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Background: The use of outcome measures to evaluate upper extremity function after stroke is highly recommended in clinical practice and research. The Chedoke Arm and Hand Activity Inventory (CAHAI) is a recommended measure as it has strong psychometric properties and clinical utility. However, the measure has not been validated in Asia and there are also gaps in the knowledge about the psychometric properties of the CAHAI. Aim & Objectives: This thesis is dedicated to the continued evaluation of the CAHAI with two main objectives: (1) to develop a Singapore version of the CAHAI, and (2) to re-evaluate the original CAHAI using modern test theories. Method: We conducted a study to cross-culturally adapt the CAHAI and evaluated the psychometric properties in a stroke sample in Singapore. Two studies were conducted to re-evaluate the original CAHAI using modern test theories. In the first study, item response theory and Rasch measurement theory were used to evaluate the psychometric properties of the measure. Following which, both measurement theories were used to revise the CAHAI in the second study. Results: Two test items were modified for the Singapore version of the CAHAI, and the measure had good inter-rater reliability (intra-class correlation coefficient = 0.95 – 0.97) and construct validity. The evaluation of the original CAHAI using modern test theories identified three main problems: (1) the scoring scale was not working as intended, (2) local dependency, and (3) the measure was not unidimensional. Revisions to the CAHAI included collapsing the 7-category scale to four categories, deleting two test items, and developing two new shortened versions. Conclusion: The Singapore version of the CAHAI is a valid and culturally relevant outcome measure that can be used to evaluate post-stroke upper extremity function. The original CAHAI was refined into a new 11- and 5-item versions with a 4-category scale which clinicians may find easier to use. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Yes / The study presents the Italian adaptation of the Personal and General Belief in a Just World (P-BJW and G-BJW) Scales. Dalbert and colleagues developed these scales to capture the belief in a just world for oneself and a just world in general. After the translation and back-translation, the P-BJW and G-BJW scales were administered first to a pilot sample of 213 university students and then to a national sample of 2683 Italian people. Results showed that it was necessary to make some revisions to the predicted two correlated factor structure. These changes entailed correlating the error terms for some manifest variables and removing the first item of the P-BJW factor. The final structure of the P-BJW and G-BJW scales presented satisfactory indexes of model fit as well as high reliability and moderate validity values. Additionally, this structure proved to fit the data better than an alternative one-factor or a bi-factor model with two orthogonal-specific factors. As predicted, well-being strongly predicted scores on the BJW, but age and gender did not. Multigroup comparisons among Northern, Central, and Southern Italy respondents indicated that Italian people interpret scale items equivalently, regardless of their geographical location. Introducing the P-BJW and G-BJW scales to the Italian justice scholarship is very useful to unpack the reasons why Italy reports lower levels of social justice than other European countries and also to investigate the link between justice, well-being, and other socio-psychological variables. / Open access funding provided by Università di Foggia within the CRUI-CARE Agreement.

This thesis investigates the dynamics of knowledge transfer between cultures within multinational firms, with a particular emphasis on subsidiaries located in Sweden and Romania. This study investigates how subsidiaries adjust corporate knowledge to fit local cultural contexts through semi-structured interviews with participants from a range of sectors. It also looks at the wider effects of these changes on organizational knowledge transfer processes. The research methodology used is qualitative research.   The data indicates that local cultural and regulatory variations have an impact on knowledge transfer tactics. Different techniques to integrating and adjusting corporate knowledge are shown by companies in Sweden and Romania, which reflect different operational and cultural contexts. The results show how subsidiaries improve their strategic positioning and operational efficacy within the multinational framework by utilizing both local and global advantages.   The study's methodology involves using thematic analysis to analyze the gathered interview data in order to provide a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying cross-cultural knowledge transfer. The main results suggest that the effectiveness of knowledge transfer is heavily dependent upon the ability to navigate and incorporate local cultural characteristics alongside international standards.   By offering empirical insights into the difficulties and methods of knowledge transfer within Eastern European contexts, which are less studied than those in the West, this study adds to the body of literature already in existence. Additionally, it has useful ramifications for global firms looking to maximize knowledge management in various cultural contexts.

Globalūs pasauliniai pokyčiai skatina visuomenės domėjimąsi ne tik tarpkultūriniais skirtumais, bet ir skirtingų kultūrų tarpusavio sąveikos klausimais. Šio darbo aktualumą lėmė vis didėjantis Lietuvos gyventojų domėjimasis ispanų kultūra. Svarbu ištirti, kaip ispanai adaptuojasi lietuvių kultūroje ir jos visuomeniniame gyvenime, atskleidžiant jų adaptacijos Lietuvoje ypatumus. Išanalizavus mokslinę literatūrą, prieita prie išvados, kad adaptacijos sėkmingumą lemia tokie vidiniai veiksniai kaip individualūs ir asmeniniai individo skirtumai, ir tokie išoriniai veiksniai kaip individo gyvenimo patirtis ir pasirengimas. Atskleidžiant vienos ar kitos strategijos pasireiškimą (Kasatkina), pažymima, kad pagrindiniai veiksniai, nulemiantys vienos ar kitos strategijos pasirinkimą yra etninio tapatumo išlaikymas ir pasitenkinimas pasiektu statusu. Lyginant ispanų ir lietuvių kultūras remiantis Hofstede, Inglehart ir Lewis kultūrų lyginimo dimensijomis, paaiškėjo, kad ispanai yra panašūs į lietuvius šeimos svarbumo kriterijumi: abi kultūros šeimą nurodo kaip vertybę. Padaryta analizė leidžia atskleisti dviejų kultūrų skirtumus. Esminiai skirtumai yra bendravimo būdas, laiko ir erdvės suvokimas, kalbų struktūros. Atlikus kokybinį tyrimą, analizuojant interviu metu surinktą medžiagą, prieita prie išvados, kad ispanų kultūrinės adaptacijos sėkmingumas nepriklauso nuo jų gyvenimo trukmės Lietuvoje. Manytina, kad adaptacijos sėkmingumą veikiau nulemia vidiniai ispanų kultūros atstovų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Due to increased interest of Spanish language and culture in Lithuania over the last few years, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the Spanish sojourners adaptation in Lithuania. Furthermore, it is important to find out the main obstacles of Spanish culture representatives while communicating with locals, exploring the influence on their adaptation process. On a basis of qualitative research (9 semi – structured interviews) study concerning Spanish Cultural Adaptation in Lithuania has been carried out. The main assumption is that Spanish cultural adaptation is influenced by such internal factors as individual motivation to adapt in a host society, aim of arrival, motivation to learn Lithuanian language and communicate with Lithuanians. The external factors which influence Spanish Adaptation in Lithuania are the difference between climate, acceptance of the host society and barriers of communications with Lithuanians. The research has shown that firstly, Spanish are satisfied with the current reached status in Lithuania. The main reason of that is their fulfilment with occupied positions in a new country. Secondly, all of them maintain their personal identity. Thirdly, Spanish who live more than 10 years in Lithuania are more likely to associate themselves with Lithuanians depending on a place of their living, in Spain they consider to be Spanish and in Lithuania they are Lithuanians. Taking into account, that successful adaptation is defined as the individual... [to full text]

This work aims to compare two models of migration, on the one hand, Czech migration to the capital city of Mexico on the other hand, Mexican migration to the capital city of Czech Republic. This text looks at migration as a cultural-social act, with its main protagonists, individual migrants. Therefore this work is not demographic, but anthropological based on qualitative research. With the background of basic sources it offers the monitoring of behavior of two groups of migrants, especially in their adaptation process. The basic research question then is: What is the process of cultural adaptation of the Czechs in Mexico, DF and Mexicans in Prague? To what extent are these models similar or different? Finding answers to this question necessarily leads to other topics, reply to completion, which are: How strong are the tendencies of development of ethnic communities? How respondents experienced the process of adaptation and changes of their identity? What strategies of living in the destination country they occupied? To what extent they communicate with compatriots and embassies? This paper provides both theoretical basis, which defines the terms of migration, cultural adaptation and identity, and practical sections, which through examples of qualitative research describe the process of cultural adaptation...

The aim of this thesis is to discuss the way of leading and managing the Jesuit Mission in Japan by Alessandro Valignano from 1579 to 1603. It focuses mainly on pioneering methods of this Jesuit missionary. Just his methods made the Japanese mission so successful, however, not for the eternity. Particularly it is about his attitude toward the Japanese culture and about a try to adapt both on this culture and on the general conditions. Despite the time Society of Jesus and especially some of its members, including Valignano, were incredibly flexible and capable to respond to the actual needs of the mission. That is why practical side of the mission - financing this project and the very first diplomatic contacts - will be also included in this thesis. Scientific and cultural assets of the Europeans will end the work.

O estigma dos profissionais de saúde em relação às pessoas com transtornos mentais é um fenômeno que necessita ser alvo de estudo para que sejam realizadas reflexões e construções de estratégias de intervenções anti-estigma. Um dos métodos utilizados para a investigação do fenômeno é a utilização de escalas de mensuração de estigma. Nessa perspectiva, a escala Mental Illness: Clinicians\' Attitudes Scale, versão 4, MICA-4, foi utilizada em um projeto-piloto do Centre for Addiction and Mental Health da Universidade de Toronto, Canadá. Com o compromisso de reproduzir o projeto no Brasil, este estudo buscou adaptar culturamente a MICA-4 para o português brasileiro. Assim, foram realizadas as etapas do processo de adaptação cultural, sendo a primeira delas a tradução, a qual foi realizada por três tradutores. Dois dos tradutores conheciam os objetivos do estudo e o outro os desconhecia. A equipe de pesquisa analisou as três traduções e, com base nessa análise, obteve a Versão Português 4. Essa versão foi encaminhada para o Comitê de Juízes e o índice de concordância para modificações foi de 60%. Por conta desse baixo índice, a equipe de pesquisa manteve a Versão Português 4. Na etapa seguinte, Retrotradução, essa versão foi enviada para dois tradutores nativos de país de língua inglesa e que possuem bom conhecimento da língua portuguesa, originando duas versões em inglês. A equipe de pesquisa enviou para o autor a versão em inglês obtida por meio das comparações entre essas versões. O autor da MICA-4 sugeriu pequenos ajustes na referida versão, os quais não ocasionaram modificações na Versão Português 4. Após, seguiu-se com a fase do pré-teste, onde a Versão Português 4 foi aplicada em 40 profissionais de saúde de Unidades Básicas de Saúde e Unidades de Saúde da Família do município de Ribeirão Preto, Estado de São Paulo. A maioria dos participantes era do sexo feminino (87,5%), com média de idade de 45 anos e com formação como técnicos em enfermagem. Nesta fase, os profissionais de saúde sugeriram modificações em dois itens da escala (5 e 11) para melhor compreensão. A equipe de pesquisa acatou as sugestões, originando a Versão Português Final. Dessa forma, ficou demonstrado que este estudo buscou compreender de maneira profunda as considerações dos profissionais de saúde, com o objetivo de realizar rigorosamente o processo de Adaptação Cultural / The stigma of health professionals in relation to people with mental illness is a phenomenon that needs to be studied in order to reflect and construct strategies of antistigma interventions. One of the methods used to investigate the phenomenon is the use of stigma measurement scales. In this perspective, Mental Illness: Clinicians\' Attitudes Scale, version 4, MICA-4, was used in a pilot project of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health of the University of Toronto, Canada. With the commitment to reproduce the project in Brazil, this study sought to adapt MICA-4 to Brazilian Portuguese. Thus, the stages of the process of cultural adaptation, were carried out, the first being the translation, which was carried out by three translators. Two of the translators knew the aims of the study and the other did not. The research team analyzed the three translations and, based on this analysis, obtained the Portuguese Version 4. This version was sent to the Judges Committee and the concordance index for modifications was 60%. Because of this low index, the research team maintained the Portuguese Version 4. In the following stage, Back-Translation, this version was sent to two native English-speaking translators who have a good knowledge of the Portuguese language, originating two English versions. The research team sent the author the English version obtained through the comparisons between these versions. The author of MICA-4 suggested small adjustments in the version, which did not cause modifications in the Portuguese Version 4. After, it was followed with the phase of the pre-test, where Portuguese Version 4 was applied in 40 health professionals of Basic Health Units and Family Health Units in the city of Ribeirão Preto, State of São Paulo. Most of the participants were female (87.5%), mean age 45 years old and with educational background as a nursing technician. At this stage, health professionals suggested modifications to two items on the scale (5 and 11) for the better understanding. The research team accepted the suggestions, originating the Portuguese Final Version. In this way, it was demonstrated that this study sought to understand health professionals\' considerations, in order to rigorously performing the process of Cultural Adaptation

A neuropatia motora multifocal (NMM) é uma doença rara, que compromete as fibras nervosas motoras e que pode levar a incapacidades de gravidade variável, provavelmente na dependência do seu diagnóstico e tratamento precoces. O uso de imunoglobulina humana por via endovenosa em altas doses é considerado o tratamento mais eficaz para NMM. A objetivação das incapacidades funcionais que a NMM provoca e da sua reversão parcial ou completa em decorrência do tratamento ou de sua evolução não tem sido uniforme. Tais dificuldades se devem ao fato de que os instrumentos utilizados para a mensuração das incapacidades têm sido variados e não uniformes. A escala global de avaliação das incapacidades na neuropatia motora multifocal construída pelo método Rasch (GIR - MNN) ou Multifocal Motor Neuropathy - Rasch-built Overal Disability Scale (MMN-RODS©) foi desenvolvida especificamente para a avaliação das incapacidades funcionais dos pacientes com NMM. Em recente estudo, multicêntrico, foi verificado que a MMN-RODS©, originalmente desenvolvida em inglês, preenche as expectativas do modelo de Rasch. Para aplicação no Brasil, o presente trabalho realizou a tradução, a adaptação transcultural, conforme metodologia descrita na literatura, e a aplicação da escala em pacientes com Neuropatia Motora Multifocal / Multifocal Motor Neuropathy (MMN) is a rare disease that involves the motor nerve fibers. A better prognosis for MMN is probably linked to early diagnoses and treatment. Even so, MMN can lead to severe incapacities. The use of intravenous high doses of human immunoglobulin (IgIV) is considered efficacious to treat MMN. The objectification of the incapacities provoked by MNN, their evolution, and partial or complete deficits reversion due to the treatment has not been standardized. This lack of uniformity is due to the variety of tools used for the measurement of the deficits in MMN. The multifocal motor neuropathy - Raschbuilt overall disability scale (MMN-RODS©) was developed specifically for evaluation of the functional incapacities in MNN patients. In a recent multicentric study, it was verified that MMN-RODS© fulfill the expectations of the Rasch method. The present work realized the translation, transcultural adaptation and validation of the scale to the Brazilian Portuguese context aiming to use this tool to evaluate MMN patients living in Brazil