La comunicazione interculturale

The chapter is about Intercultural communication in Italy (seen from both a sociolinguistic and a pragmatic perspective), and it is structured into four different sections: ���Key words/concept���, ���Theoretical background���, ���Good practice��� and ���Exercises���. Although based on the most recent research on Intercultural communication, it is addressed to both specialists/scholars and non specialists, as it is meant not only to outline new approaches and interpretations, but also to be regarded as a possible resource by civil servants and operators working with migrants. It is included in a book sponsored by the ���Forum Internazionale ed Europeo di Ricerche sull���Immigrazione��� (International and European Forum on Migration Research), which gathers contributions on policy, housing, education, health, employment and communication, and it has been widely adopted as a text book in Italian universities and by public institutions.

New insights on regulation of LMTK2, a membrane kinase integrating pathways central to neurodegeneration

In a short communication in this issue (Manser et al. 2012), Christopher Miller���s group at the Institute of Psychiatry, King���s College London present an elegant and convincing set of experiments using molecular techniques to show that a brain-enriched membrane-associated protein kinase, lemur tyrosine kinase-2 (LMTK2), is directly phosphorylated by the cyclin-dependent kinase-5/p35 and this event is sufficient for LMTK2 to phosphorylate an abundant protein phosphatase, PP1C. LMTK2 has been little studied to date and, despite its name, is a kinase which phosphorylates serine or threonine residues of protein substrates. The paper adds to the evidence that this enzyme is a potentially important mediator positioned to integrate a number of intracellular signalling pathways relevant to neurodegeneration.

Benefits from safer animal food products: preliminary results from a contingent valuation study of Italian households

The social cost of food scares has been the object of substantial applied research worldwide. In Italy, meat and dairy products are often the vectors of food-borne pathogens, and this is well known by the public. Most cases of food contamination and poisoning find their causes in the way food is handled after, rather than before purchase. However, a large fraction is still caused by mishandling at the industrial stage. With this in mind, we set out to estimate Italian households��� willingness to pay (WTP) for a reduction in the risk of meat and dairy food contamination using contingent valuation. The survey design incorporated features specifically conceived to overcome difficulties faced in previous survey research, especially with respect to individualized food expenditures and risk communication. In order to achieve this objective a CAPI (computer-assisted personal interview) survey was devised to tackle two major issues which emerged in previous contingent valuation studies. The first issue is connected to the way of communicating risk to consumers in order to allow them to make optimal choices and the second one to the results deriving from these studies. In fact, estimates from contingent valuation regarding food safety are given just for single products and so marketers may find it hard to extrapolate them to the aggregate. Our results show that in Italy there are segments of consumers who would benefit from higher standards of food safety for farm animal products.

A survey of VANET technologies

Recent advancement in wireless communication technologies and automobiles have enabled the evolution of Intelligent Transport System (ITS) which addresses various vehicular traffic issues like traffic congestion, information dissemination, accident etc. Vehicular Ad-hoc Network (VANET) a distinctive class of Mobile ad-hoc Network (MANET) is an integral component of ITS in which moving vehicles are connected and communicate wirelessly. Wireless communication technologies play a vital role in supporting both Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I) communication in VANET. This paper surveys some of the key vehicular wireless access technology standards such as 802.11p, P1609 protocols, Cellular System, CALM, MBWA, WiMAX, Microwave, Bluetooth and ZigBee which served as a base for supporting both Safety and Non Safety applications. It also analyses and compares the wireless standards using various parameters such as bandwidth, ease of use, upfront cost, maintenance, accessibility, signal coverage, signal interference and security. Finally, it discusses some of the issues associated with the interoperability among those protocols.

Konstruktiva och destruktiva former av spr��klig kommunikation i moderna arbetsorganisationer : - En teoretisk unders��kning med kompletterande fallstudier av Leksands v��rdcentral och Mora v��rdcentral

A main aim with the essay ���Constructive and destructive forms of language communication in modern work organizations��� is to try to develop methods which can be used to measure and classify different forms of language communication. Methods that hopefully also can be used for analysis of in which ways dominating language communication forms affects employees health in modern work organizations.Quantitative methods have chiefly been used in the essay. A questionnaire study based on sociological research and psychoterapeutic research and practice has been used to collect data around communication in two work organizations (community health centers). Then communication has been classified in two main forms: constructive and destructive language communication.Results in the essay indicate that there are tendencies to links between high illness-absence and destructive communication in a work organization. In the work organization with the highest illness-absence, during a chosen period of inquiry (2005), a larger share of the employees stated that the communications in their organization were destructive, compared to the employees in the organization which showed the lowest illness-absence. Statistically secured links between high illness-absence and destructive communication have however not been observed.

Las actividades comunicativas en los materiales did��cticos

The ability to communicate orally in a foreign language is fundamental and highly evaluated by both students and teachers. Therefore it is important that educational materials can provide communicative activities that improve this ability. A study of educational materials for young French learners revealed that the activities aimed to practice oral communication in fact were not really communicative. This investigation analyzes three educational materials for beginners in Spanish. The purpose is to see which kinds of activities the materials can offer for practice of oral and interactive communication, to compare them with educational theories and the Swedish curriculum and to detect similarities with the former study. The results show that the majority of the activities used in the materials, are not really communicative, they are mostly based on prepared phrases and there are few possibilities for creativity.

Faktorer som p��verkar sjuksk��terskans kommunikation i den palliativa v��rden och copingstrategier som sjuksk��terskan anv��nder sig av samt faktorer som p��verkar val av copingstrategi- en litteratur��versikt

Syftet med litteratur��versikten var att belysa kommunikationen inom den palliativa v��rden samt vilka copingstrategier sjuksk��terskan anv��nder sig av. Studien genomf��rdes som en litteratur��versikt d��r resultatet baseras p�� 15 artiklar genomf��rda i totalt ��tta olika l��nder. Artiklar s��ktes i databaserna CINAHL, PubMed, V��rd i Norden och PsykINFO. Teman som framkom i resultatet var kommunikation och copingstrategier f��ljt av fyra respektive fem subteman. Resultatet visar att kommunikationen ��r central i den palliativa v��rden. Utbildning var grunden till att sjuksk��terskan utvecklade ett bra f��rh��llningss��tt inom kommunikation och copingstrategier. Tidigare erfarenheter p��verkade copingstrategier och kommunikationsf��rdigheter i den palliativa v��rden. Tid f��r reflektion var n��got som sjuksk��terskor tyckte var viktigt i bearbetningen av sv��ra situationer. Sjuksk��terskan b��r vara medveten om copingstrategier och dess p��verkan f��r en god empatisk omv��rdnad samt f��r sin egen h��lsa. Tid f��r reflektion tillsammans med kollegor b��r appliceras p�� varje arbetsplats inom h��lso och sjukv��rden.

Pedagoger i det sociala uppdragets gr��nstrakter : Att hantera familjer��ttsliga processer, hot och v��ld

Pedagogues in the borderland of their social task: dealing with family law proceedings, threats and violence Drawing upon an explorative study of family law proceedings from a school perspective, the aim of this paper is to examine the school staff���s strategies for solving or coping with problematic situations in this context. Gendered conflicts between adults and violence are extreme cases for pedagogues in school and preschool. How do the staff cope with their own and the children���s vulnerability? Based upon interviews with 22 informants, the staff���s strategies are outlined and discussed in relation to organizational and professional circumstances and intersecting social relations of power. An analytical construction of six types of proactive and reactive strategies, ranging from distance keeping to normalization of own exposure, is utilized in the analysis. Findings suggest that the staff���s strategies to handle challenging events in this context vary with the parent���s gender, class position and ethnicity. Further, it is argued that creating a sense of safety and promoting learning among the children may be obstructed by lack of support from the school���s organization, demands on staff to perform customer oriented attitudes towards parents and lack of clarity concerning the limits of the social task. Conflicts between the organization and profession on the one hand and the educational and the social task on the other hand, are thus illuminated. In conclusion, a further aim of this article is to contribute to broader discussions on men���s violence against women and children ��� in families as well as in workplaces and in the intersection between these two areas.��

Barns strategier och ekonomisk utsatthet : knappa resurser som utg��ngspunkt f��r en f��rhandling av positionerna i familjen

Economic hardship and children���s strategies ��� scarce resources as a starting point for negotiating family positions The aim of this article is to discuss how children and adolescents experience everyday life in economic hardship and how a negotiation of the family positions can be linked to these experiences. The article takes its theoretical starting point in childhood sociology, and is based on an interview study involving 17 children between the ages of 6���18 in families living on or below the limit for receiving welfare benefits. The purpose of these interviews is to explore how these children experience economic hardship at home and among friends, focusing their own strategies and agency. I argue that the financial situation in these families do indeed challenge the way that the child position is traditionally understood, which also has implications for the children���s identity work. Including children as participants in research therefore becomes crucial in order to fully understand the ramifications of child poverty.��

Livskvalitet i familier : n��re relasjoners betydning for ���det gode liv���

Life quality in families: close relations and ���the good life��� The aim of this paper is to explore how aspects and qualities of modern family life influence subjective well-being. Although the patterns of family, work and sexuality have changed dramatically the last four decades, it is here claimed that the family is still an important base of socialization and upbringing. Thus the study of processes within the family can contribute to the understanding of the environment in which many children grow up. In most families, work, partner and family roles are intertwined, and one central hypothesis of this work is that family members influence each other in the individual formation of well-being. The main research question of this study asks: How is life quality affected by the quality of parent-child and the partner relationships and aspects of their shared everyday life? Empirical implications are tested against 2002-data from a representative, Norwegian sample. Analyses conclude that the quality of parent-child and the spousal relationship, and also aspects of families��� everyday life such as work-life balance and time pressure influence the subjective life quality, but mother���s and father���s life quality is affected by differing and partly incompatible conditions.

Can Open Access Save Us?

Just about every time I open a journal or read a blog online, I see something about e-books saving newspapers and magazines. Both magazines and newspapers���and really all scholalry communication���are going the way of all flesh, we���re told, but e-book reading may provide a stay of execution, however short that may be. It got me to thinking if there might be something else that would provide a similarDies Irae proroguement for scholarly communication in general. That���s when it occurred to me it could well be open access (OA), or at least as I envision it here.

O ensino de comunica����o nos cursos de administra����o de empresas: compara����o entre o Brasil e os Estados Unidos da Am��rica

Este trabalho investiga -- nos cursos brasileiros de administra����o de empresas, nos n��veis de gradua����o e p��s-gradua����o -- o conte��do program��tico de uma disciplina com t��tulo ainda n��o consagrado, que poderia chamar-se Comunica����o Humana Profissional. Investiga tamb��m -- nos cursos norte-americanos de gradua����o e MBA -- o conte��do program��tico da respectiva disciplina, l�� frequentemente denominada Business Communication ou Management Communication. Paralelamente, analisa o conte��do dos manuais brasileiros e norte-americanos destinados ao ensino do tema. Como resultado, oferece sugest��o de conte��do program��tico, que poderia ser utilizado para uma difus��o mais ampla da disciplina, nas escolas brasileiras.

R��dio pe��o: estudo dos mecanismos, tipologia e os efeitos dos rumores nas organiza����es

Esta disserta����o tem como tema o estudo da r��dio pe��o, equivalente brasileiro da grapevine americana e dos rumores e boatos que circulam nas organiza����es. O trabalho cont��m a revis��o da teoria existente sobre o assunto, abrangendo seus principais mecanismos de . surgimento e transforma����o, a tipologia, e classifica����o dos rumores, segundo seus aspectos sociais e psicol��gicos. Tamb��m analisa as diversas metodologias de pesquisa do assunto. Ao final s��o feitas algumas recomenda����es para as empresas e sugeridos alguns temas para aprofundamento futuro do assunto.

A percep����o do professor acerca do seu trabalho com crian��as portadoras de autismo e s��ndrome de down : um estudo comparativo

The aim of the present study was to investigate the teacher���s perception about working both with individuals with autism and with Down���s syndrome. A semi-structured interview was performed with 10 teachers, in two special schools, in the interior of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Each one of these interviews was compound of a range of questions, dealing with topics such as teacher���s identification, etiologic notions about the syndrome, intellectual development and clinical characteristics of the children, ways of educational intervention and finally the difficulties and feelings of the teachers concerning their work in this area and also their educational strategies. The analysis of the obtained material revealed that there are similarities and differences in the way in which the teachers perceive their students with the Down���s syndrome or Autism. One fundamental aspect which was identified related to the circumstances that led the teacher to work with these children, which were not always founded on choice. One of the concerns, which mostly differentiated the teacher���s discourse, was in relation to pleasure when working with these children. This appears more clearly regarding the students with Down���s syndrome, indicating a feeling of well-being and satisfaction of the teacher, due to the social reciprocity and communication in the relationship with the children. On the other hand, stereotyped ideas; worries with behaviors that are not specific to the anxiety and lack of self-confidence were aspects which characterized the teacher���s perception about autism. This picture might have influenced their management strategies. For example, in order to alleviate their conflicts and anxieties the teachers used strategies to maintain the students systematically busy to attempt to ���control��� the autism. However, the practice of ���sheltering��� by means of flexible work and encouragement of the autonomy based on the exercise of choice were also identified in some of the teachers. Another aspect that deserves attention is in the relation to the beliefs about the etiology of autism, specifically those concerning the mother-child bond. A simplistic view of this issue was identified, which was understood as a direct relationship of ���cause and effect��� rather as a reciprocal process, where each element of the dyad contributes to its quality. Finally, the results of this paper point to a complexity but not impossibility of the educational process of the so-called ���special��� student. However, attention should be paid to the need of founding the educational practice on knowledge, thus avoiding the emergency of distorted ideas and subsequently practices incoherent with the individual���s development.

Os determinantes morfogen��ticos da linguagem expressiva

O presente trabalho parte de uma reinterpreta����o dos determinantes e da organiza����o da linguagem expressiva em indiv��duos portadores de defici��ncia da audi����o. Neste sentido, submete a uma an��lise cr��tica as condi����es de estrutura����o e aquisi����o de um sistema de comunica����o simb��lica de natureza essencialmente verbal por parte de tais indiv��duos. Avalia, em particular modo, a perspectiva de uma organiza����o fonol��gica do discurso em portadores de surdez profunda ���pr��-linguagem~, como um processo que ultrapassa as possibilidades d e uma mera aprendizagem. A linguagem vista ent��o como um processo semi��tico de natureza percepto-expressiva, que se estabelece ao longo do desenvolvimento filogen��tico e ontogen��tico �� assim interpretada, a luz de um novo modelo te��rico sobre a Cogni����o Humana . Tal modelo, pautado em contribui����es da Cibern��tica, da L��gica, da Lingu��stica e da Epistemologia Gen��tica, estabelece plataformas morfogen��ticas, a partir das quais o psiquismo se organizaria. Desta maneira, 2 (dois) objetivos essenciais pretendem ser atingidos no presente e s tudo. 1�� ) oferecer uma base te��rica �� din��mica e processual cognitivo em que o surdo se v�� envolvido ao longo da aprendizagem de um sistema verbal-simb��lico - �� luz de uma hip��tese pr��-formista, de base morfogen��tica. 2��) avaliar, a partir da linguagem expressiva escrita apresentada por deficientes auditivos com perda profunda ~pr��-linguagem", a hip��tese formulada por F. Lo P. Semin��rio (1980) "de uma mem��ria morfogen��tica na esp��cie humana", a partir do que, toda a atividade cognitiva se organizaria, passando a operar segundo estruturas-c��digo, pr��-fixadas. A fim de confirmar as proposi����es estabelecidas, apresenta - se uma Verifica����o Emp��rica atrav��s de estudos explorat��rios realizados com 6 (seis) sujeitos. Os resultados obtidos confirmam a exist��ncia de um marco seletivo e organizador de natureza audio-fon��tica, tamb��m entre indiv��duos surdos. Constata-se que a informa����o veiculada �� capaz de ser tratada, programada e recuperada linguisticamente, ainda que sem a possibilidade de um mecanismo de retroalimenta����o ao sistema que se desenvolve. O que equivale a dizer, que o indiv��duo surdo apesar de n��o ouvir, programa �� n��vel ��udio-fon��tico, programa����o essa que vem a ser recuperada ou atualizada gra��as aos recursos e t��cnicas pedag��gicas especializadas. Tais resultados sugerem uma reavalia����o dos m��todos psicopedag��gicos usuais nesta ��rea, podendo-se retomar sob nova orienta����o o debate de temas atuais, nas diretrizes das t��cnicas e do instrumental utilizado.