bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Furosemide (Nebulized): Dyspnea in Cancer Patients
Authors: Generali Joyce , Cada Dennis J.
Published: January 2018

Off-Label Drug Uses

This Hospital Pharmacy feature is extracted from Off-Label DrugFacts, a quarterly publication available from Facts and Comparisons. Off-Label DrugFacts is a practitioner-oriented resource for information about specific FDA-unapproved drug uses. This new guide to the literature will enable the health care professional/clinician to quickly identify published studies on off-label uses and to determine if a specific use is rational in a patient care scenario. The most relevant data are provided in tabular form so that the reader can easily identify the scope of information available. A summary of the data—including background, study design, patient population, dosage information, therapy duration, results, safety, and therapeutic considerations—precedes each table of published studies. References direct the reader to the full literature for more comprehensive information prior to patient care decisions. Direct questions or comments on “Off-Label Drug Uses” to hospitalpharmacy@drugfacts.com .
Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs: Emerging Legal and Regulatory Issues
Authors: Rumore Martha M.
Published: January 2018

Is direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising a gold mine or mine field for pharmaceutical manufacturers? It seems to be a little of both.

Consumerism has proliferated in recent decades, as the public has sought more information about health care, medications, and medical issues in general. The General Accounting Office (GAO) estimated that at least 8.5 million Americans each year request and receive prescriptions for specific drugs after seeing or hearing advertisements for these products.1 Proponents of DTC advertising argue that it gives consumers the information they need to discuss treatment options with their physicians and can play an important role in improving health care. Opponents are concerned that these ads are misleading, that they fail to communicate risks, that they lead to drug overuse, and that their costs elevate drug prices — thereby adding to the costs of prescription drugs and fueling the rising cost of health care.1

In 1999, the first lawsuit was brought against a pharmaceutical company in connection with DTC advertising. Other cases have followed, with a significant impact on pharmaceutical product liability law. Civil liability has emerged from DTC advertisements of prescription drugs in print, broadcast, promotional, and cyberspace materials. Proposed legislative or regulatory limitations on DTC advertising have raised both First Amendment and public policy issues.
IV to Oral Conversion Programs for Anti-Infectives in the United States: Prevalence and Characteristics
Authors: Florea Naomi R. , Kuti Joseph L. , Nightingale Charles H. , Nicolau David P.
Published: January 2018

Purpose

Despite the documented success of IV to oral anti-infective conversion programs, it is still unclear what the current standard of practice is in the US. A survey was conducted to evaluate the prevalence and characteristics of conversion programs throughout the nation.

Methods

A questionnaire was mailed to 890 randomly chosen hospital pharmacy directors. A preset cutoff date of 4 weeks from the initial mailing was set for responses; a second mailing was sent to those directors that did not respond initially.

Results

A total of 237 (27%) institutions responded. Of these, 74% had instituted conversion programs. More programs required prior physician notification compared with allowing pharmacists to proactively transition candidates (70% vs 30%, P < 0.001). The most common anti-infectives converted were the fluoroquinolones and fluconazole. Common conversion criteria included adequate oral intake and fever reduction. Characteristics associated with an increased likelihood of a conversion program were pharmacy residency programs (RR 1.3; 95% CI 1.132 to 1.477), clinical pharmacists (RR 1.6; 95% CI 1.262 to 2.123), ID specialty pharmacists (RR 1.3; 95% CI 1.153 to 1.499), ID physician consult service (RR 1.2; 95% CI 1.028 to 1.459), and teaching hospitals (RR 1.2; 95% CI 1.038 to 1.386). Hospitals with conversion programs employed a greater number of clinical pharmacists (P = 0.02). Multivariate analysis revealed that the presence of a clinical pharmacist was the most significant variable predicting implementation (P < 0.001).

Conclusion

The majority of hospitals responding to this survey had an intravenous to oral conversion program. While most programs still required prior physician notification, the presence of clinical pharmacists significantly influenced the prevalence of implementation and proactive transition.
Metronidazole and Metformin: Prone to Mix-ups: Soy Allergy?: Save Lives: Improve the Pneumococcal Vaccine Administration Rate: Inefficient Screening Process: Omitted Vaccine Administration: Flammability of Ethyl Chloride: Current Nonproprietary Drug Names under Consideration by United States Adopted Names Council
Authors: Cohen Michael R.
Published: January 2018

These medication errors have occurred in health care facilities at least once. They will happen again—perhaps where you work. Through education and alertness of personnel and procedural safeguards, they can be avoided. You should consider publishing accounts of errors in your newsletters and/or presenting them in your inservice training programs.

Your assistance is required to continue this feature. The reports described here were received through the USP Medication Errors Reporting Program (MERP), which is presented in cooperation with the Institute for Safe Medication Practices. If you have encountered medication errors and would like to report them, you may call USP toll-free, 24 hours a day, at 800-233-7767 (800-23-ERROR).

Any reports published by ISMP will be anonymous. Comments are also invited; the writers’ names will be published if desired. ISMP may be contacted at the address shown below.

Errors, close calls, or hazardous conditions may be reported through the ISMP ( www.ismp.org ) or USP ( www.usp.org ) web sites or communicated directly to ISMP by calling 1-800-FAIL SAFE or via e-mail at ismpinfo@ismp.org . ISMP guarantees the confidentiality and security of the information received and respects reporters’ wishes as to the level of detail included in publications.

In 2004, ISMP is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its incorporation as a nonprofit organization. The Institute represents more than 20 years of experience in helping health care practitioners keep patients safe and continues to lead efforts to improve the medication use process.
Intravesical Gemcitabine for Superficial Bladder Carcinoma
Authors: Waddell J. Aubrey , Moussavian Parvaneh , Solimando Dominic A.
Published: January 2018

The increasing complexity of cancer chemotherapy makes it mandatory that pharmacists be familiar with these highly toxic agents. This column focuses on the commercially available and investigational agents used to treat malignant diseases and reviews issues related to the preparation, dispensing, and administration of cancer chemotherapy.
Sildenafil (Topical): Anal Fissures
Authors: Generali Joyce , Cada Dennis J.
Published: January 2018

Off-Label Drug Uses

This Hospital Pharmacy feature is extracted from Off-Label DrugFacts, a quarterly publication available from Facts and Comparisons. Off-Label DrugFacts is a practitioner-oriented resource for information about specific FDA-unapproved drug uses. This new guide to the literature will enable the health care professional/clinician to quickly identify published studies on off-label uses and to determine if a specific use is rational in a patient care scenario. The most relevant data are provided in tabular form so that the reader can easily identify the scope of information available. A summary of the data—including background, study design, patient population, dosage information, therapy duration, results, safety, and therapeutic considerations—precedes each table of published studies. References direct the reader to the full literature for more comprehensive information prior to patient care decisions. Direct questions or comments on “Off-Label Drug Uses” to hospitalpharmacy@drugfacts.com .
Positions on alcohol control policy in the Finnish print press 1993–2000
Authors: Törrönen Jukka
Published: January 2018

Using editorial materials from six Finnish newspapers in 1993-2000, the article traces the emergence and development of ‘new’ discourses and practices of alcohol control policy. The article has two main questions: First, how did these newspapers take part in and commit themselves to the revision of national alcohol policy and second, once the more liberal policy was in place, how did they begin to address problems related to alcohol use.

The data were mainly collected from electronic archives. The material comprised all alcohol-related editorials published during the period under review. During 1993-2000 the six newspapers published a total of 280 editorials on issues of alcohol control policy.

The editorials are analysed as arrested narratives: how do these narratives employ the discursive elements of moral juxtaposition, building a better world, and truth.

During 1993-1997 the argumentation in the editorials was dominated by calls for greater liberalisation, and a firm stance against the public health argumentation aimed at regulating overall consumption.

However, the liberalisation of alcohol control policy threw up completely new problems that had to do with public order and the youth issue. In 1998-2000 questions of order and security were already receiving greater visibility than the liberalisation discourse. The newspapers maintained there was no return to the old state-governed alcohol control policy. Instead, they insisted that the police needed to be given more resources and institutional powers, and alcohol policy was more and more defined in terms of controlling the behaviour of deviant groups, and youths in particular. Instead of throwing their weight behind municipal ordinances, the newspapers urged the authorities and decision-makers to get to grips with the problem (i.e. the youth) by introducing national legislation that would give the police the powers they needed.

The editorials also took it upon themselves to encourage parents to impose limits on youngsters by means of both discipline and loving care. The traditional welfare state machinery was called upon to lend its support. In this sense the newspapers opened up the domains of education, family dynamics and local community to ever greater state influence.
Article
Authors: Ødegård Einar , Bretteville-Jensen Anne Line , Skretting Astrid
Published: January 2018

Einar Ødegård & Anne Line Bretteville-Jensen & Astrid Skretting: The development of drug abuse in Norway in the 1990s

This article aims to shed light on the development of drug abuse in Norway during the 1990s. The data come from various different sources, including questionnaire studies as well as other data sets describing the extent of drug abuse in the country.

There has been a marked increase in drug abuse during the 1990s. Data from annual youth surveys in 1990 to 1995 indicate that between 8 and 10 per cent of youths aged 15–20 had ever used cannabis, whereas the figure during the latter half of the decade was substantially higher at 18–19 per cent. Surveys in the whole population also point at an increase from 1991 through to 1999: in 1991 the proportion indicating they had ever used cannabis was 8.2%, by 1999 the figure had risen to 12.5%.

Furthermore, a simple cohort analysis clearly indicates that large numbers are continuing to use cannabis: the figures are also rising in older age groups. With the growing prevalence of cannabis use in younger age groups we may therefore expect to see increasing numbers of regular and frequent cannabis users in the whole population as well.

Drug seizures by the police and customs have increased sharply during the latter half of the 1990s: this applies not only to amphetamine and ecstasy but also cocaine and LSD. This is supported by the results of annual questionnaire surveys among youths, who are reporting a marked increase in the use of these types of drugs. In the early 1990s around 1% of youths in the age group 15–20 said they had ever used amphetamine. This figure remained more or less unchanged through to the mid-1990s. However by the end of the decade around 4% said they had used amphetamine.

The data from youth surveys furthermore indicate that there is considerable overlap in the use of amphetamine and ecstasy. In this material the sharpest increase is recorded in the proportion of those indicating they have used both amphetamine and ecstasy.

There are several indicators which describe the extent of heroin abuse. All these indicators show that there has been a sharp increase in heroin abuse during the 1990s. A simple mortality analysis suggests that the number of heroin abusers has doubled over the past decade.

Drug abuse has also spread markedly both in relation to age groups and geographically: today the problem is by no means limited to any specific age group, nor just to a few major cities.
Reasons for not seeking treatment. A study of the health-based addiction treatment system in Stockholm.
Authors: Storbjörk Jessica
Published: January 2018

This article is part of a larger treatment system study entitled Women and Men in Swedish Alcohol and Drug Treatment carried out in Stockholm County. The goal is to analyse and describe the reasons people have for not entering the health-based addiction treatment system in Stockholm County. The following questions were raised: What reasons for not seeking treatment did the patients have prior to treatment entry? What are the differences between females and males and alcohol and drug abusers with regard to reasons for not seeking help? The material analysed consists of 942 face-to-face interviews with patients entering alcohol and drug treatment units. The analysis is based on nine items about various things that might get in the way of people getting help for an alcohol or drug problem.

The majority of the patients (90 %) endorsed at least one of the statements. The three most prevalent reasons for not entering treatment among the patients were that they did not want to stop drinking or using drugs; they were concerned about what others would think; and thought they could handle their problem themselves. Approximately half of the respondents agreed with each of these items. Forty-four per cent did not think their problem was that serious, and therefore had not sought treatment earlier. Treatment scepticism constituted a barrier for 36 per cent of the respondents that did not think treatment would help them. Responsibilities at work are not considered an important barrier to entering treatment as only 22 per cent agreed with this statement. However, when focusing on those who had a job nearly 45 per cent of the respondents agreed with the statement. Thirty-one per cent of the respondents did not enter treatment since they felt they had too many responsibilities at home. Only 7 per cent indicated the reason for not seeking treatment as there was nobody to take care of their children (among those who had children). A present threat to abusers with children seems to be fear of losing custody of their children. Nearly 30 per cent considered this a reason for not entering treatment.

The females support five out of nine statements to a significantly greater extent than the men do and also support three of the four remaining statements to a greater extent than the males, although not to a significant degree. There is no doubt that women experience more home- and child-related barriers to entering treatment. The only difference between alcohol and drug abusers was that alcohol abusers reported unwillingness to stop usage more frequently as a reason for not entering treatment than the drug abusers.
Community action and the regulation of alcohol availability: Modelling the connections
Authors: D'abbs Peter
Published: January 2018

In Australia, as in other countries, recent initiatives aimed at reducing alcohol-related harm have focused on the local community as the site of interventions, and in many cases have included local controls on alcohol availability as a key component. In this process, liquor licensing authorities – as the statutory agency primarily responsible for regulating alcohol availability – have been called upon to act as instruments of public health. Historically, however, their primary function has not been to promote public health, but rather to maintain orderly markets. Moreover, their power to intervene in market processes has in many instances been curtailed under deregulatory policies accompanying globalisation. Taken together, these trends generate a need for a theoretically-informed understanding of the role of liquor licensing bodies and other regulatory agencies in a context of locally-based initiatives aimed at reducing alcohol-related problems.

This paper proposes a conceptual framework for meeting this need. Liquor regulatory systems are seen as agencies of social control mandated by the state. Three key components of these systems are identified: 1) laws and regulations governing the activities of liquor licensing authorities; 2) the structure and resourcing of agencies established to uphold the laws and regulations, and 3) practices through which decisions are reached by the licensing authorities. Each of these has influence independently of, but also in interaction with, each other.

The initiation of local action focusing on alcohol problems generates a complex social field within which economic and political agencies, some operating at a purely local level, others at a national or even global level, compete to promote and defend their interests, and in which culturally ascribed beliefs and practices associated with drinking alcohol at the micro-social level are endorsed, challenged and/or defended. Within this field, liquor licensing authorities become agencies upon which competing claims are made. The processes involved can be analysed in terms of four phases: 1) agenda setting and problem definition; 2) specification of alternatives; 3) decision-making; 4) implementation.

The components and processes outlined in the paper are illustrated with reference to instances of local action in northern Australia. The model proposed will serve, it is argued here, as a framework for more systematic comparative analysis of such local actions.
The Partysafe project: Working with an Australian rural community to reduce alcohol harm
Authors: Midford Richard , Cooper Martin , Jaeger Julie-Anne
Published: January 2018

Partysafe was a community mobilisation project, conducted in the remote Northwest town of Carnarvon in Western Australia over a period of 18 months. The initial goal was to reduce alcohol-related harm associated with drinking in private settings. However, subsequent to the pre-intervention community survey, greater emphasis was placed on influencing males in the age range 25–45 years, because of the high risk drinking behaviour identified in this group. The intervention comprised a number of components, including local media advertising and advocacy; participation in high profile community collaborative campaigns and use of a peer character cartoon strip to highlight alcohol issues and model behaviour change. Use of local media content was particularly effective in raising community awareness as to the project's message and obtaining support for its aims. On completion of the intervention phase, process and impact data were gathered from a number of community sources. The major impact of the Partysafe project in its own right was heightened awareness of alcohol issues in the community. However, the project also contributed in a major way to institutionalising a collaborative Christmas alcohol harm prevention campaign.
Article
Authors: Berg Elin
Published: January 2018

Do male drug addicts with non-Norwegian ethnic backgrounds need gender specific treatment?

Aim

This paper focuses on the meaning of gender in the interaction between clinicians and male clients in the context of drug treatment in Norway.

Methods

The interaction between clients and clinicians was observed during a six month period of fieldwork. The 20 male clients were adults of varying non-Norwegian ethnic backgrounds, whereas the 61 female and male clinicians were mainly professional social workers and trained nurses with a Norwegian ethnic background. The interaction took place in institutions such as treatment and detoxification centres, special institutions and social security offices. After the fieldwork, interviews were carried out with three of the clients over a period of one year.

Results

The clinicians did not engage with the clients as men, but as drug addicts. Therefore they expected the clients to participate in a “talking cure” to quit their drug abuse. The clients refused such treatment and asked for work to fulfil their roles and responsibilities as men in extended families. The clinicians refused to help them find employment and demanded them to participate in the talking cure. For the men, this probably led to a challenge of their masculinities in two ways. Since they had grown up in a society with strong segregation between the sexes, they felt devaluated as men when they had to talk intimately with female clinicians about personal problems. Secondly, the lack of employment meant that the men were unable to fulfil their roles within their families. They seemed to regard the treatment as a menace to their manhood and role as “pater familias”.

Conclusions

For the male clients the meaning of gender seemed crucial when they refused the clinicians talking cure. Many ethnic Norwegian male clients, such as the clients in this article, drop out of treatment. Studies by different researchers show that the interpretations in this study can be transferred and thereby have relevance for male clients of Norwegian ethnic background. Since little research work has been done relating to male drug addicts and the treatments they are offered, there should be a stronger focus on this theme.
Artikel
Authors: Hakkarainen Pekka , Metso Leena
Published: January 2018

Finnish attitudes towards drugs and drug policies – opinions and outlooks among the population in 2002

Aim

To describe what Finns think about drugs and drug policies.

Method

The information is based on a posted questionnaire sent out by Statistics Finland in the Autumn of 2002. A representative sample was randomly chosen from a target group consisting of 15–69 year-old Finns (N= 4 053). The response rate was 63 per cent. The comparative material comprises studies from 1992, 1996 and 1998.

Results

The worry over the drug problem has continuously increased among Finns. The views of the respondents concerning health risks associated with drugs varied according to age. The attitude towards heroin is, however, extremely negative in all age groups. The Finns stand firmly behind the current drug policies, and consequently the legalisation of drugs receives scant support. The new powers that have been granted to the police receive near unanimous support. Policies aimed at harm reduction such as substitution treatment for drug addicts, and the exchange of needles and syringes are also seen as legitimate measures. School is the most important source of information for the younger respondents, while the older respondents receive their information from the media.

Conclusions

The development of attitudes has become differentiated. Attitudes towards smoking and heavy drinking have become harder, while the attitudes towards cannabis have softened somewhat. Unlike in Great Britain where the attitude towards cannabis has become more liberal in all age groups, this change has remained a generational phenomenon in Finland, limited to those age groups who were born in the 1970s and 1980s.
“Oh, he was just drunk” – young adults' views on alcohol as an excuse for violent behaviours
Authors: Tryggvesson Kalle , Bullock Sandra L.
Published: January 2018

Aim

This article examines the excuse-value of alcohol in a hypothetical unprovoked male-to-male violence scenario. The excuse-value is conceptualised by two main questions. Does intoxication result in decreased blame? Does intoxication lessen the propensity to call the police?

Method

In the study, 1004 RDD quantitative telephone surveys were completed with Swedes aged 16–25. The response-rate was 73.8%. The aggressor's intoxication, the victim's intoxication, the severity of the outcome and the aggressor's state of mind were all randomly manipulated. The factors ‘should the police be called’ and the ‘attribution of blame to the aggressor’ have been analysed using factorial ANOVA in SAS.

Results

Analyses were stratified by sex. For male respondents, the aggressor's intoxication interacted with the victim's intoxication in predicting the attribution of blame. When the victim was drunk, the blame attributed to the aggressor decreased as a result of a higher level of intoxication; whilst there was no effect of the aggressor's intoxication when the victim was only slightly drunk. For female respondents, the aggressor's intoxication interacted with the severity of the outcome. Intoxication decreased the blame with the severe acts but not with the less severe acts. The aggressor's intoxication had no effect on whether the police should be called or not.

Conclusions

Alcohol intoxication provides some excuse-value for violence, but only for certain acts and under certain circumstances.
Artikel
Authors: Hesse Morten , Balsby Helle
Published: January 2018

■ Aim

To critically assess the widely held belief that treatment for drug abuse should be of long duration and intensive.

■ Method

A review of randomized controlled trials to assess dose–response studies of psychosocial treatment, where the experimental variable is the frequency or duration of counselling or group treatment, and randomised controlled studies comparing inpatient and outpatient treatment.

■ Results

Five studies with a dose–response type design were identified. In spite of a wide variability of intervention intensities and populations studied, none of the studies have given even modest support for the claim that offering more treatment generally leads to better outcomes.

■ Conclusion

The findings suggest that clinicians and researchers should look elsewhere for ways to enhance the efficacy of treatment, including stepped care models, contingency management, or the involvement of significant others in treatment.
Jumping out of harm's way: harm reduction in Finnish drug policy conceptual problems and contradictions
Authors: Hurme Toivo
Published: January 2018

The article discusses the use of the term “harm reduction” in Finland's contemporary drug policy. The focus is not on the meaning of the term, but rather on its actual use, on how “harm reduction” has been put into play in the governing of the drug question and what is done and has been claimed in the name of “harm reduction”. This brings to light the problems and contradictions that arise if “harm reduction” is taken as a standpoint for policy making or as an analytical tool for drug policy research.

The paper reviews different connections and situations where “harm reduction” has been defined or used as an argument for general or specific goals and interventions. Harm reduction is often seen as a general strategy for national drug policy, as opposed to the traditional repressive and punitive strategy. On the other hand, it is also represented as pragmatic, reactive and situational work without general ideals or principles challenging repressive politics.

Two main perspectives can be distinguished in the discussion on harm reduction: the human rights perspective and the public health perspective. From a human rights perspective harm reduction is advocated by stressing the rights and equality of drug users. The focus is on the harms that the strict policy of control is causing to abusers. Harm reduction from a public health perspective stresses the harms that drug abuse causes to the nation's population, such as HIV, accidents etc. On the side of these main trends, there are however a wide range of practices which are represented in the name of “harm reduction”, among these tighter police control and surveillance to efface the nuisance problems.

The article concludes that in Finland, “harm reduction” is neither a coherent political approach to the drug question nor an exact concept for analytical social research. It is rather a slogan that is used in very different occasions by various political agents as an argument for different interventions, aiming for ideals and goals that might easily contradict each other.
Public injection rooms, a help to heroin addicts?
Authors: Skretting Astrid
Published: January 2018

The situation regarding heroin addicts in Norway gives cause for considerable concern. Harm reduction measures are seen as an important supplement to current assistance and treatment provisions for drug addicts. Introducing public injection rooms has been proposed as a component of the overall harm reduction strategy. The article discusses arguments put forward in the Norwegian debate concerning the injecting room initiative. Will public injecting rooms reduce the relatively high number of drug-related deaths? Will public injecting rooms help improve the generally bad health of drug addicts? Will public injecting rooms contribute to enhancing drug addicts' sense of dignity and self-worth? One of the motivations behind the introduction of public injecting rooms is to enable the social and health authorities to get in touch with drug addicts. Is this realistic? Will public injection rooms facilitate the misuse of drugs? What about public injecting rooms in light of UN conventions on drugs and national legislation in Norway? Would public injecting rooms be of any real help in relation to the many problems heroin addicts face on a daily basis?
Demand for Alcohol Consumption in Russia and Its Implication for Mortality
Authors: Yakovlev Evgeny
Published: January 2018

Alcohol abuse is widely blamed for the very high rate of male mortality in Russia. I estimate a structural model of the demand for alcohol that incorporates two features of alcohol consumption, peer effects and habits. I use a kink in the policy regime of the excise tax on alcohol and regional variation in alcohol regulations to estimate a price elasticity of demand for alcohol. I find that peer influence and habits are critical determinants of the response of alcohol demand to price changes. The estimates imply that increases in alcohol prices would yield significant reductions in mortality. (JEL D12, H25, I12, L66, P23, P36)
Free to Choose: Can School Choice Reduce Student Achievement?
Authors: Abdulkadiroğlu Atila , Pathak Parag A. , Walters Christopher R.
Published: January 2018

A central argument for school choice is that parents can choose schools wisely. This principle may underlie why lottery-based school evaluations have almost always reported positive or zero achievement effects. This paper reports on a striking counterexample to these results. We use randomized lotteries to evaluate the Louisiana Scholarship Program, a voucher plan that provides public funds for disadvantaged students to attend private schools. LSP participation lowers math scores by 0.4 standard deviations and also reduces achievement in reading, science, and social studies. These effects may be due in part to selection of low-quality private schools into the program. (JEL H75, I21, I22, I28)
Characterizing performance improvement in primary care systems in Mesoamerica: A realist evaluation protocol
Authors: Munar Wolfgang , Wahid Syed S. , Curry Leslie
Published: January 2018

Background. Improving performance of primary care systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) may be a necessary condition for achievement of universal health coverage in the age of Sustainable Development Goals. The Salud Mesoamerica Initiative (SMI), a large-scale, multi-country program that uses supply-side financial incentives directed at the central-level of governments, and continuous, external evaluation of public, health sector performance to induce improvements in primary care performance in eight LMICs. This study protocol seeks to explain whether and how these interventions generate program effects in El Salvador and Honduras.

Methods. This study presents the protocol for a study that uses a realist evaluation approach to develop a preliminary program theory that hypothesizes the interactions between context, interventions and the mechanisms that trigger outcomes. The program theory was completed through a scoping review of relevant empirical, peer-reviewed and grey literature; a sense-making workshop with program stakeholders; and content analysis of key SMI documents. The study will use a multiple case-study design with embedded units with contrasting cases. We define as a case the two primary care systems of Honduras and El Salvador, each with different context characteristics. Data will be collected through in-depth interviews with program actors and stakeholders, documentary review, and non-participatory observation. Data analysis will use inductive and deductive approaches to identify causal patterns organized as ‘context, mechanism, outcome’ configurations. The findings will be triangulated with existing secondary, qualitative and quantitative data sources, and contrasted against relevant theoretical literature. The study will end with a refined program theory. Findings will be published following the guidelines generated by the Realist and Meta-narrative Evidence Syntheses study (RAMESES II). This study will be performed contemporaneously with SMI’s mid-term stage of implementation. Of the methods described, the preliminary program theory has been completed. Data collection, analysis and synthesis remain to be completed.
Strict Constraint Qualifications and Sequential Optimality Conditions for Constrained Optimization
Authors: Andreani Roberto , Martínez José Mario , Ramos Alberto , Silva Paulo J. S.
Published: January 2018

Sequential optimality conditions for constrained optimization are necessarily satisfied by local minimizers, independently of the fulfillment of constraint qualifications. These conditions support the employment of different stopping criteria for practical optimization algorithms. On the other hand, when an appropriate property on the constraints holds at a point that satisfies a sequential optimality condition, such a point also satisfies the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker conditions. Those properties will be called strict constraint qualifications in this paper. As a consequence, for each sequential optimality condition, it is natural to ask for its weakest strict associated constraint qualification. This problem has been solved in a recent paper for the Approximate Karush-Kuhn-Tucker sequential optimality condition. In the present paper, we characterize the weakest strict constraint qualifications associated with other sequential optimality conditions that are useful for defining stopping criteria of algorithms. In addition, we prove all the implications between the new strict constraint qualifications and other (classical or strict) constraint qualifications.
Identifying the Qualities of an Ideal Teacher in line with the Opinions of Teacher Candidates
Authors: Ates Hatice Kadioglu , Kadioglu Serkan
Published: January 2018

Teaching is a sacred profession performed by self-sacrificing individuals with high responsibilities who are aware of their roles, have undertaken the task of raising future generations, make easier individuals’ process of becoming citizen in a way to ensure the peace and welfare of the communities, and allow them to learn knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors. By Ataturk’s saying, "Teachers are the most devoted and respectable factors of human society all over the world". In hadiths, the sanctity of teaching is expressed as, "Only those two people are admired enviously: The person who uses up and consumes the goods bestowed by Allah on him in the right way, and the person who properly rules over by the wisdom to him by Allah and who also teaches it to others.” From early childhood to puberty, the person studying in public institutions establishes a spiritual association with his/her teacher. The psychical aspect of teaching is also quite predominant. The role of teaching is sometimes mixed up with the roles of mother, father, sister and brother. There are many students who keep fresh their relationships with teachers for many years although their education and training activities do not continue. Based on these, the starting point of the study is about which characteristics the teacher must have to become an ideal teacher. This study was carried out to determine the characteristics of an ideal teacher in line with the opinions of the participants of the faculty of education and pedagogical training program in a University in Istanbul. The research was carried out in the screening model. The research data were collected through semi-structured interview technique to find out student opinions in a clearer way. The study group of the research was established in accordance with the voluntary basis from among the students from the psychological counseling and guidance department, Turkish teaching department, gifted children teaching department and English teaching department and the students who are enrolled in the pedagogical training certificate program in a University, in Istanbul, in the 2015-2016 academic year. Face to face interviews were conducted with each participant in the researcher's working office for half an hour on an average. At the beginning of the interview, students were asked about their genders and the graduated university, department and faculty. Within the context of the interview, the question of "what are the characteristics of an ideal teacher for you" was posed to participants. The personal and professional characteristics that an ideal teacher should have were determined according to the opinions of teacher candidates. The discussion section was structured by the research findings in the literature, and the study was finalized with suggestions.
Children and Discipline: Investigating Secondary School Students’ Perception of Discipline through Metaphors
Authors: Sadik Fatma
Published: January 2018

This is a descriptive study investigating the perception of children about discipline through metaphors developed by them. A total of 445 students participated in the research and the data was collected with the “Discipline Metaphors Survey (DMS)” developed by the researchers. At the end of the study, 143 metaphors, 94 positive and 49 negative, about discipline were gathered. The participating children mostly perceived discipline as a phenomenon guiding their behavior, maintaining the order, and as being necessary for the social life. Learning and development, self-control, protection mechanism, planned and ordered study, as well as collaboration are further positive perceptions of discipline. Negative metaphors, on the other hand, were usually power and control oriented and the discipline committee was described as the ultimate authority entity. Based on the students’ views, discipline was provided through classroom rules and for misbehavior the teachers tended to use warnings, shouting/scolding and punishment. School rules, dress code as well as prohibited product checks at the entrance of the school, the Discipline Committee and discipline rules were reported as the most common practices of discipline in school. Most of the students who thought that punishment is necessary for discipline stated that the punishment should not involve physical violence and that it should be reasonable. Further expectations of the students found in the study included warning without shouting, doing enjoyable activities to address individual differences, informing everybody about the rules. Children’s perception about discipline was usually affected by their teachers followed by their family and the school administration respectively.
Decay of Thermally Modified Engineered Wood Products
Authors: Barnes H. M. , Aro M. D. , Rowlen Amy
Published: January 2018

In this study, rated plywood, oriented strand board, laminated strand lumber, and laminated veneer lumber were thermally modified as a posttreatment at 140°C, 150°C, 160°C, 170°C, and 180°C using a closed, pressurized treatment method. Eastern larch oriented strand board manufactured from heartwood and sapwood was also thermally modified as a posttreatment at 160°C and 180°C. All specimens were subjected to laboratory soil block durability tests according to American Wood Protection Association E10‐12 utilizing Gloeophyllum trabeum (brown rot) and Trametes versicolor (white rot) fungi. Heat treatment caused a reduction in weight loss for most substrate and fungi combinations.
FUNCTIONAL REALIZATIONS OF LIE ALGEBRAS AS NOETHER POINT SYMMETRIES OF SYSTEMS
Authors: Campoamor-Stursberg Rutwig
Published: January 2018

Functional realizations of Lie algebras are applied to the problem of determining Lie and Noether point symmetries of Lagrangian systems in N dimensions, particularly in the plane. This encompasses both the case of symmetry-preserving perturbations of a given system, as well as the generic analysis on the structure of (regular) Lagrangians in order to admit a symmetry algebra belonging to a specific isomorphy class.
NON-UNITARY TRANSFORMATION OF QUANTUM TIME-DEPENDENT NON-HERMITIAN SYSTEMS
Authors: Maamache Mustapha
Published: January 2018

We provide a new perspective on non-Hermitian evolution in quantum mechanics by emphasizing the same method as in the Hermitian quantum evolution. We first give a precise description of the non unitary transformation  and the associated evolution, and collecting the basic results around it and postulating the norm preserving. This cautionary postulate imposing that the time evolution of a non Hermitian quantum system preserves the inner products between the associated states must not be read naively. We also give an example showing that the solutions of time-dependent non Hermitian Hamiltonian systems given by a linear combination of SU(1,1) and SU(2) are obtained thanks to time-dependent non-unitary transformation.
FURTHER GENERALISATIONS OF THE KUMMER-SCHWARZ EQUATION: ALGEBRAIC AND SINGULARITY PROPERTIES
Authors: Sinuvasan R , Krishnakumar K , Tamizhmani K M , Leach PGL
Published: January 2018

The Kummer–Schwarz Equation, 2y'y'''− 3(y'')2 = 0, has a generalisation, (n − 1)y(n−2)y(n) − ny(n−1)2 = 0, which shares many properties with the parent form in terms of symmetry and singularity. All equations of the class are integrable in closed form. Here we introduce a new class, (n+q−2)y(n−2)y(n) −(n+q−1)y(n−1)2 = 0, which has different integrability and singularity properties.
Using analysis of time series to forecast the number of patients with tuberculosis: a case study in Khartoum state from 2007 to 2016
Authors: Abow Mohammed Abu Elgasim
Published: January 2018

This paper used time series analysis to predict the number of tuberculosis (TB) patients in Khartoum state. It is based on data obtained from TB patients the period from 2007 to 2016. The study was able to determine the best model of order (2) ARIMA (2, 1, 0) for data. The most important result of the study is to estimate the number of patients with TB the next four years in quartile basis. So, the forecasting value represented the source time series data and was observed to decrease.
FERTILISASI IN VITRO DALAM TINJAUAN MAQĀṢID ASY-SYARĪ‘AH
Authors: Anwar Syamsul
Published: January 2018

Having been commonly practiced, in vitro fertilization (fertilization in a tube/baby tube program) is one of the controversial medical practices both for religious reasons and for ethical and moral reasons. From the ethical/moral point of view, the problem lies in the fact that the implication of such a practice may result in the destruction of the remaining unused embryos. In this article, the writer argues from the point of view of maqāṣid asy-syarī‘ah that the practice of in vitro fertilization is much needed by the infertile couples who want to have children. The embryo's moral status starts from the implantation of the blastocyst in the women’s uterine wall, so that the zygote of fertilization in the pre-implantation tubes does not have a moral status yet.[Walaupun telah jamak dilakukan, fertilisasi in vitro (pembuahan dalam tabung/bayi tabung) merupakan salah satu praktis medis yang konroversial baik karena alasan agama maupun karena alasan etika dan moral. Dari segi etika/moral, permasalahannya adalah implikasi dari praktik itu yang berakibat pada pemusnahan sisa embrio yang tidak digunakan. Dalam tulisan ini penulis berargumerntasi dari sudut pandang maqāṣid asy-syarī‘ah bahwa praktik fertilisasi dalam tabung sangat dibutuhkan oleh pasangan tidak subur yang mendambakan keturunan. Status moral embrio dimulai sejak implantasi sehingga zigot hasil fertilisasi dalam tabung praimplantasi belum memiliki status moral].
MENYOAL LEGALITAS NIKAH SIRRI (ANALISIS METODE ISTIṢLĀḤIYYAH)
Authors: Fakhria Sheila
Published: January 2018

Siri marriage (unregistered marriage) is the one that has met the terms and pillars that have been established by the Islamic law and have been strengthened by the opinion of the classical Moslem scholars. Siri marriage is no longer able to achieve the function of the Islamic pillarsand terms of marriage, especially the witnesses of marriage, which aims to announce a marriage as a guarantee of the rights for the bride, the bride's family and the society. The consideration of siri marriage today is the benefits. This article confirms that marriage registration is a large-scale of the witness's position to achieve the objective of the witness to the society. Thus, marriage is no longer only performed as the terms and pillars that are established by the Moslem scholars, but it also involves the state in order to guarantee the rights of the parties concerned in order to achieve the aim of marriage that is sakinah, mawaddah and raḥmah. This article discusses the effort to re-examine the existence of the siri marriage in the perspective of one methodology of the principles of Islamic jurisprudence that is the method of istislahiah reasoning.[Nikah sirri merupakan pernikahan yang telah memenuhi syarat dan rukun yang telah ditetapkan oleh hukum Islam serta dikuatkan oleh pendapat ulama klasik. Nikah sirri tidak lagi mampu untuk mencapai fungsi dari rukun dan syarat perkawinan terutama saksi yang bertujuan untuk mengumumkan perkawinan sebagai penjaminan hak bagi mempelai, keluarga mempelai serta masyarakat. Pertimbangan nikah siri pada masa sekarang adalah kemaslahatan. Artikel ini menegaskan bahwa pencatatan perkawinan merupakan skala besar dari kedudukan saksi untuk mencapai tujuan saksi pada masyarakat. Dengan demikian, pernikahan tidak lagi hanya dilaksanakan sebagaimana syarat dan rukun yang ditetapkan oleh ulama akan tetapi juga melibatkan negara demi menjamin hak-hak pihak yang berkaitan demi mencapat tujuan perkawinan yaitu sakinah, mawaddah dan raḥmah. Artikel ini membahas tentang upaya menelaah kembali eksistensi nikah sirri dalam sudut pandang salah satu metodologi usul fikih yaitu metode penalaran istislahiah.]