The neglected C of intercultural relations. Cross-cultural adaptation shapes sojourner representations of locals

We investigated, by means of the Reverse Correlation Task (RCT), visual representations of the culturally dominating group of local people held by sojourners as a function of their degree of cross-cultural adaptation. In three studies, using three different methods (reduced RCT, full RCT, conceptual replication) with three independent samples of sojourners and seven independent samples of Portuguese and US-American raters, we gathered clear evidence that poor adaptation goes along with more negative representations of locals. This indicates that sojourner adaptation is reflected, at a social-cognitive level, in the valence of outgroup representationsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Protective or harmful? Exploring the ambivalent role of social identification as a moderator of intergroup stress in sojourners

Living outside one's home country may be stressful, and having strong social ties should help deal with this stress. However, social ties may be protective or harmful depending on whether the social group they evoke belongs to the host- or the home country context. The current study examines how social identification with different groups may either buffer or aggravate the negative effects of two stressors (perceived discrimination and symbolic threat) on sojourner adaptation. Two hundred and twenty international students sojourning in nine different countries responded to an online questionnaire. As expected, adaptation was negatively predicted by both stressors. Moreover, high identification with the group of international students attenuated the negative effects of perceived discrimination on psychological adaptation, while home country identification aggravated the negative effects of symbolic threat on sociocultural adaptation.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Acculturation strategies among ethnic minority workers and the role of intercultural personality traits

International audienceIn an increasingly diverse work context minority employees strive to place and define themselves in terms of work and cultural identities. Based on Berry's acculturation model (1990), we defined and tested preferred acculturation strategies at work. It was predicted that , reflecting strong cultural identity maintenance combined with strong team identity adoption, is the most preferred strategy at work. The present study among non-Dutch employees working in The Netherlands ( = 108) showed that the dual identity is indeed preferred over strong team identity adoption, but solely among minority members who are emotionally stable. It is argued that these people are competent in dealing with the extra conflict and diversity-related stress that this acculturation strategy produces

Research for Investigating and Managing Soil Contamination Caused by Winter Maintenance in Cold Regions

Diseases & disorder

Discontinuities without discontinuity: The Weakly-enforced Slip Method

Tectonic faults are commonly modelled as Volterra or Somigliana dislocations in an elastic medium. Various solution methods exist for this problem. However, the methods used in practice are often limiting, motivated by reasons of computational efficiency rather than geophysical accuracy. A typical geophysical application involves inverse problems for which many different fault configurations need to be examined, each adding to the computational load. In practice, this precludes conventional finite-element methods, which suffer a large computational overhead on account of geometric changes. This paper presents a new non-conforming finite-element method based on weak imposition of the displacement discontinuity. The weak imposition of the discontinuity enables the application of approximation spaces that are independent of the dislocation geometry, thus enabling optimal reuse of computational components. Such reuse of computational components renders finite-element modeling a viable option for inverse problems in geophysical applications. A detailed analysis of the approximation properties of the new formulation is provided. The analysis is supported by numerical experiments in 2D and 3D.Comment: Submitted for publication in CMAM

Is mechanical stress an important pathogenic factor in hidradenitis suppurativa?

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic of recurrent, inflammatory, follicular disease that usually presents after puberty with painful deep-seated, inflamed lesions in the inverse skin areas of the body. It has been hypothesized that mechanical pressure or friction is a risk factor for HS. We describe the case of a man with a lower leg amputation who presented HS-like lesions on his leg stump after wearing a leg prosthesis. Although pilonidal sinus-like disease could not be excluded, we diagnosed him with HS-like lesions, induced by prosthesis-related friction. We argue that this case supports the concept that mechanical friction and a warm humid microclimate by occlusion contribute to HS development

Using Big Data to discover how the maturity of a heritage destination influences the use and attractiveness of urban cultural landscape. A case study of Antwerp, Bolzano and Kraków

Big data analysis, especially of user generated data, is an innovative data collection method in tourism research. This paper attempts to explain how analysis of user generated content helps to map and understand cultural landscapes in a destination. Using data obtained from TripAdvisor a two-step analysis is conducted in order to map spatial behavior of reviewers at the destination and to use review behavior patterns to understand the shaping of the cultural landscape. Three case studies in which the urban cultural landscape is both a primary tourist attraction as well as an important part of local identity are compared, namely Antwerp (Belgium), Bolzano (Italy) and Kraków (Poland) and each of these destinations can be positioned at a different maturity level when applying the tourist area life cycle model by Butler. The results of the hot spot analysis show that there exists a correlation between the maturity of the destination and the review behavior, both in intensity as in perception of quality of services. An intensive use of a relatively small part of the historic center of a heritage destination and in this zone the presence of a cluster of facilities offering low service quality was found to indicate a mature destination and can be distinguished by applying geographical Big Data analysis on review behavior. Finally, this paper explains how user generated content can be used in mapping spatial behavior of tourists in urban cultural landscapes and what the limitations to such studies are. Using Big Data to discover how the maturity of a heritage destination influences the use and attractiveness of urban cultural landscape. A case study of Antwerp, Bolzano and Kraków. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/306018578_Using_Big_Data_to_discover_how_the_maturity_of_a_heritage_destination_influences_the_use_and_attractiveness_of_urban_cultural_landscape_A_case_study_of_Antwerp_Bolzano_and_Krakow [accessed May 5, 2017]

Rising serum values of beta-subunit human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) in patients with progressive vulvar carcinomas.

Elevated serum levels of the beta-subunit of human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) were measured in 50% of patients with locoregional recurrences or progressive vulvar carcinoma (n = 14). At diagnosis of vulvar cancer, however, the incidence of elevated serum levels was low (5%) in 104 patients. The rising serum levels during progression of disease indicate that the synthesis of the beta-subunit hCG can be increased in vulvar carcinoma