Bounced between two cultures: Study of smoking behavior of Korean Americans

The United States is often referred as a melting pot, with a great wave of global immigrants constant populating its shores. When coming to America, the immigrants bring along their own culture. With the new generation born in the States, the fusion of two different cultures is an important factor in shaping their behavior. Coming from a different culture that is more accepting of smoking, many of the new generation also start to smoke. Asian Americans provide an important example. Despite having the lowest smoking rates of all ethnic groups, in 2011, 9.9 percent of Asian American and Pacific Islander, specific subsets had noticeably high consumption rates. Various previous studies have studied factors contributed to smoking behavior in these ethnic groups, and acculturation is one of important characteristic impacts on this behavior. Korean Americans have the highest smoking rate in this group with 26.6% in 2011--20.1 percent of women and 37.4 percent of men smoked. By using data and research from tobacco industry marketing strategy and public health studies, this paper examines how the acculturation, the influences of Korean culture and tobacco companies as factors shape smoking behavior of Korean Americans and suggest a preventive program to target this subgroup

Investigating Direct Speaking Strategies of Non-English-Majored Students at a University in Dong Nai Province

English communication skills are now considered a passport-like requirement for students seeking a secure profession with a higher wage. Additionally, English proficiency is considered one of the variables affecting the success of foreign businesses investing in Vietnam and Vietnamese businesses looking to collaborate internationally to develop their brands into new markets abroad. The integration of various linguistic skills demonstrates the value of speaking. The main objective of this study was to investigate the frequency and importance of using direct speaking strategies by non-English-majored students at Dong Nai Technology University. The study involved 90 second-year undergraduate students at Dong Nai Technology University in Bien Hoa city, Dong Nai province. At the time of the study, the participants were 18-19 and had already attained elementary level. This research uses questionnaires and interviews using the SPSS application to analyze the main points relating to the research questions. According to research, direct speaking strategies significantly affect the English speaking skills of Dong Nai Technology University students. At the same time, the difficulties and orientations when learning speaking skills using direct speaking strategies were revealed in the study's conclusion. To maximize direct speaking strategies and advance the field of study, recommendations have been made for non-English-majored students

Cultural Values and Advertising Appeals in International Advertising - A Comparison of Finland and Vietnam Advertising

This thesis focuses on the cultural values reflecting on advertising appeals in the print advertisements with the comparison between two countries: Finland and Vietnam. The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship of cultural values and advertising appeals along with the role of product category in selecting advertising appeals. By this way, it explores the similarities and differences of cultural characteristics between Finland and Vietnam. The primary theory of this thesis is based on Pollay’s concept of values applying to Hofstede’s cultural framework, which has been a theoretical premise of previous studies. A sample of 36 Vietnamese print ads and 36 Finnish print ads from eight product categories is collected and analysed in terms of advertising appeals that appear in the advertisements. The results show value paradox on both Finnish and Vietnamese cases, especially Finnish results provide value paradox on four cultural dimensions: masculinity – femininity, power distance, and long – short-term orientation. Vietnam, on the other hand, only has one value paradox phenomenon on uncertainty avoidance dimension. Therefore, it implies that there is a possibility for further comparative research on value paradox to investigate the relationship between the culture and its advertising contents in a society, or perhaps across cultures.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

Generic structures and linguistic features of TESOL master’s thesis acknowledgements written by Vietnamese postgraduates

Acknowledgements are a widely used genre in academic discourse to express gratitude towards various types of assistance and contribution of individuals and institutions, and they have been reported to be contextually and culturally interwoven. Despite a number of acknowledgement studies in various settings, little is known of how these texts are composed by EFL writers in Vietnam and whether or not the culture has any influence on the composition of acknowledgements as reported in previous studies of acknowledgements. Following Hyland’s (2004) and Hyland and Tse’s (2004) frameworks, this study investigates the generic structures and linguistic elements of acknowledgements in 202 TESOL master’s theses written by Vietnamese postgraduates. The findings were compared with those in the literature to explore cross-cultural variations in acknowledgement writing. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with actual thesis writers. The results revealed that these writers generally followed Hyland’s (2004) three-tier structure of writing thesis acknowledgements, but they were frank and less reserved in expressing their gratitude than their Chinese-speaking counterparts. Moreover, socio-cultural expectations, personal dispositions, and individual writing styles mainly affected their move constructions, inclusions of acknowledgees and linguistic choices

What are the best treatments for herpes labialis?

There are 3: valacyclovir, acyclovir, and topical penciclovir. Valacyclovir, 2g twice in 1 day taken during the prodromal stage of herpes labialis, reduces the episode duration and time to healing. Acyclovir, 400 mg, taken 5 times a day for 5 days, decreases the pain duration and healing time to loss of crust (strength of recommendation [SOR]: A, based on randomized controlled trials [RCTs]). Topical penciclovir 1%, acyclovir 5%, or docosanol 10% also decrease the duration of pain and healing time (SOR: A, based on RCTs). The best prophylaxis for herpes labialis is oral valacyclovir 500 mg daily; it reduces the frequency and severity of attacks (SOR: B, based on RCT). Sunscreen may be effective in sunlight-induced recurrence (SOR: B, based on 2 small crossover RCTs)

THE IMPACT OF STORYTELLING ON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ORAL PERFORMANCE

This paper examines the impact of storytelling on high school students’ oral performance and their attitudes towards this instruction. Using an experimental mixed methods design, pretests, posttests, and interviews were undertaken with thirty six students in the pilot class of academic years 2017-2018. The findings of the study indicate that these participating students were in favor of learning with storytelling rather than other ways. The quantitative analysis reveals that students in the experimental group outperformed those in the control group, suggesting that storytelling instruction was useful to high school students using the pilot textbooks. Pedagogical implications are also presented

Investigating the Anti-Tumor Effects of Two Novel B-Catenin Inhibitors in Ovarian Cancer Cells

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the deadliest female malignancy. The development of chemoresistance and relapse becomes a major challenge in treating ovarian cancer. The Wnt/-catenin pathway, which plays a critical role in developmental and physiological processes, have been indicated to contribute to EOC development. Aberrant activation of this pathway was reported to promote cancer stem cell self-renewal, metastasis, and chemoresistance in all subtypes of EOC, suggesting the Wnt/-catenin pathway is a strong candidate for the development of targeted therapies. In this study, we have identified and investigated the anti-tumor effects of two novel -catenin inhibitors, referred to as compound 2 (C2) and C10. Results from functional assays showed that C2 and C10 inhibited EOC cell proliferation, anchorage-independent growth, and spheroid formation. In addition, C10 treatment inhibited the expression of stem cell markers of EOC cells, suggesting the small molecule inhibitors target ovarian cancer stem cells. Using TOPflash reporter assays, we found that C2 and C10 inhibited the transcriptional activity of -catenin/TCF complex. Finally, preliminary results suggest that C2 and C10 bind directly to recombinant -catenin. Taken together, this study identified two novel potent -catenin inhibitors that have strong anti-tumor effects. These compounds could be potentially developed into targeted therapies for ovarian cancer patients who harbor abnormal activation of Wnt/-catenin signaling