Purpose-This study aims to examine the factors influencing the consumer acceptance on Islamic home financing products amongst clients of Islamic banks. For the purpose, the study extends the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) in explaining the Islamic home financing adoption along. Further, the study also intends to analyze the effects of "Islamicity of product" and seven demographic factors on the consumer acceptance of

BackgroundHypertension is one of the world’s most common health conditions and is a leading risk factor for mortality. Although blood pressure can be modified, there is a large proportion of patients whose blood pressure remains uncontrolled. The aim of this study, termed Edvantage 360°, was to gain a deeper understanding of hypertension management in Asia from the perspective of patients and doctors, and to propose strategies to improve blood pressure control.MethodsConducted in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand, Edvantage 360° was a mixed-methods observational study that used both qualitative and quantitative elements: qualitative interviews and focus groups with patients (N = 110), quantitative interviews with patients (N = 709), and qualitative interviews with doctors (N = 85).ResultsThis study found that, although there is good understanding of the causes and consequences of hypertension among Asian patients, there is a lack of urgency to control blood pressure. Doctors and patients have different expectations of each other and a divergent view on what constitutes successful hypertension management. We also identified a fundamental gap between the beliefs of doctors and patients as to who should be most responsible for the patients’ hypertension management. In addition, because patients find it difficult to comply with lifestyle modifications (often because of a decreased understanding of the changes required), adherence to medication regimens may be less of a limiting factor than doctors believe.ConclusionsDoctors may provide better care by aligning with their patients on a common understanding of successful hypertension management. Doctors may also find it helpful to provide a more personalized explanation of any needed lifestyle modifications. The willingness of the doctor to adjust their patient interaction style to form a ‘doctor-patient team’ is important. In addition, we recommend that doctors should not attribute ineffectiveness of the treatment plan to patient non-adherence to medications, but rather adjust the medication regimen as needed.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12930-015-0018-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ABOUT THIS SUBJECT• Many studies raise serious questions about the prescribing appropriateness and prescription quality. However, there is a lack of a single measure that will capture all facets of prescription quality.• Evaluation of prescriptions was usually based on expert judgement of practitioners.• Definition of prescription quality, reference model, validity and reliability of the measurement tools, and other data such as the number, type and severity of diagnosis of patients were usually insufficient or lacking. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS• The Prescription Quality Index (PQI) was developed with a strong structural foundation and was able to capture the clinical, clerical and legal requirement of a prescription. • Extensive psychometric testing was performed on the PQI and the new tool demonstrated acceptable validity and reliability.• The PQI has been shown to be a valid, reliable and responsive tool to measure quality of prescriptions in chronic diseases. AIMSThe aims were to develop and validate a new Prescription Quality Index (PQI) for the measurement of prescription quality in chronic diseases. METHODSThe PQI were developed and validated based on three separate surveys and one pilot study. Criteria were developed based on literature search, discussions and brainstorming sessions. Validity of the criteria was examined using modified Delphi method. Pre-testing was performed on 30 patients suffering from chronic diseases. The modified version was then subjected to reviews by pharmacists and clinicians in two separate surveys. The rater-based PQI with 22 criteria was then piloted in 120 patients with chronic illnesses. Results were analysed using SPSS version 12.0.1 RESULTSExploratory principal components analysis revealed multiple factors contributing to prescription quality. Cronbach's a for the entire 22 criteria was 0.60. The average intra-rater and inter-rater reliability showed good to moderate stability (intraclass correlation coefficient 0.76 and 0.52, respectively). The PQI was significantly and negatively correlated with age (correlation coefficient -0.34, P < 0.001), number of drugs in prescriptions (correlation coefficient -0.51, P < 0.001) and number of chronic diseases/conditions (correlation coefficient -0.35, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONSThe PQI is a promising new instrument for measuring prescription quality. It has been shown that the PQI is a valid, reliable and responsive tool to measure quality of prescription in chronic diseases.

Summary Tocotrienols are a class of vitamin E reported to be potent antioxidants, besides having the ability to inhibit the HMG-CoA reductase enzyme. This study assessed the effects of 3 doses of tocotrienol-rich vitamin E (TRE) on plasma tocotrienol isomer concentration, arterial compliance, plasma total antioxidant status (TAS), aortic systolic blood pressure (ASBP), serum total cholesterol (TC) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in healthy males. Methodology: This randomised, blinded end-point, placebo-controlled clinical trial with a parallel design involved 36 healthy male subjects who took either an oral placebo or TRE at doses of 80, 160 or 320 mg daily for 2 mo. Baseline and end-of-treatment measurements of vitamin E concentration, arterial compliance [assessed by aortic femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) and augmentation index (AI)], ASBP, plasma TAS, serum TC and LDL-C were taken. Results: Baseline tocotrienol isomer concentrations were low and not detectable in some subjects. Upon supplementation, all TRE-treated groups showed significant difference from placebo for their change in ␣ , ␥ and ␦ tocotrienol concentrations from baseline to end of treatment. There was a linear dose and blood level relationship for all the isomers. There was no significant difference between groups for their change in PWV, AI, plasma TAS, ASBP, TC or LDL-C from baseline to end of treatment. Groups 160 mg ( p ϭ 0.024) and 320 mg ( p ϭ 0.049) showed significant reductions in their ASBP. Group 320 mg showed a significant 9.2% improvement in TAS. Conclusion: TRE at doses up to 320 mg daily were well tolerated. Treatment significantly increased ␣ , ␦ , and ␥ tocotrienol concentrations but did not significantly affect arterial compliance, plasma TAS, serum TC or LDL-C levels in normal subjects.

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