Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Shared decision making and long-term outcome in schizophrenia treatment.

OBJECTIVE Compliance with antipsychotic medication is a major issue in schizophrenia treatment, and noncompliance with antipsychotic treatment is closely related to relapse and rehospitalization. An enhanced involvement of patients with schizophrenia in treatment decisions ("shared decision making") is expected to improve long-term compliance and reduce rehospitalizations. The aim of the present analysis was to study whether shared decision making (SDM) in antipsychotic drug choice would influence long-term outcome. METHOD From February 2003 to January 2004, psychiatric state hospital inpatients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia (ICD-10; N = 107) were recruited for the trial using a cluster-randomized controlled design. An SDM program on antipsychotic drug choice consisting of a decision aid and a planning talk between patient and physician was compared with routine care with respect to long-term compliance and rehospitalizations (6-month and 18-month follow-up). RESULTS On the whole, we found high rates of noncompliance and rehospitalization. There were no differences between intervention and control groups in the univariate analyses. However, when controlling for confounding factors in a multivariate analysis, there was a positive trend (p = .08) that patients in the SDM intervention had fewer rehospitalizations. Additionally, a higher desire of the patient for autonomy and better knowledge at discharge were associated with higher hospitalization rates. CONCLUSION The intervention studied showed a positive trend but no clear beneficial effect on long-term outcomes. A more thorough implementation of SDM (e.g., iterative administration of decision aid) might yield larger effects. Those patients with higher participation preferences are at higher risk for poor treatment outcomes and therefore require special attention. Strategies to match these patients' needs might improve compliance and long-term outcomes.
Cities as learning organisations in climate policy: the case of Malmö

The complexities and uncertainties inherent to climate change place ecosystems and governance systems under pressure, in particular at the local level, where the causes and consequences of climate change play out. To address this complexity, local authorities have to be flexible, with an emphasis on learning and experimentation to lower greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the challenges climate change poses – hence, they have to become learning organisations. Examining Malmö, this paper explores whether it has the characteristics to embrace and institutionalise learning and how this affects the development of its climate policies. The analysis finds several elements invaluable for Malmö’s innovative climate policies: climate strategies are incorporated within the city’s long-term vision to become a sustainable city: socially, economically and environmentally; dialogue and learning are emphasised throughout the process; and all stakeholders are involved, including external partners, leading to integrated approaches.
Seeking sexual health information? Professionals’ novel experiences of the barriers that prevent female adolescents seeking sexual health information

Abstract Objective Sexual health professionals are key stakeholders in implementing sexual health intervention programmes, yet their views are largely absent from the literature. Sexual health professionals provide a unique perspective on teen sexual health issues as they engage in confidential discussions with a wide range of teenagers. This study aimed to provide an in-depth exploration of professionals’ perceptions of teenagers’ sexual health information seeking practices and barriers. Furthermore, the research provided a unique re-examination of key predictors of risky sexual behaviours, which have been highlighted by previous research. Methods Nine semi-structured interviews were undertaken with sexual health professionals to explore their perceptions of teenagers’ sexual health information seeking practises and barriers. Subsequently the professionals rank ordered the 57 factors identified in previous research in terms of their perceived importance in predicting risky sexual behaviours. Results Four themes emerged: “society and media”; “environment and family”; “peer influences”; and “the self”. The rank order task confirmed that 33 of the 57 factors were perceived as highly important by sexual health professionals. Conclusion Society, peers, environment and family are perceived as barriers to teenagers seeking reliable sexual health information, but these are dependent on the individual person. An individual with higher self-esteem is more confident in seeking sexual health information and applying this knowledge appropriately. Self-esteem was also identified as a key perceived predictor of risky sexual behaviours. Therefore, there is scope for intervention programmes targeting self-esteem and knowledge, so teenagers have the confidence to seek out sexual health information and to make their own informed sexual health decisions.
Why Don't Consumers Use Electronic Banking Products? Towards a Theory of Obstacles, Incentives, and Opportunities

This paper proposes a framework for describing why consumers use electronic banking products such as electronic bill payment, credit cards, debit cards, stored value, and e-cash. The paper surveys the literature; reports on the results of several studies, and develops a framework for evaluating consumer electronic banking usage. The framework includes three primary factors that explain consumer electronic banking usage: (1) household wealth, (2) personal preferences (e.g., convenience, budgeting, control, incentives, involvement, security), and (3) transaction-specific factors (e.g., dollar size, variability of dollar amount, offline versus online location, etc.). A number of ad hoc theories could be created to explain payment instrument successes on a case by case basis. However, the author proposes that this general decision-making framework is a superior tool for management and public policy analysis because of its simplicity, ability to explain a range of outcomes, and ability to develop testable forecasts.
Shaping exit and voice: an account of corporate control in UK sports

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to help demonstrate the extent to which socio‐cultural and market‐oriented incentives jointly contribute to corporate control outcomes that prevail in the UK football industry.Design/methodology/approach – Illustrative case studies informed by analysis of financial performance data, discussion with key informants, review of official documents.Findings – The paper finds long term performance outcomes were influenced in substantive ways by actions led by shareholder groups pursuing largely non‐market‐oriented objectives.Research limitations/implications – Industry‐specific empirical work that analyses how the interplay between voice and exit strategies influences corporate control outcomes is limited. This paper focuses on two UK cases and therefore would benefit expansion to further UK cases and comparative analyses to non‐UK situations.Practical implications – The outcomes suggest that the market for corporate control in this particular industry context requires spec.
Time Inconsistency in Capital Accumulation1

Time consistency has become an integral part of explanations of many economic phenomena, in large part because of insights it gives into these phenomena. For example, it helps us to formalize and hence better understand a welfare-maximizing government’s incentive to promise that accumulated capital will not be taxed and then to use a capital levy in the face of severe revenue shortfalls. The government’s incentive toward time-inconsistent behavior in this case also helps explain why capital accumulation may be so low in countries with weak safeguards against such behavior.
Matching cost function using robust soft rank transformations

Stereo correspondence is a challenging task because stereo images are affected by many factors such as radiometric distortion, sun and rain flares, flying snow, occlusions and object boundaries. However, most of the existing stereo correspondence methods use simple matching cost functions. As a result, their performance is degraded significantly when operating with real-world stereo images whose intensities of corresponding pixels can be arbitrarily transformed. In this study, the authors propose a novel matching cost function based on the order relations between pixel pairs that can operate accurately under various conditions of transformed intensities between stereo images. The proposed matching cost function is an improvement of the soft rank transform (SRT) and can tolerate local, monotonically non-linear changes in intensities between the left and right images. The proposed function significantly reduces the error rate from 24.7 to 12.7% in the Middlebury dataset, and from 19.8 to 7.1% in the KITTI dataset as compared with the SRT. The qualitative and quantitative experimental results obtained using stereo images in different datasets under various conditions show that the proposed matching cost function outperforms the state-of-the-art matching cost functions in indoor and outdoor stereo images.
An improved reflective photoplethysmograph probe design for detection of an arterial blood flow

The current work presents the design and development of an improved probe for arterial blood flow measurement. The probe was designed as a reflective photoplethysmograph. Photoplethysmographs are optical detectors by which it is possible to indicate the volume of blood within or passing through tissue. In order to develop and test the probe performances, four different locations—the brachial, carotid, femoral and temporal arteries—were used as photoplethysmographic sites. In addition, a new simple method to eliminate electromagnetic noise and to reduce moving artefacts is also presented.
In Vivo Behavior of the Tandem Glycine Riboswitch in Bacillus subtilis

ABSTRACT In many bacterial species, the glycine riboswitch is composed of two homologous ligand-binding domains (aptamers) that each bind glycine and act together to regulate the expression of glycine metabolic and transport genes. While the structure and molecular dynamics of the tandem glycine riboswitch have been the subject of numerous in vitro studies, the in vivo behavior of the riboswitch remains largely uncharacterized. To examine the proposed models of tandem glycine riboswitch function in a biologically relevant context, we characterized the regulatory activity of mutations to the riboswitch structure in Bacillus subtilis using β-galactosidase assays. To assess the impact disruptions to riboswitch function have on cell fitness, we introduced these mutations into the native locus of the tandem glycine riboswitch within the B. subtilis genome. Our results indicate that glycine does not need to bind both aptamers for regulation in vivo and mutations perturbing riboswitch tertiary structure have the most severe effect on riboswitch function and gene expression. We also find that in B. subtilis, the glycine riboswitch-regulated gcvT operon is important for glycine detoxification. IMPORTANCE The glycine riboswitch is a unique cis-acting mRNA element that contains two tandem homologous glycine-binding domains that act on a single expression platform to regulate gene expression in response to glycine. While many in vitro experiments have characterized the tandem architecture of the glycine riboswitch, little work has investigated the behavior of this riboswitch in vivo. In this study, we analyzed the proposed models of tandem glycine riboswitch regulation in the context of its native locus within the Bacillus subtilis genome and examined how disruptions to glycine riboswitch function impact organismal fitness. Our work offers new insights into riboswitch function in vivo and reinforces the potential of riboswitches as novel antimicrobial targets. IMPORTANCE The glycine riboswitch is a unique cis-acting mRNA element that contains two tandem homologous glycine-binding domains that act on a single expression platform to regulate gene expression in response to glycine. While many in vitro experiments have characterized the tandem architecture of the glycine riboswitch, little work has investigated the behavior of this riboswitch in vivo. In this study, we analyzed the proposed models of tandem glycine riboswitch regulation in the context of its native locus within the Bacillus subtilis genome and examined how disruptions to glycine riboswitch function impact organismal fitness. Our work offers new insights into riboswitch function in vivo and reinforces the potential of riboswitches as novel antimicrobial targets.
The efficiency and effectiveness of Malawian parastatals

Eight Malawian parastatals are studied. Using published data and unique material from structured interviews with senior management, the governance, mode of operation, objectives, efficiency and effectiveness of the companies are examined. They are found to be subject to multiple principals and conflicting objectives. Intervention is multifaceted and non-commercial constraints have been imposed. They have rarely followed or been allowed to follow the reform agendas suggested by either theory or by international agencies. A novel methodology to assess effectiveness is developed, and the characteristics of consistent objectives, autonomy, accountability and performance indicators are identified as crucial to improved performance.
Evidence for altered hepatic gluconeogenesis in patients with cirrhosis using in vivo 31-phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Alterations in gluconeogenesis in the diseased liver can be assessed non-invasively using magnetic resonance spectroscopy by measuring changes in phosphomonoester resonance which contains information regarding several metabolites, including the phosphorylated intermediates of the gluconeogenic pathway. METHODS 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to determine changes in phosphomonoesters following bolus infusions of 2.8 mmol/kgl-alanine in five patients with functionally compensated cirrhosis and in five patients with functionally decompensated cirrhosis. RESULTS Compared with six healthy volunteers, baseline phosphomonoester values were elevated by 35% (p<0.05) in the compensated cirrhosis group and by 57% (p<0.01) in the decompensated cirrhosis group. Following alanine infusion, phosphomonoesters in healthy volunteers increased by 46% from baseline values (p<0.01), in patients with compensated cirrhosis by 27% (p<0.02) but those with decompensated cirrhosis showed no increase from baseline. There was a reduction in the percentage of inorganic phosphate signal in all subjects. CONCLUSIONS By analysing changes in phosphomonoester and inorganic phosphate resonances it is possible to discern clear metabolic differences between healthy volunteers and patients with cirrhosis of varying severity using magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Those patients with functionally decompensated cirrhosis have higher percentage baseline phosphomonoester values but the absence of phosphomonoester elevation following l-alanine infusion suggests that they are unable to mount a significant metabolic response with a progluconeogenic stimulus.
Meiosis in Coprinus: characterization and activities of two forms of DNA polymerase during meiotic stages

Two forms of DNA polymerase have been studied in the basidiomycete Coprinus. DNA polymerase from basidiocarp tissues at zygotene-pachytene stage has been purified 3,500-fold and defined as DNA polymerase b by virtue of its insensitivity to N-ethylmaleimide and by its low molecular weight (76,000). This enzyme has optimal activity at pH 7.0 to 7.5, at 200 mM KCl, and at 25 degrees C incubation temperature. It can use polycytidylic acid-oligo(dG)12-18 as template primer in addition to homodeoxypolymers. The DNA polymerase a is mainly produced in the exponentially growing mycelium. It is sensitive to N-ethylmaleimide and has a temperature optimum at 35 degrees C. At the premeiotic S phase, activities from both polymerase a and polymerase b are found in cell-free extracts. The b enzyme is the only DNA polymerase produced during meiotic prophase. Its assayable activity exhibits two peaks, one at premeiotic S stage and one at pachytene. It is possible that DNA polymerase b is responsible for pachytene repairs involved in recombination.
A periodic refreshment method for resource reservation in Mobile Ad-hoc Networks

Achieving quality of service (QoS) in mobile adhoc networks (MANETs) has been a research topic in the last years. A few papers, however deal with resource reservation, and a very small fraction of them study the impact of mobility. In this paper we describe a QoS reservation mechanism for multirate MANETs that allows bandwidth allocation on a per flow basis. By multirate we refer to those networks where wireless nodes are able to dynamically switch among several link rates. We show that, using periodic refreshment of ongoing QoS reservations, our scheme is adaptive to network topology changes due to node mobility.
Clinical applications of molecular profiling in colorectal cancer: Review of the literature

Despite the developments in the diagnostic and management strategies, a considerable number of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients present with disease recurrence after curative surgery. Moreover; there are no reliable indicators to determine the prognosis and response of CRC patients to therapy. By harnessing recent technological advances in molecular profiling techniques, it is anticipated that greater insight to the various combinations of genetic events or alternative pathways underlying carcinogenesis will be gained. By carrying out literature search, we were able to identify a comprehensive list of genes with high differential expression patterns in colorectal cancer that could serve as molecular markers to complement existing histopathological factors in diagnosis, follow up and therapeutic strategies for individualized care of patients.
Performance of the Mortality Probability Models in assessing severity of illness during the first week in the intensive care unit

ObjectiveTo extend the Mortality Probability Models (MPM) II severity system to time periods between 4 and 7 days after admission to the intensive care unit (ICU). DesignProspective inception cohort. SettingFifteen adult medical and surgical ICUs in Spain. PatientsA total of 1,441 patients aged ≥18 yrs consecutively admitted from April 1, 1995 through July 31, 1995. InterventionsProspective data collection during the stay of the patient in the ICU. Data collected included demographic information, length-of-stay and vital status at both ICU and hospital discharge, as well as all variables necessary for computing the MPM II system at admission and during the first 7 days of stay in the ICU Measurements and Main ResultsCalibration and discrimination of the four existing MPM II models (MPM0, MPM24, MPM48, and MPM72) were assessed in the study database. The MPM II system overestimated the mortality of patients with probabilities of death ≥0.4. The MPM24 model was customized. Models for time periods between 48 hrs and 7 days (MPM48 to MPMd7) were obtained using the same strategy that was used to develop the original MPM48 and the MPM72 models. The variable coefficients of the MPM24 model were kept fixed and the constant terms of the MPM48 to MPMd7 models were estimated by logistic regression.The constant term stabilized after the fourth day of admission and it was similar to the constant term of the MPM72 model. The customized MPM72 performed very well for days 4 to 7 after admission to the ICU. ConclusionsIf the patient’s condition stays the same day after day, the probability of dying in the hospital increases until 72 hrs, and then stabilizes. A severity measure that performs well at 72 hrs can be a useful tool for measuring severity at later time periods.
Uncertainty Aversion in an Agent-Based Model of Foreign Exchange Rate Formation

In this paper we test whether investors are uncertainty averse during a real-life trading process in the foreign exchange market. We do this through an agent-based model in which fundamentalist and chartist beliefs of the exchange rate are allowed to be either uncertainty neutral or uncertainty averse. The uncertainty aversion is modelled via the maxmin expected utility approach. We find that traders are uncertainty averse in the FX market. The estimation results show that the inclusion of uncertainty averse agents improves the performance of the model and the uncertainty aversion parameter is significantly different from zero. Fundamentalists are found to be uncertainty neutral and chartists - mainly uncertainty averse.
Differences in the Production of Education Across Regions and Urban and Rural Areas

Previous studies have shown a link between local public school quality and labour productivity, which in turn affects economic growth in a region. But previous work has not investigated whether education is produced differently in different regions. The current study finds that although the production of education is similar across regions, there are some differences. Teacher experience matters more for school quality in rural areas than in urban areas, for example. And there are some differences in the effectiveness of various school inputs across urban areas. Policy implications for centralized versus decentralized school input hiring are discussed. Des études antérieures ont démontré qu'il existe un lien entre la qualitédes écoles sous la tutelle de l'administration locale et la productivité du travail, ce qui a un impact sur la croissance économique régionale. Toujours est-il que les études antérieures n'ont pas examiné si, oui ou non, la production de l'éducation se fait de façon différente sur le plan régional. A partir de cette étude, il s'avère des écarts, bien que la production de l'éducation soit similaire à travers les régions. Par exemple, les compétences des enseignants a plus d'importance pour ce qui est de la qualité de l'école en milieu rural qu'en zone urbaine. En plus, certaines différences de l'efficacité de divers facteurs de production sont à noter à travers les zones urbaines. On discute des implications d'une politique d'embauche ou centralisée, ou décentralisée. Frühere Studien haben gezeigt, daß eine Verbindung zwischen Arbeitsleistung und der Qualität öffentlicher Schule am Orte besteht, wobei erstere sich wiederum auf das Wirtschaftswachstum der Region auswirkt. Doch diese früheren Arbeiten haben nicht untersucht, ob Schulbildung in den verschiedenen Regionen unterschiedlich gefördert wird. Die vorliegende Studie stellt fest, daß es gewisse Unterschiede gibt, obschon die Förderung der Schulbildung sich in allen Regionen als ähnlich erweist. In ländlichen Gegenden, z.B. wird Lehrerfahrung mehr Bedeutung beigemessen als in städtischen Gebieten. Und es gibt durchaus Unterschiede in der Effektivität verschiedenartiger Anstrengungen in Schulen städtischer Gebiete. Es werden Implikationen der Schulpolitik für zentral gesteuerten, im Gegensatz zu dezentralisiertem Aufwand bei Schulanstellungen diskutiert.