cues on faces of putative rapists. Women raped by three men received lower attractiveness score than women raped by one man. These results provide stronger support for the cuckoldry hypothesis (Hypothesis 2 than for the STD hypothesis (Hypothesis 1. Single men perceived raped women as more attractive than men in a committed relationship (Hypothesis 3, suggesting that the mating opportunities mediate men’s perception of victims of rape. Overall, our results suggest that the risk of cuckoldry underlie the negative perception of victims of rape by men rather than the fear of disease transmission.

Environmental policy without costs? A review of the Porter hypothesis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Braennlund, Runar; Lundgren, Tommy. e-mail: runar.brannlund@econ.umu.se

2009-03-15

This paper reviews the theoretical and empirical literature connected to the so called Porter Hypothesis. That is, to review the literature connected to the discussion about the relation between environmental policy and competitiveness. According to the conventional wisdom environmental policy, aiming for improving the environment through for example emission reductions, do imply costs since scarce resources must be diverted from somewhere else. However, this conventional wisdom has been challenged and questioned recently through what has been denoted the 'Porter hypothesis'. Those in the forefront of the Porter hypothesis challenge the conventional wisdom basically on the ground that resources are used inefficiently in the absence of the right kind of environmental regulations, and that the conventional neo-classical view is too static to take inefficiencies into account. The conclusions that can be made from this review is (1) that the theoretical literature can identify the circumstances and mechanisms that must exist for a Porter effect to occur, (2) that these circumstances are rather non-general, hence rejecting the Porter hypothesis in general, (3) that the empirical literature give no general support for the Porter hypothesis. Furthermore, a closer look at the 'Swedish case' reveals no support for the Porter hypothesis in spite of the fact that Swedish environmental policy the last 15-20 years seems to be in line the prerequisites stated by the Porter hypothesis concerning environmental policy

Field Theory in Cultural Capital Studies of Educational Attainment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Krarup, Troels; Munk, Martin D.

2016-01-01

This article argues that there is a double problem in international research in cultural capital and educational attainment: an empirical problem, since few new insights have been gained within recent years, and a theoretical problem, since cultural capital is seen as a simple hypothesis about...

A test of the reward-contrast hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Dalecki, Stefan J; Panoz-Brown, Danielle E; Crystal, Jonathon D

2017-12-01

Source memory, a facet of episodic memory, is the memory of the origin of information. Whereas source memory in rats is sustained for at least a week, spatial memory degraded after approximately a day. Different forgetting functions may suggest that two memory systems (source memory and spatial memory) are dissociated. However, in previous work, the two tasks used baiting conditions consisting of chocolate and chow flavors; notably, the source memory task used the relatively better flavor. Thus, according to the reward-contrast hypothesis, when chocolate and chow were presented within the same context (i.e., within a single radial maze trial), the chocolate location was more memorable than the chow location because of contrast. We tested the reward-contrast hypothesis using baiting configurations designed to produce reward-contrast. The reward-contrast hypothesis predicts that under these conditions, spatial memory will survive a 24-h retention interval. We documented elimination of spatial memory performance after a 24-h retention interval using a reward-contrast baiting pattern. These data suggest that reward contrast does not explain our earlier findings that source memory survives unusually long retention intervals. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Associations between health culture, health behaviors, and health-related outcomes: A cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Yingnan; Gao, Junling; Dai, Junming; Zheng, Pinpin; Fu, Hua

2017-01-01

To examine the associations between demographic characteristics, health behaviors, workplace health culture, and health-related outcomes in Chinese workplaces. A total of 1508 employees from 10 administrative offices and 6 enterprises were recruited for a cross-sectional survey. Self-administered questionnaires mainly addressed demographic characteristics, health behaviors, workplace health culture, and health-related outcomes including self-rated health, mental health, and happiness. The proportion of participants who reported good health-related outcomes was significantly higher in those working in administrative offices than those working in enterprises. The result of the potential factors related to self-rated health (SRH), mental health, and happiness by logistic regression analyses showed that age and income were associated with SRH; type of workplace, age, smoking, and health culture at the workplace level were associated with mental health; and beneficial health effects of direct leadership was positively associated with happiness. Moreover, there were some similar results among 3 multivariate regression models. Firstly, good SRH (Odds Ratio (OR) = 1.744), mental health (OR = 1.891), and happiness (OR = 1.736) were more common among highly physically active participants compared with those physical inactive. Furthermore, passive smoking was negatively correlated with SRH (OR = 0.686), mental health (OR = 0.678), and happiness (OR = 0.616), while health culture at the individual level was positively correlated with SRH (OR = 1.478), mental health (OR = 1.654), and happiness (OR = 2.916). The present study indicated that workplace health culture, health behaviors, and demographic characteristics were associated with health-related outcomes. Furthermore, individual health culture, physical activity, and passive smoking might play a critical role in workplace health promotion.

ON HEALTH PROTECTION AND HEALTH RELATED PHYSICAL CULTURE TRAININGS OF FIRST YEAR STUDENTS

OpenAIRE

V.G. Fotynyuk

2017-01-01

Purpose: to assess health protection and health related physical culture trainings of first year students. Material: in the research first year students (n=121; 86 boys and 35girls of age 16 - 19 years, participated. Results: components of students’ individual health were found. Situation with health related physical culture trainings, ensuring students’ sound health and optimal functional potentials of their organisms were determined. It was found that leading role shall be played by formati...

Educational stratification in cultural participation: Cognitive competence or status motivation?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Notten, N.; Bol, Th.; van de Werfhorst, H.G.; Ganzeboom, H.B.G.

2015-01-01

This article examines educational stratification in highbrow cultural participation. There are two contrasting explanations of why cultural participation is stratified. The status hypothesis predicts that people come to appreciate particular forms of art because it expresses their belonging to a

Educational stratification in cultural participation: cognitive competence or status motivation?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Notten, N.; Lancee, B.; van de Werfhorst, H.G.; Ganzeboom, H.B.G.

2015-01-01

This article examines educational stratification in highbrow cultural participation. There are two contrasting explanations of why cultural participation is stratified. The status hypothesis predicts that people come to appreciate particular forms of art because it expresses their belonging to a

Men as cultural ideals: Cultural values moderate gender stereotype content.

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Cuddy, Amy J C; Wolf, Elizabeth Baily; Glick, Peter; Crotty, Susan; Chong, Jihye; Norton, Michael I

2015-10-01

Four studies tested whether cultural values moderate the content of gender stereotypes, such that male stereotypes more closely align with core cultural values (specifically, individualism vs. collectivism) than do female stereotypes. In Studies 1 and 2, using different measures, Americans rated men as less collectivistic than women, whereas Koreans rated men as more collectivistic than women. In Study 3, bicultural Korean Americans who completed a survey in English about American targets rated men as less collectivistic than women, whereas those who completed the survey in Korean about Korean targets did not, demonstrating how cultural frames influence gender stereotype content. Study 4 established generalizability by reanalyzing Williams and Best's (1990) cross-national gender stereotype data across 26 nations. National individualism-collectivism scores predicted viewing collectivistic traits as more-and individualistic traits as less-stereotypically masculine. Taken together, these data offer support for the cultural moderation of gender stereotypes hypothesis, qualifying past conclusions about the universality of gender stereotype content. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Relational mobility explains between- and within-culture differences in self-disclosure to close friends.

Science.gov (United States)

Schug, Joanna; Yuki, Masaki; Maddux, William

2010-10-01

In the current research, we tested a novel explanation for previously demonstrated findings that East Asians disclose less personal information to other people than do Westerners. We propose that both between- and within-culture differences in self-disclosure to close friends may be explained by the construct of relational mobility, the general degree to which individuals in a society have opportunities to form new relationships and terminate old ones. In Study 1, we found that cross-cultural differences (Japan vs. United States) in self-disclosure to a close friend were mediated by individuals' perceptions of relational mobility. In Study 2, two separate measures of relational mobility predicted self-disclosure within a single culture (Japan), and this relationship was mediated by the motivation to engage in self-disclosure to strengthen personal relationships. We conclude that societies and social contexts higher in relational mobility (in which relationships can be formed and dissolved relatively easily) produce stronger incentives for self-disclosure as a social-commitment device.

Diversity as a motive for entrepreneurship?: The case of gender, culture and ethnicity

OpenAIRE

Laurice Alexandre-Leclair

2014-01-01

Diversity is increasingly considered as a motive for entrepreneurship. In our article, we set the hypothesis that diversity positively affects self-employment. In order to validate our hypothesis, we discuss two literature reviews: the first one about the link between culture, ethnicity and entrepreneurship and the other one about gender and entrepreneurship. We also discuss the last study led by OECD (2012) on gender entrepreneurship. Our article reveals that culture and ethnicity may be con...

Emotion regulation and culture: are the social consequences of emotion suppression culture-specific?

Science.gov (United States)

Butler, Emily A; Lee, Tiane L; Gross, James J

2007-02-01

Emotional suppression has been associated with generally negative social consequences (Butler et al., 2003; Gross & John, 2003). A cultural perspective suggests, however, that these consequences may be moderated by cultural values. We tested this hypothesis in a two-part study, and found that, for Americans holding Western-European values, habitual suppression was associated with self-protective goals and negative emotion. In addition, experimentally elicited suppression resulted in reduced interpersonal responsiveness during face-to-face interaction, along with negative partner-perceptions and hostile behavior. These deleterious effects were reduced when individuals with more Asian values suppressed, and these reductions were mediated by cultural differences in the responsiveness of the suppressors. These findings suggest that many of suppression's negative social impacts may be moderated by cultural values. (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved.

Adolescents' Body Image Trajectories: A Further Test of the Self-Equilibrium Hypothesis

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Morin, Alexandre J. S.; Maïano, Christophe; Scalas, L. Francesca; Janosz, Michel; Litalien, David

2017-01-01

The self-equilibrium hypothesis underlines the importance of having a strong core self, which is defined as a high and developmentally stable self-concept. This study tested this hypothesis in relation to body image (BI) trajectories in a sample of 1,006 adolescents (M[subscript age] = 12.6, including 541 males and 465 females) across a 4-year…

Cultural differences in self-recognition: the early development of autonomous and related selves?

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, Josephine; Yilmaz, Mandy; Dale, Rachel; Cassidy, Rose; Yildirim, Iraz; Suzanne Zeedyk, M

2017-05-01

Fifteen- to 18-month-old infants from three nationalities were observed interacting with their mothers and during two self-recognition tasks. Scottish interactions were characterized by distal contact, Zambian interactions by proximal contact, and Turkish interactions by a mixture of contact strategies. These culturally distinct experiences may scaffold different perspectives on self. In support, Scottish infants performed best in a task requiring recognition of the self in an individualistic context (mirror self-recognition), whereas Zambian infants performed best in a task requiring recognition of the self in a less individualistic context (body-as-obstacle task). Turkish infants performed similarly to Zambian infants on the body-as-obstacle task, but outperformed Zambians on the mirror self-recognition task. Verbal contact (a distal strategy) was positively related to mirror self-recognition and negatively related to passing the body-as-obstacle task. Directive action and speech (proximal strategies) were negatively related to mirror self-recognition. Self-awareness performance was best predicted by cultural context; autonomous settings predicted success in mirror self-recognition, and related settings predicted success in the body-as-obstacle task. These novel data substantiate the idea that cultural factors may play a role in the early expression of self-awareness. More broadly, the results highlight the importance of moving beyond the mark test, and designing culturally sensitive tests of self-awareness. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Phylogenetic analyses of behavior support existence of culture among wild chimpanzees.

Science.gov (United States)

Lycett, Stephen J; Collard, Mark; McGrew, William C

2007-11-06

Culture has long been considered to be not only unique to humans, but also responsible for making us qualitatively different from all other forms of life. In recent years, however, researchers studying chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) have challenged this idea. Natural populations of chimpanzees have been found to vary greatly in their behavior. Because many of these interpopulation differences cannot be readily explained by ecological factors, it has been argued that they result from social learning and, therefore, can be regarded as cultural variations. Recent studies showing social transmission in captive chimpanzee populations suggest that this hypothesis is plausible. However, the culture hypothesis has been questioned on the grounds that the behavioral variation may be explained at a proximate level by genetic differences between subspecies. Here we use cladistic analyses of the major cross-site behavioral data set to test the hypothesis that the behavioral differences among the best-documented chimpanzee populations are genetically determined. If behavioral diversity is primarily the product of genetic differences between subspecies, then population data should show less phylogenetic structure when data from a single subspecies (P. t. schweinfurthii) are compared with data from two subspecies (P. t. verus and P. t. schweinfurthii) analyzed together. Our findings are inconsistent with the hypothesis that the observed behavioral patterns of wild chimpanzee populations can be explained primarily by genetic differences between subspecies. Instead, our results support the suggestion that the behavioral patterns are the product of social learning and, therefore, can be considered cultural.

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).

A Hypothesis: Life Initiated from Two Genes, as Deduced from the RNA World Hypothesis and the Characteristics of Life-Like Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kunio Kawamura

2016-08-01

Full Text Available RNA played a central role in the emergence of the first life-like system on primitive Earth since RNA molecules contain both genetic information and catalytic activity. However, there are several drawbacks regarding the RNA world hypothesis. Here, I briefly discuss the feasibility of the RNA world hypothesis to deduce the RNA functions that are essential for forming a life-like system. At the same time, I have conducted a conceptual analysis of the characteristics of biosystems as a useful approach to deduce a realistic life-like system in relation to the definition of life. For instance, an RNA-based life-like system should possess enough stability to resist environmental perturbations, by developing a cell-like compartment, for instance. Here, a conceptual viewpoint is summarized to provide a realistic life-like system that is compatible with the primitive Earth environment and the capabilities of RNA molecules. According to the empirical and conceptual analysis, I propose the hypothesis that the first life-like system could have initiated from only two genes.

Cooperating or competing in three languages : Cultural accommodation or alienation?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gargalianou, Vasiliki; Urbig, D.; van Witteloostuijn, Arjen

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of using foreign languages on cooperative behavior in a prisoner’s dilemma setting. The cultural accommodation hypothesis suggests that people are less cooperative in English, associated with the Anglophone cultural cluster, than in French,

Cooperating or competing in three languages : Cultural accommodation or alienation?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gargalianou, Vasiliki; Urbig, Diemo; Van Witteloostuijn, Arjen

2017-01-01

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of using foreign languages on cooperative behavior in a prisoner's dilemma setting. The cultural accommodation hypothesis suggests that people are less cooperative in English, associated with the Anglophone cultural cluster, than in French,

Field Theory in Cultural Capital Studies of Educational Attainment

Science.gov (United States)

Krarup, Troels; Munk, Martin D.

2016-01-01

This article argues that there is a double problem in international research in cultural capital and educational attainment: an empirical problem, since few new insights have been gained within recent years; and a theoretical problem, since cultural capital is seen as a simple hypothesis about certain isolated individual resources, disregarding…

Reassessing the Trade-off Hypothesis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rosas, Guillermo; Manzetti, Luigi

2015-01-01

Do economic conditions drive voters to punish politicians that tolerate corruption? Previous scholarly work contends that citizens in young democracies support corrupt governments that are capable of promoting good economic outcomes, the so-called trade-off hypothesis. We test this hypothesis based...

The relationship between relational models and individualism and collectivism: evidence from culturally diverse work groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Vodosek, Markus

2009-04-01

Relational models theory (Fiske, 1991 ) proposes that all thinking about social relationships is based on four elementary mental models: communal sharing, authority ranking, equality matching, and market pricing. Triandis and his colleagues (e.g., Triandis, Kurowski, & Gelfand, 1994 ) have suggested a relationship between the constructs of horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism and Fiske's relational models. However, no previous research has examined this proposed relationship empirically. The objective of the current study was to test the association between the two frameworks in order to further our understanding of why members of culturally diverse groups may prefer different relational models in interactions with other group members. Findings from this study support a relationship between Triandis' constructs and Fiske's four relational models and uphold Fiske's ( 1991 ) claim that the use of the relational models is culturally dependent. As hypothesized, horizontal collectivism was associated with a preference for equality matching and communal sharing, vertical individualism was related to a preference for authority ranking, and vertical collectivism was related to a preference for authority ranking and communal sharing. However, contrary to expectations, horizontal individualism was not related to a preference for equality matching and market pricing, and vertical individualism was not associated with market pricing. By showing that there is a relationship between Triandis' and Fiske's frameworks, this study closes a gap in relational models theory, namely how culture relates to people's preferences for relational models. Thus, the findings from this study will enable future researchers to explain and predict what relational models are likely to be used in a certain cultural context.

Tests of the lunar hypothesis

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, S. R.

1984-01-01

The concept that the Moon was fissioned from the Earth after core separation is the most readily testable hypothesis of lunar origin, since direct comparisons of lunar and terrestrial compositions can be made. Differences found in such comparisons introduce so many ad hoc adjustments to the fission hypothesis that it becomes untestable. Further constraints may be obtained from attempting to date the volatile-refractory element fractionation. The combination of chemical and isotopic problems suggests that the fission hypothesis is no longer viable, and separate terrestrial and lunar accretion from a population of fractionated precursor planetesimals provides a more reasonable explanation.

Firm Performance and Alliance Capability: The mediating role of culture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Man, A.P.; Luvison, D.

2015-01-01

Purpose – Extant literature has looked at the effect of alliance capability and organizational culture on alliance portfolio performance, but the relationship between the two has not been explored. The purpose of this paper is to explore the hypothesis that an alliance supportive culture is not only

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…

Cultural Effects on Business Students' Ethical Decisions: A Chinese versus American Comparison

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Sherry F.; Persons, Obeua S.

2011-01-01

The authors used a corporate code of ethics to create 18 scenarios for examining cultural effects on ethical decisions of Chinese versus American business students. Four cultural differences were hypothesized to contribute to overall less ethical decisions of Chinese students. The results support the hypothesis and indicate strong cultural effects…

Bourdieu's Cultural Capital in Relation to Food Choices: A Systematic Review of Cultural Capital Indicators and an Empirical Proof of Concept.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlijn B M Kamphuis

Full Text Available Unhealthy food choices follow a socioeconomic gradient that may partly be explained by one's 'cultural capital', as defined by Bourdieu. We aim 1 to carry out a systematic review to identify existing quantitative measures of cultural capital, 2 to develop a questionnaire to measure cultural capital for food choices, and 3 to empirically test associations of socioeconomic position with cultural capital and food choices, and of cultural capital with food choices.We systematically searched large databases for the key-word 'cultural capital' in title or abstract. Indicators of objectivised cultural capital and family institutionalised cultural capital, as identified by the review, were translated to food choice relevant indicators. For incorporated cultural capital, we used existing questionnaires that measured the concepts underlying the variety of indicators as identified by the review, i.e. participation, skills, knowledge, values. The questionnaire was empirically tested in a postal survey completed by 2,953 adults participating in the GLOBE cohort study, The Netherlands, in 2011.The review yielded 113 studies that fulfilled our inclusion criteria. Several indicators of family institutionalised (e.g. parents' education completed and objectivised cultural capital (e.g. possession of books, art were consistently used. Incorporated cultural capital was measured with a large variety of indicators (e.g. cultural participation, skills. Based on this, we developed a questionnaire to measure cultural capital in relation to food choices. An empirical test of the questionnaire showed acceptable overall internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha of .654; 56 items, and positive associations between socioeconomic position and cultural capital, and between cultural capital and healthy food choices.Cultural capital may be a promising determinant for (socioeconomic inequalities in food choices.

The Twin Deficits Hypothesis: An Empirical Analysis for Tanzania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manamba Epaphra

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the relationship between current account and government budget deficits in Tanzania. The paper tests the validity of the twin deficits hypothesis, using annual time series data for the 1966-2015 period. The paper is thought to be significant because the concept of the twin deficit hypothesis is fraught with controversy. Some researches support the hypothesis that there is a positive relationship between current account deficits and fiscal deficits in the economy while others do not. In this paper, the empirical tests fail to reject the twin deficits hypothesis, indicating that rising budget deficits put more strain on the current account deficits in Tanzania. Specifically, the Vector Error Correction Model results support the conventional theory of a positive relationship between fiscal and external balances, with a relatively high speed of adjustment toward the equilibrium position. This evidence is consistent with a small open economy. To address the problem that may result from this kind of relationship, appropriate policy variables for reducing budget deficits such as reduction in non-development expenditure, enhancement of domestic revenue collection and actively fight corruption and tax evasion should be adopted. The government should also target export oriented firms and encourage an import substitution industry by creating favorable business environments.

Individual differences in children's materialism: the role of peer relations.

Science.gov (United States)

Banerjee, Robin; Dittmar, Helga

2008-01-01

Associations between materialism and peer relations are likely to exist in elementary school children but have not been studied previously. The first two studies introduce a new Perceived Peer Group Pressures (PPGP) Scale suitable for this age group, demonstrating that perceived pressure regarding peer culture (norms for behavioral, attitudinal, and material characteristics) can be reliably measured and that it is connected to children's responses to hypothetical peer pressure vignettes. Studies 3 and 4 evaluate the main theoretical model of associations between peer relations and materialism. Study 3 supports the hypothesis that peer rejection is related to higher perceived peer culture pressure, which in turn is associated with greater materialism. Study 4 confirms that the endorsement of social motives for materialism mediates the relationship between perceived peer pressure and materialism.

I am against us? Unpacking cultural differences in ingroup favoritism via dialecticism.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma-Kellams, Christine; Spencer-Rodgers, Julie; Peng, Kaiping

2011-01-01

The authors proposed a novel explanation for cultural differences in ingroup favoritism (dialecticism) and tested this hypothesis across cultures/ethnicities, domains, and levels of analysis (explicit vs. implicit, cognitive vs. affective). Dialecticism refers to the cognitive tendency to tolerate contradiction and is more frequently found among East Asian than North American cultures. In Study 1, Chinese were significantly less positive, compared to European Americans, in their explicit judgments of family members. Study 2 investigated ingroup attitudes among Chinese, Latinos, and European Americans. Only Chinese participants showed significant in-group derogation, relative to the other groups, and dialecticism (Dialectical Self Scale) was associated with participants' in group attitudes. Study 3 manipulated dialectical versus linear lay beliefs; participants primed with dialecticism showed more negative, explicit ingroup attitudes. Although ingroup disfavoring tendencies were more prevalent among Chinese across studies, they may be a reflection of one's culturally based lay beliefs rather than deep-rooted negative feelings toward one's ingroup.

Cultural impact on regional development: application of a PLS-PM model to Greece

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tubadji, A.; Nijkamp, P.

2015-01-01

This paper seeks to find evidence for the impact of local culture—living culture and cultural heritage—on regional socio-economic development in Greece. The main aim of the paper is to operationalize the culture-based development hypothesis for the existence of a cumulative causation process of

Pathogen prevalence predicts human cross-cultural variability in individualism/collectivism.

Science.gov (United States)

Fincher, Corey L; Thornhill, Randy; Murray, Damian R; Schaller, Mark

2008-06-07

Pathogenic diseases impose selection pressures on the social behaviour of host populations. In humans (Homo sapiens), many psychological phenomena appear to serve an antipathogen defence function. One broad implication is the existence of cross-cultural differences in human cognition and behaviour contingent upon the relative presence of pathogens in the local ecology. We focus specifically on one fundamental cultural variable: differences in individualistic versus collectivist values. We suggest that specific behavioural manifestations of collectivism (e.g. ethnocentrism, conformity) can inhibit the transmission of pathogens; and so we hypothesize that collectivism (compared with individualism) will more often characterize cultures in regions that have historically had higher prevalence of pathogens. Drawing on epidemiological data and the findings of worldwide cross-national surveys of individualism/collectivism, our results support this hypothesis: the regional prevalence of pathogens has a strong positive correlation with cultural indicators of collectivism and a strong negative correlation with individualism. The correlations remain significant even when controlling for potential confounding variables. These results help to explain the origin of a paradigmatic cross-cultural difference, and reveal previously undocumented consequences of pathogenic diseases on the variable nature of human societies.

Linking Cultural Competence to Functional Life Outcomes in Mental Health Care Settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Michalopoulou, Georgia; Falzarano, Pamela; Butkus, Michael; Zeman, Lori; Vershave, Judy; Arfken, Cynthia

2014-01-01

Minorities in the United States have well-documented health disparities. Cultural barriers and biases by health care providers may contribute to lower quality of services which may contribute to these disparities. However, evidence linking cultural competency and health outcomes is lacking. This study, part of an ongoing quality improvement effort, tested the mediation hypothesis that patients' perception of provider cultural competency indirectly influences patients' health outcomes through process of care. Data were from patient satisfaction surveys collected in seven mental health clinics (n=94 minority patients). Consistent with our hypothesis, patients' perception of clinicians' cultural competency was indirectly associated with patients' self-reported improvements in social interactions, improvements in performance at work or school, and improvements in managing life problems through the patients' experience of respect, trust, and communication with the clinician. These findings indicate that process of care characteristics during the clinical encounter influence patients' perceptions of clinicians' cultural competency and affect functional outcomes. © 2013 National Medical Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The fit between national culture, organizing and managing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søndergaard, Mikael

2006-01-01

We hypothesize a fit betwen national cultural environment of the organization and contingency variables subject to managerial discretion. Such a hypothesis implies that national cultures is a contextual variable in contingency thoery and uses emperically derived culture contingency theory to argue...... are negatively correlated with uncertainty avoidance. We derive a number of important implication for organization design theory and practice....... that national culture chracteristics affect management's choices as to how to organize and manage people.  A tightly matched population of 4400 city managers from 14 Western countries constitutes strong material for the analysis as cultural and behavioral variables were directly analyzed. Findings suggest...

Simultaneity modeling analysis of the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ben Youssef, Adel; Hammoudeh, Shawkat; Omri, Anis

2016-01-01

The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis has been recognized in the environmental economics literature since the 1990's. Various statistical tests have been used on time series, cross section and panel data related to single and groups of countries to validate this hypothesis. In the literature, the validation has always been conducted by using a single equation. However, since both the environment and income variables are endogenous, the estimation of a single equation model when simultaneity exists produces inconsistent and biased estimates. Therefore, we formulate simultaneous two-equation models to investigate the EKC hypothesis for fifty-six countries, using annual panel data from 1990 to 2012, with the end year is determined by data availability for the panel. To make the panel data analysis more homogeneous, we investigate this issue for a three income-based panels (namely, high-, middle-, and low-income panels) given several explanatory variables. Our results indicate that there exists a bidirectional causality between economic growth and pollution emissions in the overall panels. We also find that the relationship is nonlinear and has an inverted U-shape for all the considered panels. Policy implications are provided. - Highlights: • We have given a new look for the validity of the EKC hypothesis. • We formulate two-simultaneous equation models to validate this hypothesis for fifty-six countries. • We find a bidirectional causality between economic growth and pollution emissions. • We also discover an inverted U-shaped between environmental degradation and economic growth. • This relationship varies at different stages of economic development.

Multiple hypothesis tracking based extraction of airway trees from CT data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Raghavendra, Selvan; Petersen, Jens; de Bruijne, Marleen

Segmentation of airway trees from CT scans of lungs has important clinical applications, in relation to the diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Here we present a method based on multiple hypothesis tracking (MHT) and template matching, originally devised for vessel...... segmentation, to extract airway trees. Idealized tubular templates are constructed and ranked using scores assigned based on the image data. Several such regularly spaced hypotheses are used in constructing a hypothesis tree, which is then traversed to obtain improved segmentation results....

A Theory of Evolving Natural Constants Based on the Unification of General Theory of Relativity and Dirac's Large Number Hypothesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peng Huanwu

2005-01-01

Taking Dirac's large number hypothesis as true, we have shown [Commun. Theor. Phys. (Beijing, China) 42 (2004) 703] the inconsistency of applying Einstein's theory of general relativity with fixed gravitation constant G to cosmology, and a modified theory for varying G is found, which reduces to Einstein's theory outside the gravitating body for phenomena of short duration in small distances, thereby agrees with all the crucial tests formerly supporting Einstein's theory. The modified theory, when applied to the usual homogeneous cosmological model, gives rise to a variable cosmological tensor term determined by the derivatives of G, in place of the cosmological constant term usually introduced ad hoc. Without any free parameter the theoretical Hubble's relation obtained from the modified theory seems not in contradiction to observations, as Dr. Wang's preliminary analysis of the recent data indicates [Commun. Theor. Phys. (Beijing, China) 42 (2004) 703]. As a complement to Commun. Theor. Phys. (Beijing, China) 42 (2004) 703 we shall study in this paper the modification of electromagnetism due to Dirac's large number hypothesis in more detail to show that the approximation of geometric optics still leads to null geodesics for the path of light, and that the general relation between the luminosity distance and the proper geometric distance is still valid in our theory as in Einstein's theory, and give the equations for homogeneous cosmological model involving matter plus electromagnetic radiation. Finally we consider the impact of the modification to quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics, and arrive at a systematic theory of evolving natural constants including Planck's h-bar as well as Boltzmann's k B by finding out their cosmologically combined counterparts with factors of appropriate powers of G that may remain truly constant to cosmologically long time.

Hygiene Hypothesis: Is the Evidence the Same All Over the World?

Science.gov (United States)

Leong, Rupert W; Mitrev, Nikola; Ko, Yanna

2016-01-01

The hygiene hypothesis refers to where modern living conditions are responsible for the increasing incidences of immune-related diseases including the development of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Improved hygiene may result in decreased enteric microbiota diversity and dysbiosis, which may be responsible for the development of IBD. The rising incidence of IBD is well documented in developing regions of the world, in accordance with the hygiene hypothesis. What is unknown, however, is whether the hygiene hypothesis is applicable all over the world. Hygiene cannot be easily measured and proxy markers need to be used. These include regional data such as a country's gross domestic product or an individual's affluence or exposure to infection risk factors. A comparative case-control study of Caucasian Australian IBD subjects versus migrants from the Middle East to Australia identified that environmental risk factors are different in the 2 populations. Among Australian Caucasians, hygiene-related environmental risk factors are no longer relevant in the development of IBD. Given the country's high affluence, there has been high hygienic standard for several generations. However, migrants from less affluent countries exposed to hygiene-related environmental factors are at increased risks of developing IBD, especially in the second generation migrants born in the affluent country. Divergent risk factors include the use of antibiotics in childhood increasing the risk of IBD in developed societies but being a risk factor for developing IBD in migrants. In India, risk factors associated with infections were found to be positively associated with the development of ulcerative colitis, rather than protective. The hygiene hypothesis is not applicable to all populations worldwide, being most relevant in societies undergoing increasing affluence or following migration from less to more affluent countries. This review examines data from around the world that link the hygiene

Romanticism and schizophrenia. Second part: The intimacy hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

López-Ibor, Juan J; López-Ibor, María I

2014-01-01

In the first part of this article we have analyzed the evidence supporting the recency hypothesis of schizophrenia and also what we can call the intimate nature of the disease. In this part we highlight the role of certain cultural aspects that have been ignored up to now, aspects that are associated with deep changes in the Weltanschauung and systems of beliefs on human nature brought up by the late Modernism, specifically by Romanticism. The description of the main characteristics of Romanticism, starting with the “discovery of intimacy”, leads to the conclusion that the characteristic alteration of subjectivity and ipseity of the disease appears to be a vulnerability factor when somebody has to face the new challenges raise Romanticism. The consideration of Hölderlin’s literary achievements and the deep psychological drama prevailing in them, makes explicit how the late modern human being finds in Romanticism the source of creativity and personal development but also the threat of his or her own destruction. Finally we link our hypothesis with recent genetic perspectives that consider sets of diseases associated to the same gene or genes (diseasome). In any case the process of associating the traits of Late Modernism and Romanticism with the core features of schizophrenia allows to consider the amalgamation of insanity with society, both at a general level an in what concerns individual patients, paving the way for novel therapeutic strategies.

Realization of educational discipline «Physical culture» in formation of positive relations of children

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Olhova-Marchuk N.V.

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Educational potential of contents of the subject «Physical culture» and its extramural kinds in formation of inter-personalities relations of younger schoolchildren is revealed. The pupils of 1-4 class took part in the experiment. It is exposed that the problem of culture formation of inter-personalities relations needs looking for new methods of its solution. It is proved that formation of inter-personalities relations of younger children is actively realized in the process of physical education.

The Qualitative Expectations Hypothesis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frydman, Roman; Johansen, Søren; Rahbek, Anders

We introduce the Qualitative Expectations Hypothesis (QEH) as a new approach to modeling macroeconomic and financial outcomes. Building on John Muth's seminal insight underpinning the Rational Expectations Hypothesis (REH), QEH represents the market's forecasts to be consistent with the predictions...... of an economist's model. However, by assuming that outcomes lie within stochastic intervals, QEH, unlike REH, recognizes the ambiguity faced by an economist and market participants alike. Moreover, QEH leaves the model open to ambiguity by not specifying a mechanism determining specific values that outcomes take...

The culture and identity schedule a measure of cultural affiliation: acculturation, marginalization and schizophrenia.

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Bhugra, Dinesh; Leff, Julian; Mallett, Rosemarie; Morgan, Craig; Zhao, Jing-Hua

2010-09-01

Previous epidemiological studies have shown a high incidence of schizophrenia in African-Caribbeans in the UK, but not in Asians. We investigated the hypothesis that cultural adherence might protect the Asians against the stress of living in a majority white culture. The Culture and Identity Schedule (CANDID) was given to patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia making their first contact with psychiatric services, and to a matched group of controls randomly selected from the general population. While the Asian patients displayed no drift away from the traditional values as espoused by their controls, the African-Caribbean patients were less traditional than their controls. The fact that a movement away from their traditional culture distinguishes African-Caribbean patients with a severe psychiatric illness, schizophrenia, from their mentally healthy controls strongly favours marginalization over biculturalism as an interpretation of this shift.

Career, Migration and the Life CV: A Relational Cultural Analysis

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Schultheiss, Donna E.; Watts, Jane; Sterland, Ljaja; O'Neill, Maggie

2011-01-01

In response to the precarious and disadvantaged position of forced migrants in the United States and the UK, marked by unemployment, under employment and loss of career capital, this paper draws upon a relational cultural paradigm and a life design career model in order to understand migrant work life, shape the career intervention process and…

Graphic tests of Easterlin's hypothesis: science or art?

Science.gov (United States)

Rutten, A; Higgs, R

1984-01-01

Richard Easterlin believes that the postwar fertility cycle is uniquely consistent with the hypothesis of his relative income model of fertility, yet a closer examination of his evidence shows that the case for the relative income explanation is much weaker than initially appears. Easterlin finds the postwar baby boom a transparent event. Couples who entered the labor market in the postwar period have very low material aspirations. Having grown up during the Great Depression and World War II, they were content with a modest level of living. Their labor market experience was very good. Tight restrictions on immigration kept aliens from coming in to fill the gap. Thus the members of his generation occupied an unprecedented position. They could easily meet and even exceed their expectations. This high level of relative income meant that they could have more of everything they wanted, including children. For the children born during the baby boom, all this was reversed, and hence the needs of the baby bust were sown. To test this hypothesis, Easterlin compared the movements of relative income and fertility over the postwar years using a graph. 4 published versions of the graph are presented. The graph shows that relative income and fertility did move together over the cycle, apparently very closely. Easterlin's measure of fertility is the total fertility rate (TFR). There is no such direct measure of relative income. Easterlin develops 2 proxies based on changing economic conditions believed to shape the level of material aspirations. His preferred measure, labeled R or income in his graph, relates the income experience of young couples in the years previous to marriage to that of their parents in the years before the young people left home. Because of the available data limit construction of this index to the years after 1956, another measure, labeled Re or employment in Easterlin's graphs, is constructed for the pre-1956 period. This measure relates the average of

Empathy and universal values explicated by the empathy-altruism hypothesis.

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Persson, Björn N; Kajonius, Petri J

2016-01-01

Research reports that empathy is on the decline in present-day society, together with an increasing trend in self-enhancing values. Based on the empathy-altruism hypothesis, we investigated whether these constructs are interlinked by analyzing the relationships between emotional and cognitive empathy and 10 universal values. In the first study, using a middle-aged U.S. sample, the results showed that empathy was strongly and positively related to altruistic values and negatively to self-enhancing values in a pattern that aligned with the empathy-altruism hypothesis. In a second confirmation study, these findings were replicated and extended, while also controlling for the Big Five personality traits, to discount that empathy is only captured by basic personality. Only emotional empathy, not cognitive empathy, accounted for up to 18% additional variance in altruistic values, which further confirmed the emphasis on feelings, as postulated by the empathy-altruism hypothesis.

A Cross-Cultural Examination of SNS Usage Intensity and Managing Interpersonal Relationships Online: The Role of Culture and the Autonomous-Related Self-Construal

OpenAIRE

Lee, Soon Li; Kim, Jung-Ae; Golden, Karen Jennifer; Kim, Jae-Hwi; Park, Miriam Sang-Ah

2016-01-01

Perception of the autonomy and relatedness of the self may be influenced by one's experiences and social expectations within a particular cultural setting. The present research examined the role of culture and the Autonomous-Related self-construal in predicting for different aspects of Social Networking Sites (SNS) usage in three Asian countries, especially focusing on those aspects serving interpersonal goals. Participants in this cross-cultural study included 305 university students from Ma...

The Debt Overhang Hypothesis: Evidence from Pakistan

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Shah Muhammad Imran

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the debt overhang hypothesis for Pakistan in the period 1960-2007. The study examines empirically the dynamic behaviour of GDP, debt services, the employed labour force and investment using the time series concepts of unit roots, cointegration, error correlation and causality. Our findings suggest that debt-servicing has a negative impact on the productivity of both labour and capital, and that in turn has adversely affected economic growth. By severely constraining the ability of the country to service debt, this lends support to the debt-overhang hypothesis in Pakistan. The long run relation between debt services and economic growth implies that future increases in output will drain away in form of high debt service payments to lender country as external debt acts like a tax on output. More specifically, foreign creditors will benefit more from the rise in productivity than will domestic producers and labour. This suggests that domestic labour and capital are the ultimate losers from this heavy debt burden.

Cultural Influences on Toddlers' Prosocial Behavior: How Maternal Task Assignment Relates to Helping Others

Science.gov (United States)

Köster, Moritz; Cavalcante, Lilia; Vera Cruz de Carvalho, Rafael; Dôgo Resende, Briseida; Kärtner, Joscha

2016-01-01

This cross-cultural study investigates how maternal task assignment relates to toddlers' requested behavior and helping between 18 and 30 months. One hundred seven mother-child dyads were assessed in three different cultural contexts (rural Brazil, urban Germany, and urban Brazil). Brazilian mothers showed assertive scaffolding (serious and…

MORALITY IN CULTURAL ELEMENTS IN FAIRYTALE AND ITS IMPLICATION IN LEARNING FRENCH AS FOREIGN LANGUAGE

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Ninuk Lustyantie

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The culture of a society is closely related to the language used by the speakers. Moreover, there are opinions saying that in a language there will be patterns of behavior, materials, ideas (beliefs and knowledge, and sentiments (attitudes and norms of a society that are formed and exposed. This fact is in accordance with the opinion that a language is more than just a communion; it is the relation between individual and sociocultural values. Among all characteristics of culture, language is the most prominent distinguishing feature, since each social group feel themselves as a different entity from other groups. For certain social groups, language is used as the social identity/symbol. Close relation between language and culture is reflected in words used by the society. A concept or way of life in a society can be supported by words and language. Someone’s language behavior generally follows the culture of a society where he/she lives, including how the cultural elements appear in the equipment of human life, livelihood, social system, language (and literature system either written or oral, various of arts, knowledge system, and religious system. Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis states that there is a close relation between the language used by people and how they understand the world and behave in it. Based on 17th Century French fairytales, this article will review the moral values contained in the cultural elements and the implications in learning French as a foreign language.

Cultural and gender differences in emotion regulation: relation to depression.

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Kwon, Hoin; Yoon, K Lira; Joormann, Jutta; Kwon, Jung-Hye

2013-01-01

In the last decade, studies have shown that the use of specific emotion regulation strategies contributes to an increased risk for depression. Past research, however, has overlooked potential cultural and gender differences in emotion regulation. The present study examined the relation between the use of emotion regulation strategies and depressive symptoms among college students in two different cultures (n=380 in Seoul, Korea; n=384 in Miami, USA). Koreans, compared with American students, reported more frequent use of brooding, whereas Americans reported more anger suppression than Koreans. Women were more likely than men to use both types of rumination (i.e., reflective pondering and brooding) and anger suppression in both countries, but these gender differences disappeared once levels of depressive symptoms were controlled for. In addition, the association between the use of reappraisal and depressive symptoms was significantly stronger in the Korean compared to the US sample. In contrast, the association between anger suppression and depressive symptoms was significantly stronger in the American compared to the Korean sample. These findings highlight the importance of considering the role of culture in emotion regulation.

INFLUENCE OF GENDER RELATIONS ON THE CULTURE OF THE WORKERS AT THE COMPANY

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Vladimir Yurevich Pripoten

2015-11-01

Full Text Available This article is devoted to a discover of gender relations of main managers of industrial companies and their subordinate groups. We have used a technique that is based on the effective head of the list as the «Сycle of control skills», that are identified to the major gender differences in management, based on the check of the possibility of a business and personal qualities of leaders, as we take to a consider the influence of gender on the culture of main control managers.Purpose. To study the influence of main relations on the culture of the workers, check and research a way for the companies to develop.Method and methodology of work. Expert survey, the use of methods of Clark L. Wilson «Сycle management skills», «The level of progress of the organizational culture», V. Snetkova.Results. The basic personal and business qualities of men and women leaders. The influence of gender on the culture of the staff of presented companies.Practical implications. Companies of all possible kinds and their specialization.

The relationship between cultural individualism-collectivism and student aggression across 62 countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Bergmüller, Silvia

2013-01-01

This study examined the relationship between countries' dominant cultural values (i.e., individualism and collectivism) and (a) school principals' perceptions of aggressive student behavior and (b) students' self-reports of being aggressively victimized in school. Data on student aggression and victimization were collected across 62 countries in nationally representative samples of fourth and eighth graders (N = 428,566) and their principals (N = 15,043) by the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007. Students were asked about three forms of aggressive victimization: physical, verbal, and relational; principals about two forms of aggressive student behavior: physical and verbal. Country-level regression analyses revealed that the level of cultural individualism, according to the individualism index (IDV) by Hofstede, Hofstede, and Minkov (2010), was not significantly related to either form of student-reported victimization. However, school principals reported aggressive student behavior more often the more individualist, and hence less collectivist, their country's culture. This relation was evident in the principals' reports on 4th and 8th grade students' aggressive behavior for both physical and verbal aggression. Multilevel analyses revealed that cultural individualism was still a powerful predictor of principal-reported aggressive student behavior after controlling for school and country characteristics. The discussion outlines reasons why principals' reports of aggressive student behavior are probably more valid indicators of student aggression than student self-reports of victimization, thereby supporting the hypothesis of culture-dependency of aggression. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Qualitative Expectations Hypothesis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frydman, Roman; Johansen, Søren; Rahbek, Anders

2017-01-01

We introduce the Qualitative Expectations Hypothesis (QEH) as a new approach to modeling macroeconomic and financial outcomes. Building on John Muth's seminal insight underpinning the Rational Expectations Hypothesis (REH), QEH represents the market's forecasts to be consistent with the predictions...... of an economistís model. However, by assuming that outcomes lie within stochastic intervals, QEH, unlike REH, recognizes the ambiguity faced by an economist and market participants alike. Moreover, QEH leaves the model open to ambiguity by not specifying a mechanism determining specific values that outcomes take...

Using modern human cortical bone distribution to test the systemic robusticity hypothesis.

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Baab, Karen L; Copes, Lynn E; Ward, Devin L; Wells, Nora; Grine, Frederick E

2018-06-01

The systemic robusticity hypothesis links the thickness of cortical bone in both the cranium and limb bones. This hypothesis posits that thick cortical bone is in part a systemic response to circulating hormones, such as growth hormone and thyroid hormone, possibly related to physical activity or cold climates. Although this hypothesis has gained popular traction, only rarely has robusticity of the cranium and postcranial skeleton been considered jointly. We acquired computed tomographic scans from associated crania, femora and humeri from single individuals representing 11 populations in Africa and North America (n = 228). Cortical thickness in the parietal, frontal and occipital bones and cortical bone area in limb bone diaphyses were analyzed using correlation, multiple regression and general linear models to test the hypothesis. Absolute thickness values from the crania were not correlated with cortical bone area of the femur or humerus, which is at odds with the systemic robusticity hypothesis. However, measures of cortical bone scaled by total vault thickness and limb cross-sectional area were positively correlated between the cranium and postcranium. When accounting for a range of potential confounding variables, including sex, age and body mass, variation in relative postcranial cortical bone area explained ∼20% of variation in the proportion of cortical cranial bone thickness. While these findings provide limited support for the systemic robusticity hypothesis, cranial cortical thickness did not track climate or physical activity across populations. Thus, some of the variation in cranial cortical bone thickness in modern humans is attributable to systemic effects, but the driving force behind this effect remains obscure. Moreover, neither absolute nor proportional measures of cranial cortical bone thickness are positively correlated with total cranial bone thickness, complicating the extrapolation of these findings to extinct species where only cranial

Validity of Linder Hypothesis in Bric Countries

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Rana Atabay

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In this study, the theory of similarity in preferences (Linder hypothesis has been introduced and trade in BRIC countries has been examined whether the trade between these countries was valid for this hypothesis. Using the data for the period 1996 – 2010, the study applies to panel data analysis in order to provide evidence regarding the empirical validity of the Linder hypothesis for BRIC countries’ international trade. Empirical findings show that the trade between BRIC countries is in support of Linder hypothesis.

Cultural perspectives on aging and well-being: a comparison of Japan and the United States.

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Karasawa, Mayumi; Curhan, Katherine B; Markus, Hazel Rose; Kitayama, Shinobu S; Love, Gayle Dienberg; Radler, Barry T; Ryff, Carol D

2011-01-01

This study investigated age differences in multiple aspects of psychological well-being among midlife and older adults in Japan (N = 482) and the United States (N = 3,032) to test the hypothesis that older Japanese adults would rate aspects of their well-being (personal growth, purpose in life, positive relations with others) more highly that older U.S. adults. Partial support was found: older adults in Japan showed higher scores on personal growth compared to midlife adults, whereas the opposite age pattern was found in the United States. However, purpose in life showed lower scores for older adults in both cultural contexts. Interpersonal well-being, as hypothesized, was rated significantly higher, relative to the overall well-being, among Japanese compared to U.S. respondents, but only among younger adults. Women in both cultures showed higher interpersonal well-being, but also greater negative affect compared with men. Suggestions for future inquiries to advance understanding of aging and well-being in distinct cultural contexts are detailed.

Cultural Perspectives on Aging and Well-Being: A Comparison of Japan and the U.S.

Science.gov (United States)

Karasawa, Mayumi; Curhan, Katherine B.; Markus, Hazel Rose; Kitayama, Shinobu S.; Love, Gayle Dienberg; Radler, Barry T.; Ryff, Carol D.

2011-01-01

This study investigated age differences in multiple aspects of psychological well-being among midlife and older adults in Japan (N = 482) and the U.S. (N = 3,032) to test the hypothesis that older Japanese adults would rate aspects of their well-being (personal growth, purpose in life, positive relations with others) more highly that older U.S. adults. Partial support was found: older adults in Japan showed higher scores on personal growth compared to midlife adults, whereas the opposite age pattern was found in the U.S. However, purpose in life showed lower scores for older adults in both cultural contexts. Interpersonal well-being, as hypothesized, was rated significantly higher, relative to the overall well-being, among Japanese compared to U.S. respondents, but only among younger adults. Women in both cultures showed higher interpersonal well-being, but also greater negative affect compared with men. Suggestions for future inquiries to advance understanding of aging and well-being in distinct cultural contexts are detailed. PMID:21922800

Right: Left:: East: West. Evidence that individuals from East Asian and South Asian cultures emphasize right hemisphere functions in comparison to Euro-American cultures.

Science.gov (United States)

Rozin, Paul; Moscovitch, Morris; Imada, Sumio

2016-09-01

We present evidence that individuals from East or South Asian cultures (Japanese college students in Japan and East or South Asian born and raised college students in the USA) tend to exhibit default thinking that corresponds to right hemisphere holistic functions, as compared to Caucasian individuals from a Western culture (born and raised in the USA). In two lateralized tasks (locating the nose in a scrambled face, and global-local letter task), both Asian groups showed a greater right hemisphere bias than the Western group. In a third lateralized task, judging similarity in terms of visual form versus functional/semantic categorizations, there was not a reliable difference between the groups. On a classic, ambiguous face composed of vegetables, both Eastern groups displayed a greater right hemisphere (holistic face processing) bias than the Western group. These results support an "East - Right Hemisphere, West - Left Hemisphere" hypothesis, as originally proposed by Ornstein (1972). This hypothesis is open as to the degree to which social-cultural forces were involved in hemispheric specialization, or the opposite, or both. Our aim is to encourage a more thorough analysis of this hypothesis, suggesting both lateralization studies corresponding to documented East-West differences, and East-West studies corresponding to lateralization differences. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Cross-cultural Examination of SNS Usage Intensity and Managing Interpersonal Relationships Online: The Role of Culture and the Autonomous-Related Self-Construal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lee eSoon Li

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Perception of the autonomy and relatedness of the self may be influenced by one’s experiences and social expectations within a particular cultural setting. The present research examined the role of culture and the Autonomous-Related self-construal in predicting for different aspects of Social Networking Sites (SNS usage in three Asian countries, especially focusing on those aspects serving interpersonal goals. Participants in this cross-cultural study included 305 university students from Malaysia (n = 105, South Korea (n = 113, and China (n = 87. The study explored specific social and interpersonal behaviors on SNS, such as browsing the contacts’ profiles, checking for updates, and improving contact with SNS contacts, as well as the intensity of SNS use, hypothesizing that those with high intensity of use in the Asian context may be doing so to achieve the social goal of maintaining contact and keeping updated with friends. Two scales measuring activities on other users’ profiles and contact with friends’ profiles were developed and validated. As predicted, some cross-cultural differences were found. Koreans were more likely to use SNS to increase contact but tended to spend less time browsing contacts’ profiles than the Malaysians and Chinese. The intensity of SNS use differed between the countries as well, where Malaysians reported higher intensity than Koreans and Chinese. Consistent with study predictions, Koreans were found with the highest Autonomous-Related self-construal scores. The Autonomous-Related self-construal predicted SNS intensity. The findings suggest that cultural contexts, along with the way the self is construed in different cultures, may encourage different types of SNS usage. The authors discuss study implications and suggest future research directions.

A Cross-Cultural Examination of SNS Usage Intensity and Managing Interpersonal Relationships Online: The Role of Culture and the Autonomous-Related Self-Construal.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Soon Li; Kim, Jung-Ae; Golden, Karen Jennifer; Kim, Jae-Hwi; Park, Miriam Sang-Ah

2016-01-01

Perception of the autonomy and relatedness of the self may be influenced by one's experiences and social expectations within a particular cultural setting. The present research examined the role of culture and the Autonomous-Related self-construal in predicting for different aspects of Social Networking Sites (SNS) usage in three Asian countries, especially focusing on those aspects serving interpersonal goals. Participants in this cross-cultural study included 305 university students from Malaysia (n = 105), South Korea (n = 113), and China (n = 87). The study explored specific social and interpersonal behaviors on SNS, such as browsing the contacts' profiles, checking for updates, and improving contact with SNS contacts, as well as the intensity of SNS use, hypothesizing that those with high intensity of use in the Asian context may be doing so to achieve the social goal of maintaining contact and keeping updated with friends. Two scales measuring activities on other users' profiles and contact with friends' profiles were developed and validated. As predicted, some cross-cultural differences were found. Koreans were more likely to use SNS to increase contact but tended to spend less time browsing contacts' profiles than the Malaysians and Chinese. The intensity of SNS use differed between the countries as well, where Malaysians reported higher intensity than Koreans and Chinese. Consistent with study predictions, Koreans were found with the highest Autonomous-Related self-construal scores. The Autonomous-Related self-construal predicted SNS intensity. The findings suggest that cultural contexts, along with the way the self is construed in different cultures, may encourage different types of SNS usage. The authors discuss study implications and suggest future research directions.

A Cross-Cultural Examination of SNS Usage Intensity and Managing Interpersonal Relationships Online: The Role of Culture and the Autonomous-Related Self-Construal

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Soon Li; Kim, Jung-Ae; Golden, Karen Jennifer; Kim, Jae-Hwi; Park, Miriam Sang-Ah

2016-01-01

Perception of the autonomy and relatedness of the self may be influenced by one's experiences and social expectations within a particular cultural setting. The present research examined the role of culture and the Autonomous-Related self-construal in predicting for different aspects of Social Networking Sites (SNS) usage in three Asian countries, especially focusing on those aspects serving interpersonal goals. Participants in this cross-cultural study included 305 university students from Malaysia (n = 105), South Korea (n = 113), and China (n = 87). The study explored specific social and interpersonal behaviors on SNS, such as browsing the contacts' profiles, checking for updates, and improving contact with SNS contacts, as well as the intensity of SNS use, hypothesizing that those with high intensity of use in the Asian context may be doing so to achieve the social goal of maintaining contact and keeping updated with friends. Two scales measuring activities on other users' profiles and contact with friends' profiles were developed and validated. As predicted, some cross-cultural differences were found. Koreans were more likely to use SNS to increase contact but tended to spend less time browsing contacts' profiles than the Malaysians and Chinese. The intensity of SNS use differed between the countries as well, where Malaysians reported higher intensity than Koreans and Chinese. Consistent with study predictions, Koreans were found with the highest Autonomous-Related self-construal scores. The Autonomous-Related self-construal predicted SNS intensity. The findings suggest that cultural contexts, along with the way the self is construed in different cultures, may encourage different types of SNS usage. The authors discuss study implications and suggest future research directions. PMID:27148100

The Lehman Sisters Hypothesis: an exploration of literature and bankers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

I.P. van Staveren (Irene)

2012-01-01

textabstractAbstract This article tests the Lehman Sisters Hypothesis in two complementary, although incomplete ways. It reviews the diverse empirical literature in behavioral, experimental, and neuroeconomics as well as related fields of behavioral research. And it presents the findings from an

The Lehman Sisters Hypothesis: an exploration of literature and bankers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

I.P. van Staveren (Irene)

2012-01-01

textabstractThis article tests the Lehman Sisters Hypothesis in two complementary, although incomplete ways. It reviews the diverse empirical literature in behavioural, experimental, and neuroeconomics as well as related fields of behavioural research. And it presents the findings from an

Outcome study of brief relational-cultural therapy in a women's mental health center.

Science.gov (United States)

Oakley, M Anne; Addison, Shirley C; Piran, Niva; Johnston, Gary J; Damianakis, Mary; Curry, Joyce; Dunbar, Christine; Weigeldt, Almuth

2013-01-01

The current study is the first to evaluate the effectiveness of a brief relational-cultural model of therapy in a community-based mental health center for women. The study was distinctive in its use of a hybrid model that employed elements of randomized control and naturalistic design. Results showed that the entire treatment group of 91 women improved significantly on all eight outcome measures. Therapeutic gains were maintained at 3- and 6-month follow-ups. The results lend support to the importance of including relational-cultural factors in the treatment of women. An adherence scale/manual was developed and implemented and will allow for replication.

The Global Phylogeography of Lyssaviruses - Challenging the 'Out of Africa' Hypothesis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David T S Hayman

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Rabies virus kills tens of thousands of people globally each year, especially in resource-limited countries. Yet, there are genetically- and antigenically-related lyssaviruses, all capable of causing the disease rabies, circulating globally among bats without causing conspicuous disease outbreaks. The species richness and greater genetic diversity of African lyssaviruses, along with the lack of antibody cross-reactivity among them, has led to the hypothesis that Africa is the origin of lyssaviruses. This hypothesis was tested using a probabilistic phylogeographical approach. The nucleoprotein gene sequences from 153 representatives of 16 lyssavirus species, collected between 1956 and 2015, were used to develop a phylogenetic tree which incorporated relevant geographic and temporal data relating to the viruses. In addition, complete genome sequences from all 16 (putative species were analysed. The most probable ancestral distribution for the internal nodes was inferred using three different approaches and was confirmed by analysis of complete genomes. These results support a Palearctic origin for lyssaviruses (posterior probability = 0.85, challenging the 'out of Africa' hypothesis, and suggest three independent transmission events to the Afrotropical region, representing the three phylogroups that form the three major lyssavirus clades.

The Global Phylogeography of Lyssaviruses - Challenging the 'Out of Africa' Hypothesis

Science.gov (United States)

Fooks, Anthony R.; Marston, Denise A.; Garcia-R, Juan C.

2016-01-01

Rabies virus kills tens of thousands of people globally each year, especially in resource-limited countries. Yet, there are genetically- and antigenically-related lyssaviruses, all capable of causing the disease rabies, circulating globally among bats without causing conspicuous disease outbreaks. The species richness and greater genetic diversity of African lyssaviruses, along with the lack of antibody cross-reactivity among them, has led to the hypothesis that Africa is the origin of lyssaviruses. This hypothesis was tested using a probabilistic phylogeographical approach. The nucleoprotein gene sequences from 153 representatives of 16 lyssavirus species, collected between 1956 and 2015, were used to develop a phylogenetic tree which incorporated relevant geographic and temporal data relating to the viruses. In addition, complete genome sequences from all 16 (putative) species were analysed. The most probable ancestral distribution for the internal nodes was inferred using three different approaches and was confirmed by analysis of complete genomes. These results support a Palearctic origin for lyssaviruses (posterior probability = 0.85), challenging the ‘out of Africa’ hypothesis, and suggest three independent transmission events to the Afrotropical region, representing the three phylogroups that form the three major lyssavirus clades. PMID:28036390

Einstein's Revolutionary Light-Quantum Hypothesis

Science.gov (United States)

Stuewer, Roger H.

2005-05-01

The paper in which Albert Einstein proposed his light-quantum hypothesis was the only one of his great papers of 1905 that he himself termed ``revolutionary.'' Contrary to widespread belief, Einstein did not propose his light-quantum hypothesis ``to explain the photoelectric effect.'' Instead, he based his argument for light quanta on the statistical interpretation of the second law of thermodynamics, with the photoelectric effect being only one of three phenomena that he offered as possible experimental support for it. I will discuss Einstein's light-quantum hypothesis of 1905 and his introduction of the wave-particle duality in 1909 and then turn to the reception of his work on light quanta by his contemporaries. We will examine the reasons that prominent physicists advanced to reject Einstein's light-quantum hypothesis in succeeding years. Those physicists included Robert A. Millikan, even though he provided convincing experimental proof of the validity of Einstein's equation of the photoelectric effect in 1915. The turning point came after Arthur Holly Compton discovered the Compton effect in late 1922, but even then Compton's discovery was contested both on experimental and on theoretical grounds. Niels Bohr, in particular, had never accepted the reality of light quanta and now, in 1924, proposed a theory, the Bohr-Kramers-Slater theory, which assumed that energy and momentum were conserved only statistically in microscopic interactions. Only after that theory was disproved experimentally in 1925 was Einstein's revolutionary light-quantum hypothesis generally accepted by physicists---a full two decades after Einstein had proposed it.

Oral health-related cultural beliefs for four racial/ethnic groups: Assessment of the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Butani, Yogita; Weintraub, Jane A; Barker, Judith C

2008-09-15

The purpose of this study was to assess information available in the dental literature on oral health-related cultural beliefs. In the US, as elsewhere, many racial/ethnic minority groups shoulder a disproportionate burden of oral disease. Cultural beliefs, values and practices are often implicated as causes of oral health disparities, yet little is known about the breadth or adequacy of literature about cultural issues that could support these assertions. Hence, this rigorous assessment was conducted of work published in English on cultural beliefs and values in relation to oral health status and dental practice. Four racial/ethnic groups in the US (African-American, Chinese, Filipino and Hispanic/Latino) were chosen as exemplar populations. The dental literature published in English for the period 1980-2006 noted in the electronic database PUBMED was searched, using keywords and MeSH headings in different combinations for each racial/ethnic group to identify eligible articles. To be eligible the title and abstract when available had to describe the oral health-related cultural knowledge or orientation of the populations studied. Overall, the majority of the literature on racial/ethnic groups was epidemiologic in nature, mainly demonstrating disparities in oral health rather than the oral beliefs or practices of these groups. A total of 60 relevant articles were found: 16 for African-American, 30 for Chinese, 2 for Filipino and 12 for Hispanic/Latino populations. Data on beliefs and practices from these studies has been abstracted, compiled and assessed. Few research-based studies were located. Articles lacked adequate identification of groups studied, used limited methods and had poor conceptual base. The scant information available from the published dental and medical literature provides at best a rudimentary framework of oral health related ideas and beliefs for specific populations.

Oral health-related cultural beliefs for four racial/ethnic groups: Assessment of the literature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barker Judith C

2008-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The purpose of this study was to assess information available in the dental literature on oral health-related cultural beliefs. In the US, as elsewhere, many racial/ethnic minority groups shoulder a disproportionate burden of oral disease. Cultural beliefs, values and practices are often implicated as causes of oral health disparities, yet little is known about the breadth or adequacy of literature about cultural issues that could support these assertions. Hence, this rigorous assessment was conducted of work published in English on cultural beliefs and values in relation to oral health status and dental practice. Four racial/ethnic groups in the US (African-American, Chinese, Filipino and Hispanic/Latino were chosen as exemplar populations. Methods The dental literature published in English for the period 1980–2006 noted in the electronic database PUBMED was searched, using keywords and MeSH headings in different combinations for each racial/ethnic group to identify eligible articles. To be eligible the title and abstract when available had to describe the oral health-related cultural knowledge or orientation of the populations studied. Results Overall, the majority of the literature on racial/ethnic groups was epidemiologic in nature, mainly demonstrating disparities in oral health rather than the oral beliefs or practices of these groups. A total of 60 relevant articles were found: 16 for African-American, 30 for Chinese, 2 for Filipino and 12 for Hispanic/Latino populations. Data on beliefs and practices from these studies has been abstracted, compiled and assessed. Few research-based studies were located. Articles lacked adequate identification of groups studied, used limited methods and had poor conceptual base. Conclusion The scant information available from the published dental and medical literature provides at best a rudimentary framework of oral health related ideas and beliefs for specific populations.

Bourdieu’s Cultural Capital in Relation to Food Choices: A Systematic Review of Cultural Capital Indicators and an Empirical Proof of Concept

Science.gov (United States)

Kamphuis, Carlijn B. M.; Jansen, Tessa; Mackenbach, Johan P.; van Lenthe, Frank J.

2015-01-01

Objective Unhealthy food choices follow a socioeconomic gradient that may partly be explained by one’s ‘cultural capital’, as defined by Bourdieu. We aim 1) to carry out a systematic review to identify existing quantitative measures of cultural capital, 2) to develop a questionnaire to measure cultural capital for food choices, and 3) to empirically test associations of socioeconomic position with cultural capital and food choices, and of cultural capital with food choices. Design We systematically searched large databases for the key-word ‘cultural capital’ in title or abstract. Indicators of objectivised cultural capital and family institutionalised cultural capital, as identified by the review, were translated to food choice relevant indicators. For incorporated cultural capital, we used existing questionnaires that measured the concepts underlying the variety of indicators as identified by the review, i.e. participation, skills, knowledge, values. The questionnaire was empirically tested in a postal survey completed by 2,953 adults participating in the GLOBE cohort study, The Netherlands, in 2011. Results The review yielded 113 studies that fulfilled our inclusion criteria. Several indicators of family institutionalised (e.g. parents’ education completed) and objectivised cultural capital (e.g. possession of books, art) were consistently used. Incorporated cultural capital was measured with a large variety of indicators (e.g. cultural participation, skills). Based on this, we developed a questionnaire to measure cultural capital in relation to food choices. An empirical test of the questionnaire showed acceptable overall internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha of .654; 56 items), and positive associations between socioeconomic position and cultural capital, and between cultural capital and healthy food choices. Conclusions Cultural capital may be a promising determinant for (socioeconomic inequalities in) food choices. PMID:26244763

Does cultural and linguistic diversity affect health-related outcomes for people with stroke at discharge from hospital?

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Sarah E; Dodd, Karen J; Hill, Keith D

2017-04-01

Primary purpose to determine if cultural and linguistic diversity affects health-related outcomes in people with stroke at discharge from hospital and secondary purpose to explore whether interpreter use alters these outcomes. Systematic search of: Cochrane, PEDro, CINAHL, Medline, Pubmed, Embase, PsycINFO and Ageline databases. Publications were classified into whether they examined the impact of diversity in culture, or language or culture and language combined. Quality of evidence available was summarized using Best Evidence Synthesis. Eleven studies met inclusion criteria and were reviewed. Best Evidence Synthesis indicated conflicting evidence about the impact of culture alone and language barriers alone on health-related outcomes. There was strong evidence that hospital length of stay does not differ between groups when the combined impact of culture and language was investigated. Conflicting evidence was found for other outcomes including admission, discharge and change in FIM scores, and post-hospital discharge living arrangements. It is unknown if interpreter use alters health-related outcomes, because this was infrequently reported. The current limited research suggests that cultural and linguistic diversity does not appear to impact on health-related outcomes at discharge from hospital for people who have had a stroke, however further research is needed to address identified gaps. Implications for Rehabilitation The different language, culture and beliefs about health demonstrated by patients with stroke from minority groups in North America do not appear to significantly impact on their health-related outcomes during their admission to hospital. It is not known whether interpreter use influences outcomes in stroke rehabilitation because there is insufficient high quality research in this area. Clinicians in countries with different health systems and different cultural and linguistic groups within their communities need to view the results with caution

Are Culturally Specific Measures of Trauma-Related Anxiety and Depression Needed? The Case of Sri Lanka

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Jayawickreme, Nuwan; Jayawickreme, Eranda; Atanasov, Pavel; Goonasekera, Michelle A.; Foa, Edna B.

2012-01-01

The hypothesis that psychometric instruments incorporating local idioms of distress predict functional impairment in a non-Western, war-affected population above and beyond translations of already established instruments was tested. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted on the War-Related Psychological and Behavioral Problems section of the…

Influence of culture medium composition on relative mRNA abundances in domestic cat embryos.

Science.gov (United States)

Hribal, R; Jewgenow, K; Braun, B C; Comizzoli, P

2013-04-01

Different culture conditions have been used to produce domestic cat embryos. As part of the in vitro procedures, the medium composition significantly affects the quality of the embryo development also. Quality assessments based on cleavage kinetics and blastomere symmetry are useful, but embryos also can differ in their relative gene expression patterns despite similar morphological characteristics. The aim of this study was to compare cat embryos produced with two different in vitro culture systems routinely used in two different laboratories [Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Washington D.C., USA (SCBI) and Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany (IZW)]. Specifically, relative mRNA expression patterns of critical genes for pre-implantation embryo development were assessed in both conditions. Embryos were produced in parallel in both culture systems by IVF using frozen-thawed ejaculated semen in the United States and fresh epididymal sperm in Germany. Success of embryo development in vitro was recorded as well as relative mRNA abundances [DNA methyltransferases 1 and 3A (DNMT1, DNMT3A), gap junction protein alpha 1 (GJA1), octamer-binding transcription factor 4 [OCT4], insulin-like growth factors 1 and 2 receptors (IGF1R, IGF2R), beta-actin (ACTB)] in pools of days 4-5 morulae by semi-quantitative RT-PCR assay. Percentages of cleaved embryos were similar (p > 0.05) between both culture systems, regardless of the location. OCT4 mRNA abundance was higher (p culture system compared with those from the IZW system when epididymal sperm was used for IVF. No clear correlation between the expression pattern and the culture system could be found for all other genes. It is suggested that OCT4 expression might be affected by the media composition in some conditions and can be the indicator of a better embryo quality. © 2012 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Reinscribing the Goddess into the Culturally Relative Minutiae of Tantric Texts and Practices: A Perennialist Response to Tantric Visual Culture

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Jeffrey S. Lidke

2017-10-01

Full Text Available A celebration and critical evaluation of Sthaneshwar Timalsina’s brilliant book, Tantric Visual Culture: A Cognitive Approach. In this groundbreaking work, Timalsina utilizes the lens of cognitive studies to shed interpretive light on the Tantric visualization practices that he knows both as a scholar and lifetime practitioner. Timalsina argues that mastery of Tantric practice requires immersion in the culturally relative metonymic and holographic logic framed by the Tantric ritual texts. The conclusion that arises from his analysis is that Tantric “truths” are bound to the linguistic and cultural systems that frame them. In response, I herewith offer a perennialist critique and argument for a more nuanced consideration of the transcendent “truth” or “being” that is the stated aim of Tantric practice.

Consumer health information seeking as hypothesis testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Keselman, Alla; Browne, Allen C; Kaufman, David R

2008-01-01

Despite the proliferation of consumer health sites, lay individuals often experience difficulty finding health information online. The present study attempts to understand users' information seeking difficulties by drawing on a hypothesis testing explanatory framework. It also addresses the role of user competencies and their interaction with internet resources. Twenty participants were interviewed about their understanding of a hypothetical scenario about a family member suffering from stable angina and then searched MedlinePlus consumer health information portal for information on the problem presented in the scenario. Participants' understanding of heart disease was analyzed via semantic analysis. Thematic coding was used to describe information seeking trajectories in terms of three key strategies: verification of the primary hypothesis, narrowing search within the general hypothesis area and bottom-up search. Compared to an expert model, participants' understanding of heart disease involved different key concepts, which were also differently grouped and defined. This understanding provided the framework for search-guiding hypotheses and results interpretation. Incorrect or imprecise domain knowledge led individuals to search for information on irrelevant sites, often seeking out data to confirm their incorrect initial hypotheses. Online search skills enhanced search efficiency, but did not eliminate these difficulties. Regardless of their web experience and general search skills, lay individuals may experience difficulty with health information searches. These difficulties may be related to formulating and evaluating hypotheses that are rooted in their domain knowledge. Informatics can provide support at the levels of health information portals, individual websites, and consumer education tools.

A moveable feast: Contemporary relational food cultures emerging from local food networks.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Kane, Gabrielle

2016-10-01

Although the globalised food system delivers unparalleled food variety and quantity to most in the developed world it also disconnects consumers from where, how and by whom food is grown. This change in the food system has resulted in an acceptance of an anonymous and homogeneous food supply, which has contributed to over-consumption and the rise in diet-related diseases. 'Nutritionism' responds to this issue by maintaining that a 'healthy diet' can be achieved by consuming the correct balance of energy and nutrients, but with limited success. Yet, some food cultures can moderate the effects of the environmental drivers of increasing global obesity rates. This paper draws on this premise and presents an alternative eco-dietetic response, exploring people's meaning-making of food and food culture through local food networks. This research used narrative inquiry methodology and purposive sampling to gather stories through focus group conversations. Twenty people attended focus groups comprised of food procurers from one of three local food networks in the Canberra region: community gardens, a modified Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and farmers' markets. The findings showed that those using local food networks enjoyed a 'contemporary relational food culture' that highlighted the importance of people, place and time, in their visceral experiences of food. The community gardeners made meaning of food through their connections to the earth and to others. The farmers' market and CSA food procurers valued the seasonal, local and ethical food produced by their beloved farmer(s). This paper provides qualitative evidence that local food networks enable people to enjoy multi-dimensional relationships to food. Further research is required to examine whether experiencing a contemporary relational food culture can lead to improved health outcomes for people and the planet. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Strongly trapped points and the cosmic censorship hypothesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krolak, A.

1987-01-01

It is shown that singularities predicted by one of the theorems of Hawking cannot be naked. This result supports the validity of the cosmic censorship hypothesis put forward by Penrose. The condition that only singularities predicted by Hawking's singularity theorem occur in space-time is shown to be related to the condition that all singularities in space-time should be of Tipler's strong-curvature type

Romanticism and schizophrenia. First part: The recency hypothesis and the core Gestalt of the disease.

Science.gov (United States)

López-Ibor, Juan J; López-Ibor, María I

2014-01-01

Descriptions of irrational, incomprehensible, or unconstrained behavior such as is common nowadays in patients suffering from severe mental disorders can be found in the Bible, in Mesopotamian scripts, in classical Greek and Roman literature, and in the writings of many non-Western cultures. However, the presence of full-blown features of schizophrenia as seen today in psychiatric settings is controversial. Typical symptoms, the expected onset, duration and outcome, the impact of the disease on psychic functioning and the associated disability of the disease are mostly absent in those texts. Torrey (1980) and Hare (1988) have claimed that the disease did not exist before the year 1800 (this is known as the recency hypothesis). This would be the consequence of biological factors such as viruses, genetic or dietary factors or environmental contaminants associated to civilization. Others have put the emphasis on industrialization and its repercussions on social conditions such as family structure and migration. After analyzing the many manifestations of insanity in literary characters, in medical texts and in key historical figures, the arguments presented in this paper tend to support the recency hypothesis. A review of the core characteristics of schizophrenia and its impact on selfhood, intersubjetivity and ipseity, topics relatively neglected in recent psychiatric literature, opens the doors to consider in a second part the relationship between the features of Romanticism, starting by the “discovery of intimacy”, and its articulation with the disturbance of ipseity and selfhood characteristic of the disease.

Habitus and Flow in Primary School Musical Practice: Relations between Family Musical Cultural Capital, Optimal Experience and Music Participation

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Valenzuela, Rafael; Codina, Nuria

2014-01-01

Based on Bourdieu's idea that cultural capital is strongly related to family context, we describe the relations between family musical cultural capital and optimal experience during compulsory primary school musical practice. We analyse whether children from families with higher levels of musical cultural capital, and specifically with regard to…

The Use of Social Networking Sites in Job Related Activities: A Cross-cultural Comparison

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Małgorzata Bartosik-Purgat

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Objective: The main objective of the paper is to identify the use of Social Networking Sites (SNSs in job related activities and indicate the interdependencies between these activities and age, gender, as well as education in culturally diversified markets (China, Poland, Turkey, the United States. Research Design & Methods: In the exploratory empirical study the authors used two research methods: PAPI (Paper and Pen Personal Interview and CAWI (Computer Assisted Web Interview. The empirical data were collected in 2016 and the total number of respondents from four culturally diversified countries was 1246. Findings: The analysis with the use of Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn post-hoc tests showed that the Turkish respondents most often use SNSs for job related activities, while it is the least often done by the studied Americans. Moreover, from among the studied factors (gender, age and education level that differentiate the SNSs usage for job related activities in a statistically significant way age is of greatest importance. Implications & Recommendations: The results of the research provide implications for the recruitment policy of multinational enterprises (MNEs. Since more and more enterprises use SNSs in order to look for new employees and advertise themselves as employers (employer branding, the identified interdependencies between the SNSs activities and the analysed factors can support firm attempts to develop the proper recruitment policy taking into account the cultural diversity of potential workers. Contribution & Value Added: There are not many studies in the literature which present the usage of SNSs for job related activities from the perspective of individual users in the cross-cultural approach. The majority of studies are related to the usage of SNSs by enterprises in the recruitment process.

Excess 129Xe in terrestrial samples: A non-primordial hypothesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caffee, M.W.; Hudson, G.B.

1987-03-01

Excesses of 129 Xe relative to the isotopic composition in air are observed in some terrestrial samples. Traditionally these 129 Xe excesses have been thought to be related to 129 I that was present in abundance in the early solar system. We propose an alternative hypothesis to explain terrestrial 129 Xe excesses based on the production of 129 I from the spontaneous fission of 238 U

The Familial Socialization of Culturally Related Values in Mexican American Families

Science.gov (United States)

Knight, George P.; Berkel, Cady; Umana-Taylor, Adriana J.; Gonzales, Nancy A.; Ettekal, Idean; Jaconis, Maryanne; Boyd, Brenna M.

2011-01-01

Research has documented a relation between parents' ethnic socialization and youth's ethnic identity, yet there has been little research examining the transmission of cultural values from parents to their children through ethnic socialization and ethnic identity. This study examines a prospective model in which mothers' and fathers' Mexican…

Cross-Cultural Differences in Cognitive Development: Attention to Relations and Objects

Science.gov (United States)

Kuwabara, Megumi; Smith, Linda B.

2012-01-01

Growing evidence indicates a suite of generalized differences in the attentional and cognitive processing of adults from Eastern and Western cultures. Cognition in Eastern adults is often more relational and in Western adults is more object focused. Three experiments examined whether these differences characterize the cognition of preschool…

Hypoxia preferentially destroys GABAergic neurons in developing rat neocortex explants in culture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Romijn, H. J.; Ruijter, J. M.; Wolters, P. S.

1988-01-01

The hypothesis that hypoxic ischemia before or during the human birth process preferentially destroys GABAergic nerve cells, particularly in the neocortex, was tested in a tissue culture model system. To that end, rat neocortex explants dissected from 6-day-old rat pups and cultured to a

Test of the neurolinguistic programming hypothesis that eye-movements relate to processing imagery.

Science.gov (United States)

Wertheim, E H; Habib, C; Cumming, G

1986-04-01

Bandler and Grinder's hypothesis that eye-movements reflect sensory processing was examined. 28 volunteers first memorized and then recalled visual, auditory, and kinesthetic stimuli. Changes in eye-positions during recall were videotaped and categorized by two raters into positions hypothesized by Bandler and Grinder's model to represent visual, auditory, and kinesthetic recall. Planned contrast analyses suggested that visual stimulus items, when recalled, elicited significantly more upward eye-positions and stares than auditory and kinesthetic items. Auditory and kinesthetic items, however, did not elicit more changes in eye-position hypothesized by the model to represent auditory and kinesthetic recall, respectively.

Promotional Cultures: The Rise and Spread of Advertising, Public Relations, Marketing and Branding

OpenAIRE

Davis, Aeron

2013-01-01

In the twenty-first century, promotion is everywhere and everything has become promotable: everyday goods and organizations, people and ideas, cultures and futures. This engaging book looks at the rise of advertising, public relations, branding, marketing and lobbying, and explores where our promotional times have taken us.\\ud \\ud Promotional Cultures documents how the professions and practices of promotion have interacted with and reshaped so much in our world, from commodities, celebrities ...

An investigation of the competitiveness hypothesis of the resource curse

NARCIS (Netherlands)

L.A. Serino (Leandro)

2008-01-01

textabstractIn this paper I investigate the competitiveness explanation of the resource curse: to what extent slow growth in primary producer countries is related to the properties of this pattern of trade specialization. To address this hypothesis that has not been adequately explored in the

The double-eyelid operation in Japan: its evolution as related to cultural changes.

Science.gov (United States)

Shirakabe, Y; Kinugasa, T; Kawata, M; Kishimoto, T; Shirakabe, T

1985-09-01

Of the many aspects of aesthetic surgery, the double-eyelid operation generates the most interest for Japanese surgeons, as there has been an enormous demand for it by patients who are fashion-conscious. It has been possible to locate 32 operative procedures that have been published in the Japanese literature over the past ninety years. Some of these procedures have been reviewed here in relation to the cultural and social changes which are important factors determining the extent of the demand for the operation and which correlate with various changes in surgical technique. This study chronologically describes each of the principal methods related to these social changes and also considers the influence of cultural fads and fashions.

Research in use – cultures of relating

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holck, Ulla; Stige, Brynjulf; Skrudland, Hilde

time be part of the interdisciplinary clinical culture found in institutions with a main focus on a certain client group. Here the music therapy clinicians can be the golden link between the research culture and the local clinical culture. At the same time, music therapy clinicians are not (usually...... documentation Locally based projects involving clinical music therapists as well as researchers are an effective way of spreading the use of and knowledge about music therapy, and can also be a basis for later data collection on a greater scale. Starting from web-based examples, this round table will present...

Correlates of androgens in wild male Barbary macaques: Testing the challenge hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Rincon, Alan V; Maréchal, Laëtitia; Semple, Stuart; Majolo, Bonaventura; MacLarnon, Ann

2017-10-01

Investigating causes and consequences of variation in hormonal expression is a key focus in behavioral ecology. Many studies have explored patterns of secretion of the androgen testosterone in male vertebrates, using the challenge hypothesis (Wingfield, Hegner, Dufty, & Ball, 1990; The American Naturalist, 136(6), 829-846) as a theoretical framework. Rather than the classic association of testosterone with male sexual behavior, this hypothesis predicts that high levels of testosterone are associated with male-male reproductive competition but also inhibit paternal care. The hypothesis was originally developed for birds, and subsequently tested in other vertebrate taxa, including primates. Such studies have explored the link between testosterone and reproductive aggression as well as other measures of mating competition, or between testosterone and aspects of male behavior related to the presence of infants. Very few studies have simultaneously investigated the links between testosterone and male aggression, other aspects of mating competition and infant-related behavior. We tested predictions derived from the challenge hypothesis in wild male Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus), a species with marked breeding seasonality and high levels of male-infant affiliation, providing a powerful test of this theoretical framework. Over 11 months, 251 hr of behavioral observations and 296 fecal samples were collected from seven adult males in the Middle Atlas Mountains, Morocco. Fecal androgen levels rose before the onset of the mating season, during a period of rank instability, and were positively related to group mating activity across the mating season. Androgen levels were unrelated to rates of male-male aggression in any period, but higher ranked males had higher levels in both the mating season and in the period of rank instability. Lower androgen levels were associated with increased rates of male-infant grooming during the mating and unstable periods. Our results

THE IMPACT OF CULTURE ON THE ECONOMIC CRISIS

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CARINA-ELENA STEGĂROIU

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This premise of this paper is based on the concept of hedonistic culture, which contributes to financial fragility, damages assessment of future capacity (generating investment myopia and short-termism and enhances current opportunism. The paper aims to analyze economic culture as a factor of influence on the global economic crisis, considering the culture of modern capitalism that should be defined as a hedonistic culture, and this culture can contribute to global economic crises. According to the hypothesis of this article, the economic culture and not the individuals underlie economic decisions. Accordingly, the decisions that are taken in the economy, influenced by the dominant culture can have both a positive impact on the economy or a destructive one by generating or maintaining economic crises. The current economic culture authorizes extensive use of loans, including those for consumption, thus generating financial fragility and consequently economic crisis. Hedonistic culture leads operators to focus almost entirely on short-term consequences of his actions to the detriment of long-term outcomes. It is this connection plays an important role in explaining current global crisis resistance. Opportunism emphasized as part of the hedonistic culture also affects the generation and maintenance of the global crisis and unethical behavior by refusing to invest in strategic areas for the economy. This is particularly the widespread use of credit, including the consumer, in preference to short-term investments at the expense of long-term, low appreciation of the future and also a high and growing opportunism. The global crisis is the result of interdependence agents, burdened by debt, especially short-term constantly growing which is a high financial fragility, directed almost exclusively at short-term gains and tend to cheat in their mutual relations.

Cultural relativity in perceiving emotion from vocalizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Gendron, Maria; Roberson, Debi; van der Vyver, Jacoba Marieta; Barrett, Lisa Feldman

2014-04-01

A central question in the study of human behavior is whether certain emotions, such as anger, fear, and sadness, are recognized in nonverbal cues across cultures. We predicted and found that in a concept-free experimental task, participants from an isolated cultural context (the Himba ethnic group from northwestern Namibia) did not freely label Western vocalizations with expected emotion terms. Responses indicate that Himba participants perceived more basic affective properties of valence (positivity or negativity) and to some extent arousal (high or low activation). In a second, concept-embedded task, we manipulated whether the target and foil on a given trial matched in both valence and arousal, neither valence nor arousal, valence only, or arousal only. Himba participants achieved above-chance accuracy only when foils differed from targets in valence only. Our results indicate that the voice can reliably convey affective meaning across cultures, but that perceptions of emotion from the voice are culturally variable.

Giant Panda Maternal Care: A Test of the Experience Constraint Hypothesis

Science.gov (United States)

Snyder, Rebecca J.; Perdue, Bonnie M.; Zhang, Zhihe; Maple, Terry L.; Charlton, Benjamin D.

2016-01-01

The body condition constraint and the experience condition constraint hypotheses have both been proposed to account for differences in reproductive success between multiparous (experienced) and primiparous (first-time) mothers. However, because primiparous mothers are typically characterized by both inferior body condition and lack of experience when compared to multiparous mothers, interpreting experience related differences in maternal care as support for either the body condition constraint hypothesis or the experience constraint hypothesis is extremely difficult. Here, we examined maternal behaviour in captive giant pandas, allowing us to simultaneously control for body condition and provide a rigorous test of the experience constraint hypothesis in this endangered animal. We found that multiparous mothers spent more time engaged in key maternal behaviours (nursing, grooming, and holding cubs) and had significantly less vocal cubs than primiparous mothers. This study provides the first evidence supporting the experience constraint hypothesis in the order Carnivora, and may have utility for captive breeding programs in which it is important to monitor the welfare of this species’ highly altricial cubs, whose survival is almost entirely dependent on receiving adequate maternal care during the first few weeks of life. PMID:27272352

Novae, supernovae, and the island universe hypothesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Den Bergh, S.

1988-01-01

Arguments in Curtis's (1917) paper related to the island universe hypothesis and the existence of novae in spiral nebulae are considered. It is noted that the maximum magnitude versus rate-of-decline relation for novae may be the best tool presently available for the calibration of the extragalactic distance scale. Light curve observations of six novae are used to determine a distance of 18.6 + or - 3.5 MPc to the Virgo cluster. Results suggest that Type Ia supernovae cannot easily be used as standard candles, and that Type II supernovae are unsuitable as distance indicators. Factors other than precursor mass are probably responsible for determining the ultimate fate of evolving stars. 83 references

A Relational Cultural Approach to Working with Clients with Eating Disorders

Science.gov (United States)

Trepal, Heather C.; Boie, Ioana; Kress, Victoria E.

2012-01-01

The authors examine eating disorders through the conceptual framework of relational cultural theory (RCT). Taking into account the importance of relationships and connection, it is suggested that RCT may be a useful lens for conceptualizing and working with people who are experiencing eating disorders. Ways that RCT can be applied to enhance…

Related and autonomous: Cultural perspectives on self, acculturation and adjustment:Verbonden en autonoom: Culturele perspectieven op het zelf, acculturatie en aanpassing

OpenAIRE

Coskan, Canan

2016-01-01

How are culturally valued ways of being and relating reflected in different self-construals across individualistic and collectivistic cultural contexts? What happens to the self-construal of acculturating persons from a collectivistic cultural background who either migrate to, or who are born into, individualistic mainstream cultures? Self-construals – how people define themselves in relation to others – differ between cultures. I conceive of the self as culturally informed and socially groun...

Rejecting the equilibrium-point hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Gottlieb, G L

1998-01-01

The lambda version of the equilibrium-point (EP) hypothesis as developed by Feldman and colleagues has been widely used and cited with insufficient critical understanding. This article offers a small antidote to that lack. First, the hypothesis implicitly, unrealistically assumes identical transformations of lambda into muscle tension for antagonist muscles. Without that assumption, its definitions of command variables R, C, and lambda are incompatible and an EP is not defined exclusively by R nor is it unaffected by C. Second, the model assumes unrealistic and unphysiological parameters for the damping properties of the muscles and reflexes. Finally, the theory lacks rules for two of its three command variables. A theory of movement should offer insight into why we make movements the way we do and why we activate muscles in particular patterns. The EP hypothesis offers no unique ideas that are helpful in addressing either of these questions.

Aging and motor variability: a test of the neural noise hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Sosnoff, Jacob J; Newell, Karl M

2011-07-01

Experimental tests of the neural noise hypothesis of aging, which holds that aging-related increments in motor variability are due to increases in white noise in the perceptual-motor system, were conducted. Young (20-29 years old) and old (60-69 and 70-79 years old) adults performed several perceptual-motor tasks. Older adults were progressively more variable in their performance outcome, but there was no age-related difference in white noise in the motor output. Older adults had a greater frequency-dependent structure in their motor variability that was associated with performance decrements. The findings challenge the main tenet of the neural noise hypothesis of aging in that the increased variability of older adults was due to a decreased ability to adapt to the constraints of the task rather than an increment of neural noise per se.

Cultural intelligence and network organizations in society: Case of Tehran neighborhood councils

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salamzadeh Yashar

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Network communications is one of the modern ideas in the field of organizational behavior. On the other hand, the ability to communicate with employees and understand the cultural differences between them in a multicultural environment is one of the key skills that managers and employees need them in the nowadays organizations. These skills are introduced as cultural intelligence in organizations that have ability to respond to many challenges in multicultural environments. This article was aimed to analysis the relationship between cultural intelligence and network communication. These questionnaires were distributed between 134 members at the Tehran neighborhood councils. In order to analyzing data and concluding results, SPSS, and then Pearson correlation test were used. The research was done based on structural equation modeling (SEM. The result indicated that there was significant positive relationship between cultural intelligence and network communication. Also there was significant positive relationship between each dimension of cultural intelligence and network communication. Findings show that cultural intelligence is a basic factor in network communication and confirm the main hypothesis of this study which represents the existence of a positive and meaningful relation between cultural intelligence and network communication. Furthermore, the results show that considering this kind of intelligence, especially in network organizations which has a high ethnic and cultural variety, could be very useful for improve employees and managers communications.

A non-equilibrium neutral model for analysing cultural change.

Science.gov (United States)

Kandler, Anne; Shennan, Stephen

2013-08-07

Neutral evolution is a frequently used model to analyse changes in frequencies of cultural variants over time. Variants are chosen to be copied according to their relative frequency and new variants are introduced by a process of random mutation. Here we present a non-equilibrium neutral model which accounts for temporally varying population sizes and mutation rates and makes it possible to analyse the cultural system under consideration at any point in time. This framework gives an indication whether observed changes in the frequency distributions of a set of cultural variants between two time points are consistent with the random copying hypothesis. We find that the likelihood of the existence of the observed assemblage at the end of the considered time period (expressed by the probability of the observed number of cultural variants present in the population during the whole period under neutral evolution) is a powerful indicator of departures from neutrality. Further, we study the effects of frequency-dependent selection on the evolutionary trajectories and present a case study of change in the decoration of pottery in early Neolithic Central Europe. Based on the framework developed we show that neutral evolution is not an adequate description of the observed changes in frequency. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Emergence of the bipolar cultural complex in Walt Whitman.

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Herrmann, Steven B

2007-09-01

My main hypothesis in this paper(1) is that America's seminal poet, Walt Whitman, was trapped--like so many of his contemporaries--in 'cultural complexes' (Singer & Kimbles 2004) that he internalized, but that he found a way to transcend the splits inherent in these 'bipolar' (Perry 1970) organizations through his art. One way he accomplished this was through his aesthetic method of 'holding the opposites' between two poles of a slavery is wrong/white supremacy is justified cultural complex. In my paper, I provide evidence for some of the contradictions inherent in Whitman's character by examining the political splits of his times and explore how various Self symbols he produced through his poetry, particularly the figures he called 'Black Lucifer' and the Deus Quadriune--a quaternity symbol--facilitated his personal and cultural transformation. Finally, I demonstrate the relevance of my hypothesis to contemporary racism during the pre-Civil Rights period in the South through a clinical example, and I show how the Jungian method of 'holding the opposites' can be effectively practised in the transference/countertransference field of psychotherapy in general.

School violence and the culture of honor.

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Brown, Ryan P; Osterman, Lindsey L; Barnes, Collin D

2009-11-01

We investigated the hypothesis that a sociocultural variable known as the culture of honor would be uniquely predictive of school-violence indicators. Controlling for demographic characteristics associated in previous studies with violent crime among adults, we found that high-school students in culture-of-honor states were significantly more likely than high-school students in non-culture-of-honor states to report having brought a weapon to school in the past month. Using data aggregated over a 20-year period, we also found that culture-of-honor states had more than twice as many school shootings per capita as non-culture-of-honor states. The data revealed important differences between school violence and general patterns of homicide and are consistent with the view that many acts of school violence reflect retaliatory aggression springing from intensely experienced social-identity threats.

Latitudinal patterns in phenotypic plasticity and fitness-related traits: assessing the climatic variability hypothesis (CVH with an invasive plant species.

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Marco A Molina-Montenegro

Full Text Available Phenotypic plasticity has been suggested as the main mechanism for species persistence under a global change scenario, and also as one of the main mechanisms that alien species use to tolerate and invade broad geographic areas. However, contrasting with this central role of phenotypic plasticity, standard models aimed to predict the effect of climatic change on species distributions do not allow for the inclusion of differences in plastic responses among populations. In this context, the climatic variability hypothesis (CVH, which states that higher thermal variability at higher latitudes should determine an increase in phenotypic plasticity with latitude, could be considered a timely and promising hypothesis. Accordingly, in this study we evaluated, for the first time in a plant species (Taraxacum officinale, the prediction of the CVH. Specifically, we measured plastic responses at different environmental temperatures (5 and 20°C, in several ecophysiological and fitness-related traits for five populations distributed along a broad latitudinal gradient. Overall, phenotypic plasticity increased with latitude for all six traits analyzed, and mean trait values increased with latitude at both experimental temperatures, the change was noticeably greater at 20° than at 5°C. Our results suggest that the positive relationship found between phenotypic plasticity and geographic latitude could have very deep implications on future species persistence and invasion processes under a scenario of climate change.

Latitudinal patterns in phenotypic plasticity and fitness-related traits: assessing the climatic variability hypothesis (CVH) with an invasive plant species.

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Molina-Montenegro, Marco A; Naya, Daniel E

2012-01-01

Phenotypic plasticity has been suggested as the main mechanism for species persistence under a global change scenario, and also as one of the main mechanisms that alien species use to tolerate and invade broad geographic areas. However, contrasting with this central role of phenotypic plasticity, standard models aimed to predict the effect of climatic change on species distributions do not allow for the inclusion of differences in plastic responses among populations. In this context, the climatic variability hypothesis (CVH), which states that higher thermal variability at higher latitudes should determine an increase in phenotypic plasticity with latitude, could be considered a timely and promising hypothesis. Accordingly, in this study we evaluated, for the first time in a plant species (Taraxacum officinale), the prediction of the CVH. Specifically, we measured plastic responses at different environmental temperatures (5 and 20°C), in several ecophysiological and fitness-related traits for five populations distributed along a broad latitudinal gradient. Overall, phenotypic plasticity increased with latitude for all six traits analyzed, and mean trait values increased with latitude at both experimental temperatures, the change was noticeably greater at 20° than at 5°C. Our results suggest that the positive relationship found between phenotypic plasticity and geographic latitude could have very deep implications on future species persistence and invasion processes under a scenario of climate change.

FINANCIAL INSTABILITY HYPOTHESIS (FIH OF MINSKY: CONTEXTUALIZING THE ROLES OF ISLAMIC COMMERCIAL AND SOCIAL FINANCE

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Ugi Suharto

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The main subject of this paper is to discuss some issues in Minsky’s Financial Instability Hypothesis (FIH and relate them with Islamic finance position in enhancing the stability of financial system. The methodology used in the paper is descriptive analysis. It describes a particular concept, namely the financial instability hypothesis and then analyses, applies and compares that concept with other concept, i.e. the Islamic finance concept. It is shown in the paper that Islamic finance, both in its commercial and social aspect, can play its role in stabilizing financial system. The significant contribution of the paper is by bringing together the hypothesis of Minsky with Islamic finance theory and practice. It should be stated here, however, that among the limitations of the paper is that the reference on Minsky’s point of view is mostly based on his brief article entitled “The Financial Instability Hypothesis” without referring to his vast writings on various topics directly or indirectly related to his notion of Financial Instability Hypothesis.

Hypothesis Testing in the Real World

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Miller, Jeff

2017-01-01

Critics of null hypothesis significance testing suggest that (a) its basic logic is invalid and (b) it addresses a question that is of no interest. In contrast to (a), I argue that the underlying logic of hypothesis testing is actually extremely straightforward and compelling. To substantiate that, I present examples showing that hypothesis…

When Art Meets Gardens: Does It Enhance the Benefits? The Nancy Hypothesis of Care for Persons with Alzheimer's Disease.

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Jonveaux, Thérèse Rivasseau; Fescharek, Reinhard

2018-01-01

The creation of healing gardens for persons with Alzheimer's disease and related diseases (ADRD) offers vast potential. They can play a role in the scaffolding of cognitive disorders, emotional stress, sensory processing, sense of harmony, and appeasement. These effects are achieved through a distributed interplay of psychological functions with the immediate environment and local culture on the one hand, and dialogue on the other. The garden, a natural canvas created by man, shares with art the ability to foster an esthetic sense for which the perception can be measured by functional neurological imaging exploration. Art represents a mediator for the collaborative realization of distributed psychological functions between different individuals. Based on the hypothesis of an optimization of the therapeutic potential of a garden by a design adapted to the neuro-psycho-social and cultural specificities of its users combined with the thoughtful introduction of an artistic dimension, the "art, memory and life" healing garden was created at the University Hospital of Nancy as a prototype for persons with ADRD. The design concept was based on two hypotheses that we formulate herein, discuss their theoretical foundation, and suggest enhanced design for therapeutic gardens based upon our experience.

Emotion experience and regulation in China and the United States: how do culture and gender shape emotion responding?

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Davis, Elizabeth; Greenberger, Ellen; Charles, Susan; Chen, Chuansheng; Zhao, Libo; Dong, Qi

2012-01-01

Culture and gender shape emotion experience and regulation, in part because the value placed on emotions and the manner of their expression is thought to vary across these groups. This study tested the hypothesis that culture and gender would interact to predict people's emotion responding (emotion intensity and regulatory strategies). Chinese (n=220; 52% female) and American undergraduates (n=241; 62% female) viewed photos intended to elicit negative emotions after receiving instructions to either "just feel" any emotions that arose (Just Feel), or to "do something" so that they would not experience any emotion while viewing the photos (Regulate). All participants then rated the intensity of their experienced emotions and described any emotion-regulation strategies that they used while viewing the photos. Consistent with predictions, culture and gender interacted with experimental condition to predict intensity: Chinese men reported relatively low levels of emotion, whereas American women reported relatively high levels of emotion. Disengagement strategies (especially distancing) were related to lower emotional intensity and were reported most often by Chinese men. Taken together, findings suggest that emotion-regulation strategies may contribute to differences in emotional experience across Western and East Asian cultures.

Analogical reasoning and aging: the processing speed and inhibition hypothesis.

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Bugaiska, Aurélia; Thibaut, Jean-Pierre

2015-01-01

This study was designed to investigate the effect of aging on analogical reasoning by manipulating the strength of semantic association (LowAssoc or HighAssoc) and the number of distracters' semantic analogies of the A:B::C:D type and to determine which factors might be responsible for the age-related differences on analogical reasoning by testing two different theoretical frameworks: the inhibition hypothesis and the speed mediation hypothesis. We compared young adults and two groups of aging people (old and old-old) with word analogies of the A:B::C:D format. Results indicate an age-related effect on analogical reasoning, this effect being greatest with LowAssoc analogies. It was not associated with the presence of semantic distractors. Moreover, the results show that the variance part of the analogy task due to age was mainly explained by processing speed (rather than by inhibition) in the case of old participants and by both processing speed and inhibition in the old-old group. These results are discussed in relation to current models of aging and their interaction with the processes involved in analogical reasoning.

The origins of music in auditory scene analysis and the roles of evolution and culture in musical creation

OpenAIRE

Trainor, Laurel J.

2015-01-01

Whether music was an evolutionary adaptation that conferred survival advantages or a cultural creation has generated much debate. Consistent with an evolutionary hypothesis, music is unique to humans, emerges early in development and is universal across societies. However, the adaptive benefit of music is far from obvious. Music is highly flexible, generative and changes rapidly over time, consistent with a cultural creation hypothesis. In this paper, it is proposed that much of musical pitch...

Mirror neurons, birdsong and human language: a hypothesis

OpenAIRE

Florence eLevy

2012-01-01

AbstractThe Mirror System Hypothesis (MSH) and investigations of birdsong are reviewed in relation to the significance for the development of human symbolic and language capacity, in terms of three fundamental forms of cognitive reference: iconic, indexical, and symbolic. Mirror systems are initially iconic but can progress to indexal reference when produced without the need for concurrent stimuli. Developmental stages in birdsong are also explored with reference to juvenile subsong vs comple...

Rekonsiliasi Perseteruan antara Efficient Market Hypothesis dan Behavioral Finance melalui Perspektif Neuroeconomics

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Satia Nur Maharani

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Behavioral finance evaluation on Efficient Market Hypothesis causes debates among scientists supporting both theories. This article describes a comprehensive debate between rational behavior perspective on the Efficient Market Hypothesis with irrational behavior on behavioral finance, and how neuroeconomics shed some light on these two perspectives. This article gives a wider range of colors to represent investors behavior that is very complex, and encourage the growth of new generations of related theory of capital markets through interdisciplinary collaboration. Findings indicated that neuroeconomics perspective identified economic behavior through psychological functions.

Cross-cultural comparison of political leaders' operational codes.

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Dirilen-Gumus, Ozlem

2017-12-01

This study aims at comparing operational codes (namely, philosophical and instrumental beliefs about the political universe) of political leaders from different cultures. According to Schwartz (2004), cultures can be categorised into 3 dimensions: autonomy-embeddedness, egalitarianism-hierarchy and mastery-harmony. This study draws upon the 1st dimension (akin to the most popular cultural dimension of Hofstede: individualism-collectivism) and focuses on comparing the leaders of autonomous and embedded cultures based on how cooperative/conflictual they are. The main research hypothesis is as follows: the leaders of embedded cultures would be more cooperative than the leaders of autonomous cultures. For this purpose, 3 autonomous cultures (the UK, Canada and Australia) and embedded cultures (Singapore, South Africa and Malaysia) cultures were chosen randomly and the cooperativeness of the correspondent countries' leaders were compared after being profiled by Profiler Plus. The results indicated that the leaders of embedded cultures were significantly more cooperative than autonomous cultures after holding the control variables constant. The findings were discussed in the light of relevant literature. © 2016 International Union of Psychological Science.

Darwin's naturalization hypothesis up-close: Intermountain grassland invaders differ morphologically and phenologically from native community dominants

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Dean E. Pearson; Yvette K. Ortega; Samantha J. Sears

2012-01-01

Darwin's naturalization hypothesis predicts that successful invaders will tend to differ taxonomically from native species in recipient communities because less related species exhibit lower niche overlap and experience reduced biotic resistance. This hypothesis has garnered substantial support at coarse scales. However, at finer scales, the influence of traits...

Ontology of Iranian-French Cultural Relations: With an Emphasis on Contemporary Iranian History Prior to the Islamic Revolution

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Foad Pourarian

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Culture is one of the most prominent concepts that can also be the source of many changes in the range of action and application, in addition to its theoretical competence. One of the major outcomes of culture in contemporary history is its importance in international relations, insofar as these relations can broaden the level of relations or even create deep political or economic links between countries. In contemporary history, Iran began its experience of cultural relations with the West, especially France; Reza Shah, who put Iran's modernization at the top of his goals, pursued literacy and expanded academic circles, and in this regard, one of the most prominent of his plans was to send students to the West, especially to France, which also contributed to the expansion of the presence of French culture and language in Iran. The second Pahlavi era was accompanied by a change in some of the transboundary equations, including the emergence of the United States as a superpower, a special interest of Mohammad Reza Shah in the United States as well as Washington's agenda for the presence in Iran that slowly diminished French cultural influence in Iran, and the English language and culture were replaced. However, French ideas and thoughts still constituted a significant part of the educated layers of Iran given its strong presence in the Iranian academic circles in the past.

Social-cultural factors of HIV-related stigma among the Chinese general population in Hong Kong.

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Yeo, Tien Ee Dominic; Chu, Tsz Hang

2017-10-01

HIV-related stigma in the wider community compounds the suffering of people living with HIV (PLWH) and hampers effective HIV prevention and care. This study examines the level of public stigma toward PLWH in Hong Kong and associated social-cultural factors. A telephone survey was conducted in June-July 2016 with 1080 Chinese adults aged 18-94 randomly selected from the general population. The results indicate substantial degree of public stigma toward PLWH. Overall, 58.1% of the participants endorsed at least one statement indicating negative social judgment of PLWH. Over 40% attributed HIV infections to irresponsible behaviors and nearly 30% perceived most PLWH as promiscuous. About 20% considered HIV to be a punishment for bad behavior and believed that PLWH should feel ashamed of themselves. These statistics indicate that HIV-related stigma among the general Hong Kong population had no noticeable reduction in a decade but is lower than that among rural and urban populations in China. Our findings suggest that the lower stigma in Hong Kong may be linked to higher education levels rather than Hongkongers' more Westernized outlook. The results of a multiple regression analysis showed that education level (β = -.19), homophobia (β = .30), and conformity to norms (β = .14) were independent predictors of HIV-related stigma but not age, income, or cultural orientations. By differentiating between associated social-cultural factors, this study provides a more nuanced understanding of the layered nature of HIV-related stigma: not broadly grounded in religion or Chinese culture but stemming from more specific social-cultural beliefs - perceptions of norm violation and negative attitudes toward homosexuality, which were not mutually exclusive. These findings have implications for HIV-related stigma reduction by providing evidence for the importance of addressing homophobia. Existing HIV publicity activities should be re-examined for inadvertent contribution

A cross-cultural comparison of the coexistence and domain superiority of individuating and relating autonomy.

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Yeh, Kuang-Hui; Bedford, Olwen; Yang, Yung-Jui

2009-06-01

The consensus definition of autonomy in the psychological literature emphasizes self-governance through free volition, not separation or independence from others. Since the concept of self may differ cross-culturally, several researchers have tried to incorporate types of self into the notion of autonomy; however, only the dual model of autonomy has been able to do this while retaining an emphasis on volition. The dual model describes two distinct forms of autonomy-individuating and relating-each with superior function in a specific domain of individual functioning. Individuating autonomy represents a volitional capacity to act against social constraints and offers a route to achieve an independent self-identity by expressing individualistic attributes and distinctions. Relating autonomy represents a volitional capacity to act by emphasizing the harmony of self-in-relation-to-others, the quality of interpersonal relationships, and self-transcendence. These two forms of autonomy have been shown to coexist at the individual level in a Taiwanese sample. This study takes the next step, with a cross-cultural test of the coexistence and domain superiority hypotheses of individuating and relating autonomy. Participants included 306 college students from Taiwan and 183 college students from the United States. Structural equation modelling by multigroup analyses confirmed the cross-cultural equivalence of the two-factor individuating autonomy and relating autonomy measurement model. Across both samples the two forms of autonomy were shown to be mutually inclusive and not exclusive or independent. The domain-superior function of each form of autonomy was also confirmed cross-culturally; each form of autonomy has a dominant, but not necessarily exclusive, domain of functioning. Specifically, individuating autonomy was more associated with intrapersonal than interpersonal domain dependent variables, while relating autonomy was more associated with interpersonal than

[Innovative culture and diagnosis related groups in a high complexity hospital, Colombia].

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Gorbanev, Iouri; Agudelo-Londoño, Sandra; Cortes, Ariel; Yepes, Francisco J

2016-04-01

Objectives To characterize the perception of Diagnosis-Related Groups (DRGs) as an innovation among physicians, nurses and administrative staff in a hospital in Colombia. Methods A case study of innovative culture in a hospital. Surveys and focus groups were carried out with the medical, nursing and administrative staff. Descriptive statistics were calculated for the perceptions of innovative culture. Comparative analysis was done between professional groups. The results of the focus groups were transcribed and analyzed to deepen the findings of the surveys. Results Significant differences were found in perceptions of the innovative culture. The nursing staff were more enthusiastic than doctors when evaluating the innovative culture and leadership. Physicians felt more autonomy when discussing professional issues. Administrative staff assessed the Hospital's disposition to acquire new medical technologies as higher than that of physicians. The three groups know little about DRG's. Conclusions When implementing a health innovation it is advisable to analyze its effect on the professionals who participate in the implementation. Physicians perceive DRGs as a threat to their professional autonomy, while nurses see it as a pro-innovation force. It is important to involve nursing and administrative staff when implementing this kind of innovation.

Testing the Emotional Vulnerability Pathway to Problem Gambling in Culturally Diverse University Students.

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Hum, Sandra; Carr, Sherilene M

2018-02-12

Loneliness and adapting to an unfamiliar environment can increase emotional vulnerability in culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) university students. According to Blaszczynski and Nower's pathways model of problem and pathological gambling, this emotional vulnerability could increase the risk of problem gambling. The current study examined whether loneliness was associated with problem gambling risk in CALD students relative to their Australian peers. Additionally, differences in coping strategies were examined to determine their buffering effect on the relationship. A total of 463 female and 165 male university students (aged 18-38) from Australian (38%), mixed Australian and CALD (23%) and CALD (28%) backgrounds responded to an online survey of problem gambling behaviour, loneliness, and coping strategies. The results supported the hypothesis that loneliness would be related to problem gambling in CALD students. There was no evidence of a moderating effect of coping strategies. Future research could test whether the introduction of programs designed to alleviate loneliness in culturally diverse university students reduces their risk of developing problem gambling.

Proud Americans and lucky Japanese: cultural differences in appraisal and corresponding emotion.

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Imada, Toshie; Ellsworth, Phoebe C

2011-04-01

Appraisal theories of emotion propose that the emotions people experience correspond to their appraisals of their situation. In other words, individual differences in emotional experiences reflect differing interpretations of the situation. We hypothesized that in similar situations, people in individualist and collectivist cultures experience different emotions because of culturally divergent causal attributions for success and failure (i.e., agency appraisals). In a test of this hypothesis, American and Japanese participants recalled a personal experience (Study 1) or imagined themselves to be in a situation (Study 2) in which they succeeded or failed, and then reported their agency appraisals and emotions. Supporting our hypothesis, cultural differences in emotions corresponded to differences in attributions. For example, in success situations, Americans reported stronger self-agency emotions (e.g., proud) than did Japanese, whereas Japanese reported a stronger situation-agency emotion (lucky). Also, cultural differences in attribution and emotion were largely explained by differences in self-enhancing motivation. When Japanese and Americans were induced to make the same attribution (Study 2), cultural differences in emotions became either nonsignificant or were markedly reduced. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved.

Examining cultural, social, and self-related aspects of stigma in relation to sexual assault and trauma symptoms.

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Deitz, Mandi F; Williams, Stacey L; Rife, Sean C; Cantrell, Peggy

2015-05-01

The current study investigated a model explaining sexual assault victims' severity of trauma symptoms that incorporated multiple stigma constructs. Integrating the sexual assault literature with the stigma literature, this study sought to better understand trauma-related outcomes of sexual assault by examining three levels of stigma-cultural, social, and self. Results showed self-stigma was significantly and positively related to trauma symptom severity. Thus, results revealed that the internalized aspect of stigma served as a mechanism in the relation between sexual assault severity and increased levels of trauma symptom severity, highlighting the importance of assessing self-stigma in women reporting sexual assault experiences. © The Author(s) 2015.

On the Effects of Organizational Culture on E-Learning Readiness: An Iranian Experience

OpenAIRE

Seyed Yaghoub Hosseini; Khodakaram Salimifard; Shahrbanoo Yadollahi

2012-01-01

An organization’s success in implementing e-learning depends on the supports provided by the organizational culture. This paper is aimed to evaluate the impacts of organizational culture on e-learning readiness. To test the research hypothesis, Beta coefficient test was used. Research results indicated a significant positive impact of Clan and Adhocracy cultures on e-learning readiness. It was found that Market culture has a negative impact on e-learning readiness. Research findings cannot ...

A test of the substitution-habitat hypothesis in amphibians.

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Martínez-Abraín, Alejandro; Galán, Pedro

2017-12-08

Most examples that support the substitution-habitat hypothesis (human-made habitats act as substitutes of original habitat) deal with birds and mammals. We tested this hypothesis in 14 amphibians by using percentage occupancy as a proxy of habitat quality (i.e., higher occupancy percentages indicate higher quality). We classified water body types as original habitat (no or little human influence) depending on anatomical, behavioral, or physiological adaptations of each amphibian species. Ten species had relatively high probabilities (0.16-0.28) of occurrence in original habitat, moderate probability of occurrence in substitution habitats (0.11-0.14), and low probability of occurrence in refuge habitats (0.05-0.08). Thus, the substitution-habitat hypothesis only partially applies to amphibians because the low occupancy of refuges could be due to the negligible human persecution of this group (indicating good conservation status). However, low occupancy of refuges could also be due to low tolerance of refuge conditions, which could have led to selective extinction or colonization problems due to poor dispersal capabilities. That original habitats had the highest probabilities of occupancy suggests amphibians have a good conservation status in the region. They also appeared highly adaptable to anthropogenic substitution habitats. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

[The current problems and cross-cultural perspectives of patient-doctor relation: an overview].

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Koch, Eckhardt; Turgut, Tolga

2004-01-01

The success of the treatment in medicine, especially in psychiatry is based on the form and the strength of the patient-doctor relation. This complex and dynamic relation is changing in accordance with the social and technological development of the society. The context of the patient-doctor relation is determined by the present day culture as well as the traditional background. An overview of current patient-doctor relation and of problems that physicians and in particular psychiatrists meet is presented. Physicians have responsibilities in building patient-doctor relation. The ethical and legal aspects of these responsibilities are presented. The former paternalistic type of patient-doctor relation is evolving into a more equal and democratic relation. New problems are being encountered continuously in the changing process. Beside the of the process itself, the effects of progress in medical technology and communication systems on patient-doctor relation and the pressure, put from the insurance companies and/or authorities on physicians, which impair the trust between the physician and his patient, are making the process more difficult. The issues of compliance, sexual harassment and unique problems of patient-doctor relations in psychiatry are the other subtopics in the article. The cross-cultural aspects of patient-doctor relations and encountered clinical problems are discussed with case examples particularly about Turkish immigrants, who live in Germany. Suggestions for psychiatrists in Germany to work out the challenges facing them are presented in the conclusion.

Naming patterns reveal cultural values: patronyms, matronyms, and the U.S. culture of honor.

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Brown, Ryan P; Carvallo, Mauricio; Imura, Mikiko

2014-02-01

Four studies examined the hypothesis that honor norms would be associated with a pronounced use of patronyms, but not matronyms, for naming children. Study 1 shows that men who endorse honor values expressed a stronger desire to use patronyms (but not matronyms) for future children, an association that was mediated by patriarchal attitudes. Study 2 presents an indirect method for assessing state patronym and matronym levels. As expected, patronym scores were significantly higher in honor states and were associated with a wide range of variables linked previously to honor-related dynamics. Study 3a shows that following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, patronyms increased in honor states, but not in non-honor states. Likewise, priming men with a fictitious terrorist attack (Study 3b) increased the association between honor ideology and patronym preferences. Together, these studies reveal a subtle social signal that reflects the masculine values of an honor culture.

Relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of alpha radiation in cultured porcine aortic endothelial cells.

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Thomas, Patricia; Tracy, Bliss; Ping, Tilly; Baweja, Anar; Wickstrom, Mark; Sidhu, Narinder; Hiebert, Linda

2007-03-01

Northern peoples can receive elevated radiation doses (1- 10 mSv/y) from transfer of polonium-210 (210Po) through the lichen-caribou-human food chain. Ingested 210Po is primarily blood-borne and thus many of its short range alpha particles irradiate the endothelial cells lining the blood vessels. The relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of alpha particles vs. x-rays was examined in porcine aortic endothelial cells as a surrogate for understanding what might happen to human endothelial cells in northern populations consuming traditional foods. Cultured porcine aortic endothelial cells were exposed to x-ray and 210Po alpha particle radiation. Alpha irradiation was applied to the cell cultures internally via the culture medium and externally, using thin-bottomed culture dishes. The results given here are based on the external irradiation method, which was found to be more reliable. Dose-response curves were compared for four lethal endpoints (cell viability, live cell fraction, release of lactate dehydrogenase [LDH] and clonogenic survival) to determine the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of alpha radiation. The alpha RBE for porcine cells varied from 1.6-21, depending on the endpoint: 21.2+/-4.5 for cell viability, 12.9+/-2.7 for decrease in live cell number, 5.3+/-0.4 for LDH release to the medium but only 1.6 +/-0.1 for clonogenic survival. The low RBE of 1.6 was due to x-ray hypersensitivity of endothelial cells at low doses.

Cross-Cultural Differences in the Experience of Grandparent-Grandchild Relationships and Related Psychosocial Outcomes.

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Hayslip, Bert; Toledo, Ray M; Henderson, Craig E; Rodriguez, R Mishelle; Caballero Vela, Daniela M

2018-01-01

This study examined grandchildren's perceptions of the quality of their relationship with their grandmothers and how these perceptions relate to psychosocial outcomes. Eighty-two youth from Mexico and 99 youth from the United States aged between 13 and 16 participated. Results suggested that both cultures benefit in unique ways from positive relationship with their grandmothers. Yet, there were also differences in the relational experience of grandmother-grandchild relationships across cultures. Specifically, grandchildren in the U.S. sample reported higher relationship quality, relational competency, and self-efficacy than the grandchildren in the Mexico sample. Within the U.S. sample, relationship quality was associated with grandchildren's relational competence, while in the Mexico sample, relationship quality was associated with self-efficacy. Limitations of the present study include restricted generalizability to other age groups and to grandfathers and that only one element of the grandparent-grandchild dyad was sampled. Longitudinal research will improve our understanding of the causal dynamics of grandparent-grandchild relationships.

Relational Mobility Explains Between- and Within-Culture Differences in Self-Disclosure to Close Friends

OpenAIRE

Schug, Joanna; Yuki, Masaki; Maddux, William W.

2010-01-01

The current research proposes a novel explanation for previously demonstrated findings that East Asians disclose less personal information to others than do Westerners. We propose that both between- and within-culture differences in self-disclosure toward close friends may be explained by the construct of "relational mobility" - the general degree to which individuals in the society have the opportunities to form new and terminate old relationships. In Study 1, we found that cross-cultural di...

Language and Culture: Nigerian Perspective | Obiegbu | African ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The power of language to reflect culture and influence thinking was first proposed by an American linguist and anthropologist, Edward Sapir (1884-1939) and his student, Benjamin Whorf (1897-1941). The Saphir-Whorf hypothesis stated that the way we think and view the world is determined by our language. This theory ...

STUDIES RELATED TO THE PRESENCE AFRICAN IN THE CULTURAL IDENTITY OF BAHIA HONDA

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Silfredo Rodríguez-Basso

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The present article refers to a qualitative analysis of the main reference authors and works related to the studies about the presence of the African legacy in the cultural identity of Bahia Honda based on a continuing historical- cultural conception. This study has a systematized theoretical character and includes methods like the dialectic- materialistic and documental analysis. The results indicated a wide diffusion of information, the variety of disciplinary directions and also a lack of this kind of qualitative evaluation in the previous studies carried out.

Vietnamese Americans' Attitudes toward Seeking Mental Health Services: Relation to Cultural Variables

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Nguyen, Quang Charles X.; Anderson, Louis P.

2005-01-01

This study examined the relation between culturally based variables and attitudes toward seeking mental health services among a community sample of Vietnamese Americans (N = 148) with at least 8 years' residence in the United States (U.S.). Variables included Stigma, Traditional Beliefs about Mental Illness, Help-Seeking Preferences, Problem…

Cultural regulation of emotion: individual, relational, and structural sources.

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De Leersnyder, Jozefien; Boiger, Michael; Mesquita, Batja

2013-01-01

The most prevalent and intense emotional experiences differ across cultures. These differences in emotional experience can be understood as the outcomes of emotion regulation, because emotions that fit the valued relationships within a culture tend to be most common and intense. We review evidence suggesting that emotion regulation underlying cultural differences in emotional experience often takes place at the point of emotion elicitation through the promotion of situations and appraisals that are consistent with culturally valued relationships. These regulatory processes depend on individual tendencies, but are also co-regulated within relationships-close others shape people's environment and help them appraise events in culturally valued ways-and are afforded by structural conditions-people's daily lives "limit" the opportunities for emotion, and afford certain appraisals. The combined evidence suggests that cultural differences in emotion regulation go well beyond the effortful regulation based on display rules.

Otolith shape lends support to the sensory drive hypothesis in rockfishes.

Science.gov (United States)

Tuset, V M; Otero-Ferrer, J L; Gómez-Zurita, J; Venerus, L A; Stransky, C; Imondi, R; Orlov, A M; Ye, Z; Santschi, L; Afanasiev, P K; Zhuang, L; Farré, M; Love, M S; Lombarte, A

2016-10-01

The sensory drive hypothesis proposes that environmental factors affect both signalling dynamics and the evolution of signals and receivers. Sound detection and equilibrium in marine fishes are senses dependent on the sagittae otoliths, whose morphological variability appears intrinsically linked to the environment. The aim of this study was to understand if and which environmental factors could be conditioning the evolution of this sensory structure, therefore lending support to the sensory drive hypothesis. Thus, we analysed the otolith shape of 42 rockfish species (Sebastes spp.) to test the potential associations with the phylogeny, biological (age), ecological (feeding habit and depth distribution) and biogeographical factors. The results showed strong differences in the otolith shapes of some species, noticeably influenced by ecological and biogeographical factors. Moreover, otolith shape was clearly conditioned by phylogeny, but with a strong environmental effect, cautioning about the use of this structure for the systematics of rockfishes or other marine fishes. However, our most relevant finding is that the data supported the sensory drive hypothesis as a force promoting the radiation of the genus Sebastes. This hypothesis holds that adaptive divergence in communication has significant influence relative to other life history traits. It has already been established in Sebastes for visual characters and organs; our results showed that it applies to otolith transformations as well (despite the clear influence of feeding and depth), expanding the scope of the hypothesis to other sensory structures. © 2016 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2016 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

FINANCIAL INSTABILITY HYPOTHESIS (FIH OF MINSKY: CONTEXTUALIZING THE ROLES OF ISLAMIC COMMERCIAL AND SOCIAL FINANCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ugi Suharto

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The main subject of this paper is to discuss some issues in Minsky’s Financial Instability Hypothesis (FIH and relate them with Islamic finance position in enhancing the stability of financial system. The methodology used in the paper is descriptive analysis. It describes a particular concept, namely the financial instability hypothesis and then analyses, applies and compares that concept with other concept, i.e. the Islamic finance concept. It is shown in the paper that Islamic finance, both in its commercial and social aspect, can play its role in stabilizing financial system. The significant contribution of the paper is by bringing together the hypothesis of Minsky with Islamic finance theory and practice. It should be stated here, however, that among the limitations of the paper is that the reference on Minsky’s point of view is mostly based on his brief article entitled “The Financial Instability Hypothesis” without referring to his vast writings on various topics directly or indirectly related to his notion of Financial Instability Hypothesis.   Keywords:  Financial stability, Islamic finance, Financial crisis, Deregulation, Riba, Gharar JEL Classification: A12, E44, E58, G18, G21

A NONPARAMETRIC HYPOTHESIS TEST VIA THE BOOTSTRAP RESAMPLING

OpenAIRE

Temel, Tugrul T.

2001-01-01

This paper adapts an already existing nonparametric hypothesis test to the bootstrap framework. The test utilizes the nonparametric kernel regression method to estimate a measure of distance between the models stated under the null hypothesis. The bootstraped version of the test allows to approximate errors involved in the asymptotic hypothesis test. The paper also develops a Mathematica Code for the test algorithm.

Parental influences on weight-related health behaviors in western and eastern cultures.

Science.gov (United States)

Niemeier, B S; Duan, Y P; Shang, B R; Yang, J

2017-03-01

Excessive bodyweight contributes to a myriad of risk factors for chronic diseases, and multiple reports have demonstrated that parents influence the development of their children's behaviors that contribute to bodyweight. However, studies that include considerations for cultural influences are limited, and methodology that considers direct reports from young adults and their parents across cultures does not exist. A sample of young adults (N = 327) and their parents in the U.S. and in China were recruited and completed a series of questionnaires in two cycles (2010 and 2014). With correlation and multiple regression analyses, parents' characteristics, behaviors, and parental authority styles were examined and compared to weight-related health behaviors and bodyweight of their young-adult children. Additionally, similarities and differences of parental influences between the two cultures were explored. Parents' body mass indexes (BMIs) and dietary behaviors were positively associated with those of their young adult children in the mixed-culture sample (P permissive parental authority, the relationships between young adults' and their parents' BMIs were negative for U.S. participants and positive for Chinese participants (P parenting, the relationship between young adults' and their parents' dietary consumption behaviors was negative for U.S. participants and positive for Chinese participants (P development of life-long health behaviors that contribute to BMI are significantly influenced by parents' behaviors and parenting styles. Moreover, an interaction of parental characteristics and cultural norms is indicated. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Cultural regulation of emotion: Individual, relational, and structural sources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jozefien eDe Leersnyder

2013-02-01

Full Text Available The most prevalent and intense emotional experiences differ across cultures. These differences in emotional experience can be understood as the outcomes of emotion regulation, because emotions that fit the valued relationships within a culture tend to be most common and intense. We review evidence suggesting that emotion regulation underlying cultural differences in emotional experience often takes place at the point of emotion elicitation through the promotion of situations and appraisals that are consistent with culturally valued relationships. These regulatory processes depend on individual tendencies, but are also co-regulated within relationships—close others shape people’s environment and help them appraise events in culturally valued ways—and are afforded by structural conditions—people’s daily lives limit the opportunities for emotion, and afford certain appraisals. The combined evidence suggests that cultural differences in emotion regulation go well beyond the effortful regulation based on display rules.

Cultural Distance Asymmetry in Expatriate Adjustment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Selmer, Jan; Chiu, Randy K.; Shenkar, Oded

2007-01-01

of the assignment. Design/methodology/approach - Using a two-flow sample of US expatriates in Germany and German expatriates in the USA, we examine and compare the psychological and socio-cultural adjustment of each group of executives. Findings - Controlling for the length of assignment, we find that German...... expatriates in the USA were better adjusted, both socio-culturally and psychologically, than American expatriates in Germany. These results support the asymmetry hypothesis and call into question previous findings attesting to the relationship between CD and expatriate adjustment. Originality......Purpose - The current literature implicitly assumes a symmetric impact of cultural distance (CD) on expatriate adjustment. By using distance as a predictor of adjustment, the literature has rendered the direction of the flow irrelevant: a US expatriate in Germany is presumed to face the same hurdle...

The thrifty phenotype hypothesis revisited

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vaag, A A; Grunnet, L G; Arora, G P

2012-01-01

Twenty years ago, Hales and Barker along with their co-workers published some of their pioneering papers proposing the 'thrifty phenotype hypothesis' in Diabetologia (4;35:595-601 and 3;36:62-67). Their postulate that fetal programming could represent an important player in the origin of type 2...... of the underlying molecular mechanisms. Type 2 diabetes is a multiple-organ disease, and developmental programming, with its idea of organ plasticity, is a plausible hypothesis for a common basis for the widespread organ dysfunctions in type 2 diabetes and the metabolic syndrome. Only two among the 45 known type 2...

[Trans-Cultural Prevention of Alcohol-Related Disorders in Elderly Immigrants].

Science.gov (United States)

Bermejo, I; Frank, F

2015-09-01

In migrants alcohol-related problems increase with increasing age. This group, in particular, is hardly reached by alcohol-specific care offers. Thus our project aimed at the identification of target group-specific barriers to health-care use by means of a cross-sectional study (n=435). Based on these results a trans-cultural concept for alcohol prevention among elderly migrants was developed and evaluated in a cluster-randomised controlled trial (n=176). © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Aminoglycoside antibiotics and autism: a speculative hypothesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manev Hari

2001-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Recently, it has been suspected that there is a relationship between therapy with some antibiotics and the onset of autism; but even more curious, some children benefited transiently from a subsequent treatment with a different antibiotic. Here, we speculate how aminoglycoside antibiotics might be associated with autism. Presentation We hypothesize that aminoglycoside antibiotics could a trigger the autism syndrome in susceptible infants by causing the stop codon readthrough, i.e., a misreading of the genetic code of a hypothetical critical gene, and/or b improve autism symptoms by correcting the premature stop codon mutation in a hypothetical polymorphic gene linked to autism. Testing Investigate, retrospectively, whether a link exists between aminoglycoside use (which is not extensive in children and the onset of autism symptoms (hypothesis "a", or between amino glycoside use and improvement of these symptoms (hypothesis "b". Whereas a prospective study to test hypothesis "a" is not ethically justifiable, a study could be designed to test hypothesis "b". Implications It should be stressed that at this stage no direct evidence supports our speculative hypothesis and that its main purpose is to initiate development of new ideas that, eventually, would improve our understanding of the pathobiology of autism.

Using Relational-Cultural Theory to Conceptualize Couple Interventions in the Treatment of Sex Addiction

Science.gov (United States)

Vogel, Joanne E.

2007-01-01

Sex addictions have become an increasing concern since the growth of the sex industry, sex in advertising, and the ease of Internet access to sex. This article uses the foundational principles of Relational-Cultural Theory (RCT) to conceptualize sexual addiction and its relational impact. Particular attention is paid to the principles of…

Biostatistics series module 2: Overview of hypothesis testing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Avijit Hazra

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Hypothesis testing (or statistical inference is one of the major applications of biostatistics. Much of medical research begins with a research question that can be framed as a hypothesis. Inferential statistics begins with a null hypothesis that reflects the conservative position of no change or no difference in comparison to baseline or between groups. Usually, the researcher has reason to believe that there is some effect or some difference which is the alternative hypothesis. The researcher therefore proceeds to study samples and measure outcomes in the hope of generating evidence strong enough for the statistician to be able to reject the null hypothesis. The concept of the P value is almost universally used in hypothesis testing. It denotes the probability of obtaining by chance a result at least as extreme as that observed, even when the null hypothesis is true and no real difference exists. Usually, if P is < 0.05 the null hypothesis is rejected and sample results are deemed statistically significant. With the increasing availability of computers and access to specialized statistical software, the drudgery involved in statistical calculations is now a thing of the past, once the learning curve of the software has been traversed. The life sciences researcher is therefore free to devote oneself to optimally designing the study, carefully selecting the hypothesis tests to be applied, and taking care in conducting the study well. Unfortunately, selecting the right test seems difficult initially. Thinking of the research hypothesis as addressing one of five generic research questions helps in selection of the right hypothesis test. In addition, it is important to be clear about the nature of the variables (e.g., numerical vs. categorical; parametric vs. nonparametric and the number of groups or data sets being compared (e.g., two or more than two at a time. The same research question may be explored by more than one type of hypothesis test

A method to implement the reservoir-wave hypothesis using phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging

OpenAIRE

Gray, Robert D.M.; Parker, Kim H.; Quail, Michael A.; Taylor, Andrew M.; Biglino, Giovanni

2016-01-01

The reservoir-wave hypothesis states that the blood pressure waveform can be usefully divided into a “reservoir pressure” related to the global compliance and resistance of the arterial system, and an “excess pressure” that depends on local conditions. The formulation of the reservoir-wave hypothesis applied to the area waveform is shown, and the analysis is applied to area and velocity data from high-resolution phase-contrast cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging. A validation stud...

Identifying food-related life style segments by a cross-culturally valid scaling device

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brunsø, Karen; Grunert, Klaus G.

1994-01-01

-related life style in a cross-culturally valid way. To this end, we have col-lected a pool of 202 items, collected data in three countries, and have con-structed scales based on cross-culturally stable patterns. These scales have then been subjected to a number of tests of reliability and vali-dity. We have...... then applied the set of scales to a fourth country, Germany, based on a representative sample of 1000 respondents. The scales had, with a fe exceptions, moderately good reliabilities. A cluster ana-ly-sis led to the identification of 5 segments, which differed on all 23 scales....

Mastery Learning and the Decreasing Variability Hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Livingston, Jennifer A.; Gentile, J. Ronald

1996-01-01

This report results from studies that tested two variations of Bloom's decreasing variability hypothesis using performance on successive units of achievement in four graduate classrooms that used mastery learning procedures. Data do not support the decreasing variability hypothesis; rather, they show no change over time. (SM)

Legal and Ethical Issues Related to the Management of Cultural Heritage in Space

Science.gov (United States)

Walsh, Justin

The recent discovery of water in darkened craters of the Moon's south pole is only the latest development drawing public and corporate interest to the possibilities of research and travel in outer space. Scientists pursuing fusion-generated power as a solution to global energy needs have also noted the relative abundance of Helium-3, an efficient fuel, on the Moon's surface, and there is the promise of other precious resources there as well. The implantation of colonies on the Moon or Mars, discussed for many decades as science fiction, therefore seems increasingly likely to happen. Some private companies and members of the public are even looking forward to the days when tourists will be able to travel for leisure beyond the earth's atmosphere. Most notably, the X Prize Foundation and Google are sponsoring a prize for the first private group to send an unmanned rover to the Moon as a way of advancing these agendas; 22 teams have registered for the competition, with some scheduled to launch by the end of 2010. Increased attention to outer space travel, exploration, and commercial exploitation has been paralleled by a rise in interest in the protection of cultural resources on Earth, such as ar-chaeological sites and historic monuments. Such sites and monuments already exist in outer space and on extraterrestrial planetary bodies. The Apollo 11 landing site, Tranquility Base, is only the most obvious example of a cultural site of outstanding significance in space. Satellites orbiting the earth -even defunct ones such as Vanguard 1, the oldest man-made object still in orbit, might be considered to have extraordinary historic and cultural value, too. As archae-ologists working on Earth have long recognized, once a site or object is damaged, it can never be perfectly restored to its original condition. Unfortunately, there are so far only a few vague guidelines, drafted in the 1960's and agreed upon by the international community, protecting mankind's cultural heritage

The linear hypothesis and radiation carcinogenesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roberts, P.B.

1981-10-01

An assumption central to most estimations of the carcinogenic potential of low levels of ionising radiation is that the risk always increases in direct proportion to the dose received. This assumption (the linear hypothesis) has been both strongly defended and attacked on several counts. It appears unlikely that conclusive, direct evidence on the validity of the hypothesis will be forthcoming. We review the major indirect arguments used in the debate. All of them are subject to objections that can seriously weaken their case. In the present situation, retention of the linear hypothesis as the basis of extrapolations from high to low dose levels can lead to excessive fears, over-regulation and unnecessarily expensive protection measures. To offset these possibilities, support is given to suggestions urging a cut-off dose, probably some fraction of natural background, below which risks can be deemed acceptable

Health, supervisory support, and workplace culture in relation to work-family conflict and synergy.

Science.gov (United States)

Beutell, Nicholas J

2010-08-01

This research examined health, supervisory support, and workplace culture as predictors of work interfering with family, family interfering with work, and work-family synergy. The analysis of data from 2,796 respondents from the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce yielded significant relations among measures of mental health, self-rated health, supervisory support, and work-family culture with a focus on career concerns. Support was found for a measure of work-family synergy. Implications and directions for research are discussed.

Is PMI the Hypothesis or the Null Hypothesis?

Science.gov (United States)

Tarone, Aaron M; Sanford, Michelle R

2017-09-01

Over the past several decades, there have been several strident exchanges regarding whether forensic entomologists estimate the postmortem interval (PMI), minimum PMI, or something else. During that time, there has been a proliferation of terminology reflecting this concern regarding "what we do." This has been a frustrating conversation for some in the community because much of this debate appears to be centered on what assumptions are acknowledged directly and which are embedded within a list of assumptions (or ignored altogether) in the literature and in case reports. An additional component of the conversation centers on a concern that moving away from the use of certain terminology like PMI acknowledges limitations and problems that would make the application of entomology appear less useful in court-a problem for lawyers, but one that should not be problematic for scientists in the forensic entomology community, as uncertainty is part of science that should and can be presented effectively in the courtroom (e.g., population genetic concepts in forensics). Unfortunately, a consequence of the way this conversation is conducted is that even as all involved in the debate acknowledge the concerns of their colleagues, parties continue to talk past one another advocating their preferred terminology. Progress will not be made until the community recognizes that all of the terms under consideration take the form of null hypothesis statements and that thinking about "what we do" as a null hypothesis has useful legal and scientific ramifications that transcend arguments over the usage of preferred terminology. © The Authors 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Mathematical model of cellular kinetics in long term marrow culture with specific application to the effect of ionizing radiation on the hematopoietic microenvironment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Janssen, W.E.

1984-01-01

In recent years, an in vitro system for the culturing of hematopoietic stem cells and precursor cells over extended time periods has been developed. It has been clearly demonstrated that these cultures are supporting ongoing hematopoiesis, which makes them an ideal model system for investigating questions relating to both normal and abnormal hematopoiesis. The most easily measured aspect of this culture system is its ongoing production of hematopoietic cells which are recoverable at weekly culture feedings. The current study develops a mathematical model of the production of cells in these cultures and then applies that model in the form of a computer simulation to several experimental protocols, particularly those involving the exposure of the culture system to ionizing radiation. Extensive experimental testing is described, which verifies the validity of the mathematical description presented, and further supports the hypothesis of a radiation insensitive hematopoietic microenvironment

The Lehman Sisters Hypothesis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

I.P. van Staveren (Irene)

2014-01-01

markdownabstract__Abstract__ This article explores the Lehman Sisters Hypothesis. It reviews empirical literature about gender differences in behavioral, experimental, and neuro-economics as well as in other fields of behavioral research. It discusses gender differences along three dimensions of

How gambling harms experienced by Pacific people in New Zealand amplify when they are culture-related

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Komathi Kolandai-Matchett

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Pacific people in New Zealand are a minority ethnic population identified in national prevalence studies as having the highest risk of developing gambling problems. As earlier studies identified some links between culture and gambling for this population, our study aimed to deepen understanding of these links and their role in explaining the disproportionate gambling harms experienced by Pacific people. To achieve this aim we employed intersectionality as a theoretical framework to explore the culture-gambling intersection for this population group. We analysed data from a subset of focus groups conducted for a broad study of gambling harms in New Zealand. The subset was selected based on the presence of individuals knowledgeable about Pacific people’s gambling behaviours, including staff from Pacific problem gambling treatment services who provided examples from a cultural perspective. We identified themes at a latent level via an interpretive process to identify underlying cultural contexts of gambling harms. Findings indicated that whilst harms experienced by Pacific people were similar to those identified amongst the general population, the cultural contexts in which some harms manifested were complex. This paper contributes to the existing knowledge base about gambling harms for Pacific people in relation to six culture-gambling intersecting themes that emerged from the data: collectivism, gift-giving, gambling-based fundraising, patriarchy, beliefs about blessings, and sports celebrities. Findings are discussed in relation to the current knowledge of gambling and conceptualisations of gambling harm within Pacific communities. Implications for culturally appropriate harm minimisation strategies and prevention interventions for this population are suggested.

How gambling harms experienced by Pacific people in New Zealand amplify when they are culture-related.

Science.gov (United States)

Kolandai-Matchett, Komathi; Langham, Erika; Bellringer, Maria; Siitia, Pesio Ah-Honi

2017-01-01

Pacific people in New Zealand are a minority ethnic population identified in national prevalence studies as having the highest risk of developing gambling problems. As earlier studies identified some links between culture and gambling for this population, our study aimed to deepen understanding of these links and their role in explaining the disproportionate gambling harms experienced by Pacific people. To achieve this aim we employed intersectionality as a theoretical framework to explore the culture-gambling intersection for this population group. We analysed data from a subset of focus groups conducted for a broad study of gambling harms in New Zealand. The subset was selected based on the presence of individuals knowledgeable about Pacific people's gambling behaviours, including staff from Pacific problem gambling treatment services who provided examples from a cultural perspective. We identified themes at a latent level via an interpretive process to identify underlying cultural contexts of gambling harms. Findings indicated that whilst harms experienced by Pacific people were similar to those identified amongst the general population, the cultural contexts in which some harms manifested were complex. This paper contributes to the existing knowledge base about gambling harms for Pacific people in relation to six culture-gambling intersecting themes that emerged from the data: collectivism, gift-giving, gambling-based fundraising, patriarchy, beliefs about blessings, and sports celebrities. Findings are discussed in relation to the current knowledge of gambling and conceptualisations of gambling harm within Pacific communities. Implications for culturally appropriate harm minimisation strategies and prevention interventions for this population are suggested.

Updating the lamellar hypothesis of hippocampal organization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert S Sloviter

2012-12-01

Full Text Available In 1971, Andersen and colleagues proposed that excitatory activity in the entorhinal cortex propagates topographically to the dentate gyrus, and on through a trisynaptic circuit lying within transverse hippocampal slices or lamellae [Andersen, Bliss, and Skrede. 1971. Lamellar organization of hippocampal pathways. Exp Brain Res 13, 222-238]. In this way, a relatively simple structure might mediate complex functions in a manner analogous to the way independent piano keys can produce a nearly infinite variety of unique outputs. The lamellar hypothesis derives primary support from the lamellar distribution of dentate granule cell axons (the mossy fibers, which innervate dentate hilar neurons and area CA3 pyramidal cells and interneurons within the confines of a thin transverse hippocampal segment. Following the initial formulation of the lamellar hypothesis, anatomical studies revealed that unlike granule cells, hilar mossy cells, CA3 pyramidal cells, and Layer II entorhinal cells all form axonal projections that are more divergent along the longitudinal axis than the clearly lamellar mossy fiber pathway. The existence of pathways with translamellar distribution patterns has been interpreted, incorrectly in our view, as justifying outright rejection of the lamellar hypothesis [Amaral and Witter. 1989. The three-dimensional organization of the hippocampal formation: a review of anatomical data. Neuroscience 31, 571-591]. We suggest that the functional implications of longitudinally-projecting axons depend not on whether they exist, but on what they do. The observation that focal granule cell layer discharges normally inhibit, rather than excite, distant granule cells suggests that longitudinal axons in the dentate gyrus may mediate "lateral" inhibition and define lamellar function, rather than undermine it. In this review, we attempt a reconsideration of the evidence that most directly impacts the physiological concept of hippocampal lamellar

Facial expressions of emotion are not culturally universal.

Science.gov (United States)

Jack, Rachael E; Garrod, Oliver G B; Yu, Hui; Caldara, Roberto; Schyns, Philippe G

2012-05-08

Since Darwin's seminal works, the universality of facial expressions of emotion has remained one of the longest standing debates in the biological and social sciences. Briefly stated, the universality hypothesis claims that all humans communicate six basic internal emotional states (happy, surprise, fear, disgust, anger, and sad) using the same facial movements by virtue of their biological and evolutionary origins [Susskind JM, et al. (2008) Nat Neurosci 11:843-850]. Here, we refute this assumed universality. Using a unique computer graphics platform that combines generative grammars [Chomsky N (1965) MIT Press, Cambridge, MA] with visual perception, we accessed the mind's eye of 30 Western and Eastern culture individuals and reconstructed their mental representations of the six basic facial expressions of emotion. Cross-cultural comparisons of the mental representations challenge universality on two separate counts. First, whereas Westerners represent each of the six basic emotions with a distinct set of facial movements common to the group, Easterners do not. Second, Easterners represent emotional intensity with distinctive dynamic eye activity. By refuting the long-standing universality hypothesis, our data highlight the powerful influence of culture on shaping basic behaviors once considered biologically hardwired. Consequently, our data open a unique nature-nurture debate across broad fields from evolutionary psychology and social neuroscience to social networking via digital avatars.

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.

Relationship between Future Time Orientation and Item Nonresponse on Subjective Probability Questions: A Cross-Cultural Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sunghee; Liu, Mingnan; Hu, Mengyao

2017-06-01

Time orientation is an unconscious yet fundamental cognitive process that provides a framework for organizing personal experiences in temporal categories of past, present and future, reflecting the relative emphasis given to these categories. Culture lies central to individuals' time orientation, leading to cultural variations in time orientation. For example, people from future-oriented cultures tend to emphasize the future and store information relevant for the future more than those from present- or past-oriented cultures. For survey questions that ask respondents to report expected probabilities of future events, this may translate into culture-specific question difficulties, manifested through systematically varying "I don't know" item nonresponse rates. This study drew on the time orientation theory and examined culture-specific nonresponse patterns on subjective probability questions using methodologically comparable population-based surveys from multiple countries. The results supported our hypothesis. Item nonresponse rates on these questions varied significantly in the way that future-orientation at the group as well as individual level was associated with lower nonresponse rates. This pattern did not apply to non-probability questions. Our study also suggested potential nonresponse bias. Examining culture-specific constructs, such as time orientation, as a framework for measurement mechanisms may contribute to improving cross-cultural research.

A Review of the Evidence Supporting the Vitamin D-Cancer Prevention Hypothesis in 2017.

Science.gov (United States)

Grant, William B

2018-02-01

The vitamin D-cancer prevention hypothesis has been evaluated through several types of studies, including geographical ecological studies related to indices of solar ultraviolet-B (UVB) dose (the primary source of vitamin D for most people), observational studies related to UVB exposure or serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations, laboratory studies of mechanisms, and clinical trials. Each approach has strengths and limitations. Ecological studies indirectly measure vitamin D production and incorporate the assumption that vitamin D mediates the effect of UVB exposure. Findings from observational studies with long follow-up times are affected by changing 25(OH)D concentrations over time. Most clinical trials have been poorly designed and conducted, based largely on guidelines for pharmaceutical drugs rather than on nutrients. However, three clinical trials do support the hypothesis. In general, the totality of the evidence, as evaluated using Hill's criteria for causality in a biological system, supports the vitamin D-cancer prevention hypothesis. Copyright© 2018, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.

Identity-related autobiographical memories and cultural life scripts in patients with Borderline Personality Disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Jørgensen, Carsten René; Berntsen, Dorthe; Bech, Morten; Kjølbye, Morten; Bennedsen, Birgit E; Ramsgaard, Stine B

2012-06-01

Disturbed identity is one of the defining characteristics of Borderline Personality Disorder manifested in a broad spectrum of dysfunctions related to the self, including disturbances in meaning-generating self-narratives. Autobiographical memories are memories of personal events that provide crucial building-blocks in our construction of a life-story, self-concept, and a meaning-generating narrative identity. The cultural life script represents culturally shared expectations as to the order and timing of life events in a prototypical life course within a given culture. It is used to organize one's autobiographical memories. Here, 17 BPD-patients, 14 OCD-patients, and 23 non-clinical controls generated three important autobiographical memories and their conceptions of the cultural life script. BPD-patients reported substantially more negative memories, fewer of their memories were of prototypical life script events, their memory narratives were less coherent and more disoriented, and the overall typicality of their life scripts was lower as compared with the other two groups. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Discussion of the Porter hypothesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-11-01

In the reaction to the long-range vision of RMNO, published in 1996, The Dutch government posed the question whether a far-going and progressive modernization policy will lead to competitive advantages of high-quality products on partly new markets. Such a question is connected to the so-called Porter hypothesis: 'By stimulating innovation, strict environmental regulations can actually enhance competitiveness', from which statement it can be concluded that environment and economy can work together quite well. A literature study has been carried out in order to determine under which conditions that hypothesis is endorsed in the scientific literature and policy documents. Recommendations are given for further studies. refs

Cross-cultural variation in disease-related concerns among patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Levenstein, S; Li, Z; Almer, S; Barbosa, A; Marquis, P; Moser, G; Sperber, A; Toner, B; Drossman, D A

2001-06-01

The aim of this work was to study cross-cultural variations in the impact of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) on health-related quality of life by an international comparison of disease-related concerns. Item and factor scores on the Rating Form of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patient Concerns and overall mean concern levels were compared by analysis of variance among 2002 IBD patients in eight countries. The overall level of concern varied from 51 out of 100 in Portugal to 19 in Sweden, with intermediate scores for Italy (43), Canada (40), United States (39), France (39), Austria (33), and Israel (25). Having surgery, an ostomy, the uncertain nature of the disease, and medication side effects were each rated among the first five in importance in six countries. Other items varied considerably. For example, concern regarding pain and suffering was high in Israel and low in Portugal, whereas concern over developing cancer was low in Italy. Concern over financial issues and access to high-quality health care were inversely associated with measures of national economic prosperity. 1) Cross-cultural comparisons of patient concerns related to IBD are feasible using translated scales. 2) Reporting tendencies vary greatly; within Europe, patients from southern countries report greater overall concern. 3) The complications and the variable evolution of disease elicit general concern, but the importance of specific issues varies among countries. 4) The reasons for national differences may have social, cultural, and/or economic determinants with relevance to the patient-physician relationship, patient education, and therapeutic decision making.

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...

Cultural intelligence and work-related outcomes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schlaegel, Christopher; Richter, Nicole Franziska; Taras, Vas

2017-01-01

) the results of the bivariate metaanalyses indicate that CQ and its underlying dimensions are positively associated with expatriation intention, job satisfaction, cultural adjustment, transformational leadership, and different performance outcomes (task performance, contextual performance, and team performance...

Relations, interactions and networks of cultural tourism stakeholders in rural areas of Vojvodina

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pavlović Nataša

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Contemporary trends, which are characterized by a very strong level of competition and the maturity of the market, become more than ever essential for success of tourist destinations. Rural areas in Vojvodina, because of its authentic atmosphere and multiculturalism, have significant advantages for cultural tourism. Each participant who creates a tourism product in toda y's competitive environment aims to have a strong focus on customer satisfaction, which indicates the necessity of adopting the concept of total relationship marketing. The aim of this paper is to show how cultural institutions, souvenir craftsmen, tourism organizations, travel agencies and other stakeholders achieve cooperation and apply modern concept of total relationship marketing for the purposes of satisfying the needs of tourists. The paper will explore the fundamental postulates of relationship marketing applied by key stakeholders of cultural tourism in rural areas, and will get reference results on relations, interactions and networks.

The (not so) Immortal Strand Hypothesis

OpenAIRE

Tomasetti, Cristian; Bozic, Ivana

2015-01-01

Background: Non-random segregation of DNA strands during stem cell replication has been proposed as a mechanism to minimize accumulated genetic errors in stem cells of rapidly dividing tissues. According to this hypothesis, an “immortal” DNA strand is passed to the stem cell daughter and not the more differentiated cell, keeping the stem cell lineage replication error-free. After it was introduced, experimental evidence both in favor and against the hypothesis has been presented. Principal...

Water relations in culture media influence maturation of avocado somatic embryos.

Science.gov (United States)

Márquez-Martín, Belén; Sesmero, Rafael; Quesada, Miguel A; Pliego-Alfaro, Fernando; Sánchez-Romero, Carolina

2011-11-15

Application of transformation and other biotechnological tools in avocado (Persea americana Mill.) is hampered by difficulties in obtaining mature somatic embryos capable of germination at an acceptable rate. In this work, we evaluated the effect of different compounds affecting medium water relations on maturation of avocado somatic embryos. Culture media were characterized with respect to gel strength, water potential and osmotic potential. Improved production of mature somatic embryos was achieved with gelling agent concentrations higher than those considered standard. The osmotic agents such as sorbitol and PEG did not have positive effects on embryo maturation. The number of w-o mature somatic embryos per culture was positively correlated with medium gel strength. Gel strength was significantly affected by gelling agent type as well as by gelling agent and PEG concentration. Medium water potential was influenced by sorbitol concentration; incorporation of PEG to a culture medium did not affect medium water potential. The highest maturation results were achieved on a medium gelled with 10 gl(-1) agar. Moreover, these somatic embryos had improved germination rates. These results corroborate the role of water restriction as a key factor controlling maturation of somatic embryos. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Revisiting the Dutch hypothesis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Postma, Dirkje S.; Weiss, Scott T.; van den Berge, Maarten; Kerstjens, Huib A. M.; Koppelman, Gerard H.

The Dutch hypothesis was first articulated in 1961, when many novel and advanced scientific techniques were not available, such as genomics techniques for pinpointing genes, gene expression, lipid and protein profiles, and the microbiome. In addition, computed tomographic scans and advanced analysis

Induction of calcification by serum depletion in cell culture: a model for focal calcification in aortas related to atherosclerosis

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Villar Maria T

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Since aortic calcification has been shown to initiate in the lower zone of well-thickened plaques (LZP adjacent to the aortic media of rabbits fed supplemental cholesterol diets, a restricted supply of serum to vascular cells could play a role in vascular calcification. This study was designed to use a cell culture model to support this hypothesis. Results Rabbit aortic smooth muscle cells were grown to confluence in a culture media containing 10 % fetal bovine serum (FBS. The confluent cells were then exposed to the media for 2 hrs with or without serum at a Ca × P ion product range of 4.5–9.4 mM2. In contrast to the cells cultured in the presence of FBS, confluent cells in its absence displayed marked mineral-positive alizarin red staining and infrared absorption of mineral phosphate. A kinetic parameter C1/2 was used to designate the concentration of serum or its protein constituents needed to reduce the deposition of Ca and P by half. The C1/2 for FBS and rabbit serum was 0.04–0.07 % The C1/2 value for rabbit serum proteins was 13.5 μg/ml corresponding to the protein concentration in 0.06 % of serum. This C1/2 was markedly smaller than 86.2 μg/ml for bovine serum albumin present in 0.37 % serum (p Conclusion The aortic smooth muscle cell culture model suggests that serum depletion may play a role in the initiation of aortic calcification. The serum exhibits remarkable ability to inhibit cell-mediated calcification.

Carpal tunnel syndrome and the "double crush" hypothesis: a review and implications for chiropractic

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Russell Brent S

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Upton and McComas claimed that most patients with carpal tunnel syndrome not only have compressive lesions at the wrist, but also show evidence of damage to cervical nerve roots. This "double crush" hypothesis has gained some popularity among chiropractors because it seems to provide a rationale for adjusting the cervical spine in treating carpal tunnel syndrome. Here I examine use of the concept by chiropractors, summarize findings from the literature, and critique several studies aimed at supporting or refuting the hypothesis. Although the hypothesis also has been applied to nerve compressions other than those leading to carpal tunnel syndrome, this discussion mainly examines the original application – "double crush" involving both cervical spinal nerve roots and the carpal tunnel. I consider several categories: experiments to create double crush syndrome in animals, case reports, literature reviews, and alternatives to the original hypothesis. A significant percentage of patients with carpal tunnel syndrome also have neck pain or cervical nerve root compression, but the relationship has not been definitively explained. The original hypothesis remains controversial and is probably not valid, at least for sensory disturbances, in carpal tunnel syndrome. However, even if the original hypothesis is importantly flawed, evaluation of multiple sites still may be valuable. The chiropractic profession should develop theoretical models to relate cervical dysfunction to carpal tunnel syndrome, and might incorporate some alternatives to the original hypothesis. I intend this review as a starting point for practitioners, educators, and students wishing to advance chiropractic concepts in this area.

Teaching Avogadro's Hypothesis and Helping Students to See the World Differently

Science.gov (United States)

Criswell, Brett

2008-01-01

Within the historical context of the development of chemistry, Avogadro's hypothesis represents a fundamental concept: It allowed Avogadro to explain Gay-Lussac's law of combining volumes and it allowed Cannizzaro to establish a more accurate set of atomic mass values. If students are going to understand the concept of relative atomic masses and…

The Chinese-born immigrant infant feeding and growth hypothesis

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Kristy A. Bolton

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Rapid growth in the first six months of life is a well-established risk factor for childhood obesity, and child feeding practices (supplementation or substitution of breast milk with formula and early introduction of solids have been reported to predict this. The third largest immigrant group in Australia originate from China. Case-studies reported from Victorian Maternal and Child Health nurses suggest that rapid growth trajectories in the infants of Chinese parents is common place. Furthermore, these nurses report that high value is placed by this client group on rapid growth and a fatter child; that rates of breastfeeding are low and overfeeding of infant formula is high. There are currently no studies which describe infant growth or its correlates among this immigrant group. Presentation of hypothesis We postulate that in Australia, Chinese-born immigrant mothers will have different infant feeding practices compared to non-immigrant mothers and this will result in different growth trajectories and risk of overweight. We present the Chinese-born immigrant infant feeding and growth hypothesis - that less breastfeeding, high formula feeding and early introduction of solids in infants of Chinese-born immigrant mothers living in Australia will result in a high protein intake and subsequent rapid growth trajectory and increased risk of overweight and obesity. Testing the hypothesis Three related studies will be conducted to investigate the hypothesis. These will include two quantitative studies (one cross-sectional, one longitudinal and a qualitative study. The quantitative studies will investigate differences in feeding practices in Chinese-born immigrant compared to non-immigrant mothers and infants; and the growth trajectories over the first 3.5 years of life. The qualitative study will provide more in-depth understanding of the influencing factors on feeding practices in Chinese-born immigrant mothers. Implications of the

Alternatives to the linear risk hypothesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Craig, A.G.

1976-01-01

A theoretical argument is presented which suggests that in using the linear hypothesis for all values of LET the low dose risk is overestimated for low LET but that it is underestimated for very high LET. The argument is based upon the idea that cell lesions which do not lead to cell death may in fact lead to a malignant cell. Expressions for the Surviving Fraction and the Cancer Risk based on this argument are given. An advantage of this very general approach is that is expresses cell survival and cancer risk entirely in terms of the cell lesions and avoids the rather contentious argument as to how the average number of lesions should be related to the dose. (U.K.)

Women On-Line: Cultural and Relational Aspects of Women's Communication in On-line Discussion Groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferris, Sharmila Pixy

1996-01-01

Women's online communication often mirrors that of face-to-face communication, linguistically and relationally. Women-only online communities, however, provide an opportunity to develop a distinct relational and cultural style. Discusses gender differences in face-to-face language use, and in mixed gender online discussion groups. Describes…

Cultural diversity, democracy and the prospects of cosmopolitanism: a theory of cultural encounters.

Science.gov (United States)

Delanty, Gerard

2011-12-01

The most appropriate way of theorizing cultural diversity is to situate it in the context of a broader relational theory of culture in which the key dynamic is cultural encounters. The relational conception of culture places the emphasis on the relations between social actors and the processes by which some of these relations generate enduring cultural regularities and forms. This has important implications for political community and in particular for cosmopolitanism. It is in relationships that cultural phenomena are generated and become the basis of different kinds of political community. The paper outlines a typology of six kinds of cultural encounters and discusses four major cultural trends that variously emerge from these encounters. This approach with its emphasis on cultural encounters is the broad sociological context in which questions about cultural change and the prospects of cosmopolitanism should be discussed. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2011.

Mechanism of interaction between cellulase action and applied shear force, an hypothesis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lenting, H.B.M.; Lenting, H.B.M.; Warmoeskerken, Marinus

2001-01-01

An overview is given of what is known in literature concerning the structure of both cellulose and cellulase enzymes and the enzymatic degradation of cellulose. Based on this knowledge, a hypothesis is formulated about the relation between cellulase performance and required applied shear force on

The relations of parental autonomy support to cultural internalization and well-being of immigrants and sojourners.

Science.gov (United States)

Downie, Michelle; Chua, Sook Ning; Koestner, Richard; Barrios, Maria-Fernanda; Rip, Blanka; M'Birkou, Sawsan

2007-07-01

Previous research has demonstrated that autonomy support is one particularly effective means of promoting internalization and fostering well-being. The present study sought to determine if this would also be the case with regards to culture by testing the relation of perceived parental autonomy support to the cultural internalization and well-being of multicultural students. In Study 1, 105 multicultural participants living in Canada were more likely to have fully internalized their host and heritage cultures and to have higher self-reported well-being when they reported that their parents were autonomy supportive. In Study 2, 125 Chinese-Malaysians sojourners were also more likely to have fully internalized their heritage culture and indicated higher well-being when they perceived their parents as autonomy supportive. In both studies, heritage cultural internalization was also associated with higher well-being. Copyright 2007 APA

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...

The Role of Hypothesis in Constructive Design Research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bang, Anne Louise; Krogh, Peter; Ludvigsen, Martin

2012-01-01

and solid perspective on how to keep constructive design research on track, this paper offers a model for understanding the role of hypothesis in constructive design research. The model allows for understanding the hypothesis’s relation to research motivation, questions, experiments, evaluation...... and knowledge production. The intention of the model is to have it serve as a tool in the research process aiding the researcher to understand at what “level” discussions and claims are brought forward, and what consequences these might have for the research work at hand. Thus, the paper claims the central...

Examining How Proactive Management and Culturally Responsive Teaching Relate to Student Behavior: Implications for Measurement and Practice

Science.gov (United States)

Larson, Kristine E.; Pas, Elise T.; Bradshaw, Catherine P.; Rosenberg, Michael S.; Day-Vines, Norma L.

2018-01-01

The discipline gap between White students and African American students has increased demand for teacher training in culturally responsive and behavior management practices. Extant research, however, is inconclusive about how culturally responsive teaching practices relate to student behavior or how to assess using such practices in the classroom.…

How valid is the prenatal estrogen excess hypothesis of testicular germ cell cancer? A case control study on hormone-related factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Dieckmann, K P; Endsin, G; Pichlmeier, U

2001-12-01

The prenatal estrogen excess hypothesis postulates abnormally high estrogen levels during pregnancy which predispose the developing gonad to testicular germ cell cancer (GCT) in adulthood. As no direct measurements are possible to support this hypothesis, evidence must come from clinical and epidemiological observations. The present study looked to surrogate parameters that purportedly point to high estrogenic influence in utero. In a case-control study design, 418 cases with GCT were compared to 636 controls having fractures, injuries or nephrolithiasis. A second comparison was done with 120 men suffering from malignant melanoma. The following factors were investigated: maternal and paternal age at birth of proband, birth-order, distribution of brothers and sisters in sibs of patients, sibship size, status of being a twin, status of being a singleton child, handedness, and frequency of breast cancer in mothers and sisters. Status of being a twin was significantly associated with GCT risk (OR 2.41; 95% CI 1.04- 5.63) if compared to men with fractures or stones. Comparison with melanoma controls showed only a nonsignificant trend. Frequency of breast cancer was insignificantly higher in mothers of GCT patients. Maternal age above 30 years was associated with decreased risk of GCT, which is contradictory to the hypothesis. No other parameter was significantly different in cases and controls. The present investigation failed to produce evidence for the estrogen excess hypothesis. Obviously, the parameters tested are only weak indicators of estrogenic influence during embryogenesis. Thus, the sample size and statistical power of the trial might have been too low to show any significant association. But, assessing the negative results of this study in light of equally negative results in previous investigations, the estrogen excess hypothesis still remains to be hypothetic.

Cultural Consonance, Religion and Psychological Distress in an Urban Community

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William W. Dressler

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Cultural consonance is the degree to which individuals approximate prototypes encoded in cultural models. Low cultural consonance is associated with higher psychological distress. Religion may moderate the association between cultural consonance and psychological distress. Brazil, with substantial variation in religion, is an important society for the examination of this hypothesis. Research was conducted in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, using a mixed-methods design. Measures of cultural consonance were derived using ethnographic methods and then applied in a survey of 271 individuals drawn from four distinct social strata. Low cultural consonance was associated with higher psychological distress in multiple regression analysis ( B = -.430, p < .001. Members of Pentecostal Protestant churches reported lower psychological distress independently of the effect of cultural consonance ( B = -.409, p < .05. There was no buffering effect of religion. Implications of these results for the study of religion and health are discussed.

Cultural regulation of emotion: Individual, relational, and structural sources

OpenAIRE

De Leersnyder, Jozefien; Boiger, Michael; Mesquita, Batja

2013-01-01

The most prevalent and intense emotional experiences differ across cultures. These differences in emotional experience can be understood as the outcomes of emotion regulation, because emotions that fit the valued relationships within a culture tend to be most common and intense. We review evidence suggesting that emotion regulation underlying cultural differences in emotional experience often takes place at the point of emotion elicitation through the promotion of situations and appraisals th...

The linear hypothesis - an idea whose time has passed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tschaeche, A.N.

1995-01-01

The linear no-threshold hypothesis is the basis for radiation protection standards in the United States. In the words of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP), the hypothesis is: open-quotes In the interest of estimating effects in humans conservatively, it is not unreasonable to follow the assumption of a linear relationship between dose and effect in the low dose regions for which direct observational data are not available.close quotes The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) stated the hypothesis in a slightly different manner: open-quotes One such basic assumption ... is that ... there is ... a linear relationship without threshold between dose and the probability of an effect. The hypothesis was necessary 50 yr ago when it was first enunciated because the dose-effect curve for ionizing radiation for effects in humans was not known. The ICRP and NCRP needed a model to extrapolate high-dose effects to low-dose effects. So the linear no-threshold hypothesis was born. Certain details of the history of the development and use of the linear hypothesis are presented. In particular, use of the hypothesis by the U.S. regulatory agencies is examined. Over time, the sense of the hypothesis has been corrupted. The corruption of the hypothesis into the current paradigm of open-quote a little radiation, no matter how small, can and will harm youclose quotes is presented. The reasons the corruption occurred are proposed. The effects of the corruption are enumerated, specifically, the use of the corruption by the antinuclear forces in the United States and some of the huge costs to U.S. taxpayers due to the corruption. An alternative basis for radiation protection standards to assure public safety, based on the weight of scientific evidence on radiation health effects, is proposed

Multiple hypothesis tracking for the cyber domain

Science.gov (United States)

Schwoegler, Stefan; Blackman, Sam; Holsopple, Jared; Hirsch, Michael J.

2011-09-01

This paper discusses how methods used for conventional multiple hypothesis tracking (MHT) can be extended to domain-agnostic tracking of entities from non-kinematic constraints such as those imposed by cyber attacks in a potentially dense false alarm background. MHT is widely recognized as the premier method to avoid corrupting tracks with spurious data in the kinematic domain but it has not been extensively applied to other problem domains. The traditional approach is to tightly couple track maintenance (prediction, gating, filtering, probabilistic pruning, and target confirmation) with hypothesis management (clustering, incompatibility maintenance, hypothesis formation, and Nassociation pruning). However, by separating the domain specific track maintenance portion from the domain agnostic hypothesis management piece, we can begin to apply the wealth of knowledge gained from ground and air tracking solutions to the cyber (and other) domains. These realizations led to the creation of Raytheon's Multiple Hypothesis Extensible Tracking Architecture (MHETA). In this paper, we showcase MHETA for the cyber domain, plugging in a well established method, CUBRC's INFormation Engine for Real-time Decision making, (INFERD), for the association portion of the MHT. The result is a CyberMHT. We demonstrate the power of MHETA-INFERD using simulated data. Using metrics from both the tracking and cyber domains, we show that while no tracker is perfect, by applying MHETA-INFERD, advanced nonkinematic tracks can be captured in an automated way, perform better than non-MHT approaches, and decrease analyst response time to cyber threats.

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.

Strategies for North American Missionaries' Relational Language-Culture Learning in the Japanese Context

Science.gov (United States)

Manabe-Kim, Rie

2012-01-01

This study focused on presenting the fieldwork findings derived from studying North-American missionaries' relational dynamics with the Japanese people, and the strategies that impacted their language-culture learning. This study also focused on applying the fieldwork findings towards the creation of a coaching model designed to help missionaries…

Institutional comunication and cultural marketing: Peculiarities in museum communication within the framework of public relations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Camelia BURGHELE

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Cultural management theoreticians believe that the main target of museum communication is gaining knowledge on specific messages by as large a number of people as possible. Museum public relation practice – intensified and upgraded at the same time with the revolution of the new communication technologies – is both science and art which analyse certain tendences (in attitude, taste and informal of anticipating their consequences for implementing certain museum offer programs to appeal to the public.As an institution with a decisive role in guarding cultural heritage and in outlining cultural identity – as it keeps the necessary instruments for this, the specialists and also the motivation through its own purposes – the museum in its dynamic, modern, enhanced shape must provide an attractive cultural product to the public, based on a anthropological approach to cultural fact.Modern museum-ology is built upon the concept that museum is a story and modern museums stimulate to a high degree participative learning, generated by a productive dialogue.

Armenian Cultural Astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

Farmanyan, S. V.; Mickaelian, A. M.

2015-07-01

Cultural Astronomy is the reflection of sky events in various fields of nations' culture. In foreign literature this field is also called "Astronomy in Culture" or "Astronomy and Culture". Cultural astronomy is the set of interdisciplinary fields studying the astronomical systems of current or ancient societies and cultures. It is manifested in Religion, Mythology, Folklore, Poetry, Art, Linguistics and other fields. In recent years, considerable attention has been paid to this sphere, particularly international organizations were established, conferences are held and journals are published. Armenia is also rich in cultural astronomy. The present paper focuses on Armenian archaeoastronomy and cultural astronomy, including many creations related to astronomical knowledge; calendars, rock art, mythology, etc. On the other hand, this subject is rather poorly developed in Armenia; there are only individual studies on various related issues (especially many studies related to Anania Shirakatsi) but not coordinated actions to manage this important field of investigation.

Safety culture and networks of influence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pereira, Carlos Henrique V.; Barroso, Antonio C.O.; Vieira Neto, Antonio S.

2011-01-01

This paper analyzes the social networks that influence the formation and maintenance of the safety culture within the Institute of Energy and Nuclear Research (IPEN-CNEN/SP). From the mapping and analysis of social networks, actors with a significant degree of influence were identified. Later using a questionnaire, the beliefs of the population sample were mapped. Thus, the importance of key actors in the network analysis could be confirmed statistically. Therefore, based on the mentioned methods we could demonstrate our hypothesis, that there are some social networks that are important in the formation of safety culture, as well as the fact that the influence of some distinguished actors plays an essential role in this amalgam. (author)

Safety culture and networks of influence

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pereira, Carlos Henrique V.; Barroso, Antonio C.O.; Vieira Neto, Antonio S., E-mail: carloshvp@usp.br, E-mail: barroso@ipen.br, E-mail: asvneto@ipen.br [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN-SP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)

2011-07-01

This paper analyzes the social networks that influence the formation and maintenance of the safety culture within the Institute of Energy and Nuclear Research (IPEN-CNEN/SP). From the mapping and analysis of social networks, actors with a significant degree of influence were identified. Later using a questionnaire, the beliefs of the population sample were mapped. Thus, the importance of key actors in the network analysis could be confirmed statistically. Therefore, based on the mentioned methods we could demonstrate our hypothesis, that there are some social networks that are important in the formation of safety culture, as well as the fact that the influence of some distinguished actors plays an essential role in this amalgam. (author)

Identification of the genes required for the culture of Liberibacter crescens, the closest cultured relative of the uncultured Liberibacter plant pathogens

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kin-Kwan eLai

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Here Tn5 random transposon mutagenesis was used to identify the essential elements for culturing Liberibacter crescens BT-1 that can serve as antimicrobial targets for the closely related pathogens of citrus, Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (Las and tomato and potato, Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum (Lso. In order to gain insight on the virulence, metabolism, and culturability of the pathogens within the genus Liberibacter, a mini-Tn5 transposon derivative system consisting of a gene specifying resistance to kanamycin, flanked by a 19-base-pair terminal repeat sequence of Tn5, was used for the genome-wide mutagenesis of L. crescens BT-1 and created an insertion mutant library. By analyzing the location of insertions using Sanger and Illumina Mi-Seq sequencing, 314 genes are proposed as essential for the culture of L. crescens BT-1 on BM-7 medium. Of those genes, 76 are not present in the uncultured Liberibacter pathogens and, as a result, suggest molecules necessary for the culturing these pathogens. Those molecules include the aromatic amino acids, several vitamins, histidine, cysteine, lipopolysaccharides, and fatty acids. In addition, the 238 essential genes of L. crescens in common with L. asiaticus are potential targets for the development of therapeutics against the disease.

Disappearance of some autonomously functioning thyroid nodules following TSH stimulation: Pathogenetic hypothesis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vattimo, A.; Pisani, M.; Martini, G.

1983-04-01

The disappearance of a hot nodule following TSH stimulation has been observed in 6 subjects with autonomously functioning thyroid nodule, in the thyroid scan obtained using sup(99m)Tc-pertechnetate and /sup 131/I. These findings have been related by many workers to the hyperreactivity of the nodular tissue to TSH: the disappearance of the nodule is due to a more rapid turnover of the tracer. In this work a new pathogenetic hypothesis is proposed: the disappearance of hot thyroid nodules might be due to ischaemia induced by the reaction of the healthy tissue, which had previously been inhibited. This hypothesis is confirmed by the scans performed shortly after administration of the tracers.

Disappearance of some autonomously functioning thyroid nodules following TSH stimulation: Pathogenetic hypothesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vattimo, A.; Pisani, M.; Martini, G.

1983-01-01

The disappearance of a hot nodule following TSH stimulation has been observed in 6 subjects with autonomously functioning thyroid nodule, in the thyroid scan obtained using sup(99m)Tc-pertechnetate and 131 I. These findings have been related by many workers to the hyperreactivity of the nodular tissue to TSH: the disappearance of the nodule is due to a more rapid turnover of the tracer. In this work a new pathogenetic hypothesis is proposed: the disappearance of hot thyroid nodules might be due to ischaemia induced by the reaction of the healthy tissue, which had previously been inhibited. This hypothesis is confirmed by the scans performed shortly after administration of the tracers. (orig.) [de

Universality hypothesis breakdown at one-loop order

Science.gov (United States)

Carvalho, P. R. S.

2018-05-01

We probe the universality hypothesis by analytically computing the at least two-loop corrections to the critical exponents for q -deformed O (N ) self-interacting λ ϕ4 scalar field theories through six distinct and independent field-theoretic renormalization group methods and ɛ -expansion techniques. We show that the effect of q deformation on the one-loop corrections to the q -deformed critical exponents is null, so the universality hypothesis is broken down at this loop order. Such an effect emerges only at the two-loop and higher levels, and the validity of the universality hypothesis is restored. The q -deformed critical exponents obtained through the six methods are the same and, furthermore, reduce to their nondeformed values in the appropriated limit.

Null but not void: considerations for hypothesis testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaw, Pamela A; Proschan, Michael A

2013-01-30

Standard statistical theory teaches us that once the null and alternative hypotheses have been defined for a parameter, the choice of the statistical test is clear. Standard theory does not teach us how to choose the null or alternative hypothesis appropriate to the scientific question of interest. Neither does it tell us that in some cases, depending on which alternatives are realistic, we may want to define our null hypothesis differently. Problems in statistical practice are frequently not as pristinely summarized as the classic theory in our textbooks. In this article, we present examples in statistical hypothesis testing in which seemingly simple choices are in fact rich with nuance that, when given full consideration, make the choice of the right hypothesis test much less straightforward. Published 2012. This article is a US Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Bjerknes' hypothesis on the coldness during AD 1790-1820 revisited

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schrier, G. van der [UEA, Climatic Research Unit, Norwich (United Kingdom); Barkmeijer, J. [Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), De Bilt (Netherlands)

2005-03-01

The aim of this paper is to re-examine and quantify a hypothesis first put forward by J. Bjerknes concerning the anomalous coldness during the AD 1790-1820 period in western Europe. Central to Bjerknes' hypothesis is an anomalous interaction between ocean and atmosphere studied here using an ocean-atmosphere coupled climate model of intermediate complexity. A reconstruction of the sea-level pressure pattern over the North Atlantic sector averaged over the period 1790-1820 is assimilated in this model, using a recently developed technique which has not been applied to paleoclimatic modelling before. This technique ensures that averaged over the simulation the reconstructed pattern is retrieved whilst leaving atmospheric and climatic variability to develop freely. In accordance with Bjerknes' hypothesis, the model results show anomalous southward advection of polar waters into the northeastern North Atlantic in the winter season, lowering the sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) there with 0.3-1.0 C. This SST anomaly is persistent into the summer season. A decrease in western European winter surface air temperatures is found which can be related almost completely to advection of cold polar air. The decrease in summer surface air temperatures is related to a combination of low SSTs and anomalous atmospheric circulation. The modelled winter and summer temperatures in Europe compare favourably with reconstructed temperatures. Enhanced baroclinicity at the Atlantic seaboard and over Baffin Island is observed along with more variability in the position of the North Atlantic storm tracks. The zone of peak winter storm frequency is drawn to the European mid-latitudes. (orig.)

Questioning the social intelligence hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Holekamp, Kay E

2007-02-01

The social intelligence hypothesis posits that complex cognition and enlarged "executive brains" evolved in response to challenges that are associated with social complexity. This hypothesis has been well supported, but some recent data are inconsistent with its predictions. It is becoming increasingly clear that multiple selective agents, and non-selective constraints, must have acted to shape cognitive abilities in humans and other animals. The task now is to develop a larger theoretical framework that takes into account both inter-specific differences and similarities in cognition. This new framework should facilitate consideration of how selection pressures that are associated with sociality interact with those that are imposed by non-social forms of environmental complexity, and how both types of functional demands interact with phylogenetic and developmental constraints.

Cultura y televisión: una controvertida relación Culture and television. A controversial relation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soledad Ruano López

2007-03-01

Full Text Available Desde el nacimiento de la televisión en Europa, se le ha atribuido una función cultural y de difusión de valores, de conocimiento y de saber. Sin embargo, hay que reconocer que la relación entre televisión y cultura siempre ha sido difícil y polémica. Hasta los años ochenta parecía existir un mutuo respeto entre ambas, pero, desde la pérdida del monopolio por parte de las cadenas públicas europeas, la relación ha ido empeorando hasta alcanzar el rótulo de «mala». La televisión pública se ha dejado arrastrar por una loca carrera de índices de audiencia, en donde los programas de valores culturales, con valores culturales o sobre-valores culturales han ido menguando progresivamente. From the birth of the public television in Europe, media has been related with cultural and divulging objectives. Nevertheless, it is necessary to admit that the relation between television and culture have always been difficult or al least controversial. Until the eighties there seemed to exist a mutual respect among each other but since the loss of monopoly on the part of the public European chains the relation has been getting worse. Public television has got involved in drag by a crazy race for audience rates where programmes on or with cultural values have been progressively diminished.

The Younger Dryas impact hypothesis: A critical review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Hoesel, A.; Hoek, W.Z.; Pennock, G.M.; Drury, Martyn

2014-01-01

The Younger Dryas impact hypothesis suggests that multiple extraterrestrial airbursts or impacts resulted in the Younger Dryas cooling, extensive wildfires, megafaunal extinctions and changes in human population. After the hypothesis was first published in 2007, it gained much criticism, as the

Suspension culture combined with chemotherapeutic agents for sorting of breast cancer stem cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Hai-zhi; Yi, Tong-bo; Wu, Zheng-yan

2008-01-01

Cancer stem cell (CSC) hypothesis has not been well demonstrated by the lack of the most convincing evidence concerning a single cell capable of giving rise to a tumor. The scarcity in quantity and improper approaches for isolation and purification of CSCs have become the major obstacles for great development in CSCs. Here we adopted suspension culture combined with anticancer regimens as a strategy for screening breast cancer stem cells (BrCSCs). BrCSCs could survive and be highly enriched in non-adherent suspension culture while chemotherapeutic agents could destroy most rapidly dividing cancer cells and spare relatively quiescent BrCSCs. TM40D murine breast cancer cells were cultured in serum-free medium. The expression of CD44 + CD24 - was measured by flow cytometry. Cells of passage 10 were treated in combination with anticancer agents pacilitaxel and epirubicin at different peak plasma concentrations for 24 hours, and then maintained under suspension culture. The rate of apoptosis was examined by flow cytometry with Annexin-V fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)/propidium iodide (PI) double staining method. Selected cells in different amounts were injected subcutaneously into BALB/C mice to observe tumor formation. Cells of passage 10 in suspension culture had the highest percentage of CD44 + CD24 - (about 77 percent). A single tumor cell in 0.35 PPC could generate tumors in 3 of 20 BALB/C mice. Suspension culture combined with anticancer regimens provides an effective means of isolating, culturing and purifying BrCSCs

Culture-related service expectations: a comparative study using the Kano model.

Science.gov (United States)

Hejaili, Fayez F; Assad, Lina; Shaheen, Faissal A; Moussa, Dujana H; Karkar, Ayman; AlRukhaimi, Mona; Barhamein, Majdah; Al Suwida, Abdulkareem; Al Alhejaili, Faris F; Al Harbi, Ali S; Al Homrany, Mohamed; Attar, Bisher; Al-Sayyari, Abdulla A

2009-01-01

To compare service expectations between Arab and Austrian patients. We used a Kano model-based questionnaire with 20 service attributes of relevance to the dialysis patient. We analyzed 530, 172, 60, and 68 responses from Saudi, Austrian, Syrian, and UAE patients, respectively. We compared the customer satisfaction coefficient and the frequencies of response categories ("must be," "attractive," "one-dimensional," and "indifferent") for each of the 20 service attributes and in each of the 3 national groups of patients. We also investigated whether any differences seen were related to sex, age, literacy rate, or duration on dialysis. We observed higher satisfaction coefficients and "one-directional" responses among Arab patients and higher dissatisfaction coefficients and "must be" and "attractive" responses among Austrian patients. These were not related to age or duration on dialysis but were related to literacy rate. We speculate that these discrepancies between Austrian and Arab patients might be related to underdeveloped sophistication in market competitive forces and to cultural influences.

Is Openness to Using Empirically Supported Treatments Related to Organizational Culture and Climate?

Science.gov (United States)

Patterson Silver Wolf Adelv Unegv Waya, David A; Dulmus, Catherine N; Maguin, Eugene

2013-01-01

The overall purpose of this study is to investigate workers' openness towards implementing a new empirically supported treatment (EST) and whether the workers' openness scores relate to their workplace culture and climate scores. Participants in this study (N=1273) worked in a total of 55 different programs in a large child and family services organization and completed a survey measuring their attitudes toward ESTs. Results indicate that work groups that measure themselves as being more open to using ESTs rated their organizational cultures as being significantly more proficient and significantly less resistant to change. With ESTs becoming the gold standard for professional social work practices, it is important to have accessible pathways to EST implementation.

Leadership, Peer Relationship, and Transformational Organizational Culture: A Relational Approach to a Taiwan College Music Faculty Sample

Science.gov (United States)

Ji, Chang-Ho C.; Chuang, Ching-Mien

2012-01-01

This paper explores how leadership and peer relation relate to the propensity of college music departments to develop transformational organizational culture. Our theory of relational leadership and peer relation has initially allowed us to formulate expectations for the affirmative impacts of professional and personal leadership and peer relation…

A Dopamine Hypothesis of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Pavăl, Denis

2017-01-01

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) comprises a group of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by social deficits and stereotyped behaviors. While several theories have emerged, the pathogenesis of ASD remains unknown. Although studies report dopamine signaling abnormalities in autistic patients, a coherent dopamine hypothesis which could link neurobiology to behavior in ASD is currently lacking. In this paper, we present such a hypothesis by proposing that autistic behavior arises from dysfunctions in the midbrain dopaminergic system. We hypothesize that a dysfunction of the mesocorticolimbic circuit leads to social deficits, while a dysfunction of the nigrostriatal circuit leads to stereotyped behaviors. Furthermore, we discuss 2 key predictions of our hypothesis, with emphasis on clinical and therapeutic aspects. First, we argue that dopaminergic dysfunctions in the same circuits should associate with autistic-like behavior in nonautistic subjects. Concerning this, we discuss the case of PANDAS (pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with streptococcal infections) which displays behaviors similar to those of ASD, presumed to arise from dopaminergic dysfunctions. Second, we argue that providing dopamine modulators to autistic subjects should lead to a behavioral improvement. Regarding this, we present clinical studies of dopamine antagonists which seem to have improving effects on autistic behavior. Furthermore, we explore the means of testing our hypothesis by using neuroreceptor imaging, which could provide comprehensive evidence for dopamine signaling dysfunctions in autistic subjects. Lastly, we discuss the limitations of our hypothesis. Along these lines, we aim to provide a dopaminergic model of ASD which might lead to a better understanding of the ASD pathogenesis. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Health-related quality of life of irritable bowel syndrome patients in different cultural settings

Science.gov (United States)

Faresjö, Åshild; Anastasiou, Foteini; Lionis, Christos; Johansson, Saga; Wallander, Mari-Ann; Faresjö, Tomas

2006-01-01

Background Persons with Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are seriously affected in their everyday life. The effect across different cultural settings of IBS on their quality of life has been little studied. The aim was to compare health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of individuals suffering from IBS in two different cultural settings; Crete, Greece and Linköping, Sweden. Methods This study is a sex and age-matched case-control study, with n = 30 Cretan IBS cases and n = 90 Swedish IBS cases and a Swedish control group (n = 300) randomly selected from the general population. Health-related quality of life, measured by SF-36 and demographics, life style indicators and co-morbidity, was measured. Results Cretan IBS cases reported lower HRQOL on most dimensions of SF-36 in comparison to the Swedish IBS cases. Significant differences were found for the dimensions mental health (p cultural environments could perceive their disease differently and that the disease might affect their everyday life and quality of life in a different way. The Cretan population, and especially women, are more seriously affected mentally by their disease than Swedish IBS cases. Coping with IBS in everyday life might be more problematic in the Cretan environment than in the Swedish setting. PMID:16566821

Health-related quality of life of irritable bowel syndrome patients in different cultural settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Faresjö, Ashild; Anastasiou, Foteini; Lionis, Christos; Johansson, Saga; Wallander, Mari-Ann; Faresjö, Tomas

2006-03-27

Persons with Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are seriously affected in their everyday life. The effect across different cultural settings of IBS on their quality of life has been little studied. The aim was to compare health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of individuals suffering from IBS in two different cultural settings; Crete, Greece and Linköping, Sweden. This study is a sex and age-matched case-control study, with n = 30 Cretan IBS cases and n = 90 Swedish IBS cases and a Swedish control group (n = 300) randomly selected from the general population. Health-related quality of life, measured by SF-36 and demographics, life style indicators and co-morbidity, was measured. Cretan IBS cases reported lower HRQOL on most dimensions of SF-36 in comparison to the Swedish IBS cases. Significant differences were found for the dimensions mental health (p cultural environments could perceive their disease differently and that the disease might affect their everyday life and quality of life in a different way. The Cretan population, and especially women, are more seriously affected mentally by their disease than Swedish IBS cases. Coping with IBS in everyday life might be more problematic in the Cretan environment than in the Swedish setting.

The association between culture, climate and quality of care in primary health care teams.

Science.gov (United States)

Hann, Mark; Bower, Peter; Campbell, Stephen; Marshall, Martin; Reeves, David

2007-09-01

Culture and climate represent shared beliefs and values that may influence quality of care in health care teams, and which could be manipulated for quality improvement. However, there is a lack of agreement on the theoretical and empirical relationships between climate and culture, and their relative power as predictors of quality of care. This study sought to examine the association between self-report measures of climate and culture in primary care teams and comprehensive measures of quality of care. The data were derived from a cross-sectional survey of 492 professionals in 42 general practices in England. Self-report measures of culture (the Competing Values Framework) and climate (the Team Climate Inventory) were used, together with validated measures of quality of care from medical records and self-report. The majority of practices could be characterized as 'clan' culture type. Practices with a dominant clan culture scored higher on climate for participation and teamwork. There were no associations between culture and quality of care, and only limited evidence of associations between climate and quality. The current analysis would not support the hypothesis that culture and climate are important predictors of quality of care in primary care. Although larger studies are required to provide a definitive test, the results may suggest the need for a more complex model of the associations between culture, climate and outcomes, and further research may be required into the interaction between culture and climate with other determinants of behaviour such as internal and external incentives.

Testing competing forms of the Milankovitch hypothesis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaufmann, Robert K.; Juselius, Katarina

2016-01-01

We test competing forms of the Milankovitch hypothesis by estimating the coefficients and diagnostic statistics for a cointegrated vector autoregressive model that includes 10 climate variables and four exogenous variables for solar insolation. The estimates are consistent with the physical...... ice volume and solar insolation. The estimated adjustment dynamics show that solar insolation affects an array of climate variables other than ice volume, each at a unique rate. This implies that previous efforts to test the strong form of the Milankovitch hypothesis by examining the relationship...... that the latter is consistent with a weak form of the Milankovitch hypothesis and that it should be restated as follows: Internal climate dynamics impose perturbations on glacial cycles that are driven by solar insolation. Our results show that these perturbations are likely caused by slow adjustment between land...

Metacogonitive and Motivational Cultural Intelligence: Superpowers for Creativity an a Culturally Diverse Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sabina Bogilović

2016-01-01

Full Text Available We propose that employees who are highly motivated for cultural interactions (motivational cultural intelligence and can modify their thinking about cultural differences (metacognitive cultural intelligence are more likely to be creative in culturally diverse environments. Based on the social categorization theory, we propose that metacognitive and motivational cultural intelligence will be positively related to individual creativity. Moreover, we predict that metacognitive and motivational cultural intelligence can decrease the negative aspects of the social categorization process and, in turn, be positively related to creativity. A quantitative analysis of 787 employees in 20 SME multicultural companies in the Adriatic region shows that metacognitive and motivational cultural intelligence are in fact positively related to individual creativity. We discuss the implications for practice and future research.

Adolescents’ willingness for intergenerational support: Relations to maternal expectations and mothers’ life satisfaction in 14 cultures

OpenAIRE

Mayer, Boris; Schwarz, Beate; Trommsdorff, Gisela

2015-01-01

How is adolescents’ willingness for intergenerational support affected by parents’ expectations and parenting behavior? Does youths’ willingness for intergenerational support in turn affect parents’ well-being? The current study addresses these questions from a cross-cultural perspective, using data from connected samples of mother-adolescent dyads (N = 4162) from 14 diverse cultural contexts as part of the “Value of Children and Intergenerational Relations Study” (Trommsdorff & Nauck, 2005)....

A Modified Version of Taylor’s Hypothesis for Solar Probe Plus Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Klein, Kristopher G.; Perez, Jean C.; Verscharen, Daniel; Mallet, Alfred; Chandran, Benjamin D. G.

2015-03-01

The Solar Probe Plus (SPP) spacecraft will explore the near-Sun environment, reaching heliocentric distances less than 10 {{R}⊙ }. Near Earth, spacecraft measurements of fluctuating velocities and magnetic fields taken in the time domain are translated into information about the spatial structure of the solar wind via Taylor’s “frozen turbulence” hypothesis. Near the perihelion of SPP, however, the solar-wind speed is comparable to the Alfvén speed, and Taylor’s hypothesis in its usual form does not apply. In this paper, we show that under certain assumptions, a modified version of Taylor’s hypothesis can be recovered in the near-Sun region. We consider only the transverse, non-compressive component of the fluctuations at length scales exceeding the proton gyroradius, and we describe these fluctuations using an approximate theoretical framework developed by Heinemann and Olbert. We show that fluctuations propagating away from the Sun in the plasma frame obey a relation analogous to Taylor’s hypothesis when {{V}sc,\\bot }\\gg {{z}-} and {{z}+}\\gg {{z}-}, where {{V}sc,\\bot } is the component of the spacecraft velocity perpendicular to the mean magnetic field and {{{\\boldsymbol{z}} }+} ({{{\\boldsymbol{z}} }-}) is the Elsasser variable corresponding to transverse, non-compressive fluctuations propagating away from (toward) the Sun in the plasma frame. Observations and simulations suggest that, in the near-Sun solar wind, the above inequalities are satisfied and {{{\\boldsymbol{z}} }+} fluctuations account for most of the fluctuation energy. The modified form of Taylor’s hypothesis that we derive may thus make it possible to characterize the spatial structure of the energetically dominant component of the turbulence encountered by SPP.

Dynamical agents' strategies and the fractal market hypothesis

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Vácha, Lukáš; Vošvrda, Miloslav

2005-01-01

Roč. 14, č. 2 (2005), s. 172-179 ISSN 1210-0455 Grant - others:GA UK(CZ) 454/2004/A EK/FSV Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10750506 Keywords : efficient market hypothesis * fractal market hypothesis * agent's investment horizons Subject RIV: AH - Economics

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.

Emotional Temperament in Food-Related Metaphors: A Cross-Cultural Account of the Conceptualizations of SADNESS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zahra Khajeh

2013-11-01

Full Text Available What people in a society and culture eat or the way they consume their food may become a source domain for emotional temperament and therefore an implication for portrayal of their specific cultural models. Adopting the basic assumptions of the Lakoffian School on ‘experiential realism’ and ‘universal embodiment’ this study is an attempt to delve into the conceptual system of Persian in order to explore its specific socio-cultural motivations for the construction and semantic changes in the use of metaphorical concepts of sadness. The metaphorical uses of food-related concepts in Persian manifest that, in spite of some correspondences to those in English, sadness metaphorical concepts are distinctive in Persian. The conceptual metaphor variations reveal many vestiges of Hippocratic notions of humoral doctrine and Avicennian Traditional Medicine, suggesting that the cultural models of humoralism and dietetics have left their traces deeply in the Persians’ belief systems. The effects, therefore, have been extended into Persian metaphoric language.

Investigating the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis in Vietnam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Mulali, Usama; Saboori, Behnaz; Ozturk, Ilhan

2015-01-01

This study investigates the existence of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in Vietnam during the period 1981–2011. To realize the goals of this study, a pollution model was established applying the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) methodology. The results revealed that the pollution haven hypothesis does exist in Vietnam because capital increases pollution. In addition, imports also increase pollution which indicates that most of Vietnam's imported products are energy intensive and highly polluted. However, exports have no effect on pollution which indicates that the level of exports is not significant enough to affect pollution. Moreover, fossil fuel energy consumption increases pollution while renewable energy consumption has no significant effect in reducing pollution. Furthermore, labor force reduces pollution since most of Vietnam's labor force is in the agricultural and services sectors which are less energy intensive than the industrial sector. Based on the obtained results, the EKC hypothesis does not exist because the relationship between GDP and pollution is positive in both the short and long run. - Highlights: • The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in Vietnam is investigated. • The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) methodology was utilized. • The EKC hypothesis does not exist

Personal Hypothesis Testing: The Role of Consistency and Self-Schema.

Science.gov (United States)

Strohmer, Douglas C.; And Others

1988-01-01

Studied how individuals test hypotheses about themselves. Examined extent to which Snyder's bias toward confirmation persists when negative or nonconsistent personal hypothesis is tested. Found negativity or positivity did not affect hypothesis testing directly, though hypothesis consistency did. Found cognitive schematic variable (vulnerability…

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.

Cultural Interchangeability? Culture-Specific Items in Translation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ajtony Zsuzsanna

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper summarizes the results of the translation work carried out within an international project aiming to develop the language skills of staff working in hotel and catering services. As the topics touched upon in the English source texts are related to several European cultures, these cultural differences bring about several challenges related to the translation of realia, or culture-specific items (CSIs. In the first part of the paper, a series of translation strategies for rendering source-language CSIs into the target language are enlisted, while the second part presents the main strategies employed in the prepared translations.

Evaluating the Stage Learning Hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Hoben

1980-01-01

A procedure for evaluating the Genevan stage learning hypothesis is illustrated by analyzing Inhelder, Sinclair, and Bovet's guided learning experiments (in "Learning and the Development of Cognition." Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1974). (Author/MP)

Multi-agent sequential hypothesis testing

KAUST Repository

Kim, Kwang-Ki K.

2014-12-15

This paper considers multi-agent sequential hypothesis testing and presents a framework for strategic learning in sequential games with explicit consideration of both temporal and spatial coordination. The associated Bayes risk functions explicitly incorporate costs of taking private/public measurements, costs of time-difference and disagreement in actions of agents, and costs of false declaration/choices in the sequential hypothesis testing. The corresponding sequential decision processes have well-defined value functions with respect to (a) the belief states for the case of conditional independent private noisy measurements that are also assumed to be independent identically distributed over time, and (b) the information states for the case of correlated private noisy measurements. A sequential investment game of strategic coordination and delay is also discussed as an application of the proposed strategic learning rules.

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 default Bayesian hypothesis test for ANOVA designs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wetzels, R.; Grasman, R.P.P.P.; Wagenmakers, E.J.

2012-01-01

This article presents a Bayesian hypothesis test for analysis of variance (ANOVA) designs. The test is an application of standard Bayesian methods for variable selection in regression models. We illustrate the effect of various g-priors on the ANOVA hypothesis test. The Bayesian test for ANOVA

Cross-cultural emotional prosody recognition: evidence from Chinese and British listeners.

Science.gov (United States)

Paulmann, Silke; Uskul, Ayse K

2014-01-01

This cross-cultural study of emotional tone of voice recognition tests the in-group advantage hypothesis (Elfenbein & Ambady, 2002) employing a quasi-balanced design. Individuals of Chinese and British background were asked to recognise pseudosentences produced by Chinese and British native speakers, displaying one of seven emotions (anger, disgust, fear, happy, neutral tone of voice, sad, and surprise). Findings reveal that emotional displays were recognised at rates higher than predicted by chance; however, members of each cultural group were more accurate in recognising the displays communicated by a member of their own cultural group than a member of the other cultural group. Moreover, the evaluation of error matrices indicates that both culture groups relied on similar mechanism when recognising emotional displays from the voice. Overall, the study reveals evidence for both universal and culture-specific principles in vocal emotion recognition.

Latin American students and language learning in Catalonia: what does the linguistic interdependence hypothesis show us?

Science.gov (United States)

Huguet, Ángel

2014-01-01

The massive arrival in Spain of students of immigrant origin has visibly altered the traditional configuration of schools, where ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity is becoming increasingly manifest. This situation is worth being mentioned insofar as it affects all the different autonomous communities in the country, even more clearly Catalonia, where the educational system is organized under the parameters of bilingual education. One of the theoretical constructs supporting this educational model is the Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis, developed by Jim Cummins at the beginning of the 1980s. According to the author, whenever the instruction in a given language (Lx) takes place under certain conditions, competence acquired in this language can be transferred onto another (Ly). Bearing this theoretical construct in mind, our study focuses on a sample of 237 Spanish-speaking subjects (123 native and 114 immigrant students) who completed a series of parallel tests evaluating their skills in Catalan and Spanish. Drawing on the data analyzed we can conclude that the Hypothesis accounts for the results in both native and immigrant students with the same L1.

Multi-agent sequential hypothesis testing

KAUST Repository

Kim, Kwang-Ki K.; Shamma, Jeff S.

2014-01-01

incorporate costs of taking private/public measurements, costs of time-difference and disagreement in actions of agents, and costs of false declaration/choices in the sequential hypothesis testing. The corresponding sequential decision processes have well

Bayesian Hypothesis Testing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andrews, Stephen A. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Sigeti, David E. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2017-11-15

These are a set of slides about Bayesian hypothesis testing, where many hypotheses are tested. The conclusions are the following: The value of the Bayes factor obtained when using the median of the posterior marginal is almost the minimum value of the Bayes factor. The value of τ² which minimizes the Bayes factor is a reasonable choice for this parameter. This allows a likelihood ratio to be computed with is the least favorable to H₀.

The Impact of Organizational Culture and Job Related Affective Well Being on Employees’ Conflict Resolution Styles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nurdan Özarallı

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This study aims to investigate the impact of cooperative or competitive organizational culture and employees’ job related affective well being on their preferred conflict resolution styles. A total of 236 white collar employees in the private sector completed questionnaires on “Organizational Culture“, “Job Related Affective Well Being“and “Conflict Resolution Styles“. Results indicated that employees working in a cooperative organizational culture would choose problem solving, compromising and accomodating conflict resolution styles while those working in a competitive work environment would choose forcing and avoiding strategies. Results also showed that while positive job related affective well being is a major predictor o problem solving, compromising, accomodating and avoiding conflict resolution styles, negative job related affective well being significantly predicts forcing and avoiding strategies. Overall, the results draw attention to the preferred conflict resolution strategies assumed by Turkish employees, the role of the conflict environment as well as actors’ affective well being

New Hypothesis for SOFC Ceramic Oxygen Electrode Mechanisms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mogensen, Mogens Bjerg; Chatzichristodoulou, Christodoulos; Graves, Christopher R.

2016-01-01

A new hypothesis for the electrochemical reaction mechanism in solid oxide cell ceramic oxygen electrodes is proposed based on literature including our own results. The hypothesis postulates that the observed thin layers of SrO-La2O3 on top of ceramic perovskite and other Ruddlesden-Popper...

The Purchasing Power Parity Hypothesis:

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2011-10-02

Oct 2, 2011 ... reject the unit root hypothesis in real exchange rates may simply be due to the shortness ..... Violations of Purchasing Power Parity and Their Implications for Efficient ... Official Intervention in the Foreign Exchange Market:.

Translation, cross-culturally adaptation and validation of the Danish version of Oxford Hip Score (OHS)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Paulsen, Aksel

there was no properly translated, adapted and validated Danish language version available, a translation to Danish, cross-culturally adaptation and validation of the Danish Oxford Hip Score was warranted. Material and Methods: We translated and cross-culturally adapted the Oxford Hip Score into Danish, in accordance......Objective: The Oxford Hip Score is a patient reported outcome questionnaire designed to assess pain and function in patients undergoing total hip arthroplaty (THA). The Oxford Hip Score is valid, reliable and consistent, and different language versions have been developed. Since.......9 % ceiling effect on this cohort of postoperative patients. Only in 1.2 % of the patients no sum score could be calculated, due to missing items. In relation to construct validity 80 % of predefined hypothesis were confirmed. The different items had an intraclass correlation in the range of 0...

Religious Orders and Growth through Cultural Change in Pre-Industrial England

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Thomas Barnebeck; Bentzen, Jeanet; Dalgaard, Carl-Johan

We advance the hypothesis that cultural values such as high work ethic and thrift, “the Protestant ethic” according to Max Weber, may have been diffused long before the Reformation, thereby importantly affecting the pre-industrial growth record. The source of pre-Reformation Protestant ethic...

Individualism and the extended-self: cross-cultural differences in the valuation of authentic objects.

Science.gov (United States)

Gjersoe, Nathalia L; Newman, George E; Chituc, Vladimir; Hood, Bruce

2014-01-01

The current studies examine how valuation of authentic items varies as a function of culture. We find that U.S. respondents value authentic items associated with individual persons (a sweater or an artwork) more than Indian respondents, but that both cultures value authentic objects not associated with persons (a dinosaur bone or a moon rock) equally. These differences cannot be attributed to more general cultural differences in the value assigned to authenticity. Rather, the results support the hypothesis that individualistic cultures place a greater value on objects associated with unique persons and in so doing, offer the first evidence for how valuation of certain authentic items may vary cross-culturally.

Disability Prevalence According to a Class, Race, and Sex (CSR) Hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Siordia, Carlos

2015-09-01

Disability has been shown to be related in definite ways to social class. In modern industrial societies, disability is influenced by and has the potential to contribute to the production and reproduction of social inequality. However, markers of social stratification processes are sometimes ignored determinants of health. A Class, Race, Sex (CRS) hypothesis is presented to argue that a "low-education disadvantage"; "racial-minority disadvantage"; and "female disadvantage" will compound to affect the risks for being disable. In particular, the CRS hypothesis posits that class is more important than race and the latter more than sex when predicting presence or severity of disability. The cross-sectional study of community-dwelling adults between the ages of 45 and 64 uses data from the American Community Survey (ACS) Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) 2008-2012 file. By using 3,429,523 individuals-which weighted equal to 61,726,420-the results of the study suggest the CRS hypothesis applies to both Non-Latino-Blacks and Non-Latino-Whites. There is a "male disadvantage" exception for Non-Latino-Whites. Decreasing between-group differences in health may be achieved by making the age-health association at lower socioeconomic stratum similar to that of the upper socioeconomic strata.

Sex, Sport, IGF-1 and the Community Effect in Height Hypothesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barry Bogin

2015-05-01

Full Text Available We test the hypothesis that differences in social status between groups of people within a population may induce variation in insulin-like growth factor-1(IGF-1 levels and, by extension, growth in height. This is called the community effect in height hypothesis. The relationship between IGF-1, assessed via finger-prick dried blood spot, and elite level sport competition outcomes were analysed for a sample of 116 undergraduate men and women. There was a statistically significant difference between winners and losers of a competition. Winners, as a group, had higher average pre-game and post-game IGF-1 levels than losers. We proposed this type of difference as a proxy for social dominance. We found no evidence that winners increased in IGF-1 levels over losers or that members of the same team were more similar in IGF-1 levels than they were to players from other teams. These findings provide limited support toward the community effect in height hypothesis. The findings are discussed in relation to the action of the growth hormone/IGF-1 axis as a transducer of multiple bio-social influences into a coherent signal which allows the growing human to adjust and adapt to local ecological conditions.

Ikwerre Intergroup Relations and its Impact on Their Culture

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Nneka Umera-Okeke

Geographical factors aided the movement of people from one ecological zone ... Consequently, no human group, its level of development notwithstanding, ..... war between him and the community took some of his children – Amme, Ijinda, ... Dance, music and displays from hinterland cultures penetrated into Kalabari culture.

Belief, Knowledge and Understanding: How to Deal with the Relations between Different Cultural Perspectives in Classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Moreira-dos-Santos, Frederik; El-Hani, Charbel N.

2017-01-01

This article discusses how to deal with the relations between different cultural perspectives in classrooms, based on a proposal for considering understanding and knowledge as goals of science education, inspired by Dewey's naturalistic humanism. It thus combines educational and philosophical interests. In educational terms, our concerns relate to…

New methods of testing nonlinear hypothesis using iterative NLLS estimator

Science.gov (United States)

Mahaboob, B.; Venkateswarlu, B.; Mokeshrayalu, G.; Balasiddamuni, P.

2017-11-01

This research paper discusses the method of testing nonlinear hypothesis using iterative Nonlinear Least Squares (NLLS) estimator. Takeshi Amemiya [1] explained this method. However in the present research paper, a modified Wald test statistic due to Engle, Robert [6] is proposed to test the nonlinear hypothesis using iterative NLLS estimator. An alternative method for testing nonlinear hypothesis using iterative NLLS estimator based on nonlinear hypothesis using iterative NLLS estimator based on nonlinear studentized residuals has been proposed. In this research article an innovative method of testing nonlinear hypothesis using iterative restricted NLLS estimator is derived. Pesaran and Deaton [10] explained the methods of testing nonlinear hypothesis. This paper uses asymptotic properties of nonlinear least squares estimator proposed by Jenrich [8]. The main purpose of this paper is to provide very innovative methods of testing nonlinear hypothesis using iterative NLLS estimator, iterative NLLS estimator based on nonlinear studentized residuals and iterative restricted NLLS estimator. Eakambaram et al. [12] discussed least absolute deviation estimations versus nonlinear regression model with heteroscedastic errors and also they studied the problem of heteroscedasticity with reference to nonlinear regression models with suitable illustration. William Grene [13] examined the interaction effect in nonlinear models disused by Ai and Norton [14] and suggested ways to examine the effects that do not involve statistical testing. Peter [15] provided guidelines for identifying composite hypothesis and addressing the probability of false rejection for multiple hypotheses.

A Hypothesis-Driven Approach to Site Investigation

Science.gov (United States)

Nowak, W.

2008-12-01

Variability of subsurface formations and the scarcity of data lead to the notion of aquifer parameters as geostatistical random variables. Given an information need and limited resources for field campaigns, site investigation is often put into the context of optimal design. In optimal design, the types, numbers and positions of samples are optimized under case-specific objectives to meet the information needs. Past studies feature optimal data worth (balancing maximum financial profit in an engineering task versus the cost of additional sampling), or aim at a minimum prediction uncertainty of stochastic models for a prescribed investigation budget. Recent studies also account for other sources of uncertainty outside the hydrogeological range, such as uncertain toxicity, ingestion and behavioral parameters of the affected population when predicting the human health risk from groundwater contaminations. The current study looks at optimal site investigation from a new angle. Answering a yes/no question under uncertainty directly requires recasting the original question as a hypothesis test. Otherwise, false confidence in the resulting answer would be pretended. A straightforward example is whether a recent contaminant spill will cause contaminant concentrations in excess of a legal limit at a nearby drinking water well. This question can only be answered down to a specified chance of error, i.e., based on the significance level used in hypothesis tests. Optimal design is placed into the hypothesis-driven context by using the chance of providing a false yes/no answer as new criterion to be minimized. Different configurations apply for one-sided and two-sided hypothesis tests. If a false answer entails financial liability, the hypothesis-driven context can be re-cast in the context of data worth. The remaining difference is that failure is a hard constraint in the data worth context versus a monetary punishment term in the hypothesis-driven context. The basic principle

The (not so) immortal strand hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Tomasetti, Cristian; Bozic, Ivana

2015-03-01

Non-random segregation of DNA strands during stem cell replication has been proposed as a mechanism to minimize accumulated genetic errors in stem cells of rapidly dividing tissues. According to this hypothesis, an "immortal" DNA strand is passed to the stem cell daughter and not the more differentiated cell, keeping the stem cell lineage replication error-free. After it was introduced, experimental evidence both in favor and against the hypothesis has been presented. Using a novel methodology that utilizes cancer sequencing data we are able to estimate the rate of accumulation of mutations in healthy stem cells of the colon, blood and head and neck tissues. We find that in these tissues mutations in stem cells accumulate at rates strikingly similar to those expected without the protection from the immortal strand mechanism. Utilizing an approach that is fundamentally different from previous efforts to confirm or refute the immortal strand hypothesis, we provide evidence against non-random segregation of DNA during stem cell replication. Our results strongly suggest that parental DNA is passed randomly to stem cell daughters and provides new insight into the mechanism of DNA replication in stem cells. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Electric Symbols: Internet Words And Culture

OpenAIRE

Fraim, John

2002-01-01

The famous Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis posits a linguistic determinism arguing language plays a central role in creation of a worldview. In the sense that language is a product of words, one can say that a culture's worldview is affected and influenced by the words of its particular language. Words both create and communicate worldviews. The greatest potential in history for the observation and analysis of words exists on the Internet. Indeed, the Internet can be considered history's greatest obse...

Isometric torque-angle relationship and movement-related activity of human elbow flexors: implications for the equilibrium-point hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Hasan, Z; Enoka, R M

1985-01-01

Since the moment arms for the elbow-flexor muscles are longest at intermediate positions of the elbow and shorter at the extremes of the range of motion, it was expected that the elbow torque would also show a peak at an intermediate angle provided the activity of the flexor muscles remained constant. We measured the isometric elbow torque at different elbow angles while the subject attempted to keep constant the electromyographic activity (EMG) of the brachioradialis muscle. The torque-angle relationship thus obtained exhibited a peak, as expected, but the shape of the relationship varied widely among subjects. This was due in part to differences in the variation of the biceps brachii EMG with elbow angle among the different subjects. The implications of these observations for the equilibrium-point hypothesis of movement were investigated as follows. The subject performed elbow movements in the presence of an external torque (which tended to extend the elbow joint) provided by a weight-and-pulley arrangement. We found in the case of flexion movements that invariably there was a transient increase in flexor EMG, as would seem necessary for initiating the movement. However, the steady-state EMG after the movement could be greater or less than the pre-movement EMG. Specifically, the least flexor EMG was required for equilibrium in the intermediate range of elbow angles, compared to the extremes of the range of motion. The EMG-angle relationship, however, varied with the muscle and the subject. The observation that the directions of change in the transient and the steady-state EMG are independent of each other militates against the generality of the equilibrium-point hypothesis. However, a form of the hypothesis which includes the effects of the stretch reflex is not contradicted by this observation.

Rayleigh's hypothesis and the geometrical optics limit.

Science.gov (United States)

Elfouhaily, Tanos; Hahn, Thomas

2006-09-22

The Rayleigh hypothesis (RH) is often invoked in the theoretical and numerical treatment of rough surface scattering in order to decouple the analytical form of the scattered field. The hypothesis stipulates that the scattered field away from the surface can be extended down onto the rough surface even though it is formed by solely up-going waves. Traditionally this hypothesis is systematically used to derive the Volterra series under the small perturbation method which is equivalent to the low-frequency limit. In this Letter we demonstrate that the RH also carries the high-frequency or the geometrical optics limit, at least to first order. This finding has never been explicitly derived in the literature. Our result comforts the idea that the RH might be an exact solution under some constraints in the general case of random rough surfaces and not only in the case of small-slope deterministic periodic gratings.

Reconcilable differences? Human diversity, cultural relativity, and sense of community.

Science.gov (United States)

Townley, Greg; Kloos, Bret; Green, Eric P; Franco, Margarita M

2011-03-01

Sense of community (SOC) is one of the most widely used and studied constructs in community psychology. As proposed by Sarason in (The Psychological sense of community: prospects for a community psychology, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1974), SOC represents the strength of bonding among community members. It is a valuable component of community life, and it has been linked to positive mental health outcomes, citizen participation, and community connectedness. However, promotion of SOC can become problematic in community psychology praxis when it conflicts with other core values proposed to define the field, namely values of human diversity, cultural relativity, and heterogeneity of experience and perspective. Several commentators have noted that promotion of SOC can conflict with multicultural diversity because it tends to emphasize group member similarity and appears to be higher in homogeneous communities. In this paper, we introduce the idea of a community-diversity dialectic as part of praxis and research in community psychology. We argue that systematic consideration of cultural psychology perspectives can guide efforts to address a community-diversity dialectic and revise SOC formulations that ultimately will invigorate community research and action. We provide a working agenda for addressing this dialectic, proposing that systematic consideration of the creative tension between SOC and diversity can be beneficial to community psychology.

Comparative assessment of the impact of national culture dimensions on traits of organization culture

OpenAIRE

Štreimikienė, Dalia; Mikalauskienė, Asta

2012-01-01

The paper deals with national culture and organizational culture assessment methods and applies the Denison Organization Culture Survey to measure organizational culture in Lithuanian SME in Kaunas region. The paper aims to define the impact of national culture dimensions on organizational culture dimensions by applying comparative analysis for Taiwan, Mexico and Lithuania. The comparative analysis revealed that power distance is positively related to involvement, but negatively related to th...

Comparative assessment of the impact of national culture dimensions on traits of organization culture

OpenAIRE

Štreimikienė, Dalia; Mikalauskienė, Asta

2013-01-01

The paper deals with national culture and organizational culture assessment methods and applies the Denison Organization Culture Survey to measure organizational culture in Lithuanian SME in Kaunas region. The paper aims to define the impact of national culture dimensions on organizational culture dimensions by applying comparative analysis for Taiwan, Mexico and Lithuania. The comparative analysis revealed that power distance is positively related to involvement, but negatively related to th...

An Organizational Culture Study of Missouri State University Faculty/Staff in Relation to the University's Public Affair Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Weaver, Marissa LeClaire

2012-01-01

The purpose of the study was to address a problem of practice of the public affairs mission through the perceptions of faculty and staff members at Missouri State University of the University's organizational culture. The design included a phenomenological study with a set of organizational culture procedural questions related to the perceptions…

A critical discussion of null hypothesis significance testing and statistical power analysis within psychological research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jones, Allan; Sommerlund, Bo

2007-01-01

The uses of null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) and statistical power analysis within psychological research are critically discussed. The article looks at the problems of relying solely on NHST when dealing with small and large sample sizes. The use of power-analysis in estimating...... the potential error introduced by small and large samples is advocated. Power analysis is not recommended as a replacement to NHST but as an additional source of information about the phenomena under investigation. Moreover, the importance of conceptual analysis in relation to statistical analysis of hypothesis...

Should Advertising Be Standardized Based on Specific Cultural Dimensions? - A Comparative Study of Ad Preference and Cultural Dimensions in the US and China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ran Liu

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract The study is to test the idea that different cultural dimensions have the same degree of impact on consumer preference of advertising standardization. Hofstede’s (1980, 2001 cultural dimensions are used to examine the differences of its impact on advertising standardization between China and US consumer preference in smartphone industry. A preliminary explanation of the management dilemma, the practical and theoretical interest of the study is explained, followed by a brief explanation of the hypothesis, methodologies and research findings. After a statistical analysis based on data collected from existing research, the research finds that there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the impact of all cultural dimensions on ad standardization are not all the same across the US and China, which give some weights on the idea that all cultural dimensions should all be considered as a whole and weighted no differently to analyze the linkage between culture and ad preference.

Explaining Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy: Personality, Cognitions, and Cultural Mistrust

Science.gov (United States)

Bullock-Yowell, Emily; Andrews, Lindsay; Buzzetta, Mary E.

2011-01-01

The authors explore the hypothesis that career decision-making self-efficacy could be affected by negative career thoughts, Big Five personality factors, and cultural mistrust in a sample of African American and Caucasian college students. Findings demonstrated that negative career thinking, openness, and conscientiousness explained a significant…

Exploring a Relational Cultural Group Trainee Model for Master's Level Counseling Students

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Brenda S.; Harper, Irene; Korcuska, James

2018-01-01

We explored students' experiences of a graduate level group course infused with components of the Relational Cultural Theory (RCT). During the didactic and experiential aspects of 2 semester-long group courses, the faculty instructors and students focused on creating an environment of safety, connection, and empowerment. The instructor and…

Income-related inequality in health and health-related behaviour: exploring the equalisation hypothesis

OpenAIRE

Vallejo-Torres, Laura; Hale, Daniel; Morris, Stephen; Viner, Russell M

2014-01-01

Background Previous studies have found the socioeconomic gradient in health among adolescents to be lower than that observed during childhood and adulthood. The aim of this study was to examine income-related inequalities in health and health-related behaviour across the lifespan in England to explore ‘equalisation’ in adolescence. Methods We used five years of data (2006–2010) from the Health Survey for England to explore inequalities in six indicators: self-assessed general health, longstan...

Spanish translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and validation of the Questionnaire for Diabetes-Related Foot Disease (Q-DFD)

OpenAIRE

Castillo, Wilson; Flores-Fortty,; Feraud,Lourdes; Tettamanti,

2013-01-01

Wilson Castillo-Tandazo, Adolfo Flores-Fortty, Lourdes Feraud, Daniel TettamantiSchool of Medicine, Universidad Espíritu Santo – Ecuador, Samborondón, Guayas, EcuadorPurpose: To translate, cross-culturally adapt, and validate the Questionnaire for Diabetes-Related Foot Disease (Q-DFD), originally created and validated in Australia, for its use in Spanish-speaking patients with diabetes mellitus.Patients and methods: The translation and cross-cultural adaptation...

Relation Between Ni Particle Shape Change and Ni Migration in Ni–YSZ Electrodes – a Hypothesis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mogensen, Mogens Bjerg; Hauch, Anne; Sun, Xiufu

2017-01-01

This paper deals with degradation mechanisms of Ni–YSZ electrodes for solid oxide cells, mainly solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs), but also to some extent solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). Analysis of literature data reveals that several apparently different and even in one case apparently...... contradicting degradation phenomena are a consequence of interplay between loss of contact between the Ni–YSZ (and Ni–Ni particles) in the active fine-structured composite fuel electrode layer and migration of Ni via weakly oxidized Ni hydroxide species. A hypothesis that unravels the apparent contradiction...

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)

A test of the reward-value hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Alexandra E; Dalecki, Stefan J; Crystal, Jonathon D

2017-03-01

Rats retain source memory (memory for the origin of information) over a retention interval of at least 1 week, whereas their spatial working memory (radial maze locations) decays within approximately 1 day. We have argued that different forgetting functions dissociate memory systems. However, the two tasks, in our previous work, used different reward values. The source memory task used multiple pellets of a preferred food flavor (chocolate), whereas the spatial working memory task provided access to a single pellet of standard chow-flavored food at each location. Thus, according to the reward-value hypothesis, enhanced performance in the source memory task stems from enhanced encoding/memory of a preferred reward. We tested the reward-value hypothesis by using a standard 8-arm radial maze task to compare spatial working memory accuracy of rats rewarded with either multiple chocolate or chow pellets at each location using a between-subjects design. The reward-value hypothesis predicts superior accuracy for high-valued rewards. We documented equivalent spatial memory accuracy for high- and low-value rewards. Importantly, a 24-h retention interval produced equivalent spatial working memory accuracy for both flavors. These data are inconsistent with the reward-value hypothesis and suggest that reward value does not explain our earlier findings that source memory survives unusually long retention intervals.

Culture-Sustainability Relation: Towards a Conceptual Framework

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katriina Soini

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Several individual scholars and international organizations have attempted to conceptualize “culture” in its different meanings in sustainability. Despite those efforts, a tangle of different approaches are being used, reflecting the various disciplines and policy aims. In this paper we propose an interdisciplinary framework for identifying the different roles of culture in sustainability in an attempt to guide the research and policy activities in this complex field. The framework is comprised of three representations defined by a literature review on “cultural sustainability”, which are further explored through eight organizing dimensions that mark the similarities and differences between the three representations. The article reveals that the three representations are partly interlinked and that they also reveal gradients in the dynamics of the system, as well as in the human/nature interface.

Methodological requirements to test a possible in-group advantage in judging emotions across cultures: comment on Elfenbein and Ambady (2002) and evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Matsumoto, David

2002-03-01

H. A. Elfenbein and N. Ambady's (2002) conclusions concerning a possible in-group advantage in judging emotions across cultures are unwarranted. The author discusses 2 methodological requirements for studies to test adequately the in-group advantage hypothesis and an additional requirement in reviewing multiple judgment studies and examining variance in judgment effects across those studies. The few studies that Elfenbein and Ambady reported that support the in-group advantage hypothesis need to be examined for whether they meet the criteria discussed; if they do not, their data cannot be used to support any contention of cultural differences in judgments, let alone the in-group advantage hypothesis. Furthermore, the role of signal clarity needs to be explored in possibly moderating effects across studies; however, this was not done.

Functional clustering in hippocampal cultures: relating network structure and dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feldt, S; Dzakpasu, R; Olariu, E; Żochowski, M; Wang, J X; Shtrahman, E

2010-01-01

In this work we investigate the relationship between gross anatomic structural network properties, neuronal dynamics and the resultant functional structure in dissociated rat hippocampal cultures. Specifically, we studied cultures as they developed under two conditions: the first supporting glial cell growth (high glial group), and the second one inhibiting it (low glial group). We then compared structural network properties and the spatio-temporal activity patterns of the neurons. Differences in dynamics between the two groups could be linked to the impact of the glial network on the neuronal network as the cultures developed. We also implemented a recently developed algorithm called the functional clustering algorithm (FCA) to obtain the resulting functional network structure. We show that this new algorithm is useful for capturing changes in functional network structure as the networks evolve over time. The FCA detects changes in functional structure that are consistent with expected dynamical differences due to the impact of the glial network. Cultures in the high glial group show an increase in global synchronization as the cultures age, while those in the low glial group remain locally synchronized. We additionally use the FCA to quantify the amount of synchronization present in the cultures and show that the total level of synchronization in the high glial group is stronger than in the low glial group. These results indicate an interdependence between the glial and neuronal networks present in dissociated cultures

Neuroticism, intelligence, and intra-individual variability in elementary cognitive tasks: testing the mental noise hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Colom, Roberto; Quiroga, Ma Angeles

2009-08-01

Some studies show positive correlations between intraindividual variability in elementary speed measures (reflecting processing efficiency) and individual differences in neuroticism (reflecting instability in behaviour). The so-called neural noise hypothesis assumes that higher levels of noise are related both to smaller indices of processing efficiency and greater levels of neuroticism. Here, we test this hypothesis measuring mental speed by means of three elementary cognitive tasks tapping similar basic processes but varying systematically their content (verbal, numerical, and spatial). Neuroticism and intelligence are also measured. The sample comprised 196 undergraduate psychology students. The results show that (1) processing efficiency is generally unrelated to individual differences in neuroticism, (2) processing speed and efficiency correlate with intelligence, and (3) only the efficiency index is genuinely related to intelligence when the colinearity between speed and efficiency is controlled.

European food cultures: An exploratory analysis of food related preferences and behaviour in European regions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Askegaard, Søren; Madsen, Tage Koed

and its potential expansion, the relative importance of national boundaries must be expected to diminish whereas other boundaries will become more apparent. One type of boundaries of vital impo to international marketing is the cultural boundaries dividing Europe into regions with individual cultural...... to the point where some people ta about a 'world cuisine'. However, local, national, and regional differences continue to play a decisive role in the way elements, products, and ingredients are combined, and when, how, with what, and with whom they are eaten. 4. This paper explores information about...... such cultural patterns of food consumption based on information from an exisiting database originating from a 1989 pan-European lifestyle survey questioning around 20.000 people in 16 European countries divided into 79 regions. 5. A factor analysis reduced the number of variables from 138 to 41, discovering...

Motor synergies and the equilibrium-point hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Latash, Mark L

2010-07-01

The article offers a way to unite three recent developments in the field of motor control and coordination: (1) The notion of synergies is introduced based on the principle of motor abundance; (2) The uncontrolled manifold hypothesis is described as offering a computational framework to identify and quantify synergies; and (3) The equilibrium-point hypothesis is described for a single muscle, single joint, and multijoint systems. Merging these concepts into a single coherent scheme requires focusing on control variables rather than performance variables. The principle of minimal final action is formulated as the guiding principle within the referent configuration hypothesis. Motor actions are associated with setting two types of variables by a controller, those that ultimately define average performance patterns and those that define associated synergies. Predictions of the suggested scheme are reviewed, such as the phenomenon of anticipatory synergy adjustments, quick actions without changes in synergies, atypical synergies, and changes in synergies with practice. A few models are briefly reviewed.