Cultural Conditions (cultural + condition)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Prevention or therapy and the politics of trust: inspiring a new human agenda,

PSYCHOTHERAPY AND POLITICS INTERNATIONAL, Issue 3 2005
James W. Prescott PhD
Abstract This paper gives a brief overview of the developmental origins of human alienation, depression, violence and drug abuse. It provides a foundation for understanding how the politics of culture structure the human condition. The most critical early life experiences are formed in the mother-infant/child relationship. This affects all future relationships and the development of culture. The role of body pleasure in affectional bonding in the mother-infant/child relationship and in the human sexual relationship will be shown to be an important factor in the formation of non-violence in the individual and in human cultures. It will be shown that basic trust must occur before a politics of trust can be formed to effect changes at the individual and cultural levels and to transform violent individuals and cultures into peaceful individuals and cultures. The limitations of psychotherapy (which involves neocortical brain process) in effecting changes in the damaged emotional social sexual brain (which involves the subcortical brain) will be illustrated. Cultural conditions for the development of the neurointegrative brain, which mediates healthy behaviors, versus the development of the neurodissociative brain, which mediates dysfunctional behaviors, will be given. As culture shapes the developing brain, so the brain shapes culture. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Agency in the Discursive Condition

HISTORY AND THEORY, Issue 4 2001
Elizabeth Deeds Ermarth
This article claims that postmodernity necessarily, and perhaps opportunely, undermines the bases upon which political democracy traditionally has rested; and that therefore some significant work must be done in order to redefine, restore, or otherwise reconfigure democratic values and institutions for a changed cultural condition. This situation presents the opportunity to explore the new options, positive openings, and discursive opportunities that postmodernity presents for political practice; for this the problem of agency provides a focal issue. The practices of postmodernity, taken together, represent substantial challenges, not just to this or that cherished habit, but to modernity itself and all its corollaries, including its inventions of objectivity, of "the individual" (miserable treasure), and of all the related values (project, capital, consensus and, above all, neutrality) which still underwrite so much of what we do as citizens, consumers, and professionals not to mention as more private persons, parents, and partners. Fortunately, postmodernity does not demolish all our most cherished beliefs, values, and practices; but it does require recognition of how those beliefs, values, and practices actually function and of what alternatives they suppress. [source]


TCDD causes suppression of growth and differentiation of MCF10A, human mammary epithelial cells by interfering with their insulin receptor signaling through c-Src kinase and ERK activation

JOURNAL OF BIOCHEMICAL AND MOLECULAR TOXICOLOGY, Issue 6 2005
Sujin Park
Abstract One of the proposed mechanisms of carcinogenic action of TCDD (=dioxin) on breast cells is that it causes significant inhibition of proper differentiation of mammary duct epithelial cells and thereby increases the number of terminal end buds, which are susceptible to other carcinogens (Fenton et al., Toxicol Sci 2002;67:63,74; Brown et al., Carcinogenesis 1998; 19:1623,1629; Lamartiniere, J Mammary Gland Biol Neoplasia 2002;7:67,76). To address this topic, we selected MCF10A, a line of immortalized normal human breast epithelial cells as an in vitro model. An initial effort was made to optimize the cultural condition of MCF10A cells to promote the cell differentiation effect of insulin. Under this condition, TCDD clearly antagonized the action of insulin only in the presence of cholera toxin that is known to promote the differentiation of normal human breast epithelial cells. To test the hypothesis that TCDD-induced c-Src kinase activation is casually related to this compound's antagonistic action against insulin, we treated MCF10A cells with two c-Src blocking agents, an anti-Src antisense oligonucleotides blocker and a known specific inhibitor of c-Src kinase, PP-2 and studied the effect of insulin and TCDD on cell proliferation. The results showed that, in cells treated with either of these two c-Src blocking agents, the antagonistic effect of TCDD disappeared. It was also found that agents which specifically block the activation of ERK could also abrogate the action of TCDD to suppress insulin signaling. Together, these results indicate that the mechanism of the antagonistic action of TCDD on insulin signaling is mainly mediated through c-Src signaling through activation of ERK. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biochem Mol Toxicol 18:322,331, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/jbt.20040 [source]


Chemical variability of peel and leaf oils of mandarins

FLAVOUR AND FRAGRANCE JOURNAL, Issue 2 2006
Anne-Laure Fanciullino
Abstract Peel and leaf oils of 35 mandarin cultivars, belonging to five different species, were obtained from fruits and leaves collected on mandarin-trees kept at the same pedoclimatic and cultural conditions. Their chemical composition was investigated by capillary GC, GC,MS and 13C-NMR and the results were submitted to a statistical analysis. Two major chemotypes, limonene and limonene/, -terpinene, were distinguished for peel oils, while five chemotypes, linalool, sabinene/linalool, , -pinene/linalool, , -terpinene and methyl N-methylanthranilate, were observed for leaf oils. The results were compared with those already reported by our groups. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Czech Social Reform after 1989: Concepts and Reality

INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SECURITY REVIEW, Issue 2-3 2001
Martin Pot
The goal of this paper is twofold: to present a description of the most important institutional changes taking place in Czech social policy after 1989, and to offer the explanation of these changes in a broader cultural, economic and political framework. The significant economic, social and cultural conditions of the country, in which social policy operates, comprise the disposable economic resources, the concept and realization of economic reform including changes in ownership rights, the capacity of public administration, the way political democratization is designed and implemented, and political priorities and concepts of the political elite actually in power. Recent developments in the labour market and the new patterns of employment policy are discussed in more detail. After that, the incidence of poverty and the ongoing social and economic stratification are associated with the new approaches to the construction of a social security system which has been composed of three main tiers (or "pillars"): social insurance, state social support, and social assistance. As a conclusion, the sensitive points of the present state of Czech social policy, along with crucial decisions to be taken in the future, are identified. [source]


Interdisciplinary practice , a matter of teamwork: an integrated literature review

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 4 2001
Antoinette Mccallin BA
,,The aim of this literature review is to explore the development of interdisciplinary practice. ,,The terms interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and inter-professional are problematic. Definitions must be viewed carefully, as interpretations tend to reflect historical socialization patterns that are now out of kilter with contemporary understandings. ,,Changing inter-professional interactions, teams and teamwork are examined; findings indicate that explanations of interdisciplinary teamwork should be all-inclusive of the particular cultural conditions and contextual determinants that affect team practice. ,,Findings need to be viewed with caution because what is applicable in one country may not be automatically transferable to another, where particular socio-political contexts shape interdisciplinary practice. [source]


Alasdair MacIntyre on Education: In Dialogue with Joseph Dunne

JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION, Issue 1 2002
Alasdair Macintyre
This discussion begins from the dilemma, posed in some earlier writing by Alasdair MacIntyre, that education is essential but also, in current economic and cultural conditions, impossible. The potential for resolving this dilemma through appeal to ,practice', ,narrative unity', and ,tradition'(three core concepts in After Virtue and later writings) is then examined. The discussion also explores the relationship of education to the modern state and the power of a liberal education to create an ,educated public' very different in character from the electorates of contemporary democratic regimes. It concludes with some remarks on the role of education in combating prejudice against certain kinds of human difference. [source]


Chromatographic Characterization and Phytotoxic Activity of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. albedinis and Saprophytic Strain Toxins

JOURNAL OF PHYTOPATHOLOGY, Issue 4 2005
H. Amraoui
Abstract The bayoud disease, vascular fusariosis of date palm tree (Phoenix dactylifera L.), is caused by the pathogenic fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. albedinis. The characteristic symptoms of the bayoud disease were elicited on detached leaves of F. oxysporum f. sp. albedinis -susceptible cultivars of date palm trees, which were treated either with the FII (F. oxysporum f. sp. albedinis) fraction purified from the organic extracts of a F. oxysporum f. sp. albedinis liquid culture, or with a solution of fusaric acid. Enniatins, which are secreted by several Fusarium species, were tested at different concentrations and were not capable of inducing symptoms on such detached leaves. The FII (F. oxysporum f. sp. albedinis) fraction was unable to induce necrosis of potato slices, which indicates that it does not contain significant amounts of enniatins. The high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) profiles of the FII (F. oxysporum f. sp. albedinis) fraction showed toxic peaks different from fusaric acid. A fraction, named FII (AZ4), was obtained from culture filtrates of a saprophytic Fusarium strain maintained in the same cultural conditions as for the F. oxysporum f. sp. albedinis. The HPLC profile of the FII (AZ4) fraction did not show the characteristic phytotoxic peaks present in the FII (F. oxysporum f. sp. albedinis) fraction. This finding well agrees with the fact that the FII (AZ4) fraction is not toxic to detached date palm leaves. Moreover, the HPLC profiles of FII fractions obtained from other special forms of F. oxysporum are different the FII (F. oxysporum f. sp. albedinis) profile. The phytotoxic compounds purified from the FII (F. oxysporum f. sp. albedinis) fraction are probably new molecules that may help in understanding the pathogenesis of bayoud disease. [source]


Creation and Construction: On the Theological Appropriation of Postmodern Theory

MODERN THEOLOGY, Issue 2 2002
Jan-Olav Henriksen
Postmodern theory can be appreciated by theological anthropology along the following lines: it interprets the cultural conditions that shape personal identity, including the elements of construction and contingency in identity-formation. It emphasizes the necessity for a multifaceted approach to the question about what it means to be human, and for avoiding closure. This is expressed in the doctrine of the human as created, as sinner and as restored,as none of these perspectives captures the whole picture. Postmodern theory also focuses on the importance of otherness for establishing identity, thereby offering a new way of interpreting human beings as created in the image of God. [source]


Risk attitudes and mitigation among gold miners and others in the Suriname rainforest

NATURAL RESOURCES FORUM, Issue 4 2003
Marieke Heemskerk
Abstract This article analyses the question: do attitudes towards risk influence participation in small-scale gold mining, a hazardous activity that generates uncertain income? This question is examined by measuring and comparing the risk attitudes of gold miners and non-mining community members in the rainforest of Suriname, South America. The author presents a multivariate model to predict the duration of work in mining areas as a function of risk tolerance, age, education, and household demographics. The results suggest that a greater tolerance to risk increases the duration of a person's mining career. However, attitudes explain only a fraction of the variation in occupational choices. Qualitative data suggest that these choices are primarily shaped by local barriers to human capital development and by national economic volatility. Given their marginal position in society and the multitude of mining risk mitigation strategies, it is questionable whether gold mining exposes Suriname forest peoples to greater risks than other subsistence alternatives. The author argues that sensitivity to local historical and cultural conditions would improve the efficiency of policies aimed at developing a more sustainable mining industry. By zooming in on the daily lives of miners, anthropology can complement macro-scale analyses and contribute to policy interventions in the small-scale mining sector. [source]


Patterns of Interaction between Populus Esch5 and Piriformospora indica: A Transition from Mutualism to Antagonism

PLANT BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2005
M. Kaldorf
Abstract: Piriformospora indica (Sebacinaceae, Basidiomycota) is an axenically cultivable, plant growth promoting root endophyte with a wide host range, including Populus. Rooting of Populus Esch5 explants started within 6 days after transfer to WPM medium. If such plantlets with roots were inoculated with P. indica, there was an increase in root biomass, and the number of 2nd order roots was increased significantly. A totally different observation was recorded when the explants were placed into WPM with pre-grown P. indica. The interaction led to complete blocking of root production and severely inhibited plant growth. Additionally, branched aerial roots appeared which did not penetrate the medium. On contact with the fungal colony or the medium, the ends of the aerial roots became inflated. Prolonged incubation stimulated the fungus to colonize aerial parts of the plant (stem and leaves). Mycelium not only spread on the surface of the aerial parts, but also invaded the cortical tissues inter- and intracellularly. Detached Populus leaves remained vital for 4 - 5 weeks on sterile agar media or on AspM medium with pre-grown P. indica. When the fungus was pre-grown on culture media such as WPM, containing ammonium as the main source of nitrogen, leaves in contact with the cultures turned brownish within 4 - 12 h. Thereafter, the leaves bleached, and about one day later had become whitish. Thus, cultural conditions could alter the behaviour of the fungus drastically: the outcome of the interaction between plant and fungus can be directed from mutualistic to antagonistic, characterized by fungal toxin formation and extension of the colonization to Populus shoots. [source]


The Evolution of the Centre-right and the State of Scottish Conservatism

POLITICAL STUDIES, Issue 1 2001
Michael Dyer
This article considers the decline of Scottish Conservatism, 1951,97. The statistical data indicate that 91 percent of the variance in Tory support is accounted for by an underlying negative trend against time, that similar patterns appear when the data is disaggregated by region, and that short-term fluctuations have been more in conformity with English results than is conventionally understood. The process of generational change is seen as a waning of the cultural conditions which produced the centre-right coalition that dominated Scottish politics, 1931,64, and its fragmentation into Conservatism, Liberalism, and Scottish Nationalism. The changed circumstances are not seen as peculiarly Scottish, but the consequences for Scottish Conservatism of an evolution affecting the centre-right across the United Kingdom. [source]


Designing out vulnerability, building in respect: violence, safety and sex work policy

THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY, Issue 1 2007
Teela Sanders
Abstract One recent finding about the prostitution market is the differences in the extent and nature of violence experienced between women who work on the street and those who work from indoor sex work venues. This paper brings together extensive qualitative fieldwork from two cities in the UK to unpack the intricacies in relation to violence and safety for indoor workers. Firstly, we document the types of violence women experience in indoor venues noting how the vulnerabilities surrounding work-based hazards are dependent on the environment in which sex is sold. Secondly, we highlight the protection strategies that indoor workers and management develop to maintain safety and order in the establishment. Thirdly, we use these empirical findings to suggest that violence should be a high priority on the policy agenda. Here we contend that the organizational and cultural conditions that seem to offer some protection from violence in indoor settings could be useful for informing the management of street sex work. Finally, drawing on the crime prevention literature, we argue that it is possible to go a considerable way to designing out vulnerability in sex work, but not only through physical and organizational change but building in respect for sex workers rights by developing policies that promote the employment/human rights and citizenship for sex workers. This argument is made in light of the Coordinated Prostitution Strategy. [source]


The Living: Surface Tensions

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN, Issue 3 2010
Jordan Geiger
Abstract ,Our work begins with the premise of a dynamic world. Political and cultural conditions change: what if the walls and windows morphed in response?' New York-based team The Living, led by David Benjamin and Soo-in Yang, have developed a practice of deep, open-source interfaces of participation. Jordan Geiger describes how for The Living their home city and its environs is a site of evolving forms of public space whether on land, air or water. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]