Adaptation of the INTERGROWTH-21st neurodevelopment assessment (INTER-NDA) to the context of the English-speaking Caribbean

Background Adaptation of standardized early child development (ECD) assessments to low- and middle-income countries can be challenging because of culture-specific factors relating to language, content, context, and tool administration, and because the reliance of these tests on specialist healthcare professionals limits their scalability in low resource settings. Methods We report the cross-cultural adaptation of an international, standardized ECD instrument, the INTERGROWTH-21st Project Neurodevelopment Assessment (INTER-NDA), measuring cognitive, language, motor and behavioural outcomes in 2-year-olds, from a UK-based English-speaking population to the English-speaking Caribbean. Children aged 22-30 months were recruited from a pre-existing randomized controlled neurodevelopment intervention study in Grenada, West Indies. Results Eight of 37 INTER-NDA items (22%) were culturally and linguistically adapted for implementation in the Caribbean context. Protocol adherence across seven newly-trained non-specialist child development assessors was 89.9%; six of the seven assessors scored ≥80%. Agreement between the expert assessor and the non-specialist child development assessors was substantial (κ = 0.89 to 1.00 (95% CI [0.58, 1.00]). The inter-rater and test-retest reliability for non-specialist child development assessors was between κ = 0.99 -1.00 (95% CI [0.98, 0.99]) and κ = 0.76 - 1.00 (95% CI [0.33, 1.00]) across all INTER-NDA domains. Conclusions The current study provides evidence to support the use of the adapted INTER-NDA by trained, non-specialist assessors to measure ECD prevalence in the English-speaking Caribbean. It also provides a methodological template for the adaptation of child developmental measures to cultural and linguistic contexts that conform to the cultural standards of the countries in which they are utilized to aid in the measurement of neurodevelopmental impairments (NDIs) in a variety of global clinical settings.

Resilience and permanence of public values: an analysis of administrative contracts in Brazil

This article analyzes the resilience of the public values in the Brazilian public administration’s management models, considering the rules adopted in administrative contracts. This sociological research argues that such public values reflect society’s normative and cultural standards. The study’s theoretical relevance lies in its contribution to understanding the cultural dimension of Brazilian society, recognizing that the law reflects normative standards given the environment in which it is elaborated and enforced. In practice, the study seeks to foster the comprehension of rules, their purposes, and the public ethos that gives identity to the administration. The values attributed to the management models observed in a historical framework were dialogicity, modernization, efficiency, productivity, and professionalization. Finally, administrative contracts are technologies with characteristics of historical models of public management and represent a normative standard that needs improvements.

Occupation-congruent appearance: a measuremental approach

In this article we introduce a novel measure, which we call ‘occupation-congruent appearance’ (OCA). We argue that the measure captures the appearance norms of looking ‘right’ for a particular occupation. Using a combination of large-scale photograph data (N=1,411) and rating data (N=7,920) from Finland, including 387,542 individual ratings, we show that shared cultural standards for OCA exist, and rate of agreement compares with agreement on beauty standards. We systematically compare the relationship between OCA, attractiveness, and masculinity/femininity in male-dominated, gender-balanced, and female-dominated occupational fields for men and for women. We conclude that occupation-congruent appearance is independent from other typically used measures in studies on appearance and social inequalities. Thus, it seems that OCA can capture the kind of elements of appearance that are not reducible to attractiveness, femininity, and masculinity. We discuss the possibilities for using OCA as a complementary measure for researchers interested in appearance and social inequalities.

Strength Analysis of Single-Symmetry Ratio for Single-Symmetry I-Beam

Double-symmetry I-beams are the most common beam cross-sections in structural building. Because that is simpler to design and analyze steel profiles than single-symmetry I-beams. However, with the advancement of economy, the improvement of the quality of life and the cultural standards, large-scale emergence of various large span bridges, special bridge-type landscapes and viaducts. Single symmetrical I-section is better than Double-symmetry I-section to fairly in line with demand characteristics and material economy. This study chooses different Iyc/Iy ratio sections, 0.229, 0.23, 0.3 and 0.5. Iyc/Iy =0.23 is the change point of the sudden drop of the strength of the compressed airfoil. In study, the section is divided into three sections of plasticity, inelasticity and elasticity for analysis and comparison. Considering the different section sizes. If the value of Lb for a small non-elastic interval is too large, the section with a smaller cross-section will reach the elastic interval. Taking all section conditions Lb into consideration, taking 1.4m as a section will reach the non-elastic interval, if the value of the longer Lb is too small, the section with the larger section does not reach the elastic interval. In study, 10m is taken as the section to reach the elastic interval, orientation the AISC ( 2017 ) specification is used to analyze the I-beam. Symmetrical wing plate cross-sections were increased and reduced. The strength of the cross-sections between the compressed side and the tensioned side was discussed, and a single-symmetric I-section with the best cross-sectional efficiency was proposed.

ROLE OF FEMALE PARLIAMENTARIANS IN POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN PAKISTAN

This article attempts to elucidate the female parliamentarian’s role in social and political change in Pakistan by looking at it through the lens of the country’s historical progress. With an emphasis on historical evolution and current situation, the article also discusses social constraints that have made it difficult for women to engage in the political system in the past. Women’s political engagement should be enhanced in the future, and an assessment of these concerns may produce some helpful ideas. In this study article, researchers have examined employing a qualitative research approach which is also called market research method that focuses on acquiring data through open-ended and conversational dialogue. These qualitative research approaches allow for in-depth and additional probing and questioning of respondents based on their responses, where the researchers also seek to understand their purpose and sentiments. The study also finds that Women’s political empowerment across the country is limited by social and cultural standards, as well as by their economic dependency on the male counterparts of their household. Women’s engagement is also limited by low literacy rates and the segregation of men and women in social positions. There will be no meaningful impact on women’s engagement in the public life particularly political life, until there is a progressive adjustment in societal standards, which should begin at the grassroots level and work its way up. For starters, women must be granted greater social and economic autonomy.

Study on Proposal of Men’s Styles Using Angkor Wat as the Motive

Currently, Korea's cultural standards are very high in the world. In line with this heightened level, Korea's beauty industry is also at a high level. But the Barber industry in Korea is not like that. However the number of barbershops is expected to increase gradually as many hair salons do, and the level of barbershops is expected to improve. Therefore, we started this paper because it was determined that new attempts and suggestions of styles were needed for men's hair styles. In order to produce the work of this study, a total of four works were produced based on the theoretical basis of Angkor Wat's concept, the literature on hair tattoos, Internet data. The first work based on the motive of “Nāga” in Angkor Wat is expressed by combining a ducktail and a hair tattoo. The second work based on the “Mahābhārata” in Angkor Wat is expressed by combining a pompadour and a hair tattoo. The third work based on the tower in Phnom Bakheng is expressed by combining iron windings and a hair tattoo. The fourth work based on the central tower in Angkor Wat is expressed by combining iron techniques and hair tattoo. Based on the sculpting work, which is the link between architecture and men's hair, the possibility of creating a male hairstyle by combining hair tattoos was shown in this study, and Barber work was worth it compared to sculpture and other art.

MUSIC TEACHER’S ARTISTIC AND AESTHETIC CONSCIOUSNESS: ESSENCE AND CONTENT OF THE CONCEPT

The paper reveals the essence and content of the concept of ‘artistic and aesthetic consciousness of the teacher,’ where aesthetic consciousness is defined as one that determines the attitude to the phenomena of nature and culture and reveals their value aspects. The author analyzes the main components of artistic and aesthetic consciousness, which are aesthetic sense, aesthetic taste, aesthetic ideal, and shows art as a means of emotional development of the world, which becomes possible only in a socio-cultural environment by mastering certain cultural standards and cultural heritage. Given that art in the aggregate of its artistic images is a spiritual, ideal model of the world, which reflects not so much the real world as the desired, the author defines it as the basis of the spiritual culture of the era, its collective memory. Analyzing the essence and content of the concept of a music teacher’s artistic and aesthetic activities in today's conditions the following factors acquire: possession of a high level of professional training in various fields of music, on which their profession is based; possession of a wide range of creative skills in the field of music; ability to use various forms of work that contribute to the setting-up creative activity, interest in music lessons; ability to apply different types of creative activities in each lesson, based on the content of the development of aesthetic consciousness of future teachers of music; conscious understanding of the essence and content of the concept of a music teacher’s artistic and aesthetic activity in today's conditions. Artistic and aesthetic consciousness is the basis of the professional competencies of a music teacher, who extrapolates musical and aesthetic values into the educational process of student youth, forming their aesthetic culture.

Cultural and communicative formulae as a reflection of the concepts of culture as an expression of the spiritual content of civilizations

The analysis of civilizational pictures of the world through the prism of linguistic universals allows one to reveal the general and the particular in the «human — world» system, which contributes to a more complete understanding of their cultural semantics. Cultural standards vary across civilizations. Their description on the material of multi-structural, genetically heterogeneous languages, civilizations and cultures makes it possible to reveal the common foundations of people's social life despite the fact that their cultural codes are different, often creating the impression of a complete incompatibility of the thinking and behavior of their representatives. Therefore, studies based on the description of fundamentally dissimilar civilizations and cultures, demonstrating the groundlessness of such impressions, are relevant. The article examines cultural and communicative formulae as a reflection of the civilizational pictures of the world. Cultural and communicative formulae (CCF) are defined by the author as the simplest, stable, high-frequency units of culture used at all levels of social and cultural life, which, being a combination of signs, compactly represent the culture in its similarity and difference with other cultures and make it possible to establish a dialogue of cultures in minimum of data involved. CCF provide communication through verbal forms of language, gestures, styles, etc., i.e. through all cultural forms that can be translated into signs of a given culture and are sufficient to have a minimal idea of it. The article examines the CCF using the example of concise verbal forms belonging to folk speech, which include proverbs and sayings, «winged words», precedent phrases that are a component of the civilizational picture of the world. The materials of the article may be of interest for preparation at the higher educational institution in the framework of the fields of «Linguistics», «International relations» and «Culturology».

The Cultural Integration of Working Vietnamese People in Poland: An Analysis of Integration as the Process of Immigrants’ Lived Experience

This article is devoted to investigating the cultural integration of working Vietnamese immigrants in Poland. This study approaches cultural integration as a process of lived experience, paying particular attention to immigrants’ agency. The migrant group is viewed as active actors who are able to develop motivations for integration into their host culture or reinforce their loyalty to their original culture through interactions with new living settings in their country of residence. This study also examined the role of transnationalism in the process of cultural integration. Qualitative analyses showed that the motivations for cultural integration are strongly shaped by the immigrants’ impression of proper cultural standards and their admiration of the performance of social institutions, modernization, and living conditions in Poland. Motivations for integration played a crucial role in fostering the migrant group’s cultural acquisition. Concurrently, the migrant group exposed their disinclination to internalize cultural standards that challenged their established worldviews formed by socialization and education in the home country. This reluctance happens due to the role of transnational ties by which the migrant group can carry and practice their original culture. Consequently, transnationalism results in cultural resistance, hindering the cultural integration of the migrant group in Poland.

МІЖКУЛЬТУРНА КОМПЕТЕНТНІСТЬ ФАХІВЦІВ ІНОЗЕМНИХ МОВ У КОНТЕКСТІ СУЧАСНИХ ЗАРУБІЖНИХ КОНЦЕПЦІЙ

The article identifies the prerequisites for the emergence of intercultural communication as a subject of research, points to the priority objectives of studies in the field of intercultural communication in the European community. It considers the issue of formation of intercultural competence as a necessary factor for the process of communication between representatives of different cultures while training professionals of a new generation. The content of the concept of “intercultural communication” is revealed, the problematic issues of its formation in the process of mastering a foreign language are analyzed in the article. Knowledge of foreign languages helps to relieve psychological barriers, to be more confident while communicating with foreign partners, and be more compatible in modern world. It has been found that certain problems associated with involvement in different cultures are likely to occur when communicating with representatives of different cultures. Communication between people of different cultures is complicated not only by different languages, but also by the fact that this process is influenced by different cultural standards. The relevance of the concept of “intercultural competence” is substantiated, various views of Western scholars on the essence and structure of the concept of “intercultural competence” are presented in the article. The authors suggest models of intercultural competence which show that intercultural competence of future professionals is an integral part of their professional activity. Different views on the formation of a personality of a mediator between cultures are considered. The definitions of “mediator of cultures”, “bilingual personality”, “secondary linguistic personality” are given. Within the concept of “secondary linguistic personality” attention is paid to its special model, which is formed in the process of mastering a second foreign language. The article focuses on the analysis of characteristic features of a mediator of cultures.