In recent years, far from arguing that evolutionary approaches to our own species permit us to describe the fundamental character of human nature, a prominent group of cultural evolutionary theorists has instead argued that the very idea of 'human nature' is one we should reject. It makes no sense, they argue, to speak of human nature in opposition to human culture. The very same sceptical argu...

Understanding the main values and beliefs that might promote humanized birth practices in the specialized hospitals requires articulating the theoretical knowledge of the social and cultural characteristics of the childbirth field and the relations between these and the institution. This paper aims to provide a conceptual framework allowing examination of childbirth practices through the lens o...

BACKGROUND Few studies have addressed the challenges associated with international students as they adapt to studying medicine in a new host country. Higher level institutions have increasing numbers of international students commencing programmes. This paper explores the experiences of a cohort of students in the early years of medical school in Ireland, where a considerable cohort are from an...

Individualism and collectivism are often equated with independent vs. interdependent, agentic vs. communal, and separate vs. relational self-construals. Although these same concepts have been used to characterize both cultural and gender differences, a perspective of cultural evolution suggests it is unlikely. A division of labor within society may produce gender differences, but this cannot ex...

When instruction is to be delivered by any medium, whether in a traditional e-learning mode or through the use of a blended learning model, cross-cultural issues have a major impact. This paper focuses on the cultural characteristics of Asian e-learners and uses Hofstede’s cultural dimensions as the basis for the analysis. Asian learners face some clearly identified challenges. For example, in ...

ARIATION in cultural characteristics, viability, and motility of bacV teria has been recognized almost from the beginning of their study in pure culture. Because of the influence of the Koch school, which emphasized cultural purity, early bacteriologists were prone to attribute changes in cultures to contamination. Thus, many of the earlier observations of bacterial variation probably were disc...

The ginseng industry has expanded rapidly in recent years. Asian and American ginseng are cultivated around the world. Ginseng products in various forms are increasingly popular, and its consumers are no longer limited to Asians. More knowledge is needed about the horticultural characteristics, cultural methods, disease control, drying and storage procedures, and technology for value-added prod...

This study investigated the structure of the Chinese Material Value Scale (MVS). A two-factor structure, rather than the original three-factor structure, was proposed for China by means of confirmatory factor analysis. Direct evidence showed that the dimensions of success and happiness could be merged together. Both explicit and implicit methods were used to examine the relationship between suc...

Even though there is no agreed definition of what constitutes an ethnic group, there are a number of features that most academic treatments of the subject attribute to such groups: a proper collective name, shared myths of origin, and cultural characteristics, such as language, religion, traditions and customs that distinguish a given group from others. Different combinations of these features ...

This study deals with adherence to tuberculosis treatment among men and women as well as the disease's links and consequences vis-à-vis life styles and treatment outcomes. The ethnographic study was a component of the Tuberculosis Epidemiological Control Project in the city of Pelotas and aimed to identify the reasons patients failed to complete treatment. Direct ethnographic observations and s...