As doenças cardiovasculares lideram as causas de morte em vários países, inclusive no Brasil, sendo a insuficiência cardíaca (IC) uma das enfermidades mais frequentes. Estudos epidemiológicos e de genética têm demonstrado associações entre a origem étnica dos indivíduos e o desenvolvimento de diversas doenças cardiovasculares. O presente estudo teve como objetivo avaliar a relação entre haplogrupos mitocondriais e ancestralidade genômica no desenvolvimento da IC. Foram avaliados 503 pacientes com IC e 188 controles saudáveis. Os haplogrupos mitocondriais foram obtidos pela análise da região controle do DNA mitocondrial (mtDNA) e o estudo de ancestralidade genômica foi realizado pela análise de 48 marcadores autossômicos informativos de ancestralidade (AIMs) tipo INDEL. As análises estatísticas foram realizadas com o uso de regressão logística, construção de curvas de Kaplan-Meier e utilizando o método estatístico de log-rank (Mantel-Cox). Os resultados dos AIMs evidenciaram contribuições semelhantes de ancestralidade genômica entre os grupos de pacientes e controles, evidenciando a não estratificação populacional da amostra. A comparação dos haplogrupos mitocondriais entre os dois grupos revelou uma associação dos haplogrupos africanos com risco aumentado (p=0,015; OR 1,56) para o desenvolvimento da IC, enquanto que os haplogrupos ameríndios foi associado a um menor risco (p=0,043; OR 0,71). As análises realizadas apenas dentro do grupo de pacientes revelaram que 74,6% dos indivíduos se autodeclararam como brancos. As etiologias encontradas com maior frequência na nossa amostra foram a hipertensiva (28,6%) e a isquêmica (28,4%). A análise de mtDNA evidenciou que pacientes pertencentes aos haplogrupos africano apresentaram risco aumentado para o desenvolvimento da IC nas etiologias chagásica (p=0,012; OR 2,32) e hipertensiva (p=0,003; OR 2,05). Evidenciou também que pacientes dos haplogrupos africanos, principalmente da etiologia isquêmica, desenvolveram IC mais cedo que os demais, e que os pacientes com esses haplogrupos da etiologia valvar apresentaram maior sobrevida no período avaliado. A análise dos AIMs demonstrou que, na etiologia hipertensiva, a maior contribuição da ancestralidade genômica africana conferiu risco aumentado (p=0,002; OR 6,07), enquanto que a maior contribuição de ancestralidade genômica europeia conferiu risco diminuído (p=0,001; OR 0,16) para o desenvolvimento da IC; os pacientes com maior contribuição de ancestralidade genômica ameríndia apresentaram maior sobrevida no período de 4 anos. O uso de marcadores autossômicos e do DNA mitocondrial fornece estimativas mais precisas da ancestralidade de um indivíduo e/ou população, enquanto que a autodeclaração de cor de pele fornece indiretamente informações importantes sobre aspectos socioeconômicos e culturais. Assim, seria interessante a utilização, especialmente em populações miscigenadas, de uma construção tridimensional de análise, que poderia fornecer dados mais informativos e complementares em estudos de associação entre etnia e fenótipos e/ou doenças complexas / Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in many countries, including Brazil, being the heart failure (HF) one of the most common diseases. Epidemiological and genetic studies have shown associations between the ethnic origin of individuals and the development of various cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between mitochondrial haplogroups and genomic ancestry in the development of HF. We evaluated 503 patients with HF and 188 healthy controls. The mitochondrial haplogroups were obtained by analysing the control region of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and the study of genomic ancestry was conducted by the analysis of 48 autosomal ancestry informative markers (AIMs) INDEL type. Statistical analyzes were performed using logistic regression, construction of the Kaplan-Meier and using the log-rank test (Mantel-Cox). The results of AIMs showed similar contributions of genomic ancestry among the patients and controls groups, indicating no population stratification of the sample. Comparing mitochondrial haplogroups between the groups, we observed that african haplogroups show increased risk (p=0.015, OR 1.56) of development of the HF, while ameridian haplogroup was associated with a reduced risk (p=0.043, OR 0.71). The analysis carried out only within the group of patients showed that 74.6% of individuals self-declared as white. The etiologies found with greater frequency in our sample were hypertension (28.6%) and ischemic (28.4%). Analysis of mtDNA showed that patients belonging to african haplogroup have increased risk of the development of HF in chagasic (p=0.012, OR 2.32) and hypertensive etiologies (p=0.003, OR 2.05). It also showed that patients of african haplogroups, specially of ischemic etiology, developed HF earlier than others, and the patients with this haplogroup of valvular etiology had better survival in the study period. AIMs analysis showed that in hypertensive etiology, the major contribution of african genomic ancestry conferred increased risk (p=0.002, OR 6.07), while the major contribution of european genomic ancestry conferred decreased risk (p=0.001, OR 0 16) to the development of HF; patients with higher contribution of amerindian genomic ancestry had better survival within 4 years. The use of autosomal markers and mtDNA provides more accurate estimates of ancestry of an individual and/or population, while the self-declared ethnicity, indirectly provides important information about socioeconomic and cultural aspects. Thus, it would be interesting to use, especially in admixed populations, the construction of a three-dimensional analysis, which could provide more informative and complementary data in studies of association between ethnicity and phenotypes and/or complex diseases

In this study, we try to discover and analyze the teachers' attitudes towards incorporating the set phrases while teaching Spanish in the advanced level, for example phrases about nationalities and ethnic groups. In addition, we attempt to measure teachers' perspectives towards teaching ethically incorrect phrasal expressions in the classroom. In particular, we focus on the role of the socio-cultural aspect in the learning process of a foreign language. Based on our study, the teachers' perspectives on incorporating those set phrases while teaching Spanish in the advanced level are very positive. Our informants have recognized that the phrases are very common in the Spanish language. In addition, the cultural and historic contents reveal a lot about both the past and the reality of Spain to this day. Almost all informants (except one) have confirmed that they could work with the ethically incorrect phrases in their classes. The phrasal expressions of this type are also commonly used in the Spanish language, so the opinion of our informants is that the best option is to explain them to students and discuss the prejudices they represent in the classroom. Regarding the socio-cultural aspect, the informants agree that it is very important in the process of learning a foreign language because it helps to understand the demeanor of the people from a different culture and facilitates the use of the target language in a suitable context.

The purpose of this study is to investigate if reconciliation between former war-enemies and ethnic groups (Muslims, Croats and Serbs) in Bosnia and Hercegovina is possible today. Reconciliation between these groups is necessary for the development of the state and sustainable peace. In order to fulfil the aim I have applied qualitative conversation interviews together with qualitative literature study. In this research I have studied the three largest parties (SDA, HDZ and SDS) in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Conversation interviews were made with two representatives of each party. The reconciliation theory and the recommendations that the theory advocates were used in the study. The recommendations were also used to create interview questions that gave me relevant empirical data from the interviews. The interview data with the high representatives of these political parties led to a valid result. The conclusions show that reconciliation between these three ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina is not possible today. Huge political, economical and social changes and improvements are necessary. All three classes, top-level, middle-range and grassroots, must get involved in the process if reconciliation is to be possible. Keywords: Bosnia and Herzegovina, reconciliation, ethnic groups, political parties.

Goal. The goal of the following study is it to propose educational measures in readiness for the methods of intercultural training at the Faculty of International Relations of the University of Economics Prague based on revealed cultural attitudes of the students studying International Trade to chosen ethnic, national, racial and religious groups (also called categories). In particular, the goal is it to detect explicit and implicit attitudes and related prejudice, stereotypes and experienced emotions of the students studying International Trade (IT) at the University of Economics Prague to/against 17 (respectively 20) chosen categories; to evaluate its magnitude for business practice and economy; and to propose appropriate measures for intercultural training. Sample and conditions. 167 students of International Trade from The University of Economics Prague took part in the first study. For measuring magnitude of the determinants of explicit attitudes 166 members of common population were questioned. Another 293 students were questioned in the first study and altogether 460 students took part in the second study. There were used the Bogardus social distance scale as a measuring psychological technique for explicit attitudes and prejudice, the syllogisms aptitude tests as a measuring tool for implicit attitudes and prejudice and the open questionnaire for stereotypes. Hypotheses. The following hypothesis was settled in the first study: Attitudes of the IT students have specific features, on the one hand, they differ from the attitudes and prejudice of common population and on the other hand, they have relation to the status of the perceived national, ethnic, racial and religious groups. There were tested 24 zero, working hypotheses. The first 17 working hypotheses are related to the relationship between the memberships in the two observed populations and the expressed explicit attitudes and prejudice. The next 6 hypotheses are connected to the attitudes of the students to occidental nationalities, to the Ukrainians, Russians, the Mongols and Moldovans, to the Slovaks and Czechs, Arabians and Muslims. The last working hypothesis is related to the relationship between explicit and implicit attitudes to and prejudice against Roma minority and Muslims. The following hypothesis was settled in the second study: Stereotypes of the observed population refer to the real existing intercultural differences, experienced emotions and projected cultural complexes. There was tested a working hypothesis related to the dependence between prejudice and stereotypes. Statistical analysis. The data were analyzed by the chi-square test and the strength of the relationship was measured by Cramér V. Furthermore agglomerative clustering by nearest neighbor method was applied and the results were presented as a horizontal dendrogram. Results. The results of the first study are well fitting the settled hypothesis. International Trade Students have relatively less prejudice comparing to the common population, it is influenced by their age as well as by their academic degree. There were identified several clusters of categories, that show similar attitudes. The students have positive, but not identical attitudes to all occidental categories, the same attitudes to the Ukrainians and Russians, Arabians and Muslims. The most favored national group are the Slovaks and the most prejudiced ethnic group is the Roma minority. There is dependence between explicit and implicit attitudes. The results of the second study are well fitting the settled hypothesis. Stereotypes of the observed population refer to the real existing intercultural differences as well as to experienced emotions and projected cultural complexes. The dependence between explicit stereotypes and explicit prejudice is caused by positively connoted attributes. Proposed educational measures for intercultural training are discussed in the study illustrated with examples of optional course 2OP321 Effective communication in English. Limits. Bogardus social distance scale is mostly focused on the behavioral component of the explicit attitudes, which does not necessarily mean an equivalent behavioral action.

The study was to investigate the effectiveness of Sociocultural Competency Training (SCCT) as an intervention in enhancing self-efficacy among trainees in the health care profession. The purposes of the study were threefold: (a) to evaluate the effectiveness of the training in enhancing the trainees' self-efficacy and behavioural performance; (b) to examine their personal experiences in the learning ofthe sociocultural competencies, and (c) to identify the factors that contribute to effective outcomes. A sample of 84 participants in the Health Sciences program at the Vancouver Community College was recruited. There were 26 local born Canadians and 32 immigrants in the experimental group, whereas 11 local born Canadians and 15 immigrants were in the control group. Experimental group participants took part in an 18- hour training over a 6-week period as part of their regular Human Relations Skills course curriculum. The control group also took the same training course after post-test data collection. This study used both quantitative and qualitative methods. Self-efficacy and behavioural performance were assessed quantitatively by the results from the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE), Situational Social Avoidance Scale (SSA), Social Self-Efficacy Scale (SSE), and Interpersonal Skills Checklist (ISC-33). Qualitative data was collected through written feedback from 28 participants and semi-structured interviewing with 24 volunteer interviewees in the experimental group. The results of this study supported the hypotheses that the Sociocultural Competency Training was effective in improving the interpersonal skills and lowering the social avoidance tendency among participants in the experimental group when compared to individuals in the control group. The hypothesis that there would be more significant change in participants' social self-efficacy was also supported. The Sociocultural Competency Training offered effective ways of helping people develop positive self-efficacy and behavioural competencies. Participants reported the training enabled them to have the sociocultural competencies to conduct their professional career in a multicultural community. In the future, the training can be used with high school students, college and university students, international students, professionals, business people, and expatriates who need to learn the sociocultural competencies for career success. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

Antropologia Forense é a aplicação da ciência da Antropologia Física e osteologia humana em casos criminais onde os restos da vítima estão em fase avançada de decomposição. Devido ao grande fluxo migratório descrito no histórico do Brasil, a população brasileira possui características físicas muito heterogêneas quando comparadas com a população escocesa, uma vez que a imigração mais significativa foi proveniente de outras regiões do próprio Reino Unido. O presente estudo teve como objetivo comparar as variações craniométricas de duas populações (brasileira e escocesa), e avaliar a confiabilidade do método para determinação do sexo nas duas populações, com finalidade forense. A amostra total foi composta por 200 crânios com mandíbulas, sendo que a amostra brasileira foi constituída por 100 crânios completos e a amostra escocesa por 100 crânios e 36 mandíbulas, ambas amostras documentadas. Foram realizadas 72 mensurações sendo 51 cranianas e 21 mandibulares. Os resultados demonstraram que a amostra escocesa apresentou média maior comparada com a amostra brasileira em 54 variáveis do universo de 72 medidas. Trinta e três mensurações cranianas apresentaram diferença significativa entre as duas amostras e dentre as 21 medidas mandibulares analisadas, 05 apresentaram variação superior a 20%, 09 entre 10% e 20%, 07 inferior a 10%. As medidas que apresentaram maior dimorfismo sexual para as duas amostras foram a largura bizigomática (apresentando 73% de acerto para a amostra brasileira e 77% para a amostra escocesa), largura bigoníaca (79% e 83,30%) comprimento Porion-Mastoidale lado esquerdo (76% e 75%) e a altura do corpo mandibular lado esquerdo (67% e 80,60%). A análise discriminante multivariada demonstrou resultados satisfatórios para amostra brasileira com porcentagem de acerto variando entre 76-90% e na amostra escocesa 81-86,6%. Através da análise da curva ROC foram desenvolvidas 04 tabelas de referência sendo 01 para medidas cranianas brasileiras, 01 medida para mandibulares brasileiras, 01 tabela para medidas cranianas escocesas e 01 para medidas mandibulares escocesas. O presente estudo demonstrou que existem diferenças entre as duas amostras estudadas, porém ainda falta elucidar a causa responsável, já que se trata de uma grandeza multifatorial. A metodologia quantitativa analisada demonstrou-se precisa para analisar dimorfismo sexual nas duas amostras. / Forensic anthropology is the application of the physical anthropology science and human osteology in criminal cases where the victim\'s remains are in an advanced stage of decomposition. Due to migration Brazilian population is very diverse, comprising many races and ethnic groups, therefore it is much more varied than the Scottish population, which tends to be more homogenous once there was significant immigration to Scotland from the rest of the United Kingdom. The present study aimed to compare the craniometric variations of two populations (Brazilian and Scottish), and analyze the reliability of sex determination in the two populations for forensic purpose. The total sample was comprised of 200 skulls and 136 mandibles, the Brazilian sample consisted of 100 complete skulls and the Scottish sample was composed of 100 skulls and 36 mandibles, both of which are documented samples. The measure\'s protocol comprised 72 measurements, being 51 cranial and 21 mandibular. The results showed that the Scottish sample had a larger mean compared to the Brazilian sample in 54 variables of the 72 measures. Among the cranial measurements analyzed, 33 variables showed a significant difference between the two samples and among the 21 mandibular measurements considered, 05 presented a variation greater than 20%, 09 between 10% and 20%, 07 lower than 10%. The most dimorphic measurements for both samples were the bizigomatic width (73% of accuracy for the Brazilian sample and 77% for the Scottish sample), the bigoniac width (79% and 83,30%), the Porion-Mastoidale length (76% and 75%), and the left side mandibular body height (67 and 80,60%). The multivariate discriminant analysis showed satisfactory results for the Brazilian sample with a percentage of accuracy varying between 76-90% and in the Scottish sample 81-86.6%. Through the analysis of the ROC curve, four reference tables were developed: 01 for Brazilian cranial measurements, 01 Brazilian mandibular measurements, 01 Scottish cranial measurements and 01 Scottish mandibular measurements The present study showed a difference between the two samples studied, but it is not possible to define an unique cause responsible for that because this comprise multifactorial aspects. The quantitative methodology analyzed showed sexual dimorphism in both samples.

This study was conducted in a Chinese community located in an academic community in the United States. Ethnographic data were collected from the Chinese community in general and subsequently a close study of ten families who had school aged children was conducted. As international graduate students or visiting scholars, the parents in the families had affiliations with institutions of higher education and lived in the United States temporarily. The purpose of this study was to document, analyze, and find the meanings of the Chinese families' home literacy practices, as well as their strengths and difficulties. Theories of literacy as social and cultural practices led to the study's focus on the social and cultural backgrounds of the parents and their use of home literacy as cultural practices for achieving social goals. This study addressed the following research questions: (1) What are the home literacy practices of a group of Chinese families living in a community in the American society; (2) What are the Chinese parents' perspectives about literacy, schooling, their roles in their children's literacy development, and how have these factors influenced the families' home literacy practices; (3) How have families experienced literacy learning in the American schools, and how have these experiences influenced the families' home literacy practices. This study was ethnographic in methodology. Data were obtained through interviews and participant observation. Analysis of the data showed that the parents, who grew up in Chinese society, formed their views of literacy in that particular sociocultural environment. Those views guided them in home literacy practices. These practices served as a process of cultural transmission. Through home literacy practices, the parents helped their children construct and maintain identity with Chinese culture, traditional social relations, and the values of literacy learning. Home literacy practices also helped the families make adaptations when they came to the United States. When the families came to this country, the host culture posed as challenges to the families' lives. The children's schools served especially as the representative of the new culture to the families. The school culture made a strong impact on the families' home literacy practices. Soon the parents found that what counted as literacy in this new sociocultural environment was different from their previous experiences. They used home literacy practices to help cope with the difficulties they faced. These practices enabled them and their children to negotiate between the Chinese and the American cultures, to help the children function in American schools, and to prepare them return to home country.

This study explored the caregiving styles of 306 grandparents raising grandchild across three ethnic groups (164 European Americans, 65 Latinos, and 77 African Americans). Significant differences were found in caregiving styles between European Americans and African Americans. Caregiver appraisal (burden, satisfaction, and Mastery) was found to be predictive of caregiving style across the entire sample, and differentially by ethnic group. Caregiver style was predictive of grandchild functioning across the entire sample, and differentially by ethnic group. Lastly, caregiver style was found to be predictive of grandparent well-being across the entire sample, and differentially by ethnic group. Implications are discussed in terms of the complex, multidimensional and culturally embedded nature of the caregiving experience and the importance of considering culture for optimal outcomes.

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