Intercultural Differences Essay Example for Free

Intercultural Differences Essay Recognizing cultural differences when you write or speak with someone from another culture, you encode your message using the assumptions of your own culture. Members of your audience decode the message relating to the assumptions of their culture. So your meaning may be misunderstood. The greater the difference between cultures, the greater the chance for misunderstanding. Cultural differences are listed in four categories: Contextual, Legal and Ethical, Social, and Nonverbal. Cultural context is the pattern of physical cues, environmental stimuli, and implicit understanding that conveys meaning between members of the same culture. High context cultures encourage lengthy decision making, concentrating on everything detail, and avoids confrontation and debate. Whereas low-context cultures emphasize quick, efficient decisions on major points while leaving the details to be worked out later and encourages open disagreement. Cultural context also influences legal and ethical behavior. Legal systems differ from culture to culture the high context cultures views laws as being more flexible, low-context tend to value written agreements and interpret laws strictly.. Ethical choices can be even more complicated when communicating across cultures. Keep your messages ethical by actively seeking mutual ground exchanging messages without judgement, sending messages that are honest, and showing respect for cultural differences. Social differences there are four types among cultures. In any culture etiquette play a major part. Formal rules of etiquette are explicit and well defined, but informal rules are learned through observation and imitation. When informal rules are violated members of the culture are likely to feel uncomfortable, they may not be able to say exactly why. Attitudes toward materialism people from the United States emphasize hard work, material success, and efficiency more than many people in other countries do. Roles and status, respect and rank are reflected differently from culture to culture and in their working environment. Use of manners the rules of polite behavior vary from country to country. Concepts of time, although businesspeople in the United States, Germany, and some other nations see  time as a way to organize the business day efficiently, other cultures see time as more flexible. Nonverbal differences is extremely reliable when determining meaning, but that reliability is valid only when communicators belong to the same culture. The simplest of hand gestures can change from culture to culture. Interpreting nonverbal elements according to your own culture can be dangerous the elements are apparent in attitudes toward personal space and in body language. Concept of personal space for example people in Canada and the united States stand about five feet apart during a business conversation. Use of Body Language gestures of a culture clarify confusing messages, but differences in body language can be a major source of misunderstanding during intercultural conversation. For example, during our negotiations and weve finally closed the deal the Chinese representative from this company says yes to everything and seems as if shes agreeable to our terms. I share the information with my boss and he doesnt seem very excited. Why isnt he excited? The word yes may not always mean yes in other cultures it may mean to say yes to confirm they have heard or understood something , but not necessarily to indicate they agree with it.. Youll seldom get a direct no . Some of the ways that other cultures say no indirectly include It will be difficult, I will ask my supervisor, Im not sure, We will think about it , and Im not sure. When communicating across cultures, your effectiveness depends on maintaining an open mind.Stereotyping is the attempt to categorize individuals by trying to predict their behavior or character on the basis of their membership or a particular group. Move beyond stereotypes to relationships with real people. You can achieve this by acknowledging distinctions, avoiding assumptions, and avoiding judgements. Works Cited: Business Communication Today Chp III 52-63 http://www.vcsun.org/~battias/class/356/olm/9.html http://www.highbeam.com/library/doc0.asp?docid=1G1:19488131refid=ink_overture_hlth

Stories by Flannery OConnor Essay Example for Free

Stories by Flannery OConnor Essay Flannery OConnors two narratives, Everything That Rises Must Converge and Good Country People, are different stories presenting different characters, different plots, and different themes; however, both stories revolve around a mother and her child and their relationship. Everything That Rises Must Converge concerns Julian and his mother, and Good Country People concerns Hulga and her mother. As the two stories unfold, the similarities between Julian and Hulga, two seemingly different individuals, become apparent. The two, who appears unlike at first, turn out to have characteristics similar to one another. Both Julian and Hulga exhibit an educated and a proud character. They both use other people to validate their beliefs, and they both face a situation where they learn a lesson that they have to recognize for themselves. At the beginning of each story, OConnor presents each character as learned, conceited, and self-righteous. Julian has just graduated from college, which is a big achievement, considering that her mother did it all by herself. Julian is an aspiring writer who, for now, sells typewriters and lives with his mother. He thinks of himself as very intelligent. In fact, he often draws himself into the inner compartment of his mind . . . the only place where he [feels] free of the general idiocy of his fellows. In the same way, Hulga is a 32-year old woman who holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy and currently lives with her mother. She, like Julian, also thinks of herself as superior to others. She thinks  that if she only can, [s]he would be in a university lecturing to people who know what she [is] talking about. She also thinks to herself, [A] true genius can get an idea across even to an inferior mind. The two characters think too highly of themselves that they belittle other people, even their mothers who support them until now. In the course of each story, Julian and Hulga both use other people to prove to themselves and to others their beliefs. Julian uses black people to prove to his mother that the society has changed. He tries to make friends with  black people not because he likes them and sees them as coequals, but because he wants to irritate his mother and to show everyone that he is not narrow-minded like most white people are. Likewise, Hulga tries to seduce Manley Pointer into withdrawing his faith and into believing that there is no God. She wishes to teach him the deeper meaning of life. She imagines that she [takes] his remorse in hand and change[s] it into a deeper understanding of life. Hulga wants to convert Manley. Julian and Hulga both wish to change others into accepting what they believe are true and correct. As each story concludes, the two characters face messages whose meanings they have to make use of. Right after the confrontation of Julians mother with the black woman, Julians mother collapses unexpectedly and dies while Julian knowingly lectures her. Julian says to his mother, From now on youve got to live a new world and face a few realities for a change. Buck up, it wont kill you. Then the mother falls to the pavement. Now, the mother that Julian despised before is gone, and he is left in a world of guilt and sorrow. Similarly, Hulga loses her wooden leg over a mediocre country boy. In irritation, Hulga says to Manley, Youre a fine Christian! Youre just like them  allsay one thing and do another. Manley simply says before leaving, [Y]ou aint so smart. I been believing in nothing ever since I was born! Now, Hulga is left legless, helpless, and Godless. Both Julian and Hulga try to change other people when it is them who need to change. Julian and Hulga are both learned and proud. They both use other people for personal validation, and they both face lessons, which they have to figure out for themselves. OConnor characterizes Julian and Hulga in a way that they seem odd and far from what most people are, but as the characters evolve, they turn out to be ordinary people in all walks of life. They turn out to be where most people areliving in a delusion that their way is better than the way of the others.

Study On The Cardiac Causes For Chest Pains Nursing Essay

Study On The Cardiac Causes For Chest Pains Nursing Essay The relation of chest pains with cardiac causes responsible for the pain was one targeted area for studies. From the previous researches chest pain was observed to be one common complaints in children and previous findings reported it to be more prominent in old ages with mean age of 13 and cardiac causes was responsible for less than 20% of chest pain complaints in younger children and in community which was supposed to exist because of ischemic vertical dysfunction, myocardial and pericardial inflammatory process or arrhythmia but exact cause for cardiac chest pain was still in dark. Specialised methods like echocardiography, Holter monitoring, excercise stress test, electrophysiological studies were reported to be required to assess cardiac diseases in children responsible for chest pain but still it may not be able to give exact causes of chest pain. The purpose for this study was to identify cardiac diseases and to explore cardiac causes which were directly associated with chest pain in children.(Cagdas and Pac, 2009) Methods: In this study 120 children with ages in between 5-16 years who were frequently reported to pediatric cardiology clinic regarding chest pain were analysed in a tertiary subspecialty clinic from March 2005 to May 2006. The reason for selecting children with ages 5-16 years having chest pain complains was based on previous findings of studies and was good choice of selection for assessment of cardiac diseases related to chest pain as it was targeted group for chest pain and further in this study it was divided in two age groups that was 5-12 years age group and 13-16 years age group because of psychogenic pain consideration in children older than 12 years age which was good reasoning for dividing groups. Thus it was cross-sectional and a retrospective assessment but as it relies on previous findings and data from other clinics it might have limitations in selection and number selected that was 120 subjects seems to be very less for this type of assessment thus it might lead in error.(Ca gdas and Pac, 2009) The strength of this study was dependent on the outcomes of methods used for analysis of cardiac diseases associated with chest pain. All selected patients were subjected to Echocardiography, Electrocardiography(ECG) and Chest X-Ray and analysis of Hemogram, serum glucose and electrolytes was done. In Chest X-Ray all necessary images to diagnose heart, lung, chest wall and big vessels are generated by ionising radiation in X-ray form (P.A.Mahesh, 2006). In Electrocardiography functioning of different parts of heart muscles are measured by recording in skin electrodes placed on different positions of heart and it displays in ECG as electrical signal. The display of ECG shows rhythm of heart and damage of any heart muscles can be concluded(Meek and Morris, 2002). Echocardiogram generates two-dimensional pictures using ultrasound techniques for cardiovascular systems. In Echocardiography echoes of sound waves are picked by transducer and are transmitted as electrical impulses which are then converted to motion pictures of heart by Echocardiography machine and also movement of blood via heart is recorded by Doppler probe. Different types of cardiac diseases can be identified by this methods.(Quinones et al., 2003) Also excercise and tilt table test and twenty four hour Holter monitoring was carried out in some required cases which also gave detail regarding cardiac diseases. In 24 hour Holter monitoring test for 24 hour an electrodes are attached on chest of the subject to be monitored by which electrical activity of heart is recorded to an attached small battery operated monitor. Note of all activities carried out by patient during 24 hours is required and results after 24 hour of test are analysed to see any irregular changes in rhythm of heart and for further analyses of cardiac disease (Hilbel et al., 2008). Different ways are developed to perform tilt table depending on individual patient generally patient is obstructed to any physical movement of body and kept flat on tilt table and it is then suspended or tilted at different angles. Records of symptoms, blood pressure, pulse, electrocardiogram etc are kept during test which can be use for analysis of cardiac disease(Benditt et al., 1996 ). Actually this study was designed and conducted on algorithm setup in which depending on types of symptoms observed from physical examination and history of patients it was further evaluated using different methods to identify cardiac causes.(Cagdas and Pac, 2009) SPSS 11.0(SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) software was use to carry out statistical assessment in which Chi-square test was selected for analyses of difference in variables of groups in which significant level p value was kept less than 0.05 and risk between groups was compared by odds ratio value(95% Confidence Interval). Here the total number of patients was 120 which is quite large thus selection of Chi-square test to analyse difference in variables of two groups was perfect.(Cagdas and Pac, 2009) Results: In this study out of 120 patients depending on history and physical examination evaluation of further detail assessment by performing stated techniques as required 52(42.5%) patients were found to have cardiac diseases out of which 11(9.2%) patients on admission were found to have history of cardiac disease and in 28(23.3%) patients chest pain was supposed to be directly associated with cardiac disease and out of 28 patients 14(11.6%) were reported with different types of arrhythmias as shown in table 2.(Cagdas and Pac, 2009) On complete assessment of all patients for cardiac disease according to the age group that is 5-12 years of age and 12-16 years of age the children were analysed with structural Cardiac Disease and types of arrhythmia as shown in table 1 and 2.(Cagdas and Pac, 2009) Different types of Cardiac diseases found to be associated with chest pain is also listed in table 1 and 2. In table 2 patients with infrequent supraventricular ectopy and ventricular ectopy were excluded.(Cagdas and Pac, 2009) Table.1. SPSS result for frequency and risk of structural cardiac disease according with age in patients with chest pain(Cagdas and Pac, 2009) Groups Structural Cardiac Disease pÃŽÂ ± Present Absent Type N Total,n(%) Total,n(%) 5-12 years old (n=55) RVHD 5 11(20) 44(80) 0.011 MVP 3 CMP 1 ASD 1 PFO 1 13-16 years old (n=65) RVHD 12 27(41.5) 38(58.5) MVP 4 CMP 3 VSD 3 AS 3 ASD 1 PFO 1 ÃŽÂ ±Chi-square test, ÃŽÂ ²Risk analysis, ÃŽÂ ´Reference group is taken as 5-12 years age group AS- valcular aortic stenosis, ASD- atrial septel defect, CMP- cardiomyopathy, MVP- mitral valve prolapse, PFO- patent foramen ovale, RVHD- rheumatic valvular heart disease, VSD- ventricular septal defect Ref: CAGDAS, D. N. PAC, F. A. (2009) Cardiac chest pain in children. Anadolu Kardiyoloji Dergisi-the Anatolian Journal of Cardiology, 9, 401-406. As shown in above SPSS result the risk of structural cardiac disease in elder age group was 2.84 times higher as compared to younger age group and significant p value was 0.011 which was less than 0.05 which states that there was significant difference between variables of two age groups with structural cardiac disease.(Cagdas and Pac, 2009) Table.2. SPSS result for Frequency and risk of arrhythmia with age in patients with chest pain(Cagdas and Pac, 2009) Groups Arrhythmias PÃŽÂ ± Present Absent Type N Total,n(%) Total,n(%) 5-12 years old (n=55) Frequent VE and SVE 3 3 (5.5) 52 (94.5) 0.05 13-16 years old (n=65) Frequent VE and SVE 7 11 (16.9) 54 (83.1) WPW Syndrome 2 Sinus bradycardia 1 Sinus pause 1 ÃŽÂ ±Chi-square test, ÃŽÂ ²Risk analysis, ÃŽÂ ´Reference group is taken as 5-12 age group SVE supraventricular ectopy, VE ventricular ectopy, WPW Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome Ref: CAGDAS, D. N. PAC, F. A. (2009) Cardiac chest pain in children. Anadolu Kardiyoloji Dergisi-the Anatolian Journal of Cardiology, 9, 401-406. As shown in above SPSS result the risk of arrhythmias in elder age group was 3.53 times higher as compared to younger age group and significant p value was 0.05 which shows borderline significant difference in variables of two groups with arrhythmias.(Cagdas and Pac, 2009) Overall analysis of arrhythmias and structural cardiac disease reported 4.12 times higher risk of cardiac disease in elder age group (12-13 years age) as compared to that with younger age group (5-12 years age).(Cagdas and Pac, 2009) Discussion: The results of this study was compared with other studies and different required methods were performed for analyses of cardiac disease related to chest pain which was not performed in previous studies. In previous findings majority of patients were assessed by only echocardiography without performing 24 hour holter monitor test to any patients while in this study echocardiography was performed to all children and holter monitoring was done for 38(31.6%) patients out of 120 as required and also frequencies of arrhythmias was found to be 11.6% and same ratio for structural cardiac disease which as compared to other studies was high. Thus use of various methods for assessing cardiac diseases associated with chest pain was good effort made in this study.(Cagdas and Pac, 2009) One finding of this study was that chest pain complains was more in the elder children which was supported by previous epidemiological studies for the chest pain complaints. Cardiorespiratory problems in young children and psychogenic pain in children older than 12 years of age was reported from previous studies while from this study 4.12 times more risk to cardiac disease was found in elder age group on analysing all cardiac diseases and was explained because of aging related risk of arrhythmias or increase in structural cardiac diseases symptoms or increase in level of consciousness with increasing age regarding cardiac chest pain symptoms which was satisfactory reasoning given in this study. From the SPSS results it concluded that older children were at high risk to structural cardiac disease (p=0.011) and 3.53 times more frequent to arrhythmias. Thus use of SPSS results in analyses of cardiac disease was one very important part of this study as it explored some critical and diffe rent results compared to other studies.(Cagdas and Pac, 2009) In 28(23.3%) patients chest pain was supposed to be directly caused by cardiac diseases and which was assumed because of high frequency of some cardiac diseases in patients selected but clear reasons for chest pain was still not proved. From previous studies majority of non-cardiac chest pain was reported because of gastro-esophageal reflux diseases and in this study total 40 patients were suffering chest pain because of similar reasons like abdominal pain, epigastric tenderness etc which highlighted one important conclusion that their may exist more than one cause for chest pain not necessary that its always related to cardiac disease. This study also gave example of important application of echocardiography in diagnosis of rheumatic valvular heart disease as it was detected in 17 children as compared to analyses done by clinical examination for existence of rheumatic valvular heart disease.(Cagdas and Pac, 2009) In this study following the particular algorithm the study groups were analysed from which many results reported was different from that concluded by physical examination like in 16 patients physical examination showed it to be innocent murmur but was found to have structural cardiac disease on further analyses. Thus though this type of algorithm requires some extra excercise but it made analyses to identify cardiac disease more clear.(Cagdas and Pac, 2009) Overall this study concluded that risk of cardiac disease was increased with age and it also gave percentage of cardiac disease that was 42.5% which was high as compared to other studies. The study also highlighted importance and use of different methods that can be used for detail analyses of cardiac disease that was not covered in previously performed studies but this type of evaluation was to be carried out with larger number of patients to get more clear with results and draw important conclusion because by analysing only 120 children with chest pain one common conclusion can not be given. Selection of proper SPSS tests was done which gave important results for this study. This study attempted very well to identify cardiac diseases causing chest pain with all good planning and reasoning behind all steps and methods used but still research in area of cardiac diseases will not be clear unless any sure and specific result for particular cardiac disease can be taken as reference to i dentify and to draw conclusion.

Mathematical Models of Spacetime in Contemporary Physics and Essential Issues of the Ontology of Spacetime :: Physics Papers

Mathematical Models of Spacetime in Contemporary Physics and Essential Issues of the Ontology of Spacetime ABSTRACT: The general theory of relativity and field theory of matter generate an interesting ontology of space-time and, generally, of nature. It is a monistic, anti-atomistic and geometrized ontology — in which the substance is the metric field — to which all physical events are reducible. Such ontology refers to the Cartesian definition of corporeality and to Plato's ontology of nature presented in the Timaeus. This ontology provides a solution to the dispute between Clark and Leibniz on the issue of the ontological independence of space-time from distribution of events. However, mathematical models of space-time in physics do not solve the problem of the difference between time and space dimensions (invariance of equations with regard to the inversion of time arrow). Recent research on space-time singularities and asymmetrical in time quantum theory of gravitation will perhaps allow for the solution of this problem based on the structure of space-time and not merely on thermodynamics. Since the General Theory of Relativity is a fundamental model of spacetime, most often used as a starting point for a physicists' research, I will begin my analysis with an attempt to formulate the consequences of the GTR for spacetime ontology and, generally, ontology of nature. The preliminary remark, however, has epistemological character. The formulation of the GTR resulted in definite fall of a dogmatic thesis of distinguished value of the 3-dimensional Euclidean geometry, as the only geometrical structure, adequate for a description of nature. This thesis was formulated explicitly by Kant, who considered this structure to be apriori form of inspection, and as such it was to validate the science. Kant's epistemology was created mainly to validate science, whose best developed part was embodied in the classical mechanics. However, the attitude of the authors of the field theory of matter towards Kant's epistemology was not negative at all, which can be proved by the words of Weyl , who, although confessed that in himself a philosopher had been dominated by a mathematician, began his work Space, Time, Matter with philosophical considerations devoted to the question of time and space, considerations comparable to those of Kant. The formulation of the General Theory of Relativity was of major importance for the spacetime ontology, mainly because it ended the famous debate between Clarke and Leibniz concerning the ontological status of spacetime. In this debate Clarke defended the Newton's position in which he emphasized ontological independence of time and space with regard to physical events.

Mexico Versus United States Government :: essays research papers

The United States has no more important foreign relation ship than that of which it enjoys with Mexico, and vice versa. These two countries share interwoven societies and economies. Although there have been disagreements and turbulence between the two countries, which partnership is without these? The Strength of each country’s democracy is fundamental to the other’s. This relationship that the two countries share directly affects that lives of millions of Mexican and United States citizens everyday. Recently these two countries have become even more unified than ever before. Tackling issues such as Border Control, Countering Narcotics, Dealing with multiple Law enforcement agencies, Human Rights laws, trade and development, etc. There are many issues that they are mutually interested in and must deal with. Yet, there are some vast differences in which these two countries are run. There are also many similarities, which we must take into account. Both Democratic Govern ments have similar structures, containing a legislative, judicial, and executive branch. Yet, these structures are very different internally, containing specific duties that the other country’s branch may not have. The Executive Branch refers to the Presidential seat in both governments. The Presidency is a paramount institution, not only of the Mexican Government but of the US Government as well. The Countries entire political system is positioned around the presidency. In the United States the President also serves as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. The President appoints the cabinet and oversees the various agencies and departments of the Federal Government. The Executive Branch is checked by Congress which would be the Legislative Branch. In order for someone to become President, he or she must be a natural -born citizen of the United States. He or she must be at least 35 years of age and must have resided in the US for at least fourteen years. Once elected, the President must serve a term of four years, and may be re-elected only once. Now, the Executive Branch of the Mexican government is very similar to that of its neighbors, but there are some pivotal differences in the institut ion. Presidents are elected by a majority of registered voters in the thirty-one states and the Federal District. The President holds the formal titles of chief of state, head of government, and commander in chief of armed forces. The candidates must also be at least thirty-five years of age by election day.

The Joy Luck Club :: essays research papers

Tradition Lives On   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, is a book that compiles stories of the lives of Chinese women that were raised in China and became American citizens. These women formed the â€Å"Joy Luck Club,† which was a small group that discussed their homeland and troubles, but still enjoying the treasures of food and each other’s company. Each section of the book is written from the point of view of the character. The book continues on with the stories of these women’s daughters, telling stories of their lives being raised by mothers who were immigrants, and dissolving into American society. Chinese mothers try to pass on their values, instincts, and intuitiveness on to the second generation. Great fortune has come to the members of the Joy Luck Club through their hardships, and they only want their daughters to understand what it takes to succeed in life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Joy Luck Club ladies were all friends who over time have formed blissful lives for themselves in America. All of the daughters in this book were raised with high expectations, even the mothers while they were in China. This is contrary to an overall idea that girls in China were not a great commodity to their parents. Each member of the Joy Luck Club was a mother that only wanted their own daughters to understand why they should be respectful of their Chinese culture and grateful for their American opportunities. Waverly Jong, daughter of Lindo, was raised in Chinatown and her mother taught many lessons to â€Å"raise them out of circumstances.† (Tan, 90) Lindo thought the best combination was â€Å" American circumstances and Chinese character.† (259) The women of the Joy Luck Club were competitive amongst each other when it came to their children’s successes. Jei-Mei (June) Woo’s mother wanted her to be a chess prodigy like Waverl y Jong, or become a Chinese Shirley Temple. Jei-Mei’s mother, Suyuan, wanted her daughter to be a Chinese version of the epitome of American culture and the â€Å"perfect child† during the 1950s. Chinese mothers even go to great extents to instill their values into their children. The family of An-mei Hsu in China and Lena St. Clair’s mother, Ying-Ying, both would make up stories to make a moral to a story, to put fear into their daughters and detour them from trouble. Avoiding trouble is also an instinct for the Chinese. Their natural instincts tell them when something will not go well.

Brief description of the context and of the decision which has to be made Essay

An internal analysis (Strengths & Weaknesses of Illy & Espressamente) †¢An external analysis (Opportunities & Threats from the Global Coffee Market). †¢A strategic SWOT analysis, crossing internal & external analyses, in order to determine strategic directions for the internationalization of Espressamente. 3. Analysis of each of the 7 foreign markets considered for expansion: †¢Cultural distance with Italy †¢Market attractiveness (based on most important variables) 4. Analysis of Illy’s competitive strength on each of the 7 foreign markets 5. Recommendation as to the market(s) to prioritize 6. Recommendation of market-entry strategy(ies) for the selected markets. Questions 1. Brief description of the context and of the decision which has to be made. 2. SWOT analysis, including: †¢An internal analysis (Strengths & Weaknesses of Illy & Espressamente) †¢An external analysis (Opportunities & Threats from the Global Coffee Market). †¢A strategic SWOT analysis, crossing internal & external analyses, in order to determine strategic directions for the internationalization of Espressamente. 3. Analysis of each of the 7 foreign markets considered for expansion: †¢Cultural distance with Italy