An-Najah National University

About: An-Najah National University is a education organization based out in Nablus, Palestinian Territory. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Adsorption. The organization has 1857 authors who have published 2607 publications receiving 68226 citations. The organization is also known as: An Najah National University.

Global methaemoglobinaemia research output (1940–2013): a bibliometric analysis

Abstract: Bibliometric studies, which involve the use of statistical methods, are increasingly being used for research assessment. A bibliometric analysis was conducted to evaluate the publication pattern of methaemoglobinaemia research output at the global level based on the Scopus database. We analysed selected documents with “methemoglobinemia”, or “methaemoglobinaemia” as a part of the title and reported the following parameters: trends of publication output, country of publication, journal pattern, collaborative measures, citations pattern, and institute productivity. A total of 1770 articles were published worldwide. The time trend for the number of articles showed an increase after 2000. The highest number of articles related to methaemoglobinaemia was from the USA (24.8 %), followed distantly by the UK (4.5 %), India (3.7 %), and France (3.7 %). No data related to methaemoglobinaemia were published from 152 countries. The total number of citations at the date of data collection was 10,080, with an average of 5.7 citations per document. The USA and UK had the highest h-index of 31 and 14, respectively, and six countries had an h-index of 9–14. It is notable that Canada was ranked eighth in the number of publications but fourth in h-index and India was ranked third in the number of publications but eighth in h-index. Furthermore, Canada produced the most internationally collaborated papers out of the total number of publications for each country (16.1 %), followed by the UK (13.9 %). This bibliometric analysis provides data contributing to a better understanding of the methaemoglobinaemia research field. The number of publications on methaemoglobinaemia increased significantly after 2000. The USA was the most productive country as measured by total publications. The USA and UK achieved the highest h-index in the field of methaemoglobinaemia research, signifying a higher quality of research than other countries.

A bibliometric-based evaluation on environmental research in the Arab world

Abstract: The Arab world’s environment is among the most vulnerable and harsh ones across the globe. This entails much efforts to mitigate the potential environmental risks. Analysing contributions of Arab scholars in environmental research in terms of quantity and quality can bring up insights on their endeavours in this regard. Bibliometric techniques are proposed to conduct such this analysis over publications originated from Arab world in a leading environmental journal “Science of the Total Environment”. Research productivity is being used as quantitative indicator, while citation rates and Hirsch index (h-index) are being used as qualitative indicators. The research outputs were compared with those obtained from non-Arab Middle Eastern countries (Iran, Turkey and Israel). Worldwide research productivity was 17,258 documents, while that from Arab countries, Iran, Turkey and Israel were 215, 34, 83 and 87 documents, respectively. The h-index of Arab world research was 31, and total citations were 3616 with an average of 16.8. The highest share of publications was recorded by Saudi Arabia (53 documents; 24.7%). Egypt and Saudi Arabia had highest h-index with 15 for each one. American University of Beirut in Lebanon was the highest productive institution (16; 7.4%). The most collaborated country with Arab world was France (29; 13.5%). In the conclusion, the study reveals a clear gap in terms of research productivity between Arab countries and other Middle Eastern countries, precisely Israel and Turkey. More research efforts through optimizing investments in environmental research, developing regional experiences and fostering international collaboration are required to eliminate these lags.

Beliefs About Medicines and Self-reported Adherence Among Patients with Chronic Illness: A Study in Palestine.

Abstract: Background: Identifying factors associated with adherence is of great value in clinical practice. The objective of this study was to investigate medication adherence, beliefs about medicines held by people with chronic illness and whether beliefs influence medication adherence. Methods: The study was carried out at primary health care clinic of the Palestinian Medical Military Services in Nablus, Palestine. The beliefs about medicines questionnaire was used to assess beliefs and Morisky medication adherence scale was used to assess adherence. Results: A total of 187 patients were interviewed. Most participants (79.6%) agreed or strongly agreed that their medications were necessary for their current health. However, 58.2% of the participants were concerned about having to take their medicines on a regular basis and 57.8% were concerned about becoming dependent on their medicines. None of the demographic and clinical variables was significantly associated with medication adherence. However, multivariate analysis showed that patients who had higher beliefs about medication necessity had higher odds (1.107 [1.023-1.197]) of being adherent. On the other hand, patients who had higher concern beliefs had lower odds (0.908 [0.845-0.975]) of being adherent. Conclusions: Beliefs about medicines are a major contributing factor to medication adherence.

Effect of Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles on The Physicochemical Properties of Pectin Packaging Material for Strawberry Wrapping

Abstract: Citrus peel pectin was used to prepare films (cast with or without glycerol) containing mesoporous silica nanoparticles. Nanoparticles reduced significantly the particle size, and had no effect on the Zeta potential of pectin solutions. Mechanical characterization demonstrates that pectin+nanoparticles containing films slightly increased tensile strength and significantly decreased the Young’s modulus in comparison to films made only of pectin. However, elongation at the break increased in the pectin+nanoparticles films cast in the presence of glycerol, while both Young’s modulus and tensile strength were reduced. Moreover, nanoparticles were able to reduce the barrier properties of pectin films prepared with or without glycerol, whereas positively affected the thermal stability of pectin films and the seal strength. The 0.6% pectin films reinforced or not with 3% nanoparticles in the presence of 30% glycerol were used to wrap strawberries in order to extend the fruit’s shelf-life, over a period of eighty days, by improving their physicochemical properties.