Content Editor Research Articles

Reliability and Validity of Biostatical Analysis used for Pharmacy Research Questionnaire in Saudi Arabia

PTB Reports,2020,6,3,96-104.DOI:10.5530/PTB.2020.6.18Published:March 2020Type:Research ArticleAuthors:Yousef Ahmed Alomi, and Ismail Hassan Amer Abu Rayah Author(s) affiliations:Yousef Ahmed Alomi*, Critical Care Clinical Pharmacists, TPN Clinical Pharmacist, Freelancer Business Planner, Content Editor and Data Analyst, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Abstract:Objectives: To declare reliability and validity of Biostatical Analysis used for Pharmacy Research Survey in Saudi Arabia. Methods: It is a cross-section survey developed by the authors and the research team. It’s based on the updated literature, national and international accreditation standards organizations. The Internal consistency, reliability through inter-rater reliability, item-item coloration, item-total coloration, Split half reliability (Gutmann’s λ6) and McDonald’s ω, Cronbach alpha. The validity contained of face content validity, construct validity through exploratory factorial analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. All analysis had been done through Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS), Statistical Package of Social Sciences-Analysis of Moment Structures (SPSS-Amos) and Jeffrey’s Amazing Statistics Program (JASP). Results: A total of 209 pharmacists responded. The majority of responders were Saudi 185 (88.52%). The among responders were males [108 (61.77%)] and females [101 (48.33%)]. The three tests had been done with reliability of 31 questions. The completed responders (185) (mean ± SD) was 3.236 ± 0.326 and McDonald’s ω, Cronbach alpha and Gutmann’s λ6 were 0.980, 0.980 and 0.990, respectively with CI 95% (0.975-0.983) and inter-item coloration was 0.607, while the item-total coloration >0.53 and McDonald’s ω, Cronbach alpha and Gutmann’s λ6 value if deleted was >0.97. By using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of sampling adequacy was 0.966 and Bartlett’s test of sphericity with approximate chi-square was <0.001. The commonalities extraction for all questions was >0.57, the related components were four of all 31 questions in four components as suggested. They were not confirmed by confirmatory with statistically significant (p<0.001) of the factor model, by factor analysis, by scree plot and pathway analysis and fit not with the original survey changed to 3 factor loading. The confirmatory factor index was (0.761), Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) was (0.737), Goodness of fit index (GFI) was (0.844) and expected cross validation index (ECVI) (9.029). The collinearity of 23 questions was autocorrelation (2.609e -5) with not statistically significant (p=0.951). The majority of 23 question had Enjuone value close to number 1, while 11 questions had condition index more than 30. All of the 23 questions had The Variance inflation factor (VIF) less than 10 except four questions and had tolerance more than 0.1 except four questions. Conclusion: The reliability and validity related to the corrected survey of biostatistics analysts used in pharmaceutical research in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were high. The pharmacy practice was properly used in further future research in Saudi Arabia. Keywords:Biostatical Analysis, Knowledge, Pharmacy, Reliability, Research, Saudi Arabia, Survey, ValidityView:PDF (452.29 KB) PDF PDF Images confirmatory analysis pathway diagram

National Survey of Clinical Pharmacy Practice in Saudi Arabia-2017-2018: Workload Documentation

PTB Reports,2020,6,3,85-90.DOI:10.5530/PTB.2020.6.16Published:March 2020Type:Research ArticleAuthors:Yousef Ahmed Alomi, Fatimah Al-Doughan, Sultan Mohammed Al-Jarallah, Yasir Ahmed Ibrahim, Adel Mehmas Alragas, and Norah Omar Bin Haidarah Author(s) affiliations:Yousef Ahmed Alomi*, BSc. Pharm, MSc. Clin Pharm, BCPS, BCNSP, DiBA, CDE, Critical Care Clinical Pharmacists, TPN Clinical Pharmacist, Freelancer Business Planner, Content Editor and Data Analyst, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Fatimah Al-Doughan, PharmD, Lecturer College of Pharmacy, Pharmacy Practice Department King Faisal University, Alahssa, Saudi Arabia. Sultan Mohammed Al-Jarallah, Head, Ambulatory Care Pharmacy, Oncology and Hematology Clinical Pharmacist, Pharmaceutical Care Department, Security Forces Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Araia. Yasir Ahmed Ibrahim, PharmD, Head of Pharmacy Practice Department Pharmacy Practice Department College of Clinical Pharmacy, King Faisal University, Alahssa, Saudi Arabia. Adel Mehmas Alragas, Bsc. Pharm, Staff Pharmacist Pharmacy Department Medical City King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Norah Omar Bin Haidarah, PharmD, Pharmacy Staff Outpatient pharmacy Dr Sulaiman Al-habib Hopsital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Abstract:Objectives: To explore the workload documentation of clinical pharmacy practice in Saudi Arabia during 2017-2018. Methods: This is a 4-month cross-sectional national survey regarding the workload documentation of clinical pharmacy practice in Saudi Arabia. The survey consisted of two parts: The first part collected demographic information and the second part comprised a questionnaire with 51 questions divided into four domains. These domains were derived from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) and Saudi Pharmaceutical Society (SPS) survey and the International Standard of Joint Commission of Hospital Accreditation in addition to the local standards of Saudi Center of Healthcare Accreditation. The four domains were clinical pharmacy administration and management, performances and activities, education and training and workload documentation. We used 5-point Likert response scale system with close-ended questions to obtain the responses. The questionnaire was distributed in an electronic format to the 31 directors of pharmacies at hospitals. In this study, we conducted a national survey of clinical pharmacy practice at hospitals in Saudi Arabia on workload analysis and documentation. All data were obtained through the Survey Monkey system. Results: The survey was distributed to 31 hospitals and the total number of the patients who were followed up through clinical pharmacy services was 27.88 daily, 836.29 monthly, with 10.82 patients daily per hospital. The total number of prescriptions reviewed by the clinical pharmacist was 184.86 daily, 1294.05 monthly, with (68.77) patients daily per each hospital. Most of the documented clinical pharmacy services existed for medication errors (80.65%), adverse drug reactions (77.42%) and drug quality reporting (70.97%). Most of the documentation of clinical impact and cost avoidance of clinical pharmacy services existed for drug information inquiries (61.29%), medication errors (58.06%) and adverse drug reactions (58.06%). Most of the monthly workload analysis of clinical activities existed for the number of prescriptions (80.65%), number of medication errors (70.97%) and for adverse drug reactions (67.74%). Conclusion: The documentation of workload of clinical pharmacy services is inadequate especially with respect to the clinical outcome and cost avoidance impact. Most of the clinical pharmacy activities were ordinary performances provided to few numbrer of patients. Improve the documentation of workload activities is highly recommended in Saudi Arabia. Keywords:Clinical, Documentation, Pharmacy, Practice, Saudi Arabia, WorkloadView:PDF (233.62 KB) PDF PDF Images Clinical pharmacy services workload

Clinical Compounding Service: New Initiative in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

PTB Reports,2020,6,3,82-84.DOI:10.5530/PTB.2020.6.15Published:March 2020Type:Research ArticleAuthors:Yousef Ahmed Alomi Author(s) affiliations:Yousef Ahmed Alomi*, Critical Care Clinical Pharmacists, TPN Clinical Pharmacist, Freelancer Business Planner, Content Editor and Data Analyst, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Abstract:Objective: To declare the clinical compounding service as new initiatives in Saudi Arabia. Methods: It is a new initiative project of clinical compounding service. The projects drove the international clinical compounding service guidelines, the global business model, and pharmacy project guidelines a new project. The initial project is written through project management professionals and contained several parts, including the initial phase, the planning phase, the execution phase, the monitoring and controlling phase. Results: The clinical compounding service defined vision, mission, and goals. The services had multiple benefits, including clinical and economical, on the healthcare system, as described in the review. The continuation of the services assured by risk management elements description. Moreover, the monitoring and controlling of the projects as illustrated. The transition to operation project though the closing project stage explored in the analysis. Conclusion: The clinical compounding service program is a new initiative project in pharmacy practice. The new project is part of innovative pharmacy practice and projecting of new extemporaneous preparations, and it is highly suggested in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Keywords:Clinical, Compounding, Extemporaneous, Formulation, Preparations, Saudi ArabiaView:PDF (128.83 KB) PDF PDF Images Clinical Compounding Service: New Initiative in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The Validity of the Pharmacy Projects and Research: A New Initiative in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

PTB Reports,2020,6,2,41-43.DOI:10.5530/PTB.2020.6.7Published:March 2020Type:Research ArticleAuthors:Yousef Ahmed Alomi, and Basmah Sulimain AlHamdan Author(s) affiliations:Yousef Ahmed Alomi*, BSc. Pharm, MSc. Clin Pharm, BCPS, BCNSP, DiBA, CDE, Critical Care Clinical Pharmacists, TPN Clinical Pharmacist, Freelancer Business Planner, Content Editor and Data Analyst, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Basmah Sulimain AlHamdan, BSc. Pharm, MSc, Senior Quality Specialist, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Abstract:Objectives: To declare the validity tools used in the pharmacy practice project or research in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Methods: It is a new initiative project of the validity of pharmacy projects and research. The projects drove the international validity guidelines, the global business model and pharmacy project guidelines project management institution guidelines of a new project. The initial project is written through project management professionals and contained of several parts, including the initial phase, the planning phase, the execution phase, the monitoring and controlling phase. Results: The validity of the pharmacy projects and research services that defined vision, mission and goals. The services had multiple benefits, including clinical and economical on the healthcare system, as described in the review. The continuation of the services assured by risk management elements description. Moreover, the monitoring and controlling of the projects as illustrated. The transition to operation project though the closing project stage shown in the analysis. Conclusion: The validity of pharmacy projects and research is a new initiative project in pharmacy quality management and pharmacy research tools. Various methods of validation procedure services can be underway in the pharmacy practice to validate the appropriate and collection of the pharmacy data and it is highly suggested in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Keywords:Initiative, Pharmacy, Projects, Research, Saudi Arabia, Services, ValidityView:PDF (126.49 KB) PDF PDF Images The Validity of the Pharmacy Projects and Research: A New Initiative in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

National Survey of Clinical Pharmacy Practice in Saudi Arabia-2017-2018: Education and Training

PTB Reports,2020,6,3,91-95.DOI:10.5530/PTB.2020.6.17Published:March 2020Type:Research ArticleAuthors:Yousef Ahmed Alomi, Fatimah Al-Doughan, Sultan Mohammed Al-Jarallah, Yasir Ahmed Ibrahim, Adel Mehmas Alragas, and Norah Omar Bin Haidarah Author(s) affiliations:Yousef Ahmed Alomi*, BSc. Pharm, MSc. Clin Pharm, BCPS, BCNSP, DiBA, CDE, Critical Care Clinical Pharmacists, TPN Clinical Pharmacist, Freelancer Business Planner, Content Editor and Data Analyst, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Fatimah Al-Doughan, PharmD, Lecturer College of Pharmacy, Pharmacy Practice Department King Faisal University, Alahssa, Saudi Arabia. Sultan Mohammed Al-Jarallah, Head, Ambulatory Care Pharmacy, Oncology and Hematology Clinical Pharmacist, Pharmaceutical Care Department, Security Forces Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Araia. Yasir Ahmed Ibrahim, PharmD, Head of Pharmacy Practice Department Pharmacy Practice Department College of Clinical Pharmacy, King Faisal University P.O.BOX 400, Alahssa, Saudi Arabia. Adel Mehmas Alragas, Bsc. Pharm Staff Pharmacist Pharmacy Department Medical City King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Norah Omar Bin Haidarah, PharmD, Pharmacy Staff Outpatient pharmacy Dr Sulaiman Al-habib Hopsital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Abstract:Objectives: To explore the national survey of clinical pharmacy practice in Saudi Arabia during 2017- 2018 with emphasis on the education and training available to the pharmacy staff. Methods: This is a 4-month cross-sectional national survey on clinical pharmacy practice in Saudi Arabia. The study consisted of two parts: The first part collects demographic information and the second part comprises of 51 questions divided into four domains. The domains are derived from the American Society of Health- System Pharmacists (ASHP), Saudi Pharmaceutical Society (SPS) survey, the international standard of Joint Commission of Hospital Accreditation and from the local standards of Saudi Center of Healthcare Accreditation. The four domains were the clinical pharmacy administration and management, performances and activities, education and training and workload documentation. We used a 5-point Likert response scale system with close- and open-ended questions to obtain responses. The questionnaire was distributed in an electronic format to the 31 directors of pharmacies at hospitals. In this study, we analyzed the national survey of clinical pharmacy practice at hospitals in Saudi Arabia with an emphasis on education and training. All data were obtained through the Survey Monkey system. Results: The survey questionnaire distributed to 31 hospitals. The most qualified educational course available for the clinical pharmacy staff was on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) (74.19%) and on advance cardiac life support (ACLS) (36.67%) and the least available educational course was advance trauma life support (ATLS) (10.71%). Almost all educational courses were provided to the general clinical pharmacist (89) and clinical pharmacist supervisor (22). The majority of the educational courses provided to the healthcare professionals was on short educational course of 1–5 days (85 (47.22%)) followed by basic medication safety (60 (45.45%)) and clinical pharmacy orientation 50 (41.67%), whereas clinical pharmacists provided educational and training courses to healthcare providers mainly for general nurses (108) followed by resident physicians (66) and specialist physicians (53) periodically. Conclusion: The clinical pharmacy staff missed some primary educational and training courses. Less than half of the hospitals provided educational courses to healthcare care professionals. We highly recommend bilingual educational and training facilities for clinical pharmacy staff and healthcare professionals in the KSA. Keywords:Clinical, Education, Pharmacy, Practice, Saudi Arabia, TrainingView:PDF (206.53 KB) PDF PDF Images The type of education and training available delivered to healthcare professional by for pharmacy staff

Reliability and Validity of EBM Resources of Pharmacy Research Questionnaire in Saudi Arabia

PTB Reports,2020,6,1,25-32.DOI:10.5530/PTB.2020.6.5Published:March 2020Type:Research ArticleAuthors:Yousef Ahmed Alomi, and Ebtissam Mohammad Badawoud Author(s) affiliations:Yousef Ahmed Alomi*, Critical care clinical pharmacists, TPN Clinical Pharmacist, Freelancer Business Planner, Content Editor and Data Analyst, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Ebtissam Mohammad Badawoud, B. Sc. Pharm, MSc, Pharmacist, Alnoor Specialist Hospital, Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Abstract:Objectives: To declare reliability and validity of EBM Resources Knowledge used for Pharmacy Research Survey in Saudi Arabia. Methods: It is a cross-section survey developed by the authors and the researcher team. It’s based on the updated literature, national and international accreditation standards organizations. The internal consistency reliability through, inter-rater reliability, item-item coloration, item-total coloration, split half reliability (Gutmann’s λ6) and McDonald’s ω, Cronbach alpha. The validity contained of face content validity, construct validity through exploratory factorial analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. All analysis had been done through Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS), Statistical Package of Social Sciences-Analysis of Moment Structures (SPSS-Amos) and Jeffrey’s Amazing Statistics Program (JASP). Results: A total of 209 pharmacists responded. The majority of responders were Saudi 185 (88.52%). The responders were males 108 (61.77%) and females 101 (48.33%). The three tests had been done with reliability of 16 questions. The completed number of responders (200) (mean ± SD) was 3.179 ± 0.436, McDonald’s ω, Cronbach alpha and Gutmann’s λ6 were 0.967, 0.966 and 0.976, respectively, inter-item coloration was 0.719, the item-total coloration >0.7, McDonald’s ω, Cronbach alpha and Gutmann’s λ6 value if deleted was >0.97. By using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of sampling adequacy was 0.941 and Bartlett’s test of sphericity with approximate chi-square was <0.001. The commonalities extraction for all questions were >0.58, the related components were one of the rotated component matrix >0.59 of all 16 questions in component 1 as suggested. They were established by confirmatory with statistically significant (p<0.001) of the factor model, by factor analysis, by scree plot, pathway analysis and fit with the original survey. The confirmatory factor index was 0.862, Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) was 0.841, Goodness of fit index (GFI) was 0.906 and Expected cross validation index (ECVI) was 3.270. The collinearity of 16 questions was the auto-correlation was 0.066 with not statically significant (p=0.317). The majority of 16 questions had Enjuone value close to number 1, while 3 questions only had condition index more than 30. All of the 16 questions had The Variance inflation factor (VIF) less than 10 and had tolerance more than 0.1. Conclusion: The pharmacist survey knowledge of evidence-based medicine resources for pharmacy practice and distributed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had high reliability and validity scale level. The pharmacy researcher can utilized surveys with an adequate number of sample sizes with further research in Saudi Arabia. Keywords:EBM, Knowledge, Pharmacy, Reliability, Research, Resources, Saudi Arabia, ValidityView:PDF (322.38 KB) PDF PDF Images Exploratory Factor Analysis Scree Plot

Privileges of Pharmacist in Saudi Arabia: Administration and Management

PTB Reports,2020,6,1,7-12.DOI:10.5530/PTB.2020.6.2Published:March 2020Type:Research ArticleAuthors:Faisal Al-Otaibi, Mohamed Soliman Imam, Randa Mansour Abdel-Sattar Ahmed, Amsha Alotaibi, Asma Alotaibi, Amal Alotaibi, Wesam Alsuwaid, and Yousef Ahmed Alomi Author(s) affiliations:Faisal Al-Otaibi, Ph. D, Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy, Pharmacy Patrice Department, Shaqra University, Saudi Arabia. Mohamed Soliman Imam, Ph. D, Assistant Professor, Dean, College of Pharmacy, Shaqra University, Saudi Arabia. Randa Mansour Abdel-Sattar Ahmed, Ph.D, Biomedical Science Department, College of Pharmacy, Shaqra University, Saudi Arabia. Amsha Alotaibi, Pharm D, Clinical Pharmacist, College of Pharmacy, Pharmacy Patrice Department, Shaqra University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Asma Alotaibi, Pharm D, Clinical Pharmacist, College of Pharmacy, Pharmacy Practice Department, Shaqra University, Saudi Arabia. Amal Alotaibi, Pharm D, Clinical Pharmacist, College of Pharmacy, Shaqra University, Saudi Arabia. Wesam Alsuwaid, Pharm D, Clinical Pharmacist, College of Pharmacy, Pharmacy Practice Department, Shaqra University, Saudi Arabia. Yousef Ahmed Alomi*, BSc. Pharm, MSc. Clin Pharm, BCPS, BCNSP, DiBA, CDE, Critical Care Clinical Pharmacists, TPN Clinical Pharmacist, Freelancer Business Planner, Content Editor and Data Analyst, P.O.BOX 100, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Abstract:Objectives: To explore the privileges of pharmacists through the pharmacy administration and management in Saudi Arabia. Methods: This is a 4-month cross-sectional survey regarding the privileges of pharmacists in Saudi Arabia. The study consisted of two parts: the first part collected demographic information and the second part comprised a questionnaire with 28 questions divided into 4 domains. The questions were derived from previous literature and from the regulatory standards of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). The four domains were as follows: privilege management and resources, pharmacist prescribing and therapeutic interchange, clinical and administration privilege and drug monitoring and healthcare education. The responses were obtained using a 5-point Likert response scale system with close- and open-ended questions. The survey questionnaire was distributed in an electronic format to the hospital’s director of pharmacy of each hospital in Saudi Arabia. In this study, we analyzed pharmacist’s privilege in Saudi Arabia with regard to the pharmacy administration and management. All data were obtained through the Survey Monkey system. Results: The survey was distributed to 36 hospitals. The administration-related elements of pharmacist privilege with maximum score were policies and procedures of pharmacist’s privilege (3.88 (77.6%)) followed by the vision of pharmacist privilege (3.57 (71.4%)) and pharmacist privilege in the job description (3.56 (71.2%)). The average score of pharmacist privilege in the hospital committees was 3.47 (69.40%). Most of the committees having pharmacist privilege was the patient or medication safety committee (4.09 (81.8%)) followed by the pharmacy and therapeutic committee (4.06 (81.2%)) and quality management committee (4.06 (81.2%)). The average score of pharmacist privilege in the teams was 3.44 (68.85%). The majority of the teams having pharmacist privilege was antibiotics team (4.25 (85%)) followed by anticoagulation team (3.86 (77.2%)) and IV therapy team (3.81 (76.2%)). Conclusion: The privileges of a pharmacists is inadequate in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Future programs should target to improve the healthcare system and expand pharmacists’ role in the hospital practice. This might improve the pharmaceutical care services and patient outcomes and prevent drug-related problems and unnecessary economic expenditure on the healthcare practice in Saudi Arabia. Keywords:Administration, Management, Pharmacist, Privileges, Saudi ArabiaView:PDF (213.19 KB) PDF PDF Images Responders’ experiences of pharmacy practice

Reliability and Validity of Pharmacy Research Proposal Questionnaire in Saudi Arabia

PTB Reports,2020,6,1,33-40.DOI:10.5530/PTB.2020.6.6Published:March 2020Type:Research ArticleAuthors:Yousef Ahmed Alomi, and Adel Sadeq Author(s) affiliations:Yousef Ahmed Alomi*, Critical care clinical pharmacists, TPN clinical pharmacist, Freelancer Business Planner, Content Editor and Data Analyst, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Adel Sadeq, Assistant Professor, Al Ain University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. Abstract:Objectives: To explore reliability and validity of pharmacy research proposal survey in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Methods: It is a cross-section survey developed by the authors and the researcher team. It’s based on the updated literature, national and international accreditation standards organizations. The internal consistency reliability through, inter-rater reliability, item-item coloration, item-total coloration, split half reliability (Gutmann’s λ6), McDonald’s ω and Cronbach alpha. The validity consisted of face content validity, construct validity through exploratory factorial analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. All analysis had been done through Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS), Statistical Package of Social Sciences-Analysis of Moment Structures (SPSS-Amos) and Jeffrey’s Amazing Statistics Program (JASP) Results: A total of 209 pharmacists responded. The majority of responders were Saudi 185 (88.52%). The among responders were males 108 (61.77%) and females 101 (48.33%). The three tests had been done of reliability of 17 questions of responders (204). The tests mean±SD was 3.788 ± 0.163, McDonald’s ω, Cronbach alpha and Gutmann’s λ6 were 0.975, 0.975 and 0.987, respectively and inter-item coloration was 0.705. The item-total coloration >0.7, McDonald’s ω, Cronbach alpha and Gutmann’s λ6 value if deleted was >0.97. By using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy was 0.954 and Bartlett’s test of sphericity with approximate chi-square was <0.001. The commonalities extraction for all questions was >0.7, the related components were two with the rotated component matrix >0.7 of all 17 questions in components 1 and 2 as suggested. They were confirmed by confirmatory with statistically significant (p<0.001) of the factor model, by factor analysis, by scree plot, pathway analysis and fit with the original survey. The confirmatory factor index was 0.871, Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) was 0.853, Goodness of fit index (GFI) was 0.912, Expected cross validation index (ECVI) was 4.299. The collinearity of 17 questions was auto-correlation was 0.058 with not statically significant (p=0.403). The majority of 17 questions had Enjuone value had close to number 1, while 7 questions only had condition index less than 30. Most of questions had the Variance inflation factor (VIF) less than 10 except 4 questions, while only 4 questions had tolerance less than 0.1. Conclusion: The reliability and validity of a survey about knowledge of pharmacy proposals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were high. The pharmacist in pharmacy research practice can utilize the survey in the future. Keywords:Pharmacy, Proposal, Reliability, Research, Saudi Arabia, Survey, ValidityView:PDF (378.87 KB) PDF PDF Images Confirmatory analysis pathway diagram

Online Content Editor Team Joins Transactions on Wireless Communications

In an effort to facilitate increased online multimedia content, Transactions on Wireless Communications (TWC) has established a new Online Editorial Team. One to two articles will be selected each month. The team will be working with authors to create slides, scripts, and video clips, showcasing innovative and exciting ideas from these articles. Emil Bjornson, Michele Wigger, and Zhu Han will serve as TWC’s Inaugural Editors for this new team; please welcome them to the TWC team.

Research of means of increasing the efficiency of creating high quality video content

This article discusses the problem of editing high quality video, which is used in commercial digital cinema using the Full / Quad / Ultra High Definition screen resolution option. Today, in the age of high information technologies, there is a rapid growth in the volume of information flows and, as a result, the formation of new knowledge and methods of activity with the help of video content. Therefore, the problem of increasing the efficiency of using software for creating high quality video content becomes urgent. Editing of high-quality video content is associated with the need to sort and store various segments or fragments of a video sequence in the process of processing or restructuring the source material for subsequent intra-frame or between frame editing. Naturally, high quality video content has a significant amount of data and takes up a lot of storage space. Hence, the problem arises of finding methods to increase the efficiency of using software for creating high quality video content. To solve this problem, a systematic analysis of the video content production process was carried out, a certain problem of editing (composing) as the need to reduce the editing time in the process of processing or restructuring the source material as a condition for increasing the efficiency of the video content editor. Analyzed from the point of view of technical and software video editing procedures, namely: special effects, do video correction, cutting, joining, applying various transitions, overlaying and editing sound and others. Consider the types of video content editing: linear or non-linear, and their components: parallel editing, accent editing, intra-frame between frame editing. The difficulties that arise during editing have been identified: conversion time, the required amount of memory (operative and hard disk). Analyzed from the point of view of hardware and software, procedures, algorithms for their implementation, advantages and disadvantages. Consider the requirements for high quality video equipment, namely: formats screen resolution Full / Quad / Ultra High Definition. 2K, 4K, 8K. The performed analysis of the characteristics of professional video editing software: Adobe Premiere Pro, Pinnacle Studio, Edius, Movavi Video Editor, Sony Vegas Pro, Windows Movie Maker, Final Cut Pro X, Avid Media Composer. Based on the performed system analysis, the requirements for computers and equipment for video editing: for a processor, video card, RAM, storage memory (HDD hard drives), monitor, matrix type.

Enabling Academics to Effectively Use a Learning Management System during a Global Pandemic

Objective - The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic forced higher education institutions to shift to emergency remote teaching which called for lecturers’ learning management system and other online instruction skills to be developed. The issue is that lecturers were forced to work remotely without time to prepare. The purpose of this paper is to propose an online, self-paced short course for lecturers that covered 9 units including; communication tools, video calling, WhatsApp, menu design, learning theory, content creation, online assessment theory, online assessments and the grade centre. Methodology– A mixed-method research design with participant perspectives was implemented to determine the satisfaction of 125 lecturers who completed the intervention. From 79 who completed the questionnaire with open- and closed-ended questions, it was determined that communication and online assessments were the most sought-after skills and 73.42% stated that they felt the course met their expectations. The skills were broken down and participants were asked to rate – in a five-point Likert scale – how well they were now able to perform the tasks. Finding – The results were as follows showing the level four and five (highest) selections; announcements – 83.54%, send email – 81.01%, content editor – 67.08%, build content (files) – 79.75%, build content (images) – 72.15%, build content (videos) – 70.89%, video conferencing – 58.23%, WhatsApp – 82.28%, course menu design – 73.42%, creating a video in PowerPoint – 58.23%, reflection activities – 44.30%, online tests – 50.63%, online assignments – 50.63%, and managing the grade centre – 48.10%. These results showed that the intervention was successful in quickly and effectively preparing lecturers for online delivery. Type of Paper: Empirical. JEL Classification: D83, I23. Keywords: LMS training; e-Learning; Online Instruction; Instructional Design; Blended Learning, Emergency Remote Teaching Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Heerden, L.V. (2020). Enabling Academics to Effectively Use a Learning Management System during a Global Pandemic, GATR Global J. Bus. Soc. Sci. Review, 8(4): 228 – 235. https://doi.org/10.35609/gjbssr.2020.8.4(4)

Acknowledgments

As The Journal of Wildlife Management (JWM) staff and I begin to publish volume 84, I want to take the opportunity to thank those that make the publication of JWM relevant, timely, and possible. There are many. As White (2019:7) wrote in his first Leadership Letter as President of The Wildlife Society (TWS), “TWS journals, technical reviews, policy statements and books provide the ammunition needed for our Government Relations staff, and our chapters and sections in the Conservation Affairs Network, to advance science-based policies that support wildlife conservation and wildlife professionals…Science is the foundation of our Society, and it is appreciated by most of us even if we are not producers of science. TWS is a scientific society.” First of all, I thank the authors that submit their work for publication and the readers that use the information. The accepted articles are tops in the field and continue to make JWM the journal for wildlifers and a key source of information to encourage and enhance the management of wildlife and the habitats required. The numerous referees that agree to review submitted manuscripts are key to the content of JWM. Most wildlifers are busy, but taking the time for quality reviews is a professional responsibility that is taken seriously and is key to decisions made about submitted manuscripts. Because of the rigorous peer review, many of the authors of manuscripts that are not accepted for publication in JWM also benefit from the comments of referees and Associate Editors to enhance their writing and approach to science. I cannot thank the Associate Editors (listed on the first page of each issue of JWM) enough for their devotion to reading manuscripts, summarizing the comments of the referees, and making recommendations about manuscripts. Their patience, professionalism, and dedication to science is another key to the success of JWM. Obviously, the publication staff of our publisher (i.e., Wiley) deserves thanks especially R. Nagurka, P. Vetrovec, P. Goldwater, and F. Sarne. They are responsive to our concerns and suggestions, and continually strive to improve the print quality of all TWS publications. Furthermore, they advertise key papers for additional publicity and are constantly working on ways to assist authors that publish in JWM. You have to look hard at an issue of JWM to even see Wiley listed as our publisher, but they are present in a behind the scenes manner to assist the JWM and TWS staff and authors. I also thank TWS staff, TWS Council, TWS Publications Committee, and the editors and staff of the Wildlife Society Bulletin and Wildlife Monographs for their support in discussions about publication, transferring manuscripts to the appropriate outlets, congeniality, and shared mission of being on a team that produces TWS's publications. They are not highlighted in the covers of JWM, but their contributions are an important part of the publication process. Finally, I want to thank Melanie E. Bucci, Anna C. S. Knipps, and Allison S. Cox. Melanie compiles the Books and Literature found at the back of half of the issues to keep readers apprised of interesting new books and reports that have been published and may be of interest to readers. Anna is an Editorial Assistant and has the tireless job of searching for referees, keeping me apprised of the necessity for adding Associate Editors, keeping records of performance for Associate Editors and referees, and prompting referees, authors, and editors to stick to deadlines. She is important to maintaining the flow of manuscript progress. And Allison, the Content Editor, is tireless in her duties to make sure that manuscripts follow JWM guidelines and are readable, to ensure tables and figures make sense, and as an interface with the publisher and a right-hand advisor to me. The work of Anna and Allison allows referees and editors to concentrate on the science of manuscripts they administered without getting bogged down with minor yet important issues that the JWM staff addresses. My position as Editor-in-Chief is indeed enjoyable because of the work of and my association with Anna and Allison. In the spirit of full disclosure, I also thank my wife, Carol L. Krausman, as the unofficial selector (in consultation with me and Allison) of cover photos and all the authors that submit photos for consideration. Many, many thanks to them and all others that make JWM what it is and for enhancing its status in the future for authors, wildlife, and wildlife habitats.

Perceptions and Attitudes Toward Single-Board Hematology Training in the United States: A Program Director Survey

BACKGROUND: The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) offers separate board examinations for adult hematology and medical oncology, yet the vast majority of fellowship training programs in the United States are structured as combined hematology/oncology programs. Single-board hematology tracks or programs may help increase recruitment and retention in non-malignant hematology; however, the barriers and attitudes toward hematology-only fellowship programs are unknown. We administered a survey to ACGME-accredited hematology/oncology program directors to explore their perceptions toward training in non-malignant hematology and their attitudes toward single-board hematology training. METHODS: In collaboration with the ASH Medical Educators Institute, we developed an anonymous online survey with 30 multiple-choice and open-ended questions to characterize attitudes toward specialization in non-malignant hematology and to assess program director interest and perceived barriers toward single-board hematology training. The survey was electronically administered to program directors of active hematology/oncology fellowship programs in the United States (n=139) in March/April 2019 using Qualtrics software. RESULTS: Of the 139 program directors who received the survey, 90 (65% response rate) completed the survey. The majority of program directors characterized their institutions as academic (87%), with only 9 (10%) describing their programs as community-based. Seventy-eight (87%) program directors believed that there is a shortage of exclusive non-malignant hematologists in the United States, and 59% felt that training more fellows to practice exclusive non-malignant hematology could help address the shortage (Table 1). Jobs for for exclusive non-malignant hematologists were perceived to exist only in academic settings by 47 (52%) respondents. In terms of fellowship training, program directors reported that an average of 5% of fellows per program pursued a career largely or exclusively focused on non-malignant hematology. In addition, 39 (43%) program directors felt that fellows were dissuaded from pursuing a career exclusively in non-malignant hematology. Regarding single-board hematology training, 73% of program directors believe that hematology-only training is both necessary and sufficient for fellows specializing in non-malignant hematology. The most commonly perceived barriers to single-board hematology fellowship programs were: 1) concerns for job availability for single-board hematology trainees, 2) concerns about limiting the training option to hematology only, and 3) lack of interested applicants to the program (Table 2). If barriers were addressed, 37% of programs directors reported that they would be interested in implementing a single-board hematology track at their institution. CONCLUSIONS: Combined hematology/oncology fellowship training is nearly exclusive to the United States. Our survey demonstrates that the percentage of fellows specializing in non-malignant hematology is significantly low (5%), a number that remains unchanged compared to a prior ASH program director survey in 2003. Our results also suggest that programs directors are interested in training fellows in non-malignant hematology and that single-board hematology training is generally acceptable among program directors. It will be important to address perceived barriers to hematology-only programs in order to promote implementation. Disclosures Naik: Elsevier: Other: Content Editor. Nagalla:Alnylam: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.

Alpha Globin Gene Copy Number Is Associated with Kidney Disease Among Black Individuals

Introduction: In addition to forming hemoglobin in red blood cells, alpha globin (HBA) has non-erythroid effects and is expressed in vascular endothelial cells where it interacts with endothelial nitric oxide (NO) synthase (eNOS) to limit nitric oxide diffusion across the myoendothelial junction. Reduced expression of HBA or disruption of HBA/eNOS interactions increases endothelial nitric oxide signaling. Humans have 0 to 3 copies of HBA per chromosome and Black individuals have increased variation in HBA allele count. Moreover, Black individuals are more likely to develop end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) and unexplained genetic factors may contribute to racial disparities in kidney disease not attributable to socioeconomic factors. Given that decreased endothelial NO signaling accelerates renal disease in mouse models, we hypothesized that lower HBA gene copy number would be associated with lower risk of kidney disease among Black individuals. Methods: We used droplet digital PCR to measure HBA copy number in Black individuals enrolled in the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke cohort. This national, prospective observational study enrolled 30,239 men and women &gt;45 years of age from the 48 contiguous United States. Prevalent chronic kidney disease (CKD) was defined as eGFR &lt;60 ml/min/1.73m2or urine albumin/creatinine ratio ≥30 mg/g at enrollment. Incident end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) was identified by linkage to the United States Renal Data System. The relative risk (RR) of prevalent CKD was calculated using modified Poisson multivariable regression employing a linear effect of HBA allele count and adjusting for 13 pre-specified genetic, biomedical, and socioeconomic factors. The hazard ratio (HR) for incident ESKD was calculated using Cox proportional hazards regression with the same covariates. Results: HBA copy number ranged from 2 to 6 among 9,918 Black participants (4% with 2 copies, 28% with 3, 67% with 4, and 1% with ≥ 5), with 25% of all participants having CKD at baseline. Participants were followed for a median (25th, 75thpercentile) of 10.1 (5.5, 12.5) years for the development of ESKD, with 2.4% of all participants developing ESKD. As shown in the table, after multivariable adjustment and calculated relative to the most common copy number (4), model-estimated CKD risk was 23% lower among those with 2 copies and 12% lower among those with 3 copies of HBA, while CKD risk was 14% higher among those with 5 or 6 copies of HBA. In addition, relative to 4 copies, ESKD risk was 40% lower among those with 2 copies and 22% lower among those with 3 copies, while the risk of ESKD increased by 29% in those with 5 or 6 copies of HBA. Conclusions: We identified a novel, independent genetic association of HBA copy number with CKD prevalence and ESKD incidence among Black individuals in a national, prospective cohort study in the US. The findings are consistent with our hypothesis that decreased alpha globin gene expression could increase endothelial NO signaling in small renal arteries and confer protection against renovascular injury, while increased alpha globin gene expression couldlimit endothelial NO signaling. These findings suggest that further study of the impact of HBA expression on normal renal physiology and susceptibility to injury is needed. Disclosures Naik: Elsevier: Other: Content Editor.

An interview with Lauren Maffeo

Lauren Maffeo is a research analyst who joined the global technology sector in 2012. She started her career as a freelance journalist covering tech news for The Next Web and The Guardian. She has also worked with CEOs of pre-seed to profitable SaaS startups on media strategy. Lauren joined GetApp, a Gartner company, as a content editor in 2016. She covers the impact of emerging tech like AI on small and midsize business owners. Lauren has been cited by sources including Forbes, Fox Business, DevOps Digest, The Atlantic, and Inc.com. In 2017, Lauren was named to The Drum's 50 Under 30 list of women worth watching in digital. She holds an M.Sc. from The London School of Economics and a certificate in Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy from MIT's Sloan School of Management.

Status of the Journal of Wildlife Management, 2018

Status of the <i>Journal of Wildlife Management</i>, 2018

Updates to The Journal of Wildlife Management

The staff of The Journal of Wildlife Management (JWM) strives to enhance the quality and content of JWM whenever they can. As such, when an author survey was released by the Publications Committee last year (M. Conner, Publications Chair of The Wildlife Society [TWS], unpublished data), TWS and the staff of JWM responded to most of the requests for improving JWM and reported on the survey in an earlier editorial (Krausman et al. 2017). Our objectives in this editorial are to meet our promise to keep members updated about journal metrics (e.g., turnaround times) and to communicate additional changes we made in response to the survey since the earlier editorial (Krausman et al. 2017). The impact factor increased in 2016 to 1.897, an increase that has gradually occurred from an impact factor of 1.64 in 2012. One of our goals is to continue to see the impact factor increase. There are 47 Associate Editors for JWM: 32% women and 68% men. Half of the Associate Editors have academic affiliations, 38% are employed by governments, 9% by non-governmental organizations, and 2% serve as consultants. Most Associate Editors are from North America, but they also reside in 3 other continents. We will maintain the same number of Associate Editors this year, strive for diversity, and maintain Associate Editors that are knowledgeable, well versed in the literature, and do their best to assist authors in a timely manner. In 2017, the number of new submissions increased. We received 380 new submissions, which was greater than the average of 350 new submissions for 2011–2016. Manuscripts decided in 2017 came from 34 countries, which was down from 41 countries in 2016. Authors from the United States submitted 64% of all manuscripts with decisions. Our median turnaround time (in days) from original submission to first decision was 57 days for new submissions in 2017. This turnaround time is faster than our average turnaround from 2012 to 2016 (63.2 days). Our time in production at JWM (after manuscripts are accepted) was 17 days in 2017, which is faster than our average turnaround time from 2012 to 2016 (22.4 days). Our publisher's (i.e., Wiley) production time (date uploaded to Wiley to date published online) increased slightly in 2017 to 26 days but remains faster than our average from 2012 to 2016 (40 days). Krausman had a rejection rate of 61% from 1 January to 31 December 2017. This rate is comparable to the rejection rate of previous Editor-in-Chiefs (EICs): E. H. Merrill (57%) and W. M. Block (59%). In 2017, all TWS members had online access. This change combined with Wiley's efforts to enhance discoverability of the TWS portfolio has increased public relations attention to individual articles and resulted in increased usage and downloads across all TWS publications. Journal of Wildlife Management downloads increased by 24% in 2017 compared to 2016. The Journal began displaying article summaries on the electronic Table of Contents with all articles scheduled to publish in 2017 (volume 81). The summaries provide the major conclusions and implications of the papers and are intended to attract attention to the articles. In 2017, Krausman nominated 10 articles for additional publicity through a program Wiley developed that provides information to hundreds of news outlets. Wiley's marketing department accepted all nominations and promoted articles to increase exposure. In response to members’ concerns regarding review quality (Krausman et al. 2017), JWM staff and Krausman re-wrote our reviewer guide, posted it on the submission site, and began emailing the guide to all reviewers once they accept a review invitation. The new guide contains a short list of items that JWM editors look for when determining if the manuscript is acceptable for publication. It also encourages reviewers to concentrate on the content of the paper rather than copy editing to reduce the burden on an already-taxed reviewer pool. All these activities and others are designed to improve the communication of wildlife management and conservation to the scientific community and the public and to enhance the quality of JWM. We are always interested in ways to enhance our objective of providing premier and novel information related to wildlife management and encourage readers, authors, and members to send us any feedback about the journal. —Paul R. Krausman Editor-in-Chief —Allison S. Cox Content Editor —Anna C. S. Knipps Editorial Assistant

Original source tracing enabled by e-learning contents system based on crowdsourcing

ABSTRACTA crowdsourcing environment, where there is a very large volume of diverse content resulting from the participation of a mass of unspecified individuals, has resulted in significant changes in education. This paper presents an e-learning content system to manage the inclusion of crowdsourced material on the Web within lecture materials. The e-learning content system comprises a scrape system, learning content editor, and tracing system. As Web content may change with the progress of time, teachers (and students) must check whether the Web-based materials previously used in their classes have been updated. Accordingly, we designed scrape metadata specifications for tracing the original source. These metadata include information on copyrights and tracing, rather than basic data regarding the original source, to allow users to determine whether the original source has been updated. An editor was also configured so that the scraped Web content could be immediately incorporated into the teaching materials for enhanced convenience. The change point tracing accuracy test and utility evaluation performed using this system show that the accuracy of the change point tracing was 97.1% and that this system effectively saves time as compared with checking for changes by entering each URL directly.

We're listening

We also encourage all of you to assist in improving JWM by accepting review invitations whenever possible, submitting articles, and volunteering your time as an Associate Editor. The publication of JWM is a team effort we want each of you to be involved in. We are listening! —Paul R. Krausman Editor-in-Chief —Allison S. Cox Content Editor —Anna C. S. Knipps Editorial Assistant

Till Sieberth becomes Digital Content Editor

Till Sieberth becomes Digital Content Editor