A Lexical Approach to Identifying Dimensions of Organizational Culture

Science.gov (United States)

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

2018-01-01

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

Combined culture-based and culture-independent approaches provide insights into diversity of jakobids, an extremely plesiomorphic eukaryotic lineage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomáš ePánek

2015-11-01

Full Text Available We used culture-based and culture-independent approaches to discover diversity and ecology of anaerobic jakobids (Excavata: Jakobida, an overlooked, deep-branching lineage of free-living nanoflagellates related to Euglenozoa. Jakobids are among a few lineages of nanoflagellates frequently detected in anoxic habitats by PCR-based studies, however only two strains of a single jakobid species have been isolated from those habitats. We recovered 712 environmental sequences and cultured 21 new isolates of anaerobic jakobids that collectively represent at least ten different species in total, from which four are uncultured. Two cultured species have never been detected by environmental, PCR-based methods. Surprisingly, culture-based and culture-independent approaches were able to reveal a relatively high proportion of overall species diversity of anaerobic jakobids - 60 % or 80 %, respectively. Our phylogenetic analyses based on SSU rDNA and six protein-coding genes showed that anaerobic jakobids constitute a clade of morphologically similar, but genetically and ecologically diverse protists – Stygiellidae fam. nov. Our investigation combines culture-based and environmental molecular-based approaches to capture a wider extent of species diversity and shows Stygiellidae as a group that ordinarily inhabits anoxic, sulfide- and ammonium-rich marine habitats worldwide.

Cultural Studies Methodologies and Narrative Family Therapy: Therapeutic Conversations About Pop Culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Tilsen, Julie; Nylund, David

2016-06-01

Therapists recognize that popular media culture is an influential force that shapes identities and relationships in contemporary society. Indeed, people have serious relationships with the commodities and practices that emerge from pop culture. However, they often lack the conceptual and conversational resources to engage meaningfully with clients about pop culture's influence in their lives. Cultural studies is introduced as an interdisciplinary approach that provides frameworks for both theory and practice that position therapists and clients to critically examine the role of pop culture in their lives. Cultural studies and narrative therapy are discussed as praxis allies that share a populist political intention and counter-hegemonic discursive practices. The integration of cultural studies methodologies into narrative therapy practice with a parent and her teenage daughter is illustrated through a case vignette. © 2016 Family Process Institute.

Fundamental principles of the cultural-activity approach in the psychology of giftedness

OpenAIRE

Babaeva, Julia

2013-01-01

This article examines the cultural-activity approach to the study of giftedness, which is based on the ideas of L. S. Vygotsky, A. N. Leontiev, and O. K. Tikhomirov. Three basic principles of this approach are described: the principle of polymorphism, the dynamic principle, and the principle of the holistic analysis of the giftedness phenomenon. The article introduces the results of empirical research (including a 10-year longitudinal study), which verifies the efficacy of the cultural-activi...

Structural and Cultural Approaches Towards Studying the Diffusion of Management Practices

OpenAIRE

Scheiber, Florian

2013-01-01

This dissertation combines so called structural and cultural approaches within diffusion research from organizational theory in order to contribute to gaining a deeper understanding for the spread of management practices. Therefore, three empirical cases are assessed using both qualitative and quantitative research methods: (1) The diffusion of codes of conduct among 287 firms in the German textile and apparel industry, (2) the diffusion of modern management practices among 272 German SMEs an...

Equifinality in empirical studies of cultural transmission.

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Barrett, Brendan J

2018-01-31

Cultural systems exhibit equifinal behavior - a single final state may be arrived at via different mechanisms and/or from different initial states. Potential for equifinality exists in all empirical studies of cultural transmission including controlled experiments, observational field research, and computational simulations. Acknowledging and anticipating the existence of equifinality is important in empirical studies of social learning and cultural evolution; it helps us understand the limitations of analytical approaches and can improve our ability to predict the dynamics of cultural transmission. Here, I illustrate and discuss examples of equifinality in studies of social learning, and how certain experimental designs might be prone to it. I then review examples of equifinality discussed in the social learning literature, namely the use of s-shaped diffusion curves to discern individual from social learning and operational definitions and analytical approaches used in studies of conformist transmission. While equifinality exists to some extent in all studies of social learning, I make suggestions for how to address instances of it, with an emphasis on using data simulation and methodological verification alongside modern statistical approaches that emphasize prediction and model comparison. In cases where evaluated learning mechanisms are equifinal due to non-methodological factors, I suggest that this is not always a problem if it helps us predict cultural change. In some cases, equifinal learning mechanisms might offer insight into how both individual learning, social learning strategies and other endogenous social factors might by important in structuring cultural dynamics and within- and between-group heterogeneity. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A cultural psychological approach to evangelical faith healing groups

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Saane, J.W.

2010-01-01

From the perspective of Belzen, a cultural approach for the psychology of religion is necessary to cope with the multiplicity of the religious phenomenon. He presents research of specific - very closed - religious groups to illustrate this point. A cultural approach is not limited to these specific

Promoting Teachers of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) Students as Change Agents: A Cultural Approach to Professional Learning

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Li, Guofang

2013-01-01

This article proposes a cultural approach to professional learning to empower pre- and in-service teachers to successfully address increasingly diverse student populations and become culturally responsive to students' diverse backgrounds. This cultural approach treats culture as a vital source for reshaping the politics of identity and…

Approaches to culture and diversity: A critical synthesis of occupational therapy literature.

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Beagan, Brenda L

2015-12-01

The 2007 position statement on diversity for the Canadian occupational therapy profession argued discussion was needed to determine the implications of approaches to working with cultural differences and other forms of diversity. In 2014, a new position statement on diversity was published, emphasizing the importance of social power relations and power relations between client and therapist, and supporting two particular approaches: cultural safety and cultural humility with critical reflexivity This paper reviews and critically synthesizes the literature concerning culture and diversity published in occupational therapy between 2007 and 2014, tracing the major discourses and mapping the implications of four differing approaches: cultural competence, cultural relevance, cultural safety, and cultural humility. Approaches differ in where they situate the "problem," how they envision change, the end goal, and the application to a range of types of diversity. The latter two are preferred approaches for their attention to power relations and potential to encompass a range of types of social and cultural diversity. © CAOT 2015.

Micropatterned substrates for studying astrocytes in culture

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William Lee

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Recent studies of the physiological roles of astrocytes have ignited renewed interest in the functional significance of these glial cells in the central nervous system. Many of the newly discovered astrocytic functions were initially demonstrated and characterized in cell culture systems. We discuss the use of microculture techniques and micropatterning of cell-adhesive substrates in studies of astrocytic Ca2+ excitability and bidirectional neuron-astrocyte signaling. This culturing approach aims to reduce the level of complexity of the system by limiting the interacting partners and by controlling the localization of cells. It provides tight control over experimental conditions allowing detailed characterization of cellular functions and intercellular communication. Although such a reductionist approach yields some difference in observations between astrocytic properties in culture and in situ, general phenomena discovered in cell culture systems, however, have also been found in vivo.

Economic Systems: A Modular Approach. Cultural Anthropology.

Science.gov (United States)

Kassebaum, Peter

Designed for use as supplementary instructional material in a cultural anthropology course, this learning module uses a systems approach to allow students to see the connections and similarities which most cultural groups share on the basis of the type of economic organization that they exhibit. The module begins with a general discussion of…

Culture-sensitive neural substrates of human cognition: a transcultural neuroimaging approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Shihui; Northoff, Georg

2008-08-01

Our brains and minds are shaped by our experiences, which mainly occur in the context of the culture in which we develop and live. Although psychologists have provided abundant evidence for diversity of human cognition and behaviour across cultures, the question of whether the neural correlates of human cognition are also culture-dependent is often not considered by neuroscientists. However, recent transcultural neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that one's cultural background can influence the neural activity that underlies both high- and low-level cognitive functions. The findings provide a novel approach by which to distinguish culture-sensitive from culture-invariant neural mechanisms of human cognition.

A New approach to the spread of safety culture. The trend of studies and practice in the foreign nuclear power industry, and future approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hasegawa, Naoko; Takano, Kenichi

2001-01-01

The purpose of this study is to clarify organizational factors influencing on safety and to suggest future approach for the spread of safety culture. As the results of investigations on safety companies, characteristics of organizational policies, those of safety activities' purposes, and organizational factors which encourage workers to take a positive attitude toward the safety activities were clarified. Based on the clarified characteristics and the trend of studies and practice in the foreign nuclear power industry, it was suggested that it would be necessary for the spread of safety culture in an organization to learn lessons for the prevention of accidents' recurring and to maintain safety behavior and attitude for the prevention of accidents' occurring. For support of this, it is desired to develop the assessment system of organizational safety and the planning system of safety management. The new approach was also suggested with the process model for influence of organizational factors which include workers' psychological aspects. (author)

Researcher’s Academic Culture in the Educational Space of the University: Linguo-Axiological Approach

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Olena Semenog

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the nature of the concepts “classic University”, “cultural and educational space of the University”, “research activity of future professional”, “researcher’s academic culture” and approach to academic culture as the basis of research culture in a university. It is defined that the concept of academic culture is complex. We are talking in general about the culture at the university, values, traditions, norms, rules of scientific research, and the scientific language culture, the culture of spirituality and morality, the culture of communication between science tutors and students, a culture of unique pedagogical action of master and his social, moral responsibility for the studying results. The formation of academic culture and own style, is better to develop on the positions of personal-activity, competence, axiological, cultural, acmeological approaches.

A situational approach to the measurement of safety culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Semmer, N.; Regennass, A.

1997-01-01

Values and social norms are the main target of most approaches to the study of safety culture and many existing survey methodologies directly ask for these norms and values. However, a number of considerations point to the dangers of limiting the evaluation of safety culture to the analysis of these responses. Therefore the necessity is stressed to also consider how actual situations activate norms and behaviours. This relates to the fact that in any given situation both aspects of the appraisal of reality are present: the objective definition of the situation and its personal evaluation. The latter not only reflects the ''official'' norms and values but also ''basic underlying assumptions''. The situational approach introduced in this paper confronts people with situations which contain a dilemma with conflicting social norms and where various costs and benefits are associated with different types of behaviour. In addition, the prerequisites and limitations of the situational approach are discussed. (author). 9 refs, 1 fig

Case Study of An Adopted Chinese Woman with Bulimia Nervosa: A Cultural and Transcultural Approach.

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de Montgremier, Marion Vu-Augier; Chen, Liangliang; Chen, Jue; Moro, Marie Rose

2017-08-25

For a long time, eating disorders were considered as culture-bound syndromes, specific to Western countries. This theory has been refuted for anorexia, but few transcultural studies have been carried out on bulimia nervosa. As a result, knowledge concerning this disorder is limited. On the basis of a clinical case involving a bulimic Chinese girl, we attempt to demonstrate the impact of cultural factors on the disorder. We discuss the atypical characteristics of her symptom profile, in particular the absence of preoccupations concerning her appearance and the psycho-pathological impact of the secrecy surrounding her adoption. In this particular case, bulimia triggered a search for filiation and identity that could have later enabled her to restore harmonious family ties and to gain autonomy. We also examine the case in the context of adoption in China. This clinical case points out how important it is to take cultural factors into account and how useful a transcultural approach is in order to understand bulimia, and suggest effective methods of care.

In vitro co-cultures of Pinus pinaster with Bursaphelenchus xylophilus: a biotechnological approach to study pine wilt disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Faria, Jorge M S; Sena, Inês; Vieira da Silva, Inês; Ribeiro, Bruno; Barbosa, Pedro; Ascensão, Lia; Bennett, Richard N; Mota, Manuel; Figueiredo, A Cristina

2015-06-01

Co-cultures of Pinus pinaster with Bursaphelenchus xylophilus were established as a biotechnological tool to evaluate the effect of nematotoxics addition in a host/parasite culture system. The pinewood nematode (PWN), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, the causal agent of pine wilt disease (PWD), was detected for the first time in Europe in 1999 spreading throughout the pine forests in Portugal and recently in Spain. Plant in vitro cultures may be a useful experimental system to investigate the plant/nematode relationships in loco, thus avoiding the difficulties of field assays. In this study, Pinus pinaster in vitro cultures were established and compared to in vivo 1 year-old plantlets by analyzing shoot structure and volatiles production. In vitro co-cultures were established with the PWN and the effect of the phytoparasite on in vitro shoot structure, water content and volatiles production was evaluated. In vitro shoots showed similar structure and volatiles production to in vivo maritime pine plantlets. The first macroscopic symptoms of PWD were observed about 4 weeks after in vitro co-culture establishment. Nematode population in the culture medium increased and PWNs were detected in gaps of the callus tissue and in cavities developed from the degradation of cambial cells. In terms of volatiles main components, plantlets, P. pinaster cultures, and P. pinaster with B. xylophilus co-cultures were all β- and α-pinene rich. Co-cultures may be an easy-to-handle biotechnological approach to study this pathology, envisioning the understanding of and finding ways to restrain this highly devastating nematode.

Individualist-Collectivist Culture and Trust Radius : A Multilevel Approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Hoorn, André

We apply a multilevel approach to examine empirically the nexus between individualist and collectivist culture on the one hand and people’s radius of trust on the other. People’s trust level (i.e., the intensity with which people trust other people) has been extensively studied. Increasingly,

Safety Culture Enhancement Project. Final Report. A Field Study on Approaches to Enhancement of Safety Culture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lowe, Andrew; Hayward, Brent (Dedale Asia Pacific, Albert Park VIC 3206 (Australia))

2006-08-15

This report documents a study with the objective of enhancing safety culture in the Swedish nuclear power industry. A primary objective of this study was to ensure that the latest thinking on human factors principles was being recognised and applied by nuclear power operators as a means of ensuring optimal safety performance. The initial phase of the project was conducted as a pilot study, involving the senior management group at one Swedish nuclear power-producing site. The pilot study enabled the project methodology to be validated after which it was repeated at other Swedish nuclear power industry sites, providing a broad-ranging analysis of opportunities across the industry to enhance safety culture. The introduction to this report contains an overview of safety culture, explains the background to the project and sets out the project rationale and objectives. The methodology used for understanding and analysing the important safety culture issues at each nuclear power site is then described. This section begins with a summary of the processes used in the information gathering and data analysis stage. The six components of the Management Workshops conducted at each site are then described. These workshops used a series of presentations, interactive events and group exercises to: (a) provide feedback to site managers on the safety culture and safety leadership issues identified at their site, and (b) stimulate further safety thinking and provide 'take-away' information and leadership strategies that could be applied to promote safety culture improvements. Section 3, project Findings, contains the main observations and output from the project. These include: - a brief overview of aspects of the local industry operating context that impinge on safety culture; - a summary of strengths or positive attributes observed within the safety culture of the Swedish nuclear industry; - a set of identified opportunities for further improvement; - the aggregated

Individual, social, and cultural approaches to knowledge sharing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Widen, Gunilla

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Workplace knowledge sharing is a complex process and there are a large number of studies in the area. In this article three theoretical approaches in library and information science are used to discuss knowledge sharing in the workplace. The approaches are information behavior, social capital, and information culture, and they bring important insights that need to be considered from a holistic management point of view when it comes to knowledge sharing. The individual's relation to different levels of context is important, meaning both in relation to work roles, work tasks, situations, organizational structures, and culture. The frameworks also shed light on where and how knowledge sharing activities are present in the organization. From a knowledge management point of view, it is important to acknowledge that when knowledge is valued, there is also an awareness of the knowledge sharing activities. Also, in addition to more traditional views of context, the frameworks bring forward different views on context, such as time and space as contextual factors.

Quasi-Appropriation of Dialectical Materialism: A Critical Reading of Marxism in Vygotskian Approaches to Cultural Studies in Science Education

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Rodrigues, André; Camillo, Juliano; Mattos, Cristiano

2014-01-01

In this review essay we examine five categories of dialectical materialism proposed by Paulo Lima Junior, Fernanda Ostermann, and Flavia Rezende in their study of the extent to which the articles published in "Cultural Studies of Science Education," that use a Vygotskian approach, are committed to Marxism/dialectical materialism. By…

Cross-cultural adaptation of instruments assessing breastfeeding determinants: a multi-step approach

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background Cross-cultural adaptation is a necessary process to effectively use existing instruments in other cultural and language settings. The process of cross-culturally adapting, including translation, of existing instruments is considered a critical set to establishing a meaningful instrument for use in another setting. Using a multi-step approach is considered best practice in achieving cultural and semantic equivalence of the adapted version. We aimed to ensure the content validity of our instruments in the cultural context of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Methods The Iowa Infant Feeding Attitudes Scale, Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale-Short Form and additional items comprise our consolidated instrument, which was cross-culturally adapted utilizing a multi-step approach during August 2012. Cross-cultural adaptation was achieved through steps to maintain content validity and attain semantic equivalence in the target version. Specifically, Lynn’s recommendation to apply an item-level content validity index score was followed. The revised instrument was translated and back-translated. To ensure semantic equivalence, Brislin’s back-translation approach was utilized followed by the committee review to address any discrepancies that emerged from translation. Results Our consolidated instrument was adapted to be culturally relevant and translated to yield more reliable and valid results for use in our larger research study to measure infant feeding determinants effectively in our target cultural context. Conclusions Undertaking rigorous steps to effectively ensure cross-cultural adaptation increases our confidence that the conclusions we make based on our self-report instrument(s) will be stronger. In this way, our aim to achieve strong cross-cultural adaptation of our consolidated instruments was achieved while also providing a clear framework for other researchers choosing to utilize existing instruments for work in other cultural, geographic and population

Native American Culture: An Interdisciplinary Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Troisi, Andrea

1995-01-01

Provides suggestions for a literature-based approach when integrating Native American culture into the middle school curriculum. Recommends resources in the following subjects: language arts, mathematics, physical education, health, home and career skills, technology, art, music, and second language. (AEF)

PROCESS APPROACH TO CULTURAL POLICY IN THE REGIONAL ASPECT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maryna Lavryshsheva

2017-02-01

Characteristics of cultural policy, as a process, i.e. procedural approach, allows us to see the specific aspects of interaction of subjects over the governmental authorities. However, due to the fact, that in its scale cultural process is the same as political environment of the state, some scientists identify it either with politics in general or with the totality of the shares of behavioral government entities, change their status and influence. Supporters of the institutional approach associates the cultural political process with the functioning and the transformation of the government institutionы, based on a set of the political system reactions on the environmental challenges. As we speak in the current economic conditions in Ukraine is actual the development of anti-crisis measures for the rehabilitation and development of the conceptual approach of cultural policies in the region. As such, the obvious is the development of a measures set by all courses of the plan, that will mutualize the key goals, objectives and tools into a uniform system of measures. This plan should provide the combined model in the region and provide a transition to the zonal management principle of the transition period. In the plan it is also should be provided institutional support for the proposed measures, namely the mechanisms of technological and socio-cultural issues implementation in range of the cultural policy of the society [1, p.18].

Safety Culture Enhancement Project. Final Report. A Field Study on Approaches to Enhancement of Safety Culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lowe, Andrew; Hayward, Brent

2006-08-01

This report documents a study with the objective of enhancing safety culture in the Swedish nuclear power industry. A primary objective of this study was to ensure that the latest thinking on human factors principles was being recognised and applied by nuclear power operators as a means of ensuring optimal safety performance. The initial phase of the project was conducted as a pilot study, involving the senior management group at one Swedish nuclear power-producing site. The pilot study enabled the project methodology to be validated after which it was repeated at other Swedish nuclear power industry sites, providing a broad-ranging analysis of opportunities across the industry to enhance safety culture. The introduction to this report contains an overview of safety culture, explains the background to the project and sets out the project rationale and objectives. The methodology used for understanding and analysing the important safety culture issues at each nuclear power site is then described. This section begins with a summary of the processes used in the information gathering and data analysis stage. The six components of the Management Workshops conducted at each site are then described. These workshops used a series of presentations, interactive events and group exercises to: (a) provide feedback to site managers on the safety culture and safety leadership issues identified at their site, and (b) stimulate further safety thinking and provide 'take-away' information and leadership strategies that could be applied to promote safety culture improvements. Section 3, project Findings, contains the main observations and output from the project. These include: - a brief overview of aspects of the local industry operating context that impinge on safety culture; - a summary of strengths or positive attributes observed within the safety culture of the Swedish nuclear industry; - a set of identified opportunities for further improvement; - the aggregated results of the

Evolutionary approaches to cultural and linguistic diversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Steele, James; Jordan, Peter; Cochrane, Ethan

2010-12-12

Evolutionary approaches to cultural change are increasingly influential, and many scientists believe that a 'grand synthesis' is now in sight. The papers in this Theme Issue, which derives from a symposium held by the AHRC Centre for the Evolution of Cultural Diversity (University College London) in December 2008, focus on how the phylogenetic tree-building and network-based techniques used to estimate descent relationships in biology can be adapted to reconstruct cultural histories, where some degree of inter-societal diffusion will almost inevitably be superimposed on any deeper signal of a historical branching process. The disciplines represented include the three most purely 'cultural' fields from the four-field model of anthropology (cultural anthropology, archaeology and linguistic anthropology). In this short introduction, some context is provided from the history of anthropology, and key issues raised by the papers are highlighted.

Adolescents Family Models : A Cross-Cultural Study

OpenAIRE

Mayer, Boris

2009-01-01

This study explores and compares the family models of adolescents across ten cultures using a typological and multilevel approach. Thereby, it aims to empirically contribute to Kagitcibasi s (2007) theory of family change. This theory postulates the existence of three ideal-typical family models across cultures: a family model of independence prevailing in Western societies, a family model of (total) interdependence prevailing in non-industrialized agrarian cultures, and as a synthesis of the...

Visual Culture as a Strategic Approach to Art Production in Education

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Buhl, Mie

2005-01-01

The concept of visual culture challenges tradtitional approaches to art production in education. Art education lacks adequate concepts for understanding contemporary productive processes. The article suggests that the theoretical framework for the productive process should be reconsidered. Visual...... culture as a strategic approach focuses on conditions surrounding viewing rather than on the substance of aesthetic objects A new termonology is needed for use in student and teacher dialogue. The article presents a model for teaching art production bases on a visual culture approach to visual arts...

Methodological Approaches in the Research of Organizational Culture

OpenAIRE

Nebojša Janićijević

2011-01-01

In the thirty-years-long research of organizational culture, two mutually opposed methodological approaches have emerged: objectivistic quantitative and subjectivistic-qualitative. These two approaches are based on opposite ontological and epistemological assumptions: they include different types of research, and use opposite, quantitative vs. qualitative, methods of research. Each of the methodological approaches has its advantages and disadvantages. For this reason a hybrid approach e...

Space Culture: Innovative Cultural Approaches To Public Engagement With Astronomy, Space Science And Astronautics

Science.gov (United States)

Malina, Roger F.

2012-01-01

In recent years a number of cultural organizations have established ongoing programs of public engagement with astronomy, space science and astronautics. Many involve elements of citizen science initiatives, artists’ residencies in scientific laboratories and agencies, art and science festivals, and social network projects as well as more traditional exhibition venues. Recognizing these programs several agencies and organizations have established mechanisms for facilitating public engagement with astronomy and space science through cultural activities. The International Astronautics Federation has established an Technical Activities Committee for the Cultural Utilization of Space. Over the past year the NSF and NEA have organized disciplinary workshops to develop recommendations relating to art-science interaction and community building efforts. Rationales for encouraging public engagement via cultural projects range from theory of creativity, innovation and invention to cultural appropriation in the context of `socially robust science’ as advocated by Helga Nowotny of the European Research Council. Public engagement with science, as opposed to science education and outreach initiatives, require different approaches. Just as organizations have employed education professionals to lead education activities, so they must employ cultural professionals if they wish to develop public engagement projects via arts and culture. One outcome of the NSF and NEA workshops has been development of a rationale for converting STEM to STEAM by including the arts in STEM methodologies, particularly for K-12 where students can access science via arts and cultural contexts. Often these require new kinds of informal education approaches that exploit locative media, gaming platforms, artists projects and citizen science. Incorporating astronomy and space science content in art and cultural projects requires new skills in `cultural translation’ and `trans-mediation’ and new kinds

Notes toward an African Cultural Studies of Education

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Handel Kashope

2006-01-01

In this paper, the author attempts to sketch out both an argument for and the outlines of what might be termed an African cultural studies of education. This formation would actually be composed of several fields and discourses that are often taken up as quite distinct, namely critical approaches to education, cultural studies, and African…

Positive Emotion Regulation and Psychopathology: A Transdiagnostic Cultural Neuroscience Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Hechtman, Lisa A.; Raila, Hannah; Chiao, Joan Y.; Gruber, June

2013-01-01

There is burgeoning interest in the study of positive emotion regulation and psychopathology. Given the significant public health costs and the tremendous variance in national prevalence rates associated with many disorders of positive emotion, it is critical to reach an understanding of how cultural factors, along with biological factors, mutually influence positive emotion regulation. Progress in this domain has been relatively unexplored, however, underscoring the need for an integrative review and empirical roadmap for investigating the cultural neuroscientific contributions to positive emotion disturbance for both affective and clinical science domains. The present paper thus provides a multidisciplinary, cultural neuroscience approach to better understand positive emotion regulation and psychopathology. We conclude with a future roadmap for researchers aimed at harnessing positive emotion and alleviating the burden of mental illness cross-culturally. PMID:24812583

APPROACH TO THE ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE CONCEPT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

CLAUDIA MARÍA GARCÍA ÁLVAREZ

2006-01-01

Full Text Available In order to make evident the instrumental nature of the concept of culture applied to organization, thisessay develops a comprehension of the concept of organizational culture. This effort is important becausethe concept of organization itself implies a construction of a social order from meanings becominghegemonic in the framework of a particular context. Organizational Psychology, even with its neutralitypretension, is not innocent about the instrumental role that social sciences have had in the organizationalarena; however this essay introduces alternatives from critical approaches that allow ways of comprehensionand why not, intervention from perspectives explicitly political.

Becoming a Doctor in Different Cultures: Toward a Cross-Cultural Approach to Supporting Professional Identity Formation in Medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Helmich, Esther; Yeh, Huei-Ming; Kalet, Adina; Al-Eraky, Mohamed

2017-01-01

Becoming a doctor is fundamentally about developing a new, professional identity as a physician, which in and of itself may evoke many emotions. Additionally, medical trainees are increasingly moving from one cultural context to another and are challenged with navigating the resulting shifts in their professional identify. In this Article, the authors aim to address medical professional identity formation from a polyvocal, multidisciplinary, cross-cultural perspective. They delineate the cultural approaches to medical professionalism, reflect on professional identity formation in different cultures and on different theories of identity development, and advocate for a context-specific approach to professional identity formation. In doing so, the authors aim to broaden the developing professional identity formation discourse to include non-Western approaches and notions.

Cultural Evolution: a case study of Indian music

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Meer, W.

2012-01-01

This paper studies the relations between music, culture and the society which surrounds it, focussing on change as an evolutionary process. The classical music of North India serves as an example, but a similar approach may be applied to other branches of human culture, e.g. science.

Cultural Studies og kritisk diskursanalyse i 8. klasse

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svarstad, Lone

2015-01-01

The article presents an exploration of a Cultural Studies and Critical Cultural Pedagogy approach to intercultural competence in lower secondary English classes in Denmark. The presentation is based on the second intervention in a participatory action research project in connection with my doctoral...... to be multiplicative and dynamic and power is foregrounded. Critical discourse analysis is used as a tool in class to analyse a dispute on Facebook between Miley Cyrus and Sinead O’Connor. Students work with active construction, making connections, social interaction, reflection, responsibility and they do so...... thesis in the school year 2013-2014.The approach is based on Cultural Studies and knowledge of social categories and representation, and how these can be taught and discussed in class through an intersectional lens. An intersectional lens allows for the conceptualization of categories...

Lessons learned from measuring safety culture: an Australian case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, Suellen; Chiarella, Mary; Homer, Caroline S E

2010-10-01

adverse events in maternity care are relatively common but often avoidable. International patient safety strategies advocate measuring safety culture as a strategy to improve patient safety. Evidence suggests it is necessary to fully understand the safety culture of an organisation to make improvements to patient safety. this paper reports a case study examining the safety culture in one maternity service in Australia and considers the benefits of using surveys and interviews to understand safety culture as an approach to identify possible strategies to improve patient safety in this setting. the study took place in one maternity service in two public hospitals in NSW, Australia. Concurrently, both hospitals were undergoing an organisational restructure which was part of a major health reform agenda. The priorities of the reform included improving the quality of care and patient safety; and, creating a more efficient health system by reducing administration inefficiencies and duplication. a descriptive case study using three approaches: the safety culture was identified to warrant improvement across all six safety culture domains. There was reduced infrastructure and capacity to support incident management activities required to improve safety, which was influenced by instability from the organisational restructure. There was a perceived lack of leadership at all levels to drive safety and quality and improving the safety culture was neither a key priority nor was it valued by the organisation. the safety culture was complex as was undertaking this study. We were unable to achieve a desired 60% response rate highlighting the limitations of using safety culture surveys in isolation as a strategy to improve safety culture. Qualitative interviews provided greater insight into the factors influencing the safety culture. The findings of this study provide evidence of the benefits of including qualitative methods with quantitative surveys when examining safety culture

Community Collectivism: A social dynamic approach to conceptualizing culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Akkuş, Birol; Postmes, Tom; Stroebe, Katherine

2017-01-01

Culture shapes individuals, but the measurement of cultural differences has proven a challenge. Traditional measures of cultural values focus on individual perceptions. We suggest that values are established and maintained within social communities of proximate others, such as the family and its social environment. Within such communities, values serve to maintain collective harmony whilst preserving individual agency. From a social-dynamic analysis of communities, we infer that community values of loyalty regulate individual commitment, values of honor regulate norm compliance, and values of group hierarchy maintain a division of labor. In addition, communities may regulate the ways in which individuals have independent agency. A new scale to measure these values was validated in four studies (N = 398, 112, 465 and 111) among Dutch (religious and non-religious), Turkish-Dutch, Surinamese and Turkish groups. Values and practices were measured at the level of the individual ('What do you value?') and at the level of the perceived community ('What does your community value?'). Results show that, unlike individual-level measures of individualism/collectivism, this scale has excellent reliability, differentiates between cultural groups, and has predictive validity for future (voting) behavior. This approach provides a new way of conceptualizing culture, a new measure of collectivism and new insights into the role of proximate others in shaping culture.

Different Regional Approaches to Cultural diversity Interpreting the Belgian Cultural Diversity Policy Paradox

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ilke Adam

2015-11-01

Full Text Available In Belgium, the authority over cultural diversity policies resulting from immigration has been devolved from the central state to the regions since 1970. Consequently, Flanders and Francophone Belgium have progressively developed divergent policy tools. By describing the divergent evolution of Francophone and Flemish cultural diversity policies, our paper demonstrates the existence of a “Belgian Cultural Diversity Paradox”, namely the existence of more multicultural minority rights in the region that has most experienced electoral success by an extreme-right anti-immigrant party (Flanders, and a more colour blind and radical secular approach in the region where anti-immigrant politicization is barely a factor (Francophone Belgium. This finding is counter-intuitive because an important strand of immigrant policy research has emphasized the relationship between the politicization of immigration and restrictive immigrant citizenship rights. Our paper demonstrates that the different degrees of politicization of immigration in Flanders and Francophone Belgium cannot fully account for divergent cultural diversity policies. By insisting on the historical path dependency of the linguistic and religious cleavages in Belgium and their overlap, this paper offers an addendum to the politicization approach. The historical linguistic and religious differences of the Belgian regions clearly mediate the impact of the politicization of immigration on both sides of the linguistic border.

ENSI Approach to Oversight of Safety Culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Humbel Haag, Claudia

2012-01-01

Claudia Humbel Haag presented developments in ENSI approach to safety culture oversight. ENSI has developed a definition/understanding of Safety Culture and a concept of how to perform oversight of Safety Culture. ENSI defines safety culture in the following way: Safety Culture comprises the behaviour, world views (in the sense of conceptualisations of reality and explanation models), values (in the sense of aims and evaluation scales), and features of the physical environment (specifically, the nuclear power plant and the documents used) which are shared by many members of an organization, in as much as these are of significance to nuclear safety. A model of the accessibility of safety culture was presented ranging from the observable (external aspects of safety culture), to aspects that are accessible by asking questions, through to aspects that are not accessible (internal part of safety culture). ENSI considers observable aspects through the existing systematic safety assessment compliance program. Aspects that are observable by asking questions will be addressed by additional oversight activities outside the systematic assessment program. Aspects that are not accessible are addressed by helping the licensee to re-think its safety culture through proactive discussions on safety culture. Reports are issued to the licensee on assumptions and observations identified through the discussions. The conclusions of the presentation emphasised the importance of basing any interventions in this area on a solid understanding of the concept of safety culture. ENSI safety culture oversight principles were also described. These include licensee responsibility for safety, and the need for the regulator to critically review their own activities to ensure a positive influence on the licensee

A Bibliometric Study on Culture Research in International Business

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudia Frias Pinto

2014-07-01

Full Text Available National cultures and cultural differences provide a crucial component of the international business (IB research context. We conducted a bibliometric study of articles published in seven leading IB journals over a period of three decades to analyze how national culture has been impacting IB research. Co-citation mappings permit us to identify the ties binding works dealing with culture and cultural issues in IB. We identify two main clusters of research, each comprising two sub-clusters, with Hofstede’s (1980 work delineating much of the conceptual and empirical approach to culture-related studies. One main cluster entails works on the conceptualization of culture and its dimensions and the other cluster focuses on cultural distance. This conceptual framework captures the extant IB research incorporating culture-related concepts and influences.

Anthropological Studies of Popular Culture

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Bojan Žikić

2016-02-01

Full Text Available One of the questions raised at the symposium "Our World, Other Worlds. Anthropology, Science Fiction and Cultural Identity", held in Belgrade in December 2009, is how anthropology is to study contemporary art forms: how research issues are to be defined and approached; how research is to be organized in a specific semantic area, which cannot always and with absolute certainty be said not to be an anthropological construction; whether the subject of research can be said to have the shared nature of cultural communication; whether the anthropologist is to interpret the author/artist’s intention, or that which is produced as a result of that intention, etc. The aim of this paper is to suggest some answers to these questions, from the point of view of a researcher focused on cultural communication.

Modular co-culture engineering, a new approach for metabolic engineering.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Haoran; Wang, Xiaonan

2016-09-01

With the development of metabolic engineering, employment of a selected microbial host for accommodation of a designed biosynthetic pathway to produce a target compound has achieved tremendous success in the past several decades. Yet, increasing requirements for sophisticated microbial biosynthesis call for establishment and application of more advanced metabolic engineering methodologies. Recently, important progress has been made towards employing more than one engineered microbial strains to constitute synthetic co-cultures and modularizing the biosynthetic labor between the co-culture members in order to improve bioproduction performance. This emerging approach, referred to as modular co-culture engineering in this review, presents a valuable opportunity for expanding the scope of the broad field of metabolic engineering. We highlight representative research accomplishments using this approach, especially those utilizing metabolic engineering tools for microbial co-culture manipulation. Key benefits and major challenges associated with modular co-culture engineering are also presented and discussed. Copyright © 2016 International Metabolic Engineering Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Assessing Adolescents' Understanding of and Reactions to Stress in Different Cultures: Results of a Mixed-Methods Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Nastasi, Bonnie K.; Hitchcock, John H.; Burkholder, Gary; Varjas, Kristen; Sarkar, Sreeroopa; Jayasena, Asoka

2007-01-01

This article expands on an emerging mixed-method approach for validating culturally-specific constructs (see Hitchcock et al., 2005). Previous work established an approach for dealing with cultural impacts when assessing psychological constructs and the current article extends these efforts into studying stress reactions among adolescents in Sri…

A Simulation-Based Approach to Training Operational Cultural Competence

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, W. Lewis

2010-01-01

Cultural knowledge and skills are critically important for military operations, emergency response, or any job that involves interaction with a culturally diverse population. However, it is not obvious what cultural knowledge and skills need to be trained, and how to integrate that training with the other training that trainees must undergo. Cultural training needs to be broad enough to encompass both regional (culture-specific) and cross-cultural (culture-general) competencies, yet be focused enough to result in targeted improvements in on-the-job performance. This paper describes a comprehensive instructional development methodology and training technology framework that focuses cultural training on operational needs. It supports knowledge acquisition, skill acquisition, and skill transfer. It supports both training and assessment, and integrates with other aspects of operational skills training. Two training systems will be used to illustrate this approach: the Virtual Cultural Awareness Trainer (VCAT) and the Tactical Dari language and culture training system. The paper also discusses new and emerging capabilities that are integrating cultural competence training more strongly with other aspects of training and mission rehearsal.

The repertory grid technique as method for the study of cultural differences

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tomico Plasencia, O.; Karapanos, E.; Levy, P.D.; Mizutani, N.; Yamanaka, T.

2009-01-01

Culture is typically approached in the field of design through generic, cross-domain constructs. In this paper we provide an alternative methodological approach to exploring cross-cultural differences by studying the idiosyncratic views of individuals with regard to existing products. We

Community Collectivism: A social dynamic approach to conceptualizing culture

Science.gov (United States)

Postmes, Tom; Stroebe, Katherine

2017-01-01

Culture shapes individuals, but the measurement of cultural differences has proven a challenge. Traditional measures of cultural values focus on individual perceptions. We suggest that values are established and maintained within social communities of proximate others, such as the family and its social environment. Within such communities, values serve to maintain collective harmony whilst preserving individual agency. From a social-dynamic analysis of communities, we infer that community values of loyalty regulate individual commitment, values of honor regulate norm compliance, and values of group hierarchy maintain a division of labor. In addition, communities may regulate the ways in which individuals have independent agency. A new scale to measure these values was validated in four studies (N = 398, 112, 465 and 111) among Dutch (religious and non-religious), Turkish-Dutch, Surinamese and Turkish groups. Values and practices were measured at the level of the individual (‘What do you value?’) and at the level of the perceived community (‘What does your community value?’). Results show that, unlike individual-level measures of individualism/collectivism, this scale has excellent reliability, differentiates between cultural groups, and has predictive validity for future (voting) behavior. This approach provides a new way of conceptualizing culture, a new measure of collectivism and new insights into the role of proximate others in shaping culture. PMID:28957447

Community Collectivism: A social dynamic approach to conceptualizing culture.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Birol Akkuş

Full Text Available Culture shapes individuals, but the measurement of cultural differences has proven a challenge. Traditional measures of cultural values focus on individual perceptions. We suggest that values are established and maintained within social communities of proximate others, such as the family and its social environment. Within such communities, values serve to maintain collective harmony whilst preserving individual agency. From a social-dynamic analysis of communities, we infer that community values of loyalty regulate individual commitment, values of honor regulate norm compliance, and values of group hierarchy maintain a division of labor. In addition, communities may regulate the ways in which individuals have independent agency. A new scale to measure these values was validated in four studies (N = 398, 112, 465 and 111 among Dutch (religious and non-religious, Turkish-Dutch, Surinamese and Turkish groups. Values and practices were measured at the level of the individual ('What do you value?' and at the level of the perceived community ('What does your community value?'. Results show that, unlike individual-level measures of individualism/collectivism, this scale has excellent reliability, differentiates between cultural groups, and has predictive validity for future (voting behavior. This approach provides a new way of conceptualizing culture, a new measure of collectivism and new insights into the role of proximate others in shaping culture.

Cultural sensitivity and supportive expressive psychotherapy: an integrative approach to treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

White, Tracela M; Gibbons, Mary Beth Connolly; Schamberger, Megan

2006-01-01

Cultural sensitivity is a concept that has become increasingly important in psychotherapy research and practice. In response to the growing ethnic minority population and the increased demand for psychological services among minority clients, many therapists and researchers have attempted to identify competencies and guidelines for providing culturally sensitive approaches to treatment. However, many cultural sensitivity concepts are theoretical and have rarely been integrated into an established psychotherapeutic framework. The purpose of this manuscript is to operationalize the concepts of cultural sensitivity into specific therapeutic techniques using a manual-guided Supportive Expressive Psychotherapy approach. Developing these strategies may serve to further assist therapists with the delivery of mental health services to ethnic minority clients.

Madurese cultural communication approach

Science.gov (United States)

Dharmawan, A.; Aji, G. G.; Mutiah

2018-01-01

Madura is a tribe with a cultural entity influenced by the ecological aspect and Madurese people. Assessing Madurese culture cannot be separated from the relation of society and ecological aspects that form the characteristics of Madura culture. Stereotypes of Madurese include a stubborn attitude, and carok or killing as a problem solving. On the other hand, Madurese are known to be inclusive, religious, and hardworking. The basic assumption is that the ecological conditions in Madura also shape the social and cultural life of the Madurese. Therefore, judging the Madurese cannot just be seen from a single event only. Moreover, the assessment only focuses on Madurese violence and disregards their structure and social aspects. Assessing Madura culture as a whole can explain the characteristics of Madurese community. According Hofstede culture is a characteristic mindset and perspective of individuals or groups of society in addressing a distinguished life. These differences distinguish individuals from others, or one country to the other. According to Hofstede to be able to assess the culture can be explained by four dimensions namely, individualism-collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity-femininity and power distance. The method used in this research is a case study. The Result is Madurese classified collectivism can be viewed from the pattern of settlements called kampong meji. Madurese can be classified into low and high uncertainty avoidance. the power distance for the Madurese is classified as unequally or there is a distance of power based on social groups. The element of masculinity of the Madurese is shown to be found when the earnestness of work.

The Idea of «Concept» in the Studies of Culture

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Tatarskaya Daria Tatarskaya

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to analyzing the difference between discourses about "concept". It is an attempt to reveal the features of these approaches to the problem of understanding and studying of "concept". This term is currently at its peak popularity in the human studies, which is connected with its universality and the process of globalization, which generates an interest to studying cultures though these keywords or concepts. Meanwhile, the discourse about "concept" firstly appeared in philosophical literature. Then at the early twentieth century an interest to "concept" arose in Russian linguistics. Afterwards, the term came from the field of pure linguistics to the fields of cognitive linguistics and cultural linguistics, and then in the first decade of XXI century it was rekindled thanks to philosophy. Nowadays in the modern humaninities there are the coexistence of different approaches to understanding, interpretation and investigation of concept. In terms of linguistics the concept constitutes the meaning of sign, and its investigation focused on the search of different means of representation of it in the language and on the basis on them structuring the concept. Linguocognitive science has its aim in building a cognitive model of representation this term in the linguistic consciousness of a native speaker. The feature of cultural linguistics approach is its orientation on the search of cultural component of concept. And the approach of cultural studies focused on the search of the features and the analysis of the essence of this phenomenon in the general context of culture

Genetic programming based models in plant tissue culture: An addendum to traditional statistical approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Mridula, Meenu R; Nair, Ashalatha S; Kumar, K Satheesh

2018-02-01

In this paper, we compared the efficacy of observation based modeling approach using a genetic algorithm with the regular statistical analysis as an alternative methodology in plant research. Preliminary experimental data on in vitro rooting was taken for this study with an aim to understand the effect of charcoal and naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) on successful rooting and also to optimize the two variables for maximum result. Observation-based modelling, as well as traditional approach, could identify NAA as a critical factor in rooting of the plantlets under the experimental conditions employed. Symbolic regression analysis using the software deployed here optimised the treatments studied and was successful in identifying the complex non-linear interaction among the variables, with minimalistic preliminary data. The presence of charcoal in the culture medium has a significant impact on root generation by reducing basal callus mass formation. Such an approach is advantageous for establishing in vitro culture protocols as these models will have significant potential for saving time and expenditure in plant tissue culture laboratories, and it further reduces the need for specialised background.

A Typology of Management Studies Involving Culture

OpenAIRE

Nancy J Adler

1983-01-01

As a methodological review, this paper delineates 6 approaches to researching cross-cultural management issues: parochial, ethnocentric, polycentric, comparative, geocentric, and synergistic. For each approach, assumptions are discussed concerning the similarity and difference across cultures and the extent to which management phenomena are or are not universal. The primary types of management questions which can be addressed using each approach are clarified. Main methodological issues which...

The relationship between occupational culture dimensions and reward preferences: A structural equation modelling approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark Bussin

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Orientation: Reward has links to employee attraction and retention and as such has a role to play in managing talent. However, despite a range of research, there is still lack of clarity on employee preferences relating to reward. Research purpose: The purpose of the research was to recommend and appraise a theoretical model of the relationship between occupational culture dimensions and reward preferences of specific occupational groups in the South African context. Motivation for the study: The motivation for this study was to address the gap that exists with reward preferences and occupational culture with a view to identifying and gaining insight into individual preferences. Research design, approach and method: A structural equation modelling approach was adopted in exploring the proposed relationships. A South African Information, Communication, and Technology (ICT organisation served as the population, and a web-based survey assisted in gathering study data (n = 1362. Main findings: The findings provided support for the relationship between occupational culture dimensions and certain reward preferences. In particular, statistically significant results were obtained with the inclusion of the Environment, Team, and Time occupational culture dimensions as independent variables. Practical implications and value-add: The study provides workable input to organisations and reward professionals in the design of their reward strategies and programmes. Keywords: compensation; employee preferences; occupational culture; remuneration; reward preferences

Cultural Elements and Universality in the Process of Globalization : A Tentative Approach to a Theorization of Culture in sociology

OpenAIRE

丸山, 哲央

2002-01-01

"The main purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual scheme for the analysis of cultural globalization in accordance with the Parsonian notion of culture, and to point out some problematic issues caused by cultural globalization: the unbalanced development of cultural elements and the prevalence of the pseudo universality of a dominant particular culture. With respect to the recent trend of ‘cultural turn’ in social sciences, this is a tentative approach to a theorization of culture as ...

An Approach to Enhancement of the Safety Culture of Nuclear Power Plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Yong Hee [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-05-15

The culture of an organization is very complex to study and evaluate, but it is possible to examine the specific norms that figure out the culture for the safety of a system. This paper describes an initiation plan to study the safety culture issue in Korean NPPs. Recently there happened successively events that turned out to be socially prominent in Korea. Many issues on the safety culture aspect of NPPs have been raised including the types of errors such as violations, an intended concealment of safety-related information, counterfeit items, forgery process in procurement, and so on. Those were investigated in detail for the root causes of these issues as human and organizational errors and for the countermeasures to prevent those events. They are integrated into a correspondent long-term plan including the establishment of a fundamental infrastructure of safety culture management for operating NPPs in Korea. A monitoring system with analysis functions utilizing system dynamics simulation and data mining is proposed to be incorporated into a safety culture management system. Additionally, a set of training and support programs are to be developed for the enhancement of some selected competence of the operating personnel in Korean NPPs. The safe operation of NPPs requires the typical safety culture characteristics of the high reliability organization (HRO). The culture of an organization is very complex to study and evaluate, but it is possible to examine the specific norms that figure out the culture for the safety of a system. This paper describes an integrated systems approach as an initiating plan to study the safety culture issue in Korean NPPs.

An Approach to Enhancement of the Safety Culture of Nuclear Power Plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Yong Hee

2014-01-01

The culture of an organization is very complex to study and evaluate, but it is possible to examine the specific norms that figure out the culture for the safety of a system. This paper describes an initiation plan to study the safety culture issue in Korean NPPs. Recently there happened successively events that turned out to be socially prominent in Korea. Many issues on the safety culture aspect of NPPs have been raised including the types of errors such as violations, an intended concealment of safety-related information, counterfeit items, forgery process in procurement, and so on. Those were investigated in detail for the root causes of these issues as human and organizational errors and for the countermeasures to prevent those events. They are integrated into a correspondent long-term plan including the establishment of a fundamental infrastructure of safety culture management for operating NPPs in Korea. A monitoring system with analysis functions utilizing system dynamics simulation and data mining is proposed to be incorporated into a safety culture management system. Additionally, a set of training and support programs are to be developed for the enhancement of some selected competence of the operating personnel in Korean NPPs. The safe operation of NPPs requires the typical safety culture characteristics of the high reliability organization (HRO). The culture of an organization is very complex to study and evaluate, but it is possible to examine the specific norms that figure out the culture for the safety of a system. This paper describes an integrated systems approach as an initiating plan to study the safety culture issue in Korean NPPs

Regulatory Oversight of Safety Culture in Finland: A Systemic Approach to Safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oedewald, P.; Väisäsvaara, J.

2016-01-01

In Finland the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority STUK specifies detailed regulatory requirements for good safety culture. Both the requirements and the practical safety culture oversight activities reflect a systemic approach to safety: the interconnections between the technical, human and organizational factors receive special attention. The conference paper aims to show how the oversight of safety culture can be integrated into everyday oversight activities. The paper also emphasises that the scope of the safety culture oversight is not specific safety culture activities of the licencees, but rather the overall functioning of the licence holder or the new build project organization from safety point of view. The regulatory approach towards human and organizational factors and safety culture has evolved throughout the years of nuclear energy production in Finland. Especially the recent new build projects have highlighted the need to systematically pay attention to the non-technical aspects of safety as it has become obvious how the HOF issues can affect the design processes and quality of construction work. Current regulatory guides include a set of safety culture related requirements. The requirements are binding to the licence holders and they set both generic and specific demands on the licencee to understand, monitor and to develop safety culture of their own organization but also that of their supplier network. The requirements set for the licence holders has facilitated the need to develop the regulator’s safety culture oversight practices towards a proactive and systemic approach.

Karl Marx and the Study of Media and Culture Today

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christian Fuchs

2014-02-01

Full Text Available The task of this paper discusses the role of Marx in analysing media, communica-tion and culture today. An analysis of three contemporary Cultural Studies works – Lawrence Grossberg’s monograph Cultural Studies in the Future Tense, John Hartley’s monograph Digital Futures for Cultural and Media Studies and Paul Smith’s edited volume The Renewal of Cultural Studies – shows that there is an agreement that the economy needs to be taken more into account by Cultural Studies, but disagreement on which approach should be taken and what the role of Karl Marx’s works shall be. The paper argues that Marx’s labour theory of value is especially important for critically analysing the media, culture and communica-tion. Labour is still a blind spot of the study of culture and the media, although this situation is slowly improving. It is maintained that the turn away from Marx in Cultural and Media Studies was a profound mistake that should be reverted. Only an engagement with Marx can make Cultural and Media Studies topical, politically relevant, practical and critical, in the current times of global crisis and resurgent critique.

A Frame Analysis Approach To Cross-Cultural Television Advertising

OpenAIRE

Noel M. Murray

2011-01-01

The role of visuals in advertising research is examined. An argument is developed to support a theory of frame analysis for cross-cultural television advertising. Frame analysis is explained and commercials from Japan and the Dominican Republic are used to illustrate application of the theory. It is hoped that frame analysis will supplement content analysis as a methodological approach to cross-cultural television advertising.

Innovative Modelling Approach of Safety Culture Assessment in Nuclear Power Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahn, N.

2016-01-01

A culture is commonly defined as the shared set of norms and values that govern appropriate individual behavior. Safety culture is the subset of organizational culture that reflects the general attitude and approaches to safety and risk management. While safety is sometimes narrowly defined in terms of human death and injury, we use a more inclusive definition that also considers mission loss as a safety problem and is thus applicable to nuclear power plants and missions. The recent accident reports and investigations of the nuclear power plant mission failures (i.e., TMI, Chernobyl, and Fukushima) point to safety cultural problems in nuclear power plants. Many assessment approaches have been developed by organizations such as IAEA and INPO based on the assessment of parameters at separate levels — individuals, groups, and organizations.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF STUDENT’S CULTURAL COMPETENCE IN A POST-INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY: THE IMPERATIVES OF CAPITAL APPROACH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lyudmila V. Astakhova

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction: problems of cultural competence development among higher school students are becoming increasingly important against a decline in a cultural level of an individual in a post-industrial society. Their relevance is determined by low level of effectiveness in the use of competence-based approach in higher education, debatable nature of the culture concept in scholarship, and evolution of axiological dominants in different cultures, specificity of dominant values in post-industr ial culture. Materials and Methods: the author uses a competence-based approach to determine the cultural competence of students. A cultural approach is applied to determine various approaches to culture. A capital approach is established as the approach enabling to take into account the cultural and axiological dominants of post-industrial society. Analytic-synthetic methods are used in the search and analysis of literature on the topic; the method of comparative analysis in the determination of essence of concepts of cultural competence: method of sociological survey to discover the level of cultural competence of graduates. Results: the sociological survey of employers revealed the insufficient level of cultural competence among graduates; the concept of cultural competence in pedagogical science was examined; the limitations of approaches to this concept were identified, the author’s definition of cultural competence of personality in a postindustrial society is substantiated. Based on the author’s informed definition of cultural competence, as well as the notion of cultural capital, the author substantiates the definition of “cultural-capital competence of a student in a post-industrial society” as a structural part of his / her cultural competence, which takes into account the requirements of a post-industrial society. Discussion and Conclusions: given the evolution of value priorities in a post-industrial culture, the author substantiates the

The Dynamic Interplay among EFL Learners' Ambiguity Tolerance, Adaptability, Cultural Intelligence, Learning Approach, and Language Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Alahdadi, Shadi; Ghanizadeh, Afsaneh

2017-01-01

A key objective of education is to prepare individuals to be fully-functioning learners. This entails developing the cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, cultural, and emotional competencies. The present study aimed to examine the interrelationships among adaptability, tolerance of ambiguity, cultural intelligence, learning approach, and…

Cultural distance between parents' and children's creativity: A within-country approach in Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Jen-Ho; Su, Jenny C; Chen, Hsueh-Chih

2015-07-01

The present study adopted a within-country approach to investigate the relation of cultural distance to general creativity and math creativity in Taiwan. First, we conducted a pilot study of 201 young adolescents with parents from one of the 3 largest subethnic groups in Taiwan, namely Min-nan Taiwanese, Ha-kka Taiwanese, and Outside-Province Taiwanese. The results revealed that young Taiwanese adolescents perceived the cultural distance between Min-nan Taiwanese and Outside-Province Taiwanese as larger than the cultural distance between the other subethnic groups. The main study revealed that 610 young adolescents from large cultural distance families (i.e., those comprising 1 Min-nan Taiwanese parent and 1 Outside-Province Taiwanese parent) outperformed those from small cultural distance families (i.e., those comprising 2 Min-nan Taiwanese parents, and those comprising 1 Min-nan Taiwanese parent and 1 Ha-kka Taiwanese parent) on both general creativity and math creativity. This pattern remained even after controlling for family socioeconomic status, parents' education level, and adolescents' school mathematical performance. Implications and limitations are discussed. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

(Emerging Discourses: Architecture and Cultural Studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah McGaughey

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Three recent works, Rosalind Galt’s Pretty, Anne Cheng’s Second Skin, and Daniel Purdy’s On the Ruins of Babel incorporate architectural history and architectural discourse into their analyses in ways that are new to their respective fields ranging from studies of film, gender, and race to intellectual history. Placing these three works in one essay allows for a detailed review of the ways in which each author employs architecture, at the same time as it reveals the benefits and challenges of incorporating architecture into cultural studies. The essay discusses the contributions of each work to their fields and also takes advantage of the different approaches to culture and architecture to explore the ways in which this relationship might continue to inform and generate productive studies.

Development and evaluation of a teaching and learning approach in cross-cultural care and antidiscrimination in university nursing students.

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, Jacqui; Brown, Lucinda; Duff, Carmel; Nesbitt, Pat; Hepner, Anne

2013-12-01

Cross-cultural care and antidiscrimination are vital to ethical effective health systems. Nurses require quality educational preparation in cross-cultural care and antidiscrimination. Limited evidence-based research is available to guide teachers. To develop, implement and evaluate an evidence-based teaching and learning approach in cross-cultural care and antidiscrimination for undergraduate nursing students. A quantitative design using pre- and post-survey measures was used to evaluate the teaching and learning approach. The Bachelor of Nursing program in an Australian university. Academics and second year undergraduate nursing students. A literature review and consultation with academics informed the development of the teaching and learning approach. Thirty-three students completed a survey at pre-measures and following participation in the teaching and learning approach at post-measures about their confidence to practice cross-cultural nursing (Transcultural Self-efficacy Tool) and about their discriminatory attitudes (Quick Discrimination Index). The literature review found that educational approaches that solely focus on culture might not be sufficient in addressing discrimination and racism. During consultation, academics emphasised the importance of situating cross-cultural nursing and antidiscrimination as social determinants of health. Therefore, cross-cultural nursing was contextualised within primary health care and emphasised care for culturally diverse communities. Survey findings supported the effectiveness of this strategy in promoting students' confidence regarding knowledge about cross-cultural nursing. There was no reported change in discriminatory attitudes. The teaching and learning approach was modified to include stronger experiential learning and role playing. Nursing education should emphasise cross-cultural nursing and antidiscrimination. The study describes an evaluated teaching and learning approach and demonstrates how evaluation

Doing Cultural Studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

du Gay, Paul; Hall, Stuart; Janes, Linda

What does the Walkman have to do with the 21st century? The long-awaited second edition of this classic textbook takes students on a journey between past and present, giving them the skills do to cultural analysis along the way. Through the notion of the 'circuit of culture', this book teaches st......' for cultural studies. It is an essential classic, reworked for today's students in cultural studies, media studies and sociology....

Memory and Culture—Notes on the Concept of "Memory Cultures" Within Cultural Studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nina Leonhard

2007-09-01

Full Text Available This book of collected papers, published by the DFG-Sonderforschungsbereich Erinnerungskulturen ("Memory Cultures" at the Justus Liebig University of Gießen, gives a broad overview of approaches and results of memory research within various disciplines. Despite many interesting insights, the book offers no general framework by which the different aspects analyzed by the authors could be classified and related to one another. Thus, the shortcomings of memory studies, from a cultural perspective and understood as an interdisciplinary, multidimensional research program, become visible. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0703259

Capturing Cultural Glossaries: Case-study I *

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Matete Madiba

2011-10-01

Full Text Available

Abstract: This article is a presentation of a brief cultural glossary of Northern Sotho cooking terms. The glossary is mainly composed of names for utensils and ingredients, and action words for the processes involved in the preparation of cultural dishes. It also contains names of dishes tied to some idiomatic expressions in a way eliciting cultural experiences that can lead to an under-standing of indigenous knowledge systems. The article seeks to explore ways of capturing cultural glossaries to feed into the national dictionary corpora by using a case-study approach to investigate the processes that led to the generation of this specific school-based project. A number of issues that surfaced in this project, can possibly serve as models for the collection of authentic glossaries that can support dictionary making in African languages.

Keywords: CULTURAL GLOSSARY, INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS, CULTURAL TERMINOLOGY, CORPUS, AUTHENTIC GLOSSARY, CONTEXTUALISATION, MARGIN-ALIZED LANGUAGES, OUTCOMES-BASED EDUCATION, PERFORMANCE INDICATOR, ASSESSMENT CRITERIA, RANGE STATEMENT, TRADITIONAL DISHES, LANGUAGE VAL-ORISATION, SIMULTANEOUS FEEDBACK, COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH, STRUCTURAL APPROACH, METONYMY

Opsomming: Die totstandbrenging van kulturele woordversamelings: Ge-vallestudie I. Hierdie artikel is 'n aanbieding van 'n kort kulturele woordversameling van Noord-Sothokookterme. Die woordversameling bestaan hoofsaaklik uit die name van gereedskap en bestanddele, en handelingswoorde vir die prosesse betrokke by die voorbereiding van kulturele geregte. Dit bevat ook name van geregte wat verbind is met sekere idiomatiese uitdrukkings wat op 'n manier kulturele ervarings oproep wat kan lei tot die verstaan van inheemse kennisstelsels. Die artikel probeer om maniere te ondersoek waarop kulturele woordversamelings in die nasionale woordeboekkorpusse ingevoer kan word deur 'n gevallestudiebenadering te volg om die prosesse te ondersoek wat tot die

Investigating Preservice Teachers' Beliefs toward Cultural Diversity Employing an Inquiry through Literature Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Rangseechatchawan, Dusadee

2012-01-01

This study investigated preservice teachers' beliefs toward cultural diversity by employing an inquiry through literature approach. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of an inquiry through literature instructional format, such as book clubs, and whole class and individual inquiry, on preservice teachers' beliefs regarding cultural…

An approach for risk informed safety culture assessment for Canadian nuclear power stations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nelson, W.R.

2010-01-01

One of the most important components of effective safety and risk management for nuclear power stations is a healthy safety culture. DNV has developed an approach for risk informed safety culture assessment that combines two complementary paradigms for safety and risk management: loss prevention - for preventing and intervening in accidents; and critical function management - for achieving safety and performance goals. Combining these two paradigms makes it possible to provide more robust systems for safety management and to support a healthy safety culture. This approach is being applied to safety culture assessment in partnership with a Canadian nuclear utility. (author)

Controlled studies of chimpanzee cultural transmission.

Science.gov (United States)

Horner, Victoria; de Waal, Frans B M

2009-01-01

Following the first long-term field studies of chimpanzees in the 1960s, researchers began to suspect that chimpanzees from different African populations varied in their behavior, and that some of these variations were transmitted through social learning, thus suggesting culture. Additional reports of chimpanzee culture have since accumulated, which involve an increasing amount of behavioral variation that has no obvious ecological or genetic explanation. To date, close to 50 cultural variants have been reported, including subsistence behavior, tool-use, communication signals, and grooming patterns. Nevertheless, field studies lack the experimental controls and manipulations necessary to conclusively demonstrate that the observed variation results from differential invention and social transmission of behavior. This would require that behavioral variants have been learned from others, a question best addressed in a controlled experimental setting. The following chapter details a series of experimental studies at Yerkes National Primate Research Center of Emory University. In each case, the behavior of two captive groups (each N=12 individuals) was compared before and after the introduction of a novel foraging behavior by a trained conspecific "inventor." The studies were designed to investigate (i) the conditions under which chimpanzees learn from one another, (ii) how behaviors are transmitted, (iii) how cultures are maintained over generations. The results emphasize the importance of integrating both fieldwork and experimental approaches. Previous studies have reported deficits in chimpanzees' cultural capacities, but did so after testing them with human models, which are largely irrelevant to the problem at hand. A representative understanding of culture can only be gained when efforts are made to create a naturalistic learning environment in which chimpanzees have opportunities to learn spontaneously from conspecifics in a familiar social setting.

Language, culture and approaches to studying: towards a more comprehensive 3P Model; a cross-cultural study of the 3P Model in university students

OpenAIRE

Thong, Matthew Keen Shui

2017-01-01

Background: Language and culture are constructs that are difficult to quantify and measure; moreover, their effects on the process of learning and academic achievement can be difficult to determine. This thesis examined their effects using the theoretical framework of the Presage-Process-Product (3P) Model. The 3P Model allows the effects of various ‘presage’ factors on the ‘product’ of academic achievement to be mediated by the ‘process’ of approaches to learning. Aims: This thesis aime...

Exploring Integrated Marketing Communications, Brand Awareness, and Brand Image in Hospitality Marketing: A Cross-Cultural Approach

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Maja Šerić

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess customer perceptions of integration of marketing communications, brand awareness, and brand image in hospitality. Moreover, cross-cultural differences are considered when evaluating all the concepts, since national culture can have a considerable impact on customer behavior. Design/Methodology/Approach – After a literature review of the examined concepts, the results of an empirical study are presented and discussed. The empirical investigation was carried out by approaching 475 guests of upscale Croatian hotels. The SPSS software was employed for data analysis. Findings and implications – The results indicate that hotel guests assessed integrated marketing communications fairly highly. Brand image also reached relatively high scores, while the level of awareness of the brand was more moderate. Significant differences in perceptions among three delimited groups according to their national culture were found. The findings suggest that hotel managers should increase brand awareness and consider cross-cultural differences when implementing their business strategies. Limitations – A greater number of hotel guests according to their national culture should be approached to obtain more representative subsamples. Originality – The contribution of this work lies in examining three key marketing variables from the consumer point of view and under a cross-cultural approach. In particular, there has been little empirical evidence on IMC perceptions from the consumer perspective and hardly any considering the cultural background of the respondents. The contribution is also made to the hotel environment, as the variables were examined from the cross-cultural perspective, an issue that was completely neglected in the literature on hospitality marketing to date.

THE HUMAN ACTIVITY AS AFFECTIVE-COGNITIVE UNIT: A HISTORIC-CULTURAL APPROACH

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Lígia Márcia Martins

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This article puts in question the affectional-cognitive unit which sustains the human activity, with the purpose to light incorrectness of approaches which dichotomize reason and emotion. It asserts that such dissociations are founded in theorical-methodological principles which set bounds for explanations about the human psychism, so that the overcoming of referred dualisms puts on as a method matter. For making explicit that assertion, it resorted to Historic-Cultural Psychology, based on that it explains about the psychism as subjective image of objective reality, of Vygotskyan criticisms to Cartesian dualism and the need of a historic-cultural approach on emotion studies, intend to analyzing the human activity as a affective-cognitive unit and the imbricated relations that are waged, within it, among affections, emotions, feelings and thoughts. Once presented the interrelations between emotions and cognitions this exhibition argues that the concepts are necessary as a minimum unit of analysis both of thought and feelings.

Organisational culture and learning: a case study.

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Bell, Elaine

2013-11-01

To explore the impact organisational cultures have on the learning experience of student nurses and identify the influencing factors. A case study approach was used. The single case being a Defence School of Health Care Studies (DSHCS) and the multiple units of analysis: student nurses, the lecturers and Student Standing Orders. An in depth three dimensional picture was achieved using multiple data collection methods: interview, survey, observation and document analysis. The findings suggest that the DSHCS is perceived to be a sub-culture within a dominant civilian learning culture. Generally, the students and staff believed that the DSHCS is an excellent learning environment and that the defence students overall are high achievers. The common themes that appeared from the data were image, ethos, environment, discipline, support, welfare and a civilian versus military way of thinking. The learning experience of defence student nurses is very positive and enhanced by the positive learning culture of the civilian Higher Educational Institution. The factors influencing a positive learning experience that can be impacted by the overarching culture are discipline, image, ethos of adult learning, support and welfare. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Interacting Successfully in Corporate Culture (Approaches and Practices).

Science.gov (United States)

Southard, Sherry G.

1990-01-01

Argues that, to assume roles in corporate culture, business and technical communication students must understand corporate protocol discourse. Suggests that teachers can prepare students by providing exercises that increase student competence in navigating institutional politics. Concludes that such an approach will enable students to advance in…

An empirical study on relationship between organizational culture and administrative corruption

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Saeed Sehhat

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Bureaucratic corruption is an organizational phenomenon, which faces the trend of countries’ development with serious problems. In spite of all planning and respects of countries to fight against this phenomenon, we are still observing its growth in various aspects of the community. The basic approach emphasized by present study is that it is necessary to establish a corruption prevention system whose central element is social culture and organizational culture rather than relying upon the trends based on punishment after corruption. To perceive the relationship between organizational culture and bureaucratic health of organizations, we used a field approach and selected four governmental organizations namely “governorship”, “municipality”, “traffic police” and “customs to gather the data. We used two questionnaires A and B to gather the data on organizational culture and the relationship between culture and corruption, respectively. Initially, by distributing questionnaire A, we evaluated all four organizations in a manner that two organizations have bureaucratic culture and two organizations with organic culture. Then, questionnaire B was distributed among employees and clients of studied organizations (to acquire realer information on bureaucratic health rate to study the relationship between the type of organizational culture and bureaucratic health. Research statistical population consists of all employees and clients of bureaucratic organizations in Chabahar province located in south east of Iran. Statistical sample consists of 146 clients and 146 employees of all four studied organizations. The results from data analysis show that there is no significant relationship between organic or mechanic organizational culture and employees’ bureaucratic health.

Cultural Distance-Aware Service Recommendation Approach in Mobile Edge Computing

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Yan Li

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In the era of big data, traditional computing systems and paradigms are not efficient and even difficult to use. For high performance big data processing, mobile edge computing is emerging as a complement framework of cloud computing. In this new computing architecture, services are provided within a close proximity of mobile users by servers at the edge of network. Traditional collaborative filtering recommendation approach only focuses on the similarity extracted from the rating data, which may lead to an inaccuracy expression of user preference. In this paper, we propose a cultural distance-aware service recommendation approach which focuses on not only the similarity but also the local characteristics and preference of users. Our approach employs the cultural distance to express the user preference and combines it with similarity to predict the user ratings and recommend the services with higher rating. In addition, considering the extreme sparsity of the rating data, missing rating prediction based on collaboration filtering is introduced in our approach. The experimental results based on real-world datasets show that our approach outperforms the traditional recommendation approaches in terms of the reliability of recommendation.

Culture-bound syndrome and a culturally sensitive approach: from a viewpoint of medical anthropology.

Science.gov (United States)

Shimoji, A; Miyakawa, T

2000-08-01

Some aspects of the culture-bound syndrome are presented for discussion. From the psychiatric and medical anthropological viewpoints, kamidaari is described as an initiatory illness for seeing a shaman, and focus on clinical realities developing between different therapeutic subcultures in the same culture and the complementary practices of two epistemological ones, namely, the shamanistic and modern psychiatric system in the shamanistic climate. It is suggested that the culture-bound syndrome that reflects cultural influences on disease patterns and renders them difficult to place in a universal classificatory system should be seen as a vernacular bricolage or as tactics used by people within the web of their own local culture of origin. Therapists who treat patients in a cross-epistemological milieu should be aware of the subcultural-epistemological issues that may affect the clinical process. It should be recognized that, depending on the nature of a particular psychiatric crisis, the clinical encounter is straddling the boundaries of multiple clinical realities. At every stage in the clinical field, there is an intersection, consonance, or interruption of rejoinders in the open dialog by all those engaged in the clinical time. Aspects of climatic, culturally sensitive psychotherapy will be described, and the concept of the culture-bound syndrome will be reconsidered. Our approach could be seen as 'situation- and fudo-bound'.

Urbanity and Urbanization: An Interdisciplinary Review Combining Cultural and Physical Approaches

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Christoph Schneider

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This review paper focuses on research schemes regarding urbanity and urbanization, and brings together both cultural and physical approaches. First, we review the cultural and social construction of urbanity (as related to urbanization in Germany. In the early 20th century, urbanity was mainly the result of identity derived from a historical perspective in cities. This has changed profoundly in recent decades as urbanity stems more and more from various urban lifestyles and the staging of societal experiences, as summarized in the German term, “Erlebnisgesellschaft” (thrill-seeking society. The discussion is extended by an assessment of the recent state of the art regarding physical urban research. The focus lies on different fields of research; we address topics such as biodiversity, urban climate, air pollution, and resilience, as well as their impact on urban planning and governance. In conclusion, in order to tackle recent developments and future challenges regarding social and environmental issues, an integrative approach urges novel cross- and inter-disciplinary research efforts in urban studies, including urban-rural linkages. A newly constituted assessment of urbanization and city quarter development is proposed; the assessment focuses on the conjoint analysis of mobility, “Energiewende” (energy transition, cultural drivers, demographic development, and environmental issues.

Within-culture variations of uniqueness: towards an integrative approach based on social status, gender, life contexts, and interpersonal comparison.

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Causse, Elsa; Félonneau, Marie-Line

2014-01-01

Research on uniqueness is widely focused on cross-cultural comparisons and tends to postulate a certain form of within-culture homogeneity. Taking the opposite course of this classic posture, we aimed at testing an integrative approach enabling the study of within-culture variations of uniqueness. This approach considered different sources of variation: social status, gender, life contexts, and interpersonal comparison. Four hundred seventy-nine participants completed a measure based on descriptions of "self" and "other." Results showed important variations of uniqueness. An interaction between social status and life contexts revealed the expression of uniqueness in the low-status group. This study highlights the complexity of uniqueness that appears to be related to both cultural ideology and social hierarchy.

Characterising influences on safety culture in military aviation:a methodologically grounded approach

OpenAIRE

Bennett, Anthea; Hellier, Elizabeth; Weyman, Andrew

2015-01-01

Historically, much effort has been expended in safety culture / climate research toward identifying a generic core set of components, predominately using the self-administered questionnaire approach. However, no stable unified model has emerged, and much of this research has taken a methodologically top-down approach to depicting organisational safety culture. In light of this, the benefits of qualitative exploration as a precursor to and foundation for the development of quantitative climate...

Economic culture of the Tuvans within the scope of the sociocultural approach

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Yuri V. Popkov

2018-06-01

Full Text Available In this article, the authors argue that for the periods of social turmoil, understanding culture as a set of norms controlling social behavior is limited and insufficient. A more adequate approach would involve interpreting culture as a specific historical version of the society’s existence in its qualitative form. This hearkens back to the sociocultural approach which postulates the culture as an ensemble, and the sociocultural construed as the social in the cultural variety. In this context, economic culture might be seen as a set of qualitative features of a specific economic entity shaped by the local conditions of development. With all its peculiarities, an economic culture appears an element of this sociocultural diversity. Studying the economic culture of Tuvans through the lens of the sociocultural approach and the notion of this diversity allows us to outline several important aspects of this issue, rarely addressed by the existing academic discourse. A focus should be made, for instance, not only on the dominant nomadic culture, but also on subdominant economic cultures which helped shape a number of skills and techniques. While nomadism helped develop unhurried and contemplative attitude to life, hunting demanded dynamic change, and agriculture and crafts called for diligence and meticulousness. A brief glance at the economic history of Tuvans allowed the authors to conclude that economic diversity both provides stability to the economic culture of Tuvan society and expresses its variegation, its capacity to develop through numerous modifications. This polymorphism acts as an important resource which helps launch the alternate routes of ethnic development. These routes rarely appear self-evident under the dominant type of economic culture which had been shaping the traditional life of Tuvan society. Tapping into this alternative potential can prove an important reserve for future development. An overview of ethnographic data helps

"A Completely New Approach" to Indigenous Cultural Heritage: Evaluating the Queensland Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act

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Mark E. O'Neill

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 challenged the hegemony that Western, archaeological methodologies has held over Indigenous cultural heritage in Australia. By choosing to relinquish state control and authority over cultural heritage in favour of the expertise of Indigenous people, the Act created a unique and innovative heritage policy. Over the 10 years the Act has been in force, it has seen a variety of approaches adopted as part of myriad projects. This has created a mature field of practice for investigation and analysis. This article examines and critiques the Act to determine its successes and weaknesses. In doing so, it offers opportunities for other policy-makers to consider as part of policy review.

Cross-cultural medical education: conceptual approaches and frameworks for evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Betancourt, Joseph R

2003-06-01

Given that understanding the sociocultural dimensions underlying a patient's health values, beliefs, and behaviors is critical to a successful clinical encounter, cross-cultural curricula have been incorporated into undergraduate medical education. The goal of these curricula is to prepare students to care for patients from diverse social and cultural backgrounds, and to recognize and appropriately address racial, cultural, and gender biases in health care delivery. Despite progress in the field of cross-cultural medical education, several challenges exist. Foremost among these is the need to develop strategies to evaluate the impact of these curricular interventions. This article provides conceptual approaches for cross-cultural medical education, and describes a framework for student evaluation that focuses on strategies to assess attitudes, knowledge, and skills, and the impact of curricular interventions on health outcomes.

Types of cross-cultural studies in cross-cultural psychology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

2003-01-01

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

Corporate culture of modern university: approaches to definition essence

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N. V. Horbenko

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The role and importance of corporate culture of the university; found to relate concepts as «corporate culture» and «organizational culture» and discovered the last function: cognitive, value­education, communication, legal and regulatory, motivational, innovative and Stability; singled structural elements of corporate culture: artifacts, values, norms, goals and mission of the organization; and signs of the university as a corporation: nadorhanizatsiynist, polisub’yektnist, competitive environment, as the value of social identity formation and contrast to other organizations; noted that the characteristics of the corporate culture of the University is directly dependent on its public tasks, including such as meeting the needs of the individual in the intellectual, cultural and moral development through vocational education, science through research and creative activity of scientific and pedagogical staff training retraining and advanced training of employees with higher education, the formation of students’ citizenship, ability to work and life, spreading knowledge among the population, improving its educational and cultural level; indicated on the approaches to the definition of «corporate culture», including phenomenological and pragmatic, rational and genetic, and eksternalistskyy internalistskyy, guiding and limiting; peculiarities of formation and development of the corporate culture of the university in the context of competitiveness; the conclusions noted that the level of corporate culture depends not only on internal motivational guidance of employees of the University, but the resulting performance indicators ­ profitability, profitability and competitiveness.

The dynamic interplay among EFL learners’ ambiguity tolerance, adaptability, cultural intelligence, learning approach, and language achievement

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Shadi Alahdadi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available A key objective of education is to prepare individuals to be fully-functioning learners. This entails developing the cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, cultural, and emotional competencies. The present study aimed to examine the interrelationships among adaptability, tolerance of ambiguity, cultural intelligence, learning approach, and language achievement as manifestations of the above competencies within a single model. The participants comprised one hundred eighty BA and MA Iranian university students studying English language teaching and translation. The instruments used in this study consisted of the translated versions of four questionnaires: second language tolerance of ambiguity scale, adaptability taken from emotional intelligence inventory, cultural intelligence (CQ inventory, and the revised study process questionnaire measuring surface and deep learning. The results estimated via structural equation modeling (SEM revealed that the proposed model containing the variables under study had a good fit with the data. It was found that all the variables except adaptability directly influenced language achievement with deep approach having the highest impact and ambiguity tolerance having the lowest influence. In addition, ambiguity tolerance was a positive and significant predictor of deep approach. CQ was found to be under the influence of both ambiguity tolerance and adaptability. The findings were discussed in the light of the yielded results.

A Guttman-Based Approach to Identifying Cumulativeness Applied to Chimpanzee Culture

OpenAIRE

Graber, RB; de Cock, DR; Burton, ML

2012-01-01

Human culture appears to build on itself-that is, to be to some extent cumulative. Whether this property is shared by culture in the common chimpanzee is controversial. The question previously has been approached, qualitatively (and inconclusively), by debating whether any chimpanzee culture traits have resulted from individuals building on one another's work ("ratcheting"). The fact that the chimpanzees at different sites have distinctive repertoires of traits affords a different avenue of a...

An integrative approach to cultural competence in the psychiatric curriculum.

Science.gov (United States)

Fung, Kenneth; Andermann, Lisa; Zaretsky, Ari; Lo, Hung-Tat

2008-01-01

As it is increasingly recognized that cultural competence is an essential quality for any practicing psychiatrist, postgraduate psychiatry training programs need to incorporate cultural competence training into their curricula. This article documents the unique approach to resident cultural competence training being developed in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, which has the largest residency training program in North America and is situated in an ethnically diverse city and country. The authors conducted a systematic review of cultural competence by searching databases including PubMed, PsycINFO, PsycArticles, CINAHL, Social Science Abstracts, and Sociological Abstracts; by searching government and professional association publications; and through on-site visits to local cross-cultural training programs. Based on the results of the review, a resident survey, and a staff retreat, the authors developed a deliberate "integrative" approach with a mindful, balanced emphasis on both generic and specific cultural competencies. Learning objectives were derived from integrating the seven core competencies of a physician as defined by the Canadian Medical Education Directions for Specialists (CanMEDS) roles framework with the tripartite model of attitudes, knowledge, and skills. The learning objectives and teaching program were further integrated across different psychiatric subspecialties and across the successive years of residency. Another unique strategy used to foster curricular and institutional change was the program's emphasis on evaluation, making use of insights from modern educational theories such as formative feedback and blueprinting. Course evaluations of the core curriculum from the first group of residents were positive. The authors propose that these changes to the curriculum may lead to enhanced cultural competence and clinical effectiveness in health care.

Hong Kong Chinese daughters' intergenerational caregiving obligations: a cultural model approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Holroyd, E

2001-11-01

This paper, based on a study carried out in Hong Kong, outlines the caregiving obligations of Hong Kong Chinese daughters towards their frail elderly parents. A cultural model approach drawn from cognitive anthropology is taken to focus on how Chinese caregiving daughters develop a sense of what is right and emotionally fulfilling and acquire the motivation to care for their parents. An ethnographic approach was used in the study and techniques included guided and open-ended interviews and non-participatory observations. A total of 20 co-residential caregiving daughters were interviewed in their homes on average twice over the course of one year. All interviews were conducted in Cantonese. Although the sample was small, daughters' accounts are structured by reference to cultural models and this structure provides the common basis for generalisability of results. Concepts of Confucian antecedents, reciprocity and personhood and other modern ideas of filial duty are explored. Conclusions are drawn about the shifting rights and obligations of Chinese caregiving daughters within the contemporary urban realities of Hong Kong. The findings of this study have relevance for the development of welfare policy for older Chinese persons and the chronically ill, and to all services involving women. The findings will also serve to inform family caregiver education programs.

Fusarium diversity in soil using a specific molecular approach and a cultural approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Edel-Hermann, Véronique; Gautheron, Nadine; Mounier, Arnaud; Steinberg, Christian

2015-04-01

Fusarium species are ubiquitous in soil. They cause plant and human diseases and can produce mycotoxins. Surveys of Fusarium species diversity in environmental samples usually rely on laborious culture-based methods. In the present study, we have developed a molecular method to analyze Fusarium diversity directly from soil DNA. We designed primers targeting the translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF-1α) gene and demonstrated their specificity toward Fusarium using a large collection of fungi. We used the specific primers to construct a clone library from three contrasting soils. Sequence analysis confirmed the specificity of the assay, with 750 clones identified as Fusarium and distributed among eight species or species complexes. The Fusarium oxysporum species complex (FOSC) was the most abundant one in the three soils, followed by the Fusarium solani species complex (FSSC). We then compared our molecular approach results with those obtained by isolating Fusarium colonies on two culture media and identifying species by sequencing part of the EF-1α gene. The 750 isolates were distributed into eight species or species complexes, with the same dominant species as with the cloning method. Sequence diversity was much higher in the clone library than in the isolate collection. The molecular approach proved to be a valuable tool to assess Fusarium diversity in environmental samples. Combined with high throughput sequencing, it will allow for in-depth analysis of large numbers of samples. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Eating disorders in Asian populations: a critique of current approaches to the study of culture, ethnicity, and eating disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Cummins, Lillian Huang; Simmons, Angela M; Zane, Nolan W S

2005-10-01

There is increasing evidence that eating disorders are present among ethnically diverse populations, and researchers have suggested that investigations in this area may inform the field's understanding of how sociocultural factors are related to the development of eating disorders. Although it is generally accepted that sociocultural factors are key in eating disorder etiology, knowledge on how best to study these influences in diverse groups is still limited. In this article, the authors review how the research literature has explored relationships among culture, ethnicity, and eating disorders in Asian populations and critically examine strategies that have been used to investigate these issues across 1 ethnic/racial group. The methodological challenges encountered in these approaches are identified and considered in the provision of recommendations for future endeavors to improve the field's understanding of how culture is related to eating disorders.

Assessment Leaders' Perspectives of Institutional Cultures of Assessment: A Delphi Study

Science.gov (United States)

Fuller, Matthew; Henderson, Susan; Bustamante, Rebecca

2015-01-01

Institutional cultures of assessment are praised as beneficial to student learning. Yet, extant studies have not explored the theoretical foundations and pragmatic approaches to shaping cultures of assessment. The researchers used the Delphi method to explore 10 higher education assessment leaders' attitudes and theoretical perspectives regarding…

Traditions and Transitions in Quantitative Societal Culture Research in Organization Studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Peterson, Mark, F.; Søndergaard, Mikael

2011-01-01

Quantitative societal culture research (QSCR) in organization studies crystallizes a configuration of social science perspectives and methods that became prominent in the 1970s. We consider the qualities of and boundaries around cultural groups that this tradition emphasizes, and other...... characteristics of cultural groups that it does not emphasize. Current debates surrounding this tradition reflect both recent social science innovations and rediscoveries of early social science perspectives. Our analysis of quantitative cross-cultural societal research in organization studies considers...... this process of crystallization, innovation and rediscovery. We suggest ways to address current controversies and promote conversations with other research approaches....

Enabling "new" practices of renewable energy sharing : A cross-cultural approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Singh, A.; Van Dijk, H.W.; Romero Herrera, N.A.; Keyson, D.V.

2015-01-01

Local generation, distribution and consumption of renewable energy within neighborhood is an emerging application context for the concept of `sharing'. This position paper introduces a cross-cultural approach to enable `new' social practices of renewable energy sharing in neighborhoods. The approach

Teaching culture in the Japanese language classroom: A NSW case study

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Caroline Mahoney

2009-12-01

Full Text Available This study examines, through a qualitative case study approach, how non-native- speaking (NNS Japanese language teachers in New South Wales (NSW teach culture and why. The study seeks to understand the pedagogy used to teach culture, teachers’ attitudes and beliefs on teaching culture and how these attitudes and beliefs have been influenced by past experiences. This study also explores how the NSW K-10 Japanese syllabus and concepts of Intercultural Language Learning (IcLL are being implemented in teachers’ classrooms. Two non-native-speaking (NNS Japanese language teachers from a selective secondary school in NSW were interviewed and their classes observed over three days. Analysis of interview and observation data shows that these teachers teach culture as determined by language content, integrate language and culture teaching and teach culture as observable and factual. The study shows that both teachers view culture teaching as easier than language teaching, however their views on the influence of the syllabus differ. The study explores the teachers’ past experiences and how these affect how they feel towards, and teach culture. Finally, this study looks at how the teachers’ practices reflect concepts of IcLL such as integrating language and culture, student-centered learning and how their status as NNS teachers affects their culture teaching.

A Cultural Formulation Approach to Career Assessment and Career Counseling with Asian American Clients

Science.gov (United States)

Leong, Frederick T. L.; Hardin, Erin E.; Gupta, Arpana

2010-01-01

Using the cultural formulations approach to career assessment and career counseling, the current article applies it specifically to Asian American clients. The approach is illustrated by using the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" fourth edition ("DSM-IV") Outline for Cultural Formulations that consists of the following five…

SfM for Orthophoto to Generation: A Winning Approach for Cultural Heritage Knowledge

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F. Chiabrando

2015-08-01

Full Text Available 3D detailed models derived from digital survey techniques have increasingly developed and focused in many field of application. The high detailed content and accuracy of such models make them so attractive and usable for large sets of purposes in Cultural Heritage. The present paper focuses on one of the main techniques used nowadays for Cultural Heritage survey and documentation: the image matching approach or Structure from Motion (SfM technique. According to the low cost nature and the rich content of derivable information, these techniques are extremely strategic in poor available resources sectors such as Cultural Heritage documentation. After an overview of the employed algorithms and used approaches of SfM computer vision based techniques, the paper is focused in a critical analysis of the strategy used by two common employed software: the commercial suite Agisoft Photoscan and the open source tool MicMac realized by IGN France. The experimental section is focused on the description of applied tests (from RPAS data to terrestrial acquisitions, purposed to compare different solutions in various featured study cases. Finally, the accuracy assessment of the achieved products is compared and analyzed according to the strategy employed by the studied software.

Cultural Approach to HIV/AIDS Harm Reduction in Muslim Countries

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Hasnain Memoona

2005-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Muslim countries, previously considered protected from HIV/AIDS due to religious and cultural norms, are facing a rapidly rising threat. Despite the evidence of an advancing epidemic, the usual response from the policy makers in Muslim countries, for protection against HIV infection, is a major focus on propagating abstention from illicit drug and sexual practices. Sexuality, considered a private matter, is a taboo topic for discussion. Harm reduction, a pragmatic approach for HIV prevention, is underutilized. The social stigma attached to HIV/AIDS, that exists in all societies is much more pronounced in Muslim cultures. This stigma prevents those at risk from coming forward for appropriate counseling, testing, and treatment, as it involves disclosure of risky practices. The purpose of this paper is to define the extent of the HIV/AIDS problem in Muslim countries, outline the major challenges to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, and discuss the concept of harm reduction, with a cultural approach, as a strategy to prevent further spread of the disease. Recommendations include integrating HIV prevention and treatment strategies within existing social, cultural and religious frameworks, working with religious leaders as key collaborators, and provision of appropriate healthcare resources and infrastructure for successful HIV prevention and treatment programs in Muslim countries.

Assessment of safety culture: Changing regulatory approach in Hungary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ronaky, Jozsef; Toth, Andras

2002-01-01

Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority (HAEA) is changing its inspection practice and assessment methods of safety performance and safety culture in operating nuclear facilities. The new approach emphasises integrated team inspection of safety cornerstones and systematic assessment of safety performance of operators. (author)

Nuclear safety and security culture - an integrated approach to regulatory oversight

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tronea, M.; Ciurea Ercau, C.

2013-01-01

The paper presents the development and implementation of regulatory guidelines for the oversight of safety and security culture within licensees organizations. CNCAN (the National Commission for Nuclear Activities of Romania) has used the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) attributes for a strong safety culture as the basis for its regulatory guidelines providing support to the reviewers and inspectors for recognizing and gathering information relevant to safety culture. These guidelines are in process of being extended to address also security culture, based on the IAEA Nuclear Security Series No. 7 document Nuclear Security Culture: Implementing Guide. Recognizing that safety and security cultures coexist and need to reinforce each other because they share the common objective of limiting risk and that similar regulatory review and inspection processes are in place for nuclear security oversight, an integrated approach is considered justified, moreover since the common elements of these cultures outweigh the differences. (authors)

CULTURAL STUDIES: INSTITUTIONAL CRISIS OR THE TIME OF STRATEGIC DECISIONS

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Irina Ya. Murzina

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this investigation is to signify of the problems of cultural studies as a science and educational practice in a situation of modernization of education. The publication continues the discussion started at the alignment meeting of Heads of Cultural Studies Departments in Russia – «The science of culture and cultural education: time for strategic decisions». Methods. The author has applied the following methods: analysis of existing points of view; reflection of the essence of the cultural knowledge and perspectives of cultural development of cultural studies science in Russia. Results. The research outcomes show that cultural studies in modern Russia are experiencing institutional crisis: insufficient definiteness and awareness by experts and publicity due to places and roles of culturological disciplines in educational process, but also the methodological bases of activity of culturologists. Aspects of culturological formation are considered and prospects of its development are specified. It was proposed to continue the discussion started at the alignment meeting of Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, and it will give an option to discuss the solution ways of current recessionary situation more fundamentally and subjectively on territory-regional level. Scientific novelty. The approaches to understanding the culture as areas of scientific knowledge are methodized; the areas of cultural education in the conditions of modernization are summarized. Practical significance. The research implementations can be used while improving the theoretical-methodological component of cultural education, and extending the horizons for topical current research works in the field of cultural studies. 

HISTORY OF in vitro CULTURE STUDIES ON Helianthus annuus L. IN TURKEY

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Sergun DAYAN

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Tissue culture techniques offer important approaches about sunflower breeding and germplasm conservation. The available data on the subject in Turkey was reviewed in order to encourage the researchers to study on tissue culture of sunflower. In vitro studies on sunflower in Turkey started in the first half of the 90s. A large number of in vitro culture studies on sunflower using anthers, hypocotyls, cotyledons, petioles of cotyledon, shoot-tips, mature embryos, immature embryos, leaves, petioles, immature cotyledons and microspores as different explants have been published. Microspore culture, anther culture, embryo culture, slow growth storage, micropropagation and gene transfer with Agrobacterium were also used in these culture studies. Although these studies formed an important scientific knowledge about sunflower tissue culture in the country, it is still not sufficient. Therefore, there is an urgent need to make more in vitro studies on sunflower which is an important agricultural plant for Turkey. The transfer of the results of these studies to agricultural applications is also essential from a sectoral standpoint.

A study on relationship between organizational culture and organizational commitment

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Maryam Khalili

2014-07-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an empirical investigation to study the relationship between organizational culture and organization commitment. The study uses two questionnaires, one for measuring organizational commitment originally developed by Meyer and Allen (1991 [Meyer, J. P., & Allen, N. J. (1991. A three-component conceptualization of organizational commitment. Human resource management review, 1(1, 61-89.] and the other one for organizational culture developed by Denison and Spreitzer (1991 [Denison, D. R., & Spreitzer, G. M. (1991. Organizational culture and organizational development: A competing values approach. Research in organizational change and development, 5(1, 1-21.]. The study is accomplished among selected full time employees who work for an Iranian bank named Bank Saderat Iran. Using Pearson correlation test as well as linear regression methods, the study has determined that there were some positive and meaningful relationship between all components of organizational commitment and organizational culture.

Laboratory Approach to the Diagnosis of Culture-Negative Infective Endocarditis.

Science.gov (United States)

Subedi, S; Jennings, Z; Chen, S C-A

2017-08-01

Blood-culture negative endocarditis (BCNE) accounts for up to 35% of all cases of infective endocarditis (IE) and is a serious life-threatening condition with considerable morbidity and mortality. Rapid detection and identification of the causative pathogen is essential for timely, directed therapy. Blood-culture negative endocarditis presents a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Causes of BCNE are varied including: treatment with antibiotic agents prior to blood culture collection; sub-optimal specimen collection; and/or infection due to fastidious (eg. nutritionally variant streptococci), intracellular (eg. Coxiella burnetii, Bartonella species) or non-culturable or difficult to culture organisms (eg. Mycobacteria, Tropheryma whipplei and fungi); as well as non-infective aetiologies. Here, we review aetiological and diagnostic approaches to BCNE including newer molecular based techniques, with a brief summary of imaging investigation and treatment principles. Copyright © 2017 Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons (ANZSCTS) and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Bio-Culturalism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grodal, Torben Kragh

2007-01-01

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

Approaches to measuring cultural diversity in recreation

Science.gov (United States)

Chieh-Lu Li; James D. Absher; Yi-Chung Hsu; Alan R. Graefe

2008-01-01

Measuring cultural diversity in recreation has become an important topic because of the increasing coverage of and interest in ethnicity and cross-cultural aspects of recreation. Introducing theories and methods from established disciplines other than leisure studies/recreation and park studies is necessary to understand this important issue. In this article, we first...

A cultural landscape approach to community-based conservation in Solomon Islands

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Richard K. Walter

2014-12-01

Full Text Available International environmental organizations have an increasing commitment to the development of conservation programs in high-diversity regions where indigenous communities maintain customary rights to their lands and seas. A major challenge that these programs face is the alignment of international conservation values with those of the indigenous communities whose cooperation and support are vital. International environmental organizations are focused on biodiversity conservation, but local communities often have a different range of concerns and interests, only some of which relate to biodiversity. One solution to this problem involves adoption of a cultural landscape approach as the ethical and organizational foundation of the conservation program. In our conservation work in coastal Melanesia, we have developed a cultural landscape approach that involves the construction of a conceptual model of environment that reflects the indigenous perceptions of landscape. This model incorporates cultural, ideational, and spiritual values alongside other ecosystem services and underpins the conservation activities, priorities, and organizational structure of our programs. This cultural landscape model was a reaction to a survey of environmental values conducted by our team in which Solomon Islanders reported far greater interest in conserving cultural heritage sites than any other ecosystem resources. This caused a radical rethinking of community-based conservation programs. The methodologies we adopted are derived from the fields of archaeology and historical anthropology, in which there is an established practice of working through research problems within the framework of indigenous concepts of, and relationship to, landscape. In our work in Isabel Province, Solomon Islands, coastal communities have enthusiastically adopted conservation programs that are based on cultural landscape models that recognize indigenous values. A particularly useful tool is

Cultural probes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Jacob Østergaard

The aim of this study was thus to explore cultural probes (Gaver, Boucher et al. 2004), as a possible methodical approach, supporting knowledge production on situated and contextual aspects of occupation.......The aim of this study was thus to explore cultural probes (Gaver, Boucher et al. 2004), as a possible methodical approach, supporting knowledge production on situated and contextual aspects of occupation....

An idiographic and nomothetic approach to the study of Mexican-origin adolescent mothers' socio-cultural stressors and adjustment.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeiders, Katharine H; Umaña-Taylor, Adriana J; Updegraff, Kimberly A; Jahromi, Laudan B

2015-04-01

The current study examined the longitudinal relations of socio-cultural stressors (i.e., acculturative stressors, enculturative stressors, ethnic discrimination) and Mexican-origin adolescent mothers' depressive symptoms and risk-taking behaviors. Utilizing an idiographic and nomothetic approach, we conducted lagged analyses to examine how individuals' fluctuations in stressors predicted subsequent adjustment. Further, we investigated potential threshold effects by examining if the impact of fluctuations in stressors differed at varying levels of stressors. Mexican-origin adolescent females (N = 184) participated in yearly in-home assessments across 5 years and reported on their experiences of acculturative and enculturative stressors, ethnic discrimination, depressive symptoms, and risk-taking behaviors. Findings revealed that within-person fluctuations in acculturative stressors and, to a lesser extent, perceived discrimination related to youths' depressive symptoms. For risk-taking behaviors, however, only within-person fluctuations in enculturative stressors emerged as significant. Further, a threshold effect emerged in the link between enculturative stressors and risk-taking behaviors, suggesting that fluctuations in enculturative stressors predicted changes in risk-taking behaviors at high levels of enculturative stressors but not low levels. Our findings highlight the differential relations between socio-cultural stressors and adolescent females' adjustment and suggest that prevention programs aimed at reducing depressive symptoms should attend to any degree of change in socio-cultural stressors, whereas programs focused on risk-taking behaviors should be especially attuned to levels of enculturative stress.

An Idiographic and Nomothetic Approach to the Study of Mexican-Origin Adolescent Mothers’ Socio-Cultural Stressors and Adjustment

Science.gov (United States)

Zeiders, Katharine H.; Umaña-Taylor, Adriana J.; Updegraff, Kimberly A.; Jahromi, Laudan B.

2014-01-01

The current study examined the longitudinal relations of socio-cultural stressors (i.e., acculturative stressors, enculturative stressors, ethnic discrimination) and Mexican-origin adolescent mothers’ depressive symptoms and risk-taking behaviors. Utilizing an idiographic and nomothetic approach, we conducted lagged analyses to examine how individuals’ fluctuations in stressors predicted subsequent adjustment. Further, we investigated potential threshold effects by examining if the impact of fluctuations in stressors differed at varying levels of stressors. Mexican-origin adolescent females (N = 184) participated in yearly in-home assessments across 5 years and reported on their experiences of acculturative and enculturative stressors, ethnic discrimination, depressive symptoms, and risk-taking behaviors. Findings revealed that within-person fluctuations in acculturative stressors, and to a lesser extent, perceived discrimination, related to youths’ depressive symptoms. For risk-taking behaviors, however, only within-person fluctuations in enculturative stressors emerged as significant. Further, a threshold effect emerged in the link between enculturative stressors and risk-taking behaviors, suggesting that fluctuations in enculturative stressors predicted changes in risk-taking behaviors at high levels of enculturative stressors, but not low levels. Our findings highlight the differential relations between socio-cultural stressors and adolescent females’ adjustment, and suggest that prevention programs aimed at reducing depressive symptoms should attend to any degree of change in socio-cultural stressors, whereas programs focused on risk-taking behaviors should be especially attuned to levels of enculturative stress. PMID:25099084

A formative approach to cultural content learning in intercultural foreign language teaching

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Andrijević Maja M.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The paper outlines the effectiveness of the formative approach in the adoption of cultural content as part of intercultural foreign language teaching. In contrast to the informative, the formative approach is based on a constructivist approach to foreign language acquisition; in other words, it is a process of tertiary socialization through the construction of an intercultural identity, by means of experiential acquisition, interaction and cognitive conflict with previously adopted patterns. Byram's (1997 propositions about the importance of acquiring intercultural competence in foreign language teaching represent a complete shift towards a formative approach since they formulate general educational goals according to which it is impossible to have an insight into the language reality of a different culture unless an individual is aware of their own and the relative nature of both, which is vital to the development of critical intercultural awareness. Thus the focus of teaching shifts to the integration of the target and the source cultures through participatory tasks and constructive analysis, and to the construction of the learner's identity as intercultural speaker with a range of affective, cognitive and behavioral competences enabling successful contact with difference. The formative approach enables the foreign language teacher, whose role has also been redefined, to use appropriate materials in order to develop critical thinking and intercultural competence in students through their active involvement in the process of target language acquisition.

Knowledge as a Cultural Product: From the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge to the Cultural Studies of Science

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Ali Rabbani

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The main characteristic (feature of the sociology of knowledge and science is its emphasis on the culture and cultural analysis within the scientific and technological research. This study concerns with the study of two research fields in which new sociologists of science and technology have presented their cultural analysis. These two fields include: sociology of scientific knowledge and cultural studies of science.Sociology of scientific knowledge is the first school of thought which makes the content of scientific knowledge inclined to and compliant with the cultural and sociological analysis. In SSK, the main presupposition is that “the scientific knowledge is totally arbitrary.” Accordingly, the design and evaluation of scientific theories and claims are the consequence of social interests and cultural inclinations (trends, in a way that the scientific theories become a tool for the justification, legitimating, encouragement and contentment.At the early 1990s, with the rise of crisis (chaos within the explanations of sociology of scientific knowledge and a flood of criticism against it, the whole subjectivity of the field came to a standstill (reached an impasse and the initiatives in scientific research were replaced by different theoretical orientations like cultural studies. In contrast to the sociology of scientific knowledge, the cultural studies of science concerns with the rejection of “explanation” and, instead, focuses on the “meaning” and “understanding”. In other words, it has come back to an old dispute between explanatory and hermeneutic approaches and those  which pursue the regulative (legalistic comprehensiveness along the more positivistic lines.This emerging field emphasizes the issue that the uncertainty, instability, ambiguity (vagueness and difference must be given a more important role in sciences. Cultural studies of science gave rise to a change from the sociology of scientific knowledge to a new

University Organizational Culture through Insider Eyes: A Case Study of a Writing Program

Science.gov (United States)

Orton, Haley; Conley, Sharon

2016-01-01

Using a case study approach, the authors examined university administrator and instructor perspectives about a writing program's organizational culture. In so doing, members of the writing program were invited to participate in interviews over a three-year period. This qualitative case study suggests that examples of culture through a three-lens…

A Cultural Approach to Understanding Professional Experiences of Foreign-Born Faculty in U.S. Educational Leadership Preparation Programs

Science.gov (United States)

Khrabrova, Iryna; Sanzo, Karen L.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the professional experiences of foreign-born faculty members serving in U.S. educational leadership preparation programs, utilizing a cultural approach to discern their lived experiences related to professional life. Cultural values were explored as reflected in professional life experiences. The…

Unifying the concept of consciousness across the disciplines: A concept-based, cross-cultural approach

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Peter N.

The majority of studies concerning consciousness have examined and modeled the concept of consciousness in terms of particular lines of inquiry, a process that has circumscribed the general applicability of any results from such approaches. The purpose of this dissertation was to study consciousness from a concept-based, cross-cultural approach and to attempt to unify the concept across the cultures examined. The 4 cultures are the academic disciplines of philosophy, physics, psychology, and anthropology. Consciousness was examined in terms of how the concept is framed and where the major limitations in each line of inquiry occur. The rationale for examining consciousness as a concept across 4 cultures was to determine whether there was any common component in each line's framing that could be used to unify the concept. The study found that experience itself was the primary unifying factor in each field's framing and that experience was treated as a nonreducible property within each line of inquiry. By taking experience itself (but not subjective experience) as a fundamental property, each culture's concept of consciousness becomes tractable. As such, this dissertation argues that experience should be taken as a fundamental property of the concept. The significance of this analysis is that by taking experience as a fundamental property, it becomes possible to unify the concept across the 4 cultures. This unification is presented as a unity thesis, which is a theory arguing for unification of the concept based on the fundamental of experience. Following this theoretical examination, this paper discusses several key implications of the unity thesis, including implications of the unity thesis for the current status of altered states of consciousness and for the so-called hard and easy problems associated with the concept (at least within Occidental ontology). It is argued that the so-called hard problem does not exist when experience is taken as a fundamental property

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2007-02-01

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

The Implementation of a Social Constructivist Approach in Primary Science Education in Confucian Heritage Culture: The Case of Vietnam

Science.gov (United States)

H?ng, Ngô Vu Thu; Meijer, Marijn Roland; Bulte, Astrid M. W.; Pilot, Albert

2015-01-01

Social constructivism has been increasingly studied and implemented in science school education. Nevertheless, there is a lack of holistic studies on the implementation of social constructivist approach in primary science education in Confucian heritage culture. This study aims to determine to what extent a social constructivist approach is…

Education for a Culture of Peace: The Culture of Peace News Network as a Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, David

2013-01-01

The Culture of Peace News Network, an internet news service, is analyzed in the framework of a general approach to education for a culture of peace. Its format reflects the eight program areas for a culture of peace as adopted by the UN General Assembly. Among its other operating principles are universality of news with all cultures and regions of…

Bridging Theory and Practice: Using Hip-Hop Pedagogy As A Culturally Relevant Approach In The Urban Science Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Adjapong, Edmund S.

This dissertation explores the context of urban science education as it relates to the achievement and engagement of urban youth. This study provides a framework for Hip-Hop Pedagogy, an approach to teaching and learning anchored in the creative elements of Hip-Hop culture, in STEM as an innovative approach to teaching and learning demonstrates the effect that Hip-Hop Pedagogy, as a culturally relevant approach to teaching has on teaching and learning in an urban science classroom. This study establishes practical tools and approaches, which were formed from by theory and research that transcend the traditional monolithic approaches to teaching science. Participants in this study are middle school students who attend an urban school in one of the largest school systems in the country. This research showed that as result of utilizing Hip-Hop pedagogical practices, students reported that they developed a deeper understanding of science content, students were more likely to identify as scientists, and students were provided a space and opportunities to deconstruct traditional classroom spaces and structures.

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Udo Göttlich

2013-06-01

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

Exploring Integrated Marketing Communications, Brand Awareness, and Brand Image in Hospitality Marketing: A Cross-Cultural Approach

OpenAIRE

Maja Šerić; Irene Gil Saura; Josip Mikulić

2016-01-01

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess customer perceptions of integration of marketing communications, brand awareness, and brand image in hospitality. Moreover, cross-cultural differences are considered when evaluating all the concepts, since national culture can have a considerable impact on customer behavior. Design/Methodology/Approach – After a literature review of the examined concepts, the results of an empirical study are presented and discussed. The empirical investigat...

Approaching Africa: The Reception of African Visual Culture in Germany 1894-1915

OpenAIRE

Husemann, Manuela

2015-01-01

This thesis focuses on the approaches to African visual culture in German publications between 1894 and 1915. Considering the development from a purely ethnographic analysis towards an art historical and art scientific discourse, it brings together formerly unconnected fields of research. By introducing theories from translation studies this thesis will identify how scholars from different disciplines analysed and interpreted African art in order to mediate their function, meaning and form...

A Person-Centered Approach to Studying the Linkages among Parent-Child Differences in Cultural Orientation, Supportive Parenting, and Adolescent Depressive Symptoms in Chinese American Families

Science.gov (United States)

Weaver, Scott R.; Kim, Su Yeong

2008-01-01

This longitudinal study examined whether supportive parenting mediates relations between parent-child differences in cultural orientation (generational dissonance) and depressive symptoms with a sample of 451 first and second generation Chinese American parents and adolescents (12-15 years old at time 1). Using a person-centered approach,…

What 'cultural' approach of electricity history?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beltran, Alain

2004-01-01

The evolution of electricity consumption should be related to social and cultural change. To understand this change better, we should use the notion of 'mentalities', which is less vague than 'culture' and permits us to include practices in a dynamic totality. It is true that the study of consumers is difficult since they do not appear much in business archives. We must study the literature, advertisement and art of the time. Electricity was given its fairy status by the press. Before 1914, many myths, both frightening and reassuring, circulated around this form of energy. It is only during the Inter-war period that electricity had been degraded from the status of goddess to the one of maid. And yet, it did keep its double aspect of a soft and dangerous form of energy, as shown by its mid-1970's marriage to nuclear energy. A comparative cultural history of electricity remains to be done

Four Approaches to Cultural Diversity: Implications for Teaching at Institutions of Higher Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Ofori-Dankwa, Joseph; Lane, Robert W.

2000-01-01

Identifies four approaches to cultural diversity that professors at institutions of higher education may take. These are neutrality, similarity, diversity, and diversimilarity. Identifies the strengths and weaknesses of each of these approaches, and argues for the diversimilarity approach, using the teaching of the death penalty (and examination…

A Systematic Approach to Cultural Explanations of War: Tracing Causal Processes in Two West African Insurgencies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Richards, P.

2011-01-01

Many accounts of cultural factors in armed conflicts are dependent on circumstantial details. Alternative quantitative approaches suffer from confusion of correlation and cause. This paper describes and exemplifies a third approach to the analysis of cultural factors in war—causal process tracing.

Controversies in oncologist-patient communication: a nuanced approach to autonomy, culture, and paternalism.

Science.gov (United States)

Cherny, Nathan I

2012-01-01

Difficult dialogues with patients facing life-changing decisions are an intrinsic part of oncologic practice and a major source of stress. Having a sophisticated approach to the concepts of autonomy, paternalism, and culture can help in addressing difficult dilemmas that arise around the issues of disclosure and decision making. This article addresses some of the most common major challenges in oncologist-patient communication with a nuanced approach to the concepts of autonomy, paternalism, and culture. It introduces the new concept of"voluntary diminished autonomy" and describes the implications this concept has for the consent process. It also attempts to bring clarity to common problems and misconceptions relating to culture, paternalism, and therapeutic privilege as these pertain to the communication practices of oncologists.

Culture Studies in the Field of International Business Research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Worm, Verner; Li, Xin; Jakobsen, Michael

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the status of culture studies within the field of international business research, and to examine how two main paradigms – essentialism and social constructivism – relate to the discourse in this field. We analyze the main points of the two...... in this paper. Practical implications: We encourage practitioners to learn how to switch, both sequentially and spatially, between the two paradigms of culture (fundamentally incommensurable though they are). This involves taking a “both/or” approach to the two paradigms. Originality/Value: We show...

The representation of nurses in 1950s melodrama: a cross-cultural approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Babini, Elisabetta

2012-01-01

Melodrama is identified as one of the most prolific cinematic genres in terms of the representation of nurses. Its contribution to the overall media depiction of the professional category has therefore been significant. This paper explores melodramatic portrayals of nurses with a specific focus on cinema of the 1950s, the golden age of Western melodrama, and concentrates on two representative case studies: Anna (ITA, 1951), and The Nun's Story (USA, 1959). These films enable a fruitful comparison, sharing several narrative elements, featuring religious nurses as protagonists, and yet eventually conferring on the nursing vocation different values. Such similar nurses' images are examined through a multidisciplinary approach, spanning feminist film theory, gender and cultural studies, cultural history and the social history of nursing. Among the goals of this study is to consider whether different national origins--in these films, Italy and America--have also been influential in the depiction of the respective nurse-character. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Pushing boundaries-culture-sensitive care in oncology and palliative care: a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Schrank, Beate; Rumpold, Tamara; Amering, Michaela; Masel, Eva Katharina; Watzke, Herbert; Schur, Sophie

2017-06-01

In increasingly globalized societies, patient-centered cancer care requires culture-sensitive approaches in order to ensure patients well-being. While migrant patients' needs are frequently reported in the literature, staff members' perception of work with migrant patients, associated challenges, or individual work approaches are largely unknown. This study addresses this research gap through qualitative exploration of experiences of multicultural health care professionals in supportive oncology and palliative care, working with patients from different cultural backgrounds. This study aims to understand staff experience of the impact of culture on cancer care. This study was conducted at the Medical University of Vienna, including staff from different settings of oncology and palliative care, in different professional positions, and with a range of individual migration backgrounds. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 21 staff members working with patients from different cultural backgrounds. Interviews explored views on the impact of culture on care were audio-taped, transcribed, and analyzed using a rigorous method of thematic analysis, enhanced with grounded theory techniques. Interviews revealed 4 key topics: culture-specific differences, assumed reasons for differences, consequences of multicultural care, and tools for culture-sensitive care. Strategies to better deal with migrant patients and their families were suggested to improve work satisfaction amongst staff. This study identifies relevant staff challenges in work with migrant patients. Concrete suggestions for improvement include measures on an organizational level, team level, and personal tools. The suggested measures are applicable to improve work satisfaction and culture-sensitive care not only in cancer care but also in other areas of medicine. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Cultural studies of science education

Science.gov (United States)

Higgins, Joanna; McDonald, Geraldine

2008-07-01

In response to Stetsenko's [2008, Cultural Studies of Science Education, 3] call for a more unified approach in sociocultural perspectives, this paper traces the origins of the use of sociocultural ideas in New Zealand from the 1970s to the present. Of those New Zealanders working from a sociocultural perspective who responded to our query most had encountered these ideas while overseas. More recently activity theory has been of interest and used in reports of work in early childhood, workplace change in the apple industry, and in-service teacher education. In all these projects the use of activity theory has been useful for understanding how the elements of a system can transform the activity. We end by agreeing with Stetsenko that there needs to be a more concerted approach by those working from a sociocultural perspective to recognise the contribution of others in the field.

An Investigation of a Culturally Responsive Approach to Science Education in a Summer Program for Marginalized Youth

Science.gov (United States)

Garvin, Brittany A.

There have been numerous calls and efforts made to provide states, school districts, and communities needed financial support to increase and enhance access to and opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) related disciplines for marginalized populations (Tyson, Lee, & Hanson, 2007; Caldwell & Siwatu, 2003). As the challenge to better educate students of color and poor students intensifies, the need to provide equitable science learning experiences for all students aimed at scientific literacy and STEM also becomes critical. Thus the need to provide summer science enrichment programs where students engage in scientific experimentation, investigation, and critical thinking are vital to helping students who have been traditionally marginalized achieve success in school science and enter the science career pipeline. This mixed methods study examined the impact of a culturally responsive approach on student attitudes, interests in science education and STEM careers, and basic science content knowledge before and after participation in an upward bound summer program. Quantitative results indicated using a culturally responsive approach to teach science in an informal learning space significantly increases student achievement. Students receiving culturally responsive science instruction exhibited statistically significant increases in their posttest science scores compared to pretest science scores, M = 0.376, 95% CI [0.266, 0.487], t (10) = 7.610, p < 0.001. Likewise, students receiving culturally responsive science instruction had a significantly higher interest in science (M = 1.740, SD = 0.548) and STEM careers, M = 0.597, 95% CI [0.276, 0.919], p = 0.001. The qualitative data obtained in this study sought to gain a more in-depth understanding of the impact of a culturally responsive approach on students' attitudes, interests in science and STEM careers. Findings suggest providing students the opportunity to do and learn science utilizing a

The culture of an emergency department: an ethnographic study.

Science.gov (United States)

Person, John; Spiva, Leeanna; Hart, Patricia

2013-10-01

In an environment of change and social interaction, hospital emergency departments create a unique sub-culture within healthcare. Patient-centered care, stressful situations, social gaps within the department, pressure to perform, teamwork, and maintaining a work-life balance were examined as influences that have developed this culture into its current state. The study aim was to examine the culture in an emergency department. The sample consisted of 34 employees working in an emergency department, level II trauma center, located in the Southeastern United States. An ethnographic approach was used to gather data from the perspective of the cultural insider. Data revealed identification of four categories that included cognitive, environmental, linguistic, and social attributes that described the culture. Promoting a culture that values the staff is essential in building an environment that fosters the satisfaction and retention of staff. Findings suggest that efforts be directed at improving workflow and processes. Development and training opportunities are needed to improve relationships to promote safer, more efficient patient care. Removing barriers and improving processes will impact patient safety, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. Findings show that culture is influenced and created by multiple elements. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

New Approaches to the Study of Students' Response to Science

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Krogh, Lars

2011-01-01

of science and school science. In this chapter I describe two new approaches to the study of students’ responses to school science, both pragmatic by nature, and combining perspectives from cultural research with a quantitative or a Mixed Methods methodology. The approaches have been applied to studies......’Students’ responses’ to science include their attitudes and internalization of science (e.g. valueing, identifying) as well as their choices and actions related to science. This broader conception has advantages over attitudes alone, when it comes to understanding students’ paths in and out...... of Physics in Danish upper secondary school, and though these targeted different aspects of students’ responses and applied highly different methods the results were found to complement each other. A study using the first approach related students’ attitudes towards physics to various types of Cultural...

A Cultural Approach to Learning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Lauge Baungaard

1998-01-01

The this article learning is discussed in relation to different understanding of culture. In particular the dialectics of 'Enlightenment' inthe Western culture are reflected , as well aslow- and high-context communication and learningin different types of culture. Finaaly the Weberian methodology...

Nutrition and culture in professional football. A mixed method approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Ono, Mutsumi; Kennedy, Eileen; Reeves, Sue; Cronin, Linda

2012-02-01

An adequate diet is essential for the optimal performance of professional football (soccer) players. Existing studies have shown that players fail to consume such a diet, without interrogating the reasons for this. The aim of this study was to explore the difficulties professional football players experience in consuming a diet for optimal performance. It utilized a mixed method approach, combining nutritional intake assessment with qualitative interviews, to ascertain both what was consumed and the wider cultural factors that affect consumption. The study found a high variability in individual intake which ranged widely from 2648 to 4606 kcal/day. In addition, the intake of carbohydrate was significantly lower than that recommended. The study revealed that the main food choices for carbohydrate and protein intake were pasta and chicken respectively. Interview results showed the importance of tradition within the world of professional football in structuring the players' approach to nutrition. In addition, the players' personal eating habits that derived from their class and national habitus restricted their food choice by conflicting with the dietary choices promoted within the professional football clubs. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

You and Man in the Western World. A Cultural Approach. Eighth Grade Social Studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Parsippany - Troy Hills Board of Education, Parsippany, NJ.

GRADES OR AGES: Grade 8. SUBJECT MATTER: Social Studies--You and Man in the Western World. ORGANIZATION AND PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: The guide contains five units: 1) cultural orientation; 2) social studies dimensions in Western Europe; 3) social studies dimensions in Eastern Europe and Soviet Union; 4) social studies dimensions in Latin America; and…

Integrative studies of cultural evolution: crossing disciplinary boundaries to produce new insights.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2018-04-05

Culture evolves according to dynamics on multiple temporal scales, from individuals' minute-by-minute behaviour to millennia of cultural accumulation that give rise to population-level differences. These dynamics act on a range of entities-including behavioural sequences, ideas and artefacts as well as individuals, populations and whole species-and involve mechanisms at multiple levels, from neurons in brains to inter-population interactions. Studying such complex phenomena requires an integration of perspectives from a diverse array of fields, as well as bridging gaps between traditionally disparate areas of study. In this article, which also serves as an introduction to the current special issue, we highlight some specific respects in which the study of cultural evolution has benefited and should continue to benefit from an integrative approach. We showcase a number of pioneering studies of cultural evolution that bring together numerous disciplines. These studies illustrate the value of perspectives from different fields for understanding cultural evolution, such as cognitive science and neuroanatomy, behavioural ecology, population dynamics, and evolutionary genetics. They also underscore the importance of understanding cultural processes when interpreting research about human genetics, neuroscience, behaviour and evolution.This article is part of the theme issue 'Bridging cultural gaps: interdisciplinary studies in human cultural evolution'. © 2018 The Author(s).

New approaches for the asessment and education of children under socio-cultural disadvantages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alegría Majluf

2003-06-01

Full Text Available The present paper describes the traditional psychometric parameters thal don 't fit by workingwith children who suffer socio-cultural deprivation (or who are living under socio-cultural disadvantagesand the new assessment and education strategies for this population. Vygotsky's socio-cultural approach, that emphasizes the Zone of Proximal Development, and the Dynamic Assessment and the Mediated Learning developed by Feucrstein and complemented by Coll relatedwith the Significative Learning are stressed.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Leung, Angela K-Y; Cohen, Dov

2011-03-01

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

The Work of Postcolonial Game Studies in the Play of Culture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soraya Murray

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This article considers larger methodological questions of what political work is undertaken when scholars engage in postcolonial critiques of video games within academic intellectual frameworks. What is postcolonial game studies, and what is its purpose, within the context of larger issues of inclusion, representation, diversity, and the challenging of hegemonic power structures? After surveying some of the key literature in postcolonial game studies, the author provides critical frameworks for understanding the means by which these approaches have largely been excluded from video game studies, and their crucial function in operating against the grain of profit and innovation-driven discourses in games. This work is the extension of a larger discussion of inclusion, diversity, and tolerance discourse within the liberal academy, and particularly the functions of postcolonial, postmodern and other critical cultural scholarly interventions. In this article, the author argues for a postcolonial approach to game studies, but one that refuses to be reduced to an institutional cultural labor of due diligence, or according to Slavoj Žižek’s term, a ‘culturalization of politics’. Through the work of Stuart Hall and Sara Ahmed on intellectual diversity work within the context of large systems and academic institutions, this article asserts that the perception that critical theorizations (like postcolonial game studies exert pressure on efficiency and innovation is greatly outweighed by the rich toolkits they bring to video games as maturing cultural forms.

Novel and unexpected bacterial diversity in an arsenic-rich ecosystem revealed by culture-dependent approaches

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Delavat François

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Acid Mine Drainages (AMDs are extreme environments characterized by very acid conditions and heavy metal contaminations. In these ecosystems, the bacterial diversity is considered to be low. Previous culture-independent approaches performed in the AMD of Carnoulès (France confirmed this low species richness. However, very little is known about the cultured bacteria in this ecosystem. The aims of the study were firstly to apply novel culture methods in order to access to the largest cultured bacterial diversity, and secondly to better define the robustness of the community for 3 important functions: As(III oxidation, cellulose degradation and cobalamine biosynthesis. Results Despite the oligotrophic and acidic conditions found in AMDs, the newly designed media covered a large range of nutrient concentrations and a pH range from 3.5 to 9.8, in order to target also non-acidophilic bacteria. These approaches generated 49 isolates representing 19 genera belonging to 4 different phyla. Importantly, overall diversity gained 16 extra genera never detected in Carnoulès. Among the 19 genera, 3 were previously uncultured, one of them being novel in databases. This strategy increased the overall diversity in the Carnoulès sediment by 70% when compared with previous culture-independent approaches, as specific phylogenetic groups (e.g. the subclass Actinobacteridae or the order Rhizobiales were only detected by culture. Cobalamin auxotrophy, cellulose degradation and As(III-oxidation are 3 crucial functions in this ecosystem, and a previous meta- and proteo-genomic work attributed each function to only one taxon. Here, we demonstrate that other members of this community can also assume these functions, thus increasing the overall community robustness. Conclusions This work highlights that bacterial diversity in AMDs is much higher than previously envisaged, thus pointing out that the AMD system is functionally more robust than expected

The Reaffirmation of Cultural Identity in Cross-cultural Encounters.

Science.gov (United States)

Kosmitzki, Corinne

1996-01-01

Examines the relationship between cultural contact and cultural identity as conceptualized in two research approaches: social identity theory and acculturation. The groups studied were German and Americans who either lived in their nonnative culture or had no direct contact. Comparisons between bicultural and monocultural groups revealed a…

How culture affects management?

OpenAIRE

Billi, Lorena

2012-01-01

The study is about how culture affects management. Culture can have many different meanings. Management has also many different ways to be approached. While doing research about cultures, the study will try to analyze how the culture affects the management. The study starts with a full explanation of the meaning of culture. Some previous analysis and studies are added to illustrate my study on the subject. The effect culture has on management is studied at different levels. The study does not...

Dimensions of Cultural Differences: Pancultural, ETIC/EMIC, and Ecological Approaches

Science.gov (United States)

Stankov, Lazar; Lee, Jihyun

2009-01-01

We investigated the factorial structure of four major domains in social psychology (personality traits, social attitudes, values, and social norms) with an emphasis on cross-cultural differences. Three distinctive approaches--pancultural, multigroup, and multilevel--were applied to the data based on 22 measures that were collected from 2029…

Beyond Diversity as Usual: Expanding Critical Cultural Approaches to Marginalization in Engineering Education

Science.gov (United States)

Secules, Stephen

In general, what we think of as "diversity work" in undergraduate engineering education focuses in the following ways: more on the overlooked assets of minority groups than on the acts of overlooking, more on the experiences of marginalized groups than on the mechanisms of marginalization by dominant groups, more on supporting and increasing minority student retention than on critiquing and remediating the systems which lead minority students to leave engineering. This dissertation presents a series of arguments which push beyond a status quo understanding of diversity in engineering education. The first approach the dissertation takes up is to problematize educational facts around failure by interrogating their roots in interactions and cultural norms in an engineering classroom. In another argument, the dissertation places the engineering classroom cultural norms of competition, whiteness, and masculinity in a critical historical context of the discipline at large. Finally, I demonstrate how engaging students in a critique of marginalizing educational culture can be an important source of agency. In addition to applying and demonstrating the value of specific novel approaches in engineering education, the dissertation contributes to the research community by discussing the respective affordances between these and other possible scholarly approaches to culture and marginalization in education. I also suggest how a consideration of the taken-for-granted culture of engineering education can be an important tool for instructors seeking to gain insight into persistent educational problems. In addition, this dissertation makes implications for diversity support practice, envisioning new forms of support programming rooted in intersectionality and critical praxis.

Culture-independent molecular approaches reveal a mostly unknown high diversity of active nitrogen-fixing bacteria associated with Pennisetum purpureum—a bioenergy crop

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Videira, Sandy Sampaio; de Cássia Pereira e Silva, Michele; Galisa, Pericles de Souza; Franco Dias, Armando Cavalcante; Nissinen, Riitta; Baldani Divan, Vera Lucia; van Elsas, Jan Dirk; Baldani, Jose Ivo; Salles, Joana Falcao

2013-01-01

Previous studies have shown that elephant grass is colonized by nitrogen-fixing bacterial species; however, these results were based on culture-dependent methods, an approach that introduces bias due to an incomplete assessment of the microbial community. In this study, we used culture-independent

An empirical study on relationship between organizational culture and administrative corruption

OpenAIRE

Saeed Sehhat; Mehdi Jafarzadeh kenari; Mohsen Mijani

2012-01-01

Bureaucratic corruption is an organizational phenomenon, which faces the trend of countries’ development with serious problems. In spite of all planning and respects of countries to fight against this phenomenon, we are still observing its growth in various aspects of the community. The basic approach emphasized by present study is that it is necessary to establish a corruption prevention system whose central element is social culture and organizational culture rather than relying upon the tr...

Korean Screen Cultures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Screen Cultures sets out to redress this imbalance with a broad selection of essays spanning both North and South as well as different methodological approaches, from ethnographic and audience studies to cultural materialist readings. The first section of the book, «The South», highlights popular media...... new approaches to Korean popular culture beyond national borders and includes work on K-pop and Korean television drama. This book is a vital addition to existing scholarship on Korean popular culture, offering a unique view by providing an imaginary unification of the two Koreas negotiated through...

Linguistic diversity and traffic accidents: lessons from statistical studies of cultural traits.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seán Roberts

Full Text Available The recent proliferation of digital databases of cultural and linguistic data, together with new statistical techniques becoming available has lead to a rise in so-called nomothetic studies [1]-[8]. These seek relationships between demographic variables and cultural traits from large, cross-cultural datasets. The insights from these studies are important for understanding how cultural traits evolve. While these studies are fascinating and are good at generating testable hypotheses, they may underestimate the probability of finding spurious correlations between cultural traits. Here we show that this kind of approach can find links between such unlikely cultural traits as traffic accidents, levels of extra-martial sex, political collectivism and linguistic diversity. This suggests that spurious correlations, due to historical descent, geographic diffusion or increased noise-to-signal ratios in large datasets, are much more likely than some studies admit. We suggest some criteria for the evaluation of nomothetic studies and some practical solutions to the problems. Since some of these studies are receiving media attention without a widespread understanding of the complexities of the issue, there is a risk that poorly controlled studies could affect policy. We hope to contribute towards a general skepticism for correlational studies by demonstrating the ease of finding apparently rigorous correlations between cultural traits. Despite this, we see well-controlled nomothetic studies as useful tools for the development of theories.

Linguistic Diversity and Traffic Accidents: Lessons from Statistical Studies of Cultural Traits

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, Seán; Winters, James

2013-01-01

The recent proliferation of digital databases of cultural and linguistic data, together with new statistical techniques becoming available has lead to a rise in so-called nomothetic studies [1]–[8]. These seek relationships between demographic variables and cultural traits from large, cross-cultural datasets. The insights from these studies are important for understanding how cultural traits evolve. While these studies are fascinating and are good at generating testable hypotheses, they may underestimate the probability of finding spurious correlations between cultural traits. Here we show that this kind of approach can find links between such unlikely cultural traits as traffic accidents, levels of extra-martial sex, political collectivism and linguistic diversity. This suggests that spurious correlations, due to historical descent, geographic diffusion or increased noise-to-signal ratios in large datasets, are much more likely than some studies admit. We suggest some criteria for the evaluation of nomothetic studies and some practical solutions to the problems. Since some of these studies are receiving media attention without a widespread understanding of the complexities of the issue, there is a risk that poorly controlled studies could affect policy. We hope to contribute towards a general skepticism for correlational studies by demonstrating the ease of finding apparently rigorous correlations between cultural traits. Despite this, we see well-controlled nomothetic studies as useful tools for the development of theories. PMID:23967132

Linguistic diversity and traffic accidents: lessons from statistical studies of cultural traits.

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, Seán; Winters, James

2013-01-01

The recent proliferation of digital databases of cultural and linguistic data, together with new statistical techniques becoming available has lead to a rise in so-called nomothetic studies [1]-[8]. These seek relationships between demographic variables and cultural traits from large, cross-cultural datasets. The insights from these studies are important for understanding how cultural traits evolve. While these studies are fascinating and are good at generating testable hypotheses, they may underestimate the probability of finding spurious correlations between cultural traits. Here we show that this kind of approach can find links between such unlikely cultural traits as traffic accidents, levels of extra-martial sex, political collectivism and linguistic diversity. This suggests that spurious correlations, due to historical descent, geographic diffusion or increased noise-to-signal ratios in large datasets, are much more likely than some studies admit. We suggest some criteria for the evaluation of nomothetic studies and some practical solutions to the problems. Since some of these studies are receiving media attention without a widespread understanding of the complexities of the issue, there is a risk that poorly controlled studies could affect policy. We hope to contribute towards a general skepticism for correlational studies by demonstrating the ease of finding apparently rigorous correlations between cultural traits. Despite this, we see well-controlled nomothetic studies as useful tools for the development of theories.

Strengthening Safety Culture as an Overriding Priority, in Achieving Global Nuclear Security Approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kolundzija, V.

2006-01-01

In the IAEA glossary safety culture is defined as the assembly of characteristics and attitudes in organizations and individuals, which establishes that, as an overriding priority, protection and safety issues receive the attention warranted by their significance. It has been observed that a safety culture, as a part of both security and safety, possesses a few obstacles that should be noticed: safety culture cannot be directly regulated; variation in national cultures means that what constitutes as a good approach to enhancing safety culture in one country may not be the best approach in another. Three stages have been identified in developing and strengthening safety culture: 1 A technical issue (rules and regulations)/ first stage 2 Good safety performance (primarily in terms of safety targets or goals)/ second stage 3 A continuing process of improvement to which everyone can contribute/ third stage There are several key issues in safety culture, such as: a commitment, use of procedures, a conservative decision making (STAR) a reporting culture. Organizations and individuals should have attention on these. Overall common goals are to achieve and maintain a high level of safety and security of radioactive sources as well as facilities. Measures that are concerned on safeguards restrict access to the radioactive sources, conditioning and/or recycling of sources, and systems for detection the passage of the radioactive sources at strategic points, have gained main support. The main partners in implementation these measures are: IAEA, USA, Russian Federation, G8- Global Partnership, and European Union The member states of the IAEA have at their disposal internationally agreed standards. Current differences in applying standards in the IAEA member states are mainly related to state preparedness to cope with demands. Developing and less developed countries with small and medium nuclear programmes have difficulties to accept rules and regulations, to establish

Quasi-appropriation of dialectical materialism: a critical reading of Marxism in Vygotskian approaches to cultural studies in science education

Science.gov (United States)

Rodrigues, André; Camillo, Juliano; Mattos, Cristiano

2014-09-01

In this review essay we examine five categories of dialectical materialism proposed by Paulo Lima Junior, Fernanda Ostermann, and Flavia Rezende in their study of the extent to which the articles published in Cultural Studies of Science Education, that use a Vygotskian approach, are committed to Marxism/dialectical materialism. By closely examining these categories ("thesis, antithesis and synthesis," "unity of analysis," "History," "revolution," "materialism") we expect to enrich the general discussion about the possible contributions of Marxism to science education. We perceive part of science education practice as orientating toward positivism, which reduces human beings—teachers, learners and researchers—to isolated individuals who construct knowledge by themselves. The very same approach aggravates the inner contradiction of the capitalist society demanding commitments from researchers to continually build innovative science education from human praxis. Nevertheless, it is necessary to situate ourselves beyond a formal commitment with dialectical materialism and hence reach the heart of this method. Besides understanding the researchers' commitments, we question the extent to which the respective research helps to radically refresh the current view on science, science education practice, and research in science education.

Biodeterioration of epoxy resin: a microbial survey through culture-independent and culture-dependent approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Pangallo, Domenico; Bučková, Maria; Kraková, Lucia; Puškárová, Andrea; Šaková, Nikoleta; Grivalský, Tomaš; Chovanová, Katarina; Zemánková, Milina

2015-02-01

During the 20th century, synthetic polymers were greatly used in the field of art. In particular, the epoxy resins were used for both conservation and for creating sculptures. The biodeterioration of these polymers has not been adequately studied. The aim of this investigation was to examine the microflora responsible for the deterioration of an epoxy statue exposed to outdoor conditions. Fungal and bacterial microflora were isolated from the art object, clustered by fluorescence-ITS (internal transcribed spacer), identified by ITS and 16S rRNA sequencing and tested for their lipolytic abilities by three agar assays. Different algal, bacterial, cyanobacterial and fungal clone libraries were constructed. The surrounding airborne microflora was analyzed using culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches. The results indicated the presence, on the statue surface, of an interesting and differentiate microbial community composed of rock-inhabiting members, algal photobionts (Trebouxia spp., Chloroidium ellipsoideum and Chlorella angustoellipsoidea), Cyanobacteria (Leptolyngbya sp., Phormidium sp., Cylindrospermum stagnale, Hassallia byssoidea and Geitlerinema sp.), black yeasts related to the species Friedmanniomyces endolithicus, Pseudotaeniolina globosa, Phaeococcomyces catenatus and Catenulostroma germanicum and several plant-associated fungi. This investigation provides new information on the potential microfloral inhabitants of epoxy resin discovering a new ecological niche, occupied mainly by several members of rock-colonizing microbial species. © 2014 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Bridging Theory and Practice: Using Hip-Hop Pedagogy as a Culturally Relevant Approach in the Urban Science Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Adjapong, Edmund S.

2017-01-01

This dissertation explores the context of urban science education as it relates to the achievement and engagement of urban youth. This study provides a framework for Hip-Hop Pedagogy, an approach to teaching and learning anchored in the creative elements of Hip-Hop culture, in STEM as an innovative approach to teaching and learning demonstrates…

Teaching and Learning Language as Culture

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

刘朝晖

2007-01-01

It's important to master a foreign language, English in particular.But the problem is how students should learn in order to communicate well with the native speakers and even become members of the target language community.The author narrates two incidents related to the Chinese study and English study experiences, pointing out that language study can't be separated from culture study.In line with the research results by some language experts about culture, language is the carrier of culture as literature is accomplished through languages,therefore language learning and teaching in isolation from culture is impossible.The author argues that language should be taught and learnt in a cultural approach.But as a sword with double blades, cultural approach may lead to culture invasion, culture inequality and the loss of culture diversity.

Stress, Burnout and Culture Shock: An Experiential, Pre-service Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Mungo, Samuel J.

A carefully-monitored off-campus program for preservice teacher education students can be used as a preventive approach to teacher stress, burnout, and culture shock often experienced by practicing and beginning teachers. Anxiety, caused by a variety of reactions including low self image, threat to security, and fear, is a common element in stress…

From a regulatory to a cultural approach in the field of radiological protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boehler, M.-C.

1995-01-01

A radiological protection culture, which is seen to be a 'management' approach to individual and collective doses, based on the principle of optimisation is described with particular reference to the nuclear industry. The article discusses the fundamental role of the principle of optimisation, the legal nature of the principle of optimisation and the implementation of a radiological protection culture. (UK)

Cross-cultural undergraduate medical education in North America: theoretical concepts and educational approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Reitmanova, Sylvia

2011-04-01

Cross-cultural undergraduate medical education in North America lacks conceptual clarity. Consequently, school curricula are unsystematic, nonuniform, and fragmented. This article provides a literature review about available conceptual models of cross-cultural medical education. The clarification of these models may inform the development of effective educational programs to enable students to provide better quality care to patients from diverse sociocultural backgrounds. The approaches to cross-cultural health education can be organized under the rubric of two specific conceptual models: cultural competence and critical culturalism. The variation in the conception of culture adopted in these two models results in differences in all curricular components: learning outcomes, content, educational strategies, teaching methods, student assessment, and program evaluation. Medical schools could benefit from more theoretical guidance on the learning outcomes, content, and educational strategies provided to them by governing and licensing bodies. More student assessments and program evaluations are needed in order to appraise the effectiveness of cross-cultural undergraduate medical education.

Comparative qualitative research in Cultural Psychology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Demuth, Carolin; Fatigante, Marilena

2012-01-01

The present paper aims to provide an approach that allows to study the interplay of culture and psychological human functioning in comparative study designs. Starting out with a brief overview of how qualitative, cultural, and comparative research is addressed in the field of psychology we...... will take a Cultural Psychology approach to suggest that the unit of analysis for comparative research needs to be situated social interaction. We will then suggest an integrative approach that allows us to study social interaction both on a micro- and on a macro-level by combining discourse analysis...... some criteria of validity that particularly apply to the field of comparative research in Cultural Psychology....

The past, present, and future of health development campaigns: reflexivity and the critical-cultural approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Dutta, Mohan Jyoti; de Souza, Rebecca

2008-07-01

In contemporary society, health issues have gained increasing urgency in both political and academic spheres. Looking back at the failure of the modernist development initiatives, there is the need to realize that we live in a time of increasing sociopolitical complexity. The present moment is perhaps best understood in terms of a complex tension and linkage between the past and present, global and local, modern and postmodern. The critical-cultural approach to health campaigns is an approach that, through the reflexive interrogation of modernist assumptions underlying health communication campaigns, attempts to foreground the tensions inherent in the practice of health campaigns. This essay discusses the manner in which the critical-cultural approach interrogates modernist assumptions and provides an alternative paradigm for approaching the theory and practice of health campaigns by suggesting the necessity for reflexivity. Specifically, we discuss how the perspective interrogates the role of the media in development, the significance of culture, the locus of health responsibility, the impact of structural conditions, and the politics of knowledge, providing examples of campaigns that illustrate this reflexivity.

A Cross-Cultural Study of Preschool Quality in South Korea and Sweden: ECERS Evaluations

Science.gov (United States)

Sheridan, Sonja; Giota, Joanna; Han, You-Me; Kwon, Jeong-Yoon

2009-01-01

The aim of the study is to explore cross-cultural similarities and differences in preschool quality in South Korean and Swedish preschools as measured by two national adaptations of the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS). The approach adopted is that cross-cultural comparisons of preschool quality are both achievable and of great…

From Learning Cultures to Educational Cultures: Values and Judgements in Educational Research and Educational Improvement

Science.gov (United States)

Biesta, Gert

2011-01-01

This article outlines a new approach to the study of learning and the improvement of education. The approach consists of two elements: a theory of learning cultures and a cultural theory of learning. Learning cultures are different from learning contexts or learning environments in that they are to be understood as the social practices through…

Culture in action

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Murakami, Kyoko

2012-01-01

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

How mass spectrometric approaches applied to bacterial identification have revolutionized the study of human gut microbiota.

Science.gov (United States)

Grégory, Dubourg; Chaudet, Hervé; Lagier, Jean-Christophe; Raoult, Didier

2018-03-01

Describing the human hut gut microbiota is one the most exciting challenges of the 21 st century. Currently, high-throughput sequencing methods are considered as the gold standard for this purpose, however, they suffer from several drawbacks, including their inability to detect minority populations. The advent of mass-spectrometric (MS) approaches to identify cultured bacteria in clinical microbiology enabled the creation of the culturomics approach, which aims to establish a comprehensive repertoire of cultured prokaryotes from human specimens using extensive culture conditions. Areas covered: This review first underlines how mass spectrometric approaches have revolutionized clinical microbiology. It then highlights the contribution of MS-based methods to culturomics studies, paying particular attention to the extension of the human gut microbiota repertoire through the discovery of new bacterial species. Expert commentary: MS-based approaches have enabled cultivation methods to be resuscitated to study the human gut microbiota and thus to fill in the blanks left by high-throughput sequencing methods in terms of culturing minority populations. Continued efforts to recover new taxa using culture methods, combined with their rapid implementation in genomic databases, would allow for an exhaustive analysis of the gut microbiota through the use of a comprehensive approach.

The implementation of a social constructivist approach in primary science education in Confucian heritage culture: the case of Vietnam

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vu Thu Hang, N.; Meijer, M.R.; Bulte, A.M.W.; Pilot, A.

2015-01-01

Social constructivism has been increasingly studied and implemented in science school education. Nevertheless, there is a lack of holistic studies on the implementation of social constructivist approach in primary science education in Confucian heritage culture. This study aims to determine to what

Practical Issues of Conducting a Q Methodology Study: Lessons Learned From a Cross-cultural Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, Teresa Elizabeth; Maguire, Jane; Kang, Sook Jung; Cha, Chiyoung

This article advances nursing research by presenting the methodological challenges experienced in conducting a multination Q-methodology study. This article critically analyzes the relevance of the methodology for cross-cultural and nursing research and the challenges that led to specific responses by the investigators. The use of focus groups with key stakeholders supplemented the Q-analysis results. The authors discuss practical issues and shared innovative approaches and provide best-practice suggestions on the use of this flexible methodology. Q methodology has the versatility to explore complexities of contemporary nursing practice and cross-cultural health research.

A multi-disciplinary approach for the structural monitoring of Cultural Heritages in a seismic area

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Fabrizia Buongiorno, Maria; Musacchio, Massimo; Guerra, Ignazio; Porco, Giacinto; Stramondo, Salvatore; Casula, Giuseppe; Caserta, Arrigo; Speranza, Fabio; Doumaz, Fawzi; Giovanna Bianchi, Maria; Luzi, Guido; Ilaria Pannaccione Apa, Maria; Montuori, Antonio; Gaudiosi, Iolanda; Vecchio, Antonio; Gervasi, Anna; Bonali, Elena; Romano, Dolores; Falcone, Sergio; La Piana, Carmelo

2014-05-01

In the recent years, the concepts of seismic risk vulnerability and structural health monitoring have become very important topics in the field of both structural and civil engineering for the identification of appropriate risk indicators and risk assessment methodologies in Cultural Heritages monitoring. The latter, which includes objects, building and sites with historical, architectural and/or engineering relevance, concerns the management, the preservation and the maintenance of the heritages within their surrounding environmental context, in response to climate changes and natural hazards (e.g. seismic, volcanic, landslides and flooding hazards). Within such a framework, the complexity and the great number of variables to be considered require a multi-disciplinary approach including strategies, methodologies and tools able to provide an effective monitoring of Cultural Heritages form both scientific and operational viewpoints. Based on this rationale, in this study, an advanced, technological and operationally-oriented approach is presented and tested, which enables measuring and monitoring Cultural Heritage conservation state and geophysical/geological setting of the area, in order to mitigate the seismic risk of the historical public goods at different spatial scales*. The integration between classical geophysical methods with new emerging sensing techniques enables a multi-depth, multi-resolution, and multi-scale monitoring in both space and time. An integrated system of methodologies, instrumentation and data-processing approaches for non-destructive Cultural Heritage investigations is proposed, which concerns, in detail, the analysis of seismogenetic sources, the geological-geotechnical setting of the area and site seismic effects evaluation, proximal remote sensing techniques (e.g. terrestrial laser scanner, ground-based radar systems, thermal cameras), high-resolution aerial and satellite-based remote sensing methodologies (e.g. aeromagnetic surveys

An anthropological approach to teaching health sciences students cultural competency in a field school program.

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Hutchins, Frank T; Brown, Lori DiPrete; Poulsen, Keith P

2014-02-01

International immersion experiences do not, in themselves, provide students with the opportunity to develop cultural competence. However, using an anthropological lens to educate students allows them to learn how to negotiate cultural differences by removing their own cultural filters and seeing events through the eyes of those who are culturally different. Faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Global Health Institute believed that an embedded experience, in which students engaged with local communities, would encourage them to adopt this Cultural Competency 2.0 position. With this goal in mind, they started the Field School for the Study of Language, Culture, and Community Health in Ecuador in 2003 to teach cultural competency to medical, veterinary, pharmacy, and nursing students. The program was rooted in medical anthropology and embraced the One Health initiative, which is a collaborative effort of multiple disciplines working locally, nationally, and globally to obtain optimal health for people, animals, and the environment. In this article, the authors identify effective practices and challenges for using a biocultural approach to educating students. In a semester-long preparatory class, students study the Spanish language, region-specific topics, and community engagement principles. While in Ecuador for five weeks, students apply their knowledge during community visits that involve homestays and service learning projects, for which they partner with local communities to meet their health needs. This combination of language and anthropological course work and community-based service learning has led to positive outcomes for the local communities as well as professional development for students and faculty.

Meet meat: An explorative study on meat and cultured meat as seen by Chinese, Ethiopians and Dutch

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bekker, G.A.; Tobi, H.; Fischer, A.R.

2017-01-01

In this cross-cultural study we investigated how study participants from China, Ethiopia and the Netherlands operationalize the concept of meat and to what extent cultured meat fits or does not fit into this operationalization. We argue that combining the conceptual approaches symbolic boundaries

Culture and problem-solving: Congruency between the cultural mindset of individualism versus collectivism and problem type.

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Arieli, Sharon; Sagiv, Lilach

2018-06-01

This research investigates how the cultural mindset influences problem-solving. Drawing on the notion that cultural mindset influences the cognitive process individuals bring to bear at the moment of judgment, we propose that the congruency between the cultural mindset (individualistic vs. collectivistic) and problem type (rule-based vs. context-based) affects success in problem-solving. In 7 studies we incorporated the traditional approach to studying the impact of culture (i.e., comparing cultural groups) with contemporary approaches viewing cultural differences in a more dynamic and malleable manner. We first show that members of an individualistic group (Jewish Americans) perform better on rule-based problems, whereas members of collectivistic groups (ultra-Orthodox Jews and Arabs from Israel) perform better on context-based problems (Study 1). We then study Arabs in Israel using language (Arabic vs. Hebrew) to prime their collectivistic versus individualistic mindsets (Study 2). As hypothesized, among biculturals (those who internalize both cultures) Arabic facilitated solving context-based problems, whereas Hebrew facilitated solving rule-based problems. We follow up with 5 experiments priming the cultural mindset of individualism versus collectivism, employing various manifestations of the cultural dimension: focusing on the individual versus the collective (Studies 3, 6, and 7); experiencing independence versus interdependence (Study 4); and directing attention to objects versus the context (Studies 5a-b). Finally, we took a meta-analytic approach, showing that the effects found in Studies 3-6 are robust across priming tasks, problems, and samples. Taken together, the differences between cultural groups (Studies 1-2) were recreated when the individualistic/collectivistic cultural mindset was primed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Non-Invasive Optical Sensor Based Approaches for Monitoring Virus Culture to Minimize BSL3 Laboratory Entry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Viswanath Ragupathy

2015-06-01

Full Text Available High titers of infectious viruses for vaccine and diagnostic reference panel development are made by infecting susceptible mammalian cells. Laboratory procedures are strictly performed in a Bio-Safety Level-3 (BSL3 laboratory and each entry and exit involves the use of  disposable Personnel Protective Equipment (PPE to observe cell culture conditions. Routine PPE use involves significant recurring costs. Alternative non-invasive optical sensor based approaches to remotely monitor cell culture may provide a promising and cost effective approach to monitor infectious virus cultures resulting in lower disruption and costs. We report here the monitoring of high titer cultures of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 (HIV-1 and Herpes Simplex Virus-2 (HSV-2 remotely with the use of optical oxygen sensors aseptically placed inside the cell culture vessel. The replacement of culture media for cell and virus propagation and virus load monitoring was effectively performed using this fluorescent sensor and resulted in half the number of visits to the BSL3 lab (five versus ten.

A Cultural Approach to Conducting HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C Virus Education among Native American Adolescents

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Lowe, John

2008-01-01

This pilot study tests the feasibility of using a Talking Circle approach and measures cultural values and beliefs within a HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C virus (HCV) prevention program conducted among a Native American (Cherokee) youth population. A descriptive correlation design was used to examine the relationship between Cherokee self-reliance and…

Workplace Culture Analysis where People with Intellectual Disabilities Work: A Case Study Approach

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Fillary, Rose; Pernice, Regina

2005-01-01

Background: Research evidence suggests that investigation of workplace culture assists in enhancing social inclusion of and job retention by people with intellectual disability. Method: This research explored the potential of using Hagner's (2000) "Workplace Culture Survey" to identify inclusive characteristics of eight New Zealand…

Meanings of Care: A Culture-Centered Approach to Left-Behind Family Members in the Countryside of China.

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Sun, Kang; Dutta, Mohan J

2016-11-01

Critical studies of health communication foreground the importance of meanings as organizing frameworks for constituting health. The contested and contradictory meanings articulated around health offer insights into the constraining and enabling roles of structures. Through ethnographic fieldwork conducted in a village in China embedded within the activist framework of the culture-centered approach, this project explores understandings of family care amid left-behind families in rural China against the backdrop of the migration of the middle generation of working adults from families located in rural contexts to cities. We work with the culture-centered approach to explore local meanings of care, understanding everyday care as integral to the health of an aging population that has been erased from the discursive space by market reforms and the hegemonic narrative of national development in China.

Implementing the Health Promoting University approach in culturally different contexts: a systematic review.

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Suárez-Reyes, Mónica; Van den Broucke, Stephan

2016-03-01

Universities represent a valuable opportunity to promote health and well-being. Based on the setting approach, the Health Promoting Universities concept has been developed in different countries and contexts. However, the implementation process remains poorly documented. This systematic review aims to describe how universities have implemented the Health Promoting University concept in different cultural contexts. Pubmed, Medline, Lilacs and Scielo were searched for articles on Health Promoting Universities, published between 1995 and 2015. Studies detailing the implementation of a Health Promoting University approach were included. Selected articles were content analysed paying attention to: (a) the definition of a Health Promoting University; (b) priority areas of action; (c) items of work; (d) coordination of the project; (e) evaluation; and (f) adaptation to the cultural context. Twelve studies were identified for in-depth analysis. Of those, three were theoretical papers, and nine were intervention studies. The programmes described in the selected studies are mostly based on the guidelines of the Edmonton Charter. They incorporated the main areas of action and items of works proposed by the Health Promoting University framework. The implementation of healthy policies and incorporation of health promotion in the curriculum are remaining challenges. Strategies to facilitate adaptation to context include: stakeholder participation in planning and implementation, adaptation of educational material and analysis of needs. The review suggests that most of the universities work towards similar goals, relying on the Health Promoting University framework, yet that the way in which initiatives are implemented depends on the context. © The Author(s) 2015.

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

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

2017-06-01

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

Intersubjective Culture: The Role of Intersubjective Perceptions in Cross-Cultural Research.

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Chiu, Chi-Yue; Gelfand, Michele J; Yamagishi, Toshio; Shteynberg, Garriy; Wan, Ching

2010-07-01

Intersubjective perceptions refer to shared perceptions of the psychological characteristics that are widespread within a culture. In this article, we propose the intersubjective approach as a new approach to understanding the role that culture plays in human behavior. In this approach, intersubjective perceptions, which are distinct from personal values and beliefs, mediate the effect of the ecology on individuals' responses and adaptations. We review evidence that attests to the validity and utility of the intersubjective approach in explicating culture's influence on human behaviors and discuss the implications of this approach for understanding the interaction between the individual, ecology, and culture; the nature of cultural competence; management of multicultural identities; cultural change; and measurement of culture. © The Author(s) 2010.

Redefining Organizational Cultures: An Interpretative Anthropological Approach to Corporate Narratives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jasmin Mahadevan

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Hardly any management theory nowadays fails to take culture's influence on today's organizations into account. At the very foundation lies the belief that the intercultural boundary can be determined externally—by etic view. In my paper I show how much emic organizational reality differs from etic view. Hereby, I refer to two years of fieldwork that I conducted in a global high-tech company at sites in Germany, Austria and India. I choose this approach to trace culture as an open process of sense-making in practice. Through interpretative anthropological means, I identified several discourses of collective identity that were constructed narratively—often regardless of the presumed etic border of "Germans" vs. "Indians." In summary, this paper makes the following contributions: Firstly, it shows how emic and etic categorizations of the cultural other can differ in a complex environment. Secondly, it looks in depth into the emic categorizations of "the Other" and how they are constructed narratively. Thirdly, it draws conclusions for the field of intercultural communication. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0901440

Organizational Culture In Perspective Anthropology

OpenAIRE

Safriadi, Supriadi Hamdat, Munsi Lampe, Musran Munizu

2016-01-01

- This article describes the anthropological perspective in the study of the organization, particularly related to the culture of the organization. Organizational culture is a reflection of the organization itself. Anthropology as a science that covers the study of culture takes an important role in the development of cultural studies organization. An ethnographic approach that looks at the phenomenon based on what the owner or the perpetrator of culture will provide a positive contributio...

Biosynthesis of 14C-phytoene from tomato cell suspension cultures (Lycopersicon esculentum) for utilization in prostate cancer cell culture studies.

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Campbell, Jessica K; Rogers, Randy B; Lila, Mary Ann; Erdman, John W

2006-02-08

This work describes the development and utilization of a plant cell culture production approach to biosynthesize and radiolabel phytoene and phytofluene for prostate cancer cell culture studies. The herbicide norflurazon was added to established cell suspension cultures of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum cv. VFNT cherry), to induce the biosynthesis and accumulation of the lycopene precursors, phytoene and phytofluene, in their natural isomeric forms (15-cis-phytoene and two cis-phytofluene isomers). Norflurazon concentrations, solvent carrier type and concentration, and duration of culture exposure to norflurazon were screened to optimize phytoene and phytofluene synthesis. Maximum yields of both phytoene and phytofluene were achieved after 7 days of treatment with 0.03 mg norflurazon/40 mL fresh medium, provided in 0.07% solvent carrier. Introduction of 14C-sucrose to the tomato cell culture medium enabled the production of 14C-labeled phytoene for subsequent prostate tumor cell uptake studies. In DU 145 prostate tumor cells, it was determined that 15-cis-phytoene and an oxidized product of phytoene were taken up and partially metabolized by the cells. The ability to biosynthesize, radiolabel, and isolate these carotenoids from tomato cell cultures is a novel, valuable methodology for further in vitro and in vivo investigations into the roles of phytoene and phytofluene in cancer chemoprevention.

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

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

2017-01-01

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

Culture and cooperation: cooperative learning in Asian Confucian heritage cultures. The case of Viet Nam

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nguyen, P.M.

2008-01-01

The study is concerned with the influence of western educational approaches upon non-western societies and cultural groups. In applying western educational approaches, often a detailed consideration of its consequences to the culture and heritage of a non-western civilization is neglected. This is

The Dynamics of Organizational Culture and Academic Planning

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Willson, Richard

2006-01-01

Planning approaches are in a dynamic relationship with organizational culture. This article uses a case study of academic planning at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona to draw a correspondence between types of organizational culture and planning approaches. The case study shows the differing conceptions of organizational culture held…

Assessment of Military Cultural Competence: A Pilot Study.

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Meyer, Eric G; Hall-Clark, Brittany N; Hamaoka, Derrick; Peterson, Alan L

2015-08-01

Cultural competence is widely considered a cornerstone of patient care. Efforts to improve military cultural competency have recently gained national attention. Assessment of cultural competence is a critical component to this effort, but no assessment of military cultural competence currently exists. An assessment of military cultural competence (AMCC) was created through broad input and consensus. Careful review of previous cultural competency assessment designs and analysis techniques was considered. The AMCC was organized into three sections: skills, attitudes, and knowledge. In addition to gathering data to determine absolute responses from groups with different exposure levels to the military (direct, indirect, and none), paired questions were utilized to assess relative competencies between military culture and culture in general. Piloting of the AMCC revealed significant differences between military exposure groups. Specifically, those with personal military exposure were more likely to be in absolute agreement that the military is a culture, were more likely to screen for military culture, and had increased knowledge of military culture compared to those with no military exposure. Relative differences were more informative. For example, all groups were less likely to agree that their personal culture could be at odds with military culture as compared to other cultures. Such perceptions could hinder asking difficult questions and thus undermine care. The AMCC is a model for the measurement of the skills, attitudes, and knowledge related to military cultural competence. With further validity testing, the AMCC will be helpful in the critical task of measuring outcomes in ongoing efforts to improve military cultural competence. The novel approach of assessing variance appears to reduce bias and may also be helpful in the design of other cultural competency assessments.

Understanding ADHD from a Biopsychosocial-Cultural Framework: A Case Study

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Pham, Andy V.

2015-01-01

The biopsychosocial-cultural framework is a systemic and multifaceted approach to assessment and intervention that takes into account biological, psychological, and socio-cultural factors that influence human functioning and service delivery. Although originally developed to assess physical health and medical illness, this contemporary model can…

A study on the promotion of nuclear security culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tamai, Hiroshi; Tazaki, Makiko; Kokaji, Lisa; Shimizu, Ryo; Suda, Kazunori

2015-01-01

In recent years the promotion of nuclear security culture aiming at strengthening nuclear security is extensively mentioned, however, awareness of nuclear security culture seems to be not much high compared to the permeation of nuclear safety culture. As a world's leading country of peaceful nuclear use, permeation of nuclear security culture into various social classes must be one of important issues in Japan. Learning from the TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, complementarity between nuclear safety and nuclear security in the aspect of both protection measures has been profoundly recognised. Therefore, it will be natural to promote nuclear security culture modelled on the preceding nuclear safety culture. On this standpoint, the paper examines an approach for the promotion of nuclear security culture which, for example, consists of awareness cultivation, attitude progress, permeation assessment, and resulting in the establishment of PDCA Cycle. (author)

"The Whole Truth": The First Amendment, Cultural Studies, and Comparative Law.

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Trager, Robert; Russomanno, Joseph A.

This paper argues that legal research, particularly in the areas of freedom of expression and comparative law, would benefit from utilizing the broader perspectives associated with the cultural studies approach used in communication research. The paper begins with an overview of traditional media law scholarship, maintaining that legal research,…

Social cultural and situative perspective of studying emotions in teaching and learning: characteristics, challenges and opportunities

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Tan, Seng-Chee

2013-09-01

In this forum, I take a learning sciences perspective to examine the paper by Bellocchi, Ritchie, Tobin, Sandhu and Sandhu ( Cultural Studies of Science Education, doi: 10.1007/s11422-013-9526-3 , 2013) titled "Examining emotional climate of preservice science teacher education." I characterize their approach as a social cultural and situative perspective of studying emotions in teaching and learning. Such an approach overcomes the limitations of examining emotions as individual psychological constructs, but it also incurs other methodological challenges. I suggest an alternative approach of examining the individual's emotions, as well as their aggregates as a group measure. This approach allows us to study variations in emotional outcomes at an individual level or at a group level. I also suggest examining interplay of emotions with other aspects of learning outcomes, for example, cognitive learning outcomes. Finally, I suggest studying development of meta-emotional knowledge among teachers as another fertile area of research that could benefit the teachers in their classroom practices.

Different Strokes for Different Folks? Contrasting Approaches to Cultural Adaptation of Parenting Interventions.

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Mejia, Anilena; Leijten, Patty; Lachman, Jamie M; Parra-Cardona, José Ruben

2017-08-01

Relevant achievements have been accomplished in prevention science with regard to disseminating efficacious parenting interventions among underserved populations. However, widespread disparities in availability of parenting services continue to negatively impact diverse populations in high-income countries (e.g., the USA) and low- and middle-income countries. As a result, a scholarly debate on cultural adaptation has evolved over the years. Specifically, some scholars have argued that in diverse cultural contexts, existing evidence-based parenting interventions should be delivered with strict fidelity to ensure effectiveness. Others have emphasized the need for cultural adaptations of interventions when disseminated among diverse populations. In this paper, we propose that discussions on cultural adaptation should be conceptualized as a "both-and," rather than an "either-or" process. To justify this stance, we describe three distinct parenting intervention projects to illustrate how cultural adaptation and efficacy of evidence-based interventions can be achieved using contrasting approaches and frameworks, depending on cultural preferences and available resources of local contexts. Further, we suggest the need to develop guidelines for consistent reporting of cultural adaptation procedures as a critical component of future investigations. This discussion is relevant for the broader public health field and prevention science.

THE PRELIMINARY STUDY ON LANDSCAPE CULTURE ORIENTATION AND EXPLOITATION OF THE SOUTH DONGTING LAKE WETLAND

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2002-01-01

Dongting Lake is internationally an important wetland. We studied and summarized the conception, function, classification and current situation of the wetland-landscape culture in this region. The results showed that the culture of Dongting Lake wetland was rich in diversity, which are the Rice Cultivation Culture, high-balustrade dwelling,Nuo Culture, Ship Culture, Dragon Boat Culture, Chu Culture, Ancient Architecture Landscape, Wetland Foodstuff andCuisine Culture, Civil Art, Historic Heritage and Cultural Relics, Revolutionary Sites and Ruins, and Production andLiving Culture, etc. We also evaluated the eeo-tourism value of wetland landscape culture, and analyzed its features andorientation. The results revealed that the south Dongting Lake wetland plays a key role on the Changjiang(Yangtze) Riverreaches civilization and Chinese civilization, even has great influence on the global civilization. We summarized that thesoul of the south Dongting Lake Culture was Wetland Culture, Water Culture, Rice Cultivation and Chu Culture. Thethoughts, principles and approaches of sustainable exploitation and utilization of the wetland landscape culture were formulated and suggested.

Interpreting personality profiles across cultures: bilingual, acculturation, and peer rating studies of Chinese undergraduates.

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McCrae, R R; Yik, M S; Trapnell, P D; Bond, M H; Paulhus, D L

1998-04-01

Prior research (R.R. McCrae, P.T. Costa, & M.S. Yik, 1996) using a Chinese translation of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory suggested substantial differences between Hong Kong and North American undergraduates. Study 1, with a sample of bilingual Hong Kong students (N = 162), showed that prior findings were not due simply to the translation. Study 2, with undergraduates of European and Chinese ancestry living in Canada (N = 633), suggested that more of the differences were cultural in origin. Study 3, which used peer ratings of Chinese students (N = 99), replicated most Study 2 results, suggesting that exposure to Canadian culture increased openness, cheerfulness, and prosocial behavior and attitudes. Differences in sense of competence and vulnerability to stress appeared to be due to different cultural standards for judging these traits. Together, the 3 studies illustrate an integrated approach to interpreting personality differences across cultures.

A Cultural Evolution Approach to Digital Media.

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Acerbi, Alberto

2016-01-01

Digital media have today an enormous diffusion, and their influence on the behavior of a vast part of the human population can hardly be underestimated. In this review I propose that cultural evolution theory, including both a sophisticated view of human behavior and a methodological attitude to modeling and quantitative analysis, provides a useful framework to study the effects and the developments of media in the digital age. I will first give a general presentation of the cultural evolution framework, and I will then introduce this more specific research program with two illustrative topics. The first topic concerns how cultural transmission biases, that is, simple heuristics such as "copy prestigious individuals" or "copy the majority," operate in the novel context of digital media. The existence of transmission biases is generally justified with their adaptivity in small-scale societies. How do they operate in an environment where, for example, prestigious individuals possess not-relevant skills, or popularity is explicitly quantified and advertised? The second aspect relates to fidelity of cultural transmission. Digitally-mediated interactions support cheap and immediate high-fidelity transmission, in opposition, for example, to oral traditions. How does this change the content that is more likely to spread? Overall, I suggest the usefulness of a "long view" to our contemporary digital environment, contextualized in cognitive science and cultural evolution theory, and I discuss how this perspective could help us to understand what is genuinely new and what is not.

A cultural evolution approach to digital media

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alberto Acerbi

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Digital media have today an enormous diffusion, and their influence on the behaviour of a vast part of the human population can hardly be underestimated. In this review I propose that cultural evolution theory, including both a sophisticated view of human behaviour and a methodological attitude to modelling and quantitative analysis, provides a useful framework to study the effects and the developments of media in the digital age. I will first give a general presentation of the cultural evolution framework, and I will then introduce this more specific research program with two illustrative topics.The first topic concerns how cultural transmission biases, that is, simple heuristics such as copy prestigious individuals or copy the majority, operate in the novel context of digital media. The existence of transmission biases is generally justified with their adaptivity in small-scale societies. How do they operate in an environment where, for example, prestigious individuals possess not-relevant skills, or popularity is explicitly quantified and advertised?The second aspect relates to fidelity of cultural transmission. Digitally-mediated interactions support cheap and immediate high-fidelity transmission, in opposition, for example, to oral traditions. How does this change the content that is more likely to spread? Overall, I suggest the usefulness of a long view to our contemporary digital environment, contextualised in cognitive science and cultural evolution theory, and I discuss how this perspective could help us to understand what is genuinely new and what is not.

A Cultural Evolution Approach to Digital Media

Science.gov (United States)

Acerbi, Alberto

2016-01-01

Digital media have today an enormous diffusion, and their influence on the behavior of a vast part of the human population can hardly be underestimated. In this review I propose that cultural evolution theory, including both a sophisticated view of human behavior and a methodological attitude to modeling and quantitative analysis, provides a useful framework to study the effects and the developments of media in the digital age. I will first give a general presentation of the cultural evolution framework, and I will then introduce this more specific research program with two illustrative topics. The first topic concerns how cultural transmission biases, that is, simple heuristics such as “copy prestigious individuals” or “copy the majority,” operate in the novel context of digital media. The existence of transmission biases is generally justified with their adaptivity in small-scale societies. How do they operate in an environment where, for example, prestigious individuals possess not-relevant skills, or popularity is explicitly quantified and advertised? The second aspect relates to fidelity of cultural transmission. Digitally-mediated interactions support cheap and immediate high-fidelity transmission, in opposition, for example, to oral traditions. How does this change the content that is more likely to spread? Overall, I suggest the usefulness of a “long view” to our contemporary digital environment, contextualized in cognitive science and cultural evolution theory, and I discuss how this perspective could help us to understand what is genuinely new and what is not. PMID:28018200

[Beyond Weimar Culture--the significance of the Forman thesis for a cultural approach to the history of science].

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Trischler, Helmuth; Carson, Cathryn; Kojevnikov, Alexei

2008-12-01

'"Forman thesis', published in 1971, argued for a historical linkage among the intellectual atmosphere of Weimar Germany, popular revolts against determinism and materialism, and the creation of the revolutionary new theory of quantum mechanics. Paul Forman's long essay on "Weimar Culture" has shaped research agendas in numerous fields, from the history and philosophy of physics to German history to the sociology of scientific knowledge. Despite its status as a classic and its transformative effect, Weimar Culture has always inspired as much critique as assent. In particular in the history of science, cohorts of students and two generations of scholars have debated the Forman thesis as a conceptual tool for linking scientific change with cultural processes. The Forman thesis raises critical questions for both the ongoing debates over cultural approaches to the history of science and the burgeoning newer scholarship on physics in and beyond Weimar Germany. Exploring these implications has been the aim of a transnational project of the three authors of this article which sheds some light on these debates and briefly introduces the following papers of this special issue devoted to Paul Forman and his seminal works in the history of science.

Teaching University Students Cultural Diversity by Means of Multi-Cultural Picture Books in Taiwan

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Wu, Jia-Fen

2017-01-01

In a pluralistic society, learning about foreign cultures is an important goal in the kind of multi-cultural education that will lead to cultural competency. This study adopted a qualitative dominant mixed-method approach to examine the effectiveness of the multi-cultural picture books on: (1) students' achieving awareness towards cultural…

Gender Approach at Physical Culture Lessons at the Second Stage of Basic High Education

Science.gov (United States)

Vorotilkin?, Irina M.; Anokhina, Olga V.; Galitsyn, Sergey V.; Byankina, Larisa V.; Chiligin, Dmitriy V.

2016-01-01

Gender approach in education is a specific impact on the development of boys and girls by the set of factors of education and training process. The objective of this research is the reasoning of applying gender approach at physical culture lessons and creating comfortable environment taking into account the psychophysiological differences of the…

A cross-cultural approach to the study of the folk illness nervios.

Science.gov (United States)

Baer, Roberta D; Weller, Susan C; de Alba Garcia, Javier Garcia; Glazer, Mark; Trotter, Robert; Pachter, Lee; Klein, Robert E

2003-09-01

To systematically study and document regional variations in descriptions of nervios, we undertook a multisite comparative study of the illness among Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Mexican Americans, and Guatemalans. We also conducted a parallel study on susto (Weller et al. 2002, Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry 26(4): 449-472), which allows for a systematic comparison of these illnesses across sites. The focus of this paper is inter- and intracultural variations in descriptions in four Latino populations of the causes, symptoms, and treatments of nervios, as well as similarities and differences between nervios and susto in these same communities. We found agreement among all four samples on a core description of nervios, as well as some overlap in aspects of nervios and susto. However, nervios is a much broader illness, related more to continual stresses. In contrast, susto seems to be related to a single stressful event.

Work System Assessment to Facilitate the Dissemination of a Quality Improvement Program for Optimizing Blood Culture Use: A Case Study Using a Human Factors Engineering Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Anping; Woods-Hill, Charlotte Z; King, Anne F; Enos-Graves, Heather; Ascenzi, Judy; Gurses, Ayse P; Klaus, Sybil A; Fackler, James C; Milstone, Aaron M

2017-11-20

Work system assessments can facilitate successful implementation of quality improvement programs. Using a human factors engineering approach, we conducted a work system assessment to facilitate the dissemination of a quality improvement program for optimizing blood culture use in pediatric intensive care units at 2 hospitals. Semistructured face-to-face interviews were conducted with clinicians from Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital and University of Virginia Medical Center. Interview data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Blood culture-ordering practices are influenced by various work system factors, including people, tasks, tools and technologies, the physical environment, organizational conditions, and the external environment. A clinical decision-support tool could facilitate implementation by (1) standardizing blood culture-ordering practices, (2) ensuring that prescribing clinicians review the patient's condition before ordering a blood culture, (3) facilitating critical thinking, and (4) empowering nurses to communicate with physicians and advocate for adherence to blood culture-ordering guidelines. The success of interventions for optimizing blood culture use relies heavily on the local context. A work system analysis using a human factors engineering approach can identify key areas to be addressed for the successful dissemination of quality improvement interventions. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF NATURE AND SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF CULTURE: INTE-GRATION TREND, PRACTICAL VALUE

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Fokina Zoya Titovna

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This article deals with a topic of interest : studying the expanding and deepening trend of integration of natural, technical, social and humanities fields of scientific knowledge. The point of absolute opposition between the sciences dealing with nature and those dealing with culture is subjected to criticism, the forms of integration of scientific knowledge are identified: mathematization, formalization, computerization of knowledge; philosophization/dialectization and environmentalization of the scientific knowledge. It is noted that such areas of scientific knowledge as synergetics, cybernetics, system theory, information technology, sociosynergetics, historical informatics, cliometrics, informatics for economics, evolutionary economics, human ecology, etc. Many scientific fields appear on the border between the science, technology and mathematics, and social and humanities studies, while the sharp borders between the natural sciences and cultural sciences tend to disappear, although specifics of studying the social reality still exists. Within the context of integration of sciences, comprehensive approach, synergetics, cybernetics, and mathematical model approach are analyzed. The philosophy of technology, and environmental problems, which are caused by the development of technological civilization, are studied. Practical value of integration processes in science is identified. The studied data is addressed to the specialists who are interested in the modern processes of integration of sciences, and modern issues of scientific and technical development of humanity, survival of humanity under the conditions of increasing technological understanding of the nature.

Cultures Around the World: A Unique Approach to Youth Cultural Diversity Education

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Justen O. Smith

2007-09-01

Full Text Available Increasingly diverse cultural trends have significant implications for the educational needs of American youth. Learning about and valuing diverse cultures will help prepare youth to become better citizens in an ever-changing society. Cultures Around the World was developed to meet the educational needs of youth in the area of cultural diversity. The Cultures Around the World program brings to life exciting cultures and customs from countries all over the world. Countries are presented in a unique format by teaching youth (ages 10 to 18 a specific country’s history, culture, food, music, dance, language, religion, and current issues. The Cultures Around the World program can be used by any youth educator. The program comes in a ready to use CD containing presentations, handicraft instructions, language guides, and resource guides for nine different countries (Armenia, Australia, Ecuador, Egypt, England, France, Ghana, Slovakia and Mexico.

Out of Context: Thinking Cultural Studies Diasporically

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Grant Farred

2011-04-01

Full Text Available This essay on cultural studies and the African Diaspora argues for a rethinking of cultural studies in two critical ways: firstly, that cultural studies, from its founding institutional and conceptual moment, cannot but be thought diasporically; and, secondly, that cultural studies be thought ‘out of’, or, against, context—that is, cultural studies is most revealing in its political and literary articulation when it is not read, as many of its advocates claim, contextually. This essay offers a broad critique of cultural studies and the (African diaspora but derives its most cogent and creative argument from its ability to read together the work of two diasporic authors, deracinated South African and Australian writers, J. M. Coetzee and David Malouf.

Toward an Understanding of EFL Teacher Culture: An Ethnographic Study in China

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Hong; Yuan, Rui; Wang, Qiang

2018-01-01

Informed by an ethnographic approach, this study aims to investigate the professional culture of a group of English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in a high school in China. Relying on data gathered through extended field observation and in-depth interviews, this study seeks to uncover the distinctive characteristics of EFL teacher culture…

Developing cultural sensitivity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ruddock, Heidi; Turner, deSalle

2007-01-01

. Background. Many countries are becoming culturally diverse, but healthcare systems and nursing education often remain mono-cultural and focused on the norms and needs of the majority culture. To meet the needs of all members of multicultural societies, nurses need to develop cultural sensitivity......Title. Developing cultural sensitivity: nursing students’ experiences of a study abroad programme Aim. This paper is a report of a study to explore whether having an international learning experience as part of a nursing education programme promoted cultural sensitivity in nursing students...... and incorporate this into caregiving. Method. A Gadamerian hermeneutic phenomenological approach was adopted. Data were collected in 2004 by using in-depth conversational interviews and analysed using the Turner method. Findings. Developing cultural sensitivity involves a complex interplay between becoming...

A Framework Approach to Evaluate Cross-Cultural Adaptation of Public Engagement Strategies for Radioactive Waste Management - 13430

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hermann, Laura

2013-01-01

The complex interplay of politics, economics and culture undermines attempts to define universal best practices for public engagement in the management of nuclear materials. In the international context, communicators must rely on careful adaptation and creative execution to make standard communication techniques succeed in their local communities. Nuclear professionals need an approach to assess and adapt culturally specific public engagement strategies to meet the demands of their particular political, economic and social structures. Using participant interviews and public sources, the Potomac Communications Group reviewed country-specific examples of nuclear-related communication efforts to provide insight into a proposed approach. The review considered a spectrum of cultural dimensions related to diversity, authority, conformity, proximity and time. Comparisons help to identify cross-cultural influences of various public engagement tactics and to inform a framework for communicators. While not prescriptive in its application, the framework offers a way for communicators to assess the salience of outreach tactics in specific situations. The approach can guide communicators to evaluate and tailor engagement strategies to achieve localized public outreach goals. (authors)

A Framework Approach to Evaluate Cross-Cultural Adaptation of Public Engagement Strategies for Radioactive Waste Management - 13430

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hermann, Laura [Potomac Communications Group, 1133 20th St NW Washington DC 20035 (United States)

2013-07-01

The complex interplay of politics, economics and culture undermines attempts to define universal best practices for public engagement in the management of nuclear materials. In the international context, communicators must rely on careful adaptation and creative execution to make standard communication techniques succeed in their local communities. Nuclear professionals need an approach to assess and adapt culturally specific public engagement strategies to meet the demands of their particular political, economic and social structures. Using participant interviews and public sources, the Potomac Communications Group reviewed country-specific examples of nuclear-related communication efforts to provide insight into a proposed approach. The review considered a spectrum of cultural dimensions related to diversity, authority, conformity, proximity and time. Comparisons help to identify cross-cultural influences of various public engagement tactics and to inform a framework for communicators. While not prescriptive in its application, the framework offers a way for communicators to assess the salience of outreach tactics in specific situations. The approach can guide communicators to evaluate and tailor engagement strategies to achieve localized public outreach goals. (authors)

Assessing cultural intelligence, personality and identity amongst young white Afrikaans-speaking students: A preliminary study

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Natasha Nel

2015-04-01

Research purpose: The objective of this research is to determine the relationship between personality, identity and CQ amongst young Afrikaans-speaking South Africans. Research approach, design and method: A quantitative research design was used in this study. This study was cross-sectional in nature. For the purpose of this study, a sample of young South African university students (N = 252 was used. The personal identity subscale from the Erickson Psychosocial Stage Inventory, the Multi-Ethnic Identity Measure, the Religious Identity Short Scale, the South African Personality Inventory questionnaire and the Four Factor Model of Cultural Intelligence Scale were applied as the measuring instruments. Main findings: Religious identity and ethnic identity have a relationship with cognitive CQ. Soft-heartedness and conscientiousness have a relationship with behavioural CQ. Also, soft-heartedness, facilitating, extroversion and religious identity have a relationship with motivational CQ. Practical/managerial implications: Organisations within South Africa will gain a better understanding of CQ and the benefits of having a culturally intelligent workforce as a strengths-based approach. Culturally intelligent employees will be able to adjust to working with co-workers from another culture, not feel threatened when interacting with co-workers and clients and be able to transfer knowledge from one culture to another, which will aid the organisation in completing overseas assignments, cross-cultural decision-making, leadership in multicultural environments and managing international careers. Contribution/value-add: CQ is a relatively new concept and empirical research on positive subjects is still very limited. Research on personality, identity and CQ within the South African context is still very limited. Therefore, this study will contribute to literature on positive psychology and cultural intelligence.

An experimental approach towards the development of an in vitro cortical-thalamic co-culture model.

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Kanagasabapathi, Thirukumaran T; Massobrio, Paolo; Tedesco, Mariateresa; Martinoia, Sergio; Wadman, Wytse J; Decré, Michel M J

2011-01-01

In this paper, we propose an experimental approach to develop an in vitro dissociated cortical-thalamic co-culture model using a dual compartment neurofluidic device. The device has two compartments separated by 10 μm wide and 3 μm high microchannels. The microchannels provide a physical isolation of neurons allowing only neurites to grow between the compartments. Long-term viable co-culture was maintained in the compartmented device, neurite growth through the microchannels was verified using immunofluorescence staining, and electrophysiological recordings from the co-culture system was investigated. Preliminary analysis of spontaneous activities from the co-culture shows a distinctively different firing pattern associated with cultures of individual cell types and further analysis is proposed for a deeper understanding of the dynamics involved in the network connectivity in such a co-culture system.

[Traditional and modern approaches to culture of preimplantation mammalian embryos in vitro].

Science.gov (United States)

Brusentsev, E Iu; Igonina, T N; Amstislavskiĭ, S Ia

2014-01-01

This review covers the basic principles and methods of in vitro culture of preimplantation mammalian embryos. The features of in vitro development of embryos of various species of animals with allowance for the composition of nutrient media are described, with special attention paid to those species that have traditionally been consideredas laboratory (i.e., mice, rats, and hamsters). The effects of suboptimal culturing conditions of preimplantation embryos on the formation of the phenotype of individuals developed from these embryos are discussed. New approaches to optimize the conditions of the development of preimplantation mammalian embryos in vitro are analyzed.

A STUDY ON ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

OpenAIRE

S. Valentine Usha Kalaichelvi; Dr. Auxilia Antony; Dr. A. Nelson Vimalanathan

2017-01-01

Organizational Culture is defined as the values and behaviors that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of the organization. Organizational culture includes an organizations expectations, experiences, philosophy and values that hold it together and is expressed in its self-image, inner workings, interactions with the outside world and future expectations. This article is going to study about the organizational culture.

German cross-cultural psychology

OpenAIRE

Trommsdorff, Gisela

1986-01-01

The present study deals with German-language cross-cultural research in different fields of psychology which attempts to achieve one Or more goals of cross-cultural psychology. First, methodological problems are discussed, followed by a selective presentation of cross-cultural research in personality, clinical, ethological, developmental, and social psychology. The theoretical and methodological advancement of these studies is investigated with respect to four approaches - universals in cross...

Cultural ergonomics in interactional and experiential design: conceptual framework and case study of the Taiwanese twin cup.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Chih-Long; Chen, Si-Jing; Hsiao, Wen-Hsin; Lin, Rungtai

2016-01-01

Cultural ergonomics is an approach that considers interaction- and experience-based variations among cultures. Designers need to develop a better understanding of cultural ergonomics not just to participate in cultural contexts but also to develop interactive experiences for users. Cultural ergonomics extends our understanding of cultural meaning and our ability to utilize such understanding for design and evaluate everyday products. This study aims to combine cultural ergonomics and interactive design to explore human-culture interaction in user experiences. The linnak is a typical Taiwanese aboriginal cultural object. This study examined the cultural meaning and operational interface of the linnak, as well as the scenarios in which it is used in interaction and user experiences. The results produced a cultural ergonomics interface for examining the manner in which designers communicate across cultures as well as the interweaving of design and culture in the design process. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

After the Disciplines: The Emergence of Cultural Studies. Critical Studies in Education and Culture Series.

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Peters, Michael, Ed.

This collection of essays contains responses to a request to examine the emergence and formation of "cultural studies" within the university and the implications of cultural studies for an economics of "disciplinarity." The majority of the contributors are from the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Following an introduction…

Capturing Cultural Glossaries: Case-study II

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Matete Madiba

2011-10-01

Full Text Available

ABSTRACT: This case-study attempts to present a brief glossary of Northern Sotho medical terms. It is a follow-up of a similar case-study (Madiba, Mphahlele and Kganyago 2003, which was an attempt to capture and present Northern Sotho cooking terms. Case-study I consists of the names for utensils, ingredients and the processes involved in the preparation of cultural dishes. With both these case-studies, the intention has been to use the opportunities availing themselves for the pres-ervation and valorisation of Northern Sotho, including the extension of its corpora to support national dictionary-making processes. The case-study methodology has been very useful for the purposes of this project and the context within which it was undertaken. It aims to provide a model for the collection and presentation of authentic Northern Sotho terminology which otherwise would hardly have been accessible.

Keywords: CULTURAL GLOSSARY, INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS, CORPUS, OUTCOMES-BASED EDUCATION, ASSESSMENT CRITERIA, TRADITIONAL MEDICAL TERMS, COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH, STRUCTURAL APPROACH, METONYMY, HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES, TASK-BASED LEARNING

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OPSOMMING: Die totstandbrenging van kulturele woordversamelings: Ge-vallestudie II. Hierdie gevallestudie probeer om 'n beperkte woordelys van Noord-Sotho- mediese terme aan te bied. Dit is 'n voortsetting van 'n soortgelyke gevallestudie (Madiba, Mpha-hlele en Kganyago 2003 wat 'n poging was om Noord-Sothokookterme te versamel en aan te bied. Gevallestudie I bestaan uit die name van gereedskap, bestanddele, en die prosesse betrokke by die voorbereiding van kulturele geregte. Met altwee hierdie gevallestudies was die bedoeling om die geleenthede te gebruik wat hulleself aanbied vir die bewaring en bestendiging van Noord-Sotho, insluitende die uitbreiding van sy korpora om die nasionale woordeboeksamestellingsprosesse te ondersteun. Die gevallestudiemetodologie was baie nuttig vir die doeleindes van

Understanding Teachers' Professional Cultures through Interview: A Constructivist Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Knight, Peter; Saunders, Murray

1999-01-01

Describes a research method used in a British project studying the professional culture of teachers, that of "dialogic interviews." The focus was on cultural constructs teachers used spontaneously, and the interviews were formed around elements of concept, discourse, general accounts of teaching, and site-specific accounts of teaching.…

Incorporating organisational safety culture within ergonomics practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Bentley, Tim; Tappin, David

2010-10-01

This paper conceptualises organisational safety culture and considers its relevance to ergonomics practice. Issues discussed in the paper include the modest contribution that ergonomists and ergonomics as a discipline have made to this burgeoning field of study and the significance of safety culture to a systems approach. The relevance of safety culture to ergonomics work with regard to the analysis, design, implementation and evaluation process, and implications for participatory ergonomics approaches, are also discussed. A potential user-friendly, qualitative approach to assessing safety culture as part of ergonomics work is presented, based on a recently published conceptual framework that recognises the dynamic and multi-dimensional nature of safety culture. The paper concludes by considering the use of such an approach, where an understanding of different aspects of safety culture within an organisation is seen as important to the success of ergonomics projects. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: The relevance of safety culture to ergonomics practice is a key focus of this paper, including its relationship with the systems approach, participatory ergonomics and the ergonomics analysis, design, implementation and evaluation process. An approach to assessing safety culture as part of ergonomics work is presented.

Environmental Remediation Full-Scale Implementation: Back to Simple Microbial Massive Culture Approaches

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Agung Syakti

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Using bioaugmentation and biostimulation approach for contaminated soil bioremediation were investigated and implemented on field scale. We combine those approaches by culturing massively the petrophilic indigenous microorganisms from chronically contaminated soil enriched by mixed manure. Through these methods, bioremediation performance revealed promising results in removing the petroleum hydrocarbons comparatively using metabolite by product such as biosurfactant, specific enzymes and other extra-cellular product which are considered as a difficult task and will impact on cost increase.

Chinese culture approached through touch

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Li; Champion, Erik

2012-01-01

Can recent technology help bridge cultures through playful interaction appropriate to traditional tacit means of acquiring knowledge? In order to help answer this question, we designed four Adobe Flash-based based game prototypes and evaluated them via a touch-screen PC. The goal was to offer non......, fun, and cultural authenticity. While this form of tangible computing proved engaging, it raises technical issues of how to convey appropriately the interactive elements without the help of the evaluator, and how to evaluate user satisfaction. We also briefly discuss more embodied and spatial......Chinese participants a playful way of experiencing aspects of traditional Chinese culture. The four single-player games were based on the four arts of China (music, calligraphy, painting and the game of Go!). In the evaluation we asked non-Chinese and the Chinese participants to evaluate the games in terms of learning...

Developing Culturally Competent Health Knowledge: Issues of Data Analysis of Cross-Cultural, Cross-Language Qualitative Research

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Jenny Hsin-Chun Tsai

2004-12-01

Full Text Available There is a growing awareness and interest in the development of culturally competent health knowledge. Drawing on experience using a qualitative approach to elicit information from Mandarin- or Cantonese-speaking participants for a colorectal cancer prevention study, the authors describe lessons learned through the analysis process. These lessons include benefits and drawbacks of the use of coders from the studied culture group, challenges posed by using translated data for analysis, and suitable analytic approaches and research methods for cross-cultural, cross-language qualitative research. The authors also discuss the implications of these lessons for the development of culturally competent health knowledge.

Modular Approach to Designing Computer Cultural Systems: Culture as a Thermodynamic Machine

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Leland Gilsen

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Culture is a complex non-linear system. In order to design computer simulations of cultural systems, it is necessary to break the system down into sub-systems. Human culture is modular. It consists of sets of people that belong to economic units. Access to, and control over matter, energy and information is postulated as the key to development of cultural simulations. Because resources in the real world are patchy, access to and control over resources is expressed in two related arenas: economics (direct control and politics (non-direct control. The best way to create models for cultural ecology/economics lies in an energy-information-economic paradigm based on general systems theory and an understanding of the "thermodynamics" of ecology, or culture as a thermodynamic machine.

Cultural Education and the Voluntary Provision of Cultural Goods: An Experimental Study

OpenAIRE

Massimo Finocchiaro Castro

2004-01-01

We study the effect that the possibility of investing in cultural education has on the voluntary contributions to a cultural good. This is done in a two-stage public-good experiment. We also provide treatments with different context in order to control for a possible framing effect. Our results show the absence of an effect of cultural education on the contributions to the cultural good and a slight increase in the allocations of subjectsÂendowments to the cultural good when the cultural cont...

Approaching German Culture: A Tentative Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Tinsley, Royal; Woloshin, David

1974-01-01

A comparative analysis of the five universal problems of cultural orientation: 1) human nature, 2) social relations, 3) man and nature, 4) time, 5) space, as they are reflected in German and American culture. (PP)

In-depth Cultural Studies in Multicultural Group

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Siliņa-Jasjukeviča Gunta

2016-12-01

Full Text Available There is much research and educational practices at all levels of education on how to deal with promoting acceptance and understanding between different cultures. A cultural study forms an important part of shaping intercultural understanding. The aim of the research is to analyze an innovative way of incorporating cultural studies in teacher education program from the perspective of encouraging multinational students to reveal common values within diverse manifestations of different cultures. The present article describes a qualitative study of multinational students’ experiences in international project related to the learning about Nordic and Baltic cultural traditions. In the conclusion of the article, the efficiency of the structure of content and the process of in-depth cultural studies are analyzed. The discussion contains problems for further research of this topic.

Integration, differentiation and ambiguity in safety cultures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Richter, Anne; Koch, Christian

2004-01-01

This article discusses safety cultures, drawing on the differentiation, integration and ambiguity-scheme introduced by scholars of organizational culture. An ethnographic approach has been applied in the study of meaning and symbols relating to work, hazards, occupational accidents and prevention....... The application of this approach is demonstrated through a multifacetted analysis of safety cultures. Case studies in Danish manufacturing show that it usually is necessary to differentiate between several safety cultures dispersed throughout the shop floor and other parts of the manufacturing organization....... Although some common elements are present across cultures, they are indeed a multiple configuration of cultures. The article illustrates this by providing one case showing a configuration of three cultures, metaphorically labelled Production, Welfare and Master. For example, the former views risk...

Team health, an assessment approach to engage first year students in cross-cultural and cross-discipline teams towards more effective team-working

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Kathy Egea

Full Text Available Specialists who work in a globalised environment, need to work in teams, if they are to be continuously effective. The challenge for IT educators is to design and implement inter-cultural teamwork practices into their curriculum. Investigating this challenge, this case study describes Team Health, an assessment approach designed to skill students to be more effective in team working in cross-cultural and cross-discipline teams. The educational context is teamwork practice within a first year introductory web design course. Framed by Saunders\\'s virtual team lifecycle model (relationship building and team processes and Hofstede\\'s cultural dimensions (communication and working cross-culturally, the assessment approach utilises reflective and iterative strategies to support team working. At three points in the semester, students complete a survey on these four concepts, identify team strengths and weaknesses from the results of the surveys and work towards addressing one team weakness. The final assessment activity requires students to reflect on team working for the semester. Key attributes for effective team working are identified from the three surveys and the final reflective summaries. This paper compares course outcomes such as team cohesion and student grades to the previous course offering and shows that with the introduction of Team Health, the more complex student cohorts under this study achieve equally well. It is concluded that the guided reflective practices underpinning Team Health can prepare students for first year approaches to teamwork, and thereby provide starting points for working in future global teams where members are both culturally diverse and from different discipline areas.

Performed Culture: An Approach to East Asian Language Pedagogy. Pathways to Advanced Skills Series, Volume 11

Science.gov (United States)

Christensen, Matthew; Warnick, Paul

2006-01-01

This book is a general introduction to the performed culture approach, which trains students how to express themselves in a way that native speakers of the target culture feel appropriate in given situations. Target readership includes Chinese, Japanese, and Korean language teachers and graduate students. Chapters of this book include: (1)…

The Influence of Linguistics upon the Formation of the Culture-Historical Approach in Archaeology

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Zorica Kuzmanović

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Through the critical research into the history of archaeology, the paper aims to explore the influence of linguistics and, more generally, the role of language in modern societies, upon the formation of the culture-historical approach in the discipline, focusing upon the situation in the Serbian archaeology. In doing so, the author follows the series of the similar critical historical accounts of the history of archaeology, pointing to the conceptual burden carried along with the culture-historical practice of attributing artefacts according to their cultural affiliation, automatically making inferences about the cultural/ ethnic identity of the people who used them. The need to analyse the relationship between linguistics and archaeology at the time of formation of the discipline originates from the standpoint that, even if we do not advocate the complete rejection of the culture-historical tradition (still impossible, however, it is nevertheless necessary to understand the ways in which certain meanings were formed, implicit to the archaeological concept of culture. In this way, it becomes possible to avoid the interpretive mistakes inherent to the conceptual burden of the discipline.

CHALLENGES IN CROSS CULTURAL ADVERTISING

OpenAIRE

Yuni Retnowati

2016-01-01

At first, marketing practitioners and academics consider standardized approaches to marketing and advertising strategies in globalization, and then some studies proved that the standardization of advertising across culture is not valid. Therefore, cross cultural advertising takes local culture into account when conveying messages in advertisements. Cross cultural understanding is very important in order to produce successful localized advertising that would reflect the cultural values and nor...

Consumption symbols as carriers of culture: a study of Japanese and Spanish brand personality constructs.

Science.gov (United States)

Aaker, J L; Benet-Martínez, V; Garolera, J

2001-09-01

This research argues that the meaning embedded in consumption symbols, such as commercial brands, can serve to represent and institutionalize the values and beliefs of a culture. Relying on a combined emic-etic approach, the authors conducted 4 studies to examine how symbolic and expressive attributes associated with commercial brands are structured and how this structure varies across 3 cultures. Studies 1 and 2 revealed a set of "brand personality" dimensions common to both Japan and the United States (Sincerity, Excitement, Competence, and Sophistication), as well as culture-specific Japanese (Peacefulness) and American (Ruggedness) dimensions. Studied 3 and 4, which extended this set of findings to Spain, yielded brand personality dimensions common to both Spain and the United States (Sincerity, Excitement, and Sophistication), plus nonshared Spanish (Passion) and American (Competence and Ruggedness) dimensions. The meaning of these brand personality dimensions is discussed in the context of cross-cultural research on values and affect, globalization issues, and cultural frame shifting.

Meaningful Learning in the Teaching of Culture: The Project Based Learning Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Kean, Ang Chooi; Kwe, Ngu Moi

2014-01-01

This paper reports on a collaborative effort taken by a team of three teacher educators in using the Project Based Learning (PBL) approach in the teaching of Japanese culture with the aim to investigate the presence of actual "meaningful learning" among 15 students of a 12-Week Preparatory Japanese Language course under a teacher…

Center for Ukrainian Cultural Studies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Laarse, R.

2017-01-01

The Amsterdam-based Center for Ukrainian Cultural Studies (UCS) unites Dutch scholars in Ukrainian art, cinema, media, memory, language, and literature. Launched by the Amsterdam School for Heritage, Memory and Material Culture (AHM) and the University of Amsterdam’s Department of Slavic Languages

Librarians and Party Girls: Cultural Studies and the Meaning of the Librarian.

Science.gov (United States)

Radford, Marie L.; Radford, Gary P.

2003-01-01

Responds to Wayne Wiegand's article that criticizes library and information science by suggesting a cultural studies approach to the field. Applies the work of Stuart Hall to a media stereotype of the female librarian based on the film "Party Girl" to allow new interpretations of media images of the profession. (Author/LRW)

Citizenship culture: psychosocial approach to the law in the context of a Rio de Janeiro slum

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Georgie Alexánder Echeverri

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In the first part of this paper, we approach the citizenship culture as it was developed in Colombia by the former mayor of Bogotá, Antanas Mockus, taking into account both the conceptual structure and the methodological principles of implementation, namely, the internalization of the rule and the creation of communication strategies aimed at achieving willingly cooperation. After making a psychosocial approach of the citizenship culture in the light of the theory of the social representations, we present the results of a prototypical analysis based on free association data from a sample of 156 teenagers who live at Mangueira slum, in Rio de Janeiro, exercise that enabled us to make a socio-cultural and political reading from the fulfillment or failure of the law. Finally, as an educational proposal, we hand in the results of a participatory action research —Aventureiros—, a program of education for citizenship focused on children, based on the very Colombian methodological principles of the citizenship culture and adapted to the Rio de Janeiro favela environment.

Constructing Image-Based Culture Definitions Using Metaphors: Impact of a Cross-Cultural Immersive Experience

Science.gov (United States)

Tuleja, Elizabeth A.

2017-01-01

This study provides an approach to teaching and learning in the international business (IB) classroom about cultural values, beliefs, attitudes, and norms through the study of cultural metaphor. The methodology is based on established qualitative methods by using participants' visual pictures and written explanations--representative of their…

AGROBACTERIUM-MEDIATED GENETIC TRANSFORMATION OF SORGHUM USING TISSUE CULTURE-BASED AND POLLEN-MEDIATED APPROACHES

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Elkonin L.A.

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Genetic transformation is a powerful tool for genetic improvement of arable crops. Genetic engineering approaches are especially important for modification of starch and protein contents, vitamin and micronutrient concentration, improvement of nutritive value of protein fractions, and increase tolerance to environmental stresses. Application of transgenic technologies for genetic improvement of sorghum, a highly productive heat tolerant and drought resistant crop, is extremely important since climate aridization in many regions all over the globe hampers sustainable production of traditional cereals, such as wheat, maize and barley. However, sorghum, in spite of great number of investigations, is one of the most recalcitrant crop species to genetic modification. The most frequently reported problems are a low frequency of transformation and silencing of transgenes. Using the A. tumefaciens strain AGL0/p35SGIB with the bar and gus-intron genes under the nos and CaMV35S promoters, respectively, we studied different methods of Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation of the grain sorghum: in vitro culture-based techniques, by inoculation of immature embryos or embryo-derived calli, and pollen-mediated approach, by inoculation of flowering panicles. Four lines of grain sorghum – Milo-10, [9E] Milo-10 (CMS-line, KVV-114, and KVV-45 – were used. In both approaches, for activation of vir-genes agrobacterial cell suspension was grown in the AB or modified AB media with acetosyringone at room temperature. In vitro culture approach was effective for obtaining transgenic plants in the lines Milo-10 and KVV-45, which were able to produce embryogenic callus from immature embryos after their co-cultivation with agrobacterial cell suspension. Callus cultures tolerant to glufosinate ammonium (GA and capable to plant regeneration were obtained. The frequency of immature embryos producing PCR-positive transgenic plants varied in different experiments

Citizenship and cultural diversity in agenda of cultural policies

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Patricia Silva Dorneles

2016-01-01

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

Culturalizing Achievement Goal Theory and Research

Science.gov (United States)

Zusho, Akane; Clayton, Karen

2011-01-01

This article is primarily designed to provide a cultural analysis of the literature on achievement goals. First, an overview of the four dominant approaches to the study of culture--namely, cross-cultural psychology, cultural psychology, indigenous psychology, and psychological anthropology--is offered. Second, we analyze the extant body of…

Hired Hands: Casualised Technology and Labour in the Teaching of Cultural Studies

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Kieryn McKay

2011-09-01

Full Text Available This article examines the uptake and application of podcasting in a particular higher education context, drawing on the the authors' experience in late 2008 when both were employed as casual tutors on large-scale first-year communications and cultural studies courses at the University of Western Sydney. The article maps out the limits of technological innovation within the teaching of cultural studies, as well as its limits in promoting the radical potential of a cultural studies approach. It also charts some of the effects and affects of an over-reliance on casualised labour, which we argue can have a profoundly destabilising and atomising impact on academic practice and student engagement. We argue there is a parallel between the appropriation of popular media technologies into the university and the current system of casual academic employment in Australia, in that both the podcast and the casual academic represent ‘new’ interfaces of outsourced academic labour. Stipulated from our positions as casual teachers in cultural studies, this article is written from an embedded perspective which conceptualises both the podcast and the casual academic in line with the most prevalent mode of their employment in the academy: as ‘hired hands’, appendages to traditional models of pedagogy.

Cultural Mega-Events as an International, Cultural, and Political Tool

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Julia Nikolaeva

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This article is an attempt to offer a conceptual understanding of various kinds of mega-events and to determine their significance as an instrument of the official international cultural policy. The article examines scientific approaches to understanding and classification of mega-events. The case studies focus on such mega-events as international cross-cultural years and cultural forums. The fact that the official foreign policy of¬ten defines and shapes the goals of mega-events proves their value in establishing and promoting a positive international image of the country. Recent Russian experience in organizing cross-cultural years is examined to discuss positive and negative socio-cultural impact.

Cultivating a culture of research in nursing through a journal club for leaders: A pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kjerholt, Mette; Hølge-Hazelton, Bibi

2018-01-01

To describe whether an action learning-inspired journal club for nurse leaders can develop the leaders' self-perceived competences to support a research culture in clinical nursing practice. Development of clinical research capacity and nurse leaders with the requisite competences are key factors in evidence-based health care practice. This study describes how nurse leaders at a large regional hospital took part in a journal club for nurse leaders, with a view to developing their competences to support a nursing research culture in their departments. A pilot study using a multimethod approach to evaluate the journal club for nurse leaders. Four nurse leaders participated in the journal club for nurse leaders. Content analysis on the data was performed. Data revealed that participation in journal club for nurse leaders gave the leaders a feeling of increased competences to support nursing research culture in their departments. They stated that the action learning approach and the competences of the facilitator were key factors in this outcome. An action learning-inspired journal club for nurse leaders can be useful and meaningful to nurse leaders in developing leadership competences. As an approach in journal club for nurse leaders, action learning can develop nurse leaders' competence to support a research culture, and thus ensure evidence-based nursing is practised. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Partnership for Diversity: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Nurturing Cultural Competence at an Emerging Medical School.

Science.gov (United States)

Swanberg, Stephanie M; Abuelroos, Dena; Dabaja, Emman; Jurva, Stephanie; Martin, Kimberly; McCarron, Joshua; Reed-Hendon, Caryn; Yeow, Raymond Y; Harriott, Melphine M

2015-01-01

Fostering cultural competence in higher education institutions is essential, particularly in training future health care workers to care for diverse populations. The opportunity to explore techniques to address diversity and cultural competence at a new medical school was undertaken by a multidisciplinary team of librarians, faculty, staff, and medical students. From 2011 to 2015, the team sponsored a voluntary programming series to promote cultural competence and raise awareness of health care disparities for the medical school. Thirteen events were hosted with 562 participants across all. This approach to diversity proved effective and could be adapted in any higher education setting.

Facilitating cultural border crossing in urban secondary science classrooms: A study of inservice teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Monteiro, Anna Karina

Research acknowledges that if students are to be successful science, they must learn to navigate and cross cultural borders that exist between their own cultures and the subculture of science. This dissertation utilized a mixed methods approach to explore how inservice science teachers working in urban schools construct their ideas of and apply the concepts about the culture of science and cultural border crossing as relevant to the teaching and learning of science. The study used the lenses of cultural capital, social constructivism, and cultural congruency in the design and analysis of each of the three phases of data collection. Phase I identified the perspectives of six inservice science teachers on science culture, cultural border crossing, and which border crossing methods, if any, they used during science teaching. Phase II took a dialectical approach as the teachers read about science culture and cultural border crossing during three informal professional learning community meetings. This phase explored how teachers constructed their understanding of cultural border crossing and how the concept applied to the teaching and learning of science. Phase III evaluated how teachers' perspectives changed from Phase I. In addition, classroom observations were used to determine whether teachers' practices in their science classrooms changed from Phase I to Phase III. All three phases collected data through qualitative (i.e., interviews, classroom observations, and surveys) and quantitative (Likert items) means. The findings indicated that teachers found great value in learning about the culture of science and cultural border crossing as it pertained to their teaching methods. This was not only evidenced by their interviews and surveys, but also in the methods they used in their classrooms. Final conclusions included how the use of student capital resources (prior experiences, understandings and knowledge, ideas an interests, and personal beliefs), if supported by

An exploration of culture, diabetes, and nursing in the South Asian community: a metasynthesis of qualitative studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Fleming, Elizabeth; Gillibrand, Warren

2009-04-01

South Asian people are often perceived as a homogenous group whose culture is prescriptive and constraining. A metasynthesis of how culture influences diabetes self-management in the context of a South Asian population was undertaken. Theory explication was used to deconstruct and reconceptualize the findings of the studies. Eleven publications reported themes of health beliefs, individuality, context, and shared experiences. The results indicate that culture does not influence diabetes self-management in a rigid and prescriptive way; instead, individuals negotiate and interpret culture in a shifting and diverse context. An individualized approach to delivering culturally appropriate nursing care should be taken.

Review of Studies on Just Culture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yi, Kyung Joo; Choi, Young Sung; Jung, Su Jin [Safety Policy Department, Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-10-15

Safety culture represents patterns of behavior and ways of thinking on safety for both individuals and organizations. Besides nuclear industry, many fields such as transport and health care have focused on the value and effectiveness of safety culture. In this paper, the definition and characteristics of just culture, which is one component of safety culture, and related studies reported by other researchers are described. We hope this review will serve to understand the current condition and underlying problems of the just culture of nuclear industry in Korea. This paper describes the definition and basic principle of just culture in nuclear industry based on the review of researches on safety and just culture in various fields. To establish just culture solidly in organization, each individual needs to understand the nature of the just culture first. And it is necessary to create an atmosphere encouraging to report and suggest safety-related issues. Most of all, to draw clear lines of blame and punishment for human error is essential.

Review of Studies on Just Culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yi, Kyung Joo; Choi, Young Sung; Jung, Su Jin

2014-01-01

Safety culture represents patterns of behavior and ways of thinking on safety for both individuals and organizations. Besides nuclear industry, many fields such as transport and health care have focused on the value and effectiveness of safety culture. In this paper, the definition and characteristics of just culture, which is one component of safety culture, and related studies reported by other researchers are described. We hope this review will serve to understand the current condition and underlying problems of the just culture of nuclear industry in Korea. This paper describes the definition and basic principle of just culture in nuclear industry based on the review of researches on safety and just culture in various fields. To establish just culture solidly in organization, each individual needs to understand the nature of the just culture first. And it is necessary to create an atmosphere encouraging to report and suggest safety-related issues. Most of all, to draw clear lines of blame and punishment for human error is essential

Seismomorphogenesis: a novel approach to acclimatization of tissue culture regenerated plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarmast, Mostafa Khoshhal; Salehi, Hassan; Khosh-Khui, Morteza

2014-12-01

Plantlets under in vitro conditions transferred to ex vivo conditions are exposed to biotic and abiotic stresses. Furthermore, in vitro regenerated plants are typically frail and sometimes difficult to handle subsequently increasing their risk to damage and disease; hence acclimatization of these plantlets is the most important step in tissue culture techniques. An experiment was conducted under in vitro conditions to study the effects of shaking duration (twice daily at 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. for 2, 4, 8, and 16 min at 250 rpm for 14 days) on Sansevieria trifasciata L. as a model plant. Results showed that shaking improved handling, total plant height, and leaf characteristics of the model plant. Forty-eight hours after 14 days of shaking treatments with increasing shaking time, leaf length decreased but proline content of leaf increased. However, 6 months after starting the experiment different results were observed. In explants that received 16 min of shaking treatment, leaf length and area and photosynthesis rate were increased compared with control plantlets. Six months after starting the experiment, control plantlets had 12.5 % mortality; however, no mortality was observed in other treated explants. The results demonstrated that shaking improved the explants' root length and number and as a simple, cost-effective, and non-chemical novel approach may be substituted for other prevalent acclimatization techniques used for tissue culture regenerated plantlets. Further studies with sensitive plants are needed to establish this hypothesis.

EXPLORATORY STUDY OF OBSTACLES IN SAFETY CULTURE DEVELOPMENT IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY: A GROUNDED THEORY APPROACH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bonaventure H.W. Hadikusumo

2010-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to analyse the obstacles that prevent the development of a safety culture in Thailand’s large construction industry from various managerial points of view. Qualitative research methods were used by performing a series of semi-structured interviews of eight case studies selected from six prominent construction firms to investigate the obstacles they face. Glaser’s keyword coding from Grounded Theory was used to reduce the information load after the interviews. Our findings revealed that the factors influencing the successful development of a safety culture in the construction industry are the workers, the characteristics of construction, the subcontractors, the supervisors, and external factors. Based on the frequency analysis, the main obstacles in developing a safety culture result from problems related to the workers themselves. The three most frequently discussed problems are unskilled workers, unsafe worker habits, and high worker turnover. Our results also suggest that managers should encourage engagement from their workers to optimise the successful implementation of safety programs and their long-term improvement.

Cultural Understanding Through Cross-Cultural Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Briere, Jean-Francois

1986-01-01

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

A modified Continuous Quality Improvement approach to improve culturally and socially inclusive care within rural health services.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Olivia; Malatzky, Christina; Bourke, Lisa; Farmer, Jane

2018-03-23

The sickest Australians are often those belonging to non-privileged groups, including Indigenous Australians, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual, intersex and queer people, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, socioeconomically disadvantaged groups, and people with disabilities and low English literacy. These consumers are not always engaged by, or included within, mainstream health services, particularly in rural Australia where health services are limited in number and tend to be generalist in nature. The aim of this study was to present a new approach for improving the sociocultural inclusivity of mainstream, generalist, rural, health care organisations. This approach combines a modified Continuous Quality Improvement framework with Participatory Action Research principles and Foucault's concepts of power, discourse and resistance to develop a change process that deconstructs the power relations that currently exclude marginalised rural health consumers from mainstream health services. It sets up processes for continuous learning and consumer responsiveness. The approach proposed could provide a Continuous Quality Improvement process for creating more inclusive mainstream health institutions and fostering better engagement with many marginalised groups in rural communities to improve their access to health care. The approach to improving cultural inclusion in mainstream rural health services presented in this article builds on existing initiatives. This approach focuses on engaging on-the-ground staff in the need for change and preparing the service for genuine community consultation and responsive change. It is currently being trialled and evaluated. © 2018 National Rural Health Alliance Ltd.

Applying the Cultural Approach to Cognitive Development

Science.gov (United States)

Gauvain, Mary; Beebe, Heidi; Zhao, Shuheng

2011-01-01

Cognitive development is a cultural process. More experienced cultural members and the practices, institutions, and artifacts of the culture provide support and guidance for children as they develop knowledge and thinking skills. In this article, the authors describe the value that is added to our understanding of cognitive development when…

Place-Based Dialogics: Adaptive Cultural and Interpersonal Approaches to Environmental Conservation

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Stacey K. Sowards

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This study examines conservation campaigns and how they employ place-based interpersonal communication tactics to better engage local communities in rural locations in Indonesia, Philippines, and Colombia. In collaboration with the non-governmental organization Rare, the authors explore how social marketing campaigns coupled with interpersonal communication can influence communities that are often considered the most marginalized and affected by environmental problems. Field research was conducted in Indonesia since 2008 and Colombia since 2014. Ethnography through participant observation and interviews were primary methods for data collection as well as a thorough analysis of organizational documents, such as websites, blogs, reports, and other written work. Using theories of dialogue and place-based studies of interpersonal communication, three key campaign strategies emerged from our research. First, cooperative engagement through semi-formalized information sharing is an important component of building a campaign in rural areas, which might include key stakeholder meetings, relationship building with local governmental, religious, and community leaders, and training sessions with local farmers or fishers. A second approach is based on critical listening and understanding through word of mouth involvement, such as community activities and improved understanding of the challenges that local people face in their communities. Finally, a third approach relates to the recognition of difference through engaging local culture. Campaign managers have used religious leaders, local languages, traditional customs and activities, and other place-based approaches to create inclusive conservation campaigns. These strategies demonstrate that conservation campaigns require intense interpersonal dialogue, long-term commitment, and place-based understanding.

A Cross-Cultural Approach to the Negotiation of Individual and Group Identities: Parliamentary Debates and Editorial Meetings

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Stewart, Miranda

2012-01-01

This article draws on interactional pragmatics and a cross-cultural approach (UK, France, Spain) to investigate the negotiation of individual and group identities in two different speech events, parliamentary debates and editorial meetings. The cross-cultural examination of the use of linguistic resources for signalling "social role,…

Exploring Education Culture by Employing Hofstede?s Cultural Dimensions to Evaluate the Effectiveness of the Current ERP Training Approach in Thailand

Science.gov (United States)

Chayakonvikom, Monta; Fuangvut, Parin; Cannell, Stephen

2016-01-01

ERP training is a critical success factor in ERP implementation. The current ERP training was largely ineffective and caused user resistance and ERP implementation failure. The objective of this paper is to investigate whether the current ERP training approach can accommodate the cultural learning behaviors of end-users. Hofstede's cultural…

Should we learn culture in chemistry classroom? Integration ethnochemistry in culturally responsive teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Rahmawati, Yuli; Ridwan, Achmad; Nurbaity

2017-08-01

The papers report the first year of two-year longitudinal study of ethnochemistry integration in culturally responsive teaching in chemistry classrooms. The teaching approach is focusing on exploring the culture and indigenous knowledge in Indonesia from chemistry perspectives. Ethnochemistry looks at the culture from chemistry perspectives integrated into culturally responsive teaching has developed students' cultural identity and students' engagement in chemistry learning. There are limited research and data in exploring Indonesia culture, which has around 300 ethics, from chemistry perspectives. Students come to the chemistry classrooms from a different background; however, their chemistry learning disconnected with their background which leads to students' disengagement in chemistry learning. Therefore this approach focused on students' engagement within their differences. This research was conducted with year 10 and 11 from four classrooms in two secondary schools through qualitative methodology with observation, interviews, and reflective journals as data collection. The results showed that the integration of ethnochemistry in culturally responsive teaching approach can be implemented by involving 5 principles which are content integration, facilitating knowledge construction, prejudice reduction, social justice, and academic development. The culturally responsive teaching has engaged students in their chemistry learning and developed their cultural identity and soft skills. Students found that the learning experiences has helped to develop their chemistry knowledge and understand the culture from chemistry perspectives. The students developed the ability to work together, responsibility, curiosity, social awareness, creativity, empathy communication, and self-confidence which categorized into collaboration skills, student engagement, social and cultural awareness, and high order thinking skills. The ethnochemistry has helped them to develop the critical self

Advantages and disadvantages by using safety culture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dyhrberg, Mette Bang

2003-01-01

Safety culture is a major issue in accident research. A recently finished ph.d.-study has evaluated the symbolic safety culture approach and found four advantages and two disadvantages. These are presented and discussed in this contribution. It is concluded that the approach can be useful...

An examination of cross-cultural systems implementing evidence-based assessment and intervention approaches

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Murray Laura K

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Implementation of evidence-based assessment and intervention approaches for youth with behavioral and/or emotional problems is rising to recognition worldwide. Feasibility research is critical to examine what characteristics of systems allow for success or barriers to the implementation of evidence-based practices into real-world settings, especially when working cross-culturally. This paper briefly reviews the experience of 4 international sites to understand how the overall structure and specific site variables directed the implementation of the World Health Organization and the World Psychiatry Association project. Discussion includes a thematic summary of the successes and challenges experienced by the sites, and future directions of feasibility studies.

Cultural Scripts and the Speech Act of Opinions in Irish English: A Study amongst Irish and Polish University Students

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Weronika Gąsior

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Studies in pragmatics have been limited to a handful of illocutionary acts such as requests, apologies or compliments, and opinions remain underrepresented in the existing literature. In this paper I present the results of a study of opinions in Irish English, conducted in an intercultural environment of Irish-Polish interactions. Departing from a traditional approach of speech act realisation studies, I applied the theory of cultural scripts to analyse opinions. In contrasting the Irish and Polish formulas for expressing opinions, as well as sociopragmatic attitudes towards this speech act, a difference in the cultural scripts for opinions in each culture was observable. Apart from already documented Polish frankness in opinions, the study discovered also a rational approach to presenting good arguments to support one’s assertions among the participants. In relation to the Irish script for opinions, the findings are in line with previous classifications of opinions in Australian English, showing a certain level of variational uniformity amongst the English-speaking cultures in this regard.

A personalized and control systems engineering conceptual approach to target childhood anxiety in the contexts of cultural diversity.

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Pina, Armando A; Holly, Lindsay E; Zerr, Argero A; Rivera, Daniel E

2014-01-01

In the child and adolescent anxiety area, some progress has been made to develop evidence-based prevention protocols, but less is known about how to best target these problems in children and families of color. In general, data show differential program effects with some minority children benefiting significantly less. Our preliminary data, however, show promise and suggest cultural parameters to consider in the tailoring process beyond language and cultural symbols. It appears that a more focused approach to culture might help activate intervention components and its intended effects by focusing, for example, on the various facets of familismo when working with some Mexican parents. However, testing the effects and nuances of cultural adaption vis-à-vis a focused personalized approach is methodologically challenging. For this reason, we identify control systems engineering design methods and provide example scenarios relevant to our data and recent intervention work.

Emotion regulation strategies: procedure modeling of J. Gross and cultural activity approach

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Elena I. Pervichko

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The first part of this paper argued the desirability of structural-dynamic model of emotion regulation in the theoretical and methodological framework of cultural activity paradigm with the construction of a psychologically-based typology of emotion regulation strategies in norm and pathology, and also psychological mechanisms enabling the regulation of emotions. This conclusion was based on the analysis of the basic concepts and paradigms in which the issue of emotion regulation is studied: cognitive and psychoanalytic approaches, concept and emotional development of emotional intelligence, cultural activity approach. The paper considers the procedure model of emotion regulation by J. Gross, identifies emotion regulation strategies and evaluates their effectiveness. The possibilities and limitations of the model. Based on the review of the today research the conclusion is arrived at that the existing labels on a wide range of regulatory strategies remain an open issue.The author’s definition of emotion regulation is drawn. Emotion regulation is deemed as a set of mental processes, psychological mechanisms and regulatory strategies that people use to preserve the capacity for productive activities in a situation of emotional stress; to ensure optimal impulse control and emotions; to maintain the excitement at the optimum level. The second part of this paper provides the general description of emotion regulation strategies, the approach to their typology, the psychological mechanisms of emotion regulation that lie in the basis of this typology, i.e. the main elements of the structural-dynamic model of emotion regulation. The work shows theoretical and methodological efficacy of empirical significance of signs and symbols and also personal reflection. The diagnostic system to allow empirically identify a wide range of emotion regulation strategies is suggested. The psychological mechanisms used by the subject to solve the problem of emotional

An Exchange on Theory and Cultural Studies

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Various Authors

2013-08-01

Full Text Available The following exchange grew out of a series of posts to the Cultural Studies Association of Australasia discussion list. As a talking point leading into a regular meeting for early career cultural studies researchers in Brisbane, Melissa Gregg, Jean Burgess and Joshua Green quoted a passage from Simon During’s recent Cultural Studies: A Critical Introduction (Routledge, 2005 in the hope of provoking a wider debate about the current state of Australian cultural studies. Various members of the list were duly provoked, and the ensuing discussion was later picked up in a paper by John Frow and continued in private correspondence and then in invited responses to the developing exchange.

Supporting culturally and linguistically diverse children with speech, language and communication needs: Overarching principles, individual approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Verdon, Sarah; McLeod, Sharynne; Wong, Sandie

2015-01-01

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are working with an increasing number of families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds as the world's population continues to become more internationally mobile. The heterogeneity of these diverse populations makes it impossible to identify and document a one size fits all strategy for working with culturally and linguistically diverse families. This paper explores approaches to practice by SLPs identified as specialising in multilingual and multicultural practice in culturally and linguistically diverse contexts from around the world. Data were obtained from ethnographic observation of 14 sites in 5 countries on 4 continents. The sites included hospital settings, university clinics, school-based settings, private practices and Indigenous community-based services. There were 652 individual artefacts collected from the sites which included interview transcripts, photographs, videos, narrative reflections, informal and formal field notes. The data were analysed using Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (Engeström, 1987). From the analysis six overarching Principles of Culturally Competent Practice (PCCP) were identified. These were: (1) identification of culturally appropriate and mutually motivating therapy goals, (2) knowledge of languages and culture, (3) use of culturally appropriate resources, (4) consideration of the cultural, social and political context, (5) consultation with families and communities, and (6) collaboration between professionals. These overarching principles align with the six position statements developed by the International Expert Panel on Multilingual Children's Speech (2012) which aim to enhance the cultural competence of speech pathologists and their practice. The international examples provided in the current study demonstrate the individualised ways that these overarching principles are enacted in a range of different organisational, social, cultural and political contexts

A Cell Culture Approach to Optimized Human Corneal Endothelial Cell Function

Science.gov (United States)

Bartakova, Alena; Kuzmenko, Olga; Alvarez-Delfin, Karen; Kunzevitzky, Noelia J.; Goldberg, Jeffrey L.

2018-01-01

Purpose Cell-based therapies to replace corneal endothelium depend on culture methods to optimize human corneal endothelial cell (HCEC) function and minimize endothelial-mesenchymal transition (EnMT). Here we explore contribution of low-mitogenic media on stabilization of phenotypes in vitro that mimic those of HCECs in vivo. Methods HCECs were isolated from cadaveric donor corneas and expanded in vitro, comparing continuous presence of exogenous growth factors (“proliferative media”) to media without those factors (“stabilizing media”). Identity based on canonical morphology and expression of surface marker CD56, and function based on formation of tight junction barriers measured by trans-endothelial electrical resistance assays (TEER) were assessed. Results Primary HCECs cultured in proliferative media underwent EnMT after three to four passages, becoming increasingly fibroblastic. Stabilizing the cells before each passage by switching them to a media low in mitogenic growth factors and serum preserved canonical morphology and yielded a higher number of cells. HCECs cultured in stabilizing media increased both expression of the identity marker CD56 and also tight junction monolayer integrity compared to cells cultured without stabilization. Conclusions HCECs isolated from donor corneas and expanded in vitro with a low-mitogenic media stabilizing step before each passage demonstrate more canonical structural and functional features and defer EnMT, increasing the number of passages and total canonical cell yield. This approach may facilitate development of HCEC-based cell therapies. PMID:29625488

Lessons from culturally contrasted alternative methods of inquiry and styles of comprehension for the new foundations in the study of life.

Science.gov (United States)

Vallverdú, Jordi; Schroeder, Marcin J

2017-12-01

Contemporary scientific approaches to Biology are the result of some cultural ideas considered as universal by Western reductionist traditions. The study of the cultural, symbolic and historical approaches to reality and Life provides us important lessons about the necessity of integrating Eastern holistic views into the study of Life. This is both an epistemological and ontological enhancement which provides more powerful and insightful ways to deal with Life and its understanding. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Novel Approach to London: Infusing Ethnography and the Study Abroad Experience

Science.gov (United States)

Schaefer, Zachary A.; Lynch, Owen H.

2017-01-01

Courses: Qualitative Research Methods, Ethnographic Research Methods. Objective: This purpose of this activity is to document the enculturation process through which students begin to understand a new culture during a study abroad experience. To accomplish this, we created a new pedagogical approach for study abroad experiences that involved a…

Cultural entrepreneurship

NARCIS (Netherlands)

A. Klamer (Arjo)

2011-01-01

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

Penerapan Cultural Studies dan Aliran Filsafat dalam Desain Komunikasi Visual

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Christina Luzar

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Cultural studies is a diversity knowledge from different variety of perspectives, through the production of theory trying to intervene in political culture. Cultural studies explores culture as a practice purport in the context of social force. In this case, cultural studies is not only based on one point only, but also cultural studies tries to compose a variety of theoretical studies of other disciplines developed wider, so that covers a wide range of academic theories that already existed, including Marxism, Structuralism, Post-structuralism, and feminism. By eclectic method, cultural studies puts the positioning to all knowledges, including on its knowledge which integrates with culture, practice of signification, representation, discourse, authority, articulation, text, read, and consumption. Cultural studies could be described as a language game or formation of discourse associated with relation to power in signification practice of human life. In addition to cultural studies, there is also feminism theory participated in the concept of feminist cultural studies that reconstructs and transforms view of misperception between feminism and cultural studies. Feminism affects cultural studies, but not all feminism can be viewed as cultural studies, and not all cultural studies talks about gender. Both of cultural studies and feminism have substantive importance in relation to power, representation, pop-culture, subjectivity, identity and consumption. The theory of social construction is also has connectivity with cultural studies. Construction of reality is inseparable from mark, symbol, and language. Media are full of reality constructed for people to affect people as ethics persuasion in media do. 

A cultural turn in New Testament studies?

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2016-06-30

and ... interpreter (e.g. feminist, African-American) serves as a .... It was in film studies in particular that the focus shifted from the classic realist or .... and cultural criticism) in contemporary biblical studies as cultural studies or.

Middle ground approach to paradox: Within- and between-culture examination of the creative benefits of paradoxical frames.

Science.gov (United States)

Leung, Angela K-Y; Liou, Shyhnan; Miron-Spektor, Ella; Koh, Brandon; Chan, David; Eisenberg, Roni; Schneider, Iris

2018-03-01

Thriving in increasingly complex and ambiguous environments requires creativity and the capability to reconcile conflicting demands. Recent evidence with Western samples has suggested that paradoxical frames, or mental templates that encourage individuals to recognize and embrace contradictions, could produce creative benefits. We extended the timely, but understudied, topic by studying the nuances of for whom and why creative advantages of paradoxical frames emerge. We suggest that people endorsing a middle ground approach are less likely to scrutinize conflict and reconcile with integrative solutions, thus receiving less creative benefits of paradoxical frames. Five studies that examined individual and cultural differences in middle ground endorsement support our theory. Study 1 found that paradoxical frames increased creativity, but failed to replicate that experienced conflict mediated the relationship in a Taiwanese sample. In both within- and between-culture analysis, we showed that the creative advantages of thinking paradoxically and experiencing conflict emerged among individuals who endorse lower (vs. higher) levels of middle ground (Study 2) and among Israelis whose culture predominantly endorses middle ground strategy less, but not among Singaporeans whose culture predominantly endorses middle ground more (Study 3). Study 4 further demonstrated the causal role of middle ground in the paradox-conflict-creativity link. To answer "why," Study 5 situationally induced integrative complex thinking that sets distinctions and forms syntheses among contradictory elements, and found that low endorsers of middle ground performed more creatively when they engaged integrative complex thinking to cope with paradoxes. This program of studies offers important insights on harnessing paradoxical experiences to catalyze creativity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

IAEA’s Approach to Leadership, Management and Culture for Safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rzentkowski, G.

2016-01-01

In this session the director of the Division of Nuclear Installation Safety (NSNI) will describe the division’s approach to leadership, management and culture for safety and outline the strategy adopted for this work. The IAEA has developed a safety culture foundation framework which is used to support all installations’ and organisations’ work for continuous improvement to achieve excellence in nuclear safety performance. The framework has been developing since 1986 through the work of the IAEA and the nuclear community, and is based on nuclear organisations’ experiences (both in practices applied and events experienced) and the development of scientific knowledge on human and organisation factors that support nuclear safety performance. The main aim for the IAEA is to assist the Member States to translate the knowledge into practical and successful practise, and to further enhance the safety on nuclear installations. The Strategy of the division is to share the common foundation of the framework across the different nuclear sectors and ensure that application of improvement activities are firmly based on knowledge and appropriate context based solutions.

Aspects of western cultural, Intolerance: on the hermeneutical approach to the Mah–abh–arata

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carmen Dragonetti

2015-01-01

Full Text Available There are frequent manifestations of Western cultural intolerance that prevent a scientific neutral approach to the intellectual achievements of other cultures, and also to appreciate them in their actual value. The authors of this article first refer to examples of this kind of intolerance in the field of Philosophy (which has been the principal object of their last investigations, Religion (Buddhist Atheism, and Linguistics (the «discovery» of Sanskrit language by Western scholars. In the present paper they specifically deal with the hermeneutical approach by Western scholars to the Mah–abh–arata that the authors consider the most important work in World Literature: Intolerance in this matter makes scholars find in the Mah–abh–arata a real «chaos» or conduces them to the obsessive search for the «Ur-Text», giving rise to theories that eliminate large portions of the epic poem considering them interpolations, or negating it all creativity, originality, and even its Indian essence. The last part of the article is dedicated to Krsna, an avatara, i.e. a reincarnation or manifestation, of the Supreme God Visnu. Krsna is seen as «a bizarre figure», «a cynic», «an opportunist», «a charlatan, who declares himself to be the God of Gods». These Western scholars leave completely aside the Indian tradition of almost three thousand centuries that proclaims that Krsna is not a God, but the God of the Hindu people, being adored by many devoted hearts. A simple but important hermeneutical norm has been forgotten: To accept the cultural products created by another culture as they are conceived by it, and without interpreting them according to one’s one cultural criteria based on the own values and beliefs.

Deconstructing dementia and delirium hospital practice: using cultural historical activity theory to inform education approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Teodorczuk, Andrew; Mukaetova-Ladinska, Elizabeta; Corbett, Sally; Welfare, Mark

2015-08-01

Older patients with dementia and delirium receive suboptimal hospital care. Policy calls for more effective education to address this though there is little consensus on what this entails. The purpose of this clarification study is to explore how practice gaps are constructed in relation to managing the confused hospitalised older patient. The intent is to inform educational processes in the work-place beyond traditional approaches such as training. Adopting grounded theory as a research method and working within a social constructionist paradigm we explored the practice gaps of 15 healthcare professionals by interview and conducted five focus groups with patients, carers and Liaison mental health professionals. Data were thematically analysed by constant comparison and theoretical sampling was undertaken until saturation reached. Categories were identified and pragmatic concepts developed grounded within the data. Findings were then further analysed using cultural historical activity theory as a deductive lens. Practice gaps in relation to managing the confused older patient are determined by factors operating at individual (knowledge and skill gaps, personal philosophy, task based practice), team (leadership, time and ward environmental factors) and organisational (power relationships, dominance of medical model, fragmentation of care services) levels. Conceptually, practice appeared to be influenced by socio-cultural ward factors and compounded by a failure to join up existing "patient" knowledge amongst professionals. Applying cultural historical activity theory to further illuminate the findings, the central object is defined as learning about the patient and the mediating artifacts are the care relationships. The overarching medical dominance emerges as an important cultural historical factor at play and staff rules and divisions of labour are exposed. Lastly key contradictions and tensions in the system that work against learning about the patient are

PHYSICAL CULTURE AND HEALTH CULTURE – INNOVATIONAL CULTUROLOGICAL APPROACH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grujo Bjeković

2008-08-01

Full Text Available Inaugural discusses of metatheoretical innovatinal forming of upgrading the cultural health and pedagogical technology of children’s and youth’s health progress and protection systems in the system of generally educational and health-school organizations. Establishment of a dynamical cumulative knowledge exchange and cooperative harmonization of the pedagogues of teaching obligations in the constitution of knowledge management educational space on rising health culture, physicality, and enriching sport and recreative lifestyle. Working out of con ceptual structural-functional scheme of health management measures in school and of evaluation of psychophysical and functional potentials, from the aspect of personalorientation. Establishment of complex system monitoring for physical development and physical capabilities and achieved results in domain of self-organized sport and sport-recreative selected activities.

Patient safety culture in China: a case study in an outpatient setting in Beijing.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Chaojie; Liu, Weiwei; Wang, Yuanyuan; Zhang, Zhihong; Wang, Peng

2014-07-01

To investigate the patient safety culture in an outpatient setting in Beijing and explore the meaning and implications of the safety culture from the perspective of health workers and patients. A mixed methods approach involving a questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews was adopted. Among the 410 invited staff members, 318 completed the Hospital Survey of Patient Safety Culture (HSOPC). Patient safety culture was described using 12 subscale scores. Inter-subscale correlation analysis, ANOVA and stepwise multivariate regression analyses were performed to identify the determinants of the patient safety culture scores. Interviewees included 22 patients selected through opportunity sampling and 27 staff members selected through purposive sampling. The interview data were analysed thematically. The survey respondents perceived high levels of unsafe care but had personally reported few events. Lack of 'communication openness' was identified as a major safety culture problem, and a perception of 'penalty' was the greatest barrier to the encouragement of error reporting. Cohesive 'teamwork within units', while found to be an area of strength, conversely served as a protective and defensive mechanism for medical practice. Low levels of trust between providers and consumers and lack of management support constituted an obstacle to building a positive patient safety culture. This study in China demonstrates that a punitive approach to error is still widespread despite increasing awareness of unsafe care, and managers have been slow in acknowledging the importance of building a positive patient safety culture. Strong 'teamwork within units', a common area of strength, could fuel the concealment of errors. 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.

We Need to Talk about Cultural Studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Justin O'Connor

2012-09-01

Full Text Available A review of Graeme Turner, What’s Become of Cultural Studies (Sage, London, 2012 and Lawrence Grossberg, Cultural Studies in the Future Tense (Duke University Press, Durham, 2010.

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D'Antoni Maurizia

2011-08-01

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

Culture and foreign policy: An introduction to approaches and theory

OpenAIRE

Liland, Frode

1993-01-01

Culture is increasingly acknowledged to matter in foreign policy, but is rarely studied or used as an explanatory factor in the field. Frode Liland claims that the reason for this is that culture is seen as a dangerous subject where the researchers easily get lost. To ease the trouble he gives an introduction to relevant literature on the field.

How Does a Newcomer Construct Identity? A Socio-Cultural Approach to Workplace Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Blaka, Gunnhild; Filstad, Cathrine

2007-01-01

The aim of this article is to develop the foundations of a socio-cultural approach and to determine how this shapes our perception of a newcomer's construction of identity in two different workplaces: a high-technology delivery ward with newly employed midwives and a real estate agency with newly employed real estate agents. We explore how…

Cultural transmission and the evolution of human behaviour: a general approach based on the Price equation.

Science.gov (United States)

El Mouden, C; André, J-B; Morin, O; Nettle, D

2014-02-01

Transmitted culture can be viewed as an inheritance system somewhat independent of genes that is subject to processes of descent with modification in its own right. Although many authors have conceptualized cultural change as a Darwinian process, there is no generally agreed formal framework for defining key concepts such as natural selection, fitness, relatedness and altruism for the cultural case. Here, we present and explore such a framework using the Price equation. Assuming an isolated, independently measurable culturally transmitted trait, we show that cultural natural selection maximizes cultural fitness, a distinct quantity from genetic fitness, and also that cultural relatedness and cultural altruism are not reducible to or necessarily related to their genetic counterparts. We show that antagonistic coevolution will occur between genes and culture whenever cultural fitness is not perfectly aligned with genetic fitness, as genetic selection will shape psychological mechanisms to avoid susceptibility to cultural traits that bear a genetic fitness cost. We discuss the difficulties with conceptualizing cultural change using the framework of evolutionary theory, the degree to which cultural evolution is autonomous from genetic evolution, and the extent to which cultural change should be seen as a Darwinian process. We argue that the nonselection components of evolutionary change are much more important for culture than for genes, and that this and other important differences from the genetic case mean that different approaches and emphases are needed for cultural than genetic processes. © 2013 The Authors. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2013 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Culture and cooperation: cooperative learning in Asian Confucian heritage cultures. The case of Viet Nam

OpenAIRE

Nguyen, P.M.

2008-01-01

The study is concerned with the influence of western educational approaches upon non-western societies and cultural groups. In applying western educational approaches, often a detailed consideration of its consequences to the culture and heritage of a non-western civilization is neglected. This is both the case of a multicultural classroom where students come from different backgrounds and the case of homogeneous classroom in non-western countries where the western teaching and learning appro...

Integrative approach to produce hydrogen and polyhydroxybutyrate from biowaste using defined bacterial cultures.

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Sanjay K S; Kumar, Prasun; Singh, Mamtesh; Lee, Jung-Kul; Kalia, Vipin C

2015-01-01

Biological production of hydrogen (H2) and polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) from pea-shell slurry (PSS) was investigated using defined mixed culture (MMC4, composed of Enterobacter, Proteus, Bacillus spp.). Under batch culture, 19.0LH2/kg of PSS (total solid, TS, 2%w/v) was evolved. Using effluent from the H2 producing stage, Bacillus cereus EGU43 could produce 12.4% (w/w) PHB. Dilutions of PSS hydrolysate containing glucose (0.5%, w/v) resulted in 45-75LH2/kg TS fed and 19.1% (w/w) of PHB content. Under continuous culture, MMC4 immobilized on coconut coir (CC) lead to an H2 yield of 54L/kg TS fed and a PHB content of 64.7% (w/w). An improvement of 2- and 3.7-fold in H2 and PHB yields were achieved in comparison to control. This integrative approach using defined set of bacterial strains can prove effective in producing biomolecules from biowastes. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Media and Cultural Industries: a Socioeconomic Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bernard Miège

2008-05-01

Full Text Available This article reviews the discussion that initiated in the 70’s about the relationship between communication and information phenomena, and decisions in the economic field. This discussion, according to Miège, has been undertaken from different perspectives that have placed economy and technology at the core of the analysis. The author proposes to study these phenomena through an interdisciplinary methodology, based on the theories of cultural industries and thepolitical economy of communication. Miège argues that with industrialization of media contents, consumer product access is no longer direct and products may be available without any cost to the consumer, since the cost of informational and cultural products is paid through advertising. However, this new environment creates certain problems, such as regulating the sale of these products, turning them and their symbolic content as marketable goods or hiring intellectual and artistic workers under an unregulated framework. He also discusses a double economic operation: the sale of products to publicists, and the sale of the same products by the publicists according to the market demand. The last part of the article is an analysis made by the author on the consequences that economic changes might have on cultural industries, because of their current need to keep cooperation relationships with technological industries, as well as connections with large financial groups.

Religion as dialogical resource: a socio-cultural approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Baucal, Aleksandar; Zittoun, Tania

2013-06-01

William James proposed a psychological study of religion examining people's religious experiences, and to see in what sense these were good for them. The recent developments of psychology of religion moved far from that initial proposition. In this paper, we propose a sociocultural perspective to religion that renews with that initial stance. After recalling Vygtotsky's core ideas, we suggest that religion, as cultural and symbolic system, participates to the orchestration of human activities and sense-making. Such orchestration works both from within the person, through internalized values and ideas, and from without, through the person's interactions with others, discourses, cultural objects etc. This leads us to consider religions as supporting various forms of dialogical dynamics-intra-psychological dialogues, interpersonal with present, absent or imaginary others, as well as inter-group dialogues-which we illustrate with empirical vignettes. The example of religious tensions in the Balkans in the 90's highlights how much the historical-cultural embeddedness of these dynamics can also lead to the end of dialogicality, and therefore, sense-making.

Community Participation in Ethnic Minority Cultural Heritage Management in China: A Case Study of Xianrendong Ethnic Cultural and Ecological Village

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Judy Xu

2007-11-01

Full Text Available Heritage protection in China has long been considered as the responsibility of the government. However, over the last 20 years, a number of heritage projects, mainly in ethnic minority regions, have attempted to engage with local communities. These seem to be an attractive alternative to top-down approaches. This paper explores the implications of a bottom-up approach for Chinese ethnic minority heritage management through an examination of the Ethnic Cultural and Ecological Village project in Xianrendong in Yunnan province. It is a result of my fascination with the project’s concept and my desire to understand its key characteristics, application and potential for future development in China. After a discussion of cultural performance, modernisation and inside/outside encounters, I conclude by suggesting that well-planned and well-informed community participation, with realistic control, contributes to reconciling tourism and cultural heritage conservation.

The cultural embeddedness of professional service purchasing-A comparative study of German and Swedish companies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pemer, Frida; Sieweke, Jost; Werr, Andreas; Birkner, Stephanie; Mohe, Michael

2014-01-01

Research on professional service purchasing generally takes a culturally universalistic approach, implicitly assuming the generalizability of research findings and normative models to different cultural contexts. However, research in related disciplines points to the influence of national culture on

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

Science.gov (United States)

Hammell, Karen R Whalley

2013-10-01

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

Innovative Approaches Using Lichen Enriched Media to Improve Isolation and Culturability of Lichen Associated Bacteria

Science.gov (United States)

Biosca, Elena G.; Flores, Raquel; Santander, Ricardo D.; Díez-Gil, José Luis; Barreno, Eva

2016-01-01

Lichens, self-supporting mutualistic associations between a fungal partner and one or more photosynthetic partners, also harbor non-photosynthetic bacteria. The diversity and contribution of these bacteria to the functioning of lichen symbiosis have recently begun to be studied, often by culture-independent techniques due to difficulties in their isolation and culture. However, culturing as yet unculturable lichenic bacteria is critical to unravel their potential functional roles in lichen symbiogenesis, to explore and exploit their biotechnological potential and for the description of new taxa. Our objective was to improve the recovery of lichen associated bacteria by developing novel isolation and culture approaches, initially using the lichen Pseudevernia furfuracea. We evaluated the effect of newly developed media enriched with novel lichen extracts, as well as the influence of thalli washing time and different disinfection and processing protocols of thalli. The developed methodology included: i) the use of lichen enriched media to mimic lichen nutrients, supplemented with the fungicide natamycin; ii) an extended washing of thalli to increase the recovery of ectolichenic bacteria, thus allowing the disinfection of thalli to be discarded, hence enhancing endolichenic bacteria recovery; and iii) the use of an antioxidant buffer to prevent or reduce oxidative stress during thalli disruption. The optimized methodology allowed significant increases in the number and diversity of culturable bacteria associated with P. furfuracea, and it was also successfully applied to the lichens Ramalina farinacea and Parmotrema pseudotinctorum. Furthermore, we provide, for the first time, data on the abundance of culturable ecto- and endolichenic bacteria that naturally colonize P. furfuracea, R. farinacea and P. pseudotinctorum, some of which were only able to grow on lichen enriched media. This innovative methodology is also applicable to other microorganisms inhabiting these

Innovative Approaches Using Lichen Enriched Media to Improve Isolation and Culturability of Lichen Associated Bacteria.

Science.gov (United States)

Biosca, Elena G; Flores, Raquel; Santander, Ricardo D; Díez-Gil, José Luis; Barreno, Eva

2016-01-01

Lichens, self-supporting mutualistic associations between a fungal partner and one or more photosynthetic partners, also harbor non-photosynthetic bacteria. The diversity and contribution of these bacteria to the functioning of lichen symbiosis have recently begun to be studied, often by culture-independent techniques due to difficulties in their isolation and culture. However, culturing as yet unculturable lichenic bacteria is critical to unravel their potential functional roles in lichen symbiogenesis, to explore and exploit their biotechnological potential and for the description of new taxa. Our objective was to improve the recovery of lichen associated bacteria by developing novel isolation and culture approaches, initially using the lichen Pseudevernia furfuracea. We evaluated the effect of newly developed media enriched with novel lichen extracts, as well as the influence of thalli washing time and different disinfection and processing protocols of thalli. The developed methodology included: i) the use of lichen enriched media to mimic lichen nutrients, supplemented with the fungicide natamycin; ii) an extended washing of thalli to increase the recovery of ectolichenic bacteria, thus allowing the disinfection of thalli to be discarded, hence enhancing endolichenic bacteria recovery; and iii) the use of an antioxidant buffer to prevent or reduce oxidative stress during thalli disruption. The optimized methodology allowed significant increases in the number and diversity of culturable bacteria associated with P. furfuracea, and it was also successfully applied to the lichens Ramalina farinacea and Parmotrema pseudotinctorum. Furthermore, we provide, for the first time, data on the abundance of culturable ecto- and endolichenic bacteria that naturally colonize P. furfuracea, R. farinacea and P. pseudotinctorum, some of which were only able to grow on lichen enriched media. This innovative methodology is also applicable to other microorganisms inhabiting these

Intervention in Multi-cultural Organizatioons - Prevention of accidents as political change processes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dyhrberg, Mette Bang

1999-01-01

workplaces and the contribution communicates ongoing work with such a method, including political, cultural and structural elements. A selective study of literature within safety culture, corporate culture and organisational theory has shown that the safety culture approach can benefit from...... the organisational culture approaches of Alvesson and Geertz and organisational theory dealing with political processes (Pettigrew, Knights). The implicit models of organisation and man within mainstream safety culture approaches seems to be too rationalistic compared with day to day life of organisations...

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahdi Karroubi

2014-06-01

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

The Internalization Theory of Emotions: A Cultural Historical Approach to the Development of Emotions

Science.gov (United States)

Holodynski, Manfred

2013-01-01

Starting with an overview of theoretical approaches to emotion from an activity-oriented stance, this article applies Vygotsky's three general principles of development, sign mediation, and internalization to the development of emotional expressions as a culturally evolved sign system. The possible twofold function of expression signs as a means…

Study on tissue culture for Gelidium seedling

Science.gov (United States)

Pei, Lu-Qing; Luo, Qi-Jun; Fei, Zhi-Qing; Ma, Bin

1996-06-01

As seedling culture is a crucial factor for successful cultivation of Gelidium, the authors researched tissue culture technology for producing seedlings. The morphogeny and experimental ecology were observed and studied fully in 2 5 mm isolated tissue fragments. Regeneration, appearance of branching creepers and attaching structure and new erect seedlings production and development were studied. Fragments were sown on bamboo slice and vinylon rope. The seedlings were cultured 20 30 days indoor, then cultured in the sea, where the density of erect seedlings was 3 19 seedlings/cm2, growth rate was 3.84% day. The frond arising from seedlings directly was up to 10 cm per year. The ecological conditions for regenerated seedlings are similar to the natural ones. The regenerated seedlings are suitable for raft culture in various sea areas.

Cultural pathways through universal development.

Science.gov (United States)

Greenfield, Patricia M; Keller, Heidi; Fuligni, Andrew; Maynard, Ashley

2003-01-01

We focus our review on three universal tasks of human development: relationship formation, knowledge acquisition, and the balance between autonomy and relatedness at adolescence. We present evidence that each task can be addressed through two deeply different cultural pathways through development: the pathways of independence and interdependence. Whereas core theories in developmental psychology are universalistic in their intentions, they in fact presuppose the independent pathway of development. Because the independent pathway is therefore well-known in psychology, we focus a large part of our review on empirically documenting the alternative, interdependent pathway for each developmental task. We also present three theoretical approaches to culture and development: the ecocultural, the sociohistorical, and the cultural values approach. We argue that an understanding of cultural pathways through human development requires all three approaches. We review evidence linking values (cultural values approach), ecological conditions (ecocultural approach), and socialization practices (sociohistorical approach) to cultural pathways through universal developmental tasks.

A POPULATION MEMETICS APPROACH TO CULTURAL EVOLUTION IN CHAFFINCH SONG: DIFFERENTIATION AMONG POPULATIONS.

Science.gov (United States)

Lynch, Alejandro; Baker, Allan J

1994-04-01

We investigated cultural evolution in populations of common chaffinches (Fringilla coelebs) in the Atlantic islands (Azores, Madeira, and Canaries) and neighboring continental regions (Morocco and Iberia) by employing a population-memetic approach. To quantify differentiation, we used the concept of a song meme, defined as a single syllable or a series of linked syllables capable of being transmitted. The levels of cultural differentiation are higher among the Canaries populations than among the Azorean ones, even though the islands are on average closer to each other geographically. This is likely the result of reduced levels of migration, lower population sizes, and bottlenecks (possibly during the colonization of these populations) in the Canaries; all these factors produce a smaller effective population size and therefore accentuate the effects of differentiation by random drift. Significant levels of among-population differentiation in the Azores, in spite of substantial levels of migration, attest to the differentiating effects of high mutation rates of memes, which allow the accumulation of new mutants in different populations before migration can disperse them throughout the entire region. © 1994 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Journal of Cultural Studies

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The Journal of Cultural Studies was established in 1999 as an independent tool for research development in Africa. It is published by the Nigerian Group for the Study of African ... Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: A Case for Linguistic and Sexual Politics? EMAIL FULL TEXT EMAIL FULL TEXT DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT ...

Multiculturalism in Technology-Based Education: Case Studies on ICT-Supported Approaches

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia-Penalvo, Francicso Jose

2013-01-01

Our differences in language, cultures, and history around the world play a vital role in the way we learn. As technology-based education continues to be used worldwide, there is an ever growing interest in how multiculturalism comes into effect. Multiculturalism in Technology-Based Education: Case Studies on ICT-Supported Approaches explores the…

Addressing Challenges in Urban Teaching, Learning and Math Using Model-Strategy-Application with Reasoning Approach in Lingustically and Culturally Diverse Classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Zhonghe; An, Shuhua

2016-01-01

This study examined the effects of using the Model-Strategy-Application with Reasoning Approach (MSAR) in teaching and learning mathematics in linguistically and culturally diverse elementary classrooms. Through learning mathematics via the MSAR, students from different language ability groups gained an understanding of mathematics from creating…

Mapping the organizational culture research in nursing: a literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Scott-Findlay, Shannon; Estabrooks, Carole A

2006-12-01

This paper reports a critical review of nursing organizational culture research studies with the objectives of: (1) reviewing theoretical and methodological characteristics of the studies and (2) drawing inferences specific to the state of knowledge in this field. Organizational culture is regarded as significant in influencing research use in clinical practice yet it is not understood how culture shapes practitioners' behaviours. Only one review of this empirical literature in nursing has been completed. Using selected computerized databases, published nursing research studies in English that examine organizational culture were accessed. Organizational culture studies were categorized using Hatch's three perspectives on organizational culture: (1) modern, (2) symbolic-interpretive and (3) postmodern. The review was conducted in 2005. Twenty-nine studies were in the final data set. Results pointed to variations in cultural definitions and incorporation of organizational sciences theory. In classifying the studies, modern perspectives dominated (n = 22), symbolic-interpretive approaches were an emerging group (n = 6) and one study was unclassifiable. Our results expand current cultural instrument reviews by pinpointing tools that have been previously overlooked and by identifying ongoing theoretical and methodological challenges for researchers. An exclusive reliance on modernistic approaches in organizational culture research cannot yield a complete understanding of the phenomenon. Rather, the field could benefit from a variety of cultural approaches. In a similar vein, researchers need to be mindful of the terminology and the unit of analysis they use in their research, as these are the two largest research challenges.

Leveraging organisational cultural capital

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R Scheel

2007-10-01

Full Text Available Organisational culture discourse mandates a linear approach of diagnosis, measurement and gap analysis as standard practice in relation to most culture change initiatives. Therefore, a problem solving framework geared toward “fixing�? and/or realigning an organisation’s culture is usually prescribed. The traditional problem solving model seeks to identify gaps between current and desired organisational cultural states, inhibiting the discovery of an organisation’s unique values and strengths, namely its cultural capital. In pursuit of discovering and leveraging organisational cultural capital, a descriptive case study is used to show how an Appreciative Inquiry process can rejuvenate the spirit of an organisation as a system-wide inquiry mobilises a workforce toward a shared vision.

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

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Prashad, S.; Milligan, A.L.; Cousijn, J.; Filbey, F.M.

2017-01-01

Purpose of Review: Cannabis use disorders (CUDs) are prevalent worldwide. Current epidemiological studies underscore differences in behaviors that contribute to cannabis use across cultures that can be leveraged towards prevention and treatment of CUDs. This review proposes a framework for

The transmission and stability of cultural life scripts: a cross-cultural study.

Science.gov (United States)

Janssen, Steve M J; Haque, Shamsul

2018-01-01

Cultural life scripts are shared knowledge about the timing of important life events. In the present study, we examined whether cultural life scripts are transmitted through traditions and whether there are additional ways through which they can be attained by asking Australian and Malaysian participants which information sources they had used to generate the life script of their culture. Participants hardly reported that they had used cultural and religious traditions. They more often reported that they had used their own experiences and experiences of relatives and friends. They also reported the use of comments of relatives and friends and the use of newspapers, books, movies and television programmes. Furthermore, we examined the stability of life scripts and similarities and differences across cultures. We found that life scripts are stable cognitive structures and that there are, besides cross-cultural differences in the content, small cross-cultural differences in the valence and distribution of life script events, with the Australian life script containing more positive events and more events expected to occur before the age of 16.

A phasor approach analysis of multiphoton FLIM measurements of three-dimensional cell culture models

Science.gov (United States)

Lakner, P. H.; Möller, Y.; Olayioye, M. A.; Brucker, S. Y.; Schenke-Layland, K.; Monaghan, M. G.

2016-03-01

Fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) is a useful approach to obtain information regarding the endogenous fluorophores present in biological samples. The concise evaluation of FLIM data requires the use of robust mathematical algorithms. In this study, we developed a user-friendly phasor approach for analyzing FLIM data and applied this method on three-dimensional (3D) Caco-2 models of polarized epithelial luminal cysts in a supporting extracellular matrix environment. These Caco-2 based models were treated with epidermal growth factor (EGF), to stimulate proliferation in order to determine if FLIM could detect such a change in cell behavior. Autofluorescence from nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (phosphate) (NAD(P)H) in luminal Caco-2 cysts was stimulated by 2-photon laser excitation. Using a phasor approach, the lifetimes of involved fluorophores and their contribution were calculated with fewer initial assumptions when compared to multiexponential decay fitting. The phasor approach simplified FLIM data analysis, making it an interesting tool for non-experts in numerical data analysis. We observed that an increased proliferation stimulated by EGF led to a significant shift in fluorescence lifetime and a significant alteration of the phasor data shape. Our data demonstrates that multiphoton FLIM analysis with the phasor approach is a suitable method for the non-invasive analysis of 3D in vitro cell culture models qualifying this method for monitoring basic cellular features and the effect of external factors.

Safety culture in design. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Macchi, L.; Pietikaeinen, E.; Liinasuo, M.; Savioja, P.; Reiman, T.; Wahlstroem, M.; Kahlbom, U.; Rollenhagen, C.

2013-04-01

In this report we approach design from a safety culture approach As this research area is new and understudied, we take a wide scope on the issue. Different theoretical perspectives that can be taken when improving safety of the design process are considered in this report. We suggest that in the design context the concept of safety culture should be expanded from an organizational level to the level of the network of organizations involved in the design activity. The implication of approaching the design process from a safety culture perspective are discussed and the results of the empirical part of the research are presented. In the interview study in Finland and Sweden we identified challenges and opportunities in the design process from safety culture perspective. Also, a small part of the interview study concentrated on state of the art human factors engineering (HFE) practices in Finland and the results relating to that are presented. This report provide a basis for future development of systematic good design practices and for providing guidelines that can lead to safe and robust technical solutions. (Author)

Safety culture in design. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Macchi, L.; Pietikaeinen, E.; Liinasuo, M.; Savioja, P.; Reiman, T.; Wahlstroem, M. [VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo (Finland); Kahlbom, U. [Risk Pilot AB, Stockholm (Sweden); Rollenhagen, C. [Vattenfall, Stockholm, (Sweden)

2013-04-15

In this report we approach design from a safety culture approach As this research area is new and understudied, we take a wide scope on the issue. Different theoretical perspectives that can be taken when improving safety of the design process are considered in this report. We suggest that in the design context the concept of safety culture should be expanded from an organizational level to the level of the network of organizations involved in the design activity. The implication of approaching the design process from a safety culture perspective are discussed and the results of the empirical part of the research are presented. In the interview study in Finland and Sweden we identified challenges and opportunities in the design process from safety culture perspective. Also, a small part of the interview study concentrated on state of the art human factors engineering (HFE) practices in Finland and the results relating to that are presented. This report provide a basis for future development of systematic good design practices and for providing guidelines that can lead to safe and robust technical solutions. (Author)

Introduction to German Culture: An Interdisciplinary Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Roig, Kathleen

1985-01-01

Describes a course, taught in English, entitled "Introduction to German Culture," which was designed to meet the needs of students who have visited or plan to visit Germany and want to take a course in its contemporary culture, politics, and social problems. (SED)

Athletes’ careers across cultures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ryba, Tatiana; Stambulova, Natalia

This symposium will introduce a project developed under the auspices of the International Society of Sport Psychology (ISSP) in an effort to inspire and support the development of culturally sensitive theoretical frameworks and research methodologies in career studies and career assistance services...... around the world. The cultural approach to the theory and practice of sport psychological research has been recently articulated in two edited books, Cultural Sport Psychology (Schinke & Hanrahan, 2009) and The Cultural Turn in Sport Psychology (Ryba, Schinke, & Tenenbaum, 2010). The presenters...... in this symposium continue the initiated dialogue of the relevance of culture and cultural issues in their analyses of how social and cultural discourses shape career development and career transitions of athletes in different countries. Opening the foundations of sport psychological knowledge to culturally diverse...

A novel approach for in vitro studies applying electrical fields to cell cultures by transformer-like coupling.

Science.gov (United States)

Hess, R; Neubert, H; Seifert, A; Bierbaum, S; Hart, D A; Scharnweber, D

2012-12-01

The purpose of this study was to develop a new apparatus for in vitro studies applying low frequency electrical fields to cells without interfering side effects like biochemical reactions or magnetic fields which occur in currently available systems. We developed a non-invasive method by means of the principle of transformer-like coupling where the magnetic field is concentrated in a toroid and, therefore, does not affect the cell culture. Next to an extensive characterization of the electrical field parameters, initial cell culture studies have focused on examining the response of bone marrow-derived human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to pulsed electrical fields. While no significant differences in the proliferation of human MSCs could be detected, significant increases in ALP activity as well as in gene expression of other osteogenic markers were observed. The results indicate that transformer-like coupled electrical fields can be used to influence osteogenic differentiation of human MSCs in vitro and can pose a useful tool in understanding the influence of electrical fields on the cellular and molecular level.

Promoting human subjects training for place-based communities and cultural groups in environmental research: curriculum approaches for graduate student/faculty training.

Science.gov (United States)

Quigley, Dianne

2015-02-01

A collaborative team of environmental sociologists, community psychologists, religious studies scholars, environmental studies/science researchers and engineers has been working together to design and implement new training in research ethics, culture and community-based approaches for place-based communities and cultural groups. The training is designed for short and semester-long graduate courses at several universities in the northeastern US. The team received a 3 year grant from the US National Science Foundation's Ethics Education in Science and Engineering in 2010. This manuscript details the curriculum topics developed that incorporate ethical principles, particularly for group protections/benefits within the field practices of environmental/engineering researchers.

An Instrumental Approach to Culture Study in General Music: Use a Musical Instrument from Another Culture to Introduce the Sounds, Stories, and History of that Culture

Science.gov (United States)

Carolin, Michael

2006-01-01

Conflicting philosophies exist in education today between those who believe that the traditional approach to curriculum is the best and those who believe there are better ways. At the core of both approaches is the sincere desire to give children the best education in the world. In this article, the author uses integration to bring the study of…

Experimental studies illuminate the cultural transmission of percussive technologies in Homo and Pan.

Science.gov (United States)

Whiten, Andrew

2015-11-19

The complexity of Stone Age tool-making is assumed to have relied upon cultural transmission, but direct evidence is lacking. This paper reviews evidence bearing on this question provided through five related empirical perspectives. Controlled experimental studies offer special power in identifying and dissecting social learning into its diverse component forms, such as imitation and emulation. The first approach focuses on experimental studies that have discriminated social learning processes in nut-cracking by chimpanzees. Second come experiments that have identified and dissected the processes of cultural transmission involved in a variety of other force-based forms of chimpanzee tool use. A third perspective is provided by field studies that have revealed a range of forms of forceful, targeted tool use by chimpanzees, that set percussion in its broader cognitive context. Fourth are experimental studies of the development of flint knapping to make functional sharp flakes by bonobos, implicating and defining the social learning and innovation involved. Finally, new and substantial experiments compare what different social learning processes, from observational learning to teaching, afford good quality human flake and biface manufacture. Together these complementary approaches begin to delineate the social learning processes necessary to percussive technologies within the Pan-Homo clade. © 2015 The Author(s).

Psychiatric Cultures Compared : Psychiatry and Mental Health Care in the Twentieth Century: Comparisons and Approaches

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gijswijt-Hofstra, Marijke; Oosterhuis, Harry; Vijselaar, Joost; Freeman, Hugh

2005-01-01

The history of mental health care in the twentieth century is a relatively uncharted territory. Exemplifying a new emphasis on the comparative approach, this volume offers overviews of various national psychiatric cultures and explores new research subjects. By confronting Dutch psychiatry with

Computational Modeling of Culture's Consequences

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hofstede, G.J.; Jonker, C.M.; Verwaart, T.

2010-01-01

This paper presents an approach to formalize the influence of culture on the decision functions of agents in social simulations. The key components are (a) a definition of the domain of study in the form of a decision model, (b) knowledge acquisition based on a dimensional theory of culture,

Siting technological risks: cultural approaches and cross-cultural ethics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Basta, C.

2011-01-01

Are European national risk prevention regulations reflecting different cultural attitudes towards risk? This article replies positively to this question by elaborating the results of an investigation led between 2004 and 2008 by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. The investigation

A Cross-Cultural Study of Role Perceptions.

Science.gov (United States)

Triandis, Harry C.; And Others

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

Constitutional Openness in 1991, Ethnic and Cultural Diversity, and Political System: a Philosophical-Political Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nelson Jair Cuchumbé Holguín

2012-08-01

Full Text Available The multicultural approach seems to be the most praiseworthy instrument through which the acknowledgement of cultural diversity could renew the deontic structure legitimised by the socio-political order in Colombia. Facing a State model based on the denial and exclusion of diversity, the multicultural State allows for pluralism to be articulated into it. In this way, the formation of political unity becomes a matter determined by dialogue, mutual acknowledgement and cultural enhancement. Nevertheless, the multicultural interpretation lacks plausibility if the formation of the State is understood in a pragmatic and universalistic way. From this perspective, the inclusion of the Other is likely only if social actors promote interactions regulated by a political culture based on constitutional principles, active participation, public deliberation and the organisational ability of communities. A shared political culture of this nature seems unavoidable if the purpose is to form a citizenship more suited to living in a democracy.

Karl Marx and the Study of Media and Culture Today

OpenAIRE

Christian Fuchs

2014-01-01

The task of this paper discusses the role of Marx in analysing media, communica-tion and culture today. An analysis of three contemporary Cultural Studies works – Lawrence Grossberg’s monograph Cultural Studies in the Future Tense, John Hartley’s monograph Digital Futures for Cultural and Media Studies and Paul Smith’s edited volume The Renewal of Cultural Studies – shows that there is an agreement that the economy needs to be taken more into account by Cultural Studies, but disagreement on w...

The Virginian's Cultural Clashes: A Study of Cultural Representation in Owen Wister's novel The Virginian

OpenAIRE

Aksnes, Karoline

2012-01-01

This thesis is a cultural study of Owen Wister's novel The Virginian. Its main focus is on the ways in which cultural differences between East and West are staged and acted out in the novel's depiction of a culturally diverse frontier environment in nineteenth century Wyoming, USA. Central in this study are the story's three main characters as they represent different cultural backgrounds, and, by their personal experiences with the Western environment as well as wi...

Multiple case study in seven European countries regarding culture-sensitive classroom quality assessment

OpenAIRE

Slot, P.L.; Cadima, Joana; Salminen, Jenni; Pastori, Giulia; Lerkkanen, Marja-Kristiina

2016-01-01

This report presents the findings of a multiple case study, conducted in seven European countries to examine common and culturally differing aspects of curriculum, pedagogy, and quality of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) provisions in Europe. This multiple case study involved intensive data collection on structural characteristics, process quality, implemented curricula and pedagogical approaches in four ECEC centers in each of the seven countries that were considered examples of ‘g...

A review of ideomotor approaches to perception, cognition, action, and language: advancing a cultural recycling hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Badets, Arnaud; Koch, Iring; Philipp, Andrea M

2016-01-01

The term "cultural recycling" derives from the neuronal recycling hypothesis, which suggests that representations of cultural inventions like written words, Arabic numbers, or tools can occupy brain areas dedicated to other functions. In the present selective review article, we propose a recycling hypothesis for the ideomotor mechanism. The ideomotor approach assumes that motor actions are controlled by the anticipation of the expected perceptual consequences that they aim to generate in the environment. Arguably, such action-perception mechanisms contribute to motor behaviour for human and non-human animals since millions of years. However, recent empirical studies suggest that the ideomotor mechanism can also contribute to word processing, number representation, and arithmetic. For instance, it has been shown that the anticipatory simulation of abstract semantics, like the numerical quantitative value of three items can prime processing of the associated Arabic number "3". Arabic numbers, words, or tools represent cultural inventions, so that, from a theoretical perspective, we suggest an ideomotor recycling hypothesis for the interaction with such artefacts. In this view, the ideomotor mechanism spreads its influence to other functions beyond motor control, and is recycled to flexibly adapt different human behaviours towards dealing with more abstract concepts.

Mass Society/Culture/Media: An Eclectic Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Clavner, Jerry B.

Instructors of courses in mass society, culture, and communication start out facing three types of difficulties: the historical orientation of learning, the parochialism of various disciplines, and negative intellectually elitist attitudes toward mass culture/media. Added to these problems is the fact that many instructors have little or no…

Approaches to Feminist Therapy: A Case Study Illustration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Selvira Draganović

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with the emergence and development of feminism in general and feminist psychology with special emphasis on feminist's reaction to traditional assumptions in Freudian psychology and male dominated theory and research. Feminist movement simply started as a women's activism which later claimed political identity and finally ended as women's liberation movement. Feminists simply advocate gender equality. Emergence of feminist psychology movement and appearance of significant female figures in psychology is further explained along with their contribution to the theory, personality and specific developmental issues along with its input to the therapy and counseling field. The influence of four feminist philosophical approaches namely, liberal feminism, cultural feminism, radical feminism and social feminism are also shortly discussed alongside with their practical implications. Above and beyond, feminist contribution to the therapy field reflected in offering specific therapy goals are also discussed. Self esteem as a core issue and one of feminist therapy goals is finally discussed and presented through a specific case study illustration. Feminist therapy is important therapy approach with significant therapy goals contribution in relation to women's mental health issues. Consideration of sex, gender, cultural diversity, etiology, diagnosis and treatment is feminist request for successful therapy because fixing woman for functioning in a dysfunctional society seems not enough.

Notes on “Cultural Catastrophism”: Nietzsche and the Mass Culture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Puche Dias

2016-07-01

in a process of decay, and why it would be so, or if on the contrary [b] that is a false perception, however, historically repeated, and what would be the cause. To do this we’ll make a comparative study of Nietzsche and other authors who have more recently elaborated on mass culture. The study is structured in three stages: [1] A correct approach to the controversy of mass culture, beginning with Eco, Bauman and Jameson; [2] the use of Nietzsche’s concept of “nihilism” as a theoretical tool to address this controversy, and [3] the explanation, with Harris’ cultural materialism, of the causes of this nihilism, and thus the response to the initial questions.

[Culture and health services: studying the participation of cultural traits of Brazilian society in the work process of primary healthcare services].

Science.gov (United States)

Pinto, Alessandra Maria Silva; Najar, Alberto Lopes

2011-11-01

The analysis of institutions is a widely researched area of health. The culture of organizations is understood as a symbolic possibility contained in a larger dimension, called "national culture". This premise justifies the incorporation of the social anthropological approach to the study of organizational culture. This study sought to establish the perceptions of employees of two primary healthcare services in Niterói, State of Rio de Janeiro, regarding commonly used social navigation strategies from the theory developed by Roberto DaMatta. The results showed the relational character associated with the stereotype of the Brazilian people manifested by conflicts arising from the existence of values based on the `individual' and the `person'. Among them are the distortions observed between discourse and practice, and the mobilization strategies of social navigation like "making do" - to establish a mediation between the person and the impersonal law. The organization of the services of the Niterói Family Medical Program apparently sets its employees the concrete challenge of balancing the egalitarian principle that underpins the Unified Health System (SSU) with the set of values upon which personal relations are based in Brazilian society.

An Agent-based Approach for Structured Modeling, Analysis and Improvement of Safety Culture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sharpanskykh, O.; Stroeve, S.

2011-01-01

Safety culture is broadly recognized as important for operational safety in various fields, including air traffic management, power plant control and health care. Previous studies addressed characterization and assessment of safety culture extensively. Nevertheless, relations between safety culture

An integrated airborne laser scanning approach to forest management and cultural heritage issues: a case study at Porolissum, Romania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anamaria Roman

2017-07-01

Full Text Available This paper explores the opportunities that arise where forest ecosystem management and cultural heritage monuments protection converge. The case study area for our analysis was the landscape surrounding the Moigrad-Porolissum Archaeological site. We emphasize that an Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS or LiDAR-Light Detection and Ranging approach to both forest management and cultural heritage conservation is an outstanding tool, assisting policy-makers and conservationists in decision making for integrated planning and management of the environment. LiDAR-derived surface models enabled a synoptic, never-seen-before view of the ancient Roman frontiers defensive systems while also revealing the present forest road network. The thorough and accurate road inventory data are very useful for updating and modifying forest base maps and registries and also for identifying the priority sectors for archaeological discharge. The ability to identify and determine optimal routes for forest management and to locate previously unmapped ancient archaeological remains aids in reducing costs and creating operational efficiencies as well as in complying with the legislation and avoiding infringements. The potential of LiDAR to demonstrate the long-term and comprehensive human impact on wooded areas is discussed. We identified a significant historical landscape change, consisting of a deforestation period, spanning over more than 160 years, during the Roman Period in Dacia (106-271 AD. The transdisciplinary analysis of the LiDAR data provides the base for combining knowledge from archaeology, forestry and environmental history in order to achieve a thorough analysis of the landscape changes and history. In the “nature versus culture” dichotomy, the landscape, outfield areas and forests are primarily perceived as nature, while in reality they are often heavily marked by human impact. LiDAR offers an efficient method for broadening our knowledge regarding the

Interdisciplinary Approach to the Study of Shadow Economy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Aleksandrovna Orekhova

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Currently the institutional factors of economic development are updated. The problem of neutralizing the impact of informal institutions is becoming paramount. In order to develop adequate measures to influence the shadow economy and the development of the concept of anti-shadow policies requires a deep and comprehensive study of the shadow socio-economic processes in Russia. It is necessary to recognize the fact that the methods of struggle against the shadow economy have not yet had the desired effect, that implies the conclusion – the causes of the shadow economy have deep roots and are out of the sphere of economic relations. Shadow economic processes are the result of the behavioral characteristics of people, socio-psychological reasons as a consequence of the low cultural level, marginality, inefficient conjugation of institutions and culture, lack of confidence in the society, the specific characteristics of economic mentality, etc. Therefore, if the causes of the shadow relations are rooted in completely different spheres, then the methods of research should also belong to different sciences. The article considers the methodological possibilities in the study of the Russian shadow economy. The logical sequence of the shadow economy research includes empirical and theoretical stages. The level of the empirical phase of gathering facts about the shadow economy has a number of complexities and peculiarities. On a theoretical level there is necessity of multimethodological approach. The authors proved the usefulness of the methodological system and the results of research in the fields of sociology, psychology, criminology, statistics and mathematics, as well as related to the economy of sciences – economic psychology, behavioral economics, economic teratology, and others. The article proposes to carry out studies of the shadow economy at the different levels of architectonics of the institutional structure of shadow economy: the nano

Concepts of Culture in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies

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Pierre Hecker

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Introducing the seventh issue of META, this editorial discusses prevalent concepts of culture in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies. Different conceptualizations of culture that explicitly or implicitly contain qualitative differentiations between cultures are revisited and discussed. Bearing considerable weight in the respective disciplines, the Islam-andthe-West paradigm, the delineation of diverging cultures along ethnic lines, the equation of culture with art or religion, and the culture-as-civilization paradigm are being scrutinized. Serving as an example for the confusion and lack of clarity regarding the concept of "culture", the book The Culture of Ambiguity by the German scholar of Islamic Studies Thomas Bauer is analyzed regarding its use of the term.

An Approach to the Study of Organizational Culture Educational Centers Una Aproximación al Estudio de la Cultura Organizacional en Centros Educativos

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcos R. Sarasola

2004-10-01

Full Text Available The main goal of this research is to approach to the school’s culture and subcultures knowledge. Teachers, as learning communities’ members, should be conscious of their basic assumptions in order to accomplish effective change. Culture, as a socio-critical metaphor, includes organizational clime and goes over artefacts and values. It refers to the organizational deeper level of the unconscious assumptions constructed and shared by it members. The quantitative research uses two instruments. A cultural model including six elements (Teacher Efficacy, Teachers as Learners, Collegiality, Mutual Empowerment/Collaboration, Shared visions/School-wide Planning and Transformational Leadership and proposes that the prevailing culture is the result of the level of development of each individual element. It assumes that in different cultures or at different times in the same culture, there would be a variation in these levels of development. The second scale help to reach two organisational constructs: ‘Transformational leadership culture’ and ‘Transactional leadership culture’. This phase of the investigation centred upon the development and administration of a survey instrument in twenty-five schools and almost eight hundred teachers. That phase of the study is followed by case studies of two schools in which there is a combination of quantitative and qualitative research strategies. Finally, main guidelines are featuring in order to orientate change and innovation for both schools. El principal objetivo de esta investigación es aproximarse al conocimiento de la cultura y subcultura en centros educativos. El profesorado, en tanto miembro de una comunidad que aprende, ha de ser consciente de sus supuestos básicos en orden de implementar cambios. La cultura, como metáfora socio-crítica, incluye el clima organizacional y trasciende el nivel de artefactos y valores. Refiere el nivel más profundo de la vida organizacional: el nivel de los

Communicative Competence Approach to Person-Oriented Teaching of the Russian Language and Culture of Speech

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Y. V. Orlova

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The paper is devoted to the communicative competence approach in professional training of physicians on the undergraduate level. The main emphasis is on developing linguistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic competences while teaching the Russian language and the culture of speech. The paper is aimed at analyzing the requirements of federal state educational standards of the 3rd generation concerning the competences in the humanities which should be developed by medical students in the course of the Russian language and the culture of speech; defining the contents of the «communicative competence» term based on consideration of general European competences in mastering the language and the analysis of lingua-didactic works of modern Russian scientists; identifying the component content of linguistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic competences of the Russian language and the culture of speech course for medical schools. The research results regarding the analysis and component content of linguistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic competences of the Russian language and the culture of speech course have been applied while designing the Russian and the culture of speech curriculum, as well as electronic textbooks and manuals for medical students. 

TEACHING STRATEGIES FOR MIDDLE EASTERN CULTURAL STUDIES IN THE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL.

Science.gov (United States)

KELLY, JAMES

THE THIRD PART OF A PROJECT TO DEVELOP APPROACHES TO TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ABOUT CULTURE AREAS OF THE NON-WESTERN WORLD (SEE TE 499 984 AND TE 499 995), THIS TEACHERS' GUIDE FOR AN 8-WEEK COURSE ON THE MIDDLE EAST COVERS THE GOEGRAPHY, ECONOMY, POLITICS, AND CULTURE OF THE AREAS. IT ALSO DEALS WITH THE MAJOR HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN THE…

APPROACHES TO QUALITY MANAGEMENT AT EUROPEAN LEVEL

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Salagean Horatiu Catalin

2013-07-01

Full Text Available In the current economic context, quality has become a source of competitive advantage and organizations must perceive quality as something natural and human in order to achieve excellence. The proper question for the context of the internationalisation of the economy is whether the culture of the regions, states or nations affects the development in the quality management field and the quality approach. The present study tries to give a theoretical approach of how culture influences the quality approach at the European level. The study deals only with the European quality approach, beacuse at European level one could meet a great variety of models and methodologies. In the U.S.A. and Japan one could identify a specific cultural approach regarding quality. At the European level, we cannot discuss in the same terms, because each country has a different cultural specifics in terms of quality. In order to determine the cultural specificity of the countries surveyed, the study has used the most popular analysis tool of cultural dimensions, namely the Dutch Professor Geert Hofstede\\'s model. The model illustrates according to a survey, the organizational behavior of several countries and was able to identify a set of variables and fundamental dimensions, that differentiates one culture from another. An attempt was made to see if there are connections between the values of Hofestede \\'s cultural dimensions and the quality characteristics in the analysed countries. The study, describes on the one hand,the quality evolution from quality control to Total Quality Management and on the other hand, focuses on the quality approach modalities at European level. The second part of the paper is structured into two parts, addressing on the one hand the quality in countries of Western Europe, such as United Kingdom, France and Germany,because these three countries are considered to be the exponents of quality development in Western Europe. In the same time, the

Culture Prefigures Cognition in Pan/Homo Bonobos

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Sue SAVAGE-RUMBAUGH

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This article questions traditional approaches to the study of primate cognition. Because of a widespread assumption that cognition in non-human primates is genetically encoded, these approaches neglect how profoundly apes’ cultural rearing experiences affect test results. We describe how three advanced cognitive abilities – imitation, theory of mind and language – emerged in bonobos maturing in a Pan/Homo culture.

Cultures, Conditions, and Cognitive Closure: Breaking Intelligence Studies’ Dependence on Security Studies

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Matthew Crosston

2015-09-01

Full Text Available This paper is about how the conceptualization of ‘culture’ in intelligence studies has taken on too powerful a role, one that has become too restrictive in its impact on thinking about other intelligence communities, especially non-Western ones. This restriction brings about unintentional cognitive closure that damages intelligence analysis. The argument leans heavily in many ways on the fine work of Desch and Johnston in the discipline of Security Studies, who cogently brought to light over fifteen years ago how ultra-popular cultural theories were best utilized as supplements to traditional realist approaches, but were not in fact capable of supplanting or replacing realist explanations entirely. The discipline of Intelligence Studies today needs a similar ‘intellectual intervention’ as it has almost unknowingly advanced in the post-Cold War era on the coattails of Security Studies but has largely failed to apply the same corrective measures. This effort may be best accomplished by going back to Snyder in the 1970s who warned that culture should be used as the explanation of last resort for Security Studies.

The cultural differences in time and time management: A socio-demographic approach

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F. Venter

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose/Objectives: The aim of this article is to investigate perceived cultural differences in the perceptions of time and time management, and the implications regarding productivity amongst socio-demographic groups in Gauteng. This study indicates that socio-demographic variables such as home language, gender, education, age and income are related to various factors of time perception. Design/Methodology/Approach: The questionnaire consisted of 35 questions to be rated on a five-point Likert scale. Six dimensions of time were measured, namely, the sense of purpose, effective organisation, structured routine, present orientation, persistence and a global time perception. A multi-cultural non-probability convenience sample (n=804 was drawn from residents in the Gauteng region. Respondents were selected from upper- middle- and lowerincome groups residing in various suburban areas and townships in the region. Students of the North-West University carried out the fieldwork. Findings/Implications: The research study found that the dimensions sense of purpose and persistence of time obtained the highest mean factor scores: 4.05 and 3.95 respectively on the 1 (negative to 5 (positive scale, with 87, 4% and 83.8% of the respondents obtaining high scores (above 3.40 respectively. This implies that most respondents felt that they spent their time usefully and meaningfully, while at the same time, would not give up until the task was completed. The dimension present orientation of time produced the lowest mean factor score of 3.09, with 29.4% of respondents obtaining scores below 2.60, indicating a lack of focusing on completing a task at a designated point in time. The study also found that organisations have to increase productivity and reduce costs. The consequences of this for many employees included increased workloads, longer working hours and greater time pressure. Originality/Value: The findings of this study are original and innovative. The

Cultural dissonance among generations: a solution-focused approach with East Asian elders and their families.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Mo Yee; Mjelde-Mossey, LeeAnn

2004-10-01

In traditional East Asian cultures, high value is assigned to family harmony and filial piety coupled with the expectation that elders will be honored and obeyed. A lifetime of such expectations shapes how elders perceive their role and status in the family. Problems can arise when younger, less traditional, generations do not share these expectations. This article describes a solution-focused approach that facilitates the family in creating a beneficial harmony in situations of cultural dissonance. Family members are empowered to draw on personal strengths in which multiple worldviews and values of individual members are recognized, incorporated, and negotiated.

Convergence, Creative Industries and Civil Society Towards a New Agenda for Cultural Policy and Cultural Studies

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Colin Mercer

2009-10-01

Full Text Available In this article I start with a personal experience "cameo" from 1996 in Australia and extrapolate from that some issues that remain relevant in the sometimes trou-bled relationship between cultural studies and cultural policy. These are encapsu-lated in the three "cs" of convergence, creative industries and civil society which provide a new context for both new research and new policy settings. The argu-ment is developed and situated in historical terms by examining the "cultural technologies", especially the newspaper, and subsequently print media in the 19th century, electronic media in the 20th century and digital media in the 21st century which provide the content, the technologies and the rituals for "imagining" our sense of place and belonging. This is then linked to ways of understanding culture and cultural technologies in the context of governmentality and the emergence of culture as a strategic object of policy with the aim of citizen- and population for-mation and management. This argument is then linked to four contemporary "testbeds" - cultural mapping and planning, cultural statistics and indicators, cul-tural citizenship and identity, and research of and for cultural policy - and priori-ties for cultural policy where cultural studies work has been extremely enabling and productive. The article concludes with an argument, derived from the early 20th century work of Patrick Geddes of the necessity of linking, researching, un-derstanding and operationalising the three key elements and disciplines of Folk (anthropology, Work (economics, and Place (geography in order to properly situate cultural policy, mapping and planning and their relationship to cultural studies and other disciplines.

Progressing toward a more culturally competent approach to dental care for African American elders.

Science.gov (United States)

Slaughter, Ann; Smith, Virginia J; Taylor, Lynne

2004-01-01

This study was conducted to understand perceptions that may influence oral self-care behaviors among elderly African American adults living in an urban community. Four focus groups at two senior centers were recruited, involving a total of 25 participants. Content analysis and ethnographic summaries were used to identify themes, common concepts and language. The results indicated that although the participants recognized the advantages of routine brushing, the importance of keeping teeth clean to prevent gum disease was not widely acknowledged. On the basis of these focus groups, the authors suggest that health promotion approaches for adults who are elderly should be linked to the audience's cultural norms and perceptions regarding the benefits of oral hygiene practices.

ENVIRONMENTAL PHILOSOPHY AND ECOLOGICAL CULTURE

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Kalimat M. Alilova

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Aim. The aim of the research is to study environmental problems related to the decline of culture, the importance of philosophy in overcoming private and personal interests as well as the unilateral approach of man in his relationship to nature. The study shows how philosophy can participate in the formation of ecological culture, a new ecological consciousness in man, while ecological culture is called upon to resist technocratic stereotypes and the course of history was aimed at preventing the biosphere from becoming deserted. Discussion. On the basis of the analysis of literary sources, we used the method of socio-cultural and socio-natural approaches based on the possibility of philosophy to introduce a new life into culture, new ecological values and new ecological principles. To solve these problems, environmental philosophy develops new theories. Representatives of different cultures, ethnic groups, nations, religions must learn to coexist with each other. We consider philosophy as a means of teaching rapprochement between peoples and creating new opportunities for understanding and improving the environmental situation. Cultural development makes it possible to assess the level of a man’s knowledge of nature, himself and the world around him. Ecological culture is a way of connecting man with nature on the basis of deeper knowledge and understanding. Philosophy says that you cannot move away from nature and be lauded over it since this will destroy culture. Rational doctrines tend to put a person above other living beings so the synthesis of philosophy with culture can have a positive ecological meaning. Conclusion. The findings obtained can be recommended for practical use in schools, starting from primary school, as well as in secondary special educational institutions and universities. It is necessary to work on the motivation and values of people, develop a common and ecological culture. Only a cultured person can move from

Transnationality or Globality? The Korean Wave and Methodological Challenges in Media and Cultural studies

OpenAIRE

Kang, Jaeho

2017-01-01

Making the case for a new media/cultural studies that takes a transregional, transcultural and transdisciplinary approach, this contribution notes how the global popularity of Korean Wave has highlighted the limitations of methods rooted in notions of national identities. Studies have challenged western hegemony of knowledge production and are suggestive of new academic communities beyond Eurocentric nation states that may be both multinational and multicultural.This contribution however warn...

STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT : A Cross-Cultural Managerial Approach

OpenAIRE

Anyangwe, Xavier

2017-01-01

The goal of the thesis was to examine the impact of the concepts of culture, human resource management and strategic human resource management. A man without a culture is like a man with no identity, so the identity of people needs to be identified for effective unity in diversity. The findings of the thesis show that cultural diversity is an inclusive aspect of almost all communities and countries in the world. The richness of these cultures in terms of cultural values, languages, intera...

From Cultural Knowledge to Intercultural Communicative Competence: Changing Perspectives on the Role of Culture in Foreign Language Teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Piatkowska, Katarzyna

2015-01-01

Approaches to the concept of culture and teaching cultural competence in a foreign language classroom have been changing over the last decades. The paper summarises, compares, contrasts and evaluates four major approaches to teaching cultural competence in foreign language teaching, that is, knowledge-based approach, contrastive approach,…

Development of Nuclear Safety Culture evaluation method for an operation team based on the probabilistic approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Han, Sang Min; Lee, Seung Min; Yim, Ho Bin; Seong, Poong Hyun

2018-01-01

Highlights: •We proposed a Probabilistic Safety Culture Healthiness Evaluation Method. •Positive relationship between the ‘success’ states of NSC and performance was shown. •The state probability profile showed a unique ratio regardless of the scenarios. •Cutset analysis provided not only root causes but also the latent causes of failures. •Pro-SCHEMe was found to be applicable to Korea NPPs. -- Abstract: The aim of this study is to propose a new quantitative evaluation method for Nuclear Safety Culture (NSC) in Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) operation teams based on the probabilistic approach. Various NSC evaluation methods have been developed, and the Korea NPP utility company has conducted the NSC assessment according to international practice. However, most of methods are conducted by interviews, observations, and the self-assessment. Consequently, the results are often qualitative, subjective, and mainly dependent on evaluator’s judgement, so the assessment results can be interpreted from different perspectives. To resolve limitations of present evaluation methods, the concept of Safety Culture Healthiness was suggested to produce quantitative results and provide faster evaluation process. This paper presents Probabilistic Safety Culture Healthiness Evaluation Method (Pro-SCHEMe) to generate quantitative inputs for Human Reliability Assessment (HRA) in Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA). Evaluation items which correspond to a basic event in PSA are derived in the first part of the paper through the literature survey; mostly from nuclear-related organizations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (U.S.NRC), and the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO). Event trees (ETs) and fault trees (FTs) are devised to apply evaluation items to PSA based on the relationships among such items. The Modeling Guidelines are also suggested to classify and calculate NSC characteristics of

Reducing unnecessary culturing: a systems approach to evaluating urine culture ordering and collection practices among nurses in two acute care settings

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Robert Redwood

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Inappropriate ordering and acquisition of urine cultures leads to unnecessary treatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB. Treatment of ASB contributes to antimicrobial resistance particularly among hospital-acquired organisms. Our objective was to investigate urine culture ordering and collection practices among nurses to identify key system-level and human factor barriers and facilitators that affect optimal ordering and collection practices. Methods We conducted two focus groups, one with ED nurses and the other with ICU nurses. Questions were developed using the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS framework. We used iterative categorization (directed content analysis followed by summative content analysis to code and analyze the data both deductively (using SEIPS domains and inductively (emerging themes. Results Factors affecting optimal urine ordering and collection included barriers at the person, process, and task levels. For ED nurses, barriers included patient factors, physician communication, reflex culture protocols, the electronic health record, urinary symptoms, and ED throughput. For ICU nurses, barriers included physician notification of urinalysis results, personal protective equipment, collection technique, patient body habitus, and Foley catheter issues. Conclusions We identified multiple potential process barriers to nurse adherence with evidence-based recommendations for ordering and collecting urine cultures in the ICU and ED. A systems approach to identifying barriers and facilitators can be useful to design interventions for improving urine ordering and collection practices.

Cultural identity and internationally adopted children: qualitative approach to parental representations.

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Aurélie Harf

Full Text Available Approximately 30 000 children are adopted across national borders each year. A review of the literature on the cultural belonging of these internationally adopted children shows substantial differences between the literature from English-speaking countries and that from France and Europe in general. The objective of this study is to start from the discourse of French adoptive parents to explore their representations of their child's cultural belonging and their positions (their thoughts and representations concerning connections with the child's country of birth and its culture. The study includes 51 French parents who adopted one or more children internationally. Each parent participated in a semi-structured interview, focused on the adoption procedure and their current associations with the child's birth country. The interviews were analyzed according to a qualitative phenomenological method, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The principal themes that emerged from our analysis of the interviews made it possible to classify the parents into three different groups. The first group maintained no association with the child's country of birth and refused any multiplicity of cultural identities. The second group actively maintained regular associations with the child's country of birth and culture and affirmed that their family was multicultural. Finally, the third group adapted their associations with the child's birth country and its culture according to the child's questions and interests. Exploring parental representations of the adopted child enables professionals involved in adoption to provide better support to these families and to do preventive work at the level of family interactions.

Cultural identity and internationally adopted children: qualitative approach to parental representations.

Science.gov (United States)

Harf, Aurélie; Skandrani, Sara; Sibeoni, Jordan; Pontvert, Caroline; Revah-Levy, Anne; Moro, Marie Rose

2015-01-01

Approximately 30 000 children are adopted across national borders each year. A review of the literature on the cultural belonging of these internationally adopted children shows substantial differences between the literature from English-speaking countries and that from France and Europe in general. The objective of this study is to start from the discourse of French adoptive parents to explore their representations of their child's cultural belonging and their positions (their thoughts and representations) concerning connections with the child's country of birth and its culture. The study includes 51 French parents who adopted one or more children internationally. Each parent participated in a semi-structured interview, focused on the adoption procedure and their current associations with the child's birth country. The interviews were analyzed according to a qualitative phenomenological method, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The principal themes that emerged from our analysis of the interviews made it possible to classify the parents into three different groups. The first group maintained no association with the child's country of birth and refused any multiplicity of cultural identities. The second group actively maintained regular associations with the child's country of birth and culture and affirmed that their family was multicultural. Finally, the third group adapted their associations with the child's birth country and its culture according to the child's questions and interests. Exploring parental representations of the adopted child enables professionals involved in adoption to provide better support to these families and to do preventive work at the level of family interactions.

Cultural Identity and Internationally Adopted Children: Qualitative Approach to Parental Representations

Science.gov (United States)

Harf, Aurélie; Skandrani, Sara; Sibeoni, Jordan; Pontvert, Caroline; Revah-Levy, Anne; Moro, Marie Rose

2015-01-01

Approximately 30 000 children are adopted across national borders each year. A review of the literature on the cultural belonging of these internationally adopted children shows substantial differences between the literature from English-speaking countries and that from France and Europe in general. The objective of this study is to start from the discourse of French adoptive parents to explore their representations of their child's cultural belonging and their positions (their thoughts and representations) concerning connections with the child's country of birth and its culture. The study includes 51 French parents who adopted one or more children internationally. Each parent participated in a semi-structured interview, focused on the adoption procedure and their current associations with the child's birth country. The interviews were analyzed according to a qualitative phenomenological method, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The principal themes that emerged from our analysis of the interviews made it possible to classify the parents into three different groups. The first group maintained no association with the child's country of birth and refused any multiplicity of cultural identities. The second group actively maintained regular associations with the child's country of birth and culture and affirmed that their family was multicultural. Finally, the third group adapted their associations with the child's birth country and its culture according to the child's questions and interests. Exploring parental representations of the adopted child enables professionals involved in adoption to provide better support to these families and to do preventive work at the level of family interactions. PMID:25775255

The importance of history in definitions of culture: Implications from phylogenetic approaches to the study of social learning in chimpanzees.

Science.gov (United States)

Lycett, Stephen J

2010-08-01

Some have claimed that wild chimpanzees possess multiple socially learned traditions that might constitute cultural patterns. Others, however, have suggested that even fundamental alternative explanations, such as proximate genetic mechanisms, have not been addressed satisfactorily. Multiple analyses using phylogenetic (cladistic) methods, however, have been shown not to support the genetic proposition. Rather, such analyses are more consistent with the growing body of evidence from studies of both wild and captive animals suggesting that behavioral patterns in wild chimpanzees are socially learned. The question remains, however, as to whether, from a scientific viewpoint, it is useful to term such patterns cultural. It is argued here that cultural mosaics of multiple behaviors that differ intercommunally, both in humans and chimpanzees, are an emergent property of a phylogenetic (i.e., historical) process of descent with modification, mediated by mechanisms of social transmission, variation, and sorting through time. This historical perspective is productive when attempting to consider the phenomenon of culture across species.

Culture-dependent approaches to explore the prevalence of root canal pathogens from endodontic infections

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Maryam Pourhajibagher

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract: Endodontic infections are considered to be caused by the presence of various microorganisms within the root canal system. Recognition of this microbiota contributes to the successful treatment of infected root canals. This study investigated the microorganisms associated with primary and secondary endodontic infections via culture methods, biochemical tests, and molecular approaches in an Iranian population. Microbial specimens were collected from 36 patients with primary endodontic infection and 14 patients with a history of root canal therapy. Advanced microbiological culture techniques were used to isolate microbiota; subsequently, biochemical tests and 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing were performed to identify the microorganisms. Within the total 218 cultivable isolates, Veillonella parvula (20.6% was found to occur with the highest frequency in primary endodontic infection, followed by Porphyromonas gingivalis (14.1%, and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (9.2%. Enterococcus faecalis (36.6% was the most predominant microorganism in secondary endodontic infections, followed by Candida albicans, Propionibacterium acnes, and V. parvula with frequencies of 20%, 2%, and 2%, respectively. It was concluded that V. parvula and E. faecalis was most frequently found in primary and secondary endodontic infections, respectively.

EVALUATING THE CULTURE-LED REGENERATION

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D'Angelo Francesca

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of the paper is to propose a new approach to urban planning, evaluating the culture-led regeneration processes. In the last few years, the cultural turn in urban planning played a central role in the urban studies. In this way we try to elaborate a more robust perspective interpreting the complex phenomenology emerging from the culture-led regeneration processes. Within the concept of complexity we discuss about the metabolic process that are the processes necessary to transform energy, material and information in goods and service functional to the complex urban system life. The approach that will be employed is the MuSIASEM that is based on several novel concept and an innovative methods never applied in this research field.

STUDY OF FUTURE PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’ CULTURAL TRAINING WITHIN THE INFORMATION CULTURE OF SOCIETY

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Tatiana Vinnyk

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The article presents the results of scientific studies and experimental approbation of pedagogical conditions of future primary school teachers’ cultural training taking into account the information culture of society. The nature and structure of the notion «future primary school teachers’ cultural training» are clarified. The indicated phenomenon is considered as the structure of four levels, the core of which is personality’s humanistic orientation, the totality of psychological-pedagogical and cultural knowledge and skills, the complex of professionally significant personal qualities. The author pointed out the criteria and related indicators of cultural proficiency, they are: value-motivational (vocational and humanistic orientation; the presence of values and professional motives; motivation for success; substantial and procedural (knowledge and skills in psycho-pedagogical disciplines; the body of knowledge regarding the content and components of cultural training, cultural skills; assessment and behavioral (the existence of communicative qualities, ability to empathy, tolerance. Levels of future primary school teachers’ cultural readiness: high, average and low are characterized. The experience of ICT using in students’ cultural training is presented. Pedagogical conditions of future primary school teachers’ cultural training in University are identified, their effectiveness is proved by experimental testing

Culture-dependent and -independent approaches establish the complexity of a PAH-degrading microbial consortium

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vinas, M.; Sabate, J.; Solanas, A.M. [Barcelona Univ., Barcelona (Spain). Dept. of Microbiology; Guasp, C.; Lalucat, J. [Illes Balears Univ., Palma de Mallorca (Spain). Dept. of Biology

2005-11-15

Microbial consortia are used in the decontamination of polluted environmental sites. A microbial consortium obtained by batch enrichment culture is a closed system with controlled conditions in which micro-organisms with a potentially high growth rate are selected and become dominant. The aim of this study was to identify the members of consortium AM, in which earlier batch enrichment work had shown high biodegradation rates of the aromatic fraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH). The AM consortium was obtained by sequential enrichment in liquid culture with a PAH mixture of 3- and 4- ringed PAHs as the sole source of carbon and energy. The consortium was examined using a triple approach method based on various cultivation strategies, denaturing gradient electrophoresis (DGGE) and the screening of 16S and 18S rRNA gene clone libraries. Eleven different sequences by culture-dependent techniques and 7 by both DGGE and clone libraries were obtained, yielding 19 different microbial components. Proteobacteria were the dominant group, representing 83 per cent of the total, while the Cytophaga-Flexibactor-Bacteroides group (CFB) was 11 per cent, and Ascomycota fungi were 6 per cent. It was determined that {beta}-Proteobacteria were predominant in the DGGE and clone library methods, whereas they were a minority in culturable strains. The highest diversity and number of noncoincident sequences was achieved by the cultivation method that showed members of the {alpha},{beta}, and {gamma}-Proteobacteria, CFB bacterial group, and Ascomycota fungi. Only 6 of the 11 strains isolated showed PAH-degrading capability. The bacterial strain (AMS7) and the fungal strain (AMF1) achieved the greatest PAH depletion. Results indicated that polyphasic assessment is necessary for a proper understanding of the composition of a microbial consortium. It was concluded that microbial consortia are more complex than previously realized. 54 refs., 3 tabs., 3 figs.

Organ culture studies for pancreatic islet transplantation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reemtsma, K.; Weber, C.J.; Pi-Sunyer, F.X.; Lerner, R.; Zimmerman, E.; Hardy, M.A.

1979-01-01

Data support the usefulness of tissue culture in isolation and preservation of islets prior to transplantation. Rodent islet viability in culture was demonstrated histologically and by functional analyses of hormone production. For reasons that remain to be defined, acinar cells disappeared rapidly in tissue culture, yielding an implant preparation relatively rich in islets and devoid of pancreatic exocrine elements. Isografts of cultured and noncultured islets were well tolerated intraperitoneally and intramuscularly; and prompt and lasting reversal of short- and long-standing experimental diabetes was observed regularly. In vitro studies of rodent islet viability after immunosuppressive treatment of donors or islet cultures showed insulin production comparable to that of control experiments, suggesting that immunologic modification of donors or islets might be feasible in eventual human islet allotransplantation

Contemporary Approaches to Safety Culture: Lessons from Developing a Regulatory Oversight Approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goebel, V.; Heppell-Masys, K.

2016-01-01

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) regulates the use of nuclear energy and materials to protect health, safety, security and the environment, and to implement Canada’s international commitments on the peaceful use of nuclear energy; and to disseminate objective scientific, technical and regulatory information to the public. In the late 1990s, the CNSC conducted research into an Organization and Management (O&M) assessment method. Based on this research the CNSC conducted O&M assessments at all Canadian nuclear power plants and conducted additional assessments of nuclear research and uranium mine and mill operations. The results of these assessments were presented to licencees and used to inform their ongoing actions related to safety culture. Additional safety culture outreach and oversight activities provided licencees with opportunities to develop effective safety culture assessment methods, to share best practices across industry, and to strive for continual improvement of their organizations. Recent changes to the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) management system standard have resulted in the inclusion of requirements associated to safety culture and human performance. Representatives from several sectors of Canada’s nuclear industry, as well as participation from regulators such as the CNSC took part to the development of this consensus standard. Specifically, these requirements focus on monitoring and understanding safety culture, integrating safety into all of the requirements of the management system, committing workers to adhere to the management system and supporting excellence in workers’ performance. The CNSC is currently developing a regulatory document on safety culture which includes key concepts applicable to all licencees and specific requirements related to self-assessment, and additional guidance for nuclear power plants. Developing a regulatory document on safety culture requires consultation and fact finding initiatives at

Concepts of Culture in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies

OpenAIRE

Pierre Hecker; Igor Johannsen

2017-01-01

Introducing the seventh issue of META, this editorial discusses prevalent concepts of culture in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies. Different conceptualizations of culture that explicitly or implicitly contain qualitative differentiations between cultures are revisited and discussed. Bearing considerable weight in the respective disciplines, the Islam-andthe-West paradigm, the delineation of diverging cultures along ethnic lines, the equation of culture with art or religion, and the culture-...

Organisational Culture: An Exploratory Study Comparing Faculties' Perspectives within Public and Private Universities in Malaysia

Science.gov (United States)

Ramachandran, Sharimllah Devi; Chong, Siong Choy; Ismail, Hishamuddin

2011-01-01

Purpose: The main objective of this paper to study the organisational culture (OC) in private and public higher education institutions (HEIs) from the perspective of faculty members in order to provide empirical insights on the differences and consequently pave an avenue for cross-learning. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 594…

Integrating cross-cultural psychology research methods into ethnic minority psychology.

Science.gov (United States)

Leong, Frederick T L; Leung, Kwok; Cheung, Fanny M

2010-10-01

Multicultural psychology has 2 related but often disconnected streams, namely cross-cultural psychology and racial and ethnic minority psychology (Hall & Maramba, 2001). We propose that advances in both fields will be facilitated if there is greater cross-fertilization, especially in methodological approaches given that proponents in both fields are interested in studying and understanding the role and impact of culture on human behavior. To facilitate this cross-fertilization, we present 3 methodological approaches that would be of value in racial and ethnic minority psychology. First, we present an overview of the importance of and the approaches to evaluating and establishing measurement equivalence. Second, we discuss recent advances in the understanding of conceptual equivalence in light of indigenous approaches, cultural manipulation, and multilevel analysis. Third, we present a combined etic-emic approach to cross-cultural personality research as illustrated by the Cross-Cultural Personality Assessment Inventory developed by Fanny Cheung and her colleagues. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved.

Dilemmas of Cultural Mediation: A Case Study of Tourism

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Ajtony Zsuzsanna

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Travelling implies the encounter and, in certain cases, the clash of cultures. By interpreting translation as a means of transfer between languages and cultures, the present study looks into the different views on translating culture-specific realia. Through a close analysis of texts with the purpose of informing foreign tourists it offers ways of how to carry out this mediation. The study calls for further research into closely related issues, such as the translator’s cultural awareness of and sensitivity to similarity and difference, identity and alterity in culture.

Physical culture as a phenomenon of the development of socio-cultural competence of future teachers of physical education

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I.V. Ivanii

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Purpose : to substantiate the phenomenon of formation of physical culture of the individual in terms of theoretical and methodological approaches to the development of socio-cultural competence of future teachers. Material : 22 literary sources analyzed on the issue of formation of physical culture of the individual. Used cultural studies, axiological and competence approach. Results : define the concept of socio-cultural competence of the teacher of physical education. Competence is considered as an integrative motivational tumor - activity sphere of the individual. It determines the focus of an expert on the formation of spiritual values and is the foundation for its further self-development. Disclosed structure sociocultural competence of the teacher in the unity components: cognitive, motivational-value, behavioral. For each component defined system of spiritual values. The system covers the socio- psychological, mental and cultural values of physical culture. Conclusions : the sociocultural competence of the teacher of physical education meaningful and functionally related to the values of the physical culture of the individual. Spiritual, value the personality of the teacher - is the foundation for all of the components of socio-cultural competence. This competence provides social and cultural development of the individual.

Revisiting bovine pyometra-New insights into the disease using a culture-independent deep sequencing approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Knudsen, Lif Rødtness Vesterby; Karstrup, Cecilia Christensen; Pedersen, Hanne Gervi

2015-01-01

-independent studies have demonstrated that the bacterial diversity in most environments is underestimated in culture-based studies. Consequently, fastidious pyometra-associated pathogens may have been overlooked. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study was to investigate the diversity of bacteria in the uterus......The bacteria present in the uterus during pyometra have previously been studied using bacteriological culturing. These studies identified Fusobacterium necrophorum and Trueperella pyogenes as the major contributors to the pathogenesis of pyometra. However, an increasing number of culture...... of cows with pyometra by using culture-independent 16S rRNA PCR combined with next generation sequencing. We investigated the microbial composition in the uterus of 21 cows with pyometra, which were obtained from a Danish slaughterhouse. Similar to the observations from the culture studies...

Tissue engineering approaches to develop decellularized tendon matrices functionalized with progenitor cells cultured under undifferentiated and tenogenic conditions

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Daniele D’Arrigo

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Tendon ruptures and retractions with an extensive tissue loss represent a major clinical problem and a great challenge in surgical reconstruction. Traditional approaches consist in autologous or allogeneic grafts, which still have some drawbacks. Hence, tissue engineering strategies aimed at developing functionalized tendon grafts. In this context, the use of xenogeneic tissues represents a promising perspective to obtain decellularized tendon grafts. This study is focused on the identification of suitable culture conditions for the generation of reseeded and functional decellularized constructs to be used as tendon grafts. Equine superficial digital flexor tendons were decellularized, reseeded with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs from bone marrow and statically cultured in two different culture media to maintain undifferentiated cells (U-MSCs or to induce a terminal tenogenic differentiation (T-MSCs for 24 hours, 7 and 14 days. Cell viability, proliferation, morphology as well as matrix deposition and type I and III collagen production were assessed by means of histological, immunohistochemical and semi-quantitative analyses. Results showed that cell viability was not affected by any culture conditions and active proliferation was maintained 14 days after reseeding. However, seeded MSCs were not able to penetrate within the dense matrix of the decellularized tendons. Nevertheless, U-MSCs synthesized a greater amount of extracellular matrix rich in type I collagen compared to T-MSCs. In spite of the inability to deeply colonize the decellularized matrix in vitro, reseeding tendon matrices with U-MSCs could represent a suitable method for the functionalization of biological constructs, considering also any potential chemoattractant capability of the newly deposed extracellular matrix to recruit resident cells. This bioengineering approach can be exploited to produce functionalized tendon constructs for the substitution of large tendon defects.

The Culure Assimilator: An Approach to Cross-Cultural Training

Science.gov (United States)

Fiedler, Fred E.; And Others

1971-01-01

Evaluates the cultural assimilator, a kind of training manual to help members of one culture understand and adjust to another culture. Describes those constructed for the Arab countries, Iran, Thailand, Central America, and Greece. (MB)

Sustainable tourism and harmonious culture: a case study of cultic model at village tourism

Science.gov (United States)

Astawa, I. P.; Triyuni, N. N.; Santosa, I. D. M. C.

2018-01-01

The research aims to analyze an event model of Culture and Tourism International Camp (Cultic) from two aspects, harmonious culture and sustainable tourism. Currently, Indonesian government promotes village tourism by involving more villagers to achieve village independence in its development. The program has faced various obstacles, such as the eroded local cultures due to the development of a massive and money-oriented tourism with less attention on the environmental damage. One of the offered programs is a green tourism model for an event named Culture and Tourism International Camps - Cultic. The research is conducted in several stages. The first stage is the development of model based on the theoretical study. The second stage is the implementation of the model with 85 participants. The third stage is the evaluation of the model through harmonious culture and sustainable tourism approaches. The data is collected through a direct observation and a questionnaire. The result of qualitative analysis indicates that the developed event model supports the harmonious culture, especially the natural environment. Whereas, the result of quantitative analysis indicates that the participants enjoy the activities, such as green food, material natural, waste management, and ecosystem. Another finding is that the community strongly supports the concept of sustainable tourism.

Going Places: Praxis and Pedagogy in Australian Cultural Studies

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Rebecca Rey

2011-09-01

Full Text Available This article considers the pedagogical value of praxis in maintaining the relevance of cultural studies in the Australian academic environment. Following its highly politicised beginnings at the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, we consider whether traditional classroom practices are commensurate with the contemporary expectations of students and staff. As a working model of the current Australian university climate, we consider the discipline group of English and Cultural Studies (ECS at the University of Western Australia. After evaluating data gathered from interviews and surveys across the undergraduate, postgraduate and staff population, we suggest potential pedagogical innovations to be implemented in cultural studies at UWA, as a case study within Australia. Our findings show that students are calling for practical activities that would benefit their studies as a complement to theory in the classroom. As a result, we argue that praxis is not only important, but vital, in the teaching of cultural studies as an enabling activity that encourages the use of new teaching methods.