Institutional, Individual, and Socio-Cultural Domains of Partnerships: A Typology of USDA Forest Service Recreation Partners

Science.gov (United States)

Seekamp, Erin; Cerveny, Lee K.; McCreary, Allie

2011-09-01

Federal land management agencies, such as the USDA Forest Service, have expanded the role of recreation partners reflecting constrained growth in appropriations and broader societal trends towards civic environmental governance. Partnerships with individual volunteers, service groups, commercial outfitters, and other government agencies provide the USDA Forest Service with the resources necessary to complete projects and meet goals under fiscal constraints. Existing partnership typologies typically focus on collaborative or strategic alliances and highlight organizational dimensions (e.g., structure and process) defined by researchers. This paper presents a partner typology constructed from USDA Forest Service partnership practitioners' conceptualizations of 35 common partner types. Multidimensional scaling of data from unconstrained pile sorts identified 3 distinct cultural dimensions of recreation partners—specifically, partnership character, partner impact, and partner motivations—that represent institutional, individual, and socio-cultural cognitive domains. A hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis provides further insight into the various domains of agency personnel's conceptualizations. While three dimensions with high reliability (RSQ = 0.83) and corresponding hierarchical clusters illustrate commonality between agency personnel's partnership suppositions, this study also reveals variance in personnel's familiarity and affinity for specific partnership types. This real-world perspective on partner types highlights that agency practitioners not only make strategic choices when selecting and cultivating partnerships to accomplish critical task, but also elect to work with partners for the primary purpose of providing public service and fostering land stewardship.

Domains and dimensions in acculturation: Implicit theories of Turkish–Dutch

OpenAIRE

Arends-Tóth, Judit; van de Vijver, Fons J. R.

2004-01-01

The present study aims to further our understanding of psychological acculturation by examining which current models of acculturation correspond most with implicit theories of Turkish-Dutch. Current theoretical models of acculturation differ in two aspects: dimensionality (unidimensional adaptation, a bidimensional combination of culture maintenance and adaptation, or a multidimensional fusion of two cultures) and domain specificity (trait or domain-specific models). Domain specificity of acc...

Context influences on the relationship between views of aging and subjective age: The moderating role of culture and domain of functioning.

Science.gov (United States)

Hess, Thomas M; O'Brien, Erica L; Voss, Peggy; Kornadt, Anna E; Rothermund, Klaus; Fung, Helene H; Popham, Lauren E

2017-08-01

Subjective age has been shown to reliably predict a variety of psychological and physical health outcomes, yet our understanding of its determinants is still quite limited. Using data from the Aging as Future project, the authors examined the degree to which views of aging influence subjective age and how this influence varies across cultures and domains of everyday functioning. Using data from 1,877 adults aged from 30 to 95 years of age collected in China, Germany, and the United States, they assessed how general attitudes about aging and perceptions of oneself as an older adult influenced subjective age estimates in 8 different domains of functioning. More positive attitudes about aging were associated with older subjective ages, whereas more positive views of self in old age were associated with younger subjective age. It is hypothesized that these effects are reflective of social-comparison processes and self-protective mechanisms. These influences varied considerably over contexts, with views of aging having a greater impact in domains associated with stronger negative stereotypes of aging (e.g., health) compared to those with more positive ones (e.g., family). Culture also moderated the impact of aging views in terms of the strength of prediction, direction of effect, and age of greatest influence, presumably due to cultural differences in the salience and strength of aging-related belief systems across contexts. The results illustrate the contextual sensitivity of subjective age and highlight the role played by an individual's views of old age-both in general and regarding oneself-in determining their own experience of aging. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

The Moderating Role of Non-Controlling Supervision and Organizational Learning Culture on Employee Creativity: The Influences of Domain Expertise and Creative Personality

Science.gov (United States)

Jeong, Shinhee; McLean, Gary N.; McLean, Laird D.; Yoo, Sangok; Bartlett, Kenneth

2017-01-01

Purpose: By adopting a multilevel approach, this paper aims to examine the relationships among employee creativity and creative personality, domain expertise (i.e. individual-level factors), non-controlling supervision style and organizational learning culture (i.e. team-level factors). It also investigates the cross-level interactions between…

Domains of health-related quality of life in age-related macular degeneration: a qualitative study in the Chinese cultural context

Science.gov (United States)

Bian, Wei; Wan, Junli; Smith, Graeme; Li, Shiying; Tan, Mingqiong; Zhou, Fengjiao

2018-01-01

Objective To explore which areas of health-related quality of life were affected in Chinese patients, and to identify whether the areas are well covered by validated questionnaires. Design A qualitative study based on semistructured interviews was conducted. A qualitative thematic analysis following the approach of Colaizzi was used to analyse the interview data for significant statements and phrases. The themes and subthemes organised from the analysis were then compared by using the following current instruments: National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ-25), Macular Disease Quality of life Questionnaire (MacDQoL) and Low-Luminance Questionnaire (LLD). Participants and setting Twenty-one patients with age-related macular degeneration were recruited from the eye clinic of Southwest Eye Hospital in Chongqing, mainland China. Results The mean age of the participants was 69.8 years (range 57–82 years) and the duration of the disease ranged from 3 months to 6 years. The qualitative analysis revealed nine important domains including symptoms, difficulties with daily activities, depending on others, depression and uncertainty, optimism and hope, social isolation, role change, family support and financial burden. However, all the three questionnaires were insufficient to capture the full extent of quality of life issues of Chinese patients with AMD, and MacDQoL covered more domains when compared with NEI-VFQ-25 and LLD. Conclusion The domains of concepts important to people with AMD in the Chinese culture are not fully represented in the three widely used questionnaires. Nine important domains were identified for the assessment of quality of life and should be considered when assessing the impact of AMD on Chinese individuals. Further studies are needed to develop an AMD quality of life questionnaire, better tailored to the needs and culture of Chinese patients. PMID:29666126

Culture and math.

Science.gov (United States)

Tcheang, Lili

2014-01-01

Cultural differences have been shown across a number of different cognitive domains from vision, language, and music. Mathematical cognition is another domain that is an integral part of modern society and because there are a fixed number of ways in which many math operations can be performed, it is also an apposite tool for cultural comparisons. This discussion examines the literature on mathematical processing in accordance with culture, summarizing the brain regions involved across various mathematical tasks. In doing so, we provide a clear picture of the anatomical similarities and differences between cultures when performing different math tasks. This information is useful to explore the possibility of enhancement of mathematical skills, where different strategies may be applicable in accordance with culture. It also contributes to the evolutionary development of different math skills and the growing theory that anatomical and behavioral studies must account for the cultural identity of their sample.

Culture and biology interplay: An introduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Causadias, José M; Telzer, Eva H; Lee, Richard M

2017-01-01

Culture and biology have evolved together, influence each other, and concurrently shape behavior, affect, cognition, and development. This special section highlights 2 major domains of the interplay between culture and biology. The first domain is neurobiology of cultural experiences-how cultural, ethnic, and racial experiences influence limbic systems and neuroendocrine functioning-and the second domain is cultural neuroscience-the connections between cultural processes and brain functioning. We include 3 studies on neurobiology of cultural experiences that examine the associations between racial discrimination and heart rate variability (Hill et al., 2016), economic and sociocultural stressors and cortisol levels (Mendoza, Dmitrieva, Perreira, & Watamura, 2016), and unfair treatment and allostatic load (Ong, Williams, Nwizu, & Gruenewald, 2016). We also include 2 studies on cultural neuroscience that investigate cultural group differences and similarities in beliefs, practices, and neural basis of emotion regulation (Qu & Telzer, 2016), and reflected and direct self-appraisals (Pfeifer et al., 2016). We discuss pending challenges and future directions for this emerging field. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Cultivating a Cross-Cultural Disposition

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Crooks, Rory A

2007-01-01

.... Developing the patience and inclination to work with dramatically different cultures requires PME to shift focus from the primarily cognitive domain of educational objectives to the affective domain...

Simplicity and Specificity in Language: Domain-General Biases Have Domain-Specific Effects

Science.gov (United States)

Culbertson, Jennifer; Kirby, Simon

2016-01-01

The extent to which the linguistic system—its architecture, the representations it operates on, the constraints it is subject to—is specific to language has broad implications for cognitive science and its relation to evolutionary biology. Importantly, a given property of the linguistic system can be “specific” to the domain of language in several ways. For example, if the property evolved by natural selection under the pressure of the linguistic function it serves then the property is domain-specific in the sense that its design is tailored for language. Equally though, if that property evolved to serve a different function or if that property is domain-general, it may nevertheless interact with the linguistic system in a way that is unique. This gives a second sense in which a property can be thought of as specific to language. An evolutionary approach to the language faculty might at first blush appear to favor domain-specificity in the first sense, with individual properties of the language faculty being specifically linguistic adaptations. However, we argue that interactions between learning, culture, and biological evolution mean any domain-specific adaptations that evolve will take the form of weak biases rather than hard constraints. Turning to the latter sense of domain-specificity, we highlight a very general bias, simplicity, which operates widely in cognition and yet interacts with linguistic representations in domain-specific ways. PMID:26793132

The coexistence of natural and supernatural explanations within and across domains and development.

Science.gov (United States)

Busch, Justin T A; Watson-Jones, Rachel E; Legare, Cristine H

2017-03-01

People across highly diverse cultural contexts use both natural and supernatural explanations to explain questions of fundamental concern such as death, illness, and human origins. The present study examines the development of explanatory coexistence within and across domains of existential concern in individuals in Tanna, Vanuatu. We examined three age groups: 7- to 12-year-old children, 13- to 18-year-old adolescents, and 19- to 70-year-old adults (N = 72). Within the domain of death, biological and spontaneous explanations were most common across all ages. For illness, children showed the highest rates of explanatory coexistence, while adolescents and adults favoured biological explanations. Within the human origins domain, theistic explanations were most common across the age groups. Overall, these data show that coexistence reasoning in these domains is pervasive across cultures, yet at the same time it is deeply contextually specific, reflecting the nuanced differences in local ecologies and cultural beliefs. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Individuals across highly diverse cultural contexts use both natural and supernatural explanations to understand the events that occur in their lives. Context and cultural input play a large role in determining when and how individuals incorporate natural and supernatural explanations. The development of explanatory coexistence has primarily studied explanations for isolated domains. What does this study add? We examined explanatory coexistence in a culture with recent conversion to Christianity and formal education. The current research examines how individuals reason within and across the domains of human origins, illness, and death. Developmental differences associated with explanatory coexistence are examined. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

Quantitative and qualitative research across cultures and languages: cultural metrics and their application.

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Wagner, Wolfgang; Hansen, Karolina; Kronberger, Nicole

2014-12-01

Growing globalisation of the world draws attention to cultural differences between people from different countries or from different cultures within the countries. Notwithstanding the diversity of people's worldviews, current cross-cultural research still faces the challenge of how to avoid ethnocentrism; comparing Western-driven phenomena with like variables across countries without checking their conceptual equivalence clearly is highly problematic. In the present article we argue that simple comparison of measurements (in the quantitative domain) or of semantic interpretations (in the qualitative domain) across cultures easily leads to inadequate results. Questionnaire items or text produced in interviews or via open-ended questions have culturally laden meanings and cannot be mapped onto the same semantic metric. We call the culture-specific space and relationship between variables or meanings a 'cultural metric', that is a set of notions that are inter-related and that mutually specify each other's meaning. We illustrate the problems and their possible solutions with examples from quantitative and qualitative research. The suggested methods allow to respect the semantic space of notions in cultures and language groups and the resulting similarities or differences between cultures can be better understood and interpreted.

TGFβ1-mediated expression and alternative splicing of Fibronectin Extra Domain A in human podocyte culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Madne, Tarunkumar Hemraj; Dockrell, Mark Edward Carl

2018-02-28

Alternative splicing is a fundamental phenomenon to build protein diversity in health and diseases. Extra Domain A+ Fibronectin (EDA+Fn) is an alternatively spliced form of fibronectin protein present in the extra cellular matrix (ECM) in renal fibrosis. Podocytes are spectacular cell type and play a key role in filtration and synthesise ECM proteins in renal physiology and pathology. TGFβ1 is a strong stimulator of ECM proteins in renal injury. In this study, we have investigated alternative splicing of EDA+ Fn in human podocytes in response to TGFβ1. We have performed western blotting and immunofluorescence to characterise the expression of the EDA+Fn protein, real-time PCR for RNA expression and RT-PCR to look for alternative splicing of EDA+Fn in conditionally immortalised human podocytes culture.We used TGFβ1 as a stimulator and SB431542 and SRPIN340 for inhibitory studies. In this work, for the first time we have demonstrated in human podocytes culture EDA+Fn is expressed in the basal condition and TGFβ1 2.5ng/ml induced the Fn mRNA and EDA+Fn protein expression demonstrated by real-time PCR, western blotting and immunofluorescence. TGFβ1 2.5ng/ml induced the alternative splicing of EDA+Fn shown by conventional RT-PCR. Studies with ALK5 inhibitor SB431542 and SRPIN340 show that TGFβ1 induced alternative splicing of EDA+Fn was by the ALK5 receptor and the SR proteins.  In human podocytes culture, alternative splicing of EDA+Fn occurs at basal conditions and TGFβ1 further induced the alternative splicing of EDA+Fn via ALK5 receptor activation and SR proteins. This is the first evidence of basal and TGFβ1 mediated alternative splicing of EDA+Fn in human podocytes culture.

Validation of the Domain-Specific Risk-Taking Scale in Chinese college students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaoxiao Hu

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Using college student samples, two studies were conducted to validate the Chinese version of the Domain-Specific Risk-Taking (DOSPERT Scale. The results replicated important findings reported by Weber et al. (2002 in the Chinese culture. Risk-taking and risk perception were domain-specific, whereas perceived-risk attitudes were relatively stable across domains, supporting the risk-return model of risk taking. Results of both exploratory factor analysis (EFA and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA showed that the ethical, recreational, health/safety, and gambling domains were preserved in the Chinese version of DOSPERT and that the items from social and investment domains formed one factor. This result may be explained by Weber and Hsee's (1998 cushion hypothesis. Other possible reasons for this cross-cultural difference in the factor structure were also discussed.

Cultural consumption across countries: A multi-level analysis of social inequality in highbrow culture in Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hek, M. van; Kraaykamp, G.L.M.

2013-01-01

Participation in highbrow culture for individuals is often recognized as an important but unequally distributed asset. Although numerous studies have confirmed social differentiation in highbrow cultural consumption, cross-national research on social inequality in the cultural domain is still

Phosphorylation in the C-terminal domain of Aquaporin-4 is required for Golgi transition in primary cultured astrocytes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kadohira, Ikuko; Abe, Yoichiro; Nuriya, Mutsuo; Sano, Kazumi; Tsuji, Shoji; Arimitsu, Takeshi; Yoshimura, Yasunori; Yasui, Masato

2008-01-01

Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) is expressed in the perivascular and subpial astrocytes end-feet in mammalian brain, and plays a critical component of an integrated water and potassium homeostasis. Here we examine whether AQP4 is phosphorylated in primary cultured mouse astrocytes. Astrocytes were metabolically labeled with [ 32 P]phosphoric acid, then AQP4 was immunoprecipitated with anti-AQP4 antibody. We observed that AQP4 was constitutively phosphorylated, which is reduced by treatment with protein kinase CK2 inhibitors. To elucidate the phosphorylation of AQP4 by CK2, myc-tagged wild-type or mutant AQP4 was transiently transfected in primary cultured astrocytes. Substitution of Ala residues for four putative CK2 phosphorylation sites in the C terminus abolished the phosphorylation of AQP4. Immunofluorescent microscopy revealed that the quadruple mutant was localized in the Golgi apparatus. These observations indicate that the C-terminal domain of AQP4 is constitutively phosphorylated at least in part by protein kinase CK2 and it is required for Golgi transition.

Domains and naïve theories.

Science.gov (United States)

Gelman, Susan A; Noles, Nicholaus S

2011-09-01

Human cognition entails domain-specific cognitive processes that influence memory, attention, categorization, problem-solving, reasoning, and knowledge organization. This article examines domain-specific causal theories, which are of particular interest for permitting an examination of how knowledge structures change over time. We first describe the properties of commonsense theories, and how commonsense theories differ from scientific theories, illustrating with children's classification of biological and nonbiological kinds. We next consider the implications of domain-specificity for broader issues regarding cognitive development and conceptual change. We then examine the extent to which domain-specific theories interact, and how people reconcile competing causal frameworks. Future directions for research include examining how different content domains interact, the nature of theory change, the role of context (including culture, language, and social interaction) in inducing different frameworks, and the neural bases for domain-specific reasoning. WIREs Cogni Sci 2011 2 490-502 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.124 This article is categorized under: Psychology > Reasoning and Decision Making. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Shikarpur lithic assemblage: New questions regarding Rohri chert blade production

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Charusmita Gadekar

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Recent excavations at Shikarpur, a fortified Harappan site situated near the Gulf of Kuchchh in Gujarat, Western India, brought to light a large collection of Rohri chert blades.  Chert found in the Rohri hill near Sukkur in Sindh, central Pakistan is distinctive and easily identifiable. The wide distribution of standardized Rohri chert blades is often regarded as a testimony to the Harappan efficiency in long distance trade and craft production.  The possibility of localized production of Rohri chert blades in Gujarat is often negated due to the constraints of raw-material availability.  The absence of Rohri chert working debitage from most of the sites in Gujarat, has lent support to this position. The Shikarpur Rohri blade assemblage however incorporates more than 650 blades, a large fluted blade-core and a few Rohri chert debitage.  These have led the excavators to suggest that some of the blades found at Shikarpur were locally produced from raw materials brought to the site from the Rohri hills.  Typo-technological features of the Rohri chert assemblage from Shikarpur have been analysed in this background. These along with metrical features of the assemblage are compared with Rohri chert assemblages from other major Harappan sites in the region to check the validity of the proposed ‘limited local production’.

The ethnographic method and its relationship with the domain analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manuel Alejandro Romero Quesada

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes the theoretical and conceptual relationship of the ethnographic method with domain analysis. A documentary analysis was performed, exploring the categories of domain analysis and ethnographic method.It was obtained as a result: the analysis of the points of contact between domain analysis and the ethnographic method from an epistemological, methodological and procedural terms. It is concluded that the ethnographic method is an important research tool to scan the turbulent socio-cultural scenarios that occur within discursive communities that constitute the domains of knowledge.

The Influence of Socio-cultural Domains on Communication

African Journals Online (AJOL)

First Lady

When you identify yourself as a member of a culture, you must not only share .... is one of cooperation and of holding the belief that personal relationships are at least as important .... The third strategy, self disclosure, involves volunteering ...

Research culture in a regional allied health setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Borkowski, Donna; McKinstry, Carol; Cotchett, Matthew

2017-07-01

Research evidence is required to guide best practice, inform policy and improve the health of communities. Current indicators consider allied health research culture to be low. This study aimed to measure the allied health research culture and capacity in a Victorian regional health service. The Research Capacity and Culture tool was used to evaluate research capacity and culture across individual, team and organisation domains. One-way ANOVA was used to determine differences between allied health professions, whereas responses to open-ended questions were themed using open coding. One hundred thirty-six allied health professionals completed the survey. There were statistically significant differences in the organisation domain between social work, physiotherapy and occupational therapy professions; in the team domain, between social work and all other professions. Motivators for conducting research included providing a high-quality service, developing skills and increasing job satisfaction. Barriers included other work roles taking priority, a lack of time and limited research skills. Multi-layered strategies including establishing conjoint research positions are recommended to increase allied health research culture in this regional area.

Residential segregation and cultural dissemination: An Axelrod-Schelling model

Science.gov (United States)

Gracia-Lázaro, C.; Lafuerza, L. F.; Floría, L. M.; Moreno, Y.

2009-10-01

In the Axelrod’s model of cultural dissemination, we consider the mobility of cultural agents through the introduction of a density of empty sites and the possibility that agents in a dissimilar neighborhood can move to them if their mean cultural similarity with the neighborhood is below some threshold. While for low values of the density of empty sites, the mobility enhances the convergence to a global culture, for high enough values of it, the dynamics can lead to the coexistence of disconnected domains of different cultures. In this regime, the increase in initial cultural diversity paradoxically increases the convergence to a dominant culture. Further increase in diversity leads to the fragmentation of the dominant culture into domains, forever changing in shape and number, as an effect of the never ending eroding activity of cultural minorities.

GENERAL CONSIDERATION REGARDING EU LAW IN THE DOMAIN OF CULTURAL HERITAGE

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Alexandra STĂNCIULESCU

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The cultural heritage is a rich and diverse mosaic of cultural and creative expressions, our inheritance from previous generations of people and our legacy for those to come. In the terms of the Convention concerning the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage, the cultural heritage includes: monuments, such as architectural works, works of monumental sculpture and painting, elements or structures of an archaeological nature; groups of buildings and sites, such as works of man or the combined works of nature and man and areas including archaeological sites, all of these being of outstanding universal value from the point of view of history, art or science. Because of its substantial importance for the evolution of humanity, all nations in general and the European Union in particular, should have the duty of ensuring the identification, protection, conservation, presentation and transmission to future generations of the cultural and natural heritage. EU law states through the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union at article 167 that the action of the Union shall be aimed at encouraging cooperation between Member States and, if necessary, supporting and supplementing the action in areas such as: improvement of the knowledge and dissemination of the culture and history of the European people; conservation and safeguarding of cultural heritage of European significance and others. While policy in this area is primarily the responsibility of Member States, regional and local authorities, the EU is committed to safeguarding and enhancing Europe's cultural heritage through a number of policies and programmes. Due to the lack of such policies and programmes, the lack of consistent terminology and legal definitions, especially between EU languages, the lack of information and data on the crimes that affect cultural goods, the purpose of the essay is to emphasize the need of a rigorous legal program and policy and to observe the

Acculturation and adjustment of elderly émigrés from the former Soviet Union: Alife domains perspective

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Ana G. Genkova

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Former Soviet émigrés in the United States are on average older than other immigrant groups, with adultsover 65 comprising a large portion of the Russian-speaking population. Despite known risks associated withold-age migration, however, researchers and providers have underestimated adjustment difficulties forRussian-speaking elderly in U.S. These older adults tend to acquire a new culture with difficulty and remainhighly oriented towards their heritage culture. However, limited research examines how acculturation to boththe culture of origin and the host culture contributes to wellbeing for this immigrant group. This studyassesses the adaptive value of host and heritage acculturation across several domains in the lives of olderémigrés from the former Soviet Union resettled in the Baltimore and Washington, DC areas in the UnitedStates. Acculturation level with respect to both host and heritage culture was measured with the Language,Identity, and Behavior Scale (LIB; Birman and Trickett, 2001 and used to predict psychological, family, social,and medical care adjustment outcomes. Results suggest that acculturation to the host or heritage culture hasdifferent functions depending on life domain. Particularly, high American acculturation contributed to betteradjustment in the psychological, family, and social domains. Heritage acculturation was associated withbetter outcomes in the social domain and had mixed effects for psychological adjustment. Theoreticalimplications highlight the importance of evaluating multiple life domains of adapting through a bilinearacculturation model for the understudied population of elderly immigrants.

Internet culture

CERN Document Server

Porter, David

2013-01-01

The internet has recently grown from a fringe cultural phenomenon to a significant site of cultural production and transformation. Internet Culture maps this new domain of language, politics and identity, locating it within the histories of communication and the public sphere. Internet Culture offers a critical interrogation of the sustaining myths of the virtual world and of the implications of the current mass migration onto the electronic frontier. Among the topics discussed in Internet Culture are the virtual spaces and places created by the citizens of the Net and their claims to the hotly contested notion of "virtual community"; the virtual bodies that occupy such spaces; and the desires that animate these bodies. The contributors also examine the communication medium behind theworlds of the Net, analyzing the rhetorical conventions governing online discussion, literary antecedents,and potential pedagogical applications.

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,

Culturally Targeted Strategies for Diabetes Prevention in Minority Populations: A Systematic Review and Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Lagisetty, Pooja A.; Priyadarshini, Shubadra; Terrell, Stephanie; Hamati, Mary; Landgraf, Jessica; Chopra, Vineet; Heisler, Michele

2017-01-01

Purpose The purpose of this study is to (a) assess the effectiveness of culturally tailored diabetes prevention interventions in minority populations and (b) develop a novel framework to characterize four key domains of culturally tailored interventions. Prevention strategies specifically tailored to the culture of ethnic minority patients may help reduce the incidence of diabetes. Methods We searched PubMed, EMBASE, and CINAHL for English-language, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or quasi-experimental (QE) trials testing culturally tailored interventions to prevent diabetes in minority populations. Two reviewers independently extracted data and assessed risk of bias. Inductive thematic analysis was used to develop a framework with four domains (FiLLM: Facilitating [i.e., delivering] Interventions through Language, Location and Message). The framework was used to assess the overall effectiveness of culturally tailored interventions. Results Thirty-four trials met eligibility criteria. Twelve studies were randomized controlled trials, and 22 were quasi-experimental trials. Twenty-five out of 34 studies (74%) that used cultural tailoring demonstrated significantly improved Hemoglobin A1C, fasting glucose, and/or weight loss. Of the 25 successful interventions, 21 (84%) incorporated at least three culturally targeted domains. Seven studies used all four domains and were all successful. The least utilized domain was delivery (4/34) of the intervention’s key educational message. Conclusions Culturally tailoring interventions across the four domains of facilitators, language, location, and messaging can be effective in improving risk factors for progression to diabetes among ethnic minority groups. Future studies should evaluate how specific tailoring approaches work compared to usual care as well as comparative effectiveness of each tailoring domain. Registration (PROSPERO registration: CRD42015016914) PMID:28118127

[Culture and quality of life assessment in Chinese populations].

Science.gov (United States)

Xia, Ping; Li, Ning-Xiu; Liu, Chao-Jie; Lü, Yu-Bo; Zhang, Qiang; Ou, Ai-Hua

2010-07-01

To investigate the impact of cultural factors on quality of life (QOL) and to identify appropriate ways of dividing sub-populations for population norm-based quality of life assessment. The WHOQOL-BREF was used as a QOL instrument. Another questionnaire was developed to assess cultural values. A cross-sectional survey was undertaken in 1090 Guangzhou residents, which included 635 respondents from communities and 455 patients who visited outpatient departments of hospitals. Cronbach's a coefficients and item-domain correlation coefficients were calculated to test the reliability and validity of the WHOQOL-BREF, respectively. Student t test, ANOVA and stepwise multiple linear regression analysis were performed to identify the variables that might have an impact on the QOL. Two regression models with and without including cultural variables were constructed, and the extent of impact exerted by the cultural factors was assessed through a comparison of the change of adjusted R square values. A total of 1052 (96%) valid questionnaire were returned. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients of the WHOQOL-BREF ranged from 0.67 to 0.78. Age, education, occupation and family income were correlated with all of the domains of the WHOQOL-BREF. Chronic condition was correlated with physical, psychological, and social relationship domains of the WHOQOL-BREF. Gender was correlated with physical and psychological domains of the WHOQOL-BREF. The multiple regression analysis showed that social and demographic factors contributed to 6.3%, 13.6%, 10.4% and 8.7% of the predicted variances for the physical, psychological, social relationship, and environment domains, respectively. Social support, horizontal collectivism, vertical individualism, escape acceptance, fear of death, health value, supernatural belief had a significant impact on QOL. However, social support was the only one factor that had an impact on all of the four QOL domains. It is necessary to divide sub-cultural populations for

STUDY REGARDING OVER BORDERS TOURISM AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP CULTURE IN THE DOMAIN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreş Solomia

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The study was regarded as a qualitative research that measures entrepreneurship tendencies of the two regions from the border rural environment, initiation and management measures of business in the rural environment. The study regarding entrepreneurship education knowledge of target member groups from the partner border communities from Caras-Severin and Serbia has as main objective the evaluating of entrepreneurship knowledge of communities from the two regions of the rural environment, both with a strong touristic and cultural potential, for the purpose of rebirth of border socio-economical activities and the improvement of life quality by developing rural tourism. The objective desired from this study were: a quantitative and qualitative of information level gained by the members of the target groups regarding the initiation and development of business in tourism; the establishing of an entrepreneur profile for the respondents; the identification of the activity domain with a high potential of economical exploitation. Starting from the premises that only a correct evaluation and a detailed information of these aspects will determine the fact that the results of the research will represent the basis of the elaborati2ng of a development strategy for the rural tourism for the border rural communities, the research team, to which I was also a member of, has used the method of investigation and questionnaires as useful instruments in the development of the activities of the Centre for Border Rural Tourism. These instruments have contributed to the knowledge and measuring of present dimensions from the two dimensions, qualitative and quantitative, of the level of basic entrepreneurship knowledge in order to stimulate in the future the inhabitants’ involvment in the development of tourism activities and of economical-social ones.

Stone anchors of India: Findings, classification and significance.

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Tripati, S.

Various types of stone anchors have been observed during inshore and offshore explorations along the east and west coasts of India. The earliest stone anchors of India have been recorded from the Harappan sites (3rd millennium BC), but their shape...

Marine archaeological investigations along the Saurashtra coast, west coast of India

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Gaur, A.S.; Sundaresh; Tripati, S.

Utilization of the ocean resources on the Saurashtra coast is dating back to the Harappan period (3rd millennium BC) and evidences on the same have been recorded from various archaeological sites such as Lothal, Padri, Nageshwar and Bet Dwarka...

A Review of Ethnicity, Culture, and Acculturation Among Asian Caregivers of Older Adults (2000-2012).

Science.gov (United States)

Miyawaki, Christina E

2015-02-01

This review identified domains of care experiences among studies of Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese caregivers in the United States and Canada between 2000 and 2012. Using a narrative approach, 46 peer-reviewed journal articles were found through electronic databases and references. Considering caregivers' assimilation to host countries, attention was given to their culture, socioeconomic resources, immigrant status, filial responsibility, generation, and acculturation. Three primary domains were identified across subgroups. The caregivers' experiences domain was a strong sense of filial responsibility and its varied effects on caregiving experience; in the cultural values domain, reciprocity, and familism. In the acculturation domain, caregivers' generations influenced their experiences. Because our society is rapidly changing demographically and culturally, studies of older adults and their caregivers that are not only inclusive of all racial/ethnic groups but also sensitive to specific racial/ethnic and cultural subgroup differences are necessary to inform policy and practice.

Organizational and safety culture in Canadian intensive care units: relationship to size of intensive care unit and physician management model.

Science.gov (United States)

Dodek, Peter M; Wong, Hubert; Jaswal, Danny; Heyland, Daren K; Cook, Deborah J; Rocker, Graeme M; Kutsogiannis, Demetrios J; Dale, Craig; Fowler, Robert; Ayas, Najib T

2012-02-01

The objectives of this study are to describe organizational and safety culture in Canadian intensive care units (ICUs), to correlate culture with the number of beds and physician management model in each ICU, and to correlate organizational culture and safety culture. In this cross-sectional study, surveys of organizational and safety culture were administered to 2374 clinical staff in 23 Canadian tertiary care and community ICUs. For the 1285 completed surveys, scores were calculated for each of 34 domains. Average domain scores for each ICU were correlated with number of ICU beds and with intensivist vs nonintensivist management model. Domain scores for organizational culture were correlated with domain scores for safety culture. Culture domain scores were generally favorable in all ICUs. There were moderately strong positive correlations between number of ICU beds and perceived effectiveness at recruiting/retaining physicians (r = 0.58; P organizational and safety culture. Differences in perceptions between staff in larger and smaller ICUs highlight the importance of teamwork across units in larger ICUs. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Culture shapes the evolution of cognition

OpenAIRE

Thompson, Bill; Kirby, Simon; Smith, Kenny

2016-01-01

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

Penerapan Microskills dalam Domain Multicultural

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Happy Karlina Marjo

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Konselor multikultural menggunakan microskills yang bertujuan untuk memodifikasi interaksi konselor dalam membuat perbedaan yang signifikan pada kehidupan konseli dengan: (1 mengidentifikasi faktor-faktor dari respon nonverbal untuk diri konselor sendiri dan konseli, (2 memahami dasar intervieu microskills dalam proses menerima (attending, mendengarkan (listening, dan mempengaruhi (influencing, serta dampak potensial pada konseli untuk berubah, (3 mencatat fokus microskills, dan perhatian secara selektif yang merupakan dasar untuk masalah keluarga dan konseling multikultural, (4 mengetahui bagaimana dan kapan menggunakan konfrontasi microskill, dan (5 mengetahui keterampilan intervieu sebagai acuan frame multikultural. Sedangkan domain kompetensi konseling multikultural untuk pendidikan dan praktek, antara lain: (1 Counselor Awareness of Own Cultural Values and Biases, (2 Counselor Awareness of Client’ Worldview, dan (3 Culturally Appropriate Intervention Strategies.

A Review of Ethnicity, Culture, and Acculturation Among Asian Caregivers of Older Adults (2000-2012

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christina E. Miyawaki

2015-02-01

Full Text Available This review identified domains of care experiences among studies of Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese caregivers in the United States and Canada between 2000 and 2012. Using a narrative approach, 46 peer-reviewed journal articles were found through electronic databases and references. Considering caregivers’ assimilation to host countries, attention was given to their culture, socioeconomic resources, immigrant status, filial responsibility, generation, and acculturation. Three primary domains were identified across subgroups. The caregivers’ experiences domain was a strong sense of filial responsibility and its varied effects on caregiving experience; in the cultural values domain, reciprocity, and familism. In the acculturation domain, caregivers’ generations influenced their experiences. Because our society is rapidly changing demographically and culturally, studies of older adults and their caregivers that are not only inclusive of all racial/ethnic groups but also sensitive to specific racial/ethnic and cultural subgroup differences are necessary to inform policy and practice.

The association between EMS workplace safety culture and safety outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Weaver, Matthew D; Wang, Henry E; Fairbanks, Rollin J; Patterson, Daniel

2012-01-01

Prior studies have highlighted wide variation in emergency medical services (EMS) workplace safety culture across agencies. To determine the association between EMS workplace safety culture scores and patient or provider safety outcomes. We administered a cross-sectional survey to EMS workers affiliated with a convenience sample of agencies. We recruited these agencies from a national EMS management organization. We used the EMS Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (EMS-SAQ) to measure workplace safety culture and the EMS Safety Inventory (EMS-SI), a tool developed to capture self-reported safety outcomes from EMS workers. The EMS-SAQ provides reliable and valid measures of six domains: safety climate, teamwork climate, perceptions of management, working conditions, stress recognition, and job satisfaction. A panel of medical directors, emergency medical technicians and paramedics, and occupational epidemiologists developed the EMS-SI to measure self-reported injury, medical errors and adverse events, and safety-compromising behaviors. We used hierarchical linear models to evaluate the association between EMS-SAQ scores and EMS-SI safety outcome measures. Sixteen percent of all respondents reported experiencing an injury in the past three months, four of every 10 respondents reported an error or adverse event (AE), and 89% reported safety-compromising behaviors. Respondents reporting injury scored lower on five of the six domains of safety culture. Respondents reporting an error or AE scored lower for four of the six domains, while respondents reporting safety-compromising behavior had lower safety culture scores for five of the six domains. Individual EMS worker perceptions of workplace safety culture are associated with composite measures of patient and provider safety outcomes. This study is preliminary evidence of the association between safety culture and patient or provider safety outcomes.

Cultural neuroscience and psychopathology: prospects for cultural psychiatry.

Science.gov (United States)

Choudhury, Suparna; Kirmayer, Laurence J

2009-01-01

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

Identifying Critical Cross-Cultural School Psychology Competencies.

Science.gov (United States)

Rogers, Margaret R.; Lopez, Emilia C.

2002-01-01

Study sought to identify critical cross-cultural competencies for school psychologists. To identify the competencies, an extensive literature search about cross-cultural school psychology competencies was conducted, as well as a questionnaire to ask expert panelists. The 102 competencies identified cover 14 major domains of professional activities…

A test of the domain-specific acculturation strategy hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2013-01-01

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

Characterization of the protease activity that cleaves the extracellular domain of β-dystroglycan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhong Di; Saito, Fumiaki; Saito, Yuko; Nakamura, Ayami; Shimizu, Teruo; Matsumura, Kiichiro

2006-01-01

Dystroglycan (DG) complex, composed of αDG and βDG, provides a link between the extracellular matrix (ECM) and cortical cytoskeleton. Although the proteolytic processing of βDG was reported in various physiological and pathological conditions, its exact mechanism remains unknown. In this study, we addressed this issue using the cell culture system of rat schwannoma cell line RT4. We found that the culture medium of RT4 cells was enriched with the protease activity that degrades the fusion protein construct of the extracellular domain of βDG specifically. This activity was suppressed by the inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9, but not by the inhibitors of MMP-1, MMP-3, MMP-8, and MMP-13. Zymography and RT-PCR analysis showed that RT4 cells secreted MMP-2 and MMP-9 into the culture medium. Finally, active MMP-2 and MMP-9 enzymes degraded the fusion protein construct of the extracellular domain of βDG. These results indicate (1) that RT4 cells secrete the protease activity that degrades the extracellular domain of βDG specifically and (2) that MMP-2 and MMP-9 may be involved in this process

Sound as Popular Culture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

The wide-ranging texts in this book take as their premise the idea that sound is a subject through which popular culture can be analyzed in an innovative way. From an infant’s gurgles over a baby monitor to the roar of the crowd in a stadium to the sub-bass frequencies produced by sound systems...... in the disco era, sound—not necessarily aestheticized as music—is inextricably part of the many domains of popular culture. Expanding the view taken by many scholars of cultural studies, the contributors consider cultural practices concerning sound not merely as semiotic or signifying processes but as material......, physical, perceptual, and sensory processes that integrate a multitude of cultural traditions and forms of knowledge. The chapters discuss conceptual issues as well as terminologies and research methods; analyze historical and contemporary case studies of listening in various sound cultures; and consider...

Cultural complexity and demography: the case of folktales

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Acerbi, A.; Kendal, J.; Tehrani, J.

2017-01-01

We investigate the relationship between cultural complexity and population size in a non-technological cultural domain for which we have suitable quantitative records: folktales. We define three levels of complexity for folk narratives: the number of tale types, the number of narrative motifs, and,

A medieval port at Ghogha in the Gulf of Khambhat, west coast of India

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Gaur, A

The Gulf of Khambhat has been a focal area for the human settlements since the Harappan and it is also famous for the highest tidal range in India. The author of the Periplus of the Erythrenean Sea vividly described the sites of the Gulf of Khambhat...

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2017-01-01

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

An Extended Validity Argument for Assessing Feedback Culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Rougas, Steven; Clyne, Brian; Cianciolo, Anna T; Chan, Teresa M; Sherbino, Jonathan; Yarris, Lalena M

2015-01-01

NEGEA 2015 CONFERENCE ABSTRACT (EDITED): Measuring an Organization's Culture of Feedback: Can It Be Done? Steven Rougas and Brian Clyne. CONSTRUCT: This study sought to develop a construct for measuring formative feedback culture in an academic emergency medicine department. Four archetypes (Market, Adhocracy, Clan, Hierarchy) reflecting an organization's values with respect to focus (internal vs. external) and process (flexibility vs. stability and control) were used to characterize one department's receptiveness to formative feedback. The prevalence of residents' identification with certain archetypes served as an indicator of the department's organizational feedback culture. New regulations have forced academic institutions to implement wide-ranging changes to accommodate competency-based milestones and their assessment. These changes challenge residencies that use formative feedback from faculty as a major source of data for determining training advancement. Though various approaches have been taken to improve formative feedback to residents, there currently exists no tool to objectively measure the organizational culture that surrounds this process. Assessing organizational culture, commonly used in the business sector to represent organizational health, may help residency directors gauge their program's success in fostering formative feedback. The Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) is widely used, extensively validated, applicable to survey research, and theoretically based and may be modifiable to assess formative feedback culture in the emergency department. Using a modified Delphi technique and several iterations of focus groups amongst educators at one institution, four of the original six OCAI domains (which each contain 4 possible responses) were modified to create a 16-item Formative Feedback Culture Tool (FFCT) that was administered to 26 residents (response rate = 55%) at a single academic emergency medicine department. The mean

Culture and psychiatry.

Science.gov (United States)

Burton-Bradley, B G

1993-03-01

The painstaking and always tentative effort to discover the universal characteristics of the human species differs in motive and attitude according to the arrogant anxiety-abating need for each of us to impose our own cultural categories upon others. When stemming from Europe this is seen by some as a form of psychiatric imperialism, by others as the fallacy of universalism and the primary of culture. Evidence from Papua New Guinea and other groups elsewhere show quite clearly that the noetic domains of those groups with different languages are so organized that the notion of a universal consensual science cannot be sustained.

Leveraging cultural differences to promote educational equality.

Science.gov (United States)

Brady, Laura M; Germano, Adriana L; Fryberg, Stephanie A

2017-12-01

This paper theorizes that academic interventions will be maximally effective when they are culturally grounded. Culturally grounded interventions acknowledge cultural differences and validate multiple cultural models in a given context. This review highlights the importance of considering culture in academic interventions and draws upon the culture cycle framework to provide a blueprint for those interested in building more efficacious interventions. Specifically, the paper reviews literature in education and psychology to argue: first, when working-class and racial minority students' cultural models are not valued in mainstream academic domains, these students underperform; and second, many current academic interventions intended to improve working-class and racial minority students' academic outcomes could be further enhanced by cultural grounding. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Globalisation of Language and Culture in Singapore

Science.gov (United States)

Vaish, Viniti

2007-01-01

What are the effects of globalisation on patterns of language use in the domain of media in Singapore? Rather than only cultural imperialism of hegemonic English, which is no doubt the case, the use of languages in the "mediascap" also shows the consumption of non-English languages and cultures. Though English may be the main language of…

Adaptation of interoperability standards for cross domain usage

Science.gov (United States)

Essendorfer, B.; Kerth, Christian; Zaschke, Christian

2017-05-01

As globalization affects most aspects of modern life, challenges of quick and flexible data sharing apply to many different domains. To protect a nation's security for example, one has to look well beyond borders and understand economical, ecological, cultural as well as historical influences. Most of the time information is produced and stored digitally and one of the biggest challenges is to receive relevant readable information applicable to a specific problem out of a large data stock at the right time. These challenges to enable data sharing across national, organizational and systems borders are known to other domains (e.g., ecology or medicine) as well. Solutions like specific standards have been worked on for the specific problems. The question is: what can the different domains learn from each other and do we have solutions when we need to interlink the information produced in these domains? A known problem is to make civil security data available to the military domain and vice versa in collaborative operations. But what happens if an environmental crisis leads to the need to quickly cooperate with civil or military security in order to save lives? How can we achieve interoperability in such complex scenarios? The paper introduces an approach to adapt standards from one domain to another and lines out problems that have to be overcome and limitations that may apply.

Importance of life domains in different cultural groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Elizur, Dov; Kantor, Jeffrey; Yaniv, Eyal; Sagie, Abraham

2008-01-01

This study assessed the role of individualism and collectivism in the shaping of personal values of Canadians, Israelis, and Palestinians. Based on Sagie and Elizur's (1996) multifaceted approach, we distinguished personal values that are individual centered (i.e., associated with one's home, family, or work) from collective-centered values (i.e., associated with the religion, sports, or politics). The magnitude of the difference between both value types differs according to cultural orientation. As compared with Palestinians, we predicted that Canadians and Israelis would rank individual-centered values higher and collective-centered values lower. Data obtained from samples of Palestinians, Israelis, and Canadians supported this hypothesis.

White, gray, and black domains of cultural adaptations to climato-economic conditions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van de Vliert, Evert

2013-01-01

Forty-nine commentators have reviewed the theory that needs-based stresses and freedoms are shaped differently in threatening, comforting, and challenging climato-economic habitats. Their commentaries cover the white domain, where the theory does apply (e.g., happiness, collectivism, and democracy),

Revisioning Clinical Psychology: Integrating Cultural Psychology into Clinical Research and Practice with Portuguese Immigrants

Science.gov (United States)

James, Susan; Harris, Sara; Foster, Gary; Clarke, Juanne; Gadermann, Anne; Morrison, Marie; Bezanson, Birdie Jane

2013-01-01

This article outlines a model for conducting psychotherapy with people of diverse cultural backgrounds. The theoretical foundation for the model is based on clinical and cultural psychology. Cultural psychology integrates psychology and anthropology in order to provide a complex understanding of both culture and the individual within his or her cultural context. The model proposed in this article is also based on our clinical experience and mixed-method research with the Portuguese community. The model demonstrates its value with ethnic minority clients by situating the clients within the context of their multi-layered social reality. The individual, familial, socio-cultural, and religio-moral domains are explored in two research projects, revealing the interrelation of these levels/contexts. The article is structured according to these domains. Study 1 is a quantitative study that validates the Agonias Questionnaire in Ontario. The results of this study are used to illustrate the individual domain of our proposed model. Study 2 is an ethnography conducted in the Azorean Islands, and the results of this study are integrated to illustrate the other three levels of the model, namely family, socio-cultural, and the religio-moral levels. PMID:23720642

Cultural Diversity Training: The Necessity of Cultural Competence for Health Care Providers and in Nursing Practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Susan; Guo, Kristina L

2016-01-01

The purpose of this article is to discuss the need to provide culturally sensitive care to the growing number of diverse health care consumers. A literature review of national standards and research on cultural competency was conducted and specifically focused on the field of nursing. This study supports the theory that cultural competence is learned over time and is a process of inner reflection and awareness. The domains of awareness, skill, and knowledge are essential competencies that must be gained by health care providers and especially for nurses. Although barriers to providing culturally sensitive care exist, gaining a better understanding of cultural competence is essential to developing realistic education and training techniques, which will lead to quality professional nursing practice for increasingly diverse populations.

Demarcación de la psicología cultural

OpenAIRE

Aguirre Baztán, Ángel

2000-01-01

Both in the academic domain and in its attempts to explain human behaviour, psychology seems to have turned its back on culture, adopting an almost exclusively biological perspective. But it is fundamentally culture that gives meaning to human conduct. For this reason psychology should be considered from a dual dimension, incorporating both biologyand culture; hence the need for un anthropological basis for psychology, via the construction of a cultural psychology. This study, after analysing...

Culture and the quest for universal principles in moral reasoning.

Science.gov (United States)

Sachdeva, Sonya; Singh, Purnima; Medin, Douglas

2011-06-01

The importance of including cultural perspectives in the study of human cognition has become apparent in recent decades, and the domain of moral reasoning is no exception. The present review focuses on moral cognition, beginning with Kohlberg's model of moral development which relies heavily on people's justifications for their judgments and then shifting to more recent theories that rely on rapid, intuitive judgments and see justifications as more or less irrelevant to moral cognition. Despite this dramatic shift, analyses of culture and moral decision-making have largely been framed as a quest for and test of universal principles of moral judgment. In this review, we discuss challenges that remain in trying to understand crosscultural variability in moral values and the processes that underlie moral cognition. We suggest that the universalist framework may lead to an underestimation of the role of culture in moral reasoning. Although the field has made great strides in incorporating more and more cultural perspectives in order to understand moral cognition, theories of moral reasoning still do not allow for substantial variation in how people might conceptualize the domain of the moral. The processes that underlie moral cognition may not be a human universal in any simple sense, because moral systems may play different roles in different cultures. We end our review with a discussion of work that remains to be done to understand cultural variation in the moral domain.

Cultural adaptation and validation of Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 version in Uganda: A small-scale study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kamwesiga, Julius T; von Koch, Lena; Kottorp, Anders; Guidetti, Susanne

2016-01-01

Knowledge is scarce about the impact of stroke in Uganda, and culturally adapted, psychometrically tested patient-reported outcome measures are lacking. The Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 is recommended, but it has not been culturally adapted and validated in Uganda. To culturally adapt and determine the psychometric properties of the Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 in the Ugandan context on a small scale. The Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 was culturally adapted to form Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 Uganda ( in English ) by involving 25 participants in three different expert committees. Subsequently, Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 Uganda from English to Luganda language was done in accordance with guidelines. The first language in Uganda is English and Luganda is the main spoken language in Kampala city and its surroundings. Translation of Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 Uganda ( both in English and Luganda ) was then tested psychometrically by applying a Rasch model on data collected from 95 participants with stroke. Overall, 10 of 59 (17%) items in the eight domains of the Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 were culturally adapted. The majority were 6 of 10 items in the domain Activities of Daily Living, 2 of 9 items in the domain Mobility, and 2 of 5 items in the domain Hand function. Only in two domains, all items demonstrated acceptable goodness of fit to the Rasch model. There were also more than 5% person misfits in the domains Participation and Emotion, while the Communication, Mobility, and Hand function domains had the lowest proportions of person misfits. The reliability coefficient was equal or larger than 0.90 in all domains except the Emotion domain, which was below the set criterion of 0.80 (0.75). The cultural adaptation and translation of Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 Uganda provides initial evidence of validity of the Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 when used in this context. The results provide support for several aspects of validity and precision but also point out issues for further adaptation and improvement

The Distance between Perception and Reality in the Social Domains of Life

OpenAIRE

Lora, Eduardo

2013-01-01

The distance between perception and reality with respect to the social domains of life is often striking. Using survey data collected on Latin American countries, this paper provides an overview of the main empirical findings on the gaps between perception and reality in four social domains--health, employment, the perception of security, and social ranking. The overview emphasizes the psychological biases that may explain the gaps. Biases associated with cultural values are very relevant wit...

Driven by the future : Future time perspective across life domains and cultures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Andre, L.

2018-01-01

Contemplating about the future is inevitable for our life and goal strivings. Consequently, Future Time Perspective (FTP) – individuals’ attitudes towards the future as a motivator for attitudes and behaviors – has been researched across disciplines and life domains. However, little is known about

Modeling Crowdsourcing for Cultural Heritage

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Noordegraaf, J.; Bartholomew, A.; Eveleigh, A.; Proctor, N.; Cherry, R.

2014-01-01

Despite the widespread prevalence of crowdsourcing projects in the cultural heritage domain, not all initiatives to date have been universally successful. This study has revealed that the conditions in which projects are realized, and the design properties of those projects, have a significant

Moving Beyond Conventional Wisdom: Advancements in Cross-Cultural Theories of Leadership, Conflict, and Teams.

Science.gov (United States)

Gibson, Cristina B; McDaniel, Dana M

2010-07-01

In this article, we discuss the importance of a cross-cultural approach to organizational behavior. To do so, we illustrate how cross-cultural research in the past two decades has enabled us to reconceptualize constructs, revise models, and extend boundary conditions in traditional organizational behavior theories. We focus on three domains-teams, leadership, and conflict-and review cross-cultural empirical evidence that has extended several theories in each of these domains. We support the claim that even well-established organizational behavior theories vary in the extent to which they may be applied unilaterally across cultures, thus identifying the critical need to advance these theories via a cross-cultural research agenda. © The Author(s) 2010.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Luszcz, Mary

2006-01-01

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

Developing a Measure of Community Well-Being Based on Perceptions of Impact in Various Life Domains

Science.gov (United States)

Sirgy, M. Joseph; Widgery, Robin N.; Lee, Dong-Jin; Yu, Grace B.

2010-01-01

A new measure of community well-being is developed based on the notion that community residents perceive the quality-of-life (QOL) impact of community services and conditions in various life domains (e.g., family, social, leisure, health, financial, cultural, consumer, work, spiritual, and environmental domains). These perceptions influence…

Beyond cross-domain learning: Multiple-domain nonnegative matrix factorization

KAUST Repository

Wang, Jim Jing-Yan; Gao, Xin

2014-01-01

Traditional cross-domain learning methods transfer learning from a source domain to a target domain. In this paper, we propose the multiple-domain learning problem for several equally treated domains. The multiple-domain learning problem assumes that samples from different domains have different distributions, but share the same feature and class label spaces. Each domain could be a target domain, while also be a source domain for other domains. A novel multiple-domain representation method is proposed for the multiple-domain learning problem. This method is based on nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF), and tries to learn a basis matrix and coding vectors for samples, so that the domain distribution mismatch among different domains will be reduced under an extended variation of the maximum mean discrepancy (MMD) criterion. The novel algorithm - multiple-domain NMF (MDNMF) - was evaluated on two challenging multiple-domain learning problems - multiple user spam email detection and multiple-domain glioma diagnosis. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is experimentally verified. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Beyond cross-domain learning: Multiple-domain nonnegative matrix factorization

KAUST Repository

Wang, Jim Jing-Yan

2014-02-01

Traditional cross-domain learning methods transfer learning from a source domain to a target domain. In this paper, we propose the multiple-domain learning problem for several equally treated domains. The multiple-domain learning problem assumes that samples from different domains have different distributions, but share the same feature and class label spaces. Each domain could be a target domain, while also be a source domain for other domains. A novel multiple-domain representation method is proposed for the multiple-domain learning problem. This method is based on nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF), and tries to learn a basis matrix and coding vectors for samples, so that the domain distribution mismatch among different domains will be reduced under an extended variation of the maximum mean discrepancy (MMD) criterion. The novel algorithm - multiple-domain NMF (MDNMF) - was evaluated on two challenging multiple-domain learning problems - multiple user spam email detection and multiple-domain glioma diagnosis. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is experimentally verified. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Role of social, cultural and economic capitals in perceived quality of life among old age people  in Kerala, India

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Pradeep R Deshmukh

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Objective: To find out the relationship of collective social, economic, and cultural properties of a population on the perceived quality of life (QOL among old age people. Materials and Methods: In a community-based cross-sectional study, we analyzed information on a representative sample of 900 old age (aged > 60 years from 28 villages in Kollam district of Kerala. " WHO-Quality of Life - BREF questionnaire" was used. Ethical clearance from Institutional Ethics Committee was obtained. The mean scores for "perceived" QOL for domains such as physical health, psychological health, social relations, and control of environments were calculated. The three scales (social capital, cultural capital, and economic capital were standardized using z-score transformation to make them comparable. Using multiple linear regression, we calculated the independent effect of economic capital, social capital, and cultural capital on perceived QOL among old people adjusted for age, sex, and the presence of chronic disease. Results: For overall QOL, only cultural capital contributed significantly. An increase of one unit z-score cultural capital led to three units increase in overall QOL score (β = 3.362; 95% CI: 2.645-4.078. Social capital and cultural capital contributed significantly to the physical health domain of QOL. With one z-score increase in social capital and cultural capital, QOL score of physical health domain increased by 0.2 units (β = 0. 227; 95% CI: 0.020-0.434, and 0.5 (β = 0. 596; 95% CI: 0.384-0.808 units, respectively. Psychological health domain and environmental domain were affected by all three capitals significantly. But, the social relations domain was significantly affected only by cultural capital (β = 0. 576; 95% CI: 0.373-0.779. Conclusion: Hence, the policies for old people should envision retaining our cultural and social norms along with the economic interventions for a better palliative care.

The impact of social stratification on cultural consumption

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Tomić Marta

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper examines theoretical perspectives, research approaches and research results about the relationship between social stratification and cultural consumption. Paper presents main representatives of three sociological discourses: those who believe that class divisions still exist and that thay had an influence on the social inequalities, especially in the domain of cultural consumption and tastes; authors and researchers who emphasize the impact of social stratification on the formation of cultural stratification, and the third group which consists of those who are advocates of cultural consumptions theories and individualization and cultural tastes which means that membership of a particular social class are not by any cultural influences.

Explaining Real-Life Events: How Culture and Domain Shape Attributions.

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Lee, Fiona; And Others

1996-01-01

Research has shown that attributional styles are affected by the attributor's culture, inferential goals, and level of cognitive processing. This study compares the attributions made in sports articles and editorials of newspapers published in Hong Kong and the United States. Implications for the mixed model of social inference are discussed. (LSR)

Functional Pathways of Social Support for Mental Health in Work and Family Domains Among Chinese Scientific and Technological Professionals.

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Gan, Yiqun; Gan, Tingting; Chen, Zhiyan; Miao, Miao; Zhang, Kan

2015-10-01

This study investigated the role of social support in the complex pattern of associations among stressors, work-family interferences and depression in the domains of work and family. A questionnaire was administered to a nationwide sample of 11,419 Chinese science and technology professionals. Several structural equation models were specified to determine whether social support functioned as a predictor or a mediator. Using Mplus 5.0, we compared the moderation model, the independence model, the antecedent model and the mediation model. The results revealed that the relationship between work-family interference and social support was domain specific. The independence model fit the data best in the work domain. Both the moderation model and the antecedent model fit the family domain data equally well. The current study was conducted to answer the need for comprehensive investigations of cultural uniqueness in the antecedents of work-family interference. The domain specificity, i.e. the multiple channels of the functions of support in the family domain and not in the work domain, ensures that this study is unique and culturally specific. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PHYSICAL CULTURE AND HEALTH CULTURE – INNOVATIONAL CULTUROLOGICAL APPROACH

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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.

Culture in social neuroscience: a review.

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Rule, Nicholas O; Freeman, Jonathan B; Ambady, Nalini

2013-01-01

The aim of this review is to highlight an emerging field: the neuroscience of culture. This new field links cross-cultural psychology with cognitive neuroscience across fundamental domains of cognitive and social psychology. We present a summary of studies on emotion, perspective-taking, memory, object perception, attention, language, and the self, showing cultural differences in behavior as well as in neural activation. Although it is still nascent, the broad impact of merging the study of culture with cognitive neuroscience holds mutual distributed benefits for multiple related fields. Thus, cultural neuroscience may be uniquely poised to provide insights and breakthroughs for longstanding questions and problems in the study of behavior and thought, and its capacity for integration across multiple levels of analysis is especially high. These findings attest to the plasticity of the brain and its adaptation to cultural contexts.

Quelle(s culture(s et littérature(s enseigner en cours de français en contextes scolaires espagnols?

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Esmeralda González Izquierdo

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Ce travail s’inscrit dans le domaine de la didactique des langues-cultures. Résultat d’une recherche-action menée pendant 6 ans dans divers contextes scolaires en Espagne, il vise à répondre aux questions suivantes : Quelle place ont la culture et la littérature dans les méthodes actuelles d’enseignement-apprentissage des langues étrangères ? Comment transmettre ces compétences en accord avec les manuels de FLE en Espagne ? Tout d’abord, nous réfléchirons sur la notion de culture et des problématiques que cela génère dans le domaine de la didactique du français dans notre pays. Ensuite, nous présenterons les caractéristiques qui rendent la littérature de l’intime une source très riche pour enseigner la culture dans toutes ses dimensions en parallèle avec la culture maternelle, à partir de l’analyse d’un corpus d’ouvrages de M. Proust, R. Queneau, G. Pérec et A. Ernaux. Enfin, nous présenterons des propositions pratiques à partir de certains textes de ce corpus faites dans plusieurs contextes éducatifs en Espagne.

Domains and domain loss

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haberland, Hartmut

2005-01-01

politicians and in the media, especially in the discussion whether some languages undergo ‘domain loss’ vis-à-vis powerful international languages like English. An objection that has been raised here is that domains, as originally conceived, are parameters of language choice and not properties of languages...

Improving the performance of DomainDiscovery of protein domain boundary assignment using inter-domain linker index

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Zomaya Albert Y

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Knowledge of protein domain boundaries is critical for the characterisation and understanding of protein function. The ability to identify domains without the knowledge of the structure – by using sequence information only – is an essential step in many types of protein analyses. In this present study, we demonstrate that the performance of DomainDiscovery is improved significantly by including the inter-domain linker index value for domain identification from sequence-based information. Improved DomainDiscovery uses a Support Vector Machine (SVM approach and a unique training dataset built on the principle of consensus among experts in defining domains in protein structure. The SVM was trained using a PSSM (Position Specific Scoring Matrix, secondary structure, solvent accessibility information and inter-domain linker index to detect possible domain boundaries for a target sequence. Results Improved DomainDiscovery is compared with other methods by benchmarking against a structurally non-redundant dataset and also CASP5 targets. Improved DomainDiscovery achieves 70% accuracy for domain boundary identification in multi-domains proteins. Conclusion Improved DomainDiscovery compares favourably to the performance of other methods and excels in the identification of domain boundaries for multi-domain proteins as a result of introducing support vector machine with benchmark_2 dataset.

Cultural adaptation and validation of Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 version in Uganda: A small-scale study

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Julius T Kamwesiga

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Background: Knowledge is scarce about the impact of stroke in Uganda, and culturally adapted, psychometrically tested patient-reported outcome measures are lacking. The Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 is recommended, but it has not been culturally adapted and validated in Uganda. Objective: To culturally adapt and determine the psychometric properties of the Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 in the Ugandan context on a small scale. Method: The Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 was culturally adapted to form Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 Uganda (in English by involving 25 participants in three different expert committees. Subsequently, Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 Uganda from English to Luganda language was done in accordance with guidelines. The first language in Uganda is English and Luganda is the main spoken language in Kampala city and its surroundings. Translation of Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 Uganda (both in English and Luganda was then tested psychometrically by applying a Rasch model on data collected from 95 participants with stroke. Results: Overall, 10 of 59 (17% items in the eight domains of the Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 were culturally adapted. The majority were 6 of 10 items in the domain Activities of Daily Living, 2 of 9 items in the domain Mobility, and 2 of 5 items in the domain Hand function. Only in two domains, all items demonstrated acceptable goodness of fit to the Rasch model. There were also more than 5% person misfits in the domains Participation and Emotion, while the Communication, Mobility, and Hand function domains had the lowest proportions of person misfits. The reliability coefficient was equal or larger than 0.90 in all domains except the Emotion domain, which was below the set criterion of 0.80 (0.75. Conclusion: The cultural adaptation and translation of Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 Uganda provides initial evidence of validity of the Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 when used in this context. The results provide support for several aspects of validity and precision

Cultural adaptation and validation of Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 version in Uganda: A small-scale study

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Kamwesiga, Julius T; von Koch, Lena; Kottorp, Anders; Guidetti, Susanne

2016-01-01

Background: Knowledge is scarce about the impact of stroke in Uganda, and culturally adapted, psychometrically tested patient-reported outcome measures are lacking. The Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 is recommended, but it has not been culturally adapted and validated in Uganda. Objective: To culturally adapt and determine the psychometric properties of the Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 in the Ugandan context on a small scale. Method: The Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 was culturally adapted to form Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 Uganda (in English) by involving 25 participants in three different expert committees. Subsequently, Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 Uganda from English to Luganda language was done in accordance with guidelines. The first language in Uganda is English and Luganda is the main spoken language in Kampala city and its surroundings. Translation of Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 Uganda (both in English and Luganda) was then tested psychometrically by applying a Rasch model on data collected from 95 participants with stroke. Results: Overall, 10 of 59 (17%) items in the eight domains of the Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 were culturally adapted. The majority were 6 of 10 items in the domain Activities of Daily Living, 2 of 9 items in the domain Mobility, and 2 of 5 items in the domain Hand function. Only in two domains, all items demonstrated acceptable goodness of fit to the Rasch model. There were also more than 5% person misfits in the domains Participation and Emotion, while the Communication, Mobility, and Hand function domains had the lowest proportions of person misfits. The reliability coefficient was equal or larger than 0.90 in all domains except the Emotion domain, which was below the set criterion of 0.80 (0.75). Conclusion: The cultural adaptation and translation of Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 Uganda provides initial evidence of validity of the Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 when used in this context. The results provide support for several aspects of validity and precision but also point

The visual arts at the biennial Burkinabè National Cultural Week | Ky ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Every two years the Ministry of Arts, Culture, and Tourism of Burkina Faso organises a National Cultural Week in Bobo Dioulasso. Its main objectives are to develop and promote Burkinabè culture and artists. This event, which includes numerous domains of art, nevertheless remains quite obviously a framework for the ...

A Domain-Specific Risk-Taking (DOSPERT scale for adult populations

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Ann-Renée Blais

2006-07-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a revised version of the original Domain-Specific Risk-Taking (DOSPERT scale developed by Weber, Blais, and Betz (2002 that is shorter and applicable to a {broader range of ages, cultures, and educational levels}. It also provides a French translation of the revised scale. Using multilevel modeling, we investigated the risk-return relationship between apparent risk taking and risk perception in 5 risk domains. The results replicate previously noted differences in reported degree of risk taking and risk perception at the mean level of analysis. The multilevel modeling shows, more interestingly, that within-participants variation in risk taking across the 5 content domains of the scale was about 7 times as large as between-participants variation. We discuss the implications of our findings in terms of the person-situation debate related to risk attitude

Cultural Differences in Justificatory Reasoning

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Soong, Hannah; Lee, Richard; John, George

2012-01-01

Justificatory reasoning, the ability to justify one's beliefs and actions, is an important goal of education. We develop a scale to measure the three forms of justificatory reasoning--absolutism, relativism, and evaluativism--before validating the scale across two cultures and domains. The results show that the scale possessed validity and…

Thinking about the Notion of "Cross-Cultural" from a Social Semiotic Perspective

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Kress, Gunther

2012-01-01

In this article the main question is: what might Social Semiotics offer to studies of the "cross-cultural"? Social Semiotics distinguishes between "society" and "culture". "The social" is the domain of "interaction" seen as semiotic work, organized in fields of power. "Culture" is the repository of semiotic resources, of material and non-material…

A mutational analysis of the endophilin-A N-BAR domain performed in living flies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jung, Anita G; Mønsted, Christina Labarrera; Jansen, Anna M

2010-01-01

BAR domain clearly affected adult flies, larval endophilin function was surprisingly resistant to mutagenesis. Previous reports have stressed the importance of a central appendage on the convex BAR surface, which forms a hydrophobic ridge able to directly insert into the lipid bilayer. We found......-function studies of the endophilin-A BAR domain have almost exclusively been made in reduced systems, either in vitro or ex vivo in cultured cells. To extend and complement this work, we have analyzed the role played by the structural features of the endophilin-A BAR domain in Drosophila in vivo. METHODOLOGY...

Cross cultural adaptation of the menopause specific questionnaire ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Cross cultural adaptation of the menopause specific questionnaire into the Persian language. ... Annals of Medical and Health Sciences Research ... good internal consistency in vasomotor, physical and psychosocial domains, but not sexual.

Cultural Employment by Level of Education

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Diana Sava

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The sector of the creative economy brings benefits to the economy, more exactly, through the cultural sector, due to the unlimited resources needed to develop – the human resources represented by their mind or talent. The industrial development and innovation lead towards many changes in the cultural industries mostly due to the digitization effect, an irreversible change in the creation of various cultural goods and services, resulting even new cultural domains and also new regulation in the cultural field. The goods and services produced by the new cultural sector “encompass artistic, aesthetic, symbolic and spiritual values (… their system of valorisation, which includes a characteristic irreproducible, is linked to its appreciation or pleasure” makes them different from other goods and services as Throsby mentioned (UNESCO, 2009:22. This paper aims to show some positive impacts of the creative economy, highlighting social and economic aspects, such as cultural diversity, tolerance, freedom of expression of the cultural identity and by the other hand, new jobs for artists, earnings’ increases, creative clusters, cultural employment etc. We will also show more clearly the activities and the occupations which concern the cultural employment and figures regarding cultural employment in Europe.

Role of culture in international business: A synthetic review

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Krzysztof Wach

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The main objective of the paper is to discuss the role of culture in international business and to present main dimensions and typologies of cultural behaviours while doing business internationally. The article is organised in two sections. At first, cultural context of international business and entrepreneurship is discussed, which constitutes a separate research stream within the international entrepreneurship domain. The second passage is dedicated to the various most important classifications and typologies of cultural behaviours in international business. The article is a typical literature review.

Cultural intelligence: A Pathway for Emergency Responder Engagement with Ethnically Diverse Communities

Science.gov (United States)

2017-03-01

Conceptualization and Measurement of Cultural Intelligence,” Social and Personality Psychology Compass 6, no. 4 (2012): 297, doi: 10.1111/j.1751...subjective culture .34 According to this research, “Subjective cultural aspects include hidden, psychological factors such as values, beliefs, norms...research from leading researchers in the “domains of international and cross - cultural management as well as management of domestic diversity.”65 A

Repolarization of hepatocytes in culture.

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Talamini, M A; Kappus, B; Hubbard, A

1997-01-01

We have evaluated the biochemical, morphological, and functional redevelopment of polarity in freshly isolated hepatocytes cultured using a double layer collagen gel sandwich technique. Western blot analysis showed increased cellular levels of the cell adhesion protein uvomorulin as cultured hepatocytes repolarized. Immunofluorescence studies using antibodies against domain-specific membrane proteins showed polarity as early as 48 hours, although the pattern of the polymeric Immunoglobulin-A receptor (pIgA-R) differed from in vivo liver. Electron microscopy showed developing bile canaliculi at 1 day. However, the functional presence of tight junctions was absent at 1 day, but present at 5 days. We further showed functional polarity to be present at 4 days by documenting the ability of cultured hepatocytes to metabolize and excrete fluorescein diacetate into visible bile canaliculi. We conclude that hepatocytes cultured appropriately develop morphological and functional polarity. Hepatocyte culture is therefore a useful tool for the study of mechanisms responsible for the development of polarized function.

Similarities and Differences in Meaning in Six Cultures.

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Herrmann, Douglas J.; Raybeck, Douglas

1981-01-01

Employed multidimensional scaling to investigate semantic domains. Studied two semantic categories that varied in abstractness (animals and emotions) in six cultures (Greece, Haiti, Hong Kong, Spain, United States, and Vietnam). (Author/MK)

Teamwork, communication and safety climate: a systematic review of interventions to improve surgical culture.

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Sacks, Greg D; Shannon, Evan M; Dawes, Aaron J; Rollo, Johnathon C; Nguyen, David K; Russell, Marcia M; Ko, Clifford Y; Maggard-Gibbons, Melinda A

2015-07-01

To define the target domains of culture-improvement interventions, to assess the impact of these interventions on surgical culture and to determine whether culture improvements lead to better patient outcomes and improved healthcare efficiency. Healthcare systems are investing considerable resources in improving workplace culture. It remains unclear whether these interventions, when aimed at surgical care, are successful and whether they are associated with changes in patient outcomes. PubMed, Cochrane, Web of Science and Scopus databases were searched from January 1980 to January 2015. We included studies on interventions that aimed to improve surgical culture, defined as the interpersonal, social and organisational factors that affect the healthcare environment and patient care. The quality of studies was assessed using an adapted tool to focus the review on higher-quality studies. Due to study heterogeneity, findings were narratively reviewed. The 47 studies meeting inclusion criteria (4 randomised trials and 10 moderate-quality observational studies) reported on interventions that targeted three domains of culture: teamwork (n=28), communication (n=26) and safety climate (n=19); several targeted more than one domain. All moderate-quality studies showed improvements in at least one of these domains. Two studies also demonstrated improvements in patient outcomes, such as reduced postoperative complications and even reduced postoperative mortality (absolute risk reduction 1.7%). Two studies reported improvements in healthcare efficiency, including fewer operating room delays. These findings were supported by similar results from low-quality studies. The literature provides promising evidence for various strategies to improve surgical culture, although these approaches differ in terms of the interventions employed as well as the techniques used to measure culture. Nevertheless, culture improvement appears to be associated with other positive effects, including

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

Pre-Service Teachers' Views on the Presentation of Culture in EFL Coursebooks

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Hamiloglu, Kamile

2013-01-01

Along with the suitable methodology to teach English as a foreign language, social and cultural domains have become prominent as well and now they constitute a very significant part of English language education. Considering that culture is an inseparable part of a language, the concept of culture and its use in EFL classes have become an…

Documentation and localization of force-mediated filamin A domain perturbations in moving cells

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Nakamura, Fumihiko; Song, Mia; Hartwig, John H.; Stossel, Thomas P.

2014-08-01

Endogenously and externally generated mechanical forces influence diverse cellular activities, a phenomenon defined as mechanotransduction. Deformation of protein domains by application of stress, previously documented to alter macromolecular interactions in vitro, could mediate these effects. We engineered a photon-emitting system responsive to unfolding of two repeat domains of the actin filament (F-actin) crosslinker protein filamin A (FLNA) that binds multiple partners involved in cell signalling reactions and validated the system using F-actin networks subjected to myosin-based contraction. Expressed in cultured cells, the sensor-containing FLNA construct reproducibly reported FLNA domain unfolding strikingly localized to dynamic, actively protruding, leading cell edges. The unfolding signal depends upon coherence of F-actin-FLNA networks and is enhanced by stimulating cell contractility. The results establish protein domain distortion as a bona fide mechanism for mechanotransduction in vivo.

Cross-Cultural Concept Mapping of Standardized Datasets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kano Glückstad, Fumiko

2012-01-01

This work compares four feature-based similarity measures derived from cognitive sciences. The purpose of the comparative analysis is to verify the potentially most effective model that can be applied for mapping independent ontologies in a culturally influenced domain [1]. Here, datasets based...

D Models for All: Low-Cost Acquisition Through Mobile Devices in Comparison with Image Based Techniques. Potentialities and Weaknesses in Cultural Heritage Domain

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Santagati, C.; Lo Turco, M.; Bocconcino, M. M.; Donato, V.; Galizia, M.

2017-11-01

Nowadays, 3D digital imaging proposes effective solutions for preserving the expression of human creativity across the centuries, as well as is a great tool to guarantee global dissemination of knowledge and wide access to these invaluable resources of the past. Nevertheless, in several cases, a massive digitalisation of cultural heritage items (from the archaeological site up to the monument and museum collections) could be unworkable due to the still high costs in terms of equipment and human resources: 3D acquisition technologies and the need of skilled team within cultural institutions. Therefore, it is necessary to explore new possibilities offered by growing technologies: the lower costs of these technologies as well as their attractive visual quality constitute a challenge for researchers. Besides these possibilities, it is also important to consider how information is spread through graphic representation of knowledge. The focus of this study is to explore the potentialities and weaknesses of a newly released low cost device in the cultural heritage domain, trying to understand its effective usability in museum collections. The aim of the research is to test their usability, critically analysing the final outcomes of this entry level technology in relation to the other better assessed low cost technologies for 3D scanning, such as Structure from Motion (SfM) techniques (also produced by the same device) combined with dataset generated by a professional digital camera. The final outcomes were compared in terms of quality definition, time processing and file size. The specimens of the collections of the Civic Museum Castello Ursino in Catania have been chosen as the site of experimentation.

Cultural Orientation and Parent Emotion in the Chinese American Immigrant Family:

OpenAIRE

Chen, Stephen H.

2012-01-01

The present dissertation used a developmental, sociocultural models approach to culture and emotion, and examined the prospective relations of immigrant parents' cultural orientations and their expression of emotion in the family context. Chinese American immigrant parents (n=210) with elementary-aged children were assessed at two time points approximately two years apart. Parents reported on their own and their children's patterns of engagement in both Chinese and American cultural domains. ...

The BRCT domain is a phospho-protein binding domain.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Xiaochun; Chini, Claudia Christiano Silva; He, Miao; Mer, Georges; Chen, Junjie

2003-10-24

The carboxyl-terminal domain (BRCT) of the Breast Cancer Gene 1 (BRCA1) protein is an evolutionarily conserved module that exists in a large number of proteins from prokaryotes to eukaryotes. Although most BRCT domain-containing proteins participate in DNA-damage checkpoint or DNA-repair pathways, or both, the function of the BRCT domain is not fully understood. We show that the BRCA1 BRCT domain directly interacts with phosphorylated BRCA1-Associated Carboxyl-terminal Helicase (BACH1). This specific interaction between BRCA1 and phosphorylated BACH1 is cell cycle regulated and is required for DNA damage-induced checkpoint control during the transition from G2 to M phase of the cell cycle. Further, we show that two other BRCT domains interact with their respective physiological partners in a phosphorylation-dependent manner. Thirteen additional BRCT domains also preferentially bind phospho-peptides rather than nonphosphorylated control peptides. These data imply that the BRCT domain is a phospho-protein binding domain involved in cell cycle control.

Large ethnic variations in recommended physical activity according to activity domains in amsterdam, the netherlands

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Kunst Anton E

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Purpose The level of recommended physical activity (PA is met less frequently by people from some ethnic minorities than others. We explored whether these differences in recommended PA between ethnic minority groups and the general population varied by domain and type of culturally-specific activity. Methods Participants were sampled from the population based SUNSET study and were from ethnic Dutch (n = 567, Hindustani-Surinamese (n = 370 and African-Surinamese (n = 689 descent. The validated SQUASH-questionnaire measured PA for the following domains: commuting, occupation, household, leisure time. Culturally-specific activities were added as extra question within the leisure time domain. The effect of each domain on ethnic differences in recommended PA prevalence was examined by odds-ratio (OR analysis through recalculating recommended PA, while, in turn, excluding the contribution of each domain. Results In the ethnic Dutch population, more vigorous PA in commuting and leisure time was reported compared to the Surinamese groups. The Hindustani-Surinamese and African-Surinamese reported more walking as commuting activity, while the Dutch group reported cycling more frequently. Ethnic differences in recommended PA became smaller in both Surinamese groups compared with the Dutch after removing commuting activity, for example, in Hindustani-Surinamese men (OR = 0.92, 95%CI: 0.62-1.37 vs. OR = 1.33, 0.89-2.00 and women (OR = 1.61, 1.12-2.32 vs. OR = 2.03, 1.41-2.92. Removing occupational activity resulted in larger ethnic differences in both groups compared with the Dutch. Smaller effects were found for yoga and dancing, leisure time and household activities. Conclusion This study shows that differences in PA between ethnic minority groups and the general population vary according to the activity domain. The results indicate that including all relevant domains and activities is essential for assessment of ethnic differences in recommended

The attitude-behavior relationship in the domain of cultural consumption: A case of museums' festivals

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Jokić Biljana

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, comparative analysis of two research studies about museum festivals' audience is presented (Museum Night 2012, N = 1480, and Museums of Serbia 2016, N = 2472. Both studies were designed according to the cultural consumption paradigm and the models about attitude-behavior relationship. Based on the distinction between the attitude towards the object and the attitude towards the behavior, both research studies included: attitudes towards museums, attitudes towards visiting museums, and frequency of museum visits during the past year. The main goals were to compare the audiences of two festivals (their attitudes and behavior, and to analyze the predictive power of two measures of attitude (towards museums and towards visiting museums for visiting museums during the past year as a criterion variable. Results show that attitudes towards museums are somewhat more positive at the festival 'Museums of Serbia', but the patterns at both festivals are basically the same: the lowest scores are for attribute pairs static - dynamic and boring - interesting, while the highest scores are for non-educative -educative and useless - useful. Attitude towards the behavior is a better predictor for visiting museums than the attitude towards the object. Results have been discussed in the framework of past findings of the higher predictive power of attitude towards the behavior in other domains of human behavior, while the attitude towards museums has been interpreted as an indicator of a general perception of museums by the public. Practical implications of the results were emphasized: the possibilities for repositioning museums as places which could combine the leisure and the educative roles in society.

Quality of life domains important and relevant to family caregivers of advanced cancer patients in an Asian population: a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Geok Ling; Ow, Mandy Yen Ling; Akhileswaran, Ramaswamy; Pang, Grace Su Yin; Fan, Gilbert Kam Tong; Goh, Brandon Huat Heng; Wong, Cai Fong; Cheung, Yin Bun; Wee, Hwee Lin

2015-04-01

This study aims to identify domains of quality of life (QoL) that are culturally relevant to Chinese caregivers of advanced cancer patients in Singapore and to evaluate content adequacy of currently available instruments for use in the target population. English- and Chinese-speaking caregivers of advanced cancer patients receiving care under a tertiary cancer center and/or a community hospice home care/day care provider were recruited for in-depth interviews. The interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. The identified domains, themes and sub-themes were compared to concepts addressed by items from five existing cancer-specific caregiver QoL instruments. Eighteen female and eight male caregivers aged 28-74 years participated in the study. Twenty-nine QoL themes and 59 sub-themes were identified in six domains, namely physical health, mental health, social health, spiritual health, financial health and daily life. Collectively, but not individually, the content of the five existing instruments adequately cover the physical health domain, social health domain and some themes on mental health domain for the study population. Content gaps were identified in the domains of mental health, spiritual health, daily life and financial health. The present study found culturally and contextually specific themes and sub-themes about positive emotional health, spiritual health and financial health.

Mapping the cultural learnability landscape of danger

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Barrett, H.C.; Peterson, C.D.; Frankenhuis, W.E.

2016-01-01

Cultural transmission is often viewed as a domain-general process. However, a growing literature suggests that learnability is influenced by content and context. The idea of a learnability landscape is introduced as a way of representing the effects of interacting factors on how easily information

Getting to the Root of Disparities: Social Cognition and the Affective Domain.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones-Schenk, Jan

2016-10-01

Bias, prejudice, cultural insensitivity, and eroding levels of empathy all affect the health and well being of patients and families and manifest or accelerate social disparities of health. For caregivers, educational offerings and activities targeting the affective domain can positively influence the development of greater empathy and improved social cognition. As difficult as it is to develop effective teaching methods for this domain, new strides in virtual reality technology and new research on implicit bias can provide the professional development educator with options in designing educational offerings that can help. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2016;47(10):443-445. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.

The relationship between organizational culture and family satisfaction in critical care.

Science.gov (United States)

Dodek, Peter M; Wong, Hubert; Heyland, Daren K; Cook, Deborah J; Rocker, Graeme M; Kutsogiannis, Demetrios J; Dale, Craig; Fowler, Robert; Robinson, Sandra; Ayas, Najib T

2012-05-01

Family satisfaction with critical care is influenced by a variety of factors. We investigated the relationship between measures of organizational and safety culture, and family satisfaction in critical care. We further explored differences in this relationship depending on intensive care unit survival status and length of intensive care unit stay of the patient. Cross-sectional surveys. Twenty-three tertiary and community intensive care units within three provinces in Canada. One thousand two-hundred eighty-five respondents from 2374 intensive care unit clinical staff, and 880 respondents from 1381 family members of intensive care unit patients. None. Intensive care unit staff completed the Organization and Management of Intensive Care Units survey and the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture. Family members completed the Family Satisfaction in the Intensive Care Unit 24, a validated survey of family satisfaction. A priori, we analyzed adjusted relationships between each domain score from the culture surveys and either satisfaction with care or satisfaction with decision-making for each of four subgroups of family members according to patient descriptors: intensive care unit survivors who had length of intensive care unit stay 14 days, and intensive care unit nonsurvivors who had length of stay relationships between most domains of organizational and safety culture, and satisfaction with care or decision-making for family members of intensive care unit nonsurvivors who spent at least 14 days in the intensive care unit. For the other three groups, there were only a few weak relationships between domains of organizational and safety culture and family satisfaction. Our findings suggest that the effect of organizational culture on care delivery is most easily detectable by family members of the most seriously ill patients who interact frequently with intensive care unit staff, who are intensive care unit nonsurvivors, and who spend a longer time in the intensive

Domain analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hjørland, Birger

2017-01-01

The domain-analytic approach to knowledge organization (KO) (and to the broader field of library and information science, LIS) is outlined. The article reviews the discussions and proposals on the definition of domains, and provides an example of a domain-analytic study in the field of art studies....... Varieties of domain analysis as well as criticism and controversies are presented and discussed....

Inferring domain-domain interactions from protein-protein interactions with formal concept analysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susan Khor

Full Text Available Identifying reliable domain-domain interactions will increase our ability to predict novel protein-protein interactions, to unravel interactions in protein complexes, and thus gain more information about the function and behavior of genes. One of the challenges of identifying reliable domain-domain interactions is domain promiscuity. Promiscuous domains are domains that can occur in many domain architectures and are therefore found in many proteins. This becomes a problem for a method where the score of a domain-pair is the ratio between observed and expected frequencies because the protein-protein interaction network is sparse. As such, many protein-pairs will be non-interacting and domain-pairs with promiscuous domains will be penalized. This domain promiscuity challenge to the problem of inferring reliable domain-domain interactions from protein-protein interactions has been recognized, and a number of work-arounds have been proposed. This paper reports on an application of Formal Concept Analysis to this problem. It is found that the relationship between formal concepts provides a natural way for rare domains to elevate the rank of promiscuous domain-pairs and enrich highly ranked domain-pairs with reliable domain-domain interactions. This piggybacking of promiscuous domain-pairs onto less promiscuous domain-pairs is possible only with concept lattices whose attribute-labels are not reduced and is enhanced by the presence of proteins that comprise both promiscuous and rare domains.

Inferring Domain-Domain Interactions from Protein-Protein Interactions with Formal Concept Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Khor, Susan

2014-01-01

Identifying reliable domain-domain interactions will increase our ability to predict novel protein-protein interactions, to unravel interactions in protein complexes, and thus gain more information about the function and behavior of genes. One of the challenges of identifying reliable domain-domain interactions is domain promiscuity. Promiscuous domains are domains that can occur in many domain architectures and are therefore found in many proteins. This becomes a problem for a method where the score of a domain-pair is the ratio between observed and expected frequencies because the protein-protein interaction network is sparse. As such, many protein-pairs will be non-interacting and domain-pairs with promiscuous domains will be penalized. This domain promiscuity challenge to the problem of inferring reliable domain-domain interactions from protein-protein interactions has been recognized, and a number of work-arounds have been proposed. This paper reports on an application of Formal Concept Analysis to this problem. It is found that the relationship between formal concepts provides a natural way for rare domains to elevate the rank of promiscuous domain-pairs and enrich highly ranked domain-pairs with reliable domain-domain interactions. This piggybacking of promiscuous domain-pairs onto less promiscuous domain-pairs is possible only with concept lattices whose attribute-labels are not reduced and is enhanced by the presence of proteins that comprise both promiscuous and rare domains. PMID:24586450

Organizational culture in cardiovascular care in Chinese hospitals: a descriptive cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Emily S; Downing, Nicholas S; Li, Xi; Singer, Sara J; Curry, Leslie A; Li, Jing; Krumholz, Harlan M; Jiang, Lixin

2015-12-21

Organizational learning, the process by which a group changes its behavior in response to newly acquired knowledge, is critical to outstanding organizational performance. In hospitals, strong organizational learning culture is linked with improved health outcomes for patients. This study characterizes the organizational learning culture of hospitals in China from the perspective of a cardiology service. Using a modified Abbreviated Learning Organization Survey (27 questions), we characterized organizational learning culture in a nationally representative sample of 162 Chinese hospitals, selecting 2 individuals involved with cardiovascular care at each hospital. Responses were analyzed at the hospital level by calculating the average of the two responses to each question. Responses were categorized as positive if they were 5+ on a 7-point scale or 4+ on a 5-point scale. Univariate and multiple regression analyses were used to assess the relationship between selected hospital characteristics and perceptions of organizational learning culture. Of the 324 participants invited to take the survey, 316 responded (98 % response rate). Perceptions of organizational learning culture varied among items, among domains, and both among and within hospitals. Overall, the median proportion of positive responses was 82 % (interquartile range = 59 % to 93 %). "Training," "Performance Monitoring," and "Leadership that Reinforces Learning" were characterized as the most favorable domains, while "Time for Reflection" was the least favorable. Multiple regression analyses showed that region was the only factor significantly correlated with overall positive response rate. This nationally representative survey demonstrated variation in hospital organizational learning culture among hospitals in China. The variation was not substantially explained by hospital characteristics. Organizational learning culture domains with lower positive response rates reveal important areas for

Building a safety culture in global health: lessons from Guatemala.

Science.gov (United States)

Rice, Henry E; Lou-Meda, Randall; Saxton, Anthony T; Johnston, Bria E; Ramirez, Carla C; Mendez, Sindy; Rice, Eli N; Aidar, Bernardo; Taicher, Brad; Baumgartner, Joy Noel; Milne, Judy; Frankel, Allan S; Sexton, J Bryan

2018-01-01

Programmes to modify the safety culture have led to lasting improvements in patient safety and quality of care in high-income settings around the world, although their use in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) has been limited. This analysis explores (1) how to measure the safety culture using a health culture survey in an LMIC and (2) how to use survey data to develop targeted safety initiatives using a paediatric nephrology unit in Guatemala as a field test case. We used the Safety, Communication, Operational Reliability, and Engagement survey to assess staff views towards 13 health climate and engagement domains. Domains with low scores included personal burnout, local leadership, teamwork and work-life balance. We held a series of debriefings to implement interventions targeted towards areas of need as defined by the survey. Programmes included the use of morning briefings, expansion of staff break resources and use of teamwork tools. Implementation challenges included the need for education of leadership, limited resources and hierarchical work relationships. This report can serve as an operational guide for providers in LMICs for use of a health culture survey to promote a strong safety culture and to guide their quality improvement and safety programmes.

Culturally Sensitive Risk Behavior Prevention Programs for African American Adolescents: A Systematic Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Metzger, Isha; Cooper, Shauna M.; Zarrett, Nicole; Flory, Kate

2013-01-01

The current review conducted a systematic assessment of culturally sensitive risk prevention programs for African American adolescents. Prevention programs meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria were evaluated across several domains: (1) theoretical orientation and foundation; (2) methodological rigor; (3) level of cultural integration; (4)…

Changing the Culture of Academic Medicine: Critical Mass or Critical Actors?

Science.gov (United States)

Helitzer, Deborah L; Newbill, Sharon L; Cardinali, Gina; Morahan, Page S; Chang, Shine; Magrane, Diane

2017-05-01

By 2006, women constituted 34% of academic medical faculty, reaching a critical mass. Theoretically, with critical mass, culture and policy supportive of gender equity should be evident. We explore whether having a critical mass of women transforms institutional culture and organizational change. Career development program participants were interviewed to elucidate their experiences in academic health centers (AHCs). Focus group discussions were held with institutional leaders to explore their perceptions about contemporary challenges related to gender and leadership. Content analysis of both data sources revealed points of convergence. Findings were interpreted using the theory of critical mass. Two nested domains emerged: the individual domain included the rewards and personal satisfaction of meaningful work, personal agency, tensions between cultural expectations of family and academic roles, and women's efforts to work for gender equity. The institutional domain depicted the sociocultural environment of AHCs that shaped women's experience, both personally and professionally, lack of institutional strategies to engage women in organizational initiatives, and the influence of one leader on women's ascent to leadership. The predominant evidence from this research demonstrates that the institutional barriers and sociocultural environment continue to be formidable obstacles confronting women, stalling the transformational effects expected from achieving a critical mass of women faculty. We conclude that the promise of critical mass as a turning point for women should be abandoned in favor of "critical actor" leaders, both women and men, who individually and collectively have the commitment and power to create gender-equitable cultures in AHCs.

Cultural Identity Among Afghan and Iraqi Traumatized Refugees: Towards a Conceptual Framework for Mental Health Care Professionals.

Science.gov (United States)

Groen, Simon P N; Richters, Annemiek; Laban, Cornelis J; Devillé, Walter L J M

2018-03-01

Cultural identity in relation with mental health is of growing interest in the field of transcultural psychiatry. However, there is a need to clarify the concept of cultural identity in order to make it useful in clinical practice. The purpose of this study is to unravel the complexity and many layers of cultural identity, and to assess how stress and acculturation relate to (changes in) cultural identity. As part of a larger study about cultural identity, trauma, and mental health, 85 patients from Afghanistan and Iraq in treatment for trauma-related disorders were interviewed with a Brief Cultural Interview. The interviews were analysed through qualitative data analysis using the procedures of grounded theory. The analysis resulted in three domains of cultural identity: personal identity, ethnic identity and social identity. Within each domain relationships with stress and acculturation were identified. The results offer insight into the intensity of changes in cultural identity, caused by pre-and post-migration stressors and the process of acculturation. Based on the research findings recommendations are formulated to enhance the cultural competency of mental health workers.

The selectivity of receptor tyrosine kinase signaling is controlled by a secondary SH2 domain binding site.

Science.gov (United States)

Bae, Jae Hyun; Lew, Erin Denise; Yuzawa, Satoru; Tomé, Francisco; Lax, Irit; Schlessinger, Joseph

2009-08-07

SH2 domain-mediated interactions represent a crucial step in transmembrane signaling by receptor tyrosine kinases. SH2 domains recognize phosphotyrosine (pY) in the context of particular sequence motifs in receptor phosphorylation sites. However, the modest binding affinity of SH2 domains to pY containing peptides may not account for and likely represents an oversimplified mechanism for regulation of selectivity of signaling pathways in living cells. Here we describe the crystal structure of the activated tyrosine kinase domain of FGFR1 in complex with a phospholipase Cgamma fragment. The structural and biochemical data and experiments with cultured cells show that the selectivity of phospholipase Cgamma binding and signaling via activated FGFR1 are determined by interactions between a secondary binding site on an SH2 domain and a region in FGFR1 kinase domain in a phosphorylation independent manner. These experiments reveal a mechanism for how SH2 domain selectivity is regulated in vivo to mediate a specific cellular process.

3D MODELS FOR ALL: LOW-COST ACQUISITION THROUGH MOBILE DEVICES IN COMPARISON WITH IMAGE BASED TECHNIQUES. POTENTIALITIES AND WEAKNESSES IN CULTURAL HERITAGE DOMAIN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Santagati

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, 3D digital imaging proposes effective solutions for preserving the expression of human creativity across the centuries, as well as is a great tool to guarantee global dissemination of knowledge and wide access to these invaluable resources of the past. Nevertheless, in several cases, a massive digitalisation of cultural heritage items (from the archaeological site up to the monument and museum collections could be unworkable due to the still high costs in terms of equipment and human resources: 3D acquisition technologies and the need of skilled team within cultural institutions. Therefore, it is necessary to explore new possibilities offered by growing technologies: the lower costs of these technologies as well as their attractive visual quality constitute a challenge for researchers. Besides these possibilities, it is also important to consider how information is spread through graphic representation of knowledge. The focus of this study is to explore the potentialities and weaknesses of a newly released low cost device in the cultural heritage domain, trying to understand its effective usability in museum collections. The aim of the research is to test their usability, critically analysing the final outcomes of this entry level technology in relation to the other better assessed low cost technologies for 3D scanning, such as Structure from Motion (SfM techniques (also produced by the same device combined with dataset generated by a professional digital camera. The final outcomes were compared in terms of quality definition, time processing and file size. The specimens of the collections of the Civic Museum Castello Ursino in Catania have been chosen as the site of experimentation.

Culture and cognition in health systems change.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Jenna M; Baker, G Ross; Berta, Whitney; Barnsley, Jan

2015-01-01

Large-scale change involves modifying not only the structures and functions of multiple organizations, but also the mindsets and behaviours of diverse stakeholders. This paper focuses on the latter: the informal, less visible, and often neglected psychological and social factors implicated in change efforts. The purpose of this paper is to differentiate between the concepts of organizational culture and mental models, to argue for the value of applying a shared mental models (SMM) framework to large-scale change, and to suggest directions for future research. The authors provide an overview of SMM theory and use it to explore the dynamic relationship between culture and cognition. The contributions and limitations of the theory to change efforts are also discussed. Culture and cognition are complementary perspectives, providing insight into two different levels of the change process. SMM theory draws attention to important questions that add value to existing perspectives on large-scale change. The authors outline these questions for future research and argue that research and practice in this domain may be best served by focusing less on the potentially narrow goal of "achieving consensus" and more on identifying, understanding, and managing cognitive convergences and divergences as part of broader research and change management programmes. Drawing from both cultural and cognitive paradigms can provide researchers with a more complete picture of the processes by which coordinated action are achieved in complex change initiatives in the healthcare domain.

The YARHG domain: an extracellular domain in search of a function.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Penny Coggill

Full Text Available We have identified a new bacterial protein domain that we hypothesise binds to peptidoglycan. This domain is called the YARHG domain after the most highly conserved sequence-segment. The domain is found in the extracellular space and is likely to be composed of four alpha-helices. The domain is found associated with protein kinase domains, suggesting it is associated with signalling in some bacteria. The domain is also found associated with three different families of peptidases. The large number of different domains that are found associated with YARHG suggests that it is a useful functional module that nature has recombined multiple times.

The Enigmatic Mushtikas and the Associated Triangular Terracotta Cakes: Some Observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Manuel

2010-12-01

Full Text Available For over four decades, now, mushtikas and its common associate, the triangular terracotta cakes have been believed to be part of ‘fire altars’. This is, in spite of the fact that, either or both of these have been found from hearths, ovens, kilns, as flooring material, on walls, in passages, streets, bathrooms and therefore obviously near commodes. Further, the great variety of central stele and construction material, size and shape, materials found within ‘fire altars’ suggest that, all the above were devoid of religious symbolism and used to achieve domestic or industrial objectives. The cakes being primarily associated with run of the mill economic activities ended up in diverse and defiling contexts. However, like many cultures across time and space Harappans may also have used the medium of fire for offering sacrifices. Therefore the existence of ‘fire altars’ is not denied as such, but these then should not have the ubiquitous cakes, at the least.

Public licenses and public domain as alternatives to copyright

OpenAIRE

Köppel, Petr

2012-01-01

The work first introduces the area of public licenses as a space between the copyright law and public domain. After that, consecutively for proprietary software, free and open source software, open hardware and open content, it maps particular types of public licenses and the accompanying social and cultural movements, puts them in mutual as well as historical context, examines their characteristics and compares them to each other, shows how the public licenses are defined by various accompan...

Feeling right is feeling good: Psychological well-being and emotional fit with culture in autonomy- versus relatedness-promoting situations.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jozefien eDe Leersnyder

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The current research tested the idea that it is the cultural fit of emotions, rather than certain emotions per se, that predicts psychological well-being. We reasoned that emotional fit in the domains of life that afford the realization of central cultural mandates would be particularly important to psychological well-being. We tested this hypothesis with samples from three cultural contexts that are known to differ with respect to their main cultural mandates: a European American (N = 30, a Korean (N = 80, and a Belgian sample (N = 266. Cultural fit was measured by comparing an individual’s patterns of emotions to the average cultural pattern for the same type of situation on the Emotional Patterns Questionnaire (De Leersnyder, Mesquita, & Kim, 2011. Consistent with our hypothesis, we found evidence for universality without uniformity: In each sample, psychological well-being was associated with emotional fit in the domain that was key to the cultural mandate. However, cultures varied with regard to the particular domain involved. Psychological well-being was predicted by emotional fit a in autonomy-promoting situations at work in the U.S., b in relatedness-promoting situations at home in Korea, and c in both autonomy-promoting and relatedness-promoting situations in Belgium. These findings show that the experience of culturally appropriate patterns of emotions contributes to psychological well-being. One interpretation is that experiencing appropriate emotions is itself a realization of the cultural mandates.

Feeling right is feeling good: psychological well-being and emotional fit with culture in autonomy- versus relatedness-promoting situations.

Science.gov (United States)

De Leersnyder, Jozefien; Kim, Heejung; Mesquita, Batja

2015-01-01

The current research tested the idea that it is the cultural fit of emotions, rather than certain emotions per se, that predicts psychological well-being. We reasoned that emotional fit in the domains of life that afford the realization of central cultural mandates would be particularly important to psychological well-being. We tested this hypothesis with samples from three cultural contexts that are known to differ with respect to their main cultural mandates: a European American (N = 30), a Korean (N = 80), and a Belgian sample (N = 266). Cultural fit was measured by comparing an individual's patterns of emotions to the average cultural pattern for the same type of situation on the Emotional Patterns Questionnaire (De Leersnyder et al., 2011). Consistent with our hypothesis, we found evidence for "universality without uniformity": in each sample, psychological well-being was associated with emotional fit in the domain that was key to the cultural mandate. However, cultures varied with regard to the particular domain involved. Psychological well-being was predicted by emotional fit (a) in autonomy-promoting situations at work in the U.S., (b) in relatedness-promoting situations at home in Korea, and (c) in both autonomy-promoting and relatedness-promoting situations in Belgium. These findings show that the experience of culturally appropriate patterns of emotions contributes to psychological well-being. One interpretation is that experiencing appropriate emotions is itself a realization of the cultural mandates.

Essentializing the binary self: individualism and collectivism in cultural neuroscience

OpenAIRE

Martínez Mateo, M.; Cabanis, M.; Stenmanns, J.; Krach, S.

2013-01-01

Within the emerging field of Cultural Neurosciences (CN) one branch of research focuses on the neural underpinnings of "individualistic/Western" versus "collectivistic/Eastern" self-views. These studies uncritically adopt essentialist assumptions from classic cross-cultural research, mainly following the tradition of Markus & Kitayama (1991), into the domain of functional neuroimaging. In this comment we analyze recent publications and conference proceedings of the 18t...

Cross-cultural validity of the food-related lifestyles instrument (FRL) within Western Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Scholderer, Joachim; Brunsø, Karen; Bredahl, Lone

2004-01-01

), and the UK (N1 = 1000, N2 = 1000) are examined for intra-cultural stability using the same statistical models. Results indicate that the factorial structure is completely invariant over time in three of five FRL domains, and only subject to minor variations in the other two domains. In the third part...

.Gov Domains API

Data.gov (United States)

General Services Administration — This dataset offers the list of all .gov domains, including state, local, and tribal .gov domains. It does not include .mil domains, or other federal domains outside...

Characteristics of postmodernism and impacts of virtuality on cultural tourism and adult education

OpenAIRE

Vanda Sousa

2013-01-01

In her article the author examines the relationship between postmodern phenomena, the virtuality of new technologies and cultural tourism. She starts by defining cultural tourism and proceeds by giving an account of its different elements and domains. Furtheron, she discusses adult education, the education of cultural tourists on the one hand and local inhabitants on the other, the aim of which is to foster cultural tourism as an important agent in the economic and social development of the p...

Response to Richard Widdess: Music, Meaning and Culture

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Jerome Lewis

2012-09-01

Full Text Available This commentary discusses the anthropological implications of Richard Widess’ paper by summarizing some anthropological approaches to music, especially focusing on the way musical participation inculcates and transmits an aesthetic orientation that guides action across cultural domains such as politics, economics and religion. The paper ends by suggesting that the heart of human culture is more likely to be an aesthetic orientation than a script or set of rules, and traces out some reasons why music does this so well.

The beginnings of the written culture in Antiquity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Isabel Panosa

2004-04-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes an analysis of writing as a system for communication, since its origins, in terms of its uses and socio-cultural context. We shall also look to review and comment on the way in which it has evolved in time and space and its primordial domains for expression. Likewise, we shall look at the current state of affairs with respect to graphic communication, which includes the alphabet, logographic systems and symbols. From a more global point of view, the relationship between the concept of writing and the concept of civilisation is studied and two dimensions are set out: the oral culture and the written culture.

Same but not alike: Structure, flexibility and energetics of domains in multi-domain proteins are influenced by the presence of other domains.

Science.gov (United States)

Vishwanath, Sneha; de Brevern, Alexandre G; Srinivasan, Narayanaswamy

2018-02-01

The majority of the proteins encoded in the genomes of eukaryotes contain more than one domain. Reasons for high prevalence of multi-domain proteins in various organisms have been attributed to higher stability and functional and folding advantages over single-domain proteins. Despite these advantages, many proteins are composed of only one domain while their homologous domains are part of multi-domain proteins. In the study presented here, differences in the properties of protein domains in single-domain and multi-domain systems and their influence on functions are discussed. We studied 20 pairs of identical protein domains, which were crystallized in two forms (a) tethered to other proteins domains and (b) tethered to fewer protein domains than (a) or not tethered to any protein domain. Results suggest that tethering of domains in multi-domain proteins influences the structural, dynamic and energetic properties of the constituent protein domains. 50% of the protein domain pairs show significant structural deviations while 90% of the protein domain pairs show differences in dynamics and 12% of the residues show differences in the energetics. To gain further insights on the influence of tethering on the function of the domains, 4 pairs of homologous protein domains, where one of them is a full-length single-domain protein and the other protein domain is a part of a multi-domain protein, were studied. Analyses showed that identical and structurally equivalent functional residues show differential dynamics in homologous protein domains; though comparable dynamics between in-silico generated chimera protein and multi-domain proteins were observed. From these observations, the differences observed in the functions of homologous proteins could be attributed to the presence of tethered domain. Overall, we conclude that tethered domains in multi-domain proteins not only provide stability or folding advantages but also influence pathways resulting in differences in

Teaching and the life history of cultural transmission in Fijian villages.

Science.gov (United States)

Kline, Michelle A; Boyd, Robert; Henrich, Joseph

2013-12-01

Much existing literature in anthropology suggests that teaching is rare in non-Western societies, and that cultural transmission is mostly vertical (parent-to-offspring). However, applications of evolutionary theory to humans predict both teaching and non-vertical transmission of culturally learned skills, behaviors, and knowledge should be common cross-culturally. Here, we review this body of theory to derive predictions about when teaching and non-vertical transmission should be adaptive, and thus more likely to be observed empirically. Using three interviews conducted with rural Fijian populations, we find that parents are more likely to teach than are other kin types, high-skill and highly valued domains are more likely to be taught, and oblique transmission is associated with high-skill domains, which are learned later in life. Finally, we conclude that the apparent conflict between theory and empirical evidence is due to a mismatch of theoretical hypotheses and empirical claims across disciplines, and we reconcile theory with the existing literature in light of our results.

Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography of roth spots.

Science.gov (United States)

Giovinazzo, Jerome; Mrejen, Sarah; Freund, K Bailey

2013-01-01

To describe the retinal findings of subacute bacterial endocarditis, their evolution after treatment, and analysis with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. Retrospective chart review. A 21-year-old man presented with the sudden onset of a central scotoma in his left eye because of a sub-internal limiting membrane hemorrhage overlying the left fovea. When examined 2 weeks later, Roth spots were noted in his right eye. The patient was immediately referred to his internist and diagnosed with subacute bacterial endocarditis with cultures positive for Streptococcus viridans. He subsequently underwent aortic valve replacement surgery after 4 weeks of intravenous antibiotic therapy. When examined 4 weeks after valve replacement surgery, there was regression of the Roth spots. The present case demonstrates the importance of a funduscopic examination in the early diagnosis and management of subacute bacterial endocarditis. The analysis of Roth spots with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography suggested that they were septic emboli.

A navigational instrument of the Harappan sailors

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Rao, S.R.

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Optimization and radiation protection culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeon, In Young; Shin, Hyeong Ki; Lee, Chan Mi

2013-01-01

Safety culture or radiation protection culture is based in common on the term, 'culture'. Culture is defined as the learned, shared set of symbols and patterns of basic assumptions, which is invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problem of external adaptation and internal integration. Safety culture generally refers to the attitude and behaviors affecting safety performance. The concept of 'Safety Culture' was introduced after the Chernobyl accident in 1986. For the accident, nuclear society reached the conclusion that the cause was the wrong management attitude of the NPP, that is, deficient 'Safety Culture'. Recently, 'Radiation Protection Culture' was introduced as the core concept of nuclear safety culture. There have been many efforts to establish definition and develop assessment tool for radiation protection culture in international level such as ICRP and IRPA as well as NRC. In the same context with the safety culture, radiation protection culture is defined as 'the core values and behaviors resulting from a collective commitment by leaders and individual's to emphasize safety over competing goals to ensure protection of people and the environment.' It is worthwhile to recognize that regulatory enforcement in establishing healthy radiation protection culture of operators should be minimized because culture is not in the domain of regulatory enforcement. However, as 'ALARA', the most important concept in radiation protection, may be successfully achieved only in well established radiation protection culture, the least regulatory intervention would be needed in promoting and nurturing radiation protection culture in licensee. In addition, the concept of radiation protection culture should be addressed in plant operational policy to achieve the goals of ALARA. The pre-condition of the successful radiation protection culture is a healthy organizational

Optimization and radiation protection culture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jeon, In Young; Shin, Hyeong Ki; Lee, Chan Mi [Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2013-04-15

Safety culture or radiation protection culture is based in common on the term, 'culture'. Culture is defined as the learned, shared set of symbols and patterns of basic assumptions, which is invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problem of external adaptation and internal integration. Safety culture generally refers to the attitude and behaviors affecting safety performance. The concept of 'Safety Culture' was introduced after the Chernobyl accident in 1986. For the accident, nuclear society reached the conclusion that the cause was the wrong management attitude of the NPP, that is, deficient 'Safety Culture'. Recently, 'Radiation Protection Culture' was introduced as the core concept of nuclear safety culture. There have been many efforts to establish definition and develop assessment tool for radiation protection culture in international level such as ICRP and IRPA as well as NRC. In the same context with the safety culture, radiation protection culture is defined as 'the core values and behaviors resulting from a collective commitment by leaders and individual's to emphasize safety over competing goals to ensure protection of people and the environment.' It is worthwhile to recognize that regulatory enforcement in establishing healthy radiation protection culture of operators should be minimized because culture is not in the domain of regulatory enforcement. However, as 'ALARA', the most important concept in radiation protection, may be successfully achieved only in well established radiation protection culture, the least regulatory intervention would be needed in promoting and nurturing radiation protection culture in licensee. In addition, the concept of radiation protection culture should be addressed in plant operational policy to achieve the goals of ALARA. The pre-condition of the successful radiation protection culture is a healthy organizational

Attributing variance in supportive care needs during cancer: culture-service, and individual differences, before clinical factors.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard Fielding

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Studies using the Supportive Care Needs Survey (SCNS report high levels of unmet supportive care needs (SCNs in psychological and less-so physical & daily living domains, interpreted as reflecting disease/treatment-coping deficits. However, service and culture differences may account for unmet SCNs variability. We explored if service and culture differences better account for observed SCNs patterns. METHODS: Hong Kong (n = 180, Taiwanese (n = 263 and Japanese (n = 109 CRC patients' top 10 ranked SCNS-34 items were contrasted. Mean SCNS-34 domain scores were compared by sample and treatment status, then adjusted for sample composition, disease stage and treatment status using multivariate hierarchical regression. RESULTS: All samples were assessed at comparable time-points. SCNs were most prevalent among Japanese and least among Taiwanese patients. Japanese patients emphasized Psychological (domain mean = 40.73 and Health systems and information (HSI (38.61 SCN domains, whereas Taiwanese and Hong Kong patients emphasized HSI (27.41; 32.92 and Patient care & support (PCS (19.70; 18.38 SCN domains. Mean Psychological domain scores differed: Hong Kong = 9.72, Taiwan = 17.84 and Japan = 40.73 (p<0.03-0.001, Bonferroni. Other SCN domains differed only between Chinese and Japanese samples (all p<0.001. Treatment status differentiated Taiwanese more starkly than Hong Kong patients. After adjustment, sample origin accounted for most variance in SCN domain scores (p<0.001, followed by age (p = 0.01-0.001 and employment status (p = 0.01-0.001. Treatment status and Disease stage, though retained, accounted for least variance. Overall accounted variance remained low. CONCLUSIONS: Health service and/or cultural influences, age and occupation differences, and less so clinical factors, differentially account for significant variation in published studies of SCNs.

Organizing to Understand: How to Operate Effectively in the Human Domain

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2015-05-21

was both entering and creating when it overthrew Saddam Hussein and dismantled the Iraqi government and security forces. The research examines the...sponsored initiative to help tactical and operational level commanders understand the human terrain, the “social, ethnographic , cultural, economic, and...as an intelligence function within TRADOC “as the primary and enduring social science-based human domain research , analysis, and training capability

Cultural differences in emotion regulation during self-reflection on negative personal experiences.

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Tsai, William; Lau, Anna S

2013-01-01

Reflecting on negative personal experiences has implications for mood that may vary as a function of specific domains (e.g., achievement vs. interpersonal) and cultural orientation (e.g., interdependence vs. independence). This study investigated cultural differences in the social-cognitive and affective processes undertaken as Easterners and Westerners reflected on negative interpersonal and performance experiences. One hundred Asian Americans and 92 European-American college students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: interpersonal rejection, achievement failure, or a control condition. Results revealed that Asian Americans experienced greater distress than European Americans after self-reflecting over a failed interpersonal experience, suggesting cultural sensitivity in the relational domain. Consistent with theoretical predictions, analysis of the social cognitive and affective processes that participants engaged in during self-reflection provided some evidence that self-enhancement may buffer distress for European Americans, while emotion suppression may be adaptive for Asian Americans.

Characteristics of postmodernism and impacts of virtuality on cultural tourism and adult education

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Vanda Sousa

2013-07-01

Full Text Available In her article the author examines the relationship between postmodern phenomena, the virtuality of new technologies and cultural tourism. She starts by defining cultural tourism and proceeds by giving an account of its different elements and domains. Furtheron, she discusses adult education, the education of cultural tourists on the one hand and local inhabitants on the other, the aim of which is to foster cultural tourism as an important agent in the economic and social development of the postmodern society.

Patients-people-place: developing a framework for researching organizational culture during health service redesign and change.

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Gale, Nicola K; Shapiro, Jonathan; McLeod, Hugh S T; Redwood, Sabi; Hewison, Alistair

2014-08-20

Organizational culture is considered by policy-makers, clinicians, health service managers and researchers to be a crucial mediator in the success of implementing health service redesign. It is a challenge to find a method to capture cultural issues that is both theoretically robust and meaningful to those working in the organizations concerned. As part of a comparative study of service redesign in three acute hospital organizations in England, UK, a framework for collecting data reflective of culture was developed that was informed by previous work in the field and social and cultural theory. As part of a larger mixed method comparative case study of hospital service redesign, informed by realist evaluation, the authors developed a framework for researching organisational culture during health service redesign and change. This article documents the development of the model, which involved an iterative process of data analysis, critical interdisciplinary discussion in the research team, and feedback from staff in the partner organisations. Data from semi-structured interviews with 77 key informants are used to illustrate the model. In workshops with NHS partners to share and debate the early findings of the study, organizational culture was identified as a key concept to explore because it was perceived to underpin the whole redesign process. The Patients-People-Place framework for studying culture focuses on three thematic areas ('domains') and three levels of culture in which the data could be organised. The framework can be used to help explain the relationship between observable behaviours and cultural artefacts, the values and habits of social actors and the basic assumptions underpinning an organization's culture in each domain. This paper makes a methodological contribution to the study of culture in health care organizations. It offers guidance and a practical approach to investigating the inherently complex phenomenon of culture in hospital organizations

Effect and Mechanism of EGFL7 Downregulation in Human Osteosarcoma Cells on the Biological Function of Co-cultured HUVEC

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Xia Li

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Background: Even though epidermal growth factor-like domain 7 is known to be overexpressed in osteosarcoma and is associated with poor clinical outcome, few reports are available regarding its mechanism. Aims: The objective of this study was to explore the effect and mechanism of downregulating epidermal growth factor-like domain 7 expression in a human osteosarcoma cell line on the biological function of co-cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Study Design: Cell study. Methods: In the present study, human osteosarcoma cell lines U2OS, Saos-2, HOS, and MG63, and normal human osteoblasts were cultured in Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum and 1x antibiotics at 37 °C and 5% CO2 in an incubator. Of the four osteosarcoma cell lines, U2OS expresses the highest level of epidermal growth factor-like domain 7 mRNA as determined using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. With the knockdown of epidermal growth factor-like domain 7 in U2OS and human umbilical vein endothelial cells by lentivirus, the proliferation and apoptosis of U2OS and human umbilical vein endothelial cells were investigated using MTT and flow cytometry assays. After the co-culture of human umbilical vein endothelial cells and epidermal growth factor-like domain 7-knockdown U2OS, the in vitro effects on cell proliferation, apoptosis, adhesion, migration, and the angiogenic ability of human umbilical vein endothelial cells were detected using MTT, flow cytometry, Transwell, and tube formation assays, respectively. The expressions of phosphoinositide 3-kinase, phospho-Akt, total Akt, and vascular endothelial growth factor in human umbilical vein endothelial cells were detected using western blot assay. Results: Lentivirus with epidermal growth factor-like domain 7 shRNA could not significantly affect the proliferation and apoptosis of both U2OS and human umbilical vein endothelial cells, whereas the knockdown of

Ecologies of Learning: Culture, Context and Outcomes of Workplace LES. Research Brief

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Merrifield, Juliet

2013-01-01

There is a need to connect workplace learning and essential skills to a larger domain of workplace learning in general. To do this, the contexts in which learning takes place, and the cultures of the actors and environments involved, should be taken into consideration. Although research on the direct effects of contexts and cultures on workplace…

Changing the Culture of Academic Medicine: Critical Mass or Critical Actors?

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Newbill, Sharon L.; Cardinali, Gina; Morahan, Page S.; Chang, Shine; Magrane, Diane

2017-01-01

Abstract Purpose: By 2006, women constituted 34% of academic medical faculty, reaching a critical mass. Theoretically, with critical mass, culture and policy supportive of gender equity should be evident. We explore whether having a critical mass of women transforms institutional culture and organizational change. Methods: Career development program participants were interviewed to elucidate their experiences in academic health centers (AHCs). Focus group discussions were held with institutional leaders to explore their perceptions about contemporary challenges related to gender and leadership. Content analysis of both data sources revealed points of convergence. Findings were interpreted using the theory of critical mass. Results: Two nested domains emerged: the individual domain included the rewards and personal satisfaction of meaningful work, personal agency, tensions between cultural expectations of family and academic roles, and women's efforts to work for gender equity. The institutional domain depicted the sociocultural environment of AHCs that shaped women's experience, both personally and professionally, lack of institutional strategies to engage women in organizational initiatives, and the influence of one leader on women's ascent to leadership. Conclusions: The predominant evidence from this research demonstrates that the institutional barriers and sociocultural environment continue to be formidable obstacles confronting women, stalling the transformational effects expected from achieving a critical mass of women faculty. We conclude that the promise of critical mass as a turning point for women should be abandoned in favor of “critical actor” leaders, both women and men, who individually and collectively have the commitment and power to create gender-equitable cultures in AHCs. PMID:28092473

What Is a Bad Kid? Answers of Adolescents and Their Mothers in Three Cultures.

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Crystal, David S.; Stevenson, Harold W.

1995-01-01

Examined behaviors and personality traits attributed to a "bad kid" by adolescents and mothers of American, Chinese, and Japanese cultures. Five domains of behavior likely to yield cross-cultural differences were society, family, school, interpersonal harmony, and self-control. Adolescents and mothers differed significantly in the…

Legal Challenges Related to the Regulation of a Domain Name System

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Marius Kalinauskas

2012-12-01

legal and ethical aspect related to the limitation of domain name usage is reviewed when various combinations of top level domains and second level domains may arise due to newly-created generic top-level domain names. The usage of these methods may inflict potential threats for the legitimate interests of institutions, individuals or other legal subjects. The reasonable limitations of domain naming system could possibly help to protect the legal interests of individuals and to secure the legitimate expectations arising from a historical, cultural and legal perspective. The growth and impact of the internet influences global economic, political and business processes. The emerging of internet of things and other adaptations of the technology determine the necessity to liberalize the governance of a domain name system.Research type—general review, viewpoint.

Legal Challenges Related to the Regulation of a Domain Name System

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Marius Kalinauskas

2013-02-01

. The legal and ethical aspect related to the limitation of domain name usage is reviewed when various combinations of top level domains and second level domains may arise due to newly-created generic top-level domain names. The usage of these methods may inflict potential threats for the legitimate interests of institutions, individuals or other legal subjects. The reasonable limitations of domain naming system could possibly help to protect the legal interests of individuals and to secure the legitimate expectations arising from a historical, cultural and legal perspective. The growth and impact of the internet influences global economic, political and business processes. The emerging of internet of things and other adaptations of the technology determine the necessity to liberalize the governance of a domain name system. Research type—general review, viewpoint.

Culture in cycles: considering H.T. Odum's 'information cycle'

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Abel, Thomas

2014-01-01

'Culture' remains a conundrum in anthropology. When recast in the mold of 'information cycles,' culture is transformed. New fault lines appear. Information is splintered into parallel or nested forms. Dynamics becomes cycling. Energy is essential. And culture has function in a directional universe. The 'information cycle' is the crowning component of H.T. Odum's theory of general systems. What follows is an application of the information cycle to the cultural domains of discourse, social media, ritual, education, journalism, technology, academia, and law, which were never attempted by Odum. In information cycles, cultural information is perpetuated - maintained against Second Law depreciation. Conclusions are that culture is in fact a nested hierarchy of cultural forms. Each scale of information production is semi-autonomous, with its own evolutionary dynamics of production and selection in an information cycle. Simultaneously, each information cycle is channeled or entrained by its larger scale of information and ultimately human-ecosystem structuring.

Domain Engineering

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Bjørner, Dines

Before software can be designed we must know its requirements. Before requirements can be expressed we must understand the domain. So it follows, from our dogma, that we must first establish precise descriptions of domains; then, from such descriptions, “derive” at least domain and interface requirements; and from those and machine requirements design the software, or, more generally, the computing systems.

Culture and Cognition : The Relationship between Self- Construals and Cognitive Fluency

OpenAIRE

Medina Luis D.

2015-01-01

Neuropsychological research has been limited in representation of cultural diversity due to various issues. These limitations raise questions regarding applicability of current findings to diverse populations. Nonetheless, culture-dependent differences in fundamental psychological processes have been demonstrated in several domains. One of the most basic of these, self-construal, is central to how many other differences are interpreted. Self-construals, described as individualistic or collect...

Science Self-Concept and Valuing Science: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Their Relation among Students from Western and East Asian Countries

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Schütte, Kerstin

2015-01-01

Devaluing an academic domain is a potential means of alleviating the psychological discomfort that results from the inconsistency of a low domain-specific self-concept of ability and great value attached to the domain. Such motivated devaluation of a domain is expected to be stronger in cultural contexts that promote a relatively greater focus on…

Cultural Diversity as a Concept of Global Law: Origins, Evolution and Prospects

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Mira Burri

2010-08-01

Full Text Available “Cultural diversity” has become one of the latest buzzwords on the international policymaking scene. It is employed in various contexts—sometimes as a term close to “biological diversity”, at other times as correlated to the “exception culturelle” and most often, as a generic concept that is mobilised to counter the perceived negative effects of economic globalisation. While no one has yet provided a precise definition of what cultural diversity is, what we can observe is the emergence of the notion of cultural diversity as incorporating a distinct set of policy objectives and choices at the global level. These decisions are not confined, as one might have expected, to cultural policymaking, but rather spill over to multiple governance domains because of the complex linkages inherent to the simultaneous pursuit of economic and other societal goals that cultural diversity encompasses and has effects on. Accounting for these intricate interdependencies, the present article clarifies the origins of the concept of cultural diversity as understood in global law and traces its evolution over time. Observing the dynamics of the concept and the surrounding political and legal developments in particular in the context of trade and culture, the article explores its justification and overall impact on the global legal regime, as well as its discrete effects on different domains of policymaking, such as media and intellectual property. While the analysis is legal in essence, the article is also meant to speak to a broader transdisciplinary public.

Positioning of sponsorships on the cultural events market

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Lukić-Krstanović Miroslava

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with the relationship between cultural events and financial possession through which a complex web of communication can be discerned, in positions of social responsibility and consumerism. In the first part of the paper, sponsorship is described in its historical context in order to point out its key features and transformations over time, especially in the socialist and post-socialist period. By contextualizing sponsorship strategies and messages, one can accurately track the representations and values attached to the positioning of cultural products in the zone of national and global policies. Musical spectacles (concerts, festivals, assemblies etc. are attractive and useful products in the sponsorship market. The EXIT festival, Jelen beer, Guča, Telenor, Alpha Bank, Bogoljub Karić, Zepter, Beer Fest, Tuborg, Kustendorf are just some examples - patents of sponsorship of cultural manifestations in the transitional period. This paper constructs three forms of sponsorship strategies in the domain of cultural festival scenes: ownership, leadership and partnership. In the domain of partnership between collective and private property, sponsorship strategies are based on an ethical mimicry of old/new rules and their enforcers within a gift economy, thus creating arbitrary spaces for action adjusted for crises (the grey economy, money laundering, unstable economic policies etc.. Leadership is a sponsorship strategy which entails complete domination in the sphere of decision making, utilization and spending, without the possibility of outside control. In leadership there is no opposition between owners and sponsors, and everything is subject to the authority of the individual as the one and only, inviolable self-sponsor. Partnership is based on the power of choice in the domain of competition and opposition as bipolar ownership. The tandems of spectacle - sponsor and enjoyment - monopoly, are viable projectors of various strategies

La apropiación del dominio público y las posibilidades de acceso a los bienes culturales | The appropriation of the public domain and the possibilities of access to cultural goods

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Joan Ramos Toledano

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Resumen: Las normas de propiedad intelectual y copyright prevén un periodo de protección otorgando unos derechos económicos exclusivos y temporales. Pasado un plazo determinado, las obras protegidas entran en lo que se denomina dominio público. Éste suele ser considerado como el momento en el que los bienes culturales pasan a estar bajo el dominio y control de la sociedad en conjunto. El presente trabajo pretende argumentar que, dado nuestro actual sistema económico, en realidad el dominio público funciona más como una posibilidad de negocio para determinadas empresas que como una verdadera opción para que el público pueda acceder a las obras.   Abstract: The legislation of continental intellectual property and copyright provide for a period of protection granting exclusive and temporary economic rights. After a certain period, protected works enter into what is called the public domain. This is often considered as the moment in which the cultural goods come under the control and domain of society as a whole. The present paper pretends to argue that, given our current economic system, the public domain actually functions more as a business opportunity for certain companies than as a real option for the public to access artistic and intellectual works.

The formation of management culture of local fiscal service administrative staff (based on customs house data

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N. A. Lipovskaya

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with management culture of administrative staff working at the local bodies of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, whose performance is considered to depend on the level of management culture. It is shown that economic activity, which is a cultural and historic phenomenon, determines the role of Customs House services and contributes to the originality of the management culture itself. Customs personnel is viewed in terms of social and cultural domains.

Domain decomposition method for solving elliptic problems in unbounded domains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khoromskij, B.N.; Mazurkevich, G.E.; Zhidkov, E.P.

1991-01-01

Computational aspects of the box domain decomposition (DD) method for solving boundary value problems in an unbounded domain are discussed. A new variant of the DD-method for elliptic problems in unbounded domains is suggested. It is based on the partitioning of an unbounded domain adapted to the given asymptotic decay of an unknown function at infinity. The comparison of computational expenditures is given for boundary integral method and the suggested DD-algorithm. 29 refs.; 2 figs.; 2 tabs

A Cross-Cultural Study of Task Specificity in Creativity

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Storme, Martin; Lubart, Todd; Myszkowski, Nils; Cheung, Ping Chung; Tong, Toby; Lau, Sing

2017-01-01

This study provides new evidence concerning task specificity in creativity--examining through a cross-cultural perspective the extent to which performance in graphic versus verbal creativity tasks (domain specificity) and in divergent versus convergent creativity tasks (process specificity) are correlated. The relations between different…

The SHOCT domain: a widespread domain under-represented in model organisms.

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Ruth Y Eberhardt

Full Text Available We have identified a new protein domain, which we have named the SHOCT domain (Short C-terminal domain. This domain is widespread in bacteria with over a thousand examples. But we found it is missing from the most commonly studied model organisms, despite being present in closely related species. It's predominantly C-terminal location, co-occurrence with numerous other domains and short size is reminiscent of the Gram-positive anchor motif, however it is present in a much wider range of species. We suggest several hypotheses about the function of SHOCT, including oligomerisation and nucleic acid binding. Our initial experiments do not support its role as an oligomerisation domain.

The structural configurations of alcohol in Denmark: Policy, culture, and industry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Demant, Jakob Johan; Krarup, Troels

2013-01-01

, based on liberalization. A particular adolescent alcohol culture of intoxication, however, emerged in the 1990s, raising public awareness and calls for policy intervention. Contrary to what may have been expected, this did not represent a break with the liberal alcohol configuration in policy, culture......This article analyzes recent developments in Danish alcohol policy, culture, and industry. It reveals cross-sector dynamics and complexities that are often downplayed in existing literature. It traces how a stable “structural configuration” emerged in the 1960s-1980s between the three domains...

The Structural Configurations of Alcohol in Denmark: Policy, Culture, and Industry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Demant, Jakob; Krarup, Troels Magelund

2013-01-01

This article analyzes recent developments in Danish alcohol policy, culture, and industry. It reveals cross-sector dynamics and complexities often downplayed in existing literature. It traces how a stable “structural configuration” emerged in the 1960s-1980s between the three domains based...... on liberalization. However, in the 1990s, a particular adolescent alcohol culture of intoxication had emerged, raising public awareness and call for policy intervention. Contrary to what may have been expected, this rupture did not mean a break with the liberal alcohol configuration in policy, culture, and industry...

Results of Applying Cultural Domain Analysis Techniques and Implications for the Design of Complementary Feeding Interventions in Northern Senegal.

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Zobrist, Stephanie; Kalra, Nikhila; Pelto, Gretel; Wittenbrink, Brittney; Milani, Peiman; Diallo, Abdoulaye Moussa; Ndoye, Tidiane; Wone, Issa; Parker, Megan

2017-12-01

Designing effective nutrition interventions for infants and young children requires knowledge about the population to which the intervention is directed, including insights into the cognitive systems and values that inform caregiver feeding practices. To apply cultural domain analysis techniques in the context of implementation research for the purpose of understanding caregivers' knowledge frameworks in Northern Senegal with respect to infant and young child (IYC) feeding. This study was intended to inform decisions for interventions to improve infant and young child nutrition. Modules from the Focused Ethnographic Study for Infant and Young Child Feeding Manual were employed in interviews with a sample of 126 key informants and caregivers from rural and peri-urban sites in the Saint-Louis region of northern Senegal. Descriptive statistics, cluster analysis, and qualitative thematic analysis were used to analyze the data. Cluster analysis showed that caregivers identified 6 food clusters: heavy foods, light foods, snack foods, foraged foods, packaged foods, and foods that are good for the body. The study also revealed similarities and differences between the 2 study sites in caregivers' knowledge frameworks. The demonstration of differences between biomedical concepts of nutrition and the knowledge frameworks of northern Senegalese women with regard to IYC feeding highlights the value of knowledge about emic perspectives of local communities to help guide decisions about interventions to improve nutrition.

Domain-to-domain coupling in voltage-sensing phosphatase.

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Sakata, Souhei; Matsuda, Makoto; Kawanabe, Akira; Okamura, Yasushi

2017-01-01

Voltage-sensing phosphatase (VSP) consists of a transmembrane voltage sensor and a cytoplasmic enzyme region. The enzyme region contains the phosphatase and C2 domains, is structurally similar to the tumor suppressor phosphatase PTEN, and catalyzes the dephosphorylation of phosphoinositides. The transmembrane voltage sensor is connected to the phosphatase through a short linker region, and phosphatase activity is induced upon membrane depolarization. Although the detailed molecular characteristics of the voltage sensor domain and the enzyme region have been revealed, little is known how these two regions are coupled. In addition, it is important to know whether mechanism for coupling between the voltage sensor domain and downstream effector function is shared among other voltage sensor domain-containing proteins. Recent studies in which specific amino acid sites were genetically labeled using a fluorescent unnatural amino acid have enabled detection of the local structural changes in the cytoplasmic region of Ciona intestinalis VSP that occur with a change in membrane potential. The results of those studies provide novel insight into how the enzyme activity of the cytoplasmic region of VSP is regulated by the voltage sensor domain.

Integrating social factors into cross-cultural medical education.

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

2002-03-01

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

MIT domain of Vps4 is a Ca2+-dependent phosphoinositide-binding domain.

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Iwaya, Naoko; Takasu, Hirotoshi; Goda, Natsuko; Shirakawa, Masahiro; Tanaka, Toshiki; Hamada, Daizo; Hiroaki, Hidekazu

2013-05-01

The microtubule interacting and trafficking (MIT) domain is a small protein module that is conserved in proteins of diverged function, such as Vps4, spastin and sorting nexin 15 (SNX15). The molecular function of the MIT domain is protein-protein interaction, in which the domain recognizes peptides containing MIT-interacting motifs. Recently, we identified an evolutionarily related domain, 'variant' MIT domain at the N-terminal region of the microtubule severing enzyme katanin p60. We found that the domain was responsible for binding to microtubules and Ca(2+). Here, we have examined whether the authentic MIT domains also bind Ca(2+). We found that the loop between the first and second α-helices of the MIT domain binds a Ca(2+) ion. Furthermore, the MIT domains derived from Vps4b and SNX15a showed phosphoinositide-binding activities in a Ca(2+)-dependent manner. We propose that the MIT domain is a novel membrane-associating domain involved in endosomal trafficking.

Youth civic development: theorizing a domain with evidence from different cultural contexts.

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Flanagan, Constance A; Martínez, M Loreto; Cumsille, Patricio; Ngomane, Tsakani

2011-01-01

The authors use examples of youth civic engagement from Chile, South Africa, Central/Eastern Europe, and the United States--and also emphasize diversities among youth from different subgroups within countries--to illustrate common elements of the civic domain of youth development. These include the primacy of collective activity for forming political identities and ideas and the greater heterogeneity of civic compared to other discretionary activities, the groupways or accumulated opportunities for acting due to the groups (social class, gender, ethnic, caste, etc.) to which a young person belongs, and the role of mediating institutions (schools, community-based organizations, etc.) as spaces where youths' actions contribute to political stability and change. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company.

Is Acculturation a Dynamic Construct?: The Influence of Method of Priming Culture on Acculturation

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Lechuga, Julia

2008-01-01

Recent evidence suggests that culture is a dynamic construct activated in response to cues encountered in a given situation. Research on acculturation indicates that this is a complex construct that might be domain specific. Two studies were undertaken to investigate the effect of two ways of priming culture on acculturation and enculturation…

Synchrotron FT-IR analyses of microstructured biomineral domains: Hints to the biomineralization processes in freshwater cultured pearls.

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Soldati, A. L.; Vicente-Vilas, V.; Gasharova, B.; Jacob, D. E.

2009-04-01

Recent investigations in freshwater cultured pearls (bio-carbonate) by micro-Raman spectroscopy (Wehrmeister et al., 2008; Soldati et al., 2008), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) imaging (Jacob et al., 2008) show that the pearl biomineralisation starts with a self assembling process in which an existing gel matrix of amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) and organic substances reorganizes and conglomerates in small domains; these conglomerates then form prisms and mature nacreous tablets of aragonite or vaterite. Raman spectroscopy shows that the calcium carbonate polymorphs have decreasing luminescence in the order ACC>Vaterite>Aragonite, coinciding with decreasing quantities of S and P (related to the organic matrix) measured by Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy (LA-ICP-MS) and Electron Probe Micro Analyzer (EPMA). Although little is known about the process of transformation of the ACC gel into vaterite and aragonite, it is speculated that this probably involves dehydration and change of the accompanying organic matrix. This is also supported by our laboratory FT-IR analysis. However, due to the small size of the areas of ACC (about 10 ?m) and the biogenic crystals an in-situ high spatially resolved IR-method is needed to record how the water content and organic matrix change in the biomineralisation sequence, to understand which processes take place in the self-organization. The beamline IR-1 at the ANKA synchrotron source (Karlsruhe, Germany) was used for this experiment. Freshwater cultured pearls from China cultured in Hyriopsis cumingii mussels by tissue nucleation methods (so-called beadless pearls) as well as by bead implantation methods (aragonite nucleus) were studied. The pearls were cut in half with a diamond-plated saw and polished with diamond paste on a copper plate. Micro-Raman spectroscopy maps (Department of Geosciences, at the Johannes Gutenberg-University, Mainz) were generated

Discoidin Domain Receptor 1 Mediates Myosin-Dependent Collagen Contraction

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Nuno M. Coelho

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Discoidin domain receptor 1 (DDR1 is a tyrosine kinase collagen adhesion receptor that mediates cell migration through association with non-muscle myosin IIA (NMIIA. Because DDR1 is implicated in cancer fibrosis, we hypothesized that DDR1 interacts with NMIIA to enable collagen compaction by traction forces. Mechanical splinting of rat dermal wounds increased DDR1 expression and collagen alignment. In periodontal ligament of DDR1 knockout mice, collagen mechanical reorganization was reduced >30%. Similarly, cultured cells with DDR1 knockdown or expressing kinase-deficient DDR1d showed 50% reduction of aligned collagen. Tractional remodeling of collagen was dependent on DDR1 clustering, activation, and interaction of the DDR1 C-terminal kinase domain with NMIIA filaments. Collagen remodeling by traction forces, DDR1 tyrosine phosphorylation, and myosin light chain phosphorylation were increased on stiff versus soft substrates. Thus, DDR1 clustering, activation, and interaction with NMIIA filaments enhance the collagen tractional remodeling that is important for collagen compaction in fibrosis.

Seven domains for leadership mentoring and executive coaching A reflective paper

OpenAIRE

Paul O. Olson

2014-01-01

This article discusses how coaching and mentoring can be integrated and work together as systematic tools for leadership development. The author draws on psychotherapy as a parallel for practitioner research and posits five validation hypotheses for coaching and mentoring. Arguably coaching is not sufficient to develop leaders, but a useful toolbox within mentoring. Internal mentors in particular have cultural and industry knowledge of direct relevance to the adept. Seven domains are iden...

THE ROLE OF GHEORGHE POPOVICI IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF SADOVA CROWN DOMAIN (1898-1942

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Narcisa Maria MITU

2016-10-01

Full Text Available For 44 years, Gheorghe Popovici, manged Sadova Crown Domain, a period in which he was preoccupied with the development of Sadova Domain, from all the points of view: organisational, economic and cultural. During the entire period of time, his main purpose was to stop the phenomenon of desertification, by fixing the sand with locust trees and vineyards, in order to make useful as much farm land as possible. So that to successfully accomplish this desire, he gathered around him a collective of young people, chief farmers and sylviculturists, graduates of the higher, prestigious agriculture schools, from Romania and from abroad. He did not neglect either the relations with the villagers, the main manpower from the Domain. For his activity, he was rewarded by the Kings of Romania with plenty of gratitude and honours.

Conversion of Dielectric Data from the Time Domain to the Frequency Domain

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Vladimir Durman

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Polarisation and conduction processes in dielectric systems can be identified by the time domain or the frequency domain measurements. If the systems is a linear one, the results of the time domain measurements can be transformed into the frequency domain, and vice versa. Commonly, the time domain data of the absorption conductivity are transformed into the frequency domain data of the dielectric susceptibility. In practice, the relaxation are mainly evaluated by the frequency domain data. In the time domain, the absorption current measurement were prefered up to now. Recent methods are based on the recovery voltage measurements. In this paper a new method of the recovery data conversion from the time the frequency domain is proposed. The method is based on the analysis of the recovery voltage transient based on the Maxwell equation for the current density in a dielectric. Unlike the previous published solutions, the Laplace fransform was used to derive a formula suitable for practical purposes. the proposed procedure allows also calculating of the insulation resistance and separating the polarisation and conduction losses.

Predicting detection performance with model observers: Fourier domain or spatial domain?

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Baiyu; Yu, Lifeng; Leng, Shuai; Kofler, James; Favazza, Christopher; Vrieze, Thomas; McCollough, Cynthia

2016-02-27

The use of Fourier domain model observer is challenged by iterative reconstruction (IR), because IR algorithms are nonlinear and IR images have noise texture different from that of FBP. A modified Fourier domain model observer, which incorporates nonlinear noise and resolution properties, has been proposed for IR and needs to be validated with human detection performance. On the other hand, the spatial domain model observer is theoretically applicable to IR, but more computationally intensive than the Fourier domain method. The purpose of this study is to compare the modified Fourier domain model observer to the spatial domain model observer with both FBP and IR images, using human detection performance as the gold standard. A phantom with inserts of various low contrast levels and sizes was repeatedly scanned 100 times on a third-generation, dual-source CT scanner at 5 dose levels and reconstructed using FBP and IR algorithms. The human detection performance of the inserts was measured via a 2-alternative-forced-choice (2AFC) test. In addition, two model observer performances were calculated, including a Fourier domain non-prewhitening model observer and a spatial domain channelized Hotelling observer. The performance of these two mode observers was compared in terms of how well they correlated with human observer performance. Our results demonstrated that the spatial domain model observer correlated well with human observers across various dose levels, object contrast levels, and object sizes. The Fourier domain observer correlated well with human observers using FBP images, but overestimated the detection performance using IR images.

Domain-specific rationality in human choices: violations of utility axioms and social contexts.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, X T

1996-07-01

This study presents a domain-specific view of human decision rationality. It explores social and ecological domain-specific psychological mechanisms underlying choice biases and violations of utility axioms. Results from both the USA and China revealed a social group domain-specific choice pattern. The irrational preference reversal in a hypothetical life-death decision problem (a classical example of framing effects) was eliminated by providing a small group or family context in which most subjects favored a risky choice option regardless of the positive/negative framing of choice outcomes. The risk preference data also indicate that the subjective scope of small group domain is larger for Chinese subjects, suggesting that human choice mechanisms are sensitive to culturally specific features of group living. A further experiment provided evidence that perceived fairness might be one major factor regulating the choice preferences found in small group (kith-and-kin) contexts. Finally, the violation of the stochastic dominance axiom of the rational theory of choice was predicted and tested. The violations were found only when the "life-death" problem was presented in small group contexts; the strongest violation was found in a family context. These results suggest that human decisions and choices are regulated by domain-specific choice mechanisms designed to solve evolutionary recurrent and adaptively important problems.

Attributing variance in supportive care needs during cancer: culture-service, and individual differences, before clinical factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Fielding, Richard; Lam, Wendy Wing Tak; Shun, Shiow Ching; Okuyama, Toru; Lai, Yeur Hur; Wada, Makoto; Akechi, Tatsuo; Li, Wylie Wai Yee

2013-01-01

Studies using the Supportive Care Needs Survey (SCNS) report high levels of unmet supportive care needs (SCNs) in psychological and less-so physical & daily living domains, interpreted as reflecting disease/treatment-coping deficits. However, service and culture differences may account for unmet SCNs variability. We explored if service and culture differences better account for observed SCNs patterns. Hong Kong (n = 180), Taiwanese (n = 263) and Japanese (n = 109) CRC patients' top 10 ranked SCNS-34 items were contrasted. Mean SCNS-34 domain scores were compared by sample and treatment status, then adjusted for sample composition, disease stage and treatment status using multivariate hierarchical regression. All samples were assessed at comparable time-points. SCNs were most prevalent among Japanese and least among Taiwanese patients. Japanese patients emphasized Psychological (domain mean = 40.73) and Health systems and information (HSI) (38.61) SCN domains, whereas Taiwanese and Hong Kong patients emphasized HSI (27.41; 32.92) and Patient care & support (PCS) (19.70; 18.38) SCN domains. Mean Psychological domain scores differed: Hong Kong = 9.72, Taiwan = 17.84 and Japan = 40.73 (pcultural influences, age and occupation differences, and less so clinical factors, differentially account for significant variation in published studies of SCNs.

"What makes life good?" Developing a culturally grounded quality of life measure for Alaska Native college students.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Dinghy Kristine B; Lopez, Ellen D S; Mekiana, Deborah; Ctibor, Alaina; Church, Charlene

2013-01-01

Alaska Native (AN) college students experience higher attrition rates than their non-Native peers. Understanding the factors that contribute to quality of life ("what makes life good") for AN students will help inform supportive programs that are congruent with their culture and college life experiences. Co-develop a conceptual model and a measure of quality of life (QOL) that reflects the experiences of AN college students. Six focus groups were conducted with 26 AN college students. Within a community-academic partnership, interactive data collection activities, co-analysis workgroup sessions and an interactive findings forum ensured a participant-driven research process. Students identified and operationally defined eight QOL domains (values, culture and traditions, spirituality, relationships, basic needs, health, learning and leisure). The metaphor of a tree visually illustrates how the domains values, culture and traditions and spirituality form the roots to the other domains that appear to branch out as students navigate the dual worldviews of Native and Western ways of living. The eight QOL domains and their items identified during focus groups were integrated into a visual model and an objective QOL measure. The hope is to provide a useful tool for developing and evaluating university-based programs and services aimed toward promoting a positive QOL and academic success for AN students.

Assessing Data Quality in Emergent Domains of Earth Sciences

Science.gov (United States)

Darch, P. T.; Borgman, C.

2016-12-01

interpret. Incentive structures, including prospects for journal publication, often favor new data over reanalyzing extant datasets. Assessing data quality in emergent domains is extremely difficult and will require adaptations in infrastructure, culture, and incentives.

Culture Embrained: Going Beyond the Nature-Nurture Dichotomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Kitayama, Shinobu; Salvador, Cristina E

2017-09-01

Over the past three decades, the cultural psychology literature has established that there is systematic cultural variation in the nature of agency in the domains of cognition, emotion, and motivation. This literature adopted both self-report and performance-based (or behavioral) indicators of these processes, which set the stage for a more recent systematic exploration of cultural influences at the neural and biological level. Moreover, previous work has largely focused on East-West differences, thereby calling for a systematic exploration of other ethnic groups. To address these issues, this article reviews recent work in cultural neuroscience, while paying close attention to Latino Americans-the single most rapidly growing minority group in the United States. We focus on research that has employed neural measures and show that culture has systematic influences on the brain. We also point out that, unlike more traditional self-report or performance-based measures, neural indicators of culture are reliably linked to theoretically relevant individual difference variables such as self-construal and acculturation. Cultural neuroscience offers the framework to go beyond the dichotomy between nature and nurture and to explore how they may dynamically interact.

Essentializing the Binary Self: Individualism and Collectivism in Cultural Neuroscience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marina eMartinez Mateo

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Within the emerging field of Cultural Neurosciences (CN one branch of research focuses on the neural underpinnings of "individualistic/Western" versus "collectivistic/Eastern" self-views. These studies uncritically adopt essentialist assumptions from classic cross-cultural research, mainly following the tradition of Markus & Kitayama (1991, into the domain of functional neuroimaging. In this comment we analyze recent publications and conference proceedings of the 18th Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping (2012 and problematize the essentialist and simplistic understanding of "culture" in these studies. Further, we argue against the binary structure of the drawn "cultural" comparisons and their underlying Eurocentrism. Finally we scrutinize whether valuations within the constructed binarities bear the risk of constructing and reproducing a postcolonial, orientalist argumentation pattern.

Essentializing the binary self: individualism and collectivism in cultural neuroscience.

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez Mateo, M; Cabanis, M; Stenmanns, J; Krach, S

2013-01-01

Within the emerging field of cultural neuroscience (CN) one branch of research focuses on the neural underpinnings of "individualistic/Western" vs. "collectivistic/Eastern" self-views. These studies uncritically adopt essentialist assumptions from classic cross-cultural research, mainly following the tradition of Markus and Kitayama (1991), into the domain of functional neuroimaging. In this perspective article we analyze recent publications and conference proceedings of the 18th Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping (2012) and problematize the essentialist and simplistic understanding of "culture" in these studies. Further, we argue against the binary structure of the drawn "cultural" comparisons and their underlying Eurocentrism. Finally we scrutinize whether valuations within the constructed binarities bear the risk of constructing and reproducing a postcolonial, orientalist argumentation pattern.

La culture comme dynamique créatrice en région

OpenAIRE

Marquaille, Benoît

2013-01-01

L’exposé met en valeur le rôle de la culture dans la valorisation des dynamiques socio-culturelles, et donne quelques exemples réussis de coopération dans ce domaine entre la France et le Liban. The paper emphasizes the role of culture in valorizing social and civic dynamics, by giving some examples of manifestations organized in the Région Ile-de-France, such as in cooperation between France and Lebanon.

Concrete domains

OpenAIRE

Kahn, G.; Plotkin, G.D.

1993-01-01

This paper introduces the theory of a particular kind of computation domains called concrete domains. The purpose of this theory is to find a satisfactory framework for the notions of coroutine computation and sequentiality of evaluation.

Brazilian version of the foot health status questionnaire (FHSQ-BR: cross-cultural adaptation and evaluation of measurement properties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana F. B. Ferreira

2008-01-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To conduct a cross-cultural adaptation of the Foot Health Status Questionnaire into Brazilian-Portuguese and to assess its measurement properties. INTRODUCTION: This instrument is an outcome measure with 10 domains with scores ranging from 0-100, worst to best, respectively. The translated instrument will improve the examinations and foot care of rheumatoid arthritis patients. METHODS: The questions were translated, back-translated, evaluated by a multidisciplinary committee and pre-tested (n = 40 rheumatoid arthritis subjects. The new version was submitted to a field test (n = 65 to evaluate measurement properties such as test-retest reliability, internal consistency and construct validity. The Health Assessment Questionnaire, Numeric Rating Scale for foot pain and Sharp/van der Heijde scores for foot X-rays were used to test the construct validity. RESULTS: The cross-cultural adaptation was completed with minor wording adaptations from the original instrument. The evaluation of measurement properties showed high reliability with low variation coefficients between interviews. The a-Cronbach coefficients varied from 0.468 to 0.855, while correlation to the Health Assessment Questionnaire and Numeric Rating Scale was statistically significant for five out of eight domains. DISCUSSION: Intra- and inter-observer correlations showed high reliability. Internal consistency coefficients were high for all domains, revealing higher values for less subjective domains. As for construct validity, each domain revealed correlations with a specific group of parameters according to what the domains intended to measure. CONCLUSION: The FHSQ was cross-culturally adapted, generating a reliable, consistent, and valid instrument that is useful for evaluating foot health in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Brazilian version of the foot health status questionnaire (FHSQ-BR): cross-cultural adaptation and evaluation of measurement properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferreira, Ana F B; Laurindo, Ieda M M; Rodrigues, Priscilla T; Ferraz, Marcos Bosi; Kowalski, Sérgio C; Tanaka, Clarice

2008-10-01

To conduct a cross-cultural adaptation of the Foot Health Status Questionnaire into Brazilian-Portuguese and to assess its measurement properties. This instrument is an outcome measure with 10 domains with scores ranging from 0-100, worst to best, respectively. The translated instrument will improve the examinations and foot care of rheumatoid arthritis patients. The questions were translated, back-translated, evaluated by a multidisciplinary committee and pre-tested (n = 40 rheumatoid arthritis subjects). The new version was submitted to a field test (n = 65) to evaluate measurement properties such as test-retest reliability, internal consistency and construct validity. The Health Assessment Questionnaire, Numeric Rating Scale for foot pain and Sharp/van der Heijde scores for foot X-rays were used to test the construct validity. The cross-cultural adaptation was completed with minor wording adaptations from the original instrument. The evaluation of measurement properties showed high reliability with low variation coefficients between interviews. The alpha-Cronbach coefficients varied from 0.468 to 0.855, while correlation to the Health Assessment Questionnaire and Numeric Rating Scale was statistically significant for five out of eight domains. Intra- and inter-observer correlations showed high reliability. Internal consistency coefficients were high for all domains, revealing higher values for less subjective domains. As for construct validity, each domain revealed correlations with a specific group of parameters according to what the domains intended to measure. The FHSQ was cross-culturally adapted, generating a reliable, consistent, and valid instrument that is useful for evaluating foot health in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

A Logic for Inclusion of Administrative Domains and Administrators in Multi-domain Authorization

Science.gov (United States)

Iranmanesh, Zeinab; Amini, Morteza; Jalili, Rasool

Authorization policies for an administrative domain or a composition of multiple domains in multi-domain environments are determined by either one administrator or multiple administrators' cooperation. Several logic-based models for multi-domain environments' authorization have been proposed; however, they have not considered administrators and administrative domains in policies' representation. In this paper, we propose the syntax, proof theory, and semantics of a logic for multi-domain authorization policies including administrators and administrative domains. Considering administrators in policies provides the possibility of presenting composite administration having applicability in many collaborative applications. Indeed, administrators and administrative domains stated in policies can be used in authorization. The presented logic is based on modal logic and utilizes two calculi named the calculus of administrative domains and the calculus of administrators. It is also proved that the logic is sound. A case study is presented signifying the logic application in practical projects.

Physical discipline in Chinese American immigrant families: An adaptive culture perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Lau, Anna S

2010-07-01

Research on ethnic minority parenting has examined heritage cultural influences and contextual stressors on parenting processes. However, rarely are adaptive cultural processes considered, whereby ethnic minority parents bring their cultural values to bear in adapting to contextual demands in the host society. A survey of 107 Chinese American immigrant parents examined whether use of physical discipline can be predicted by cultural values, contextual stressors, and their interactions. Results indicated that distinct domains of cultural values were related to physical discipline in disparate ways, with some values decreasing risk and others indirectly increasing risk. There was some evidence that cultural values interacted with contextual stress to predict physical discipline. Parent-child acculturation conflicts were only related to physical discipline when parents held strong values about the importance of firm parental control. The findings illustrate how heritage cultural influences and current ecological demands may converge to shape parenting in immigrant families.

Musical Objects, Cross-Domain Correspondences, and Cultural Choice: Commentary on “Cross-Cultural Representations of Musical Shape” by George Athanasopoulos and Nikki Moran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zohar Eitan

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The target article illustrates deep cross-cultural gaps, involving not only the representation of musical shape but also the notion of a musical object itself. Yet, numerous empirical findings suggest that important cross-modal correspondences involving music and visual dimensions are inborn or learned at infancy, prior to the acquisition of language and most culture-specific behavior. Drawing on recent empirical work, the commentary attempts to reconcile this apparent disparity.

Cultural diversity, economic development and societal instability

Science.gov (United States)

Nettle, D.; Grace, J.B.; Choisy, M.; Cornell, H.V.; Guegan, J.-F.; Hochberg, M.E.

2007-01-01

Background. Social scientists have suggested that cultural diversity in a nation leads to societal instability. However, societal instability may be affected not only by within-nation on ?? diversity, but also diversity between a nation and its neighbours or ?? diversity. It is also necessary to distinguish different domains of diversity, namely linguistic, ethnic and religious, and to distinguish between the direct effects of diversity on societal instability, and effects that are mediated by economic conditions. Methodology/Principal Findings. We assembled a large cross-national dataset with information on ?? and ?? cultural diversity, economic conditions, and indices of societal instability. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the direct and indirect effects of cultural diversity on economics and societal stability. Results show that different type and domains of diversity have interacting effects. As previously documented, linguistic ?? diversity has a negative effect on economic performance, and we show that it is largely through this economic mechanism that it affects societal instability. For ?? diversity, the higher the linguistic diversity among nations in a region, the less stable the nation. But, religious ?? diversity has the opposite effect, reducing instability, particularly in the presence of high linguistic diversity. Conclusions. Within-nation linguistic diversity is associated with reduced economic performance, which, in turn, increases societal instability. Nations which differ linguistically from their neighbors are also less stable. However, religious diversity between, neighboring nations has the opposite effect, decreasing societal instability.

Cultural diversity, economic development and societal instability.

Science.gov (United States)

Nettle, Daniel; Grace, James B; Choisy, Marc; Cornell, Howard V; Guégan, Jean-François; Hochberg, Michael E

2007-09-26

Social scientists have suggested that cultural diversity in a nation leads to societal instability. However, societal instability may be affected not only by within-nation or alpha diversity, but also diversity between a nation and its neighbours or beta diversity. It is also necessary to distinguish different domains of diversity, namely linguistic, ethnic and religious, and to distinguish between the direct effects of diversity on societal instability, and effects that are mediated by economic conditions. We assembled a large cross-national dataset with information on alpha and beta cultural diversity, economic conditions, and indices of societal instability. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the direct and indirect effects of cultural diversity on economics and societal stability. Results show that different types and domains of diversity have interacting effects. As previously documented, linguistic alpha diversity has a negative effect on economic performance, and we show that it is largely through this economic mechanism that it affects societal instability. For beta diversity, the higher the linguistic diversity among nations in a region, the less stable the nation. But, religious beta diversity has the opposite effect, reducing instability, particularly in the presence of high linguistic diversity. Within-nation linguistic diversity is associated with reduced economic performance, which, in turn, increases societal instability. Nations which differ linguistically from their neighbors are also less stable. However, religious diversity between neighboring nations has the opposite effect, decreasing societal instability.

Feature-level domain adaptation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kouw, Wouter M.; Van Der Maaten, Laurens J P; Krijthe, Jesse H.

2016-01-01

-level domain adaptation (flda), that models the dependence between the two domains by means of a feature-level transfer model that is trained to describe the transfer from source to target domain. Subsequently, we train a domain-adapted classifier by minimizing the expected loss under the resulting transfer...... modeled via a dropout distribution, which allows the classiffier to adapt to differences in the marginal probability of features in the source and the target domain. Our experiments on several real-world problems show that flda performs on par with state-of-the-art domainadaptation techniques.......Domain adaptation is the supervised learning setting in which the training and test data are sampled from different distributions: training data is sampled from a source domain, whilst test data is sampled from a target domain. This paper proposes and studies an approach, called feature...

Scientific and Cultural Knowledge in Intercultural Science Education: Student Perceptions of Common Ground

Science.gov (United States)

Gondwe, Mzamose; Longnecker, Nancy

2015-02-01

There is no consensus in the science education research community on the meanings and representations of western science and indigenous knowledge or the relationships between them. How students interpret these relationships and their perceptions of any connections has rarely been studied. This study reports student perceptions of the meaning and relationship between scientific and cultural knowledge. Personal meaning maps adapted for small groups were conducted in seven culturally diverse schools, school years 7-9 (with students aged 12-15 years) ( n = 190), with six schools in Western Australia and one school in Malawi, Africa. Of the six Australian school groups, two comprised Australian Aboriginal students in an after-school homework programme and the other four schools had a multicultural mix of students. Students in this study identified connections between scientific and cultural knowledge and constructed connections from particular thematic areas—mainly factual content knowledge as opposed to ideas related to values, attitudes, beliefs and identity. Australian Aboriginal students made fewer connections between the two knowledge domains than Malawian students whose previous science teacher had made explicit connections in her science class. Examples from Aboriginal culture were the most dominant illustrations of cultural knowledge in Australian schools, even in school groups with students from other cultures. In light of our findings, we discuss the construction of common ground between scientific knowledge and cultural knowledge and the role of teachers as cultural brokers and travel agents. We conclude with recommendations on creating learning environments that embrace different cultural knowledges and that promote explicit and enquiring discussions of values, attitudes, beliefs and identity associated with both knowledge domains.

Identification of a Paralog-Specific Notch1 Intracellular Domain Degron

OpenAIRE

Broadus, Matthew R.; Chen, Tony W.; Neitzel, Leif R.; Ng, Victoria H.; Jodoin, Jeanne; Lee, Laura A.; Salic, Adrian; Robbins, David J.; Capobianco, Anthony J.; Patton, James G.; Huppert, Stacey S.; Lee, Ethan

2016-01-01

Upon Notch pathway activation, the receptor is cleaved to release the Notch intracellular domain (NICD), which translocates to the nucleus to activate gene transcription. Using Xenopus egg extracts, we have identified a Notch1-specific destruction signal (N1-Box). We show that mutations in the N1-Box inhibit NICD1 degradation and that the N1-Box is transferable for the promotion of degradation of heterologous proteins in Xenopus egg extracts and in cultured human cells. Mutation of the N1-Box...

PREFACE: Domain wall dynamics in nanostructures Domain wall dynamics in nanostructures

Science.gov (United States)

Marrows, C. H.; Meier, G.

2012-01-01

Domain structures in magnetic materials are ubiquitous and have been studied for decades. The walls that separate them are topological defects in the magnetic order parameter and have a wide variety of complex forms. In general, their investigation is difficult in bulk materials since only the domain structure on the surface of a specimen is visible. Cutting the sample to reveal the interior causes a rearrangement of the domains into a new form. As with many other areas of magnetism, the study of domain wall physics has been revitalised by the advent of nanotechnology. The ability to fabricate nanoscale structures has permitted the formation of simplified and controlled domain patterns; the development of advanced microscopy methods has permitted them to be imaged and then modelled; subjecting them to ultrashort field and current pulses has permitted their dynamics to be explored. The latest results from all of these advances are described in this special issue. Not only has this led to results of great scientific beauty, but also to concepts of great applicability to future information technologies. In this issue the reader will find the latest results for these domain wall dynamics and the high-speed processes of topological structures such as domain walls and magnetic vortices. These dynamics can be driven by the application of magnetic fields, or by flowing currents through spintronic devices using the novel physics of spin-transfer torque. This complexity has been studied using a wide variety of experimental techniques at the edge of the spatial and temporal resolution currently available, and can be described using sophisticated analytical theory and computational modelling. As a result, the dynamics can be engineered to give rise to finely controlled memory and logic devices with new functionality. Moreover, the field is moving to study not only the conventional transition metal ferromagnets, but also complex heterostructures, novel magnets and even other

A life domains perspective on acculturation and psychological adjustment: a study of refugees from the former Soviet Union.

Science.gov (United States)

Birman, Dina; Simon, Corrina D; Chan, Wing Yi; Tran, Nellie

2014-03-01

The study articulates a contextual approach to research on acculturation of immigrants, suggesting that the relationship between acculturation and adjustment is dependent on the cultural demands of the life domains considered. Specifically, the study investigated the mediating effects of adjustment in occupational and social life domains on the relationship between acculturation and psychological adjustment for 391 refugees from the former Soviet Union. The study used bilinear measures of acculturation to the host (American) and heritage (Russian) cultures. Using Structural Equation Modeling, the study confirmed the hypothesized relationships, such that the positive effects of American acculturation on psychological adjustment were mediated by occupational adjustment, and the effects of Russian acculturation on psychological adjustment were mediated by satisfaction with co-ethnic social support. Psychological adjustment was measured in two ways, as psychological well-being, using a measure of life satisfaction, and as symptoms of depression and anxiety, using the Hopkins symptom checklist (HSCL). Life satisfaction served as a mediator between adjustment in occupational and social domains and HSCL, suggesting that it may be an intervening variable through which environmental stress associated with immigration contributes to the development of symptoms of mental disorder.

Time-domain modeling of electromagnetic diffusion with a frequency-domain code

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mulder, W.A.; Wirianto, M.; Slob, E.C.

2007-01-01

We modeled time-domain EM measurements of induction currents for marine and land applications with a frequency-domain code. An analysis of the computational complexity of a number of numerical methods shows that frequency-domain modeling followed by a Fourier transform is an attractive choice if a

What is and why do we strive for a culture in radiation protection?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Michel, Rolf

2009-01-01

Radioactivity and ionizing radiation are relevant in a multitude of life domains, and their applications are rapidly increasing worldwide. That is why presently among the IRPA Associate Societies the development of ''Guidelines for a culture in radiation protection'' is discussed. This contribution summarizes the state of the discussion, gives a first definition of what is meant with ''radiation protection culture'', and treats all four aspects of radiation protection culture: the content ones, the categoric/practical ones, the societal ones, and the spatially and temporally traditional ones. (orig.)

A study of the border between the domains of production and acquisition of knowledge in higher education

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Busch, Henrik

2001-01-01

This paper focuses on a common feature of most undergraduate studies in science - the pronounced border between the domains of production and acquisition of knowledge. Under¬graduate students' learning activities and settings are characterized by little inter¬action with the community of practicing...... scientists. Based on ongoing ethnographic field work, certain aspects of this division between the two domains are discussed from an educational point of view. A case study is presented and leads to considerations about undergraduate students' access to the culture of practicing physicists....

Separated matter and antimatter domains with vanishing domain walls

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dolgov, A.D.; Godunov, S.I.; Rudenko, A.S.; Tkachev, I.I., E-mail: dolgov@fe.infn.it, E-mail: sgodunov@itep.ru, E-mail: a.s.rudenko@inp.nsk.su, E-mail: tkachev@ms2.inr.ac.ru [Physics Department and Laboratory of Cosmology and Elementary Particle Physics, Novosibirsk State University, Pirogova st. 2, Novosibirsk, 630090 (Russian Federation)

2015-10-01

We present a model of spontaneous (or dynamical) C and CP violation where it is possible to generate domains of matter and antimatter separated by cosmologically large distances. Such C(CP) violation existed only in the early universe and later it disappeared with the only trace of generated baryonic and/or antibaryonic domains. So the problem of domain walls in this model does not exist. These features are achieved through a postulated form of interaction between inflaton and a new scalar field, realizing short time C(CP) violation.

Culture shapes the evolution of cognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Bill; Kirby, Simon; Smith, Kenny

2016-04-19

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

Psychology of group relations: cultural and social dimensions.

Science.gov (United States)

Berry, J W

2004-07-01

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

Multi-User Domain Object Oriented (MOO) as a High School Procedure for Foreign Language Acquisition.

Science.gov (United States)

Backer, James A.

Foreign language students experience added difficulty when they are isolated from native speakers and from the culture of the target language. It has been posited that MOO (Multi-User Domain Object Oriented) may help overcome the geographical isolation of these students. MOOs are Internet-based virtual worlds in which people from all over the real…

Prenatal care of African American women in selected USA urban and rural cultural contexts.

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan, M

1996-01-01

The purpose of this ethnonursing research was to systematically discover, describe, and analyze the beliefs, practices, and values of African American women related to prenatal care. The domain of inquiry was prenatal care of African American women within their familiar cultural contexts. The study was conceptualized within Leininger's Theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality which enabled the researcher to study professional and generic care as influenced by the worldview, social structural factors, cultural values and beliefs, ethnohistory, and environmental context. The goal of the study was to discover knowledge that could be used by health professionals to provide culturally congruent prenatal care that would increase the health and well being of the people. The rationale for the study was based on studies that showed the lack of prenatal care in the African American cultural group leads to low birth weights and high infant mortality rates. Four major themes that focused on the domain of inquiry were identified: 1) Cultural care meant protection, presence, and sharing; 2) social structural factors that greatly influenced the health and well being were spirituality, kinship, and economics; 3) professional prenatal care was seen by the women as necessary and essential but there was distrust of noncaring professionals, and barriers to such care; and 4) folk health beliefs, practices, and indigenous health care providers were widely used by women in the African American community.

MERTK interactions with SH2-domain proteins in the retinal pigment epithelium.

Science.gov (United States)

Shelby, Shameka J; Colwill, Karen; Dhe-Paganon, Sirano; Pawson, Tony; Thompson, Debra A

2013-01-01

The receptor tyrosine kinase MERTK plays an essential role in the phagocytic uptake of shed photoreceptor membranes by the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). A fundamental aspect of signal transduction by receptor tyrosine kinases involves autophosphorylation of tyrosine residues that recruit Src-homology 2 (SH2)-domain proteins to the receptor intracellular domain. The goal of the current study was to evaluate the interactions of human MERTK with SH2-domain proteins present in the RPE. The MERTK intracellular domain was expressed as a 6xHis-fusion protein (6xHis-rMERTK(571-999)), purified and phosphorylated. Ni(2+)-NTA pull downs were performed using 6xHis-rMERTK(571-999) in incubations with recombinant phosphotyrosine-recognition sequences expressed as GST-fusion proteins. In addition, pull downs of native SH2-domain proteins were performed using 6xHis-rMERTK(571-999) and protein homogenates from rat RPE/choroid. For both recombinant and native proteins, western analysis detected MERTK interactions with GRB2, PIK3R1 (P85α), VAV3, and SRC. Immunohistochemical analysis localized each protein to mouse RPE. In cultured RPE-J cells incubated with rod outer segments (OS), siRNA knockdown of Grb2 had no effect on OS binding, but significantly reduced OS uptake. Pik3r1 localized to early phagosomes along with Rab5 and Eea1. Phosphorylation and activation of Src was detected downstream of phagocytosis and Mertk activation. These findings suggest that MERTK signaling in the RPE involves a cohort of SH2-domain proteins with the potential to regulate both cytoskeletal rearrangement and membrane movement. Identification of the SH2-domain signaling partners of MERTK is an important step toward further defining the mechanism of RPE phagocytosis that is central to the function and survival of the retina.

MERTK interactions with SH2-domain proteins in the retinal pigment epithelium.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shameka J Shelby

Full Text Available The receptor tyrosine kinase MERTK plays an essential role in the phagocytic uptake of shed photoreceptor membranes by the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE. A fundamental aspect of signal transduction by receptor tyrosine kinases involves autophosphorylation of tyrosine residues that recruit Src-homology 2 (SH2-domain proteins to the receptor intracellular domain. The goal of the current study was to evaluate the interactions of human MERTK with SH2-domain proteins present in the RPE. The MERTK intracellular domain was expressed as a 6xHis-fusion protein (6xHis-rMERTK(571-999, purified and phosphorylated. Ni(2+-NTA pull downs were performed using 6xHis-rMERTK(571-999 in incubations with recombinant phosphotyrosine-recognition sequences expressed as GST-fusion proteins. In addition, pull downs of native SH2-domain proteins were performed using 6xHis-rMERTK(571-999 and protein homogenates from rat RPE/choroid. For both recombinant and native proteins, western analysis detected MERTK interactions with GRB2, PIK3R1 (P85α, VAV3, and SRC. Immunohistochemical analysis localized each protein to mouse RPE. In cultured RPE-J cells incubated with rod outer segments (OS, siRNA knockdown of Grb2 had no effect on OS binding, but significantly reduced OS uptake. Pik3r1 localized to early phagosomes along with Rab5 and Eea1. Phosphorylation and activation of Src was detected downstream of phagocytosis and Mertk activation. These findings suggest that MERTK signaling in the RPE involves a cohort of SH2-domain proteins with the potential to regulate both cytoskeletal rearrangement and membrane movement. Identification of the SH2-domain signaling partners of MERTK is an important step toward further defining the mechanism of RPE phagocytosis that is central to the function and survival of the retina.

Domain Walls and Matter-Antimatter Domains in the Early Universe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dolgov A.D.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available We suggest a scenario of spontaneous (or dynamical C and CP violation according to which it is possible to generate domains of matter and antimatter separated by cosmologically large distances. Such C(CP violation existed only in the early universe and later it disappeared with the only trace of generated matter and antimatter domains. So this scenario does not suffer from the problem of domain walls. According to this scenario the width of the domain wall should grow exponentially to prevent annihilation at the domain boundaries. Though there is a classical result obtained by Basu and Vilenkin that the width of the wall tends to the one of the stationary solution (constant physical width. That is why we considered thick domain walls in a de Sitter universe following paper by Basu and Vilenkin. However, we were interested not only in stationary solutions found therein, but also investigated the general case of domain wall evolution with time. When the wall thickness parameter, δ0 , is smaller than H−1/2 where H is the Hubble parameter in de Sitter space-time, then the stationary solutions exist, and initial field configurations tend with time to the stationary ones. However, there are no stationary solutions for δ0>H−1/2 We have calculated numerically the rate of the wall expansion in this case and have found that the width of the wall grows exponentially fast for δ0≫H−1 An explanation for the critical value δ0c=H−1/2 is also proposed.

Quality of healthcare services and its relationship with patient safety culture and nurse-physician professional communication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Akram Ghahramanian

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Background: This study investigated quality of healthcare services from patients’ perspectives and its relationship with patient safety culture and nurse-physician professional communication. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 300 surgery patients and 101 nurses caring them in a public hospital in Tabriz–Iran. Data were collected using the service quality measurement scale (SERVQUAL, hospital survey on patient safety culture (HSOPSC and nurse physician professional communication questionnaire. Results: The highest and lowest mean (±SD scores of the patients’ perception on the healthcare services quality belonged to the assurance 13.92 (±3.55 and empathy 6.78 (±1.88 domains,respectively. With regard to the patient safety culture, the mean percentage of positive answers ranged from 45.87% for "non-punitive response to errors" to 68.21% for "organizational continuous learning" domains. The highest and lowest mean (±SD scores for the nurse physician professional communication were obtained for "cooperation" 3.44 (±0.35 and "non participative decision-making" 2.84 (±0.34 domains, respectively. The "frequency of reported errors by healthcare professionals" (B=-4.20, 95% CI = -7.14 to -1.27, P<0.01 and "respect and sharing of information" (B=7.69, 95% CI=4.01 to 11.36, P<0.001 predicted the patients’perceptions of the quality of healthcare services. Conclusion: Organizational culture in dealing with medical error should be changed to non punitive response. Change in safety culture towards reporting of errors, effective communication and teamwork between healthcare professionals are recommended.

Quality of healthcare services and its relationship with patient safety culture and nurse-physician professional communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghahramanian, Akram; Rezaei, Tayyebeh; Abdullahzadeh, Farahnaz; Sheikhalipour, Zahra; Dianat, Iman

2017-01-01

Background: This study investigated quality of healthcare services from patients' perspectives and its relationship with patient safety culture and nurse-physician professional communication. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 300 surgery patients and 101 nurses caring them in a public hospital in Tabriz-Iran. Data were collected using the service quality measurement scale (SERVQUAL), hospital survey on patient safety culture (HSOPSC) and nurse physician professional communication questionnaire. Results: The highest and lowest mean (±SD) scores of the patients' perception on the healthcare services quality belonged to the assurance 13.92 (±3.55) and empathy 6.78 (±1.88) domains,respectively. With regard to the patient safety culture, the mean percentage of positive answers ranged from 45.87% for "non-punitive response to errors" to 68.21% for "organizational continuous learning" domains. The highest and lowest mean (±SD) scores for the nurse physician professional communication were obtained for "cooperation" 3.44 (±0.35) and "non-participative decision-making" 2.84 (±0.34) domains, respectively. The "frequency of reported errors by healthcare professionals" (B=-4.20, 95% CI = -7.14 to -1.27, P<0.01) and "respect and sharing of information" (B=7.69, 95% CI=4.01 to 11.36, P<0.001) predicted the patients'perceptions of the quality of healthcare services. Conclusion: Organizational culture in dealing with medical error should be changed to non-punitive response. Change in safety culture towards reporting of errors, effective communication and teamwork between healthcare professionals are recommended.

TGFβ1-mediated PI3K/Akt and p38 MAP kinase dependent alternative splicing of fibronectin extra domain A in human podocyte culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Madne, Tarunkumar Hemraj; Dockrell, Mark Edward Carl

2018-04-30

Alternative splicing is an important gene regulation process to distribute proteins in health and diseases. Extra Domain A+ Fibronectin (EDA+Fn) is an alternatively spliced form of fibronectin (Fn) protein, present in the extra cellular matrix (ECM) and a recognised marker of various pathologies. TGFβ1 has been shown to induce alternative splicing of EDA+Fn in many cell types. Podocytes are spectacular cell type and play a key role in filtration and synthesise ECM proteins in renal physiology and pathology. In our previous study we have demonstrated expression and alternative splicing of EDA+Fn in basal condition in human podocytes culture. TGFβ1 further induced the basal expression and alternative splicing of EDA+Fn through Alk5 receptor and SR proteins. In this study, we have investigated TGFβ1 mediated signalling involved in alternative splicing of EDA+Fn in human podocytes. We have performed western blotting to characterise the expression of the EDA+Fn protein and other signalling proteins and RT-PCR to look for signalling pathways involved in regulation of alternative splicing of EDA+Fn in conditionally immortalised human podocytes culture.We have used TGFβ1 as a stimulator and SB431542, SB202190 and LY294002 for inhibitory studies. In this work, we have demonstrated in human podocytes culture TGFβ1 2.5ng/ml induced phosphorylation of Smad1/5/8, Smad2 and Smad3 via the ALK5 receptor. TGFβ1 significantly induced the PI3K/Akt pathway and the PI3K/Akt pathway inhibitor LY294002 significantly downregulated basal as well as TGFβ1 induced alternative splicing of EDA+Fn in human podocytes. In addition to this, TGFβ1 significantly induced the p38 MAP kinase signalling pathway and p38 MAP kinase signalling pathway inhibitor SB202190 downregulated the TGFβ1-mediated alternative splicing of EDA+Fn in human podocytes. The results with PI3K and p38 MAP kinase signalling pathway suggest that inhibiting PI3K signalling pathway downregulated the basal alternative

Cultural orientations, parental beliefs and practices, and latino adolescents' autonomy and independence.

Science.gov (United States)

Roche, Kathleen M; Caughy, Margaret O; Schuster, Mark A; Bogart, Laura M; Dittus, Patricia J; Franzini, Luisa

2014-08-01

Despite the salience of behavioral autonomy and independence to parent-child interactions during middle adolescence, little is known about parenting processes pertinent to youth autonomy development for Latino families. Among a diverse sample of 684 Latino-origin parent-adolescent dyads in Houston, Texas, this study examines how parents' cultural orientations are associated directly and indirectly, through parental beliefs, with parenting practices giving youth behavioral autonomy and independence. Informed by social domain theory, the study's parenting constructs pertain to youth behaviors in an "ambiguously personal" domain-activities that adolescents believe are up to youth to decide, but which parents might argue require parents' supervision, knowledge, and/or decision-making. Results for latent profile analyses of parents' cultural identity across various facets of acculturation indicate considerable cultural heterogeneity among Latino parents. Although 43% of parents have a Latino cultural orientation, others represent Spanish-speaking/bicultural (21%), bilingual/bicultural (15%), English-speaking/bicultural (15%), or US (6%) cultural orientations. Structural equation modeling results indicate that bilingual/bicultural, English-speaking/bicultural, and US-oriented parents report less emphasis on the legitimacy of parental authority and younger age expectations for youth to engage in independent behaviors than do Latino-oriented parents. Parental beliefs endorsing youth's behavioral independence and autonomy, in turn, are associated with less stringent parental rules (parental report), less parental supervision (parental and youth report), and more youth autonomy in decision-making (parental and youth report). Evidence thus supports the idea that the diverse cultural orientations of Latino parents in the US may result in considerable variations in parenting processes pertinent to Latino adolescents' development.

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…

THE SPATIAL-CULTURAL CONFIGURATION OF SEX WORK IN GOA INDIA

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bailey, Ajay; Hutter, Inge; Huigen, Paulus P. P.

2011-01-01

Geographers have largely ignored the socio-spatial aspect of sex work in the non-Western context. Theorisation on place, sex and gender will aid in spatially situating sex work in the domain of geography. We present an empirical study to describe the spatial-cultural configuration of sex work as

Is psychological science a-cultural?

Science.gov (United States)

Gone, Joseph P

2011-07-01

The history of psychological science, as it has intersected with ethnoracial, cultural, and other marginalized domains of group difference, is replete with disinterest, dismissal, or denigration of these diverse forms of psychological experience. This has led some to wonder whether psychological science is a-cultural, or even anti-cultural in orientation. Assessment of this provocative proposition first requires exploration of three composite questions: (1) What is culture?, (2) What is science?, and (3) What is psychological science? Based on brief consideration of these composite questions--which are remarkably complex in their own right--I argue that psychological science is not, has never been, and indeed cannot in principle be a-cultural. Instead, like all forms of knowing, psychological science emerges at particular historical moments to achieve particular goals that are motivated by particular interests. Throughout much of the history of psychological science, these goals and interests were tied to ideologically suspect agendas that contemporary psychologists are right to repudiate. The interesting question becomes whether psychology's knowledge practices can be disentangled from this earlier ideological contamination to furnish the discipline with viable methods. I propose that psychological science can in fact be so disentangled; nevertheless, the resulting methods are never adopted or deployed outside of culturally constituted interests, objectives, and motivations, thereby requiring ongoing critical engagement with the subtexts of disciplinary knowledge production. In fact, there seem to be important ways in which psychology's scientific aspirations hobble disciplinary inquiry into the human condition that has motivated multicultural psychologists to consider alternative paradigms of inquiry.

Critical frameworks for graphic design: graphic design and visual culture

OpenAIRE

Dauppe, Michele-Anne

2011-01-01

The paper considers an approach to the study of graphic design which addresses the expanding nature of graphic design in the 21st century and the purposeful application of theory to the subject of graphic design. In recent years graphic design has expanded its domain from the world of print culture (e.g. books, posters) into what is sometimes called screen culture. Everything from a mobile phone to a display in an airport lounge to the A.T.M. carries graphic design. It has become ever more ub...

SEM–EDS analysis of copper, glass and iron recovered from the 1st century AD shipwreck site off Godawaya, Southern Sri Lanka

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Chandraratne, W.M.; Gaur, A.S.; Rao, B.R.; Bhushan, R.; Muthucumarana, R.; Manders, M.; Khedekar, V.D.; Dayananda, A.M.A.

contaminants8, thus indicating different source materials. During the Harappan times, Khetri mines of Rajast- han, India, had been a major source of copper in addition to Oman and UAE in the Gulf region9. The copper alloy in the present study is composed... to Godawaya, there are famous monasteries at Mahanavulupura and Ramba monastic complexes, which have been either exca- vated or thoroughly explored. Results of these studies indicate active maritime activity in the historical and medieval periods...

Turbulent Dynamics of Epithelial Cell Cultures

Science.gov (United States)

Blanch-Mercader, C.; Yashunsky, V.; Garcia, S.; Duclos, G.; Giomi, L.; Silberzan, P.

2018-05-01

We investigate the large length and long time scales collective flows and structural rearrangements within in vitro human bronchial epithelial cell (HBEC) cultures. Activity-driven collective flows result in ensembles of vortices randomly positioned in space. By analyzing a large population of vortices, we show that their area follows an exponential law with a constant mean value and their rotational frequency is size independent, both being characteristic features of the chaotic dynamics of active nematic suspensions. Indeed, we find that HBECs self-organize in nematic domains of several cell lengths. Nematic defects are found at the interface between domains with a total number that remains constant due to the dynamical balance of nucleation and annihilation events. The mean velocity fields in the vicinity of defects are well described by a hydrodynamic theory of extensile active nematics.

Domain Decomposition Solvers for Frequency-Domain Finite Element Equations

KAUST Repository

Copeland, Dylan

2010-10-05

The paper is devoted to fast iterative solvers for frequency-domain finite element equations approximating linear and nonlinear parabolic initial boundary value problems with time-harmonic excitations. Switching from the time domain to the frequency domain allows us to replace the expensive time-integration procedure by the solution of a simple linear elliptic system for the amplitudes belonging to the sine- and to the cosine-excitation or a large nonlinear elliptic system for the Fourier coefficients in the linear and nonlinear case, respectively. The fast solution of the corresponding linear and nonlinear system of finite element equations is crucial for the competitiveness of this method. © 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Domain Decomposition Solvers for Frequency-Domain Finite Element Equations

KAUST Repository

Copeland, Dylan; Kolmbauer, Michael; Langer, Ulrich

2010-01-01

The paper is devoted to fast iterative solvers for frequency-domain finite element equations approximating linear and nonlinear parabolic initial boundary value problems with time-harmonic excitations. Switching from the time domain to the frequency domain allows us to replace the expensive time-integration procedure by the solution of a simple linear elliptic system for the amplitudes belonging to the sine- and to the cosine-excitation or a large nonlinear elliptic system for the Fourier coefficients in the linear and nonlinear case, respectively. The fast solution of the corresponding linear and nonlinear system of finite element equations is crucial for the competitiveness of this method. © 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

The B-domain of factor VIII reduces cell membrane attachement to host cells in serum free conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kolind, Mille Petersen; Nørby, Peder Lisby; Flintegaard, Thomas Veje

2010-01-01

engineered extensively throughout the years to increase the low production yields that initially were obtained from mammalian cell cultures. The scope of this work was to investigate the interaction of rFVIII with the cell membrane surface of the producing cells in serum free medium. We wondered whether...... binding of rFVIII to the cell membrane could be a factor diminishing the production yield. We studied the contribution of the rFVIII B-domain to membrane attachment by transfecting several constructs containing increasing lengths of the B-domain into cells under serum free conditions. We found that 90......% of rFVIII is attached to the cell membrane of the producing cell when the rFVIII variant contains a short B-domain (21 aa). By increasing the length of the B-domain the membrane attached fraction can be reduced to 50% of the total expressed rFVIII. Further, our studies show that the N...

Traditions in spider monkeys are biased towards the social domain.

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Claire J Santorelli

Full Text Available Cross-site comparison studies of behavioral variation can provide evidence for traditions in wild species once ecological and genetic factors are excluded as causes for cross-site differences. These studies ensure behavior variants are considered within the context of a species' ecology and evolutionary adaptations. We examined wide-scale geographic variation in the behavior of spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi across five long-term field sites in Central America using a well established ethnographic cross-site survey method. Spider monkeys possess a relatively rare social system with a high degree of fission-fusion dynamics, also typical of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes and humans (Homo sapiens. From the initial 62 behaviors surveyed 65% failed to meet the necessary criteria for traditions. The remaining 22 behaviors showed cross-site variation in occurrence ranging from absent through to customary, representing to our knowledge, the first documented cases of traditions in this taxon and only the second case of multiple traditions in a New World monkey species. Of the 22 behavioral variants recorded across all sites, on average 57% occurred in the social domain, 19% in food-related domains and 24% in other domains. This social bias contrasts with the food-related bias reported in great ape cross-site comparison studies and has implications for the evolution of human culture. No pattern of geographical radiation was found in relation to distance across sites. Our findings promote A. geoffroyi as a model species to investigate traditions with field and captive based experiments and emphasize the importance of the social domain for the study of animal traditions.

Regulation of abiotic stress signalling by Arabidopsis C-terminal domain phosphatase-like 1 requires interaction with a k-homology domain-containing protein.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

In Sil Jeong

Full Text Available Arabidopsis thaliana CARBOXYL-TERMINAL DOMAIN (CTD PHOSPHATASE-LIKE 1 (CPL1 regulates plant transcriptional responses to diverse stress signals. Unlike typical CTD phosphatases, CPL1 contains two double-stranded (ds RNA binding motifs (dsRBMs at its C-terminus. Some dsRBMs can bind to dsRNA and/or other proteins, but the function of the CPL1 dsRBMs has remained obscure. Here, we report identification of REGULATOR OF CBF GENE EXPRESSION 3 (RCF3 as a CPL1-interacting protein. RCF3 co-purified with tandem-affinity-tagged CPL1 from cultured Arabidopsis cells and contains multiple K-homology (KH domains, which were predicted to be important for binding to single-stranded DNA/RNA. Yeast two-hybrid, luciferase complementation imaging, and bimolecular fluorescence complementation analyses established that CPL1 and RCF3 strongly associate in vivo, an interaction mediated by the dsRBM1 of CPL1 and the KH3/KH4 domains of RCF3. Mapping of functional regions of CPL1 indicated that CPL1 in vivo function requires the dsRBM1, catalytic activity, and nuclear targeting of CPL1. Gene expression profiles of rcf3 and cpl1 mutants were similar during iron deficiency, but were distinct during the cold response. These results suggest that tethering CPL1 to RCF3 via dsRBM1 is part of the mechanism that confers specificity to CPL1-mediated transcriptional regulation.

Domain shape instabilities and dendrite domain growth in uniaxial ferroelectrics

Science.gov (United States)

Shur, Vladimir Ya.; Akhmatkhanov, Andrey R.

2018-01-01

The effects of domain wall shape instabilities and the formation of nanodomains in front of moving walls obtained in various uniaxial ferroelectrics are discussed. Special attention is paid to the formation of self-assembled nanoscale and dendrite domain structures under highly non-equilibrium switching conditions. All obtained results are considered in the framework of the unified kinetic approach to domain structure evolution based on the analogy with first-order phase transformation. This article is part of the theme issue `From atomistic interfaces to dendritic patterns'.

A Cross-Cultural Experimental Approach to the Contribution of Health, Religion and Personal Relations to Subjective Satisfaction with Life as a Whole

Science.gov (United States)

Theuns, Peter; Baran, Barbara; Van Vaerenbergh, Rebecca; Hellenbosch, Greet; Tiliouine, Habib

2012-01-01

In cross-cultural research on quality of life, researchers must deal with the fundamental incomparability of subjective wellbeing assessments across cultural groups. This incompatibility most probably results from an identification problem: cultural groups most likely differ in both objective achievements in different life domains as well as in…

Cultural experiences of immigrant nurses at two hospitals in Chile

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gabriel Rodríguez

2014-04-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: to explore the cultural experiences of nurses who immigrated to Chile. The study´s theoretical framework was the Purnell Model for Cultural Competence.METHOD: Leininger's Observation-Participation-Reflection method was developed at two hospitals in the city of Santiago, and ethnographic interviews were held with 15 immigrant nurses.RESULTS: among Purnell's 12 domains, the following were identified: Overview/heritage, Communication, Workforce issues, Family roles and organization, Biocultural ecology and Health-care practices. The difficulties were related to the language and its semantic meaning, the new responsibilities and the difficult relationship with colleagues. "In search of better horizons - the decision to immigrate", "Gaining confidence and establishing a support network - employability and professional performance" and "Seeking for people´s acceptance - professional adaptation in a new cultural scenario" are cultural themes that represent their experiences.CONCLUSIONS: the competence to offer cultural care demands the development of public policies and continuing education programs at health institutions, specifically focused on immigrant nurses.

Cultural experiences of immigrant nurses at two hospitals in Chile.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez, Gabriel; Angélica-Muñoz, Luz; Hoga, Luiza Akiko Komura

2014-01-01

to explore the cultural experiences of nurses who immigrated to Chile. The study's theoretical framework was the Purnell Model for Cultural Competence. Leininger's Observation-Participation-Reflection method was developed at two hospitals in the city of Santiago, and ethnographic interviews were held with 15 immigrant nurses. among Purnell's 12 domains, the following were identified: Overview/heritage, Communication, Workforce issues, Family roles and organization, Biocultural ecology and Health-care practices. The difficulties were related to the language and its semantic meaning, the new responsibilities and the difficult relationship with colleagues. "In search of better horizons - the decision to immigrate", "Gaining confidence and establishing a support network - employability and professional performance" and "Seeking for people's acceptance - professional adaptation in a new cultural scenario" are cultural themes that represent their experiences. the competence to offer cultural care demands the development of public policies and continuing education programs at health institutions, specifically focused on immigrant nurses.

Jahn-teller domains and magnetic domains in Mn2FeO4

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kub, J.; Brabers, V.A.M.; Novák, P.; Gemperle, R.; Simsova, J.

2000-01-01

Elastic (Jahn–Teller) domains and magnetic domains in the tetragonal spinel Mn2FeO4 were studied using X-ray double-crystal topography, X-ray diffractometry and the colloid-SEM method. The Jahn–Teller domains of the measured samples are tetragonal with the [0 0 1] c-axis alternating perpendicularly

The extended-domain-eigenfunction method for solving elliptic boundary value problems with annular domains

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aarao, J; Bradshaw-Hajek, B H; Miklavcic, S J; Ward, D A, E-mail: Stan.Miklavcic@unisa.edu.a [School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095 (Australia)

2010-05-07

Standard analytical solutions to elliptic boundary value problems on asymmetric domains are rarely, if ever, obtainable. In this paper, we propose a solution technique wherein we embed the original domain into one with simple boundaries where the classical eigenfunction solution approach can be used. The solution in the larger domain, when restricted to the original domain, is then the solution of the original boundary value problem. We call this the extended-domain-eigenfunction method. To illustrate the method's strength and scope, we apply it to Laplace's equation on an annular-like domain.

Between-Domain Relations of Students’ Academic Emotions and Their Judgments of School Domain Similarity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas eGoetz

2014-10-01

Full Text Available With the aim to deepen our understanding of the between-domain relations of academic emotions, a series of three studies was conducted. We theorized that between-domain relations of trait (i.e., habitual emotions reflected students’ judgments of domain similarities, whereas between-domain relations of state (i.e., momentary emotions did not. This supposition was based on the accessibility model of emotional self-report, according to which individuals’ beliefs tend to strongly impact trait, but not state emotions. The aim of Study 1 (interviews; N = 40; 8th and 11th graders was to gather salient characteristics of academic domains from students’ perspective. In Study 2 (N=1709; 8th and 11th graders the 13 characteristics identified in Study 1 were assessed along with academic emotions in four different domains (mathematics, physics, German, and English using a questionnaire-based trait assessment. With respect to the same domains, state emotions were assessed in Study 3 (N = 121; 8th and 11th graders by employing an experience sampling approach. In line with our initial assumptions, between-domain relations of trait but not state academic emotions reflected between-domain relations of domain characteristics. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Between-domain relations of students' academic emotions and their judgments of school domain similarity

Science.gov (United States)

Goetz, Thomas; Haag, Ludwig; Lipnevich, Anastasiya A.; Keller, Melanie M.; Frenzel, Anne C.; Collier, Antonie P. M.

2014-01-01

With the aim to deepen our understanding of the between-domain relations of academic emotions, a series of three studies was conducted. We theorized that between-domain relations of trait (i.e., habitual) emotions reflected students' judgments of domain similarities, whereas between-domain relations of state (i.e., momentary) emotions did not. This supposition was based on the accessibility model of emotional self-report, according to which individuals' beliefs tend to strongly impact trait, but not state emotions. The aim of Study 1 (interviews; N = 40; 8th and 11th graders) was to gather salient characteristics of academic domains from students' perspective. In Study 2 (N = 1709; 8th and 11th graders) the 13 characteristics identified in Study 1 were assessed along with academic emotions in four different domains (mathematics, physics, German, and English) using a questionnaire-based trait assessment. With respect to the same domains, state emotions were assessed in Study 3 (N = 121; 8th and 11th graders) by employing an experience sampling approach. In line with our initial assumptions, between-domain relations of trait but not state academic emotions reflected between-domain relations of domain characteristics. Implications for research and practice are discussed. PMID:25374547

Fusion protein based on Grb2-SH2 domain for cancer therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saito, Yuriko; Furukawa, Takako; Arano, Yasushi; Fujibayashi, Yasuhisa; Saga, Tsuneo

2010-01-01

Research highlights: → Grb2 mediates EGFR signaling through binding to phosphorylate EGFR with SH2 domain. → We generated fusion proteins containing 1 or 2 SH2 domains of Grb2 added with TAT. → The one with 2 SH2 domains (TSSF) interfered ERK phosphorylation. → TSSF significantly delayed the growth of EGFR overexpressing tumor in a mouse model. -- Abstract: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is one of the very attractive targets for cancer therapy. In this study, we generated fusion proteins containing one or two Src-homology 2 (SH2) domains of growth factor receptor bound protein 2 (Grb2), which bind to phosphorylated EGFR, added with HIV-1 transactivating transcription for cell membrane penetration (termed TSF and TSSF, respectively). We examined if they can interfere Grb2-mediated signaling pathway and suppress tumor growth as expected from the lack of SH3 domain, which is necessary to intermediate EGFR-Grb2 cell signaling, in the fusion proteins. The transduction efficiency of TSSF was similar to that of TSF, but the binding activity of TSSF to EGFR was higher than that of TSF. Treatment of EGFR-overexpressing cells showed that TSSF decreased p42-ERK phosphorylation, while TSF did not. Both the proteins delayed cell growth but did not induce cell death in culture. TSSF also significantly suppressed tumor growth in vivo under consecutive administration. In conclusion, TSSF showed an ability to inhibit EGFR-Grb2 signaling and could have a potential to treat EGFR-activated cancer.

Expansion of protein domain repeats.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Asa K Björklund

2006-08-01

Full Text Available Many proteins, especially in eukaryotes, contain tandem repeats of several domains from the same family. These repeats have a variety of binding properties and are involved in protein-protein interactions as well as binding to other ligands such as DNA and RNA. The rapid expansion of protein domain repeats is assumed to have evolved through internal tandem duplications. However, the exact mechanisms behind these tandem duplications are not well-understood. Here, we have studied the evolution, function, protein structure, gene structure, and phylogenetic distribution of domain repeats. For this purpose we have assigned Pfam-A domain families to 24 proteomes with more sensitive domain assignments in the repeat regions. These assignments confirmed previous findings that eukaryotes, and in particular vertebrates, contain a much higher fraction of proteins with repeats compared with prokaryotes. The internal sequence similarity in each protein revealed that the domain repeats are often expanded through duplications of several domains at a time, while the duplication of one domain is less common. Many of the repeats appear to have been duplicated in the middle of the repeat region. This is in strong contrast to the evolution of other proteins that mainly works through additions of single domains at either terminus. Further, we found that some domain families show distinct duplication patterns, e.g., nebulin domains have mainly been expanded with a unit of seven domains at a time, while duplications of other domain families involve varying numbers of domains. Finally, no common mechanism for the expansion of all repeats could be detected. We found that the duplication patterns show no dependence on the size of the domains. Further, repeat expansion in some families can possibly be explained by shuffling of exons. However, exon shuffling could not have created all repeats.

The Ideology of Free Culture and the Grammar of Sabotage

Science.gov (United States)

Pasquinelli, Matteo

2010-01-01

Bringing post-Operaismo into network culture, this text tries to introduce the notion of surplus in a contemporary media debate dominated by a simple symmetry between immaterial and material domain, between digital economy and bioeconomy. Therefore a new asymmetry is first shaped through Serres' conceptual figure of the parasite and Bataille's…

Components of a Measure to Describe Organizational Culture in Academic Pharmacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Desselle, Shane; Rosenthal, Meagen; Holmes, Erin R; Andrews, Brienna; Lui, Julia; Raja, Leela

2017-12-01

Objective. To develop a measure of organizational culture in academic pharmacy and identify characteristics of an academic pharmacy program that would be impactful for internal (eg, students, employees) and external (eg, preceptors, practitioners) clients of the program. Methods. A three-round Delphi procedure of 24 panelists from pharmacy schools in the U.S. and Canada generated items based on the Organizational Culture Profile (OCP), which were then evaluated and refined for inclusion in subsequent rounds. Items were assessed for appropriateness and impact. Results. The panel produced 35 items across six domains that measured organizational culture in academic pharmacy: competitiveness, performance orientation, social responsibility, innovation, emphasis on collegial support, and stability. Conclusion. The items generated require testing for validation and reliability in a large sample to finalize this measure of organizational culture.

Cross-cultural adaptation and initial validation of the Stroke-Specific Quality of Life Scale into the Yoruba language.

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Akinpelu, Aderonke O; Odetunde, Marufat O; Odole, Adesola C

2012-12-01

Stroke-Specific Quality of Life 2.0 (SS-QoL 2.0) scale is used widely and has been cross-culturally adapted to many languages. This study aimed at the cross-cultural adaptation of SS-QoL 2.0 to Yoruba, the indigenous language of south-western Nigeria, and to carry out an initial investigation on its validity. English SS-QoL 2.0 was first adapted to Yoruba language by including Yoruba culture-specific examples in items SC4, UE2 and UE6. The adapted English version (AEV) was independently translated into Yoruba by two language experts who later agreed on a consensus translation, which was then back translated, subjected to an expert committee review and pretested; a cognitive debriefing interview was also carried out to generate the Yoruba translated version (YTV). Thirty-five stroke survivors completed the AEV and Yoruba version (YV) in English and Yoruba. The order of administration was randomized. Data were analysed using Spearman's rank order correlation and Wilcoxon's signed-rank test at a P value less than 0.05. The mean age of the participants (23 men, 12 women) was 58.5±11.3 years. The domain scores of the participants on AEV and YV did not differ significantly, except in the work/productivity domain. In both versions, the mean domain score of the participants was the highest in the language domain [22.6±3.8 (AEV) and 22.7±3.4 (YV)] and the lowest in the work domain [9.0±3.7 (AEV) and 8.0±3.3 (YTV)]. Domain scores on both versions correlated significantly (P<0.05). Participants' ratings of their current state and prestroke state correlated significantly (P<0.01) in all the general areas, except energy and mood. The YTV of SS-QoL 2.0 fulfilled the initial criteria for validity.

Interoperable domain models : The ISO land administration domain model LADM and its external classes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lemmen, C.H.J.; Van Oosterom, P.J.M.; Uitermark, H.T.; Zevenbergen, J.A.; Cooper, A.K.

2011-01-01

This paper provides a brief overview of one of the first spatial domain standards: a standard for the domain of Land Administration (LA). This standard is in the draft stage of development now (May 2011). The development of domain standards is a logical follow up after domain-independent standards,

Assessing the culture of safety in cardiovascular perfusion: attitudes and perceptions.

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Lawson, Chad; Predella, Megan; Rowden, Allison; Goldstein, Jamie; Sistino, Joseph J; Fitzgerald, David C

2017-10-01

The Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture was developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to assess the culture of safety in hospitals. The purpose of this study was to identify specific domains of perfusion that are indicators of a high quality culture of safety. Perfusionists were recruited to participate in the survey through email invitation through Perflist, Perfmail and LinkedIn. The survey consisted of 37 questions across six safety domains. Questions were developed using the AHRQ Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture. 'Positive scores' were defined as a response that either agreed or strongly agreed with a safety standard. Survey responses that resulted in a 75 percent or higher positive response rate were identified as vital components of a high culture of safety. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine importance components of perceived safety. Four responses were found to have a significant predictive level of a positive safety environment in the work unit: (1) in this unit, we discuss ways to prevent errors from happening again; OR=3.09, (2) in this unit, we treat others with respect; OR=1.09 (3) my supervisor/manager seriously considers staff suggestions for improving patient safety; OR=1.89 and (4) there is good cooperation among hospital units that need to work together; OR=1.77. There were two predictors of a negative work unit safety environment: (1) staff are afraid to ask questions when something does not seem right; OR=0.62 and (2) it is just by chance that more serious mistakes don't happen around here; OR=0.55. The results from this survey indicate that effective communication secondary to both incident and near-miss reporting is associated with a higher perceived culture of safety. A positive safety environment is associated with being able to speak up regarding safety issues without fear of negative repercussions.

Causal asymmetry across cultures: Assigning causal roles in symmetric physical settings

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Andrea eBender

2011-09-01

Full Text Available In the cognitive sciences, causal cognition in the physical domain has featured as a core research topic, but the impact of culture has been rarely ever explored. One case in point for a topic on which this neglect is pronounced is the pervasive tendency of people to consider one of two (equally important entities as more important for bringing about an effect. In order to scrutinize how robust such tendencies are across cultures, we asked German and Tongan participants to assign prime causality in nine symmetric settings. For most settings, strong asymmetries in both cultures were found, but not always in the same direction, depending on the task content. This indicates that causal asymmetries, while indeed being a robust phenomenon across cultures, are also subject to culture-specific concepts. Moreover, the asymmetries were found to be modulated by figure-ground relations, but not by marking agency.

Cultural Minorities and Life Styles: Iranian Trends

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Naser Fakouhi

2008-04-01

Full Text Available The Globalization accelerated the paradoxical processes of modernization by introducing the cultural homogenizations and heterogenizations: construction and deconstruction of local-communitarian identities. This is why we are facing on the one hand, the increasing of local identities and visions and on the other hand, the interference, sometimes in a conflicted way, of the latter forms with the national and global identities. In this context, the Iranian problematic is discussed by an urban anthropological theoretical approach. The main concern in this article is the everyday life styles as the most important means of the cultural identity formation and their self expressions. Social constructed space as Lefebvre put it, and Cultural Studies tradition of everyday life, have been the starting points of this paper aiming to analyze the cultural resistance phenomenon expressed in physical and bodily spaces as well as in social and intercultural relations in domains such as age, ethnics and gender. These identity schemes have been taken as minority situations when they express in a way or other, some sort of cultural or social resistance facing a dominant pattern and by this way the paper try to present some practical and applied solutions to decrease the social tensions.

Design and Evaluation of a Cross-Cultural Training System

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Santarelli, Thomas; Stagl, Kevin C.

2011-01-01

Cross-cultural competency, and the underlying communication and affective skills required to develop such expertise, is becoming increasingly important for a wide variety of domains. To address this need, we developed a blended learning platform which combines virtual role-play with tutorials, assessment and feedback. A Middle-Eastern Curriculum (MEC) exemplar for cross-cultural training U.S. military personnel was developed to guide the refinement of an existing game-based training platform. To complement this curriculum, we developed scenario authoring tools to enable end-users to define training objectives, link performance measures and feedback/remediation to these objectives, and deploy experiential scenarios within a game-based virtual environment (VE). Lessons learned from the design and development of this exemplar cross-cultural competency curriculum, as well as formative evaluation results, are discussed. Initial findings suggest that the underlying training technology promotes deep levels of semantic processing of the key information of relevant cultural and communication skills.

Continuing Bonds in Bereaved Pakistani Muslims: Effects of Culture and Religion

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Suhail, Kausar; Jamil, Naila; Oyebode, Jan; Ajmal, Mohammad Asir

2011-01-01

This study explores the bereavement process and continuing bond in Pakistani Muslims with the focus on how culture and religion influence these processes. Ten participants were interviewed and their transcribed interviews were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Three main domains were identified from the narratives expressed by the…

Domain architecture conservation in orthologs

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background As orthologous proteins are expected to retain function more often than other homologs, they are often used for functional annotation transfer between species. However, ortholog identification methods do not take into account changes in domain architecture, which are likely to modify a protein's function. By domain architecture we refer to the sequential arrangement of domains along a protein sequence. To assess the level of domain architecture conservation among orthologs, we carried out a large-scale study of such events between human and 40 other species spanning the entire evolutionary range. We designed a score to measure domain architecture similarity and used it to analyze differences in domain architecture conservation between orthologs and paralogs relative to the conservation of primary sequence. We also statistically characterized the extents of different types of domain swapping events across pairs of orthologs and paralogs. Results The analysis shows that orthologs exhibit greater domain architecture conservation than paralogous homologs, even when differences in average sequence divergence are compensated for, for homologs that have diverged beyond a certain threshold. We interpret this as an indication of a stronger selective pressure on orthologs than paralogs to retain the domain architecture required for the proteins to perform a specific function. In general, orthologs as well as the closest paralogous homologs have very similar domain architectures, even at large evolutionary separation. The most common domain architecture changes observed in both ortholog and paralog pairs involved insertion/deletion of new domains, while domain shuffling and segment duplication/deletion were very infrequent. Conclusions On the whole, our results support the hypothesis that function conservation between orthologs demands higher domain architecture conservation than other types of homologs, relative to primary sequence conservation. This supports the

Effects of sub-domain structure on initial magnetization curve and domain size distribution of stacked media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, S.; Kumagai, S.; Sugita, R.

2015-01-01

In this paper, in order to confirm the sub-domain structure in stacked media demagnetized with in-plane field, initial magnetization curves and magnetic domain size distribution were investigated. Both experimental and simulation results showed that an initial magnetization curve for the medium demagnetized with in-plane field (MDI) initially rose faster than that for the medium demagnetized with perpendicular field (MDP). It is inferred that this is because the MDI has a larger number of domain walls than the MDP due to the existence of the sub-domains, resulting in an increase in the probability of domain wall motion. Dispersion of domain size for the MDI was larger than that for the MDP. This is because sub-domains are formed not only inside the domain but also at the domain boundary region, and they change the position of the domain boundary to affect the domain size. - Highlights: • An initial magnetization curve for MDI initially rose faster than that for MDP. • Dispersion of domain size for the MDI was larger than that for the MDP. • Experimental and simulation results can be explained by existence of sub-domains

A Review of Domain Modelling and Domain Imaging Techniques in Ferroelectric Crystals

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John E. Huber

2011-02-01

Full Text Available The present paper reviews models of domain structure in ferroelectric crystals, thin films and bulk materials. Common crystal structures in ferroelectric materials are described and the theory of compatible domain patterns is introduced. Applications to multi-rank laminates are presented. Alternative models employing phase-field and related techniques are reviewed. The paper then presents methods of observing ferroelectric domain structure, including optical, polarized light, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray and neutron diffraction, atomic force microscopy and piezo-force microscopy. Use of more than one technique for unambiguous identification of the domain structure is also described.

Interaction of GlnK with the GAF domain of Herbaspirillum seropedicae NifA mediates NH₄⁺-regulation.

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Oliveira, Marco A S; Aquino, Bruno; Bonatto, Ana Claudia; Huergo, Luciano F; Chubatsu, Leda S; Pedrosa, Fábio O; Souza, Emanuel M; Dixon, Ray; Monteiro, Rose A

2012-04-01

Nitrogen fixation in Herbaspirillum seropedicae is transcriptionally regulated by NifA, a σ(54) transcriptional activator with three structural domains: an N-terminal GAF domain, a catalytic AAA+ domain and a C-terminal DNA-binding domain. NifA is only active in H. seropedicae when cultures are grown in the absence of fixed nitrogen and at low oxygen tensions. There is evidence that the inactivation of NifA in response to fixed nitrogen is mediated by the regulatory GAF domain. However, the mechanism of NifA repression by the GAF domain, as well as the transduction of nitrogen status to NifA, is not understood. In order to study the regulation of NifA activity by fixed nitrogen independently of oxygen regulation, we constructed a chimeric protein containing the GAF domain of H. seropedicae NifA fused to the AAA+ and C-terminal domains of Azotobacter vinelandii NifA. This chimeric protein (NifAQ1) lacks the cysteine motif found in oxygen sensitive NifA proteins and is not oxygen responsive in vivo. Our results demonstrate that NifAQ1 responds to fixed nitrogen and requires GlnK protein for activity, a behavior similar to H. seropedicae NifA. In addition, protein footprinting analysis indicates that this response probably involves a protein-protein contact between the GAF domain and the GlnK protein. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Evaluating the Clinical Learning Environment: Resident and Fellow Perceptions of Patient Safety Culture.

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Bump, Gregory M; Calabria, Jaclyn; Gosman, Gabriella; Eckart, Catherine; Metro, David G; Jasti, Harish; McCausland, Julie B; Itri, Jason N; Patel, Rita M; Buchert, Andrew

2015-03-01

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has begun to evaluate teaching institutions' learning environments with Clinical Learning Environment Review visits, including trainee involvement in institutions' patient safety and quality improvement efforts. We sought to address the dearth of metrics that assess trainee patient safety perceptions of the clinical environment. Using the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC), we measured resident and fellow perceptions of patient safety culture in 50 graduate medical education programs at 10 hospitals within an integrated health system. As institution-specific physician scores were not available, resident and fellow scores on the HSOPSC were compared with national data from 29 162 practicing providers at 543 hospitals. Of the 1337 residents and fellows surveyed, 955 (71.4%) responded. Compared with national practicing providers, trainees had lower perceptions of patient safety culture in 6 of 12 domains, including teamwork within units, organizational learning, management support for patient safety, overall perceptions of patient safety, feedback and communication about error, and communication openness. Higher perceptions were observed for manager/supervisor actions promoting patient safety and for staffing. Perceptions equaled national norms in 4 domains. Perceptions of patient safety culture did not improve with advancing postgraduate year. Trainees in a large integrated health system have variable perceptions of patient safety culture, as compared with national norms for some practicing providers. Administration of the HSOPSC was feasible and acceptable to trainees, and may be used to track perceptions over time.

Chemical Shift Assignments of the C-terminal Eps15 Homology Domain-3 EH Domain*

Science.gov (United States)

Caplan, Steve; Sorgen, Paul L.

2013-01-01

The C-terminal Eps15 homology (EH) domain 3 (EHD3) belongs to a eukaryotic family of endocytic regulatory proteins and is involved in the recycling of various receptors from the early endosome to the endocytic recycling compartment or in retrograde transport from the endosomes to the Golgi. EH domains are highly conserved in the EHD family and function as protein-protein interaction units that bind to Asn-Pro-Phe (NPF) motif-containing proteins. The EH domain of EHD1 was the first C-terminal EH domain from the EHD family to be solved by NMR. The differences observed between this domain and proteins with N-terminal EH domains helped describe a mechanism for the differential binding of NPF-containing proteins. Here, structural studies were expanded to include the EHD3 EH domain. While the EHD1 and EHD3 EH domains are highly homologous, they have different protein partners. A comparison of these structures will help determine the selectivity in protein binding between the EHD family members and lead to a better understanding of their unique roles in endocytic regulation. PMID:23754701

Bioethics for clinicians: 18. Aboriginal cultures

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Ellerby, Jonathan H.; McKenzie, John; McKay, Stanley; Gariépy, Gilbert J.; Kaufert, Joseph M.

2000-01-01

Although philosophies and practices analogous to bioethics exist in Aboriginal cultures, the terms and categorical distinctions of "ethics" and "bioethics" do not generally exist. In this article we address ethical values appropriate to Aboriginal patients, rather than a preconceived "Aboriginal bioethic." Aboriginal beliefs are rooted in the context of oral history and culture. For Aboriginal people, decision-making is best understood as a process and not as the correct interpretation of a unified code. Aboriginal cultures differ from religious and cultural groups that draw on Scripture and textual foundations for their ethical beliefs and practices. Aboriginal ethical values generally emphasize holism, pluralism, autonomy, community- or family-based decision-making, and the maintenance of quality of life rather than the exclusive pursuit of a cure. Most Aboriginal belief systems also emphasize achieving balance and wellness within the domains of human life (mental, physical, emotional and spiritual). Although these bioethical tenets are important to understand and apply, examining specific applications in detail is not as useful as developing a more generalized understanding of how to approach ethical decision-making with Aboriginal people. Aboriginal ethical decisions are often situational and highly dependent on the values of the individual within the context of his or her family and community. PMID:11033715

Integrating Local Culture to Promote Character Education In Teaching Writing

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Fenny Thresia

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract : Character education plays an important part because it is not only about moral and value education. It has a higher significance of moral education, because it not only teaches what is right and what is wrong. More than that character education inculcate the habit (habituation about good things and wrong, can feel (affective domain good value and used to do (behavioral domain. So the character education linked closely associated with persistent habits practiced or implemented. It is commonly believed that the practices of English language teaching always accompanied by the insertion of foreign cultural values which are not always in line with Indonesia cultural values. The aim of this study is to improve students’ writing skill through integrating local culture material. Therefore this study focuses on designing and evaluating teaching writing material for English department students of University Muhammadiyah Metro. The result of this study shows that students have big interest and motivation in writing a text based on their local culture. The students also get moral value and character building through the material. It influences the students’ character in their daily life. Students become more polite, honest, diligent and religious.                                                                                                         Keywords: local culture, character education, writing.

Culture and ethnicity influence outcomes of the Scoliosis Research Society Instrument in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

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Morse, Lee Jae; Kawakami, Noriaki; Lenke, Lawrence G; Sucato, Daniel J; Sanders, James O; Diab, Mohammad

2012-05-20

Retrospective comparative study. To report preoperative differences in the Scoliosis Research Society Outcomes Instrument (SRS-30) between multiple US ethnicities and native Japanese and Korean children with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). The SRS-24 was developed in a US cohort with AIS. Comparative studies using the SRS-24 between US and Japanese patients showed differences, suggesting that culture might affect functional outcome. Preoperative SRS-30 outcomes were collected from 1853 children with AIS from 6 different ethnic groups: US white (1234), black (213), Hispanic (78), and Asian (29), as well as native Japanese (192) and Koreans (107). Analysis of covariance of 4 SRS-30 domains (pain, appearance, activity, and mental) was compared between groups adjusting for differences in age, sex, major curve magnitude, and body mass index. Pairwise comparisons of the 4 SRS-30 domains were adjusted for multiple comparisons, using Bonferroni correction. A P value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. Significant differences between ethnicities were found in all domains (P Culture and ethnicity influence SRS-30 outcomes in AIS. Whites reported more pain than Japanese and Koreans. Japanese and Koreans had the lowest appearance scores. Koreans additionally were distinguished by the lowest activity, mental, and total scores. These cultural and ethnic differences must be taken into account when counseling patients with AIS and studying functional outcomes.

Cultural Consensus Theory: Aggregating Continuous Responses in a Finite Interval

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Batchelder, William H.; Strashny, Alex; Romney, A. Kimball

Cultural consensus theory (CCT) consists of cognitive models for aggregating responses of "informants" to test items about some domain of their shared cultural knowledge. This paper develops a CCT model for items requiring bounded numerical responses, e.g. probability estimates, confidence judgments, or similarity judgments. The model assumes that each item generates a latent random representation in each informant, with mean equal to the consensus answer and variance depending jointly on the informant and the location of the consensus answer. The manifest responses may reflect biases of the informants. Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods were used to estimate the model, and simulation studies validated the approach. The model was applied to an existing cross-cultural dataset involving native Japanese and English speakers judging the similarity of emotion terms. The results sharpened earlier studies that showed that both cultures appear to have very similar cognitive representations of emotion terms.

The framing of scientific domains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dam Christensen, Hans

2014-01-01

domains, and UNISIST helps understanding this navigation. Design/methodology/approach The UNISIST models are tentatively applied to the domain of art history at three stages, respectively two modern, partially overlapping domains, as well as an outline of an art historical domain anno c1820...

Protein domain organisation: adding order.

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Kummerfeld, Sarah K; Teichmann, Sarah A

2009-01-29

Domains are the building blocks of proteins. During evolution, they have been duplicated, fused and recombined, to produce proteins with novel structures and functions. Structural and genome-scale studies have shown that pairs or groups of domains observed together in a protein are almost always found in only one N to C terminal order and are the result of a single recombination event that has been propagated by duplication of the multi-domain unit. Previous studies of domain organisation have used graph theory to represent the co-occurrence of domains within proteins. We build on this approach by adding directionality to the graphs and connecting nodes based on their relative order in the protein. Most of the time, the linear order of domains is conserved. However, using the directed graph representation we have identified non-linear features of domain organization that are over-represented in genomes. Recognising these patterns and unravelling how they have arisen may allow us to understand the functional relationships between domains and understand how the protein repertoire has evolved. We identify groups of domains that are not linearly conserved, but instead have been shuffled during evolution so that they occur in multiple different orders. We consider 192 genomes across all three kingdoms of life and use domain and protein annotation to understand their functional significance. To identify these features and assess their statistical significance, we represent the linear order of domains in proteins as a directed graph and apply graph theoretical methods. We describe two higher-order patterns of domain organisation: clusters and bi-directionally associated domain pairs and explore their functional importance and phylogenetic conservation. Taking into account the order of domains, we have derived a novel picture of global protein organization. We found that all genomes have a higher than expected degree of clustering and more domain pairs in forward and

Protein domain organisation: adding order

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kummerfeld Sarah K

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Domains are the building blocks of proteins. During evolution, they have been duplicated, fused and recombined, to produce proteins with novel structures and functions. Structural and genome-scale studies have shown that pairs or groups of domains observed together in a protein are almost always found in only one N to C terminal order and are the result of a single recombination event that has been propagated by duplication of the multi-domain unit. Previous studies of domain organisation have used graph theory to represent the co-occurrence of domains within proteins. We build on this approach by adding directionality to the graphs and connecting nodes based on their relative order in the protein. Most of the time, the linear order of domains is conserved. However, using the directed graph representation we have identified non-linear features of domain organization that are over-represented in genomes. Recognising these patterns and unravelling how they have arisen may allow us to understand the functional relationships between domains and understand how the protein repertoire has evolved. Results We identify groups of domains that are not linearly conserved, but instead have been shuffled during evolution so that they occur in multiple different orders. We consider 192 genomes across all three kingdoms of life and use domain and protein annotation to understand their functional significance. To identify these features and assess their statistical significance, we represent the linear order of domains in proteins as a directed graph and apply graph theoretical methods. We describe two higher-order patterns of domain organisation: clusters and bi-directionally associated domain pairs and explore their functional importance and phylogenetic conservation. Conclusion Taking into account the order of domains, we have derived a novel picture of global protein organization. We found that all genomes have a higher than expected

The complexity of amazon culture and its repercussions on the organization and representation of information

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Anderson Luiz Cardoso Rodrigues

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Introduction: It explores and analyzes the ‘Amazon culture’ domain in the context of organization and information representation. It presents concepts of culture in order to support reflections about the studied domain. Method: The supporting theoretical reference is focused on the Ranganathan’s Faceted Classification Theory and on the Theory of Integrated Levels from the Classification Research Group, as theoretical-methodological basis to build a classificatory structure model. The selection of concepts took place based on the terms resulted from an oral research in three geographical cities of Amazon: Bragança, Castanhal and Marajó archipelago. Results: The analysis of etymological origins of the words indicated the influence of foreign culture from the European, African, Asiatic and American continents in the Amazon language. Conclusions: The analysis of those results showed the feasibility of developing a working methodology in order to outline a classification structure and a set of concepts to represent the ‘Amazon culture’ domain in its fundamental roots as a basis for the building of organizing systems of knowledge.

INDIAN CUISINE AS A PASSING LINK FROM "CULTURE" TO "NATURE": INVERTING LÉVI-STRAUSS

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Mártin César Tempass

2011-06-01

Full Text Available According to Claude Lévi-Strauss, the cuisine constitutes a passing link from stage of nature to stage of culture. Based on ethnographic research among the Mbyá-Guarani, this article analyzes this assertion under the light of the Amerindian cosmology. However, the dichotomy between nature and culture does not apply to indigenous groups, since for these nature and culture constitute a hybrid. To this hybridism might also be added the domain of supernatural. In terms of analysis this hybrid configuration does not allow any kind of transition from one domain to another. Yet the transition is possible among the three possible conditions of life in cosmos – animality, humanity and divinity. Human beings may perform the transition to animality as well as the transition to divinity. But no matter the course of the transition, although in different conditions in cosmos, from humanity one will always achieve animality. As conceptualized by Lévi-Strauss, from culture always occurs the trasition to nature. However, in one direction ex-humans will control nature beings, in another one, they will be controlled by nature. This isn’t just about a peculiarity of indigenous groups, it may also be found in societies so-called “modern”, however under others shapes.

Exploring the Domain Specificity of Creativity in Children: The Relationship between a Non-Verbal Creative Production Test and Creative Problem-Solving Activities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmed Mohamed

2012-12-01

Full Text Available AbstractIn this study, we explored whether creativity was domain specific or domain general. The relationships between students’ scores on three creative problem-solving activities (math, spa-tial artistic, and oral linguistic in the DIS-COVER assessment (Discovering Intellectual Strengths and Capabilities While Observing Varied Ethnic Responses and the TCT-DP (Test of Creative Thinking-Drawing Produc-tion, a non-verbal general measure of creativi-ty, were examined. The participants were 135 first and second graders from two schools in the Southwestern United States from linguisti-cally and culturally diverse backgrounds. Pearson correlations, canonical correlations, and multiple regression analyses were calcu-lated to describe the relationship between the TCT-DP and the three DISCOVER creative problem-solving activities. We found that crea-tivity has both domain-specific and domain-general aspects, but that the domain-specific component seemed more prominent. One im-plication of these results is that educators should consider assessing creativity in specific domains to place students in special programs for gifted students rather than relying only on domain-general measures of divergent think-ing or creativity.

Insights into function of PSI domains from structure of the Met receptor PSI domain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kozlov, Guennadi; Perreault, Audrey; Schrag, Joseph D.; Park, Morag; Cygler, Miroslaw; Gehring, Kalle; Ekiel, Irena

2004-01-01

PSI domains are cysteine-rich modules found in extracellular fragments of hundreds of signaling proteins, including plexins, semaphorins, integrins, and attractins. Here, we report the solution structure of the PSI domain from the human Met receptor, a receptor tyrosine kinase critical for proliferation, motility, and differentiation. The structure represents a cysteine knot with short regions of secondary structure including a three-stranded antiparallel β-sheet and two α-helices. All eight cysteines are involved in disulfide bonds with the pattern consistent with that for the PSI domain from Sema4D. Comparison with the Sema4D structure identifies a structurally conserved core comprising the N-terminal half of the PSI domain. Interestingly, this part links adjacent SEMA and immunoglobulin domains in the Sema4D structure, suggesting that the PSI domain serves as a wedge between propeller and immunoglobulin domains and is responsible for the correct positioning of the ligand-binding site of the receptor

Resource Unavailability (RU) Per Domain Behavior

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Karagiannis, Georgios; Westberg, L.; Bader, A.; Tschofenig, Hannes; Tschofenig, H.

2006-01-01

This draft specifies a Per Domain Behavior that provides the ability to Diffserv nodes located outside Diffserv domain(s), e.g., receiver or other Diffserv enabled router to detect when the resources provided by the Diffserv domain(s) are not available. The unavailability of resources in the domain

Langue française et culture francophone en domaine ibérique nouvelles intersections

CERN Document Server

Garcia Castanyer, Maria Teresa; Desvaux, Alicia Piquer

2016-01-01

Ce volume rassemble divers travaux portant sur les différents enjeux de l'enseignement et l'apprentissage du français langue étrangère, de la traduction et de l'évolution des représentations véhiculées dans la transmission de la culture française et francophone.

Effects of parental cultural and economic status on adolescents’ life course preferences

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Keijer, M.G.; Nagel, I.; Liefbroer, A.C.

2016-01-01

This article examines to what extent adolescents' ideas about their future life course in the professional and family domain are influenced by the cultural and economic status of their parents, and to what extent these influences are mediated by parents' own preferences for their child's future life

Measuring and benchmarking safety culture: application of the safety attitudes questionnaire to an acute medical admissions unit.

Science.gov (United States)

Relihan, E; Glynn, S; Daly, D; Silke, B; Ryder, S

2009-12-01

To assess the safety culture in an acute medical admissions unit (AMAU) of a teaching hospital in order to benchmark results against international data and guide a unit-based, integrated, risk management strategy. The safety attitudes questionnaire (SAQ), a validated instrument for the measurement of safety culture was applied to an AMAU. All AMAU healthcare staff (n = 92) were surveyed: doctors, nurses, healthcare assistants (HCAs) and allied healthcare professionals (AHPs). Safety attitude scores for the overall unit and individual caregiver types were assessed across six domains of safety culture. When compared against an international benchmark, the AMAU scored significantly higher for four of the six safety domains: p < 0.01 for 'teamwork climate', 'safety climate' and 'stress recognition' and p < 0.05 for 'job satisfaction'. The difference between nurse manager scores and the overall mean for the study group was statistically significant for the domains of 'teamwork climate' (p < 0.05) and 'safety climate' (p < 0.01). HCAs scored significantly lower relative to staff overall with regard to 'working conditions' (p < 0.05) and 'perceptions of management' (p < 0.01). The SAQ was successfully applied to an AMAU setting giving a valuable insight into staff issues of concern across the safety spectrum: employee and environmental safety, clinical risk management and medication safety.

The effects of organisational culture on nurses' perceptions of their work.

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Garcia, Alessandra Bassalobre; Rocha, Fernanda Ludmilla Rossi; Pissinati, Paloma de Souza Cavalcante; Marziale, Maria Helena Palucci; Camelo, Silvia Helena Henriques; Haddad, Maria do Carmo Fernandez Lourenço

2017-07-27

This study aimed to analyse the relationship between the organisational culture and feelings of pleasure and suffering among working nursing professionals. This was a cross-sectional correlational study conducted in a tertiary hospital with 214 nursing staff over 3 months using three instruments: professional characterisation, the Brazilian Instrument for Assessment of Organisational Culture, and the Scale of Pleasure and Suffering at Work. The analysis included descriptive statistics and the Spearman correlation test. The external integration practice was the domain most frequently found in the organisational culture and the feeling of pleasure-gratification predominated among the workers. Values of cooperative professionalism and wellbeing, and practices of external integration and relationship promotion, were related to increased pleasure and decreased suffering at work. These aspects depend on the organisational culture of the institution. Investigating organisational culture facilitates the understanding of potential collective coping strategies and the organisational changes that favour good mental health in nurses.

Recovering protein-protein and domain-domain interactions from aggregation of IP-MS proteomics of coregulator complexes.

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Amin R Mazloom

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Coregulator proteins (CoRegs are part of multi-protein complexes that transiently assemble with transcription factors and chromatin modifiers to regulate gene expression. In this study we analyzed data from 3,290 immuno-precipitations (IP followed by mass spectrometry (MS applied to human cell lines aimed at identifying CoRegs complexes. Using the semi-quantitative spectral counts, we scored binary protein-protein and domain-domain associations with several equations. Unlike previous applications, our methods scored prey-prey protein-protein interactions regardless of the baits used. We also predicted domain-domain interactions underlying predicted protein-protein interactions. The quality of predicted protein-protein and domain-domain interactions was evaluated using known binary interactions from the literature, whereas one protein-protein interaction, between STRN and CTTNBP2NL, was validated experimentally; and one domain-domain interaction, between the HEAT domain of PPP2R1A and the Pkinase domain of STK25, was validated using molecular docking simulations. The scoring schemes presented here recovered known, and predicted many new, complexes, protein-protein, and domain-domain interactions. The networks that resulted from the predictions are provided as a web-based interactive application at http://maayanlab.net/HT-IP-MS-2-PPI-DDI/.

Unmet supportive care needs: a cross-cultural comparison between Hong Kong Chinese and German Caucasian women with breast cancer.

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Lam, Wendy W T; Au, Angel H Y; Wong, Jennifer H F; Lehmann, Claudia; Koch, Uwe; Fielding, Richard; Mehnert, Anja

2011-11-01

The comparison of psychosocial needs across different cultural settings can identify cultural and service impacts on psychosocial outcomes. We compare psychosocial needs in Hong Kong Chinese and German Caucasian women with breast cancer. Completed questionnaires were collected from 348 Chinese and 292 German women with breast cancer for assessing unmet psychosocial needs (Supportive Care Needs Survey Short Form), psychological distress (the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale), and listed physical and psychological symptoms. Only 11% of the participants reported not needing help for any of the 34 items. More German (14%) than Chinese women (8%) reported no unmet needs (χ(2) = 6.16, P = .013). With both samples combined, the Health System and Information domain unmet needs were the most prevalent, apart from one Psychological need domain item, "Fear about the cancer spreading." Chinese and German samples differed significantly in prevalence and patterns of unmet psychosocial needs. Multivariate adjustment for demographic, clinical, and sample characteristics, psychological distress, and symptoms showed that significantly greater unmet Health system and Information, and Patient care and support domain needs, associated with the presence of symptoms (β = .232, P German group membership, among others. German women reported more anxiety (t = 10.45, P German, but not Chinese women reporting greater anxiety and depression had greater unmet Psychological and Sexuality domain needs (P culture-specific differences in supportive care needs exist. Hong Kong Chinese women prioritize needs for information about their disease and treatment, whereas German Caucasian women prioritize physical and psychological support. Planning for cancer supportive care services or interventions to reduce unmet needs must consider cultural and/or health service contexts.

Full waveform inversion in the frequency domain using classified time-domain residual wavefields

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Son, Woohyun; Koo, Nam-Hyung; Kim, Byoung-Yeop; Lee, Ho-Young; Joo, Yonghwan

2017-04-01

We perform the acoustic full waveform inversion in the frequency domain using residual wavefields that have been separated in the time domain. We sort the residual wavefields in the time domain according to the order of absolute amplitudes. Then, the residual wavefields are separated into several groups in the time domain. To analyze the characteristics of the residual wavefields, we compare the residual wavefields of conventional method with those of our residual separation method. From the residual analysis, the amplitude spectrum obtained from the trace before separation appears to have little energy at the lower frequency bands. However, the amplitude spectrum obtained from our strategy is regularized by the separation process, which means that the low-frequency components are emphasized. Therefore, our method helps to emphasize low-frequency components of residual wavefields. Then, we generate the frequency-domain residual wavefields by taking the Fourier transform of the separated time-domain residual wavefields. With these wavefields, we perform the gradient-based full waveform inversion in the frequency domain using back-propagation technique. Through a comparison of gradient directions, we confirm that our separation method can better describe the sub-salt image than the conventional approach. The proposed method is tested on the SEG/EAGE salt-dome model. The inversion results show that our algorithm is better than the conventional gradient based waveform inversion in the frequency domain, especially for deeper parts of the velocity model.

Polymerisation of fibrin αC-domains promotes endothelial cell migration and proliferation.

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Yakovlev, S; Mikhailenko, I; Tsurupa, G; Belkin, A M; Medved, L

2014-12-01

Upon conversion of fibrinogen into fibrin, fibrinogen αC-domains containing the RGD recognition motif form ordered αC polymers. Our previous study revealed that polymerisation of these domains promotes integrin-dependent adhesion and spreading of endothelial cells, as well as integrin-mediated activation of the FAK and ERK1/2 signalling pathways. The major goal of this study was to test the impact of αC-domain polymerisation on endothelial cell migration and proliferation during wound healing, and to clarify the mechanism underlying superior activity of αC polymers toward endothelial cells. In an in vitro wound healing assay, confluent endothelial cell monolayers on tissue culture plates coated with the αC monomer or αC polymers were wounded by scratching and wound closure was monitored by time-lapse videomicroscopy. Although the plates were coated with equal amounts of αC species, as confirmed by ELISA, wound closure by the cells occurred much faster on αC polymers, indicating that αC-domain polymerisation promotes cell migration and proliferation. In agreement, endothelial cell proliferation was also more efficient on αC polymers, as revealed by cell proliferation assay. Wound closure on both types of substrates was equally inhibited by the integrin-blocking GRGDSP peptide and a specific antagonist of the ERK1/2 signalling pathway. In contrast, blocking the FAK signaling pathway by a specific antagonist decreased wound closure only on αC polymers. These results indicate that polymerisation of the αC-domains enhances integrin-dependent endothelial cell migration and proliferation mainly through the FAK signalling pathway. Furthermore, clustering of integrin-binding RGD motifs in αC polymers is the major mechanism triggering these events.

Apoplastic domains and sub-domains in the shoots of etiolated corn seedlings

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Epel, B. L.; Bandurski, R. S.

1990-01-01

Light Green, an apoplastic probe, was applied to the cut mesocotyl base or to the cut coleoptile apex of etiolated seedlings of Zea mays L. cv. Silver Queen. Probe transport was measured and its tissue distribution determined. In the mesocotyl, there is an apoplastic barrier between cortex and stele. This barrier creates two apoplastic domains which are non-communicating. A kinetic barrier exists between the apoplast of the mesocotyl stele and that of the coleoptile. This kinetic barrier is not absolute and there is limited communication between the apoplasts of the two regions. This kinetic barrier effectively creates two sub-domains. In the coleoptile, there is communication between the apoplast of the vascular strands and that of the surrounding cortical tissue. No apoplastic communication was observed between the coleoptile cortex and the mesocotyl cortex. Thus, the apoplastic space of the coleoptile cortex is a sub-domain of the integrated coleoptile domain and is separate from that of the apoplastic domain of the mesocotyl cortex.

How can healthcare organizations implement patient-centered care? Examining a large-scale cultural transformation.

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Bokhour, Barbara G; Fix, Gemmae M; Mueller, Nora M; Barker, Anna M; Lavela, Sherri L; Hill, Jennifer N; Solomon, Jeffrey L; Lukas, Carol VanDeusen

2018-03-07

Healthcare organizations increasingly are focused on providing care which is patient-centered rather than disease-focused. Yet little is known about how best to transform the culture of care in these organizations. We sought to understand key organizational factors for implementing patient-centered care cultural transformation through an examination of efforts in the US Department of Veterans Affairs. We conducted multi-day site visits at four US Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers designated as leaders in providing patient-centered care. We conducted qualitative semi-structured interviews with 108 employees (22 senior leaders, 42 middle managers, 37 front-line providers and 7 staff). Transcripts of audio recordings were analyzed using a priori codes based on the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. We used constant comparison analysis to synthesize codes into meaningful domains. Sites described actions taken to foster patient-centered care in seven domains: 1) leadership; 2) patient and family engagement; 3) staff engagement; 4) focus on innovations; 5) alignment of staff roles and priorities; 6) organizational structures and processes; 7) environment of care. Within each domain, we identified multi-faceted strategies for implementing change. These included efforts by all levels of organizational leaders who modeled patient-centered care in their interactions and fostered willingness to try novel approaches to care amongst staff. Alignment and integration of patient centered care within the organization, particularly surrounding roles, priorities and bureaucratic rules, remained major challenges. Transforming healthcare systems to focus on patient-centered care and better serve the "whole" patient is a complex endeavor. Efforts to transform healthcare culture require robust, multi-pronged efforts at all levels of the organization; leadership is only the beginning. Challenges remain for incorporating patient-centered approaches in the

Barriers and facilitators for implementing a new screening tool in an emergency department: A qualitative study applying the Theoretical Domains Framework.

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Kirk, Jeanette W; Sivertsen, Ditte M; Petersen, Janne; Nilsen, Per; Petersen, Helle V

2016-10-01

The aim was to identify the factors that were perceived as most important as facilitators or barriers to the introduction and intended use of a new tool in the emergency department among nurses and a geriatric team. A high incidence of functional decline after hospitalisation for acute medical illness has been shown in the oldest patients and those who are physically frail. In Denmark, more than 35% of older medical patients acutely admitted to the emergency department are readmitted within 90 days after discharge. A new screening tool for use in the emergency department aiming to identify patients at particularly high risk of functional decline and readmission was developed. Qualitative study based on semistructured interviews with nurses and a geriatric team in the emergency department and semistructured single interviews with their managers. The Theoretical Domains Framework guided data collection and analysis. Content analysis was performed whereby new themes and themes already existing within each domain were described. Six predominant domains were identified: (1) professional role and identity; (2) beliefs about consequences; (3) goals; (4) knowledge; (5) optimism and (6) environmental context and resources. The content analysis identified three themes, each containing two subthemes. The themes were professional role and identity, beliefs about consequences and preconditions for a successful implementation. Two different cultures were identified in the emergency department. These cultures applied to different professional roles and identity, different actions and sense making and identified how barriers and facilitators linked to the new screening tool were perceived. The results show that different cultures exist in the same local context and influence the perception of barriers and facilitators differently. These cultures must be identified and addressed when implementation is planned. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Clinical Nursing Published by John

Shifting Attitudes toward Teaching Culture within the Framework of English as an International Language

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Luis Guerra

2010-05-01

Full Text Available This study deals with the cultural dimensions of EIL, which are analysed based on the following domains: (a subjects’ attitudes toward teaching about specific cultures (native and non-native; and (b subjects’ attitudes toward teaching about culture in general. In essence, a view of culture based on native cultures can emerge from three different approaches: it may promote British culture only, it may focus on both the UK and the US, or it may incorporate other English native cultures. Likewise, a more international viewpoint can also be offered from three perspectives: it may refer to ESL contexts only, it may present both ESL and EFL communities – including the local culture – or it may introduce international aspects not specific to any culture. However, the analysis of data in this study indicates that the subjects’ attitudes toward teaching culture do not usually correspond to just one of these perspectives; rather, teachers display a manifold set of beliefs which may at times be closer or more distant to an international approach to teaching culture.

Ethics in Knowledge Organization: Two Conferences Point to a New Core in the Domain

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Richard P. Smiraglia

2015-01-01

Full Text Available http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1518-2924.2015v20nesp1p1 Two conferences called "Ethics in Information Organization (EIO," held in 2009 and 2013, brought together practitioners and scholars in knowledge organization (KO to discuss ethical decision-making for the organization of knowledge. Traditionally the notion of ethics as a component of knowledge organization has occupied a sort of background position. Concepts of cultural warrant clash with concepts of literary warrant to produce harmful knowledge organization systems. Here tools of domain analytical visualization are applied to the two EIO conferences to demonstrate the potential intension of ethics for KO. Co-word analysis helps to visualize the thematic core in the most frequently used terms: user, ethical, knowledge, national, description, and access. There clearly is a meta-level trajectory incorporating ethics and the user, while the intension includes all applied approaches to KO as well as strong recognition of national, regional, and social cultural identities. Another approach to domain analysis is to examine the social semantics (by analyzing the public record of discourse through citation patterns. Author co-citation analysis shows work anchored in the basic theoretical premises of KO, but also bringing ideas from outside the domain to bear on the problems of objective violence. A network visualization shows how the work on ethics in KO is based on the core principles of KO, but relies also on evidence from librarianship and philosophical guidance to bring forward the issues surrounding objective violence in KOS. The authors contributing to this small pair of conferences have laid out a pathway for expanding understanding of the role of ethics in KO.

DIMA 3.0: Domain Interaction Map.

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Luo, Qibin; Pagel, Philipp; Vilne, Baiba; Frishman, Dmitrij

2011-01-01

Domain Interaction MAp (DIMA, available at http://webclu.bio.wzw.tum.de/dima) is a database of predicted and known interactions between protein domains. It integrates 5807 structurally known interactions imported from the iPfam and 3did databases and 46,900 domain interactions predicted by four computational methods: domain phylogenetic profiling, domain pair exclusion algorithm correlated mutations and domain interaction prediction in a discriminative way. Additionally predictions are filtered to exclude those domain pairs that are reported as non-interacting by the Negatome database. The DIMA Web site allows to calculate domain interaction networks either for a domain of interest or for entire organisms, and to explore them interactively using the Flash-based Cytoscape Web software.

Domain fusion analysis by applying relational algebra to protein sequence and domain databases.

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Truong, Kevin; Ikura, Mitsuhiko

2003-05-06

Domain fusion analysis is a useful method to predict functionally linked proteins that may be involved in direct protein-protein interactions or in the same metabolic or signaling pathway. As separate domain databases like BLOCKS, PROSITE, Pfam, SMART, PRINTS-S, ProDom, TIGRFAMs, and amalgamated domain databases like InterPro continue to grow in size and quality, a computational method to perform domain fusion analysis that leverages on these efforts will become increasingly powerful. This paper proposes a computational method employing relational algebra to find domain fusions in protein sequence databases. The feasibility of this method was illustrated on the SWISS-PROT+TrEMBL sequence database using domain predictions from the Pfam HMM (hidden Markov model) database. We identified 235 and 189 putative functionally linked protein partners in H. sapiens and S. cerevisiae, respectively. From scientific literature, we were able to confirm many of these functional linkages, while the remainder offer testable experimental hypothesis. Results can be viewed at http://calcium.uhnres.utoronto.ca/pi. As the analysis can be computed quickly on any relational database that supports standard SQL (structured query language), it can be dynamically updated along with the sequence and domain databases, thereby improving the quality of predictions over time.

Mapping the Moral Domain

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Graham, Jesse; Nosek, Brian A.; Haidt, Jonathan; Iyer, Ravi; Koleva, Spassena; Ditto, Peter H.

2010-01-01

The moral domain is broader than the empathy and justice concerns assessed by existing measures of moral competence, and it is not just a subset of the values assessed by value inventories. To fill the need for reliable and theoretically-grounded measurement of the full range of moral concerns, we developed the Moral Foundations Questionnaire (MFQ) based on a theoretical model of five universally available (but variably developed) sets of moral intuitions: Harm/care, Fairness/reciprocity, Ingroup/loyalty, Authority/respect, and Purity/sanctity. We present evidence for the internal and external validity of the scale and the model, and in doing so present new findings about morality: 1. Comparative model fitting of confirmatory factor analyses provides empirical justification for a five-factor structure of moral concerns. 2. Convergent/discriminant validity evidence suggests that moral concerns predict personality features and social group attitudes not previously considered morally relevant. 3. We establish pragmatic validity of the measure in providing new knowledge and research opportunities concerning demographic and cultural differences in moral intuitions. These analyses provide evidence for the usefulness of Moral Foundations Theory in simultaneously increasing the scope and sharpening the resolution of psychological views of morality. PMID:21244182

Organizational culture and climate for patient safety in Intensive Care Units.

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Santiago, Thaiana Helena Roma; Turrini, Ruth Natalia Teresa

2015-02-01

Objective To assess the perception of health professionals about patient safety climate and culture in different intensive care units (ICUs) and the relationship between scores obtained on the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) and the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ). Method A cross-sectional study conducted at a teaching hospital in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, in March and April 2014. As data gathering instruments, the HSOPSC, SAQ and a questionnaire with sociodemographic and professional information about the staff working in an adult, pediatric and neonatal ICU were used. Data analysis was conducted with descriptive statistics. Results The scales presented good reliability. Greater weaknesses in patient safety were observed in the Working conditions andPerceptions of management domains of the SAQ and in the Nonpunitive response to error domain of the HSOPSC. The strengths indicated by the SAQ wereTeamwork climate and Job satisfactionand by the HSOPC, Supervisor/manager expectations and actions promoting safety and Organizational learning-continuous improvement. Job satisfaction was higher among neonatal ICU workers when compared with the other ICUs. The adult ICU presented lower scores for most of the SAQ and HSOPSC domains. The scales presented moderate correlation between them (r=0.66). Conclusion There were differences in perception regarding patient safety among ICUs, which corroborates the existence of local microcultures. The study did not demonstrate equivalence between the SAQ and the HSOPSC.

Connective Tissue Growth Factor Domain 4 Amplifies Fibrotic Kidney Disease through Activation of LDL Receptor-Related Protein 6.

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Johnson, Bryce G; Ren, Shuyu; Karaca, Gamze; Gomez, Ivan G; Fligny, Cécile; Smith, Benjamin; Ergun, Ayla; Locke, George; Gao, Benbo; Hayes, Sebastian; MacDonnell, Scott; Duffield, Jeremy S

2017-06-01

Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), a matrix-associated protein with four distinct cytokine binding domains, has roles in vasculogenesis, wound healing responses, and fibrogenesis and is upregulated in fibroblasts and myofibroblasts in disease. Here, we investigated the role of CTGF in fibrogenic cells. In mice, tissue-specific inducible overexpression of CTGF by kidney pericytes and fibroblasts had no bearing on nephrogenesis or kidney homeostasis but exacerbated inflammation and fibrosis after ureteral obstruction. These effects required the WNT receptor LDL receptor-related protein 6 (LRP6). Additionally, pericytes isolated from these mice became hypermigratory and hyperproliferative on overexpression of CTGF. CTGF is cleaved in vivo into distinct domains. Treatment with recombinant domain 1, 1+2 (N terminus), or 4 (C terminus) independently activated myofibroblast differentiation and wound healing responses in cultured pericytes, but domain 4 showed the broadest profibrotic activity. Domain 4 exhibited low-affinity binding to LRP6 in in vitro binding assays, and inhibition of LRP6 or critical signaling cascades downstream of LRP6, including JNK and WNT/ β -catenin, inhibited the biologic activity of domain 4. Administration of blocking antibodies specifically against CTGF domain 4 or recombinant Dickkopf-related protein-1, an endogenous inhibitor of LRP6, effectively inhibited inflammation and fibrosis associated with ureteral obstruction in vivo Therefore, domain 4 of CTGF and the WNT signaling pathway are important new targets in fibrosis. Copyright © 2017 by the American Society of Nephrology.

Single-domain versus two-domain configuration in thin ferromagnetic prisms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pini, Maria Gloria; Politi, Paolo

2007-01-01

Thin ferromagnetic elements in the form of rectangular prisms are theoretically investigated in order to study the transition from single-domain to two-domain state, with changing the in-plane aspect ratio p. We address two main questions: first, how general is the transition; second, how the critical value p c depends on the physical parameters. We use two complementary methods: discrete-lattice calculations and a micromagnetic continuum approach. Ultrathin films do not appear to split in two domains. Instead, thicker films may undergo the above transition. We have used the continuum approach to analyze recent magnetic force microscopy observations in 30nm-thick patterned permalloy elements, finding a good agreement for p c

Topological domain walls in helimagnets

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Schoenherr, P.; Müller, J.; Köhler, L.; Rosch, A.; Kanazawa, N.; Tokura, Y.; Garst, M.; Meier, D.

2018-05-01

Domain walls naturally arise whenever a symmetry is spontaneously broken. They interconnect regions with different realizations of the broken symmetry, promoting structure formation from cosmological length scales to the atomic level1,2. In ferroelectric and ferromagnetic materials, domain walls with unique functionalities emerge, holding great promise for nanoelectronics and spintronics applications3-5. These walls are usually of Ising, Bloch or Néel type and separate homogeneously ordered domains. Here we demonstrate that a wide variety of new domain walls occurs in the presence of spatially modulated domain states. Using magnetic force microscopy and micromagnetic simulations, we show three fundamental classes of domain walls to arise in the near-room-temperature helimagnet iron germanium. In contrast to conventional ferroics, the domain walls exhibit a well-defined inner structure, which—analogous to cholesteric liquid crystals—consists of topological disclination and dislocation defects. Similar to the magnetic skyrmions that form in the same material6,7, the domain walls can carry a finite topological charge, permitting an efficient coupling to spin currents and contributions to a topological Hall effect. Our study establishes a new family of magnetic nano-objects with non-trivial topology, opening the door to innovative device concepts based on helimagnetic domain walls.

N-domain angiotensin-I converting enzyme is expressed in immortalized mesangial, proximal tubule and collecting duct cells.

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Mei Wang, Pamella Huey; Andrade, Maria Claudina; Quinto, Beata Marie Redublo; Di Marco, Giovana; Mortara, Renato Arruda; Vio, Carlos P; Casarini, Dulce Elena

2015-01-01

Somatic ACE (sACE) is found in glomerulus, proximal tubule and excreted in urine. We hypothesized that N-domain ACE can also be found at these sites. ACE profile was analyzed in mesangial (IMC), proximal (LLC-PK1), distal tubule (MDCK) and collecting duct (IMCD) cells. Cell lysate and culture medium were submitted to gel filtration chromatography, which separated two peaks with ACE activity from cells and medium, except from distal tubule. The first had a high molecular weight and the second, a lower one (65 kDa; N-domain ACE). We focused on N-domain ACE purification and characterization from LLC-PK1. Total LLC-PK1 N-domain ACE purification was achieved by ion-exchange chromatography, which presented only one peak with ACE activity, denominated ACE(int2A). ACE(int2A) activity was influenced by pH, NaCl and temperature. The purified enzyme was inhibited by Captopril and hydrolyzed AngI, Ang1-7 and AcSDKP. Its ability to hydrolyze AcSDKP characterized it as an N-domain ACE. ACE(int2A) also presented high amino acid sequence homology with the N-terminal part of sACE from mouse, rat, human and rabbit. The presence of secreted and intracellular N-domain ACE and sACE in IMC, LLC-PK1 and IMCD cells confirmed our studies along the nephron. We identified, purified and characterized N-domain ACE from LLC-PK1. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Teaching ethics: when respect for autonomy and cultural sensitivity collide.

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Minkoff, Howard

2014-04-01

Respect for autonomy is a key ethical principle. However, in some cultures other moral domains such as community (emphasizing the importance of family roles) and sanctity (emphasizing the sacred and the spiritual side of human nature) hold equal value. Thus, an American physician may sometimes perceive a conflict between the desire to practice ethically and the wish to be sensitive to the mores of other cultures. For example, a woman may appear to be making what the physician thinks is a bad clinical choice because her spouse is speaking on her behalf. That physician may find it difficult to reconcile the sense that the patient had not exercised freely her autonomy with the desire to be culturally sensitive. In this article, the means by which a physician can reconcile respect for other cultures with respect for autonomy is explored. The question of whether physicians must always defer to patients' requests solely because they are couched in the language of cultural sensitivity is also addressed. Copyright © 2014 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Back to the Future? History, Material Culture and New Materialism

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Hans Schouwenburg

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The study of history currently witnesses two markedly different material turns. Some historians are using material artefacts as alternatives to textual sources. Others draw on ‘new materialism’, a new tradition in thought that originated in the field of gender studies. Both groups are trying to move beyond the cultural turn, which has dominated the study of history since the 1980s. However, the first group merely extends the programme of the cultural turn into new domains without rejecting its methods or epistemological foundations. The latter group, on the other hand, provides a new cultural theory. This article demonstrates that the ‘new’ in new materialism is not so much an increased engagement with the material world, but rather a new conceptualization of developing theory and reading texts, which cuts through established dichotomies between matter and meaning or culture and the social. In doing so, a new materialist history can solve some of the problems associated with the cultural turn and the turn to material artefacts.

Water velocity in commercial RAS culture tanks for Atlantic salmon smolt production

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An optimal flow domain in culture tanks is vital for fish growth and welfare. This paper presents empirical data on rotational velocity and water quality in circular and octagonal tanks at two large commercial smolt production sites, with an approximate production rate of 1000 and 1300 ton smolt ann...

An integrative review of ethnic and cultural variation in socialization and children's self-regulation.

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LeCuyer, Elizabeth A; Zhang, Yi

2015-04-01

To examine the evidence for cross-cultural variation in socialization and children's normative self-regulation, based on a contextual-developmental perspective. Nurses and healthcare workers in multi-cultural societies must understand diversity in socializing influences (including parenting) and in children's behaviour. A contextual-developmental perspective implies that normative cultural and ethnic values will influence socializing processes and behaviour, which in turn will influence children's self-regulation. Integrative review. Studies were located using five major search engines from 1990-2011. Domains of a contextual-developmental perspective and a comprehensive definition of self-regulation assisted the generation of search terms. Selected studies compared at least two ethnic or cultural groups and addressed contextual-developmental domains: (1) culturally specific social values, beliefs, or attitudes; (2) socializing behaviours; and (3) children's normative self-regulation. Eleven studies about children's self-regulation were found to have data consistent with a contextual-developmental perspective. Studies used descriptive correlational or comparative designs with primarily convenience sampling; eight confirmed stated hypotheses, three were exploratory. Findings across studies evidenced coherent patterns of sociocultural influence on children's attention, compliance, delay of gratification, effortful control and executive function. A contextual-developmental perspective provided a useful perspective to examine normative differences in values, socializing behaviours and children's self-regulation. This perspective and these findings are expected to guide future research, to assist nurses and healthcare providers to understand diversity in parenting and children's behaviour. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Prediction Reweighting for Domain Adaptation.

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Shuang Li; Shiji Song; Gao Huang

2017-07-01

There are plenty of classification methods that perform well when training and testing data are drawn from the same distribution. However, in real applications, this condition may be violated, which causes degradation of classification accuracy. Domain adaptation is an effective approach to address this problem. In this paper, we propose a general domain adaptation framework from the perspective of prediction reweighting, from which a novel approach is derived. Different from the major domain adaptation methods, our idea is to reweight predictions of the training classifier on testing data according to their signed distance to the domain separator, which is a classifier that distinguishes training data (from source domain) and testing data (from target domain). We then propagate the labels of target instances with larger weights to ones with smaller weights by introducing a manifold regularization method. It can be proved that our reweighting scheme effectively brings the source and target domains closer to each other in an appropriate sense, such that classification in target domain becomes easier. The proposed method can be implemented efficiently by a simple two-stage algorithm, and the target classifier has a closed-form solution. The effectiveness of our approach is verified by the experiments on artificial datasets and two standard benchmarks, a visual object recognition task and a cross-domain sentiment analysis of text. Experimental results demonstrate that our method is competitive with the state-of-the-art domain adaptation algorithms.

Safety culture and the 5 steps to safer surgery: an intervention study.

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Hill, M R; Roberts, M J; Alderson, M L; Gale, T C E

2015-06-01

Improvements in safety culture have been postulated as one of the mechanisms underlying the association between the introduction of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist with perioperative briefings and debriefings, and enhanced patient outcomes. The 5 Steps to Safer Surgery (5SSS) incorporates pre-list briefings, the three steps of the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist (SSC) and post-list debriefings in one framework. We aimed to identify any changes in safety culture associated with the introduction of the 5SSS in orthopaedic operating theatres. We assessed the safety culture in the elective orthopaedic theatres of a large UK teaching hospital before and after introduction of the 5SSS using a modified version of the Safety Attitude Questionnaire - Operating Room (SAQ-OR). Primary outcome measures were pre-post intervention changes in the six safety culture domains of the SAQ-OR. We also analysed changes in responses to two items regarding perioperative briefings. The SAQ-OR survey response rate was 80% (60/75) at baseline and 74% (53/72) one yr later. There were significant improvements in both the reported frequency (Pculture domain scores (Working Conditions, Perceptions of Management, Job Satisfaction, Safety Climate and Teamwork Climate) of the SAQ-OR (Pculture of elective orthopaedic operating theatres. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Journal of Anaesthesia. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

A localized interaction surface for voltage-sensing domains on the pore domain of a K+ channel.

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Li-Smerin, Y; Hackos, D H; Swartz, K J

2000-02-01

Voltage-gated K+ channels contain a central pore domain and four surrounding voltage-sensing domains. How and where changes in the structure of the voltage-sensing domains couple to the pore domain so as to gate ion conduction is not understood. The crystal structure of KcsA, a bacterial K+ channel homologous to the pore domain of voltage-gated K+ channels, provides a starting point for addressing this question. Guided by this structure, we used tryptophan-scanning mutagenesis on the transmembrane shell of the pore domain in the Shaker voltage-gated K+ channel to localize potential protein-protein and protein-lipid interfaces. Some mutants cause only minor changes in gating and when mapped onto the KcsA structure cluster away from the interface between pore domain subunits. In contrast, mutants producing large changes in gating tend to cluster near this interface. These results imply that voltage-sensing domains interact with localized regions near the interface between adjacent pore domain subunits.

A DEFINITION OF AUTHENTICITY CONCEPT IN CONSERVATION OF CULTURAL LANDSCAPES

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Somayeh Fadaei Nezhad

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Cultural landscape can be defined as the result of human interaction with nature over time, which has led to the formation of the many and diverse layers of value. Currently, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre has a unique role among other scientific associations. In recent years, the World Heritage Center has put efforts into developing a framework and measures for evaluation and management of cultural landscapes. Moreover, the concept of authenticity; as the transmitter of values and significance of cultural landscape, is considered as the key component in the process of cultural landscape conservation. A lot of scientific resources have pointed out the importance of authenticity in the process of conserving cultural landscapes. However, the role of authenticity within the domain of conservation of cultural landscapes has received little attention. One of the main reasons can be lack of adaptation between conventional definitions of UNESCO and international documents concerning the authenticity for including the flexible and dynamic structure of cultural landscapes around the world. Therefore, this paper seeks to explore and develop a flexible framework in order to redefine the concept of authenticity in relation to cultural landscapes, which has some overlaps with UNESCO definitions despite its differences. For developing this framework, Iranian-Islamic philosophy of Mollasadra is applied and described with some examples of cultural landscapes in Iran.

Supersymmetric domain walls

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bergshoeff, Eric A.; Kleinschmidt, Axel; Riccioni, Fabio

2012-01-01

We classify the half-supersymmetric "domain walls," i.e., branes of codimension one, in toroidally compactified IIA/IIB string theory and show to which gauged supergravity theory each of these domain walls belong. We use as input the requirement of supersymmetric Wess-Zumino terms, the properties of

Secular trends on traditional ecological knowledge: An analysis of different domains of knowledge among Tsimane' men.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2013-10-01

Empirical research provides contradictory evidence of the loss of traditional ecological knowledge across societies. Researchers have argued that culture, methodological differences, and site-specific conditions are responsible for such contradictory evidences. We advance and test a third explanation: the adaptive nature of traditional ecological knowledge systems. Specifically, we test whether different domains of traditional ecological knowledge experience different secular changes and analyze trends in the context of other changes in livelihoods. We use data collected among 651 Tsimane' men (Bolivian Amazon). Our findings indicate that different domains of knowledge follow different secular trends. Among the domains of knowledge analyzed, medicinal and wild edible knowledge appear as the most vulnerable; canoe building and firewood knowledge seem to remain constant across generations; whereas house building knowledge seems to experience a slight secular increase. Our analysis reflects on the adaptive nature of traditional ecological knowledge, highlighting how changes in this knowledge system respond to the particular needs of a society in a given point of time.

An ankyrin-like protein with transmembrane domains is specifically lost after oncogenic transformation of human fibroblasts.

Science.gov (United States)

Jaquemar, D; Schenker, T; Trueb, B

1999-03-12

We have identified a novel transformation-sensitive mRNA, which is present in cultured fibroblasts but is lacking in SV40 transformed cells as well as in many mesenchymal tumor cell lines. The corresponding gene is located on human chromosome 8 in band 8q13. The open reading frame of the mRNA encodes a protein of 1119 amino acids forming two distinct domains. The N-terminal domain consists of 18 repeats that are related to the cytoskeletal protein ankyrin. The C-terminal domain contains six putative transmembrane segments that resemble many ion channels. This overall structure is reminiscent of TRP-like proteins that function as store-operated calcium channels. The novel protein with an Mr of 130 kDa is expressed at a very low level in human fibroblasts and at a moderate level in liposarcoma cells. Overexpression in eukaryotic cells appears to interfere with normal growth, suggesting that it might play a direct or indirect role in signal transduction and growth control.

The Cultural Ideological Contestation in National Examination

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Kerta Adhi Made

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research was to find out the forms and the factors leading to the contestation of cultural ideology in National Examination. This research utilized Qualitative Research method and the approach of Cultural Studies. Based on the analysis, it was found that the forms of ideological contestation, specifically, centralistic, prioritizing on the result of cognitive domain, and imaging. The factors which caused consisted of political of education, state policies, and socio-cultural. The implications of this research were (1 There was shifting of educational values into capitalism, (2 The meaning of learning became limited in which it was just purposed at facing National Examination, (3 Educational services have shifted from humanist public services to commodification of education, with the result that honesty was marginalized. Eventhough the government has developed sophisticated system and very tight supervision, if the character of the subjects are not formed and cultured, accordingly, the National Examination stated honest and achievement oriented will be just a slogan. Therefore, the education system needs to be improved. The education paradigm which is more emphasized on the increasing of intellectual intelligence by multiple choice tests and scores needs to be deconstructed by adjusting with Indonesian cultural values based on “Pancasila” as ideological foundation and developing character education to the children from early age.

Interdisciplinary and Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Explanatory Coexistence.

Science.gov (United States)

Watson-Jones, Rachel E; Busch, Justin T A; Legare, Cristine H

2015-10-01

Natural and supernatural explanations are used to interpret the same events in a number of predictable and universal ways. Yet little is known about how variation in diverse cultural ecologies influences how people integrate natural and supernatural explanations. Here, we examine explanatory coexistence in three existentially arousing domains of human thought: illness, death, and human origins using qualitative data from interviews conducted in Tanna, Vanuatu. Vanuatu, a Melanesian archipelago, provides a cultural context ideal for examining variation in explanatory coexistence due to the lack of industrialization and the relatively recent introduction of Christianity and Western education. We argue for the integration of interdisciplinary methodologies from cognitive science and anthropology to inform research on explanatory coexistence. Copyright © 2015 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Interoperable domain models: the ISO land administration domain model LADM and its external classes

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Lemmen, CHJ

2011-09-01

Full Text Available This paper provides a brief overview of one of the first spatial domain standards: a standard for the domain of Land Administration (LA). This standard is in the draft stage of development now (May 2011). The development of domain standards is a...

Suburban development – a search for public domains in Danish suburban neighbourhoods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Melgaard, Bente; Bech-Danielsen, Claus

These years some of the post-war Danish suburbs are facing great challenges – social segregation, demographic changes and challenges in building technology. In particular, segregation prevents social life from unfolding across social, economic and cultural borders. Therefore, in this paper......, potentials for bridge-building across the enclaves of the suburb are looked for through a combined architectural-anthropological mapping of public spaces in a specific suburb in Denmark, the analyses being carried out in the light of Hajer & Reijndorp’s definition of public domains and the term exchange...

Rethinking “culture”: A cultural-materialist account of social space

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Marie Moran

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Studies in sociology and political economy typically depend on a shared, problematic vision of social space; what I call the “separate spheres” model, which divides social space into discrete, quasi-geographical bounded domains labelled “culture”, “economy”, “politics” and so on. Where this “separate spheres” model underpins and informs theoretical or empirical work, it creates various analytical difficulties, including, historically, the treatment of culture as the derivative “effect” of other spheres. The recently emergent field of cultural economy attempts to remedy this deficiency in various ways, and while it succeeds in revaluing culture as a causal force itself, it fails to fully resolve the difficulties associated with the underlying map of social space. In this paper, I put forward a cultural materialist map of social space, which, drawing on and developing the work of Raymond Williams and Pierre Bourdieu, refuses this demarcation of social space into discrete bounded “spheres”, and offers a means of conceptualizing the causal power of the cultural without succumbing to idealism. Remaining resolutely attentive to the sociality and materiality of the world, this approach reaffirms the importance of the earlier “cultural studies” of Williams and Bourdieu to the new paradigm of cultural economy.

Multifunctionalities driven by ferroic domains

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, J. C.; Huang, Y. L.; He, Q.; Chu, Y. H.

2014-08-01

Considerable attention has been paid to ferroic systems in pursuit of advanced applications in past decades. Most recently, the emergence and development of multiferroics, which exhibit the coexistence of different ferroic natures, has offered a new route to create functionalities in the system. In this manuscript, we step from domain engineering to explore a roadmap for discovering intriguing phenomena and multifunctionalities driven by periodic domain patters. As-grown periodic domains, offering exotic order parameters, periodic local perturbations and the capability of tailoring local spin, charge, orbital and lattice degrees of freedom, are introduced as modeling templates for fundamental studies and novel applications. We discuss related significant findings on ferroic domain, nanoscopic domain walls, and conjunct heterostructures based on the well-organized domain patterns, and end with future prospects and challenges in the field.

Text Processing of Domain-Related Information for Individuals with High and Low Domain Knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Spilich, George J.; And Others

1979-01-01

The way in which previously acquired knowledge affects the processing on new domain-related information was investigated. Text processing was studied in two groups differing in knowledge of the domain of baseball. A knowledge structure for the domain was constructed, and text propositions were classified. (SW)

New light on the maritime archaeology of Porbandar, Saurashtra Coast, Gujarat

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Gaur, A.S.; Sundaresh; Odedra, A.D.

sites, etc.; similar to those found at Dwarka, Bet Dwarka and Somnath (Gaur et al. 2002, 2003). Porbandar has been referred to as Bardaxema, by Ptolemy. Burgess identified this as Bardiya, situated close to Srinagar, a term reminiscence of the Greek name... close to the creek, boats may have been berthed about 3500 years ago. The site would have been an important port during the late Harappan period. The pottery is very similar to Rangpur IIC (Rao 1963) and Bet Dwarka (Gaur and Sundaresh 2003). From...

Threats and opportunities for new audiovisual cultural heritage archive services: the Dutch case

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ongena, G.; Huizer, E.; van de Wijngaert, Lidwien

2012-01-01

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the business-to-consumer market for digital audiovisual archiving services. In doing so we identify drivers, threats, and opportunities for new services based on audiovisual archives in the cultural heritage domain. By analyzing the market we provide

Functional interchangeability of late domains, late domain cofactors and ubiquitin in viral budding.

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Maria Zhadina

2010-10-01

Full Text Available The membrane scission event that separates nascent enveloped virions from host cell membranes often requires the ESCRT pathway, which can be engaged through the action of peptide motifs, termed late (L- domains, in viral proteins. Viral PTAP and YPDL-like L-domains bind directly to the ESCRT-I and ALIX components of the ESCRT pathway, while PPxY motifs bind Nedd4-like, HECT-domain containing, ubiquitin ligases (e.g. WWP1. It has been unclear precisely how ubiquitin ligase recruitment ultimately leads to particle release. Here, using a lysine-free viral Gag protein derived from the prototypic foamy virus (PFV, where attachment of ubiquitin to Gag can be controlled, we show that several different HECT domains can replace the WWP1 HECT domain in chimeric ubiquitin ligases and drive budding. Moreover, artificial recruitment of isolated HECT domains to Gag is sufficient to stimulate budding. Conversely, the HECT domain becomes dispensable if the other domains of WWP1 are directly fused to an ESCRT-1 protein. In each case where budding is driven by a HECT domain, its catalytic activity is essential, but Gag ubiquitination is dispensable, suggesting that ubiquitin ligation to trans-acting proteins drives budding. Paradoxically, however, we also demonstrate that direct fusion of a ubiquitin moiety to the C-terminus of PFV Gag can also promote budding, suggesting that ubiquitination of Gag can substitute for ubiquitination of trans-acting proteins. Depletion of Tsg101 and ALIX inhibits budding that is dependent on ubiquitin that is fused to Gag, or ligated to trans-acting proteins through the action of a PPxY motif. These studies underscore the flexibility in the ways that the ESCRT pathway can be engaged, and suggest a model in which the identity of the protein to which ubiquitin is attached is not critical for subsequent recruitment of ubiquitin-binding components of the ESCRT pathway and viral budding to proceed.

Cultural Intelligence and Writing Ability: Delving into Fluency, Accuracy and Complexity

Science.gov (United States)

Ghonsooly, Behzad; Shalchy, Somayye

2013-01-01

Over the recent decades, cultural intelligence, now referred to as CQ has become a burgeoning area of research in the domain of business and management. Given the paucity of research on the effects of CQ on second or foreign language learning especially writing, this study intends to examine the effects of CQ on L2 learners' written performance…

Identification of a Paralog-Specific Notch1 Intracellular Domain Degron

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Matthew R. Broadus

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Upon Notch pathway activation, the receptor is cleaved to release the Notch intracellular domain (NICD, which translocates to the nucleus to activate gene transcription. Using Xenopus egg extracts, we have identified a Notch1-specific destruction signal (N1-Box. We show that mutations in the N1-Box inhibit NICD1 degradation and that the N1-Box is transferable for the promotion of degradation of heterologous proteins in Xenopus egg extracts and in cultured human cells. Mutation of the N1-Box enhances Notch1 activity in cultured human cells and zebrafish embryos. Human cancer mutations within the N1-Box enhance Notch1 signaling in transgenic zebrafish, highlighting the physiological relevance of this destruction signal. We find that binding of the Notch nuclear factor, CSL, to the N1-Box blocks NICD1 turnover. Our studies reveal a mechanism by which degradation of NICD1 is regulated by the N1-Box to minimize stochastic flux and to establish a threshold for Notch1 pathway activation.

Cognitive cladistics and cultural override in Hominid spatial cognition

OpenAIRE

Haun, D.; Rapold, C.; Call, J.; Janzen, G.; Levinson, S.

2006-01-01

Current approaches to human cognition often take a strong nativist stance based on Western adult performance, backed up where possible by neonate and infant research and almost never by comparative research across the Hominidae. Recent research suggests considerable cross-cultural differences in cognitive strategies, including relational thinking, a domain where infant research is impossible because of lack of cognitive maturation. Here, we apply the same paradigm across children and adults o...

Beethoven's Last Piano Sonata and Those Who Follow Crocodiles: Cross-Domain Mappings of Auditory Pitch in a Musical Context

Science.gov (United States)

Eitan, Zohar; Timmers, Renee

2010-01-01

Though auditory pitch is customarily mapped in Western cultures onto spatial verticality (high-low), both anthropological reports and cognitive studies suggest that pitch may be mapped onto a wide variety of other domains. We collected a total number of 35 pitch mappings and investigated in four experiments how these mappings are used and…

KEJAHATAN NAMA DOMAIN BERKAITAN DENGAN MEREK

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Muhammad Nizar

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Indonesia already has an ITE Law governing domain names in general terms and on certain provisions in chapter VI, but the regulation of domain name crimes is not regulated in the ITE Law as mandated in the academic draft of the ITE Bill. The absence of regulation of domain name norm in the ITE Law creates problems with registrant of domain name (registrant which deliberately register the domain name is bad faith. The characteristic of a crime in a domain name relating to the mark is that the registered domain name has an equation in essence with another party’s well-known brand, the act of doing so by exploiting a reputation for well-known or previously commercially valuable names as domain names for addresses for sites (websites it manages. The Prosecutor may include articles of the KUHP in filing his indictment before the Court during the absence of special regulatory provisions concerning domain name crime.

Ligand binding by PDZ domains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chi, Celestine N.; Bach, Anders; Strømgaard, Kristian

2012-01-01

, for example, are particularly rich in these domains. The general function of PDZ domains is to bring proteins together within the appropriate cellular compartment, thereby facilitating scaffolding, signaling, and trafficking events. The many functions of PDZ domains under normal physiological as well...... as pathological conditions have been reviewed recently. In this review, we focus on the molecular details of how PDZ domains bind their protein ligands and their potential as drug targets in this context....

Bacillus anthracis TIR Domain-Containing Protein Localises to Cellular Microtubule Structures and Induces Autophagy.

Science.gov (United States)

Carlsson, Emil; Thwaite, Joanne E; Jenner, Dominic C; Spear, Abigail M; Flick-Smith, Helen; Atkins, Helen S; Byrne, Bernadette; Ding, Jeak Ling

2016-01-01

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) recognise invading pathogens and mediate downstream immune signalling via Toll/IL-1 receptor (TIR) domains. TIR domain proteins (Tdps) have been identified in multiple pathogenic bacteria and have recently been implicated as negative regulators of host innate immune activation. A Tdp has been identified in Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax. Here we present the first study of this protein, designated BaTdp. Recombinantly expressed and purified BaTdp TIR domain interacted with several human TIR domains, including that of the key TLR adaptor MyD88, although BaTdp expression in cultured HEK293 cells had no effect on TLR4- or TLR2- mediated immune activation. During expression in mammalian cells, BaTdp localised to microtubular networks and caused an increase in lipidated cytosolic microtubule-associated protein 1A/1B-light chain 3 (LC3), indicative of autophagosome formation. In vivo intra-nasal infection experiments in mice showed that a BaTdp knockout strain colonised host tissue faster with higher bacterial load within 4 days post-infection compared to the wild type B. anthracis. Taken together, these findings indicate that BaTdp does not play an immune suppressive role, but rather, its absence increases virulence. BaTdp present in wild type B. anthracis plausibly interact with the infected host cell, which undergoes autophagy in self-defence.

Incorporation of a hinge domain improves the expansion of chimeric antigen receptor T cells

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Le Qin

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Multiple iterations of chimeric antigen receptors (CARs have been developed, mainly focusing on intracellular signaling modules. However, the effect of non-signaling extracellular modules on the expansion and therapeutic efficacy of CARs remains largely undefined. Methods We generated two versions of CAR vectors, with or without a hinge domain, targeting CD19, mesothelin, PSCA, MUC1, and HER2, respectively. Then, we systematically compared the effect of the hinge domains on the growth kinetics, cytokine production, and cytotoxicity of CAR T cells in vitro and in vivo. Results During in vitro culture period, the percentages and absolute numbers of T cells expressing the CARs containing a hinge domain continuously increased, mainly through the promotion of CD4+ CAR T cell expansion, regardless of the single-chain variable fragment (scFv. In vitro migration assay showed that the hinges enhanced CAR T cells migratory capacity. The T cells expressing anti-CD19 CARs with or without a hinge had similar antitumor capacities in vivo, whereas the T cells expressing anti-mesothelin CARs containing a hinge domain showed enhanced antitumor activities. Conclusions Hence, our results demonstrate that a hinge contributes to CAR T cell expansion and is capable of increasing the antitumor efficacy of some specific CAR T cells. Our results suggest potential novel strategies in CAR vector design.

Inter-Group and Intra-Group Assertiveness: Adolescents' Social Skills Following Cultural Transition

Science.gov (United States)

Korem, Anat; Horenczyk, Gabriel; Tatar, Moshe

2012-01-01

The goals of this study were to examine intra-group and inter-group assertiveness among adolescents, and to compare these two domains of assertiveness between cultural groups in Israel. Measures of intra-group and inter-group assertiveness were developed, and questionnaires were administrated to 441 immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU),…

Multiracial competence in social work: recommendations for culturally attuned work with multiracial people.

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson, Kelly E; Samuels, Gina M

2011-07-01

According to the 2010 U.S. census, approximately 9 million individuals report multiracial identities. By the year 2050, as many as one in five Americans could claim a multiracial background. Despite this population growth, a review of recent empirical and theoretical literature in social work suggests a disproportionate lack of attention to issues ofmultiraciality. Instead, social work practice models remain embedded in traditional societal discourses of race and culture that often exclude or marginalize the experiences of multiracial individuals and families.This article summarizes recommendations following the domains of awareness, knowledge, and skills in the NASW Standards for Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice to support culturally attuned social work practice with multiracial people. The authors argue that a culturally attuned practice approach--one that is inclusive of multiraciality--is not only timely, but also consistent with the profession's ethical obligation to provide culturally relevant services to all consumers and clients.

Functional dissection of the Hox protein Abdominal-B in Drosophila cell culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhai, Zongzhao; Yang, Xingke; Lohmann, Ingrid

2011-01-01

Highlights: ► ct340 CRM was identified to be the posterior spiracle enhancer of gene cut. ► ct340 is under the direct transcriptional control of Hox protein Abd-B. ► An efficient cloning system was developed to assay protein–DNA interaction. ► New features of Abd-B dependent target gene regulation were detected. -- Abstract: Hox transcription factors regulate the morphogenesis along the anterior–posterior (A/P) body axis through the interaction with small cis-regulatory modules (CRMs) of their target gene, however so far very few Hox CRMs are known and have been analyzed in detail. In this study we have identified a new Hox CRM, ct340, which guides the expression of the cell type specification gene cut (ct) in the posterior spiracle under the direct control of the Hox protein Abdominal-B (Abd-B). Using the ct340 enhancer activity as readout, an efficient cloning system to generate VP16 activation domain fusion protein was developed to unambiguously test protein–DNA interaction in Drosophila cell culture. By functionally dissecting the Abd-B protein, new features of Abd-B dependent target gene regulation were detected. Due to its easy adaptability, this system can be generally used to map functional domains within sequence-specific transcriptional factors in Drosophila cell culture, and thus provide preliminary knowledge of the protein functional domain structure for further in vivo analysis.

A política cultural: regulação estatal e mecenato privado

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Arminda do Nascimento Arruda

2003-11-01

Full Text Available O artigo traça as diretrizes da política cultural implementada durante o segundo governo FHC: leis de incentivo fiscal, financiamento privado e regulação estatal. A ação cultural do governo atribuiu ao Estado o papel de intermediário no processo de financiamento, avalizando relações entre produtores culturais e agentes econômicos. Em lugar de um típico mecenato privado, instituiu-se uma nova modalidade de promoção cultural. A expansão das iniciativas nos diversos ramos da criação cultural não significou, necessariamente, a renovação das linguagens.This paper traces the guidelines of the cultural policies prevailing during Fernando Henrique Cardoso's second term of government: fiscal incentive legislation, private funding and state regulation. The government's cultural action designed the state as regulator, acting as "go-between" towards the cultural producers and the new economic agents. Instead of a typical private patronage model, the state instituted a new kind of cultural promotion. The expansion of initiatives in every domain of cultural creation did not mean, necessarily, the renewal of languages.

Across Cultural and National Borders: Diasporic Chinese Family in Pushing Hands

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qijun Han

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Being embedded in the interdisciplinary area of media and culture studies, this articlel explores the family melodrama in transnational Chinese cinema drawing upon theoretical discussions with regard to the historical emergence of melodrama in correspondence to, as Th. Elsaesser says, “periods of intense social and ideological crisis”. While serving as a reflection on the tension between tradition and modernity displayed in the domestic domain, Ang Lee’s Chinese-characterized family melodrama also illustrates the differences between Chinese and Hollywood family melodrama. Linked to the ongoing debate about “melodrama as a cross-cultural form”, in the process of analyzing the film text, our perceptions of generic dislocation or displacement, transcultural entanglements and globalization in light of contemporary cultural practices will be furthermore complicated.  

Polar Domain Discovery with Sparkler

Science.gov (United States)

Duerr, R.; Khalsa, S. J. S.; Mattmann, C. A.; Ottilingam, N. K.; Singh, K.; Lopez, L. A.

2017-12-01

The scientific web is vast and ever growing. It encompasses millions of textual, scientific and multimedia documents describing research in a multitude of scientific streams. Most of these documents are hidden behind forms which require user action to retrieve and thus can't be directly accessed by content crawlers. These documents are hosted on web servers across the world, most often on outdated hardware and network infrastructure. Hence it is difficult and time-consuming to aggregate documents from the scientific web, especially those relevant to a specific domain. Thus generating meaningful domain-specific insights is currently difficult. We present an automated discovery system (Figure 1) using Sparkler, an open-source, extensible, horizontally scalable crawler which facilitates high throughput and focused crawling of documents pertinent to a particular domain such as information about polar regions. With this set of highly domain relevant documents, we show that it is possible to answer analytical questions about that domain. Our domain discovery algorithm leverages prior domain knowledge to reach out to commercial/scientific search engines to generate seed URLs. Subject matter experts then annotate these seed URLs manually on a scale from highly relevant to irrelevant. We leverage this annotated dataset to train a machine learning model which predicts the `domain relevance' of a given document. We extend Sparkler with this model to focus crawling on documents relevant to that domain. Sparkler avoids disruption of service by 1) partitioning URLs by hostname such that every node gets a different host to crawl and by 2) inserting delays between subsequent requests. With an NSF-funded supercomputer Wrangler, we scaled our domain discovery pipeline to crawl about 200k polar specific documents from the scientific web, within a day.

Ages and stages questionnaires: adaptation to an Arabic speaking population and cultural sensitivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Charafeddine, Lama; Sinno, Durriyah; Ammous, Farah; Yassin, Walid; Al-Shaar, Laila; Mikati, Mohamad A

2013-09-01

Early detection of developmental delay is essential to initiate early intervention. The Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ) correlate well with physician's assessment and have high predictive value. No such tool exists in Arabic. Translate and test the applicability and reliability of Arabic translated Ages and Stages Questionnaires (A-ASQ) in an Arabic speaking population. 733 healthy children were assessed. ASQ-II for 10 age groups (4-60 months) were translated to Arabic, back translations and cultural adaptation were performed. Test-retest reliability and internal consistency were evaluated using Pearson Correlation Coefficient (CC) and Cronbach's alpha (Cα). Mean scores per domain were compared to US normative scores using t-test. A-ASQ, after culturally relevant adaptations, was easily administered for 4-36 months age groups but not for 4-5 year old due to numerous cultural differences in the later. For the 4-36 month age groups Pearson CC ranged from 0.345 to 0.833. The internal consistency coefficients Cα scores ranged from 0.111 to 0.816. Significant differences were found in the mean domain scores of all age groups between Lebanese and US normative sample (p-value internal consistency and reliability in the younger age groups. It proved to be culturally sensitive, which should be taken into consideration when adapting such tool to non-western populations. Copyright © 2013 European Paediatric Neurology Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Blocking-resistant communication through domain fronting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fifield David

2015-06-01

Full Text Available We describe “domain fronting,” a versatile censorship circumvention technique that hides the remote endpoint of a communication. Domain fronting works at the application layer, using HTTPS, to communicate with a forbidden host while appearing to communicate with some other host, permitted by the censor. The key idea is the use of different domain names at different layers of communication. One domain appears on the “outside” of an HTTPS request—in the DNS request and TLS Server Name Indication—while another domain appears on the “inside”—in the HTTP Host header, invisible to the censor under HTTPS encryption. A censor, unable to distinguish fronted and nonfronted traffic to a domain, must choose between allowing circumvention traffic and blocking the domain entirely, which results in expensive collateral damage. Domain fronting is easy to deploy and use and does not require special cooperation by network intermediaries. We identify a number of hard-to-block web services, such as content delivery networks, that support domain-fronted connections and are useful for censorship circumvention. Domain fronting, in various forms, is now a circumvention workhorse. We describe several months of deployment experience in the Tor, Lantern, and Psiphon circumvention systems, whose domain-fronting transports now connect thousands of users daily and transfer many terabytes per month.

SH3 Domains Differentially Stimulate Distinct Dynamin I Assembly Modes and G Domain Activity.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sai Krishnan

Full Text Available Dynamin I is a highly regulated GTPase enzyme enriched in nerve terminals which mediates vesicle fission during synaptic vesicle endocytosis. One regulatory mechanism involves its interactions with proteins containing Src homology 3 (SH3 domains. At least 30 SH3 domain-containing proteins bind dynamin at its proline-rich domain (PRD. Those that stimulate dynamin activity act by promoting its oligomerisation. We undertook a systematic parallel screening of 13 glutathione-S-transferase (GST-tagged endocytosis-related SH3 domains on dynamin binding, GTPase activity and oligomerisation. No correlation was found between dynamin binding and their potency to stimulate GTPase activity. There was limited correlation between the extent of their ability to stimulate dynamin activity and the level of oligomerisation, indicating an as yet uncharacterised allosteric coupling of the PRD and G domain. We examined the two variants, dynamin Iab and Ibb, which differ in the alternately splice middle domain α2 helix. They responded differently to the panel of SH3s, with the extent of stimulation between the splice variants varying greatly between the SH3s. This study reveals that SH3 binding can act as a heterotropic allosteric regulator of the G domain via the middle domain α2 helix, suggesting an involvement of this helix in communicating the PRD-mediated allostery. This indicates that SH3 binding both stabilises multiple conformations of the tetrameric building block of dynamin, and promotes assembly of dynamin-SH3 complexes with distinct rates of GTP hydrolysis.

Regulatory Body Safety Culture in Non-nuclear HROs: Lessons for Nuclear Regulators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fleming, M.; Bowers, K.

2016-01-01

Regulator safety culture is a relatively new area of investigation, even though deficiencies in regulatory oversight have been identified in a number of public inquiries (e.g., Piper Alpha, Deep Water Horizon). More recently the IAEA report into the Fukushima disaster specifically identified the need for regulatory bodies to have a positive safety culture. While there are clear parallels between duty holder safety culture and regulator safety culture there are also likely to be differences. To date they have been no published studies investigating regulator safety culture. In order to develop a framework to understand regulator safety culture we conducted a literature review and interviewed safety culture subject matter experts from a range of HRO domains (e.g., offshore oil and gas). There was general consensus among participants that regulatory safety culture was an important topic that was worthy of further investigation. That there was general agreement that regulatory safety culture was multi-dimensional and that some of the elements of existing safety culture models applied to regulator culture (e.g., learning and leadership). The participants also identified unique dimensions of regulator safety culture including commitment to high standards and ethics, transparency and perceived role of the regulator. In this paper we will present the results of the interviews and present a model of regulator safety culture. This model will be contrasted with models being used in the nuclear industry. Implications for assessing regulatory safety culture will be discussed. (author)

An ontological approach to domain engineering

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Falbo, R.A.; Guizzardi, G.; Duarte, K.

2002-01-01

Domain engineering aims to support systematic reuse, focusing on modeling common knowledge in a problem domain. Ontologies have also been pointed as holding great promise for software reuse. In this paper, we present ODE (Ontology-based Domain Engineering), an ontological approach for domain

Ferroelectric negative capacitance domain dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffmann, Michael; Khan, Asif Islam; Serrao, Claudy; Lu, Zhongyuan; Salahuddin, Sayeef; Pešić, Milan; Slesazeck, Stefan; Schroeder, Uwe; Mikolajick, Thomas

2018-05-01

Transient negative capacitance effects in epitaxial ferroelectric Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 capacitors are investigated with a focus on the dynamical switching behavior governed by domain nucleation and growth. Voltage pulses are applied to a series connection of the ferroelectric capacitor and a resistor to directly measure the ferroelectric negative capacitance during switching. A time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau approach is used to investigate the underlying domain dynamics. The transient negative capacitance is shown to originate from reverse domain nucleation and unrestricted domain growth. However, with the onset of domain coalescence, the capacitance becomes positive again. The persistence of the negative capacitance state is therefore limited by the speed of domain wall motion. By changing the applied electric field, capacitor area or external resistance, this domain wall velocity can be varied predictably over several orders of magnitude. Additionally, detailed insights into the intrinsic material properties of the ferroelectric are obtainable through these measurements. A new method for reliable extraction of the average negative capacitance of the ferroelectric is presented. Furthermore, a simple analytical model is developed, which accurately describes the negative capacitance transient time as a function of the material properties and the experimental boundary conditions.

In vitro osteosarcoma biosensing using THz time domain spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Ferguson, Bradley S.; Liu, Haibo; Hay, Shelley; Findlay, David; Zhang, Xi-Cheng; Abbott, Derek

2004-03-01

Terahertz time domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) has a wide range of applications from semiconductor diagnostics to biosensing. Recent attention has focused on bio-applications and several groups have noted the ability of THz-TDS to differentiate basal cell carcinoma tissue from healthy dermal tissue ex vivo. The contrast mechanism is unclear but has been attributed to increased interstitial water in cancerous tissue. In this work we investigate the THz response of human osteosarcoma cells and normal human bone cells grown in culture to isolate the cells' responses from other effects. A classification algorithms based on a frequency selection by genetic algorithm is used to attempt to differentiate between the cell types based on the THz spectra. Encouraging preliminary results have been obtained.

Functional domains of plant chimeric calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase: regulation by autoinhibitory and visinin-like domains

Science.gov (United States)

Ramachandiran, S.; Takezawa, D.; Wang, W.; Poovaiah, B. W.

1997-01-01

A novel calcium-binding calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CCaMK) with a catalytic domain, calmodulin-binding domain, and a neural visinin-like domain was cloned and characterized from plants [Patil et al., (1995) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92, 4797-4801; Takezawa et al. (1996) J. Biol. Chem. 271, 8126-8132]. The mechanisms of CCaMK activation by calcium and calcium/calmodulin were investigated using various deletion mutants. The use of deletion mutants of CCaMK lacking either one, two, or all three calcium-binding EF hands indicated that all three calcium-binding sites in the visinin-like domain were crucial for the full calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase activity. As each calcium-binding EF hand was deleted, there was a gradual reduction in calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase activity from 100 to 4%. Another mutant (amino acids 1-322) which lacks both the visinin-like domain containing three EF hands and the calmodulin-binding domain was constitutively active, indicating the presence of an autoinhibitory domain around the calmodulin-binding domain. By using various synthetic peptides and the constitutively active mutant, we have shown that CCaMK contains an autoinhibitory domain within the residues 322-340 which overlaps its calmodulin-binding domain. Kinetic studies with both ATP and the GS peptide substrate suggest that the autoinhibitory domain of CCaMK interacts only with the peptide substrate binding motif of the catalytic domain, but not with the ATP-binding motif.

Summarization by domain ontology navigation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andreasen, Troels; Bulskov, Henrik

2013-01-01

of the subject. In between these two extremes, conceptual summaries encompass selected concepts derived using background knowledge. We address in this paper an approach where conceptual summaries are provided through a conceptualization as given by an ontology. The ontology guiding the summarization can...... be a simple taxonomy or a generative domain ontology. A domain ontology can be provided by a preanalysis of a domain corpus and can be used to condense improved summaries that better reflects the conceptualization of a given domain....

A Cross-Cultural Perspective of Parental Influence on Female Adolescents' Achievement Beliefs and Behaviors in Sport and School Domains

Science.gov (United States)

Bhalla, Jennifer A.; Weiss, Maureen R.

2010-01-01

Little is known about parental socialization processes for youth participants from different cultural backgrounds. The purpose of this study was to examine parental influence on self-perceptions, task values, and achievement behaviors among female adolescents from two cultures using Eccles' expectancy-value theory (Eccles et al., 1983). Twelve…

Ferroelectric domain continuity over grain boundaries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mantri, Sukriti; Oddershede, Jette; Damjanovic, Dragan

2017-01-01

Formation and mobility of domain walls in ferroelectric materials is responsible for many of their electrical and mechanical properties. Domain wall continuity across grain boundaries has been observed since the 1950's and is speculated to affect the grain boundary-domain interactions, thereby...... impacting macroscopic ferroelectric properties in polycrystalline systems. However detailed studies of such correlated domain structures across grain boundaries are limited. In this work, we have developed the mathematical requirements for domain wall plane matching at grain boundaries of any given...... orientation. We have also incorporated the effect of grain boundary ferroelectric polarization charge created when any two domains meet at the grain boundary plane. The probability of domain wall continuity for three specific grain misorientations is studied. Use of this knowledge to optimize processing...

Cognitive science and the cultural nature of music.

Science.gov (United States)

Cross, Ian

2012-10-01

The vast majority of experimental studies of music to date have explored music in terms of the processes involved in the perception and cognition of complex sonic patterns that can elicit emotion. This paper argues that this conception of music is at odds both with recent Western musical scholarship and with ethnomusicological models, and that it presents a partial and culture-specific representation of what may be a generic human capacity. It argues that the cognitive sciences must actively engage with the problems of exploring music as manifested and conceived in the broad spectrum of world cultures, not only to elucidate the diversity of music in mind but also to identify potential commonalities that could illuminate the relationships between music and other domains of thought and behavior. Copyright © 2012 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

The Formalization of Cultural Psychology. Reasons and Functions.

Science.gov (United States)

Salvatore, Sergio

2017-03-01

In this paper I discuss two basic theses about the formalization of cultural psychology. First, I claim that formalization is a relevant, even necessary stage of development of this domain of science. This is so because formalization allows the scientific language to achieve a much needed autonomy from the commonsensical language of the phenomena that this science deals with. Second, I envisage the two main functions that formalization has to perform in the field of cultural psychology: on the one hand, it has to provide formal rules grounding and constraining the deductive construction of the general theory; on the other hand, it has to provide the devices for supporting the interpretation of local phenomena, in terms of the abductive reconstruction of the network of linkages among empirical occurrences comprising the local phenomena.

Domain-specific languages in perspective

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J. Heering (Jan); M. Mernik (Marjan)

2007-01-01

textabstractDomain-specific languages (DSLs) are languages tailored to a specific application domain. They offer substantial gains in expressiveness and ease of use compared with general-purpose languages in their domain of application. Although the use of DSLs is by no means new, it is receiving

Safety Culture: A Requirement for New Business Models — Lessons Learned from Other High Risk Industries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kecklund, L.

2016-01-01

-cost subcontractors can turn out to be much more expensive due to interface proliferation. Other negative effects are social dumping by external contractors and loss of competence if procurement requirements are not taking quality and safety issues into account. Based on MTO Safety’s extensive experience in the nuclear domain and work on safety management and safety culture in the aviation, railway and maritime domain, the paper will present lessons learned which are applicable to the nuclear industry for facing the major challenges ahead. Assuring safety is a fundamental requirement for obtaining a licence to operate a business in nuclear power, aviation and railways, thus safety culture is an essential requirement for a successful business. Therefore safety culture must be part of any new business model in high risk industries. In the future safety culture and leadership commitment and skills in creating safety culture will be even more important. The paper will discuss how companies and public utilities are to achieve this and how the regulators are to assess this where learning across industries is a key success factor. (author)

Detecting atypical examples of known domain types by sequence similarity searching: the SBASE domain library approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Dhir, Somdutta; Pacurar, Mircea; Franklin, Dino; Gáspári, Zoltán; Kertész-Farkas, Attila; Kocsor, András; Eisenhaber, Frank; Pongor, Sándor

2010-11-01

SBASE is a project initiated to detect known domain types and predicting domain architectures using sequence similarity searching (Simon et al., Protein Seq Data Anal, 5: 39-42, 1992, Pongor et al, Nucl. Acids. Res. 21:3111-3115, 1992). The current approach uses a curated collection of domain sequences - the SBASE domain library - and standard similarity search algorithms, followed by postprocessing which is based on a simple statistics of the domain similarity network (http://hydra.icgeb.trieste.it/sbase/). It is especially useful in detecting rare, atypical examples of known domain types which are sometimes missed even by more sophisticated methodologies. This approach does not require multiple alignment or machine learning techniques, and can be a useful complement to other domain detection methodologies. This article gives an overview of the project history as well as of the concepts and principles developed within this the project.

EH domain of EHD1

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kieken, Fabien; Jovic, Marko; Naslavsky, Naava; Caplan, Steve, E-mail: scaplan@unmc.edu; Sorgen, Paul L. [University of Nebraska Medical Center, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Eppley Cancer Center (United States)], E-mail: psorgen@unmc.edu

2007-12-15

EHD1 is a member of the mammalian C-terminal Eps15 homology domain (EH) containing protein family, and regulates the recycling of various receptors from the endocytic recycling compartment to the plasma membrane. The EH domain of EHD1 binds to proteins containing either an Asn-Pro-Phe or Asp-Pro-Phe motif, and plays an important role in the subcellular localization and function of EHD1. Thus far, the structures of five N-terminal EH domains from other proteins have been solved, but to date, the structure of the EH domains from the four C-terminal EHD family paralogs remains unknown. In this study, we have assigned the 133 C-terminal residues of EHD1, which includes the EH domain, and solved its solution structure. While the overall structure resembles that of the second of the three N-terminal Eps15 EH domains, potentially significant differences in surface charge and the structure of the tripeptide-binding pocket are discussed.

EH domain of EHD1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kieken, Fabien; Jovic, Marko; Naslavsky, Naava; Caplan, Steve; Sorgen, Paul L.

2007-01-01

EHD1 is a member of the mammalian C-terminal Eps15 homology domain (EH) containing protein family, and regulates the recycling of various receptors from the endocytic recycling compartment to the plasma membrane. The EH domain of EHD1 binds to proteins containing either an Asn-Pro-Phe or Asp-Pro-Phe motif, and plays an important role in the subcellular localization and function of EHD1. Thus far, the structures of five N-terminal EH domains from other proteins have been solved, but to date, the structure of the EH domains from the four C-terminal EHD family paralogs remains unknown. In this study, we have assigned the 133 C-terminal residues of EHD1, which includes the EH domain, and solved its solution structure. While the overall structure resembles that of the second of the three N-terminal Eps15 EH domains, potentially significant differences in surface charge and the structure of the tripeptide-binding pocket are discussed

Situational variations in ethnic identity across immigration generations: Implications for acculturative change and cross-cultural adaptation.

Science.gov (United States)

Noels, Kimberly A; Clément, Richard

2015-12-01

This study examined whether the acculturation of ethnic identity is first evident in more public situations with greater opportunity for intercultural interaction and eventually penetrates more intimate situations. It also investigated whether situational variations in identity are associated with cross-cultural adaptation. First-generation (G1), second-generation (G2) and mixed-parentage second-generation (G2.5) young adult Canadians (n = 137, n = 169, and n = 91, respectively) completed a questionnaire assessing their heritage and Canadian identities across four situational domains (family, friends, university and community), global heritage identity and cross-cultural adaptation. Consistent with the acculturation penetration hypothesis, the results showed Canadian identity was stronger than heritage identity in public domains, but the converse was true in the family domain; moreover, the difference between the identities in the family domain was attenuated in later generations. Situational variability indicated better adaptation for the G1 cohort, but poorer adaptation for the G2.5 cohort. For the G2 cohort, facets of global identity moderated the relation, such that those with a weaker global identity experienced greater difficulties and hassles with greater identity variability but those with a stronger identity did not. These results are interpreted in light of potential interpersonal issues implied by situational variation for each generation cohort. © 2015 International Union of Psychological Science.

Gender, culture, and sex-typed cognitive abilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Reilly, David

2012-01-01

Although gender differences in cognitive abilities are frequently reported, the magnitude of these differences and whether they hold practical significance in the educational outcomes of boys and girls is highly debated. Furthermore, when gender gaps in reading, mathematics and science literacy are reported they are often attributed to innate, biological differences rather than social and cultural factors. Cross-cultural evidence may contribute to this debate, and this study reports national gender differences in reading, mathematics and science literacy from 65 nations participating in the 2009 round of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Consistently across all nations, girls outperform boys in reading literacy, d = -.44. Boys outperform girls in mathematics in the USA, d = .22 and across OECD nations, d = .13. For science literacy, while the USA showed the largest gender difference across all OECD nations, d = .14, gender differences across OECD nations were non-significant, and a small female advantage was found for non-OECD nations, d = -.09. Across all three domains, these differences were more pronounced at both tails of the distribution for low- and high-achievers. Considerable cross-cultural variability was also observed, and national gender differences were correlated with gender equity measures, economic prosperity, and Hofstede's cultural dimension of power distance. Educational and societal implications of such gender gaps are addressed, as well as the mechanisms by which gender differences in cognitive abilities are culturally mediated.

Gender, culture, and sex-typed cognitive abilities.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Reilly

Full Text Available Although gender differences in cognitive abilities are frequently reported, the magnitude of these differences and whether they hold practical significance in the educational outcomes of boys and girls is highly debated. Furthermore, when gender gaps in reading, mathematics and science literacy are reported they are often attributed to innate, biological differences rather than social and cultural factors. Cross-cultural evidence may contribute to this debate, and this study reports national gender differences in reading, mathematics and science literacy from 65 nations participating in the 2009 round of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA. Consistently across all nations, girls outperform boys in reading literacy, d = -.44. Boys outperform girls in mathematics in the USA, d = .22 and across OECD nations, d = .13. For science literacy, while the USA showed the largest gender difference across all OECD nations, d = .14, gender differences across OECD nations were non-significant, and a small female advantage was found for non-OECD nations, d = -.09. Across all three domains, these differences were more pronounced at both tails of the distribution for low- and high-achievers. Considerable cross-cultural variability was also observed, and national gender differences were correlated with gender equity measures, economic prosperity, and Hofstede's cultural dimension of power distance. Educational and societal implications of such gender gaps are addressed, as well as the mechanisms by which gender differences in cognitive abilities are culturally mediated.

A Highly Accurate Regular Domain Collocation Method for Solving Potential Problems in the Irregular Doubly Connected Domains

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhao-Qing Wang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Embedding the irregular doubly connected domain into an annular regular region, the unknown functions can be approximated by the barycentric Lagrange interpolation in the regular region. A highly accurate regular domain collocation method is proposed for solving potential problems on the irregular doubly connected domain in polar coordinate system. The formulations of regular domain collocation method are constructed by using barycentric Lagrange interpolation collocation method on the regular domain in polar coordinate system. The boundary conditions are discretized by barycentric Lagrange interpolation within the regular domain. An additional method is used to impose the boundary conditions. The least square method can be used to solve the overconstrained equations. The function values of points in the irregular doubly connected domain can be calculated by barycentric Lagrange interpolation within the regular domain. Some numerical examples demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of the presented method.

Sustaining a quality improvement culture in local health departments applying for accreditation.

Science.gov (United States)

Verma, Pooja; Moran, John W

2014-01-01

This article focuses on local health departments (LHDs) that are advanced in accreditation and quality improvement (QI) efforts and the barriers and facilitators associated with sustaining improvements and building an organizational culture of QI. To understand the barriers and facilitators associated with building and sustaining progress toward a QI culture in LHDs. Quantitative data from a self-reporting survey and qualitative data from telephone interviews. Twenty-two LHDs across the United States responded to the survey. Ten of the 22 LHD respondents participated in telephone interviews. QI lead staff at LHDs that are advanced in accreditation preparation and QI. Self-reported LHD survey ratings against indicators for a QI culture, and the identified barriers and facilitators around sustaining QI initiatives. Of the 6 domains of a QI culture measured in the survey, the percentages of respondents that scored themselves highly to at least 1 indicator in each domain are as follows: leadership commitment (100%); employee empowerment (100%); teamwork and collaboration (100%); continuous process improvement (86%); customer focus (72%); and QI infrastructure (64%). Qualitative data from 10 telephone interviews revealed that key barriers to sustaining progress around QI included staff turnover, budget cuts, and major crises or events that arise as priority. Key facilitators included leadership commitment, accreditation, and dedication of resources and staff time to QI. When engaging in QI, LHDs should consider investing efforts in gaining leadership support and dedicating staff time early in the QI journey to ensure that QI efforts and initiatives are sustained. Local health departments interested in developing a QI culture should also consider pursuing accreditation, as it provides a structured framework for continuous improvement. They should also actively develop QI knowledge and skills among all staff members to minimize the negative impact of staff turnover.

Structure and dynamics of the human pleckstrin DEP domain: distinct molecular features of a novel DEP domain subfamily.

Science.gov (United States)

Civera, Concepcion; Simon, Bernd; Stier, Gunter; Sattler, Michael; Macias, Maria J

2005-02-01

Pleckstrin1 is a major substrate for protein kinase C in platelets and leukocytes, and comprises a central DEP (disheveled, Egl-10, pleckstrin) domain, which is flanked by two PH (pleckstrin homology) domains. DEP domains display a unique alpha/beta fold and have been implicated in membrane binding utilizing different mechanisms. Using multiple sequence alignments and phylogenetic tree reconstructions, we find that 6 subfamilies of the DEP domain exist, of which pleckstrin represents a novel and distinct subfamily. To clarify structural determinants of the DEP fold and to gain further insight into the role of the DEP domain, we determined the three-dimensional structure of the pleckstrin DEP domain using heteronuclear NMR spectroscopy. Pleckstrin DEP shares main structural features with the DEP domains of disheveled and Epac, which belong to different DEP subfamilies. However, the pleckstrin DEP fold is distinct from these structures and contains an additional, short helix alpha4 inserted in the beta4-beta5 loop that exhibits increased backbone mobility as judged by NMR relaxation measurements. Based on sequence conservation, the helix alpha4 may also be present in the DEP domains of regulator of G-protein signaling (RGS) proteins, which are members of the same DEP subfamily. In pleckstrin, the DEP domain is surrounded by two PH domains. Structural analysis and charge complementarity suggest that the DEP domain may interact with the N-terminal PH domain in pleckstrin. Phosphorylation of the PH-DEP linker, which is required for pleckstrin function, could regulate such an intramolecular interaction. This suggests a role of the pleckstrin DEP domain in intramolecular domain interactions, which is distinct from the functions of other DEP domain subfamilies found so far.

Scholar-Craftsmanship: Question-Type, Epistemology, Culture of Inquiry, and Personality-Type in Dissertation Research Design

Science.gov (United States)

Werner, Thomas P.; Rogers, Katrina S.

2013-01-01

"Scholar-Craftsmanship" (SC) is a quadrant methodological framework created to help social science doctoral students construct first-time dissertation research. The framework brackets and predicts how epistemological domains, cultures of inquiries, personality indicators, and research question--types can be correlated in dissertation…

Una nueva perspectiva de las políticas lingüísticas: las lenguas indígenas del Ecuador como patrimonio cultural inmaterial

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gómez Rendón, J.

2012-01-01

A new perspective to approach indigenous languages today is that of Intangible Cultural Heritage as defined by 2003 UNESCO Convention. Either as vehicle or as domain, languages are part and parcel of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. However, the concept of heritage itself is not unequivocal and may

Theory and method at the intersection of anthropology and cultural neuroscience

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Ryan A.

2010-01-01

Anthropologists have become increasingly interested in embodiment—that is, the ways that socio-cultural factors influence the form, behavior and subjective experience of human bodies. At the same time, social cognitive neuroscience has begun to reveal the mechanisms of embodiment by investigating the neural underpinnings and consequences of social experience. Despite this overlap, the two fields have barely engaged one another. We suggest three interconnected domains of inquiry in which the intersection of neuroscience and anthropology can productively inform our understanding of the relationship between human brains and their socio-cultural contexts. These are: the social construction of emotion, cultural psychiatry, and the embodiment of ritual. We build on both current research findings in cultural neuroscience and ethnographic data on cultural differences in thought and behavior, to generate novel, ecologically informed hypotheses for future study. In addition, we lay out a specific suggestion for operationalizing insights from anthropology in the context of cultural neuroscience research. Specifically, we advocate the development of field studies that use portable measurement technologies to connect individual patterns of biological response with socio-cultural processes. We illustrate the potential of such an approach with data from a study of psychophysiology and religious devotion in Northeastern Brazil. PMID:19965815

Ferromagnetic and twin domains in LCMO manganites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, G.; Markovich, V.; Mogilyanski, D.; Beek, C. van der; Mukovskii, Y.M.

2005-01-01

Ferromagnetic and twin domains in lightly Ca-doped La 1-x Ca x MnO 3 single crystals have been visualized and investigated by means of the magneto-optical technique. Both types of domains became visible below the Curie temperature. The dominant structures seen in applied magnetic field are associated with magneto-crystalline anisotropy and twin domains. In a marked difference to the twin domains which appear only in applied magnetic field, ferromagnetic domains show up in zero applied field and are characterized by oppositely oriented spontaneous magnetization in adjacent domains. Ferromagnetic domains take form of almost periodic, corrugated strip-like structures. The corrugation of the ferromagnetic domain pattern is enforced by the underlying twin domains

Spatial, temporal, and health associations of eating alone: A cross-cultural analysis of young adults in urban Australia and Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Takeda, Wakako; Melby, Melissa K

2017-11-01

Eating alone is driven by social and cultural factors, not solely by individual preferences. In academic research, eating alone is often simply treated as an alternative to social, commensal eating, and little is known about the practice of eating alone itself. This study employs a cross-cultural analysis to explore social and cultural associations of eating alone. The analysis is based on 1) cultural domain data, derived from principal component analysis of freelist responses, a set of words or phrases related to the topic of eating alone; and 2) in-depth interviews with 72 young adults aged 20-40 in urban Australia and Japan. Many Australian and Japanese young adult participants associated eating alone with both pleasure and stress of being isolated from others. However, the comparison of principal components between Australian and Japanese groups and gender subgroups showed cross-cultural variations and complexity in the context of eating alone including: locations and timings of eating alone, and associations with healthy/unhealthy eating. Analyses of interviews are included to deepen understandings of cultural domains. These key associations are influenced by a range of social and cultural environments such as fast food cultures, work and life environments, and the scope of public health nutrition programs. The association between eating alone and healthy eating among young adults indicates that individualistic understandings of food intake in current public health nutrition programs are more favorable to eating alone and foster a gap between ideas of healthy eating and commensal eating as a cultural ideal. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Feeling right is feeling good: psychological well-being and emotional fit with culture in autonomy- versus relatedness-promoting situations

OpenAIRE

De Leersnyder, Jozefien; Kim, Heejung; Mesquita, Batja

2015-01-01

The current research tested the idea that it is the cultural fit of emotions, rather than certain emotions per se, that predicts psychological well-being – i.e., feeling good about oneself, having no symptoms of depression. We reasoned that emotional fit in the domains of life that afford the realization of central cultural mandates would be particularly important to psychological well-being. We tested this hypothesis with samples from three cultural contexts that are known to differ with res...

The heterotrimeric laminin coiled-coil domain exerts anti-adhesive effects and induces a pro-invasive phenotype.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patricia Santos-Valle

Full Text Available Laminins are large heterotrimeric cross-shaped extracellular matrix glycoproteins with terminal globular domains and a coiled-coil region through which the three chains are assembled and covalently linked. Laminins are key components of basement membranes, and they serve as attachment sites for cell adhesion, migration and proliferation. In this work, we produced a recombinant fragment comprising the entire laminin coiled-coil of the α1-, β1-, and γ1-chains that assemble into a stable heterotrimeric coiled-coil structure independently of the rest of the molecule. This domain was biologically active and not only failed to serve as a substrate for cell attachment, spreading and focal adhesion formation but also inhibited cell adhesion to laminin when added to cells in a soluble form at the time of seeding. Furthermore, gene array expression profiling in cells cultured in the presence of the laminin coiled-coil domain revealed up-regulation of genes involved in cell motility and invasion. These findings were confirmed by real-time quantitative PCR and zymography assays. In conclusion, this study shows for the first time that the laminin coiled-coil domain displays anti-adhesive functions and has potential implications for cell migration during matrix remodeling.

Seven domains for leadership mentoring and executive coaching A reflective paper

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul O. Olson

2014-07-01

Full Text Available This article discusses how coaching and mentoring can be integrated and work together as systematic tools for leadership development. The author draws on psychotherapy as a parallel for practitioner research and posits five validation hypotheses for coaching and mentoring. Arguably coaching is not sufficient to develop leaders, but a useful toolbox within mentoring. Internal mentors in particular have cultural and industry knowledge of direct relevance to the adept. Seven domains are identified for an integrated framework: Insight from reflection and meta-learning; Working with the whole person; Competence modelling; Deep listening, beyond words; Emotional intelligence; Coaching for results; and Systemic thinking and team development.

Marine archaeological explorations on the southwestern coast of Saurashtra, India

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Gaur, A.S.; Tripati, S.

, International journal of Nautical Archaeology 35 (1). 117-127 Gaur, A.S. and Sundaresh 2005. A Late Harappan port at Kindar Kheda, Man and Environment 30 (2): 44-48 McCrindle, J.W 1885. Ancient India as Described by Ptolemy (R.C. Jain ed.). New Delhi. Merh, S... stream_size 19091 stream_content_type text/plain stream_name J_I.O_Archaeol_3_81.pdf.txt stream_source_info J_I.O_Archaeol_3_81.pdf.txt Content-Encoding ISO-8859-1 Content-Type text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Marine...

Views of Omani Post-Basic Education Students about Religious and Cultural Tolerance

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Rabaani, Ahmed Hamad

2018-01-01

The study aims to investigate the views of Omani post-basic education students (Grades 10-12) about religious and cultural tolerance. The sample consisted of 1390 male and female students in grades 10, 11 and 12, from four of Oman's seven regions. A questionnaire was used to gather data, which consisted of 27 items divided into five domains. The…

Identification of Conserved MEL-28/ELYS Domains with Essential Roles in Nuclear Assembly and Chromosome Segregation.

Science.gov (United States)

Gómez-Saldivar, Georgina; Fernandez, Anita; Hirano, Yasuhiro; Mauro, Michael; Lai, Allison; Ayuso, Cristina; Haraguchi, Tokuko; Hiraoka, Yasushi; Piano, Fabio; Askjaer, Peter

2016-06-01

Nucleoporins are the constituents of nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) and are essential regulators of nucleocytoplasmic transport, gene expression and genome stability. The nucleoporin MEL-28/ELYS plays a critical role in post-mitotic NPC reassembly through recruitment of the NUP107-160 subcomplex, and is required for correct segregation of mitotic chromosomes. Here we present a systematic functional and structural analysis of MEL-28 in C. elegans early development and human ELYS in cultured cells. We have identified functional domains responsible for nuclear envelope and kinetochore localization, chromatin binding, mitotic spindle matrix association and chromosome segregation. Surprisingly, we found that perturbations to MEL-28's conserved AT-hook domain do not affect MEL-28 localization although they disrupt MEL-28 function and delay cell cycle progression in a DNA damage checkpoint-dependent manner. Our analyses also uncover a novel meiotic role of MEL-28. Together, these results show that MEL-28 has conserved structural domains that are essential for its fundamental roles in NPC assembly and chromosome segregation.

Domain-Specific Control of Selective Attention

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Szu-Hung; Yeh, Yei-Yu

2014-01-01

Previous research has shown that loading information on working memory affects selective attention. However, whether the load effect on selective attention is domain-general or domain-specific remains unresolved. The domain-general effect refers to the findings that load in one content (e.g. phonological) domain in working memory influences processing in another content (e.g., visuospatial) domain. Attentional control supervises selection regardless of information domain. The domain-specific effect refers to the constraint of influence only when maintenance and processing operate in the same domain. Selective attention operates in a specific content domain. This study is designed to resolve this controversy. Across three experiments, we manipulated the type of representation maintained in working memory and the type of representation upon which the participants must exert control to resolve conflict and select a target into the focus of attention. In Experiments 1a and 1b, participants maintained digits and nonverbalized objects, respectively, in working memory while selecting a target in a letter array. In Experiment 2, we presented auditory digits with a letter flanker task to exclude the involvement of resource competition within the same input modality. In Experiments 3a and 3b, we replaced the letter flanker task with an object flanker task while manipulating the memory load on object and digit representation, respectively. The results consistently showed that memory load modulated distractibility only when the stimuli of the two tasks were represented in the same domain. The magnitude of distractor interference was larger under high load than under low load, reflecting a lower efficacy of information prioritization. When the stimuli of the two tasks were represented in different domains, memory load did not modulate distractibility. Control of processing priority in selective attention demands domain-specific resources. PMID:24866977

A novel firmicute protein family related to the actinobacterial resuscitation-promoting factors by non-orthologous domain displacement

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Finan Christopher L

2005-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In Micrococcus luteus growth and resuscitation from starvation-induced dormancy is controlled by the production of a secreted growth factor. This autocrine resuscitation-promoting factor (Rpf is the founder member of a family of proteins found throughout and confined to the actinobacteria (high G + C Gram-positive bacteria. The aim of this work was to search for and characterise a cognate gene family in the firmicutes (low G + C Gram-positive bacteria and obtain information about how they may control bacterial growth and resuscitation. Results In silico analysis of the accessory domains of the Rpf proteins permitted their classification into several subfamilies. The RpfB subfamily is related to a group of firmicute proteins of unknown function, represented by YabE of Bacillus subtilis. The actinobacterial RpfB and firmicute YabE proteins have very similar domain structures and genomic contexts, except that in YabE, the actinobacterial Rpf domain is replaced by another domain, which we have called Sps. Although totally unrelated in both sequence and secondary structure, the Rpf and Sps domains fulfil the same function. We propose that these proteins have undergone "non-orthologous domain displacement", a phenomenon akin to "non-orthologous gene displacement" that has been described previously. Proteins containing the Sps domain are widely distributed throughout the firmicutes and they too fall into a number of distinct subfamilies. Comparative analysis of the accessory domains in the Rpf and Sps proteins, together with their weak similarity to lytic transglycosylases, provide clear evidence that they are muralytic enzymes. Conclusions The results indicate that the firmicute Sps proteins and the actinobacterial Rpf proteins are cognate and that they control bacterial culturability via enzymatic modification of the bacterial cell envelope.

Domain wall engineering through exchange bias

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Albisetti, E.; Petti, D.

2016-01-01

The control of the structure and position of magnetic domain walls is at the basis of the development of different magnetic devices and architectures. Several nanofabrication techniques have been proposed to geometrically confine and shape domain wall structures; however, a fine tuning of the position and micromagnetic configuration is hardly achieved, especially in continuous films. This work shows that, by controlling the unidirectional anisotropy of a continuous ferromagnetic film through exchange bias, domain walls whose spin arrangement is generally not favored by dipolar and exchange interactions can be created. Micromagnetic simulations reveal that the domain wall width, position and profile can be tuned by establishing an abrupt change in the direction and magnitude of the exchange bias field set in the system. - Highlights: • Micromagnetic simulations study domain walls in exchange biased thin films. • Novel domain wall configurations can be stabilized via exchange bias. • Domain walls nucleate at the boundary of regions with different exchange bias. • Domain wall width and spin profile are controlled by tuning the exchange bias.

Frequency Domain Image Filtering Using CUDA

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Muhammad Awais Rajput

2014-10-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we investigate the implementation of image filtering in frequency domain using NVIDIA?s CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture. In contrast to signal and image filtering in spatial domain which uses convolution operations and hence is more compute-intensive for filters having larger spatial extent, the frequency domain filtering uses FFT (Fast Fourier Transform which is much faster and significantly reduces the computational complexity of the filtering. We implement the frequency domain filtering on CPU and GPU respectively and analyze the speed-up obtained from the CUDA?s parallel processing paradigm. In order to demonstrate the efficiency of frequency domain filtering on CUDA, we implement three frequency domain filters, i.e., Butterworth, low-pass and Gaussian for processing different sizes of images on CPU and GPU respectively and perform the GPU vs. CPU benchmarks. The results presented in this paper show that the frequency domain filtering with CUDA achieves significant speed-up over the CPU processing in frequency domain with the same level of (output image quality on both the processing architectures

Frequency domain image filtering using cuda

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rajput, M.A.; Khan, U.A.

2014-01-01

In this paper, we investigate the implementation of image filtering in frequency domain using NVIDIA's CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture). In contrast to signal and image filtering in spatial domain which uses convolution operations and hence is more compute-intensive for filters having larger spatial extent, the frequency domain filtering uses FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) which is much faster and significantly reduces the computational complexity of the filtering. We implement the frequency domain filtering on CPU and GPU respectively and analyze the speed-up obtained from the CUDA's parallel processing paradigm. In order to demonstrate the efficiency of frequency domain filtering on CUDA, we implement three frequency domain filters, i.e., Butter worth, low-pass and Gaussian for processing different sizes of images on CPU and GPU respectively and perform the GPU vs. CPU benchmarks. The results presented in this paper show that the frequency domain filtering with CUDA achieves significant speed-up over the CPU processing in frequency domain with the same level of (output) image quality on both the processing architectures. (author)

Individual globular domains and domain unfolding visualized in overstretched titin molecules with atomic force microscopy.

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Zsolt Mártonfalvi

Full Text Available Titin is a giant elastomeric protein responsible for the generation of passive muscle force. Mechanical force unfolds titin's globular domains, but the exact structure of the overstretched titin molecule is not known. Here we analyzed, by using high-resolution atomic force microscopy, the structure of titin molecules overstretched with receding meniscus. The axial contour of the molecules was interrupted by topographical gaps with a mean width of 27.7 nm that corresponds well to the length of an unfolded globular (immunoglobulin and fibronectin domain. The wide gap-width distribution suggests, however, that additional mechanisms such as partial domain unfolding and the unfolding of neighboring domain multimers may also be present. In the folded regions we resolved globules with an average spacing of 5.9 nm, which is consistent with a titin chain composed globular domains with extended interdomain linker regions. Topographical analysis allowed us to allocate the most distal unfolded titin region to the kinase domain, suggesting that this domain systematically unfolds when the molecule is exposed to overstretching forces. The observations support the prediction that upon the action of stretching forces the N-terminal ß-sheet of the titin kinase unfolds, thus exposing the enzyme's ATP-binding site and hence contributing to the molecule's mechanosensory function.

Quantifying information transfer by protein domains: Analysis of the Fyn SH2 domain structure

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Serrano Luis

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Efficient communication between distant sites within a protein is essential for cooperative biological response. Although often associated with large allosteric movements, more subtle changes in protein dynamics can also induce long-range correlations. However, an appropriate formalism that directly relates protein structural dynamics to information exchange between functional sites is still lacking. Results Here we introduce a method to analyze protein dynamics within the framework of information theory and show that signal transduction within proteins can be considered as a particular instance of communication over a noisy channel. In particular, we analyze the conformational correlations between protein residues and apply the concept of mutual information to quantify information exchange. Mapping out changes of mutual information on the protein structure then allows visualizing how distal communication is achieved. We illustrate the approach by analyzing information transfer by the SH2 domain of Fyn tyrosine kinase, obtained from Monte Carlo dynamics simulations. Our analysis reveals that the Fyn SH2 domain forms a noisy communication channel that couples residues located in the phosphopeptide and specificity binding sites and a number of residues at the other side of the domain near the linkers that connect the SH2 domain to the SH3 and kinase domains. We find that for this particular domain, communication is affected by a series of contiguous residues that connect distal sites by crossing the core of the SH2 domain. Conclusion As a result, our method provides a means to directly map the exchange of biological information on the structure of protein domains, making it clear how binding triggers conformational changes in the protein structure. As such it provides a structural road, next to the existing attempts at sequence level, to predict long-range interactions within protein structures.

Phylogeny of the TRAF/MATH domain.

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Zapata, Juan M; Martínez-García, Vanesa; Lefebvre, Sophie

2007-01-01

The TNF-receptor associated factor (TRAF) domain (TD), also known as the meprin and TRAF-C homology (MATH) domain is a fold of seven anti-parallel p-helices that participates in protein-protein interactions. This fold is broadly represented among eukaryotes, where it is found associated with a discrete set of protein-domains. Virtually all protein families encompassing a TRAF/MATH domain seem to be involved in the regulation of protein processing and ubiquitination, strongly suggesting a parallel evolution of the TRAF/MATH domain and certain proteolysis pathways in eukaryotes. The restricted number of living organisms for which we have information of their genetic and protein make-up limits the scope and analysis of the MATH domain in evolution. However, the available information allows us to get a glimpse on the origins, distribution and evolution of the TRAF/MATH domain, which will be overviewed in this chapter.

Born Pupils? Natural Pedagogy and Cultural Pedagogy.

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Heyes, Cecilia

2016-03-01

The theory of natural pedagogy is an important focus of research on the evolution and development of cultural learning. It proposes that we are born pupils; that human children genetically inherit a package of psychological adaptations that make them receptive to teaching. In this article, I first examine the components of the package-eye contact, contingencies, infant-directed speech, gaze cuing, and rational imitation-asking in each case whether current evidence indicates that the component is a reliable feature of infant behavior and a genetic adaptation for teaching. I then discuss three fundamental insights embodied in the theory: Imitation is not enough for cumulative cultural inheritance, the extra comes from blind trust, and tweaking is a powerful source of cognitive change. Combining the results of the empirical review with these insights, I argue that human receptivity to teaching is founded on nonspecific genetic adaptations for social bonding and social learning and acquires its species- and functionally specific features through the operation of domain-general processes of learning in sociocultural contexts. We engage, not in natural pedagogy, but in cultural pedagogy. © The Author(s) 2016.

A micromagnetic study of domain structure modeling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuo, Tetsuji; Mimuro, Naoki; Shimasaki, Masaaki

2008-01-01

To develop a mesoscopic model for magnetic-domain behavior, a domain structure model (DSM) was examined and compared with a micromagnetic simulation. The domain structure of this model is given by several domains with uniform magnetization vectors and domain walls. The directions of magnetization vectors and the locations of domain walls are determined so as to minimize the magnetic total energy of the magnetic material. The DSM was modified to improve its representation capability for domain behavior. The domain wall energy is multiplied by a vanishing factor to represent the disappearance of magnetic domain. The sequential quadratic programming procedure is divided into two steps to improve an energy minimization process. A comparison with micromagnetic simulation shows that the modified DSM improves the representation accuracy of the magnetization process

Safety culture perceptions of pharmacists in Malaysian hospitals and health clinics: a multicentre assessment using the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire

Science.gov (United States)

Samsuri, Srima Elina; Pei Lin, Lua; Fahrni, Mathumalar Loganathan

2015-01-01

Objective To assess the safety attitudes of pharmacists, provide a profile of their domains of safety attitude and correlate their attitudes with self-reported rates of medication errors. Design A cross-sectional study utilising the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ). Setting 3 public hospitals and 27 health clinics. Participants 117 pharmacists. Main outcome measure(s) Safety culture mean scores, variation in scores across working units and between hospitals versus health clinics, predictors of safety culture, and medication errors and their correlation. Results Response rate was 83.6% (117 valid questionnaires returned). Stress recognition (73.0±20.4) and working condition (54.8±17.4) received the highest and lowest mean scores, respectively. Pharmacists exhibited positive attitudes towards: stress recognition (58.1%), job satisfaction (46.2%), teamwork climate (38.5%), safety climate (33.3%), perception of management (29.9%) and working condition (15.4%). With the exception of stress recognition, those who worked in health clinics scored higher than those in hospitals (psafety culture. As perceptions improved, the number of medication errors reported decreased. Group-specific interventions that target specific domains are necessary to improve the safety culture. PMID:26610761

Texture of lipid bilayer domains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Uffe Bernchou; Brewer, Jonathan R.; Midtiby, Henrik Skov

2009-01-01

We investigate the texture of gel (g) domains in binary lipid membranes composed of the phospholipids DPPC and DOPC. Lateral organization of lipid bilayer membranes is a topic of fundamental and biological importance. Whereas questions related to size and composition of fluid membrane domain...... are well studied, the possibility of texture in gel domains has so far not been examined. When using polarized light for two-photon excitation of the fluorescent lipid probe Laurdan, the emission intensity is highly sensitive to the angle between the polarization and the tilt orientation of lipid acyl...... chains. By imaging the intensity variations as a function of the polarization angle, we map the lateral variations of the lipid tilt within domains. Results reveal that gel domains are composed of subdomains with different lipid tilt directions. We have applied a Fourier decomposition method...

On the structure of order domains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Geil, Olav; Pellikaan, Ruud

2002-01-01

The notion of an order domain is generalized. The behaviour of an order domain by taking a subalgebra, the extension of scalars, and the tensor product is studied. The relation of an order domain with valuation theory, Gröbner algebras, and graded structures is given. The theory of Gröbner bases...... for order domains is developed and used to show that the factor ring theorem and its converse, the presentation theorem, hold. The dimension of an order domain is related to the rank of its value semigroup....

A Cross-Cultural Approach to Speech-Act-Sets: The Case of Apologies

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Válková Silvie

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to contribute to the validity of recent research into speech act theory by advocating the idea that with some of the traditional speech acts, their overt language manifestations that emerge from corpus data remind us of ritualised scenarios of speech-act-sets rather than single acts, with configurations of core and peripheral units reflecting the socio-cultural norms of the expectations and culture-bound values of a given language community. One of the prototypical manifestations of speech-act-sets, apologies, will be discussed to demonstrate a procedure which can be used to identify, analyse, describe and cross-culturally compare the validity of speech-act-set theory and provide evidence of its relevance for studying the English-Czech interface in this particular domain of human interaction.

Interaction of lipid nanoparticles with human epidermis and an organotypic cell culture model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kuntsche, Judith; Bunjes, Heike; Fahr, Alfred

2008-01-01

Various lipid nanoparticle formulations were investigated with respect to (trans)dermal drug delivery with special regard to the mechanism of their effects on human and an organotypic cell culture epidermis. Potential alterations of stratum corneum lipid domains were studied using fluorescence...... assays with labeled liposomes and thermal analysis of isolated stratum corneum. Influences on the permeation of corticosterone were investigated and the occlusive properties of the nanoparticles were determined by measurements of the transepidermal water loss (TEWL). The penetration of a fluorescence dye...... studies and thermal analysis of human and cell culture epidermis indicate that surface lipids, which are not present to the same extent in the cell culture model than in human epidermis, seem to play an important role....

A qualitative investigation of the cultural adjustment experiences of Asian international college women.

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Constantine, Madonna G; Kindaichi, Mai; Okazaki, Sumie; Gainor, Kathy A; Baden, Amanda L

2005-05-01

This qualitative study explored the cultural adjustment experiences of 15 Asian Indian, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese international college women through semistructured interviews. By using consensual qualitative research methodology (C. E. Hill, B. J. Thompson, & E. N. Williams, 1997), 6 primary domains or themes related to these women's cultural adjustment experiences were identified via data analysis: their feelings and thoughts about living in the United States, perceived differences between their country of origin and the United States, their English language acquisition and use, their prejudicial or discriminatory experiences in the United States, their peer and family networks, and their strategies for coping with cultural adjustment problems. Implications of the findings for mental health practice are discussed. Copyright (c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved.

Functional dissection of the Hox protein Abdominal-B in Drosophila cell culture

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Zhai, Zongzhao [Key Laboratory of the Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beichen West Road, Chaoyang, Beijing 100101 (China); CellNetworks - Cluster of Excellence, Centre for Organismal Studies (COS) Heidelberg, University of Heidelberg, D-69120 Heidelberg (Germany); Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039 (China); Yang, Xingke, E-mail: yangxk@ioz.ac.cn [Key Laboratory of the Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beichen West Road, Chaoyang, Beijing 100101 (China); Lohmann, Ingrid, E-mail: ilohmann@flydev.org [CellNetworks - Cluster of Excellence, Centre for Organismal Studies (COS) Heidelberg, University of Heidelberg, D-69120 Heidelberg (Germany)

2011-11-04

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer ct340 CRM was identified to be the posterior spiracle enhancer of gene cut. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer ct340 is under the direct transcriptional control of Hox protein Abd-B. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer An efficient cloning system was developed to assay protein-DNA interaction. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer New features of Abd-B dependent target gene regulation were detected. -- Abstract: Hox transcription factors regulate the morphogenesis along the anterior-posterior (A/P) body axis through the interaction with small cis-regulatory modules (CRMs) of their target gene, however so far very few Hox CRMs are known and have been analyzed in detail. In this study we have identified a new Hox CRM, ct340, which guides the expression of the cell type specification gene cut (ct) in the posterior spiracle under the direct control of the Hox protein Abdominal-B (Abd-B). Using the ct340 enhancer activity as readout, an efficient cloning system to generate VP16 activation domain fusion protein was developed to unambiguously test protein-DNA interaction in Drosophila cell culture. By functionally dissecting the Abd-B protein, new features of Abd-B dependent target gene regulation were detected. Due to its easy adaptability, this system can be generally used to map functional domains within sequence-specific transcriptional factors in Drosophila cell culture, and thus provide preliminary knowledge of the protein functional domain structure for further in vivo analysis.

Multiple graph regularized protein domain ranking.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jim Jing-Yan; Bensmail, Halima; Gao, Xin

2012-11-19

Protein domain ranking is a fundamental task in structural biology. Most protein domain ranking methods rely on the pairwise comparison of protein domains while neglecting the global manifold structure of the protein domain database. Recently, graph regularized ranking that exploits the global structure of the graph defined by the pairwise similarities has been proposed. However, the existing graph regularized ranking methods are very sensitive to the choice of the graph model and parameters, and this remains a difficult problem for most of the protein domain ranking methods. To tackle this problem, we have developed the Multiple Graph regularized Ranking algorithm, MultiG-Rank. Instead of using a single graph to regularize the ranking scores, MultiG-Rank approximates the intrinsic manifold of protein domain distribution by combining multiple initial graphs for the regularization. Graph weights are learned with ranking scores jointly and automatically, by alternately minimizing an objective function in an iterative algorithm. Experimental results on a subset of the ASTRAL SCOP protein domain database demonstrate that MultiG-Rank achieves a better ranking performance than single graph regularized ranking methods and pairwise similarity based ranking methods. The problem of graph model and parameter selection in graph regularized protein domain ranking can be solved effectively by combining multiple graphs. This aspect of generalization introduces a new frontier in applying multiple graphs to solving protein domain ranking applications.

Domains I and IV of annexin A2 affect the formation and integrity of in vitro capillary-like networks.

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Aase M Raddum

Full Text Available Annexin A2 (AnxA2 is a widely expressed multifunctional protein found in different cellular compartments. In spite of lacking a hydrophobic signal peptide, AnxA2 is found at the cell surface of endothelial cells, indicative of a role in angiogenesis. Increased extracellular levels of AnxA2 in tumours correlate with neoangiogenesis, metastasis and poor prognosis. We hypothesised that extracellular AnxA2 may contribute to angiogenesis by affecting endothelial cell-cell interactions and motility. To address this question, we studied the effect of heterotetrameric and monomeric forms of AnxA2, as well as its two soluble domains on the formation and maintenance of capillary-like structures by using an in vitro co-culture system consisting of endothelial and smooth muscle cells. In particular, addition of purified domains I and IV of AnxA2 potently inhibited the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-dependent formation of the capillary-like networks in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, these AnxA2 domains disrupted endothelial cell-cell contacts in preformed capillary-like networks, resulting in the internalisation of vascular endothelial (VE-cadherin and the formation of VE-cadherin-containing filopodia-like structures between the endothelial cells, suggesting increased cell motility. Addition of monoclonal AnxA2 antibodies, in particular against Tyr23 phosphorylated AnxA2, also strongly inhibited network formation in the co-culture system. These results suggest that extracellular AnxA2, most likely in its Tyr phosphorylated form, plays a pivotal role in angiogenesis. The exogenously added AnxA2 domains most likely mediate their effects by competing with endogenous AnxA2 for extracellular factors necessary for the initiation and maintenance of angiogenesis, such as those involved in the formation/integrity of cell-cell contacts.

Incorporating the cultural value of respeto into a framework of Latino parenting.

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Calzada, Esther J; Fernandez, Yenny; Cortes, Dharma E

2010-01-01

Latino families face multiple stressors associated with adjusting to United States mainstream culture that, along with poverty and residence in inner-city communities, may further predispose their children to risk for negative developmental outcomes. Evidence-based mental health treatments may require culturally informed modifications to best address the unique needs of the Latino population, yet few empirical studies have assessed these cultural elements. The current study examined cultural values of 48 Dominican and Mexican mothers of preschoolers through focus groups in which they described their core values as related to their parenting role. Results showed that respeto, family and religion were the most important values that mothers sought to transmit to their children. Respeto is manifested in several domains, including obedience to authority, deference, decorum, and public behavior. The authors describe the socialization messages that Latina mothers use to teach their children respeto and present a culturally derived framework of how these messages may relate to child development. The authors discuss how findings may inform the cultural adaptation of evidence-based mental health treatments such as parent training programs. (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved.

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

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

2011-01-01

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

Diagrammatic Representations in Domain-Specific Languages

OpenAIRE

Tourlas, Konstantinos

2002-01-01

One emerging approach to reducing the labour and costs of software development favours the specialisation of techniques to particular application domains. The rationale is that programs within a given domain often share enough common features and assumptions to enable the incorporation of substantial support mechanisms into domain-specific programming languages and associated tools. Instead of being machine-oriented, algorithmic implementations, programs in many domain-speci...

Domain wall networks on solitons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sutcliffe, Paul

2003-01-01

Domain wall networks on the surface of a soliton are studied in a simple theory. It consists of two complex scalar fields, in 3+1 dimensions, with a global U(1)xZ n symmetry, where n>2. Solutions are computed numerically in which one of the fields forms a Q ball and the other field forms a network of domain walls localized on the surface of the Q ball. Examples are presented in which the domain walls lie along the edges of a spherical polyhedron, forming junctions at its vertices. It is explained why only a small restricted class of polyhedra can arise as domain wall networks

Factors Related to Resilience of Academically Gifted Students in the Chinese Cultural and Educational Environment

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Chen, Xinjie; Cheung, Hoi Yan; Fan, Xitao; Wu, Joseph

2018-01-01

This study examined variables in three domains (personal, parent support, and peer support) for their relationships with the resilience of academically gifted students in the Chinese cultural and educational environment. The participants were 484 academically gifted students in two highly competitive secondary schools (so-called "key"…

The imperative of culture: a quantitative analysis of the impact of culture on workforce engagement, patient experience, physician engagement, value-based purchasing, and turnover.

Science.gov (United States)

Owens, Katie; Eggers, Jim; Keller, Stephanie; McDonald, Audrey

2017-01-01

Current uncertainty for the future of the health care landscape is placing an increasing amount of pressure on leadership teams to be prepared to steer their organization forward in a number of potential directions. It is commonly recognized among health care leaders that culture will either enable or disable organizational success. However, very few studies empirically link culture to health care-specific performance outcomes. Nearly every health care organization in the US specifies its cultural aspirations through mission and vision statements and values. Ambitions of patient-centeredness, care for the community, workplace of choice, and world-class quality are frequently cited; yet, little definitive research exists to quantify the importance of building high-performing cultures. Our study examined the impact of cultural attributes defined by a culture index (Cronbach's alpha = 0.88) on corresponding performance with key health care measures. We mapped results of the culture index across data sets, compared results, and evaluated variations in performance among key indicators for leaders. Organizations that perform in the top quartile for our culture index statistically significantly outperformed those in the bottom quartile on all but one key performance indicator tested. The culture top quartile organizations outperformed every domain for employee engagement, physician engagement, patient experience, and overall value-based purchasing performance with statistical significance. Culture index top quartile performers also had a 3.4% lower turnover rate than the bottom quartile performers. Finally, culture index top quartile performers earned an additional 1% on value-based purchasing. Our findings demonstrate a meaningful connection between performance in the culture index and organizational performance. To best impact these key performance outcomes, health care leaders should pay attention to culture and actively steer workforce engagement in attributes that

The imperative of culture: a quantitative analysis of the impact of culture on workforce engagement, patient experience, physician engagement, value-based purchasing, and turnover

Science.gov (United States)

Owens, Katie; Eggers, Jim; Keller, Stephanie; McDonald, Audrey

2017-01-01

Current uncertainty for the future of the health care landscape is placing an increasing amount of pressure on leadership teams to be prepared to steer their organization forward in a number of potential directions. It is commonly recognized among health care leaders that culture will either enable or disable organizational success. However, very few studies empirically link culture to health care-specific performance outcomes. Nearly every health care organization in the US specifies its cultural aspirations through mission and vision statements and values. Ambitions of patient-centeredness, care for the community, workplace of choice, and world-class quality are frequently cited; yet, little definitive research exists to quantify the importance of building high-performing cultures. Our study examined the impact of cultural attributes defined by a culture index (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.88) on corresponding performance with key health care measures. We mapped results of the culture index across data sets, compared results, and evaluated variations in performance among key indicators for leaders. Organizations that perform in the top quartile for our culture index statistically significantly outperformed those in the bottom quartile on all but one key performance indicator tested. The culture top quartile organizations outperformed every domain for employee engagement, physician engagement, patient experience, and overall value-based purchasing performance with statistical significance. Culture index top quartile performers also had a 3.4% lower turnover rate than the bottom quartile performers. Finally, culture index top quartile performers earned an additional 1% on value-based purchasing. Our findings demonstrate a meaningful connection between performance in the culture index and organizational performance. To best impact these key performance outcomes, health care leaders should pay attention to culture and actively steer workforce engagement in attributes that

Towards Domain-specific Flow-based Languages

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zarrin, Bahram; Baumeister, Hubert; Sarjoughian, Hessam S.

2018-01-01

describe their problems and solutions, instead of using general purpose programming languages. The goal of these languages is to improve the productivity and efficiency of the development and simulation of concurrent scientific models and systems. Moreover, they help to expose parallelism and to specify...... the concurrency within a component or across different independent components. In this paper, we introduce the concept of domain-specific flowbased languages which allows domain experts to use flow-based languages adapted to a particular problem domain. Flow-based programming is used to support concurrency, while......Due to the significant growth of the demand for data-intensive computing, in addition to the emergence of new parallel and distributed computing technologies, scientists and domain experts are leveraging languages specialized for their problem domain, i.e., domain-specific languages, to help them...

Organizational culture, intersectoral collaboration and mental health care.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Penelope Fay; Pattison, Philippa Eleanor

2012-01-01

This study aims to investigate whether and how organizational culture moderates the influence of other organizational capacities on the uptake of new mental health care roles by non-medical primary health and social care services. Using a cross-sectional survey design, data were collected in 2004 from providers in 41 services in Victoria, Australia, recruited using purposeful sampling. Respondents within each service worked as a group to complete a structured interview that collected quantitative and qualitative data simultaneously. Five domains of organizational capacity were analyzed: leadership, moral support and participation; organizational culture; shared concepts, policies, processes and structures; access to resource support; and social model of health. A principal components analysis explored the structure of data about roles and capacities, and multiple regression analysis examined relationships between them. The unit of analysis was the service (n = 41). Organizational culture was directly associated with involvement in two types of mental health care roles and moderated the influence of factors in the inter-organizational environment on role involvement. Congruence between the values embodied in organizational culture, communicated in messages from the environment, and underlying particular mental health care activities may play a critical role in shaping the emergence of intersectoral working and the uptake of new roles. This study is the first to demonstrate the importance of organizational culture to intersectoral collaboration in health care, and one of very few to examine organizational culture as a predictor of performance, compared with other organizational-level factors, in a multivariate analysis. Theory is developed to explain the findings.

A Fast, Efficient Domain Adaptation Technique for Cross-Domain Electroencephalography(EEG-Based Emotion Recognition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xin Chai

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Electroencephalography (EEG-based emotion recognition is an important element in psychiatric health diagnosis for patients. However, the underlying EEG sensor signals are always non-stationary if they are sampled from different experimental sessions or subjects. This results in the deterioration of the classification performance. Domain adaptation methods offer an effective way to reduce the discrepancy of marginal distribution. However, for EEG sensor signals, both marginal and conditional distributions may be mismatched. In addition, the existing domain adaptation strategies always require a high level of additional computation. To address this problem, a novel strategy named adaptive subspace feature matching (ASFM is proposed in this paper in order to integrate both the marginal and conditional distributions within a unified framework (without any labeled samples from target subjects. Specifically, we develop a linear transformation function which matches the marginal distributions of the source and target subspaces without a regularization term. This significantly decreases the time complexity of our domain adaptation procedure. As a result, both marginal and conditional distribution discrepancies between the source domain and unlabeled target domain can be reduced, and logistic regression (LR can be applied to the new source domain in order to train a classifier for use in the target domain, since the aligned source domain follows a distribution which is similar to that of the target domain. We compare our ASFM method with six typical approaches using a public EEG dataset with three affective states: positive, neutral, and negative. Both offline and online evaluations were performed. The subject-to-subject offline experimental results demonstrate that our component achieves a mean accuracy and standard deviation of 80.46% and 6.84%, respectively, as compared with a state-of-the-art method, the subspace alignment auto-encoder (SAAE, which

Improving the Effectiveness of Speaker Verification Domain Adaptation With Inadequate In-Domain Data

Science.gov (United States)

2017-08-20

M speakers. We seek a probabilistic solution to domain adap- tation, and so we encode knowledge of the out-of-domain data in prior distributions...the VB solution from (16)-(21) becomes: µ =αȳ + (1− α)µout, (24) Σa =α ( 1 NT NT∑ n=1 〈ynyTn 〉 − ȳȳT ) + (1− α) Σouta (25) + α (1− α) ( ȳ − µout...non- English languages and from unseen channels. An inadequate in-domain set was provided, which consisted of 2272 samples from 1164 speakers, and

The SPOR Domain, a Widely Conserved Peptidoglycan Binding Domain That Targets Proteins to the Site of Cell Division.

Science.gov (United States)

Yahashiri, Atsushi; Jorgenson, Matthew A; Weiss, David S

2017-07-15

Sporulation-related repeat (SPOR) domains are small peptidoglycan (PG) binding domains found in thousands of bacterial proteins. The name "SPOR domain" stems from the fact that several early examples came from proteins involved in sporulation, but SPOR domain proteins are quite diverse and contribute to a variety of processes that involve remodeling of the PG sacculus, especially with respect to cell division. SPOR domains target proteins to the division site by binding to regions of PG devoid of stem peptides ("denuded" glycans), which in turn are enriched in septal PG by the intense, localized activity of cell wall amidases involved in daughter cell separation. This targeting mechanism sets SPOR domain proteins apart from most other septal ring proteins, which localize via protein-protein interactions. In addition to SPOR domains, bacteria contain several other PG-binding domains that can exploit features of the cell wall to target proteins to specific subcellular sites. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.

Tourism and Cultural Heritage: Higher Education and Entrepreneurship Development in Transition Phase. The Tunisian Experience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Faysal Mansouri

2014-10-01

Full Text Available This is to lay down an approach to develop tourism and cultural heritage through higher education and entrepreneurship development for economies in transition: The case of Tunisia. There is a need to provide incentives to people to have favorable preferences toward a tourism based in part on cultural heritage in a phase where everything is being under construction institutions, legislations, and relationships alike. Cultural heritage and tourism development may be enhanced by a diversification strategy to enrich the image of local touristic destinations (diversification of site visits, purchases of new products, new circuits, and discovery of monumental heritage, museum, park and gardens, natural sites. Moreover, it is of great importance to invest in youth entrepreneurship development to orient toward business creation and development in the domain of tourism and cultural heritage.

Cultural Differences in Perceiving Sounds Generated by Others: Self Matters

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Liyu eCao

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Sensory consequences resulting from own movements receive different neural processing compared to externally generated sensory consequences (e.g., by a computer, leading to sensory attenuation, i.e., a reduction in perceived loudness or brain evoked responses. However, discrepant findings exist from different cultural regions about whether sensory attenuation is also present for sensory consequences generated by others. In this study, we performed a cross culture (between Chinese and British comparison on the processing of sensory consequences (perceived loudness from self and others compared to an external source in the auditory domain. We found a cultural difference in processing sensory consequences generated by others, with only Chinese and not British showing the sensory attenuation effect. Sensory attenuation in this case was correlated with independent self-construal scores. The sensory attenuation effect for self-generated sensory consequences was not replicated. However, a correlation with delusional ideation was observed for British. These findings are discussed with respects to mechanisms of sensory attenuation.

Frequency-domain and time-domain methods for feedback nonlinear systems and applications to chaos control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duan Zhisheng; Wang Jinzhi; Yang Ying; Huang Lin

2009-01-01

This paper surveys frequency-domain and time-domain methods for feedback nonlinear systems and their possible applications to chaos control, coupled systems and complex dynamical networks. The absolute stability of Lur'e systems with single equilibrium and global properties of a class of pendulum-like systems with multi-equilibria are discussed. Time-domain and frequency-domain criteria for the convergence of solutions are presented. Some latest results on analysis and control of nonlinear systems with multiple equilibria and applications to chaos control are reviewed. Finally, new chaotic oscillating phenomena are shown in a pendulum-like system and a new nonlinear system with an attraction/repulsion function.

Multiple graph regularized protein domain ranking

KAUST Repository

Wang, Jim Jing-Yan

2012-11-19

Background: Protein domain ranking is a fundamental task in structural biology. Most protein domain ranking methods rely on the pairwise comparison of protein domains while neglecting the global manifold structure of the protein domain database. Recently, graph regularized ranking that exploits the global structure of the graph defined by the pairwise similarities has been proposed. However, the existing graph regularized ranking methods are very sensitive to the choice of the graph model and parameters, and this remains a difficult problem for most of the protein domain ranking methods.Results: To tackle this problem, we have developed the Multiple Graph regularized Ranking algorithm, MultiG-Rank. Instead of using a single graph to regularize the ranking scores, MultiG-Rank approximates the intrinsic manifold of protein domain distribution by combining multiple initial graphs for the regularization. Graph weights are learned with ranking scores jointly and automatically, by alternately minimizing an objective function in an iterative algorithm. Experimental results on a subset of the ASTRAL SCOP protein domain database demonstrate that MultiG-Rank achieves a better ranking performance than single graph regularized ranking methods and pairwise similarity based ranking methods.Conclusion: The problem of graph model and parameter selection in graph regularized protein domain ranking can be solved effectively by combining multiple graphs. This aspect of generalization introduces a new frontier in applying multiple graphs to solving protein domain ranking applications. 2012 Wang et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Multiple graph regularized protein domain ranking

KAUST Repository

Wang, Jim Jing-Yan; Bensmail, Halima; Gao, Xin

2012-01-01

Background: Protein domain ranking is a fundamental task in structural biology. Most protein domain ranking methods rely on the pairwise comparison of protein domains while neglecting the global manifold structure of the protein domain database. Recently, graph regularized ranking that exploits the global structure of the graph defined by the pairwise similarities has been proposed. However, the existing graph regularized ranking methods are very sensitive to the choice of the graph model and parameters, and this remains a difficult problem for most of the protein domain ranking methods.Results: To tackle this problem, we have developed the Multiple Graph regularized Ranking algorithm, MultiG-Rank. Instead of using a single graph to regularize the ranking scores, MultiG-Rank approximates the intrinsic manifold of protein domain distribution by combining multiple initial graphs for the regularization. Graph weights are learned with ranking scores jointly and automatically, by alternately minimizing an objective function in an iterative algorithm. Experimental results on a subset of the ASTRAL SCOP protein domain database demonstrate that MultiG-Rank achieves a better ranking performance than single graph regularized ranking methods and pairwise similarity based ranking methods.Conclusion: The problem of graph model and parameter selection in graph regularized protein domain ranking can be solved effectively by combining multiple graphs. This aspect of generalization introduces a new frontier in applying multiple graphs to solving protein domain ranking applications. 2012 Wang et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Multiple graph regularized protein domain ranking

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Wang Jim

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Protein domain ranking is a fundamental task in structural biology. Most protein domain ranking methods rely on the pairwise comparison of protein domains while neglecting the global manifold structure of the protein domain database. Recently, graph regularized ranking that exploits the global structure of the graph defined by the pairwise similarities has been proposed. However, the existing graph regularized ranking methods are very sensitive to the choice of the graph model and parameters, and this remains a difficult problem for most of the protein domain ranking methods. Results To tackle this problem, we have developed the Multiple Graph regularized Ranking algorithm, MultiG-Rank. Instead of using a single graph to regularize the ranking scores, MultiG-Rank approximates the intrinsic manifold of protein domain distribution by combining multiple initial graphs for the regularization. Graph weights are learned with ranking scores jointly and automatically, by alternately minimizing an objective function in an iterative algorithm. Experimental results on a subset of the ASTRAL SCOP protein domain database demonstrate that MultiG-Rank achieves a better ranking performance than single graph regularized ranking methods and pairwise similarity based ranking methods. Conclusion The problem of graph model and parameter selection in graph regularized protein domain ranking can be solved effectively by combining multiple graphs. This aspect of generalization introduces a new frontier in applying multiple graphs to solving protein domain ranking applications.

Anisotropy of domain wall resistance

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Viret; Samson; Warin; Marty; Ott; Sondergard; Klein; Fermon

2000-10-30

The resistive effect of domain walls in FePd films with perpendicular anisotropy was studied experimentally as a function of field and temperature. The films were grown directly on MgO substrates, which induces an unusual virgin magnetic configuration composed of 60 nm wide parallel stripe domains. This allowed us to carry out the first measurements of the anisotropy of domain wall resistivity in the two configurations of current perpendicular and parallel to the walls. At 18 K, we find 8.2% and 1.3% for the domain wall magnetoresistance normalized to the wall width (8 nm) in these two respective configurations. These values are consistent with the predictions of Levy and Zhang.

Human-computer interface incorporating personal and application domains

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Anderson, Thomas G [Albuquerque, NM

2011-03-29

The present invention provides a human-computer interface. The interface includes provision of an application domain, for example corresponding to a three-dimensional application. The user is allowed to navigate and interact with the application domain. The interface also includes a personal domain, offering the user controls and interaction distinct from the application domain. The separation into two domains allows the most suitable interface methods in each: for example, three-dimensional navigation in the application domain, and two- or three-dimensional controls in the personal domain. Transitions between the application domain and the personal domain are under control of the user, and the transition method is substantially independent of the navigation in the application domain. For example, the user can fly through a three-dimensional application domain, and always move to the personal domain by moving a cursor near one extreme of the display.

Non-slipping domains of a pulled spool

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wagner, Clemens; Vaterlaus, Andreas

2014-01-01

We have investigated the pulled spool by considering pulling angles up to 360 ∘ . Our focus was on downward pulling forces with pulling angles in the range of 180 ∘ to 360 ∘ . In this range we have found a domain of pulling angles where the spool never starts to slip independent of the strength of the pulling force. The size of the domain depends on the static friction coefficient and on the moment of inertia of the spool. The non-slipping domain is mainly formed around the critical angle where the static friction force becomes zero. For low static friction the non-slipping domain decays into two different domains. We have determined the limiting angles of the non-slipping domains and explored the transitions from a single domain to two separated domains in parameter space. (paper)

Social Cognitive and Cultural Orientation Predictors of Well-Being in Asian American College Students

Science.gov (United States)

Hui, Kayi; Lent, Robert W.; Miller, Matthew J.

2013-01-01

This study examined the predictive utility of Lent and Brown's social cognitive model of educational and work well-being with a sample of Asian American college students, indexing well-being in terms of academic and social domain satisfaction. In addition, we examined the role of acculturation and enculturation as culture-specific predictors of…

Image-domain full waveform inversion

KAUST Repository

Zhang, Sanzong

2013-08-20

The main difficulty with the data-domain full waveform inversion (FWI) is that it tends to get stuck in the local minima associated with the waveform misfit function. This is because the waveform misfit function is highly nonlinear with respect to changes in velocity model. To reduce this nonlinearity, we define the image-domain objective function to minimize the difference of the suboffset-domain common image gathers (CIGs) obtained by migrating the observed data and the calculated data. The derivation shows that the gradient of this new objective function is the combination of the gradient of the conventional FWI and the image-domain differential semblance optimization (DSO). Compared to the conventional FWI, the imagedomain FWI is immune to cycle skipping problems by smearing the nonzero suboffset images along wavepath. It also can avoid the edge effects and the gradient artifacts that are inherent in DSO due to the falsely over-penalized focused images. This is achieved by subtracting the focused image associated with the calculated data from the unfocused image associated with the observed data in the image-domain misfit function. The numerical results of the Marmousi model show that image-domain FWI is less sensitive the initial model than the conventional FWI. © 2013 SEG.

Image-domain full waveform inversion

KAUST Repository

Zhang, Sanzong; Schuster, Gerard T.

2013-01-01

The main difficulty with the data-domain full waveform inversion (FWI) is that it tends to get stuck in the local minima associated with the waveform misfit function. This is because the waveform misfit function is highly nonlinear with respect to changes in velocity model. To reduce this nonlinearity, we define the image-domain objective function to minimize the difference of the suboffset-domain common image gathers (CIGs) obtained by migrating the observed data and the calculated data. The derivation shows that the gradient of this new objective function is the combination of the gradient of the conventional FWI and the image-domain differential semblance optimization (DSO). Compared to the conventional FWI, the imagedomain FWI is immune to cycle skipping problems by smearing the nonzero suboffset images along wavepath. It also can avoid the edge effects and the gradient artifacts that are inherent in DSO due to the falsely over-penalized focused images. This is achieved by subtracting the focused image associated with the calculated data from the unfocused image associated with the observed data in the image-domain misfit function. The numerical results of the Marmousi model show that image-domain FWI is less sensitive the initial model than the conventional FWI. © 2013 SEG.

Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic studies of the copper-binding domain of the amyloid precursor protein of Alzheimer’s disease

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kong, Geoffrey K.-W. [Biota Structural Biology Laboratory, St Vincent’s Institute, 9 Princes Street, Fitzroy, Victoria 3065 (Australia); Department of Pathology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010 (Australia); Galatis, Denise; Barnham, Kevin J. [Department of Pathology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010 (Australia); The Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria, Parkville, Victoria 3052 (Australia); Polekhina, Galina; Adams, Julian J. [Biota Structural Biology Laboratory, St Vincent’s Institute, 9 Princes Street, Fitzroy, Victoria 3065 (Australia); Masters, Colin L. [Department of Pathology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010 (Australia); The Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria, Parkville, Victoria 3052 (Australia); Cappai, Roberto [Department of Pathology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010 (Australia); The Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria, Parkville, Victoria 3052 (Australia); Centre for Neuroscience, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010 (Australia); Parker, Michael W.; McKinstry, William J., E-mail: wmckinstry@svi.edu.au [Biota Structural Biology Laboratory, St Vincent’s Institute, 9 Princes Street, Fitzroy, Victoria 3065 (Australia)

2005-01-01

The binding of Cu{sup 2+} ions to the copper-binding domain of the amyloid precursor protein of Alzheimer’s disease reduces the production of the amyloid β peptide, which is centrally involved in Alzheimer’s disease. Structural studies of the copper-binding domain will provide a basis for structure-based drug design that might prove useful in treating this devastating disease. Alzheimer’s disease is thought to be triggered by production of the amyloid β (Aβ) peptide through proteolytic cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP). The binding of Cu{sup 2+} to the copper-binding domain (CuBD) of APP reduces the production of Aβ in cell-culture and animal studies. It is expected that structural studies of the CuBD will lead to a better understanding of how copper binding causes Aβ depletion and will define a potential drug target. The crystallization of CuBD in two different forms suitable for structure determination is reported here.

Dominio cultural del autocuidado en diabeticos tipo 2 con y sin control glucémico en México Domínio cultural do autocuidado em pacientes com diabetes tipo 2 com e sem controle glicêmico no México Cultural domain of self-care in type 2 diabetes patients with and without blood glucose control in Mexico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana L Salcedo-Rocha

2008-04-01

Full Text Available OBJETIVO: Analisar los principales elementos relacionados con el dominio cultural del autocuidado de la salud, entre pacientes con diabetes tipo 2 con y sin controle glucémico. MÉTODOS: Estudio descriptivo en 57 diabéticos controlados y 76 sin control glucémico, con promedio de 60 años de edad en una clínica del Seguro Social en México en 2003. Se aplicaron técnicas de antropología cognitiva de listas libres y cuestionario estructurado para obtener modelo semántico y promedio de conocimiento cultural a seis preguntas sobre su padecimiento por análisis de consenso. RESULTADOS: Los datos sociodemográficos de ambos grupos no mostraron diferencias significativas. Todos los modelos de respuesta comparados presentaron estructuras semánticas similares, con excepción a: "Qué se entiende como ejercicio" (pOBJETIVO: Analisar os principais elementos relacionados ao domínio cultural do autocuidado da saúde entre pacientes com diabetes tipo 2, com ou sem controle glicêmico. MÉTODOS: Estudo descritivo com 57 diabéticos com controle glicêmico e 76 sem controle, com média de 60 anos de idade em clínica de seguro social no México, em 2003. Foram aplicadas técnicas de antropologia cognitiva de listas livres e questionário estruturado para obter modelo semântico e média de conhecimento cultural a seis perguntas sobre seu adoecimento, por análise de consenso das respostas. RESULTADOS: Os dados sociodemográficos de ambos os grupos mostraram diferenças significativas. Todos os modelos de resposta comparados apresentaram estruturas semânticas similares, à exceção de: "o que se entende por exercício" (pOBJECTIVE: To analyze the main elements related with the cultural domain of self-health care in type 2 diabetes patients with and without good blood glucose control. METHODS: Descriptive study comprising diabetes patients, 57 with and 76 without good blood glucose control, with an average age of 60 years, who attended a Social Security

Structure of DSM-5 and ICD-11 personality domains in Iranian community sample.

Science.gov (United States)

Lotfi, Mozhgan; Bach, Bo; Amini, Mahdi; Simonsen, Erik

2018-02-02

Personality disorders (PD) have been deemed the most problematic diagnostic grouping in terms of validity and utility, which particularly applies to non-Western societies. The current study evaluated the structural validity of PD trait domains in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 (DSM-5) Section III and the proposed International Classification of Diseases-11 (ICD-11) in the Iranian population. Community-dwelling adults (n = 285; 66% women) were administered the Personality Inventory for DSM-5, whereas the proposed ICD-11 trait domains were delineated using an algorithm for Personality Inventory for DSM-5 trait facets. The five-factor organization and higher-order hierarchical structure of both models were examined using exploratory structural equation modelling analyses. The five-factor exploratory structural equation modelling loadings overall resembled international findings on DSM-5 Section III traits (including Psychoticism), whereas the ICD-11 five-factor structure aligned with the proposed ICD-11 domain features (including Anankastia). Additionally, we identified a hierarchical structure from one to five factors for both models that conceptually aligned with established models of personality and psychopathology. This study provided initial support for the structural validity of DSM-5 and ICD-11 PD trait models in Iranian culture. Future research warrants replication in larger samples and clinical populations. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Generic domain models in software engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Maiden, Neil

1992-01-01

This paper outlines three research directions related to domain-specific software development: (1) reuse of generic models for domain-specific software development; (2) empirical evidence to determine these generic models, namely elicitation of mental knowledge schema possessed by expert software developers; and (3) exploitation of generic domain models to assist modelling of specific applications. It focuses on knowledge acquisition for domain-specific software development, with emphasis on tool support for the most important phases of software development.

Interaction Between the Biotin Carboxyl Carrier Domain and the Biotin Carboxylase Domain in Pyruvate Carboxylase from Rhizobium etli†

Science.gov (United States)

Lietzan, Adam D.; Menefee, Ann L.; Zeczycki, Tonya N.; Kumar, Sudhanshu; Attwood, Paul V.; Wallace, John C.; Cleland, W. Wallace; Maurice, Martin St.

2011-01-01

Pyruvate carboxylase (PC) catalyzes the ATP-dependent carboxylation of pyruvate to oxaloacetate, an important anaplerotic reaction in mammalian tissues. To effect catalysis, the tethered biotin of PC must gain access to active sites in both the biotin carboxylase domain and the carboxyl transferase domain. Previous studies have demonstrated that a mutation of threonine 882 to alanine in PC from Rhizobium etli renders the carboxyl transferase domain inactive and favors the positioning of biotin in the biotin carboxylase domain. We report the 2.4 Å resolution X-ray crystal structure of the Rhizobium etli PC T882A mutant which reveals the first high-resolution description of the domain interaction between the biotin carboxyl carrier protein domain and the biotin carboxylase domain. The overall quaternary arrangement of Rhizobium etli PC remains highly asymmetrical and is independent of the presence of allosteric activator. While biotin is observed in the biotin carboxylase domain, its access to the active site is precluded by the interaction between Arg353 and Glu248, revealing a mechanism for regulating carboxybiotin access to the BC domain active site. The binding location for the biotin carboxyl carrier protein domain demonstrates that tethered biotin cannot bind in the biotin carboxylase domain active site in the same orientation as free biotin, helping to explain the difference in catalysis observed between tethered biotin and free biotin substrates in biotin carboxylase enzymes. Electron density located in the biotin carboxylase domain active site is assigned to phosphonoacetate, offering a probable location for the putative carboxyphosphate intermediate formed during biotin carboxylation. The insights gained from the T882A Rhizobium etli PC crystal structure provide a new series of catalytic snapshots in PC and offer a revised perspective on catalysis in the biotin-dependent enzyme family. PMID:21958016

Development of a Korean version of the Cancer Therapy Satisfaction Questionnaire (CTSQ): cross-cultural adaptation, reliability, and validity.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, So Jeong; An, Soo Min; Kim, Se Hyun

2013-03-01

(1) To translate original English Cancer Therapy Satisfaction Questionnaire (CTSQ) into Korean and perform validation, (2) to compare CTSQ domains of expectations of therapy (ET), feelings about side effects (FSE), and satisfaction with therapy (SWT) by cancer therapy type. Cross-cultural adaptation was performed according to guidelines: translation, back translation, focus-group, and field test. We performed validation with internal consistency by Cronbach's alpha and construct validity by exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with varimax rotation method. We compared each CTSQ domain between traditional Korean Medicine (TKM) and integrative cancer therapy (ICT) of combining western and TKM by two-sample t test. Cross-cultural adaptation produced no major modifications in the items and domains. A total of 102 outpatients were participated. Mean age was 51.9 ± 12.4. Most were stage 4 (74.4 %) cancer. Mean scores of ET, FSE, and SWT were 81.2 ± 15.7, 79.5 ± 22.9, and 75.7 ± 14.8, respectively. Cronbach's alpha of ET, FSE, and SWT were 0.86, 0.78, and 0.74, respectively. EFA loaded items on the three domains, which is very close to that of the original CTSQ. ET and SWT was similar, but FSE was significantly higher in TKM than ICT (87.5 ± 19.3 vs. 74.9 ± 23.5; p = 0.0054). Cross-cultural adaptation was successful, and the adapted Korean CTSQ demonstrated good internal consistency and construct validity. Similar expectation and satisfaction was shown between the two types of therapy, but patient's reported feelings about side effects was significantly lower in patients receiving TKM than receiving ICT. Korean version of CTSQ can be used to evaluate Korean cancer patient's experiences receiving various cancer therapy types.

Exploring the research domain of consultant practice: Experiences of consultant radiographers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harris, R.; Paterson, A.

2016-01-01

Aim: This paper reports on one part of a larger study. The aim of the overall study was to explore what the core domain of research means to consultant radiographers in clinical practice and to identify the key factors that facilitate or hinder research activity by this staff group. Design and method: Grounded theory research methodology was employed. This second part of the study involved telephone interviews with twenty five consultant radiographers. Results: Results indicate there are variations across clinical specialties as to the amount and level of research undertaken by consultant radiographers. The principal barriers revealed were: lack of time; excessive clinical workload; lack of skills and confidence to undertake research; poor research culture; and lack of support. The main facilitators noted were: dedicated time, research training and up-skilling; mutually beneficial collaborations; managerial understanding of the research domain of the role; and research focussed on clinical demand. Conclusion: Fulfilling the clinical role is imperative and integral to the profession at consultant level; however, if it is undertaken to the detriment of the other domains then these practitioners may not be operating at ‘consultant’ level. Overall improvements must be made to ensure that the consultant radiographer role is delivering on current expectations and is safeguarded for the future of the next generation of radiographers. - Highlights: • Consultant radiographers undertake research but have concerns about their research skills. • Research aims to improve practice and patients' experiences. • Relatively few consultant radiographers publish their work regularly. • Consultant radiographers allocate little protected time for research due to clinical demands.

Frequency-domain analysis of intrinsic neuronal properties using high-resistant electrodes

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Christian Rössert

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Intrinsic cellular properties of neurons in culture or slices are usually studied by the whole cell clamp method using low-resistant patch pipettes. These electrodes allow detailed analyses with standard electrophysiological methods such as current- or voltage-clamp. However, in these preparations large parts of the network and dendritic structures may be removed, thus preventing an adequate study of synaptic signal processing. Therefore, intact in vivo preparations or isolated in vitro whole brains have been used in which intracellular recordings are usually made with sharp, high-resistant electrodes to optimize the impalement of neurons. The general non-linear resistance properties of these electrodes, however, severely limit accurate quantitative studies of membrane dynamics especially needed for precise modelling. Therefore, we have developed a frequency-domain analysis of membrane properties that uses a Piece-wise Non-linear Electrode Compensation (PNEC method. The technique was tested in second-order vestibular neurons and abducens motoneurons of isolated frog whole brain preparations using sharp potassium chloride- or potassium acetate-filled electrodes. All recordings were performed without online electrode compensation. The properties of each electrode were determined separately after the neuronal recordings and were used in the frequency-domain analysis of the combined measurement of electrode and cell. This allowed detailed analysis of membrane properties in the frequency-domain with high-resistant electrodes and provided quantitative data that can be further used to model channel kinetics. Thus, sharp electrodes can be used for the characterization of intrinsic properties and synaptic inputs of neurons in intact brains.

A thermodynamic definition of protein domains.

Science.gov (United States)

Porter, Lauren L; Rose, George D

2012-06-12

Protein domains are conspicuous structural units in globular proteins, and their identification has been a topic of intense biochemical interest dating back to the earliest crystal structures. Numerous disparate domain identification algorithms have been proposed, all involving some combination of visual intuition and/or structure-based decomposition. Instead, we present a rigorous, thermodynamically-based approach that redefines domains as cooperative chain segments. In greater detail, most small proteins fold with high cooperativity, meaning that the equilibrium population is dominated by completely folded and completely unfolded molecules, with a negligible subpopulation of partially folded intermediates. Here, we redefine structural domains in thermodynamic terms as cooperative folding units, based on m-values, which measure the cooperativity of a protein or its substructures. In our analysis, a domain is equated to a contiguous segment of the folded protein whose m-value is largely unaffected when that segment is excised from its parent structure. Defined in this way, a domain is a self-contained cooperative unit; i.e., its cooperativity depends primarily upon intrasegment interactions, not intersegment interactions. Implementing this concept computationally, the domains in a large representative set of proteins were identified; all exhibit consistency with experimental findings. Specifically, our domain divisions correspond to the experimentally determined equilibrium folding intermediates in a set of nine proteins. The approach was also proofed against a representative set of 71 additional proteins, again with confirmatory results. Our reframed interpretation of a protein domain transforms an indeterminate structural phenomenon into a quantifiable molecular property grounded in solution thermodynamics.

Using context to improve protein domain identification

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Llinás Manuel

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Identifying domains in protein sequences is an important step in protein structural and functional annotation. Existing domain recognition methods typically evaluate each domain prediction independently of the rest. However, the majority of proteins are multidomain, and pairwise domain co-occurrences are highly specific and non-transitive. Results Here, we demonstrate how to exploit domain co-occurrence to boost weak domain predictions that appear in previously observed combinations, while penalizing higher confidence domains if such combinations have never been observed. Our framework, Domain Prediction Using Context (dPUC, incorporates pairwise "context" scores between domains, along with traditional domain scores and thresholds, and improves domain prediction across a variety of organisms from bacteria to protozoa and metazoa. Among the genomes we tested, dPUC is most successful at improving predictions for the poorly-annotated malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, for which over 38% of the genome is currently unannotated. Our approach enables high-confidence annotations in this organism and the identification of orthologs to many core machinery proteins conserved in all eukaryotes, including those involved in ribosomal assembly and other RNA processing events, which surprisingly had not been previously known. Conclusions Overall, our results demonstrate that this new context-based approach will provide significant improvements in domain and function prediction, especially for poorly understood genomes for which the need for additional annotations is greatest. Source code for the algorithm is available under a GPL open source license at http://compbio.cs.princeton.edu/dpuc/. Pre-computed results for our test organisms and a web server are also available at that location.

A Domain Standard for Land Administration

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lemmen, C.; Van Oosterom, P.; Van der Molen, P.

2013-01-01

This paper presents the design of a Domain Model for Land Administration (LA). As a result a formal International Standard is available: ISO 19152 Geographic Information – Land Administration Domain Model (LADM) (ISO, 2012). Domain specific standardisation is needed to capture the semantics of the

Cultural meanings of musculoskeletal diseases in Chile's Mapuche Population.

Science.gov (United States)

Alarcon, Ana M; Vidal, Aldo; Castro, Marcela

2013-10-01

Eight out of 10 Mapuche indigenous women have a musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) and do not seek early medical aid. To study both the cultural meanings and implications of MSD from the Mapuche worldview. Ethnographic study carried out from 2008 to 2011 on indigenous reserves in southern Chile. Sixty-four Mapuches participated in comprehensive interviews, which were transcribed and analyzed by the research team. Five cultural domains: (a) foro kutran/bone disease is the general denomination of MSD; (b) Re-Rume Kutran/progressive and incurable course, refers to the course of the disease; (c) Kalül fücha mawiza/body is an old tree, describes internal manifestations such as worn bones, dry body, weak blood, and spiritual weakness; (d) witrür tripai foro/deformation is the external manifestation of MSD; and (e) Reñma ka lof kutran/family and community suffering refers to the impact of MSD. The explanation of MSD is consistent with the integrated body-nature-spirit worldview of the Mapuche. To provide cultural nursing health care so that patients receive prompt diagnosis and care.

Cultural respect encompassing simulation training: being heard about health through broadband

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Phyllis Min-yu Lau

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Background. Cultural Respect Encompassing Simulation Training (CREST is a learning program that uses simulation to provide health professional students and practitioners with strategies to communicate sensitively with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD patients. It consists of training modules with a cultural competency evaluation framework and CALD simulated patients to interact with trainees in immersive simulation scenarios. The aim of this study was to test the feasibility of expanding the delivery of CREST to rural Australia using live video streaming; and to investigate the fidelity of cultural sensitivity – defined within the process of cultural competency which includes awareness, knowledge, skills, encounters and desire – of the streamed simulations. Design and Methods. In this mixed-methods evaluative study, health professional trainees were recruited at three rural academic campuses and one rural hospital to pilot CREST sessions via live video streaming and simulation from the city campus in 2014. Cultural competency, teaching and learning evaluations were conducted. Results. Forty-five participants rated 26 reliable items before and after each session and reported statistically significant improvement in 4 of 5 cultural competency domains, particularly in cultural skills (P<0.05. Qualitative data indicated an overall acknowledgement amongst participants of the importance of communication training and the quality of the simulation training provided remotely by CREST. Conclusions. Cultural sensitivity education using live video-streaming and simulation can contribute to health professionals’ learning and is effective in improving cultural competency. CREST has the potential to be embedded within health professional curricula across Australian universities to address issues of health inequalities arising from a lack of cultural sensitivity training.

Immigrants' adaptation to different cultural settings: A contextual perspective on acculturation: Introduction for the special section on immigration.

Science.gov (United States)

Titzmann, Peter F; Fuligni, Andrew J

2015-12-01

In modern multicultural societies more and more individuals deal with 2 or more cultures due to the unprecedented increase in international migration. This special section brings together research about immigrants' adaptation to various life domains, about the demands of dealing with different cultural scripts and about how immigrants can successfully bridge different cultural demands. This introduction to the special section provides a broader theoretical framework that links the different studies of the special section and demonstrates areas for further research. It also clearly illustrates the growing necessity for research in increasingly diverse societies. © 2015 International Union of Psychological Science.

Cross-Genome Comparisons of Newly Identified Domains in Mycoplasma gallisepticum and Domain Architectures with Other Mycoplasma species

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Chandra Sekhar Reddy Chilamakuri

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Accurate functional annotation of protein sequences is hampered by important factors such as the failure of sequence search methods to identify relationships and the inherent diversity in function of proteins related at low sequence similarities. Earlier, we had employed intermediate sequence search approach to establish new domain relationships in the unassigned regions of gene products at the whole genome level by taking Mycoplasma gallisepticum as a specific example and established new domain relationships. In this paper, we report a detailed comparison of the conservation status of the domain and domain architectures of the gene products that bear our newly predicted domains amongst 14 other Mycoplasma genomes and reported the probable implications for the organisms. Some of the domain associations, observed in Mycoplasma that afflict humans and other non-human primates, are involved in regulation of solute transport and DNA binding suggesting specific modes of host-pathogen interactions.

Patterns of cultural consensus and intracultural diversity in Ghanaian complementary feeding practices.

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Kalra, Nikhila; Pelto, Gretel; Tawiah, Charlotte; Zobrist, Stephanie; Milani, Peiman; Manu, Grace; Laar, Amos; Parker, Megan

2018-01-01

Designing effective interventions to improve infant and young child (IYC) feeding requires knowledge about determinants of current practices, including cultural factors. Current approaches to obtaining and using research on culture tend to assume cultural homogeneity within a population. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent of cultural consensus (homogeneity) in communities where interventions to improve IYC feeding practices are needed to address undernutrition during the period of complementary feeding. A second, related objective was to identify the nature of intracultural variation, if such variation was evident. Selected protocols from the Focused Ethnographic Study for Infant and Young Child Feeding Manual were administered to samples of key informants and caregivers in a peri-urban and a rural area in Brong-Ahafo, Ghana. Cultural domain analysis techniques (free listing, caregiver assessment of culturally significant dimensions, and food ratings on these dimensions), as well as open-ended questions with exploratory probing, were used to obtain data on beliefs and related practices. Results reveal generally high cultural consensus on the 5 dimensions that were assessed (healthiness, appeal, child acceptance, convenience, and modernity) for caregiver decisions and on their ratings of individual foods. However, thematic analysis of caregiver narratives indicates that the meanings and content of the constructs connoted by the dimensions differed widely among individual mothers. These findings suggest that research on cultural factors that affect IYC practices, particularly cultural beliefs, should consider the nature and extent of cultural consensus and intracultural diversity, rather than assuming cultural homogeneity. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

EXPATRIATE HOTEL MANAGERS' PERSPECTIVE ON CROSS-CULTURAL SKILLS

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Maria-Cristina IORGULESCU

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The globalization and expansion of multinationals has led to various studies on expatriation management, but literature regarding this issue in the hotel industry is still scarce, especially in Romania. Expatriates are critical to the success of this particular industry, as more and more hotel chains operate beyond their domestic domains and intend to enter inclusively in the Romanian market. The study presented in this article uses a qualitative research method intended to discover the perspective of practitioners on the most important management skills hotel expatriate managers should possess, the most effective cross-cultural training activities provided by parent hotel companies and other challenges faced in international assignments. The data collection method was an in-depth interview with expat hotel managers in Bucharest. The study suggests opportunities for international hotel chains to better prepare their expatriates, in order to integrate them more effectively in a new cultural environment.

Concussions and Risk Within Cultural Contexts of Play.

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Torres Colón, Gabriel Alejandro; Smith, Sharia; Fucillo, Jenny

2017-06-01

Concussions are a type of traumatic injury caused by a jolting of the brain that disrupts normal brain function, and multiple concussions can lead to serious long-term health consequences. In this article, we examine the relationship between college students' understanding of concussions and their willingness to continue playing despite the possibility of sustaining multiple head injuries. We use a mixed-methods approach that includes participant observation, cultural domain analysis, and structured interviews. Our research finds that students hold a robust cognitive understanding of concussion yet discursively frame concussions as skeletomuscular injuries. More importantly, students affirm the importance of playing sports for themselves and others, so their decisions to risk multiple concussions must be understood within cultural and biocultural contexts of meaningful social play. We suggest that peoples' decision to risk multiple head injuries should be understood as a desire for meaningful social play rather than an uninformed health risk.

Domain-General Factors Influencing Numerical and Arithmetic Processing

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André Knops

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This special issue contains 18 articles that address the question how numerical processes interact with domain-general factors. We start the editorial with a discussion of how to define domain-general versus domain-specific factors and then discuss the contributions to this special issue grouped into two core numerical domains that are subject to domain-general influences (see Figure 1. The first group of contributions addresses the question how numbers interact with spatial factors. The second group of contributions is concerned with factors that determine and predict arithmetic understanding, performance and development. This special issue shows that domain-general (Table 1a as well as domain-specific (Table 1b abilities influence numerical and arithmetic performance virtually at all levels and make it clear that for the field of numerical cognition a sole focus on one or several domain-specific factors like the approximate number system or spatial-numerical associations is not sufficient. Vice versa, in most studies that included domain-general and domain-specific variables, domain-specific numerical variables predicted arithmetic performance above and beyond domain-general variables. Therefore, a sole focus on domain-general aspects such as, for example, working memory, to explain, predict and foster arithmetic learning is also not sufficient. Based on the articles in this special issue we conclude that both domain-general and domain-specific factors contribute to numerical cognition. But the how, why and when of their contribution still needs to be better understood. We hope that this special issue may be helpful to readers in constraining future theory and model building about the interplay of domain-specific and domain-general factors.

Distance running as an ideal domain for showing a sex difference in competitiveness.

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Deaner, Robert O

2013-04-01

Men are over-represented in the arts, sciences, and sports. This has been hypothesized to reflect an evolved male predisposition for enduring competitiveness or long-term motivation to improve one's performance and "show-off." Evidence for this hypothesis is equivocal, however, because there are viable alternative explanations for men's dominance in most cultural display domains. Here, I argue that distance running is an ideal domain for addressing this issue. Distance running is ideal because it indicates enduring competitiveness, allows objective comparisons, and is accessible, acceptable, and popular for both men and women. I review recent studies and present new data showing that substantially more men than women run relatively fast in the U.S., that this sex difference in relative performance can be attributed, at least in part, to men's greater training motivation, and that this pattern has been stable for several decades. Distance running thus provides compelling evidence for an evolved male predisposition for enduring competitiveness. I conclude with suggestions regarding how variation in achievement motivation can be informed by considering how evolved predispositions interact with environmental and social conditions.

Zonula occludens toxin structure-function analysis. Identification of the fragment biologically active on tight junctions and of the zonulin receptor binding domain.

Science.gov (United States)

Di Pierro, M; Lu, R; Uzzau, S; Wang, W; Margaretten, K; Pazzani, C; Maimone, F; Fasano, A

2001-06-01

Zonula occludens toxin (Zot) is an enterotoxin elaborated by Vibrio cholerae that increases intestinal permeability by interacting with a mammalian cell receptor with subsequent activation of intracellular signaling leading to the disassembly of the intercellular tight junctions. Zot localizes in the bacterial outer membrane of V. cholerae with subsequent cleavage and secretion of a carboxyl-terminal fragment in the host intestinal milieu. To identify the Zot domain(s) directly involved in the protein permeating effect, several zot gene deletion mutants were constructed and tested for their biological activity in the Ussing chamber assay and their ability to bind to the target receptor on intestinal epithelial cell cultures. The Zot biologically active domain was localized toward the carboxyl terminus of the protein and coincided with the predicted cleavage product generated by V. cholerae. This domain shared a putative receptor-binding motif with zonulin, the Zot mammalian analogue involved in tight junction modulation. Amino acid comparison between the Zot active fragment and zonulin, combined with site-directed mutagenesis experiments, confirmed the presence of an octapeptide receptor-binding domain toward the amino terminus of the processed Zot.

Compensating for Incomplete Domain Knowledge

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Scott, Lynn M; Drezner, Steve; Rue, Rachel; Reyes, Jesse

2007-01-01

.... First, many senior leader positions require experience in more than one functional or operational domain, but it is difficult to develop a corps of senior leaders with all the required combinations of domain knowledge...

The relationship between Mexican American cultural values and resilience among Mexican American college students: a mixed methods study.

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Morgan Consoli, Melissa L; Llamas, Jasmin D

2013-10-01

The current study investigated the role of cultural values in the resilience of Mexican American college students. Utilizing mixed methodology, 124 self-identified Mexican American college students were asked to complete an online survey, including a demographic questionnaire, the Resilience Scale, Mexican American Cultural Values Scale, and 2 open-ended questions concerning overcoming adversity and cultural values. As hypothesized, Mexican American traditional cultural values (Familismo, Respeto, Religiosidad, and Traditional Gender Roles) predicted resilience, with Familismo accounting for the majority of the variance. Consensual qualitative research (Hill, Thompson, & Nutt Williams, 1997) was used to identify emergent domains and themes within the open-ended question responses. Traditional Mexican American Value themes included Familismo, Ethnic Identity, Religiosidad, Perseverance, and Respeto. Results highlight the important role that certain Mexican American cultural values play in providing strength for overcoming adversities.

Heliborne time domain electromagnetic system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhattacharya, S.

2009-01-01

Atomic Minerals Directorate (AMD), are using heliborne and ground time domain electromagnetic (TDEM) system for the exploration of deep seated unconformity type uranium deposits. Uranium has been explored in various parts of the world like Athabasca basin using time domain electromagnetic system. AMD has identified some areas in India where such deposits are available. Apart from uranium exploration, the TDEM systems are used for the exploration of deep seated minerals like diamonds. Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is involved in the indigenous design of the heliborne time domain system since this system is useful for DAE and also it has a scope of wide application. In this paper we discuss about the principle of time domain electromagnetic systems, their capabilities and the development and problems of such system for various other mineral exploration. (author)

Evolutionary dynamics of protein domain architecture in plants

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Zhang Xue-Cheng

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Protein domains are the structural, functional and evolutionary units of the protein. Protein domain architectures are the linear arrangements of domain(s in individual proteins. Although the evolutionary history of protein domain architecture has been extensively studied in microorganisms, the evolutionary dynamics of domain architecture in the plant kingdom remains largely undefined. To address this question, we analyzed the lineage-based protein domain architecture content in 14 completed green plant genomes. Results Our analyses show that all 14 plant genomes maintain similar distributions of species-specific, single-domain, and multi-domain architectures. Approximately 65% of plant domain architectures are universally present in all plant lineages, while the remaining architectures are lineage-specific. Clear examples are seen of both the loss and gain of specific protein architectures in higher plants. There has been a dynamic, lineage-wise expansion of domain architectures during plant evolution. The data suggest that this expansion can be largely explained by changes in nuclear ploidy resulting from rounds of whole genome duplications. Indeed, there has been a decrease in the number of unique domain architectures when the genomes were normalized into a presumed ancestral genome that has not undergone whole genome duplications. Conclusions Our data show the conservation of universal domain architectures in all available plant genomes, indicating the presence of an evolutionarily conserved, core set of protein components. However, the occurrence of lineage-specific domain architectures indicates that domain architecture diversity has been maintained beyond these core components in plant genomes. Although several features of genome-wide domain architecture content are conserved in plants, the data clearly demonstrate lineage-wise, progressive changes and expansions of individual protein domain architectures, reinforcing

The imperative of culture: a quantitative analysis of the impact of culture on workforce engagement, patient experience, physician engagement, value-based purchasing, and turnover

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Owens K

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Katie Owens,1 Jim Eggers,2 Stephanie Keller,1 Audrey McDonald1 1HealthStream Engagement Institute, Pensacola, FL, 2Analytics, HealthStream, Laurel, MD, USA Abstract: Current uncertainty for the future of the health care landscape is placing an increasing amount of pressure on leadership teams to be prepared to steer their organization forward in a number of potential directions. It is commonly recognized among health care leaders that culture will either enable or disable organizational success. However, very few studies empirically link culture to health care-specific performance outcomes. Nearly every health care organization in the US specifies its cultural aspirations through mission and vision statements and values. Ambitions of patient-centeredness, care for the community, workplace of choice, and world-class quality are frequently cited; yet, little definitive research exists to quantify the importance of building high-performing cultures. Our study examined the impact of cultural attributes defined by a culture index (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.88 on corresponding performance with key health care measures. We mapped results of the culture index across data sets, compared results, and evaluated variations in performance among key indicators for leaders. Organizations that perform in the top quartile for our culture index statistically significantly outperformed those in the bottom quartile on all but one key performance indicator tested. The culture top quartile organizations outperformed every domain for employee engagement, physician engagement, patient experience, and overall value-based purchasing performance with statistical significance. Culture index top quartile performers also had a 3.4% lower turnover rate than the bottom quartile performers. Finally, culture index top quartile performers earned an additional 1% on value-based purchasing. Our findings demonstrate a meaningful connection between performance in the culture index and

Cultural Robotics: The Culture of Robotics and Robotics in Culture

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Hooman Samani

2013-12-01

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

The presence of c-erbB-2 gene product-related protein in culture medium conditioned by breast cancer cell line SK-BR-3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alper, O.; Yamaguchi, K.; Hitomi, J.; Honda, S.; Matsushima, T.; Abe, K.

1990-01-01

The Mr 185,000 glycoprotein encoded by human c-erbB-2/neu/HER2 gene, termed c-erbB-2 gene product, shows a close structural similarity with epidermal growth factor receptor and is now regarded to be a growth factor receptor for an as yet unidentified ligand. Abundant c-erbB-2 mRNA was demonstrated by Northern blot studies in the human breast cancer cell line SK-BR-3. Cellular radiolabeling experiments followed by immunoprecipitation with three different anti-c-erbB-2 gene product antibodies, recognizing extracellular domain, kinase domain, and carboxyl-terminal portion, respectively, demonstrated the production of a large amount of c-erbB-2 gene product which had the capacity to be phosphorylated. Immunization of mice with concentrated culture medium conditioned by SK-BR-3 cells always generated antibodies against c-erbB-2 gene product, demonstrating that this culture medium contained substance(s) immunologically indistinguishable from c-erbB-2 gene product. This observation was supported by the successful development of a monoclonal antibody against c-erbB-2 gene product, GFD-OA-p185-1, by immunizing mice with this culture medium. The biochemical nature of the substance(s) present in the culture medium was further characterized. When the culture medium conditioned by [35S]cysteine-labeled SK-BR-3 cells was immunoprecipitated by three different anti-c-erbB-2 gene product antibodies, only the antibody recognizing extracellular domain precipitated the [35S]-labeled protein with a molecular weight of 110,000, namely p110. The newly developed monoclonal antibody also immunoprecipitated this protein

Culture-generating, health-saving educational technologies at higher school

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Dmitriev S.V.

2010-10-01

Full Text Available The modern going is analysed near research of physical culture. Selected and described base components of structure of educational space and subject domain of sporting and adaptive physical culture. It is rotined that consciousness of man works on the sphere of necessities and capabilities is arms with them knowledge. It is marked that it is necessary to examine a reflection as psychical property of personality and as quality of activity. Transition importance is accented from technology of learn (based on the use of traditional methods to the construction of own познавательно-преобразовательных charts on the basis of methods of self-training studies (propulsive to self-training.

On Domain Registries and Website Content

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schwemer, Sebastian Felix

2018-01-01

such as Internet access service providers, hosting platforms, and websites that link to content. This article shows that in recent years, however, that the (secondary) liability of domain registries and registrars, and more specifically country code top-level domain registries (ccTLDs) for website content, has...... been tested in several EU Member States. The article investigates tendencies in the national lower-court jurisprudence and explores to what extent the liability exemption regime of the E-Commerce Directive applies to domain registries. The analysis concludes that whereas domain registries fall under...

Entropy based classifier for cross-domain opinion mining