Technological, institutional, and geographical peripheries: regional development and risk of poverty in the European regions.

Unlabelled: In this paper, we analyze the interrelation between technological, institutional, and geographical peripheries. By distinguishing between the quality and quantity of access to information and communication technologies, together with institutional and geographical factors, and using a sample of 229 European regions during the period 2007-2018, we find that the diffusion and quality of information and communication technologies foster economic development and decrease the risk of social exclusion. A similar effect is found for institutional and geographical factors, suggesting that the interplay of these three determinants may be crucial to set up place-based policies.

Effects of COVID-19 on trade flows: Measuring their impact through government policy responses.

This paper examines the impact of COVID-19 on bilateral trade flows using a state-of-the-art gravity model of trade. Using the monthly trade data of 68 countries exporting across 222 destinations between January 2019 and October 2020, our results are threefold. First, we find a greater negative impact of COVID-19 on bilateral trade for those countries that were members of regional trade agreements before the pandemic.

Testing the consistency and feasibility of the standard Malmquist-Luenberger index: Environmental productivity in world air emissions.

Over the last twenty years an increasing number of studies have relied on the standard definition of the Malmquist-Luenberger index proposed by Chung et al. (1997) [J. Environ.

Enhancing psychosocial and spiritual palliative care: Four-year results of the program of comprehensive care for people with advanced illnesses and their families in Spain.

Objective: We aimed to describe the overall quantitative and qualitative results of a "La Caixa" Foundation and World Health Organization Collaborating Center Program entitled "Comprehensive Care for Patients with Advanced Illnesses and their Families" after four years of experience.

Method: Qualitative and quantitative methods were employed to assess the program. Quasiexperimental, prospective, multicenter, single-group, and pretest/posttest methods were utilized to assess the quantitative data.

The Communication and Bioethical Training (CoBiT) Program for assisting dialysis decision-making in Spanish ACKD units.

Healthcare professionals currently working in Advanced Chronic Kidney Disease (ACKD) units must cope with difficult situations regarding assisting patients with the dialysis decision-making process, and they are often untrained for these conversations. Although we have evidence from the literature that these skills can be learned, few professionals feel confident in this area. A Communication and Bioethical Training (CoBiT) Program for ACKD staff (physicians, nurses and allied health professionals) was developed to improve their ability and self-confidence in conducting these conversations.

Development and validation of a new tool for the assessment and spiritual care of palliative care patients.

Context: Spiritual assessment tools and interventions based on holistic approaches are needed to promote healing. Such tools must be adapted to the wide cultural backgrounds of contemporary Western society.

Objectives: To develop and validate a new brief measure, simultaneously featuring clinical applicability and adequate psychometric properties.

[Quality of life and adherence to nebulised antibiotic therapy using a new device in non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis].

Aims: Analysis of psychological variables, quality of life, depression and anxiety, subjective perception of compliance, level of satisfaction with the electronic device, and objective verification) in order to study the therapeutic adherence, in non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFB) colonized by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 22 NCFB stable patients colonised by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (two groups of 11 subjects: GROUP 1, Pari-LC plus nebuliser device, and GROUP 2, with the I- neb device), both containing sodium colistemethate. Different variables, were obtained, such as, self-perceived health (St George questionnaire), state of mind (HADS scale), and subjective perception of therapeutic compliance and objective verification by using the device software.

Trajectory variance and autocorrelations within single-sperm tracks as population-level descriptors of sperm track complexity, predictability, and energy-generating ability.

The objectives of the present study were to develop an alternative theoretical approach to the analysis of sperm motility and to develop motility parameters that would complement those more commonly used in current computer-assisted semen analysis procedures. We have defined a set of parameters and have tested them using boar spermatozoa undergoing bicarbonate-induced motility activation. The new parameters were calculated for a series of (x,y) coordinates of sperm head positions recorded at each move along the trajectory.

Proper information during the surgical decision-making process lowers the anxiety of patients with high-grade gliomas.

Purpose: We aim to analyse the relationship between the quality of information during the decision-making process regarding surgery to treat high-grade gliomas and the level of anxiety of the patients.

Methods: This is a transversal, descriptive and correlational study on 26 patients with a clinical and radiological diagnosis of high-grade glioma. They scored the quality (in terms of comprehension and satisfaction) of information received about the treatment options and prognosis during the surgical decision-making process, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale questionnaire (HADS) was applied immediately afterward.