The accuracy of proxies when they interpret advance directives or apply substituted decision-making criteria has been called into question. It therefore became important to know if the Andalusian Advance Directive Form (AADF) can help to increase the accuracy of proxies' predictions. The aim of this research was to compare the effect of the AADF on the accuracy of proxies' predictions about patients' preferences with that gained from informative and deliberative sessions about end-of-life decision making. A total of 171 pairs of (...) patients and their proxies were randomized to three groups. The control group's answers to the Life Sustaining Preferences Questionnaire (LSPQ) were compared with their proxies' answers to the same questionnaire. In one intervention group, the patients had already completed the AADF and given it to their proxies, who used it to guide their own answers to the LSPQ. In the second intervention (discussion) group, both patients and proxies attended two educative sessions guided by trained nurses and later filled in the LSPQ. Comparisons of accuracy and other variables showed a strong association with the discussion group. The findings show that promoting communication between patients and their proxies improves the accuracy of proxies' predictions much more than isolated use of the AADF form. (shrink)

This paper presents an axiomatic characterization of the Owen set of transportation games. In the characterization we use six properties including consistency (CONS2) and splitting and merging (SM) which are firstly proposed and defined for this setup in the present paper.

Objective: To measure the stability of life-sustaining treatment preferences amongst older people and analyse the factors that influence stability. Design: Longitudinal cohort study. Setting: Primary care centres, Granada (Spain). Eighty-five persons age 65 years or older. Participants filled out a questionnaire with six contexts of illness (LSPQ-e). They had to decide whether or not to receive treatment. Participants completed the questionnaire at baseline and 18 months later. Results: 86 percent of the patients did not change preferences. Sex, age, marital status, (...) hospitalisation, and self-perception of health and pain did not affect preferences. Morbidity and the death of a relative did. Conclusion: Stability of preferences of older persons in relation to end-of-life decisions seems to be more probable than instability. Some factors, such as the death of a relative or the increase in morbidity, can change preferences. These findings have implications for advance directives (ADs) and advance care planning. (shrink)

En 1670, el autor español Juan Caramuel publicó en Italia el segundo tomo de una magna obra, Mathesis biceps (publicada en latín), sobre el saber matemático de su época. En el mismo se incluía un capítulo (un "sintagma" según el propio Caramuel), titulado Kybeia ("juegos de dados" en griego), donde el autor introduce su idea del origen del juego y resuelve algunos problemas relacionados con los mismos, convirtiéndose en una de las obras tempranas sobre cálculo de probablidades. En este texto (...) se da un repaso a los antecedentes al trabajo de Caramuel relacionados con el cálculo de probabilidades, se analiza punto por punto la aportación de este autor al nuevo cálculo en su Kybeia, y se añade la traducción al castellano del mismo. (shrink)

El presente trabajo persigue aclarar y explicitar los fundamentos ontológicos presentes en el tratado Realidad y substancia, de Antonio Escohotado. De modo sintético el sujeto se funda en la nada el recorrido de la esencia, que se redefinirá como invenir para alcanzar el mayor grado de objetividad en el acto, en la actividad de lo real. Al fin, inmerso en una realidad dinámica se postula la vida, ya no como sujeto, para ahondar en la experiencia como un tránsito en el (...) que el conocimiento es posible dentro de lo indeterminado. (shrink)

Donde la palabra se torna insuficiente y la realidad se vuelve inenarrable, la imagen y la ficción pueden convertirse en el único resquicio para contar lo que debe ser contado. Es por ello que el álbum ilustrado se revela como idóneo para abordar la cuestión del Holocausto con un público infantil y juvenil. Este artículo presenta el análisis de los rasgos definitorios de los álbumes con tal temática mediante el estudio de un corpus de cuatro ejemplos, y ahonda en las (...) posibilidades didácticas de un título en particular, Bruno. El niño que aprendió a volar, de Nadia Terranova y Ofra Amit. Los resultados nos hacen concluir que es posible crear desde el lirismo imágenes para enseñar la más infame atrocidad. (shrink)

Using a comprehensive sample of U.S. non-profit hospitals from 2011 to 2015, we examine the effects of state community benefits regulation on the amount of charity care provided by and the operational efficiency of U.S. non-profit hospitals. First, we document that, under such regulations, non-profit hospitals provide more charity care and less compensated care as a proportion of net revenue. We infer from these findings that CBR has the potential to increase both non-profit hospitals’ amount of charity care and their (...) efficiency of operations. Second, by examining variation in CBR types, we find no differences between having provision or having reporting requirements on the amount of charity care offered. Moreover, when we consider CBR with both provision and reporting requirements, the combination of these two requirements does not incrementally enhance charity care offerings, suggesting that the requirements may serve as substitutes with comparable effect. Lastly, we show that several state-level characteristics influence the relationship between CBR and charity care: CBRs in states with a higher gross domestic product and percentage of revenue received in taxes have incrementally lower associations with charity care, while hospitals in states where populations have, on average, higher household incomes have greater associations between CBR and charity care. Our findings highlight the effects that state-enacted regulation can have on socially beneficial behavior by non-profits. (shrink)

8 March, now known as International Women’s Day, is a day for feminist claims where demonstrations are organized in over 150 countries, with the participation of millions of women all around the world. These demonstrations can be viewed as collective rituals and thus focus attention on the processes that facilitate different psychosocial effects. This work aims to explore the mechanisms involved in participation in the demonstrations of 8 March 2020, collective and ritualized feminist actions, and their correlates associated with personal (...) well-being and collective well-being, collective efficacy and collective growth, and behavioral intention to support the fight for women’s rights. To this end, a cross-cultural study was conducted with the participation of 2,854 people from countries in Latin America and Europe, with a retrospective correlational cross-sectional design and a convenience sample. Participants were divided between demonstration participants and non-demonstrators or followers who monitored participants through the media and social networks. Compared with non-demonstrators and with males, female and non-binary gender respondents had greater scores in mechanisms and criterion variables. Further random-effects model meta-analyses revealed that the perceived emotional synchrony was consistently associated with more proximal mechanisms, as well as with criterion variables. Finally, sequential moderation analyses showed that proposed mechanisms successfully mediated the effects of participation on every criterion variable. These results indicate that participation in 8M marches and demonstrations can be analyzed through the literature on collective rituals. As such, collective participation implies positive outcomes both individually and collectively, which are further reinforced through key psychological mechanisms, in line with a Durkheimian approach to collective rituals. (shrink)

El Himno a san Demetrio (nº 71) de Romano Melodo presenta en su desenlace de la historia del martirio un excursus sin relación alguna con la leyenda del santo y las versiones de su hagiografía que traslada a los fieles oyentes un sentir eminentemente antiherético, en concreto, antimaniqueísta. En este artículo se propone una traducción a la lengua castellana de dicho fragmento griego y se analiza la digresión por parte del autor del texto hímnico, tratando de arrojar luz sobre el (...) contexto de producción y ejecución del kontákion en honor del santo tesalonicense. (shrink)

primera parte: manifestaciones personales y existenciales.