The Ninth Dimension of National Culture: Unpacking Cross-Cultural Communication Styles

This article aims to study the communication styles among different national cultures, that is, we examine the relationship between national culture, based on Hofstede model, and communication styles. In order to investigate the role of national culture, it is fundamental to first analyse the communication styles and then identify how these are related to each other. With a purpose to identify differences (or similarities) in communication styles across selected countries, a factor analysis was conducted, combined with an ANOVA test. Based on a sample from 10 different cultures: Germany, Sweden, Japan, China, Russia, Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom, Serbia and North Macedonia, and using communication assessment instrument as well as the data on Hofstede’s six dimensions of national culture model, the findings show that different national cultures practise different communication styles. When Professional-Casual communication style is concerned, Germany is the most professional, while Japan is the most casual; that is, the least professional of all, while the analysis of the Cold-Warm communication styles leads us to the fact that Sweden is the coldest, and the US is the warmest country. The study’s significance is hopefully fundamental since it proposes an additional dimension, which is as frequent among cultures as it is rooted deeply in each culture. In this way, the article recommends that the countries ought to both comprehend their national culture and utilise it as a “tool” for understanding other cultures as well

Genetic aberrations of c-myc and CCND1 in the development of invasive bladder cancer

Detrusor muscle invasive transitional cell carcinoma is associated with poor prognosis and is responsible for the majority of bladder cancer related deaths. Amplifications of c-myc and CCND1 are associated with detrusor-muscle-invasive transitional cell carcinoma, however, their precise role in driving disease progression is unclear. Fluorescence in situ hybridisation on archival tissue from 16 patients with primary diagnosis of ⩾pT2 transitional cell carcinoma and 15 cases with primary pTa/pT1 disease subsequently progressing to detrusor-muscle-invasion was performed, in the latter group both pre and post muscle invasive events were studied. No patients presenting with ⩾pT2 had amplification of c-myc, two out of 16 (12.5%) had CCND1 amplification. Of patients who developed ⩾pT2, two out of 15 (13.3%) had amplification of c-myc, both in ⩾pT2, five out of 15 (33.3%) had CCND1 amplification, two in pTa/pT1 tumours, three in ⩾pT2 transitional cell carcinomas. In total, two out of 31 (6.5%) of patients' ⩾pT2 TCCs were amplified for c-myc and six out of 31 (19%) were amplified for CCND1. Eighty-seven per cent (40 out of 46) of tumours were polysomic for chromosome 8 and 80% (37 out of 46) were polysomic for chromosome 11 and this reflected the high copy numbers of c-myc and CCND1 observed. In almost all cases an increase in c-myc/CCND1 copy number occurred prior to invasion and persisted in advanced disease. Amplification of CCND1 or alterations in c-myc/CCND1 early in bladder cancer may have clinical relevance in promoting and predicting progression to detrusor-muscle-invasive transitional cell carcinoma

Food consumption and diet quality choices of Roma in Romania: a counterfactual analysis

This paper analyses the diet quality aspect of food security of Roma in Romania. We employed a modified Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition technique using Household Budget Survey data for the period 2004–2011. The estimates suggest that Roma have inferior diet diversity compared to the non-Roma. Around one-third of the diet diversity gap is explained by the differences in observed socio-economic factors, whereas the remaining part of the gap is attributed to unobserved factors. We argue that the unexplained component of the diet diversity gap is caused by the discrimination of the Roma on the labour market and by their specific informal institutions

Symbols and labels: Children’s awareness of social categories in a divided society

Aims: How and when children develop an understanding of group boundaries have implications for conflict resolution. When social divisions are not perceptually distinct, symbols become particularly important. Framed by Social Identity Development Theory, this study was designed to assess children’s categorization of symbols with conflict-related group labels. Method: In Northern Ireland, 218 children (M=8.14, SD = 1.83, range 5-11 years old) participated in a novel task designed for this study. The sample was evenly split by child gender and community background. Results: Children sorted symbols above chance with both the hypothesized national (i.e., British/Irish) and ethno-political (i.e., Protestant/Catholic) labels, showing a stronger association for the former. Sorting was also stronger for ingroup symbols, compared to outgroup symbols, and increased with age. Conclusion: These findings reflect the potential role that a divided social world has on the development of children’s understanding of conflict-related groups. The results also have implications for intergroup relations among children in divided societies.Queens University Belfast. School of PsychologyNorthern Ireland Department for the Economy (DfE)UKRI GCRF Global Impact Accelerator Awards (GIAA)British Psychological Society (BPS). Social Psychology Sectio

Bio-Inspired Titanium Dioxide Materials with Special Wettability and Their Applications

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is one of the most widely used nanomaterials in our daily life. In 1972, Fujishima and Honda reported the photo electrolysis of water into H2 and O2 utilizing an electrochemical cell in which the TiO2 single-crystal electrode is connected with a Pt electrode. This is analogus with the natural photosynthesis that produces oxygen through oxidizing water and reducing carbon dioxide using sunlight, where solar energy is converted into chemical energy. Since that time, photocatalysis has received considerable attention owing to its important applications in the conversion of light energy into useful chemical energy. In 1997, Fujishima et al. first reported the photogeneration of a superamphiphilic (both superhydrophilic and superoleophilic, where the contact angle of water and oil on a surface is almost 0°, respectively) TiO2 surface under UV light irradiation, showing self-cleaning and antifogging characteristics. This breakthrough work expanded the research field of TiO2 materials and marked the beginning of a new era in TiO2-based self-cleaning materials. Since then, an important effort has been focused on the understanding of the fundamental mechanism of this novel function and on the development of selfcleaning materials for a wide range of applications in energy, environmental, and industrial fields, resulting in the generation of new markets. Although photocatalysis and photoinduced superhydrophilicity can take place simultaneously on the same TiO2 surface, they are intrinsically different processes. In recent years, environmental pollution and damage on a global scale have emerged as a serious issue. The viable environmental cleanup has attracted a great deal of attention to achieve important breakthroughs in the design of advanced materials and in the development of new technology. Now, a variety of TiO2-based materials have been commercialized arising from their unique photoinduced properties. Furthermore, these commercial products demonstrate their importance in the environmental cleanup