bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Clinical efficacy of idebenone in stroke patients with mild cognitive impairment, and its effect on regional homogeneity of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging of the brain
Authors: Zhang Xiaoyu , Li Juan 
Published: August 2022

Purpose: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of Idebenone in stroke patients with mild cognitive impairment, and its effect on regional homogeneity (ReHo) of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) of the brain.
Methods: One hundred and twenty stroke patients with mild cognitive impairment who were admitted to the Department of Neurology of the China Rehabilitation Research Center Beijing Boai Hospital from January 2018 to January 2020 were enrolled in this study. The patients were randomly divided into control group and study group. Control group was treated with nimodipine, while the study group received a combination of nimodipine and idebenone.
Results: Clinical efficacy was higher in the study group than in the control group (p < 0.05). Scores on Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA), mini-mental state examination (MMSE), and activity of daily living scale (ADL) were significantly elevated (p < 0.05) in both groups after treatment, but scores for MoCA and ADL were significantly higher in the study group than in the control group (p < 0.05). After 6 months of treatment, there were significantly more patients with improved clinical dementia rating (CDR)in the study group than in the control group (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: The use of idebenone and nimodipine for treatment of stroke patients with cognitive dysfunction leads to significant improvement in clinical outcomes, and enhancement of cognitive function and quality of life, due to improved brain function in the precuneus. However, the mechanism involved in the combination therapy-induced enhancement of cognitive function requires further investigation.
Keywords: Stroke; Cognitive dysfunction; Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging of brain; Regional homogeneity; Quality of life
Effect of combined vitamin D and microwave ablation of parathyroid glands on blood pressure and cardiac function in maintenance-hemodialysis patients with uremic secondary hyperparathyroidism
Authors: Zhu Xinghua , Li Yingyu , Chen Lu , Du Chunli , Hou Jingyuan , Zhang Ailing , Qiu Baozhen , Li Jiaying 
Published: August 2022

Purpose: To investigate the effect of microwave ablation of parathyroid glands in combination with active vitamin D on blood pressure and cardiac function in maintenance-hemodialysis patients with uremic secondary hyperparathyroidism.
Methods: One hundred and twenty maintenance-hemodialysis patients with uremic secondary hyperparathyroidism admitted to Meizhou People’s Hospital were assigned to 2 groups (A and B) in the order of their admission. Each group had 60 patients. Both groups were treated with active vitamin D, while patients in group A were, in addition, subjected to microwave ablation of parathyroid glands. Blood pressure, and indices for cardiac function, thyroid function s and anemia were determined.
Results: After treatment, the blood pressure of group A was significantly lower than that of group B (p < 0.05). Moreover, after treatment, there were significant improvements in indices of cardiac function, thyroid function and anemia in group A patients, relative to group B patients.
Conclusion: Microwave ablation of parathyroid glands, when combined with active vitamin D, improves blood pressure, cardiac function and anemia status. Furthermore, the combined therapy enhances recovery of thyroid function in maintenance-hemodialysis patients with uremic secondary hyperparathyroidism. However, the combined therapy should be subjected to further clinical trials prior to application in clinical practice.
Keywords: Microwave ablation; Parathyroid glands; Active vitamin D; Hyperparathyroidism
Effect of sevoflurane post-conditioning on apoptosis and the expressions of Bcl-2 and Bax in lung tissue of cardiopulmonary bypass dogs
Authors: Chen Song , Luo Junli , Dou Xuejiao , You Lu , Li Dong , Zhang Hong 
Published: August 2022

Purpose: To investigate the effects of sevoflurane post-conditioning on the expressions of Bcl-2 and Bax in lung tissues of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) dogs.
Methods: Twelve healthy hybrid mongrels were divided into control (C) and sevoflurane postconditioning (S) groups. All dogs were subjected to thoracotomy in order to establish CPB. Ischemiareperfusion was conducted in the left lung of both groups. Thereafter, sevoflurane post-conditioning was given to group S. Femoral artery blood specimens were obtained prior to CPB (T1), as the left pulmonary artery was opened (T2), and 2 h after CPB (T3), for blood gas analysis. Respiration index (RI), oxygenation index (OI), and dynamic lung compliance (Cd) were calculated.
Results: When T1 was compared with T2 and T3, their OI and Cd were significantly decreased in both groups, while RI showed the opposite trend (p < 0.05). Values of OI and Cd at T3 in group S were increased significantly, relative to group C, while RI decreased (p < 0.05). There were less lung tissue inflammation and structural disorder at T3 in Group S than in group C. Protein expressions and positive integral of Bcl-2 and Bax, and apoptosis at T2 and T3 in dog lung tissues of both groups were higher than those at T1 (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: Post-conditioning with sevoflurane is lung-protective in CPB dogs. The underlying mechanism may be based on the promotion of Bcl-2 expression and inhibition of Bax expression, thereby reducing apoptosis in dog lung tissue. Further investigations to determine its suitability for clinical applications in humans are, however, required.
Keywords: Sevoflurane; Cardiopulmonary bypass; Bcl-2, Bax; Apoptosis; Pulmonary ischemiareperfusion injury
Scientific Consensus, Doctrinal Paradox and Discursive Dilemma
Authors: Lauer Helen 
Published: August 2022

Global ignorance about Africa continues to sustain inappropriate global interventions to resolve public health crises, often with disastrous consequences. To explain why this continues to happen, I marshal two theorems that predict basic statistical properties, called ‘the doctrinal paradox’ and ‘the discursive dilemma’, which underlie scientific consensus formation and evidence-based decision making on a global scale. These mathematical results illuminate the epistemic and material injustices committed by the protocols of medical research conducted at the highest level of global knowledge production in the service of international humanitarian aid for Africans. These social choice theorems reveal that a global scientific consensus projecting claims and proposing policies about Africa’s disease burden is likely to yield a low degree of reliability, in that the probability of its accuracy is less than chance. The solution to this anomaly is to remove from the global scientific agenda the statistically unrealisable demand of satisfying too many multinational corporate and foreign governments’ priorities as equally entitled to benefit from the knowledge produced to improve Africa’s public health sector. Instead, foreign funding targeted to support medical science and policy in Africa should be directed by those specialists in situ who are most familiar with their own national health challenges and potential solutions, rather than relying upon foreign decision makers to interpret Africa’s emergency public health care needs.

Keywords
Doctrinal paradox, discursive dilemma, scientific consensus, epistemic trust, global health ethics, group agency
African Jurisprudence as Historical Co-extension of Diffused Legal Theories
Authors: Komolafe Leye 
Published: August 2022

African jurisprudence, like African philosophy, continues to be hotly debated. This article contends that the debate straddles the uniqueness claim which either emphasises the existence or possibility of a peculiar legal framework on the continent, and a historical co-extensional position reiterating that African jurisprudence is a continuum of other legal traditions. The article argues that there is no uniquely African jurisprudence, and that what obtains within the structures of jurisprudence on the continent also exists within various legal traditions elsewhere, and as such can at best be described as ‘jurisprudence in Africa’ rather than ‘African jurisprudence’. It defends this thesis through analytic and comparative explications of the content of natural law theory and legal positivism as experienced on the continent. It concedes that relics of the colonial legal experience create contestations that inform scholars’ calls for a return to traditional legal systems. It concludes that a reconstructive jurisprudence in Africa must take cognisance of the continent’s historical and evolutionary legal experiences, but that a unified or monolithic theory may not be sufficient to address the choice of functional jurisprudence.

Keywords
African jurisprudence, jurisprudence in Africa, African legal evolution, diffused legal theories
Colonialism and the Repression of Nairobi African Women Street Traders in the 1940s
Authors: Ngesa Pamela Olivia , Kiruthu Felix , Ndeda Mildred J. 
Published: August 2022

By the 1940s, the Municipal Council of Nairobi had enacted a host of By-Laws to control the presence of Africans, especially women, and had set up several agencies to implement them. Consequently, women street vendors were not only denied access to legal trade, but remained unwanted in the town except under very special circumstances. Nonetheless, pushed by their adversity, a number of them resorted to illegal hawking and demonstrated their resilience against the odds. However, as the hawkers’ earnings subsidised the colonial low wage migrant labour system, it became difficult for the colonial administration in Nairobi to resolutely stamp out their activities, especially in Eastlands. Besides, by the end of the 1940s, the Council’s fight against hawking had slackened owing to unsustainable expenses.

This paper examines the effect of colonial repression of African women street traders in Nairobi’s Eastlands area in the 1940s. Using the Gender and Development (GAD) perspective along with data mainly from libraries, archives and oral sources, it interrogates the women’s attractions to Nairobi and the logic behind their street trading activities. It also examines the colonial dynamics that exploited the attitudes and beliefs of African male elders to validate the colonial government’s gender marginalisation policies against women, particularly the hawkers. The paper concludes that the gender-based constraints against African women traders notwithstanding, propelled by need, the women irrepressibly struggled to find space in the prosperous economy of Nairobi in the 1940s.

Keywords
Racism, gender discrimination, patriarchy, street trading, hawkers, licensing
Identification of a Panel of Biomarkers for the Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer
Authors: Davar Riya , Yalamanchili Madhuri 
Published: August 2022

According to the CDC, in the United States, Ovarian Cancer is the second most prevalent form of gynecologic cancer and is the fifth leading cause of mortality in women. The only reliable method to screen for this cancer is TVS (trans-vaginal sonography), which is both invasive and costly. The goal of this project was to use the mRMR (Maximum Relevance Minimum Redundancy) Feature Selection Algorithm to select a panel of biomarkers from the Ovarian Cancer dataset and create a non-invasive and inexpensive software tool that could help validate the panel and assist with the early detection of Ovarian Cancer, with a reasonable level of sensitivity.
This project uses an ovarian cancer dataset with 49 features. The mRMR filter method [9, 10, 12]of feature selection eliminates the redundant features while keeping the relevant features that impact the target class. This project accomplished the final goal of creating a working web application that asks a clinician to provide a few basic blood test results and generates a prediction. The machine learning model [7] used by the application is Random Forest Machine Learning model which is created with the K best features picked by the mRMR algorithm and is successfully utilized to predict the disease and treatment targets thus helping with reducing the mortality rate from ovarian cancer.
This project used the Random Forest Classifier model machine learning model. It has been shown to work well with smaller datasets (as with this project’s dataset) and had a sensitivity score of 0.96.
Examining the Successes of Universal Primary Education and Universal Secondary Education Policies in Uganda
Authors: Otyola Roberts Wandera , Nalwadda Proscovia , Bagamba Godfrey Wamani , Bukenya  John , Kamaga Edward , Bantebya Susan 
Published: August 2022

Purpose: The mission statement of the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) in Uganda is to provide for, support, guide and co-ordinate, regulate, and promote quality education and sports to all persons in Uganda for national integration, individual and national development. It is in these lenses that the Ugandan government adopted the UPE and USE programs to educate her children.
Methodology: This paper uses document review methodology to assess successes achieved by both the Universal Primary Education and Universal Secondary Education programs adopted by the Uganda government in 1997 and 2006 respectively.
Findings: Assessment results show that both programs have had a positive impact on access and equity of previously vulnerable children who could not afford self-educational sponsorship. However, the issue of quality education provision is yet to be achieved.
Recommendations: The study therefore recommends further research into examination of the relationship between UPE pupils’ low performance levels in literacy and numeracy and their somewhat good performance at Primary Leaving Examinations. All stakeholders should desist from politicizing educational issues and instead concentrate on formulating evidence-based policies based on developmental needs for joint ownership and implementation of the respective Free Education Policies.
Junior High School Teachers and Students’ Attitude toward Teaching and Learning Mathematics through Problem Solving: A Case Study from Mampong Municipality
Authors: Twumasi Ebenezer Birch , Afful  Joyce Asante 
Published: August 2022

Purpose: Effectiveness of education depends on factors which include teachers’ instructional role associated with students’ learning outcomes. Teachers’ attitude is an enduring system of their beliefs, feelings and actions which invariably influence students’ achievement in mathematics learning. This study sought to investigate into Junior High School (JHS) mathematics teachers and students’ attitudes toward teaching and learning mathematics through problem-solving instructional strategy.
Methodology: A cross – sectional exploratory survey design was employed to obtain a snapshot of what pertained in the classrooms of the selected Junior High Schools. Questionnaires for measuring teachers and students’ attitude were pilot tested to ensure scale reliability. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for the data analysis. Spearman’ rank correlation was calculated to establish the nature of relationship between teachers and students’ attitude, at a fixed significance level of 0.05.
Findings: It was revealed that there existed positive but weak relationship between teachers and students’ attitudes toward teaching and learning mathematics through problem solving. Findings from this study were not quite different from the studies reviewed in the literature that showed that teachers’ attitude influence their choice of teaching strategy and the quality of teaching students receive. Format for conducting external examination, time available for teaching topics in the syllabus, and students’ entry behaviour were found to be determining factors for teachers’ choice of instructional strategy. It can be inferred that though students considered problem solving instructional approach as challenging, but they do not despise its use in mathematics learning.
Recommendations: From this study, subject-based workshops or professional development sessions must be organized by District Education Office at the beginning of every term for the JHS mathematics teachers. Students must equally be encouraged by teachers through specific assignments that involve the use of problem-solving strategies. workshops, District Education Office should provide mathematics teachers with materials that will enable them to model mathematical concepts in classroom.
PERIODONTAL TREATMENT OF GINGIVAL OVERGROWTH DUE TO AMLODIPINE USE: CASE SERIES
Authors: ŞAYAN Pınar 
Published: August 2022

Aim: A common side effect of calcium channel blockers, which are frequently used in the treatment of patients with hypertension and cardiovascular problems, is that they can cause overgrowth in gingiva. Gingival overgrowths should be treated because they create inaccessible areas, making oral hygiene practices difficult due to increased plaque retention. In this case series, clinical properties of gingival overgrowths deriving from the usage of amlodipine, which is a type of calcium channel blockers and its treatment protocols are explained.
Methods: Three male patients aged 15, 60 and 45 applied to our clinic with the complaints of gingival overgrowth and bleeding. In the anamnesis, it was learned that they were using antihypertensive medication containing amlodipine. In the first session, scaling and root planning applications were performed. Then, the patients who were given detailed oral hygiene instructions, consulted with the relevant physicians. It was deemed appropriate to replace the drug the patients were using with another antihypertensive drug, which is an alternative that does not lead to gingival overgrowth. After the controls performed at certain time intervals and oral hygiene evaluations, it was observed that a perfect recovery was achieved. In addition to these, gingivoplasty was performed using classic surgical method under local anesthesia on one case.
Results: All three patients showed uneventful healing without any complications. During periodic controls, it was observed that patients’ complaints disappeared, the gingiva regained their natural physiological form, aesthetically pleasing results were achieved, no recurrences were observed in the 6th month and periodontal health could be maintained.
Conclusion: The treatment protocol for gingival overgrowth due to drug use includes the replacement or discontinuation of the current drug with an alternative drug with the physician's consultation, after the initial periodontal treatment and oral hygiene practices, periodontal surgical procedures and regular controls in severe cases.
Antik Akdeniz Bölgesinde Salgın Hastalıkların İnanç Değişiklikleri Üzerindeki Etkileri
Authors: TURGUT Murat 
Published: August 2022

İnsanlık tarihi boyunca görülen salgın hastalıklar insanların korkulu rüyaları olmuştur. İnsanlar salgının mikroplardan kaynaklandığını bilmediği için uzunca bir süre salgının tanrılar tarafından gönderildiklerini düşünmüşlerdir. Atina salgınından itibaren ise salgının dinsel sebepli olmadığı da düşünülmeye başlanmıştır.
Salgın hastalıkların toplumlar üzerindeki en önemli etkisi öldürme güçleri olmuştur. Tarih boyunca özellikle de eskiçağda görülen salgın hastalıklar yüksek ölüm oranlarına sahip olmuşlardır. Salgınların öldürme güçlerinin yanında sosyal, ekonomik ve dini alanlarda pek çok değişime sebep oldukları bilinmektedir.
Salgınların tanrı tarafından gönderildiği düşüncesi salgının gene tanrı tarafından ortadan kaldırılabileceği inancını getirmiştir. İnsanlar salgından kurtulmak için tanrılarına dualar etmişler ve onlar için çeşitli sunular gerçekleştirmişlerdir. İnandıkları tanrısal güçlerin salgını durdurmada yetersiz olduklarını gördükleri zaman bazı insanlar dinden uzaklaşmaya başlamışlardır. Bu insanlar inançsızlık, panteondaki bir diğer tanrıya daha fazla önem verme veya dışarıdan bilinmeyen yeni dinleri kabul etme yollarından birini seçmişlerdir. Belirtilen yollardan son ikisi, ilk belirtilene göre daha çok tercih edilmiştir.
Salgın hastalıklara karşı insanların davranışları toplumdan topluma çeşitlilik göstermiştir. Toplumların reaksiyonları genellikle yeni inançların kabulü veya o inançlarda çareler aramak olmuştur. Bu çalışmada salgın hastalıkların sonucu antik Akdeniz toplumlarında yaşanan dinsel gelişmeler ve özellikle salgınların yeni inançlara geçişteki önemi incelenmiştir.
Yiyecek Fotoğrafçılığının Grafik Tasarım Bağlamında Değerlendirilmesi
Authors: BOZHÜYÜK Bayram 
Published: August 2022

Bir reklam yüzeyinde ürünün ya da hizmetin ne olduğu günümüzde genelde fotoğrafik görsellerle ifade edilmektedir. Bu bağlamla reklam fotoğrafçılığı işinin reklam tasarımının ana fikrinin belirlenmesinde önemli rolü vardır. Reklam fotoğrafçılığı, fotoğraf çekim yöntemlerinin ve teknolojilerinin tamamından yararlanılan bir alandır. Yiyecek fotoğrafçılığı da reklam fotoğraflarının bir kısmını oluşturur. Gıda ve gastronomi alanında faaliyet gösteren ister dünya çapında olsun, ister yerel olsun birçok marka ürünlerini öncelikle görsel materyallerle tanıtmaktadır. Dolayısıyla gıda fotoğrafçılığı gıda konusunda markalaşma için büyük öneme sahiptir. Fakat reklamı yapılan ürün sadece fotoğraf çekimiyle yeterli kalmamaktadır. Reklamın çekimleri; yapılan çekimin işlenmesinden, tasarım ve yayın sürecine kadar birçok grafik düzenlemeden geçmektedir.
Birçok reklam çekiminde olduğu gibi yiyecek konusunda yapılacak reklam çekimlerinde çekimin yayınlanacağı mecra önemlidir. Bu yüzden yiyecek çekimlerinde ürünün yayınlanacağı reklamın gösterim şekli değişmektedir. Dolayısıyla yiyecek fotoğraflarının içerik bağlamında niteliğini ve çekim şeklini yayınlanacak mecraya göre grafik anlatım kuralları şekillendirmektedir. Bu araştırmada gastronomi alanında çekilen bazı reklam fotoğraf örnekleriyle grafik tasarım öğelerinin birlikte değerlendirilmesi yapılmıştır. Değerlendirme kapsamında dünyanın değişik yerlerinden gıda temalı reklam çalışmaları seçilmiştir. Seçilen görsellerdeki grafik ve fotoğraf temaları ayrıştırılmak suretiyle elde edilen bilgiler reklam ve yiyecek fotoğrafçılığı arasındaki ilişkiyi açıklamayı amaçlamaktadır. Ayrıca bu araştırma yiyecek fotoğrafçılığı ve grafik alanındaki literatüre katkı sağlamak amacıyla hazırlanmıştır.
Effect of yogic practices selected risk factors among aged diabetic women
Authors: Balan R. , Elangovan R. 
Published: August 2022

Diabetes mellitus often referred to simply as diabetes is a syndrome of disordered metabolism, usually due to a combination of hereditary and environmental causes, resulting in abnormally high blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia). The purpose of the present study is to find out the effect of yogic practices with and without diet modifications on the FBS (Fasting Blood Sugar) among Aged Diabetic women. The study is conducted on 120 Aged Diabetic women, randomly selected into two groups, namely, the experimental group and the Control Group, each group consist of 20 Aged Diabetic women. The Experimental Group underwent twelve weeks of Yogic practices whereas the control group do not undergo any type of training. The Fasting Blood Sugar was measured before and after training. The results were analyzed with a statistical technique of Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and concluded that the experimental group with Yogic Practices have significantly reduced Fasting Blood sugar significantly than the Control Group.