A Conceptual Framework of Service Quality and Patient Loyalty in Muslim Friendly Healthcare

The purpose of this research is to investigate equalize of service quality in friendly Muslim hospitals and establish a conceptual framework that shows the relationship between service quality, patient satisfaction and loyalty. This research is founded on a comprehensive study of current literature on quality of hospital care, patient satisfaction, and patient loyalty. Important reviews of these literature studies have resulted in the determination and interpretation of service quality dimensions and the development of a relationship between service quality, patient satisfaction and patient loyalty. This paper determined five main aspects through which patients service quality in Muslim friendly hospitals.Thesefiveareasaretangibles,empathy, assurance, reliability and responsiveness. The framework indicates a direct link between quality of care, patient satisfaction and patient loyalty. Although many studies have been carried out on thestandardofhospitalservices,neitherofthem would do project all the possible dimensions to calculate the same in a friendly hospital in Malaysia. The SERVQUAL Model adopted by this study determines all the potential dimensions of service quality in Muslim friendly healthcare

Controlled release and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition properties of an antihypertensive drug based on a perindopril erbumine-layered double hydroxide nanocomposite.

The intercalation of perindopril erbumine into Zn/Al-NO3-layered double hydroxide resulted in the formation of a host-guest type of material. By virtue of the ionexchange properties of layered double hydroxide, perindopril erbumine was released in a sustained manner. Therefore, this intercalated material can be used as a controlled-release formulation. Results: Perindopril was intercalated into the interlayers and formed a well ordered, layered organic-inorganic nanocomposite. The basal spacing of the products was expanded to 21.7 Å and 19.9 Å by the ion-exchange and coprecipitation methods, respectively, in a bilayer and a monolayer arrangement, respectively. The release of perindopril from the nanocomposite synthesized by the coprecipitation method was slower than that of its counterpart synthesized by the ion-exchange method. The rate of release was governed by pseudo-second order kinetics. An in vitro antihypertensive assay showed that the intercalation process results in effectiveness similar to that of the antihypertensive properties of perindopril. Conclusion: Intercalated perindopril showed better thermal stability than its free counterpart. The resulting material showed sustained-release properties and can therefore be used as a controlled-release formulation

Summer diet of European Shags Phalacrocorax aristotelis desmarestii in southern Mallorca

16 pages, 4 pages, 3 tablesAnalysis of pellets of European Shags Phalacrocorax aristotelis desmarestii collected at a non-breeding roost site in southern Mallorca identified 36 species of fish prey, belonging to 27 genera and to 16 families. This diversity is higher than in the diet of P. a. aristotelis in the Atlantic, and higher than in the previous literature for P. a. desmarestii in the Mediterranean. European Shags in southern Mallorca foraged mainly on fishes with a mean estimated length of 11.6 cm (84.1% ranging from 6.1–15.0 cm in estimated length), most being pelagic species (59.6 %). The most important fish in numerical frequency (43.9%) and estimated biomass (37.2%) was the Bogue Boops boops (Sparidae). This species has not been reported in European Shag diet in the Atlantic, and its importance was low in other Ph. a. desmarestii populations studied. The second most frequent prey was sand smelt Atherina (15%), but its contribution to biomass was low (1.4% of estimated biomass) because of its small size, as has been reported from other Mediterranean locations. The occurence of Scorpaenidae (10.7% by frequency, 17.4% of estimated biomass) was higher than in previous studies of Ph. a. desmarestii. Scorpaenids have not been found in the diet of Ph. a. aristotelis. Sandeels (Ammodytidae), a key prey for Ph. a. aristotelis in the Atlantic, were very scarce in this study, as in other recent Mediterranean studies. The relative abundance of species anatomically well protected against predation, such as scorpaenids and trachinids, and the diversity of prey probably reflects the scarcity or absence of other preferred prey. This study reflects the opportunistic behaviour of European Shags in the Mediterranean Sea, foraging on fish with very different ecological requirements, in an environment that is poor but diverseThis paper is included as a colateral research in the DGICYT Research Projects CGL2012–38089 and MINECO Research Project CTM2010–19701. Dr. Victor M. Tuset has a contract JAE-DOC (CSIC) co-funded by the European Social FoundationPeer reviewe

Hippuric acid nanocomposite enhances doxorubicin and oxaliplatin-induced cytotoxicity in MDA-MB231, MCF-7 and Caco2 cell lines.

Background: The aim of the current study is to design a new nanocomposite for inducing cytotoxicity of doxorubicin and oxaliplatin toward MDA-MB231, MCF-7, and Caco2 cell lines. A hippuric acid (HA) zinc layered hydroxide (ZLH) nanocomposite was synthesized under an aqueous environment using HA and zinc oxide (ZnO) as the precursors. Methods: The hippuric acid nanocomposite (HAN) was prepared by the direct reaction of a HA solution with an aqueous suspension of ZnO. Results: The basal spacing of the nanocomposite was 21.3 Å, which is average of four harmonics at 2θ = 8.32°, 12.50°, 16.68°, and 20.84°. This result indicates that the hippurate anion was successfully intercalated into the interlayer space of ZLH. The combinations of HAN with chemotherapy (drugs) has inhibited the cell growth of the MDA-MB231, MCF-7, and Caco2 cancer cells when compared to drugs alone. An IC50 value for the combination of HAN with doxorubicin toward MCF-7 is 0.19 ± 0.15 µg/mL and toward MDA-MB231 is 0.13 ± 0.10 µg/mL. Similarly, the IC50 for the combination of HAN with oxaliplatin toward Caco2 is 0.24 ± 0.11 µg/mL. In the antiproliferative results, the equal combination of HAN (0.5 µg/mL) with doxorubicin (0.5 µg/mL) has reduced the cell proliferation in MCF-7 and MDA-MB- 231 cells into 37.3% and 17.6%, respectively after 24 hours. Similarly, the antiproliferation percentage for equal combination HAN with oxaliplatin (5.00 µg/mL) toward Caco2 is 72.7% after 24 hours. Conclusion: The resulting combination HAN with drugs has exhibited higher inhibition in cells growth in all cancer cell line

STRESS AND COPING STRATEGIES AMONG UNDERGRADUATE HEALTH PROFESSIONS STUDENTS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY FROM A UNIVERSITY IN LEBANON

Introduction: Stress, whether real or perceived, is prevalent among young adults (18-24 years), with prevalence increasing. Previous research has identified and defined many coping mechanisms in response to stress among health professions students. Aims: This study aims at measuring perceived stress and exploring both sources of stress and coping strategies in undergraduate health professions students. Materials and Methods: A total of 427 (88.9% response rate) surveys were collected from the various faculties from across health professions faculties at Beirut Arab University (BAU). Surveys consisted of the Brief COPE Inventory (BCI) and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and were distributed via the systematic sampling method. Results: There was no significant difference between perceived stress scores across faculties, with stress levels falling within a moderate stress range. Females (M=22, SD=6) demonstrated higher stress means than males (M=18, SD=6) across faculties. Junior students, except for pharmacy students, were more likely to use both approach-based and avoidance-based stratagems in comparison to their seniors. However, the differences were insignificant. Stress did not seem to decrease with seniority with any significance across all faculties. Coping stratagems were consistent across all years, leaning towards approach-based mechanisms. Conclusion: Moderate stress levels were observed across all health professions faculties at BAU, and stress levels did not seem to attenuate with passing academic years. It is imperative to optimize student support systems on campus, and encourage students to seek help whenever needed

Modeling An Islamic Student Financing Securitization

The study investigates developing an Islamic student financing securitization model based on sukuk structures. This study employs sample of descriptive, analytical, and comparative analyses utilized to discuss a novel framework of Islamic securitization through the different structures of sukuk wakalah derived from asset securitization. The result served to investigate the use of Islamic student financing securitization in a Shariah-compliant manner, which would be implementable in Malaysia. It emphasized the sukuk structures based on the wakeel principle, which indicated a situation where a wakeel or representative appointment was made to manage a project on the behalf of the sukuk holder. The findings of this study supported the economic benefits obtained in the form of lower overall financing costs through the use of securitization for student financing in higher education. This paper offers important implications specifically for the creation of sukuk structures and issuing a highly graded and marketable sukuk, which are compliant towards global Shariah principles. The paper fills the gap perceived within the existing literature of Islamic finance by showing Islamic securitization via sukuk as a viable source of funds potential utilizable in stabilizing the securities market. It can also pose as a solution for securing a sustainable funding

Factors Influencing Spread In Malaysia Securitization Market

The purpose of this paper is to propose a model to test the factors influencing on spread in Malaysia securitization market. An extension Vink’s model is tested and revalidated to determine and measure the factors influencing spread of securitized firms in Malaysia. The study consists firm characteristics and macroeconomic factors. Firm characteristic factors based on Vink’s model, such as Liquidity and Leverage. In addition, economic and market condition factors such as Interest and Inflation also maintain high impact to spread securitized firms. Ordinary Least square method, Panel data and multiple regression analysis are applied for the study period 2004-2012. The result shows two determinants influence or contribute to the primary market spread and are statistically significant in developing the securitization in Malaysia. It can be concluded that inflation and interest rate significantly contribute to the determinant of primary market spread. From four hypotheses, two hypotheses support that the determinants had a relationship with primary market spread. The result may become a model and benchmark for other ASEAN countries to be used as Malaysia resilient during subprime mortgage in 2008

Determinants Of Patient Loyalty: A Preliminary Study On Muslim Friendly Hospital In Malaysia

The purpose of the research is to determine the patient loyalty in the Muslim friendly hospitals using the SERVQUAL model in Malaysia. Hospitals around the world seem to slowly concentrate on their service quality policies. With a growing competition service quality plays a critical part in Malaysian Muslim friendly hospital. Nowadays, patients’ loyalty is one of the very important quality aspects in healthcare sectors. Self-administered questionnaire was used to evaluate the loyalty scale of the patients in which patient loyalty was evaluated on the scale of five aspects such as tangible, empathy, assurance, reliability and responsiveness. The study is based on survey approaches for the preliminary pilot test of 100 respondents collected in selected Muslim friendly hospital in Malaysia. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics and reliability analyzes using SPSS software. The research findings indicate that all aspects of the SERVQUAL model is strongly related to patient loyalty. Therefore, all the service quality dimension is important to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. The study enlightens the managerial implications and future directions