Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Can Quality Improvement Programs for Depression in Primary Care Address Patient Preferences for Treatment?

Background.Depression is common in primary care, but rates of adequate care are low. Little is known about the role of patient treatment preferences in encouraging entry into care. Objectives.To examine whether a primary care based depression quality improvement (QI) intervention designed to accommodate patient and provider treatment choice increases the likelihood that patients enter depression treatment and receive preferred treatment. Methods.In 46 primary care clinics, patients with current depressive symptoms and either lifetime or current depressive disorder were identified through screening. Treatment preferences, patient characteristics, and use of depression treatments were assessed at baseline and 6 months by patient self-report. Matched clinics were randomized to usual care (UC) or 1 of 2 QI interventions. Data were analyzed using logistic regression models. Results.For patients not in care at baseline, the QI interventions increased rates of entry into depression treatment compared with usual care (adjusted percentage: 50.0% ± 5.3 and 33.0% ± 4.9 for interventions vs. 15.9% ± 3.6 for usual care; F = 12.973, P <0.0001). Patients in intervention clinics were more likely to get treatments they preferred compared with those in usual care (adjusted percentage: 54.2% ± 3.3 and 50.7% ± 3.1 for interventions vs. 40.5% ± 3.1 for usual care; F = 6.034, P <0.003); however, in all clinics less than half of patients preferring counseling reported receiving it. Conclusions.QI interventions that support patient choice can improve the likelihood of patients receiving preferred treatments. Patient treatment preference appears to be related to likelihood of entering depression treatment, and patients preferring counseling may require additional interventions to enhance entry into treatment.
The benefits of relationship marketing for the consumer and for the fashion retailers

Globalization, competition and market saturation have caused a growing interest by firms in developing strategies directed at creating brand loyalty among their customers, especially in markets with low growth rates. In order to reach this objective, relationship marketing must be applied, which considers the mutual benefits derived from the creation of stable relationships between buyers and sellers. The study herein developed analyses the existence of groups of customers from the service sector who value the offer of relational benefits by the organisation, in which benefits are centred basically on the relationship with the contact personnel. As a result, the customers state greater levels of satisfaction with and loyalty to the organisation.
A THEORETICAL APPROACH TO PROJECT-BASED CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY ENTERPRISES: A STRUCTURE FOR SCIENTIFIC ENQUIRY

Enterprise success is largely driven by two primary factors, immediate income and longterm sources of markets for that income. Income for these enterprises is derived from clients— often studied as interorganizational relationships (IORs)—through the provision of project management services to markets, which are merely collections of future clients. Exchange theory demonstrates that enterprises must possess certain assets to successfully attract and provide services to clients, from which these enterprises will derive income. Therefore, acquisition and maintenance of these assets are important to enterprise success and survival. However, enterprises are open systems, strongly subject to the influences of their surrounding environment that may change the balance of assets necessary for enterprise survival. Thus, a successful enterprise must exhibit strong project management that successfully derives income, as well as strong organizational management that successfully maintains critical assets. Neither project management nor enterprise management may exist without the other (at least not for long). This paper discusses the theoretical perspectives from which the project management and enterprise management relationship is derived, and proposes a new theoretical model which may be used as the basis for future research in the facility development industry. This symbiotic relationship model provides a perspective that is valuable for strategic enterprise planning; and for developing research paths that may study how enterprise management must manage its critical assets, how project management must provide services for income acquisition, and, importantly, that may study the interrelationship between project management and enterprise management.
Factors Affecting Tax Rate Pressure on Central Cities

The fiscal stress of central cities may be reflected by rising local tax rates and/or decreasing municipal services. Without an index of municipal services which measures the quantity and quality of mu nicipal services, it is impossible to quantify fiscal stress. An increase in tax rates, if accompanied by more services, does not imply more fiscal stress. Nevertheless, tax rate pressure, because of its economic and political importance, is a worthwhile subject of inquiry. Any factor which tends to reduce a central city's income base or to increase its municipal expenditures may be said to elevate tax rate pressure. The purpose of this paper is to explore empirically the impact of selected factors on tax rate pressure on central cities of 100,000 or more population. Median family income (Y) will serve as a measure of the central city's income base. Although it does not measure fiscal capacity in a comprehensive way, it is closely related to it and provides a basis for useful insights about this aspect of the problem. The other aspect of the problem, relating to munici
Soft Budgets And Highway Franchising

Latin American governments progressively substituted build–operate–and–transfer (BOT) contracts for government–provided highways during the nineties. Because under BOT a private franchise holder finances and operates the road in exchange for tolls, it is often claimed that BOT represents a privatization of highways. We argue that, as currently applied, the BOT model is an imperfect and incomplete privatization, because the franchise holders’ budget constraint has been soft, with losses being shifted to tax payers via minimum income guarantees and contract renegotiations. Soft budget constraints are inconsistent with the standard arguments in favor of BOT contracts and call into question their avowed advantages. Moreover, both renegotiations and minimum income guarantees allow governments to finance current expenditures with future tax receipts, sidestepping the normal budgetary process. We propose various changes to the current model aimed at correcting its defects. First, franchises should be awarded through Present-Value-of-Revenue auctions rather than fixed-term franchises. Second, the agency in charge of monitoring contract compliance and regulating franchises should differ from the agency that plans and auctions projects. Third, franchises should be subject to hard budget constraints, so that both profits and losses are privatized. Key words: build-operate-and-transfer (BOT), concessions, cost-of-funds, franchising, government subsidies, present-value- of-revenue (PVR), regulation, renegotiation.
Absence of the prion protein homologue Doppel causes male sterility

The agent that causes prion diseases is thought to be identical with PrPSc, a conformer of the normal prion protein PrPC. PrPC‐deficient mice do not exhibit major pathologies, perhaps because they express a protein termed Dpl, which shares significant biochemical and structural homology with PrPC. To investigate the physiological function of Dpl, we generated mice harbouring a homozygous disruption of the Prnd gene that encodes Dpl. Dpl deficiency did not interfere with embryonic and postnatal development, but resulted in male sterility. Dpl protein was expressed at late stages of spermiogenesis, and spermatids of Dpl mutants were reduced in numbers, immobile, malformed and unable to fertilize oocytes in vitro. Mechanical dissection of the zona pellucida partially restored in vitro fertilization. We conclude that Dpl regulates male fertility by controlling several aspects of male gametogenesis and sperm–egg interaction.
Verbal and spatial memory spans in Alzheimer's and multi‐infarct dementia

This study aimed to explore verbal and spatial memory spans in Alzheimer's (AD) and multi‐infarct (MID) demented patients. For this purpose, we administered the forward and backward versions of the Digit Span and of the Corsi test to 18 AD, 18 MID and 26 controls. Results revealed a normal forward verbal span but reduced backward verbal and forward and backward spatial spans in both demented groups. These data are discussed in the light of the Working Memory model. It is argued that the normal verbal forward span is sustained by a normally functioning Articulatory Loop. The deficient processing resources of the Central Executive, on the other side, are responsible for the reduced extension of the other memory spans. The possible anatomical substrate of short‐term memory impairment in dementia, as well as alternative interpretations of memory span performance in demented patients are discussed.
Building systems for universal health coverage in South Korea

This paper broadly examines the development process of Korea’s health care system toward the achievement of Universal Health Coverage. Korea implemented a series of health care reforms after a rapid expansion of population coverage to improve efficiency and equity in financing and delivery of health care. The authors also investigate changes in the governance structure of Korea’s national health Insurance, which is now represented by two agencies: National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) and Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA). Health insurance agencies have improved the accountability and transparency of the health insurance system, thanks to the ICT-based centralized claim review and assessment. Lessons and challenges from Korea’s experiences and achievements on the road to UHC could provide valuable policy implications to low- and middle-income countries.
Innovation and competitiveness in South Africa: the case for competitive intelligence as an instrument to make better use of information

A strong case can be made for competitive intelligence (CI) as a tool to enhance the competitiveness and, by extension, the innovation capability of South African companies, organizations and institutions, and South Africa as a whole. CI is a business discipline that is used by companies and countries alike as a means to improve competitiveness by making better use of information (managing and applying information to create actionable knowledge). It could form an integral part of efforts to enhance the competitive behaviour of South African companies and society as a whole.
Market Orientation and Alternative Strategic Orientations: A Longitudinal Assessment of Performance Implications

Although the merits of maintaining a market orientation have been extensively discussed in the literature, studies examining the empirical link between market orientation and performance have shown mixed results. The authors explore the relative performance effects of various dimensions of market orientation using a longitudinal approach based on letters to shareholders in corporate annual reports. Furthermore, the authors examine the relative effects of alternative strategic orientations that reflect different managerial priorities for the firm. The authors also extend previous work by considering the mediating effects of organizational learning and innovativeness on the orientation–performance relationship. The results show that firms possessing higher levels of competitor orientation, national brand focus, and selling orientation exhibit superior performance.
Urban growth trend analysis using Shannon Entropy approach -A case study in North-East India

Urbanization is considered as the most influential drivers of land use and land cover change associated with growth of populations and economy. The integration of remote sensing (RS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) technique acts as an effective tool for detecting urban growth and modelling in the recent years. In order to maintain a systematic urban growth pattern at regional or global level, effective planning has to be first prepared at local level. The present study aims to quantifying the urban growth in Jorhat district of Assam using Shannon's Entropy Approach. The entropy values obtained in the study were 2.32 in 1996 and 2.49 in the year 2010 which are closer to the upper limit of log (n), i.e. 2.63, indicating a dispersed development. The study also emphasizes the potentiality of Landsat TM data in the urban studies at local level. The present finding will have high utility in understanding the present and projecting the future growth scenario. This will further help in preparation of effective planning and management strategies for controlled and systematic urban growth both at regional as well as local level.
A Study on Recognization for Quality Importance of Cloud Services

Although there are usual security threats caused by the characteristics of cloud services, more public institutions plan to introduce the cloud services rapidly, as the increase of recognition for its advantage. The previous studies have focused on the security threats and the quality as a hindrance of activation of cloud services. Those also have stressed the importance of the quality in the cloud user side. But there was no consideration about which quality factors impact on the satisfaction of users. Therefore, this study analyzed the importances of quality in specific five major factors. The results also presented that the SLA guarantee is more important than the security performance. This research will contribute to cloud services providers in Korea, by aiding the establishment of effective quality strategies.
Center for Demography and Ecology University of Wisconsin-Madison Notes for a Comparative Theory of Urban Formations

This paper seeks to break new ground by providing a firmer foundation for the study of urban formations both within and between nation-states. First, a conceptual definition of urban formation is provided, followed by the presentation of a measurement model designed to operationalize the concept. Second, it is suggested that measures of urbanization, while very useful as descriptive tools to summarize the pattern of urban agglomeration of a nation and changes therein, are of little value as analytical variables in comparative urban research. Third, a general outline of an analytical model is presented, which seeks to account for within and between nation-state variations in urban formations through the application of a multi-level modeling strategy. Finally, the implications and limitations of the proposed model for comparative urban research are discussed.
Fracture strength after dynamic loading of endodontically treated teeth restored with different post-and-core systems.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM Prefabricated metal and ceramic posts can be used with direct or indirect cores as an alternative to the conventional cast post and core. It is unclear how the fracture strength of zirconia posts with composite or ceramic cores and titanium posts with composite cores compares to the fracture strength of gold posts and cores after dynamic loading. PURPOSE This study compared the fracture strength of endodontically treated, crowned maxillary incisors with limited ferrule length and different post-and-core systems after fatigue loading. MATERIAL AND METHODS Sixty-four caries-free, human maxillary central incisors were divided into 4 groups. After root canal treatment, Group 1 was restored with titanium posts and composite cores, Group 2 with zirconia posts and composite cores, and Group 3 with zirconia posts and heat-pressed ceramic cores. Teeth restored with cast-on gold posts and cores served as the controls (Group 4). Teeth were prepared with a circumferential shoulder including a 1 to 2 mm ferrule; all posts were cemented with an adhesive resin cement, restored with complete-coverage crowns, and exposed to 1.2 million load cycles (30 N) in a computer-controlled chewing simulator. Simultaneous thermocycling between 5 degrees C and 55 degrees C was applied for 60 seconds with an intermediate pause of 12 seconds. All specimens that did not fracture during dynamic loading were loaded until fracture in a universal testing machine at a crosshead speed of 1.5 mm/min; loads were applied at an angle of 130 degrees at the incisal edge. Fracture loads (N) and modes (repairable or catastrophic) were recorded. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare fracture loads among the 4 test groups. Analyses were conducted both with and without the specimens that failed during the chewing simulation. A Fisher exact test was performed to detect group differences in fracture modes. A significance level of P<. 05 was used for all comparisons. RESULTS The following survival rates were recorded after the chewing simulation: 93.8% (Group 1), 93.8% (Group 2), 100% (Group 3), and 87.5% (Group 4). The median fracture strengths for Groups 1 to 4 were 450 N, 503 N, 521 N, and 408 N, respectively. No significant differences were detected among the groups. The use of zirconia posts resulted in a nonsignificant lower number of catastrophic root fractures. CONCLUSION Within the limitations of this study, the results suggest that zirconia posts with ceramic cores can be recommended as an alternative to cast posts and cores. If a chairside procedure is preferred, zirconia or titanium posts with composite cores can be used. Clinical trials are required to verify these in vitro results.
Assessing the Experience of Immersion in Electronic Games

Despite the definition of immersion still being a source of controversy, it is generally accepted as a quality that turns experiences more appealing. Modern electronic games stand out as a notably immersive media, especially when the recent advances in consumer-level virtual reality hardware are taken into account. Development of immersive games requires not only a theoretical background usually found in literature but more practical guidelines for assisting developers to endow their experiences with actual immersion. In this paper, we investigate specific features that confer the quality of immersion to an electronic game based on the analysis of titles the audience consider as immersive. We developed a prototype of an immersive game based on these features. Comparative evaluation of our prototype and the selected titles suggests that six features were able to provide an immersive experience in games
IL-24 gene transfer sensitizes melanoma cells to erlotinib through modulation of the Apaf-1 and Akt signaling pathways

Interleukin-24 (IL-24) is a novel tumor suppressor/cytokine gene expressed in normal human melanocytes but for which expression is nearly undetectable in metastatic melanoma. Overexpression of the IL-24 protein has been shown to inhibit tumor cell proliferation and induce apoptosis in many melanoma cell lines, and is now considered a tumor suppressor. Erlotinib, a small-molecule epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor, has been widely studied for the treatment of human lung cancer and other solid tumors, but the erlotinib-targeted therapy has not been tested in melanoma. The objective of this study is to investigate the potency of erlotinib in suppressing the growth of human melanoma cells and whether IL-24 could enhance the antitumor activity of erlotinib. In cell viability and apoptosis assays, treatment with erlotinib dependently inhibited the growth of different melanoma cell lines and when combined with adenoviral vector-mediated IL-24 gene therapy, a significant increase in cell growth inhibition and apoptosis induction resulted (P<0.05). Immunoblot assay showed that the combination treatment of erlotinib and IL-24 considerably increased the cleavage of caspase-3 and caspase-9 and the expression of Apaf-1 protein in melanoma cells, inducing activation of the Apaf-1-dependent apoptotic pathways. Moreover, this combination treatment markedly inhibited phosphorylation of the EGFR, phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase, and Akt proteins, inactivating the Akt-dependent cell survival signaling pathway. These results show that a combination of IL-24-mediated molecular therapy and EGFR inhibitors such as erlotinib may be a promising treatment strategy for human melanoma and will serve as a basis for guiding the combination treatment designs in future preclinical and clinical trials.
Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma with Partial Imitation in Noisy Environments

Players with one-step memory in an iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma game can adaptively change their strategies after playing some games with their opponent. The probability of change of strategies depends on noise levels, the players’ patience (or reaction time), and initial strategies. Players perform partial imitation, since, realistically, they can only imitate what they observe. Patience determines the frequency of a player’s possible strategies changes. In this paper, we focus on the evolution of strategies between two major categories of players whose innate characters belong either to cheaters (traitors) or nice (benevolent) players. We consider them as agents whose characters are fixed, but their detailed genetic makeup can still vary among several types, so that, for example, the cheaters can evolve among different types of cheaters. We observe their evolutions by means of their degree of cooperation, where the variables are initial strategies, noise, and patience. Here, noise is incorporated in a sigmoid function that accounts for errors in learning. The numerical results show interesting features that we can explain heuristically: in the iterated games between an adaptive cheater against a patient nice player in a noisy environment, we observe a minimum degree of cooperation at a specific noise
The perception of accountants on IFRS adoption: Evidence from Libya

International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is being adopted by many countries in the world. The purpose of this study is to examine factors that affect an adoption of IFRS in Libya from the perception of Libyan companies’ accountants. This study has been conducted using a survey of 288 distributed questionnaires in 2015. The questionnaires have been distributed to Libyan companies’ accountants. The results reveal that professional bodies and government policy positively significant to an adoption of IFRS in Libya. However, capital market and education level are not significant to the adoption of IFRS in Libya
Planned Behavior Change: An Overview of the Diffusion of Innovations 1

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other UF/IFAS Extension publications, contact your county’s UF/IFAS Extension office.