Small Group Culture Research Articles

КУЛЬТУРНЫЕ МЕРОПРИЯТИЯ КАК ЭФФЕКТИВНЫЙ СПОСОБ РАЗВИТИЯ ПОЛИКУЛЬТУРНОГО ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНОГО ПРОСТРАНСТВА РФ

This article provides definitions of the terms “multicultural education”, “multicultural educational environment”. The article also covers various cultural events aimed at promoting and developing a multicultural educational environment. In the study, we came to the conclusion, that cultural events held in various regions of our countrycontribute to the interpenetration of cultures, establish ethno-cultural dialogue and help preserve, develop and popularize the national languages and culture of small ethnic groups on the territory of our multinational state and beyond.

Race‐Making an Idioculture: The Case of a Black Social Club

Racialization takes shape at the local level, where small groups form cultures reflecting larger society yet distinctly their own. But what do local racialization processes look like? That is, how does small group culture reciprocally interact with racial ideologies? In what ways do small groups experience and conceive of race at the local level, and how does this shape interpersonal behavior and belonging? Through an in‐depth case study of a Black men’s social club, I analyze the ways race is interpreted at the small group level and how the ideology of race (Fields, New Left Rev, 181, 1990, 95) and the idioculture of a group emerge and interact through group processes. Using a sociology of the local approach, the analysis bridges the cultural and racial by demonstrating how small groups create and negotiate culture through recurring interactions. I encourage greater dialogue between the sociology of small group culture and race, arguing that the former makes clear the building blocks and reciprocal tensions of constructing and experiencing racial ideology.

A Call to Action: Students Establish a Culture of Bystander Intervention Early in Medical Training.

To the Editor: Discrimination, harassment, unrecognized biases, and mistreatment are all forces that negatively influence health care work environments and outcomes. As the United States confronts social inequity nationwide, it is imperative that providers and leaders in medicine are keenly aware of how biases shape our profession and overall health care climate. An effective health care culture must uphold values, maintain accountability, and work to reduce barriers that prevent transparency, communication, advocacy, and growth. It is critical that all health care professionals are empowered with skills to intervene when mistreatment occurs and to lead teams to prevent and recognize mistreatment. However, little time is dedicated to such needs. We created a novel 4-session, student-led, prevention-focused, small group Culture Change in Medicine curriculum as an action-based advocacy project targeted at immediate cultural change at our institution. Sessions are near peer-led where senior medical students facilitate small groups of junior students. Four sessions total are completed by all medical students at key transition points of training: Session 1: Bystander Intervention, Preclerkship Session 2: Response to Discrimination and Bias, Transition to Clerkship Session 3: Advocacy, Postclerkship Session 4: Leadership in Action, Senior Practicum Peer leaders facilitate case-based discussions and deliberate possible interventional or protective strategies for victims or bystanders, empowering students with tools to prevent or address mistreatment. Peer educators undergo faculty development training sessions via live webinars and receive educator guides, facilitator tips, and supplemental resources. A faculty advisor oversees the content development and execution of the training. To date, 2 classes of medical students completed sessions of this training, resulting in 510 person-hours of instruction. Feedback submitted through 97 anonymous postsession surveys is largely positive. Eighty-five students (87%) reported that the curriculum had important topics to cover during medical school and 92 students (95%) reported that their peer educators were knowledgeable on the topics delivered in the curriculum. Near peer leaders promoted buy-in and motivation from students, allowing for broader and more honest conversations about these sensitive topics, and provided a stronger sense of security and confidentiality without the presence of authority figures (faculty/staff). Next steps include widening participation to other key groups such as clinical faculty, graduate medical education programs, and other health professions learners and faculty. We hope that our work can also translate to other institutions and provide a foundation for further dialogue and improvement in medical training culture, building new skills to confront the societal norms that lead to bias, discrimination, and mistreatment. Acknowledgments: The authors thank the leadership of the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine for supporting student leadership in this endeavor. Additionally, this curriculum would not be possible without the time investment, professionalism, and passion of the many student peer educators. Finally, the authors thank Military Primary Care Research Network staff for their ongoing assistance in the development of curricular evaluation methods.

Ценностно-смысловые и лингвокультурные маркеры в традиционной культуре малых народов Крыма

The purpose of the study is to identify axiological-semantic and linguocultural markers as a basis for ethnic identity of Crimea small peoples (the ethnic Bulgarians, the ethnic Germans). The research is novel in that evolution of small languages forms, everyday consciousness and traditional culture of Crimea small ethnic groups is considered for the first time. As a result, the study of the cultural and particularly linguistic situation of Crimea small peoples in foreign-language environment shows that due to historical processes, geopolitical and social changes these communities have undergone massive linguistic assimilation and virtually lost their ethnic identity.

Talking Shit, Egos, and Tough Skin: Humor Among Elite Black Men

Extant research considers humor integral to the Black experience. Previous work on the topic, however, mainly focuses on humor among lower-class Blacks and remains disconnected from broader sociological research on humor and small group culture. Drawing on semistructured, in-depth interviews with 29 members and over 30 months of participant observation this article explores humor in an elite Black men’s social club. “Talking shit” is central to sociability among members, signaling belongingness (having “tough skin") and cementing cohesion on interpersonal and group levels through the deconstruction of egos. By finding amusement in the ambiguities of social identity members interpret its boundaries and articulate feelings in the process of creating and sustaining a culture of hilarity. Ultimately, the analysis illuminates how social identity shapes the content and processes of humor within small group culture.

Formation of the Yukaghir National School

The problems of preserving the language and culture of small ethnic groups are relevant in world society. The Yukaghirs are one of the disappearing ethnic groups due to their small number and long-term adaptation in a multi-ethnic environment that does not contribute to the development and preservation of linguistic and cultural traditions. The lack of a language environment, scientifically grounded educational programs and teaching materials, violation of psychological foundations that contribute to the preservation of an ethnic group are the main bases of the relevance of the study. The article presents the results of a long-term educational experiment on the preservation of the Yukaghir language and culture in the Nelemnoye secondary school of the Verkhnekolymsky district of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the successful management of the educational process in the new conditions, its progressive expansion, development, and creation of a socio-educational space to preserve the native language and culture in the Yukaghir village. The practical results of the experiment can be used to solve similar problems in the world's educational society.

РАЗВИТИЕ КОРЕННЫХ МАЛОЧИСЛЕННЫХ НАРОДОВ В ЭПОХУ ДАЛЬНЕВОСТОЧНОЙ РЕСПУБЛИКИ (1920–1922)*

The article, based on the use of published and unpublished historical sources, will consider the main trends in the national policy of the Far Eastern Republic (1920-1922), as well as its impact on the development of economy and culture of small ethnic groups in the national areas of the region. The authors have carried out an in-depth analysis of the main areas of activities of the Ministry of National Affairs in relation to the Indigenous Minorities. Based on a study of the legislative framework of the Republican authorities, the work reveals the contradictory and ambiguous nature of the national policy of the buffer Republic.

The efficacy of the well of the well (WOW) culture system on development of bovine embryos in a small group and the effect of number of adjacent embryos on their development

The aim of the present study was to clarify the efficacy of the well of the well (WOW) culture system for a small number of embryos and the effect of number of adjacent embryos in a WOW dish on blastocyst development. In conventional droplet culture, embryos in the small-number group (5-6 embryos/droplet) showed low blastocyst development compared with a control group (25-26 embryos/droplet). However, small and large numbers of embryos (5-6 and 25 embryos, respectively) in a WOW dish showed no significant differences in cleavage, blastocyst rates, and mean cell number in blastocysts compared with the control group (25-30 embryos/droplet). In addition, the number of adjacent embryos in a WOW dish did not affect the development to blastocysts and cell number in blastocysts. In conclusion, a WOW dish can provide high and stable blastocyst development in small group culture wherever embryos are placed in microwells of the WOW dish.

Validation of an interferon stimulatory response element reporter gene assay for quantifying type I interferons

The goal of this work was to develop a virus-free, cell-based interferon (IFN) bioassay and determine the utility of this assay on biological samples that contained IFN-τ, the trophoblast-secreted maternal recognition of pregnancy factor in ruminants. Madin-Darby bovine kidney cells were transduced with lentiviral particles that contained a firefly luciferase reporter construct driven by an IFN stimulatory response element (ISRE). Stably transduced cells were selected with the use of puromycin resistance. A linear, dose-responsive response was detected with human IFN-α and ovine IFN-τ. Interferon activity was detected in conditioned media from bovine trophoblast cells and uterine flushes collected from sheep and cattle. Activity also was detected in media collected after individual or small group culture of in vitro-produced bovine blastocysts at day 8 to 10 after fertilization. In summary, this IFN stimulatory response element–reporter assay may be used as an alternative to virus-dependent, cytopathic assays. It contains a similar sensitivity to IFNs and can be completed in a shorter time than cytopathic assays and does not require heightened biosafety conditions after cell transduction.

Somatic embryogenesis in Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn

Induction of somatic embryos and plant regeneration was demonstrated for the first time in Alnus glutinosa. Somatic embryos were initiated from zygotic embryos collected 1–3 weeks post-anthesis (WPA), i.e., when they were at globular or early cotyledonary stage and were 0.5–1 mm in length. Induction frequency (16.6 %) and the mean number of somatic embryos (4.5 embryos/explant) were highest after culture of zygotic embryos, collected at 3 WPA, on Murashige and Skoog medium (MS) supplemented with 0.9-μM 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 2.22-μM benzyladenine (BA). No embryogenic induction was observed on medium with BA alone. Initial somatic embryos differentiated indirectly from callus tissue formed at the surface of the zygotic embryos. Embryogenic competence was maintained by secondary embryogenesis, which was affected by explant type, plant growth regulators and genotype. Secondary embryogenesis was induced by culture of small groups of whole somatic embryos or isolated cotyledon explants on medium consisting of MS medium (half-strength macronutrients) supplemented with 0.44-μM BA. Histological study of isolated cotyledon explants revealed that secondary embryos developed directly from differentiated embryogenic tissue on the surface of cotyledons. Somatic embryos at successive stages of development, including cotyledonary-stage embryos with shoot and root meristems, were evident. For plantlet conversion, somatic embryos were transferred to maturation medium supplemented with 3 % maltose, followed by 6 weeks of culture in Woody Plant Medium supplemented with 0.44-μM BA and 0.46-μM Zeatin (Z). This novel protocol appears promising for mass propagation, conservation and genetic transformation of black alder.

Beneficial Effect of Two Culture Systems with Small Groups of Embryos on the Development and Quality ofIn Vitro-Produced Bovine Embryos

Currently, in vitro-produced embryos derived by ovum pick up (OPU) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) technologies represent approximately one-third of the embryos worldwide in cattle. Nevertheless, the culture of small groups of embryos from an individual egg donor is an issue that OPU-IVF laboratories have to face. In this work, we tested whether the development and quality of the preimplantation embryos in vitro cultured in low numbers (five embryos) could be improved by the addition of epidermal growth factor, insulin, transferrin and selenium (EGF-ITS) or by the WOW system. With this aim, immature oocytes recovered from slaughtered heifers were in vitro matured and in vitro fertilized. Presumptive zygotes were then randomly cultured in four culture conditions: one large group (LG) (50 embryos/500μl medium) and three smaller groups [five embryos/50μl medium without (control) or with EGF-ITS (EGF-ITS) and five embryos per microwell in the WOW system (WOW)]. Embryos cultured in LG showed a greater ability to develop to blastocyst stage than embryos cultured in smaller groups, while the blastocyst rate of WOW group was significantly higher than in control. The number of cells/blastocyst in LG was higher than control or WOW, whereas the apoptosis rate per blastocyst was lower. On the other hand, the addition of EGF-ITS significantly improved both parameters compared to the control and resulted in similar embryo quality to LG. In conclusion, the WOW system improved embryo development, while the addition of EGF-ITS improved the embryo quality when smaller groups of embryos were cultured.

Effect of supplementation of different growth factors in embryo culture medium with a small number of bovine embryos on in vitro embryo development and quality

When embryos are cultured individually or in small groups, blastocyst yield efficiency and quality are usually reduced. The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of supplementation of the embryo culture medium (CM) with several growth factors (GFs) on embryo development and apoptosis rate when a reduced number of embryos were in vitro cultured. Two experimental studies (ES) were carried out. In ES 1, five treatments were tested to study the effect of GF on embryo development: Control (∼30 to 50 embryos cultured in 500 μl of CM); Control 5 (Five embryos cultured in 50 μl microdrops of CM), without addition of GF in either of the two control groups; epidermal GF (EGF); IGF-I; and transforming GF-α (TGF-α) (Five embryos were cultured in 50 μl microdrops of CM with 10 ng/ml EGF, 10 ng/ml IGF-I or 10 ng/ml TGF-α, respectively). In ES 2, following the results obtained in ES 1, four different treatments were tested to study their effect on embryo development and quality (number of cells per blastocyst and apoptotic rate): Control; Control 5; EGF, all three similar to ES 1; EGF + IGF-I group (five embryos cultured in 50 μl microdrops of CM with 10 ng/ml EGF and 10 ng/ml IGF-I). In both ESs, it was observed that a higher proportion of embryos cultured in larger groups achieved blastocyst stage than embryos cultured in reduced groups (22.6% v. 14.0%, 12.6% and 5.3% for Control v. Control 5, IGF-I, TGF-α groups in ES 1, and 24.9% v. 17.1% and 19.0% for Control v. Control 5 and EGF in ES 2, respectively; P < 0.05), with the exception of embryos cultured in medium supplemented with EGF (18.5%) or with EGF + IGF-I (23.5%), in ES 1 and ES 2, respectively. With regard to blastocyst quality, embryos cultured in reduced groups and supplemented with EGF, alone or combined with IGF-I, presented lower apoptosis rates than embryos cultured in reduced groups without GF supplementation (11.6% and 10.5% v. 21.9% for EGF, EGF + IGF-I and Control 5 groups, respectively; P < 0.05). The experimental group did not affect the total number of cells per blastocyst. In conclusion, this study showed that supplementation of the CM with EGF and IGF could partially avoid the deleterious effect of in vitro culture of small groups of bovine embryos, increasing blastocyst rates and decreasing apoptosis rates of these blastocysts.

142 ZONA PELLUCIDA TAGGING WITH BARCODES ALLOWS THE TRACEABILITY OF BOVINE EMBRYOS CULTURED IN GROUP

The low number of oocytes collected from unstimulated donors by ovum pick-up means that embryos produced from each female have to be cultured in very small groups. Because embryo quality and development rates are reduced in individual and small group culture, several methods to culture embryos individually but sharing the same medium have been designed. However, these systems prevent embryo movements, interfering with paracrine factors transmission and gradient changes. Here, we present an alternative in vitro culture method to allow the co-culture of embryos from different origins, without movement restriction and preserving their pedigree, by labelling the zygotes with polysilicon barcodes attached to the outer surface of the zona pellucida (ZP). Barcodes (10 × 6 × 1 µm) with 8 rectangular bits of binary codification (256 possible combinations), which can be read under a standard inverted microscope, were fabricated using silicon microtechnologies. To provide the barcodes with a ZP-binding capacity, they were biofunctionalized by self-assembled monolayers with the wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) lectin, which recognizes specific saccharides highly abundant in the ZP of most mammalian species. As a proof of concept, the culture method was tested on bovine zygotes produced from slaughterhouse-derived cow oocytes matured and fertilized in vitro. Using a mouth-controlled pipette, presumptive zygotes were individually rolled over WGA-biofunctionalized barcodes (8 barcodes/embryo) previously placed at the bottom of a drop of manipulation media. Four different barcodes, each one with a different codification, were used to encode 25 embryos (6–7 embryos/barcode codification), which were then cultured together in the same drop of medium. Day 7 (D7) and Day 8 (D8) blastocyst, and barcode retention rates were assessed. In addition, D7 expanded blastocysts were vitrified by the cryotop method and post-warming survival was determined as re-expansion rate at 24 h in culture. Finally, the quality of D8 blastocysts was assessed by differential staining and counting of inner cell mass (ICM) and trophectoderm (TE) cells. In all the experiments, a control group without barcodes was cultured and vitrified-warmed. Data were analyzed by chi-square and Mann–Whitney tests. The presence of barcodes attached to the ZP did not affect in vitro embryo development (D8 blastocysts: 29.7% control n = 309, 36.2% encoded n = 315), post-warming survival (86.4% control n = 66, 80.5% encoded n = 82), or blastocyst quality (IMC/TE: 22.1 ± 1.4/64.5 ± 5.7 control n = 18, 22.2 ± 1.7/64.1 ± 6.1 encoded n = 23). The labelling system was effective until D8 of culture, as all the embryos maintained barcodes attached (4 ± 1.8 barcodes/embryo) and could be identified, even after undergoing vitrification and warming. In conclusion, identification of co-cultured embryos by biofunctionalized barcodes attached to the ZP is feasible and will allow to culture embryos from different donors in the same drop, keeping the benefits of collective culture. Support was provided by Spanish MEC (TEC2011-29140-C03; RZ2010-00015-0-00; AGL2010-19069), Generalitat Catalunya (2009 SGR 282 and 621), and PIF-UAB Fellowship.

Joking Culture: The Role of Repeated Humorous Interactions on Group Processes during Challenge Course Experiences

When groups form, they develop their own culture from the shared meaning created from their interactions. Humor is part of every social group, and when repeatedly referenced, it forms a joking culture. The joking culture of small groups influences group processes by smoothing group interaction, forming a collective identity, separating the group from others, and securing appropriate behavior. Adventure education challenge courses include humor as part of their context; therefore, studying the joking culture of groups during challenge course experiences may provide additional insight and tools for improving group outcomes. Two ethnographic examples of continued joking from a participant observation approach are provided to demonstrate the presence of continued joking during challenge course experiences.

Infighting and Ideology: How Conflict Informs the Local Culture of the Chicago Dyke March

Although the study of local cultures has become established in American sociology, it often ignores the contested nature of how culture emerges and is negotiated within the context of small groups. To this end, we address the concept of infighting, a subtype of conflict, as it operates within a small group framework. Building on an ethnographic study of the Chicago Dyke March, we demonstrate that infighting highlights competing ideologies that may remain implicit in the absence of such conflict. Infighting treats divergent meaning systems as part of local contention between rival cliques and power centers. These ideological battles both reflect pre-existing differences between subgroups and serve to make explicit and public such differences, both in their background characteristics and in their interests. In the process infighting directs attention away from shared concerns and group building to questions of strategy, transforming the small group into an arena of ideological production and factional rivalry. Infighting recasts a group from a space of consensus to a contested political arena. We elaborate four analytic processes through which infighting connects to ideology and small group culture: infighting emphasizes the multivocality of meaning, cultural heterogeneity, an equilibrium of inclusion and group boundaries, and planning in light of ideologies of power.

Personal Categories for Japanese Sacred Places and Gods: Views Elicited from a Conjugal Pair

Polytheism is not likely to be understood fully until it has been investigated at individual and small group levels. In this study of Japanese religious belief, hierarchical clustering and multidimensional scaling, and interviewing, have been used to analyze pile sorts of the names of sacred places that a male informant could easily recall. The same procedures were then followed with the informant's gods, and by his wife for her sacred places and her gods. Particular attention was given to those sacred places and gods designated by the respondents as being especially meaningful or significant. The results are primarily person‐centered, but when matched and combined they reveal an aspect of the conjugal pair's small group culture. The names given to the idiosyncratic clusters and dimensions, too, appear to have some ethnographic generality.

AIDS and Social Change1

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