Knowledge, attitude and practice of hospital senior and middle management towards health care quality programs in eastern Saudi Arabia

Quality programs are not new to Saudi hospitals. The first known quality program was started in ARAMCO Hospital in 1982. Besides the Ministry of Health, the main provider of health care, more than 15 providers share in the delivery of the health care in Saudi Arabia. Quality activities being sporadic, with no national control, the programs depend'heavily on the top management commitment and support. The success of quality programs varies among the different health care providers. Hence the need to investigate the knowledge, attitude and practice of the senior and middle managers (HSMM) towards quality programs. The findings of their investigation could throw some light on some incorrect concepts and explain the reasons behind the ineffective practice of quality. Two studies were conducted simultaneously for this research. A descriptive study to investigate the knowledge, attitude and practice of the HSMM, for which two data collecting tools were used. The HSMM self administered questionnaire was completed by the HSMM of 20 selected hospitals in the Eastern Saudi Arabia; 173 HSMM responded to the study giving response rate of 86.5%. The other tool used for the descriptive study was a check list completed by the researcher on each studied hospital. The other part of this research was the action research aimed at exploring the amount of the support HSMM extends to these activities in order to enhance quality services in their hospitals. The study revealed that a majority of senior and middle managers had enough knowledge to initiate very promising quality programs, but there seemed to be a problem with their attitude on quality which affected the implementation of the quality program. Attending training courses on quality subjects made a significant difference to the general information, factor enhancing quality program, causes of quality program failure and the ranking of HSMM towards quality programs. Combining all of these significant variables and classifying them based on their relation with the patient, quality program and staff gave a clear indication that most were related to attitude. The study concluded " that the input and the output of the hospital had less impact on quality programs compared to the process reflected by the knowledge, attitude and practice of the HSMM. Recommendations cover the input, output and the process of quality programs, with more emphasis on the process. The HSMM should pave the way for a quality culture in the hospital which pays proper attention to the development of the skills of the staff and their orientation to the quality environment

Perceptions of the role of the secondary school counsellor in Saudi Arabia

The role and function of the school counsellor has always been a matter of controversy and confusion. Commonly school counsellors neither fill their defined role nor meet all students' needs. In Saudi Arabia this is exacerbated by a lack of professional identity and status, of a clearly defined role, and of administrative support and adequate facilities.This study exammes the performance and importance of the role of the schoolcounsellor in Saudi Arabia through the perceptions of principals, teachers, students and counsellors themselves. Questionnaires were administered to 112 principals, 316 teachers, 451 students and 117 counsellors; semi-structured interviews were conducted with 9 principals, 14 teachers and 12 counsellors.Despite widespread support for counsellors there were considerable discrepancies in how different parties saw their role. Important functions were perceived as not being met. Counsellors were, and were seen to be involved in discipline and administrative tasks. Barriers to effective practice were shown to be: an absence of clear policy guidelines; poor resources; high student/counsellor ratios and lack of knowledge and cooperation from other school staff. Some ethical/professional issues were raised -like confidentiality- which indicated that without considerable structural change the service would continue to fail to meet either students' needs, or the expectations put upon it.The role of the school counsellor in Saudi Arabia needs to be more clearly defined, through training and (counselling) supervision, and assigned to qualified counsellors with facilities and the time to accomplish them successfully. Ultimately success will demand greater understanding of their role by all school staff whom might themselves benefit from training in counselling skills

Electrochemical determination of Cd2+ in some Al-Madinah water samples and human plasma by cathodic stripping voltammetry in the presence of oxine as a chelating agent

AbstractA fast, simple, sensitive cathodic adsorptive stripping voltammetric procedure for quantitative analysis of Cd–oxine complex in al-Madinah city water samples and human plasma is described. The technique involves adsorptive accumulation of the complex on the working electrode, followed by square wave voltammetric determination of the preconcentrated analyte. In basic media, a cathodic electrochemical process involving the elimination of two protons occurs, and a mechanism for the reduction process is suggested. The optimal experimental parameters for assay of this complex are: carbonate supporting electrolyte pH 8, accumulation time 30s, accumulation potential −0.1V, scan rate 200mVs−1, pulse amplitude 80mV, frequency 40Hz, surface area of working electrode 0.6mm2 and convection rate 1000rpm. The calibration graph for determination of Cd–oxine was linear over the concentration range 5×10−8 to 4×10−7moll−1 (r=0.998), with a detection limit of 3.5×10−9moll−1. The precision of the proposed procedure was estimated by 10 successive voltammetric measurements of 2×10−6moll−1 Cd with 4×10−6moll−1 oxine, and the calculated relative standard deviation was 0.39%. The percentage recovery, indicating the accuracy of the analytical method, was 94±1.0%. Possible interference by several substances, including metals and ligands, was also evaluated. The electroanalytical method was successfully applied to assaying cadmium in water samples and biological fluids such as plasma

Development of Square Wave Voltammetric Method for the Electrochemical Determination of Pregabalin as Pregabalin-Cu(II) Complex Using Graphite Electrode

In the present study, a square wave voltammetric (SWV) method was developed for the determination of pregabalin (PREG) in commercial drugs and biological samples as PREG-Cu(II) complex using graphite working electrode. A well-defined voltammetric signal of the complex was observed at nearly – 200 mV, by using Britton Robinson supporting electrolyte (B-R) at pH 7.5. There were some analytical conditions that have been evaluated through this research such as accumulation time and potential, scan rate, amplitude, frequency, and stirring rate to obtain a good voltammetric peak and high current without any overlap. In addition, some metal ions as potential interferences; such as Zn(II), Ni(II) and Cd(II) have been added at different concentrations to evaluate their effects on the voltammetric signal for PREG-Cu(II) complex. The SWV performance was investigated by monitoring parameters such as calibration curve, detection limit, reproducibility, stability and recovery. The calibration curve was studied over the range 5.0 ´10-8–1.0 ´10-6 mol L-1of (PREG) and 5.0 ´ 10-5 mol L-1 of copper ion (n=8, r2 = 0.99), yielded a linear relationship between voltammograms and complex concentrations. The sensitivity of SWV method was evaluated by calculating the detection limit which was found to be 6.5´10-9 mol L-1. The reproducibility, stability and recovery were studied for 5.0 х10-7 mol L-1of (PREG) and 5.0 х 10-5 mol L-1 of copper ion, yielded a relative standard deviation (RSD%) that was calculated to be 0.4% and good stability for the voltammetric signal, while the recovery was recorded to be 93±1.23%. The analytical voltammetric technique (SWV) was applied to determine PREG-Cu(II) complex in pharmaceutical capsules and biological fluids, specifically urine and plasma, where it gave recoveries of 90±1.0%, 89±1.23% and 86±1.23%, respectively

Knowledge, attitude and practice of hospital senior and middle management towards health care quality programs in eastern Saudi Arabia

Quality programs are not new to Saudi hospitals. The first known quality program was started in ARAMCO Hospital in 1982. Besides the Ministry of Health, the main provider of health care, more than 15 providers share in the delivery of the health care in Saudi Arabia. Quality activities being sporadic, with no national control, the programs depend'heavily on the top management commitment and support.The success of quality programs varies among the different health care providers. Hence the need to investigate the knowledge, attitude and practice of the senior and middle managers (HSMM) towards quality programs. The findings of their investigation could throw some light on some incorrect concepts and explain the reasons behind the ineffective practice of quality.Two studies were conducted simultaneously for this research. A descriptive study to investigate the knowledge, attitude and practice of the HSMM, for which two data collecting tools were used. The HSMM self administered questionnaire was completed by the HSMM of 20 selected hospitals in the Eastern Saudi Arabia; 173 HSMM responded to the study giving response rate of 86.5%. The other tool used for the descriptive study was a check list completed by the researcher on each studied hospital. The other part of this research was the action research aimed at exploring the amount of the support HSMM extends to these activities in order to enhance quality services in their hospitals.The study revealed that a majority of senior and middle managers had enough knowledge to initiate very promising quality programs, but there seemed to be a problem with their attitude on quality which affected the implementation of the quality program.Attending training courses on quality subjects made a significant difference to the general information, factor enhancing quality program, causes of quality program failure and the ranking of HSMM towards quality programs. Combining all of these significant variables and classifying them based on their relation with the patient, quality program and staff gave a clear indication thatmost were related to attitude.The study concluded " that the input and the output of the hospital had less impact on quality programs compared to the process reflected by the knowledge, attitude and practice of the HSMM.Recommendations cover the input, output and the process of quality programs, with more emphasis on the process. The HSMM should pave the way for a quality culture in the hospital which pays proper attention to the development of the skills of the staff and their orientation to the quality environment

Oxygen-Free Propane Oxidative Dehydrogenation Over Vanadium Oxide Catalysts: Reactivity and Kinetic Modelling

Propane conversion to propylene has been the subject of intensive researches. This is due to the increasing demand for propylene. Current propylene production processes suffer from several limitations. Oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) is a promising alternative technology for propylene production overcoming the drawbacks of current processes. However, selectivity control in ODH is still a challenge preventing it from an industrial application. This is due to the formation of undesired carbon oxides. Thus, the development of a selective catalyst is crucial for the commercialization of ODH. Vanadium oxide catalysts have been proposed as the most active and selective catalyst for propane ODH. Moreover, new reactor concepts such as fluidized-bed might also help to make the ODH a feasible alternative for olefins productionas, offering some outstanding advantages in comparison to conventional reactors. This dissertation provides fundamental understanding of structure-reactivity relationship of vanadium oxide catalyst for propane ODH in a fluidized-bed reactor using the lattice oxygen of vanadium oxide catalysts in the absence of gas-phase oxygen. Supported vanadium oxide catalysts with different vanadium loadings (5-10 wt %) supported on γ-Al2O3 is used. The prepared catalysts are characterized using several techniques such as BET surface area, H2-TPR, NH3-TPD, O2 Chemisorption, Laser Raman Spectroscopy, Pyridine FTIR and XRD. Characterization of the catalysts reveals that monomeric VOx species are predominant at low vanadium loadings while polymeric VOx species increase with higher loadings until monolayer surface coverage is reached. Moreover, the catalysts display moderated acidity compared to that of the bare alumina due to the relative increase in the number of Brønsted acid sites. Successive-injections propane ODH experiments in the CREC Riser Simulator over partially reduced catalyst show good propane conversions (12%-15%) and promising propylene selectivity (68-86%) at 475-550 0C. Product selectivities are found to augment with the catalyst’s degree of reduction suggesting that a certain degree of catalyst reduction is required for better propylene selectivity. Compared to average propylene yields of 5% and 15% obtained in FCC and steam cracking technologies, respectively, promising value of 7% was obtained in the present propane ODH study over vanadium oxide catalyst and under oxygen free conditions. Such result would encourage further investigation of propane ODH in the absence of molecular gas oxygen as promising alternative/supplementary technology for the production of propylene. A kinetic model relating reaction rate to the catalyst’s degree of oxidation is proposed. Non- linear regression leads to model parameters with low confidence intervals, suggesting the adequacy of the proposed model in predicting the ODH reaction under the selected reaction conditions

Investigating the Use of Politeness Strategies in Expressing Disagreements Among Saudi EFL Teachers on Twitter

This study investigates the politeness strategies employed by Saudi EFL teachers when expressing their disagreements on Twitter. It examines the factors affecting Saudi EFL teachers\u27 choice of politeness and disagreement strategies. It compares Saudi EFL teachers\u27 disagreement expressions with those of American ESL teachers on Twitter. Four instruments were utilized to collect the data: retrieving the corpus of tweets, observing the thread of tweets (for Saudi EFL and American ESL teachers), using an open-ended questionnaire, and follow-up interviews (for Saudi EFL teachers). This study finds that the on-record strategy was the most frequently used among Saudi EFL teachers, as found in the corpus and thread of tweets. However, Saudi EFL teachers employed negative politeness more than positive politeness strategies in the corpus of tweets. At the same time, they utilized positive politeness more than negative politeness strategies in the thread of tweets. The main factors influencing Saudi EFL teachers when expressing their disagreements on Twitter are the severity of the topic, linguistic proficiency, and the differences in cultural norms between their first and target languages. Also, this study finds that Saudi EFL and American ESL teachers were similar in their performances of disagreements; they employed aggravated disagreements the most in the corpus of tweets, whereas they frequently used disagreement nor mitigated or strengthened in the thread of tweets. In contrast, Saudi EFL and American ESL teachers differ in their employment of the politeness strategies; Saudi EFL teachers performed positive and negative politeness strategies, while American ESL teachers employed mostly positive politeness and rarely used negative politeness strategies. This study calls for further examination of disagreements to extend the pragmatics literature of disagreement speech acts across languages and cultures. This study recommends integrating adequate pragmatic knowledge in EFL textbooks in Saudi schools. This study aims to contribute to the fields of sociopragmatics and CMC

Electrochemical determination of rosiglitazone by square-wave adsorptive stripping voltammetry method

AbstractSquare-wave adsorptive stripping voltammetry technique was used to determine rosiglitazone (ROS) on the hanging mercury dropping electrode (HMDE) surface, in Britton Robinson buffer, pH=5. The voltammetric cathodic peak was observed at −1520mV vs. Ag/AgCl reference electrode. The voltammetric peak response was characterized with respect to pH, supporting electrolyte, accumulation potential, preconcentration time, scan rate, frequency, pulse amplitude, surface area of the working electrode and the convection rate. Under optimal conditions, the voltammetric current is proportional to the concentration of ROS over the concentration range of 5×10−8–8×10−7moll−1 (r=0.9899) with a detection limit of 3.2×10−11moll−1 using 120s accumulation time. The developed SW-AdSV procedure showed a good reproducibility, the relative standard deviation RSD% (n=10) at a concentration level of 5×10−7moll−1 was 0.33%, whereas the accuracy was 101%±1.0. The proposed method was successfully applied to assay the drug in the human urine and plasma samples with mean recoveries of 90±0.71% and 86±1.0%, respectively

The Multi-dimensional Problem of Quantifying Cartographic Generalization Uncertainty: Linear Features as an Example.

This paper highlights cartographic considerations relevant during the process of quantification of generalization uncertainties, defined here as Generalization Factor (GF). The paper adds to current research on map or spatial database errors and uncertainties, but focuses on the complex nature of the quantification process of generalization uncertainties. Three main cartographic aspects or contexts are discussed in this paper: namely, feature complexity, map sources, and map purposes. The paper discusses the difficulties in producing a universal index as GF that accounts satisfactorily for generalization uncertainty. As a result, there is a need for a thorough study to account for all types of generalization uncertainty for each feature according to the cartographic consideration discussed in this study, although such contexts are not exhaustive. The study suggests that the uncertainty measures should result in a form of value that can be attached to each feature in the database, especially for those detailed databases that are designed for analysis purposes. The study suggests that it might well be possible to quantify generalization uncertainty more easily once the process of generalization is performed automatically or even semi-automatically, especially with the advent of new generalization tools