bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Psychophysiological effects of gum chewing on cognitive performance: A gender-based comparative study
Authors: Sheikh Saniya , Fazal Amaila , Mirza Faizan 
Published: October 2020

Background: Chewing before performing a cognitive task increases oxygen levels in the Central Nervous System (CNS) areas important for processes of learning and memory. This study was done to evaluate and compare the effects of chewing gum on reaction time, visual short term memory, selective attention, verbal and non-verbal reasoning, and problem-solving ability in healthy male and female subjects.Methodology: The comparative, gender-based, interventional study was conducted involving 300 individuals placed in the control (n=150) and interventional group (n=150). Participants in the interventional group were required to chew gum till they completed the task. A questionnaire was designed to record the reaction time, memory, attention, executive and intellectual functioning and time took to solve each parameter. Each subject in both control and interventional group completed the questionnaire with and without chewing gum, respectively. Results for the two groups were compared using SPSS version 20.0.Results: It was found that the gum chewing group performs significantly better than the control group, thus chewing gum significantly improves cognitive performance. These cognitive effects of chewing were comparable among the two genders but relatively more pronounced among male participants as compared to females.Conclusion: Chewing gum is positively associated with higher level of cognitive performance than controls.
Post Viral Acute Cerebellar Ataxia following Chickenpox (Varicella) in a toddler
Authors: Ali Asghar Sarrah , Tahir Faryal , Majid Zainab , Qadar Laila Tul , Zaidi Syed Muhammad Hussain 
Published: October 2020

Background: Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is one of the most common infections of childhood causing chickenpox, which in a majority of cases is self-limiting without any complicating consequences. However, in a meagre 0.01-0.03% cases, chickenpox may lead to serious neurological complications. Among them is acute cerebellar ataxia, which presents with the characteristic sign of broad-based gait abnormality, progressing gradually over the course of days, the mechanism of which is still debated upon. As a treatment option, the use of antiviral remains controversial, and some recommend it for better prognosis while others do not base on its autoimmune pathogenesis. This case is being communicated due to its rarity.
Case Presentation: A case of a two-year-old female with a recent history of chickenpox eruption presented with the complaint of progressive loss of normal gait and difficulty in talking followed by generalized to-and-fro movements of her body leading to a diagnosis of post-viral acute cerebellar ataxia. There was no significant history of any past illnesses. Bacille Calmette Guerin (BCG) vaccine was given at birth, later followed by a single dose of pentavalent (Penta) vaccine.
Management: Central nervous system (CNS) examination showed ataxic gait, pupils bilaterally equally reflective to light (BERL), nystagmus, dysmetria, and decreased muscle tone. Laboratory investigations were within the normal range. Imaging modalities that were all normal excluded other causes, including metabolic, tumors, and toxins. The patient was empirically treated with IV acyclovir BD for one week.
Conclusion: As the rash of chickenpox resolves spontaneously in most cases, it is important that children infected with VZV should be closely observed for any neurological symptoms for timely and effective intervention.
Assessment of different Enzymatic Virulence Traits contributing to pathogenicity of Candida Albicans
Authors: Nazeer Sadia , Afshan Naz Sehar , Zubair Arif , Shafique Maryam , Sharafat Shaheen , Baig Samina , Gul Jabeen  
Published: October 2020

Background: Candidiasis is regarded as one of the frequently occurring fungal infections of humans elicited by yeast that belongs to the genus Candida. Among the different species of Candida, Candida albicans is the most pathogenic specie. The pathogenicity of this specie depends on various virulence factors. This study was designed to determine the activity of some important enzymatic virulence factors such as phospholipase, proteinase and hemolysin produced by Candida albicans strains.
Methodology: A total of 300 clinical isolates of C. albicans were obtained and identified by conventional standard diagnostic criteria. For the evaluation of phospholipase production, the egg yolk agar medium was employed. The minimum agar medium was used for proteinase activity and for hemolysin production, blood plate assay was used. The results were statistically analyzed by SPSS 16.0 version software.
Results: Of a total of 300 isolates reviewed, the majority of the isolates were recovered from females, i.e. 234 (78%); however, the number of isolates obtained from males were 66 (22%). Amongst all the strains of C. albicans, phospholipase and hemolysin enzymes were produced primarily by 89.3% of the total C. albicans strains. While proteinase enzyme was produced by 86% of the total C. albicans isolates. A p-value < 0.05 was measured as statistically significant.
Conclusion: From the existing study, it can be determined that these enzymes are produced by most of the pathogenic strains of C. albicans. The detection of these virulence enzymes is tremendously significant in designing of drugs to combat these opportunistic infections in future.
Vitamin D deficiency in the population of Karachi, Pakistan; A cross-sectional study
Authors: Kazmi S Ali Danish , Mustansir Ali Asghar , Sheikh Mareeha , Ahmed Ali Saad 
Published: October 2020

Background: Vitamin D deficiency affects over one billion people globally, which results in the progression of severe health consequences and chronic diseases. Literature indicates high rates of vitamin D deficiency in the Pakistani population. Thereby, this current study was aimed to determine the status of vitamin D deficiency in the population of Karachi.
Methodology: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted during January to December 2017 at the Dadabhoy Institute of Higher Education (DIHE). A total of 1159 healthy individuals aged between 18-72 years were selected for the study. Data was collected through a questionnaire seeking the demographics of the participants. For the quantitative colorimetric immune-enzymatic determination of 25(OH) vitamin D concentrations in the human plasma level, venous blood was collected and was analyzed using a vitamin D Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) kit. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS version 20.0.
Results: A total of 1159 participants were included in the study with the mean age of 40.1±15.2 years. It was observed that 59.1% of participants had deficient vitamin D levels, while 22.6% of participants had sufficient vitamin D levels. There was a significant association between gender and vitamin D status (p < 0.05), as the majority of females (68.5%) were vitamin D deficient as compared to males (31.5%). In contrast, no significant association was found between age and vitamin D levels, with the most deficient age group being 18 to 28 years.
Conclusion: It is concluded from the study results that vitamin D deficiency was prevalent in the studied population, despite increased exposure to sunlight. The initial screening for early detection and correction of the condition must be considered as an essential component of the national health strategy, as there is a need to detect and combat the burden of vitamin D deficiency in the country.
Past and current Coronavirus outbreaks; Focusing on Coronavirus Disease 2019 in comparison with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome
Authors: Najam Syed Inza , Shamim Nazia , Zaidi Syed Muhammad Hussain 
Published: October 2020

Background: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is currently the most significant public health concern globally, having affected more than 22 million patients and caused an excess of 0.78 million deaths since its emergence in December 2019 in the city of Wuhan, China. There have been similar Coronavirus outbreaks in the past, namely Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-1 (SARS-CoV-1) and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). In this review article, we discussed the epidemiology, virology, clinical presentation, diagnostic approaches, and effective treatment modalities for COVID-19 in light of existing literature.
Methodology: The aim of conducting this systematic review was to compare the three human coronavirus outbreaks: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Multiple search engines were used and PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines was referenced.
Results: The findings suggest that COVID-19 shares substantial characteristics with both SARS and MERS, SARS being more closely related to COVID-19 in terms of epidemiological characters, particularly their viral reservoirs. SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 use the same receptor to gain access to the host cells, while MERS-CoV uses a different entry point. The radiological manifestations of SARS, MERS and COVID-19 are similar as well.
Conclusion: The recurrent appearance of coronaviruses in the human population makes it crucial to study them in great details. Furthermore, owing to its similarity to previous coronavirus outbreaks, the lasting effects of COVID-19 on pulmonary tissue must be investigated. Moreover, at the time of writing this paper, no vaccines are available against Covid-19.
Assessment of antibacterial potential of Natural and Commercial Honey samples against Wound Isolates
Authors: Fatima Zareen , Zafar Sidra , Batool Tuba 
Published: October 2020

Background: Antibiotic resistance has surged the development and exploration of new, improved and effective natural products from plants and other sources like Honey has been rediscovered as a therapy for wounds, both in-vitro studies and in clinical trials. It has been observed to exert bacteriostatic and bactericidal potentials against pathogenic bacteria, including drug-resistant strains. The following study aimed to isolate and identify bacteria from wound infections and to investigate the antibacterial activity of honey samples; natural and commercial honey, against common clinical wound Pathogens.
Methodology: Bacteria from wound samples of patients with injured legs were isolated using differential and selective agars, while the antibacterial activity of natural and commercial honey samples was determined by agar well diffusion method and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC).
Results: The results indicated that natural honey has more potential to exert antibacterial activity with an 18-30mm zone of inhibition, which was significantly higher as compared to commercial honey with a 13-23mm zone of inhibition. MIC of natural honey was visible in most of the test organisms at25µg/ml as compared to commercial honey with only Bacillus sp and Staphylococcus sp2 at 50 µg/ml while Staphylococcus sp1 at 25µg/ml.
Conclusion: The results propose due to a significant difference in the antibacterial activity of natural and commercial honey, these findings would help experts from the health sciences in the selection of the type of honey as an apitherapy for wound care and management.
Evaluation of Test Statistics for Detection of Outliers and Shifts
Authors: Urooj Amena , Asghar Zahid 
Published: October 2020

Existence of outliers and structural breaks having mutually unknown nature, in time series data, offer challenges to data analysts in model identification, estimation and validation. Detection of these outliers has been an important area of research in time series since long. To analyze the impact of these structural breaks and outliers on model identification, estimation and their inferential analysis, we use two data generating processes: MA(1) and ARMA(1,1). The performance of the test statistics for detecting additive outlier(AO), innovative outlier(IO), level shift(LS) and transient change(TC) is investigated using simulation strategy through power of a test, empirical level of significance, empirical critical values, misspecification frequencies and sampling distribution of estimators for the two models. The empirical critical values are found higher than the theoretical cut-off points, empirical power of the test statistics is not satisfactory for small sample size, large cut-off points and large model coefficient. We have explored confusion between LS, AO, TC and IO at different critical values(c) by varying sample size. We have also collected empirical evidence from time series data for Pakistan using 3-stage iterative procedure to detect multiple outliers and structural breaks. We find that neglecting shocks lead to wrong identification, biased estimation and excess kurtosis.
JEL Classification Codes: C15, C18, C63, C32, C87, C51, C52, C82
AMS Classification Codes: 62, 65, 91, DI, 62-08, 62J20, 00A72, 91-08, 91-10, 91-11 62P20, 91B82, 91B84, 62M07, 62M09, 62M10, 62M15, 62M20
El dequeísmo: ¿un cambio en progreso de la sintaxis castellana?
Authors: Casas Navarro Raymundo 
Published: October 2020

El presente artículo aborda la naturaleza sintáctica del dequeísmo y trata de conjeturar los factores sociolingüísticos involucrados en el fenómeno. De ese modo, se abandona la perspectiva fijista que observa el dequeísmo como una mera transgresión o como un caso de incorrección idiomática. En contraste con una cohorte de hipótesis pergeñadas en la literatura reciente, se ha logrado corroborar que el comportamiento dequeísta es una isoglosa innovadora en el mecanismo hipotáctico general de la lengua castellana. Se puede determinar que, para la cognición de un creciente grupo de hispanohablantes, la conjunción ‘que’ no es lo suficientemente nítida para satisfacer el operador hipotáctico fundamental de la subordinación sustantiva de la sintaxis castellana, razón por la cual el uso de la secuencia ‘de que’ para introducir cláusulas de subordinación sustantiva se puede entender como un cambio en progreso de la sintaxis castellana. De ese modo, se apunta a lograr una simetría óptima en el sistema hipotáctico de nuestra lengua. Con el fin de dilucidar los factores sociolingüísticos involucrados en el dequeísmo, hemos aplicado un test a un grupo de hablantes, aparentemente, muy innovador: los jóvenes de entre 15 y 25 años. Discutimos, en concreto, si las variables sexo y literacidad tienen un influjo significativo en el comportamiento dequeísta.
PENGARUH MODEL ANALOGI BERBASIS ETNOSAINS UNTUK MENCEGAH KESALAHAN KONSEP SISWA
Authors: Nurlaili Nurlaili , Fuadi Chairul 
Published: October 2020

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh model pembelajaran analogi berbasis etnosains terhadap kemampuan pemecahan masalah siswa pada materi keanekaragaman hayati. Populasi dalam penelitian ini yaitu seluruh siswa-siswi kelas X SMA Negeri 1 Meureubo Kab. Aceh Barat. Sampel penelitian ini adalah siswa kelas X Mia2 dan X Mia3 yang masing-masing berjumlah 20 siswa dengan keseluruhan 40 siswa. Siswa kelas X Mia2 sebagai kelas kontrol dan X Mia3 sebagai kelas eksperimen. Teknik pengambilan sampel menggunakan teknik random sampling. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan penelitian kuantitatif dengan jenis penelitian eksperimen semu. Sedangkan desains penelitian yang digunakan adalah desain Pretest-Posttest Control Group Design. Data dalam penelitian ini di dapatkan dari hasil tes pretest dan postets dengan jumlah 20 soal pilihan ganda. Analisis data menggunakan analisis One Way ANOVA dengan program SPSS 18.0. Sebelum dilakukan uji One Way ANOVA, Data terlebih dahulu di uji Normalitas dan Homogenitas Data. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa kelas yang diberikan perlakuan dengan model pembelajaran analogi berbasis etnosains lebih baik dari pada kelas yang tidak diberikan perlakuan.
ANALISIS KESULITAN BELAJAR DAN MISKONSEPSI SISWA PADA POKOK BAHASAN KULTUR JARINGAN TUMBUHAN DI KELAS XI IPA SMA AS-SHOFA PEKANBARU TA 2018/2019
Authors: Ratna Ferni , Afidah Mar'atul 
Published: October 2020

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui kesulitan belajar dan miskonsepsi siswa dalam pokok bahasan kultur jaringan tumbuhan di SMA As- Shofa Pekanbaru T.A.2018/2019. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian survei dengan menggunakan teknik Total sampling yang dilaksanakan di kelas XI IPA SMA As- Shofa Pekanbaru. Jumlah responden dalam penelitian ini adalah 58 orang siswa. Berdasarkan analisis persentase tingkat kesulitan belajar siswa pada pokok bahasan kultur jaringan tumbuhan sebesar 2,63 berada pada kriteria tinggi sedangkan pada persentasenya sebesar 65,76%. Indikator kesulitan tertinggi adalah faktor lingkungan keluarga sebesar 2,78 berada di kriteria tinggi sedangkan persentasenya sebesar 69,50%, sedangkan indikator kesulitan terendah adalah faktor jasmaniah sebesar 2,47 berada pada kriteria sedang dengan persentase 61,75%. Dari hasil penelitian yang dihitung dengan teknik CRI mengalami kejadian miskonsepsi berjumlah 1276 kejadian yang terdiri dari kategori yaitu siswa yang paham dengan persentase 25,62% ( kategori rendah), miskonsepsi dengan persentase 25,62% (kategori rendah), tidak tahu konsep dengan persentase 27,11% (kategori rendah) dan menebak jawaban dengan persentase 21,63% (kategori rendah) dengan skala CRI yang berbeda- beda dari 22 soal yang diujikan. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian disimpulkan bahwa seluruh indikator pada kesulitan belajar siswa berada pada kriteria sedang dan miskonsepsi pada kategori rendah.
PERBANDINGAN STRATEGI PEMBELAJARAN PENINGKATAN KEMAMPUAN BERPIKIR DAN PEMBERDAYAAN BERPIKIR MELALUI PERTANYAAN TERHADAP HASIL BELAJAR MAHASISWA
Authors: Rekha Loviana , Firda Arlian , Rikizaputra Rikizaputra , Ramadansur Rahmat 
Published: October 2020

Mata kuliah bioteknologi khususnya pada materi kultur jaringan tumbuhan merupakan materi yang komplek sehingga mahasiswa kesusahan untuk memahami materi tersebut, sehingga mereka menjadi bosan, pasif dan malas untuk berpikir aktif dalam belajar. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui Perbandingan Hasil Belajar Mahasiswa Pada Kelas Strategi Pembelajaran Peningkatan Kemampuan Berpikir (SPPKB) dan Pemberdayaan Berpikir Melalui Pertanyaan (PBMP). Penelitian ini dilaksanakan pada mahasiswa reguler semester VI Pendidikan Biologi Universitas Lancang Kuning Pekanbaru bulan Mei 2019. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah quasi eksperimental dengan desain pretest-posttest non-equivalent group design. Sampel penelitian adalah mahasiswa semester VI1 dan VI2 dengan teknik pengambilan total sampling. Pengumpulan data dilakukan melalui pretest, posttest, dan lembar observasi. Teknik analisis data dalam penelitian ini berupa uji N-Gain, Normalitas, Homogenitas dan uji-t. Rerata N-Gain pada kelas SPPKB 0.28 (kategori rendah), sedangkan kelas PBMP 0.46 (kategori sedang). Hasil uji-t terdapat perbedaan yang signifikan antara kelas PBMP dan kelas SPPKB. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian dapat disimpulkan bahwa terdapat perbandingan Hasil Belajar Mahasiswa Pada Kelas Strategi Pembelajaran Peningkatan Kemampuan Berpikir (SPPKB) dan Pemberdayaan Berpikir Melalui Pertanyaan (PBMP).
PENGARUH PEMBELAJARAN PROBLEM BASED LEARNING BERBANTUAN MIND MAPPING TERHADAP HASIL BELAJAR DAN SIKAP ILMIAH MATERI PENCEMARAN LINGKUNGAN
Authors: Novita Prety , Sari Martala , Sari Ermina , Awal Raudhah 
Published: October 2020

Ketika pembelajaran siswa masih terfokus kepada guru menyebabkan kurangnya keaktifan siswa dalam proses pembelajaran. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh model pembelajaran Problem based learning berbantuan Mind mapping terhadap hasil belajar dan sikap ilmiah siswa pada materi pencemaran lingkungan. Penelitian ini dilaksanakan pada semester genap bulan Maret 2019. Desain penelitian yang digunakan adalah Quasi eksperimen Dengan the static-grup pretest-postest control group design. sampel yang digunakan untuk penelitian adalah 39 siswa kelas kontrol dan 39 kelas eksperimen yang diambil dengan teknik Random Sampling. Rerata N-Gain pada pretest dan posttest 0.28 kategori rendah sedangkan kelas eksperimen 0,63 kategori sedang dan hasil uji N-Gain dengan nilai 0.00<0.05 yang artinya terdapat perbedaan signifikan antara nilai pretest dan posttest. Rerata sikap ilmiah pada kelas kontrol sebesar 3,00 dengan kategori tinggi sedangkan kelas eksperimen sebesar 3,20 dengan kategori tinggi.
ANALISIS KESULITAN BELAJAR DAN MISKONSEPSI SISWA PADA POKOK BAHASAN KULTUR JARINGAN TUMBUHAN DI KELAS XI IPA SMA NEGERI 13 PEKANBARU
Authors: Sumantri Harry , Afidah Mar'atul , Wahyuni Sri 
Published: October 2020

Kesulitan belajar dan miskonsepsi siswa pada pokok bahasan kultur jaringan tumbuhan terjadi karena metode mengajar yang digunakan kurang tepat dan jadwal dan waktu belajar yang singkat sehingga materi yang disampaikan tidak tuntas. Peneilitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui kesulitan belajar dan miskonsepsi siswa dalam pokok bahasan kultur jaringan tumbuhan di SMA Negeri 13 Pekanbaru TA. 2018/2019. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian survei dengan menggunakan teknik Total Sampling yang dilakukan di kelas XI IPA SMA Negeri 13 Pekanbaru. Jumlah responden dalam penelitian ini adalah 30 orang siswa. Data analisis kesulitan belajar di peroleh melalui angket, sedangkan miskonsepsi diperoleh dari soal test dengan menggunakan CRI. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukan tingginya tingkat kesulitan belajar dan miskonsepsi siswa pada pokok bahasan kultur jaringan tumbuhan, hasil kesulitan belajar pada aspek jasmaniah sebesar 3.18 dengan persentase 79.56%, aspek lingkungan keluarga sebesar 3.12 dengan persentase 78.00%, aspek psikologi sebesar 3.11 dengan persentase 77.79%, aspek lingkungan sekolah sebesar 2.91 dengan persentase 72.65%, dan aspek lingkungan masyarakat sebesar 2.71 dengan persentase 67.69%. untuk hasil penelitian miskensepsi dengan teknik CRI mengalami miskonsepsi sebesar 780 kejadian terdiri dari 4 kategori yaitu siswa paham 37.56%, tidak paham konsep 8.46%, menebak 9.23%,dan miskonsepsi 44.74%. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian dapat disimpulkan bahwa seluruh indikator pada kesulitan belajar berada pada kriteria tinggi dan miskonsepsi berda pada kategori sedang.
Anticipated decrease in surgeons: does orthopedic internship affect medical students career choice?
Authors: CANBEYLİ İbrahim Deniz , ÇIRPAR Meriç 
Published: October 2020

Aim
The aim of this study is to determine medical students' career choices and to identify the effect of both demographic factors and the orthopedics residency education program on medical students’ career choices.
Materials and Methods
This study was performed on a total of 154 medical students (92 females and 62 males; mean age 23.7 ± 2.8) who attended Orthopedic internship program between 2018 and 2019 academic years. The students were subjected to a questionnaire twice on the first and last days of their internship program, which investigated distribution of selection of final year medical students’ career choices and factors that may play role on this selection.
Results
Eighty-three (53.9%) students had changed their preferences and 72 (46.8%) had changed the order of preferences after Orthopedic internship program. The increase in the number of students who chose Orthopedics (p