bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Breast cancer metastasis patterns in Yenagoa, Nigeria
Authors: Dimoko Alexander Aruoriwo , Alagoa Paingha Joseph 
Published: October 2023

Objectives:
The objective of this study was to study the characteristics and patterns of metastatic breast cancer in Yenagoa, Nigeria.

Material and Methods:
This study was a retrospective hospital-based study using a standardized data form for the capture of relevant information with definite exclusion criteria. Information gathered was captured in an Excel spreadsheet and subjected to statistical analysis. Subjects were 78 female patients diagnosed with breast cancer.

Results:
The mean age of the study population was 47.86 years. About 64% had 1–4 children while 26% had more than five children. The most common findings on general clinical examination were anemia (43.6%), cachexia (39.7%), and hepatomegaly (11.5%). On breast examination, the most common findings were axillary lymphadenopathy (87.2%), nipple changes (67.9%), peau d’orange (64.1%), skin nodules (64.1%), and chest fixity (60.3%). About 29.5% of patients had evidence of pulmonary metastasis, 19.2% had liver metastases, and 25.6% had spread to multiple sites. Central nervous system and spinal spread were found to be commoner in younger patients (<48 years).

Conclusion:
Most of the patients presenting in the hospital had evidence of metastasis. This has been found to be due mostly to delay in hospital presentation due to a complex combination of patient and healthcare-related factors. Measures for improving the dire statistics are proffered.
Direct healthcare cost and barriers to the medical management of primary open-angle glaucoma in healthcare facilities in Yaounde – Cameroon
Authors: Domngang Christelle , Maguib Paola , Ngoune Chantal Nanfack , Foutse Yimta , Kagmeni Giles 
Published: October 2023

Objectives:The objective of this study was to estimate the direct healthcare cost of glaucoma among patients attending two healthcare services in Yaounde, Cameroon.Materials and Methods:This investigation was a hospital-based, observational, and cross-sectional study of 122 glaucoma patients on follow-up from January to August 2021. The study was carried out using a pre-tested questionnaire and analyzed sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, monthly income, investigations performed, medications prescribed, and direct healthcare costs. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 24.Results:A total of 122 glaucoma follow-up patients participated in the study of whom 73 (59.9%) were male (sex ratio M/F = 1.49). Seventy-one (58.19%) participants were above 60 years. The majority (67.4%) had a higher education level. Over 40% of participants reported a monthly income of <228 Euros. Only 38 (31.1%) had health insurance. During the study year, each patient underwent 2.25 ± 0.84 consultations, 2.76 ± 1.40 ocular pressure measurements, 0.73 ± 0.52 visual field examinations, and 0.32 ± 0.2 gonioscopy. Prostaglandin analogs were the most widely prescribed drugs (71%), followed by β-blockers (Carteolol and Timolol) and carbonic anhydrase inhibitors with frequencies of 62% and 15%, respectively. The direct medical cost of the study population was estimated at 468.47 ± 155.34 Euros. The greatest proportion of out-of-pocket expenses (61.13% of medical costs) concerned the purchase of drugs, with an average cost of 284.16 ± 115.25 Euros. Patients treated in the public sector spent an average of 425.78 ± 38.49 Euros, while those treated in the private sector spent 562.22 ± 139.18 Euros during the study year (P= 0.001). However, health coverage and type of glaucoma did not influence the direct cost of treatment. The main obstacles to glaucoma care were insufficient income followed by forgetfulness.Conclusion:The present study shows that almost all participants self-funded their glaucoma management. More than 60% of the direct healthcare cost was devoted to anti-glaucoma drugs and the main barrier to optimal glaucoma care was the lack of financial resources. All stakeholders need involvement, especially health policymakers, to prioritize glaucoma management to make it affordable for patients.
Does dropout happen even with patients fitted with contact lenses for irregular cornea?
Authors: Paul Sona 
Published: October 2023

Objectives:
Different types of contact lenses play a primary role in improving visual acuity in irregular corneas. Although there are multiple evidences for vision improvement with contact lens patients still drop out of lens wear and choose other methods of treatment, surgeries, or discontinue the lenses.

Materials and Methods:
Three thousand two hundred patients who were evaluated for 5 years at a specialty contact lens clinic in a tertiary eye care center, but did not return to the clinic for over 18 months from the date of dispensing were identified as dropouts. Only 73 patients were identified as falling under this category of dropout. The reasons for dropout were categorized as comfort-related, vision-related, other reasons, and those who underwent surgical procedures.

Results:
Unlike previous studies, which included soft lenses, this study revealed only 2.28% (73/3200) of dropouts. There were 38 patients with unilateral lens fitting and 35 patients with bilateral lens fitting. The visual acuity was significantly improving with contact lens in these eyes. The clinical presentation of these patients was analyzed to know about their stage of disease while they dropout from the contact lens clinic.

Conclusion:
Although dropout of contact lens is much lesser in irregular corneal conditions, it is important for the practitioner to be updated with the alternate and latest modality of lens choices to satisfy vision-related and comfort-related issues of patients.
Undergraduate dental student’s perception regarding E-learning method versus Traditional classroom-based method: A questionnaire-based study
Authors: Jhunjhunwala Vedika Bharat , Bhoosreddy Seema Ajay 
Published: October 2023

Objectives:
The objective of this questionnaire-based study is to investigate the perception of undergraduate dental students on E-learning and traditional classroom-based learning and how a blended mode of studies is beneficial for the students.

Material and Methods:
A survey of 20 questions regarding students’ perception toward e-learning and traditional classroom-based learning during COVID-19 was formulated using the Google Forms and circulated among undergraduate dental students all over the state of Maharashtra.

Results:
A total of 849 survey forms which were completely filled were considered in the analysis.

Conclusion:
535 (63.0%) students agreed that the e-learning method of education did not prepare them well for the practical part of the curriculum, whereas 617 (72.7%) students reported that activities included in e-learning should be blended with traditional classroom-based learning to make them more interesting and 531 (62.5%) students reported that blended mode of education would help to overcome drawbacks of traditional classroom-based learning. Furthermore, 526 (62.0%) students reported that the application of a blended mode of learning would help to overcome the problems faced by them during the e-learning mode of education alone.
Assessment regarding dental practitioners’ knowledge, attitude, and practices towards pre-procedural mouth rinse during COVID-19 pandemic – A cross-sectional study in Tamil Nadu
Authors: Krishnakumar Samyu , Marimuthu Varshini , Shanmugasundaram Gowri 
Published: October 2023

Objectives:
Evolving strains of SARS-CoV-2 causing the COVID-19 disease has challenged the scientific world in limiting the disease and curbing the pandemic. Several factors such as increased salivary viral load in COVID-infected patients, procedures generating aerosols put the dental professionals at high risk of acquiring the disease. The present study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices regarding the use of pre-procedural mouth rinse among the dental practitioners in Coimbatore.

Material and Methods:
A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted among dental practitioners in Coimbatore using a pre-validated questionnaire which comprised of sections interrogating knowledge, awareness, and practice of the use of pre-procedural mouth rinse in dental setup. One hundred and twenty-five dental practitioners in Coimbatore responded to the questionnaire.

Results:
Assessment of knowledge regarding the effectiveness of pre-procedural mouthwashes in reducing the bacterial and viral load was 97%. About 89% of dental practitioners were aware of the superior antimicrobial properties of Povidone Iodine in comparison with Chlorhexidine. Only 65% of dental practitioners used pre-procedural mouthwashes in practice.

Conclusion:
There is high inquisitiveness among dental practitioners in acquiring knowledge regarding preventive measures for SARS-CoV-2 alike the use of pre-procedural mouth rinses in reducing the viral load in COVID-19 infected patients. Although there is high awareness, there exists reluctance in implementing the knowledge acquired in real practice.
Administrative Empowerment Impact on Enhancing the Leadership Skills for Modern Environment of Judiciary
Authors: Abo Eisheh Ahmed , Al-Ghaithi Moza , AL-Oqla Faris M. 
Published: October 2023

Administrative empowerment aims to enhance teamwork spirit and expand the scope of supervision by giving workers the necessary powers and ability to make decisions towards sustainable management and decentralization. This study aims to determine the effect of the administrative empowerment context on developing the leadership skills of the second-level leaders in the Council of Administrative Affairs for the Judiciary in the Sultanate of Oman towards a more sustainable modern environment in this sector. Analysis of variances (ANOVA) method was utilized to investigate the effect of several related factors, including delegation of authority, task forces, effective communication, and training. Results have revealed that the current level of administrative empowerment was found medium in the council. However, the level of leadership skills of the second-level leaders was found to be high, but with insignificant utilization. It was also found that there were statistically significant effects for all the dimensions of administrative empowerment on developing the leadership skills of the second-level leaders. The novel results of the impact of delegation of authority on the environment of the judiciary in Oman have several consequences in the field. It can practically change the delegation of authority in the council to enhance administrative empowerment and the skill development of second-level leaders in the judiciary sector. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-05-013 Full Text: PDF
Assessing the Impact of Workplace Harassment on Turnover Intention: Evidence from the Banking Industry
Authors: Martins José Moleiro , Shahzad Muhammad Farrukh , Javed Iqra 
Published: October 2023

Workplace harassment is considered one of the main issues in the banking sector, which is subject to major human and labor rights violations. In the current global situation, harassed employees are prone to high turnover and become less productive due to undue stress and unstable mental health. Thus, this study aims to measure the influence of workplace harassment on the turnover intentions of employees in Pakistan's banking industry. This study assessed how workplace harassment affects employees' silence, mental stress, turnover intention, and the moderating role of psychological contract breaches. The study advises significant measures to prevent assault by retaining and empowering workers to work effectively. The data were collected through an adopted questionnaire from 416 respondents from the banking sector in Lahore, Pakistan. Variance-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used. The results reveal that workplace harassment significantly and positively impacts turnover intention. Additionally, employee silence and mental stress have significantly mediated the relationship between workplace harassment and turnover intention. However, psychological contract breaches have significantly moderated the relationship between employee silence and workplace harassment. This study aims to promote equal employment opportunities where they can raise their voices about misconduct and lower the employee turnover ratio. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-05-016 Full Text: PDF
A Two-Nearest Wireless Access Point-Based Fingerprint Clustering Algorithm for Improved Indoor Wireless Localization
Authors: Yaro Abdulmalik Shehu , Malý Filip , Malý Karel 
Published: October 2023

Fingerprint database clustering is one of the methods used to reduce localization time and improve localization accuracy in a fingerprint-based localization system. However, optimal selection of initial hyperparameters, higher computation complexity, and interpretation difficulty are among the performance-limiting factors of these clustering algorithms. This paper aims to improve localization time and accuracy by proposing a clustering algorithm that is extremely efficient and accurate at clustering fingerprint databases without requiring the selection of optimal initial hyperparameters, is computationally light, and is easily interpreted. The two closest wireless access points (APs) to the reference location where the fingerprint is generated, as well as the labels of the two APs in vector form, are used by the proposed algorithm to cluster fingerprints. The simulation result shows that the proposed clustering algorithm has a localization time that is at least 45% faster and a localization accuracy that is at least 25% higher than the k-means, fuzzy c-means, and lightweight maximum received signal strength clustering algorithms. The findings of this paper further demonstrate the real-time applicability of the proposed clustering algorithm in the context of indoor wireless localization, as low localization time and higher localization accuracy are the main objectives of any localization system. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-05-019 Full Text: PDF
Interval Estimation of the Dependence Parameter in Bivariate Clayton Copulas
Authors: Kummaraka Unyamanee , Srisuradetchai Patchanok 
Published: October 2023

In various disciplines, discerning dependencies between variables remains a crucial undertaking. While correlation measures like Pearson, Spearman, and Kendall provide insight into the degree of two-variable relationships, they fall short of revealing the intricate structure of dependencies between these variables. The Clayton copula, known for its flexible attributes, becomes instrumental in unveiling this dependency structure. This paper aims to advance knowledge by providing an explicit formula for creating Wald confidence intervals (CIs) for the dependence parameter in a bivariate Clayton copula, along with a mathematical derivation of the observed Fisher information. In comparison, we also propose likelihood CIs, whose performance we examine in simulation studies using both coverage probability and average length of CIs as performance indicators. Our findings reveal that in scenarios characterized by small sample sizes, likelihood-based CIs, despite their slightly more complex computational requirements, outperform Wald CIs, yielding a coverage probability more proximate to the nominal confidence level of 0.95. However, in situations involving large samples and a dependence parameter distant from zero, both Wald and likelihood-based CIs demonstrate comparable utility. For real-world data applications, the daily closing prices of two cryptocurrencies are analyzed using the proposed CIs. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-05-02 Full Text: PDF
IRS-BAG-Integrated Radius-SMOTE Algorithm with Bagging Ensemble Learning Model for Imbalanced Data Set Classification
Authors: Yuningsih Lilis , Pradipta Gede Angga , Hermawan Dadang , Ayu Putu Desiana Wulaning , Hostiadi Dandy Pramana , Huizen Roy Rudolf 
Published: October 2023

Imbalanced learning problems are a challenge faced by classifiers when data samples have an unbalanced distribution among classes. The Synthetic Minority Over-Sampling Technique (SMOTE) is one of the most well-known data pre-processing methods. Problems that arise when oversampling with SMOTE are the phenomenon of noise, small disjunct samples, and overfitting due to a high imbalance ratio in a dataset. A high level of imbalance ratio and low variance conditions cause the results of synthetic data generation to be collected in narrow areas and conflicting regions among classes and make them susceptible to overfitting during the learning process by machine learning methods. Therefore, this research proposes a combination between Radius-SMOTE and Bagging Algorithm called the IRS-BAG Model. For each sub-sample generated by bootstrapping, oversampling was done using Radius SMOTE. Oversampling on the sub-sample was likely to overcome overfitting problems that might occur. Experiments were carried out by comparing the performance of the IRS-BAG model with various previous oversampling methods using the imbalanced public dataset. The experiment results using three different classifiers proved that all classifiers had gained a notable improvement when combined with the proposed IRS-BAG model compared with the previous state-of-the-art oversampling methods. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-05-04 Full Text: PDF
Program-Target Mechanisms to Ensure the Fiscal Balance of the Federal Constituent
Authors: Karaev Alan K. , Gorlova Oksana S. , Ponkratov Vadim V. , Vasyunina Margarita L. , Masterov Andrey I. , Sedova Marina L. 
Published: October 2023

The purpose of this research is to study the possible impact of program costs associated with the development of the real sector of the regional economy on the fiscal balances of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation based on the wavelet analysis method. To achieve this purpose, we conducted a correlation analysis of the time-frequency dependence between the variables of the empirical model: the shares of program costs, the shares of non-repayable receipts, and the share of business taxes in the revenues of the consolidated budgets of constituent entities of the Russian Federation such as the Republic of Mordovia, the Udmurt Republic, Trans-Baikal Territory, and Kaliningrad Region for the period from 2001 to 2021. The research results indicate a significant impact exerted by the program costs of the regional budgets on the development of the real sector to ensure fiscal balance in the Republic of Mordovia, the Udmurt Republic, and the Trans-Baikal Territory on certain time scales. The novelty of this research lies in demonstrating the wavelet analysis effectiveness applied when conducting correlation analysis in cases where the relationships between the analyzed variables follow different patterns at different time horizons, and precisely wavelet analysis makes it possible to reveal the most significant characteristics of the relationship of variables. Earlier studies based on traditional methods ignored the time-frequency dependence between the variables of the empirical model. The practical significance of the research results lies in the fact that they determine the time scale on which the most effective measures and budgetary policy instruments applied within the framework of program-target mechanisms are provided to ensure fiscal balances in the regions. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-05-05 Full Text: PDF
Factors Influencing Consumer Acceptance of Mobile Payment during the COVID-19 Pandemic & Usage Continuance Intent: A Quantitative Study
Authors: Zaidi Syed Faizan Hussain , Ali Omar , Thanasi-Boçe Marsela 
Published: October 2023

The presence of COVID-19 has transformed the business sector’s paradigm and prompted a speedy consumption of mobile payment software systems of diverse ranges. Corporate sectors and businesses across the globe brought a shift to offer mobile payment methods; consequently, consumers were urged to maximize the use of mobile payment throughout the pandemic. The present research aims to investigate the factors that might influence consumers' intent to accept mobile payments and their relationships during COVID-19. The technology adoption model and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology were employed in this proposed mobile payment adoption framework. A quantitative research approach was identified as a suitable method for this research. An online survey was administered, and 304 participants responded to the questionnaire. The results of the data analysis revealed statistically significant relationships and a positive impact of the factors perceived performance, social influence, consumers’ satisfaction, and perceived usefulness on consumers’ usage continuation intention. However, the results identified that factors such as transaction risk didn’t affect perceived usefulness, and financial transaction transparency didn’t affect consumers’ usage intention. This study makes a substantial contribution to the consumers’ technology acceptance literature in terms of validating a proposed theoretical framework that highlights the factors that influence consumers’ mobile payment usage intentions. As this study was conducted at a later stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, it adds value to the existing literature by providing insights to business managers on the factors influencing mobile payment usage. Considering the practical perspective, this study offers evidence of the essential elements that mobile payment service designers and marketers should consider. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-05-07 Full Text: PDF