bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Minimally invasive Coronary artery bypass graft: Is this the future of traditional CABG?
Authors: Cheema Muhammad Rafay Shahzad
Published: March 2024

Madam,
Minimally Invasive Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (MICS CABG) is a newly developed cardiac surgical technique that eschew median sternotomy and its correlated intricacies, while encouraging rehabilitation and conserving the advantages of surgical revascularization. For several decades, guidelines have stated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) as the benchmark revascularization procedure for multivessel and left main coronary artery disease (CAD)1. Nevertheless, CABG by sternotomy is an immensely intrusive measure correlated with various post-surgical adverse consequences. Furthermore, when given the option, majority of patients favoured percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) over CABG to treat CAD, even with a high 1-year death risk and the possibility of repeat procedures in the case of PCI2. Thus, minimally encroaching techniques such as MICS CABG have been developed to re-envision surgical revascularization and direct attention to patient’s liking for a less aggressive procedure while sustaining the clinical result precedence of CABG over PCI.
Multiple studies have reported promising clinical outcomes of MICS CABG, rendering it a feasible and secure surgical technique that is affiliated with exceptional short-term results and quick graft patency3. A recent 4 study by Zhang et al. reported angiographic data to assess graft patency in 186 patients who underwent MICS CABG utilizing the left internal thoracic artery (LITA) and saphenous vein (SV); they delineated encouraging results with 99.5% complete revascularization and total graft patency rate of 96.3% Furthermore, MICS CABG has gained precedence over CABG concerning the lower exchange of blood products, decreased frequency of chest scar infection, and enhanced postoperative physical recovery5.
These findings should be seen as a matter of keen interest in Pakistan where patients that report with CAD are usually in weak physical condition with multiple comorbidities such as high BP and T2DM; which puts them at a greater risk of poor post-operative prognosis after conventional CABG despite the prompt requirement of the procedure. Such patients, along with those who avoid such invasive surgeries should be given this option as a safe alternative to CABG. Finally, it is of paramount significance that experts who desire to operate using this procedure to be equipped with authenticated, unbiased evaluation of the effectiveness and quality of this method. Whether MICS CABG in its present condition is apposite worldwide remains debatable, still the key finding is that multivessel coronary revascularization can be carried out with outstanding procedural and patency results. Upcoming studies should prioritize enhancing the generalizability and duplicability of this technique.
Hubungan Antarpribadi dalam Film Pendek “Tak Lagi Sama”: Perspektif Sosiologi Komunikasi
Authors: Syukerti Nanda , Evanne Lovia , Sagita Ani
Published: March 2024

In forming individuals, interpersonal relationships have an important role, through interpersonal relationships are expected to be able to encourage someone to have feelings, understanding, and support and help individuals to understand the expectations of other individuals. There are several theories to reduce this phenomenon, which specifically generalizes the concept of interpersonal relationships which have an important role in shaping individuals, through interpersonal relationships are expected to be able to encourage someone to have a feeling, understanding and support and help individuals to understand the expectations of others. Another individual In the film "No Longer the Same" starring Salshabilla Andriani and Yusuf Mahardika, there are several scenes depicting the interpersonal relationships between the characters in the film, this film was released on June 18, 2021 on Salshabilla Andriani's Youtube channel. The purpose of the study was to find out how the interpersonal relationships in the film "No Longer the Same". This type of research is descriptive qualitative, analyzing the interaction of interpersonal relationships in the short film "Tak Lagi Sama". So the theory that can be used in this research is interpersonal relationship. The results of this study are the interpersonal relationships that occur in the film are relationship development, relationship maintenance and relationship termination, there are also self-disclosure, process view and social exchange.
Analisis Kendala dan Solusi Peningkatan Pembelajaran PAI melalui Penggunaan Microsoft PowerPoint
Authors: Nurlisa Nurlisa , Setiawati Beti
Published: March 2024

This research aims to understand students' preferences regarding the use of PowerPoint in Islamic Religious Education (PAI) and to identify potential challenges. The 3D development paradigm is employed, with the "Define" stage for issue identification, "Design" for crafting the questionnaire guidelines, and "Develop" for implementing solutions. Data were collected through an online questionnaire involving 10th-grade PAI students at SMKN 1 Cempaga Hulu. Research findings indicate that the majority of students (51.7%) enjoy PAI learning, with 44.8% expressing strong enthusiasm. Nevertheless, 44.8% find PAI learning challenging, particularly in topics related to banking and insurance. A significant portion of students (58.2%) still relies on textbooks as their primary learning medium, but 55.2% agree or strongly agree with the use of PowerPoint in PAI instruction. The discussion highlights that despite students' interest in PAI, difficulties persist in comprehending certain topics. Integrating PowerPoint as an alternative instructional medium can enhance the quality of learning and capture students' interest. However, prudent management is required to optimize student learning outcomes. Recommendations involve developing teaching strategies that effectively incorporate technology to enhance students' understanding of PAI content.
Substance use among Adolescents Residing in Perceived Hotspots in Zimbabwe: Prevalence and Correlates. (A Study of Sigola)
Authors: Mutsambi Wellington
Published: March 2024

This study investigated prevalence of alcohol and substance use among adolescents in Sigola, a community deemed a hot spot for drug abuse. It also examined the association between drug use and subjective wellbeing, stress and risk behaviors. This study adopted a quantitative approach and a cross sectional survey design guided the inquiry. Participants were adolescents selected from the five villages of Sigola using a purposive proportional quota sampling technique. The researcher adopted four validated instruments. CRAFT examined prevalence. Satisfaction with Life Scale explored subjective wellbeing. The Risky Taking Questionnaire examined risky taking while the Perceived Stress Scale examined stress levels among adolescents. Descriptive statistics guided the analysis of demographic data. The Chi Square test complimented the Pearson Correlation to determine relationships between variables. Results revealed that 28% of adolescents were using substances. Adolescents were also getting high with unfamiliar substances. Gender differences showed drug use more prevalent among males. Life satisfaction was lower among substance users. Stress levels were also significantly high among drug users. A positive linear relationship existed between substance use and stress. A similar relationship existed between substance use and risk taking. Results justified the need for urgent measures to curtail the substance use pandemic in Zimbabwe.
ADOPTION OF SORGHUM NATIONAL INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS TECHNICAL PACKAGE BY RAINFED FARMERS, GEZIRA, SUDAN
Authors: Suleiman Hamed MOHAMMED Refag , Khalid Haj KHALIFA Elbadawi , Atta Ali ABD ALLA Mohamed , Azhari Eltayeb AHMED Malaz
Published: March 2024

The effect of climate change on African agriculture represents a major challenge to continental agricultural development including food security, nutrition and management. In Sudan, the yield of rainfed crops is characterized by high variability in the yield due to the high variability in seasonal rainfall and does not exceed two sacs/feddan because the rainfed farmers were adopted low input rainfed agriculture as a risk management option which led to reduce in the yield per unit of land and water. The Federal Ministry of Agriculture has designed and financed a special programme for the traditional the rainfed sector of the country called Integrated Solutions Programme as the main adaptation strategy for the 2014/ 2020 growing seasons to diversify and increase production and productivity of crops cultivated in traditional rainfed areas in each State of the country such as sorghum, sesame, millet and sunflower. This programme was implemented by the Administration of Agricultural Extension and Technology Transfer in each State in collaboration with Agricultural Research Corporation (ARC) and the Agricultural Bank of Sudan. Field survey was used to collect data from 50 rainfed farmers participated in the programme and an equal number from non- participant farmers from the study area were selected (for comparison) using the simple random sampling technique. A close ended questionnaire was constructed and the personal interview technique was used to administer the questionnaire. The collected data were coded, fed to computer and statistically analyzed using (SPSS), discussed interpreted using descriptive statistics and chi-square test. The results showed that the participant farmers adopted the programme components. The majority of chi-square test results revealed no significant association between farmer`s adoption of the programme components and participation in the programme and also no significant association between farmer`s adoption of the programme components and the selected socio-economic characteristics of the respondent farmers. From this study, it can be concluded that the NISP are very effective agricultural extension policy that can be applied in the rainfed sector of the country, which will help rainfed farmers to increase their income through their participation in various activities of the programme. The study recommends that NISP should become the main national policy specially designed for the agricultural rainfed sector of the country, the needed agricultural inputs should be available at a reasonable price, the curriculum of NISP should be updated and developed regularly to solve the constraints that might face the programme, in-service training should be organized for agricultural extension officers on various aspects related to the rainfed sector, various means for conduction the programme should be available, Further agricultural extension research should be conducted
COMPRESSION BETWEEN KAOLIN AND CORN SEED AS ADSORBENTS ON THE ADSORPTION OF METFORMIN HYDROCHLORIC FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTION UNDER DIFFERENT CONDITIONS
Authors: S. JASSEM Hiba
Published: March 2024

Metformin is currently the medicine used to treat hypoglycemia most frequently. We used kaolin and corn seed surfaces to draw out the drug metformin hydrochloride from aqueous solutions. The medicine metformin, which is currently the most frequently prescribed oral hypoglycemic, has outstanding safety profiles and is only contraindicated in people with definite medical problems, particularly chronic renal failure, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and liver disease. The analysis demonstrates how many factors, such as equilibrium time (5–15 min), pH (8.5) as well as for pH of small intestine, temperature (32–37°C). It is discovered that when temperature and pH increase, the amount of adsorbate present decreases, with equilibrium requiring 15 minutes. The wavelength used for the analysis of metformin HCl was (260 nm). To discover the appropriate adsorption parameters, it was chosen to apply response surface methodology (RSM). Through thorough physical characterization using techniques including FTIR it was demonstrated that the primary driving forces behind the adsorption processes are H-bonding, electrostatic attraction, and so-called (electron donor-acceptor) EDA interactions. Modeling revealed that the best explanation for the MF adsorption involved an isotherm that depended on Giles categorization, was spontaneous (ΔG = -5.9 kJ/mole), and was endothermic (ΔH = +12.14 kJ/mole).
STUDY THE ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF TOPICAL GEL FORMULATION OF “ERYTHROMYCIN AND DEXAMETHASONE” IN VITRO & IN VIVO
Authors: Sahib Abdul-Nabi AL- NASIRY Ban , I. MUHAMMED Awatif
Published: March 2024

The present study focused on antimicrobial activity of a combined topical veterinary medicinal formulation of erythromycin ethyl succinate with dexamethasone for treatment skin infections, otitis, ocular infections and infectious wounds. In vitro, gel formula result showed good antibacterial activity with high stability after storage at (30-40) °C for 6 months. In vivo, formulated gel has shown a significant effectiveness promoting faster wound healing in lab animals (albino mice) and that result combined with histopathological view. Gel formula acts as a scaffold biomaterial for wound closure besides, antibacterial effective role that represent a promising strategy to increase the effective of erythromycin as topical delivery drug. The present study suggests that erythromycin gel is stable, safe, provides remarkable antibacterial susceptibility, reduces pain and wound recovery
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING THE NEGOTIATION APPROACH IN ACHIEVING SOCIAL STUDIES AND DEVELOPING HISTORICAL THINKING SKILLS AMONG SEVENTH GRADE FEMALE STUDENTS
Authors: AL SHABIBI Researcher Naama
Published: March 2024

The study aimed to reveal the effectiveness of the use of the negotiating approach in obtaining social studies material and developing historical thinking skills. The researcher used the quasi-experimental approach, and a study sample which consisted of (53) students from the Seventh Grade students from Al-Rawda School for Basic Education in North Eastern Province in the Sultanate of Oman. The sample was divided into two groups: the experimental included (27) students and the control which included (26) students. The researcher used two tools to achieve the goals of the study: the achievement test and the test of historical thinking skills. The researcher verified the validity of these tools by presenting them to a group of arbitrators. The stability of tools were varied through the cronbach Alva laboratory, where it reached (0.75) for the achievement test, and (0.71) for the test of historical thinking skills., The study found that there are statistically significant differences at the level of significance (0.05 ≥α) between the mean female students ’grades in the achievement test and the post-historical thinking skills test for the benefit of the experimental group. This finding confirms the effectiveness of the negotiating approach in obtaining the subject of social studies and the development of historical thinking skills among students of the class Basic seventh. In light of this, the study recommended the need to take advantage of the negotiating approach in teaching subject studies, especially history teaching, and training social studies teachers on how to use the negotiating approach in teaching social studies.
THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT FOR THE CITY OF BAGHDAD
Authors: Qasim MOHAMMED Dr. Basad , Saleh RABİE Prof. Dr. Muhammad
Published: March 2024

Humanity has reached a historical point that requires them to formulate their actions around the world, taking the utmost care regarding their environmental consequences, as preserving and improving the human environment for present and future generations has become a goal that human beings have no choice but to achieve. Perhaps ignorance or indifference may have led us to cause serious damage that cannot be remedied. The Earth's environment is the basis of our lives and wellbeing. On the contrary, through more complete knowledge and wisdom in action, we can achieve for ourselves and our descendants a better life in an environment more compatible with human needs and hopes. The higher the level of greenhouse gases, the greater the intensity of climate change and hence the greater its impact. This leads to: At the weather level: more severe storms, wildfires, droughts, floods and heat waves. Water level: Changes in water availability threaten up to a billion people and the world's major cities are threatened by sea level rise. At the food level: decline in agricultural yields in many developing and developed regions. At the ecosystem level: Many species face the risk of extinction. At the societal level: More than a billion people may be forced to migrate – increasing the risk of conflict. At the health level: The World Health Organization estimates that climate change that has occurred since 1970 has already killed more than 140,000 people annually due to malnutrition, heat stress, cardiovascular failure, respiratory allergies, waterborne diseases, insect-borne diseases, and asthma
AN ETYMOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE TERMS RELATED TO TRADITIONAL CRAFTS IN THE SULTANATE OF OMAN; THE TRADITIONAL PRODUCT NAMES AS EXAMPLE
Authors: Muvaffak ALHASAN Dr. Muhammed , Hamad AL RIYAMI Dr. Ali
Published: March 2024

Etymological studies are of great importance in examining the linguistic heritage and clarifying its roots and connections to the standard Arabic. However, etymological dictionaries are still scarce in the Arabic library. This research seeks to highlight the importance of etymological studies in rooting the linguistic heritage, and reproducing its connections to the classical language, through an applied experiment on a group of product names in traditional crafts in the Sultanate of Oman. The research will develop a historical identification card for each word through an etymological study that shows its source and the origin from which it descended. It distinguishes words with Arabic roots, and foreign words that were borrowed from other languages, if they exist. Then it studies the phonetic and semantic changes that these words underwent until they reached their current form
Insights into Factors Influencing Academic Success: An Application of Classification Models in Higher Education
Authors: Terrazas Balderrama Liliana , Araújo Lima Danielli
Published: March 2024

Understanding the factors that impact students’ achievements and failures in higher education is crucial as it enables the development of targeted interventions and support mechanisms that can enhance academic performance and foster student success. Artificial intelligence (AI) can help understand the factors that influence students’ academic achievements and failures in higher education by analyzing large volumes of data, identifying patterns and correlations, and providing valuable insights. This article presents the application of eight classification models on a “Dataset of Academic Performance Evaluation of Higher Education Students” consisting of 145 higher education students. The aim is to identify the best classification algorithm for predicting academic performance. The correlation filter (CF) was used for the discovery and selection of relevant attributes, resulting in the choice of four attributes for analysis. The best classification models were random forest, support vector machine, and decision tree, with an average accuracy of 94.37% and a CF of 0.1. These results demonstrate that the application of AI and machine learning techniques is important for decision-making in higher education, allowing for a better understanding of the factors that influence academic success or failure. The study emphasizes the importance of careful attribute selection and the use of appropriate classification algorithms to ensure accuracy and reliability of the results. Additionally, the study was replicated and evaluated with nine Brazilian higher education students, achieving an accuracy of 88.89%. These results demonstrate the consistency and relevance of the proposed attribute filtering model.
 
Received: 1 August 2023 | Revised: 12 October 2023 | Accepted: 20 October 2023
 
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to this work.
 
Data Availability Statement
We are not dealing with humans in our research, as the databases used in our research are open, public, scientific database available on the UCI Machine Learning Repository website: https://archive.ics.uci.edu/dataset/856/higher+education+students+performance+evaluation. In this article, we used an open public database deposited in the repository.
CYTOKINE RESPONSES AFTER DIFFERENT RUNNING MODALITIES: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW
Authors:   Universidade Federal De Mato Grosso (UFMT), Postgraduate Program in Basic and Applied Immunology and Parasitology (PPGIP), Gomes Leite Rodolpho Shirley , Santos Silva Lopes Jaqueline ,   Universidade Federal De Mato Grosso (UFTM), Postgraduate Program in Health Sciences (PPGCS), Oliveira Gonçalves Luís Carlos ,   Universidade Federal De Mato Grosso (UFTM), Postgraduate Program in Health Sciences (PPGCS), de Abreu Verli Márcio Vinícius ,   Universidade Federal De Mato Grosso (UFTM), Postgraduate Program in Health Sciences (PPGCS), Martins Pérego Sany ,   Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Departamento de Fisiologia e Biofísica do ICB-USP, Monteiro de Magalhães Neto Aníbal ,   Universidade Federal De Mato Grosso (UFMT), Postgraduate Program in Basic and Applied Immunology and Parasitology (PPGIP)
Published: March 2024

Introduction: In the sports universe, cytokine analyses in response to running are implemented as a strategy to support training dynamics, based on individual needs, providing conditions for maximum sports performance. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the cytokine response during different running disciplines’ practice and provide quantitative estimates of changes in these markers. Methods: PubMed/MEDLINE, SPORTDiscus and EMBASE databases were searched for the oldest records up to August/2022. The search strategy used combined synonyms of the terms: “running” and “cytokines”. Subsequently, the studies identified were subjected to a stepwise exclusion process. To be included, the studies had to: (1) evaluate running protocols, (2) have an observational design and (3) measure cytokines before and after exercise. Two independent researchers carried out the selection of studies. Results: A total of 12 studies were included (n=338 participants). The running disciplines analyzed were: marathon, ultra-marathon, half-marathon and treadmill running. The main findings relate to the following points: 1) all the studies that analyzed IL-6, IL-1ra and IL-4 reported statistically significant increases at the postexercise time point (p<0.05); 2) investigations into IL-1β, TNFα, IL-8 and IL-15 showed different behavior between the studies, sometimes showing significant increases and other times, no significant changes; 3) the studies that analyzed IL-10 reported significant increases, except for one study that reported undetectable levels, making analysis impossible; and 4) the only study that included IFN-γ found a decrease after exercise, but without statistical significance. Conclusion: In a practical scenario, the results presented allow us to conclude that in all the running disciplines analyzed, a context demonstrates the presence of acute inflammation in response to exercise. Level of Evidence II; Systematic Review of Level I Studies with Discrepant Results.
EFFECTS OF POVERTY ALLEVIATION ON SPORTS BEHAVIOR AND COGNITIVE CONSCIOUSNESS
Authors:   Hubei University of Automotive Technology (HUAT), Faculty of Physical Education, Gao Yongqi , Xiong Ling ,   Hubei University of Automotive Technology (HUAT), Faculty of Physical Education, Guo Wei ,   Ningxia Normal University, Faculty of Physical Educations, Department of Sports Studies, Tian Miao ,   Hubei University of Automotive Technology (HUAT), Faculty of Marxism (Faculty of Humanities)
Published: March 2024

Objective: The aim of this study is to explore the factors that cause poverty and the impact of rural sports facilities on the level of public education in eight poverty-stricken municipalities. Method: Literature review and field research methods were used. Results: An in-depth analysis of the relationship between poverty, behavior, and consciousness was also performed. The study concluded that there was a certain relationship between the change in sports behavior and the occurrence of poverty. Poverty will cause a lack of people’s ideology, but the positive attributes of sports can give people a sense of competition in life, which can help to change poverty. The change in sports consciousness can lead to the change in sports behavior. . Poverty can affect people’s sports behavior and sports consciousness. Conclusion: In the future, poverty alleviation should be taken as the breakthrough point to arouse new and higher social attention through changing behavior and consciousness, improving the service value system of sports from multiple levels, and establishing a quantifiable sports model. Level of Evidence II; Systematic Review.
Optimizing health data analytics in fog computing using hyperparameter tuning and grid search
Authors: Singh Kiran Deep , Singh Prabh Deep , Verma Rohan , Taneja Harsh
Published: March 2024

The integration of fog computing with health data analytics signifies a paradigm shift in the field of healthcare, offering the potential for streamlined and prompt analysis of patient welfare. The increasing volume of health data necessitates the development of efficient analytical models in fog computing settings. The objective of this research is to examine the integration of fog computing and health data analytics, specifically emphasizing the utilization of hyperparameter tuning and grid search techniques to enhance optimization approaches. Hyperparameter tuning and grid search are two techniques utilized in machine learning to optimize the performance of models. These methods are employed in the context of health data analytics inside fog computing with the objective of improving accuracy, reducing latency, and enhancing resource efficiency. Our research endeavors to provide significant contributions to the advancement of adaptable and responsive healthcare systems, therefore promoting enhanced patient outcomes in the era of data-driven decision-making.
Are our investigation methods sensitive enough to hearing damage caused by noise?
Authors: Lejska Mojmír , Kratochvílová Johana
Published: March 2024

Based on the comparison of the answers from the original questionnaire regarding the noise burden of music noise through headphones and other noisy activities in young people aged 16–18 years with the results of an audiometric examination using a threshold tone audiogram, it was confi rmed, contrary to the generally widespread information, that in this age group, there is no hearing impairment. We explain this fact by the young age of the examinees, i.e. the high resistance of the hearing apparatus to noise. Similar results are also reported in current professional literature, which is signifi cantly poor in this issue. Similar results have not yet been published in the Czech literature. If, according to the literature, initial symptoms of hearing impairment were found, then exclusively in the high-frequency audiometric area. The answer to the question whether “are our investigation methods sensitive enough to noise-induced hearing damage” is a clear NO. If we would like to record preventively the initial states of hearing damage from noise, including music consumed through headphones, then we must investigate with high-frequency audiometry. Key words hearing – noise impairment – headphones – young age – high-frequency audiometry
Integrative Approaches for Advancing Organoid Engineering: From Mechanobiology to Personalized Therapeutics
Authors: Akhtar Zarif Bin , Gupta Anik Das
Published: March 2024

This research manuscript aims to explore the integration of cutting-edge technologies in the field of organoid engineering for applications in personalized precision medicine. The research investigative exploration will delve into the multifaceted aspects of organoid research, incorporating mechanobiological modulation, ultrasound stimulation, and acoustofluidics to enhance the engineering of organoids. The focus will extend to the development of organoids-on-a-chip platforms with integrated biosensors, providing real-time monitoring capabilities for improved disease modeling and drug testing. Additionally, the manuscript will address the challenges and opportunities associated with large-scale manufacturing of organoids, emphasizing the scalability of regenerative medicine approaches. The proposed research will contribute to the advancement of 3D tissue models, micro physiological systems, and multi-organoid systems, offering a very comprehensive perspective on the potential of these systematic technologies in reshaping the landscape of personalized medicine.
Multispecies Discourse Analysis
Authors: Lamb Gavin
Published: March 2024

This book explores how language and communication shape the increasingly entangled lives of people and sea turtles at the nexus of sea turtle conservation and ecotourism. Here, new ecocultural identities are taking shape as people strive to make sense of their shifting multispecies landscape, and as sea turtles gradually reclaim beaches after decades of absence. The book offers researchers in ecolinguistics and related ecologically engaged fields in discourse analysis an integrative theoretical and methodological approach to empirically investigate the ‘more-than-human’ discourses and practices shaping problematic human-wildlife interaction. Containing short vignettes in each chapter covering the biology and behaviours of sea turtles, this book suggests how discourse analysts might contribute to a ‘life-sustaining multispecies ethics’ in an uncertain socio-ecological time increasingly being referred to as the Anthropocene.
How to Mend a University
Authors: Kinchin Ian M.
Published: March 2024

The contemporary literature on higher education tells a story of a system that is widely perceived to be broken. Students are sceptical of the system that they are increasingly asked to pay into, and staff are disillusioned by rampant managerialism, or burnt out. There is an alternative view that is emerging in the literature, that of the ecological university.

This book builds on established ecological models that can be applied to social systems, particularly the adaptive cycle. It links these ideas to key theoretical stances from across the educational literature to create an epistemological consilience across the divide between structuralist-poststructuralist educational research literatures. It is written with a consideration of the practical moves that can be undertaken within an institution to develop a healthier environment in which sustainable pedagogies can be nurtured. Kinchin argues that the ecological university may be seen as a way to ‘mend’ the current system so institutions can justify the use of popular terms like sustainability, inclusivity and wellbeing in an ecologically authentic and demonstrable way. The book includes a Foreword written by Martyn Kingsbury, Professor of Higher Education and Director of the Centre for Higher Education Research and Scholarship, Imperial College London, UK.
Carthage
Authors: Bingham Sandra , Gillings Mark , Baird J. A. , Symonds Matthew , Whitley James , Cooley Alison E. , Pearson Mike Parker , Leighton Robert , Sweeney Naoíse Mac , Crawford Harriet , MacDonald Eve , Pollard Joshua
Published: March 2024

This book traces the formation of the archaeological site of Carthage and how it re-emerged in the minds of European antiquarians and travellers in the early modern world. For almost 1,600 years the ancient city sat on the north coast of Africa, dominating the central Mediterranean until its fall in 698 CE. One of the oldest cities in the Mediterranean, it was founded in legend by the Tyrian queen Dido and destroyed after epic wars with Rome. It was soon reborn as a Roman city, and late in antiquity evolved into a centre for Christian worship.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, when European explorers first arrived, searching for the site of Carthage, they were amazed that almost nothing of its former glory remained and lamented its loss. The gradual and sometimes controversial exploration of Carthage has, over the last two centuries, brought the story of this renowned ancient city back into the public imagination. From the first discovery of Punic artifacts to the plunder of the site for the enrichment of European museums, the book follows the many personalities whose interests and diligence led to the establishment of scientific archaeological excavations and the re-emergence of Carthage from the ruins.
Women of the Portuguese Guinea Liberation War
Authors: Ly Aliou
Published: March 2024

The Portuguese Guinea Liberation War is is a major episode in twentieth-century decolonization, as Portugual’s defeat ultimately led to their abrupt withdrawal from their African colonies in 1974. Yet current accounts of the war, both popular and scholarly, tend to be distorted by gender bias: they usually focus on the charisma of male leaders and on male-dominated high politics and ideology, and they rarely ask how women contributed to independence.

In They Did Not Share the Pie: War, Peace, and Womanhood in a Decolonizing Guinea Bissau, Aliou Ly offers a much needed corrective. He does so not only through deep archival research, but also by documenting an entirely new oral history drawn from extensive interviews with women who participated in the war as spies, guerrilla fighters, and weapons transporters. Ly shows that women played major roles in winning the war, this largely because their motives for participating were often uniquely concrete: unlike most male participants, for example, many women joined the struggle in order to help fight for their families’ food security. Ly also shows, however, that women faced discrimination both during the war and immediately afterwards. They had to fight internally to be able to engage in active combat, and they returned to home to find that they were expected to take a back seat in the post-independence era—as one woman puts it, “Instead of sharing the pie with us, they gave us a slice of the pie.” Ultimately, Ly shows, the legacy of this injustice feeds into distortions in contemporary narratives of the war. His accounts of the motives and experiences of female freedom fighters add new, urgent dimensions not only to these narratives, but also to received understandings of anticolonial struggle more broadly.

For its major intervention into the gendered nature of current debates around a major episode in twentieth-century African independence struggles, this book is essential reading for students and researchers interested in modern African history, African feminisms, and African gender studies. It is also of keen interest to anyone interested in the relations between gender and anticolonialism.
Resistance and the Sermon in American Literature
Authors: Smalley Matthew
Published: March 2024

With seemingly obsessive regularity, American authors, from the mid-nineteenth century to the present, evoke the sermon at culturally loaded moments in their works, deploying the form to underscore the cultural work they imagine their novels or poetry to perform. Examining this longstanding tradition of “literary preaching,” this book draws on literary applications of design theory to provide a nuanced account of American literature’s complex, anxious, and persistent engagement with the Protestant sermon.

Analyzing literary preaching as a transhistorical form that simultaneously attracts and repels authors, Smalley demonstrates how major US writers–Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Rebecca Harding Davis, William Faulkner, Zora Neale Hurston, and Toni Morrison-have subverted the sermon’s predominantly religious content in order to reimagine profound moments of reform in a political, cultural, and aesthetic mode. This study elucidates new lines of literary kinship, offers fresh readings of familiar works, and establishes literary preaching as an undertheorized but significant tradition in American literature.
Bollypolitics
Authors: Gehlawat Ajay , Langford Michelle , Peer Stefanie Van de , Stone Rob , Nagib Lúcia , Carréra Guilherme , Chan Felicia , Traverso Antonio , Teo Stephen , Khatib Lina , Andermann Jens , Sune Asuman , Rocha Glauber , Mulliken Douglas , Friedman Yael , Sayad Cecilia , Thomas Michael W. , Subero Gustavo , Karalis Vrasidas , de Luca Tiago , Mello Cecília , Conrich Ian , Chen Shaopeng , Legg Shelagh-Rowan , Rodriguez Maria Pilar
Published: March 2024

This book provides an in-depth exploration of the evolving landscape of Bollywood cinema in response to recent socio-political changes in India, including a surge in sectarian violence and the ascent of Hindutva, or Hindu nationalism, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership.

Through a comprehensive analysis of prominent filmmakers and actors like Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Kangana Ranaut, Akshay Kumar, and Anupam Kher, Ajay Gehlawat investigates the extent to which their recent works align with key tenets of the Hindutva movement. He scrutinizes the growing influence of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on film production, manifesting in collaborations covering diverse themes, from Modi’s Clean India initiative to the nation’s space exploration endeavors and grand historical epics such as Padmaavat (2018) and Manikarnika (2019) that seek to reshape Indian history in line with Hindutva ideology.

Gehlawat goes on to dissect smaller budget films like Article 15 (2019) and Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (2020), which tackle pressing social issues like caste-based violence and homophobia exacerbated by the surge in right-wing extremism in India. In doing so, he elucidates the profound and far-reaching impact of Hindutva ideology on Indian cinematic narratives and aesthetics, while also considering the broader implications for Indian society as a whole.
Antiquity in Print
Authors: Orrells Daniel , Kennedy Duncan F. , Momigliano Nicoletta , Fowler Robert L. , Pellicer Juan Christian , Prettejohn Elizabeth , Morley Neville
Published: March 2024

Daniel Orrells examines the ways in which the ancient world was visualized for Enlightenment readers, and reveals how antiquarian scholarship emerged as the principal technology for envisioning ancient Greek culture, at a time when very few people could travel to Greece which was still part of the Ottoman Empire. Offering a fresh account of the rise of antiquarianism in the 18th century, Orrells shows how this period of cultural progression was important for the invention of classical studies. In particular, the main focus of this book is on the visionary experimentalism of antiquarian book production, especially in relation to the contentious nature of ancient texts.

With the explosion of the Quarrel between the Ancients and the Moderns, eighteenth-century intellectuals, antiquarians and artists such as Giambattista Vico, Johann Joachim Winckelmann, the Comte de Caylus, James Stuart, Julien-David Leroy, Giovanni Battista Piranesi and Pierre-François Hugues d’Hancarville all became interested in how printed engravings of ancient art and archaeology could visualize a historical narrative. These figures theorized the relationship between ancient text and ancient material and visual culture – theorizations which would pave the way to foundational questions at the heart of the discipline of classical studies and neoclassical aesthetics.

What did it meant to see and visualize ancient Greece in the eighteenth century, and why does that still matter today? Antiquity in Print: Visualizing Greece in the Eighteenth Century provides a fresh, new narrative about the emergence of classical studies as a discipline during the Enlightenment. The book examines how antiquarians during the mid-eighteenth century illustrated their narratives about the history of ancient art – in particular, of ancient Greece. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, science became spectacular: with the invention of the modern microscope and the telescope and the increase in imperial and commercial travel, new, strange and exoticized worlds were being depicted for European readers. Advances in mathematics and logic also interrogated the truthfulness of ancient texts. The so-called Quarrel between the Ancients and the Moderns erupted. Antiquity in Print explores how key eighteenth-century intellectuals and antiquarians such as Giambattista Vico, Alexander Pope, Bernard de Montfaucon, Johann Joachim Winckelmann, Pierre-Jean Mariette, the Comte de Caylus, James Stuart, Julien-David Leroy, Giovanni Battista Piranesi and Pierre-François Hugues d’Hancarville all became interested in how printed engravings of ancient art and archaeology could visualize a historical narrative. Antiquity in Print shows how these figures theorized the relationship between ancient text and ancient material and visual culture, and how these theorizations would pave the way to the foundational questions at the heart of the discipline of classical studies and neoclassical aesthetics.
Wolf Play
Authors: Jung Hansol
Published: March 2024

"There’s an unruly quality to Jung’s idea of what theater can be, jagged and untethered, coy and dreamlike. It’s thrilling to see that potential unleashed on the vagaries of love." New York Times

A southpaw boxer is on the verge of their pro debut when their wife signs the adoption papers for a Korean boy: the boy’s original adoptive father was all set to hand him over to a new home … until he realizes the boy would have no 'dad'. Caught in the middle, the child launches himself in a lone wolf’s journey of finding a pack he can call his own.

Mischievous and affecting, Hansol Jung's Wolf Play deftly explores the intricacies of the families we choose and un-choose, and how far we would all go to defend our pack.

Nominated for seven Lucille Lortel Awards after its initial production was postponed by the Covid-19 outbreak, Wolf Play is published in Methuen Drama's Modern Classics series, featuring a new introduction by Dustin Wills.
The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt
Authors: Grajetzki Wolfram
Published: March 2024

For the ancient Egyptians, the Middle Kingdom (c. 2000–1700 BC) was a classical period of art, history and literature. The Twelfth Dynasty was one of the strongest ever to rule on the banks of the Nile: some of its kings were later worshipped as local gods, and were made famous by classical Greek authors. Yet Egyptologists tend not to look beyond the extraordinary royal sculpture and literary masterpieces of the time.

Although the picture is fragmentary, as with any archaeological record, the last two hundred years of exploration and excavation have revealed much of the splendour of the period. This book examines the evidence for the culture, history and society of both central and provincial Egypt at the time, revealing the wealth of the entire country. In this second edition, Wolfram Grajetzki incorporates recent discoveries, discussions and publications which have emerged over the intervening fifteen years, including new excavation reports for the mastabas at Lisht and excavations at Abydos. Too often overshadowed by the better-preserved architecture of other periods, Middle Kingdom Egypt emerges for the reader as a fascinating age in its own right.
Cultural Gerontology
Authors: Andersson Lars
Published: March 2024

The concept of culture has gained considerable attention within the humanities and social sciences in general, and this is certainly true in the field of gerontology. The new perspectives thus gained widen the scope of gerontology. In this study, chapter authors examine the growth of gerontology as a discipline, the phenomenon of ageism as a socio-cultural concept, identity politics in which older persons are perceived as belonging to a subculture, and images of the older body in cultural perspective.

The manner in which gerontology emerged as a discipline was embedded in culturally defined views of aging that had consequences for how it was seen to vary between cultures. One consequence was a perception of ageism as a cultural construction. Since the 1980s, much of the politics of older people is a form of identity politics in which groups are mobilized to further their interests. Questions of cultural meanings ascribed to the gendered aging body is a central question for ageism, social identity, and self-image. These questions become especially relevant in confrontations with bodily decline and negotiations of intimacy in institutions for older people.
Civilization-States of China and India
Authors: Bajpai Ravi Dutt
Published: March 2024

The book starts from the progression of China and India into putatively modern polities during the colonial period, as the two indigenous societies imagined their national identities and nationalist aspirations primarily by contrasting their civilizational attributes with the Western colonial occupiers. As newly independent nation-states, both believed that their international status flowed from their civilizational glories. Therefore, despite their material and institutional fragility, China and India decided to pursue complete autonomy to manage their domestic and foreign affairs. Indian Prime Minister Nehru's policy of non-alignment, envisioning an alternate world order beyond the great power competition, was inspired by Indian civilizational ethos. The book also examines the Sino-Indian war of 1962 from a civilization-state perspective and argues that Tibet represented a conflict of civilizational influence.
Preparing for Peace
Authors: Franke Volker
Published: March 2024

Since the end of the Cold War, U.S. military forces have participated in an increasingly complex array of military operations, from disaster relief and peacekeeping to deadly combat. The unique nature of many of these missions calls into question what it means to be a soldier and may require adjustments not only in military doctrine, but also in the military's combat-oriented warrior identity. Franke examines the extent to which individuals who will lead U.S. forces in the 21st century are prepared cognitively to shift among mission requirements.

Using survey methods, Franke explores the social, political, and professional attitudes and values of cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. By comparing cadets' responses across classes, he assesses the effects of military socialization on their commitment to the military's dual-mission purpose and their cognitive preparation for combat and non-combat assignments. By developing a dynamic model of social identity, Franke extends the applicability of social identity theory from the experimental laboratory environment to a genuine social field setting. Assessing the dynamic relationship between identity, values, and attitudes for identifications that are normatively meaningful to respondents, he illustrates the importance of individuals' identification with social groups for their behavioral choices.
Press and Speech Freedoms in the World, from Antiquity until 1998
Authors: Ingelhart Louis E.
Published: March 2024

Although Americans tend to take the concept and protection of free expression for granted, free press and free speech are at best only tentatively established in some nations of the world. Covering prehistoric times to mid-1998, this book provides a year-by-year report of the efforts to free the press throughout the world. Since the American concept of free speech came from England, the early chapters place a heavy emphasis on events in England, while later chapters include other nations throughout the world. Ingelhart provides a thorough overview of free press and free speech principles and the continuing effort to extend those freedoms almost everywhere.