Sociedade da informação: globalização, identidade cultural e conteúdos

Os conteúdos informacionais nas redes eletrônicas são analisados na perspectiva de seu impacto social e da promoção da identidade cultural. Considera a penetrabilidade e capilaridade das teconologias da informação um dos principais indicadores de desenvolvimento da sociedade da informação e defende a instalação de pontos de acesso à internet em bibliotecas públicas e escolares. Defende também o fomento à produção de conteúdos, seu registro e difusão nos âmbitos de governo, da sociedade pelos indivíduos, de forma a refletir as diversidades culturais e regionais, urbanas, periféricas e rurais, assim como o resgate da memória já registrada em língua portuguesa mas ainda não acessível. O documento foi elaborado com a participação de especialistas de todo o país e serviu de base para a redação do Capítulo 5 do Livro Verde do Programa Sociedade da Informação no Brasil - Socinfo.

Medical residents' feedback on needs and acquired skills following a short course on cross-cultural competence

Objectives The purpose of this study is to assess short and long term changes in knowledge, attitudes, and skills among medical residents following a short course on cultural competency and to explore their perspectives on the experience. Methods Eighteen medical residents went through a short training programme comprised of two seminars lasting 30' and 60' respectively over two days. Three months later, we conducted three focus groups, with 17 residents to explore their thoughts, perspectives and feedback about the course. To measure changes over time, we carried out a quantitative sequential survey before the seminars, three days after, and three months later using the Multicultural Assessment Questionnaire. Results Residents expressed a wide variety of perspectives on the main themes related to the content of the training - culture, trialogue, stereotypes, status, epidemiology, history and geopolitics - and related to its organization - relevance, volume, timing, target audience, training tools, and working material. Using the MAQ, we observed a higher global performance score (n=16) at three days (median=38) compared to results before the training (median=33) revealing a median difference of 5.5 points (z=2.4, p=0.015). This difference was still present at three months (∆=4.5, z=2.4, p=0.018), mainly due to knowledge acquisition (∆=3) rather than attitudes (∆=0) or skills (∆=1). Conclusions Cross-cultural competence training not only brings awareness of multicultural issues but also helps participants understand their own cultures, perception of others and preconceived ideas. Physicians' education should however also focus on improving implementation of acquired knowledge in cross-cultural competence.

Ressenya de PEYTAVÍ DEIXONA, Joan, 'Catalans i occcitans a la Catalunya moderna (Comtats del Rosselló i Cerdanya s. XVI-XVII). Barcelona, Omnium Cultural, 2005

Amb aquests dos gruixuts volums Joan Peytaví fa un regal inestimable als filòlegs, particularment als estudiosos de l"onomàstica i la llengua catalanes, als historiadors i estudiosos de la història de la població i, en general, a la cultura catalana i, especialment, a la de la Catalunya del Nord.

Department of Cultural Affairs Performance Report, FY2004

Agency Performance Report

Department of Cultural Affairs Performance Report, FY2005

Agency Performance Report

Department of Cultural Affairs Performance Report, FY2006

Agency Performance Report

Department of Cultural Affairs Performance Report, FY2007

Agency Performance Report

Department of Cultural Affairs Performance Report, FY2008

Agency Performance Report

Department of Cultural Affairs Performance Report, FY2009

Agency Performance Report

Department of Cultural Affairs Performance Report, FY2010

Agency Performance Report

Direct Effect of Birth Weight on Childhood Blood Pressure: a Causal Mediation Analysis

Background: Numerous studies have shown a negative association between birth weight (BW) and blood pressure (BP) later in life. To estimate the direct effect of BW on BP, it is conventional to condition on current weight (CW). However, such conditioning can induce collider stratification bias in the estimate of the direct effect. Objective: To bound the potential bias due to U, an unmeasured common cause of CW and BP, on the estimate of the (controlled) direct effect of BW on BP. Methods: Data from a school based study in Switzerland were used (N = 4,005; 2,010 B/1,995 G; mean age: 12.3 yr [range: 10.1-14.9]). Measured common causes of BW-BP (SES, smoking, body weight, and hypertension status of the mother) and CW-BP (breastfeeding and child's physical activity and diet) were identified with DAGs. Linear regression models were fitted to estimate the association between BW and BP. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess the potential effect of U on the association between BW and BP. U was assumed 1) to be a binary variable that affected BP by the same magnitude in low BWand in normal BW children and 2) to have a different prevalence in low BW children and in normal BW children for a given CW. Results: A small negative association was observed between BW and BP [beta: -0.3 mmHg/kg (95% CI: -0.9 to 0.3)]. The association was strengthened upon conditioning for CW [beta: -1.5 mmHg/kg (95% CI: -2.1 to -0.9)]. Upon further conditioning on common causes of BW-BP and CW-BP, the association did not change substantially [beta: -1.4 mmHg/kg (95% CI: -2.0 to -0.8)]. The negative association could be explained by U only if U was strongly associated with BP and if there was a large difference in the prevalence of U between low BWand normal BW children. Conclusion: The observed negative association between BW and BP upon adjustment for CW was not easily explained by an unmeasured common cause of CWand BP.

Acesso à informação e identidade cultural: entre o global e o local

Apresenta o quadro teórico e metodológico da pesquisa Janelas da Cultura Local, em implementação no Instituto Brasileiro de Informação em Ciência e Tecnologia com apoio do Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, que tem como objetivo promover, de forma participativa, ações de informação no sentido da inclusão digital. As premissas do projeto - a informação como força de transformação, a responsabilidade social da ciência da informação e a sua relação intrínseca com a tecnologia da informação - se manifestam na proposta de desenvolvimento de competências para produção e comunicação digital da informação, contribuindo para dotar os participantes de elementos de mediação entre a cultura local e a cultura global. Espera-se, com o projeto, trazer contribuição ao resgate e registro da memória cultural da comunidade envolvida na pesquisa, contribuindo, também, para elevação do Índice de Desenvolvimento Humano no município beneficiado.

Department of Cultural Affairs Performance Plan, FY 2013

Agency Performance Plan, Department of Cultural Affairs

Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, Strategic Plan 2012-2015

The Department of Cultural Affairs was created in the state government reorganization in 1986. The department’s two divisions, the Iowa Arts Council and the State Historical Society (SHSI) have a much longer history of service to Iowans. With such a rich history, it is fitting that the Department of Cultural Affairs calls the State Historical Museum home, a facility which collects, preserves and showcases Iowa’s treasures that itself can trace its roots in state government back 120 years. Generations of Iowans have been touched by the programs and services provided through this department. Though organized as one department, the DCA has never undergone strategic planning as a single, cohesive organization. With a desire to move forward as a stronger, more unified entity, a departmentwide strategic planning process becomes critical to future success as the department continues to better assess its resources and expertise internally, while ensuring it is focused on the common goal of leveraging cultural resources across the state of Iowa.