A Model for Assessing the Performance of Bureaucracy in Spain

The aim of this paper is to put forward a simplified model which may help to explain the workings and performance of public entities in Spain. Starting from a bilateral monopoly characterization, we shall take into account the working rules, the decision-making mechanisms and the system of rewards and penalties in Spanish public administrations. This implies introducing different assumptions about the demand and the costs conditions what will lead us obtain meaningful distinct results from those reached in the standard models of bureaucratic behavior.

The international phase 4 validation study of the EORTC QLQ-SWB32: A stand-alone measure of spiritual well-being for people receiving palliative care for cancer

The EORTC Quality of Life Group has just completed the final phase (field‐testing and validation) of an international project to develop a stand‐alone measure of spiritual well‐being (SWB) for palliative cancer patients. Participants (n = 451)—from 14 countries on four continents; 54% female; 188 Christian; 50 Muslim; 156 with no religion—completed a provisional 36‐item measure of SWB plus the EORTC QLQ‐C15‐PAL (PAL), then took part in a structured debriefing interview. All items showed good score distribution across response categories. We assessed scale structure using principal component analysis and Rasch analysis, and explored construct validity, and convergent/divergent validity with …

Legal Scholars Communities and Academic Conferences

Many scientific communities – including those devoted to the study of law – regularly organize academic conferences to which all members of the considered community are called to attend. After describing the goals of these conferences, their types, their social costs and the positive externalities they may produce, this paper analyzes which type of academic conference could be most appropriate in order to maximize social welfare, which the practices of the Spanish legal scholars in this respect are and why such practices do not always seem to be the best ones from a public interest point of view.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus Continuum of Care in 11 European Union Countries at the End of 2016 Overall and by Key Population: Have We Made Progress?

Abstract Background High uptake of antiretroviral treatment (ART) is essential to reduce human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission and related mortality; however, gaps in care exist. We aimed to construct the continuum of HIV care (CoC) in 2016 in 11 European Union (EU) countries, overall and by key population and sex. To estimate progress toward the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) 90-90-90 target, we compared 2016 to 2013 estimates for the same countries, representing 73% of the population in the region. Methods A CoC with the following 4 stages was constructed: number of people living with HIV (PLHIV); proportion of PLHIV diagnosed; proportion of those diagnosed …

Symmetries and solvable models for evaporating 2D black holes

We study the evaporation process of a 2D black hole in thermal equilibrium when the ingoing radiation is suddenly switched off. We also introduce global symmetries of generic 2D dilaton gravity models which generalize the extra symmetry of the CGHS model. © Elsevier Science B.V

Espirometría forzada en preescolares sanos bajo las recomendaciones de la ATS/ERS: estudio CANDELA

Resumen: Introducción: actualmente no existen valores de referencia de espirometría forzada en preescolares sanos obtenidos según las recomendaciones publicadas por la American Thoracic Society (ATS) y la European Respiratory Society (ERS) en 2007. El objetivo del estudio es establecer valores espirométricos de referencia en niños preescolares sanos entre los 2 y los 7 años, según recomendaciones ATS/ERS. Material y método: estudio nacional, multicéntrico, descriptivo y transversal, en niños sanos de ambos sexos, mayores de 2 años y menores de 7. Las espirometrías forzadas se realizaron en laboratorios de función pulmonar de las 9 unidades de neumología pediátrica participantes. Los técnico…

DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF A CROSS-CULTURAL EORTC MEASURE OF SPIRITUAL WELLBEING (SWB) FOR PALLIATIVE CARE PATIENTS WITH CANCER

Introduction Spiritual care and spiritual wellbeing (SWB) are central to palliative care, but no measures of SWB have yet been developed cross-culturally. Aim(s) and method(s) In 2002 the EORTC Quality of Life (QL) Group began international development of an SWB measure for palliative patients. Three domains of SWB were initially hypothesised, and items developed accordingly. Data for Phase IV field-testing and validation of the measure were collected from January 2012 to July 2013. Participants completed the 36-item provisional SWB measure and a structured debriefing interview. EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL, socio-demographic and clinical data were also collected, and a sub-set of test-retest data. Th…

Associations between sex, age and spiritual well-being scores on the EORTC QLQ-SWB32 for patients receiving palliative care for cancer: A further analysis of data from an international validation study

Objective: The EORTC QOL Group has recently completed the cross-cultural development and validation of a standalone measure of spiritual well-being (SWB) for cancer patients receiving palliative care: the EORTC QLQ-SWB32. The measure includes four scales: Relationships with Others, Relationship with Self, Relationship with Someone or Something Greater, and Existential, plus a Global-SWB item. This paper reports on further research investigating relationships between sex, age and SWB for patients receiving palliative care for cancer—adjusting for other socio-demographic, clinical and function variables, including WHO performance status and EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL emotional and physical function sc…

On the canonical structure of higher-derivative field theories. The gravitational WZW-model

Abstract A general expression for the symplectic structure of a higher-derivative lagrangian field theory is given. General relativity and the gravitational WZW-model are considered in this framework. In the second case we work out explicitly the Poisson bracket for both chiral solutions giving rise, in two different ways, to the classical exchange algebra of the SL q (2) group.

Tracer-Encapsulated Solid Pellet (TESPEL) injection system for the TJ-II stellarator

A tracer-encapsulated solid pellet (TESPEL) injection system for the TJ-II stellarator was recently developed. In order to reduce the time and cost for the development, we combined a TESPEL injector provided by National Institute for Fusion Science with an existing TJ-II cryogenic pellet injection system. Consequently, the TESPEL injection into the TJ-II plasma was successfully achieved, which was confirmed by several pellet diagnostics including a normal-incidence spectrometer for monitoring a tracer impurity behavior.

La investigación en drogodependencias

Resumen Objetivo Este articulo recoge los principales aspectos analizados en una Jornada sobre investigacion en drogodependencias realizada en la Delegacion del Gobierno para el Plan Nacional sobre Drogas en Madrid el 1 de marzo de 2006 y organizada por la Sociedad Espanola de Toxicomanias. Material y Metodos Se presentaron las siguientes ponencias: La red RTA. Un modelo de investigacion colaborativa, por Fernando Rodriguez de Fonseca; Redes de trabajo en drogodependencias: la colaboracion cientifica a traves de las publicaciones, por Rafael Aleixandre; Evolucion de la investigacion sobre drogas en Espana: pasado, presente y futuro, por Jordi Cami; La investigacion basica, por Miguel Navarr…

What Does Spiritual Wellbeing Mean to You? Understandings of International Participants in the Validation Study for the EORTC QLQ-SWB32: An EORTC Measure of Spiritual Wellbeing for Palliative Care Patients