EVOC (for EVOlution of Culture) is a computer model of culture that enables us to investigate how various factors such as barriers to cultural diffusion, the presence and choice of leaders, or changes in the ratio of innovation to imitation affect the diversity and effectiveness of ideas. It consists of neural network based agents that invent ideas for actions, and imitate neighbors’ actions. T...

BACKGROUND The popularity of Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has grown considerably over the past few decades. This has been accompanied by increasing public pressure for CAM to be evidence-based. Notwithstanding, the conduct and application of research in CAM faces a number of obstacles. No systematic review has mapped these barriers to date. Therefore, this systematic literature ...

BACKGROUND Non-Western migrant populations living in Western countries are more likely to be physically inactive during leisure time than host populations. It is argued that this difference will disappear as they acculturate to the culture of the host country. We explored whether this is also true for migrants who experience contextual barriers such as having children, living in a less attracti...

Banks, in order to extend the development of information technology and electronic banking services and its using by customers, in first place, should examine barriers and problems in using information technology. Therefore, in this study we deal with identifying and prioritizing these barriers in Iranian banks. Our method in this research is descriptive-survey. In this way, after the library s...

Researches in electronic government have indicated a number of organizational barriers that hinder the adoption and implementation of electronic government. This paper proposes a research framework for analysing how organizational barriers influence the adoption and implementation of e-government at local levels. The framework is constructed based on four organizational dimensions; adaptability...

Although research studies in education show that use of technology can help student learning, its use is generally affected by certain barriers. In this paper, we first identify the general barriers typically faced by K-12 schools, both in the United States as well as other countries, when integrating technology into the curriculum for instructional purposes, namely: (a) resources, (b) institut...

Despite the opportunities and benefits of OER, research and practice has shown how the OER repositories have a hard time in reaching an active user-base. The opportunities of experience exchange and simple feedback mechanisms of social software have been realized for improving the situation and many are basing or transforming their OER offerings towards socially powered environments. Research o...

The surgical community is plagued with a reputation for both failing to engage and to deliver on clinical research. This is in part due to the absence of a strong research culture, however it is also due to a multitude of barriers encountered in clinical research; particularly those involving surgical interventions. 'Trauma' amplifies these barriers, owing to the unplanned nature of care, unpre...

There are many barriers in the path of Information Technology. The health system relies heavily on the visible print and paper culture, the Gutenberg Culture. Biscoe (1986) states, the key to overcoming this is the recognition that computers merely act as a mechanism for the storage and retrieval of information. Other factors that influence the health system stem from the fear of losing control...

This study aimed to identify major barriers to Papanicolaou (Pap) test uptake and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine acceptability. Three focus groups with 16 young Korean immigrant women residing in a community in the Midwest were conducted. Braun and Clarke's six phases of thematic analysis were used to develop themes. Three major themes emerged as barriers: (a) limited knowledge about cervic...