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This paper comprehends the global research scenario about incorporating cultural components in contemporary urban planning practice. Various urban cultural elements have been analysed under the umbrella of 'Urban Cultural Dynamics' (UCD). This study aims to identify hot spots and explore influential sources through a bibliometric investigation of the evolutionary patterns of cultural dynamics in urban planning research. Data was collected from the Web of Science core collection (1965-2021). The data mining tools VOSviewer, Biblioshiny, KNIME, and WordStat were used to analyse hot topics, keywords, influential journals, core papers, top authors, and cooperation networks of countries and institutions. The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is employed in journal analysis. The analysis showed that publications on UCD increased exponentially between 2016 and 2022. Italy (32), China (26), and Spain (18) are the top countries in total publications. Technical universities of Dresden and Munich have the most significant influence on UCD's research, with 103 and 101 total citations, respectively. Landscape and Urban Planning, Journal of Cultural Heritage, and Tourism Geographies are the top three consistently influential journals. The top ten core papers were identified. The keywords and topic analysis charted out the evolution of multidisciplinary UCD research topics. The hotspot analysis revealed the significance of cultural dynamics in sustainable urban development. The results highlighted the need for intercontinental cooperation between developed countries and the third world. The future scope of research on UCD topics is discussed in the conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kazuo Ishiguro's novel Klara and the Sun (2021) philosophizes on how in the current technologically saturated culture, the gradual evolution of the empathetic humanoids has, on one hand, problematized our normative notions of cognitive and affective categories, and on the other, has triggered an order of emotional uncanniness due to our reliance on hyperreal real objects for receiving solace and companionship. The novel may be conceived to be a commentary on the emerging discourse in the domain of cognitive and emotional computing that aspires to transform the inner life and social relationships of the human community. The novelty of the paper lies in its ability to showcase how Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun (2021) creates a rupture in the existing research and literary narrative by critiquing the theoretical underpinnings of emotional computing that optimistically foresees a future where simulated empathetic minds will be able to decode the complexities of the human emotions. It discusses how literature turns into an apt tool to reflect on the limitations of the programmed machines to decode the elusiveness of the human mind that defies the one-to-one correlation between words, multiple connotations, and their underlying emotions. Through the lenses of the fictional narrative, the paper foregrounds how the concept of the social robot designed to offer empathy, care, and companionship turns into a failed project. The paper draws on critical perspectives from disposability theory, posthuman affect, and immaterial bodies to foreground the noncodified feature of affective experientialities that emerge as a result of the interface between humans and nonanimate beings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the challenges that appear in maritime human resource management, in the face of the digitalized environment in maritime business, due to the diffusion of new technologies, such as big data analytics, blockchain technology, and future MASS technology. The current study is based on a systematic review of the relevant literature attempting to respond to the analysis of the challenges described above. The study reveals that existing scientific interest concentrates on the training and education of the maritime workforce, the new skills required as well as the possible loss of traditional jobs and the creation of new ones, while mainly examining the seagoing personnel. However, limited attention has been paid to the practices of human resource management, which could facilitate the transition to the new era of maritime business. This study aims at contributing to the research in the field of Maritime HRM by revealing gaps in existing literature and suggesting areas for future research as well as new methodological approaches in addressing these gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In accordance with the culture and environment, vernacular architecture has provided suitable solutions. People are looking for more environmentally friendly structures in today's globalized world. To comprehend the sustainable qualities of indigenous housing tradition, thus it is important to look back in time. This article has used the idea of sustainable development to evaluate the worth of Gurage, an Ethiopian traditional architecture. The indigenous architecture of the Gurage communities is constructed in line with the community's history, culture, and surroundings. In light of this, the research investigates traditional houses and the socio-cultural practices of the locals that promote resilience. In order to find a scientific basis and encourage its implementation in the future, this paper analyzes the architectural expression in Gurage, holistically in light of the knowledge and experience of the local populace. Using a phenomenological research design and a qualitative research approach that involves observation, key informant interviews (20), and focused group discussions (3) with carefully chosen participants, an explanation for the vernacular architecture of the study areas was established. The outcome of the paper reveals how much the rich vernacular traditions of the study site are still relevant today in creating an environmentally and culturally sustainable settlement. It implies that the traditional building practices and cultural heritage of the Gurage people can contribute to the development of a sustainable settlement that is both environmentally friendly and culturally appropriate. By expressing concern about these issues, it highlights the importance of taking proactive measures to safeguard the environment, preserve cultural heritage, and ensure a sustainable future for generations to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the pressures of fluctuating external environments, organizations are constantly seeking ways to be responsive and able to improve their performance with lower costs. Employer–employee relationships have changed rapidly in recent years, and there is growing interest in considering human resources as a form of capital, and a strategic factor for business excellence. A focal point for HR professionals is employee loyalty, recognized as pivotal in realizing long-term organizational goals. This paper delves into the concept of Wasta social capital and its pivotal role in fostering employee loyalty and innovation within the unique cultural context of the Arab world. It is argued here that Wasta social capital is the fundamental dynamic that stimulates employee loyalty in the workplace. This conceptual paper provides new insights through understanding the significant role Wasta social capital plays in affecting employee loyalty in a collectivist culture, differing from the conventional business-context factors of loyalty. Obtaining a deeper understanding of employee loyalty and how it is developed in Arab-world business contexts can promote innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper advances epistemic reflexivity as a methodological process for dealing with knowledge biases in International Business research. By drawing upon Bourdieu's (1989) reflexive sociology, the paper develops an epistemic form of reflexivity that moves beyond the limiting focus on the researcher's social background and interpersonal relations with the researched, towards the conditions of knowledge production contained in the researcher's subjective role as well as intellectual bias and positioning. Such an approach enhances trustworthiness and credibility in all research processes (qualitative, quantitative, mixed and multimethod), through a systematic exploration of social scientific claims. This can be achieved by the IB researcher scrutinising their own Self, cultural practices, biases and 'unthought categories of thought', which, if not problematised, may limit our understanding of other peoples' 'social reality' and the IB phenomena that we investigate. The paper contributes to IB research methods literature by developing an epistemic theoretical foundation for reflexivity in addition to devising a methodological process for researchers to intellectually engage with, comprising of six reflexive, self-interrogating 'thinking tasks'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National culture (NC) plays a crucial role in transitioning societies toward sustainable development (SD) which is based on the triple bottom line (TBL) approach. The impact of NC should be broadly analyzed, taking into account the perspective of individuals, organizations, societies, etc. This constitutes the general field of "national culture sustainable development" (NCSD). To the author's knowledge, this is the first literature review conducted on the above-defined NCSD field and based on a mixed-methods analysis. It contributes to the development of knowledge by presenting the scientific structure of the general NCSD research field and the main detailed problems addressed in the papers assigned to this field, synthesizing the previous research findings, and emphasizing the need to examine SD holistically. This study revealed that the interest of academics in the NCSD field is growing. The scientific structure of this field is formed by 80 articles, including 63 empirical papers which were based mostly on the analysis of secondary data. The most popular topic in previous studies was the relationship between cultural dimensions (authored by Hofstede) and practices related to reporting on sustainability. Cultural characteristics were combined with the data from different sources and covered different numbers of countries. Subsequent research projects were methodologically separate from the previous ones which implied inconsistent results. Papers discussing the linkage between national culture and all elements of the TBL concept together are rare. The above highlights, i.e., the need for more research based on a holistic approach to SD, methodological rigor and continuity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents and addresses the concept of "spontaneous sustainability", the informal and unplanned sustainable development of communities, as the basis and framework to support the notion, drives, and agendas of "formal sustainability". It follows the interdependence between the "spontaneous sustainability" of "distinct" communities and their "cultural" characteristics, including history, spatial continuity, values and behaviors, the associated physical settings, and tangible and intangible products, which enabled them to continue, survive, and develop. The research aims at formulating and validating a "framework" for monitoring and enhancing the "spontaneous sustainability" of "distinct" communities to enable, support and link it, to the broader frameworks of "sustainable development". The proposed "framework" combines "sustainability" dimensions: environmental, economic, and socio-cultural; and the levels of community contexts, and spatial impact. The "framework" is formulated by integrating selected "urban sustainability" approaches, and systems, with later research that developed the key aspects, criteria, and indicators of those systems, together with research addressing "social and cultural sustainability", and assessment aspects, criteria, and indicators. The "framework" is developed and validated through a limited questionnaire, involving local experts and specialists, academics, and practitioners, to point out limitations and potential, and to suggest the relative importance of its components, key aspects, and criteria. The validation supported the research propositions, the formulation, and development of the proposed "spontaneous sustainability framework" and emphasized its flexibility to include other approaches and agendas, and potential for further development and application in distinct local communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultured meat is a novel technology-based meat alternative with the potential to complement protein supply for a growing world population. An increasing body of consumer research has investigated personal factors explaining consumers' acceptance of cultured meat. Research on cultural and economic drivers impacting consumer responses across countries, however, is scant. In this light, this article aims to provide a cross-cultural perspective on cultured meat acceptance and guide future empirical research in this domain. First, this article proposes a framework to explain cross-national differences in cultured meat acceptance comprising societal factors (i.e., culture and religion), indicators of the food environment (i.e., meat production and consumption), and economic market parameters (i.e., gross domestic product, carbon dioxide emissions, and population growth). Second, the paper applies a systematic literature review, including 105 empirical consumer studies related to cultured meat. Third, the identified papers are analyzed according to the proposed framework. The findings of this descriptive analysis demonstrate that empirical research to date has predominately been conducted in countries that produce and consume high amounts of meat and are characterized by high gross domestic products per capita. Many of these surveyed countries harbor secular-rational and self-expressional cultural value orientations. Other country types have been less prominently explored, although they represent potentially relevant target markets for cultured meat in the future. Cross-cultural research aiming to explain differences across countries is scarce. To guide future research, the paper develops research propositions relating societal factors, food environment, and market-related factors to consumer acceptance of cultured meat across countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Wujiafentou site is located at the heart of the Youziling (5900–5500 cal BP) and Shijiahe (4500–4200 cal BP) cultures in the Handong region, a core area to understand the relationship among economic networks, sociopolitical integration, and regional identity in the middle Yangtze River valley (MYRV) of central China during the Late Neolithic times. Its pottery assemblages are important clues to understanding the pottery production and use before and after the extensive walled town construction activities in the Neolithic MYRV. Wujiafentou is less than 5 km from the Shijiahe walled town, the largest city of its time in the MYRV. This paper applies microscopic examination and chemical and mineralogical analyses to a sample of 152 sherds of the Youziling-period and Shijiahe-period utilitarian vessels unearthed from the Wujiafentou site, revealing the changes and continuity in pottery production and use over time. We also probe into the socio-economic ties between Wujiafentou and the Shijiahe walled town mainly through hong tao bei (red clay cups), which were widely distributed and presumably highly symbolic items of the Shijiahe culture related to drinking, feasts, and rituals. We propose that the Wujiafentou inhabitants produced their red clay cups by mimicking those made within the Shijiahe walled town. Our study highlights an alternative interpretation of the formation of a regional identity during the Shijiahe period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clifford Geertz's essay, "Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture" comprehensively explored the basic problems encountered in the theoretical efforts of 20th century social sciences. As a response to his reflection, this paper tries to reveal the methodological roots of the predicament of interpretive anthropology and all social sciences, through an epistemological analysis of social science. In addition, with the Theory of Belief as an analytical tool, it also tries to offer a solution to one of the classic predicaments in social sciences: "what is ethnography". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current definitions of migraine that are based mainly on clinical characteristics do not account for other patient's features such as those related to an impaired quality of life, due to loss of social life and productivity, and the differences related to the geographical distribution of the disease and cultural misconceptions which tend to underestimate migraine as a psychosocial rather than neurobiological disorder. Global differences definition, care access, and health equity for headache disorders, especially migraine are reported in this paper from a collaborative group of the editorial board members of the Journal of Headache and Pain. Other components that affect patients with migraine, in addition to the impact promoted by the migraine symptoms such as stigma and social determinants, are also reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theorization of social sciences in the 20th century walked forward with difficulty. Clifford Geertz's essay, "Thick description: Toward an interpretive theory of culture", which comprehensively explored the fundamental problems in the process, is an essential document in the history of thoughts in the social sciences in the twentieth century. In response to Geertz's reflection, this paper tries to reveal the predicament of interpretive anthropology and the entire social sciences and its methodological roots through an epistemological analysis of social science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to evaluate the culture and arts of Kyoto Prefecture through the calculation of its cultural GDP in 2015. The method for calculating the cultural GDP in Japan is mainly based on the criterion of the UNESCO Culture Satellite Account (CSA). Results reveal that the ratio of the cultural GDP to the total GDP in Kyoto Prefecture (about 2.0%) is slightly higher than that of the whole country in Japan (about 1.8%) and each domain shows different characteristics from the national situation. Considering the growth strategies of cultural industries formulated by Japanese government, Kyoto Prefecture should focus on developing its competitive tertiary industry and vigorously promote its cultural industries as well as activate the development of the traditional culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last three decades, a cultural perspective has been used to understand scientific knowledge and technology. This relatively new perspective has introduced literature on the ethical dimension to the development of technology, which are embedded in techniques, tools and artifacts. Today, more than ever, there is an urgent need to comprehend the global ramifications of modernization. In this paper, we make an attempt to look at science and technology based on culture, wisdom, ecology and ethical values. We move towards reviewing and consolidating significant literature on philosophy of technology and culture within contemporary times. Furthermore, this article touches upon the transformative power of technologies in relation to modernity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fairs often speak about the people and their embedded place. As an expressive space, fair mirrors the culture of the community and the emotional bond. The study unravels the fairs of West Bengal, an eastern state of India by exploring the physicality and the culture of a place that are momentous for the origin of fairs and their continuity through the generations. Thus, it is imperative to explore the diversities of fairs both in rural and urban settings of Bengal. Here, we used the available secondary data for entire Bengal to map out the regional patterns of fairs. Categorically, all the fairs were filtered using selected criteria and finally 979 were considered for the study out of 2023 by using Census data. Finding of the study reveals the regional patterns of fairs, which further tells on the spatio-temporal narratives along with the story of the traditionality and urban–rural connection with fairs. Again, the contribution of this paper establishes the linkages among the physical attributes, cultural imprint and fairs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural influences are pervasive throughout human behaviour, and as human–robot interactions become more common, roboticists are increasingly focusing attention on how to build robots that are culturally competent and culturally sustainable. The current treatment of culture in robotics, however, is largely limited to the definition of culture as national culture. This is problematic for three reasons: it ignores subcultures, it loses specificity and hides the nuances in cultures, and it excludes refugees and stateless persons. We propose to shift the focus of cultural robotics to redefine culture as an emergent phenomenon. We make use of three research programmes in the social and cognitive sciences to justify this definition. Consequently, cultural behaviour cannot be explicitly programmed into a robot, rather, a robot must be designed with the capability to participate in the interactions that lead to the arising of cultural behaviour. In the final part of the paper, we explore which capacities and abilities are the most salient for a robot to do this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gulangyu Island is a special case of social development and changes since modern China. In the past, Chinese and foreign people lived together and Chinese and Western cultures coexisted, resulting in an international community with outstanding cultural diversity and modern quality of life. As a functional carrier, space is of great reference significance to the research on the spatial evolution path of the Gulangyu international community with the accelerating globalization and rapid expansion of urbanization. Based on the interpretation of historical maps and the integration of historical geographic information, this paper explores the evolution path of Gulangyu community space in modern times from the perspective of actor-network theory. It is found that: (1) The change of key actors promotes the spatial evolution of the Gulangyu international community. (2) In the stage of foreign culture dissemination (1840–1902), foreign nationals, as key actors, promoted the formation and development of actor-networks through administrative recruitment and other means, and promoted Gulangyu Island to change from a traditional Minnan community to a modern community form, with the embryonic form of an international community beginning to emerge. (3) In the stage of multicultural integration (1903–1940), overseas Chinese returning home became key actors. The concept of a combination of Western cultures was not only embodied in community management but also acted on space practice to promote the multicultural integration of the Gulangyu international community. This paper summarizes the effects of various factors on the evolution of community space, to provide a reference for other coastal cities to rationally develop islands and promote the multicultural integration of local communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to explore a different, more relational worldview of skill, learning and education in sport. To do this, we turn to the work of social anthropologist, Tim Ingold, leaning on the notion of enskilment, which proposes that learning is inseparable from doing and place. From this worldview, what is learned is not an established body of knowledge, transmitted into the mind of a passive recipient from an authorised being, but is a progressively deepening embodied-embedded attentiveness, where an individual learns to self-regulate by becoming more responsive to people and environmental features by 'looking, listening and feeling'. As we discuss, Ingold's perspectives on enskilment are rooted in the etymological connotations of education—ex-ducere, which roughly means 'to lead out'. In applying this notion to sport, we unpack three of its entangled components, taskscapes, guided attention, and wayfinding, detailing the implications of each for the growth of enskilled sports performers. To promote the translation of these ideas, in addition to encouraging their inquiry beyond the scope of what is discussed here, sporting examples are threaded throughout the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel holistic modeling approach for investigating and analyzing the relationship of qualitative variables such as training and absenteeism with quantifiable shopfloor key performance indicators such as quality, inventory, and production rate. Soft variables, supervisor support and work environment, and their relationships with the hard variables, facility layout, and production strategies were investigated in this research. It was found in the literature that increasing absenteeism reduces the rate of production and causes a decrease in motivation, while training can increase the level of motivation if effective. A causal loop diagram was developed based on the evidence in the literature, and a system dynamics simulation model was created to depict these relations. It was confirmed that absenteeism affected the cycle time and motivation inversely, but it was not possible to always maintain a desired level of motivation. A discrete event simulation model was also built for the current and the future state maps of the production system. The model used output from the system dynamics model as its input to investigate the effects of the qualitative variables on the production system performance. This paper discusses in detail the stages of building the simulation models and the results recorded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the author's fieldwork in China and Japan, literature research and the study of specimen materials and video data on weddings of ROK, Japan and China, which are collected by the Japan National Museum of Ethnology (or Minpaku), this paper attempts to explore the cultural symbolic significance that humans bestow on food, and to further reveal the cultural diversity in East Asia and the common structure of human mind by comparing the flow of food and the ways and scopes in which the wedding foods are consumed in East Asia. In East Asia wedding customs, expectations through food for the bride's fertility and her belonging to her husband's patrilineal family are very common. However, the food and eating behaviors that express expectations for the groom are rare, only slightly visible in the dry bonito at the time of engagement in Japan and the 12 bowls of rice that the groom will eat on the day of the Yao wedding in China. Dried bonito signifies virility and victory of men, reflecting the features of Japanese maritime culture and the influence of samurai culture in history. East Asian wedding rituals are diverse in form, but the commonality among them can also be seen, that is, human beings find cultural meanings in different natural environments that correspond to human society, and then internalize the natural attributes through homophonic pun, imitation and other ways. Food is used in weddings to express people's best wishes for the happiness of the newlyweds' families, to have descendants and longevity of their marriage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Major studies on FDI looks at location, technology, policy, availability of natural resources, skilled labor, state support, climate, political and economic advantages for investment decisions. There are few studies that look at cultural factors affecting FDI decisions in service. This paper provides qualitative analysis of the impact of national culture on the flow of foreign direct investment in the service sector within the context of Germany. In particular, the paper discusses the cultural logic of German foreign direct investment in the service sector. It argues that inward FDI in the service sector was actually substantially more affected by cultural distance compared to outward FDI. The study finds that it is important to distinguish between inward and outward FDI to assess the cultural logic of German FDI in the service sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper urges that if we wish to give social intelligence to our agents, it pays to look at how we acquired our social intelligence ourselves. We are born with drives and motives that are innate and deeply social. Next, as children we are socialized to acquire norms and values and to understand rituals large and small. These social elements are the core of our being. We capture them in the acronym GRASP: Groups, Rituals, Affiliation, Status, Power. As a consequence, economic rationality or logical reasoning do not suffice when it comes to social intelligence. Basic features of our social behaviour, of the kind that one sees early in the lives of children, need to be prominent. These include fear, love, and aggression. They extend to the combination of these drives with basic social clues from the environment such as big and small, good and bad, as well as culture-specific specializations of these. This will make agents respond differentially to inferred attributes such as gender, age, group membership. This level of universality in social intelligence should receive our full attention. The general insights gained can then be re-used in myriad implementations to specific modelling issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although in vitro culture of human embryos is a crucial step in assisted reproduction, the lack of focused research hampers worldwide standardisation and consistent outcomes. Only 1.2% of research papers published in five leading journals in human reproduction in 2019 focused on in vitro culture conditions, creating the impression that the optimisation process has approached its limits. On the other hand, in vitro culture of mammalian embryos is based on old principles, while there is no consensus on basic issues as density, time, medium change, gas atmosphere and small technical details including the way of drop preparation. This opinion paper aims to highlight and analyse the slow advancement in this field and stimulate research for simple and affordable solutions to meet the current requirements. A possible way for advancement is discussed in detail. Selection of embryos with the highest developmental competence requires individual culture and modification of the widely used "drop under oil" approach. Current use of three-dimensional surfaces instead of large flat bottoms is restricted to time-lapse systems, but these wells are designed for optical clarity, not for the needs of embryos. The size and shape of the original microwells (Well of the Well; WOW) offer a practical and straightforward solution to combine the benefits of communal and individual incubation and improve the overall quality of cultured embryos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During recent decades, culture is gaining more and more attention as a factor that determines economic outcomes. Trying to investigate its role on innovation and economic development, this paper uses a dataset that offers the potential for a cross-sectional and time series analysis. Thus, in this paper, the effects of culture on innovation (as measured by patent applications, spending on R&D, number or researchers per 1000 individuals and number of government researchers) and economic development are investigated. Cultural background is captured through the Schwartz's cultural values, as reported through the European Social Survey (ESS) waves during the period 2002–2018. The dataset is comprised by 18 Eurozone countries. Using principal component analyses to capture the Schwartz's cultural values, as well as two ways fixed-effects analysis (FE), time dummies for each ESS wave included in the analysis and cluster—robust estimates of the standard errors, in order to examine the above relationships, the main conclusions derived from the analysis are that (a) there is significant effect of culture on innovation and economic development, and (b) the main cultural dimensions that hinder innovation and economic development are the prevalence of hierarchy, affective autonomy, and mastery. These results hold for all different dependent variables used in the analysis. Thus, when hierarchy, affective autonomy, and mastery are present innovation and economic development are hindered, leading to obstacles regarding the sustainability of economic outcomes. The opposite holds in societies where embeddedness, egalitarianism, and harmony prevail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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A correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-021-09762-0 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper advances knowledge of how national culture affects firm behavior. From the perspective of Hofstede's cultural dimensions and Meyer's culture scales, we predict differences in the awareness-motivation-capability framework of competitive dynamics across four national cultures. A survey sample of 263 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in France, India, Kenya, and the United States provides evidence of the hypothesized competitive differences. The cultural traits of individualism and indulgence often lead to a reduced sense of competitiveness. Moreover, within individualistic cultures, motivation is linked with an uptick in competitive ability but a decline in competitive consciousness, implying that companies in such cultures tend to take action without extensive deliberation. This investigation addresses two significant gaps in research. Firstly, it combines the research areas of competitive dynamics and culture, which have not previously been intertwined in empirical studies, despite culture's known influence on various business practices. Secondly, it sheds light on how varying levels of competition impact businesses by bridging the gap between research on competitive dynamics and SMEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The AI and Society discourse has previously drawn attention to the ways that digital systems embody the values of the technology development community from which they emerge through the development and deployment process. Research shows how this effect leads to a particular treatment of gender in computer systems development, a treatment which lags far behind the rich understanding of gender that social studies scholarship reveals and people across society experience. Many people do not relate to the narrow binary gender options of male or female, and many people express their gender identity in much richer ways than the sex/gender binary female/woman and male/man Boolean terms will allow. We ask: are "born-digital" gendered datasets in digital systems experienced as marginalising by those who express their identity beyond the male/female binary? Case Study: Ireland. To answer this universal question, this paper presents the findings of an empirical case study of people in Ireland with diverse gender identities and expressions, and their experiences with public data systems and new technologies. In spite of great social changes in Ireland which have led to constitutional change in favour of LGBTQI + people, born-digital systems were experienced by respondents as embodying socio-cultural values which were no longer accepted in society at large. For many of the respondents, digital technologies routinely marginalise them in all kinds of ways. These systems keep alive violence and oppression long after civil rights have been enshrined in constitutional law. This study is just one example of the way assumptions about digital are disengaged from society-at-large. It is a call to arms to all who are passionate about socially-responsible technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guangzhou Tongcao paintings in Qing Dynasty of China witnessed the exchange of economy, culture, art and technology between China and foreign countries, which were an important export product in historical China. In this paper, by using Optical Stereo Microscope, Polarized Light Microscope, Scanning Electron Microscope attached Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy and micro confocal laser Raman Spectroscope, a Qing Dynasty Tongcao painting with the subject of family life of an official's female relative was analyzed. Our study revealed that: (1) the hexagonal cell morphology which was easily observed in the Tongcao pith could contain more pigments and increase the stereo sense of painting, and the cell of historical Tongcao pith had started to degrade, which indicated an urgent requirement on conservation of Tongcao paintings; (2) alum was needed as the fixing agent in the preparation of pigments and the painting process; (3) both the China domestic pigments including red lead, calcite, lead white, carbon black and gamboge, and the synthetic pigments imported from Europe (synthetic ultramarine, prussian blue and emerald green) were applied in this painting, which reflected the bi-directional communication of culture and technology between China and western world. Meanwhile, the existence of synthetic ultramarine, prussian blue and emerald green was helpful to further identify the production date of this painting was late Qing Dynasty, mainly the mid-late 19th century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a viewpoint of the culture and subcultures at Google Inc., which is a famous global company, and has a huge engineering staff and many talented leaders. Through its history of development, it has had positive impacts on society; however; there have been management challenges. The Board of Directors (BoDs) developed and implemented a way to measure the abilities of their managers, which helped to identify problems. This paper will analyze the case study of Harvard Business Review, Oxygen Project, and clarify the management problem in Google's organization. It will also compare Google with Zappos, a much smaller organization, and present how the BoDs of Zappos assesses its culture and subcultures. In this paper, we will recommend eight important points to building an organizational culture that is positive for stable growth of a company. We believe that much of what be learned could be useful to other business leaders, regardless of company scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The definition of society is tight with human group-level behavior. Group faultlines defined as hypothetical lines splitting groups into homogeneous subgroups based on members' attributes have been proposed as a theoretical method to identify conflicts within groups. For instance, crusades and women's rights protests are the consequences of strong faultlines in societies with diverse cultures. Measuring the presence and strength of faultlines represents an important challenge. Existing literature resorts in questionnaires as traditional tool to find group-level behavioral attributes and thus identify faultlines. However, questionnaire data usually come with limitations and biases, especially for large-scale human group-level research. On top of that, questionnaires limit faultline research due to the possibility of dishonest answers, unconscientious responses, and differences in understanding and interpretation. In this paper, we propose a new methodology for measuring faultlines in large-scale groups, which leverages data readily available from online social networks' marketing platforms. Our methodology overcomes the limitations of traditional methods to measure group-level attributes and group faultlines at scale. To prove the applicability of our methodology, we analyzed the faultlines between people living in Spain, grouped by geographical regions. We collected data on 67,270 interest topics from Facebook users living in Spain, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. We computed existing metrics to measure faultlines' distance and strenght using our data to identify potential faultlines existing among Spanish regions. The results reveal that the strongest faultlines in Spain belong to Spanish Islands (the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands), Catalonia, and Basque regions. These findings are aligned with the historical secessionist movements and cultural diversity reports supporting the validity of our methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enjoying the benefits presented by the information age can enhance the effectiveness of learning musical poetics in instrumental music, which constitutes intangible cultural heritage. This paper addresses the effectiveness of the academic program in instrumental music poetics (which was uploaded on YouTube) in order to specify cultural heritage popularization options. The survey was conducted among 200 students from two music schools in China. The results of group B demonstrated the effectiveness of video tutorials uploaded on YouTube in learning musical poetics in Chinese instrumental music. The difference between the groups was especially noticeable when evaluating the "theoretical knowledge" and "final exam" criteria. After Group B's semiannual exposure, a survey addressing the understanding of the musical poetics' intangible cultural value revealed a large-scale difference in the results compared to the data obtained in January (p-values of 0.034 for questions about cultural value and 0.001 for questions about online promotion), while no statistically significant improvement was observed for group A. Group B saw an intense increase in the understanding of responsibility for preserving the country's intangible cultural values (+ 26.8%) and confidence in the knowledge of traditional Chinese tools (+ 25.1%) on the Agree scale. This study has practical value and is important for further research because it demonstrates the effectiveness of innovative technology for studying musical poetics and the popularization of intangible cultural values. Research findings may be used by educational institutions, in academic programs and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper challenges that Ihde's and Stiegler's approaches stand in radical opposition. It argues that ethos is prior to law, exposes a Heideggerian rift between technoscience and technics, and rejects separation of theory from practice in favor of logics of poiêsis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bedia community has been engaged in singing and dancing as 'rai' folk artists during the rule of monarchy in central India. It is mentioned in colonial literature that Bedia were a nomadic tribe and often engaged in criminal activities too. After the end of monarchy and change in the laws of the state, Bedias had nothing left for their survival. Therefore, Bedia women engaged in prostitution. Prostitution gradually became their primary source of livelihood. They trained their daughters to become prostitutes in the future. Girls were introduced into this profession as soon as they reached puberty. These girls worked at dance bars and also as professional sex workers in metro cities and villages. Their fathers and brothers worked as pimps/agents for the girls and their clients. Their families survived on the female's earnings. Bedia community inhabits many villages of Madhya Pradesh and central India. Since these villages are close to the city, customers find it easy to visit prostitutes regularly, and occasionally prostitutes also visit a customer on demand. Bedia women have been vulnerable victims of their community's traditional and cultural practices. Prostitution has a social stigma and is seen as immoral by other communities. Thus, Bedias are never accepted by other communities due to their disreputable professional practices. This paper deals with the historical understanding of the Bedia as sex workers and the contemporary situation of a particular community. The data was collected through ethnographic fieldwork from two villages (Habla and Fatehpur) and secondary sources. In particular, we shall discuss the socio-cultural aspects, family and kinship, lifestyle, the status of women, and domination of culture in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India has its unique and rich cultural heritage. One such uniqueness in India is ancient paintings. Especially in South India, Tanjore paintings are very popular. These paintings are made during 1010 AD with vibrant colours, gold, silver and precious stones. These paintings are the memorabilia of the great Chola kingdom. These paintings can be seen in great Brahadeeshwara Temple walls till now. Damages to these paintings happen due to varying environmental conditions and rituals followed throughout the year. Hence, preserving these heritages could be an additional source in National Cultural Museum and cultural libraries. This paper focuses towards the restoration of such ancient painting images that can be digitized and archived for the future use of aesthete. The painting images are preprocessed using Weiner filter for removing the background noises since its PSNR value is higher than Gaussian and Median filters. The preprocessed image is then applied to restoration algorithm. Two types of restoration algorithm is attempted, image segmentation and in-painting algorithm. The degraded image was restored efficiently with in-painting algorithm than segmentation algorithm. Further research can be focused towards automatic adaptive selection of patch based on the nature of images. From the results it is observed that with in-painting algorithm the image restoration is better than the segmentation algorithm for degraded painting images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper first discusses why it is important to research the relations between migration, arts, and cultures. Second, it discusses the most promising methodological options to do it fruitfully. It concludes by claiming that the additional value of such investigations is both to allow a more comprehensive understanding of the migration process, and to move away from the victimization of migrants "rehumanize" them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper does not claim to be a novel contribution to any field. It simply opposes claims by philosophers of consciousness-I take Daniel Dennett as an example (though no more than that) that non-conscious robot-like neurons (Dennett's phrase) can, taken together, add up to an explanation of (even the illusion of) consciousness. To this I oppose G. H. Mead's so-called social behaviorism. My argument, such as it is, proceeds in well-defined stages: 1. I first introduce the history of anti-reductionism among philosophers, including those of the analytical persuasion, especially among North American philosophers; 2. the 'new archaeology' of hominid prehistory is then introduced to show how some eminent archeologists oppose the reductionist view that large brains-deduced from finds of larger and larger skulls-constitute the best explanation we have for the advent of Homo sapiens; 3. the heart of my paper is then a reference to-not a proper summary of-Terence Deacon's masterful book, The Symbolic Species: The Co- Evolution of Language and the Brain-where the idea of co-evolution of human communication and brain development (along with other physiological traits such as a proper voice box) is put forward as a better-as co-evolutionary-explanation of human symbolic behavior than the standard ones (including Dennett's); 4. I then make equally brief summaries of confirming evidence of such co-evolution; 5. this is followed by similar summaries of the alleged science of historical linguistics-none of it explaining the beginning, but only the development of human languages in non-reductionist terms; 6. I then introduce Berger and Luckmann's Social Construction of Reality to make a central claim: that even reductionist science-whether genetic reductionism or brain-studies-based reductionism-is and must be socially constructed; and 7. I conclude with a preference for a Meadian (similar to a Deweyan) social responsibility activism. One note relative to item number 1: I make no claim here to discuss Merleau-Ponty or any other well-known anti-reductionist; this is in answer to one referee of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eden In Iraq is an environmental design and water remediation project in the marshes of southern Iraq using design and wastewater as bio-art, to create a restorative garden for education, cultural memory, and contemplation. Earmarked for a 20,000 m2 site at Al Manar in the marshes between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, near a probable site of the historic Garden of Eden, Eden in Iraq is a project that brings, art, design, and technology together with culture and history. Drawing on Islamic and Mesopotamian traditions originating in this historically and symbolically charged region, the Eden in Iraq Waste Water Garden is designed to be a syncretic container for ecological and cultural restoration and heritage after the time of war. This paper looks at this project from three inter-related activities, namely, treatment of wastewater suitable for growing a large scale garden, design of the garden starting from the Islamic garden design principles and thirdly, reviving the cultural heritage of the pre-Islamic, Mesopotamian art in contemporary forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cassirer's philosophy of culture has been examined through various disciplines. Until now, however, no such assessment has taken place within the field of economics. In this paper, I attempt to develop this unexplored task through the economic concepts of commodity, money, capital, and culture. I argue that these concepts can help to draw an updated concept of capitalism and power relations created through capitalist planning. I also claim that these concepts can contribute to understanding the historical specificity of capitalist culture, by understanding it as an historical process of social production. I conclude that these concepts are able to defy Cassirer's view of capitalism as a system in which economic prosperity and political liberty could be achieved in a universal manner. Finally, I demonstrate that these concepts can shed light on Cassirer's failed quest to find a coherent universal culture within capitalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature suggests that a whole-institution culture of academic integrity is needed in order to prevent academic integrity breaches. It is also suggested that the national cultures and individual backgrounds of academic staff and students can impact on their propensity to breach academic integrity policies and on their uptake of initiatives aimed at enhancing academic culture. Much research has been conducted on academic integrity related to culture in the western world including the behaviours of international students, and some work has been conducted in various Asian contexts. However, little is known about how national culture and religion affect academic integrity in eastern countries with a Muslim majority. This paper presents a synthesis of the literature related to academic integrity and culture in regions where Muslims are the majority. An integrative literature review was carried out. Keywords were used to search and to collect academic integrity related research published from 2010 to 2020. The literature reviewed revealed that academics in countries with a Muslim majority faced challenges related to their local cultures, which included social and religious perceptions and practices. However, they were also able to draw upon some national and religious practices that supported and enhanced academic integrity. This paper concludes with recommendations for incorporating these positive cultural factors into an academic integrity framework for policy and practice appropriate for Muslim contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenomenologists argue that place is central to human existence and that much of human behavior is habitual. A person who regularly visits a coffeehouse is likely to meet others engaged in a similar routine, over time they feel at ease and develop a sense of attachment to the space; a so-called third place—where people meet and engage in conversation. Since the early 1980s, the number of coffeehouses in North America has soared, but despite their ubiquity researchers have largely ignored whether they are third spaces. In the United States, critics charge that they have become places to be alone together, while in Canada, some research indicates that face-to-face conversation still flourishes in independent coffeehouses. This paper attempts to reconcile these competing perspectives by examining 30 coffeehouses in two neighborhoods in Seattle and Vancouver. Since design can affect social interaction, the coffeehouses are assessed on their spatial structure, how patrons use that space and how that space is assessed on social media. No difference was found between the coffeehouses in terms of their locational characteristics and how their physical environment was structured. However, a statistically significant difference was found in patron behavior. A majority of Vancouver customers engaged in face-to-face conversation, while Seattle patrons preferred to sit alone. Finally, Seattleite patrons were more likely to emphasize a coffeehouse's workplace function in their online reviews than their Vancouver counterparts. In sum, despite the two cities close proximity there appears to be a difference between their residents in how they perceive coffeehouses, a workspace versus a social space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examined the impact of culture on tourism and economic development in the Northern and Southern part of Nigeria. Primary and secondary sources of data were adopted to elicit information for the study. The primary sources involved the use of questionnaire survey, interview sessions and telephone survey while the secondary sources involved the use of documented information on the internet, registry/records of the major hotels and tourist attractions within the study locations. The study revealed that 70% of the entire visitors in 2018 visited tourist attractions within the southern part of the country showing that there were more tourism activities in the Southern part than in the northern part of the country. The study also revealed that tourism attracted benefits such as employment, infrastructural development, provision of basic amenities, increased family income and increased government revenue through tax. Irrespective of the benefits, some challenges such as insecurity, lack of government and private sector interest, indifference in religious and traditional values and poor road network were observed to hinder the growth of the tourism industry. The study also revealed that 72% of visitors to the study locations attended cultural events while the remaining 28% visited natural sites. In view of these findings, the study revealed that the tourism industry in the northern part of the country suffered from some peculiar challenges such as extreme religious and traditional value system which forbids the involvement of women in tourism industry activities and interaction with strangers. With these finding, the study clearly emphasized that economic and cultural diversity had negative impact on the growth of the tourism industry in the northern part of Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public Natural Resource Management (NRM) agencies operate in complex social-ecological domains. These complexities proliferate unpredictably therefore investigating and supporting the ability of public agencies to respond effectively is increasingly important. However, understanding how public NRM agencies innovate and restructure to negotiate the range of particular complexities they face is an under researched field. One particular conceptualisation of the social-ecological complexities facing NRM agencies that is of growing influence is the Water–Energy–Food (WEF) nexus. Yet, as a tool to frame and understand those complexities it has limitations. Specifically, it overlooks how NRMs respond institutionally to these social-ecological complexities in the context of economic and organisational challenges—thus creating a gap in the literature. Current debates in public administration can be brought to bear here. Using an organisational cultures approach, this paper reports on a case study with a national NRM agency to investigate how they are attempting to transform institutionally to respond to complexity in challenging times. The research involved 12 elite interviews with senior leaders from Natural Resources Wales, (NRW) and investigated how cultural narratives are being explicitly and implicitly constructed and mobilised to this end. The research identified four distinct and sequential cultural narratives: collaboration, communication, trust, and empowerment where each narrative supported the delivery of different dimensions of NRW's social-ecological complexity mandate. Counter to the current managerialist approaches in public administration, these results suggest that the empowerment of expert bureaucrats is important in responding effectively to complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I develop and differentiate some problems of the interaction between corporations, individuals and the general public as well as institutions like the state or international non-governmental organizations as well as super-national organizations. Firms or corporations are nowadays much more international than they used to be; they are typically multinational enterprises giving rise to special transnational problems of transactions, interchanges and-indeed also-responsibilities ranging over national borders and restricted areas. In our culture, we have to deal with rather ramified types of individual and collective as well as specific corporate responsibilities tending to reach out beyond national borders, specific state law restrictions and even business systems and economies. The traditional personal and individual responsibility and their different forms will not do to cope with all the respective international, intercultural and inter-sectoral problems of modern corporations and their international interactions. In the paper, I have also discussed the question: Do multinational organizations and corporations have a sort of specific corporate responsibility, and if so, against whom and for what-except for their share- and stakeholders? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The achievement of global sustainable development goals subject to planetary boundaries will mostly be determined by cities as they drive cultures, economies, material use, and waste generation. Locally relevant, applied and quantitative methodologies are critical to capture the complexity of urban infrastructure systems, global inter-connections, and to monitor local and global progress toward sustainability. An urban monitoring (and communications) tool is presented here illustrating that a city-based approach to sustainable development is possible. Following efforts to define and quantify safe planetary boundaries in areas such as climate change, biosphere integrity, and freshwater use, this paper modifies the methodology to propose boundaries from a city's perspective. Socio-economic boundaries, or targets, largely derived from the Sustainable Development Goals are added to bio-physical boundaries. Issues such as data availability, city priorities, and ease of implementation are considered. The framework is trialed for Toronto, Shanghai, Sao Paulo, Mumbai, and Dakar, as well as aggregated for the world's larger cities. The methodology provides an important tool for cities to play a more fulsome and active role in global sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a new seven-step methodology for using narrative ethics and two case studies illustrating its application. A brief discussion of the importance of ethics to engineers and the need to consider outcomes and macroethics introduce the paper. This is followed by overviews of the literature on narrative ethics, the ethics of care, and virtue ethics and moral exemplars. The ethics of care and virtue ethics are included due to their relationship to narrative and the fact they are probably less known to many engineers than other types of ethical theories. The paper also considers the important issues of culture, diversity and the 'other' and the need for support and collective responsibility. Understanding diversity and the 'other' are very important for engineers for a number of reasons, including the need to design technologies, goods and services for people who are not engineers and who are also different from them on other characteristics, such as gender, race and disability. Although ethical behaviour is often portrayed as an individual responsibility, it is much easier to behave ethically in a context which supports and encourages ethical behaviour. Collective action is frequently more effective than individual action and can prevent victimisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]