Search results for: Confucian heritage cultures
1265 Jewish Law in the State of Israel: Law, Religion and State
Authors: Yuval Sinai
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As part of the historical, religious and cultural heritage of the Jewish people, Jewish law is part of the legal system in Israel, which is a Jewish and democratic state. The proper degree of use of Jewish law in judicial decisions is an issue that crops up in Israeli law from time to time. This was a burning question in the 1980s in the wake of the enactment of the Foundations of Law Act 1980, which declared Jewish heritage a supplementary legal method to Israeli law. The enactment of the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty 1992, which decreed that the basic Israeli legal principles must be interpreted in light of the values of a Jewish and democratic state, marks a significant change in the impact of Judaism in the law created and applied by the courts. Both of these legislative developments revived the initiative to grant a central status to Jewish law within the state law. How should Jewish law be applied in Israel’s secular courts? This is not a simple question. It is not merely a question of identifying the relevant rule of Jewish law or tracing its development from the Talmud to modern times. Nor is it the same as asking how a rabbinic court would handle the issue. It is a matter of delicate judgment to distill out of the often conflicting Jewish law sources a rule that will fit into the existing framework of Israeli law so as to advance a policy that will best promote the interests of Israel’s society. We shall point out the occasional tensions between Jewish religious law and secular law, and introduce opinions as to how reconciliation of the two can best be achieved in light of Jewish legal tradition and in light of the reality in the modern State of Israel.Keywords: law and religion, israel, jewish law, law and society
Procedia PDF Downloads 721264 Irish Film Tourism, Neocolonialism and Star Wars: Charting a Course Towards Ecologically and Culturally Considered Representation and Tourism on Skellig Michael
Authors: Rachel Gough
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In 2014, Skellig Michael, an island off Ireland’s western seaboard and UNESCO world heritage site became a major setting in Disney’s Star Wars franchise. The subsequent influx of tourists to the site has proven to be a point of contention nationally. The increased visitor numbers have uplifted certain areas of the local economy, the mainland, but have caused irreparable damage to historic monuments and to endangered bird populations who breed on the island. Recent research carried out by a state body suggests far-reaching and longterm negative impacts on the island’s culture and environment, should the association with the Star Wars franchise persist. In spite of this, the film has been widely endorsed by the Irish government as providing a vital economic boost to historically marginalised rural areas through film tourism. This paper argues quite plainly that what is taking place on Skellig is neocolonialism. Skellig Michael’s unique resources, its aesthetic qualities, its ecosystem, and its cultural currency have been sold by the state to a multinational corporation, who profit from their use. Meanwhile, locals are left to do their best to turn a market trend into sustainable business at the expense of culture ecology and community. This paper intends to be the first dedicated study into the psychogeographic and cultural impact of Skellig Michael’s deterioration as a result of film tourism. It will discuss the projected impact of this incident on Irish culture more broadly and finally will attempt to lay out a roadmap for more collaborative filmmaking and touristic approach, which allows local cultures and ecosystem’s to thrive without drastically inhibiting cultural production. This paper will ultimately find that the consequences of this representation call for a requirement to read tourism as a split concept — namely into what we might loosely call “eco-tourism” and more capital-based “profit-bottom-line tourism.”Keywords: ecology, film tourism, neocolonialism, sustainability
Procedia PDF Downloads 2071263 Retrospective Study of Bronchial Secretions Cultures Carried out in the Microbiology Department of General Hospital of Ioannina in 2017
Authors: S. Mantzoukis, M. Gerasimou, P. Christodoulou, N. Varsamis, G. Kolliopoulou, N. Zotos
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Purpose: Patients in Intensive Care Units (ICU) are exposed to a different spectrum of microorganisms relative to the hospital. Due to the fact that the majority of these patients are intubated, bronchial secretions should be examined. Material and Method: Bronchial secretions should be taken with care so as not to be mixed with sputum or saliva. The bronchial secretions are placed in a sterile container and then inoculated into blood, Mac Conkey No2, Chocolate, Mueller Hinton, Chapman and Saboureaud agar. After this period, if any number of microbial colonies are detected, gram staining is performed and then the isolated organisms are identified by biochemical techniques in the automated Microscan system (Siemens) followed by a sensitivity test in the same system using the minimum inhibitory concentration MIC technique. The sensitivity test is verified by a Kirby Bauer test. Results: In 2017 the Laboratory of Microbiology received 365 samples of bronchial secretions from the Intensive Care Unit. 237 were found positive. S. epidermidis was identified in 1 specimen, A. baumannii in 60, K. pneumoniae in 42, P. aeruginosa in 50, C. albicans in 40, P. mirabilis in 4, E. coli in 4, S. maltophilia in 6, S. marcescens in 6, S. aureus in 12, S. pneumoniae in 1, S. haemolyticus in 4, P. fluorescens in 1, E. aerogenes in 1, E. cloacae in 5. Conclusions: The majority of ICU patients appear to be a fertile ground for the development of infections. The nature of the findings suggests that a significant part of the bacteria found comes from the unit (nosocomial infection).Keywords: bronchial secretions, cultures, infections, intensive care units
Procedia PDF Downloads 1871262 Jewish Law in Israel: State, Law, and Religion
Authors: Yuval Sinai
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As part of the historical, religious and cultural heritage of the Jewish people, Jewish law is part of the legal system in Israel, which is a Jewish and democratic state. The proper degree of use of Jewish law in judicial decisions is an issue that crops up in Israeli law from time to time. This was a burning question in the 1980s in the wake of the enactment of the Foundations of Law Act 1980, which declared Jewish heritage a supplementary legal method to Israeli law. The enactment of the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty 1992, which decreed that the basic Israeli legal principles must be interpreted in light of the values of a Jewish and democratic state, marks a significant change in the impact of Judaism in the law created and applied by the courts. Both of these legislative developments revived the initiative to grant a central status to Jewish law within the state law. How should Jewish law be applied in Israel’s secular courts? This is not a simple question. It is not merely a question of identifying the relevant rule of Jewish law or tracing its development from the Talmud to modern times. Nor is it the same as asking how a rabbinic court would handle the issue. It is a matter of delicate judgment to distill out of the often conflicting Jewish law sources a rule that will fit into the existing framework of Israeli law so as to advance a policy that will best promote the interests of Israel’s society. We shall point out the occasional tensions between Jewish religious law and secular law, and introduce opinions as to how reconciliation of the two can best be achieved in light of Jewish legal tradition and in light of the reality in the modern State of Israel.Keywords: law and politics, law and religion, comparative law, law and society
Procedia PDF Downloads 741261 Steps to Create a Wine Tourism Product Based on Storytelling
Authors: Yorgos Darlas
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This original research aims at creating a wine tourism experience specially designed for Thessaloniki, based on retsina, a traditional Greek wine produced continuously since 5400 BC. Wine is a staple of the Greek dinner table, and this is particularly true for Thessaloniki, a city with a rich culinary tradition member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network for gastronomy. Our methodology is based on historical and folklore research in order to shed light on the history and culture around the production and enjoyment of wine. In addition, we use quantitative and qualitative market research with the aim of recording modern habits and trends related to wine enjoyment. The above research has revealed the habits, rules, and rituals of the people of Thessaloniki, demonstrating the close link between the city’s culinary heritage and retsina. Thanks to this close link, the people of the city have a strong emotional bond with retsina, always ready to share a relevant story loaded with memories. Based on the findings of the research, our aim is to create a new wine tourism product for Thessaloniki based on storytelling. This wine tourism experience will provide visitors with the opportunity to discover the city through the personal stories of locals. At the same time, they will be acquainted with the history and the culture of retsina by visiting landmarks associated with its production and consumption and discovering the city’s multifaceted gastronomic heritage through pairings with retsina.Keywords: retsina, Thessaloniki, wine tourism, marketing, storytelling
Procedia PDF Downloads 761260 Microbial Deterioration of Some Different Archaeological Objects Made from Cellulose by Bacillus Group
Authors: Mohammad Abdel Fattah Mohammad Kewisha
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Microbial deterioration of ancient materials became one of the biggest problems facing the workers in the field of cultural heritage protection because the microbial deterioration of artifacts causes detrimental effects on the aesthetic value of the monuments due to colonization, whether they are made of inorganic materials such as stone or organic like wood, textiles, wall paintings, and paper. So, the early identification of the bacterial strains that caused deterioration is the most important point for the protection of monument objects. The present study focuses on the Bacillus spp. group, which was isolated from some biodeterioration monuments from different areas of Egypt. The investigated objects in this study were made from organic materials (cellulose), paper, textile, and wood. Isolated strains were identified up to the species level biochemically. Eleven bacterial isolates were obtained from collected samples. They were taken from different archaeological objects, four microbicides, cetrimonium bromide, sodium azide, tetraethyl ammonium bromide, and dichloroxylenol, at various concentrations ranging from 25 ppm to 500 ppm. They were screened for their antibacterial activity against the Bacillus spp. isolates, and detection of Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). It was also necessary to indicate the ideal Minimum inhibitory concentration for each strain for the purpose of biotreatment of the infected monuments with less damaging effect on monument materials.Keywords: microbial deterioration, ancient materials, heritage protection, protection of monuments, biodeteriorative monuments
Procedia PDF Downloads 601259 Potentiality of Biohythane Process for the Gaseous Energy Recovery from Organic Wastes
Authors: Debabrata Das, Preeti Mishra
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A two-phase anaerobic process combining biohydrogen followed by biomethane (biohythane technology) serves as an environment-friendly and economically sustainable approach for the improved valorization of organic wastes. Suitability of the pure cultures like Klebsiela pneumonia, C. freundii, B. coagulan, etc. and mixed acidogenic cultures for the biohydrogen production was already studied. The characteristics of organic wastes play a critical role in biohydrogen production. The choice of an appropriate combination of complementary organic wastes can vastly improve the bioenergy generation besides achieving the significant cost reduction. Suitability and economic viability of using the groundnut deoiled cake (GDOC), mustard deoiled cake (MDOC), distillers’ dried grain with soluble (DDGS) and algal biomass (AB) as a co-substrate were studied for a biohythane production. Results show that maximum gaseous energy of 20.7, 9.3, 16.7 and 15.6 % was recovered using GDOC, MDOC, DDGS and AB in the two stage biohythane production, respectively. Both GDOC and DDGS were found to be better co-substrates as compared to MDOC and AB in terms of hythane production, respectively. The maximum cumulative hydrogen and methane production of 150 and 64 mmol/L were achieved using GDOC. Further, 98 % reduction in substrate input cost (SIC) was achieved using the co-supplementation procedure.Keywords: Biohythane, algal biomass, distillers’ dried grain with soluble (DDGS), groundnut deoiled cake (GDOC), mustard deoiled cake (MDOC)
Procedia PDF Downloads 2001258 When Worlds Collide: Clashes of Communication between Italian and Anglophone Cultures in Movies Set in Venice
Authors: Angela Fabris, Joerg Helbig
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Our paper deals with feature films set in Venice which focus on the influence of Italian life style on anglophone characters. Usually, these films emphasize the different cultures and mentalities of Italian and British (or American) people. More often than not, these encounters result in a profound change of the anglophone characters' attitude towards romance and sensuality. A case in point is David Lean's Summer Madness (UK 1955). This film recounts the love affair between the American tourist Jane Hudson (Katherine Hepburn) and the Venetian antique shop owner Renato de Rossi (Rossano Brazzi). Jane is a spinster in her mid-forties who longs for love and romance. The chance arrives when she meets Renato who feels attracted to her. Jane's immediate reaction, however, is to reject Renato's advances. What follows is a struggle between the strict morality of a puritan upbringing and the irresitable charm of Mediterranean temptations. Similar conflicts can be found in many other movies. Apart from Summer Madness we will discuss Aldo Lado's Chi l'ha vista morire? (It 1972), Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now (UK/It 1973) and Paul Schrader's The Comfort of Strangers (It/UK/USA 1990). Our paper raises the question whether or not these and other films present false stereotypes and chlichés. The paper is part of our large-scale research project which explores the history of erotic cinema in Italy and England.Keywords: culture clash, erotic cinema, film, Venice
Procedia PDF Downloads 2551257 The State of Herb Medicine in Oriental Morocco: Cases of Debdou, Taourirt and Guerssif Districts
Authors: Himer Khalid, Alami Ilyass, Kharchoufa Loubna, Elachouri Mostafa
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It has been estimated by the World Health Organization that 80% of the world's population relies on traditional medicine to meet their daily health requirements. In Morocco reliance on such medicine is partly owing to the high cost of conventional medicine and the inaccessibility of modern health care facilities. There was high agreement in the use of plants as medicine in Oriental Morocco. Our objective is to evaluate the informant’s knowledge on medicinal plants by the local population and to document the uses of medicinal plants by this community, for the treatment of different illnesses. Using an ethnopharmacological approach, we collected information concerning the traditional medicinal knowledge and the medicinal plants used, by interviewing successfully 458 informants living in oriental Morocco (from Debdou, Taourirt, Guersif a,d Laayoune districts). The data were analyzed by statistical methods (Component Analysis “CA”, Factorial Analysis “FA”) and other methods such as through Informant’s Consensus Factor (ICF) and Use Value (UV). Our results indicate that, more than 60% of the population in these regions relies on medicinal plants for the treatment of different ailments with predominance of women consumers. 135 plant species belonging to 61 families were documented. These plants were used by the population for the treatment of a group of illness (about 14 principal ailments). We conclude that, in oriental Morocco, till now, the population has some traditional knowledge commonly used as medical tradition. These wealthy heritage needs conservation and evaluation.Keywords: Morocco, medicinal plants, traditional knowledge, wealthy heritage
Procedia PDF Downloads 2891256 Recreating Home: Restoration and Reflections on the Traditional Houses of Kucapungane
Authors: Sasala Taiban
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This paper explores the process and reflections on the restoration of traditional slate houses in the Rukai tribe's old settlement of Kucapungane. Designated as a "Class II Historical Site" by the Ministry of the Interior in 1991 and listed by UNESCO's World Monuments Fund in 2016, Kucapungane holds significant historical and cultural value. However, due to government neglect, tribal migration, and the passing of elders, the traditional knowledge and techniques for constructing slate houses face severe discontinuity. Over the past decades, residents have strived to preserve and transmit these traditional skills through the restoration and reconstruction of their homes. This study employs a qualitative methodology, combining ethnographic fieldwork, historical analysis, and participatory observation. The research includes in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and hands-on participation in restoration activities to gather comprehensive data. The paper reviews the historical evolution of Kucapungane, the restoration process, and the challenges encountered, such as insufficient resources, technical preservation issues, material acquisition problems, and lack of community recognition. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of house restoration in indigenous consciousness and cultural revival, proposing strategies to address current issues and promote preservation. Through these efforts, the cultural heritage of the Rukai tribe can be sustained and carried forward into the future.Keywords: rukai, kucapungane, slate house restoration, cultural heritage
Procedia PDF Downloads 411255 The Effect of Motivation of Chinese Tourists to Visit North Korea on Their Revisit Intention: Focused on the Tourists with the Experience of Visiting North Korea
Authors: Kim Jin-OK, Lee Jin-Eui, Han Seung-Hoon, Kim Nam-Jo
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This study aimed to analyze the effect of the motivation of Chinese tourists to visit North Korea on their decision making process. Chinese tourists account for a considerable portion of foreign tourists in the world, while North Korea is the favorite tourist attraction of Chinese tourists. The motivation to visit North Korea was divided into three factors: the redness, which is the modern cultural heritage of Communism based on the red tourism accounting for the significant portion of domestic tourism, the novelty of the special environment of North Korean society, and the convenience of tour to North Korea in terms of geographical distance and policy of China. Red tourism refers to visiting the places of revolutionary events, monuments, artifacts and the residences of previous communist leaders, and other places related to the past Chinese Communist Party. As a revolutionary tourism, red tourism has recently been taking place in the old communist countries to recall their memories on the revolutionary places in China, as well as in North Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Russia, Bulgaria, Cuba, etc. In order to examine the effect of the segmented motivations on the revisit intention of Chinese tourists who have experienced a tour to North Korea, this study employed the model of goal-directed behavior, a model developed by adding a variable of emotion to the theory of planned behavior, which has a strong explanatory power on the decision making process of people in social science. For achieving the aim of the study, the data was collected through the survey in Dandong, China against Chinese tourists who have visited North Korea. The results of this study found that not only the novelty of North Korea, but also the redness, which accounts for the largest proportion in the domestic tourism, are significantly affecting overseas tour of Chinese tourists at this time point where overseas tour of Chinese tourists continue to increase. The results, therefore, suggest that the old communist countries, including those in Asia, need an emotional promotion strategy that stimulates nostalgia by focusing on the redness of the modern cultural heritage of Communism to attract Chinese tourists.Keywords: model of goal-directed behavior, modern cultural heritage, North Korea, red tourism
Procedia PDF Downloads 3111254 Mixotrophic Growth as a Tool for Increasing Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) Production in Cyanobacteria
Authors: Zuzana Sedrlova, Eva Slaninova, Ines Fritz, Christina Daffert, Stanislav Obruca
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Cyanobacteria are ecologically extremely important phototrophic gram-negative bacteria capable of oxygenic photosynthesis. They synthesize many interesting metabolites such as glycogen, carotenoids, but the most interesting metabolites are polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA). The main advantage of cyanobacteria is the fact they do not require costly organic substrate and, oppositely, cyanobacteria can fix CO₂. PHA serves primarily as a carbon and energy source and occurs in the form of intracellular granules in bacterial cells. It is possible, PHA helps cyanobacteria to survive stress conditions since increased PHA synthesis was observed during cultivation in stress conditions. PHA is microbial biopolymers that are biodegradable with similar properties as petrochemical synthetic plastics. Production of PHA by heterotrophic bacteria is expensive; for price reduction waste materials as input, materials are used. Positively, cyanobacteria principally do not require organic carbon substrate since they are capable of CO₂ fixation. In this work, we demonstrated that stress conditions lead to the highest obtained yields of PHA in cyanobacterial cultures. Two cyanobacterial cultures from genera Synechocystis were used in this work. Cultivations were performed either in Erlenmayer flask or in tube multicultivator. Multiple stressors were applied on cyanobacterial cultures, and stressors include PHA precursors. PHA precursors are chemical substances and some of them do not occur naturally in the environment. Cultivation with the same PHA precursors in the same concentration led to a 1,6x higher amount of PHA when a multicultivator was used. The highest amount of PHA reached 25 % of PHA in dry cyanobacterial biomass. Both strains are capable of co-polymer synthesis in the presence of their structural precursor. The composition of co-polymer differs in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 and Synechocystis salina CCALA 192. Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 cultivated with γ-butyrolakton accumulated co-polymer of 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB) and 4-hydroxybutyrate (4HB) the composition of the copolymer was 56 % of 4HB and 44 % of 3HB. The total amount of PHA, as well as yield of biomass, was lower than in control due to the toxic properties of γ-butyrolakton. Funding: This study was partly funded by the project GA19- 19-29651L of the Czech Science Foundation (GACR) and partly funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), a project I 4082-B25. This work was supported by Brno, Ph.D. Talent – Funded by the Brno City Municipality.Keywords: co-polymer, cyanobacteria, PHA, synechocystis
Procedia PDF Downloads 2031253 The Woman in Arabic Popular Proverbs, Stereotypical Roles and Actual Pain: The Woman in the Institution of Marriage as a Sample
Authors: Hanan Bishara
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This study deals with the subject of Popular Arabic Proverbs and the stereotypical roles and images that they create about the woman in general and Arab woman in particular. Popular proverbs in general are considered to be essence of experiences of society and the extract of its collective thought establish wisdom in a distinguished concise tight mold or style that affects the majority of people and keep them alive by virtue of constant use and oral currency through which they are transmitted from one generation to another. Proverbs deal with different aspects and types of people, different social relations, including the society's attitude about the woman. Proverbs about women in the human heritage in general and the Arab heritage in particular are considered of a special characteristics and remarkable in their being dynamic ones that move in all directions of life. Most of them carry the essence of the social issues and are distributed in such a way that they have become part of the private life of the general public. This distribution covers all periods and fields of the woman's life, the social, the economic and psychological ones. The woman occupies a major space in the Popular Proverbs because she is the center of social life inside and outside the house. The woman's statuses and images in the provers are numerous and she is often described in parallel images but each one differs from the other. These images intertwine due to their varieties and multiplicity and ultimately, they constitute a general stereotypical image of the woman, which degrades her status as a woman, a mother and a wife. The study shows how Popular Proverbs in Arabic reflect the Arab woman's position and status in her society.Keywords: Arab, proverb, popular, society, woman
Procedia PDF Downloads 2021252 Microbiological and Physicochemical Evaluation of Traditional Greek Kopanisti Cheese Produced by Different Starter Cultures
Authors: M. Kazou, A. Gavriil, O. Kalagkatsi, T. Paschos, E. Tsakalidou
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Kopanisti cheese is a Greek soft Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) cheese made of raw cow, sheep or goat milk, or mixtures of them, with similar organoleptic characteristics to that of Roquefort cheese. Traditional manufacturing of Kopanisti cheese is limited in small-scale dairies, without the addition of starter cultures. Instead, an amount of over-mature Kopanisti cheese, called Mana Kopanisti, is used to initiate ripening. Therefore, the selection of proper starter cultures and the understanding of the contribution of various microbial groups to its overall quality is crucial for the production of a high-quality final product with standardized organoleptic and physicochemical characteristics. Taking the above into account, the aim of the present study was the investigation of Kopanisti cheese microbiota and its role in cheese quality. For this purpose, four different types of Kopanisti were produced in triplicates, all with pasteurized cow milk, with the addition of (A) the typical mesophilic species Lactococcus lactis and Lactobacillus paracasei used as starters in the production of soft spread cheeses, (B) strains of Lactobacillus acidipiscis and Lactobacillus rennini previously isolated from Kopanisti and Mana Kopanisti, (C) all the species from (A) and (B) as inoculum, and finally (D) the species from (A) and Mana Kopanisti. Physicochemical and microbiological analysis was performed for milk and cheese samples during ripening. Enumeration was performed for major groups of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), total mesophilic bacteria, yeasts as well as hygiene indicator microorganisms. Bacterial isolates from all the different LAB groups, apart from enterococci, alongside yeasts isolates, were initially grouped using repetitive sequence-based polymerase chain reaction (rep-PCR) and then identified at the species level using 16S rRNA gene and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) DNA region sequencing, respectively. Sensory evaluation was also performed for final cheese samples at the end of the ripening period (35 days). Based on the results of the classical microbiological analysis, the average counts of the total mesophilic bacteria and LAB, apart from enterococci, ranged between 7 and 10 log colony forming unit (CFU) g⁻¹, phychrotrophic bacteria, and yeast extract glucose chloramphenicol (YGC) isolates between 4 and 8 log CFU g⁻¹, while coliforms and enterococci up to 2 log CFU g⁻¹ throughout ripening in cheese samples A, C and D. In contrast, in cheese sample B, the average counts of the total mesophilic bacteria and LAB, apart from enterococci, phychrotrophic bacteria, and YGC isolates ranged between 0 and 10 log CFU g⁻¹ and coliforms and enterococci up to 2 log CFU g⁻¹. Although the microbial counts were not that different among samples, identification of the bacterial and yeasts isolates revealed the complex microbial community structure present in each cheese sample. Differences in the physicochemical characteristics among the cheese samples were also observed, with pH ranging from 4.3 to 5.3 and moisture from 49.6 to 58.0 % in the final cheese products. Interestingly, the sensory evaluation also revealed differences among samples, with cheese sample B ranking first based on the total score. Overall, the combination of these analyses highlighted the impact of different starter cultures on the Kopanisti microbiota as well as on the physicochemical and sensory characteristics of the final product.Keywords: Kopanisti cheese, microbiota, classical microbiological analysis, physicochemical analysis
Procedia PDF Downloads 1351251 Building Intercultural Competence in English Language Learners: Practices and Materials of Cultural-Based Language Teaching
Authors: Randa Alahmadi
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Because the world has become a global village, English is not only used by native speakers, but also by non-native speakers from culturally diverse backgrounds. Even though learning a second/foreign language requires development of the four skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking, there is also an intertwined relationship between language and culture, making it difficult to teach language without knowing the cultural context in which it is to be used. In the past decade, the number of international students enrolled in universities around the world has increased significantly. Having the urge to communicate effectively would serve as a motivation for both international and domestic students. The teaching of culture is important because linguistic competence is not enough for successful communication with speakers of other languages. Therefore, whether teaching natives or non-natives, students need to improve their cross-cultural communication skills and become culturally prepared to communicate successfully with people from other cultures. Teachers can equip their students for this environment by giving them appropriate knowledge and skills for effective intercultural communication. This paper will focus on the importance of intercultural communicative competence and its role in developing students’ understanding of diverse cultures as part of learning foreign/second languages. It will also explain how teachers can decide which culture should be taught: the target culture, the learners’ culture, or both. Moreover, practical and effective techniques that can be used in cultural-based language teaching will be shared.Keywords: cultural-based language teaching, English as a lingua franca, English language learners, intercultural communicative competence
Procedia PDF Downloads 3281250 Muhammad`s Vision of Interaction with Supernatural Beings According to the Hadith in Comparison to Parallels of Other Cultures
Authors: Vladimir A. Rozov
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Comparative studies of religion and ritual could contribute better understanding of human culture universalities. Belief in supernatural beings seems to be a common feature of the religion. A significant part of the Islamic concepts that concern supernatural beings is based on a tradition based on the Hadiths. They reflect, among other things, his ideas about a proper way to interact with supernatural beings. These ideas to a large extent follow from the pre-Islamic religious experience of the Arabs and had been reflected in a number of ritual actions. Some of those beliefs concern a particular function of clothing. For example, it is known that Muhammad was wrapped in clothes during the revelation of the Quran. The same thing was performed by pre-Islamic soothsayers (kāhin) and by rival opponents of Muhammad during their trances. Muhammad also turned the clothes inside out during religious rituals (prayer for rain). Besides these specific ways of clothing which prove the external similarity of Muhammad with the soothsayers and other people who claimed the connection with supernatural forces, the pre-Islamic soothsayers had another characteristic feature which is physical flaws. In this regard, it is worth to note Muhammad's so-called "Seal the Prophecy" (h̠ ātam an- nubūwwa) -protrusion or outgrowth on his back. Another interesting feature of Muhammad's behavior was his attitude to eating onion and garlic. In particular, the Prophet didn`t eat them and forbade people who had tasted these vegetables to enter mosques, until the smell ceases to be felt. The reason for this ban on eating onion and garlic is caused by a belief that the smell of these products prevents communication with otherworldly forces. The materials of the Hadith also suggest that Muhammad shared faith in the apotropical properties of water. Both of these ideas have parallels in other cultures of the world. Muhammad's actions supposed to provide an interaction with the supernatural beings are not accidental. They have parallels in the culture of pre-Islamic Arabia as well as in many past and present world cultures. The latter fact can be explained by the similarity of the universal human beliefs in supernatural beings and how they should be interacted with. Later a number of similar ideas shared by the Prophet Muhammad was legitimized by the Islamic tradition and formed the basis of popular Islamic rituals. Thus, these parallels emphasize the commonality of human notions of supernatural beings and also demonstrate the significance of the pre-Islamic cultural context in analyzing the genesis of Islamic religious beliefs.Keywords: hadith, Prophet Muhammad, ritual, supernatural beings
Procedia PDF Downloads 3891249 Direct Phoenix Identification and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing from Positive Blood Culture Broths
Authors: Waad Al Saleemi, Badriya Al Adawi, Zaaima Al Jabri, Sahim Al Ghafri, Jalila Al Hadhramia
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Objectives: Using standard lab methods, a positive blood culture requires a minimum of two days (two occasions of overnight incubation) to obtain a final identification (ID) and antimicrobial susceptibility results (AST) report. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the accuracy and precision of identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of an alternative method (direct method) that will reduce the turnaround time by 24 hours. This method involves the direct inoculation of positive blood culture broths into the Phoenix system using serum separation tubes (SST). Method: This prospective study included monomicrobial-positive blood cultures obtained from January 2022 to May 2023 in SQUH. Blood cultures containing a mixture of organisms, fungi, or anaerobic organisms were excluded from this study. The result of the new “direct method” under study was compared with the current “standard method” used in the lab. The accuracy and precision were evaluated for the ID and AST using Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) recommendations. The categorical agreement, essential agreement, and the rates of very major errors (VME), major errors (ME), and minor errors (MIE) for both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria were calculated. Passing criteria were set according to CLSI. Result: The results of ID and AST were available for a total of 158 isolates. Of 77 isolates of gram-negative bacteria, 71 (92%) were correctly identified at the species level. Of 70 isolates of gram-positive bacteria, 47(67%) isolates were correctly identified. For gram-negative bacteria, the essential agreement of the direct method was ≥92% when compared to the standard method, while the categorical agreement was ≥91% for all tested antibiotics. The precision of ID and AST were noted to be 100% for all tested isolates. For gram-positive bacteria, the essential agreement was >93%, while the categorical agreement was >92% for all tested antibiotics except moxifloxacin. Many antibiotics were noted to have an unacceptable higher rate of very major errors including penicillin, cotrimoxazole, clindamycin, ciprofloxacin, and moxifloxacin. However, no error was observed in the results of vancomycin, linezolid, and daptomycin. Conclusion: The direct method of ID and AST for positive blood cultures using SST is reliable for gram negative bacteria. It will significantly decrease the turnaround time and will facilitate antimicrobial stewardship.Keywords: bloodstream infection, oman, direct ast, blood culture, rapid identification, antimicrobial susceptibility, phoenix, direct inoculation
Procedia PDF Downloads 661248 Power and Representation in Female Autobiographies
Authors: Shafag Dadashova
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The study discusses relativity of perception and interpretation of power, its interdependence with conformity level of an individual. It describes an autobiography as a form of epiphany. It is suggested that life-writing helps the author analyze the past and define the borders of his personal power and sources of empowerment. As all life-writings deal with behaviors, values, attitudes, relationships and emotions, their investigation requires qualitative methods to understand social norms, gender roles, religion, and their role in empowerment and disempowerment of the author. The study consists of two parts. The first part is theoretical and interrogates the notion of personal power and how writing the own life can bring to conscious empowerment. The second part presents two autobiographies by female authors from two different Muslim cultures who negotiate between the larger nationalist agenda and their own personal concerns. These autobiographies (Tehmina Durrani, Pakistani author ‘My Feudal Lord’, Banine, Azerbaijani writer 'Caucasian days' and 'Parisian days') are the end of their authors’ long silence, their revolt against the conventional norms, their decision to have an agency to confess and protest. These autobiographies are the authors’ attempts to break the established matrix of perceptions, imposed norms, and gain power to build the real picture of their identity. The study sums up with the conclusion that in spite of very similar motifs of female authors to get empowered through self-analysis, different cultures and time create specific subjectivities associated with particular historical events and geographical location.Keywords: conformity level, empowerment, female autobiography, self-identity
Procedia PDF Downloads 2581247 'Detective Chinatown' Series: Writing and Rewriting of Orientalism through the Lens of Culture Industry
Authors: Cai Yiting
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As China's globalization has accelerated, Chinese films have begun to explore and express foreign cultures with greater frequency while simultaneously disseminating Chinese culture. Films shot abroad, including Finding Mr. Right (2013), Somewhere Only We Know (2015), and Wolf Warrior 2 (2017), and others, can be viewed as a reflection of how Chinese cinema conceptualizes and represents foreign countries in the context of globalization. Furthermore, they facilitate the exchange of Chinese and foreign cultures in the context of China's ‘going out’ policy and the Belt and Road Initiative. Nevertheless, it is apparent that these films are primarily motivated by commercial considerations with regard to their initial release. The consistent placement of the Chinatown Detective' film series in the Chinese New Year slot is indicative of the significant influence of the cultural industry on the series' creation. Moreover, the series represents Chen Sicheng's inaugural venture into filming in a multitude of international locations. This paper examines the film series Detective Chinatown through the lens of the cultural industry, analyzing how its production and presentation cater to the demands of the cultural industry by presenting Orientalism and contributing new connotations to it. The series, a product of standardized mass production, commodification and global appeal, reflects Orientalist representations through the exoticization of Chinese culture and the stereotypical and commercial-oriented imagination of Bangkok, New York and Tokyo. This study provides an understanding of the film series' role in contributing to contemporary Orientalism in the context of the culture industry.Keywords: orientalism, culture industry, Chinese globalisation, Detective Chinatown
Procedia PDF Downloads 201246 A Barthesian Analysis of Semiotic Practices in an Indigenous School in Taiwan: A Case of a Bunun Primary School
Authors: Yi Yin Chen, Changsoo Hur
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This study explores the role of totems and decorative texts on an indigenous primary school campus in Taiwan, as well as how they affect the building of the cultural identity of indigenous students. By employing Roland Barthes' semiotic theory, this research aims to uncover the cultural meanings and social functions contained in these visual symbols, as well as their significance for building a cultural identity among indigenous students. The study uses a qualitative method, combining observations, interviews, and document analysis to explore how these symbols perform as carriers of hidden meaning and contribute to educational and cultural settings. The findings show that totems on the indigenous school campus reflect the ethnic group's cultural background knowledge, allowing students to study their cultural heritage and providing a sense of belonging. However, certain textual decorations also reflect the historical influence of the hegemonic government attempting to establish moral norms in the ethnic group. This coexistence of traditional ethnic totems and hegemonic textual admonitions in the school environment creates a complex identity landscape for students, leading to a multiplicity of cultural identities. It underlines the importance of culturally relevant symbols in enhancing students' cultural heritage and identity and presents the challenges posed by conflicting cultural messages within the educational context.Keywords: Roland Barthes, semiotic, Indigenous, Bunun
Procedia PDF Downloads 551245 Alternative Energy and Carbon Source for Biosurfactant Production
Authors: Akram Abi, Mohammad Hossein Sarrafzadeh
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Because of their several advantages over chemical surfactants, biosurfactants have given rise to a growing interest in the past decades. Advantages such as lower toxicity, higher biodegradability, higher selectivity and applicable at extreme temperature and pH which enables them to be used in a variety of applications such as: enhanced oil recovery, environmental and pharmaceutical applications, etc. Bacillus subtilis produces a cyclic lipopeptide, called surfactin, which is one of the most powerful biosurfactants with ability to decrease surface tension of water from 72 mN/m to 27 mN/m. In addition to its biosurfactant character, surfactin exhibits interesting biological activities such as: inhibition of fibrin clot formation, lyses of erythrocytes and several bacterial spheroplasts, antiviral, anti-tumoral and antibacterial properties. Surfactin is an antibiotic substance and has been shown recently to possess anti-HIV activity. However, application of biosurfactants is limited by their high production cost. The cost can be reduced by optimizing biosurfactant production using cheap feed stock. Utilization of inexpensive substrates and unconventional carbon sources like urban or agro-industrial wastes is a promising strategy to decrease the production cost of biosurfactants. With suitable engineering optimization and microbiological modifications, these wastes can be used as substrates for large-scale production of biosurfactants. As an effort to fulfill this purpose, in this work we have tried to utilize olive oil as second carbon source and also yeast extract as second nitrogen source to investigate the effect on both biomass and biosurfactant production improvement in Bacillus subtilis cultures. Since the turbidity of the culture was affected by presence of the oil, optical density was compromised and no longer could be used as an index of growth and biomass concentration. Therefore, cell Dry Weight measurements with applying necessary tactics for removing oil drops to prevent interference with biomass weight were carried out to monitor biomass concentration during the growth of the bacterium. The surface tension and critical micelle dilutions (CMD-1, CMD-2) were considered as an indirect measurement of biosurfactant production. Distinctive and promising results were obtained in the cultures containing olive oil compared to cultures without it: more than two fold increase in biomass production (from 2 g/l to 5 g/l) and considerable reduction in surface tension, down to 40 mN/m at surprisingly early hours of culture time (only 5hr after inoculation). This early onset of biosurfactant production in this culture is specially interesting when compared to the conventional cultures at which this reduction in surface tension is not obtained until 30 hour of culture time. Reducing the production time is a very prominent result to be considered for large scale process development. Furthermore, these results can be used to develop strategies for utilization of agro-industrial wastes (such as olive oil mill residue, molasses, etc.) as cheap and easily accessible feed stocks to decrease the high costs of biosurfactant production.Keywords: agro-industrial waste, bacillus subtilis, biosurfactant, fermentation, second carbon and nitrogen source, surfactin
Procedia PDF Downloads 3031244 Educational Reforms in Algeria: Dilemmas of Globalization, Equity, and Decolonization
Authors: Fella Lahmar
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This chapter investigates the educational reforms in Algeria, highlighting the challenges and complexities that arise in the context of globalization, equity, and decolonization. While Algeria’s education system historically had a socialist-economic model grounded in Islamic values, contemporary reforms reflect global influences and aspirations for cultural authenticity. The study employed a qualitative approach, utilizing semi-structured interviews with a diverse sample of 15 participants intimately involved in the Algerian education system. Analysis of the data reveals a discrepancy between the educational system’s pedagogical practices and students’ diverse learning needs, implying ramifications for educational equity and social justice. Furthermore, a critical tension was evident between global influences, local cultural authenticity, and the endeavor to decolonize education. In conclusion, the chapter advocates for reforms that prioritize the students’ holistic development and well-being while fostering intrinsic motivation and engagement. This entails re-evaluating curriculum frameworks, assessment strategies, and pedagogies in light of Algeria’s cultural and religious heritage. The chapter also calls for future research to explore methods for innovatively integrating cultural heritage into education in ways to cultivate learners who are both locally grounded and globally aware.Keywords: impact of globalization on education, parental involvement in education, marketization of education, policy enactment and reform, curriculum overload, holistic approach, shadow education
Procedia PDF Downloads 1061243 Effect of Inoculum Ratio on Dark Fermentative Hydrogen Production
Authors: Zeynep Yilmazer Hitit, Patrick C. Hallenbeck
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Fuel reserve requirements due to depletion of fossil fuels have increased interest in biohydrogen since the 1990’s. In fermentative hydrogen production, pure, mixed, and co-cultures can be used to produce hydrogen. Several previous studies have evaluated hydrogen production by pure cultures of Clostridium butyricum or Enterobacter aerogenes. Evaluating hydrogen production by co-culture of these microorganisms is an interestıng approach since E. aerogenes is a facultative microorganism with resistance to oxygen in contrast to the strict anaerobe C. butyricum, and therefore has the ability to maintain anaerobic conditions. It was found that using co-cultures of facultative E. aerogenes (as a reducing agent and H2 producer) and the obligate anaerobe C. butyricum for producing hydrogen increases the yield of hydrogen by about 50% compared to C. butyricum by itself. Also, using different types of microorganisms for hydrogen production eliminates the need to use expensive reducing agents. C. butyricum strain pre-cultured anaerobically at 37 0C for 15h by inoculating 100 mL of GP medium (pH 6.8) consisting of 1% glucose, 2% polypeptone, 0.2% KH2PO4, 0.05% yeast extract, 0.05% MgSO4. 7H2O and E. aerogenes strain was pre-cultured aerobically at 30 0C, 150 rpm for 9 h by inoculating 100 mL of TGY medium (pH 6.8), consisting of 0.1% glucose, 0.5% tryptone, 0.1% K2HPO4, 0.5% yeast extract. All duplicate batch experiments were conducted in 100 mL bottles with different inoculum ratios of Clostridium butyricum and Enterobater aerogenes (C:E) using 5x diluted rich media (GP) consisting of 2 g/L glucose, 4g/L polypeptone, 0.4 g/L KH2PO4, 0.1 g/L yeast extract, 0.1 MgSO4.7H2O. The range of inoculum ratio of C. butyricum to E. aerogenes were 2:1,4:1,8:1, 1:2,1:4, 1:8, 1:0, 0:1. Using glucose as a carbon source aided in the observation of microbial behavior as well as making the effect of inoculum ratio more evident. Nearly all the glucose in the medium was used to produce hydrogen, except at a 1:0 ratio of inoculum (i.e. containing only C. butyricum). Low glucose consumption leads to a higher hydrogen yield due to cumulative hydrogen production and consumption of glucose, but not as much as C:E, 8:1. The lowest hydrogen yield was achieved in 1:8 inoculum ratio of C:E, 71.9 mL, 1.007±0.01 mol H2/mol glucose and the highest cumulative hydrogen, hydrogen yield and dry cell weight were achieved in 8:1 inoculum ratio of C:E, 117.4 mL, 2.035±0.082 mol H2/mol glucose, 0.4 g/L respectively. In this study effect of inoculum ratio on dark fermentative biohydrogen production using C. butyricum and E. aerogenes was investigated. The maximum hydrogen yield of 2.035mol H2/mol glucose was obtained using 2g/L glucose, an initial pH of 6 and an inoculum ratio of C. butyricum to E. aerogenes of 8:1. Results showed that inoculum ratio is an important parameter on hydrogen production due to competition between the two microorganisms in using substrate for growth and production of by-products. The results presented here could be of great significance for further waste management studies using co-culture hydrogen production.Keywords: biohydrogen, Clostridium butyricum, dark fermentation, Enterobacter aerogenes, inoculum ratio in biohydrogen production
Procedia PDF Downloads 2381242 Cultural-Creative Design with Language Figures of Speech
Authors: Wei Chen Chang, Ming Yu Hsiao
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The commodity takes one kind of mark, the designer how to construction and interpretation the user how to use the process and effectively convey message in design education has always been an important issue. Cultural-creative design refers to signifying cultural heritage for product design. In terms of Peirce’s Semiotic Triangle: signifying elements-object-interpretant, signifying elements are the outcomes of design, the object is cultural heritage, and the interpretant is the positioning and description of product design. How to elaborate the positioning, design, and development of a product is a narrative issue of the interpretant, and how to shape the signifying elements of a product by modifying and adapting styles is a rhetoric matter. This study investigated the rhetoric of elements signifying products to develop a rhetoric model with cultural style. Figures of speech are a rhetoric method in narrative. By adapting figures of speech to the interpretant, this study developed the rhetoric context of cultural context by narrative means. In this two-phase study, phase I defines figures of speech and phase II analyzes existing cultural-creative products in terms of figures of speech to develop a rhetoric of style model. We expect it can reference for the future development of Cultural-creative design.Keywords: cultural-creative design, cultural-creative products, figures of speech, Peirce’s semiotic triangle, rhetoric of style model
Procedia PDF Downloads 3731241 Spatial Transformation of Heritage Area as The Impact of Tourism Activity (Case Study: Kauman Village, Surakarta City, Central Java, Indonesia
Authors: Nafiah Solikhah Thoha
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One area that has spatial character as Heritage area is Kauman Villages. Kauman village in The City of Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia was formed in 1757 by Paku Buwono III as the King of Kasunanan kingdom (Mataram Kingdom) for Kasunanan kingdom courtiers and scholars of Madrasa. Spatial character of Kauman village influenced by Islamic planning and socio-cultural rules of Kasunanan Kingdom. As traditional settlements influenced by Islamic planning, the Grand Mosque is a binding part of the whole area. Circulation pattern forming network (labyrinth) with narrow streets that ended at the Grand Mosque. The outdoor space can be used for circulation. Social activity is dominated by step movement from one place to a different place. Stalemate (the fina/cul de sac) generally only passable on foot, bicycles, and motorcycles. While the pass (main and branch) can be traversed by motor, vehicles. Kauman village has an area that can not be used as a public road that penetrates and serves as a liaison between the outside world to the other. Hierarchy of hall in Kauman village shows that the existence of a space is getting into more important. Firstly, woman in Kauman make the handmade batik for themself. In 2005 many people improving batik tradisional into commercial, and developed program named "Batik Tourism village of Kauman". That program affects the spatial transformations. This study aimed to explore the influence of tourism program towards spatial transformations. The factors that studied are the organization of space, circulation patterns, hierarchical space, and orientation through the descriptive-evaluation approach methods. Based on the study, tourism activity engenders transformations on the spatial scale (macro), residential block (mezo), homes (micro). First, the Grand Mosque and madrasa (religious school) as a binding zoning; tangle of roads as forming the structure of the area developed as a liaison with outside Kauman; organization of space in the residential of batik entrepreneurs firstly just a residential, then develop into residential, factory of batik including showroom. Second, the circulation pattern forming network (labyrinth) and ends at the Grand Mosque. Third, the hierarchy in the form of public space (the shari), semi-public, and private (the fina/culdesac) is no longer to provide protection to women, only as hierarchy of circulation path. Fourth, cluster building orientation does not follow the kiblat direction or axis oriented to cosmos, but influence by the new function as the showroom. It was need the direction of the main road. Kauman grow as an appropriate area for the community. During its development, the settlement function changes according to community activities, especially economic activities. The new function areas as tourism area affect spatial pattern of Kauman village. Spatial existence and activity as a local wisdom that has been done for generations have meaning of holistic, encompassing socio-cultural sustainability, economics, and the heritage area. By reviewing the local wisdom and the way of life of that society, we can learn how to apply the culture as education for sustainable of heritage area.Keywords: impact of tourism, Kauman village, spatial transformation, sustainable of heritage area
Procedia PDF Downloads 4331240 Understanding the Relationship between Community and the Preservation of Cultural Landscape - Focusing on Organically Evolved Landscapes
Authors: Adhithy Menon E., Biju C. A.
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Heritage monuments were first introduced to the public in the 1960s when the concept of preserving them was introduced. As a result of the 1990s, the concept of cultural landscapes gained importance, emphasizing the importance of culture and heritage in the context of the landscape. It is important to note that this paper is primarily concerned with the second category of ecological landscapes, which is organically evolving landscapes, as they represent a complex network of tangible, intangible, and environment, and the connections they share with the communities in which they are situated. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization has identified 39 cultural sites as being in danger, including the Iranian city of Bam and the historic city of Zabid in Yemen. To ensure its protection in the future, it is necessary to conduct a detailed analysis of the factors contributing to this degradation. An analysis of selected cultural landscapes from around the world is conducted to determine which parameters cause their degradation. The paper follows the objectives of understanding cultural landscapes and their importance for development, followed by examining various criteria for identifying cultural landscapes, their various classifications, as well as agencies that focus on their protection. To identify and analyze the parameters contributing to the deterioration of cultural landscapes based on literature and case studies (cultural landscape of Sintra, Rio de Janeiro, and Varanasi). As a final step, strategies should be developed to enhance deteriorating cultural landscapes based on these parameters. The major findings of the study are the impact of community in the parameters derived - integrity (natural factors, natural disasters, demolition of structures, deterioration of materials), authenticity (living elements, sense of place, building techniques, religious context, artistic expression) public participation (revenue, dependence on locale), awareness (demolition of structures, resource management) disaster management, environmental impact, maintenance of cultural landscape (linkages with other sites, dependence on locale, revenue, resource management). The parameters of authenticity, public participation, awareness, and maintenance of the cultural landscape are directly related to the community in which the cultural landscape is located. Therefore, by focusing on the community and addressing the parameters identified, the deterioration curve of cultural landscapes can be altered.Keywords: community, cultural landscapes, heritage, organically evolved, public participation
Procedia PDF Downloads 891239 Elderly Care for Bereaved Parents Following the Death of an Only Child in Mainland China
Authors: Chao Fang
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Due to the Confucian emphasis on filial piety and an undeveloped social welfare system in mainland China, adult children are both socially and legally obliged to care for their parents, including financial assistance and physical care as well as emotional and social support. Thus a family-centred care pattern for elderly people has been firmly established in China. However, because of the nationwide ‘One Child Policy’, over one million parents are excluded from such care because of the death of their only child and, therefore, their primary caregiver. Without their child’s support, these parents must manage the day to day challenges of growing old alone, with little support from society. By overturning established expectations of a ‘good’ elderly life, the loss of an only child may be accompanied by social and self-stigmatization, pushing these bereaved parents to the margin of society and threatening their economic, physical, emotional and social well-being. More importantly, since the One Child Policy was implemented from the late 1970s and early 1980s, the first generation of bereaved or ‘Shidu’ parents has reached an age at which those parents need elderly care. However, their predicament has been largely ignored. This paper reports on a qualitative interview study that found elderly care to be the main concern for Shidu parents’ everyday life. The paper identifies and discusses the concerns these bereaved parents raised about the prospect of having nowhere to turn at a time of increased need for financial, physical, social and emotional support in old age. The paper also identifies how Shidu parents have been coming together in grief and negotiate to make their predicament known to the government and wider society and to re-define their elderly life by rebuilding a sense of ‘family’.Keywords: culture, bereavement, China, elderly care
Procedia PDF Downloads 2731238 A Saudi Herbal Database: An Approach for Organizing the Rich Herbal Resource of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Authors: Syed Asif Hassan, Tabrej Khan
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The use of traditional medicines for the treatment of various diseases as well as maintaining a healthy lifestyle has gained a significant acceptance across the globe. The increasing popularity of Herbal Medicine can be owed to the fact that is relatively inexpensive and has lesser side effects as compared to general medicines. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a rich heritage of herbal medicine for overages. However, the information about essential traditional herbs of Arabian origin and their implication in the treatment of various diseases are not well documented in an organized manner. Therefore, the requirement of a local platform (database system) for herbal medicines of Arab origin is the need of the day. In this context, various questionnaire and surveys were conducted over a period of 6 months. The surveys were targeted to identify a range of herbal remedies used by the communities of Saudi Arabia e.g., pharmacists and local people. The survey leads us to identify many of the mysterious local medicinal herbs used for the treatment of various ailments and thus reveals a unique insight into the natural herbal resource of Saudi Arabia. The information of the herbal medicines will be further used to develop a Saudi herbal database system using the principles of waterfall method. An interactive dynamic electronic web portal of the herbal database system will be built using MySQL and PHP for accessing the information available in the Saudi herbal database system. The web portal will be a step forward in creating awareness among the Arab nationals of their rich herbal heritage.Keywords: Saudi herbal medicine, community survey, database system and design, MySQL, PHP
Procedia PDF Downloads 4231237 Mechanisms for the Art of Food: Tourism with Thainess and a Multi-Stakeholder Participation Approach
Authors: Jutamas Wisansing, Thanakarn Vongvisitsin, Udom Hongchatikul
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Food could be used to open up a dialogue about local heritage. Contributing to the world sustainable consumption mission, this research aims to explore the linkages between agriculture, senses of place and performing arts. Thailand and its destination marketing ‘Discover Thainess’ was selected as a working principle, enabling a case example of how the three elements could be conceptualized. The model offered an integrated institutional arrangement where diverse entities could be formed to design how Thainess (local heritage) could be interpreted and embedded into an art of food. Using case study research approach, three areas (Chiangmai, Samutsongkram and Ban Rai Gong King) representing 3 different scales of tourism development were selected. Based on a theoretical analysis, a working model was formulated. An action research was then designed to experiment how the model could be materialized. Brainstorming elicitation and in-depth interview were employed to reflect on how each element could be integrated. The result of this study offered an innovation on how food tourism could be profoundly interpreted and how tourism development could enhance value creation for agricultural based community. The outcomes of the research present co-creative multi-stakeholder model and the value creation method through the whole supply chain of Thai gastronomy. The findings have been eventually incorporated into ‘gastro-diplomacy’ strategy for Thai tourism.Keywords: community-based tourism, gastro-diplomacy, gastronomy tourism, sustainable tourism development
Procedia PDF Downloads 3091236 Clothing Features of Greek Orthodox Woman Immigrants in Konya (Iconium)
Authors: Kenan Saatcioglu, Fatma Koc
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When the immigration is considered, it has been found that communities were continuously influenced by the immigrations from the date of the emergence of mankind until the day. The political, social and economic reasons seen at the various periods caused the communities go to new places from where they have lived before. Immigrations have occurred as a result of unequal opportunities among communities, social exclusion and imposition, compulsory homeland emerging politically, exile and war. Immigration is a social tool that is defined as a geographical relocation of people from a housing unit (city, village etc.) to another to spend all or part of their future lives. Immigrations have an effect on the history of humanity directly or indirectly, revealing new dimensions for communities to evaluate the concept of homeland. With these immigrations, communities carried their cultural values to their new settlements leading to a new interaction process. With this interaction process both migrant and native community cultures were reshaped and richer cultural values emerged. The clothes of these communities are amongst the most important visual evidence of this rich cultural interaction. As a result of these immigrations, communities affected each other culture’s clothing mutually and they started adding features of other cultures to the garments of its own, resulting new clothing cultures in time. The cultural and historical differences between these communities are seem to be the most influential factors of keeping the clothing cultures of the people alive. The most important and tragic of these immigrations took place after the Turkish War of Independence that was fought against Greece in 1922. The concept of forced immigration was a result of Lausanne Peace Treaty, which was signed between Turkish and Greek governments on 30th January 1923. As a result Greek Orthodoxes, who lived in Turkey (Anatolia and Thrace) and Muslim Turks, who lived in Greece were forced to immigrate. In this study, clothing features of Greek Orthodox woman immigrants who emigrated from Turkey to Greece in the period of the ‘1923 Greek-Turkish Population Exchange’ are aimed to be examined. In the study using the descriptive research method, before the ‘1923 Greek-Turkish Population Exchange’, the clothings belong to Greek Orthodox woman immigrants who lived in ‘Konya (Iconium)’ region in the Ottoman Empire, are discussed. In the study that is based on two different clothings belonging to ‘Konya (Iconium)’ region in the clothing collection archive at the ‘National Historical Museum’ in Greece, clothings of the Greek Orthodox woman immigrants are discussed with cultural norms, beliefs, values as well as in terms of form, ornamentation and dressing styles. Technical drawings are provided demonstrating formal features of the clothing parts that formed clothing integrity and their properties are described with the use of related literature in this study. This study is of importance that that it contains Greek Orthodox refugees’ clothings that are found in the clothing collection archive at the ‘National Historical Museum’ in Greece reflecting the cultural identities, providing information and documentation on the clothing features of the ‘1923 Greek-Turkish Population Exchange’.Keywords: clothing, Greece, Greek Orthodoxes, immigration, national historical museum, Turkey
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