over 170 million patients worldwide are chronically infected with hepatitis c virus ( hcv ); making it a globally important infection. dentists constantly handle sharp instruments infected with biological fluids and are therefore considered at high-risk of contracting hcv infection. needle-stick injuries seem to be the most common route of exposure to blood-borne pathogens in dental practice. m...

Objective To describe the experiences of illness and needs and use of services in two groups of patients with incurable cancer, one in a developed country and the other in a developing country. Design Scotland: longitudinal study with qualitative interviews. Kenya: cross sectional study with qualitative interviews. Settings Lothian region, Scotland, and Meru District, Kenya. Participants Scotla...

BACKGROUND Contracting in private sector is promoted in developing countries facing human resources shortages as a challenge to reduce maternal mortality. This study explored provision, practice, performance, barriers to execution and views about contracting in specialists for emergency obstetric care (EmOC) in rural India. METHODS Facility survey was conducted in all secondary and tertiary p...

In this paper, we explore how contract structure is influenced by relational capabilities developed in cross-boundary innovation-based relationships. Differing from other studies, we focus on the organizational positions, roles, and responsibilities of the parties involved. We hypothesize that as technical personnel gain contracting experience with an exchange partner, their focus on value crea...

This paper studies the role of efficiency in a firm’s decision to contract out. Emphasis is on the heterogeneous nature of firms and when firms are only considering outsourcing to domestic suppliers. Firm-level data on Australian manufacturing reveal an ordering of efficiency between firms that contract out and those that do not, in which contractingout firms are on aggregate less efficient. Th...