Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Organizational form of disease management programs: A transaction cost analysis

Patient care programs such as wellness, preventive care and specifically disease management programs, which target the chronically ill population, are designed to reduce healthcare costs and improve health, while promoting the efficient use of healthcare resources, and increasing productivity. The organizational form adopted by the health plan for these programs, i.e. insourced vs. outsourced is an important factor in the success of these programs and the extent to which the core objectives listed above are fulfilled. Transaction cost economics aims to explain the working arrangement for an organization and to explain why sourcing decisions were made by considering alternate organizational arrangements and comparing the costs of transacting under each. This research aims to understand the nature and sources of transaction costs, how they affect the sourcing decision of disease management and other programs, and its effect on the organization, using current industry data. Predictive models are used to obtain empirical results of the influence of each factor, and also to provide cost estimates for each organizational form available, irrespective of the form currently adopted. The analysis of the primary data obtained by the means of a web-based survey supports and confirms the effect of transaction cost factors on these programs. This implies that in order to reap financial rewards and serve patients better, health plans must aim to minimize transaction costs and select the organizational form that best accomplishes this objective.
Looking for the perfect fit? Online fashion retail - opportunities and challenges

This paper broadly describes the e-Size project as well as presenting the preliminary results of its first pilot test - an exploratory survey administered to a convenience sample of customers in the attempt to establish whether the integration of a size recommendation application into a menswear fashion retail website had been successfully achieved by verifying the size recommendations made by the application, and to assess the user experience of the application in order to determine its suitability for live user testing on the retailer’s website. From the preliminary findings it emerges that all participants found the size recommendation application easy to use. The majority of participants received the correct size recommendation from the application, and would be willing to use the application due to its helpfulness in providing a size recommendation when shopping online, however, users’ personal style and fit preference is an important factor, irrespective of the size that fits them correctly. By integrating additional garment and fit information into the application, retailers can ensure every user will be able to receive a tailored recommendation that meets both their size and personal style preferences.
Male-Enhanced Antigen-1 Gene Flanked by Two Overlapping Genes Is Expressed in Late Spermatogenesis1

Abstract The male-enhanced antigen-1 gene (Mea1) was originally isolated from a murine testicular cDNA library using anti-H-Y antigen antisera and was assigned to chromosome 17. On analysis of its structure and expression, we found that the Mea1 genomic sequence is flanked by two other genes: Ppp2r5d present in its 3′-terminus in a tail-to-tail orientation and a novel gene called Peas in its 5′-terminus in a head-to-head orientation. The coding sequences of the two genes embedded in the Mea1 sequence are located on the opposite DNA strands of Mea1. Cap-site analysis of Mea1 revealed that it is transcribed from at least seven sites. Most splice variants of Mea1 were abundantly expressed in the testis; the d-type was weakly expressed in the other tissues. AP-2-binding motifs were detected in the transcription-initiation sites. In situ hybridization and immunohistochemical studies revealed Mea1 expression in pachytene spermatocytes. This expression was most prominent in spermatids and residual bodies. The Mea1 protein was also localized in the cytoplasm of elongated spermatids and residual bodies. Localization of the Mea1 suggests that it may function in the very late stages of spermiogenesis. The possibility that Mea1 is one of the serologically detectable male antigens is discussed.
Silicoproteinosis: high-resolution CT findings in 13 patients.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to evaluate the high-resolution CT findings of silicoproteinosis. CONCLUSION Silicoproteinosis usually manifests as bilateral consolidation in the posterior portions of the lungs and as numerous centrilobular nodules. Calcification within areas of consolidation is a common finding.
Law and Stock Markets: Evidence from an Emerging Market

A sweeping and protracted reform of corporate law took place in Finland in the 1970s. The reform brought significant improvements to investor protection and, similar to the US Sarbanes-Oxley Act, tightened disclosure rules at the cost of increasing the work load in corporate reporting. We find that the Finnish stock market generally reacts negatively to news of tightened disclosure rules and increased work loads, whereas news of delays in implementation of reform were largely positive. This raises the question of whether strengthening investor protection by requiring greater transparency necessarily promotes the development of financial markets. It also serves to remind that the implementation costs of reforms should not be overlooked.
Differentiation of phyllodes breast tumors from fibroadenomas on MRI.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of our study was to evaluate the MRI appearance of phyllodes breast tumors and to differentiate them from fibroadenomas. MATERIALS AND METHODS MR images were obtained on a 1.5-T imager. T1- and T2-weighted sequences and dynamic 2D fast-field echo T1-weighted sequences were performed. MR images of 23 patients with 24 phyllodes breast tumors (one malignant, 23 benign) were analyzed with respect to morphology and contrast enhancement. The tumors were compared with the MRI appearance of 81 fibroadenomas of 75 patients. RESULTS Well-defined margins were seen in 87.5% of the phyllodes tumors and 70.4% of the fibroadenomas, and a round or lobulated shape in 100% and 90.1%, respectively. A heterogeneous internal structure was observed in 70.8% of phyllodes tumors and in 49.4% of fibroadenomas. Nonenhancing internal septations were found in 45.8% of phyllodes tumors and 27.2% of fibroadenomas. A significantly greater increase in signal was seen on T2-weighted images in the tissue surrounding phyllodes tumors (21%) compared with fibroadenomas (1.2%). Most of both lesions appeared with low signal intensity on T1- and T2-weighted images. After the administration of contrast material, 33.3% of phyllodes tumors and 22.2% of fibroadenomas showed a suspicious signal intensity-time course. CONCLUSION Phyllodes breast tumors and other fibroadenomas cannot be precisely differentiated on breast MRI. Phyllodes tumors have benign morphologic features and contrast enhancement characteristics suggestive of malignancy in 33% of cases.
Growth and Poverty: Lessons from the East Asian Miracle Revisited

This paper provides an extensive review of growth, inequality and poverty reduction in the East Asian miracle economies. This review suggests that the basic impetus for poverty reduction was robust economic growth, which was fostered by a conducive policy and institutional framework. This framework - which helped to create a 'level playing field' - encouraged high investment, production over diversion, and efficient use of investable resources
Comparison of logMAR ETDRS chart and a new computerised staircased procedure for assessment of the visual acuity of children

The validity and repeatability of visual acuity measures are particularly important in the detection and monitoring of childhood visual anomalies such as amblyopia. The repeatability and sensitivity of a new computerised visual acuity test, ‘Staircased Procedure’ is compared with the now gold standard visual acuity test, the early treatment of diabetic retinopathy study (ETDRS). Twenty‐seven visually normal children (mean age: 6.7 ± 1.1 years) and 27 children with amblyopia (mean age: 6.1 ± 0.7 years) were tested with the ETDRS and Staircased Procedure. A retest was administered 4–5 weeks later and 30 min later for the visually normal and the amblyopic children, respectively. The staircased procedure produced significantly better visual acuity than the ETDRS for visually normal and amblyopic children. Repeatability was similar for both tests (ETDRS: 0.11 log units; staircased procedure: 0.13 log units). In conclusion, the Staircased Procedure was an acceptable test with high repeatability and validity.
Reduced plasma antioxidant concentrations and increased oxidative DNA damage in inflammatory bowel disease.

BACKGROUND Oxidative stress is believed to play a key role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)-related intestinal damage. Circulating antioxidants may have a role to play in preventing free radical-mediated tissue injury. METHODS Plasma vitamin A, E and carotenoid concentrations, leukocytic genomic damage and 8-hydroxy-deoxy-guanosine (8-OHdG) concentration were determined in 46 ulcerative colitis (UC) patients, 37 Crohn disease (CD) patients and 386 controls. A 20 ml blood sample was taken from each subject for antioxidant and 8-OHdG measurements. A food frequency questionnaire was administered to a sample of subjects from each group to evaluate daily intake of dietary compounds. RESULTS Antioxidant concentration was significantly reduced in IBD patients, particularly in those with active disease, with respect to controls (P < 0.0001). 8-OHdG concentrations were significantly increased in IBD patients compared to controls, independent of disease activity (P < 0.05). No correlation was found between antioxidant and 8-OHdG concentrations. Carotenoid concentrations were significantly reduced in malnourished IBD patients (0.89 +/- 0.14 micromol/l) compared to patients with normal or high body mass index (1.83 +/- 0.12 micromol/l; P < 0.05), independent of disease activity or extension. Protein, fruit and vegetable intakes of IBD patients were significantly lower than those of controls. CONCLUSIONS Depletion of antioxidants is likely to be important in the pathophysiology of IBD: UC and CD patients show increased free radical peripheral leukocyte DNA damage and decreased plasma antioxidant defenses. These results indicate the necessity of further studies to establish whether optimal vitamin status may improve the clinical course of UC and CD.
Heavy drinking from the freshman year into early young adulthood: the roles of stress, tension-reduction drinking motives, gender and personality.

OBJECTIVE This study investigated the relationship between stress (defined alternatively as negative life events and emotional distress) and heavy drinking across late adolescence and early young adulthood, as well as the roles of tension-reduction drinking motives and gender as moderators of that relationship. The role of personality variables (neuroticism, behavioral undercontrol and extraversion) as moderators also was explored. METHOD The data were obtained from 485 individuals (255 women) participating in a five-wave longitudinal study that spanned 7 years. The effects on heavy drinking of stress (either negative life events or emotional distress), tension-reduction drinking motives, gender and personality were analyzed each year with hierarchical multiple regression. RESULTS Stress (negative life events) was positively related to heavy drinking, but only for men with stronger tension-reduction drinking motives at Year 4 (age 21). The relationship between tension-reduction drinking motives and heavy drinking was positive, developmentally graded, and moderated by gender, after the freshman year, the role of tension-reduction drinking motives in heavy drinking became less important for women, relative to men, a trend that grew stronger after the college years. Behavioral undercontrol played a limited role in the relationship of gender and tension-reduction drinking motives to heavy drinking. CONCLUSIONS The findings have implications for theories of stress-related and stress-motivated drinking. Such theories should consider developmental processes, particularly the transition to adult drinking status at age 21 and the roles of tension-reduction drinking motives, gender and behavioral undercontrol.
DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PLANS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR: AN UPDATE

The brief’s key findings are: Although the introduction of defined contribution plans by some states has received considerable press attention, activity to date has been modest. Moreover, most recent shifts involve either hybrid plans or cash balance plans, rather than stand-alone defined contribution plans. The changes appear driven by a desire to avoid future unfunded liabilities, to reduce investment and mortality risk, and to help short-tenure workers. Such changes transfer risk to participants but, if the new plans enhance the likelihood of responsible funding, they could also offer some increased security.
Novel dual-band rectangular dielectric resonator filter

A novel approach of dual-band filters' design has been proposed operating in both basic TE10b and higher TE20b modes of rectangular dielectric resonator. The researched dual-band filter consists of two equal elongated dielectric resonators with approximately equal coupling coefficients in both modes. In order to prove the concept, the coupling coefficients dependencies on the parameters of filter structure have been studied by utilizing the numerical method as well as the analytical solution of dual-band filter has been built showing good agreement with the simulation results by finite elements' method. The proposed dual-band filter can be used for multi-band applications in wireless networks.
Value co-creation between SME suppliers and large customers in the UK organic food sector

As the distinction in roles of production by suppliers and consumption by customers become blurred, concomitantly there is increasing interest to understand the process of how value is co-created through interaction in business relationships. In this connection and in the context of larger customers and small and medium-sized suppliers’ (SMEs) dyad, this study identifies the areas of collaboration, how value is co-created and the respective co-created value. This is based on five in-depth case studies (business relationships) drawn from the UK organic food sector. Theoretically, the investigation is grounded on the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) group’s interaction approach, given its assumptions. The larger customers and SME suppliers were found to collaborate in a wide range of areas including innovation, corporate social responsibility, inter-linked technical systems, planning, co-evaluation and interactive learning. Considering the value co-creation practices as representing how value is co-created, this occurred respectively in the form of, for example: exchanging ideas on product development; facilitating and sponsoring school children to visit farms; joint technical systems; consultations in the development of business plans; co-evaluating processes and staff; and internships. The collaboration led to co-creation of monetary and non-monetary values such as revenue and reputation respectively. Different collaborative areas led to the co-creation of various types of value and this underscores the potential of larger customer-SME supplier relationships and also has implications in resource allocation. The identified value cocreation phenomenon reveals the need to extend the IMP interaction approach by entrenching the concept of value co-creation such that the framework not only shows exchange but also value co-creation.
Housing quality and psychological well-being among the elderly population.

With exponential growth in the number of elderly Americans living independently in the community, it is important to better understand the implications of living conditions for psychological well-being among the elderly population. In a cross-sectional study, housing quality is associated with positive affect among the older adults living independently in the community. Moreover, this relation is mediated by place attachment. Elderly residents of higher quality homes, independent of multiple sociodemographic factors (e.g., income, gender), feel more attached to their home, which, in turn, appears to account for the relation between housing quality and positive affect.
Fibers of word maps and the multiplicities of non-abelian composition factors

We discuss two corrections concerning the paper mentioned in the title. One of them pertains to a slight error in a statement from a different paper that was used. For this statement, it is explained how to fix it and why this does not affect the correctness of our results. The other is concerned with an error in the original GAP source code used to verify some of our results. This error, which was subsequently fixed, did affect the correctness of one of our main theorems, which is now given in corrected (and stronger) form.
Neurofascin IgG4 antibodies in CIDP associate with disabling tremor and poor response to IVIg

Objective: To describe the frequency of antibodies against neurofascin in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) and the associated clinical features. Methods: Immunocytochemistry was used to identify antibodies to neurofascin 155 (NF155) and 186. Serum reactivity with paranodes and brain tissue was tested with immunohistochemistry of teased-nerve fibers and rat brain. Antibody titers and immunoglobulin (Ig) G isotypes were determined using ELISA. Clinical information was obtained retrospectively. Results: Two of 53 patients, but none of 204 controls, had antibodies to NF155 (p = 0.041). The 2 patients with NF155 antibodies developed severe polyradiculoneuropathy with predominant distal weakness that was refractory to IVIg. Eight additional patients with IVIg-refractory CIDP were then identified from a national database; 2 of them with the same clinical features also had NF155 antibodies. Overall, 3 of the 4 patients with NF155 antibodies had a disabling and characteristic tremor (high amplitude, low frequency, postural, and intention). Patients' antibodies reacted with the paranodes in teased-nerve fibers and with the neuropil of rat cerebellum, brain, and brainstem. Anti-NF155 antibodies were predominantly of the IgG4 isotype in all patients. Conclusion: Patients with CIDP positive for IgG4 NF155 antibodies constitute a specific subgroup with a severe phenotype, poor response to IVIg, and disabling tremor. Autoantibodies against paranodal structures associate with distinct clinical features in CIDP and their identification has diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic implications. Classification of evidence: This study provides Class IV evidence that autoantibodies to NF155 identify a CIDP subtype characterized by severe neuropathy, poor response to IVIg, and disabling tremor.
Two Cyclin-Dependent Kinases Promote RNA Polymerase II Transcription and Formation of the Scaffold Complex

ABSTRACT Three cyclin-dependent kinases, CDK7, -8, and -9, are specifically involved in transcription by RNA polymerase II (Pol II) and target the Pol II C-terminal domain (CTD). The role of CDK7 and CDK8 kinase activity in transcription has been unclear, with CDK7 shown to have variable effects on transcription and CDK8 suggested to repress transcription and/or to target other gene-specific factors. Using a chemical genetics approach, the Saccharomyces cerevisiae homologs of these kinases, Kin28 and Srb10, were engineered to respond to a specific inhibitor and the inhibitor was used to test the role of these kinases in transcription in vivo and in vitro. In vitro, these kinases can both promote transcription, with up to 70% of transcription abolished when both kinases are inhibited together. Similarly, in vivo inhibition of both kinases together gives the strongest decrease in transcription, as measured by chromatin immunoprecipitation of Pol II. Kin28 and Srb10 also have overlapping roles in promoting ATP-dependent dissociation of the preinitiation complex (PIC) into the Scaffold complex. Using the engineered kinases and an ATP analog, specific kinase substrates within the PIC were identified. In addition to the previously known substrate, the Pol II CTD, it was found that Kin28 phosphorylates two subunits of Mediator and Srb10 targets two subunits of TFIID for phosphorylation.
Effect of Training and Development Strategies on the Performance of Commercial Banks in Kenya

This paper will examine the effect of training and development strategies on the performance of commercial banks in Kenya. Due to increased competition and globalisation recently there has been a lot of emphasis on the link between strategy and firm performance. This study sought to investigate the effect of training and development strategies on the performance of commercial banks in Kenya. The study was a survey that adopted the mixed method approach using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The Nairobi head office of each of the 46 commercial banks was purposively sampled. A sample of 349 employees was selected using stratified random sampling from 2,738 employees in the 46 commercial banks. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaires and interviews. Data analysis involved statistical computations for averages, percentages, and correlation and regression analysis as well as factor analysis. Reliability analysis was done using Cronbach’s alpha. Statistical computer software (SPSS) was used in data analysis. Analyzed data was presented using tables, charts and graphs. From the study it was found that a training and development strategy has a significant positive effect on the performance of commercial banks in Kenya. Commercial banks in Kenya were found to be engaging in training and development of their employees and have training budgets for the purpose. Commercial banks also do training needs analysis as the main determinant of the training that is required for the employees. From this study it is concluded that employee training and development strategies positively affect the performance of commercial banks to a great extent. Keywords: Development Strategies, Commercial Banks, Kenya
Resilience of Firms to Economic and Climate Shocks: Initial Insights from Philippine SMEs

Households and businesses need to cope and thrive in an increasingly shock-prone world. Development and poverty reduction strategies need to take careful account of efforts to promote not just more resilient households and communities; but also more resilient firms on which many jobs and livelihoods depend on. Public sector and donor support for disaster- and crisis-hit communities is critical; but it is only when firms get back up that the community is able to recover fully. Once firms are able to start operating again, then workers are able to return to their jobs and the domestic economy is able to return to normal. Stronger resilience over time is also expected to reflect more robust economic competitiveness and yield more robust investments. The goal of this study is to assess the resilience of the Philippines’ small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) during economic and environmental shocks. The main focus here is on firms’ resilience during the global financial crisis and economic slowdown in 2008-2010 and the major floods that hit the country in 2009 and 2011. These climate-related shocks affected cities such as Marikina, Iligan, and Cagayan de Oro. SMEs in these cities will be the main focus of this study.