Prediction Of Drug Sales Using Methods Forecasting Double Exponential Smoothing (Case Study : Hospital Pharmacy of Condong Catur)

Purpose: Knowing the best alpha value from the data for each type of drug with various alpha parameters in the Double Exponential Smoothing Method and knowing the prediction results on each type of drug data at the Condong Catur Hospital pharmacy.Design/methodology/approach: Applying the Double Exponential Smoothing method with alpha parameters 0.1; 0.2; 0.3; 0.4; 0.5; 0.6; 0.7; 0.8; 0.9Findings/result: The test results on a system built using test data show that the double exponential smoothing method provides accuracy below 20% by producing a different Alpha (α) for each type of drug because the trend patterns in each drug sale are different at the Pharmacy at the Condong Catur Hospital. .Originality/value/state of the art: Based on previous research, this study has similar characteristics such as themes, parameters and methods used. Previous researchers used smoothing methods such as Double Exponential Smoothing in predicting stock / sales of goods

Antimicrobial Dispensing Sans Legitimate Prescription from Community Pharmacies in Lahore, Pakistan: Implications for Antimicrobial Resistance

Background: The use of antimicrobials and their acquisition from pharmacies without prescription is on the rise in low-and middle-income countries contributing towards the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The study aims to determine factors influencing the non-prescription dispensing of antibiotics from community pharmacies and implications in AMR.Methods: A questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey was conducted from January 2019 to September 2019 in Lahore city of Pakistan. The data were analyzed using a statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 22. The association of the knowledge, attitude, and practice with demographic parameters were determined using correlation and chi-square test.Results: The majority of the respondents were male pharmacists (84.5%) working as staff pharmacists (45.5%). Among the respondents, 75.9% considered AMR as a global health threat, however, 52.1% facilitated antimicrobial dispensing without prescriptions. Respondents stated that non-prescription antimicrobial dispensing was to make medical consultation easy (42%) and satisfy the demand of the patients (30.1%). Yet participants recognized the value of patient education concerning drug interactions 42.6%, culture and sensitivity test 31.5%, and full course of antimicrobials 40.8%. Participants were not agreed to dispense antimicrobials in cold and flu (58.1%), influenza (57.8%), abdominal pain (50%), and fever (60.7%). They practiced dispensing in diarrhea (62.2%), urinary tract infections (68.1%), ear infection (56.9%), and sore throat (64%). For qualification with all knowledge variables, a significant association was obtained. For marital status and qualification with practice variables, P-value was found significant.Conclusion: Interventions should be done to halt these irrational practices which have a negative impact on public health. Educational interventions are required for the public. Strict enforcement of rules and regulations, Drug Sale Rules 2007, and implementation of Pakistan’s National Action Plan on AMR is required.

Effect of the Escalating Cost of Tuition in Higher Education in the United States

Higher education has always been a fundamental cornerstone for development and prosperity in the United States. It is incumbent upon the government and other stakeholders to formulate policies to ensure our institutions of higher education are well resourced and funded to enable economic development. The unprecedented price hikes in tuition at universities and colleges, coupled with high student loan interest rate has compelled a lot of students to drop out of college [1]. Majority of the dropouts are now resorting to drug sale and other nefarious activities in order to sustain their lives. The current pandemic has put a huge strain on the American economy with over a million death and unemployment is at all-time high. This article critically examines the severity of insufficient funding for higher education and the adverse impact of the escalating tuition fees. To regulate the rising tuition fees, suggestions are made with reference to sustainability of strategies and policies to stem this phenomenon.

Managing drugs in the prisoner society: heroin and social order in Kyrgyzstan’s prisons

Through the case study of Kyrgyzstan this paper argues that a rapidly increasing availability of drugs in prison is not necessarily deleterious to solidarity and inmate codes. Instead, the fragmentary effect of drugs depends on the forms of prisoner control over drug sale and use. In Kyrgyzstan, prisoners co-opted heroin and reorganized its distribution and consumption through non-market mechanisms. State provision of opioid maintenance therapy incentivized powerful prisoners to move to distributing heroin through a mutual aid fund and according to need. Collectivist prison accommodation, high levels of prisoner mobility and monitoring within and across prisons enabled prisoners to enforce informal bans on drug dealing and on gang formation outside of traditional hierarchies. We argue that in these conditions prisoners organized as consumption-oriented budgetary units rather than profit-driven gangs.

The Constitutional Accuracy of Legal Presumptions

This paper is about a century-old yet durably-opaque constitutional doctrine that has the potential to disrupt every field of US law that uses legal presumptions. That doctrine demands, for any legal presumption, at least “some rational connection between the fact proved and the ultimate fact presumed.” The paper shows how that doctrine is best read to require likely-accurate presumptions, i.e., in the run of cases in which the presumption can apply, the probability of the presumed fact, given the proven fact, must provably exceed fifty percent. If so, however, lawyers and judges applying this doctrine face distinctive selection bias and reference class problems. The paper illustrates these and other issues with five examples: the McDonnell-Douglas presumption in employment discrimination law; the Bail Reform Act's presumption about a bail applicant's level of danger to others based on being charged with certain drug-sale crimes; the tort law doctrine of res ipsa loquitor; a presumed damages amount for emotional distress; and presumptions about whether a worker is an “employee” or “independent contractor.” In so doing, this paper contributes to the legal and philosophical literature on presumptions in adjudication, as well as ongoing controversies in the US law of tort, work, damages, and bail.

“It is safer to sell marihuana than heroin or cocaine and you make more money” qualitative study about drug traffic and consumption in Girona (eastern sector)

IntroductionFont de la Pólvora is a neighbourhood located on Catalonia, which has been one of the most important points of sale of heroin and cocaine in the country. The sale of drugs was also affected by the economic crisis, changing the behaviour pattern of patients with drug dependence.ObjectiveTo describe the changes in drug trafficking in this region and how these influence their consumption.MethodsThe investigation is carried out by the harm reduction outreach team, who selected, with a non-probabilistic method, a sample of 6 drug users. An in-depth semi-structured interview was conducted.ResultsFrom 2006 to 2012, there existed up to 19 points of drug sale of heroin and cocaine. There are currently 2. The reasons behind the decrease are:–the demand for cocaine decreases;–the sporadic consumption of heroin decreases;–with the decrease in demand, drugs lose quality.With the housing bubble in Spain and the rise in foreclosures on behalf of banks, empty flats proliferated in the area, which were eventually occupied illegally. This fact prompts the production of cannabis.ConclusionMany of the strictly punitive actions in the control of narcotics lead to the dealers coming up with new ideas and new patterns of consumption which complicate the intervention of the teams working in the territory.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.