bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Detection of IgG Antibodies to Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) as a Biomarker of Immune Status to Plasmodium species
Authors: A Sani, , M.H.I. Doko , M.S. Aliyu
Published: December 2021

Finding new ways to eliminate malaria is critical and this would greatly be influenced by developing indicators of exposure as well as distribution of effective vaccines against Plasmodium. This study was aimed at detecting Immunoglobulin G(IgG) antibodies, to glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) as a biomarker of immune status to Plasmodium species. In this study, blood samples were gotten from apparently healthy individuals and patients having symptoms of malaria attending Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria. Thick and thin blood smears were prepared and stained with Giemsa stain. The smears were observed microscopically. Parasite densities were estimated on positive slides. Samples positive and some negative for Plasmodium were further tested to detect IgG antibodies to GPI among both the Asymptomatic and Symptomatic participants using ELISA. The prevalence of Plasmodium infection among both asymptomatic and symptomatic participants in this study was 18.9% and the prevalence of asymptomatic malaria was 15.6%. There was a significant association between the level of parasitemia and concentration of IgG antibodies to GPI among the asymptomatic participants and a no significant association among symptomatic participants. Type of housing amongst other risk factors was the only factor significantly associated with malaria in this study. This study suggests PGPI as a biomarker of immunity to Plasmodium and may be a vaccine candidate for programs of malaria control.
The role of “penumbra sign” and diffusion-weighted imaging in adnexal masses: do they provide a clue in differentiating tubo-ovarian abscess from ovarian malignancy?
Authors: Patel Ranjan Kumar , Garg Anju , Dixit Rashmi , Gandhi Gauri , Khurana Nita
Published: December 2021

Purpose

To evaluate the role of “penumbra sign”, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value in differentiating tubo-ovarian abscess (TOA) from ovarian malignancy.

Material and methods

Thirty-six patients with 50 adnexal masses (tubo-ovarian abscess, n = 24; ovarian malignancy, n = 26), who underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with DWI, were retrospectively evaluated. “Penumbra sign” (hyperintense rim on T1W images), diffusion restriction, and mean apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values from cystic (c-ADC) and solid (s-ADC) components were evaluated for all the masses.

Results

“Penumbra sign” on T1W images was significantly more common in the TOA group (n = 21, 87.5%) than in the ovarian malignancy group (n = 2, 7.7%) (p < 0.001). Similarly, diffusion restriction in the cystic component was more frequent in the TOA group (n = 24, 100% vs. n = 2, 10.5%; p < 0.001). In contrast, diffusion restriction in the solid component was more common in the ovarian malignancy group (n = 5, 20.8% vs. n = 26, 100%; p < 0.001). The mean c-ADC value was significantly lower in TOAs (p < 0.001). A c-ADC value of 1.31 × 10-3 mm2/s may be an optimal cut-off in distinguishing TOAs from ovarian malignancies. Conversely, the mean s-ADC value was significantly lower in the ovarian malignancy group (p < 0.001). An s-ADC value of 0.869 × 10-3 mm2/s may be an optimal cut-off in differentiating ovarian malignancies from TOAs (p < 0.001). ROC curve analysis showed that c-ADC values had a higher diagnostic accuracy than s-ADC values.

Conclusions

“Penumbra sign” on T1W images, diffusion characteristics, and ADC values provide important clues in addition to conventional MR imaging features in differentiating TOA from ovarian malignancy.
The main results of monitoring the fertility of arable soils in the forest-steppe zone of the Central Chernozem Region (on the example of the Belgorod)
Authors:   The center of agrochemical service ", Surinov Artem ,   Belgorod",   Belgorod State National Research University
Published: December 2021

The paper analyzes the results of an agrochemical survey for 2010-2019 of arable soils of the Ivnyansky district of the Belgorod region, located in the south-west of the forest-steppe zone of the Central Chernozem region (CDR). It was found that in the soil and climatic conditions of this area for the period from 2010-2014 to 2015-2019. a decrease in the doses of applied mineral fertilizers from 126.6 to 122.8 kg/ha and a simultaneous increase in the doses of organic fertilizers from 18.3 to 23.1 t/ha contributed to an increase in the yield of winter wheat by 28.3%, spring barley - by 22.7%, corn for grain - by 24.7%, sugar beet - by 34.8%, sunflower - by 26.6% and soybeans - by 15.2%. At the same time, the content of mobile forms of phosphorus in soils increased by 29, potassium - by 53, sulfur - by 0.20, copper - by 0.51, manganese - by 3.61, cobalt - by 0.007 mg/kg, organic matter - by 0.25%. As a result of the implementation of measures for chemical reclamation of acidic soils on an area of 29.6 thousand hectares, the proportion of acidic soils decreased from 80.0 to 56.2%. Keywords: RECLAMATION, TRACE ELEMENTS, ORGANIC MATTER, PHOSPHORUS, POTASSIUM, FERTILIZERS, CHERNOZEM, FERTILITY, ACIDITY
Tomentosin shows anticancer effect on U87 human glioblastoma multiforme cells
Authors: ÇINAR AYAN İlknur , GÜÇLÜ Ebru , DURSUN Hatice Gul , VURAL Hasibe
Published: December 2021

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most common brain tumors. Chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgical resection are methods used in GBM treatment, however, the investigation of possible anticancer effects of low-toxicity natural products on various cancer cells, including GBM, leads to promising results. In this study, it was aimed to investigate anticancer effect of tomentosin, which is a sesquiterpene lactone, on U87 human GBM cells. The cytotoxic effect of tomentosin was evaluated by XTT assay. The concentration of tomentosin that inhibits 50% cell viability (IC50) was determined by the results from XTT, and, in further analyzes cells were treated with tomentosin at IC50 concentration. Then, total RNA isolation and cDNA synthesis were performed in control and dose groups, and, the possible anticancer effect of tomentosin was determined by evaluating the expression levels of important genes associated with apoptosis and metastasis by qPCR analysis. In addition, the effect of tomentosin on the colony forming capacity of GBM cells was evaluated by colony formation assay. According to our results, IC50 dose of tomentosin was found to be 28.8 µM in U87 cells for 48 hours. When compared to the control group, tomentosin increased expression of BAX, CASP3, CASP8, CASP9, CYCS, FADD, TNF, TNFR1, TNFR2 and TIMP2 genes. And, tomantosin significantly decreased colony forming capacity of U87 cells. In conclusion, it is thought that tomentosin exerts its anticancer effect by changing the expression levels of genes associated with apoptosis and metastasis in U87 GBM cells.
The effect of the cross-linker ratio used in gellan gum biomaterial synthesis on biomineralization
Authors: TÜRK Serbülent , ÜNLÜ Burak , ÖZACAR Mahmut
Published: December 2021

The first step in using polymeric materials for many applications is their crosslinking. Before application, the cross-linker used in crosslinking should be kept at an optimum ratio. The use of gellan gum, a polymeric material, as an intra-body biomaterial is also included in these application areas. In this study, the effect of CaCl2 ratio used as GG cross-linker on the biomineralization of the obtained GG hydrogel was investigated. FTIR, XRD, SEM and EDS analyzes of the synthesized and lyophilized cross-linked GG samples were performed before and after biomineralization. In line with the results obtained, it was observed that the bioactivity of the GG hydrogel could be changed by changing the cross-linking ratio.
Structural and Thermal Properties of Electrospun Whey Protein/PEO Nanofibers
Authors: GÖZLER Mustafa , İNCE YARDIMCI Atike , TARHAN Özgür
Published: December 2021

Nano-scale fibers or films obtained by adding natural active agents to natural food proteins are promising materials for packaging purposes. Whey proteins (WPs) are one of the most popular matrices in application with their cheap and sustainable availability. They have many functional properties and their antimicrobial, antiviral and anticarcinogenic properties are highlighted as well. Enzymatic hydrolysis can increase their functionality such as inducing gelation and revealing bioactive peptides. These features can make whey proteins good candidates for the fabrication of talented fiber structures through electrospinning. Electrospinning technique based on the deposition of fine fibers on a collector surface under electrical forces can be used to form protein nanofibers. The purpose of this research is to produce whey-based protein nanofibers and determine their structural and thermal features by infra-red spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. A high molecular polymer, polyethylene oxide (PEO) was used in combination with whey protein concentrate (WPC) to increase spinnability. Besides, enzymatic hydrolysis of WPC enhanced the viscosity of the protein/polymer solution and helped electrospinning ability. Both non-hydrolyzed and hydrolyzed WPC/PEO nanofibers exhibited promising morphological, structural and thermal properties for targeted use in food and biomedical applications. Further research will focus on the application of these protein nanofibers for food packaging purposes.
THE EFFECT OF SOCIAL CHANGE AND POPULAR CULTURE IN HISTORICAL PLACES:THE CASE OF ISTIKLAL AVENUE
Authors: AY AK Betül Rüveyda , KART AKTAŞ Nilüfer
Published: December 2021

The world has been in constant change and development since its existence. Throughout the history, Istanbul which has always been popular especially because of its location, has undoubtedly been one of the places that are most affected by these changes and developments. For this reason, Pera District-Istiklal Avenue was chosen as the case.While analyzing Istiklal Avenue, the pressure of popular culture on places, and its effect on identity, especially in the current situation which is a result of social changes and developments, are discussed. The data were collected using on-site observation and photographing methods, and the obtained data were matched with the current panoramic map view. In the light of the collected data, the whole process and the milestones Istiklal Avenue went through until today were determined. Function analysis was made in the light of the current view of Istiklal Avenue, which was obtained with the photographs taken. The role of the Avenue in history has been compared with its current role. The changes, and the pressure of popular culture that the Avenue has experienced are discussed. As a result, it has been determined that Istiklal Avenue has moved away from its historical value and is no different from an ordinary street or any shopping center. By observing the identities of the commercial service units, it has been determined that there are chain brands identified by fast consumption-popular culture, and that the avenue has experienced an intense identity change under the influence of this popular culture.
Pengembangan Media Pembelajaran Kotak Komponen Ekosistem (KOKOSIS) untuk Sekolah Dasar
Authors: Mahardika Candra , Siswoyo Andika Adinanda
Published: December 2021

Tujuan penelitian pengembangan ini adalah (1) mengetahui pengembangan media pembelajaran KOKOSIS (Kotak Komponen Ekosistem) pada tema 8 subtema 1 kelas V di UPTD SDN Panyaksagan Klampis, (2) mengetahui kevalidan, keefektifan, dan kemenarikan media pembelajaran KOKOSIS (Kotak Komponen Ekosistem) pada tema 8 subtema 1 kelas V di UPTD SDN Panyaksagan Klampis. Penelitian pengembangan ini menggunakan model pengembangan Borg and Gall. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian yang dilakukan, diperoleh hasil bahwa persentase kevalidan rata-rata media pembelajaran KOKOSIS sebesar 89% dalam kategori sangat valid. Keefektifan media pembelajaran KOKOSIS diukur dari observasi guru sebesar 100% dalam kategori sangat aktif, observasi aktivitas siswa sebesar 98% dalam kategori sangat aktif dan persentase ketuntasan klasikal sebesar 91% dalam kategori tuntas sehingga dapat disimpulkan media pembelajaran KOKOSIS sangat efektif digunakan pada pembelajaran. Kemenarikan diukur dari persentase hasil angket respon siswa sebesar 97% dengan kategori sangat menarik. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian maka media pembelajaran KOKOSIS valid, efektif dan menarik digunakan pada Tema 8 Subtema 1 materi komponen ekosistem kelas V UPTD SDN Panyaksagan Klampis.
Attitudes and Soft-Skills Acquired from Accounting Internship; Does It Affect the Academic Performance?
Authors: Bedah AHMAD , ABD HAMİD Nadiah , ABDUL RASİT Zarinah , HUSSİN Norazian
Published: December 2021

The evolution of financial reporting and information technology disruption has increased challenges in the accounting profession. Accounting practitioners have raised concerns that accounting graduates seem to possess sufficient technical knowledge, but somehow, they lack the required soft skills such as communication and analytical thinking. The accounting program must address issues on technical, soft skills and ethical issues reflecting the graduates.
From pharmaceutical standardizing to clinical research: 20 years of experience with fifty-millesimal potencies
Authors: Adler Ubiratan Cardinalli , Cesar Amarilys de Toledo , Adler Maristela Schiabel , Padula Ana Elisa , Garozzo Erika Nakabara , Galhardi Wania Papile
Published: December 2021

Background: 20 years ago we began to standardize the procedures of preparation and use of fifty-millesimal dilutions (LM or Q) according to indications in the 6th edition of HahnemannÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s Organon. Aim: to describe the main stages in standardization as well as our teaching and research experience on Organon 6th edition. Results: with the use of standardized LM dilutions we observed a lower incidence of homeopathic aggravation than with our earlier experience with non standardized preparations. Organon.modus, a clinical-pharmaceutical protocol derived from the standardization was adequate for the teaching of homeopathy at Faculty of Medicine of Jundiai (SÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â£o Paulo), the first Brazilian medical school with a graduate course on homeopathy. A randomized double-blind trial comparing individualized homeopathic medicines prescribed in LM dilutions and fluoxetine showed the former not be inferior to the latter in the treatment of moderate-to-severe depression. Conclusion: protocol Organon.modus showed to be adequate to graduate-level teaching of homeopathy and efficient in a controlled clinical trials, favoring its use as common denominator between the art of healing and medical science.
A prospective multicentric observational study to evolve the usefulness of 13 predefined homoeopathic medicines in the management of acute rhinitis in children.
Authors: Nayak Chaturbhuja , Singh Vikram , Singh Krishna , Singh Hari , Oberai Praveen , Roja Varanasi , Padmanabhan Maya , Prasad Sunil , Arya Manu Dev , Mohanan Punnackal Gopalan , Singh Ojit , John Maniakkupara Devasia , Singh Nameirakpam Bir Kumar , Bhagat Swami Raj Bhagat , Ramteke Sunil
Published: December 2021

Aims: The study aimed to evaluate the effect of a group of homeopathic medicines in children with acute rhinitis. Materials and methods: In this multi-centric open clinical trial, a total of 784 children (408 males; 384 females) aged 6 months to 15 years, presenting symptoms of acute rhinitis were enrolled from 7 Institutes/ Units under the Central Council for Research in Homeopathy (India). Symptoms were assessed using an acute rhinitis symptom score (ARSS). A total of 13 homeopathic medicines were shortlisted after repertorizing the nosological symptoms of acute rhinitis in children and the results were analyzed. The medicines were prescribed in dilution 6c (10-12) and doses were repeated from few minutes to few hours as per the need of the case. Appearance of any change (improvement or worsening) was followed by placebo / change in dilution or change in medicine according to the response of the patient. The follow up period was up to the 7th day of illness. Results: Out of 784 children enrolled, 638 children were followed up and analyzed. A significant change in the score from the baseline (p
Reproductive performance of sows inseminated with diluted semen treated with homeopathic medicine
Authors: Soto Francisco Rafael Martins , Vuaden Erlete Rosalina , Coelho Cideli de Paula , Bonamin Leoni Villano , De Azevedo SÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â©rgio Santos , Benites Nilson Roberti , De Barros Flavia Regina Oliveira , Goissis Marcelo Demarchi , AssumpÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â§ÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â£o Mayra Elena Ortiz , Marques Mariana Groke
Published: December 2021

Aims: this study sought to assess the reproductive performance of sows inseminated with sperm treated with homeopathic medicines. Materials and methods: the semen of 2 sexually mature boars age 18 months Pietrain and Duroc cross-bred with similar genetic and reproductive performance were chosen, as well as 125 sows. Sixteen samples of semen were collected and standardized through semen evaluation. Three homeopathic preparations and a placebo (control) were tested on the sperm (n=31/32 per group): Avena sativa 6cH, Pulsatilla nigricans 6cH and Avena sativa 6cH + Pulsatilla nigricans 6cH. Sows were inseminated 3 times with the same estrous diagnostic procedures. Results: there was significant difference (p
A Pilot Study of the Influence of Natrum muriaticum at 6CH and 30CH Potency in a Standardized Culture of Phaseolus vulgaris
Authors: Lensi Mariana Moreira , Siqueira Tatiana Jurgensen , Silva Gustavo Henrique
Published: December 2021

The use of highly diluted and dynamized solutions is widespread. Its use extends to all living beings, including vegetables, acting effectively in primary and secondary metabolism. The aim of the present pilot study was to confirm the action of Natrum muriaticum at 6 CH and 30 CH dilutions in comparison to the action of a 5.0% NaCl solution, when administered separately in population of Phaseolus vulgaris (common bean). An evaluation was performed by determining the Relative Growth Rate (RGR) of bean population treated for six weeks and subdivided into 4 groups (with 5 vases each): P1, the control group, which was treated with a 30% alcohol solution only; P2, treated with an aqueous 5.0% NaCl solution; P3, treated with Natrum muriaticun at 6 CH dilution; P4, treated with Natrum muriaticum at 30 CH dilution. The results obtained showed that an increase in soil salinity caused inhibition of the development of bean population (P2). In addition, the use of the Natrum muriaticum dilution promoted a significant increase in vegetable growth, chiefly related to the 6 CH (P3), causing a significant increase in the RGR of the bean population. The use of this high dilutions provided evidence that method is efficient in vegetables.
Putative protective effect of Cadmium chloride highdiluted solution on LLC-PK1 cell intoxicated by high concentration of this same metal: an isopathic in vitro assay.
Authors: Bortolini Roberta Ghilosso , Bonamin Leoni Villano , Holandino Carla
Published: December 2021

Cadmium is an important toxic environmental heavy metal. Several studies have demonstrated that a major site of cadmium toxicity in humans and in other animals is the proximal tubule of the kidney. A well established model for nefrotoxicity is the use of in vitro technique with proximal tubule epithelial cell lines, as LLC-PK1. Herein, we have the intention to study the possible protective effect of highdiluted CdCl2 solutions. In a blinding way, LLC-PK1 cells were pre-treated with highdiluted cadmium chloride in the potencies 10 cH, 15 cH and 20cH. After 4 days, these cells have received CdCl2 in a pre-determined toxic concentration. The cell viability was assessed by MTT assay. We have identified a protective effect of two CdCl2 highdiluted solutions, 10 cH and 20 cH, when cells were intoxicated by sublethal CdCl2 concentration. The results indicate that probably the highdilutions have an expressive action on cells in sublethal intoxication.
Physical chemical and citotoxic evaluation of highly diluted solutions of Euphorbia tirucalli L. prepared through the fifty milesimal homeopathic method
Authors: Garcia Sheila , Harduim Rafael Cardoso , Homsanin Fortune , Zacharias Carlos Renato , Kuster Ricardo Machado , Holandino Quaresma Carla
Published: December 2021

Background: although Hahnemann described the fifty-milesimal (LM) method in the 6th edition of the Organon of the Medical Art, very little research has been carried out on the physical chemical properties of these homeopathic preparations. Furthermore, there is still no evidence allowing for the correlation between the alleged physical chemical properties and the biological effects of high dilutions. Aims: to evaluate physical chemical characteristics of LM preparations including electrical conductivity, pH and refraction index, and their effect on biological experimental models. Materials and methods: preparations tested for physical chemical analysis were dilutions 1 lm to 10 lm of Euphorbia tirucalli L. prepared from the latex and the juice of the plant. To rule the seasonal characteristics of this plant, 2 different populations were used, one collected in June 2007 and the other in May 2008. Furthermore, the cytotoxic effect of Euphorbia tirucalli 5 lm was tested on human breast cancer cells (MCF7) through MTT assay. Some differences among the two collections were observed. However, any clear correlation could be observed between physical chemical properties and biological activity.
Semiotic process implied in phenomena associated with high dilutions
Authors: Jurj Gheorghe
Published: December 2021

This article is an attempted sketch for a semiotic perspective about the HD phenomena, from their production, signification and meanings to possible fields of research. On the grounds of classic semiotic notions, it is proposed the model of ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…â€œiconic transmissionÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â which posits HD signs as icons. As a working hypothesis, it might be useful to explain the anomalous aspects of HD, which fall outside the scope of traditional science grounded on the notion of matter.
Similarities among differences!
Authors: Zacharias Carlos Renato
Published: December 2021

Some time ago I read an article entitled ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…â€œSmall differencesÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â, published by Nature [1] whose author (Chris Tourney) pointed out some differences between nanotechnology and homeopathy. My first reaction was fear, because a text about homeopathy in Nature immediately brought me back to the ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…â€œmemory of water affairÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â with its entire context, polemics and scarring. But also surprise, since I had never before heard of homeopathy as an application of nanontechnology. The author was impartial in his presentation of homeopathyÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s principles and the comparison with nanomedicine. Furthermore, since his tone was direct and polite, it was not needed to dive too deep in analysis in order to conclude that medical nanoparticles have no relation to homeopathy. ...

... Yes, Mr Tourney, nanomedicine and high dilution cannot be confused because they are really different! But maybe, not at all!!
Project e-HD: an archiving system for electronic documents related to High Dilution research
Authors: Zacharias Carlos Renato
Published: December 2021

Peer-review journals and indexation agencies have an important role in the society as they certify the scientific common sense. However, they represent the edge-of-the-iceberg of the all produced knowledge. Within the ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…â€œunderwater productionÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â there are many ideas, incomplete theoretical proposals and suggestions for new experimental models, some of them interesting, others more limited and a further group untenable. In common all of them are left aside and hidden from the most of people, including scientists. This article introduces a new initiative dedicated to the archiving of electronic documents (e-doc) referred to the High Dilution research, and was named as e-HD. It is opened to pre- and post-prints, lectureÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s slides, movies, institutional websites and all relevant e-doc related to High Dilutions. e-HD is one more attempt to insert the High Dilution research in the scientific scenario giving visibility to all contributions in this field. While not substituting a peer-review journals, it can be used as a first step to refine preprints through open discussions before a more elaborated articleÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s version is done, aiming the final publication in peer-review journals.
Organon 2010: is a medical textbook after 200 years still up to date?
Authors: Adler Ubiratan
Published: December 2021

The question, proposed by the German Central Union of homeopathic Doctors, is the pivotal subject addressed in a series of lectures and discussions being held all over Germany in 2010, to celebrate the bicentenary of homeopathyÃƒâ€šÃ‚Â´s first medical textbook.

HahnemannÃƒâ€šÃ‚Â´s Organon of the Healing Art is the basis for classical homeopathy. Reading its 6th and posthumous edition is part of the education of 90% of the homeopaths, as indicated by a survey carried out at the 60th Homeopathic World Medical Congress (Berlin 2005). This might be odd to conventional doctors, used to read the latest editions of textbooks and journals, but HahnemannÃƒâ€šÃ‚Â´s therapeutics seems to be ahead of his time, in that classical homeopathy can be at least as effective as current standard pharmacotherapy. For instance, classical homeopathy for children suffering from atopic eczema showed comparable results to conventional treatment in usual care. Moreover, randomized controlled double blind trials using the dynamization scale introduced by the 6th edition (fifty-millesimal or Quinquagintamillesimal dynamization and its products, the Q-potencies) showed that homeopathically individualized Q-potencies were superior to placebo for fibromyalgia or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children, and not inferior to the antidepressant fluoxetine in a sample of patients with moderate to severe depression.

More studies using the clinical-pharmaceutical protocol of the Organon are of course needed, but so far its use by trained physicians have yield to challenging results, keeping up with what is recommended in most recent clinical textbooks for the treatment of some chronic diseases.
Bayes' theorem: scientific assessment of experience
Authors: Rutten Lex
Published: December 2021

Homeopathy is based on experience and this is a scientific procedure if we follow Bayes' theorem. Unfortunately this is not the case at the moment. Symptoms are added to our materia medica based on absolute occurrence, while Bayes theorem tells us that this should be based on relative occurrence. Bayes theorem can be applied on prospective research, but also on retrospective research and consensus based on a large number of cases. Confirmation bias is an important source of false data in experience based systems like homeopathy. Homeopathic doctors should become more aware of this and longer follow-up of cases could remedy this. The existing system of adding symptoms to our materia medica is obsolete.
Hahnemann and the methodology of pathogenetic trials in healthy volunteers: a reappraisal.
Authors: Rogers Jim
Published: December 2021

This article assesses the guidelines and protocols that Hahnemann developed for homeopathic pathogenetic trials (HPTs) - often referred to as proving - and reappraise them in the light of more recent knowledge and protocols for clinical trials involving human subjects. Innovative features and methods introduced by Hahnemann and aimed at reducing bias are noted. A number of features which are now known to lead to bias in trials and which may be included in the reporting of symptoms are discussed in relation to HPTs. These features include: absence of control groups, absence of random allocation, absence of blinding, the inclusion of trivial and pre-existing symptoms, the inclusion of well-known acquaintances as trial participants, and the lack of definition of the healthy state. Advice from experts and papers published in recent decades related to the design of HPTs are discussed. The importance of developing methods to screen participants in HPTs for susceptibility to the tested medicine is discussed. The absence of trials meeting high quality standards in their design is highlighted. The article concludes with a plea for researchers to show the same desire for rigour and innovation that Hahnemann did in the development of HPTs, whilst fully recognising the requirements and protocols necessary for any trial of medicines on human beings, so that, as Hahnemann wanted, only reliable symptoms from HPTs will be admitted in the materia medica and clinical practice.
Boundaries or bridges: what should Homeopathy's relationship be with mainstream medicine?
Authors: Brierley-Jones Lyn
Published: December 2021

When Samuel Hahnemann devised homoeopathy he constructed multiple arguments that both vehemently supported his new system and criticized the conventional medical practice of his day. At the end of the 19th century when homeopathy had grown within Britain and America, homeopaths failed to make use of some of HahnemannÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s most successful arguments. Instead, homeopaths found themselves lose significant cognitive ground to their long time conventional rivals with the dawn of the 20th century, a ground they have not yet recovered. This paper uses the theoretical framework of Berger and Luckmann to analyse the dynamics of the arguments used against homeopathy and suggests that homeopaths failed to adopt a universalizing medical explanation that was available to them: the reverse action of drugs. Had they used this argument homoeopaths could have explained conventional medicine successes within their own universe of meaning and thus neutralized the impact of conventional on their practice. The implications of these conclusions for the future survival and success of homoeopathy are considered.
First Edition of Hahnemann's Organon: Celebrating its 200th Anniversary
Authors: Eizayaga JosÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â© Enrique
Published: December 2021

With this special issue, IJHDR celebrates the 200th anniversary of the first edition of HahnemannÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s Organon, published in 1810. By 1796, in a previous foundational article published in HufelandÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s prestigious Journal of Practical Medicine [1], after criticizing with fine reasoning the usual ways of studying the ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…â€œcurative properties of medicinal substancesÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â, namely according to their chemical actions, their effects on animals, their external aspect or sensitive properties, their taxonomic classification, or the random use of multiple drugs by the so called empiricists, Hahnemann stated what can be regarded as one of the cornerstones of homeopathy: ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…â€œThe true physician, whose sole aim is to perfect his art, can avail himself of no other information respecting medicines, than ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ first, what is the pure action of each by itself on the human body? Second, what do observations of its action in this or that simple or complex disease teach us?ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â ...

... To conclude, despite uncertainties and difficulties homeopaths still have to struggle with, we can only feel grateful to HahnemannÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s countless efforts to introduce homeopathy and everything what it means in medicine history and development.
Efficiency of tick biotherapic on the control of infestation by Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus in Dutch dairy cows.
Authors: Gazim Zilda Cristiani , Ferreira Fabiana Borges Padilha , Da Silva Aristeu Vieira , Bolognese Kelly Cristina , Merlin Ewerton , Messa Valdeci , De Jesus Renan Almeida , Coutinho Cesar Alberto , Da Silva Luiz Cláudio Monteiro
Published: December 2021

Background: cattle tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus poses serious problems for farmers in Brazil, especially because the parasite easily develops resistance to pesticide agents. For this reason, together with other factors including environmental, human and animal contamination and costs, alternative approaches have been sought for. Aims: this study sough to evaluate the efficiency of a tick biotherapic on tick-infested cows. Methods: 34 dairy Dutch cows were divided in 2 groups: one group received 100g/day of mineral salt supplement impregnated with tick biotherapic 12cH for 6 months, and then in alternate days with tick biotherapic 30cH to complete 28 months of treatment; the other group (control) received only the mineral salt supplement. After 28 months of treatment, engorged Rhipicephalus (boophilus) microplus females were collected in both groups, counted and weighed; in vitro tests were carried out to assess mass of ticks; egg mass; egg-hatching rate; and reproductive efficiency. Results: There was significant difference between both groups for all parameters evaluated; tick-mass (p = 0.0008); egg mass (p=0.0044); egg-hatching rate (p= 0.0017); and reproductive efficiency (p = 0.0044). Conclusion: treatment with tick biotherapic significantly decreased the mass of engorged females, deposition and hatching rate of eggs, resulting consequently in the decrease of the reproductive efficiency of ticks.
Effect of biotherapic of Alternaria solani on the early blight of tomato-plant and the in vitro development of the fungus
Authors: Carneiro Solange Monteiro de Toledo Piza Gomes , Romano Euclides Davidson Bueno , Pignoni Erika , Teixeira Marcus Zulian , Vasconcelos Maria Elizabeth da Costa , Gomes JosÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â© Carlos
Published: December 2021

Background: homeopathy is a means permitted in organic agriculture to control disease and plagues; biotherapics are a practical means for farmers to intervene on the health of plants in agro-ecological systems of production. Tomato-plants can be affected by several diseases, one of the most significant ones in Brazil is early blight, caused by fungus Alternaria solani, due to the damage it causes and its wide distribution in the country. Aims: to establish whether a biotherapic of A. solani may interfere on the in vitro development of the fungus and whether it affects the severity of early blight on tomato-plants in greenhouse. Methods: the effect of the biotherapic on the fungus was evaluated through the percentage of germinated spores under microscope and the growth of colonies in a culture medium. Treatments used were: biotherapic 26cH, 27cH, 28cH, 29cH and 30cH; sterilized distilled water; and diluted and agitated hydroalcoholic solution. The effect of the biotherapic on the development of disease was evaluated in 4 experiments in greenhouse. Plants were kept in vases and subjected to artificial inoculation of the fungus after the application of treatments. Evaluation of disease was carried out through diagrammatic scale. Results: no treatment affected the germination of spores or the development of fungus colonies in the culture medium. In the first test, treatment 26cH differed from water in TukeyÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s test at 5% but did not differed from diluted and agitated hydroalcoholic solution. In the second test, treatments 27cH and 28cH showed significant difference from both water and hydroalcoholic solution with an average control of disease of 57% and 62% respectively. The other 2 tests did nor exhibit any significant effect. Conclusions: there was no direct effect of the biotherapic on the fungus, but there was an effect on the severity of the disease. Factors affecting the efficiency of the biotherapic must be better understood before it can be recommended to farmers for the management of early blight in tomato-plants.
We don't need another hero!
Authors: Zacharias Carlos Renato
Published: December 2021

"We Don't Need Another HeroÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â was the hit theme song performed by Tina Turner in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, a 1985 sci-fi movie. The story was about a post-apocalyptical world representing the timeless and mythical struggle between Good and Evil and the hope for a better future. Children waited for a messiah, who would lead them back to a peaceful civilization! But the world changed, there was no guide and not even the intended place existed any longer!

... Maybe we do need a new hero. But not to lead us back to the world of matter, but to show us new paths to thread. Such paths might already exist, but if they do, they are hidden to us. Signs are vain when one is blind and closed to new opportunities and possibilities. Perhaps this is one further barrier to acknowledge and overcome in order to be ready and able to recognize and interpret new signs. Maybe we, ourselves, are our own awaited hero!
Domain specificity of creativity: Theory, research, and practice
Authors: Baer John
Published: December 2021

Research over the past two decades has shown that the cognitive skills underlying

creativity in diverse domains vary widely. Some people evidence creativity in many

domains, of course (and many show little creativity in any domain), but this is not

because of some underlying creativity-relevant cognitive skill, personality trait,

motivation, or attitude that can be deployed across domains, but rather because of a

variety of such skills, traits, motivations, and attitudes, each contributing to creativity in

different domains. Creativity has commonly been thought of either as a set of domaingeneral

skills that can be applied broadly like a special kind of intelligence or as a

general personality trait that colors a person’s approach to any kind of task or problem,

but these ways of thinking about creativity are misleading. A better metaphor for

creativity than either intelligence or a personality trait is expertise. This paper will

review research that demonstrates the domain specificity of creativity (including

research in creative writing); explain what that research means in terms of our

understanding of the cognitive processes underlying creativity in different domains;

and suggest how a domain-specific understanding of creativity can guide and enrich the

work of those who wish to nurture creativity in writing.
Editorial - Creativity: Cognitive, social and cultural perspectives
Authors: McLoughlin Nigel , Brien Donna Lee
Published: December 2021

In conceiving this special issue of TEXT, one of our prime aims has been to respond

to the challenges faced by researchers concerned with creativity today by creating a

space wherein aspects of an interdisciplinary conversation about creativity that is

grounded in the creative arts might take place.
You’re gonna need a bigger boat
Authors: Dietrich Arne
Published: December 2021

Creative ideas, even complex ones, can be assembled unconsciously and enter the

conscious mind in a fully finished form. But there is nothing mystical or sacrosanct

about the mechanisms giving rise to this mental phenomenon. Progress on the

neuroscience of creativity can only occur if we fully expose Cartesian muses for what

they are: teddy bears for grownups. This is not to say that neuroscientists understand

yet what happens in the innards of the machine when we are creative, but I hope to

show here where we are and where we are going on this matter. The aim of this article

is not so much to persuade readers of a naturalistic explanation of creativity but to help

with conceivability; that is, help them envision what a scientific account could,

possibly, look like. Without a path towards such an ersatz explanation, we have little

hope to lift the dense fog enveloping our beliefs in the specialness of the creative

process, the instinctive tug we feel that the creative spark comes from on high. This

article plants a seed of how such a seemingly magical event can be reverse engineered.
Flash points: Reading electronic literature as a metaphor for creativity
Authors: Engberg Maria , Prater David
Published: December 2021

In her groundbreaking volume Electronic Literature: New Horizons for the Literary

(2008), N. Katherine Hayles describes the concept of a ‘flash point’ as a moment

within pedagogy or teaching practice when a student grasps the complex potential of

a digital work. As a form of pedagogical breakthrough moment, the concept of the

flash point also alludes to a mode of creativity that acknowledges the possibility that

neurological processes can be replicated, if only metaphorically, in creative works. In

this article, we explore the possibilities suggested by the idea of the flash point as a

teaching model and as a metaphor for creativity beyond the teaching of digital

literature. We build upon our experiences as teachers within a digital literary and

creative writing context, respectively. What the two different writing and teaching

contexts have in common is the fostering of writing in a digital age as a central

practice. The article examines how digital media and writing come together in

pedagogical practices. If creativity can be prompted in such intimately felt moments

by an interface or digital media experience, can the creation of electronic or digital

literature also act as a model for learning within the humanities and the arts more

generally, as the use of digital tools spreads?
Conceptualising creativity in the creative arts: Seeking common ground
Authors: Morgan Chris
Published: December 2021

This paper reports on a research study that investigated how university academics in

the creative arts conceptualise creativity, both as a general concept and also as a set of

situated disciplinary beliefs and practices. The study, located primarily in the UK and

Australia, reveals that the problems of defining and articulating creativity lead to a

series of ongoing dilemmas for teaching and assessment in the creative arts. These

dilemmas include the ability to explain and foster the creative endeavour with students;

to provide transparency to students about expectations and standards; and to make

demonstrably fair and reliable judgements about student work in a relatively subjective

domain. It argues that if tertiary-level teachers are to devise creative curricula, facilitate

creative environments and make judgements about the quality of creative work, they

need to both share an understanding about the creative endeavour and the ability to

communicate this to students effectively.
The ‘potential space’ of transitional creative notation
Authors: Pigrum Derek
Published: December 2021

In this paper, the author links what he terms ‘transitional creative notation’ to

Winnicott’s post-Freudian psychoanalytic theory of ‘transitional object use’ and

‘potential space’. The paper explores the way in which ‘transitional object use’ and

‘potential space’ relate to Heidegger’s notion of the ‘ready-to-hand’ and to the use of

what Kress has termed a ‘multi-mode’ set of signs that are open to possibilities of

reconfiguration as well as a continual interplay between closure and disclosure. The

paper argues that transitional multi-mode notation frees human consciousness

towards emergent potentialities and possibilities and, as such, is a practical example

of the enduring philosophical problem of potentiality and actualization, process and

closure. While the paper highlights the materiality of creativity, it also looks to

Kristeva’s notion of the ‘Semiotic Chora’ as a source of creativity that precedes the

engenderment of ‘potential space’. Finally, the paper discusses transitional creative

notation in terms of what the author terms Das Gegenwerk, or the work towards the

work that is in opposition to definitive closure.
Seeing, doing, knowing: Poetry and the pursuit of knowledge
Authors: Webb Jen
Published: December 2021

Auden’s famous complaint that ‘poetry makes nothing happen’, and Blanchot’s that

art is useless to the world and to itself, are often cited as a truth about the practical

uselessness of creative practice. Blanchot’s is, of course, an insistence on the

autonomy of art, while Auden’s is a line from a poem – it is his elegy for WB Yeats,

written to mourn not only a dead poet, but also the loss of peace (written, as it was, in

the shadow of World War 2). Yet each writer has chosen writing, and ‘artistic’

writing, to complain that art/writing has no capacity to influence society or effect

change. This is a bleak view of poetry and what it might be able to contribute to

social needs: to knowledge, to understanding, and to the possibility of engendering

change. Though it is perhaps a reasonable perspective, given the fact that poetry is

about the aesthetic rather than about social action, I still wish to interrogate this

attitude, to explore the possibility that poetry can in fact make some things happen:

and, in particular, that it can generate knowledge and therefore new ways of seeing

and of doing.
Parks, squats, four star hotels
Authors: de Kline K
Published: December 2021

As a social science researcher, my work is regularly forced into the strait-jacket of

stylistic conventions agreed upon in consultation between the university research facility

I work for and the government departments which fund our research. In this mode of

writing, there is little room for movement, for flights of fancy, for philosophical

observation. What isn’t mentioned is that the research itself often exceeds its ’public

service’ boundaries, leaving remnants that leach under the skin. This paper in contrast

acknowledges the uncanny traces of ‘real world’ research among the marginalized and

vulnerable population of people who are chronically homeless. It questions, through its

creative research format, how we might incorporate such ‘lived experience’ into our

scholarly writing, when it is not only deeply unsettling on a personal level, but is also

indigestible within the conventions of the academic and government funded research

which frame the work.
Beyond the mirror: On experiential knowing as research mode in creative writing
Authors: Hecq Dominique
Published: December 2021

Inherent in ‘practice-led research’ is the dialectic between practice and research. For

some time, this dialectic has been problematised in varying ways and to varying

degrees across the creative arts in terms that are reminiscent of Deleuze’s ’disjunctive

synthesis’ (Deleuze & Guattari 2004: 14). Further, creative writing has mostly

theorised its practice and research according to models offered by the visual arts,

thereby ignoring its own ‘domain specificity’ (Baer 2012). This paper, however, posits

that creative writing is a way of apprehending, knowing and being in the world; and

more specifically it functions simultaneously as a perspective, an epistemology and an

ontology specific to writing. It argues that our conceptual tools need to be made over in

order to fit creative practice in writing: rather than being in thrall to the regime of

images, these tools should enable us to deal specifically with writing in relation to the

experiential and to subjectivity – that is, from the inside out. Reading Kristeva’s central

argument in Revolution in poetic language (1974) against the grain, I reassess the

relevance of the term ‘practice-led research’ for creative writing, asking how the poetic

text can challenge the dominant paradigm and how it can be considered as research.

More pointedly, building on Kristeva’s theorisation of the semiotic chora and on

Lakoff’s work on metaphor, I ask what the epistemological thrust of creative writing

might be, particularly if it is non-mimetic or experimental and hence destabilises

polysemy and the syntactic function. I do so by questioning the role of sign, image and

metaphor in the process of knowledge production from within an experiential practice

which mobilises the unconscious, perception, pre-language and language. In such light,

creative writing is a form of research in its own right which triangulates two seemingly

mutually exclusive discourses encompassing (tacit) knowing and (explicit) knowledge.