Verification Practices Research Articles

Operational Tropical Cyclone Forecast Verification Practice in the Western North Pacific Region

ABSTRACT This paper summarizes results of a survey of the operational status of tropical cyclone (TC) forecast verification in the western North Pacific region, covering the Members of the ESCAP/WMO Typhoon Committee, RSMC Tokyo - Typhoon Center, and JTWC. Results of the survey indicate that significant efforts have been focused on the verification of TC forecast guidance by operational forecast agencies in the region, either individually or through international cooperation. A variety of TC forecast verification products are available to the forecasters in either real time or in post-season through multiple means, with the main focus on the deterministic track and intensity forecasts. Only a few verification products are available for probabilistic forecasts. Verification of TC precipitation and high wind forecasts are also lacking sufficient attention in the region. It would be helpful in the future to focus more attention toward these aspects and incorporate methods that will provide a greater depth of information regarding the TC forecast performance.

Databases of information agencies for journalists and analysts. (Analytical characterization)

Using databases simplifies significantly the preparation of journalistic and analytical materials and complements online information search and verification practice. Introducing databases into everyday work of the mass-media results in the rise of the “data-driven journalism”.The authors analyze in brief the most popular foreign and Russian databases being maintained by news agencies (Bloomberg, Dow Jones Risk and Compliance, Interfax, ITAR-TASS) and by other information services (LexisNexis, Integrum, Kartoteka, Factiva, Dun & Bradstreet). Their history is discussed; they are defined by types and classified according to their content and access method (open/closed). In several cases, the database management system specifications are provided. Scenarios for use are given for journalists and analysts, for the latter the practical use is exemplified.Based on the classification they are suggesting, the authors compares the pros and drawbacks in using databases by news agencies (closed information systems) and Internet-based information retrieval systems (open systems) in journalism and analytics.

Inter-Laboratory Characterization of the Velocity Field in the FDA Blood Pump Model Using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV).

A credible computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model can play a meaningful role in evaluating the safety and performance of medical devices. A key step towards establishing model credibility is to first validate CFD models with benchmark experimental datasets to minimize model-form errors before applying the credibility assessment process to more complex medical devices. However, validation studies to establish benchmark datasets can be cost prohibitive and difficult to perform. The goal of this initiative sponsored by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is to generate validation data for a simplified centrifugal pump that mimics blood flow characteristics commonly observed in ventricular assist devices. The centrifugal blood pump model was made from clear acrylic and included an impeller, with four equally spaced, straight blades, supported by mechanical bearings. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements were performed at several locations throughout the pump by three independent laboratories. A standard protocol was developed for the experiments to ensure that the flow conditions were comparable and to minimize systematic errors during PIV image acquisition and processing. Velocity fields were extracted at the pump entrance, blade passage area, back gap region, and at the outlet diffuser regions. A Newtonian blood analog fluid composed of sodium iodide, glycerin, and water was used as the working fluid. Velocity measurements were made for six different pump flow conditions, with the blood-equivalent flow rate ranging between 2.5 and 7 L/min for pump speeds of 2500 and 3500rpm. Mean intra- and inter-laboratory variabilities in velocity were ~ 10% at the majority of the measurement locations inside the pump. However, the inter-laboratory variability increased to more than ~ 30% in the exit diffuser region. The variability between the three laboratories for the peak velocity magnitude in the diffuser region ranged from 5 to 25%. The bulk velocity field near the impeller changed proportionally with the rotational speed but was relatively unaffected by the pump flow rate. In contrast, flow in the exit diffuser region was sensitive to both the flow rate and the rotational speed. Specifically, at 3500rpm, the exit jet tilted toward the inner wall of the diffuser at a flow rate of 2.5 L/min, but the jet tilted towards the outer wall when the flow rate was 7 L/min. Inter-laboratory experimental mean velocity data (and the corresponding variance) were obtained for the FDA pump model and are available for download at https://nciphub.org/wiki/FDA_CFD . Experimental datasets from the inter-laboratory characterization of benchmark flow models, including the blood pump model presented herein and our previous nozzle model, can be used for validating future CFD studies and to collaboratively develop guidelines on best practices for verification, validation, uncertainty quantification, and credibility assessment of CFD simulations in the evaluation of medical devices (e.g. ASME V&V 40 standards working group).

Strategic Management of a Modern Organization: Concept Synergy Effect

The article states that in the management theory there is a contrast between the concepts of effective corporate governance and the management of business processes, while the process approach solves a number of problems of improving the model and practice of corporate governance. The purpose of the study is to demonstrate the sources of synergies from the implementation of strategic management using the principles, models and tools of the process approach. The methodological basis of this article is the presentation of a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) as the business process framework for strategic management of the company, and the BSC tools - the strategic map and key performance indicators - as attributes of its maturity assessment in accordance with the requirements of the ISO / IEC 15504 series standards, its measurement and control, respectively. In the article results of an estimation of experts of economic services of some companies of practice of application of key indicators of efficiency and strategic cards from positions of process efficiency are resulted. A number of proposals are formulated to develop the methodology and improve the practice of applying a balanced system of indicators in the management of a modern organization through process efficiency tools - the system dynamics model, statistical process control and reliability management. The importance of transforming the strategic map into a full-scale cause-effect diagram is emphasized by including in the model feedback loops and supplementing it with formal flow diagrams, as well as a system of differential equations using automated systems and graphic and visual modeling languages (ELMA BPM, DYNAMO, Ithink). At the same time, the practice of statistical verification and measuring the possible consequences of strategic decisions and the “processing” of risk should be formed. Formation of the information-logical structure of strategic management of the company using the model and tools of the process approach will allow to formalize its procedures and results, providing prerequisites for efficiency and continuous improvement, achieving a new level of competitiveness and relationships with owners, personnel, and the market.

Перевірка практикою рекомендацій постанов з діагностики та лікування травматичних ушкоджень міокарда

Перевірка практикою рекомендацій постанов з діагностики та лікування травматичних ушкоджень міокарда

Barriers and Pathways to Providing Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives in Massachusetts Community Health Centers: A Qualitative Exploration.

Structural barriers to the provision of long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) methods at community health centers have been identified in quantitative research, but the processes and behaviors by which center staff respond to these barriers are poorly understood. Focus group discussions were conducted with clinical, support and administrative staff at three Massachusetts community health centers between April 2014 and January 2015. The centers were purposively selected to constitute a sample with diverse characteristics. Overall, 57 individuals participated in seven focus groups. Data were analyzed inductively using a modified grounded theory approach, and typical pathways to obtaining LARC methods were identified. Community health center staff provided contradictory descriptions of their facilities' protocols and practices. Patients' pathways to obtaining LARC methods were idiosyncratic and clinician-dependent, and resulted in patients' waiting between one week and three months to receive their preferred method. Providers' individual comfort with and perceived competence in contraceptive counseling often shaped patients' pathways to care. Overall, staff did not consider same-day insertion of LARC methods a feasible goal. Counseling protocols, insurance verification practices and logistical challenges in ordering and stocking devices were identified as major barriers to timely placement. Efforts to improve LARC provision at community health centers should include the education of staff in how expeditious placement constitutes clinical best practice and the implementation of infrastructural changes to support staff in efficiently counseling patients, scheduling placements and procuring LARC devices regardless of patients' insurance coverage.

Nasogastric Tube Placement in Critically Ill Pediatric Patients.

Q: Is any evidence available to support practices for verifying nasogastric tube (NGT) placement in critically ill pediatric patients?A: Beth Lyman, RN, MSN, CNSC, replies: Yes, there is evidence to guide this practice; there is even an international work group addressing this issue.The American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition has a task force called the NOVEL (New Opportunities for Verification of Enteral tube Location) project. This group of physicians and nurses from Australia, Canada, and the United States is working to promote best practice for verification of NGT placement.Twenty-four percent of hospitalized pediatric patients require an NGT. Of those patients, approximately 18% are in a pediatric intensive care unit.1 A 1999 pediatric study by Ellett and Beckstrand2 documented that 22% to 44% of NGTs were misplaced when verified by abdominal radiography. A study by Quandt et al3 documented that the odds of an NGT being in the distal esophagus are 2.74 times higher if a neonate is intubated.A patient safety alert issued in 2012 recommended immediate discontinuation of the use of auscultation to verify correct NGT placement.4 Despite this recommendation, a study published by Metheny and colleagues5 in 2012 documented continued use of this method. The Lyman study conducted in 2015 asked the 63 participating centers to share their primary and secondary method(s) to verify NGT placement, with responses of aspiration (n = 21), auscultation (n = 18), measurement (n = 8), pH (n = 10), and radiography (n = 6).1Although the gold-standard method for verification of NGT placement for adult patients is considered an abdominal radiograph, pediatric clinicians have been reluctant to embrace this practice because of concerns over the long-term cumulative effects of radiation exposure. In addition to the concerns about radiation exposure, there is growing evidence that radiographs can be interpreted incorrectly.6,7 A 2011 study looked at 4330 pH aspirates from NGTs along with 635 pH aspirates from pediatric intensive care unit patients with an endotracheal tube.8 In this population, 27% of the patients received an acid-suppressing medication, resulting in an average pH of 4.2, compared with 3.4 from those patients who did not receive any of these medications.Investigators also found nurses were not able to discern gastric from pulmonary secretions upon visual inspection. Gilbertson et al8 concluded that a pH of 5 or less predicted gastric placement 90% of the time. The average pH for aspirates from the endotracheal tube was 8.3 (95% CI, 6–9.5). A pH of 5 to 5.5 or less is what is used in Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom as a means of verifying NGT placement. The pH measurement is to be done at the bedside even when an abdominal radiograph or other device, such as an electromagnetic device, is used.9Accurate measurement of how far to insert an NGT is associated with better outcomes. The previously mentioned patient safety alert recommended use of NEMU (nose-earlobe-midumbilicus, or the midpoint between the xiphoid process and umbilicus). Previous studies have documented that use of the NEX (nose-earlobe-xiphoid) method can result in the NGT being in the distal esophagus.10The use of an electromagnetic device to place an NGT or postpyloric feeding tube has been studied repeatedly in critically ill adults and the pediatric population, with mixed results due to the potential for misinterpretation of the screen and time needed to place the tubes.11–14 The National Patient Safety Agency’s (United Kingdom) recommendation to obtain an abdominal radiograph or pH in conjunction with such a device is echoed by others in the United States who have studied this device in adult patients.15,16 The recommendation to check an abdominal radiograph or pH, even when an electromagnetic device is used, should pertain to children as well.When placing an NGT, consider the following approach:

VERIFAS

Data-driven workflows, of which IBM's Business Artifacts are a prime exponent, have been successfully deployed in practice, adopted in industrial standards, and have spawned a rich body of research in academia, focused primarily on static analysis. The present research bridges the gap between the theory and practice of artifact verification with VERIFAS, the first implementation of practical significance of an artifact verifier with full support for unbounded data. VERIFAS verifies within seconds linear-time temporal properties over real-world and synthetic workflows of complexity in the range recommended by software engineering practice. Compared to our previous implementation based on the widely-used Spin model checker, VERIFAS not only supports a model with richer data manipulations but also outperforms it by over an order of magnitude. VERIFAS' good performance is due to a novel symbolic representation approach and a family of specialized optimizations.

Near-Term Pathways for Achieving Forest and Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Mitigation in the U.S.

U.S. forests and agriculture present unique opportunities to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. U.S. forests currently remove a large amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year and store it as a terrestrial carbon sink, a trend that is projected to continue, although at a decreasing rate over time. Agriculture is and will continue to be a net source of GHGs. To encourage additional mitigation, analyses suggest addressing forest loss, forest aging, wildfire, and encouraging greater forest growth. In agriculture, analyses suggest addressing animal operation methane emissions and nitrous oxide from fertilizer use. Absent new targeted policies to encourage mitigation practices such as these, existing programs may need to be better leveraged for GHG mitigation, even if that is not their explicit objective. Leveraging existing programs requires coordinated outreach efforts to ensure that practices are not cross-purposed. Development of standards and verification practices is also necessary to ensure desirable outcomes. Finally, greater mitigation may be possible by maximizing the effectiveness of voluntary efforts from private and non-governmental organizations, and not necessarily the implementation of new policies. This conclusion represents a departure from traditional commentary on the subject, but arguably represents a more realistic path forward to achieving climate mitigation objectives in the near-term.

Implications of the New EU Maritime Emission Monitoring Regulation on Ship Transportation of CO2

In the framework of the CCSP R&D program, the regulatory gaps have been assessed at VTT using the current monitoring rules for capture, pipeline transportation and geological storage of CO2 as a benchmark. The scope of the presented work includes: (i) definition of CO2 emissions from ship transportation of CO2; (ii) review of EU regulations on MRV of maritime CO2 emissions; and (iii) review of the MRV regulation on capture, transport and geological storage of CO2 under the EU-ETS. The considered activities related to ship transportation of CO2 are liquefaction and intermediate storage with recirculation loop for boil-off CO2, loading and unloading facilities and CO2 transportation and handling during the ship voyage.Identification of the regulatory gaps, based on the above, shows what is needed to enable ship transportation of CO2 for geological storage in Europe. Based on the results, maritime transportation for CCS could be made possible with very limited new emission monitoring and verification practices. Also the trade-offs of using an MRV regulation analogous to pipeline transportation of CO2 is discussed in the results.

How journalists verify user-generated content during terrorist crises. Analyzing Twitter communication during the Brussels attacks

Social media, and Twitter in particular, have become important sources for journalists in times of crises. User-generated content (UGC) can provide journalists with on-site information and material they otherwise would not have access to. But how they source and verify UGC has not yet been systematically analyzed. This study analyzes sourcing and verification practices on Twitter during the Brussels attacks in March 2016. Based on quantitative content analysis, we identified (1) the journalists and news organizations sourcing during the attacks, (2) classified different forms of sourcing and verification requests, and (3) analyzed the sourced UGC. Results show that sourcing on Twitter has become a global phenomenon. During the first hours of the attack, journalists rely on UGC. Their sourcing and verification practices vary widely and often lack basic verification procedures, which leads to a discussion about the ethical implications of sourcing practices.

Contextualizing Fake News in Post-truth Era: Journalism Education in India

The current debate on fake-news is heavily focused on American and British post-truth politics and the tactical use of ‘alternative facts’. However, the concerns about the impact of fake news on journalism are not restricted to European and American contexts only. This commentary attempts to examine journalism practice and training in India in the post-truth era. Unlike the issues projected in the American debate on the need to reengage and empathize with the non-elite audience and the rise of a fact-checking culture, the apprehensions appear to be slightly different in other countries. In India, tackling the post-truth era challenges is also about addressing obstructive institutional forces like inactive regulatory bodies and out-dated curricula in University-based journalism programmes. The commentary argues that Indian journalism educators should focus on formulating a dynamic curriculum framework that integrates collaborative verification practices with an emphasis on reengaging with the audience to address the enigmatic post-truth politics in the country.

Crises, Rumours and Reposts: Journalists’ Social Media Content Gathering and Verification Practices in Breaking News Situations

Social media (SoMe) platforms provide potentially important information for news journalists during everyday work and in crisis-related contexts. The aims of this study were (a) to map central journalistic challenges and emerging practices related to using SoMe for collecting and validating newsworthy content; and (b) to investigate how practices may contribute to a user-friendly design of a web-based SoMe content validation toolset. Interviews were carried out with 22 journalists from three European countries. Information about journalistic work tasks was also collected during a crisis training scenario (<em>N </em>= 5). Results showed that participants experienced challenges with filtering and estimating trustworthiness of SoMe content. These challenges were especially due to the vast overall amount of information, and the need to monitor several platforms simultaneously. To support improved situational awareness in journalistic work during crises, a user-friendly tool should provide content search results representing several media formats and gathered from a diversity of platforms, presented in easy-to-approach visualizations. The final decision-making about content and source trustworthiness should, however, remain as a manual journalistic task, as the sample would not trust an automated estimation based on tool algorithms.

Global survey of malaria rapid diagnostic test (RDT) sales, procurement and lot verification practices: assessing the use of the WHO\u2013FIND Malaria RDT Evaluation Programme (2011\u20132014)

BackgroundMalaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) play a critical role in malaria case management, and assurance of quality is a key factor to promote good adherence to test results. Since 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) have coordinated a Malaria RDT Evaluation Programme, comprising a pre-purchase performance evaluation (product testing, PT) and a pre-distribution quality control of lots (lot testing, LT), the former being the basis of WHO recommendations for RDT procurement. Comprehensive information on malaria RDTs sold worldwide based on manufacturers’ data and linked to independent performance data is currently not available, and detailed knowledge of procurement practices remains limited.MethodsThe use of the PT/LT Programme results as well as procurement and lot verification practices were assessed through a large-scale survey, gathering product-specific RDT sales and procurement data (2011–14 period) from a total of 32 manufacturers, 12 procurers and 68 National Malaria Control Programmes (NMCPs).ResultsManufacturers’ reports showed that RDT sales had more than doubled over the four years, and confirmed a trend towards increased compliance with the WHO procurement criteria (from 83% in 2011 to 93% in 2014). Country-level reports indicated that 74% of NMCPs procured only ‘WHO-compliant’ RDT products, although procurers’ transactions datasets revealed a surprisingly frequent overlap of different products and even product types (e.g., Plasmodium falciparum-only and Plasmodium-pan) in the same year and country (60 and 46% of countries, respectively). Importantly, the proportion of ‘non-complying’ (i.e., PT low scored or not evaluated) products was found to be higher in the private health care sector than in the public sector (32% vs 5%), and increasing over time (from 22% of private sector sales in 2011 to 39% in 2014). An estimated 70% of the RDT market was covered by the LT programme. The opinion about the PT/LT Programmes was positive overall, and quality of RDTs as per the PT Programme was rated as the number one procurement criteria.ConclusionsThis survey provided in-depth information on RDT sales and procurement dynamics, including the largely unstudied private sector, and demonstrated how the WHO–FIND Programme has positively influenced procurement practices in the public sector.

How Funding Source Influences the Form of REDD + Initiatives: The Case of Market Versus Public Funds in Brazil

The Mechanism to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), which is being implemented by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, is considered essential to provide economic incentives for the adoption of forest-based mitigation measures against global climate change. This article analyses the key characteristics of REDD+ pilot initiatives in Brazil from different perspectives concerning the concept of payment for environmental services, while exploring how these characteristics relate to the funding models adopted, regardless of whether they are sourced from public funds or via the carbon market. Data collected from publicly available databases are analysed using hypothesis tests. Ten variables from 89 pilot initiatives approved by the Voluntary Carbon Market or the Fundo Amazônia (Amazon Fund) are examined. Findings show that initiatives under each funding model have distinct characteristics in terms of stakeholders, criteria for incentive concession, time frames, geographical reach, as well as Measurement, Report and Verification (MRV) practices. Differences are consistent with distinct theoretical conceptions on incentive-based economic instruments.

Verification of Decision-Analytic Models for Health Economic Evaluations: An Overview.

Decision-analytic models for cost-effectiveness analysis are developed in a variety of software packages where the accuracy of the computer code is seldom verified. Although modeling guidelines recommend using state-of-the-art quality assurance and control methods for software engineering to verify models, the fields of pharmacoeconomics and health technology assessment (HTA) have yet to establish and adopt guidance on how to verify health and economic models. The objective of this paper is to introduce to our field the variety of methods the software engineering field uses to verify that software performs as expected. We identify how many of these methods can be incorporated in the development process of decision-analytic models in order to reduce errors and increase transparency. Given the breadth of methods used in software engineering, we recommend a more in-depth initiative to be undertaken (e.g., by an ISPOR-SMDM Task Force) to define the best practices for model verification in our field and to accelerate adoption. Establishing a general guidance for verifying models will benefit the pharmacoeconomics and HTA communities by increasing accuracy of computer programming, transparency, accessibility, sharing, understandability, and trust of models.

Exploring implementation practices in results-based financing: the case of the verification in Benin

BackgroundResults-based financing (RBF) has been introduced in many countries across Africa and a growing literature is building around the assessment of their impact. These studies are usually quantitative and often silent on the paths and processes through which results are achieved and on the wider health system effects of RBF. To address this gap, our study aims at exploring the implementation of an RBF pilot in Benin, focusing on the verification of results.MethodsThe study is based on action research carried out by authors involved in the pilot as part of the agency supporting the RBF implementation in Benin. While our participant observation and operational collaboration with project’s stakeholders informed the study, the analysis is mostly based on quantitative and qualitative secondary data, collected throughout the project’s implementation and documentation processes. Data include project documents, reports and budgets, RBF data on service outputs and on the outcome of the verification, daily activity timesheets of the technical assistants in the districts, as well as focus groups with Community-based Organizations and informal interviews with technical assistants and district medical officers.ResultsOur analysis focuses on the actual practices of quantitative, qualitative and community verification. Results show that the verification processes are complex, costly and time-consuming, and in practice they end up differing from what designed originally. We explore the consequences of this on the operation of the scheme, on its potential to generate the envisaged change. We find, for example, that the time taken up by verification procedures limits the time available for data analysis and feedback to facility staff, thus limiting the potential to improve service delivery. Verification challenges also result in delays in bonus payment, which delink effort and reward. Additionally, the limited integration of the verification activities of district teams with their routine tasks causes a further verticalization of the health system.ConclusionsOur results highlight the potential disconnect between the theory of change behind RBF and the actual scheme’s implementation. The implications are relevant at methodological level, stressing the importance of analyzing implementation processes to fully understand results, as well as at operational level, pointing to the need to carefully adapt the design of RBF schemes (including verification and other key functions) to the context and to allow room to iteratively modify it during implementation. They also question whether the rationale for thorough and costly verification is justified, or rather adaptations are possible.

In DNA We Trust?: Biolegal Governmentality and Illegal Logging in Contemporary Indonesia

In this article the author scrutinizes the application of a novel genetic technology within the context of the timber industry in Indonesia, a country suffering massive deforestation at the rate of 2.8 million hectares every year. It starts by providing a brief description of Doublehelix Tracking Technologies, the first timber accreditation body that uses DNA testing to ensure that the timber procured is from a “known” origin. The article also discusses the historical overview of the various schemes of timber verification practices from the New Order era up to the present day, providing the context in which the third-party verification technology emerges. Data were sourced from public documents and interviews. Drawing on concepts of governmentality and biolegality within Andrew Barry's framework of “technological society,” the author argues that Doublehelix constructs the sense and the importance of DNA technology as “the best possible governor” of timber logging in Indonesia and the problem of transnational timber smuggling. Moreover, the biolegal practice of the technology is revealed in the way it challenges the existing definitions of legality/illegality and constructs identities. Not only does it modify the governmental target (from a set of practices to the materiality of timber), it also creates identities of the timber, that is, which timber meets the criteria to be procured and which timber is of “unknown” origin and subject to further surveillance.

Spotlight on Marta Kwiatkowska

Marta Kwiatkowska is a Professor of Computing Systems and a Fellow of Trinity College at the University of Oxford. Before joining the University of Oxford, she was Professor in the School of Computer Science at the University of Birmingham, Lecturer at the University of Leicester and Assistant Professor at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow, Poland. She holds a BSc/MSc in Computer Science from the Jagiellonian University, an MA from Oxford and a PhD from the University of Leicester. In 2014, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and she became an ACM Fellow in 2016. Marta Kwiatkowska has been a pioneer in the development of model checking for probabilistic and quantitative systems. She was one the proposers of the use of multiterminal binary decision diagrams for the symbolic analysis of probabilistic systems and has done fundamental work on many of the models of quantitative systems that have been studied in the literature, such as continuous time Markov chains, Markov decision processes and stochastic games, amongst others. A hallmark of Marta Kwiatkowska's research career has been the synthesis of innovative and rigorous theoretical work with significant real-world applications. In addition, she has the ability to forge successful research connections with scientists from other sciences. She has led the development of the highly influential PRISM model checker 1 , recognised through the HVC 2016 Award, and has identified applications of quantitative verification to a wide range of areas, including security protocols, nanotechnology designs, power management, planning, and systems biology. In the past few years she has focused on applying quantitative techniques to the verification of pervasive and ubiquitous computing through her ERC Advanced Grant VERIWARE "From software verification to everyware verification" In addition to her outstanding research achievements, Marta Kwiatkowska has served the theoretical computer science community by sitting on prestigious award committees, organizing conferences and workshops and, perhaps even more importantly, by acting as an inspiring mentor for young researchers and as a role model for female researchers in computer science, to whom she has provided support and guidance. To wit, Marta Kwiatkowska has been the Senior Member of OxWoCS (Oxford Women in Computer Science Society) since its foundation in 2013 and has been a source of continued support and encouragement for that student-led society, providing its leadership with advice and suggestions for events as well as mentoring OxWoCS Committee members. Another interesting initiative for women with which she was involved is Suffrage Science 2 , which deserves to be advertised more broadly (not least because it involves jewellery designs). In addition to being named as ACM Fellow for "contributions to the theory and practice of probabilistic verification", Marta Kwiatkowska is a member of Academia Europea and a Fellow of the British Computer Society. She is a true stalwart of the Logic in Computer Science research community and a great example for young researchers. It is therefore fitting to spotlight her contribution in this column of ACM SIGLOG News.

Teaching drug utilization review skills via a simulated clinical decision making exercise

BackgroundDrug utilization review (DUR) is a central role of the pharmacist, especially within the community pharmacy setting. Previous literature has shown risk of “alert fatigue”, supporting the necessity of pharmacists to utilize a step-wise approach in evaluation of drug therapy during the verification process. Many students are intimidated by this process, and may lack verification practice or experience until their first day as a licensed pharmacist. Educational Activity and SettingAn innovative skills-based laboratory exercise was developed for third-year pharmacy students to develop DUR skills. Through simulation of patient prescriptions, profiles, and drug information resources, students were tasked with completing a DUR for each patient case. Students were expected evaluate the clinical significance of various drug-related problems, determine if they would or would not dispense the prescription, and were required to provide rationale for their decision. FindingsThis learning activity was well-received by the student population; however, students struggled with the volume of cases along with identifying a solution to the clinical scenario. On average, students required nine minutes per case, which is likely longer than community pharmacists can devote to a single DUR in practice. DiscussionIn response, to student challenges with the activity, the number of cases was condensed to highlight key concepts and cases that facilitated strong discussion. To improve students’ approach to the DUR process, faculty developed a vodcast to watch prior to the activity explaining a systematic approach to the DUR process as well as considerations a pharmacist should have. SummaryDevelopment and integration of an active-learning, simulated dispensing activity allowed students to gain valuable experience completing the DUR process, a foundational community pharmacy practice skill; however, repeated experience should be provided to ensure competency.