bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Health Behavior Interventions Among People With Lower Socio-Economic Status: A Scoping Review of Behavior Change Techniques and Effectiveness
Authors: van den Bekerom Loes , van Gestel Laurens , Schoones Jan , Bussemaker Jet , Adriaanse Marieke
Published: November 2023

Background. Behavior change interventions can unintendedly widen existing socio-economic disparities in health. Understanding why interventions are (in)effective among people with lower socio-economic status (SES) is essential. Therefore, this scoping review aims to describe what is reported about the behavior change techniques (BCTs) applied within interventions and their effectiveness in reducing physical inactivity, unhealthy eating, smoking and alcohol consumption according to SES. Methods. A systematic search was conducted in 12 electronic databases, and 151 studies meeting the eligibility criteria were included and coded for health behavioral outcomes, SES-operationalization, BCTs (type and number) and effectiveness. Results. Findings suggest that approaches for measuring, defining and substantiating lower SES vary. Current studies of behavior change interventions for people of different SES do not systematically identify specific BCTs, making systematic evaluation of BCT effectiveness impossible. The effectiveness of interventions is mainly evaluated by overall intervention outcomes and SES-moderation effects are mostly not assessed. Conclusion. Using different SES-operationalizations and not specifying BCTs hampers systematic evidence accumulation regarding effective (combinations of) BCTs for the low SES population. To learn which BCTs effectively improve health behaviors among people with lower SES, future intervention developers should justify how SES is operationalized and must systematically describe and examine BCTs.
The roles of anthropomorphism, spirituality, and gratitude in pro-environmental attitudes
Authors: White Cindel , Billet Matthew Ira
Published: November 2023

Emotions can be a powerful motivator of pro-environmental behavior, but less is known about how religious factors shape these emotional responses. Two studies investigated how spiritual views of nature – as an anthropomorphic being, that provides positive self-transcendent emotional experiences and spiritual resources – are associated with gratitude to the natural environment. Feeling gratitude was a robust unique predictor of pro-environmental attitudes, including a desire to preserve and protect nature, moral disapproval of environment degradation, and pro-environmental civic engagement. We documented the association between spiritual views of nature, gratitude, and pro-environmental attitudes in Singapore (n = 1375) and the United States (n = 745) and across diverse religious groups. Furthermore, the association between gratitude to nature and pro-environmentalism was not moderated by perceived overlap between God and the natural environment, indicating that spiritually-grounded feelings of gratitude to nature have direct associations with environmental attitudes that extend across religious and cultural boundaries.
God, witchcraft, and beliefs about illness in Mauritius
Authors: Willard Aiyana Koka , Rosun Nachita , de Barra Mícheál
Published: November 2023

Why do people use supernatural concepts to explain and treat illness? We examine how uncertainty around the cause of an illness, severity, and knowledge about past moral behaviour, influences people’s tendency to attribute illness to God and/or witchcraft in Mauritius. We employed a vignette-based experiment that manipulated the content and context of four illnesses, paired with a combination of scaled and open-ended free list questions about the causes and cures for those illnesses. Across our sample (N=530) participants suggested supernatural causes and cures for all illnesses. High uncertainty around the cause of the symptoms increased participants’ claims that it was caused by God. When the sick person had a history of immoral behaviour, participants were more willing to attribute their illness to God and witchcraft, and offered up 4 times more supernatural causes in free lists than when the sick person had no such history. We found no evidence that severity influenced participants’ likelihood of suggesting supernatural causes or cures. Further, when participants gave a supernatural cause, they were more likely to also indicate that the illness had a supernatural cure (e.g., consulting a spiritual healer), suggesting that supernatural causes increase the need for supernatural cures.
Passively Sensing Smartphone Use in Teens: Rates of Use by Sex and Across Operating Systems
Authors: Alexander Jordan , Linkersdörfer Janosch , Toda-Thorne Katherine , Sullivan Ryan M. , Cummins Kevin M , Tomko Rachel L. , Allen Nicholas B. , Bagot Kara S. , Baker Fiona , Fuemmeler Bernard F. , Hoffman Elizabeth , Kiss Orsolya , Mason Michael J. , Nguyen-Louie Tam T. , Tapert Susan , Smith Calen J. , Squeglia Lindsay , Wade Natasha E.
Published: November 2023

Youth screen media activity is a growing concern, though few studies include objective usage data. Through the longitudinal, U.S.-based Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, youth (mage=14; n=1,415) self-reported their typical smartphone use and passively recorded three weeks of smartphone use via the ABCD-specific Effortless Assessment Research System (EARS) application. Here we describe and validate passively-sensed smartphone keyboard and app use measures, provide code to harmonize measures across operating systems, and describe trends in adolescent smartphone use. Keyboard and app-use measures were reliable and positively correlated with one another (r=0.33) and with self-reported use (rs=0.21-0.35). Participants recorded a mean of 5hrs of daily smartphone use, two more hours than they reported, with females using more than males. Smartphone use was recorded at all hours, peaking from 8-10PM and lowest from 3-5AM. Social media and texting apps comprised nearly half of all use. Data are openly available to approved investigators (https://nda.nih.gov/abcd/). Information herein can inform use of the ABCD dataset to longitudinally study health and neurodevelopmental correlates of adolescent smartphone use.
Accelerating Executive Function Assessments With Group Sequential Designs
Authors: Rojo Mariluz , Wong Quinn Wai Wai , Pahor Anja , Seitz Aaron , Jaeggi Susanne , Ramani Geetha , Goffney Imani , Gardner Jacob R. , Barbour Dennis L.
Published: November 2023

Inferences about executive functions (EFs) are commonly drawn via lengthy serial administration of simple independent assessments. Classical methods for EF estimation often require excessive measurements and provide little or no flexibility to dynamically adjust test length for each individual. In order to decrease test duration and mitigate respondent burden, active testing modalities that incorporate more efficient data collection strategies are indispensable. To this end, we propose sequential analysis to improve upon traditional testing methods in behavioral science. In this paper, we show that sequential testing can be used to rapidly screen for a difference in the EF of a given individual with respect to a baseline level. In cognitive tests consisting of repeated identical tasks, a sequential framework can be utilized to actively detect significant differences in cognitive performance with high confidence more rapidly than conventional non-sequential approaches. Ultimately, sequential analysis could be applied to a variety of problems in cognitive and perceptual domains to improve efficiency gains and achieve substantial test length reduction.
Mismatching expressions: Spatiotemporal and kinematic differences in autistic and non-autistic facial expressions
Authors: Keating Connor Tom , Sowden Sophie , O'Donoghue Holly , Cook Jennifer
Published: November 2023

Preliminary studies are suggestive of differences in facial expressions between autistic and non-autistic individuals. However, it is unclear what specifically is different, whether such differences remain after controlling for facial morphology and alexithymia, and whether production differences relate to perception differences. Therefore, here we aimed to 1) compare the jerk and activation profiles for autistic and non-autistic expressions, after controlling for facial morphology and alexithymia, and 2) explore whether differences therein predicted differences in emotion recognition. To fulfil these aims, we employed facial motion capture to record 2,448 posed and 2,448 spoken expressions of anger, happiness, and sadness from 25 autistic and 26 matched non-autistic adults. Participants also completed a dynamic emotion recognition task. We found that the autistic participants relied more on the mouth, and less on the eyebrows, to signal anger than their non-autistic counterparts. For happiness, the autistic participants showed activity patterns suggestive of a less exaggerated smile that also did not “reach the eyes”. For sadness, the autistic participants tended to produce a downturned expression by raising their upper lip more than their non-autistic peers. Alexithymia predicted less differentiated angry and happy expressions, and lower precision (i.e., consistency) for spoken expressions. For non-autistic individuals, those who produced precise spoken expressions had greater emotion recognition accuracy. No production-related factors contributed to autistic emotion recognition. These results have significant implications for understanding the aetiology of the emotion recognition difficulties documented in various clinical conditions.
Neural evidence of core foundations and conceptual change in preschool numeracy
Authors: Chen Chi-Chuan , Berteletti Ilaria , Hyde Daniel C.
Published: November 2023

Children learn the meanings of number words before entering school and this knowledge forms the foundation for lifelong numeracy. Here we test competing theories of early numeracy development by measuring event-related brain potentials during a novel number word-quantity comparison task in a convenience sample of North American 3-4 year old preschool children. We find differences in early attention-related parietal electrophysiology by conceptual stage of development, with less conceptually advanced children more likely to process individual objects and advanced children more likely to refocus attention over sets of multiple-item arrays. Subsequently, only more advanced children showed later frontal brain electrophysiology sensitive to exact rather than approximate number word meaning. These results suggest that while children may learn the first few number words through parallel individuation, they ultimately create new exact number concepts not defined in terms of core, non-verbal number systems.
Psychosocial Interventions for Children and Adolescents with Conduct Problems
Authors: Goulter Natalie , Fleming Georgette E.
Published: November 2023

Conduct problems (CP) encompass antisocial behaviors that violate others’ rights and/or societal norms. In this chapter, we describe evidence-based psychosocial interventions targeting CP during childhood and adolescence. Specifically, we outline the theoretical underpinnings and intervention components of family-based interventions and multicomponent interventions, including interventions specifically targeting high-risk personality traits for CP (e.g., callous-unemotional traits and psychopathy). We briefly synthesize efficacy and effectiveness research on intervention effects in relation to CP, gun violence, gang affiliation, and criminal legal system involvement. We also describe the current evidence testing logic models (including mediating and moderating models) and we discuss the effective components of psychosocial interventions. Finally, we provide recommendations for future research to address youth gun violence. Ultimately, evidence supports the utility of psychosocial interventions for improving CP, especially when they are tailored to the needs of individuals. However, the field currently lacks evidence supporting the efficacy of these psychosocial interventions to reduce gun violence among children and adolescents. This is a critical next frontier for the field.
Mental representation of words and concepts in late multilingualism: A replication and extension of the Revised Hierarchical Model
Authors: Sperl Laura , Schroeger Anna , Kaufmann Juergen M. , Kreysa Helene
Published: November 2023

Speakers of multiple languages must store the respective lexical items efficiently to enable correct access. Importantly, all items must be linked to semantic information and world knowledge. One prominent model of the mental lexicon of late bilinguals is the Revised Hierarchical Model (Kroll & Stewart 1994), which postulates bidirectional but asymmetrical connections between separate stores for L1 (native language) and L2 (second/foreign language), and a shared conceptual store. Using German native speakers with advanced English proficiency, Experiment 1 largely confirmed model predictions regarding different preferred mental routes and processing times depending on translation direction. Moreover, the original design was extended by including abstract stimuli and picture naming in L2. A series of additional measures, such as proficiency and age of acquisition, served to specify the language experience of the participants and made it possible to compare the results with a group of non-native speakers of German (Experiment 2). Interestingly, the results suggest that the model also applies to two or more non-native languages, potentially influenced by the experimental and general language context.
Validation Study of the DeZIM Picture Database: Faces. Brief Study Report
Authors: Veit Susanne , Zey Elli , Ehmeir Judith , Essien Iniobong , Degner Juliane , Stelter Marleen
Published: November 2023

The DeZIM Picture Database: Faces (Veit & Essien, 2022) contains portraits of women and men that can be used as stimulus material in procedures such as the Implicit Association Test and the Affect Misattribution Procedure. They were taken by a professional photographer between late 2020 and early 2021 and are available for download and use via DeZIM.fdz and in the MIND.set media pool for registered users. The people portrayed were cast in public spaces and photographed as they were dressed and styled on the day of the casting.The DeZIM image Database: Faces (Veit & Essien, 2022) contains a total of 195 portrait photos. The images are sorted by gender and assigned to four groups that reflect certain phenotypes and are therefore more likely to be attributed to certain regions of origin or assigned to groups. The groups are described below, and Table 1 provides two examples for each group.Group 1: 31 portraits of women and 22 portraits of men who are more likely to be attributed to the so-called MENA region (Middle East, Northern Africa), Turkey, or Southern European countries. Group 2: 22 portraits of White women and 25 portrait photos of White men who are attributed with increased probability to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe or North America. Group 3: 22 portraits of Black women and 27 portraits of Black men associated with increased likelihood with African countries.Group 4: 22 portraits of women and 24 portraits of men who are more likely to be perceived as Asian and attributed to Central, East or Southeast Asian countries.
Doped Proton-Conducting Membranes Based on Heat-Resistant Heterochain Polymers
Authors:   Baikal Institute of Nature Management SB RAS, Ulan-Ude, Russia, Grigor’eva Mariya N. , Stelmakh Sergey A. ,   Baikal Institute of Nature Management SB RAS, Ulan-Ude, Russia
Published: November 2023

Fuel cells with solid polymer electrolytes are the most popular chemical current sources and versatile sources of energy today. Proton-conducting membranes based on a guanidine-containing polymer of the cationic type on a polybenzimidazole matrix were obtained in this work. The membranes were created by doping film materials with orthophosphoric acid from a polymer-polymer mixture of N-phenyl-substituted polyhexamethylene guanidine (10 %) and polybenzimidazole. In this case, phosphoric acid remains in the membrane due to hydrogen bonds with the functional groups of the polymer and electrostatic interactions resulting from the doping of polyguanidine, which transforms into a polycationic form. As the content of polyguanidine increases in the polymer-polymeric mixture, the proton conductivity of the membrane increases. It was discovered that these membranes possess high thermal stability, with only a 20% mass loss occurring at 350 °C. Additionally, they exhibit high proton conductivity of 0.3·10-1 mS/cm at temperatures of 130°C and higher, as well as satisfactory mechanical properties, with a tensile strength (σр) of 21-27 MPa and elongation at break (εр) of 7–11 %. The value of activation energy (Еа) is also low, at 0.145 eV, which suggests that these membranes have potential for using them in solid polymer electrolyte fuel cells.
TRADITIONAL HENNA APRON IN KARAMAN AND ITS DESIGN FEATURES
Authors: KONUK Mustafa
Published: November 2023

From past to present, women have made it their pleasure to prepare dowry for their daughters by spinning the yarn and coloring it with their own means. These knitted aprons, which are eye-catching and handcrafted in every way, are the best examples of Turkish handicrafts. The subject of this study is to introduce the crocheted knitted henna aprons, which have a traditional identity in the center of Karaman, especially for the dowry of young girls and which are carefully prepared so that the bride's clothes are not contaminated and the burnt henna stains are not on her clothes, to introduce the crocheted henna aprons that are kept in their dowry, to reveal their ornamental features and to determine the design elements.   In this context, crocheted henna aprons were examined in terms of design, information was obtained about the motifs, techniques, colors and materials used by interviewing people living in the region, and the local names that people gave to these aprons were researched. The local style was used in the motif naming of the crocheted apron samples examined. The people living in the Karaman region are the people who live very closely to each other and at the same time are closely connected to their customs and traditions. In the past, the aprons that were knitted to prevent the new bride's clothes from getting dirty at the henna night and kept in her chest after using it that night and tied in front of special guests when they would arrive, are unfortunately no longer knitted either because there are chest stains on the chests or because they are refused to be used by young girls. As a result, it shows how important it is to determine the traditional henna aprons left in a few households in the Karaman region before they disappear completely, to bring them into the literature and to contribute to today's designs.
AN INVESTIGATING OF EIGHTH GRADE STUDENTS’ CAUSAL ATTRIBUTION OF SUCCESS AND FAILURE IN MATHEMATICS
Authors: BAŞTÜRK Savaş
Published: November 2023

Teaching and learning in the classroom are a complex process characterized by intense cognition of the causal nature of student and teacher behaviour. Students' perceptions of whether they are successful and their analysis of why they are successful or unsuccessful can have an impact on their future performance. The study aims to reveal eighth grade middle school students’ causal attribution of success and failure in mathematics. To collect data, a semi-structured interview was developed by the researcher. Interviews with students were recorded using a voice recorder. These audio recordings were deciphered and analysed. The participants of the study consisted of 15 students who were in the 8th grade of a middle school (13-14 aged). The results of the study revealed that effort is one of the most frequently cited causes for explaining success or failure in mathematics. While the reasons that refer to ability are not very popular, especially solving or not solving more questions is one of the obvious causes. This is thought to have a conclusion of teaching conception based on question-solving intensively in order to prepare the national high school entrance exam.
SEASONAL TREND OF MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES: THE MIDDLE FIRAT SECTION
Authors: DENİZDURDURAN Mehmet , KIZILELMA Yakup
Published: November 2023

The rapid expansion of industrialization and urbanization is mainly due to the concentration of anthropogenic activities in urban areas. Unplanned and rapid urbanization in cities located in developing countries has caused some environmental problems such as increasing energy consumption, changes in the local climate and a higher amount of air pollution. The climate system is effective in many areas, from the local scale to the global scale, and from the formation of the Earth to human activities. Climate changes has occurred in the time that has passed since the first formation of the Earth until today. In addition to the natural climate changes of the Earth, anthropogenic effects on the climate system have been observed with the industrialization in the 19th century. Various statistical approaches have been developed to determine the size and the direction of these respective changes. Global temperature changes adopted by many disciplines, institutions and organizations have increased their impact and caused environmental problems today. As in many regions of the world, Turkey is among the countries that have the potential to discern short or long term climate changes depending on time. In particular, the Southeastern Anatolia Region, which contains the study area, is among the sensitive areas in terms of climate changes due to its location. A large number of statistical methods have been developed to reveal the amount and direction of climate changes. In this study, the trend of changes in temperature parameters in the Middle Fırat Region between 1970 and 2014 was examined. In this respect, the trend in annual and seasonal minimum maximum temperatures was determined by using Mann-Kendall and Linear Trend Analysis techniques. According to the results of the analysis, it was observed that there was a statistically significant increase in the annual maximum and minimum temperatures of the Middle Fırat Section. Depending upon the increase in temperatures, there may be an increase in pressures on agricultural irrigation and water resources in the future. This case may lead to a more critical state of the region's economy, which is based on agriculture.
The Tendencies of Technological Political Culture of the Depression Era in the Movie “The Wizard of Oz”
Authors: KURDASHVILI Lasha
Published: November 2023

The attitude towards the technological progress in the United States throughout history varied from the euphoria to the paranoia. In the 1930s, when the Depression put the majority of the American industries into the financial hole, with the percentage of unemployment close to 1/3 of the nation`s population, technological progress seemed to be the recovery option, and at the same time the dangerous reason of surrogating the personal with “soulless” machinery. In the meanwhile the great industry of film making was gaining more and more cultural weight throughout the nation. Never before had the American motion pictures such an influence in the developing and exposing the American identity and culture. It provided and mirrored the ideas of new social structure and values, together with the images of the criticism and optimistic viewpoint, during the harsh days of the Great Depression. In 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer brought to screen, at first glance a very far from the technological tendencies, children story, in the innovative Technicolor, “The Wizard of Oz”. Nevertheless besides the Technicolor, which on its due showed the advancement of the U.S. technological development, the whole idea of the “world of Oz” represents the desire of the nation to get away from the realms of the Depression, into the colorful world of joy and happiness. The film`s core idea is the choice of coming back home from the world of the technological utopia: back to the hard, not colorful but, at the same time, true reality. In this essay I will analyze the both cultural-political tendencies: technological social alienation and critical reality, on the case of the movie “The Wizard of Oz”, reconnecting it with the historical-material relationship with the Depression era.
Native Americans in the United States Civil War
Authors: Chumburidze Tea
Published: November 2023

Native Americans played a vital role in the history of the United States of America. During the upheaval of the Civil War (1861-1865), many American Indians expressed their commitment to the Union or Confederacy. They assembled armies and participated in battles. Their alliance was important for both sides of the war (the Union and the Confederacy) as they recognized that American Indians’ involvement in this conflict could influence the outcome of the bloody conflict. At the same time, Native Americans were affected by the Civil War, because during this period they faced division among their tribes, and after the war they struggled to exist without slavery and to cope with broken treaties and territorial growth despite promises by the United States government. This article examines the role of American Indians during the Civil War and their condition after the war. The research explains how slavery affected the American Indians’ commitment and how their decision shaped the American experience in the Civil War.
Untranslatable Words - National-Specific Element of Culture
Authors: DIASAMIDZE Gulnara
Published: November 2023

There are about 6500 languages in the world. It is not surprising that some words found in one language cannot be translated into other languages using one word. Therefore, in the course of learning a language, we certainly encounter words which cannot be translated into our native language. “All that the recipient has noticed in the text of foreign culture but can’t understand, that seems strange, unclear, erroneous to him and requires interpretation, serves as a signal of existence of national-specific elements of culture in the text, specifically, gaps” (Sorokyn & Markovina, 1998). This article reviews the impossibility of translation in all cases related to lack of corresponding words, things and events.
Corporate Social Responsibility Double Standards of CSR (Two Case Studies)
Authors: Lazishvili Tamar
Published: November 2023

Corporate Social Responsibility - the concept that some perceive to be a company’s duty to be sensitive to the needs of all stakeholders in their business activities, is strongly tied with the principles of sustainable development in proposing that companies should be obliged to make decisions based not only on the financial and economic interests, but also on the social and environmental outcomes of their activities. Corporations often articulate their commitment to “corporate social responsibility” principles, but their actual fulfillment of these principles, especially in third world countries, is questionable. This deviation between rhetoric and reality, commitment and concrete performance especially in developing parts of the world reveals the fact that many corporations have not wholly incorporated CSR into their business models and represents convincing evidence to double standards of SCR
Some Observations on Mass Beliefs in the U.S. and Georgia
Authors: Shioshvili Tamar
Published: November 2023

Debates about the political abilities of the public remain one of the major controversies in political behavior research. This controversy implies normative presumptions about what level of sophistication is required for democracies to achieve their political ideals. For citizen politics to be purposeful, the electorate must have at least a basic level of political skills. Political attention is also very important sign of the public’s political skills. Reflecting and reinforcing the general development of cognitive mobilization, interest in politics and government affairs has increases in the U.S. and Georgia as well. Interest in specific election may vary from campaign to campaign, but statistics suggest a trend of increasing politicization. More people seem to be spreading reliance on social group and partisan cues as a basis of voting. The present level of issues voting is generally higher than during earlier periods.
Why Hamlet Slaughtered Himself Redefining the Confusion and Ambiguity in the Issue of Killing and Committing Suicide in Shakespeare’s Hamlet
Authors: ALIÇ Serdar
Published: November 2023

The terms “killing” and “committing suicide” have always been a matter of question in the world of literature since the beginning of human life on earth. These issue has also taken part in Shakespeare’s works repeatedly. Shakespeare questioned the reasons of these in terms of the dilemma between nature and nurture. In Hamlet he revisits these concepts and casts doubts about the nature of human beings while they are capable of taking each other’s or own lives. In this paper, how Hamlet character is centralized for these sort of killings by making mistakes and how he sacrificed himself for the sake of his believes will be discussed thoroughly. This clarification of the details about this seminal work should be regarded as a reflection of reshaping Shakespeare reality from another perspective.
Using Text to Speech Software in Teaching Turkish for Foreigners: The Effects of Text to Speech Software on Reading and Comprehension Abilities of African Students
Authors: GUCLU Bekir , IGIT Sinan
Published: November 2023

In this study we will examine TTS software and its effectiveness on Reading Comprehension in teaching Turkish Language for foreigners. Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) has started with the advent of computers and related software. After the dominance of English as a global language, many people became interested in learning English individually thus Language learning softwares emerged as a self-aid for learners. As the computer technology progressed, it has given opportunity for learners to develop language skills using computer. Text to speech software is the latest development of computer technology which is applicable at communication sector such as call centers, talking watches and mobile phones but it has made a big impact on language learning as well. TTS enables learners of the language to practice on reading passages at their own pace without teacher and social pressure. The experiment showed that using a Text to Speech Software in Turkish Language has some drawbacks but still effective for learners.
Westernization of the Cherokee Marriage Traditions and Distribution of Gender Roles
Authors: CHUMBURIDZE Tea
Published: November 2023

Christian missionaries had a strong influence on Native Americans’ and particularly the Cherokees’way of living, which resulted in cultural assimilation. Due to this impact and modernways of living, the Cherokees had been in a constant state of change.The main purpose of this article is to elaborate and understand the impact of Christian missionarieson the Cherokees lifestyle, distribution of power between the Cherokee man andwoman, and the transformation from a traditional style of Cherokee marriage to more Westernizedmethods.This change implies every aspect of marriage in the Cherokee community, from the use ofdances, feasts, and festivals as a means of courtship to the marriage ceremony itself and interracialmarriage and impact of Christianity following the massive movement of white settlersinto the Cherokee territory.
NATO and its Profile During and after the Cold War-era
Authors: GEGETCHKORI David
Published: November 2023

By now it is clear that NATO is a powerful organ to execute missions outside its borders. Thealliance survived because it has gone through a change of its goals and strategies over theyears and thereby adapted to new circumstances. Democracy, stability, security and peacehave been and are still its main goals. To achieve these it was important to change fromconfrontation to cooperation and combine military force with diplomatic and humanitarianefforts. Today NATO has even expanded its actions to further regions, such as the mission inBosnia-Herzegovina in 1993, Afghanistan, counter-piracy in the Gulf of Aden and combatingcyber-attacks.
How Has American Family Changed During the Last Five Decades
Authors: Gogberashvili Salome
Published: November 2023

The purpose of this article is to make a comparative analysis of traditional American familyof the 1960s and a modern one. This paper aims at highlighting the main changes that tookplace during the last five decades as well as the community point of view on the issue andalteration of the society’s attitude toward the changes. The paper is based on statistics, academicarticles and books using both qualitative and comparative analysis.
The Impact of Internal Communication on Business Processes in Local Governments in the Southeast European Transition Countries
Authors: BAKIC-TOMIC Ljubica , PEJIC BENKO Zeljka
Published: November 2023

Local governments are basic units of government in both developed as well as underdeveloped, or transition countries. However, business communication in local governments represents the indicator of commercialism, protocol respect, as well as managementopenness and willingness of the employees to, by meeting the standards of the internal communication, achieve set goals. The chaotic situation which arose as a consequence of the transition, as well as a comprehensive reform of the local government in the transition countries of Southeast Europe has contributed to the fact that the standards of business communication of the local governments vary, compromising thestandards of service quality and business processes. For the purpose of this paper, research has been conducted on the importance of the internal communication and on its impact on business processes in local governments in the Southeastern European transition countries. The goal of the research was to show how important the internal communication is for business processes and how big its impact is on the achievementof the strategic goals of the local governments. The research included local governments in the Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro. It is interesting to say that despite varying laws, regulations and protocols, the communication problems have been almost identical in all the tested local governments.One goal of reform processes is to contribute towards the development of communication models appropriate for local governments in individual countries. The model of business communication, based on efficient internal communication, needs to be established not only on the standards of European Business Practice, but sometimes also on the specific impacts of the local communities’ cultures.
Usefulness of Multilingualism in Business
Authors: KUTATELADZE Maia
Published: November 2023

The process that makes global people to cooperate in order to achieve goals or shareexperience requires communication but it’s no longer acceptable for that communicationto be in English only. English as global lingua franca of the business world is challengedby other languages, for a range of reasons. Multilingualism can be answer toglobal processes and to business needs.
An Individual Sense of Self among American Women and Motherhood
Authors: SHIOSHVILI Tamar
Published: November 2023

It’s not difficult to observe American women’s strong confidence in an individual senseof self that they have worked out after 1970s, and has become even stronger after1990s. The foundation for that is great progress, reached in women’s lives in terms ofeducation – girls education is in much better place, more women are being elected topolitical platform, economically women are participating in more significant ways thanmodern women’s mothers or grandmothers. Microcredit, for example having a transformativeimpact, has lifted up the poorest of the poor and created livelihoods, so peoplecan sustain themselves and their families. U.S. women are in the paid workforce thanever before, including 70 percent of mothers. Many women employed outside the homecarry the main responsibility for housework and raising children and have very little timefor themselves. So, the new type of a busy American woman with a strong individualsense of self may also find life stressful. About three million women in the United Statesprovide assistance to family members who are sick or disabled, and over ten millionwomen provide care to people and their husband’s elderly parents. This caretaking mayoverlap with the women’s other obligations – holding jobs, taking care of growing childrenand managing households. This regimen involves physical and emotional stressand can affect their quality of life. These women may be reluctant time by time, but accepttheir situation as being a good wife or daughter. It is crucial to realize that womenwho care for others need respite.
Методи математичного моделювання у вирішенні проблеми морфологічної верифікації впливу чорнобильського чинника на яєчка шахтарів Донбасу – ліквідаторів наслідків аварії на ЧАЕС
Authors: Danilov Yu. V. , Motkov K. V. , Shevchenko T. I.
Published: November 2023

Проведено порівняльне квалітативне і квантитативне гістологічне та імуногістохімічне дослідження тканини яєчок (29 параметрів) 27 секційних спостережень. Розроблено спосіб морфологічної диференціальної діагностики змін, викликаних впливом чорнобильського чинника та/або несприятливих умов роботи у підземних вугільних шахтах шляхом створення математичної моделі морфогенезу за методом Байєса. Практичне його використання забезпечує точність і достовірність діагнозу (не менше 95 %), незалежність від рівня кваліфікації й особистого досвіду лікаря, дозволяє уніфікувати, оптимізувати та індивідуалізувати діагностичні алгоритми, відповідає вимогам доказової медицини.
Параллельная фармакологическая коррекция дисфункции миокарда, когнитивных и психопатологических нарушений у больных c хронической сердечной недостаточностью
Authors: Dotsenko M. Ya. , Boev S. S. , Shehunova I. O. , Dedova V. O.
Published: November 2023

Обстежено 92 хворих з хронічною серцевою недостатністю III–IV функціонального класу з фракцією викиду лівого шлуночка менше 45 %, яка розвинулась на фоні ішемічної хвороби серця. Хворі контрольної групи одержували базисну терапію (згідно з рекомендаціями Українського кардіологічного товариства); І групи додатково отримували Вазонат® протягом 15 днів внутрішньовенно в дозі 1000 мг/доба, у подальшому – амбулаторно 1 міс по 250 мг 3 рази на добу per os; ІІ групи – за такою самою схемою Вазонат® і денний анксіолітик Адаптол® по 500 мг 2 рази на добу протягом усього терміну спостереження. Встановлено, що включення препарату Вазонат® до базисного лікування приводить до поліпшення показників кардіогемодинаміки, когнітивних функцій. Поєднане призначення Вазонату® й Адаптолу® на фоні базисного лікування сприяє більш вираженому покращанню когнітивних функцій, прогресивному зменшенню ступеня тривоги, депресивності.
Влияние санаторно-курортного лечения на функцию эндотелия у детей с первичной артериальной гипертензией
Authors: Yanina T. Yu.
Published: November 2023

Вивчено вплив санаторно-курортного лікування (СКЛ) з використанням хлоридних натрієвих ванн та метаболічного препарату мілдронату на динаміку показників добового моніторування артеріального тиску (ДМАТ), рівень маркерів функції ендотелію у дітей з первинною артеріальною гіпертензією (ПАГ). Проведено ДМАТ і визначено рівень асиметричного диметиларгініну (АДМА), ендотеліну-1 (ЕТ-1) та оксиду азоту (NO) у сироватці крові 114 дітей з ПАГ у віці 12–17 років. Відзначено позитивну динаміку показників ДМАТ у всіх групах, але достовірне (Р < 0,05) зниження середніх значень АТ зазначалося в групі СКЛ з поєднаним застосуванням хлоридних натрієвих ванн. При аналізі рівня NO позитивна динаміка (Р < 0,01) була в групі із застосуванням метаболічної терапії, проте достовірно (Р < 0,001) виражений ефект відзначався при його поєднанні з метаболічною та бальнеотерапією. Аналіз рівня ЕТ-1 і АДМА при СКЛ у комплексі з метаболічною терапією і курсом хлоридних натрієвих ванн показав достовірне (Р < 0,01) зниження цих показників порівняно з даними до лікування. У дітей з ПАГ були виявлені порушення функціональної активності ендотелію, які виражалися в підвищенні рівня ЕТ-1, АДМА і зниженні NO. Проведення реабілітаційного комплексу з включенням метаболічної та бальнеотерапії сприяє зниженню середньодобових показників АТ, нормалізації функціональної активності ендотелію у вигляді нормалізації синтезу NO (Р < 0,001), достовірного зниження рівня ЕТ-1 (Р < 0,01) і АДМА (Р < 0,01).
Неспецифічна гіперсприйнятливість бронхів та поліморфізм генів біотрансформації ксенобіотиків GSTT1 та GSTM1 при нейтрофільному фенотипі бронхіальної астми у дітей
Authors: Ivanova L. A. , Mykaliuk L. V. , Grygola O. G.
Published: November 2023

З метою вивчення впливу делецій у генах GSTT1 та GSTM1 на неспецифічну гіперсприйнятливість бронхів у дітей, хворих з нейтрофільним фенотипом бронхіальної астми (БА), в умовах пульмоалергологічного відділення обласної дитячої клінічної лікарні Чернівців комплексно обстежено 46 дітей шкільного віку, хворих з нейтрофільним фенотипом БА (І клінічна група) та 48 їх однолітків з еозинофільним фенотипом захворювання (ІІ клінічна група). Доведено, що генотип T1+M1del частіше реєстрували у хворих з нейтрофільним фенотипом захворювання, а генотип T1delM1del однаково часто – у пацієнтів з різним типом запалення дихальних шляхів. У хворих з нейтрофільним фенотипом БА, у яких має місце делеційний поліморфізм генів GSTТ1 та GSTМ1, спостерігалась тенденція до зниження показника лабільності бронхів за рахунок зменшення бронходилатації, а чутливість бронхів до гістаміну була вищою, ніж у дітей без поліморфізму вказаних генів системи біотрансформації ксенобіотиків.
Зв’язок між харчовою непереносимістю та масою тіла: нові перспективи в лікуванні ожиріння
Authors: Rotter M. M.
Published: November 2023

У статті розглядається кореляційний зв’язок між масою тіла та харчовою непереносимістю деяких продуктів, указані продукти, найчастіше асоційовані з розвитком харчової непереносимісті.
Клінічні особливості та характер перебігу негоспітальної пневмонії, асоційованої із залізодефіцитною анемією, у дітей переддошкільного віку
Authors: Smiian О. I. , Romanova T. O. , Vasylyshyn Kh. I. , Bynda T. P. , Popov V. S. , Vasilyeva O. G. , Lypovska V. V.
Published: November 2023

Визначено найбільш типові клінічні ознаки негоспітальної пневмонії (НП), асоційованої із залізодефіцитною анемією, у дітей переддошкільного віку. Вивчено показники клітинної ланки імунітету у дітей, хворих на НП. Встановлено, що гострий період захворювання характеризується порушенням клітинної ланки імунітету, більш вираженим у хворих із супутньою залізодефіцитною анемією.
Arvo Part. Tintinnabuli style, religious implications
Authors: Cohal Dragos Mihai
Published: November 2023

Born in 1935 in Estonia, the child Arvo Pärt studied piano, then attended courses at the School of Music, where he played the oboe, as a percussionist in the orchestra, and sang in the choir. He graduated from the composition class at the Tallinn Conservatory, having Heino Eller as a professor. The basis of tintinnabuli compositional style, as Paul Hillier (Paul Hillier – Arvo Pärt, New York, Oxford University Press 1997, 96) describes, is a two-part texture consisting of a ‘melodic’ voice, moving mostly gradually, from or towards a central pitch and a ‘tintinnabuli’ voice sounding the notes of the tonic triad. The transition of Arvo Part towards his re-affirmation as a composer has a component of personal development in the field of spirituality and religion. In the year around 1971, he met his second wife, Nora, who catalyzed his renunciation of the Lutheran confession in favor of the Christian Orthodox religion. In an interview, Jamie McCarthy (McCarthy, Jamie An Interview with Arvo Pärt, Musical Times 130, March 1989) asks him about his feelings regarding a possible influence of the Russian Orthodox religion upon his work. Pärt answers: “Religion influences everything. Not just music, but everything”.
Classical Accordion - The evolutionary path of a minor instrument
Authors: Pescada Goncalo
Published: November 2023

The current state of the converter accordion is the result of a path marked by reflection, commitment, ingenuity, and creativity. Factories, interpreters, and musicologists have played a key role in this evolution. Although its appearance is associated with the year 1829 by Cyrill Demian (Austria), according to various literature on the subject, the origin of the accordion is often associated with the predecessor instruments of the organ, given the reed system used by both. At the same time, other ancient instruments that used free reeds or that made use of bellows as a sound-activating agent, also inspired the successive improvements introduced in the accordion as we know it today.
A Comparative study of the Traverse Flutes of the Haupt and Silva Families
Authors: Sousa da Silva G. , Streitova M.
Published: November 2023

The 18th and 19th centuries saw the greatest development in the construction of woodwind instruments in Europe. In Portugal, this was due to the Haupt and Silva families of builders. In order to understand the interpretation of the time, through the characteristics of the instruments themselves, as well as all the cultural involvement, data was analyzed to understand the difference between the constructions of the Haupt and Silva families, the main builders of the traverse flutes of the time. Historical research was carried out and important data was also collected by interviewing flutist and traverse flute teacher Olavo Barros, who owns one of the original Silva flutes (the Haupt flute belongs to flutist and transverse flute teacher Manuel Cochofel). The sound quality results were obtained from the recordings made by Teacher Olavo Barros of all the notes produced on each flute and were compared and analyzed, represented in graphs, using Spectrogram no. 16 by Richard Horne software.