bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Understanding Design Approaches and Evaluation Methods in mHealth Apps Targeting Substance Use: Protocol for a Systematic Review
Authors: Kunchay Sahiti , Linden-Carmichael Ashley N , Lanza Stephanie T , Abdullah Saeed
Published: May 2022

Background

Substance use and use disorders in the United States have had significant and devastating impacts on individuals and communities. This escalating substance use crisis calls for urgent and innovative solutions to effectively detect and provide interventions for individuals in times of need. Recent mobile health (mHealth)–based approaches offer promising new opportunities to address these issues through ubiquitous devices. However, the design rationales, theoretical frameworks, and mechanisms through which users’ perspectives and experiences guide the design and deployment of such systems have not been analyzed in any prior systematic reviews.

Objective

In this paper, we systematically review these approaches and apps for their feasibility, efficacy, and usability. Further, we evaluate whether human-centered research principles and techniques guide the design and development of these systems and examine how the current state-of-the-art systems apply to real-world contexts. In an effort to gauge the applicability of these systems, we also investigate whether these approaches consider the effects of stigma and privacy concerns related to collecting data on substance use. Lastly, we examine persistent challenges in the design and large-scale adoption of substance use intervention apps and draw inspiration from other domains of mHealth to suggest actionable reforms for the design and deployment of these apps.

Methods

Four databases (PubMed, IEEE Xplore, JMIR, and ACM Digital Library) were searched over a 5-year period (2016-2021) for articles evaluating mHealth approaches for substance use (alcohol use, marijuana use, opioid use, tobacco use, and substance co-use). Articles that will be included describe an mHealth detection or intervention targeting substance use, provide outcomes data, and include a discussion of design techniques and user perspectives. Independent evaluation will be conducted by one author, followed by secondary reviewer(s) who will check and validate themes and data.

Results

This is a protocol for a systematic review; therefore, results are not yet available. We are currently in the process of selecting the studies for inclusion in the final analysis.

Conclusions

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first systematic review to assess real-world applicability, scalability, and use of human-centered design and evaluation techniques in mHealth approaches targeting substance use. This study is expected to identify gaps and opportunities in current approaches used to develop and assess mHealth technologies for substance use detection and intervention. Further, this review also aims to highlight various design processes and components that result in engaging, usable, and effective systems for substance use, informing and motivating the future development of such systems.

International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)

DERR1-10.2196/35749
The Syndemic of Inequity and COVID-19 in Virtual Care
Authors: Chaudhuri Esha Ray
Published: May 2022

The critical intersections of structural inequities and vulnerabilities of marginalized populations, particularly those engaging the social gradient of minority ethnic communities, are revealed in the syndemic approach to COVID-19. Although proposals for cultural interventions to improve virtual care provide relevant measures, they may not address the root cause of the disparate impacts of a pandemic on population subgroups. The common misperception of equality as synonymous with equity further impedes the efficacy of digital health in quality-of-care initiatives, as it systemically fails to acknowledge the disparate realities of marginalized populations, while intending to benefit all. This commentary suggests that an alignment of the health care system with Canada’s pluralist principles would support a paradigm shift in transforming virtual care into an equitable standard as envisioned by Pham and colleagues in their paper, “The Future of Virtual Care for Older Ethnic Adults Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic.”
Effect of leaf phenology on the growth of rubber buddings
Authors: Wang Ruxue , Chen Xianhong , Wang Jun
Published: May 2022

Rubber scion growth is the key step of rubber budding propagation. However, there is still a lack of systematic studies investigating leaf phenology effect on rubber scion growth. In this study, leaf phenology, stem diameter, plant height and the chlorophyll parameters were observed at six periods. The results showed that leaf-unfolding stage was the rapid growth and regulation stage of plant height and stem diameter, and light green leaf stage was the sensitive to environmental temperature. Taken together, leaf phenology affects the growth speed of rubber buddings, and distinguishing the differences in phenological effects helps to regulate the phenological process to raise rubber buddings.
Miniature Model of Autonomous Vehicle Using Arduino UNO and Open CV
Authors: Walke Tejas , Agnihotri Akshada , Gohate Reshma , Mane Shweta , Pande Suraj , Pendke Kalyani
Published: May 2022

Abstract: The one thing that makes Tesla stand out from the crowd is its full automation Self-Driving feature. Not just the name itself but the technology behind it is even more interesting. It is not only about the luxury but also has a lot of advantages which backs the term. And what blows our mind is that not a lot of Indian car companies are focused on this technology on wide scale. So, inspired by that this paper presents to build a Self-Driving Autonomous car model but on minimalistic basis which basically will be focused on three main features which are to operate in accordance with the surrounding depending on the direction of the road, to detect stop sign and halt for 5-10 seconds and detect traffic signs and make decisions accordingly. The miniature self-driving car will detect the two-lane path and perform the above functions. Keywords: Autonomous Vehicles, Self-driving car, Computer Vision, Neural Network, Image processing, wireless sensor networks, control systems, path planning.
Case Study of Mahad Flood
Authors: Ghogare Siddhi S. , Ghangale Sudarshan B. , Borhade Prachi S. , Dawkhar Abhijit V.
Published: May 2022

Abstract: The case study deals with their solution of the problem of managing flood risk with the aim of effective management focusing on reducing flood risks and thus increasing the measure of flood Protection. Maharashtra’s Konkan region and several other western parts—especially, Raigad, Kolhapur and Sangali districts—are flooded every monsoon for the last five years. The inhabitants of this region live in constant fear of floods, which destroy lives and businesses. In this case of flood occurred in Mahad, we are going to study about what causes flood? & what are the measure actions we can take to control the flood or to manage the flood. Keywords: Flood, flood risk, rivers, Mahad, flood protection
PERFORMANS SANATI VE BEDENİN SINIRLARI
Authors: BATUR Meral , KUYUCUK Elif
Published: May 2022

Savaşların ve devrimlerin, büyük toplumsal olayların sonuçları yönetim, ekonomi, sosyal- kültürel ve sanatta genellikle büyük değişikliklerle sonuçlanmıştır. Birinci dünya savaşı da tüm dünyayı yıkıcı etkisi altına alarak insanlık üzerinde sarılması güç yaralar açmıştır. Bu yıkıcı etki sanatçıların eserlerinde de kendisini göstererek farklı sanat anlayışlarının ortaya çıkmasına neden olmuştur. Dada, kavramsal sanat, happening, arazi sanatı ve arte povera savaş sonrası ortaya çıkan sanat hareketlerinden birkaçıdır. Çoğu zaman sanatçının isyanı olan bu anlayış aynı zamanda karşı çıkış, sanatı ve sanat nesnesini her şeyden ayrı tutmak isteği, kalıplaşmış değerleri yıkma isteği ve direniş olduğu görülmektedir. Artık sanat her yerde ve her şeyde ortaya çıkabilirdi. Bu doğrultuda değişime uğrayan sanat sonunda insan bedeninin sanat malzemesi olarak kullanılmasına kadar gelmiş ve kalıcılık endişesinden kurtularak geleneksel anlatımdan, biçimlendirmeden ve hatta belli mekândan sıyrılarak özgür ve özgün haline kavuşmuştur. Bu araştırmanın amacı, söz konusu sanatın ortaya çıkışı ve temel prensiplerini Yoko Ono, Cris Burden, Josep Beuys ve Maria Abromovic gibi performans sanatçıları üzerinden incelemektir. Araştırmadaki verilerin elde edilmesinde, literatür tarama yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Bu bağlamda bahsi geçen sanatçılarla önceki yıllarda yapılan röportajlardan yola çıkılarak sanat anlayışlarına yönelik bulgular elde edilmiş ve bu veriler doğrultusunda değerlendirmelerde bulunulmuştur.
Quando o “discurso do sujeito” não instala o sujeito do discurso: desafios para a implementação da BNCC de língua vernácula no ensino médio
Authors: Magalhães Anderson Salvaterra
Published: May 2022

Neste artigo, o objetivo é discutir alguns desafios contemporâneos para o ensino formal do vernáculo no ensino médio considerando a tendência monologizante do que se compreende como engajamento em redes sociais digitais. Para isto, assume-se a “participação mais plena dos jovens nas diferentes práticas socioculturais que envolvem o uso das linguagens” prevista na BNCC Ensino Médio de Língua Portuguesa como mote para problematização da latente contradição entre o que, do senso comum, compreende-se como “discurso do sujeito” e o que, do ponto de vista dialógico, se define como efetiva participação sociocultural, que instala sujeitos do discurso. A discussão está fundamentada no que se tem chamado Análise Dialógica do Discurso e é encaminhada em dois principais blocos. O primeiro constitui um breve ensaio acerca do primado histórico-social que subjaz ao quadro teórico mobilizado para definição do que se entende por língua/linguagem, enunciado concreto e sujeito do discurso. O segundo consiste numa reflexão especulativa em que se cotejam, por um lado, práticas contemporâneas de engajamento em redes sociais digitais e, por outro, o desafio para o ensino formal contribuir com a interação social responsável dos jovens nesse tipo de prática. A articulação desses dois blocos demonstra como o distanciamento do senso comum acerca do que seja “interagir socialmente” indica mecanismos enunciativo-discursivos para efetiva participação cultural. Assim, conclui-se que a BNCC para o vernáculo no ensino médio constitui não uma orientação prescritiva, mas uma diretriz propositiva que mira o compromisso ético dos atores implicados na esfera da educação formal.
Spatial analysis of determinants affecting the total number of Covid-19 cases of provinces in Turkey
Authors:   Sivas Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey, Dinç Serkan Cahit , Erilli Necati Alp ,   Sivas Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey
Published: May 2022

The Covid-19 which is accepted as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation, has created a global panic effect all over the world. To stop this epidemic, in which more than 4 million people died as of July 2021, researches are being carried out on all kinds of issues related to the disease. In this study, a spatial econometric analysis of the determinants of the total number of Covid-19 cases in the provinces in Turkey between February 8, 2021, and May 7, 2021, was conducted. The existence of spatial autocorrelation was investigated through the Moran I test, and as a result, the Spatial Lagged Model (SAR) was found to be the most appropriate model. According to the results of the spatial analysis, it has been determined that the change in the total number of cases in a province will be in the same direction in the neighboring provinces of that province. A spatial interaction finding was obtained between the provinces and a significant and positive relationship was found between the total number of Covid-19 cases and the population density and the number of people over the age of sixty. Similarly, a significant and negative relationship was found with the average temperature and the total number of healthcare workers, and no significant relationship was found with the literacy rate.
Stock market and cryptocurrency market volatility
Authors:   NRU HSE, Moscow, Russian Federation, Manevich Vyacheslav , Peresetsky Anatoly ,   NRU HSE, Moscow, Russian Federation, Pogorelova Polina ,   NRU HSE, Moscow, Russian Federation
Published: May 2022

In the last ten years, cryptocurrencies have developed rapidly, of which bitcoin has the largest capitalization. With the development of the cryptocurrency market, more and more investors include bitcoin in their asset portfolio. In this regard, the question of the relationship between the volatility of the cryptocurrency market and the stock market is of particular interest. This article analyzes the common stochastic component of the realized volatility of bitcoin and e‐mini S&P futures. The assessment of the global stochastic component and its share in the volatility of the S&P 500 futures and bitcoin in the rolling window made it possible to analyze the dynamics of the relationship between the realized volatility of these two assets, as well as put forward a hypothesis about the causes and preconditions for volatility flows between the cryptocurrency market and the stock market.
Can Pollution Bring Balance to the Hidden Land?
Authors: Bhutia Kalzang Dorjee
Published: May 2022

Cham, a distinctive masked ritual dance, is undertaken biannually at Pemayangtse Monastery, a Buddhist institution in Sikkim, a Himalayan state in northeast India. These ritual performances are intended to dispel negative forces and create the conditions of prosperity and health for all of the beings – including humans, spirits and deities – resident in Sikkim’s sacred landscape and throughout the cosmos. The efficacy of ritual dances is intertwined with the context of the performances and the materiality of the dancers’ costumes. This article will engage debates over cham’s changing materiality. In particular, it will focus on the recent introduction of fibreglass masks in Pemayangtse’s ritual dances to explore connections between changing ecologies, notions of toxicity and pollution and ritual economies in Sikkim. While Buddhist authorities express anxiety about the substances involved in creating fibreglass, they also appreciate its affordability and durability. Artists who work in fibreglass see the material as a fast way to work. The dancers, on the other hand, express concern about how changes in the physicality of dancing with these masks may interfere with ritual efficacy. These debates are illustrative of broader concerns about the impact of changing ecosystems on interdimensional relations in the Himalayas.
The impact of corporate governance on corporate financial performance: Cases from listed firms in Turkey
Authors: Ganda Fortune
Published: May 2022

This paper examines the effect of corporate governance on corporate financial performance in Turkish firms from 2008 to 2018. Therefore, the objective of the paper is still highly contentious (Ahmed, Alabdullah, Thottoli, & Maryanti, 2020). The generalised method of moments (GMM) technique is employed. The findings show that the board independence ratio is significantly positively related to all performance measures in both the short-run and long-run periods. Ownership structure depicts a significant positive link between return on assets (ROA) and Tobin’s Q (significantly negative to return on equity — ROE) in the short run. In the long run, ownership structure and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) duality significantly foster ROE and ROA, but significantly lower Tobin’s Q. CEO duality is significantly negatively related with ROA and Tobin’s Q, although insignificant, but significantly positively linked with ROE in the short run. Audit quality develops a significant negative connection with ROA in the short run although significantly positive with both ROE and Tobin’s Q. In the long run, audit quality significantly fosters all the financial performance proxies. Corporate governance rating is significantly positively linked with ROA, although just positive with ROE in the short run only, but is significantly negatively related with Tobin’s Q in both periods.
Formative research contributions to the development of Risaralda
Authors: Acevedo Osorio German Oved , García Castro Giovanni , Bedoya Gaviria Sandra Milena , Patiño Pulgarín Isabela , Valencia Flórez Valentina , Galindo Márquez Maria Leonor , Giraldo Diaconeasa Adrian , Franco Ramírez Juan Darío , Ramírez Vallejo Eduardo , Estrada Berrio Yamileth , Aguirre Torres Manuela , Diaz Leal Isabella , Gómez Puerta Miguel Ángel , Orozco Santamaría Laura Isabel , Arias Castro María Camila , Gómez Rueda Alejandro , Cifuentes Ríos Ángela María , Restrepo Pérez Tatiana , Ríos Uribe Jessica Viviana , Lemos Córdoba Anyi Daniela , Mapura Bejumea Anyi Katherine , Barón Castro Mónica Margarita , Bernal Parra Claudia Milena , Cardona Arroyave Natalia , Moreno Bustamante Brahiam Stiven , Ospina Sierra Daniela
Published: May 2022

Es importante establecer y visibilizar a los estudiantes los beneficios relacionados con la formación en investigación, dentro de los cuales encontramos el fortalecimiento de las capacidades de liderazgo así como el compromiso activo y las experiencias en independencia y colaboración. Así mismo, la formación integral hacia una mayor apreciación del valor de la literatura disciplinaria, generando de esta manera habilidades de pensamiento crítico, indagación y análisis. Además, esto permite forjar la confianza en sí mismo para presentar las propias ideas a la comunidad, permitiendo al estudiante la preparación de futuras actividades académicas, incluidos estudios de posgrado. La investigación formativa tiene como propósito la difusión de la información existente y permitir que el estudiante la integre como conocimientos, considerándolo como un aprendizaje permanente y necesario. Uno de los principales problemas que debe enfrentar la investigación formativa es el número de docentes con las capacidades necesarias para generar en el estudiante capacidades investigativas, exigiendo al profesor universitario adoptar una actitud contraria al objeto de enseñanza, generando un carácter complejo y dinámico del conocimiento.
Bedside assistant’s seniority has no influence on perioperative outcomes and postoperative complications expecting a shorter operative time in robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical hysterectomy (RALH) for patients diagnosed with cervical cancer: a single-center retrospective case-control study
Authors: He Haijing , Liang Xuzhi , Zeng Hao , Wei Liuyi , Fan Jiangtao
Published: May 2022

Objective: We aimed to explore the relationship between the bedside
assistant’s seniority in RALH for cervical cancer and perioperative
outcomes and postoperative complications. Design: Retrospective,
Single-center, Case-control study Setting: The First Affiliated Hospital
of Guangxi Medical University Population: A total of 76 patients
diagnosed with FIGO stage IA- IIA cervical cancer received
robotic-assisted radical hysterectomy with pelvic lymphadenectomy
between January 2020 and January 2022. Methods: The enrolled objects
were divided into three groups, according to the length of time the
bedside assistant involving in gynecological work, which was ≤ 5 years
(group 1), 5-10 years (group 2), and ≥ 10 years (group 1). Dates of
operative time, estimated blood loss, length of stay and postoperative
complications were analyzed by SPSS. Main outcome measures: The total
operation time was calculated from the preparation time to closure time.
Results: A statistically significant difference was observed among the
data of operative time (P=0.002). Pairwise comparison between group 3
and group 1, 2 noted that there were significant differences. The
operative time of group 3 was shorter than group 1 and group 2 (p=0.001,
p=0.002 respectively). However, no significant differences were observed
in terms of the length of stay (P=0.398), estimated blood loss
(P=0.314), postoperative complications within 42 days (P=0.444), and
postoperative complications after 42 days (P=0.223) between these three
groups were not statistically significant. Conclusion: BA’s experience
had no positive influence on perioperative surgical outcomes and
postoperative complications, except for a shorter operative time only
when they incorporated into gynecology ≥ ten years.
Recognising the remnants of the left venous valve
Authors: Anderson Robert , Spicer Diane E.
Published: May 2022

This is an invited commentary. I did not think abstracts were required
for commentaries.
Metastatic yolk sac tumor masquerading as multi-focal hepatocellular carcinoma in a young adult; a case report
Authors: Mushtaq Kamran , Khan Muhammad , Soub Deema Al , Koshy Sheija , Petkar Mahir , Al-Ejji Khalid
Published: May 2022

Primary yolk sac tumor of the liver is very rare and can present as
multifocal liver lesions. Multifocal nature may mimic other diagnoses
such as hepatocellular carcinoma. Early recognition and therapeutic
intervention are important as the prognosis of metastatic yolk sac
tumors is poor.
Modeling Interactions between Trypanothione and Antimony-Oxide Clusters
Authors: RABAA Hassan , Grafov Andriy , Sundholm Dage
Published: May 2022

Interactions of antimony-oxide clusters with trypanothione have been
modelled to understand their inhibitory activity against leishmaniasis.
Trypanothione is essential for the survival of leishmania parasites
because it is responsible for maintaining their cellular thiol-disulfide
redox regulation. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations show that
the SbV oxide clusters form hydrogen bonds from the oxygens to the amine
and carboxyl group of the trypanothione. The reaction between
trypanothione and the SbV oxide cluster does not break the S-S bond of
trypanothione, whereas the reaction with antimony-oxide clusters
containing at least one SbIII atom leads to dissociation of the S-S bond
of both the oxidized and the reduced form of trypanothione suggesting
that antimony-oxide clusters with at least one SbIII atom may destroy
trypanothione that is vital for the parasite metabolism.
Overexpression of BNIP3 in rat intervertebral disk cells triggers autophagy and apoptosis
Authors: Tingsheng Wu , Fan Shaoyong , Zhang Bin , Tao Zhiqiang , Hua Hong , Dai Min
Published: May 2022

Excessive apoptosis of intervertebral disk cells and intervertebral disk degeneration (IDD) is the prime cause of low back pain. B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) and adenovirus E1B 19 kDa interacting protein 3 (BNIP3), a member of the Bcl-2 family, are involved in cell autophagy and apoptosis. The roles and mechanisms of BNIP3 in intervertebral disk cell autophagy and apoptosis are unclear. In this study, primary rat intervertebral disk cells were prepared to study the effect of BNIP3 overexpression on their autophagy and apoptosis. The cell counting kit (CCK)-8 assay showed that BNIP3 overexpression decreased cell viability. Real-time PCR and Western blotting showed that BNIP3 overexpression significantly upregulated the expression of autophagy-related proteins and pro-apoptotic proteins, including hypoxia-inducible factor-1?, apoptotic protease activating factor 1, caspase 3 and cleaved caspase 3, microtubule-associated proteins 1A/1B light chain 3 (LC3) and Beclin-1 while downregulating the expression of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2. Cell staining detection of autophagy and apoptosis showed that BNIP3 overexpression increased the autophagy and apoptosis of rat intervertebral disk cells. BNIP3 RNA interference revealed that the effects of BNIP3 overexpression can be reversed. These findings suggested that BNIP3 enhanced the autophagy and apoptosis in the rat intervertebral disk cells in vitro, which might promote IDD development.
Insulin resistance improvement and serum metabolomics of Hibiscus esulentus L. in patients with impaired glucose tolerance
Authors: Chen Lin , Wang Qi , Sha Wenjun , Zhang Cuiping , Shen Tian , Ming Lu , Lei Tao
Published: May 2022

Background/Aim. Prediabetes (PD) refers to the condition in which the blood sugar level is higher than normal but has not reached the diagnostic criteria for diabetes mellitus (DM) yet. Impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) is a major prediabetic symptom since most patients with type 2 DM have progressed from the previous PD phase. The aim of the study was to observe the changes in serum metabolomics in patients with IGT treated with Hibiscus esculentus L. (H. esculentus) combined with the change of lifestyle. Methods. Sixty patients with IGT were divided into two groups. In one group, the subjects made a life-style change (LC group, simple diet control), and the other group of subjects made a lifestyle change combined with H. esculentus (LCH group) treatment with daily consumption of 20 g of dried H. esculentus fruit tea. The aim was to compare the blood glucose, homeostasis model assessment-estimated insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) index, and serum metabolomics after a 60-day clinical observation period. Results. There was no statistical significance in the glucose level between the two groups by the end of the observation period. The HOMA-IR index in the LCH group was lower than in the LC group (1.7 ? 1.1 vs. 2.4 ? 1.2, p = 0.030). Serum metabolomics revealed that the levels of d-galactose, d-glucose, turanose, and uric acid in the LCH group were significantly lower than those in the LC group (16.7 ? 3.9 mmol/L vs. 21.2 ?2.9 mmol/L, 101.5 ? 40.2 mmol/L vs. 132.9 ? 36.7 mmol/L, 1.8 ? 1.6 mmol/L vs. 3.76 ? 2.46 mmol/L, 44.56 ? 15.7 ?mol/L vs. 67.8 ? 23.5 ?mol /L, respectively). The levels of lactic acid and conjugated linoleic acid in the LCH group were significantly higher than those in the LC group (3.3 ? 0.5 mmol/L vs. 2.3 ? 0.8 mmol/L, 6.9 ? 6.1 mmol/L vs. 2.1 ? 1.2 mmol/L, respectively). Conclusion. H. esculentus, combined with a change of lifestyle, can reduce insulin resistance and the levels of multiple monosaccharides and blood uric acid in IGT patients. Regulation of the metabolism of lactic acid and conjugated linoleic acid may be the potential mechanism of how H. esculentus reduces insulin resistance.
Analgesic protocol for procedural pain treatment of second-degree burns in children
Authors: Komarcevic Aleksandar , Jokic Radoica , Pajic Milos , Jovanovic Mladen , Milenkovic Marina
Published: May 2022

Background/Aim. Children with burns are submitted to multiple painful and anxiety-related procedures during the change of wound dressing, treatment, and rehabilitation. The objective of analgesic treatments for procedural pain is the safe and efficient management of pain and emotional stress, which requires a careful, balanced, and systematic approach. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of analgesic and/or local anesthetic in relieving the intensity of procedural pain. Methods. The study included 120 pediatric patients with second-degree burns who were allocated into four groups of 30 children (control group, groups I, II, and III). During the change of wound dressings, children in the control group did not receive any analgesics, while in the remaining three groups, 30 minutes prior to the change of wound dressing, oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (group I), local anesthetic (group II), or both medications (group III) were administered. Results. The average visual analog scale (VAS) score for assessing pain was statistically significantly higher in the control group on all tested days compared with children in the other three treated groups. On the first test day (24 hrs after sustaining the burn injuries), all children had high VAS scores, and ac-cording to the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis, the boundary value was 89.50/100. There was a remarkable difference in the VAS score between the groups on the fifth day of dressing change with the boundary value of 57.50/100 and on the seventh day when the boundary value was 43.50/100. Children who experienced the lowest intensity pain during dressing changes of burn wounds for all test days were those from the group who received both systemic analgesic and local anesthetic. Conclusion. The study confirmed the importance of introducing the complex polymodal protocol in treating procedural pain in second-degree burns. The protocol should include analgesics as well as anesthetics since they both contribute to achieving the best results in pain reduction and treatment outcomes.
“Paradise Lost” and Epic Tradition
Authors: Di Cesare Mario A.
Published: May 2022

To study epic tradition is to study not “influences” (which may serve to buttress preconceived notions) but rather the ways in which major poets modified the tradition. Such study can be a way into meaning, particularly in poems as complex as the Aeneid and Paradise Lost. In both poems, the epic strategy relies on modification in the catalogue and battle conventions. In Vergil's catalogue (Book VII), language and imagery embody the conflict which informs the whole poem, arma-virum. The battle scenes (IX, X) develop this conflict. On both the Latin and the Trojan side, strategy fails and bloodlust triumphs. Aeneas’ rampage (X) climaxes the ascendancy of power over justice (or fortitudo over sapientia). In Paradise Lost, in the catalogue and Mulciber passages of Book I, syntax and imagery develop the theme of specious identity; in II and IV, Milton exploits the potential of epic battle, then deliberately aborts the battle with modified “recognition scenes.” The War in Heaven develops the fortitudo-sapientia motif. But it is only in the love to which Michael firmly leads Adam's understanding (XII) that fortitudo and sapientia are reconciled.
Written Records and Truths of Spirit in “Paradise Lost”
Authors: Hardison O. B.
Published: May 2022

Milton considered scripture (“written records pure”) man's fundamental source of truth. His fundamentalism is qualified by the belief that scripture must be read in the light of the Spirit and that the truth reveals itself in different ways to different readers. Hence his treatment of Creation in Book VII departs emphatically from the surface meaning of the biblical account. There is a strong suggestion that Creation is begun by a sexual impregnation of unformed matter, followed by an organic, almost evolutionary development of the visible world. The development completes itself in man, whose sexuality in Book IV is the culmination of a motif that begins with the initial impregnation of Chaos by the Spirit. Milton's view is similar to views found in Philo Judaeus, the pseudo-Dionysius, and several Renaissance Platonists. It illustrates the latitude of interpretation permitted those who read scripture in the light of the Spirit.
Milton's Uncouth Swain
Authors: Baker Stewart A.
Published: May 2022

The redemptive vision of Lycidas depends upon the imaginative qualities implicit in the pastoral speaker, Milton's “uncouth swain.” The swain's youth indicates his ingenuous and reductive point of view. The theme of youthful friendship explores the origins of his Orphic sensibility and prophetic vision. While tracing his growth into the roles of poet and prophet, his style through its range and variety reflects the evolution of pastoral into a comprehensive and encyclopedic form. The swain's voice unifies the diverse modes of pastoral by translating the images of naturalistic and libertine pastoral into the symbols of Christian pastoral, and by employing a principle of inverse reduction, as defined by J. C. Scaliger. The unity of his style expresses itself as an orderly continuum of stylistic levels within a single stylistic mode, as illustrated by Scaliger's analysis of the low, middle, and high styles within the florid mode. This unity of the swain's style, voice, and vision within a comprehensive form of pastoral provides a structural and stylistic model, as well as a thematic paradigm, for the speakers of Milton's epics.
Milton's Samson and the Jewish Tradition
Authors: Stollman Samuel S.
Published: May 2022

Milton's Samson is significantly different from the Samson of Jewish tradition. The rabbinic interpretation depicts Samson as a sensualist, but one who observed the Law by converting Dalila to Judaism before marrying her. His passion for Philistine women was punished by “an eye [blinding] for an eye” (sensuality). Milton's Samson, on the other hand, is guided by “intimate impulse,” associated with “right reason” and the “law of nature,” rather than Mosaic Law. He married Dalila in her gentile state (contrary to the Law). His sin was the failure of reason, and led to the loss of liberty. He is regenerated when he recovers his reason. His fellow Israelites, however, are depicted as bound by the Mosaic Law and as incapable of comprehending the import of freedom. Milton did not borrow from the Rabbis; his organizing principle in Samson Agonistes is his antinomian view of the Mosaic Law. Milton reads the Mosaic Law as superseded by reason—equated with liberty—with Samson as the Old Testament precursor of Christian liberty.
The Poet and Satan in “Paradise Lost”
Authors: Riggs William G.
Published: May 2022

Realizing that the desire to achieve “Things unattempted yet in Prose or Rhyme” offers a potential for sin, Milton employs parallels between the narrator of Paradise Lost and Satan to indicate his awareness that great endeavors, even his own, may be pridefully motivated. But he defines carefully the difference between his “advent'rous” singing and satanic overreaching. The sharp contrast between the narrator's dependence on divine guidance and Satan's claims of self-sufficiency is repeatedly asserted within the context of striking similarities: both poet and Devil undertake great adventures; both, dwelling in hostile darkness, soar toward light; both, in need of direction, seek guidance from light (holy Light, Uriel) and primal sources of hexaemeral knowledge (Urania, Uriel). Milton supports such general parallels by the repetition of specific details and by numerous verbal echoes. But Satan lies to Uriel, curses the sun, and, inverting the poet's creative impulse, invokes his proper muse in Chaos. The devils can sing; they pursue the philosophical issues with which Paradise Lost is concerned; they build “Monument [s] / Of merit high.” These satanic perversions of good mean more than that the devils are bad; they mean that man may be beguiled by some “fair appearing good.” A Solomon may fall “To Idols foul.” A poet exploring “things invisible to mortal sight” must humbly hope that he is not deluded, that all is “Hers who brings it nightly to [his] Ear.”
The Typological Structure of Milton's Imagery
Authors: Ulreich John C.
Published: May 2022

The seeming abstractness of Milton's imagery results from its intellectual structure, particularly from the way metaphors are recreated through typological fulfillment. The letter of a pagan or Hebraic type is first analyzed, then reconstituted in a Christian spirit which contains it, as “the spiritual and rational faculty contains the corporeal.” Milton's imagery is not sacramental; neither is it simply abstract, for Milton re-creates his own incarnational symbolism by a process of analysis, purification, and reembodiment. Images function typologically according to the law of Coleridge's secondary Imagination, which first “dissolves, diffuses, dissipates, in order to re-create.” In Sonnet 23, the shadowy image of Alcestis is transformed, through typological allusions, into a Christian reality. The same pattern recurs in Samson's final reply to the Philistine Officer and in Christ's Incarnation of the Word in Paradise Regained. The basis of analogy in Milton's poetry is moral and psychological. His images are often difficult to apprehend immediately, because their effect depends largely on a conscious awareness; they are, nonetheless, concretely metaphorical, because they are grounded in the psychic activity of the protagonist. By this means the dead letter of imagery is reborn in the spirit, whose active and saving faith embodies itself in works of poetry.
Milton's Antiprelatical Tracts: The Poet Speaks in Prose
Authors: Via John A.
Published: May 2022

John Milton's tracts of 1641–42—harsh, satiric attacks on the corruption of the English church—are an extension and development of the major themes and principal imagistic patterns of his academic exercises and early poetry, particularly Prolusion 6, A Mask, Lycidas, and the Epitaphium Damonis. The tracts are overwhelmingly negative in their thrust, but largely overlooked are their significant positive elements. First, biblical apocalyptic imagery describes the national Christian regeneracy of England; this is a transfer of the visionary descriptions of apotheosis in the poetry to the concrete reality of the English historical situation. Second, this apocalyptic imagery describes individual Englishmen whose responses to God's grace in sum will lead to national regeneracy. Third, in a careful articulation of his view of the character and function of the divine Christian poet in his personal statements, Milton humbly offers himself as the type for the response of others, as a model for individual regeneracy which leads to national regeneracy. The tracts refine primary Miltonic concerns and show the intimate relation of his poetry and prose.
Milton's God: Authority in “Paradise Lost”
Authors: Low Anthony
Published: May 2022

Milton's God consistently evokes an unfavorable reaction in the modern reader, the result not so much of our emotional response to Christianity as of our antipathy to absolute authority. This response is ironic because Milton too opposed authority, but only usurped human authority, since from the perspective of Adam all men are brothers. Paradise Lost presents, in contrast to the abuse of authority in the world, a vision of God's ideal justice, corresponding to the vision of bliss in Eden. The manner of Milton's God has offended, but he speaks as he must: with absolute certitude, with spareness and logic, without recourse to metaphor or sensuous appeal. Nevertheless, his speeches are transcendentally poetic. The Father has been accused of lacking love, but the love which the Son embodies originates with the Father, and is the necessary basis in Paradise Lost for just power. Although the Father reveals little directly of what he is, he is defined by his Son and by his creatures: man, the animals, the physical universe. The human love of Adam and Eve, apparently in contention with divine love, actually depends on it for its existence. So the Father is defined by everything he creates; and what he creates is beautiful and good.
Milton and the Organicist Polemic
Authors: Lieb Michael
Published: May 2022

The pervasive influence of organicism in the Renaissance is especially discernible in religious controversies that distinguished between the visible and invisible church. In Milton's antiprelatical tracts, the body is seen from the points of view of liturgy, as reflected in the communion, and investiture, as reflected in the controversies regarding ministerial dress. Those controversies express symbolically the Puritan desire to “divest” and “tear” the body, on the one hand, and the Anglican desire to “invest” and keep it whole, on the other. Integral to the Puritan and Anglican responses to the church are their responses to the state. Whereas the Anglican impulse is to unite the political body and the ecclesiastical body under one head, the Puritan impulse is to sever the two bodies. Thus Milton associates the body politic with outward concerns, the body ecclesiastical with inward ones. When the two bodies are unnaturally joined, a monster results, and the body can only be re-formed and returned to health through proper amputation of the corrupt limbs. Milton's organicist views, therefore, reflect not a desire to destroy, as might be charged, but a desire to make whole.
Mythic Dialectic in the Nativity Ode
Authors: Kingsley Lawrence W.
Published: May 2022

This poem traces a dialectic between Christian and pagan symbolism through their echoing and reechoing ideas and images. Milton scants the conventional Christmas narrative of Virgin and manger to treat the Incarnation's historical and conceptual circumstances. The birth of Christ opposes a new mythology to religions flourishing at the time, yet borrows substantially from them. Christianity thus reflects these religions in principle, but brings peace where there was disorder, music where there was discord, lightness in place of darkness, virtue instead of sin, glory instead of shame. Since the identity of Christ is formed from heathen prototypes, Milton works out a discordia concors in which Phaeton, Phoebus, Lucifer, Pan, and Hercules, together with the whole pantheon of dispossessed deities, collapse into the Christhead. This method of counterposing the pagan world, point for point, with spreading manifestations of Christ allows Milton to retain his predilection for classical heroes while still proclaiming their rejection.
The Pattern of Temptation in “Paradise Regained”
Authors: McAdams James R.
Published: May 2022

The debate of Christ and Satan concerning “zeal and duty” to Israel is the most significant temptation in Paradise Regained. In it, Milton sums up the main themes, reveals the antagonists definitively, and foreshadows the remaining action and resolution. The sequence of temptations itself indicates that the matter of Israel is crucial: the episodes form a pattern whose organization highlights the Israel temptation. The pattern is derived from the symmetrical relating of the parts of the sequence through parallel and contrast. The first part or episode is related to the last, the second episode to the second-to-last, and so on, leaving the Israel debate alone unparalleled, and therefore emphasized, at the center of the pattern. This pattern imposes coherence upon the temptations and counterpoints previously defined patterns, enriching the poem's texture. It also places several episodes in new perspectives and enhances awareness of Milton's architectonic method.
THE CUNNING RESEMBLANCE
Authors: Rajan B.
Published: May 2022

This paper seeks to assess the importance of parody as a continuing element in the structure of Milton's poems. It considers first the extended oppositions marshaled around the area of decision in Comus. Parodic dispositions play a crucial part in defining these oppositions and in relating them to the central act of choice. The masque form allows a preliminary rehearsal in which the didactic kernel of the oeuvre can be elegantly choreographed. In Paradise Lost we see the massive and intricate structural elaboration of the principles expounded in the masque. The structures thus established enclose a human journey. Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes are the poems of this journey, with the emphasis, previously distributed more or less equally between the envelopment and the agents, now falling more heavily on the agents. The continuing and prominent presence of parody in Milton's structures and the decisive part it plays in setting those structures in motion indicate that Milton's use of parody amounts to more than a poetic technique or literary strategy. In Milton's work the structure is the issue and parody part of an education in the nature of understanding.
MILTON'S PARAPHRASE OF GENESIS: A STYLISTIC READING OF "PARADISE LOST", BOOK VII
Authors: Häublein Ernst
Published: May 2022

The essay tries to evaluate Milton's paraphrastic techniques in his adaptation of the biblical account of the Creation in Paradise Lost, Book VII. The structure of PL VII, 216-632 and Milton's way of distributing the quotations from the Bible among additions and amplifications are reassessed. His use of various Bibles emerges from a meticulous comparison between the quotations and possible sources. Milton prefers the Authorized Version over the Geneva Bible by a ratio of approximately 2:1. He also consults the Vulgate and adapts the glosses of the English Bibles. Milton modifies the sources considerably in order to express his view of the Creation as a dynamic and logically structured process. He avoids repetitions, employs idiosyncratic and poetic diction, emphasizes significant words through position, and connects distant passages by verbal echoes. The syntax evinces a marked tendency toward extended units not contained in the Bibles. Milton fuses and condenses different biblical verses, notably in his adaptation of the creation of man, where he lets Raphael address Adam directly for the first time. Milton's techniques of transforming his sources by synthesizing, poeticizing, and imposing his own style upon the account of the Creation are illustrated by tables.
THE DOUBLE TIME SCHEME IN "PARADISE REGAINED"
Authors: Chambers A. B.
Published: May 2022

Paradise Regained in part depends on Milton's manipulations of two very different concepts of time and on the resulting interreactions of alternate chronologies for divine and human history. From one point of view, time is linear in its nature, and on the line are unique moments, never repeatable, when God chose to intervene in history. From another point of view, time is not linear but cyclic, always and necessarily repetitive as recurrent intervals replace one another. Milton employs linear time, since the Wilderness Temptation of Christ was a unique event, but he adds other moments to the line, some of which are unorthodox. Milton also uses repetitive time in an unusual way since his cycles spin round with enormous rapidity. The point is that linear and cyclic time schemes, divine plans and human experience, must be compatible with one another for the work of salvation to occur and for paradise to be regained. If so, then Milton's views in the poem, however idiosyncratically, approach those of the Anglican church. Indeed, the church's prayer for the Wilderness Temptation supplies a surprisingly satisfactory statement of one of Milton's meanings.
THE MOSAIC VOICE IN "PARADISE LOST"
Authors: Rosenblatt Jason P.
Published: May 2022

A limited perception of Moses' relation to the epic narrator in Paradise Lost derives from the tendency to regard his brief role as hierophant in an early draft of a tragedy as a paradigm of his role in the great epic. Placing Moses within an exclusively neo-Platonic perspective and elevating him to virtually godlike status obscure the human features of the imperfect Minister of the Law. In fact, two distinct Moses traditions—the neo-Platonic and the typological—help to define Milton's epic voice. If the transition from Edenic perfection to sin in Paradise Lost is attended by a shift from predominantly neo-Platonic to predominantly typological symbolism, then these shifts might be assisted by our recognition of a changed emphasis upon the character of Moses. Though lines ought not be drawn too sharply, it is generally true that the epic voice depends on the neo-Platonic tradition of Moses as poet-illuminator in passages that describe a prelapsarian world. When the Fall of Man is evoked, the epic narrator exploits a complex typological conception of Moses as at once a symbol of Old Testament obscurity and a mediator who leads to Christ.
Milton and the Art of Landscape
Authors: Koehler G. Stanley
Published: May 2022

Milton's description of Eden, which is on one level the English countryside, on another the ideal place of legend, is on still a third level an elaborately developed landscape in the informal style of the seventeenth century, including effects which the eighteenth century would label “picturesque.” The ways in which Milton observed the theories of landscape design are seen in the general arrangement of the grounds; in the particulars of wall and prospect; in the handling of foliage and water; and in the consistent emphasis on mass and shade that is characteristic both of the baroque taste of the seventeenth century and of the picturesque taste of the eighteenth century, which Milton's example helped to determine. Still another dimension of the landscape experience, in Milton as in the Renaissance garden, is seen in the introduction of elements for moral and psychological, as opposed to purely aesthetic reasons. Milton's own concern to keep the garden in scale with its human occupants results in a consistent focus on the nuptial bower as the physical, narrative, and thematic center of the action. On a larger plane, the Garden of Eden is presented as the center of the cosmos itself. Through description that dwells on shade and moisture, trees and streams, Milton presents it as the ideal mean between those extremes of negation and fulfillment, destruction and perfection for which hell and heaven are the emblems.